Title: Wolf Hunt (continued)

Author: Lady Chal

Rating: PG-13 (mild language)

Classification: Angst/Adventure, Caitlin/String

Disclaimer: They don't belong to me, wish they did!

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Chapter Thirteen: Wherever the Wind Blows

The abandoned airstrip rose up out of the desert like an aviator's ghost town. Jo scanned the line of dirty, decrepit looking airplanes, none of which looked like they would ever leave the ground again. Most of them slumped on deflated, rotted rubber tires with odd bits of wire hanging from their wings and bellies where parts had obviously been robbed from time to time. The Stearman was among them, parked beneath the sheltering wing of an enormous C-130. Standing beside it, anxiously waiting, were the slim shadows of Li and Tet.

So that's where the damned dog went, Jo thought, touching down a few hundred yards from the plane.

Caitlin made her way up to the co-pilot's seat as Jo powered down the engines.

"That's my ride," she said, placing her helmet on the seat.

Removing her own helmet, Jo shook out her ash blonde locks and then offered Caitlin her hand. "Good luck," she said, "and thank you."

Caitlin hesitated a moment, and then accepted the hand shake. Her grip was cold, but firm. "Same to you," she said quietly, "Though I'm not so sure you'll thank me once you realize what you've walked into."

She cocked her head to study Jo intently. "You really are gonna try to go after St. John, aren't you?"

"Damned straight." Jo replied.

"Just how do you plan to pull it off …if you don't mind my asking?"
            Jo smiled. "It had occurred to me that if String could strike a deal with the devil, maybe I can too.  Major Rivers seems like a decent enough man –and an honorable one. He might be persuaded to help. And Jason Locke wants this helicopter so bad he can taste it. I figure I'll make them an offer they can't refuse. They can go with me, get St. John out and then I'll let them have the damned thing."

"And if they don't agree?"

"I'll tell them I'll blow it up."

Caitlin grinned. "Interesting proposal. They just might take you up on that." She arched one auburn brow. "Care if I make a suggestion?"

Jo shrugged. "Sure."

"If you do go with them, take the tactical position. The pilot may get all the glory, but the backseat driver can control the show." She reached behind her back and extracted the revolver, placing it in Jo's hand. "—especially if she's got a .45."

Jo smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."

            The hatch released with a soft hiss as the two women climbed out of the helicopter.

            "Li!" Caitlin called, "Get Tet in the plane and start the pre-flight. We need to get going!"

            The boy looked curiously from Caitlin to Jo. His features were patently Vietnamese, Jo thought, still there was something about him that reminded her of the Hawke brothers at that age.

            "Who's she?" Li demanded.

            Caitlin looked back to Jo and hesitated. "A friend," she said at last.  "She's going to help String get your father back. –So let's get on the stick!"

            The boy nodded and called to the dog, boosting the animal up on to the wing of the plan as he struggled to get the animal into the open cockpit of the Stearman.

            "You haven't told him yet," Jo's voice was not disapproving, but Caitlin could here the question in it.

            "No," Caitlin smiled sadly. "I told him about Dom yesterday, and he saw the newspaper clipping about Archangel. I wasn't sure he could handle any more right now."

            She turned to Jo with a questioning look. "And it wasn't really a lie, was it? That bit about you helping String? He'll never get St. John back now, --not unless you do what you plan to do."

            "No," Jo said quietly. "It wasn't a lie. String started this and I will finish it for him. –One way or another."

            "Good." Caitlin whispered. "It needs to be over. We've all suffered long enough, I think."

            Jo nodded to the boy. "When are you going to tell him?"

            "Soon," Caitlin promised, "but not just yet. Not until we're off the Firm's radar and settled somewhere." She drew a deep breath, her lip trembling. "Not until we can afford the luxury of him hating me."

            "He won't hate you, Kate."

            Caitlin shook her head. "Yes," she whispered, "He will. I won't blame him for it, either. I already hate myself for this. He should have the right to say goodbye to String. We're taking that away from him."

            "The Firm is taking that away from both of you," Jo said firmly. "Don't blame yourself, Kate. Not for this."

            Caitlin nodded and stripped off her flight suit. Folding it neatly, she placed it on the co-pilot's seat and closed the door upon it. The soft hiss sounded oddly final to her ears, and she let her hand lay for a moment on the Lady's glossy black finish as she made her own silent farewell.

