Part 3
"Are you settled?" Hawke asked as Caitlin came down the stairs.
"Yes, thank you for the dresser."
"You're welcome."
"Uncle String, where am I going to sleep while Caitlin stays here?"
"You my friend are going to stay with your Uncle Dom," replied Dominic tossing Le's hair.
"Alright, I can play Atari!"
"Not until your homework's done. You promise?"
"I promise Uncle String."
"Come on Half pint help me unpack the rest of the chopper." Dominic said guiding the young boy outside.
"How long do you think you can put up with me being under foot?" Caitlin asked.
"As long as it takes to get you safe," he said more harshly than he intended. "Besides, you could never be under foot."
"Alright I can see there's no point in arguing with you."
As Dominic and Le went about preparing dinner, Hawke noticed Caitlin was sitting outside on the porch bench. He went upstairs and grabbed one of his big sweaters. It was getting chilly and the last thing that anyone wanted was for her to catch pneumonia.
When he came back in….
"String?"
"Yeah, Dom."
"I don't think I could stand it if anything was to happen to that young lady. She's kind of grown on me. I like having her around."
"Yeah, me too."
As they quietly ate dinner, Hawke watched Caitlin intensely. The way she carried on with his nephew, he could see how much she loved the boy and how much Le loved her back, but Hawke saw something else in her eyes and that was fear and pure exhaustion. He thought to himself that his life would not be as full if something happened to Caitlin. He cared too much and wondered when those feelings first surfaced. Was it when Horn brainwashed him a year and a half ago or was it sooner, when her plane was hijacked on her way to Erin's wedding? He wasn't sure, but he was sure about one thing, Caitlin was a big part of his life and protecting her was his number one priority.
Dom cleaned up the dinner dishes while Le sat at the dining room table and finished his homework. Hawke sat on the edge of the fireplace drinking a cup of coffee. Caitlin excused herself, went upstairs, and headed for bed.
"She's not handling this very well. Did Michael's team pick up any good clues from her apartment," Dom said as Caitlin walked up the stairs.
"Michael didn't say if they found anything. And when it comes to Cait, sometimes it's hard to tell how she's handling it. Normally, she's a very strong willed woman but anyone would crack under the pressure she's been under since she came home," Hawke stated.
Just as the guys were talking, Caitlin locked herself in the bathroom. She started to shake uncontrollably and then she started to cry. The tears came slowly at first then the sobs started. She grabbed a towel to muffle the sound of her crying and in the process knocked a bottle of shampoo down.
Hawke heard the bottle fall and he headed for the stairs. When he got to the bedroom, he saw the bathroom door closed.
"Caitlin, are you alright?"
When there was no answer he tried the doorknob. It was locked.
"Cait, come on, open the door. Cait! Open the door!"
Hawke couldn't wait. He used his pocket knife and forced the door open. Caitlin was crouched in the corner, shaking like a leaf and crying. The sight of her falling apart took him aback. He helped her up and guided her to the bed.
"Dom, get up here."
"What in the world is going on up here? Caitlin?"
"Dom, there're tranquillizers in the medicine cabinet. Grab one."
Dom grabbed the pill bottle, shook out one, and grabbed a glass of water. He handed them to Hawke.
"Here Cait, take it. Don't shake your head no, it'll calm you down."
Caitlin took the pill and in a few minutes was resting comfortably. Dom stayed with her while Hawke went down stairs to calm Le down. He told Le that Caitlin was alright now, she was just under a great deal of stress, and that it just all overtook her. Dominic came down the stairs.
"Sleeping?" asked Hawke.
"Sort of but I think she'll be okay for the time being. I'll check on her in a little while, just before I take Le back to town."
Hawke put another log on the fire and with the poker in hand he just stood there and stared into it. Dom moved up behind him and put his hand on his dear friend's shoulder.
"Dom, she can't do this. What happened up there just proved it. If she keeps so much inside she'll break. I'm really worried about her."
"You're more than just worried String. I've known you too long not to notice how you feel about that woman upstairs. You want to help but you don't know where to start. String, you should tell her how you feel. Sometimes you're just about as stubborn as your father was. It took him close to almost losing your mother to someone else before he told her how he felt. I watched him go through it and I'm not going to just sit here and watch his son go through the same thing. Tell her. You never know it may help her get through this."
Hawke opened his mouth for an angry retort of denial. Instead he found himself sighing.
"Dom, am I that transparent?"
"To tell you the truth, yes, at times you are. String, no one's made you laugh or more relaxed about the world than Caitlin. Her outlook on life has become the bright spot at work. Not to overlook the fact that she's saved our bacon more than once."
"You're right about that. You're usually right. Don't let that go to your head. Yeah, I care about her and…I want to tell her but right at the moment I really don't know how to help her and that scares the hell out of me."
"Uncle String?" said a quiet voice from behind.
"Yeah Le?"
"Is Caitlin going to be alright?"
"I don't know. I just don't know, but we're going to do everything we can to try and make her alright."
In the morning Hawke awoke to the smell of fresh coffee. Caitlin was on her way back up the stairs.
"Good Morning."
"Oh! I didn't know you were up."
"Just. Coffee smells good."
"I needed a cup so I snuck down and made a pot."
She sat down on the stairs and Hawke got up off of the couch and joined her after he poured himself a cup of coffee.
"Dom went back to town after he felt that you were going to sleep for a while. He'll be back later on with Le. It's Saturday and it's fishing day."
