Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or back story of Airwolf. All characters are property of Bellasario, CBS and whoever else created them. I only borrow them for short periods of time, harass them and put them back on the shelf My stories are for entertainment purposes only.

Survival

Chapter 2

Sunday - Mid Day

Cait moaned as she turned her head away from the sharp sunlight that was poking at her eyelids. "What the hell did I do last night?" she thought as she struggled to clear her mind from the fog that it seemed to be drowning in. "And would somebody please close those damn curtains!"

Slowly opening her eyes, she made every effort to try and focus on her surroundings. It wasn't working, her vision was cloudy and every time she tried to move her head around, the most intense, throbbing pain she'd ever felt seemed to shoot through her skull. "Well, O'Shannessy, you must have really tied one on last night. I guess Hawke must have gotten to you more than you thought by asking you out on that date," she thought to herself as she mindlessly raised her hand to her aching head. "It's a good thing he's not here to see you now."

As her hand reached her forehead she was puzzled when it felt slick with moisture. "What the…?" she thought as she brought her hand back in front of her face and could see something red on her fingertips. Suddenly, with the sight and smell of the blood, the events of the night before came rushing back to her. Her kneejerk reaction was to try and sit up but she quickly realized that not only was that not a good idea, but it was pretty much impossible. Her body screamed out in pain as she tried to move, at least the part of her body that she could feel. While her head, chest and abdomen seemed to be on fire, everything from her waist down might as well have belonged to someone else for all she could feel of them. With the realization of her situation, panic quickly began to set in.

Forcing her eyes back open, she could make out the blurry shape of her car that she was currently trapped under. Turning her head to either side, the scenery didn't get much more encouraging, nothing but a fuzzy landscape full of rocks and trees and brush. Cait's breathing became shallow and more rapid as her anxiety level went sky high.

"No!" she quickly demanded of herself. "You can't do this…you have to find some way to stay calm and get help! First, I need to know how long I've been here. I told Hawke I'd call him Tuesday night when I got back. Until then, Hawke and Dom won't have any reason to come look for me. I have to figure out a way to either let someone know I'm here or stay alive until they come searching."

Gauging the heat of the sun shining directly down upon her, Caitlin quickly figured it must be mid day. She just wasn't sure WHICH day or how long she'd been stuck unconscious under that car. A glint of light from the direction of her wrist suddenly reminded her that the watch she had on included not only time, but date as well. Cait knew that she had left L.A. on Saturday, June 5th. Carefully lifting her wrist close enough to her face so that she could see her watch, she was able to make out the number 6 on the calendar dial.

"So, it must be Sunday. And my watch says 12:45 pm. I've been out for over 12 hours!", she reasoned. Knowing she had survived this long was slightly encouraging but on the other hand, Cait knew she was in real trouble. It would be at least 48 more hours before Dom or Hawke even had an inkling that she was missing and therefore they would have no reason to come and search for her. While she had made it through the first night, she wasn't sure she could survive another night in the harsh mountain elements and the thought of trying to make another two full days without any food or water didn't leave her with much hope.

"Alright, O'Shannessy, you've gotten yourself into one fine mess. It's going to be up to you to find a way out of this. No Hawke, no Airwolf, nobody but yourself. Time to quit feeling sorry for yourself and just do what you have to do," Caitlin actually spoke the words out loud. She knew the first order of business would be keep herself awake as much as possible. Knowing her injuries were serious, she didn't want to risk slipping back into an unconsciousness state she knew she might not come out of.

Taking another look around, she inventoried her surroundings. There wasn't much more than what she saw the first time but she did spot an object just out of reach to her left. Turning her head as far over as she could she was excited to see that it was her purse. She knew that during her trip she had stuck a small thermos of coffee and some peanuts in it to snack on during the drive. It wasn't much but it might serve to keep her alive a little bit longer. Reaching out her arm as far as she could, the straps were still just out of reach. Caitlin wasn't sure if the tears in her eyes were from the pain as she stretched out her battered and bruised body or the irony of having life-giving food just out of reach where she could see it but not get to it.

"C'mon, don't give up now. It's right there…you just need something to help you reach it!" Caitlin chided herself. Feeling around next to her, her hand ran across a small branch that had most likely broken off one of the pine trees as the car tumbled through it. Grabbing the branch, Caitlin used it as an extension of her arm and after several tiring attempts, was able to hook the straps of her bag and pull it closer to her. Unfortunately, before she could do anything further, she realized that the exertion had been too much and though she tried hard to fight it, she passed into unconsciousness once more.

AWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAW

Sunday – 6:00 pm

"Earth to String!" Dom chided as he stepped around Hawke and flipped the fish that was cooking in the pan just before it burnt.

"Huh?" String asked as he looked with bewilderment at Dom.

"Just move out of the way, kid. I'll finish supper. I swear, I don't know where you've been all day but it sure hasn't been here. I worked hard to catch that fish and I'll be damned if I let you burn it!" Dom exclaimed with one of his trademark "Hmmphs".

"Dom, forget about the damn fish," Hawke directed. "I can't ignore this anymore. I don't know what the hell is going on but something's wrong and I know it has something to do with Cait. I haven't been able to shake this feeling all day."

Turning the flame off on the stove and turning to look at String, Dom could see the tension in the younger man's face. "Okay, String, I know you well enough not ignore your 'feelings' but just where do you propose we start looking? Caitlin could be anywhere in a 500 mile radius of here and even in The Lady that's just too wide of a search."

"I don't know, Dom, but I can't just sit here and wait. Let's start with her apartment, maybe there's something there that will tell us where she went," Hawke said as he pulled on his leather flight jacket and headed out the door.

TBC…