Fan Fiction - Written by Martin van Dam - Season 9

Episode (9.03) 195 * Runaway Train
Written by: Martin van Dam

Stephanie and Danny have another argument about her household chores. When Stephanie learns Gia wants to walk away from home, she goes with her, leaving her family worried. After a bad dream, Joey is convinced a natural disaster will occur.

Joey Gladstone walks down the stairs, wearing his Muppet pajamas and his Ninja Turtles slippers. On the couch he finds DJ Tanner and her younger sister Michelle, daughters of his best friend Danny Tanner, watching the news.
"Good morning girls," Joey says before he yawns.
"Joey, you look like you could use some extra naptime," Michelle says.
"I know, I haven't slept this bad since they cancelled Tazmania."
"Why, what happened?" DJ asks.
"I had this horrible nightmare," Joey looks uneasy.
"I know," DJ responds, "I had to bring you a glass of water twice."
"There was shaking and fire and twisters and water. It was horrible." Joey takes a deep breath.
At that moment, the news shows images of an erupting volcano in the Philippines.
"Oh no, it's really happening," Joey exclaims, "Girls, run for your lives!" He uses an overly dramatic tone of voice and runs up the stairs.
"Maybe someone should read him a happy bedtime story tonight," Michelle says.
DJ nods. "No more Wizard of Oz before Joey goes to sleep," she says with a smile on her face.

- Intro -

We find Stephanie Tanner sitting on her bed, facing the window. Loud music comes out of the portable radio on her bedside. Stephanie swings her head to the rhythm of the music.
"Stephanie!" Danny Tanner walks into his daughter's room.
Stephanie is so immersed in the music, she doesn't hear her father. Danny calls her name again. As she still doesn't respond, he walks to the radio and turns it off.
"Hey!" Stephanie says, while she turns around.
"Ah, the beauty of silence," Danny sighs.
"I liked Alanis Morissette better," Stephanie says, while she turns the radio back on.
Danny again turns the radio off. "Steph, didn't I tell you to clean your room?"
"I did," Stephanie says.
"Then why is there a huge pile of laundry in front of your wardrobe?"
"Because it looked messy when that laundry was all over my room."
"You know where it would look even better? In the laundry room."
Stephanie shrugs. "I don't mind if you take it there."
Danny sighs. "Stephanie, I don't like this attitude."
"Dad, why can't I just listen to some music? It's healthy to relax."
Danny shakes his head. "You know the rules. Chores first, relax later."
"Yes and there's no place to have fun like a clean place," Stephanie sarcastically adds, "Dad, I'm thirteen, why can't you let me decide how I do things?"
"Stephanie, we are not going to have this discussion again. As long as you live in this house, you'll have to comply to my rules, understood? So you are going to take that pile of laundry downstairs now, or you'll be grounded for a week."
"Fine!" Stephanie picks up the laundry and walks out of the room without saying a word.
"You forgot a sock!" Danny yells after her.

Jesse Katsopolis walks into the kitchen with his twin sons Nicky and Alex. Michelle is sitting at the kitchen table, eating a sandwich. Joey comes down the kitchen stairs, wearing a gas mask.
"Daddy, help!" Alex says, while he hides behind Jesse's leg.
Nicky, who hold the other leg, adds: "A monster!"
"That's no monster, boys, that's Joey. Joseph, why are you wearing a gas mask?"
As Joey answers, muttering comes out of the gas mask. "B..cau... orl... est...
"Yes, isn't that what I have told you all these years?" Jesse turns to Michelle. "What did he say?"
"He said the world is going to end."
"He what?" Jesse starts laughing. "Joey, take that thing of your face."
".o, I .an. o.. a.. It.. oo .an...our..." Joey mumbles.
"He can't do that. It's too dangerous," Michelle translates.
Jesse pulls the gas mask from Joey's face.
"Hey, what did you do that for?" Joey looks startled.
"Because there's no reason to wear a gas mask." Jesse shakes his head.
The back door opens and their neighbor Kimmy Gibbler enters the house.
"Daddy?" Nicky asks.
"What is that smell?" Alex continues his brother's question.
The twins run into the living room
"O, we have shoeless day today," Kimmy answers.
Jesse looks at Kimmy's feet and then to Joey. He puts the gas mask back on Joey's face. "Okay, there is a reason to wear a gas mask."
"Is DJ home?" Kimmy asks.
Michelle shakes her head. "She's at the mall."
"She is? O well, I'll come back later then."
Kimmy leaves the house. Jesse walks takes a bottle of air freshener and sprays the kitchen.

