St John was growing increasingly disturbed.
In his opinion, he had every right to be.
His brother was missing, presumably the victim of a kidnapping. There was nothing he could do about it either.
The tool in the adjacent building was likely the cause but was certainly part of the cure. They no longer needed a "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" what they needed now was a "Multitool with Teeth and an Attitude Problem".
He'd spent much of the night going over the SKYSHARK in the empty warehouse next door. Nick had joined him for a few hours until both of them had decided to take a break and Nick had left while Hawke had dropped himself into the overstuffed office chair.
The few hours of sleep had left him actually feeling worse for wear. Nick had recovered quite nicely but was still walking with a slight limp. They both had headaches but St John was actually doing something about his.
Nick didn't actually have to be there but St John was now the sole proprietor of Hawke Aviation.
Hawke briefly thought about doubling his dose of the pills he'd been prescribed but decided against it. As he left the office to cross over to the personal area of the hangar, Nick and Jo were just leaving the elevator.
Nick was still wearing the jeans and t-shirt he'd been wearing earlier. Jo had changed but her face was red and puffy as though she'd been crying. She wore a brave face and her lips were set in a slight smile. Nick was slouching and his hands were stuck deep in his pockets.
Fortunately there was no business to conduct that day so they could all take a break and relax.
Or so Hawke thought. Once they got close enough, Nick sighed,
"KC isn't here. I looked in to see why he wasn't down stairs yet and his room is empty." Hawke heard a vehicle pull up into the parking lot and assumed it was either Danielle or Renee. His brows furrowed as he asked,
"Was there a note or anything?" Nick shook his head as they all made their way back over to the office. St John continued as he allowed Jo to buzz her wheelchair past him into the office, "Well perhaps Danielle will have some idea of what is going on." A voice spoke up from behind them,
"Actually, he's on assignment. He and Michael left early this morning." The three spun around, the voice being familiar enough they didn't bother to draw weapons even though they were surprised.
"Dad?!" Nick and Jo chorused. St John was closer and extended a hand to greet the man in his usual unorthodox fashion.
"Good morning Gabby. What brings you to our fine establishment?" Gabriel Antonio Santini smiled and announced,
"I'm your new boss. Michael Archangel was given a special assignment this morning and he chose your friend the good Captain to be his aide and bodyguard. As of today, the Deputy Director in charge of the Special Projects Division is now Gabriel Archangel!"
St John stared at him for a few minutes as he absorbed this information.
The Santini brothers were birds of a feather after a fashion. While Dom was a dead ringer for Ernest Borgnine, Gabe bore more of a resemblance to a bearded Brian Dennehy. Hawke sighed heavily,
"What about Locke and Newman?" Archangel replied with a chuckle,
"Newman is of course who he has always been. What that actually is, is beyond me. Locke, on the other hand, is having to deal with some of the changes. When I found out that you owe him a favor, I had a long discussion with him and let him know that he'd better save that favor for a special occasion. I know that Newman had a conversation with String last week but I'm not completely familiar with all of the details. Suffice it to say that I'm aware of the resource tucked away next door and I'm wanting to come to some sort of an accommodation with you. I currently act as an advisor for Cruiser Corp and am on the board of directors for The Sapphire Group. LaFiamma Inc is currently seen with some disfavor after failing to deliver on a fairly negotiated package. We are still attempting to determine if the deal was a red herring for a more sinister goal. As it is, Church Consulting has been placed in the not-so-envious position of outsourcing our military efforts. We knew this was inevitable but we were hoping that our previous standing would delay things during the war on terrorism. Unfortunately the fact that we used to coordinate things for the rest of the intelligence community means that our military stance is not as tenable when we reached out to others for assistance. Since word has already gotten out about the viability of the SKYSHARK program, I have been besieged by requests inquiring as to the availability for covert operations outside our purview as well as demonstrations for interservice modification. Neither of which we have a vested interest in at this point." Nick spoke up at this,
"So what are your plans for our little lady?" St John interrupted,
"I think that is a subject for a more in-depth conversation. I already have some ideas for things we need to accomplish and I have been in contact with another team who agree with my assessment." Archangel looked at him and sighed,
"Just please make sure you keep me in the loop. That was a pet peeve of Michael's when your brother would take flights of fancy. It finally came down to Michael demanding after-action reports so that he could justify the expense for the matériel diversion."
St John smirked at this, remembering how Stringfellow would commiserate with Dominic about the progress of a mission and the older man would take notes while recording everything on a dictation device. He'd later plug the device into the USB port of his computer and transmit the resulting text file in an e-mail to the one-eyed spy. Archangel continued,
"I realize that Michael gave a considerable amount of latitude on who was allowed to take part in missions but I have one concern. I am not entirely comfortable with a child of mine being in the face of danger. I fully realize that Jo-jo has acquitted herself nicely in the past few days and I acknowledge that. Its just that a team is only as good as its support crew and I'd much rather have her working behind the scenes." Jo frowned and Nick spoke up,
"Look Pops, she's proven herself just as capable as any of us at being able to handle SKYSHARK. I think that qualifies her to be a full member of this team. I realize you still think of her as Little Josepheniana, but she's my sister and I'm plenty impressed by what she accomplished in the heat of the moment." Gabriel Archangel sighed and nodded,
"I'll take it under advisement." The two men had always had a confrontational relationship. With the elder Santini, it was an occupational hazard. With the younger, it was from years of conditioning and the fact that the fight was literally in his blood. Father and son looked at each other for a moment until Archangel turned and indicated with a gesture guards/aides that it was time to depart.
Jo changed a setting on her chair and sped off after her father.
This left Nick and St John standing together outside the office looking down the runway.
"So I guess that's that?!"
"Hardly…"