Subtle, Hawke reminded himself the next day, he needed to be subtle. He wondered briefly if he had the patience for it and handed Dom the wrench he needed. They had been working on a chopper all day doing maintenance. It was the type of work that bored Hawke but he was happy enough to spend the time with Dom although it had been hard getting the older man to talk about anything other than Rosa. Hawke forced himself to tune back into the conversation.

'…and I'm planning to take her out to a nice restaurant for Christmas dinner so you needn't worry about me crashing your day with Cait.'

Hawke leaned on the chopper, stuffing his hands into his beige overalls and looked up at Dom who was on the ladder reaching across to the rotors. 'You know you're welcome to spend Christmas with us, Dom.'

'Nah. I know you were looking forward to it being the two of you with me supposed to be in Italy and besides,' Dom laughed, 'Rosa's looking forward to having dinner at some big, fancy place.'

'Big fancy place, huh?' Hawke asked, passing up another tool. 'Sounds expensive.'

'Arm and a leg, kid, arm and a leg.'

'Spending money…you must really like her.' Hawke noted.

Dom raised his head, shoved his red cap back and nodded a little shyly. 'I do. I know she kinda upset you with the decorating thing but she's a real honey, String.'

Hawke shrugged. 'She may have done us a favour. I hadn't clued in that Cait hadn't made any changes.'

Dom looked at him nervously. 'So you like her?'

'She seems nice.' Hawke said noncommittally.

Dom smiled. Hawke was always guarded about how he felt. 'Well, good, 'cos there's something I want to discuss with you.'

'Oh?'

The phone rang.

Dom nodded at it when Hawke didn't move.

'You want to get that?'

'I thought you had something you wanted to discuss with me.'

'It'll wait.' Dom gestured. 'It could be a customer. Get the phone will ya!'

Hawke smiled and took the couple of steps he needed to snag the receiver up. 'Santini Air.'

'Hawke.'

Hawke sighed at the serious tone of Michael Coldsmith-Briggs III, the deputy director of the intelligence agency the FIRM. It was no doubt an Airwolf mission. Hawke flew the technologically advanced mach capable helicopter in exchange for the FIRM finding Saint John.

'Michael.' Hawke acknowledged the other man and tried to keep the irritation out of his voice.

'I have a situation...'

'You always do.' Hawke pointed out.

'Dammit, Hawke, this is serious!'

Michael's worry finally pierced Hawke's annoyance at being disturbed. 'What's up, Michael? Is Angelina OK?'

'Angelina's fine. This isn't about my daughter.' Michael replied, the wonder of discovering the ten year old little girl still evident; it had been less than a week since Hawke and he had returned from Russia with her. 'I can't discuss this over the phone. Can we meet?'

'Sure. Come to the Lair.' Hawke said referring to the dusty cave in the Valley of the Gods that hid Airwolf from the world.

'I'll meet you there.' Michael hung up, not waiting for Hawke's reply.

'What was that about?' Dom asked. He'd halted his work to listen to Hawke's side of the conversation.

Hawke shrugged. 'Airwolf mission, I think.'

'You think?'

'He sounded worried.'

Dom frowned. 'Well, we'd better go meet him. See what this is about.'

'Yeah.' Hawke agreed as Dom climbed down the ladder. 'Let's go.'

It took no time at all before Hawke and Dom got to the Lair and they waited on the steel platform that housed a range of communications and security systems along with a state of the art computer. Michael had installed the equipment when he'd finally discovered the location of the Lair and Hawke still viewed it with displeasure even though he appreciated that it had already come in useful. At least Michael was keeping his word and only coming to the Lair when invited. Both men looked up as the white soft-top jeep pulled into the cave. Michael climbed out, dressed as always in an all-white outfit with only his black eye-patch detracting from the overall effect. He wasted no time on pleasantries.

'Zeus is missing.' Michael pushed his wire-frame glasses up his nose and peered through his good eye at the two pilots who were reacting true to form at the news about the FIRM's director; Hawke barely raised an eyebrow although a calculating look had entered the blue eyes whilst Dom's eyebrows had shot up, his eyes widening in shock and disbelief.

