Landing gear down, Airwolf settled heavily into the clearing her landing directly mirroring Hawke's mood.
Bringing Seb had been a mistake. He knew it with an ache in his gut that wouldn't quit. Maybe he should've asked Sinj…
But even as he thought it, he knew he wouldn't. Jo and the baby's health was too precarious as it was. If something were to happen…
He couldn't do that to Sinj, not even for Roper. Not even for his own son.
Reaching down, he grabbed another clip for his gun, eyeing his brother and shoving it into his pocket as he did so. "Ready?" he queried.
"Yeah," Seb replied flatly, his tone devoid of all emotion.
"String, I could come if you want," Cait began. "Seb could stay here with the Lady and…"
"I said I was ready!" Seb snapped, anger surging to the forefront as if from nowhere. "I know you're only trying to help, but I'm perfectly capable of handling this!"
Caitlin shot her husband a worried look, concern darkening her blue-green eyes.
Hawke raised an eyebrow on a heavy sigh, shrugging. The muscle tick in his jaw gave away his unease though.
Fighting his own misgivings, Seb fought to control the emotions being back in the field brought, shoving aside the despair, the darkness that told him it didn't matter if he lived or died. Jade's death had left him rootless and he knew it showed.
"Please, Cait," he whispered. "No matter what happens, I owe him at least this much."
And it came down to that. Her hand already on her gun, Caitlin hesitated. She knew he did. Seb and Roper's bond was at least as strong as String and Saint John's. Family. Clear blue-green eyes met his storm-tossed ones. The silence stretched out between them for a long moment.
She sighed, her hand sliding away. "Watch your back," she whispered.
"Will do," Seb murmured, leaning forward to kiss her cheek, his hand clasping her arm.
String's dark blue eyes met hers, the message between them silent, but every bit as clear as if the words had been spoken.
And then they were gone, his barely murmured, "Wish us luck," ringing in her ears.
"Always." she whispered.
Loping, Stringfellow Hawke covered the uneven ground between him and the still standing hangar. Seb clung close to his heels, his own weapon drawn.
Before them a great gaping maw opened up, jagged edges of aluminum raking the ground. A still singed smell of cordite hung in the air, the wind picking up flurries of ash and wafting it towards them.
Kneeling, Seb dropped down beside his brother, eyeing the blackened hulk of a building. "Roper?" he asked, panting.
Hawke nodded.
"How are you so sure?"
Blue eyes squinted in the late afternoon sun before String pointed. "Look, over by the rocks. See the footprint?"
Hazel grey eyes narrowed, searching. "Yeah," he finally said, spotting it. "So?"
Hawke gave him a lopsided grin, pointing out the distinctive waffling pattern. "Treads Roper's."
Startled, Seb shot him a wide-eyed glance before a frown settled back between his brows. "Doesn't mean he's still alive though," he rasped.
"No," Hawke acknowledged, what was left of the grin sliding off his face. "The drag marks over by the building make it likelier though. Not a lot of motivation to move a dead man."
Shoving hard, he pushed to his feet, trying to ignore the doubt in his gut that Seb's words had awakened.
As he saw it, he had no other options. Either way, his son was going home or he'd die trying. He wouldn't leave him behind. He'd made that mistake once and it wasn't one he planned on making again.
"Let's go," he muttered, sliding into the late afternoon shadows.
Seb nodded, following silently.
Frustrated, Mike rifled through the stack of papers one last time. No matter what he did, he couldn't shake the feeling there was a lot more to Katie LeMond than the files said.
He also couldn't shake the feeling they'd met somewhere before, that he knew her from somewhere, someplace…But where?
Of course, he could be wrong, he thought in frustration. It might be as simple as having bumped into her in the halls of Red Star, or some mission.
The cumbersome elbow to finger cast caught on the edge of a second stack of files he was going through for Michael on the mission in Cuba, slinging them into the floor, scattering them across the linoleum. Papers slid over the tile and under the bed, beneath cabinets.
Rivers bit back a curse, aware he'd just given himself an all afternoon job sorting them. Awkwardly, he shoved out of bed, ignoring the light-headed feeling that tried to strike when he leaned over, reminding him he was still on far too many painkillers.
Clumsily, he reached for the file under the bed left-handed, freezing halfway as he caught sight of the picture in it.
Recognition dawned.
Oh, crap.
Bruised and battered knuckles flexed, grabbing hold of it and then he was abruptly lurching to his feet, staggering in his haste as he yelled. "Marella!"
Frowning, Katie listened to Rastovich with half an ear.
The rest of her attention was squarely centered on the two men behind her. Shooting Raoul hadn't been in her plans. Admittedly, it complicated things…
It would've been easier to allow him to kill Roper.
