Archive of Our Own

ACT ONE

It had been three months since the disastrous race that had wrecked two of the yard's strongest engines, crowned an old steamer champion, and sent the last caboose to a scrapyard somewhere for his murderous intentions.

It had been a hard few months for everyone. Greaseball and Electra were mostly repaired, if not moving quite as fast as they had before. Other changes were made in the yard—the last of the old sleeper cars were finally shipped away, destined for restoration and display at some railway museum.

The track had been reset since the explosion at the end of the race, the freight working extra hours to pull in new ballast. Most of the cars were exhausted, but at least the yard was getting back to normal. Control was even thinking about starting races again, though in a much more abbreviated fashion than before.

The coaches, at least, been given a few weeks off passenger duty, as the line wasn't exactly fit for commuter rail yet, especially with two engines out of commission. Pearl had been spending all her time with Rusty, to no one's surprise. Dinah, who was in the "up" phase of her up-and-down relationship with Greaseball, was also usually missing from the coaches' shed as she nursed Greaseball through his repairs. She had been inconsolable in the weeks after the race, with her best friend sent away forever and her engine badly injured. After about a month, though, she seemed to have forgotten all about her worries and was back to her usual self, never leaving Greaseball's side.

Which left Buffy and Ashley alone in the shed.

Of course, they took advantage of the other coaches' absence, often, and loudly. It was a blessing that everyone else in the yard was kept busy.

They didn't spend all of their time entwined in each other's machinery, though they had the stamina. After a few hours of the fugue of pleasure Ashley's tongue put her in, Buffy needed to take a lap around the yard at least once a day to clear her head. She'd be ruined for passenger duty if she let Ashley have her way.

On her strolls around the yard, Buffy got to thinking. Racing was going to start up again soon, and with it the dance of partner selection, engine dick-measuring competitions, and coaches being forced to fight each other at the behest of their engines.

Not that Buffy particularly minded the violence. It was fun, a good way to release the pent-up frustrations of passenger duty without affecting her work performance. She didn't mind fighting Ashley, either. It was hot to see her girlfriend throw a solid punch in the heat of the moment, and she'd gotten better at dodging. It made their post-race meetings in the coaches' shed a little more fun, too.

Buffy just wished she had more of a choice in the matter. She was sick of getting pulled around by whatever asshole engine had decided she would be a good racing partner that day, sick of fighting whoever the engine told her to. She wasn't always in the mood to punch another coach. Why didn't she get to fight the other engines? Technically, the rules were there to protect the "weaker" coaches from getting hurt by the big, strong engines, but Buffy knew that was an excuse. The engines couldn't take the unbridled rage of a coach socking them in the jaw.

She'd felt this way for a long time, but she'd never been sure what to do about it. She could always refuse to race, but then what would she do all season? Just spectate? Besides, it wasn't fair that if she didn't like how racing fucked over coaches, her only option was to sit it out. She wanted to be a champion, too, and show all those shithead engines who was boss. Even outside of racing, she was sick of engines yelling at her as she crossed the yard, blustering and demeaning.

But after seeing CB go rogue, watching the smallest, lightest freight car (smaller than any coach) crash two of the yard's strongest engines, Buffy was inspired to finally do something about it. If he could do it, so could she. And buffet cars wouldn't be going out of style anytime soon, so it was unlikely that she'd be sent to the scrapyard too.

And even if she was, it might just be worth it. To show the engines, show the whole yard that CB wasn't just a fluke, a one-time accident. That it was time to start treating everyone who wasn't an engine better.

Buffy shook her head. Her thoughts had gotten out of hand. Ashley would be devastated if anything happened to her. There had to be a better way. Besides, CB had a natural method of sabotage, releasing his brakes to send engines flying down the track at uncontrollable speeds. She was just a buffet car. What could she do, spin her microwave a little too hot? Throw empty plastic wrappers at the engines? Anything she did would be impossible to excuse, unlike CB pretending to malfunction. Everything about it would be harder for her.

But if CB could put up a sweet, friendly front, fooling everyone in the yard before nearly destroying two engines, why couldn't she?

Buffy rolled back into the coaches' shed. She needed to discuss this with Ashley. Maybe she'd have a better idea.

"So you're saying you want to pull a CB 2.0?" Ashley said, taking a long drag off her cigarette, blowing smoke out the nearby open window. She offered it to Buffy.

Buffy really wished she wouldn't smoke inside the shed, but she let it slide this time. She leaned forward to wrap her mouth around the filter and take a hit. She met Ashley's eyes as she did, raising her eyebrows. Ashley smirked. If they kept going like this, they'd be back for round seven. Or eight. Buffy wasn't quite sure. "Not exactly. But not…not exactly. I just wanna show the engines I'm not fucking around anymore."

Ashley nodded, taking another drag. "Fuck engines. I'd crash 'em all if I could."

"Who says we can't?" Buffy said, snatching the cigarette from Ashley's hand. She took a few hits before placing the filter gently between Ashley's lips.

Ashley snorted. "Buffy, c'mon. You know I'm down to fuck with the races, but we can't wreck all the engines. They'd scrap us immediately."

"CB only got sent away 'cause cabooses are going out of style anyway. They'll always need buffet cars."

Ashley flicked ash from the tip of her cigarette. Buffy sighed. Dinah was going to chew them out for leaving a mess when she came back to the shed.

"I've heard from other yards that they'd starting to get rid of their smoking cars. They'd scrap me for sure. Or scrap you, and make me over into a buffet car."

A cold weight settled in the pit of Buffy's chassis. She hadn't thought about that. "Shit."

Ashley nodded. "Yeah. Doesn't mean we can't mess with the engines though. The first qualifiers are in a couple weeks. Let's pick some engines to fuck up." She grinned at Buffy.

Buffy grinned back. "Let's do it." She climbed into Ashley's lap and plucked the cigarette from her hand. She took in a long, Ashley-style drag. Holding the smoke in her mouth, she tipped up Ashley's chin. She kissed Ashley open-mouthed, blowing a steady stream of smoke into her mouth.

Ashley gladly breathed it in, her eyes glazing over for a moment as she exhaled. She pulled Buffy in for another kiss. Her mouth was hot and tasted like smoke. Buffy felt Ashley's hand creep up her thigh. She already felt coolant pooling in her codpiece. Maybe it was time for round eight.

A week later, the coaches were back on passenger duty. As much as Buffy had enjoyed her and Ashley's sex vacation, it was nice to be back on something of a regular schedule. It also gave her a chance to scope out the engines she might want to race with.

Greaseball, Electra, and Rusty were all out of the question. Greaseball and Rusty were coupled up already, and Electra would never race with a diesel buffet car like her. There was no way she was gonna fuck with Greaseball's gang, either.

That just left the nationals.

Buffy had raced with nearly all of them before. She tended to get along best with Espresso and Bobo, but she didn't have any issues with the others. All was left was to see who was planning on racing this time around.

After the work day was over, Buffy and Ashley headed over to the diesel engines' side of the yard. It stank of diesel and burning metal. Buffy sniffed. There was a reason she didn't come here very often.

The nationals were chatting in a clump by one of the platforms. Ashley plucked a carton of cigarettes out of her shirt, ready to make nice. Buffy fished out a few snacks from her display case.

Hashamoto and Ruhrgold looked over at them as they approached. Prince of Wales waved at them. "Hello, girls! What brings you over to our side of the yard?"

Espresso and Bobo made a beeline for Ashley, each of them plucking a cigarette from her proffered pack. Ashley snapped, her fingers making a spark that lit each one. "You boys thinking about entering the races?"

Bobo coughed on his first inhale. "Straight to the point, eh?"

Buffy offered a pastry to Turnov, who took it with a nod. "Not sure. I didn't like how the races went last time."

"CB is gone now, though," Buffy said. "It should just be good clean racing like usual this time."