"Hawke?"
"Yeah?"
"Could this stuff have anything to do with what I've done with you and Airwolf?"
"I can't say that that thought hasn't crossed my mind. Anyone in particular you're thinking of?"
"I don't know," she replied quietly.
"How about when Dom gets here we make a list of everyone we've been in direct contact with and we get Michael to check it out."
Caitlin nodded her head in agreement. She sighed and rubbed her eyes. Hawke reached over and put his arm around her shoulders. He'd been doing that a lot lately, she mused.
"I think I'm going to go get dressed and take your dog for a walk."
"Do you mind if I join you? I'd like to talk to you about something."
"Okay," she said while wondering why with all the talking they'd been doing lately he hadn't already said what he wanted to.
Together they walked up the mountain behind the cabin. For a while neither of them spoke, just enjoyed the view.
"My dad would have loved this," Caitlin said softly.
Hawke came up behind her and put his arms around her waist. She relaxed and leaned back into him. He kissed the side of her head.
I could get used to this, she thought. Well, not if it means being stalked, but still.
"You don't talk about your family very much."
"No not really. I didn't have a happy childhood. My parents stayed together 'for the children.' So, I grew up in a home of constant fighting and silent treatments depending on the disagreement."
"But you said you and your Dad were close."
"Yes, but not a first. I didn't really know him until I was a teenager when he retired from driving a truck."
Caitlin sat down on a fallen tree and rubbed her leg. Hawke sat down beside her.
"Sore?"
"Just a bit, it's the first time without the cane to lean on for support."
Hawke leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Caitlin smiled and wondered who this affectionate man was and what had he done with her Hawke. Her Hawke, she liked the sound of that.
"You can use me as support whenever you need." he said quietly and he kissed her again.
As much as she didn't want to break the mood, she was dying to know.
"What were you going to talk to me about?"
"We can talk about it later."
Caitlin bit her lip and tried to hide her disappointment.
"Okay. Hawke, I hope I didn't scare Le last night."
"He's a strong kid and he knows what you're going through is rough."
"I didn't mean to crack like that last night. But having my apartment ransacked, kind of made what Michael told us yesterday crystal clear."
"It's okay, really."
They got up and headed back to the cabin. Caitlin took Hawke at his word and leaned on him as her leg was getting extremely sore. As they came around the back of the cabin the sounds of an approaching helicopter came over the mountains.
"Sounds like Michael," Hawke said entering the cabin.
"Boy, you are good." Caitlin said laughing as Hawke sat her down on the sofa.
Michael walked in. He looked like he was in a mood.
"Caitlin, we've got some news."
Hawke went and got his friend a cup of coffee.
"Thanks. We dusted your apartment for prints and ruled out your neighbor Ms. McCall. We found one set of good prints that at first we couldn't identify."
"Well?" Caitlin questioned.
"It's Angelica Horn."
Caitlin collapsed back into the sofa. Hawke put a steading hand on her shoulder.
"Alright, we have a name and a face but why would she try something now. It's been just over a year since her father and I tangled," Hawke said.
"We're not sure. I have Samantha digging around and hopefully we'll come up with something."
"Cait, are you okay?"
"I don't know. I should be, now that I know who is behind this but…I'm not. Hawke, I'm not sure how much you remember when Horn brainwashed you but…His daughter is dangerous and manipulative, capable of anything."
"I seem to remember you saying after our first meeting with the Horns that Angelica was yours.
"You said what?" Michael questioned, surprised.
"Okay, okay. I was angry. She hurt Hawke and made him hurt Dom. But for her to come back now, Michael, are you sure, really sure it's Angelica?"
"Positive."
"Now what?"
"That's up to you Caitlin. The only way we can catch and stop her before she kills someone, is to draw her out."
"Which means going back to my apartment, going back to Santini Air, stuff like that?"
"Exactly," Michael agreed.
Hawke watched as Caitlin struggled to get up off the sofa. Caitlin moved slowly to stand in front of the fire and Hawke moved to stand beside her. She was staring into the fire. Hawke reached out and touched her arm. She looked into his eyes and he saw something that he had never seen before, pure fear.
"Michael, could you wait outside for a few minutes?" Hawke asked, never taking his eyes off Caitlin. When Michael had stepped outside he continued. "Cait, we could finish this now. No one else has to get hurt."
"I know," she whispered.
"I won't let anything happen to you." Hawke said pulling her into his arms, "This ends here and now. I want my Caitlin back."
"I know you'd do anything to protect me. I'm just afraid that someone else will get hurt."
"Who?"
"You, before I agree to this the Lady has to be nearby."
"That goes without question. We'll bring her in and store her in the hanger. Don't worry Cait. You'll be safe."
"Alright, but who's going to stay with me in my apartment?"
Hawke smiled and he held her close. He kissed her forehead and whispered in her ear.
"I will."
Michael poked his head in and saw Hawke and Caitlin hugging in front of the fire there.
Should I interrupt them or should I leave those two alone for a while, he thought.
"Michael you might as well come back in now," Hawke said irritated at what was probably going through the spy's mind.
"What have we decided?" Michael said humor lacing his words. He rubbed his mustache to hide the grin forming at Hawke's glare.
"I'll do it. But, I want this done and over with quickly and Angelica Horn behind bars so she can't hurt anyone else ever again."
"Okay...I'll get back and set things up."
