Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or back story of Airwolf. All characters are property of Bellasario, CBS and whoever else created them. I only borrow them for short periods of time, harass them and put them back on the shelf My stories are for entertainment purposes only.

Survival

Chapter 7

"Mary had a li…" Cait tried to keep singing but the effort was wearing her out and she could feel herself fading and beginning to slip back into the blackness. For a moment she had thought she had heard something that sounded like Airwolf but looking around she couldn't see anything and soon convinced herself that she was beginning to hallucinate. "Face it, girl…they're not coming. Hell, they don't even know where you're at. You've put up a good fight but it's just too hard…" Caitlin felt the tears start to run down her cheeks as she closed her eyes and let the darkness begin to pull her under.

"Caitlin!"

Caitlin's eyes snapped open as she held her breath. Surely she must still be hallucinating but she could have sworn she had heard Hawke calling her name. "You really are losing it," she thought. "But even if it's not real, it's nice to hear his voice again…"

"Caitlin! Dammit, answer me!" Hawke knew he must be nearing the crash site but with the thick undergrowth it wasn't as easy to spot from the ground as it had been from Airwolf. He needed Caitlin to let him know he was headed in the right direction. "Caitlin! It's Hawke. I need you to answer me !"

"Hawke?" Caitlin tried to answer, beginning to hope beyond hope that maybe this wasn't a hallucination. However her throat was dry and she had expended almost all of her energy earlier. She would never be able to get him to hear her if it really was him. Realizing she still held her mirror in her hand, she began angle it back and forth so that the sun would reflect off of it again. If he was close, maybe he'd see it. After all, if it was Hawke, then for all she knew her signaling had worked the first time.

Hawke was growing desperate. He needed to find Caitlin but the terrain was difficult and he needed to make sure that he didn't send himself over a ledge somewhere in his effort to get to her. "Caitlin!," he called once more. Stopping to listen he tried to take in his surroundings and orient himself when something caught the corner of his eye, a small flash of light. Knowing that it could be anything he waited and, sure enough, just to his right and from down the mountain about 50 feet, he saw it again. "Thatta Girl!" he said as he breathed a sigh of relief as he headed to the tree line between himself and the light he had seen.

Breaking through the trees, Hawke saw the overturned car just in front of him. Running around the end of the car he came to a stop when he saw Caitlin on the ground, pale, wind burnt, scraped and battered. For a moment, his mind went back to Gabrielle and the moment he found her in the desert after Moffet had finished with her. "Dammit! Not again!" he said under his breath as he dropped to his knees and bent over Caitlin. "Caitlin, can you hear me?" he asked as he gently stroked a wisp of hair out of her eyes.

"Hawke?" Caitlin whispered in true disbelief. She could see his face and hear his voice as clear as day but refused to let herself believe that it was really him. She had truly convinced herself that he was nothing more than a figment of her imagination.

"Yeah, baby…I'm here. It's going to be okay, now. Just hang on. Dom's coming back with help," Hawke said as he reached for the water and gently wiped some across her chapped lips…again memories of Gabrielle filling his mind. "But this isn't Gabrielle and you're NOT going to lose Caitlin…not this time!" Hawke thought as he gently picked up Caitlin's head and shoulders and cradled them in his lap. "C'mon Caitlin, stay awake and talk to me!" he insisted as he poured a tiny sip of water down her and gently pinched her cheeks to try and bring her back into a full consciousness.

Looking up into Hawke's steel-blue eyes, eyes that were like none other she had ever known, Caitlin's mind began to grasp the fact that he was really there…this wasn't a dream. "Hawke…it's really you!" she said as she looked into the face she thought she would never see again.

A grin forming on his lips, Hawke looked back down at the red-haired pilot and simply stated…"I know that."

At that moment, Caitlin knew he was real and even with as much pain as she was in, she couldn't help but smile back and chuckle softly remembering the time so long ago she had responded to him in the exact same way. It didn't take long for the joy to turn to fear though. Caitlin was nothing if not a realist and she knew that she was in bad shape. As happy as she was to have survived long enough for Hawke to get to her, the last thing she wanted was to die in his arms. She couldn't do that to him. Not after all of this.

"Caitlin, what is it?" Hawke asked with concern as he saw her expression turn fearful.

Unable to look him in the eyes any longer, Caitlin turned her head away. "It's just…." She started to explain but couldn't make herself finish.