Prince of Wales accepted a scone from Buffy. "I don't know, girls. Where's the fun if the big boy engines aren't competing?"

"Who said they're not competing?" Espresso said, somehow already halfway through his cigarette. "Last I heard, Greaseball was done with repairs. You think he'd sit this one out after the old steamer beat him last time? After Electra stole his coach?"

"I have it on good authority the electric will be there," Hashamoto cut in. "I overheard the components discussing the races."

Ashley flicked another cigarette to Espresso. "Well, let us know if you boys need coaches to pull. We can't wait to get back to racing."

Buffy flashed a smile at the engines, and then they were off, back to the coaches' shed. She breathed a sigh of relief when they'd left the engines' area.

"That wasn't so bad," Ashley said as they reached their shed.

"I guess," Buffy said. "It's 'cause we haven't been racing. It brings out the worst in engines."

The rumors turned out to be true. In the coming week, Greaseball and Electra made their triumphant returns to the yard. Buffy feigned her excitement, fawning over Greaseball's rebuilt strength with the rest of the coaches. It had always been something of an act, but now it felt doubly so. There were only so many times she could sigh over Greaseball's muscles without cringing internally.

She tried to funnel her frustration into preparing for the race. She needed to pair up with an engine, and soon. She and Ashley made a few more trips to the engines' area to flirt with the nationals. It wasn't hard to get engines excited when a pretty coach was around, not to mention two pretty coaches.

The only reason Buffy was able to stand the constant exposure to the engines' revving egos was the promise of Ashley's hands all over her when they got back to the coaches' shed. Buffy smiled through the demeaning comments, giggling and touching Espresso's arm when he said she needed an Italian diesel to show her what real power looked like. In her mind, though, she was kneeling over Ashley's face, grinding her hips against Ashley's hot mouth, dripping water and letting out a hiss of steam.

"So it's decided, then?" She said sweetly to Espresso, winking at him. "You want to race with me?"

"Well, someone needs to show you a good time," Espresso said, winking back. "I could go for a warm up right about now." He smirked.

Buffy kept in her disgusted shudder, plastering a smile on her face instead. "I think I need to conserve my energy. I couldn't possibly keep up with such a strong engine, not the night before the race."

Espresso nodded, though he looked a little disappointed. "Sure. When we win tomorrow, though, I'll be sure to take that victory lap."

Buffy could hardly hold herself back from grabbing his hand and breaking his wrist, or maybe just punching him outright. She glanced over at Ashley, who seemed to be faring slightly better. At least Bobo wasn't touching her.

"Ugh," Buffy said as they rolled away. "I can't wait to crash him."

Ashley squeezed her hand. "That'll teach him to show some respect for coaches. One more night and then they'll see who they're messing with."

Buffy didn't want to wait another night. Anger was flowing through her now. The way that engines acted like they were entitled to coaches and their bodies, their good humor. The way they never even considered that a relationship could happen between two coaches. There was a buzzing, humming energy inside of her. She wouldn't be able to sleep, not like this.

Coming to a screeching halt halfway to the coaches' shed, she pushed Ashley up against the nearest wall. Ashley let out a quiet "oof" as Buffy pressed against her. "Buffy, what-"

Buffy kissed her, hard. Ashley matched her fervor immediately, opening her mouth to let Buffy slide her tongue in. She grabbed Buffy's waist to pull her closer. Buffy slid her knee between Ashley's legs, grinding against her codpiece. Ashley's skirt was pushed up, and Buffy wanted nothing more than to fuck her right then and there. Ashley rolled her hips against Buffy's knee, sighing into Buffy's mouth. Clearly, she wanted that too. It was a quiet enough part of the yard, and late enough that it was unlikely anyone would pass through, at least for a few minutes.

That was fine. Buffy could be fast.

She snuck her hand under Ashley's skirt, easily unlatching her codpiece and sliding aside her rotating head plate, revealing her brush access ports. Ashley let out a quiet groan at the release of pressure, heat enveloping Buffy's hand. Buffy bit Ashley's lip to make her gasp, then slid two fingers into Ashley's port. Ashley grabbed Buffy's head to pull her further into a kiss to stifle her noises. Buffy curled her fingers inside Ashley, searching for the flexible coupling of her suction line. She pressed the heel of her palm against Ashley's compressor shut off valve.

"Fuck," Ashley hissed into Buffy's mouth. "Buffy," she whined.

Buffy slid in a third finger. She felt just as hot as Ashley's insides. She pumped her hand in and out of Ashley's port, dragging her fingers up to rub against the sensitive top edge of her head plate. She twisted her wrist, rubbing along the sensitive compressor belt as her thumb pressed against Ashley's shut off valve. Just a few more thrusts, a curl of her fingers, and Ashley was coming, her port tensing around Buffy's hand, coating it in coolant and oil.

They both stood there for a moment, gasping, trying to catch their breath. Buffy slid her hand out of Ashley, offering it to her. Ashley sucked on Buffy's fingers, cleaning off her own coolant while she smiled at Buffy.

"Come on, let's get home," Buffy said, tugging Ashley along at a slightly slower pace than their usual. She knew Ashley was weak in the knees at the moment.

Buffy woke up early the next morning, curled in the coaches' shed next to Ashley. For once, Dinah and Pearl were there too, presumably kicked out of their respective engines' sheds for the night. Engines, particularly champion racers, were very particular about their pre-race rituals. No self-respecting engine would let a coach stay the night, lest they ruin their precious sleep and fuck up their chances at winning.

Ashley made a sleepy noise, grabbing at Buffy to pull her back in to cuddle. Buffy let herself get lulled into the comfort of Ashley wrapped around her for a few more minutes before she finally struggled up. She needed to get ready for the race.

Ashley got up a little while later, stretching and groaning slightly. "Ugh. Do we really have to race today?"

"Come on," Buffy said, giving Ashley her best mischievous grin. "We've got some engines to prove wrong."

Buffy found Espresso in the engines' parade area. She wasn't quite sure how to mentally prepare for this. Sure, he pissed her off, and the thought of coupling to him wasn't exactly appealing. But could she really crash him?

"Buffy!" Espresso called from where he waited. He gestured for her to come couple with him.

Something hot flared in Buffy's chest at the gesture. Still, she rolled over to him, linking up to his couplers.

"Ready?" Espresso said, grinning as her put on his race helmet.

"You bet," Buffy grinned back. That helmet wasn't going to be much help to him.

They paraded around the track, Buffy grinning and waving at the crowd. A strange, hot feeling began to flow through her.

It grew as they made it to the starting line. Greaseball and Dinah were already there. Buffy couldn't stand being around them together. The way Dinah let Greaseball treat her made Buffy's soul ache, but there was nothing she could do. Dinah would always go back to Greaseball.

A plan started forming in Buffy's head as she waited, nodding and winking at Dinah. Dinah waved back, her smile strained.

Hashamoto and Krupp made their way around the track to wait beside Greaseball and Dinah.

Electra pulled up on Buffy's other side, Pearl in tow. Before Buffy had a chance to say anything to her, the countdown began.

Buffy braced herself. It was time. She gripped Espresso's couplers hard as the countdown reached three, two, one-

And then they were gone, the speed of every engine climbing fast. Buffy hung on tight as Espresso approached the first curve. Greaseball was already pulling ahead.

Espresso huffed as he began to speed up. Buffy wasn't exactly helping, not leaning into the turns or following the cues of Espresso's motion. She wasn't sure when would be the best time to crash him.

Not now, though. Hashamoto was pulling up on her right. Espresso swerved to push him against the rail. Hashamoto shoved back. Buffy tipped on her wheels. She did NOT want to fight Krupp.

Hashamoto pulled ahead, and Buffy let out a sigh of relief. Espresso cursed, and they sped off.

