"This is the end-my eternal friend-the end…"
(Title courtesy of Jim Morrison). Written 1/1/18.
String's pov is in italics-
I was dying - I knew it; my time on this earth was almost over. Ever since 'Nam I'd felt I was 'living on borrowed time' so to speak. Lying here in hospital with my life ebbing away – I open my eyes and just for a moment I think I'm hallucinating as I find myself staring into my brother's face.
"Sinjin?" My voice is croaky and broken; I'm sure my brother's ghost has come to take me on my final journey. I close my eyes and swallow deeply – I'm seeing things - it must be because I'm so close to death.
Dragging my heavy eyes open again; I can still see my brother before me.
"String!" Sinjin's urgent whisper filters through the slightly blurry haze into my brain. Shakily I hold my hands out to him and feel him take them in his own.
"Sinjin? – Oh God – Sinjin!" I can't hold back the tears that pour down my face – they are for us all – me, Dom, Cait, Michael, Gabrielle and for Sinjin.
's pov – I could see String didn't have long left – my heart broke to think that for all those years I'd hoped I'd see him again and now I have - I was going to lose him forever. As I hold String in my arms I can feel how weak and close to death he is. Though he is still crying and shaking uncontrollably I hear his low whisper:
"Don't let me die here."
Scooping his broken body into my arms I execute my well -formed plan to get String home, like one of the best Special Forces ops ever.
The medics and the members of the firm are amazed and totally baffled as to how Stringfellow Hawke could possibly have disappeared from his hospital bed. He was in no condition to walk let alone escape unnoticed. The guard hadn't left his post all day and the only visitor had been Stringfellow's brother- .
A strange mechanical howl rents the air- causing several members of the Firm to wonder if a ghost had come back to haunt them.
String's pov- I can hear the Lady, her screaming howl fills the air, I can feel the throb of her engines and the shudder of her rotors. Airwolf has come back to take me home just one last time.
Memories of the past flit through my brain – bits of them mashing together – pre-flight checks on the Lady, flying with Dom, taking Michael over Mach1, the day Caitlin came to us, Gabrielle and how she died in my arms, destroying Moffat, the day Dom died and finally the day my brother came back. Opening my eyes I can see we're flying over the cabin – I can see the ground where Tet is buried and the lake where Gabrielle's body lies.
My hands automatically find their way onto the Lady's controls and settle upon them as naturally as they always have – I know Sinjin is in control – but it feels good to have her beneath my fingertips just once more.
St. John's pov- I land Airwolf as carefully as I can, out of the corner of my eye I can see String's hands on the controls following my every movement – flying her one last time. Jumping out of the door I run around to the other side and unbuckle String's harness, lifting his helmet off I see him smile weakly at me. Carefully I carry him across the dock and settle him in his favourite chair in the cabin – by the fire I had lit earlier that day.
Slowly I can see him gazing around his home – his eyes take in the rug that was Tet's favourite place by the fire, his fishing gear by the door, our Grandmother's art collection on the walls, his cello sitting against a chair waiting to be played. It was all there.
I take his pulse and realise how slow it has become and how shallow his breathing is he is almost gone. I drag one of the heavy wooden chairs up and sit closer to him.
String's pov- My life is fading fast, I know my brother is sitting there beside me and I'm glad I got to see him again before the end. Glancing down I can see Tet at my feet thumping his tail on the hearth rug – I smile to myself, looking across at the table I see Dom nodding and smiling at me, looking forward again I can see Gabrielle – oh God I can see her so clearly – now she is stood right in front of me holding out her arms as I slip into them and feel her against me…
St. John's pov- He's gone – I've lost my brother forever, a sudden gust of wind howls through Airwolf's rotors and across the expanse of the lake. There are so many ghosts here – Tet's, Dom's, Gabrielle's and now String has joined them.
I pick up his beloved cello and taking it out onto the dock I sit in front of Airwolf and play – the music pours out – so sad, so melancholy, I feel the tears begin to run down my face. Suddenly an eagle appears overhead calling loudly as I play, the tears blur everything - then the eagle suddenly swoops lower and lands on Airwolf's nose; cocking it's head on one side it calls to me and just for a split second as my vision clears I see its eyes turn briefly from brown to blue and a single tear falls from one of them before the eagle that is really a 'Hawke' takes flight and I watch my brother's spirit disappear before my eyes.