Danny walks into the living room, where Stephanie is watching TV.
"Stephanie, what are you doing?" He points at her feet, resting on the table.
"I finished all of my chores, so now I'm watching TV." Stephanie answers.
"That's good, but I don't like your feet on the table. You're going to leave stains." Danny frowns.
"No I won't. I'm using a coaster." Stephanie lifts her feet, unveiling the coaster underneath.
"Still, I'd rather see your feet on the ground." Danny insists.
Stephanie sighs. She turns off the TV and walks to the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Danny asks.
"To my room. Or can't I do that either?"
"Steph, sit down. I feel we need to talk." Danny says with a calm voice.
Stephanie shakes her head. "So you can tell me what to do again? No thanks."
Just as DJ and Steve walk in through the front door, Stephanie runs upstairs.
"What's going on?" DJ asks.
"I don't know. She's acting weird. I have never seen her that rebellious." Danny sighs.
"It's probably just a phase she's going through. After all she is a teenager. Remember I had my whims when I was thirteen?" DJ says with a reassuring tone of voice.
"I remember when you locked yourself up in your room." Danny ponders.
"Yeah, I was so mad at you for nothing, that I forgot to lock the door." DJ smiles.
"I remember my dad forgot to lock my room once," Steve says.
"Your dad locked you in your room?" DJ looks surprised at her boyfriend.
"Yeah, he had some friends coming over and he was afraid I'd eat all the snacks."
"Dad, don't worry about Stephanie. It will be okay. She's just trying to see how far she can go. Remember last year she had a similar kind of thing? That went over quickly as well."
"Yeah, I know. Thanks honey," Danny says.

Stephanie is in her room, sitting on her bed. She's on the phone with her best friend Gia Mahan.
"Gia, don't be silly. That's not a... No, wait! I'm on my way. Don't go anywhere. Gia?"
Stephanie hangs up the phone. She looks in the mirror on the wardrobe and sighs. She smiles to the image in the mirror. Then she takes a pen and a note book and starts writing.

A little later, Jesse and Michelle enter Joey's room. They see Joey packing a bag.
"Joey, where are you going?" Michelle asks.
"Nowhere, but I want to be ready just in case." Joey replies.
Jesse shakes his head. "This is getting silly. Even for someone who spent an afternoon searching the park for Yogi Bear, you're acting strange."
"Hey, I just wanted to have a nice picnic with my favorite bear," Joey defends himself.
Michelle walks to Joey's bag and looks inside.
"Why do you stuff your bag with branches?" she asks.
"That's not my bag. That's Mr. Woodchuck's." Joey states.
"Joey, snap out of it. The world isn't going to end, so you're doing this for nothing," Jesse says.
"Jess, you didn't see my dream. It was devastating."
"It was a dream. Why are you driving yourself crazy over a dream?" Jesse shakes his head.
Joey sighs and sits down. He throws his arm in the air. "I don't know. It's just that this dream looked so real. And I realized that it could happen. And in my dream I wasn't prepared for anything that happened. So I might have overreacted a little." Joey explains.
"A little?" Michelle asks. She smiles at Joey and hugs him.