Ahead of them on the track, Electra and Greaseball were jockeying for first position. Buffy cursed herself for choosing a slow engine. She looked so stupid at the back of the race.

Espresso sped up, chasing Hashamoto up the ramp. Buffy held on, trying to make herself more aerodynamic. She needed him to be going faster.

At the top of the ramp, Espresso caught up to Hashamoto. They immediately began shoving each other as both trains started down the ramp. It was a stupid place to fight, but they didn't seem to notice.

Both engines accelerated down the ramp. Buffy saw the quickly approaching guardrail that Hashamoto was too distracted to notice. She had a split-second decision to make: swerve herself to the right, yanking her engine with her and giving Hashamoto a second to react, or-

Energy thrumming through her, Buffy kicked Krupp's hands as hard as she could, forcing him to uncouple from Hashamoto.

Espresso swerved away from the guardrail just in time. Buffy looked over her shoulder just in time to see Hashamoto slam into the railing and catapult down into the ditch underneath the track. There was a horrific crash, squealing metal and shattering glass, that was almost lost in the noise of the race as Buffy was pulled away.

Krupp caught himself on the railing and looked down. He looked up just as Buffy disappeared into the tunnel, expression unreadable.

Espresso lost the race, but Buffy barely noticed. She just kept replaying the crash in her head, Hashamoto's frame crumpled in half by the railing, the terrific noise of the crash over and over. The noise played in her head the whole time she spent congratulating Electra and Greaseball on their places in the final. She smiled, and winked, and even patted Espresso on the back, as though it wasn't her fault he'd lost so badly.

The crash played in her mind as she made her goodbyes. Without thinking, she headed for the level under the racetrack. Where Hashamoto had crashed. He'd have been cleared away by the Marshals by now, but she wanted to see the site of the crash anyway. She…needed to.

"Buffy? Where are you going?"

Buffy turned around. Ashley was standing in the dim alleyway, backlit by the lights of the yard. She smiled at Buffy.

"Um…" Buffy said. She wasn't sure how to explain in a way that wouldn't make her sound like she'd completely lost it. "I was just taking a shortcut."

The smile on Ashley's face spread into a grin. "Without me?" She rolled closer to Buffy.

Buffy pulled her in and smiled. "Never." She kissed Ashley.

Ashley pressed her against the outer wall of the racetrack. She ran her hands over Buffy's chest and down to her hips. Buffy grabbed Ashley's ass. In her head, Hashamoto crashed over the railing. Glass shattered. Smoke rose, filling the air with the acrid scent of diesel.

Ashley slid her knee between Buffy's thighs. Buffy ground down on her leg, gasping. She hadn't realized how desperate she'd been for this, how badly she'd been aching. She pulled Ashley closer. She knew she was getting Ashley's leg wet, but she didn't care. She needed this.

Ashley got on her knees and unclipped Buffy's codpiece. Buffy hissed and shut her eyes as her steaming, aching heating coils and steam valve were exposed to the cool air. Behind her eyelids, an engine crashed in a fiery explosion. Her own gasps couldn't match the volume of the sounds of twisting metal echoing in her brain.

Ashley's tongue licked the dripping rim of her steam valve. Buffy grit her teeth. Ashley's mouth felt so good, it always did. She clung to the wall behind her. She was so worked up, much more than she'd realized.

Racing had gotten her this excited? Sure, the high-speed rush of following behind an engine could be thrilling, and there was something so physical about fighting other coaches. But what she was feeling, the way her vapor system ached, that wasn't from racing. That was from the crash that hadn't stopped replaying in her mind, not even when Ashley's tongue slipped inside her, licking her sensitive inner wall.

Buffy grabbed the back of Ashley's head and pushed Ashley's face hard against her steam valve. Ashley licked a strip up her heating coils and sucked on her vapor regulator. Buffy's hand tightened in Ashley's hair. She was so close to coming, her steam valve aching. "Please," she hissed through her teeth, not sure what she was asking for.

Ashley slid two fingers into Buffy's valve and lapped at her vapor regulator with the broad side of her tongue. Buffy stifled a scream, and she was coming, one hand grabbing desperately at the concrete wall for support. Behind her squeezed-shut eyes, fire erupted from the broken frame of an engine at the bottom of a ramp.

"It was pretty gnarly seeing Hashamoto go down like that," Ashley said, putting out the stub of her cigarette on the windowsill. She settled down to join Buffy, who was getting ready to sleep. "I don't think anyone else would know it was you, though."

"No…" Buffy considered. "Besides Krupp. But he doesn't seem like the type to report me to the Marshals."

"No, he doesn't. Hey, do you think I should try and crash someone in the race tomorrow?" Ashley grinned at her.

"If you want," Buffy said, not sure why she was suddenly flooded with a nervous vibration. "Who else is racing?"

"Turnov, Ruhrgold, and the Brit, I think." Ashley scowled.

Buffy snorted. "Crash the Prince. Or Bobo."

"That'll teach him to get his own cigarettes and not bum them off me all the time." Ashley turned off the light in the shed and settled in close to Buffy. "I can't wait."

Buffy curled against Ashley. She was nowhere near sleep. Her mind flicked between replaying the race earlier and coming up with all the possibilities for the race tomorrow. All the ways different engines could crash. Different angles she could see it from.

She lay there all night, dreaming of fire and laughing when an engine spun out of control over a guardrail.

Buffy hadn't slept at all. It was a good thing she wasn't racing today.

It was almost more anxiety-inducing to just watch, though. She couldn't do anything to help Ashley, couldn't even give her a pep talk at the starting line like she used to when they raced together. Not that Ashley couldn't hold her own, of course, but what if something went wrong at the last minute, and she wasn't there? What if Ashley chickened out, decided not to wreck her engine?

Well, Ashley didn't have to crash an engine. It was Buffy's idea, after all. Her plan.

No one had seen her crash Hashamoto—no one but Krupp, that is—so she hadn't exactly made her point of showing engines who was boss. Besides, crashing one of the Nationals was hardly a statement. They seemed to crash on their own without any provocation. What she really needed to do was crash Electra or Greaseball.

That was shaping up to be problematic. Espresso hadn't qualified for the final, and both the other engines seemed attached to their partners. Their only shot was for Ashley to win somehow, which meant she couldn't crash Bobo after all. It would have to be the Prince, then.

Buffy waited anxiously as the engines lined up. Ashley waved at her from behind Bobo. Buffy smiled and blew her a kiss.

But the British train was nowhere to be seen.

Control's voice broke through the pre-race noise, announcing the final engine in the race. Buffy watched in astonishment as the old steamer Poppa came down the track. Her heart sank. There was no way they could crash Poppa. What the hell was Ashley going to do now?

There was no way for her to interfere with the race without raising suspicion, no way for her to stop what was in motion now. She'd just have to wait and watch the race like everyone else.

Buffy stood anxiously by the side of the racetrack. There was no one vantage point that would afford her a view of the entire race, so a spot by the downhill ramp was as good as she was going to get. Her systems whirred in anticipation. Even if Ashley didn't crash anyone, Buffy was sure to see at least a little violence.

Caught up in her own thoughts, Buffy missed the countdown, only snapped back to attention by the blare of the starting alarm. The engines sped off, and she lost sight of them almost immediately as they rounded the corner into the first tunnel.

Buffy gritted her teeth. The same energy that had flooded her when she was preparing to crash during her race ran through her now, but she had no way to release it, or even see what was going on. She held her breath as she heard the engines approaching from the other end of the tunnel.

Engines blurred past her. She caught a glimpse of Ashley in the middle of the pack as they sped by. Her insides clenched. She had to grab the railing to keep from hurling herself over the barrier and joining in.

Buffy lost sight of the race again. She only caught glimpses from behind barriers, between scaffolding. Ashley sped by again. As the train reached the final curve, Ruhrgold hit the wall of the tunnel with a thunderous crash. Joule sped away down the track. Was she laughing?

