Sodor's New Worker (Semi-Hiatus Due to an AO3 rewrite)

Fun in the Wintertime

   That night, Gordon was shunned to the back of the sheds. Not his bed, but just waaaaay back against the buffers. He truly did see Maddy as a good person, but as someone who does the work an engine does? That, was a different story. Gordon only wanted to voice his opinion, he didn't think it would mean anything rash. He soon realized that when James threatened to graffiti his Express coaches. Yikes. What made it even worse, is that James grew a little too used to having someone to sleep with, so now he'd be extra grumpy in the morning. He wasn't going to blame Maddy, of course, she wasn't at any type of fault for the most part. While he does agree with Gordon that she could be a little more careful, he's accepted the fact that she simply won't. End of story. 

"Good...morning James..." Henry yawned. "How did you sleep?"

   All he got was a snort, or whatever noises James made.

"...Not good. Noted."

   One by one, everyone woke up. None took notice to Gordon as he crept to the front of his berth. Tension was high and thick, you could cut it with a knife and eat it.

"Good morning ever-" STH started. He quickly stopped once he noticed the thick tension in the air.

"...Did something happen that I don't know about?" he asked. "Why are you all so..glum? Angry? Oh..negative! There we go."

   The fat man didn't get an answer for a minute or two. No one wanted to tell him, until James coldly spoke up.

"You tell him, Gordon."

"Gordon?"

"Sir, I-" he started. He had to take a deep breath and swallow his ego.

"I said...a few choice things to Maddy and-"

"She didn't take too kindly to it." Thomas piped up. "Frankly, none of us liked what Gordon said."

"Oh, Gordon..." STH sighed. "What did you say to her..."

"I only commented that she needed to be more careful with herself!"

"Bullshit."

"Excuse me, James?" he said, turning to his number five.

"Bull. Shit. He said a LOT more than that. He's just trying to save his dome."

"Gordon..." STF spoked sternly.

   Gordon sighed, and just told his boss the whole truth. He could feel his boss getting angry, and feared the worst for himself.

"...while I agree with you about her safety, Gordon, I think most of us have accepted that she simply won't. That was completely uncalled for. You should know better.."

"Yes, sir..."

"Now go pull your train, I'll have a talk with you later."

   Gordon simply blew his whistle and went to go pull his Express for the day.

"James?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Do you know where she ran off to, by chance?" 

"She said she'd be with Duck and the twins, why?"

"Would you like to go fetch her before your morning cargo train?"

   Sir Topham Hatt didn't get an answer, just his engine puffing away faster than he's ever seen him go. He just chuckled at the sight. Love is a wonderful thing.