Danny and DJ walk up the stairs into the hallway.
"Now dad, remember, I'll talk to her first."
They knock on the door of Stephanie and Michelle's room.
"Stephanie? Are you in there?" DJ asks.
They open the door and find the room empty.
"Where is she?" Danny says.
"Maybe she's in the bathroom. I'll go check it out," DJ says.
Danny walks around the room. He sees a note on Stephanie's pillow and reads it.
"She isn't in the bathroom," DJ says as she walks back in.
Danny turns around with a worried look on his face.
"Dad? What's wrong?"
Danny gives DJ the note he found. "Stephanie wrote us a letter."
DJ reads the note. "She ran away?" She says with a shocked tone of voice.
Jesse, Joey and Michelle just enter the room.
"What's going on?" Jesse asks.
"Stephanie ran away," Danny nervously says.
"What? Why?"
"We had an argument, I guess... Come on guys, we need to find her."

The clan walks down the stairs. Danny puts on his coat and opens the front door. At that moment, Claire, Gia's mother, walks in.
"Danny, I'm glad you're here. Have you seen Gia?" Claire asks.
Danny answers with a similar question. "No, have you seen Stephanie?"
"No. Gia left me a note and..."
"Stephanie wrote a note as well. They must have ran away together." Danny says.
"I should have talked about the situation when I noticed it was bothering Gia," Claire says, "She says in her note that she doesn't like my new boyfriend."
"Wait! You have a new boyfriend?" Danny stares at Claire with a confused look in his eyes.
Jesse grabs his coat. "At least Steph isn't alone then. They probably took off together."
"We'll go check the mall," DJ says.
"But we just got back from the mall," Steve says.
DJ pulls her boyfriend out of the house. Soon after them, the others also leave the house.

Jesse and Michelle are driving around, searching for Stephanie. Jesse sighs and shakes his head, realizing they are probably looking for a needle in a haystack.
"Uncle Jesse?" Michelle looks worried.
"Yes munchkin?" Jesse looks back at his niece.
"Do you think we will find Stephanie?"
"Of course we will. Everything is going to be okay." Jesse smiles for a second. Then his face gets serious again and he pulls over.
"What's wrong uncle Jesse?" Michelle looks around.
"It's no use driving around like this. Maybe that man over there has seen something. You wait in the car, I'll be right back."
Jesse gets out of the car and walks to the man on the bench. The man is wearing torn trousers and a filthy jacket. Next to the bench is a shopping cart, filled with empty beer cans and a bag full of holes. Jesse stops in front of the man.
"Can I help you?" The man asks.
"I have a question, it's really important," Jesse answers.
"That will cost you ten bucks." The tramp holds up his hand.
Jesse hesitates for a moment. Then he looks over his shoulder and sees the worried face of his youngest niece. He takes ten dollars out of his pocket and gives it to the tramp. Then he gets a picture of Stephanie out of another pocket and shows it to the man.
"Have you seen this girl?" Jesse asks.
"That's ten bucks." The man holds up his hand again.
"I just paid you ten dollars!" Jesse indignantly says.
"That was for asking me a question. This is for getting an answer." The man smiles at Jesse, revealing a black tooth between the dark yellow teeth.
Reluctantly Jesse gives the man another ten dollars. "Buy a toothbrush," Jesse says.
"No, never seen her," the man answers.
"You haven't seen her? I paid you for that?" Jesse exclaims.
"It was nice doing business with you," the man responds.
Jesse shakes his head and walks back to the car.
"What did you learn from that man?" Michelle asks, as soon as Jesse is back in the car.
"That you should never pay a homeless guy if you need information," Jesse answers.

DJ and Steve are in the mall, also looking for Stephanie.
"Let's go to McDonalds," Steve suggests.
"What makes you think Stephanie is there?" DJ asks.
Steve shrugs. "Nothing, I would just like to order a Big Mac."
"Steve!" DJ shakes her head. "This is not a good time to think about food."
Steve sighs. "Okay, but can I at least go to the bathroom there?"
"Alright, but be quick, we need to find my sister. I'm really worried about her," DJ says.
Steve hurries to the toilet, while DJ walks to one of the employees.
"Excuse me, have you seen this girl?" DJ shows a picture of Stephanie.
The boy shakes his head. "No, I'm sorry."
"Are you sure?" DJ asks.
"Positive. I would remember such a pretty face," the boy says.
"Well, thanks anyway," DJ sighs.
Steve walks back to her. "And, did they see her?"
DJ shakes her head. "No. Let's go, we have a lot of mall to search."