Of course, that didn't mean he still wouldn't have been trouble for her. She'd seen enough men with that look in their eyes to know he viewed women as a disposable commodity - taking orders from her would've posed a problem. She swallowed.
And Rastovich was enough of one…
She heard Roper's body hit the floor with a soft thud behind her, as the two men released their burden.
Pale grey eyes in a ferret-like face turned on her. "You sure this is going to work?" Rastovich demanded.
"Of course," she replied smoothly, the soothing tone in her voice almost a mockery. Real emotion was a commodity she'd traded long ago. "He is Hawke's son after all."
Thin fingers lit another cigarette, irritably flicking away the used butt. He shook out the match. "Men have walked away from more. He has another son. Why risk everything on one he cannot even prove is his? I would not."
No, you wouldn't…
"Hawke isn't you," she replied coldly. Her blue gaze flickered over the sky as if searching for the pilot himself.
A narrow eyebrow raised, as if sensing the ice in her answer. He inhaled deeply, before blowing smoke out in a condescending cloud. "You'd better hope not," he remarked, his grin nearly as feral as his soul. "You're betting your life on it."
Katie took one last glance over at Roper, still unconscious on the hangar floor, blood still matting the baby-fine, blondish brown hair, so like Hawke's. Even now, the blood on his scraped knuckles gave evidence of the fight he'd put up.
She shrugged. "It's a safe bet."
Low and sharp, the Lady's howling keen rose over the airfield.
The results were dramatic. They were also expected. Men came slamming around the corner, booted feet pounding and AK-47's raised. Bullets rained off Airwolf's armor-plated hide like hail.
Safe inside, half-hidden by a heavy grey helmet, Caitlin couldn't help the instinctive flinch at the thud and spark of ammo all around her. Playing decoy might be a necessary evil, but it didn't mean she had to like it. All it'd take to bring Airwolf down was one inopportunely placed bullet up the mid-air refueling intake or the hub of a rotor and she knew it.
"Come on, String. Come on," she muttered, thumbing the guns, worrying about where they were the whole while. "Hurry up!"
Sharp ears catching the ruckus outside, Seb Hawke ran for all he was worth, hard on his older brother's heels. The fact he owed Roper his life at least twice over hadn't escaped his notice…
…nor had the fact he owed Hawke. Gun raised, he ducked and covered, firing off a shot, neatly taking down the soldier who'd lined up Hawke in his sights. String hit the ground, rolling and firing, returning the favor.
And then they were there, breathing hard, blood and sweat running down String's face where a bullet had clipped a rock in front of him and ricocheted, and Seb scraped and cut from a tumble somewhere on the rocky ground.
"You okay?" String panted, eyeing him, instinctively searching for bullet holes.
Seb grinned, the light hazel eyes alive again, wicked. "Fine, old man," he said, razzing his older brother by eighteen years. "After all, I had you slowing them down for me. But if you're too tired to lead…"
An eyebrow quirked, and then twin pairs of boots were hitting the hangar door simultaneously. "Yeah, right."
Ivan Rastovich was no fool. He knew the ticket to laying his hands on one of the US's most technologically advanced weapons lay at his feet.
He cast a scornful look at the boy. That was all he was after all…barely more than a child. What maybe twenty, twenty-two? What did he know of making war? And they thought they could use him to take him down, after a lifetime of it? He snorted in derision.
Hawke was an idiot to risk everything for him.
He shoved a well-placed kick into the boy's ribs, hearing the pained grunt that accompanied it with a sense of satisfaction. Cold amusement lit the ice grey eyes.
This was what they sent to bring him down?
Katie shifted on the edge of his peripheral vision. Slender fingers gripped a .45 as she scanned the sky above.
He also knew better than to trust her…
Oh, the pretty blonde might say all the right things. And she might even be able to shoot a man down in cold-blood; Raoul was proof of that. But he also knew better than to assume she was on his side.
The question was - whose side was she on?
He'd read the files on her. He knew she walked away when the rest died. She'd worked for so many agencies, her résumé resembled alphabet soup.
Not the FIRM. They wouldn't want her.
And not Roper… The beating he'd taken was proof of that. Though..., there for a minute he'd wondered if she'd harbored a liking for him.
And yet, she was perfectly willing to sacrifice him to get her hands on the helicopter, on Airwolf…
He inhaled deeply, expelling a thick cloud of smoke. There was only one answer for it.
Katie LeMond was an enigma.
And he hated enigmas…
He'd just have to kill her when he was done.
Shrill keening lit the wind. Long blonde hair whipping around her like a halo, when she was anything but. Katie fought back a grin.
Today, Rastovich was hers.