'Zeus has disappeared?' Dom asked leaning back on the bright yellow railing circling the platform.

'That's not possible, Michael.' Hawke said crossing his arms and tipping his chair back. He'd worked for the FIRM for a number of years and knew that only the President had better security measures than those that surrounded its director.

'I'm afraid it is.' Michael stroked his moustache. 'He was snatched from outside his house this morning. His protection detail is dead.'

'Dead?' Dom said seeing the truth in the other man's grave expression.

Michael nodded.

'So why are you here, Michael?' Hawke asked righting the chair and gesturing at the spy. 'Hasn't Special Order 11 been invoked?' His tone was scathing giving away his own distaste for the FIRM's rule of eliminating any operative potentially compromised by the enemy.

Michael sighed and sat down heavily in one of the office chairs. 'I'm beginning to think that order needs to be scrapped.'

'Finally,' said Dom with a huff of laughter.

'You haven't invoked the order.' Hawke stated.

'At present, only I and the rest of the Committee know that he's missing.' Michael tapped his cane on the steel. 'We want to keep it that way.' He clasped his hands around the silver cane handle. 'Besides, we don't think Zeus has been kidnapped by the enemy exactly.'

Hawke sighed. 'I have a feeling I'm not going to like this.'

'You and me both, String.' Dom muttered.

'Zeus was ordered yesterday to attend a special meeting of the Senate Oversight Committee on Intelligence which takes place tomorrow.' Michael continued ignoring their comments. 'They've been reviewing the budgets of all the intelligence agencies but paying special attention to the operating costs.' He pursed his lips. 'Zeus was worried about it.'

'Why?' Hawke asked. 'Don't these guys review you all the time?'

'They do,' Michael agreed, 'which is why I had Marella do some digging.'

'And?' Dom prompted.

'And she hit a brick wall.'

'So maybe there's nothing to dig up, huh.' Dom said.

'Or there's something big going on.' Hawke corrected him. He might not like politics but he knew the way it worked.

Michael nodded slowly. 'Something really big.'

'You think Zeus has been kidnapped to stop him talking to the Committee.' Hawke concluded.

'But why?' Dom asked.

'I don't know.' Michael admitted. 'Maybe discrediting Zeus or the FIRM for some reason gives someone an advantage.' He tapped his moustache thoughtfully. 'Politically, if it were revealed that the FIRM couldn't even protect its own director…that he'd been delayed from appearing in front of the Committee because he'd been kidnapped…'

'Or shot.' Dom said interrupting. 'You're assuming whoever took him won't kill him.'

'If they wanted him dead they could have shot him outside his house.' Michael said defensively. 'What I do know is that Zeus needs to be at that meeting at eight am tomorrow and we need to find him and get him there. The Committee has authorised me to ask you to help.'

Hawke silently weighed up the situation; helping Zeus didn't sit well with him, the two of them mutually disliked each other. He frowned; they didn't like each other but at least the man did tolerate the deal that Michael had worked out with Hawke over Airwolf. If they didn't help and Zeus lost his position, there was no guarantee that his replacement wouldn't try to revoke that deal…

Hawke rubbed his chin. 'Do you have any leads?'

Michael relaxed imperceptibly. He knew Hawke wouldn't like the mission but he was glad that the other man had seen the sense of them doing it. 'I have this.' He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and took out a computer disc. 'Surveillance video from the outside of Zeus' house.' He threw it over to the pilot who turned to the console he was sat at and placed the disc in the CD reader. The video appeared on the monitor in front of them and both Dom and Michael moved to stand behind Hawke to watch over his shoulder.

The camera had obviously been on a wall focused on the front door of the house and driveway. They saw the security detail bring the car around to the door; Zeus exiting with two guards flanking him. The snatch was quick; shots were fired, the guards fell and a black van zoomed into view as Zeus dived for his vehicle. Another shot took out the driver and two masked men jumped out of the van to grab Zeus and wrestle him into it.

'These guys were professional, huh.' Dom said solemnly.

'Very,' Michael agreed, 'and the MO is SOP for all US intelligence agencies.'

'And a few foreign ones too, Michael.' Hawke commented.

