Work Text:
Hank's Lady
By GCS
Emergency! belongs to Universal and Mark VII; information on Kurt Vonnegut is from
This story is a challenge response to Clride's request for the following quote:
"I can think of no more stirring symbol of man's humanity to man than a fire engine." Kurt Vonnegut
Engineer Henry Stanley leaned against the large map outside Captain McKonnike's office looking at his engine; reminiscing his days with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
He smiled at the beautiful red engine before him. It's brightly polished chrome like a crown glistening in the morning sun that filtered in from the open bay door. She was his lady…his princess…the only woman he'd ever loved as much as he loved his new wife, but after today she would belong to another man.
He felt a little sad to be leaving his post as caretaker of such a thing of beauty and strength. She maneuvered through the streets of LA with graceful ease at his turning of the big steering wheel announcing her arrival with her strobe lights like the flashbulbs of the paparazzi that followed the movie stars; her horns trumpeting her entrance song.
He had skillfully handled the powerful pumps that answered the simple flip of a switch to pour life saving water through the hoses mounted to her side. She had never let him down.
But things had changed in the engineer's life and now he needed the extra salary the rank of Captain begot. A new wife of one year and pending delivery of his first born would demand extra funds. He was happy to have found another woman to love besides his engine. A woman that gave him warmth and happiness. A woman that grounded him and made him whole in a totally different way. A woman that carried his unborn babe. He was glad to move up in the ranks to provide a better life for her and for his child.
Hank had passed his Captain's exam with flying colors, and tomorrow he would start his new leadership at Station 51 in Carson.
It was a new station, only a year old, and had already been through two Captains. The first, Captain Hammer, had moved to a station closer to his home. Captain Smith had been a temporary replacement until a permanent Captain could be assigned from the newly promoted list. Being first on the list certainly had its advantages. Hank lived very near the new station.
Right now he felt a mixture of emotions about his new assignment, a bit of melancholy mixed with anticipation and fear. Anticipation, because he was embarking on a new career. Well…new in a way. He would no longer be keeper of the engine he would be commander of it and its crew. Fear, because he would also be responsible for the safety of those men and two of the fire department's newly trained Paramedics.
Captain McKonnike watched Hank from his office door. He knew Hank was going to make a fine captain. The way he had watched out for the linemen over his years as engineer proved that. Hell Hank had even taken the blame for burning his dress hat even though McKonnike knew who had really done it. Hank claimed it was him and Captain McKonnike never let on that he thought any different. He had even given Hank three months of latrine duty which he had done without complaint. The episode had left a mark on their relationship. Hank Stanley was constantly nervous that he would somehow find out that it wasn't really him that had done the deed, and he had to stay on his toes all the time to keep from revealing that he knew the truth.
McKonnike continued watching the emotions as they crossed Hank's face. Emotions he had experienced on his last shift as engineer. Emotions he was sure others had on the eve of assuming their leadership roles.
Hank pushed off the large map, walked across the bay and gently fingered the gauges on the engine. He slowly climbed up into the cab and gripped the steering wheel where he sat looking out the bay door for a while remembering some of the calls he'd driven her to, warehouse fires, apartment complex fires with several buildings involved, homes, MVA's and even trash receptacles, and he had loved every minute of it. After today he would not sit behind the beautifully crafted steering wheel. After today he would occupy the Captain's Seat in another engine. After today he would ride shotgun.
He turned to step out of his seat. He climbed down and walked around the front of the engine like he'd seen Captain McKonnike and others do on the way to the seat on the other side. He slid his hand along the windshield wipers and stopped in the middle to gaze up into the perfectly clear glass before continuing on to the other side where he stopped and looked up into the empty seat. Could he do it? Could he really make the necessary decisions to secure a scene? Could he keep the balance between directing his crew and leading them?
Hank smiled to himself. Yes he could. He climbed up and took the Captain's seat just to see the view from the other side.
Manning a fire engine looked like extremely hard work to most bystanders, but to the men aboard it was an honor to serve the good people of the community they had signed on to protect.