Buffy couldn't tell. Her vision had gone slightly blurry at the sight of an engine slamming into a wall, that same glittery sound of grass breaking. Only it was much sharper and louder this time, not muffled at the bottom of the track. Something deep inside her churned.

Her agitation grew, and she couldn't stand still long enough to watch the Marshals clear Ruhrgold from the track. She sped off, not even waiting to see how the race ended. That energy was thrumming through her again, and she didn't quite know where to direct it. She wanted to crash someone, make something shatter and explode at once. She wanted fire, fumes, noises that you could never get out of your head.

Before she knew it, she was back at the coaches' shed, no memory of the route she'd taken to get there. Still too antsy to go in and settle down, Buffy rolled in circles around the shed. She was burning. Everything inside her was far too hot. She had to keep herself from doing something rash and ruining her plan, showing everyone the rage that burned inside her too soon.

"Buffy?"

Ashley's voice halted her twelfth loop around the shed. Buffy turned and rolled back to the front of the shed. Ashley was standing there, looking…disappointed?

"Ashley?" Buffy said, rolling close to her. "What's wrong?" She reached for Ashley's hand.

Ashley pulled her hand away. Buffy's fingers fell short, hovering in the air between them a moment too long.

"What's going on with you?" Ashley said, brows creased. She gulped in a way Buffy knew meant she was trying not to cry. "I went to look for you after the race but you were gone! Did you even bother to wait to see me win?"

"You won?" Buffy said, surprised.

"Second place, but yeah." Ashley sniffed. "Poppa got first."

"Ash, I'm sorry. I just-" Again, she found it hard to explain why the sight of an engine crashing had gotten her so worked up that she had to evacuate the area. Making out with Ashley wasn't going to do the trick this time. She had some explaining to do.

"I thought about what would happen if you crashed, and I got so scared. I had to leave. I didn't want to see you crash. I just kept thinking-" She sniffed, tears brimming in her eyes. "That I couldn't bear it if something happened to you, and I had told you to- that I had put you in harm's way-"

Ashley's face crumpled. "Oh, sweetie." She pulled Buffy into a hug. Buffy buried her face in Ashley's chest.

"I'm sorry." Ashley kissed the top of Buffy's head. "But you had nothing to worry about. I got too scared to crash Bobo. We were going so fast, and I couldn't risk hurting Poppa."

Ruhrgold crashing flashed in Buffy's mind again. The desperate energy inside of her had become a low simmer during this confrontation, but now it came back in full force.

"Of course not," Buffy sniffed. "I'm just so glad you're okay." She looked up at Ashley with watery eyes.

Ashley pulled her into a kiss. She pulled back and pressed her forehead to Buffy's. "I'm okay."

Fire was still burning inside Buffy. She pulled Ashley back in for another kiss, harder this time. Ashley let out a gasp of surprise, but she kissed back.

Then pulled away. "Buffy," Ashley said, "you-"

"Please," Buffy said, looking at her desperately. "I need you." Pressure was building somewhere inside her frame, metal twisting, glass crashing. She needed something to push her over the edge into explosion.

Ashley yanked her inside the coaches's shed, then shoved her against the wall. She kissed Buffy like she'd been holding it in all day, waiting for the chance to kiss her like she meant it. Buffy gasped at Ashley's intensity, finally getting somewhere near her own burning fervor.

Ashley rubbed the corners of Buffy's chestbox with her thumbs. Buffy sighed into her mouth. She wanted Ashley to press into her harder.

Better yet, take her on the ground, twist around and into her, meld the two of them into one. She grabbed Ashley's hips and yanked them towards hers. Ashley fell against her, her knee grinding against Buffy's codpiece. Buffy moaned. She rolled her hips against Ashley, who reached down to undo her codpiece when-

ACT TWO

The door to the coaches' shed slammed open, the lights suddenly turned on. Buffy and Ashley froze, pressed against the far wall.

Dinah stood in the doorway, visibly fuming. Buffy and Ashley slowly separated, but Dinah was too busy trying not to cry to notice.

The heat low in Buffy's frame yelled at her, screamed to put her body back into motion, but she shoved it down. She pulled Ashley along with her to stand on either side of Dinah. "What's wrong?"

Dinah's lower lip trembled. "G-Greaseball-" She gulped, staring at the floor. "He-" She hiccuped.

Ashley and Buffy exchanged a glance. He'd uncoupled from her yet again, it seemed.

"Oh, Dinah," Buffy said, stroking her hair soothingly. "It'll be okay."

The three of them sank onto the floor, Dinah bursting into sobs in the middle. "He-he just uncoupled me for no reason! It makes n-no sense. Just because Pearl was there! I didn't even do anything wrong!" She took a deep breath, and started blubbering again.

Ashley rubbed Dinah's back and handed her a tissue. "He's an asshole, that's why. He doesn't respect you."

"No, he doesn't!" Dinah said, straightening up a little as the tears kept rolling down her cheeks. "He's such a bastard!" She crumpled the tissue in her fist.

Buffy nodded. "He is."

"I'm glad he broke up with me. Now I don't have to deal with his bullshit anymore," Dinah said. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose. Ashley patted her shoulder while she took a few deep breaths.

"Say, what were you guys doing when I came in here? How come the lights were off?" Dinah said suddenly.

Ashley and Buffy looked at each other. "Um, we were-"

"Kidding," Dinah giggled. "As if it's not obvious. Did I interrupt?" She smirked at Buffy.

The heat Buffy had been pushing down rose up again, threatening to flood her systems.

Why shouldn't they? It wasn't anywhere near the first time they'd done this. And Dinah was sad, and needed cheering up, and she was always so warm. Buffy needed all the heat she could get right now.

She flicked a glance at Ashley. Ashley nodded imperceptibly. Buffy looked back at Dinah. "Do you want to join?"

Dinah grinned. "I'd love to." She looked Buffy and Ashley up and down slowly, taking in the details of their somewhat rumpled appearances—Ashley's red cheeks, Buffy's nearly-unclipped codpiece, the freshly bitten look of both their lips. "You can get back to what you were doing before I barged in."

Ashley pulled Buffy closer, and then they were kissing again. Buffy leaned into it, opening her mouth to deepen the kiss. She pulled Ashley on top of her, both of them laying on the floor now.

Ashley kissed all over her chestbox, licking and nipping at the joints and hinges. Buffy moaned and squirmed under Ashley. Her head swam. She needed more, needed Ashley's heat to envelop her.

She heard a creak and a rustle, and turned her head towards the sound. She'd forgotten Dinah was there, but she was, and was reaching underneath her skirts to touch herself. She smiled at Buffy. Buffy's cheeks got even hotter.

Ashley undid Buffy's codpiece and threw it aside. She ran her fingers gently along the slick metal of Buffy's heating coils, and Buffy moaned. "Ashley, please." It wasn't enough. She'd been waiting for too long.

Ashley hitched up her skirt and pulled aside her own codpiece. She was dripping too, her insides steaming. Buffy nearly drooled at the sight.

Ashley shoved Buffy's leg up, exposing her steam valve. She straddled Buffy's other leg, and pressed her burning compressor belt to Buffy's heating coils. Buffy let out a high moan. Ashley was so, so hot, hotter than the anxious energy in Buffy's core, and she could finally breathe. She angled her hips up, trying to get their shut off valve and vapor regulator to rub against each other.

The new angle made the both of them gasp. Ashley planted her hands on either side of Buffy's head and rolled her hips down, hard. Buffy grabbed Ashley's hips and rolled harder against her. She needed more pressure. She needed more heat. She needed…

She knew Dinah was sitting beside them, touching herself to the sights and sounds of them scissoring.

"Dinah," Buffy gasped out. Dinah's head snapped up, hand still moving under her skirts. She looked at Buffy, her face flushed.