'The weapons are American.' Michael pointed out. 'Generally, even operatives use the weapons they are trained in.'

Hawke sighed and rewound the tape. The second time around he looked for clues that would assist them; anything. He paused the video and pointed at the screen. 'There.'

'License plate.' Dom muttered and gestured at the screen. 'Ah but we can barely see it.'

'Hawke, zoom in on that section.' Michael suggested.

Hawke was already tapping the instruction into the computer. The image reappeared with the section filling the whole screen. They all frowned at the fuzziness.

'It's covered in dirt.' Dom said.

'But you can just make it out.' Michael said. 'Except for that one. Is it a 5 or a 3?'

'Let's run both and find out.' Hawke suggested. He got out of the chair and gestured for Michael to sit. The spy knew how to access the information better than he did.

Michael sat down and quickly accessed the systems they needed. 'The first van is licensed to a Mrs Henry Appleton of Groveside, Orange County.' Michael confirmed. He accessed all the relevant information he could about the woman. 'She's a caterer. Well connected with a sterling reputation for charity work.' He shook his head. 'I don't think she's our likely suspect.'

'What's the deal on the second license?' Hawke asked.

Michael ran the information. 'It's a company vehicle licensed to…' he stumbled to a halt recognising the name and leaned back in the chair, '…Solartech.'

'Solartech?' Hawke asked. 'Don't they make satellites and spy planes for the government?'

Michael nodded slowly. 'Solartech was just awarded a billion dollar contract to build a new satellite and ten new automated spy planes to be used for intelligence gathering.'

'Automated?' Hawke asked.

Michael nodded. 'They run off a remote flight control a bit like Airwolf's ground flight control capability.' His good eye suddenly twinkled with mischief. 'No pilot required.'

'Huh.' Dom folded his arms.

'The planes transmit all their data to a computer on the ground. So if they are shot down or compromised in any way…'

'You leave the enemy with no data and no pilot to question.' Hawke concluded. 'Pretty clever.'

Michael smoothed his moustache. 'Thank you.'

'So why would these guys kidnap Zeus?' Dom asked. 'It doesn't make any sense.'

'Yes it does,' contradicted Michael, getting to his feet. 'Solartech is a subsidiary company of one of the intelligence agencies under review.'

'Which one?' Hawke asked.

'The Federal Intelligence Agency.'

'The Federal Intelligence Agency?' Dom snorted. 'Those guys are worse than you.'

Michael shot him a look. 'Thank you for the critique, Dominic.'

'Can we stay focused?' Hawke snapped before the two men could get into an exchange of barbs.

'OK. So Solartech have him. Where?' Dom asked.

'They have to have stashed him somewhere.' Hawke noted. 'Let's run a search on the properties in the State owned by Solartech.' He gestured at Dom to take up position at the keyboard.

Dom rolled his eyes at him but slipped into the chair and flexed his hands before giving the instructions to the computer. 'They have six properties.'

'These two are office buildings.' Hawke noted. 'They'd risk exposure if they took Zeus somewhere that was primarily used for legitimate business.'

'I agree.' Michael said. 'That leaves four possibilities.'

'Yeah.' Hawke pointed. 'These two labs and these two storage facilities.'

'Now what?' Dom asked.

Hawke turned and started toward Airwolf. 'We'll fly over and see if we can spot anything. If we get lucky we might find the van.'

It only took them a short time to suit up in the lilac uniforms and get airborne. Six hours of searching later and the tempers on all three men were frayed.

'This is hopeless.' Michael muttered. They'd checked the storage facilities and the lab closest to Zeus' house to no avail. There was no sign of the FIRM's director or the black van that took him.

'We still have one location to check out, Michael.' Hawke reminded him shortly. He rolled his shoulders and ignored the ache that had settled into his muscles from flying so long.

Michael glanced at the time display on the front electronics board and sighed. 'How much longer until we get there?'

'Another fifteen minutes at current speed.' Dom said from the back of the cockpit.

'We're going to start losing the light soon.' Michael observed.

An incoming transmission alarm sounded and Dom hit the buttons to connect them. Marella's face looked back at them soberly.

'The Committee wanted an update.'

