"Sagourney Lynn Stoker…How She Got Her Name"

By: CapLovesHankandKel

A/N: Just a short one shot how Mike named his beloved engine. "Sagourney" is an original character if you will and is not for public domain. Mike of course is telling the story.

Nothing E! belongs to me. If it did I would be happily married to Hank, Mike, Marco and Kel.

Don't ask me why but I am in a writing mood. I thought I'd take a break from the blue prints because I had this train of thought going and I wanted to put it on paper. I am at the Station House writing this. It's been a fairly slow day for the Engine Company side of things.

Actually I know why I am writing this. I just had a rather pleasant conversation with Marco. We were talking about various different things including his pets and he was asking me if I could construct a new garage for him on blue prints. I told him I needed to know a lot of details before I could do that. So when we get off in the morning, I'm going to swing by his place and figure out where to go from there.

He offered to pay me and I turned him down. He was rather surprised and asked why and I told him blue printing was something I enjoy doing and I didn't want paid for it. He told me he had one stipulation (with a rather evil grin and dancing eyes) and I asked him what it was and he said "I don't want a mansion" and we both broke out in laughter!

Getting back to the original topic at hand, Marco asked me how I came up with the name of "Sagourney" for my dearly beloved engine. Cap was rounding the corner and heading into the kitchen when he asked me and Cap said "That's a good question Marco. I never asked that and would like to know too."

As luck would have it, everyone was interested so I had to answer the question and by some miracle we weren't toned out while I explained it! Go figure.

I explained that very shortly before I became an Engineer I knew the one thing I had to do was find a name for the engine I was going to be driving. I was 16's at the time and I was driving a Crown and I have to admit I wasn't the least bit crazy about Crowns especially when it rained.

So I decided I would find a name then give it to an engine I liked. So I went to the library and looked up female names trying to put a first and middle name together. I was really drawn to the name Lynn and decided that would be the middle name.

As obsessive as I am, I went through the list a good many times and I could not come up with an acceptable first name. One night before lights out (at 16's), we were watching TV and I am pretty sure that was where I heard the name "Sagourney" for the first time.

It was the last name of someone who was involved with saving a life somewhere and I said to no one in particular "That's it! That's going to be the first name of engine!" and I turned beet red after that because my crew looked at me like I was from another freaking planet.

So I put the names "Sagourney" and "Lynn" together with Stoker of course for her last name and it sounded beautiful to me. After I had the name, I decided to wait a while to apply the name because it had to be for an engine I liked.

After I passed my Engineer's Exam, I thought about applying it to the Crown I first drove but couldn't do it because I couldn't bond with it. But don't mistake me for not caring about because I was just as obsessed about keeping it clean and shiny as I was with any other engine.

After I transferred to 51's, I started out with a Crown there too. The bonding wasn't there with that one either but I sure did take good care of her.

Then one day Cap told us we were getting a new engine. When it came, it was a gorgeous Ward La France and this one I knew without a doubt was going to get the name. The size, the way she was made, everything pointed to her getting that name.

I remember Cap saying being crazy about engines "was in the blood of engineers." He was right on the mark with that one. The whole crew was enamored if you recall and you all agreed that was the case.

That same day, after we returned from our first run I christened her "Sagourney Lynn Stoker." Most of the rest of the engineers call her "Big Red" which, because of my OCD, grates on my last nerve because she has a name. Dane Smith is the only one who calls her by name which is something I appreciate.

I suspect she'll carry that name until she goes to the "Big Engine Garage In The Sky." I know I will not use it for another engine. She has her own unique personality (like most motor vehicles) and she's fun to drive.

My bond with her will probably be forever even after she is long gone. One thing is sure; she will never leave my heart.

END