Bill Rosemore

"'...It was Ben's fault!'"

Past
Bill and his twin brother, Ben, were born in Cornwall, England and taken from their biological parents when they were babies. He doesn't remember much about them. The two were kept together in the foster care system and eventually relocated to Birmingham, where they spent a majority of their childhood being shuffled from home to home. Bill and his brother have always been mischievous and though never truly harmful, the foster care system had a difficult time finding someone who could handle the boys. At age 12, they were taken in by a married couple on Sodor: a policeman and a corner shop clerk, both claiming to be able to handle even the most ill-behaved children. They'd been approved to foster the twins for long term.

In a way, the couple technically could handle them but the disciplinary methods they used were far from humane. Bill's foster parents never accepted him as male; that is, they never accepted or respected him being trans. They only referred to him by his birth name and with feminine pronouns. At first the abuse only verbal, though still very damaging. Then Bill and his brother got identical haircuts so they’d be practically indistinguishable and that's when the couple became physical in their "discipline." Ben's always been protective of Bill, so he started pretending to be him when Bill was to be punished. It worked and Bill was saved from physical harm, but the incidents were still very traumatizing to both brothers. Ben had insisted, but Bill still feels guilty that his brother took double the abuse for his sake. Sometimes his foster parents would send him and Ben to separate rooms on opposite sides of the house and leave the two in isolation for hours at a time with no way of knowing if their twin was safe. This left Ben and his brother with a deep separation anxiety that still exists in the present day: both become severely distressed if unwillingly parted from each other.

Despite what they were going through at home, the twins managed to keep each other's spirits lifted when away from their foster parents. They'd become friends with Edward Rosemore- whom they initially met when exploring railway yards. They'd already liked him for not reporting them to authorities for trespassing but they really took a liking to him when he let them watch him shunt trucks- as long as they kept a safe distance. Bill and his brother kept coming back to see him, and started finding him outside of the yard as well.They spent more and more time with him over the years and grew very fond of him. Though they never let on how bad their situation really was, Edward could guess they didn't come from the best home. He'd grown fond of them himself and would occasionally invite the twins over for dinner. As this became more commonplace, he started taking them to the cinema, to restaurants, and other outings.

At home, their foster father eventually found out Ben had been impersonating Bill, so his solution was for the twins to remove their shirts so he could tell them apart by their chests. He'd also started taking Bill aside and punishing him independently, letting his wife deal with Ben. Bill had been expecting the usual punishment, a physical beating of some sort, but what he received was far worse and left him with deep emotional scarring. His foster father had decided to start molesting him to to "prove" he was "actually" female. Though he claimed this was the only reason, blaming Bill's bad behavior on his gender "confusion," Bill suspects there was an additional, more personal motive behind his actions. He doesn't like to think about this.

Initially he tried to fight this, but over time it wore him down severely and his demeanor began to change: he grew depressed and submissive, and remained so even when he and Ben were alone together- normally when they were happiest and could lift each other's spirits to forget their situation. The "spark" had left his eyes, so to speak. He knew it was noticeable but had no energy to put on a front, only to deny Ben's questions. He didn't like lying to his brother but he was too ashamed and broken to confess what was happening to him.

One night, their foster father forgot to make Bill and his brother remove their shirts and, for the first time in months and much to Bill's horror, Ben secretly took Bill's place. He'd volunteered himself before Bill could do so himself, much to Bill's horror- but he still went along with it because he knew it would make the situation worse to be caught in deceit again. He tried to stay calm but he was visibly distressed at seeing his foster father take his brother away- he was so reluctant that their foster mother had to grab his wrist and lead him away for what was supposed to be Ben's punishment. Bill grew more fearful by the second, dreading what would happen when her husband discovered he had the wrong twin. Just as his foster mother had brought him into his bedroom, Bill realized the very real possibility that his foster father might not just severely harm Ben but molest him as well. His fear for his brother snapped him of his paralyzed state and he yanked his arm free from his foster mother, shoving her down and quickly running out of the room to shut the door. It could be locked from the outside- as it often was for punishment- but when it wasn't, the key was kept on an adjacent wall. Bill not only locked the door, but broke the key off with his foot to get it stuck within and jam the lock.