"Sit on my face," Buffy said. Her voice was weak, strained from all her moaning.

Dinah nodded enthusiastically. She tugged her underwear all the way off and came over to straddle Buffy's head. She faced towards Ashley, slowly lowering her relief valve onto Buffy's face. When the heat and warmth of her bottom cap gasket surrounded Buffy's face, she felt almost sated. The hot diesel and steel smell of Dinah, dripping with condensation, was intoxicating.

Ashley leaned forward and kissed Dinah. Dinah grinned into the kiss. Shifting her weight shoved her sensitive adjusting screw into Buffy's mouth, and Buffy flicked it with her tongue.

Dinah gasped. She sank further onto Buffy's mouth, pushing the adjusting screw in further. "Ohh, Buffy," she moaned.

Ashley ground down harder against Buffy's heating coils, jerking her hips to rub her shut off valve against the rim of Buffy's steam valve. Ashley gasped, pressing harder against Buffy, rubbing her hot, slick compressor belt against Buffy's vapor regulator. Buffy's face was already covered in Dinah's refrigerant. The energy that was beginning to burn her from the inside out was being replaced by the excitement of the coaches on top of her, moaning and leaking liquids onto and into her. Ashley's hips jerked against Buffy's vapor regulator, making it tremble,and Buffy was coming.

Dinah grabbed Buffy's head and began riding her properly. Buffy could hardly breathe as she came, her mouth full of Dinah, her heating coils melded against Ashley. She couldn't have been happier.

Another jerk of Ashley's hips and she was coming on top of Buffy. Buffy tried to gather her senses enough to make her mouth worth Dinah's while, licking and sucking as Dinah ground down against her mouth. She slid her tongue into Dinah's relief valve and pressed against her spring holder. She slid her tongue back out and flicked against her adjusting screw.

Dinah gasped, bending forward and pressing her adjusting screw hard against Buffy's tongue. Her thighs shook, knees clenching around Buffy's head. She gasped, then moaned, deep in her chest. "Fuck, Buffy…"

Buffy gladly accepted the condensation that squirted onto her face as Dinah came. Dinah panted above her, slowly catching her breath.

Ashley and Dinah eased off of Buffy, both panting. Buffy lay there, also panting. The fire in her had subsided for now.

She sat up. Ashley handed her a damp cloth to clean herself off.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Ashley asked as Dinah pulled her underwear back on. "For the race."

"Oh, Electra asked me to race with him. I said yes."

Buffy faltered. Dinah had jumped to another engine that quickly? After what Greaseball had just done? "What?"

Dinah bit her lip. "But, I mean, if Greaseball changes his mind…"

"Ugh, Dinah," Ashley sighed. "At least Electra is prettier."

"Hey!" Dinah said, playfully bumping Ashley's arm.

Something that had been bothering Buffy this whole time finally rose to the surface. "So who's racing with Rusty?"

"Huh?" Dinah said. "Oh. I don't know. Nobody, I guess." She shrugged.

"Well, I'm still racing with Bobo," Ashley said, pulling a cigarette from her shirt.

"So I have to race with Rusty?" Buffy said, somewhat in disbelief.

Look, Buffy wasn't exactly happy that Rusty had been beaten up and mocked so badly (again), just for daring to enter in the race on Poppa's behalf. She didn't hate Rusty; he was by far the kindest engine she'd ever met. She wasn't particularly excited to crash him, either, but it was what needed to be done. What she needed to do.

She couldn't lie, though. The thought of sending another engine flying to a dramatic, fiery crash stirred something deep inside her. She'd heard stories of the terrific crashes old steam engines got into, their boilers exploding and thick tendrils of tubing bursting from their chests. It sounded gory and terrific. That would really prove her point.

"You really want to race with me?" Rusty said, sounding a little doubtful.

"I don't want to. I wouldn't choose to be stuck with a slow engine. But there's no one else." Buffy sighed. Rusty really wasn't her first choice, to race with or to crash. But what could she do? She needed to be in that race. She wished she could be nicer to Rusty, but it would seem a little suspicious if she was suddenly excited about racing with the slowest engine in the yard.

"You don't think I can win?" Rusty said, a little indignant.

"Well, if Poppa can win, I guess you have a chance," Buffy said. She tried to look bored.

Rusty seemed somewhat disheartened by her answer. "I'll see you on the track, then." He sped off, leaving Buffy alone in the yard to contemplate what she was going to do, if she was going to cross a line and crash Rusty.

It wasn't that she and Ashley were the perfect couple. They had their fights and bad habits. Buffy was stubborn and quick to anger. Ashley was also stubborn, but her anger simmered lower and longer. Buffy had a tendency to leave crumbs and wrappers around the coaches' shed. Ashley left everything she borrowed smelling of cigarette smoke. Ashley didn't always like how friendly and touchy Buffy was with coaches from other yards. Buffy didn't always like Ashley's smoking buddies.

But this was a step further. Ashley might not forgive her for this one. Ashley might be scared of her.

Ashley just couldn't see her do it, then. She'd have to be quick.

Buffy held on tight to Rusty's couplers as they waited by the starting line. She was jittery with anticipation. Should she crash him right when the race began? No, she'd certainly be caught then. Around the first curve? Alone, or with other engines around? Was she just supposed to know when the time was right? Last time, the opportunity had miraculously presented itself. Surely that wouldn't be the case every time. She wondered how CB had done this for so long without getting caught. It seemed impossible.

The race alarms blared, and Buffy snapped back to attention, energy beginning to course through her. Ashley, next to her at the starting line, gave her a worried look. Buffy gave her a wide smile. Ashley didn't seem comforted, but it was too late.

The starting alarm sounded, and the trains were off. Rusty couldn't accelerate as quickly as the other engines. Buffy would have to wait precious seconds before he'd even be at a fast enough speed to crash. Electra, Greaseball, and Bobo were already gone from view.

As they rounded the first curve, Buffy cursed to herself. Why had she gotten stuck with the slowest engine? She had all this pent-up heat inside her, and nowhere to go, not even the thrill and rush of speeding down the track to make it worth her while.

The race dragged on, and Rusty's speed grew steadily until they were right behind the other engines. Rusty's boiler was so hot, Buffy could feel it on her face. His smoke was beginning to get in her eyes. She coughed.

"Sorry," Rusty panted. It sounded like he could hardly breathe. Buffy felt a pang of sympathy for him. She shook it off. Now was no time to lose her nerve.

They passed Electra, who was lagging just behind Greaseball. As they passed Electra and Dinah, Buffy realized they were heading down a ramp which ran alongside the bowl of the racetrack. No guardrails. Just as they pulled alongside Greaseball, Buffy yanked Rusty as hard as she could to the left, hurling him off the ramp and down into the bowl. Her joints creaked from the effort. The other engines rushed past her.

A thrill went through her. She was electrified.

It was a steep fall. Rusty hit the side of the track with his head as he fell, a loud crash echoing around the bowl. He twisted at an angle that made Buffy cringe as much as it made her heart pound. The metal of his helmet and frame clanged as he rolled down the slope, collapsing on his stomach in the center. He lay there, unmoving.

Control's voice was loud in the speakers above them. "Race cancelled! Race cancelled!"

Buffy had to keep herself from trembling with excitement as she rolled down to where Rusty lay crumpled.

She'd only just gotten there when Greaseball and Electra sped into the bowl, startling her.

Greaseball stared at her. "Hey…Buffy?"

"Hey," she grinned, fluttering her fingers at him.

"You…did this?" Electra said, looking from Rusty's broken form to Buffy.

"I was sick of him and his attitude," Buffy said, sneering at Rusty. "So I did something about it."

Greaseball crossed his arms, looking impressed. "Nice. Didn't think a coach had that in 'em."