Hank thought back to the speech Chief Hauts had delivered a few days ago before presenting the new Captains with their badges and assignments. It had been an impressive speech, but one phrase stood out in Hank's memory. It was a quote by one of his favorite authors. Kurt Vonnegut.
Hank's mind wandered for a moment to the author's works. Vonnegut had been a military man serving in the army and spending some time as a prisoner of war in an underground slaughterhouse meat locker used by the Germans as a detention facility that the Germans called Slaughter House Five. Vonnegut had written a semi-autobiographical novel with the same title about a POW. Having served in the armed forces himself and being a lover of science fiction, Hank had read the book several times as well as most of Vonnegut's other works.
Vonnegut had deep humanistic feelings, but Hank never knew how Vonnegut felt about his love until Hauts' use of his quote in his speech at the Captain's coronation. "Ladies and Gentlemen I am proud to present to you Los Angeles County Fire Department's most skilled and courageous men to the rank of Captain. As Kurt Vonnegut once said, "I can think of no more stirring symbol of man's humanity to man than a fire engine." And these men will command those engines with skill and pride. These men will stand firm against the traumas that the people of LA face every day."
Hank smiled from his perch. Vonnegut was right. The beautiful bright red fire engines that raced to the aide of the citizens of LA did represent an army against the evils that threaten the people. They represented a kindness of her occupants to always answer the call of need, to never fail to come to the assistance of those in peril. The men aboard vowing to go into battle to save lives, to protect property and to promote welfare in the community, and Hank was about to be the leader of a great group of men who had taken those vows just as he had.
With an even stronger sense of pride he stepped down from Captain McKonnike's seat. Tomorrow he would have his own seat in another engine across town in a small station in Carson with five men that would be looking to him for direction.
Hank chuckled to himself as he walked around the back of his girl. He paused to look at the jump seats thinking of Chet Kelly and Marco Lopez, his linemen at 51's. Chet and Marco had a reputation of proficient skills at taking hose into the hottest of fires and coming out unscathed. They had been a team at their last station and had been reassigned together. Hank would benefit from the department's realization that sometimes it is best to keep good teams together for the good of the community. Together with Engineer Mike Stoker they made up a fine engine compliment.
Stoker would be his second in command, his Mr. Spock, and Engine 51 his Enterprise, because firemen like those aboard the star ship would boldly go where no one in their right mind wanted to go. He chuckled at that thought. Firemen were in their right mind...most of the time...but their minds worked a little differently than most people. A fireman would run into the mouth of the dragon to fight a battle of life or death, sometimes that of trapped victims and sometimes that of the structure itself…everyone else was running to get out.
Finally, his crew would have two of the new Paramedics. He'd worked with Rescue Squads before, but Paramedics were so new to the department and there were still so few teams that they were sparsely scattered across the county. Roy Desoto was his senior man, a decorated Rescue Man and fine fire fighter. Hank had known Roy for a few years. They had mutual friends. He knew Roy was a family man like himself. He would bring balance to the station of mostly bachelors.
The final member of his crew was the one that had him worried. John Gage had a reputation of getting hurt as much or more than any other member of the department. He had a clean record and had made some very impressive saves in his few years in the department. He had moved up from the ranks of lineman to Rescue faster than any other before him and had come out of both the academy and the Paramedic training at the top of his class. Those accomplishments, however, were overshadowed by his propensity for rashness and a seeming lack of concern for department rules and regulations regarding safety. Johnny, as his friends called him, had a tendency to rush in and take action where others might wait for direction from their leaders…or was it with their direction to save lives? That was the thing that had Hank worried. He didn't know if Johnny got injured more, because he rushed in or if it was because he was willing to go. Nonetheless, Hank had no intention of letting the unnecessary frequency of on the job injuries to continue for the young man. No he would rein John Gage in.
Hank stepped back and looked at the rear of the engine where her hose bed opened up revealing the precisely folded layers of hose ready for pulling. He thought about the many hours he'd spent polishing her rear bumper and securing the equipment in her compartments. If he could manage to keep her polished and ready, surely he could keep his men in just the same shape, even John Gage.