Hawke's lips thinned but he made no comment leaving Michael to respond.

'We're on our way to the last location now.' Michael said. 'The other three locations were clear.'

'And if he's not there?' Marella asked.

'Then we have a problem.' Michael admitted.

'Is there anything I can do?' Marella asked.

'Yeah,' interrupted Dom before Michael could reply, 'pray!'

Michael turned and shot Dom a dirty look which only had the engineer pulling a face at him. The spy turned back to the video monitor. 'We'll contact you as soon as we have something more, Marella.'

'OK, sir.' Marella pushed her black curly hair over her shoulder and leaned forward. 'Caitlin told me to let you know Angelina's doing fine at the cabin.'

'Good.' Michael breathed a sigh of relief. He said a brief goodbye to Marella and disconnected the link. He was beginning to learn how Hawke had felt when the pilot had looked Le; a boy he'd believed was his nephew, for a time. Le was living with his mother in Seattle now but Michael knew before the mother and son had been reunited, Hawke had struggled to cope with the demands of being a single parent. Michael wanted to raise his daughter though and he was determined to make it work.

'Angelina will be fine at the cabin.' Hawke said glancing across the cockpit and seeing the worry on Michael's face. 'Caitlin'll take good care of her.'

'I know.' Michael sighed and looked back across at the pilot. 'You know Angelina's in love with Tet.'

'He's good with kids.' Hawke said as he adjusted their course a little.

'She's already dropping hints about puppies and Christmas.'

There was an indulgent note in Michael's voice that had Hawke smiling inwardly. He had an idea that Angelina would be finding a warm bundle of fur under the tree on Christmas morning.

'So what dog are you getting her?' Dom asked echoing Hawke's thoughts.

'I didn't say I was getting her a dog.' Michael said crossly.

'Please.' Dom teased. 'You have indulgent daddy written all over you.'

'She's been through a lot.' Michael pointed out. 'She's still having nightmares about seeing her aunt getting shot.'

Hawke winced. He'd been unable to prevent the death of Angelina's aunt when he'd saved the little girl.

Michael saw Hawke tense and sighed. 'It wasn't your fault, Hawke.'

The pilot looked at Michael for a moment but remained silent.

'You know you could try a night light.' Dom suggested. 'My daughter Sally had one for years and it worked like a charm. Always made her feel safe.'

Michael glanced back. He'd forgotten the older man had lost his daughter the year before. He felt a sudden wave of empathy; he'd only been a father for a week and couldn't imagine how he would survive if anything were to happen to Angelina. His voice was gruff with emotion as he thanked Dom for the suggestion.

'Of course, when you get her the dog, that'll make her feel safe.' Hawke noted dryly.

Michael stared at the pilot until Hawke glanced across and met his eyes. The spy caved under the steady, knowing blue gaze. 'OK,' he admitted, 'I'm getting her a dog for Christmas.'

'Something fancy, I bet,' laughed Dom.

'Nah,' Hawke disagreed, 'I'm betting he had Marella do some research on the best type of dog for a young girl.' He smiled as Michael squirmed next to him. 'Labrador, right?'

Michael crossed his arms. 'I'm glad you both find this amusing.'

'He's right?' Dom asked his voice filled with mirth.

'It's a chocolate Labrador.' Michael acknowledged reluctantly.

'Chocolate?' Dom chuckled. 'Ah, those white suits of yours are going to take a beating.' He punched in a scan. 'Coming up on that last location now, String. I'm running surveillance.'

The last Solartech lab was a sprawling complex of buildings and grounds. Their hearts sank a little; it was a large area to cover and they were running out of time.

Hawke eased up and hovered at a safe distance above the main building. 'Anything?' He asked impatiently.

'Cars…a truck…bingo.' Dom adjusted the image on his screen, zooming in to confirm what he'd seen. 'The van is parked in the South parking lot.'

'Scan the buildings, Dom. Let's see if we can pick up on anything.' Hawke ordered.

'Scanning.' Dom confirmed.

'This is Solartech's spy plane facility.' Michael noted bringing up the information on the upgraded front monitor. 'There are five outbuildings alongside the main lab.'