The thrill of crashing Rusty was broken then. She'd gotten lost in the unexpected feeling that came when she crashed an engine, that left her wanting more and more. She had to remember why she was doing this in the first place: to show engines they were wrong about coaches, about everything.

"Well, I do," Buffy said, winking at him. She wasn't sure where this flirtatious energy was coming from, only that it felt like the right thing to do in that moment.

Only then did she notice something beyond the scaffolding of the racetrack. A flash of brown in the shadows. Ashley. Fuck.

"See you on the track, boys!" Buffy called as she rushed away after Ashley.

Once she was out of earshot of the engines, Buffy called out, "Ashley!" She wasn't sure which way she had gone.

She heard a sniffle from her right. Buffy rushed down the track, following the sound. "Ashley?"

The sniff was louder this time. Buffy turned, and saw Ashley tucked under a metal beam holding up the track. She was crying quietly.

"Oh, Ashley!" Buffy cried, rushing over to her. She tried to hug her, but Ashley flinched away.

Buffy's face fell. "Ashley?"

Ashley shook her head. "Don't touch me. Please."

Buffy's chest suddenly felt very cold. Ashley hadn't been meant to see. She hadn't been meant to know. "Ashley, please, listen to me. It's not what it looks like."

"What does it look like, Buffy?" Ashley said, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Because I don't know if I can trust you anymore! I can't believe you would crush Rusty! He's our friend!"

"Ashley, I didn't-"

"You could have seriously hurt him! You could've killed him, Buffy! He's never been anything but nice to us! Why would you do that?" Ashley was sobbing now.

There was a real answer, but there was no way Buffy could tell her. Because I couldn't help myself would not comfort Ashley. It would only make things worse. She had to make this better.

"Ashley, I'm sorry. I did it, but I don't know what happened. I wasn't thinking. Before I realized what I was doing, I was shoving him off the ramp! I ran down there to check on him, but Greaseball and Electra beat me to it. I didn't want them to hurt him anymore, I said the first thing I could think of!"

Ashley seemed to be considering her words. She looked at Buffy with wet, sensitive eyes. Her eyes flicked down to Buffy's lips.

Buffy sighed in relief. Her explanation had worked. She leaned in to kiss Ashley, closing her eyes.

A hand pressed against her face. She opened her eyes.

Ashley was pushing her away again, shaking her head. "No, Buffy. I don't believe you. You've been in hundreds of races. Why would this happen now? You're so smart, you're always thinking. It wasn't an accident. Sure, you weren't telling the truth to Greaseball and Electra, but you're still lying to me." Her lip trembled. "And I don't know why you're lying to me, but it doesn't matter." She backed away.

"Ashley," Buffy pleaded. "I love you."

"Do you love me more than…whatever this is?" Ashley said, eyes worried. "I'm scared of you. You're not the Buffy I know, the Buffy I love. You've changed, and it's scaring me."

Buffy reached out, opened her mouth to say something, anything that could fix this, but Ashley was already gone.

But what if this was who she'd really been all along? Buffy, who crashed engines for the thrill of it? Buffy, who stopped caring about what every other train wanted? Buffy, who was finally free?

"So, Buffy," Electra said from behind her. "Looks like you're free."

Buffy turned around, swallowing her tears. "I don't have an engine anymore, if that's what you mean."

“How convenient,” Electra said. “Seeing as I just had a falling-out with my coach, too.”

“Dinah?” Buffy asked. Good on her, for dumping an engine. Especially one as superior as Electra.

Electra snorted. “Yes, her. She seemed to take issue with the way I wanted to race.”

“How so?” Buffy asked, feigning interest.

“Well, I wanted to win. She wanted me to compliment her. Whistle at her, she said. How absurd.” Electra sniffed with indignation. “I told her to get lost. But you…I’ve heard tell that you want to win.”

Heard tell? Buffy had been trying to keep her violence and treachery as undercover as she could.

A memory flashed through Buffy’s mind: Krupp, watching her studiously as Hashamoto crashed over the railing. Krupp, whispering in Electra's ear on the sidelines. Of course.

“I’ll do what it takes,” she grinned.

“Welcome to the winning team,” Electra said, offering her his couplers.

It was a curious feeling, to be pulled along behind Electra. Buffy was well aware that most of the gathered trains in the crowd weren't too fond of Electra. But still, they commanded such a powerful presence. The crowd hushed as he drove through, and Buffy understood the appeal of racing with him.

None of the attention was really being directed toward her, though. She was just something shiny to pull along behind. None of the glory was ever for her.

As they pulled up to the starting line, she tried to make eye contact with Ashley, coupled to Bobo next to her. Ashley pointedly looked away.

"Ashley!" Buffy hissed, trying to be heard over the pre-race noise and chatter. "Ashley!"

"What?!" Ashley hissed back, not turning her head. "I don't have anything to say to you." The tracks of tears were still visible on her cheeks.

"Ashley, please, listen to me," Buffy said, leaning closer to keep the engines from hearing.

Before she could get another word out, a hush fell over the crowd. Buffy craned her neck to see what happening on on the racetrack.

Of all the things Buffy had expected, it was not Rusty coming back onto the track, entering the final race with Dustin.

This put a slight wrinkle in her plans. Sure, she was glad that Rusty wasn’t hurt too seriously. Maybe Ashley would forgive her now.

On the other hand, another engine in the race would complicate matters. And then there was the problem of Pearl. Buffy glanced over at her, at the end of the starting line. Pearl was nervously fiddling with her skirt.

Buffy really, really didn’t want to hurt another coach. But she had to crash Greaseball for the hell he put Dinah—and frankly, every coach in the yard—through.

Pearl wasn’t wholly innocent in the situation, though. She had hurt Dinah too. But Buffy didn’t want to crash her about it. She just thought Pearl should apologize. Greaseball, on the other hand, could never be sorry enough.

Rusty and Dustin pulled up next to her. Buffy gave Dustin a friendly smile, which he easily returned. He didn't have anything to worry about from her. Rusty eyed her a little nervously, but said nothing.

There was no time to talk to Ashley now. The alarms began to blare. All that was left now was to act.

Buffy gripped Electra's couplers tight. This was going to be far different than racing with Rusty.

The countdown ended, and Buffy was jerked forward, Electra accelerating faster than she could've prepared for. She lost her balance for a second. She swore under her breath.

Buffy wasn't a champion racer, but she wasn't exactly new to the game, either. Electra was just accelerating faster than Buffy had really thought was possible. This was going to be slightly more difficult than she had planned for. Again, she wondered how CB—who was smaller than her—had been able to crash so many large engines.

But he had the advantage of controlling the brakes. What did she have?

Greaseball thundered behind them. He was steadily catching up to Electra, who couldn't keep accelerating forever.

He was going a little slower than Buffy had been expecting, though. As he struggled to pull up alongside Electra, Buffy suddenly saw why.

Pearl, coupled to Greaseball, was bracing herself hard behind him, doing her best to lock all her wheels in place. There wasn't much she could do as an observation car to slow down Greaseball, but she was trying. And she was making an impact, however slight, on his speed.

Greaseball was fuming. "Pearl!" he barked. "You're slowing me down!" With a sharp jerk of his elbow, he uncoupled Pearl. She spun away from him down the track.

Buffy nearly yelled, watching her friend go flying by. She flung out a hand to catch Pearl by the coupler, but she was too late. Electra was pulling away too quickly. As she looked back, Buffy saw Rusty catch Pearl before she hurtled off the edge of the track.

Buffy turned away, now fully steeled in her resolve to do what she needed to do. For Pearl, for Dinah, for Ashley. For all of them.

Greaseball was much faster now, racing without a coach. Electra was still easily beating him, but Buffy wasn't sure how long that would last.

Bobo pulled up on their other side, Ashley holding on tight behind him. "Buffy!" She cried, reaching out a hand to her. "You don't have to do this!"