He ran back to where Ben was being held and burst through the door. He didn't stop and jumped at his foster father, attacking him just enough to debilitate him so the two to flee. The only thing on Bill's mind was "escape" and he and his brother bolted from the house before their foster parents could recover. Both brothers knew this time was different and that they were literally running for their lives.

Bill's brave actions had taken all his strength, but he followed his brother around the outskirts of Wellsworth to reach Suddery Junction. The goal was to get a train off the island, but neither of them had any money. They knew Suddery Junction was a station Edward stopped at, so they waited in hopes that he hadn't gone home for the day. Relief flooded the two when they eventually saw Edward's engine pull into the station. Bill and his brother, both of which had been hiding behind the main station building, didn't want to be out in the open in case their foster parents showed up. They stayed in the shadows as they got as close as they could and called out to Edward in harsh whispers.

Edward laughed when he saw them huddled by the side of the building, but when he got closer Bill could see his expression change dramatically. Understandable, as the twins were extremely dishevelled from their escape and visibly terrified. When Ben asked Edward to buy them a ticket off the island, Bill could by his shaking voice that he was scared, despite his calm exterior. When Edward seemed as though he wouldn't and started asking them why they were trying to get off the island and why they were in such a state and what in the world had happened to them, Ben tried to be as vague as possible and claim they "just needed to leave." As Ben continued trying to convince Edward, Bill's tired eyes drifted to the road and he saw headlights approaching in the distance. He felt himself starting to panic again and, not knowing what else to do, whispered to his brother, "they're coming." At this, Ben burst into tears as he frantically tried to explain their situation. His outburst caused a similar reaction in Bill and once both twins were sobbing, they stopped trying explain themselves- instead desperately begging Edward to save them.

Edward had a hard time understanding what either were saying but he could tell from how they were acting, and what little he could make out from their incoherent pleas, the twins were in legitimate danger from their foster parents. He glanced at the approaching headlights and back at the twins and told them to come with him. He quickly brought them into his engine's cab with himself and instructed them to crouch down against the wall. Edward waited for the stationmaster's whistle and, upon hearing it, started his engine out of the station- slowly, so as not to jolt the twins. Just as he was leaving the platform, the headlights briefly shone against Edward's engine as a car pulled up to the station. Though they had no way of knowing who it was and were already hidden from outside view, Bill and his brother huddled closer together in the corner. Edward recognized the couple as their foster parents but said nothing.

Edward had finished his last job for the day and was only going to put his engine away in the shed and said so to the twins, but left them be when they didn't respond. At the shed, he offered to take them home with him and they accepted without hesitation.

At his house, Edward was arranging their beds in his guest room when there was a knock at the door. Bill and his brother hid while Edward went to answer. It was the twins' foster father, asking if they were in- as he knew they liked going to Edward's. When Edward claimed not to have seen them at all that day, he asked if he could come in. Edward politely but firmly denied him admission and turned him away. Once he saw the car pull away from the driveway, Edward called the police and explained the situation- making sure to mention that the man he was reporting was an officer, as he knew it likely he'd try to interfere somehow. Edward let the brothers sleep in his room that night so as not to leave them alone.

Bill and his brother were later removed from custody of the couple, who were then tried for child abuse and neglect. They stayed with Edward, who had agreed to house them until another foster home could be found, but within a week he'd decided to apply to foster them himself. Within a year, he'd been approved to legally adopt them as his sons- just in time for their 15th birthday.

Present
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Future
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Past jobs
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Current job
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Familial
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Platonic
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Romantic
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Negative
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Personality
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Interests
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Physical
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Trivia

 * Bill's middle name is a reference to Alfred and Judy: the real life counterparts of canon Bill and Ben