We find Stephanie and Gia sitting in a bar.
"Gia, I don't think this is right." Stephanie says.
"Hey, if you don't want to go, don't go. But I'm leaving today." Gia stands up.
Stephanie gets up as well and grabs Gia's arm. "Wait." She sighs. "Look, my dad is going to freak out. I don't want to hurt my family. But I don't want you to get hurt either."
"And what about getting the freedom we want? No more parents bossing us around. No more boyfriends of my mother trying to hit on me while she's working." Gia firmly states.
"But where would we go? The first thing my dad will do tomorrow, is having my picture on Wake Up San Francisco." Stephanie nervously tells her best friend.
"That's why we have to leave now. The sooner we're far away from here, the harder it will be to find us. And the closer we get to our freedom."
Stephanie desperately throws her arms in the air. "Gia, I don't know, it doesn't feel right."
"Steph, staying here doesn't feel right. What's wrong with having some fun? You know, sometimes you can be so boring. But I'm going, I want to catch a bus to L.A."
Gia leaves the bar. Stephanie hesitates for a moment. She thinks about her family, which she knows will be worried about her. But she also thinks about Gia. Stephanie knows her best friend can be very impulsive and do thinks before she thinks about the consequences. She sighs and grabs her bag from the chair.

Danny and Claire are walking through the center of San Francisco, also looking for the girls.
"Where could they have gone?" Claire asks.
"Well, they go to the mall often," Danny responds, "that's where DJ and Steve are now."
"Are there any friends they could have gone to?" Claire asks.
"Joey is calling all of Steph's friends right now." Danny answers.
Claire stops. "Danny, it seems to me your thoughts are somewhere else."
"No, I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere else than where you are going right now."
"See, that's what I mean. What are you thinking about?" Claire looks Danny in the eyes.
Danny sighs. "About what you said earlier. You having a new boyfriend. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you, I really am."
"But you're wondering why it didn't work out between us?" Claire asks.
"Yes, why didn't it?" Danny responds.
"I don't know either. I asked myself the same question for a long time." Claire explains, "But I do know I'm happy with Keith right now."
Danny sighs. "Keith is a lucky man. In fact I wish we would have his luck finding the girls."
Claire hugs Danny. "We'll find them. I'm sure we will."

In the Tanner house, Joey is on the phone. Becky, Jesse's wife, walks in with Nicky and Alex.
"Okay, thank you for your help. Bye." Joey says before he hangs up the phone. He sighs. "What's going on?" Becky asks.
"Stephanie ran away from home," Joey explains, "Danny found a note on her pillow. She probably took off with Gia."
"O no. I hope they find them." Becky says with a worried tone of voice.
"I'm trying to think where she could have gone. DJ and Steve are looking at the mall, Jesse and Michelle are driving around and Danny and Claire went down town."
"I think they're not looking at the right places," Becky says, "You see, when I was working for A.M. Omaha, I once did an item on girls that ran away from home. Now, if you were a teenage girl, where would you go if you ran away?"
"To my boyfriend," Joey guesses.
"Stephanie doesn't have one," Becky replies.
"Well, I think I wanted to go as far away as possible," Joey says.
Becky nods. "Exactly. And what would you do to get there?"
"Buy a good pair of shoes. It can be a long walk," Joey answers.
"No, you silly," Becky smiles, "They would probably try to get a bus or a train. Or a ride."
"Of course," Joey says. "If anyone calls, we'll send them to the bus station and train station."
"Joey, that can take ages. You stay here, I'll go to the bus station. Come on, boys."
Nicky and Alex follow Becky to the front door.
"Why did we go home?" Nicky says.
"This is weird," Alex adds.