Buffy looked at her, but didn't take her hand. She shook her head, smiling sadly at Ashley. "You don't get it, Ashley."

Bobo began pulling ahead. Buffy frowned. She couldn't let Ashley get tangled up in what she was about to do.

It briefly occurred to her that Ashley was trying to save her, like Rusty had just saved Pearl from crashing. But Buffy was in control of her crash. She didn't need saving.

Buffy grabbed Ashley's hand and yanked her backwards. She gripped Ashley's hand tightly. Bobo went flying down the track, crashing into the barrier behind them.

Electra struggled at the sudden extra weight, but only faltered for a moment. At the flattest part of the track, Buffy released Ashley's hand. Ashley rolled away down the track, but quickly stopped herself on the barrier.

Buffy only had a second to wave goodbye to Ashley before she had to focus. They were getting close to the end of the race. She had to do something, and do it now.

As they approached the curve before the final downhill, Electra and Greaseball were neck and neck. Her window to act was closing, quickly.

Buffy clenched her hands tight around Electra's couplers. She shut her eyes and focused on every appliance inside her. The toasters, the microwave, the hot plate, every strand of lights in every display case. Electricity flowed through her as every machine sprang to hot, brilliant life. For a moment, she was electrified, and the charge ran through her hands to Electra's couplers.

Electra screamed, his displays going haywire as they all rounded the curve. His engine faltered, but he and Buffy were still hurtling downhill. Electra wasn't exactly staying upright. Buffy struggled to keep him for collapsing for the second it took for Greaseball to pull up beside them. Bracing herself, she yanked Electra by the couplers and threw him against Greaseball as hard as she could.

Electra slammed into Greaseball, hurling both of them into the railing with a terrific crash. Bits of metal and glass exploded off them.

Buffy had been thrown against the opposite railing from the force of her throw, getting the wind knocked out of her. All she could do was watch as the two engines slid against the railing and down the hill.

Buffy's heart raced as they sped towards the wall of the tunnel just before the finish line. She wasn't electrified by her appliances anymore (and was beginning to feel the effects of flaring up everything at once), but she was still buzzing and sparking, watching Greaseball and Electra crash into the wall.

Plating bent and twisted, screws popped, plastic snapped, and glass shattered everywhere. The ground was smeared with oil that was dripping from one or both of them. The two engines were mangled together.

Rusty rushed down the track past Buffy, easily making the turn to the finish line and crossing it. The audience cheered in an explosion of noise, but Buffy didn't move. She was really starting to feel the effects of her stunt now. She clung to the railing for support, but it wasn't enough. She fell to the track, and her vision blacked out.

Buffy struggled awake. She had no idea how long she'd been out for, or where she was. Everything around her was dark, save for a few geometric slivers of light. She tried to move her limbs, but found she couldn't. She was sitting against something cold and hard, her hands and feet tied. She struggled at the bonds, but they were tight and well knotted.

A light flickered on in front of her, revealing a tall silhouette. Buffy recognized her immediately. "Ashley! Where am I? What's going on?"

Ashley walked closer to her. She looked down at Buffy.

Buffy felt warm all over. In another situation, Ashley tying her up and standing over her threateningly would be very exciting.

As it was, Buffy felt herself wet with coolant. Was it from earlier? Did…the race make her this wet?

She had other things to worry about right now, anyway. Ashley looked at her with an unreadable expression. "It's been a few hours since the race. You collapsed on the track. Wrench took a look at you, and said you were okay. Well, that you're going to be okay. You overloaded all your wiring. You're going to need serious repairs."

Buffy let that fact sink in. Even if it weren't for the ropes tying her down, it was still difficult to move her limbs with her usual ease. Something felt strange inside of her. "I don't feel great. If I need serious repairs, why am I tied up under the racetrack?"

"Because I'm not sure if they should repair you!" Ashley exclaimed. She looked ashen. "No, I'm sorry, of course I didn't mean that." She looked away from Buffy. "But if they fix you, will you keep doing things like this?"

Buffy frowned. "Like what?"

Ashley looked at her, face stony. "You don't know what happened to Electra and Greaseball."

"Of course not!" Buffy snapped. "I've been unconscious!"

"You hurt them really, really badly," Ashley said. "The repair shed is too busy with them to look at you yet." At Buffy's look of indignation, she cut in, "not because you're a coach, but because your injuries weren't life-threatening."

Even though Buffy's wiring wasn't working properly, she felt herself light up. It was something close to the feeling she got when Ashley's whole hand was inside of her, when her face was drenched in Ashley's coolant and her fingers aching. She had almost killed them? "Fuck," she whispered.

"Fuck is right," Ashley said, in a very different tone. "It's going to take weeks to get them back into shape to move, let alone work."

"They'd better learn something from this," Buffy said. She strained against the ropes again, but they still didn't budge.

"They- Buffy! You'd better learn something from this!" Ashley's eyes were filling with tears, her cheeks red from anger. "What were you thinking!"

Buffy was thinking that her vapor regulator was throbbing at the news of nearly killing two engines. She was thinking that she was a little disappointed that she hadn't managed to kill either of them, but she guessed it was better that she hadn't. She was thinking that it was strange that Ashley was the only one interrogating her.

"Why are you the only one here?" Buffy said, looking around the shadowy space for any sign of another person. "Why isn't Poppa the one telling me off?"

Ashley looked around too, her glance a little more furtive. "Because I'm the only one who knows!" She whispered, a little panicked.

Buffy paused, recalculating. No one else knew she had crashed the engines? "What?"

"Everyone thinks they crashed into each other, and that Electra's wiring is messed up because of that. Only I know that you did it all on purpose."

Buffy sighed internally. It wasn't the flashy, dramatic statement she'd meant to make, but at least she wasn't going to get kicked out of the yard. "Ashley, you don't have to worry. I'm not going to hurt you," she said softly. "I wouldn't crash you. I'm not out of control! I didn't hurt Pearl, or Dustin!"

Ashley drew her eyebrows together. "But you hurt Rusty." She dropped her eyes. "Buffy, you almost killed two engines. That scares me."

"Ashley," Buffy said, straining forward against her restraints. "I only did it for you. And Pearl, and Dinah, and me, and all of us coaches! Every single one of those engines has been an asshole to us!"

"But you can't crash them for it, Buffy!" Ashley exclaimed. "There are other ways-"

"None of them listen to us!" Buffy cried. "We tell them to stop, to be gentler, nicer, treat us as important as engines, and they never do! I had to make them listen for once!"

Ashley was silent for a moment. "I get it." She sighed, slumping her shoulders. "But Buffy, did it work? Did you show them that they have to listen to coaches?" She screwed up her mouth. "Just, please. Promise me you won't do it anymore, okay? No more crashing engines."

Buffy felt the heat still burning low in her from the thought of the crash, the coolant still pooled in her codpiece. She would never be able to forget the rush of shoving an engine, the heat washing over her as they splintered and shattered and twisted and screamed, the way it made everything in her light up. She knew she wouldn't be able to give that up.

"Of course, Ashley." She looked up at her entreatingly. "I won't crash anyone ever again."

Ashley sank to her knees in front of Buffy. "Oh, Buffy," she said, and cupped Buffy's face with her hands.

Buffy shut her eyes, and Ashley kissed her. It had been less than a day since Ashley had last kissed her, but it felt like a lifetime. She leaned into it, opening her mouth, but Ashley pulled away.

"I was so worried," she said, on the verge of tears. She wrapped her arms around Buffy. With her face hidden, she started to cry.

Buffy couldn't exactly return the gesture with her limbs still tied, so she had to settle for resting her head on Ashley's shoulder.

"Oh-" Ashley half-cried, half-laughed. She let Buffy go. "I guess I should probably untie you now."

Buffy grinned at her. "Well, you don't have to."

