It was late in the evening when Dakota was returning home after a long day of shopping with the girls. She had just turned into the drive of her ranch, when a couple of hundred yards in she noticed something red picked out in her headlights. Pulling over to investigate the alien object on her drive, she found that it was a red ball cap with one word on it Airborne and a little silver pin badge to the right of it. Turning round to return to the car she also noticed something else that did not belong there. Highlighted in the car headlights was a distinctly human shape, male by the look of it, lying face down and motionless part of the way down the ditch that boarded the driveway.

Training kicking in she was at his side in an instant checking for a pulse, finding it there and to her relief it was quite strong. She gave a start at the sharp in take of breath that came from the seemingly lifeless body, he began to moan and come to. He tried to sit up but was over come by dizziness and a touch of nausiea. "Hang on there a minute, take it easy" she said noticing his distress.

"Where am I?" The mystery man asked in a distintive southern drawl turning his head slightly to find the source of her voice. It was then that she could see the reason for him being out cold when she found him; it was an extremely nasty gash above his left eye that was oozing blood down that side of his face.

"You're lying in the ditch at the side of my drive, with a nasty gash on your forehead, leaking blood everywhere, that's where you are!" she exclaimed more suprised than anything to have found him lying there. "Do you think you can sit up so I can take a closer look at your newly formed facial feature."

"I think so." Came the weak reply. With a little help he sat up and found himself looking into the most beautiful hazel eyes he'd ever seen.

Using the glare from the headlights to examine the wound a little further she decided that it would need hospital treatment. "Can you make it up to the car? I think you may need stitches. The hospital's not too far from here."

"No, no hospitals"

"But it needs to be seen by a doctor. It looks really bad!" She tried to put emphasise on the "bad" part.

"I'll live without seeing no doc. I've had worse than this."

"But ..."

He cut her off before she could continue "No buts, no hospital and certainly no doctors!" He said a little too harshly and regretted it instantly. She was trying to help him and right now he needed that help.

Unfazed by the tone of voice and seeing the apologetic look on his face she asked "Can you at least make it to the car so I can clean the wound. Then we'll go from there."

"Yep, think I may just be able to make it" He said smiling at her like a loon, because she seemed to have ignored the outburst. But when he tried put weight on his right foot he gasped in pain and sat back down with a thump. Dakota asked him what was wrong "I think I've sprained my right ankle." As he said it he had a flash back to earlier on in the day. He had trip over a tree root running about in some woods, but he couldn't remember why he was in the woods in the first place.

"Here let me help you." She offered out her hands to him. He took hold of them gratefully and he was suprised at the strenght she had to haul his ass up of the ground. Taking his right arm and draping it over her shoulders, she slipped her left arm around his waist under his leather jacket, taking the opportunity to check for any weapons hidden round his waist, there was nothing. The the check also told her that he was quite muscular, perhaps not a total nut about working out, but did so on a regular bases.

Together they reached the top of the ditch with a little effort and got to the car. Dakota was thankful that she had worn flats and not those monsterous heels that she was contemplating this morning. She helped him to sit in the passenger side of the car with him facing out so she could tend to him more easily. In the glow from the interior light she got a good look at the man and she thought she reconised him, but for the life of her could think where from. He was in his mid thirties with a thick mop of brown hair and lush green eyes. Consious that she was staring and that he was aware of it, she went to the back of the car to get the first aid kit that she always kept to hand. Picking up the hat she had discarded while rushig to see if he was okay.

When she came back round he could see that she had a ruck sack with a big red cross on it. Wondering why she would need such a large first aid kit to hand. He said "You're either very accident prone or you're waiting for world war 3!"

"Huh" came her reply. She was still lost in her thoughts when he had spoken to her and hadn't really heard what he said.

"Never mind" He said. "I'm James Murdock by the way." Giving her one of his dazzling smiles.

That's it, that's it; she did know him after all. His file had come across her desk one day last year, along with three others. He was one of the A Team that the government was so desperately seeking, but kept failing to lay their hands on. They had come close on a few occassions, but these guys were slipperier than a bar of soap in a prison shower room. There were some problems that she new she would have to deal with, one this guy was a federal fugative, two, if the reports were right, he was nuttier than squirrel shit but supposedly the best pilot they had seen and three she didn't believe they did what the report said. There were too many inconsistencies for her liking.

Not wanting to let on she knew who he was just yet she replied "Nice to meet you Mr Murdock. I'm Dakota Jennings." Returning an equally dazziling smile.

"Please call me James, Miss Jennings."

"Okay, only if you call me Kota"

"Deal!" He said giving her another smile.

Remembering that she still had the hat in her hand she passed it to him. "I believe this is yours."

"Thanks. I thought I'd lost it."

While she cleaned the wound she asked how he ended up in the ditch. "I don't remember all I know is that I was seperated from my friends after we were set upon by some knuckle dragging numpties and being chased in the woods. That's how I did my ankle in. I tripped over a tree root it just jumped out in front of me; I think it was on their side!" Finally things started to fall into place for him now and he really needed to get a hold of the colonel. But the thought was pushed out of his mind when she gave a little laugh at his joke. The fog seemed to clear and he realised how stunning this women was. She had dark brown hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, a cute little nose that by the looks of it had been broken and not be reset properly but that only added to her charm, her mouth was full and when she smiled it lit her whole face up. Her most striking feature though was her eyes they were like deep pools, thoughtful and knowing. They also had a look of something else that he had seen to many times before. The look that said I've seen to much bad shit, shit that would have most people screaming and running for the hills. It was a look he knew well, it was there every time he looked in the mirror.

Taking another look at the cut told her that stitches were required; she knew she'd have to do them herself. She had been trained in a number of advanced combat medical technquies, so stitching the gash would be easy enough. "Look, I can stitch this up for you. I got all the supplies up in the house, if you're really intent on not going to the hospital. What do you say?"

Feeling more himself he replied in a thick Scotish accent "Oh ay, soonds good to me Lass." Then a sudden realisation dawned on him. "Wait you are qualified aren't you! Cause I don't want no lightening bolts stitched on me." Trying not to look at him like he had horns growing out of his head, she assured him that she was fully qualified.

"Here hold this on it; it's still bleeding quite a bit." She said handing him a gaze pad. She helped him get his right ankle in the car, and by the grimace on his face it seem to be causing alot more pain than he was letting on. They drove the rest of the way to the house in silence.