Love and War

A/N: I do not own or make any profit off of the Airwolf name or any of the characters involved within. My stories are for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: And a new story begins. Of course this one will include a Hawke and Cait relationship but with a little twist. I'm starting out with Hawke being more of the pursuer than Cait. Poor Cait is almost always portrayed as the girl out to get her man…even by me. I thought it might be nice to see it the other way around for a change ;o). And a new bad guy for this story…I figured we've all had enuf of Horn to last us a while…lol. Please don't forget to review if you like it (or even if you don't) and let me know what you think. I love hearing your opinions and, honestly, it keeps me and the muse motivated.

Chapter 1

"Dammit!" Caitlin O'Shannessy cursed as she dropped the wrench she had been using to tighten the bolts of the Tyler Mount on the Santini Air Chopper. The Santini Air crew was due to perform a movie stunt later that afternoon and Caitlin had been making sure that the mount used for the camera was secure and ready to go.

"Caitlin? You okay?" Stringfellow Hawke asked with concern as he looked down from the top of the same machine where he had been performing routine maintenance on the top rotor.

Holding her right hand in front of her as she inspected the scraped skin on her knuckles she jumped out of the chopper. "Yeah, I'll be all right. The damn bolt was stripped. The wrench slipped and I banged my knuckles. I'll just go wash it off and get a couple of band aids. I think I'll live."

"Well that's good, I don't want to have to do this stunt all by myself," Hawke said with a slight smile.

Turning around, Cait picked up a greasy rag and threw it at her co-worker. "Nice to know you care, Stringfellow Hawke."

"No problem," he said as he ducked away from the rag flying in his direction.

Hawke chuckled as he took a minute to watch the pretty redhead walk away from him towards the office where the first aid kit was located. Since Caitlin had showed up at Santini Air things sure had been different, especially for Hawke. Something about the spunky Texan had really helped lighten the mood around the hangar and even the usually stoic and forboding Stringfellow Hawke had found himself smiling and laughing a lot more.

"And the scenery around here is a lot better, too," the pilot thought to himself as he watched her disappear into the office. Although he had yet to make a move in the year or so since Cailtin had shown up at their doorstep looking for one Stringfellow Hawke and his "monster machine", as she had called Airwolf, the world's most technically advanced helicopter that Hawke and his mentor, Dominic Santini, flew on missions for The Firm, he had found himself becoming more and more attracted to her.

The only thing that had stopped him from officially asking her out was that Hawke had a bad track record with people he got too close to, especially women. His work with The Firm often led him into extremely dangerous situations and that danger often spilled over onto the ones he loved. Hawke often felt he was cursed and that anyone he got close to would die. History had supported his theory more than once. He cared too much for Caitlin to want anything like that to happen to her, especially if it was his fault.

"Can't very well use that excuse anymore though, can I?" String thought to himself. Over the last several months, Caitlin had been incorporated as a member of the Airwolf crew herself and was now often included in The Firm missions. She had proved herself to be one damn good pilot and very capable of taking care of herself in dangerous situations. She was, after all, a former Texas Highway Patrol Woman and was very skilled in hand-to-hand combat techniques with a black belt in karate. She had even been responsible for saving Hawke's own life more than once.

"Maybe it's time to think about moving things to another level," Hawke mused .

"Earth to String". The sound of Dom's raised voice broke Hawke out of his thoughts and he turned to find the older man staring up at him from beside the chopper.

"What is it, Dom?" the younger pilot responded with annoyance. He wasn't mad at Dom, he just didn't like being caught unawares. Hawke was known for his super-sensitive hearing and it wasn't often that he let anyone surprise him.

"Sheesh, where were you kid?" Dom asked as he watched String climb down from the top of the copter. "I must have said your name three times before you heard me. You okay?"

'Yeah, I'm fine….just had something else on my mind I guess. What's up?" he asked wanting to change the subject before Dom got too curious. He loved the older man like a father but he also knew if Dom ever got wind of what Hawke had just been thinking about, he'd never hear the end of it. The jolly Italian was an incurable romantic and was never adverse to a little match making. Hawke decided that if and when he decided to ask Caitlin out, he'd rather it be on his own terms.

"Oh, well yeah, "Dom stammered, not convinced that he shouldn't press Hawke a little harder, but decided that could wait for now. "There's someone here asking for you…says he's an old Vietnam buddy. I found him out front, admiring the old Stearman."

"Yeah?" Hawke asked as he cocked on eyebrow showing that his curiosity was piqued. "Did he give you a name?"

"Well that's where it get's kind of strange. He said just to tell you that 'Birdie' was here."

"Did you say, 'Birdie?', Hawke asked, his eyes widening in surprise.

"That's what he said.," Dominic said.

"Well, I'll be damned," Hawke said as he pulled his sunglasses out of his shirt pocket and put them on. "Dom, wait here…I'll be right back," he said as he headed out of the hangar in search of his friend.

AWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAW AW

"If you're looking for feathers in that engine, you're not going to find any," Hawke said as he approached a man who was bent over the antique Stearman that Santini often used in stunts. "I prefer to fly around the birds instead of through them."

