CHAPTER 3

Dom drove the jeep out to the Valley. "Tell me one more time why you want to stay out here. You said yourself that yourself that there isn't a much safer place and all you're going to do is get a sore back."

"I just think it's a good idea. Something has felt wrong all day."

He rarely did something without a good reason, and String's sixth sense had saved them before, so they didn't tend to doubt it.

"Dom, hurry." String's concern for the Lady's safety suddenly increased. Someone was out there, he just knew it.

"I'm hurrin' already," Dom replied grumpily as he pressed the pedal down even farther.

Approaching the cave entrance, Dom noticed the eerie glow inside the cockpit. "Funny, I was almost positive we turned everything off." He walked toward the sleek black helicopter. "String, we shut down the computers didn't we?"

No answer.

"String?"

String had an absent far away look about him.

"You ok, String?"

\A/

Caitlin trudged down the hallway wearily. Chance was crying again, but for the life of her, she couldn't understand why. He'd been fed, changed, bathed, and seemed perfectly fine when she had put him to bed.

"It's ok, baby," she soothed. "It's alright." Maybe she should have stayed at the Lair and let String take care of Chance; they seemed to get along perfectly.

She wondered how things were going at the Lair. Thinking about radioing them, she decided against it. It was too late.

Caitlin took Chance down into the living room. He seemed to enjoy the bottle she gave him more as a toy than acting hungry. He had always had String's propensity to get up early, but lately it was like he didn't sleep at night either.

After letting him play for a while, she took him back upstairs. "Back to bed, Chance." Lowering him into the crib, she kissed him goodnight and stroked his blonde streaked, downy, baby fuzz until he went to sleep. Tiredly, she went back to the master bedroom. Slipping under the covers, she naturally reached for String. Of course, he wasn't there. She sighed, missing the warm body that normally accompanied her, and curled up under the covers, drifting back off to sleep.

\A/

"String?" Dom repeated.

String blinked a few times before answering. "Fine. I'm fine."

"Did we leave the computer on when we were here yesterday?"

"No."

"You sure? Cause they're on now."

"I know we didn't," he answered definitely.

Dom's voice quieted to a whisper. "You think someone was…or is here?"

'Thermal scans indicate life human life form five miles out.'

"Dom, there's someone out there. Five miles out."

Five miles at night in the Valley of the Gods was like an eternity away without the proper equipment, but to be out there whoever it was probably had a good reason for being there. Why else would anyone be out there at two in the morning?

They both slipped into the darkness. Time passed slowly, minutes ticking away like hours. By morning nothing had happened.

"You think it's alright?" Dom asked.

'Any life scans?' he mentally questioned.

'Running scans….No life forms,' she answered.

"We're ok."

They stepped from the shadows, rolling the tension out of their shoulders.

"I'm getting too old for this," Dom muttered.

String couldn't say he didn't feel the same way. A night in the cold desert with only a rock as a bed wasn't nice going to be nice to anyone's body.

Finally convinced the danger had passed, String went back to the jeep.

"I'll stay here," Dom volunteered, "just to be sure."

He agreed and drove back to the hangar. Caitlin was just unbuckling Chance from his seat on the Jet Ranger. Saint John and Le were already inside.

"Everything go alright?" Cait asked.

"For the most part," String answered. "We almost had a visitor, but the chickened out five miles away. How about you? Did Chance behave?"

"He was kind of fussy in the middle of the night, but nothing major."

"I'm gonna go and pick up lunch," Saint John announced, "and I think Le wants to come with me."

"Alright, see you two later."

String studied the schedule on the wall.

"I'll take the charter at two," Caitlin said.

He looked at her in surprise. "I thought I was going to take that one."

She shrugged. "Ok, I want to take that one. I need some time out."

He could understand. In the air it was just so free, and she had done a lot of babysitting lately. "Alright."

\A/

String was working on the paperwork in the Santini Air office when Chance started crying again.

"What now?" he murmured, abandoning the unbalanced bank work. He couldn't ignore the tearful blue eyes that pleaded for him to come, but he wasn't getting anything done, and the random on and off crying was starting to get to him. "What is it?" he asked cradling the crying baby in his arms.

The phone rang.

"Santini-"

He was cut off. "I know who you are and where you work," her voice was as solid as stone. How could she be on the phone with the man that had killed her father when all she wanted to do was slit his throat? she questioned herself. "If you want to see your brother, nephew, wife, or father again, I suggest you get back to the Valley of the Gods in two hours."

"Where?"

"I think you would know the place well, you did stay there last night. Remember, come within two hours or all of your family will be delivered back to you piece by piece."

He shifted the crying baby. He always seemed to cry right before something bad happened, nonetheless he had to go. He couldn't let the family he'd spent so many years piecing together be taken away from him like that, but sure wasn't going to take Chance into this. With any luck, they didn't know about him yet, and he would like to keep it that way.

He picked up the phone and dialed Michael's office.

Marella picked up.

"I need you to watch Chance. There's a problem at the Lair."

"Do you want zebra squad?"

"No," he answered immediately, "all that would do is get them killed for sure. All I need you to do is take care of Chance and make sure nothing happens to him."

\A/

The Jet Ranger dropped down onto the rocky soil, and he climbed out.

"Hawke," she greeted coldly.

He stared back at the woman in front of him. He didn't know her, he'd remember if he did, but something about her looked familiar. Wavy blonde hair cascaded across her shoulder as she jerked her head in the direction of the cave wall.

"Stand over there," her English accent was evident.

"Now, Stringfellow, Dominic, Saint John, Caitlin, Le, or Dark Angel? You have five choices, but you only get to keep one.

Dark Angel, English accent, how did it fit together?

"You couldn't get Airwolf out of here even if I did let you have her."

"Don't be so sure."

"It's not a normal chopper," he warned.

"You don't think I know that? My father has trained me for this day…Before you killed him."

Dark Angel- that's what- You're Moffet's daughter.

"I'm surprised it took you this long to figure it out. Now, if you don't mind getting back to business, who will you let live? Dominic who raised you like a son, Saint John your long lost brother, Le your nephew, or Caitlin your wife? Unless of course, you wish to let them all die, but keep Airwolf, as you call it, for yourself."

Silence filled the air. He couldn't choose just one of them, and he couldn't risk Airwolf getting into the wrong hands. What was he to do?