Jesse and Michelle are still searching for Stephanie, when they see a phone booth. Jesse gives his niece a couple of quarters and she dials their home number.
"Hello?" She hears Joey say.
"Hello Joey."
"Who's this?" Joey sounds confused.
"It's me."
"Me?" Joey asks.
"No, not you, I'm Michelle." Michelle sighs. "Joey, is there any news yet?"
"Becky is looking at the bus station. Stephanie and Gia might want to leave town. Could you go to the train station?"
"Good thinking, Joey. We're on our way," Michelle says, before she hangs up the phone.

Stephanie and Gia are on the streets of San Francisco.
"Gia, aren't you going to miss this city?" Stephanie asks.
"No, of course not. I moved cities before." Gia answers.
"My whole life is here." Stephanie says.
"You'll get over it. Once we get on that bus..."
"Gia," Stephanie interrupts her friend, "We're closer to the railway station. Isn't travelling by train faster and more comfortable?"
Gia smiles. "Good idea, Steph. See, I knew you could do this."
The girls turn around the corner, just as Jesse and Michelle drive by. Stephanie turns around and pulls Gia with her.
"Hey, what's going on?" Gia asks.
"That's my uncle Jesse's car." Stephanie looks at Gia with a startled look in her eyes.

As Danny and Claire are still searching for Stephanie and Gia, they pass a phone booth.
"I'm going to call home," Danny says. He waits for Joey to answer.
"Hello?" Joey says.
"Joey, is there any news yet?" Danny asks.
"No. Becky and the boys are looking at the bus station, and Jesse and Michelle went to the nearest train station."
"And what are you doing?" Danny asks.
"I'm answering all of your phone calls," Joey says.
"Good, good. Claire and I are near a train station as well. We'll go there," Danny says.

Stephanie and Gia are in the central hall of a railway station. Stephanie looks at the time table.
"The next train to L.A. leaves in twenty-three minutes," Stephanie says, "There's only one thing we have to do now."
"What?" Gia looks surprised at Stephanie.
"Buy a ticket," Stephanie answers.
"Why?" Gia looks even more surprised.
"Because we can't travel without one."
"Steph, come on. We need to save the little money we have for other stuff." Gia says.
"We won't get far without a ticket," Stephanie insists.
Gia shakes her head as she follows Stephanie to the ticket window.

About five minutes later Jesse and Michelle walk into the same railway station.
"How are we going to find them in this crowd?" Michelle asks.
"Well, if they want to travel by train, they need a ticket." Jesse walks to the ticket windows. The line slowly moves and Jesse is getting impatient. When the customer who was at the window leaves, Jesse passes the other people in the line and shows the man behind the window Stephanie's picture. Some people grumble.
"Have you seen this girl? It's really important we find her," Jesse asks.
The man nods. "Yes, she was here a few minutes ago. She wanted to buy a ticket to Los Angeles, but didn't have enough money."
Jesse thanks the man and walks back to Michelle.
"Michelle, come on," Jesse says.
They start running to the platform where people are boarding the train to L.A. Michelle points at a door a couple of coaches away from them. "There they are!"
Jesse and Michelle run towards them.
"Stephanie, wait!" Jesse screams.
"I don't want you to leave," Michelle adds, "I'm going to miss you!"

"I think I heard my uncle and Michelle," Stephanie says to Gia, while they're in the train.
"Get them out of your head. We are out of here," Gia says.
Stephanie starts walking faster through the isle, pulling Gia with her.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Gia asks.
"You're right, we're out of here, Gia," Stephanie answers, while she gets out of the train.
"Fine, you stay here, I'm going." Gia tries to get back on the train, but Stephanie stops her.
"Gia, this isn't right. I'm not going through with this, and neither are you."
"What are you talking about? I thought you were my friend," Gia sounds indignant.
"I am your friend. And that's why I want to protect you from making the biggest mistake of your life. You shouldn't run from your problems. And neither should I. We're going home."
Gia wants to turn around, but the doors of the train close. She rolls her eyes. "Happy now?"
Stephanie gazes at the train.

