Found a "little" time to write. :o)

Illusion

Chapter 1

A deep heaviness and pain pounded his brain as he slowly opened his eyes. Hawke found himself staring at the hangar ceiling while lying on the cold, hard cement. His mind in a fog, he pushed himself up into a sitting position, only to finally see the horror that surrounded him. Blood. Blood was all around him, on him. He knew he wasn't injured beyond the sharp spurts of pain that continued to pulsate through his head. "Whose blood is this?" Hawke asked himself. "What happened here?"

He slowly tried to stand, but slipped and fell back onto his knees. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. "Dom!" yelled Hawke. "Dom, where are you?"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Seattle, Washington

"Hey Cait," yelled John Taylor as he strolled to the back offices of C&P Flight School. "You have a call on line one."

"Who is it?" she asked while rummaging through some paperwork and crunching on carrot sticks.

"It's that guy Michael again. He claims that he's an old friend," replied John. "Do you have time to talk or should I take a message."

Caitlin sighed. "I think you should just take a message," she replied. "I need to get going. My next student should be here anytime now."

"You got it," replied John as he headed back to relay her message.

Caitlin couldn't help but let her mind wander. It had been three years since she'd seen Michael. So much had happened and she vowed to leave her life in California behind her when she moved away. "What in the world could he want with me now?" she thought.

Caitlin put her paperwork aside and finished her quick lunch of veggies before heading out to meet with her next student. She and her fiancé Patrick had opened their own flight school in Seattle two years ago. She was doing quite well and had settled into a pretty normal life.

"Here's the information on your next appointment," said John as he handed her an information card.

Caitlin grabbed the card and started to read it as she headed outside. Her heart nearly leaped out of her chest when she saw the name and looked up to see her new student.

"Doc?' she asked. "What are doing here? Lessons? Really?"

Doc smiled at her. "Okay, so I don't need flying lessons," he replied. "But I do need to see you. Michael has been trying to get it touch with you for two weeks now and you've been avoiding him."

"What, was he too afraid to come himself?" she asked sarcastically as she walked up to Doc and gave him a hug.

"He'll be here in a few minutes," replied Doc. "And yeah, he was afraid."

Caitlin stifled a laugh while thinking back to the last time she'd seen him. "I guess I can understand that. I wasn't too nice to him when I left."

"So I heard," he replied.

"What exactly is it that you and Michael want?" she asked.

Doc's smile quickly faded. "Do you have a place that we can talk privately," he asked. "Michael is on his way and we have a lot to discuss with you."

"We can go to my office," she replied as she escorted him inside.

Caitlin introduced Doc to her office assistant John. "John, my old friend Michael will be here shortly. Would you please bring him back to my office when he gets here?"

John gave her a puzzled look. "Sure," he replied. "Is there anything else I can get you?"

"No, just hold all of my calls and take messages," she replied.

When they got to her office, Caitlin shut the door and sat down behind her desk while Doc took one of the chairs that sat lined the main wall.

"Doc, I left that life and everyone associated with it behind me three years ago," she told him. "And I don't mean just physically. I moved on and put it all behind me."

Doc sighed. "I know," he replied. "And I heard about the death of your fiancé. I'm sorry. I guess things have been pretty tough for you."

Caitlin shrugged. "It's been a year now," she replied. "We were two weeks away from the wedding when it happened. It all seems so surreal. But, life goes on and I had to go on too. I'm doing pretty well for myself here."

"I can see that," replied Doc. "Cait, I wouldn't be here if it weren't important."

Caitlin closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "They must be in trouble," she said. "You and Michael wouldn't come here unless they were."

Before he responded, John knocked on the door and opened it, allowing the hesitant Michael to enter.

Caitlin smiled. "It's okay Michael," she replied. "I've forgiven you. You can come in."

Michael sat down beside Doc and waited for John to shut the door before he spoke.

"I'm sorry to have to bother you Cait," he told her. "I know you don't want to have anything to do with the Firm or Airwolf anymore but I wouldn't be here if it weren't important."

"I was just asking Doc about that," she replied. "I figure they must be in some kind of trouble for the two of you to come to me like this."

The two men looked at each other.

"Caitlin, Hawke is in jail," Michael said bluntly. "He's been accused of murder."

Caitlin looked at him in disbelief. "Murder? Hawke?" she asked. "What happened?"

"I wish we knew," replied Michael. "He woke up in the hangar covered in blood that wasn't his."

Something in Michael's words made Caitlin feel a bit uneasy. "Who did the blood belong to?" she asked.

Michael paused a moment before answering. He wasn't sure how she would take the news he was about to share. "It was Dominick's," he told her.

Caitlin became visibly upset. She felt the sting of tears welling up in her eyes. "Dom's dead?" she asked. "When did this happen? Was there a funeral?"

"That's part of the problem," replied Doc. "There's no body, just a lot of blood that was a match to Dom."

Caitlin stood up behind her desk. "Wait a minute," she said. "Are you trying to tell me that they think Hawke killed Dom? That's preposterous. He loved Dom. He'd never hurt him."

"We know that," replied Michael. "But Hawke won't talk. He won't tell anyone what happened. He had gun powder residue on his hands and Dom's blood all over him."

"How…..how can I help?" she stuttered, trying to gain her composure. "Wait, you want Airwolf don't you? This isn't about String."

"Of course it is," replied Michael. "Look, I don't blame you for doubting me after what happened before you left, but I care about Hawke. Yes, I want Airwolf, but we need the use of her computers to help trace Hawke and Santini's steps the night this went down. You're the only one who can help us now."

Caitlin shook her head. "Does he know you've come to me?"

"No, he doesn't," replied Michael. "We told you, he isn't talking. He doesn't want help."

"We don't believe he's guilty Caitlin," said Doc. "We want to prove it but we can't do it without you. Please. We really need your help."

Caitlin sat back down behind her desk and sighed. "Fine," she finally said. "I'll do what I can but you have to understand that after what happened before I left, this isn't going to be easy for me."

"We know," replied Michael softly.