Chapter 4

As Hawke was helping Dom close up the hangar for the night, he knew it would be the perfect time for them to discuss Caitlin. "If I don't bring it up, he'll be suspicious," he thought.

"String, I know you've been avoiding the subject but I really need to talk to you about Caitlin."

"I saw that she came and got her stuff," Hawke replied coldly.

"Yeah, she did," said Dom. "String, how could you leave her there last night? That's not like you."

Hawke shrugged. "I was angry," he replied. "I guess I was little bit shocked too. I never thought they'd really find anything but alcohol in those test results. Honestly, still don't believe it."

"Marella did the test herself String," said Dom. "She doesn't make mistakes like that."

"Maybe not," replied Hawke. "But, I feel like something else is going on here. We're missing something. We both know this kind of behavior isn't like Caitlin. My first instinct was to try and save her from herself but…"

Dom shot him a confused look. "But what?" he asked.

"I guess you could say I got a sixth sense about this," he replied. "Something tells me that I need to hold back and let this play out. But, if she needs me, I'll be there."

"Now that sounds more like the String I know," said Dom with a smile.

"Yeah, but I do regret how things ended at the clinic," he replied solemnly.

As Hawke was attempting to close the hangar door, Michael pulled up in his white limo. "Just the two guys I was looking for," said Archangel. "Got a minute?"

"What do you want Michael?" asked Hawke. "We were just heading home."

"I need you and Dom to search for some stolen high powered weaponry," he told him. "It seems that two large crates were taken from a local military instillation."

Hawke shook his head. "I thought after the Sawyer debacle you guys would have had your act together by now when it comes to security."

"We do," replied Michael. "Problem is that this has to be another inside job."

"Boy, you guys can't trust anybody," complained Dom. "How are we supposed to find this stuff?"

"We believe they dropped it somewhere off the coast and plan to pick it back up in the next few days."

"You mean you want us to search the ocean?" asked Hawke. "Great. Do you know how difficult that is? It took forever for us to locate Caitlin's airplane back when it was high jacked and it was much bigger than a couple of crates."

"I know it won't be easy," Michael told them. "But we can't afford to let anyone get a hold of these weapons. You and Airwolf are our only hope at this point."

Hawke sighed. "Fine," he replied. "When do you want us to start?"

Michael smiled. "You can leave first thing in the morning. I'll have Marella send you the areas we think you should start with. Keep in mind, you'll be looking for ships and divers in the area as well as trying to locate the crates themselves."

Dom escorted Michael outside of the hangar. As he got back into his limo he whispered, "Good luck. Our plan is about to go full force."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The next day proved to be a long one for Hawke and Dom. As they searched along the coast for the missing crates, Dom couldn't help but notice that String was rather quiet.

"What's the matter?" he asked him.

"I'm bored out of my mind," replied Hawke. "Michael is going to owe us big for this one. I don't know how much longer I can do this."

"Hey, we did it before, we can do it again," said Dom.

"Before we were looking for Caitlin," replied Hawke. "We had a real purpose. He paused a moment before continuing. "What do you think happened to her Dom? I know I haven't been around her much lately since I met Marie and she started dating that new guy. But, why would she go and do something so stupid as to try drugs?"

"Drugs don't just affect bad people String," Dom told him. "I don't know what makes someone want to try it in the first place, and maybe we'll never know why Cait did. But she's still Cait and I for one still care about her."

"You don't think I do?" snapped Hawke. "She's means a lot to me Dom."

"I know she does," said Dom. "I've never doubted how much you care about her. I knew it the last time we found ourselves doing this. You didn't give up on her then and I know you won't give up on her now."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Later that evening, Miles picked Caitlin up for their dinner date. She was surprised when instead of taking her out, they pulled up to his condo.

"I thought we had dinner reservations," she asked. "Did you forget something?"

"I hired a private chef to make dinner here tonight," he told her with a smile.

Miles opened the door and helped Caitlin out of the limo. He wrapped his arm around her waist as he escorted her into his home. The chef had set them up a small cozy table on the condo balcony, complete with candlelight.

Caitlin could help but be a little nervous. "It all looks beautiful," she told him. "You didn't have to go through all of this trouble."

"Of course I did," he replied. "We've been dating for one month today and well, I wanted tonight to be our big night."

"Oh," replied Caitlin before changing the subject. "Did you get a chance to talk to your boss?"

Miles smirked. "I sure did baby," he said. "I told you I'd come through for you. If you're up for it, you start tomorrow."

Caitlin couldn't help but to be surprised. "Wow, that's quick," she replied.

"Yeah but you'll be working with another pilot," said Miles. "My boss is sending a shipment down to Mexico but she says it's a tricky job and it'll take two pilots. One will need to be able to hop into a helicopter they have down there to pick up the buyer. Then the other one will have to pick that pilot and the buyer up afterwards. You'll have all the details beforehand though."

"Who is this other pilot?" she asked.

"Goes by the name of Snake Gun is all I know," replied Miles. "He's a recluse who lives in a small town near the border. He makes tons of money but prefers to live in a shack out of the eyes of the public for some reason. Guess he's banking his money for retirement or something. I don't know."

"I think I can manage the job," she said with confidence when they finished dinner.

"I know you can baby," he told her as he took her hand and pulled her back into his bedroom. "But first you owe me one, remember?"

Caitlin felt her heart beat increase. She knew she had no choice. If she didn't sleep with him now, he'd dump her and they would lose all the ground they had made so far. "God forgive me," she said to herself as she followed him in and shut the door.

A few minutes later, Caitlin found herself lying beside Miles as he cursed himself over and over. "Damn it," he said. "That's never happened to me before. I'm so sorry Caitlin."

"It's okay," she assured him, trying to hide her relief. "When I get back from this job, we'll make a weekend of it and celebrate. How about that?"

Miles turned and smiled at her. "I knew there was something special about you," he told her. "Thanks for understanding baby. I'll make it up to you I promise."

"I guess I should go," she told him as she got up and got dressed. "When do I go and meet this other pilot?"

"A driver will pick you up in the morning and drive you down there," he told her. "Just be prepared for anything. I'm not sure what you'll run into when you get there. You know this work isn't exactly on the up and up don't you?"

"Well, I kinda figured that," she replied. "But I need the work and if you think I should do it, I'll do it. Do you think I'll need a gun?"

"No, don't do that," he replied. "Bringing a gun would scare them off. Just be cautious."

Miles walked her to her car and kissed her goodnight. As she drove away, Caitlin let out a big sigh. "Someone sure was looking over me tonight," she said to herself. "Sorry Miles but you are never going to get your alone time with me."