"I don't get it, String." Dom sighed sadly. "I really don't get why you keep treatin' her so badly. And what did Mr. Clean want in return anyway?"
"Pickin' up a package in Hungary. One of Archangel's men, a Russian double agent, has a microfilm that contains the most up to date list of KGB agents in France."
"So now we do pick up and delivery, huh?"
String turned his head, even though Dom was sitting right behind him where String was not able to see him. For a FIRM mission, this one was a doozy. The weather was fair, so far there'd been no bogies… he shouldn't complain.
"What happened anyway? I thought you and Lio were getting along better?"
The mere mention of her name had his guts twisting into a painful knot.
"No," he finally said.
It was just better this way. By now Archangel should have her well on her way to another safe location. And this, this job with the Lady, was a small price to pay to ensure Liona would not be at his cabin when he came back.
"Don't play me for a fool, String." Dom made it sound like a warning. "I ain't blind you know. I've seen the way you're pinin' after her when ya think no one's lookin'. Lio really tumbled your gyros. And it doesn't have to be this way. This misery is all your own doin'."
"You sayin' this is all on me?" String hoped that Dom would pick up on the edge in his tone of voice. A subtle warning not to press the issue. Clearly, that was too much to hope.
"In this case, yeah, that's exactly what I'm sayin'."
"And how about Mom and Dad… Lou… St. John… And Gabrielle? How about them, Dom? Are they misery of my own doin' too?"
"Aw, String…" Dom replied softly and String winced hearing the heartbreak in his voice. He hadn't meant to lash out like that, sometimes his temper just…
"Sorry, Dom. I didn't mean it like that."
Though his temper flared up on a pretty damn regular basis, he always tried to make up for any harsh words he said in anger. Almost always.
"I know you didn't, kid. It's just… I hate how you keep punishin' yourself for things that were out of your control. Your mom and dad… Che riposino in pace… It was a tragic accident.
"And Lou, oh she was a sweet young thing, and I really liked her, but that too was a tragic accident. The only reason you survived was because you got hurled out of the car and she was-"
"I know, Dom… But, knowin' that doesn't make it hurt any less. I know that with St. John… I came back for him. I searched every inch of that damned place but he was just gone."
"Hey, that's why we are doin' what we do now. To find him and bring him back home. But the guilt, all those ghosts, you gotta let 'em go, String. It's not healthy the way you cling to 'em, especially after what happened with Gabrielle."
A familiar lump in his throat made it difficult to swallow. "She died because of me. That was my fault."
"Oh, Santa Maria! Here we go again… You are not cursed, she didn't die because of-"
"I told her to go back. I wouldn't take her with me. If I had… she'd still be alive."
The memory still hurt. The way he'd put her on the spot in that dressing room in that sleazy bar the 'Red Castle'.
"I can fly Airwolf, you can't. Either you're on that flight, or I am."
He'd given her no other options and he'd left her behind, thinking that she would get on that flight right away. Instead, Moffett had gotten her in his perverted clutches and the result had been as devastating as it had been fatal.
"Gabrielle strapped a bulls-eye to her chest the moment she became a field agent for Archangel. And even then, there's only one person responsible for her death and that's Moffett and he's dead too."
Dom paused for a moment, before he added quietly, "String, can't you just try and… stop blamin' yourself? You've got so much left to give, don't go wastin' it on that good for nothin' mutt you have up at the cabin."
That line cracked a smile and String even chuckled under his breath.
Then he shuddered out a deep breath. It was time. Dom should know that Gabrielle had not been his first attempt at love after his return from Vietnam.
"What if… what if it's not enough, Dom?" he asked quietly.
"Huh?"
String swallowed a couple of times, tried to get some saliva back into a mouth that felt like he'd been chewing on sawdust. "You said I still have so much left to give. What if that's not enough?"
"Kid, if you've got somethin' to say, then say it. Quit tapdancin' on me. I get that enough from Mr. Clean but I ain't gonna accept it from you!"
"Gabrielle was not the first." He pulled in a sharp breath. "There was another woman before her. Tess Rogers."
"Who's… who's that?"
String eased down Airwolf's speed. The entire trip so far he'd not used the turbos once. Now he slowed her down even more. The mission was not exactly as time sensitive as usual.
"Someone I met. Couple of years after Nam. You know how I was back then."
"No need to remind me."
String chuckled at that. "Yeah. She… Tess was very spirited. Head full of dreams. The opposite of me. I had no more spirit and… and a head full of demons." His voice cracked a bit and he cleared his throat. "I fell head over heels in love. Thought she was in love too. Turns out… her idea of a fairy tale ending did not involve a cabin in the mountains, or havin' my baby."
"Say what?"
String could hear several keys getting punched at once and suddenly Airwolf lurched.
"Careful, Dom!"
"Sorry, everything's fine… back to normal settings. But… you can't just spring somethin' on me like that! What happened?"