We find Jesse and Michelle in the train that starts moving.
"So, now we are going away and Stephanie isn't?" Michelle asks.
Jesse fakes a smile as he sees a conductor approaching.
"Your tickets please," the conductor says.
Jesse slowly turns around. "O, hello."
"Can I see your tickets please?" the conductor asks again.
"Well, that's a funny story," Jesse answers, "And I'm sure you're going to laugh when you hear it. You see, my niece was on this train, and we desperately wanted her to get out of it. So we got in the train, and now my niece is on the platform, and we're not."
The conductor looks at Jesse with a stern look in his eyes.
"You're not laughing," Jesse warily says.
"I take it you have no ticket then?" The conductor asks.
"Well, actually," Jesse responds, "We ehm... no."

Stephanie and Gia watch the departing train, when Danny and Claire run towards them.
"Thank god, we've found you," Danny says.
Stephanie runs to her father and hugs him. "I'm sorry, dad."
"You better be. Do you know how much we worried about you?"
"I know. I didn't really want to go, but..."
Stephanie is interrupted by Gia. "Mr. Tanner, don't be too harsh on her. I talked her into this."
"I couldn't let her go by herself," Stephanie says, "I wanted to be there for her."
"Honey, it's noble that you care for your friends, but you can't run away," Danny calmly explains.
"She really didn't want to go," Gia says, "If it wasn't for her, I would be on that train right now."
Claire walks towards Gia. "We're going home. And that's where you'll be for the next few weeks."
"As long as Keith isn't there. Do you have any idea why I did this?" Gia says. "I didn't really want to leave."
"You didn't?" Stephanie asks.
"No, I just wanted my mom to realize what's going on. Mom, did you know your beloved boyfriend tries to chat me up every time you leave the house?"
Claire shakes her head. "Honey, I had no idea. But you could have come to me and told me, rather than running away."
"Like you would have listened," Gia replies.
"We'll talk about this later," Claire says, "We're going home now." She turns to Danny. "Thanks for your help, Danny."
As Claire and Gia leave, Danny turns to Stephanie again.
"I guess I should have talked to you as well, didn't I?" Stephanie says. "I'm really sorry dad. I know running away doesn't solve anything, but when Gia said she..."
"Steph, I'm very disappointed in you that you did this. You left us all worrying about you. But I'm also a little proud of you."
"You are?" Stephanie asks with a surprised tone of voice.
"You made the right call getting off that train. And you showed that you are a good friend, by protecting Gia from making a huge mistake. But you almost made that same mistake, and you shouldn't have been on that train in the first place."
"I know, I'm sorry. I love you, dad." Stephanie says.
"I love you too, honey," Danny says, before he hugs Stephanie.
"I sure wish I got uncle Jesse and Michelle off that train as well," Stephanie says.

A couple of hours later, the majority of the family is in the living room.
"I'm sorry I got you all worried," Stephanie says, "I guess I wanted the easy way out, without thinking about what it meant to you. And when I realized it, I couldn't let Gia go alone."
"Well, you have the next month to think about it," Danny says.
The front door opens and Jesse and Michelle walk in.
"Stephanie, you're home!" Michelle runs to her big sister and hugs her.
"I am, and I'm staying," Stephanie says. "I'm sorry you got on that train."
"What really matters is that you're back," Jesse says, as he hugs Stephanie.
"But never scare us like this again," DJ says.
"Don't worry, I won't. I would miss you guys too much," Stephanie says.
"Aw," the others say, while they all hug together.

- End Tune -

Main Characters
Jesse Katsopolis
Danny Tanner
Joey Gladstone
DJ Tanner
Stephanie tanner
Michelle Tanner
Rebecca 'Becky' Donaldson-Katsopolis
Nicky Katsopolis
Alex Katsopolis
Kimmy Gibbler
Steve Hale

Guest characters:
Gia Mahan
Claire Mahan
Homeless guy in the city
Conductor on the train
Ticket seller

Episode information:
Story written by: Martin van Dam
Based upon: The orignal series of Full House, created by Jeff Franklin
Lay-out: Martin van Dam