CHAPTER 3

Dom looked down at the almost asleep baby in the carrier. "Tommy, huh? Well Tommy, it looks like it's going to be just you and me running ship for a while around here."

\A/

An Hour Later

The Lair

Arms folded across his chest, he sat quietly taking in the beauty of the sleek black battleship before him. He could already almost picture himself in the pilot's seat just as they peaked over the top of the Lair and shot off through the sky, skimming over the mesas and into nearby canyons, immersed in some of nature's finest and only the Lady as companion, to just be alone and not have to think or worry about how whatever the next thing he said would upset or annoy somebody. There wasn't anything other than avoiding the next jutting rock formation to worry about, something that with Airwolf's easy maneuverability and flying coming as easily as breathing to him he could just about do asleep. He could reach out and almost feel the stick and collective in his hands, almost.

Almostwasn't good enough. He needed to have a thumb and four fingers on the stick, to really feel the force as he hit the turbos and got slammed into the back of the seat, to actually be up with the birds and to be able to fly above the clouds. In his life it was more than a want or desire; it was his livelihood, his reality and passion. Yet the doctors wanted him to keep both feet firmly planted on the ground "for practical health reasons."

What a waste, he thought, sighing and dropping his head into his hands. He had driven out here needing to get away while still being constrained to the ground, knowing full and well he wasn't able to take the Lady out today, but she was only fifty feet away. How could he say no to that invite? No, he told himself, much as you hate it, the instructions are for your own good, so you can live to fly another day. But not today, today the Wolf would stay waiting, crouched, and ready.

\A/

The fair had been a great success and seeing the looks on each of their faces when they were offered to go up in the chopper was priceless, but now it winded down to a close, the last of the visitors offering their thanks of gratitude and leaving the park.

"You ready?"

Le nodded as he swallowed the last bite of his hot dog. "I had a good time, and the food was good too," he added, licking his lips.

"Yeah it did," she agreed. "Hey, what do you think about staying at my apartment tonight? Such a good helper deserves something special, and it'll be easier to get you to school on time. I think your stuff is still at my place anyway."

"Okay. And can we watch that movie I've been wanting to see? It's supposed to be coming on tonight."

"Works for me. Let's get back to the hangar and make sure it's alright with Hawke."

\A/

"To hell with what the doctors think. I'm going to go crazy if I don't so something." No one else had to know he went up, didn't even have to know where he'd been.

Hawke quickly changed into his flight suit and climbed inside, closing the hatch behind him and already feeling better.

Only a minute later they were rising up over the chimney and flying over the valley higher and higher into the sky and above the few clouds that clung to the sky.

Racing upwards through the heavens, he executed a perfect hammerhead stall and banked right, coming down in a wide, graceful arch and spiraling downward like the eagle circled over the lake at the cabin.

He felt the cyclic move easily beneath his hand as he wove back and forth lower over the flat parts of the valley, avoiding the occasional outcroppings of a tree or rock formation

Over half and hour had passed by the time he returned to the Lair, and he knew he had to start heading back or there would be a lot of questions waiting for him when he did return. Too bad he couldn't just fly straight up to the cabin and avoid the interrogation altogether, he thought.

The long, slender rotors had just come to a stop by the time he had exchanged the flight suit for his usual attire and climbed into the jeep, starting it up and backing out.

\A/

Tommy gurgled happily as Dom set him back on his lap with recently prepared bottle in hand, reaching out for it in anticipation.

"Yeah, I thought you might like that," Dom smiled, revealing a wide gap toothed grin.

The baby guzzled the formula down greedily, hardly stopping to breath.

"Slow down there buddy, or you going-"

He hiccupped, a small stream of mile running down his cheek as he looked innocently back up at the older man with wide eyes.

"Hey, I warned you."

He hiccupped again.

Dom propped him over his shoulder to burp him, talking to him all the while. "You know, I could just about get used to having you around, little Tommy, but you have to belong somewhere…. Question is - where?"

Tommy startled as the Jet Ranger's chop chop could be heard just outside as the skids settled to the ground and the helicopter powered down. Caitlin and Le entered through the side door only moments later.

"Where's Hawke?" Caitlin queried. "I was offering Le to stay with my tonight, but I wanted to make sure he didn't already have something planned."

"Go ahead. I don't think he's got anything going on and I haven't the slightest clue when he plans on coming back."

"Where'd he go?"

Dom put the now-fed infant back into his carrier and shrugged. "Don't even know where he went to."

"He just left you and Tommy, disappeared?"

"Yep. Don't worry about it though; something I was talking about with him just kind of hit a nerve.

"Everything's okay though?"

"It'll be alright. When he gets back I'll fly him up the cabin and hopefully by tomorrow it will have blown over. Like I said, it wasn't anything too big."