Love and War

A/N: I do not own or make any profit off of the Airwolf name or any of the characters involved within. My stories are for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter 14 - The Plan, Part 2

It was 5:56 p.m. when Hawke touched down at the specified meeting spot. Ahead of him, he could see the two Huey Cobras sitting about 100 yards apart facing each other, both appeared to be fully equipped with chain guns and hellfires. One of the choppers already appeared to be ready to take off with its engines running and rotors turning. Hawke could barely make out a dark haired man with aviator glasses and a leather flight jacket in the pilot's seat of the far aircraft.

"Glad to see you still believe in being prompt," Hawke heard over his headset as he landed the Santini chopper.

"Let's skip the idle chat, shall we, Jack?" Hawke responded tersely.

"Hmmm, not in a good mood, Hawke? What's the matter, woman troubles keeping you up late at night?" Jack asked as he laughed . "I could understand that, she is a feisty little thing. I guess it's true what they say about red heads…"

"Keep Caitlin out of this, Jack," Hawke warned. "I told you from the beginning if you harmed her in any way, I'd make you pay. I intend to keep that promise. Now, let's get on with this."

"Fine, fine. As you can see your chopper is already waiting for you. We're going to do this just like 'Nam, String. We'll take them up on my mark and then it's no rules. Just see if you can keep up. We play this one out to the end…first one to shoot the other one out of the sky wins."

"And you expect me to just believe that this is an even fight? You know I can out pilot you any day of the week, Jack. How do I know you don't have something up your sleeve like filling my ammo with blanks?"

"First of all, Hawke, you haven't seen me in 12 years…you may have once been the better pilot, or maybe you just got lucky a few times, but things have changed since we last met. I'm not the man or the pilot I used to be, although I guess you've already figured that out. As for the chopper, go ahead and check it out…I'll give you 20 minutes to satisfy yourself that it's legit and then we go."

Taking a deep breath, Hawke removed his headset and jumped out of the Santini chopper. "Okay, guys, we've got twenty minutes," he spoke under his breath as he headed towards the Cobra, hoping that Dom and Cait were picking him up over the wire in his jacket. "That should give you more than enough time to get Airwolf's systems up and running. Once I get in the air, if you hear me mention The Lady, that's my clue that I need your help. Haynes is already in the second chopper, so once I do the check, we'll be ready to go. Cait, whatever happens, remember I love you. Dom, you take care of our girl until I get back."

AWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAW

Cait sat at the flight console in the lab, listening to Hawke's transmission. A shiver ran down her spine when she heard Hawke's declaration of love for her.

"Don't worry, Cait, that boy can fly rings around any other pilot I've ever seen. He'll come back," Dom comforted as he placed a supportive hand on Cait's arm.

"I know, Dom," Cait said with a slight smile for the older man. Getting herself together, she turned back towards the console. "Okay, let's see if we can get The Lady fired up!"

Before Dom and Cait could do anything at the console, Michael and Marella ran through the door of the lab with huge smiles on their faces. "He did it!" Marella exclaimed.

"You mean?..." Caitlin started but was cut off by Archangel before she could continue.

"Yes, the zebra squad has been called off. Order came down straight from the President himself. Zeus is still out there but I doubt it will take long for them to find him and bring him back to answer for his dealings with Haynes."

"Yippee!" Dom yelled as he pumped a fist in the air. "All right, Cait, let's get The Lady up and going and give String the help he needs!" Turning back towards Cait he saw a concerned look on the redheads face.

"Cait? What is it?" Dom asked concerned.

Looking over the readouts on the console, Cait shook her head. "Something's not right, Dom. We haven't done anything but the computer's telling me that Airwolf is already lit up with systems set for takeoff."

"That can't be right," Dom said as he looked over Cait's shoulders at the monitor.

"Unless…" Cait started as she suddenly realized what Jack's plan had been all along. "Dom! It's Jack…he's going to ambush String in Airwolf!"

"But the pilot in the other Cobra?" Dom asked.

"I don't know who it is, but it's not Jack. He's laying a trap for String! He must have been monitoring the radio traffic from Airwolf and speaking to Hawke from there."

"Dammit!" Michael cursed as he realized what Cait was telling them. "Caitlin, can you and Dom still get control of Airwolf remotely with Haynes piloting her?"

"I don't know, Michael, but we have no choice but to try! Even as good a pilot as Hawke is, he'll be no match for Airwolf in that Huey." Quickly running her fingers over the computer keyboard, Cait attempted to override the Airwolf flight systems.

AWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAW

Hawke finshed his inspection, surprised to find that everything seemed to be in order. Climbing aboard the Cobra, he put on his headset and fired up the engines. "Alright Haynes, let's get this over with." he said as the rotors came to full speed and he started to raise the copter into the air, keeping an eye on the opposing chopper as it did the same.

"Hawke!" String was surprised to hear Cait's voice break through on his headset a few minutes later.

"Cait you're on frequency!" he said back to her.

"No, Hawke, I've jammed our transmissions and put them across another channel. Only you should be able to hear me. Hawke, it's a trap! That's not Haynes in the other Cobra. Haynes is in Airwolf and he's headed your way. He's going to take you down with The Lady. Dom and I are trying to override the system from here, but so far, no luck. You've got to get out of there!" Cait said, her voice panicked.

"Caitlin, listen to me," Hawke instructed sternly as he watched the second Cobra attempt to maneuver itself into a position behind him. Hawke grabbed the cyclic and pulled up and above the Huey just barely getting out of the way of the hellfire that had been shot at him. "I've got my hands full with this other chopper…you've got to get control of Airwolf. I can handle this guy but I can't do both, not with the limited weaponry and speed I've got with this Cobra!"

"We're trying String, just hang on…" Cait pleaded as her hands flew over the console.

Recovering from the climb that he had pulled himself into to escape the weapons fire, String brought the Huey back down to an even keel just in time to see Airwolf pop up from behind a rock formation on his right side as the other Huey circled around to the left.

"Take off, Cooper, I've got him…" Hawke heard Jack's voice come over the radio. The other Cobra hung in the air for a few seconds as if considering whether to follow the order or not before turning 180 degrees and heading off. "Now, it's just you and me, Hawke."

"What's the matter, Jack? You knew you couldn't handle me evenly matched so you brought Airwolf?" Hawke asked the rogue pilot as he turned the nose of the Cobra to face Airwolf head on.

"Actually, Hawke, it just seemed more fitting that you be brought down by your own machine, don't you think?" Jack said as he laughed, his finger hovering over the weapons trigger.

"And what's to keep me from shooting you down first, right here and now?" Hawke asked.

"You won't destroy Airwolf just to get to me…she's too important to you."

"Don't bet on it, Jack." Hawke said as he heard Dom come over the other channel.

"Stall him, kid, we're almost there!" Dom urged as he watched Cait furiously work the computer.

"Look, Jack, you brought me out here to see who the better pilot is. Well, let's find out just how good you are." Hawke quickly pushed the cyclic forward starting a perilous game of chicken with Airwolf. The move surprised Haynes causing him to hesitate slightly before firing his weapons. Hawke quickly forced the Cobra down and to the right as a barrage of chain gun fire flew right past his left wing. Jack quickly recovered, maneuvering Airwolf 90 degrees to the left getting ready to follow in pursuit of the Cobra.

"Not a very smart game you're playing there Hawke," Jack warned as he pushed in the turbo button on Airwolf's control to quickly take pursuit of the Huey. Nothing happened. Pushing the red button again, Jack received the same result. A few seconds later, he was stunned as the cyclic was forced out of his hand and Airwolf began to bank to the right, flying away from Hawke on its own.

Hawke looked back expecting to see Airwolf right behind him and smiling to himself when he saw aircraft banking off to the right, away from him.

"Hawke, she did it! Cait's got control!" Dom said over the radio as Hawke turned the Cobra to follow.

"Good work, Cait! I knew you could do it, baby! Now, take her back to the airstrip. I'll meet you there."

"I'll be waiting, Hawke," Cait said with a smile as a tear rolled down her cheek but at least this time it was a tear of happiness.

" I assume Michael will have a welcome committee waiting for Haynes when he arrives?"

Michael's voice was the next to come over the radio. "You got it Hawke, they're already there and waiting. I've also got a couple of jets escorting the other Cobra back as well. "

"Good, what about the Zebra Squad?" Hawke asked.

"All taken care of…we're all safe. " Michael answered. "I still have quite a bit of explaining to do to Washington, though."

"You'll think of something, Michael. " Hawke said with a grin on his face. "And, thanks," he added knowing that the spy had put a lot on the line to help them out.

AWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAW AW

The next day: Hawke's cabin

Hawke came up behind Caitlin on the porch and gently slipped his hands around her bruised waist, kissing her lightly on the back of her neck. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

Leaning back into his embrace, Caitlin sighed as she continued to gaze out over the lake. "Better now."

"Good. Have I thanked you lately for saving my life?" He asked as she turned in his arms so she was facing him.

"Not in the last 30 minutes. You're overdue," she smiled back at him. "But you know what they say…talk is cheap!"

Hawke chuckled as he leaned in and gave her a passionate kiss. "How's that? " he asked as he pulled back and leaned his forehead against hers.

"It's a start, but you know it takes a lot to repay someone for saving your life, " she said as she put her arms around his neck and pulled him back into another kiss.

"Oh, Mamma Mia!" Dom said from the cabin doorway as he wiped his hands on the apron around his waist. "Do you two think you can break apart long enough to eat? Dinner's ready!"

"Sure, Dom!" Hawke said with a grin. "But you better set a couple more places…Michael's coming."

Looking up in the sky, sure enough a few seconds later the white helicopter belonging to The Firm came into sight. "Kid, I swear I don't know how you do that," Dom said as he headed back inside to se t a few more places at the table.

Cait and Hawke stayed on the porch and watched as the helicopter landed and Michael and Marella disembarked and made their way up to the cabin.

"Michael," Hawke said curtly as the spy approached. Even though he knew all that Michael had done for them the last few days, he wasn't entirely ready to let the spy off the hook for lying to him about the autopilot program on Airwolf.

"Hawke, Cait," Michael said back in acknowledgment. "I hope we're not interrupting," he said with a slight smile.

"It's never stopped you before, Michael. "

"Yes, well maybe this time you won't mind so much. We come baring gifts." Turning to Marella he indicated for her to hand the envelope she was holding over to Caitlin.

"What is it?" Cait asked.

"Open it," Michael instructed. "Now if you'll excuse me I'd love a glass of wine. How about you, Marella?"

"Oh, yes sir" she said with a smile as she followed Michael into the cabin leaving a curious Caitlin and Hawke holding the envelope.

"Well, do as the man said and open it," Hawke said with a shrug.

Tearing open the envelope, Caitlin pulled out a disk and a note. Opening the note, Caitlin read it out loud:

Hawke,

Contained on this disk is proof that the remote pilot program for Airwolf has been destroyed. Also on the disk is the only copy of all of the intelligence that The Committee has gathered on Airwolf since Zeus was in charge. Any duplicates of this information have been destroyed, including anything that myself and Marella had on file. You are now the only one who has the schematics, plans or technical drawings created by Moffett and his staff. As long as I am at The Firm, I will do my best to guarantee your possession of Airwolf because I know that with you, Dom and Cait, she's in the right hands.

Michael

"Wow" Caitlin said as she turned the disk over in her hands. "Do you believe him, Hawke?"

Instead of answering, Hawke took the disk in one hand while taking Cait's hand in the other and led her into the cabin. Walking over to Michael, Hawke handed him back the disk.

"Hawke, I…" Michael started but was instantly quieted by Hawke's look.

"Michael, I appreciate this but it's enough to know that you would be willing to hand everything over. Take it back, keep it safe. One day you may need it when I find Sinjin and I give Airwolf back. Until then I trust that you'll take good care of this information. "

Michael opened his mouth to respond and then decided against it. He realized the gift he'd just been given by Stringfellow Hawke, the acknowledgment of friendship and trust. Nodding his head he just gave the disk back to Marella to put in her bag.

"Okay, can we all just eat now?" Dom said from the kitchen as he brought out a large pan of spinach lasagna. "I'm starving!"

"You got it, Dom!" Hawke said as he led everyone to the dining room. "After all we're going to need our strength for tomorrow when we move all of Caitlin's stuff out here to the cabin. The number of pairs of shoes alone we're going to have to move is enough to tire me out just thinking about it!" he said with a grin as he pulled out a chair for the red head.

"Speaking of which, I've been meaning to talk to you about your closet situation here, String. I think we might need to add on!," Caitlin said with a wink.

"See, she's not even officially moved in and she's already got a honey-do list started!" Hawke teased back as the others chuckled.

"A toast!" Dom announced as everyone was finally seated and Hawke had finished pouring the wine. "To family!" he said proudly as he looked around the table.

"To family!" they all chimed in as they sat around the table knowing that no matter what else life threw at them, they'd always have each other.

THE END!