"She was pregnant with my baby, but she didn't want it. And she didn't tell me that before I took on that job of testin' Airwolf."
"That's why you signed up for that? I always wondered what could have made you decide to accept that position… fallin' off the grid for so long."
"Top secret project," – String sighed heavily – "that paid a pretty penny but allowed for no outside contact. When I was finally done, I came home to a letter sayin' that there would be no baby. No us either. She'd up and left to chase after her own dreams."
"Santa Maria… String, I had no idea."
"I did try, Dom, and now I'm done tryin'."
"But, String." Dom tried again. "This is Lio we're talkin' about."
"Drop it, Dom."
String knew they would not see eye to eye on this one, so when he heard the electrical humming that signaled an incoming call, he was glad for it.
"I guess you still don't want to bet a hundred bucks on who that is?"
"Still no bet. Mornin' Michael," String greeted, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "you worried I wouldn't stick to my end of the deal? We're on our way. Like I promised. Now you tell me you kept your end-"
"I need you to come back, Hawke. As in right now!"
There was something in his voice that put String on high alert instantly, though he didn't alter course just yet. "What is it? We're already well on our way."
"Hawke, I'm not even remotely kidding, turn that thing around. Now! It's… it's Liona and each second you waste squabbling with me will be time you won't have to save her!"
String made such a sharp turn, that the Lady shrieked and snarled in protest. For once, Dom was not complaining about him manhandling his baby, not now when… when Liona's life was at stake. He didn't even have to ask for the turbos, he could hear Dom pushing that lever by himself.
All he had to do was engage them and Airwolf howled like a mad thing when she bolted across the sky.
"I'm on my way, you start talkin'."
"We discovered an unauthorized message, transmitted from the Committee Headquarters on a line we've been monitoring recently due to suspicion of information leaking-"
"Michael!"
"The message was scrambled, but we know one thing for sure… the message contained the details of the flight plan and Liona's new safe address. Hawke, Dumaine won't get a better opportunity than this."
"Can't you have people standin' by when the plane lands? Make sure no one can get to her?"
"You're not listening to me, Hawke! Dumaine knows he won't be able to get to her once that plane touches down at the airfield. He is going to shoot the entire thing right out of the sky if you don't hurry!"
As if to banish the terror and pain already screaming through his body, String shook his head. "No!" he whispered, and then his voice rose to a tormented shout. "No, damn you! Don't tell me that-!"
"Hawke! I'm doing what I can on my end but we simply don't have the time to organize an intercession."
His hand suddenly felt clammy around the cyclic. "Michael, are you sayin' that I'm it?"
Brief silence. Then… "You're it. I- I've already forwarded the flight plan directly to Airwolf's On-board Flight Data System. Dom should have it. Go buster. Good luck, Hawke."
Silence hung heavy inside of the cockpit with only Airwolf's electronic systems quietly humming in the back ground.
"I have the information right here. Assumin' that Dumaine is operatin' from his main base and… not somewhere closer… String, it's gonna be close, very close, but… there is a chance."
The muscles at the base of his throat worked convulsively when String realized that if it hadn't been for Dom's infernal prodding at his personal life, Liona would not have any chance at all.
"Can the Lady handle it if I firewall her all the way back?"
"She can handle it. For Liona she will. Just… there will be no room for error, String."
He could hear the doubt and worry in Dom's voice.
"The ADF pod is undeployable above 300 knots. The timing to reverse the thruster engines is crucial. Not to mention reengaging rotors at the exact right moment. I'm not sure I can-"
"You can, Dom, just do what I say when I say it."
"I'll tr- I will. But, just in case, and you need to hear this, kid, because you're half mule and two thirds jackass… If somethin' happens to Liona, it won't be because you let her get too close to you, but because you didn't let her get close enough! Now stew on that for a while!"
He did.
\A/
FIRM Headquarters, Langley
Michael was standing near the window. He had a million things to do, but only one thing was on his mind, weighing heavily.
A soft noise behind him yanked him from his somber thoughts. When Michael turned around, he found Marella standing behind him. "This could go deeper than we thought, sir," she said. "We traced the message back to Larissa."
"Larissa?" That came somewhat as a shock to him. She'd been with the FIRM for almost a year. Exemplary behavior, background check had been clean as a whistle.
"What did you get from her?" He already dreaded the answer when he saw the uncomfortable look on his assistant's face.
"Nothing, sir. I'm sorry. She had an L-pill on her. She took it when we started questioning her, but not before she gave us the impression that either other agents working for Dumaine would take her place, or they already are in place.
Michael turned towards the window again, dragging a hand over his face. "What a mess! What's so special about Liona that he would go through all that trouble?"
"We are still looking into that as well, sir. I know you are worried, but there's still time. Hawke can still save her."