The brown haired, green eyed man who appeared a few years older than String stood up and turned around to glare at Hawke. Well, Moondoggie, why don't you just get your surfboard and head back to the beach and leave the flying to us grownups?" he responded.

The two men stood staring at each other, each waiting to see who would be the first to back down when they suddenly both broke into smiles and laughter.

"Jack Haynes, good to see you!" Hawke said as he removed his sunglasses and stepped over to give the man a hearty handshake.

"You too, String…it's been a long time!" the man said as he gave String a friendly slap on the back. "Gotta be eleven years or more."

"1972- Quang Tri." Hawke stated matter of factly.

Nodding his head in agreement, Jack's eyes clouded over with the memory of the Vietnamese battle. "Yeah, those were harrowing times."

"To say the least," Hawke responded. "So, what brings you here? Last I heard you were still military, putting in your 20 years."

"Twenty-two to be exact. Just retired," Haynes advised. "Didn't know what to do with myself after I got out so I thought I'd look up some old friends, you know? I started off looking for your brother, but was told Sinjin never made it out. I'm sorry to hear it, String."

Hawke's eyes dropped to the ground at the mention of his brother's name. Saint John, known as Sinjin to family and close friends, was still listed as an MIA from the war. It was the reason that Hawke had agreed to perform missions for The Firm, in exchange for any information they may be able to provide to Saint John's whereabouts. So far, although there had been a couple of close calls, any attempts to find him had been unsuccessful.

"Yeah, well I haven't given up." String said. "Now, why don't you come inside. I'd love to introduce you to a couple of people."

As Hawke and Jack entered the hangar, Dom and Caitlin came out of the office and met them halfway.

"Dom, Cait…I'd like you to meet Jack Haynes. We flew together in 'Nam."

"Dominic Santini...I used to hear a lot about you from String and Saint John back during the war. They said you taught them everything they know about flying…nice to finally meet you, sir." Jack said as he extended his hand to the older pilot.

"Nice to meet you, son" Dominic said with one of his trademark gap-toothed grins as he returned the handshake.

"And, Caitlin was it?" Jack asked as he turned his attention to the pretty redhead. "And just what is it that you do here?"

"Yeah, Caitlin. And I'm a pilot, mechanic, flight instructor…you know, pretty much whatever the guys need me to do!" she answered as she took a good look at the man that stood before her. "Wow, nice looking guy," she thought to herself.

"Well, if there's one thing I have to admit, it's that the Hawke brothers always did surround themselves with the prettiest women around. Nice to see some things haven't changed," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Oh," Caitlin stammered as she started to blush. "Well, thank you."

After a few seconds of awkward silence…Hawke decided he'd better move things along. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't like the way that Caitlin and Jack were looking at each other. As much as he hated to admit it, he might have even been feeling a little jealous, not that he had a right to, he surely didn't have any claim on Caitlin.

"Listen, Jack…I'd love to spend some time with you but we're about to head off to a job. You going to be around for a while?"

"Yeah. I was just going to head back to the hotel and clean up but hadn't thought much after that."

"Great. Why don't you meet us back here at 6:00? And check out of that hotel. We had all planned to head up to my cabin for the weekend and get some R&R. Why don't you come along and I can explain to Dom where you got the name "Birdie." Hawke said with a grin.

"Sounds great but don't forget I've got a few stories myself, Moondoggie." He retorted as Dom and Caitlin suppressed giggles with the mention of the nickname. Turning to Caitlin, Jack addressed her with a sly smile. "You're coming as well, I hope?"

"I wouldn't miss hearing those stories!, " she said as she returned his smile.

"Then, Hawke, you've got yourself a house guest. I'll see you back here at 6:00." Jack confirmed as he shook the younger pilots hand and headed back out to his vehicle.

"Nice guy." Cait thought out loud as they watched him drive out of the hangar lot.

"Yeah." Hawke practically grunted as he cut his eyes over to look at Caitlin. The look on her face as she watched Jack Haynes drive out of the gates let him know that she was definitely interested in getting to know his long-lost buddy a little better. Hawke was beginning to regret his invitation to Jack to come to the cabin but it was too late to take it back now.

"We'd better get back to work. We're due on the set in two hours." Dom announced, detecting the uneasiness in String's manner. Dom had a pretty good hunch what was bothering String and figured getting back to work would hopefully get his mind off of it. "It's about time I had a long talk with that boy," Dom thought as he watched String walk back to the chopper and get back to his maintenance. "If he doesn't do something, and fast, he's going to lose that girl of ours."

AWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAW

Back at his hotel, Jack Haynes fished a crumpled piece of paper out of his wallet and laid it beside the phone. Dialing the number written on the paper, he waited for it to ring twice and then hung up the phone before dialing again. This time, the person on the other end picked up immediately.

"Zeus? It's me, Haynes. It's in motion. I'll check back in when I've made actual contact with Airwolf. I want the first million deposited in my Swiss account today. I'll expect the second million deposited immediately after I turn over the machine. In the meantime…don't call me, I'll call you when I have something to report. Just make sure that your people have covered my tracks and that any records that Archangel has access to confirm my stellar military career. I don't need Hawke finding out about the dishonorable discharge, got it? Haynes out," he said as he hung up the phone.

TBC…..