She shifted her grip on her weapon, watching the sleek gunship overhead.
Behind her, the hangar door slammed metal to metal, the echoing slam of the boot kicking it in. Rifle fire rang out, tinging off metal supports.
Stunned blue eyes swung over her shoulder even as she tucked and rolled gun in hand.
Crap. Trust Hawke to go for the backdoor…
Behind her, Simeón and Marko took point, pulling a couple AK-47's even as Rastovich ran towards where Roper lay.
Undaunted, Hawke and the blonde with him kept coming. Cover between them and Roper was sparse.
Katie bit back a curse. She was accustomed to playing the odds long, but then there was just crazy… Gripping the .45, she crouched behind the nearest crate.
Hawke made it to cover, ducking and rolling at the last minute. He came up shooting. Unfortunately, it was just as clear the one behind him wasn't going to make it.
Watching Simeón fall, Katie stepped out, raising her own weapon.
She fired.
Peripheral movement caught String's eye. Seb! Rolling, Hawke brought up his own gun, firing.
Blood splattered as Katie's bullet found it's mark, neatly taking down Rastovich's man. He fell.
Seb ducked, miraculously missing the bullet with his name on it by mere inches.
Katie wasn't so lucky. Pain slammed into her as Hawke's bullet found its mark four inches below her shoulder.
"No! No, Hawke!" Roper yelled.
Crimson colored her vision as she saw Roper was up and struggling with Rastovich. It was clear he was losing the battle.
Horror etched itself across Hawke's face as he realized he'd shot the wrong target.
She wavered. The ache in her chest ratcheting up to something like an elephant stomping on your fingers. She whimpered.
Rastovich's laugh echoed sharp and evil off the rafters overhead. "Got the wrong one, Hawke!" he cackled. Sinewy arms reached out, abruptly grabbing Roper wrenching him down. One hand knotted itself in blood-tainted hair, forcing his head over. He raised the gun he held in the other hand. "Saved me killing her myself!" he mocked.
Beside him, Seb stirred. Surreptitiously, String signaled him not to, caught between the certainty Rastovich planned on killing him, and the knowledge if he moved he'd do it now.
"What do you want?" he gritted.
Jamming the gun up beneath Roper's jaw line, Rastovich smirked. "Airwolf. What else?"
Impatiently, the whip-thin man motioned for him to drop the gun.
Reluctantly, String lowered his arm, hoping Seb was a surer shot than he was. The heavy steel automatic slid past his fingers…Even as it fell, he saw Rastovich start to raise his weapon again.
Crap.
Beside him, he saw Katie start to lose her battle with the inevitable, her knees buckling, crumpling.
"No!" the word ripped past his lips as he lunged too late for his gun.
Seb raised his gun.
Roper struggled in desperation, arms pinned behind his head. "Katie, no!" he screamed, lunging forward.
Rastovich brought the gun up…
Katie hit the ground knees first, going down. Darkness clawed and sucked. Arm shaking, she fought back the darkness, raising the gun left-handed. She fired.
A bullet exploded.
Rastovich fell, a bullet hole between his eyes, dead before he ever even hit the floor.
Blinking, she took in the look of eternal surprise on his face. The .45 slid from nerveless fingers, clattering as it hit the floor.
"Katie!"
Lunging, Seb was to Roper now, knotting his fingers in his shirt, catching him when he would've fallen.
Stumbling, staggering, Roper fought to shake him off.
Blood. Lots of blood.
It oozed from the stinging cut that gashed his hairline. It was nothing compared to the pool that was starting to envelop Katie.
His partner. His responsibility. Pain and guilt clenched his gut.
Seb's arm reached for him, wrapping itself around his waist.
Roper shoved him aside, nearly falling, wavering.
Metal on metal gunfire exploded, Airwolf's trilling howl beneath it. An explosion rocked the airfield somewhere far too close, the reverberating boom enough to send all of them cringing.
Heart pounding, Seb shoved Roper to the floor. He'd barely hit when he heard the scrape of Hawke's .45 coming up off the concrete floor and the metallic thuds as he emptied the clip in the direction of the hangar door.
"Get him out! Get him out, now, Seb!" String yelled. "Do it!"
Taking in the three new bodies at the door, Seb didn't argue, instead knotting his fingers in the other's shirt and hauling him upright. Pain-filled hazel eyes skimmed across the disastrous scene and tried to avoid the crimson puddle around Katie.
He blanched, memories of Jade rushing up to taunt him. The feel of her blood on his hands, the warmth of her body leaving his. He grimaced.
Some things you couldn't change.
Fingers tightening on Roper's arm, he shoved, forcing him out with him. He didn't look back.