'I always get worried when you ask me for a favour.' Michael Coldsmith-Briggs III sat down in his leather chair and leaned back to eye Hawke speculatively over the rim of his bourbon glass.

Hawke slouched in the chair and rubbed his chin. He gestured at the spy. 'I'm sure you'll think of someway I can repay you, Michael.'

Michael smiled and his good eye lit up with an inner amusement. 'Undoubtedly.' He gestured at the pilot with the bourbon. 'So what is it?'

Hawke sighed and shoved a hand through his hair. 'Le ran away on Saturday evening.'

'He ran away?' Michael's voice rose.

'The police found him at a nightclub. He's fine.' Hawke said seeing the worry spring into the other man's eye. 'But I got called into see the social worker in charge of Half-pint's case.' He tapped his fingers restlessly against the chair arm. 'She made it clear that my chances of getting custody are slim.'

'And you need me…?'

'To do what you do, Michael.' Hawke said. 'Pull strings. Make it happen. Fix it.'

Michael stroked his moustache thoughtfully. 'What exactly did the social worker say to you?'

Hawke frowned. 'She said that with my work commitments, tenuous link to Le and single status I could pretty much forget about custody unless I make some major changes.'

Michael swirled the bourbon. 'I can't say I haven't been expecting this conversation.'

Hawke lurched to his feet and went to stand in front of the windows rocking backwards and forwards on his heels. 'It seems everyone's been expecting it but me.'

'Hawke,' Michael set the glass down on the table, 'you never considered the implications of what you were doing when you asked Le to move in with you. It's no surprise that you're facing some tough decisions on your priorities now.'

Hawke sighed. 'Dom thinks I should give up Airwolf.'

'What do you think?' Michael asked.

'I'm here aren't I?' Hawke bit out.

'So I take it I fix the custody issue or you're going to give up Airwolf?'

Hawke didn't respond and the silence stretched between them.

Michael sighed. 'Are those really your only options?'

Hawke shrugged. 'The social worker suggested I marry Caitlin.'

'She what?' Michael was stunned; he wondered if he'd missed some major shift in the relationship between the two pilots.

Hawke spun around to face Michael. 'She doesn't believe that Cait and I are just friends.'

Michael decided to ignore the potential minefield they were heading into; he changed the subject. 'I think I may have another solution.'

'You do?'

Michael reached for the phone. 'Kelly, please can you bring in the Le Van Hawke file.'

'What's going on, Michael?' Hawke asked as he slowly made his way back to the chair, slumping into it.

Michael waved his assistant in and took the buff coloured folder from her before dismissing her again. He flipped through it and glanced at Hawke gauging how much longer he was going to get before the pilot erupted.

'Michael…'

Michael closed the folder and passed it to Hawke. He reached for his cane and got to his feet. He walked around to the computer that took up half his office wall and started to tap in instructions whilst Hawke read the file.

Hawke's gaze jerked to the spy. 'You've been searching for Le's mother?'

Michael shrugged. 'She's a lead on your brother and her sister did die looking for her…it seemed to have some potential.'

Hawke returned his attention to the folder, reading the information with more focus than before. He stopped at a photo and put the rest of the folder down to examine it closely. He would swear that the image matched an old grainy photo of Ana, Le's mother that he had been shown by Le's deceased aunt.

'She's alive.' He murmured. His eyes flew accusingly to Michael's 'Why didn't you tell me?'

'I didn't want to say something until we had a solid lead.' Michael sighed. 'The one and only sighting of her was in a club downtown called the Dancing Lounge a couple of weeks ago.' He brought the information up on the large screen on the wall. 'It's owned by Jarvis Darrow. He's under federal investigation for trafficking women. He's small time but they still haven't been able to get anything to stick.' He perched on the side of the cabinet. 'We think Ana might have gotten caught up with Darrow's trafficking scams. There's been no trace of her since the sighting at the nightclub. Nothing solid.'

'You're still looking for her though right?' Hawke asked.

Michael nodded. 'We're still following up leads but if you guys wanted to take over...'

Hawke looked at the information on the screen and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'You can provide all the information and back-up we need?'

'Yes.' Michael hesitated. 'Of course, if you do find her…'

'Custody of Le would go to her.' Hawke concluded.

Michael nodded. 'It's a thought.'

'That's a hell of a solution, Michael.'

'And one that is not guaranteed.' Michael sighed and wandered back round to his desk. 'I'll still look into fixing the custody, Hawke, although I don't know how.' He sat down heavily. 'Maybe I can get his case moved to a more sympathetic case worker or maybe I can see if I can get the adoption arranged without the involvement of social services. I don't know whether it's going to be possible to do either.' He cautioned.

'I understand.'

'Hmmm.' Michael's good eye shone mischievously. 'You could always consider asking Cait to marry you.'

'Funny, Michael.' Hawke said and pushed himself out of the chair. He paused at the double doors with his hand on the handle. 'Michael?' He waited until he had the other man's attention. 'Thank you.'

Michael nodded in acknowledgement. 'I'll be in touch.'

Hawke gave a sharp nod of agreement and walked out.