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

One, Two, Snap

It wasn't long before James had told everyone what he had experienced. What he saw, what he felt, and most importantly, who he saw.

"She's still on the island, lost and hopeless.." Henry frowned. "Who knows what he's doing to her.."

"It's probably not best to talk about it." James hissed, sitting on his bed.

Currently, all of the main Steam Team members were in the back of the sheds, trying to come up with a plan.

"So..." Edward piped up, taking a stand. "James claims to have seen her in a building away from the tracks, in the forest. Or, at the very least, in a forest."

"Anything special about the trees, James?" Henry questioned. "If I knew what kind of trees they were, it could save us time."

"I don't know? Oak trees? Does it look like I pay attention to what trees look like?"

"No."

"It was a rhetorical question, Percy."

"Anything else??"

"I saw a birdhouse, so someone must have lived there before the place was abandoned."

"The controller knows someone who keeps records of all island residents. Maybe I can see if they have old records of that place," Gordon spoke. "That would really save us a lot of time."

"Go. Go do that right now, Gordon. Wasted time is not something we want here. Every second matters in bringing my daughter back."

Edward pointed toward the exit, which Gordon swiftly took, heading straight for the computer.

"I can notify the twins. Both sets. They'll get the word out from there."

"Yes, Emily. That's perfect. Off with you! Go!"

There went Emily.

"Anything we can do, Edward..?" Thomas peeped. "Percy and I need something to do."

"Go with Henry and get a head start on searching the forest. If Gordon can't find anything, at least we'll have a head start."

With a swift nod, Henry took the little engines to begin a long, filthy search of the forests Henry knew better than anyone.

"James." Edward hummed, sitting down next to him on his bed. "Are you there? I haven't seen you blink in 4 minutes."

"Hm?"

"There you are. Are you alright?"

"I'm trying my best..."

"Do you still blame yourself for what happened..?"

"I do..! I should've listened to her...she looked so hurt.." he mumbled, turning away from Old Iron. "So scared..I didn't believe her.."

"James..James, my dear friend.." Edward cooed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay...we'll find her..and we'll all keep a closer eye on her this time, yeah?"

"What if there isn't a this time? What if this is it? What am I going to do!?"

"Hey, James-"

But, to no avail. The mixed-traffic man hugged himself, slowly slipping into what he would later learn was a panic attack. He blamed her whole disappearance on himself. All the times she tried to tell him something was wrong, and he brushed it off on her being just a little bit crazy. Now, she was once more in the claw of D10, who, at this point, might kill her off for good. And it would be all his fault.

Edward just did his best to get him back down to earth.