            "Take good care of her," she said softly, "and she'll take care of you."

            Jo was not entirely certain if the words were meant for her or the helicopter. Perhaps it was meant for both of them.

            "Are you going to miss it?" Jo asked, marveling at how this woman could seem to walk away from it all so easily.  Some part of her was still more than a bit surprised that Caitlin O'Shaughnessy had turned down her offer to fly after St. John.  She couldn't imagine refusing any opportunity to fly in this machine –no matter how dangerous it might be. This was an incredible machine, an incredible experience. With Airwolf behind them, how could they lose? Caitlin O'Shaughnessy was as much a fighter as she was, and yet …she was walking away.

            Caitlin removed her hand quickly, almost as if burnt, and turned her back squarely on the helicopter. "No," she said firmly. "I won't miss it."

            She smiled at the confusion she saw in Jo Santini's eyes. "I was like you once. From the moment I first saw this thing swooping down out of the sky, all I wanted to do was fly it, to be a part of it." She shook her head. "Don't get me wrong, flying Airwolf was the most incredible thing I've ever done, but I almost wish I had never laid eyes on her."

            She drew a shaky breath, and her voice, when she continued, was raspy and choked. "She gave me and she cost me all the things I loved the most. She'll do the same to you." Her smile was wry and gritty. "Never bargain with the devil, Jo. The price is just too high."

            Then, without so much as a backward glance, she stepped past Jo and away from the chopper, heading with grim determination to the tiny old bi-plane that held what remained of her future.

            Caitlin finished the pre-flight check and was relieved when the Stearman once again started on the first try. It had taken some doing to get it out of the muddy clearing by Doc's cabin, but with both Li and Gifford's help, they had managed. She saw the two carefully packed bags shoved beneath their seats and was thankful once again to the mild mannered mountain Doctor. After helping her stash the plane and dropping her off in town where she had rented the 4x4 to drive out to the Lair, he had taken Li and gone back to String's cabin. She still wasn't sure exactly how Doc had explained things to the boy –he probably hadn't told Li much more than she had—but somehow he had helped him oversee the packing of a few necessities, one of whom apparently was Tet. She frowned as she saw the dog wriggling eagerly in Li's lap. She hadn't planned on taking the dog with them, but from the look of stubborn determination she saw in the boy's eyes, she wasn't about to argue. He was leaving too much behind as it was. –For that matter, so was she, and she hated to think of the old dog lying on the lonely porch of String's cabin, waiting for a man that would not return.

            The thought caught her low in the pit of the stomach –she wasn't quite used to it yet—and she shoved viciously at the throttle, revving the Stearman's engine and moving the little plane slowly towards the open runway. Behind her, she could hear the low roar of Airwolf's engines increase in pitch as the great black helicopter prepared for take-off.  There was a time –not so long ago—that she would have turned her head to watch the incredible sight of the sleek aircraft as it rose into the air and rocketed away, but she steadfastly ignored it. That part of her life was over. She would not look back. Li, however, turned and smiled, waving over his shoulder to the shadowy figure in the pilot's seat. From the way that his smile broadened, she guessed that Josephine Santini must have returned the gesture.

            They lifted off at almost the same moment: the bright yellow Stearman heading east, into the approaching darkness while the black shadow of the helicopter moved west, into the setting sun. Caitlin watched the boy in the open cockpit in front of her, holding tightly to the dog, half turned in his seat to watch the helicopter as it disappeared from sight. His voice came over her headset, plaintive and hopeful.

            "Do you really think they'll get my father, Kate?"

            Caitlin paused, remembering the fierce determination in Josephine Santini's eyes. She realized, quite suddenly, Dominic Santini's niece was possibly the only other person on earth to care about St. John Hawke as much as String did. She was the only other person who loved him that much. And if love could work miracles, she just might be able to do it after all.

            "They'll bring him back," she said. Or die trying.

            "So where are we going?" Li asked.

            "Flying, kid." Caitlin said, pointing the Stearman a little further south and riding on the edge of the wind. The plane caught the current and lifted slightly, slipping further from the bonds of earth and taking her heart with it as it did so. For just a moment, she felt the weight lift, felt her fears ease, and felt the old joy return to her as they rose upon the evening breeze. They were free.

            "Flying where?" Li asked.

            She let the slow smile spread across her face as she gave him her answer.

            "Wherever the wind blows."

THE END

….for now…