Thicker than Water

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.

Summary: Hawke and Dom have a major falling out. Will the result spell disaster for Caitlin? And will that bring them back together or will the Airwolf team be forever torn apart?

Chapter 1

What had started out as a normal day at Santini Air had somehow turned into a war between Dominic and Hawke. Caitlin stood in the office staring out at the hangar as String stomped off in a huff and Dominic did nothing to try and stop him. "How did a simple phone call turn into this?" she wondered. Sure, the two stubborn men had had their share of disagreements before but this was something on a different level. Caitlin could tell that Hawke was beyond mad and that he was too stuborn to admit he was wrong. Turning her thoughts to Dom, Cait knew that the Italian also had a stubborn streak a mile wide and he would expect String to apologize before he would be willing to talk again. Hawke had hurt him deeply and it would take a while for him to get over the sharp words that had been spoken. Shaking her head, Caitlin thought back to how the whole thing had started.

Hawke hung up the phone with a faraway look on his face.

"Who was it, kid?" Dom asked as he climbed out of the helicopter he'd been working on.

"Huh?" Hawke said as he looked at Dom as if he'd just remembered he wasn't alone.

"On the phone. Who was it?" Dom asked again.

"A guy I used to know in 'Nam. Danny Walters. He works for Army Intelligence now. He said he may have something on St. John."

"Yeah? LIke what?" Dom asked skeptically. They'd been down this road so often and it usually led to nothing but more disappointment and heartache for String. He hated to see Hawke's hopes built up to be torn down once again.

"He says he heard there was a camp in Laos that Sinjin might be in. He's just not sure how old the intelligence is."

Dom sighed as he came over towards the younger man. "String, we've been down that road just last year. He wasn't there. Chances are if we go back we'll find the same thing."

Hawke's eyes flashed as he looked at Dom. "So you're just going to give up on him without even checking this out with me?"

"I didn't say that String but going over the same territory again isn't going to do us any good. We can't just keep taking off half way around the world on every little unverified tip that comes in."

"Well maybe you can't, Dominic, but I'll be damned if you stop me! " Hawke's voice was raising with every word.

Dom tried to reason with him. "Look, kid, you know I want to find your brother as much as you do but putting your life in danger for information that's probably old and already turned into nothing isn't going to help anyone. At some point you have to stop putting yourself through this. Maybe it's time you start focusing on the here and now. It's what Sinjin would want."

Dom had only meant the best but to Hawke it had come off as a betrayal. "Well in case you haven't noticed, my here and now has always been about finding Sinjin and I'm going to take whatever lead I can and follow it no matter where it takes me. You know I didn't keep Airwolf just so you could have some fun playing spy for Archangel every so often!"

"Hey, String, that's not fair," Dominic shot back as his hands went to his hips. "I'm just worried about you."

"Yeah, well, no need to worry any longer, Dom," Hawke said as he pulled his sunglasses from his shirt pocket and turned to leave. "In case you've forgotten I don't need your help to fly Airwolf and I don't need some worrywort old man nagging me and trying to tell me how to live my life. If I want to run around the world looking for Sinjin then that's my business, not yours. In case you've forgotten, you're not my father...hell you're not even family...but Sinjin is!"

Caitlin had gasped at Hawke's last statement. She knew that Hawke hadn't really meant it but he seemed to lose all sense when it came to his brother. Dom was probably right, Hawke was grasping at straws again but it was all Hawke had left of his brother. He would never give up, no matter how small the possibility of finding him was. Still it didn't give him the right to hurt the man that had raised him that way. Even for Hawke, it was going too far. She had wanted to break in but by then it was too late. Hawke was stomping out the door and Dominic was too hurt and mad to go after him.

Coming out of the office, Caitlin walked over to the older man and put her arm around him. "Dom, you know he didn't mean that," she said as she watched Hawke take off on his motorcycle. "He's just upset about Sinjin."

"I don't know, Cait," Dom said as he shook his head. "I've seen him hurt before but he's never said anything like that to me. I just don't know what to do with him anymore. He'll never have a life of his own until he either finds Sinjin or gives up the hunt. I can't stand the thought of giving up on him either but String has got to move on or else he's going to end up lonely and angry for the rest of his life." Disengaging himself from Cait's arm, Dom headed over to the nearest chair and sat down with a weary thud. "I just don't think I can help him anymore, Cait. It just kills me to see him so hurt everytime one of these leads goes nowhere."

"C'mon, Dom. He'll come around and realize what you were trying to say...he always does. He just needs some time to cool down and get his head on straight."

"Yeah, well maybe I won't be here when he comes around. Not today, anyways." Dom huffed and stood, putting his ballcap on his head. "I just don't think I can fight this fight again. I'm not going to watch him slowly kill himself over this."

"That's probably a good idea, " Caitlin agreed. "Why don't you get out of here for the day...go down to the bar and have a few beers with the guys. I'll finish up some paperwork and then close up the hangar. We've all got that stunt to do tomorrow. I"m sure by then, Hawke will have cooled off and he'll apologize," Caitlin said with a slight smile hoping she was right but not feeling very confident herself.

"Yeah, maybe," Dom agreed with a sigh. "But I'll tell you one thing, Cait, that boy's going to have to apologize to me first and he's going to have to mean it. I'm not going to let him get by with what he said...not this time."

"I know, Dom, I know." Cait said as she watched the older man get up and walk slowly out of the hangar.

Heading back into the office, Caitlin glanced at the clock - 3:00 p.m. She would give Hawke a few hours and if he wasn't back, she decided she'd head up to the cabin and have a talk with him, herself. Somehow she had to get the two men in her life back on the right track...she just wasn't sure how she was going to do it.

TBC...

A/N: So I have an idea on where this story is headed but don't have a clue on how long or short it may be. We'll just take it one step at a time and see where the muse leads. Also, at this point Cait and String are not a couple. I really haven't decided if they will be at the end of this one or not...it may be more about the three of them as a family as opposed to a relationship story just between Cait and String. But who knows...they could end up together as well. We'll just have to wait and see :)