"It's just what?" Hawke asked as he gently turned her head back towards him. "Caitlin, talk to me."

Her voice barely a whisper, Caitlin made herself say the words. "The curse, I was supposed to be the one to prove that there wasn't any curse over your head. I tried so hard but I'm so tired, Hawke. I'm so sorry, I don't want to hurt you. Please, just don't blame yourself. "

Hawke's reply stuck in his throat as he realized the struggles that Caitlin must have gone through the last 2 days…not just the physical but the emotional. He could read the meaining between her words and realized that her fight for survival had been more than just a will to stay alive for herself but also a fight to break his curse…the damn curse that he couldn't seem to get away from, no matter how much he tried. And now Caitlin, the one he loved more than anyone else, had been caught up in it was going to pay for allowing himself to drag her into his deadly web. And on top of that, she was blaming herself.

Looking back into her fearful eyes, Hawke knew that no matter how things turned out, he couldn't let her keep on believing that she had failed him in anyway. It was his burden to carry, not hers. "Shhh, I don't want to hear that, Cait. You've brought me nothing but happiness and love. Don't you ever apologize for that, baby. I'm just so sorry that you have to go through this because of me. The last thing I ever want is to hurt you. It's why I pushed you away for so long, don't you know that?"

"It's not your fault…" Cait started but was interrupted by Hawke's thumb being gently placed over her lips.

"It IS my fault, Cait. I knew better than to allow myself to fall in love with you but I couldn't help it. You've always been here for me. You and Dom, you're my family and I couldn't deny my feelings any longer. I should have been stronger and turned you away. You would have hurt for a little while but, in the long run, you would have been safe. Forgive me," Hawke couldn't stop his own tears as he hung his head in shame.

"NO!" Cait said with as much force as she could muster. "This didn't happen because you loved me. It's an accident, that all, a dumb accident. If we had the chance to do it all over again, I would because falling in love with you has been the happiest thing in my whole life."

Hawke leaned over and kissed her on her forehead. How had he gotten so lucky to have this woman in his life? He vowed that no matter what he would get her out of this mess…and ALIVE. But how? Just then he cocked his head as he heard the tell-tale sound of Airwolf's engines coming into the skies above him.

"How's it going down there, kid?" he heard Dom ask in a nervous voice over the radio that he had brought with him from the chopper. Hawke reached for his mic…."Dom, she's alive but we need help now!" he advised his mentor. "I hope you brought someone with you."

"Sure did, String. I've got a full mountain rescue team headed down from the spot in the road where Cait went over the side. They should be getting to you in about 10 minutes. We're going to get our girl out of there…just tell her to hang on! Tell her I've got bookkeeping piling up at the hangar and I can't afford to have her goofing off anymore," Dom said at an attempt at lightheartedness to ease everyone's mind.

Hawke breathed out a sigh of relief and threw up a thumbs up sign to Dom as he turned his attention back to Cait. "See, baby, help's coming. You better hang on or Dom's gonna….Cait?!" Hawke realized that he was getting no response and soon saw that Cait had again lost consciousness. "Damn! C'mon Cait…don't you dare give up on me now! Where's that famous Texas stubbornness? Fight, baby!" he ordered. Cait didn't stir in his arms and for a moment, Hawke thought his curse had reared it's head once again. Leaning down so that he was directly over her mouth, Hawke almost cried out with relief as he felt the smallest of breaths on his cheek…she was still alive. But for how long…

Within minutes the rescue team had reached them and began extricating Cait from the wreckage. Hawke could do nothing but stand back and watch, helplessly. It took almost an hour to get her free and back up the hill to a waiting ambulance. Hawke climbed in behind her and just glared at the paramedic when they started to tell him he couldn't ride in the back with her. Hawke won that battle but it would be a small victory if Cait didn't make it.

Dom watched from above in Airwolf and monitored the radio traffic of the rescue workers as they freed Caitlin. There was no doubt that she was in serious condition. Right now, it was touch and go at best. All he could do was pray and watch. As the ambulance finally pulled away from the scene, Dom followed. "God in Heaven, for BOTH of them, let that girl be alright!"

TBC…

Okay…so this chapter didn't turn out quite the way I planned and I have to admit that writing it was really tough. I'm not sure I'm completely happy with it but it is what it is. There will probably be one more chapter which I'll get to as soon as I can. Thanks to everyone for their interest and feedback on this one! It means a lot.