Ashley raised an eyebrow at her. "Here? Now? We need to get you to the repair shed."

"You said they're busy! Come on, it would be such a shame to waste me tied up for you." She flicked her eyes from Ashley's mouth to her skirt, and back again, just to make sure her point was clear.

Ashley bit her lip, considering. "Well…"

Buffy leaned forward and wrapped her lips around Ashley's chestbox hinge. A gasp startled out of Ashley's mouth, and she laughed. "Okay, okay."

She stood and lifted her skirt. Buffy's head was at precisely the right height for this. She grabbed Ashley's underwear with her teeth and attempted to tug it down, but it didn't work exactly as she'd hoped. Ashley pulled them down obligingly.

Buffy shut her eyes and breathed in the scent of Ashley. She was warm, metallic, a little acrid with smoke. Buffy took in one deep breath, then another. Her steam valve began leaking condensation and spurting steam. She needed this. She opened her mouth wide.

Ashley lowered her hips onto Buffy's face, and Buffy nearly fainted with pleasure. She moved aside Ashley's rotating head plate with her chin, and licked a long stripe from Ashley's compressor shut off valve to her access ports, sliding her tongue as far into her port as she could. Ashley moaned and rocked her hips. Buffy began fucking her with her tongue, her jaw straining. She rubbed her nose against Ashley's shut off valve. Ashley doubled over, only managing to support herself with a hand on the wall. "Fuck, Buffy," she gasped.

Buffy was also gasping. This was a fantasy she hadn't known she had, having Ashley tie her up and fuck her face. They were definitely going to have to do this again. She wished she could touch herself. She was so worked up, she'd come instantly.

Ashley's thighs squeezed around Buffy's head. Buffy slid her tongue out of Ashley's port and licked around the rim. She flicked her tongue along the underside of Ashley's valve. Ashley moaned, and bucked her hips against Buffy's face. She was close to coming already. Buffy focused her attentions on Ashley's valve, sucking and biting gently.

"Buffy!" Ashley gasped, and then she was crumpling around Buffy, coolant flowing freely into Buffy's mouth and down her chin. Buffy was suffocating a little, but she didn't mind.

Ashley gathered herself enough to release Buffy and stand up. She knelt and kissed Buffy, biting her lip. "Want me to untie you now?"

Buffy smiled, her head a little fuzzy from the exertion and the crash. "That depends, can you fuck me like this?" She tried to spread her knees as best she could with her ankles tied.

"Nothing could keep me from fucking you," Ashley said, grinning. She unclipped Buffy's codpiece.

Much more coolant than Buffy had been expecting dripped out onto the ground. Ashley blinked in surprise. This was a lot, even for Buffy. "Eating me out got you that excited, huh?" She grinned, and kissed Buffy.

Buffy hummed pleasantly. She was happy to let Ashley believe that.

She clearly didn't need any warmup. Ashley slid two fingers into Buffy's steam valve.

Buffy sighed. "Ashley…"

Ashley kissed her again, opening her mouth. Buffy opened her mouth, too, letting Ashley slide her tongue inside.

Buffy needed more. She moaned into Ashley's mouth, but she couldn't form the word.

Ashley knew her, though, and slid another finger in without hesitation. Buffy's steam valve clenched. Ashley released her from the kiss.

"More," Buffy gasped immediately. She needed Ashley to fill her up more than she needed to breathe.

Ashley grinned and slid a fourth finger into her steam valve. Buffy's head tipped back as she moaned. trying in vain to rock her hips against Ashley's hand. Ashley pumped in and out of her slowly, each of her fingertips pressing against her sensitive lining. Her fingers dragged over embedded wiring, pressed into the edges of her other systems. It was too much, more sensation than she could handle right now, but, still, all she could say was-

"Please," Buffy sobbed, not quite sure what she was asking for. She needed something, anything more.

Ashley's thumb flicked her vapor regulator, and Buffy twitched, hard. The regulator twitched too. With every pump of her hand, Ashley hit Buffy's vapor regulator. Every brush to her regulator made her jerk as sensation flooded through her, over and over and over.

Buffy felt so warm, her limbs floating, her head fuzzy. It was hard to think. It just felt so good, and she was so, so wet, and Ashley kissed her, and she was coming, squeezing so tight around Ashley's hand that Ashley cursed, a drop of coolant leaking out of her port, too. Buffy trembled, and trembled, and finally collapsed against Ashley.

Ashley caught her easily. She waited a beat, then slid her hand out of Buffy's valve. Buffy groaned at the sudden emptiness.

Ashley held her fingers to Buffy's mouth. They were covered in her coolant. Without thinking, Buffy opened her mouth and sucked Ashley's fingers clean. She ran her tongue gently along the pads of Ashley's fingers, made sure to clean her fingers thoroughly. Her body was spent, her wiring damaged, and all she wanted was to suck the taste of her own coolant off Ashley's fingers.

She took Ashley's fingers in further, far enough that she started to drool. Ashley, who had been idly letting her clean, took a moment to realize that Buffy was doing a little more than cleaning.

"Oh! Buffy," Ashley said, taking her fingers out of Buffy's mouth. "We need to get you cleaned up. And untied!" She made quick work of Buffy's restraints.

Buffy, her senses still coming back to her, slowly spread out on the ground. With tingling hands and feet, she clipped her codpiece back into place and tested her legs. She sat up gradually, rubbing her wrists and ankles.

Ashley offered her a hand. Buffy took it. When they were both standing, Ashley pressed a kiss to Buffy's forehead, then her cheek, and finally her lips.

"I'm sorry," Ashley said. "For tying you up while you were unconscious."

Buffy laughed. "That's okay, I understand." She kissed Ashley. "I'm sorry for scaring you. It won't happen again."

"Okay," Ashley said, looking her in the eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too," Buffy said, meeting her gaze.

"Come on," Ashley said, offering Buffy her couplers. "Let's get you fixed up."

Buffy sat on a lifted table in the repair shed. She saw the mechanics and engineers talking in the small office at the far end of the shed. Across the shed from where she sat was a large curtained-off section of the shed. Intermittent clanking and groaning came from behind the curtain.

That was probably where Electra and Greaseball were. They were in much better shape than they had been since the crash, but they were still nowhere near their former selves. Repairs were taking longer than expected. There were delays, estimations, calculations, recalculations, closed-door discussions, gossip through the yard. Buffy had been resting in the coaches' shed that week as she waited for the maintenance team to get a chance to look at her, but she had still heard what everyone was saying when the other girls brought back news from the workday.

How Greaseball and Electra probably wouldn't be able to race as fast as they used to, or haul as much weight anymore, not without a lot of additional repairs and training. That the yard was going to need another engine if they wanted to keep business afloat. That the yard didn't have money for a new engine. That the yard management was looking for alternative solutions.

That Dinah had heard from a coach in another yard about a new kind of railcar called a rail diesel car, something that looked like a coach, worked like a coach, but that had its own diesel engine. A coach that could travel by itself, no need for a separate engine. That the right kind of coach could be made over into a rail diesel car, but it took a lot of work around sensitive systems. That Buffy needed serious repairs that would require a lot of in-depth work, messing with her internal systems and electrical capabilities.

Buffy had listened in stunned silence when they explained the procedure to her. For what she'd done, she was being turned into an engine.

In the solitude of the shed before the procedure, she let a grin spread across her face.

Buffy had spent two weeks in the coaches' shed recovering, but she was finally being allowed out for some light to moderate exercise. As she left the shed and headed onto the track that ran through the yard, Buffy tested the new distribution of the weight on her wheels. She was bulkier now, more power in her chest, back, and thighs. She was faster, she noticed as she began circling the shed. She wasn't going to get up to any great speed anytime soon, but it was more than she'd ever been able to do before.

She grinned. Who knew what she'd get up to as an engine now?