Michael didn't reply to that, but instead asked another question. "Marella, what happened today, was that on us?"
"No, sir," she said quickly – Thank goodness not so quickly that he would have reason to doubt her sincerity – "but I can take a guess as to what has happened."
Michael snapped his head around. "Tell me!"
"The fact that Mr. Hawke wanted her removed from his cabin so abruptly, can only mean one thing."
Michael waited for her to continue. She seemed to forget he was not the one with the bachelor degree in psychology. "Well?"
"She came too close, sir."
\A/
The scenery started to blur together. Slowly at first, then picking up speed until Liona could actually feel the Learjet losing all contact with solid ground and then lifting into the sky. In just a few hours, she would start a new chapter in her life. A new place. New surroundings. Michael would visit her and discuss their plans for her future. The world had never seemed so big and threatening as it did now.
This should be a fantastic moment for her… her first time flying.
Well, her first time flying consciously.
She could hardly count the night when Dom and… and String had rescued her.
His name alone brought along another wave of agonizing pain that exploded right through her. She'd truly believed that last night had been a… a turning point for them, but, she'd been wrong. That man was cold and cynical and hard; he had a mean, unreliable temper and besides that he was obviously unbalanced! You- you just didn't do something like that if the other person didn't mean something to you. That's how Liona felt anyway. Clearly, Stringfellow Hawke felt very differently.
When Michael had arrived to bring her to the airfield where the Learjet was waiting for her, tears had been burning, not just in her eyes, but in her entire skull! That moment she'd come very close to shedding the tears she was still too afraid to cry. She had not cried in so long….
After the humiliation of guards mocking her, laughing and making fun of the tears of a scared little girl. Again. And again. And again. And again. And- Liona trembled at the thought and squeezed her eyes shut. She'd vowed never to give them that satisfaction again. And String… String was now just another person who'd almost made her cry. She would not give him that satisfaction either.
A deep breath shuddered between her lips. For a moment she could perfectly recall the way his smile could transform his stern face into a devastatingly handsome one. The memory elicited a hollow pain in her chest.
When a treacherous tear managed to free itself from her lashes, Liona quickly wiped it away. It was very difficult to ignore the feeling of loss that encompassed her. She focused on breathing in and breathing out and on the miraculous view outside the window, that unfolded in front of her very eyes. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw clouds beneath them. They looked so… fluffy! Like… like…
"Angel food! You got me angel food, Mommy!"
Her mother laughed at her when she handed Liona a little bit of white cloud on a stick. It was just as fleecy and soft. Her mother then took her to a wooden bench in the park. They sat down and watched the clouds up high, as Liona put large chunks of her own little cloud into her mouth and waited for it to melt. She smiled happily. For Liona, the white and pink clouds were magical, the secrets of the sky swirling around a thin bamboo bar.
"It's angel food way up in the sky, sweetie, but when we get to eat it, it's called…"
"Cotton candy…" Liona whispered. The memory was so bittersweet and made her heart ache so acutely, that for a brief moment she longed for someone to simply hold her while she wept, to release the storm that had been building up inside of her over a span of many years.
She pushed the memory back into the corners of her mind, shoving away the pain with it, until only a dull ache and a desolate thudding remained inside her chest. For a while, Liona leaned her head against the window, watching as a sea of clouds drifted by and humming her comfort song, 'If I had words'.
Then her eyes caught something strange. Sunlight scattered off something approaching. Something fast. Something that left a trail in the sky.
Liona stared at it, swallowing a note right in the middle of a verse, vaguely surprised while at the same time she had the strangest, abstract feeling of certainty that she was about to die. There wasn't time to panic or to even begin to feel the first tendrils of dread, because a loud, angry screeching sound made her cover her ears.
For a split-second Liona could see a big, black, hulking helicopter flying right next to them before it climbed up even higher into the sky.
Her mouth gaped open when Liona saw a missile following the black… that really could not be a helicopter, could it? She'd seen the helicopters that landed on the wooden dock in front of String's cabin. Whatever it was, that missile was now hot on its tail. Suddenly a bright flash of light blinded her right before a loud explosion sent a violent tremor through the airplane.
Two other aircrafts came searing past them, in pursuit of, Liona guessed, the big black one. The graceful movements almost made it seem like watching a carefully executed dance. One of the planes turned into a giant fireball, but the other one managed to get in a shot on the Learjet Liona was in.
Liona screamed when the Learjet gave a dreadful shudder and then rapidly started to lose altitude.
The other plane came swerving back, determined to finish the job by shooting off another missile.
For the black helicopter to save them from the impact of a missile twice, it seemed like an impossible thing, yet, that was exactly what it did.
When the helicopter managed to shoot the missile from the sky, Liona had to shield her eyes against the blinding light of the explosion.
Then, all she could do was pray that she would survive the emergency landing, because the earth came rushing up to them with a frightening speed.