'I'm picking up a lot of shielding, String.' Dom said trying another scan. 'The scans are bouncing off the walls – literally.'

'Dammit! I should have realised it earlier.' Michael said. 'These facilities were specially built to repel scans, radar, ultrasonic, heat detection, everything because it needs to protect its unique technology. What better place to hide someone than in these high security buildings?'

'We're going to have to go in on foot then,' mused Hawke peering at the ground speculatively. It was lucky it was dusk, he thought. They'd have some cover at least.

'Hmnph.' Dom muttered. 'There's an electric fence. I've picked up on three security patrols already and those buildings are alarmed.'

'Can you tap into the security system?' Hawke asked.

Dom sighed. 'I can try.' He attempted a connection which failed and tried again. 'Hey, I think it's working.' He swallowed a little nervously. Airwolf's computers had seemingly extrapolated what he'd been attempting and had automatically taken over. Lines of code zipped by on the monitor until it suddenly flashed and a menu appeared. 'I'm in.'

'Good work.' Michael commented.

Dom pressed his lips together and decided silence was the better part of valour.

'OK. We'll drop me inside the perimeter by that old hangar. It should hide us from view. I'll check the outbuildings first. They're more likely.' Hawke said looking for a good spot to land.

'I'll come with you.' Michael offered.

'No.' Hawke shook his head. 'Dom's going to have to fly; you're going to have to stay on the computer and operate that security system so I can get in and out.'

Michael opened his mouth to argue and closed it again. Hawke would make better time on the ground than him.

The pilot lowered Airwolf carefully and lifted the heavy helmet off. He rubbed a hand through his hair, took the radio Dom handed him and checked his gun before giving Michael an encouraging nod and slipping out of the cockpit. Michael made his way to the engineer's console and Dom took up Hawke's previous position. He lifted them back off the ground watching as Hawke ran in a low crouch across the tarmac.

'OK, Michael.' Dom said. 'Make sure Airwolf keeps a lock on Hawke's bio-readings.'

'Done.' The spy confirmed. 'He's at the first building.' He switched to the security system menu and accessed the building controls. 'I'm ready.'

'Hawke to Airwolf.' The radio crackled with static.

'We hear you, String.' Dom responded.

'I'm at the front door.'

Michael pressed the code into the computer. 'Door is unlocked…now.'

Outside the building below them, Hawke tried the door and found it opened easily. He slipped inside. The building was a disused hangar. The wide open space was in darkness, filled with shadows and the dark outline of left equipment and junk. His eyes narrowed as they adjusted to the poor light and he crept forward carefully. There was a staircase on the far side of the building leading to an upper storey office. It was unlikely Zeus was being held there but he decided to check it out anyway. He scampered up the wooden stairs and opened the office door cautiously. He aimed his gun and checked it out. The room was filled with old folders of information; it smelt musty and damp. His nose wrinkled and he sneezed abruptly. He made his way back down to the hangar quickly.

'This building's clear.' He radioed back to Airwolf.

'There's a patrol approaching. Hold your position.' Michael responded.

'Roger.' Hawke ducked behind the door and held his gun ready.

His ears caught the rumble of a vehicle driving past and the sweep of headlights through the windows. There was another minute of silence before Michael gave him the all clear. Hawke made his way to the next outbuilding. They followed the same procedure, Michael opening the door and letting him in.

Hawke paused inside by the door when he entered and took stock of the building. Garage, he deduced. There were a number of flight support vehicles lined up and ready to use. Another dead end.

It was the same story with the third building which housed the back-up power generators for the lab and the fourth which was another hangar, this time filled with prototype spy planes and engineers running tests; Hawke had made a quick exit.

Hawke took a moment to rest outside the fifth building. He was breathing heavily from the run and leaned on the brick structure to catch his breath. The lights were on so somebody was inside. He hoped like hell it was going to be Zeus and his captors because he didn't want to tackle the main lab.

Hawke waited for Michael's signal and slipped through the back door. The bright white corridor with its squeaky cream linoleum floor sent a shiver down his spine and he gripped his gun a little tighter as he made his way along it. It intersected with another corridor and there was a door on the corner with a red and white sign declaring it a secure lab. He frowned at the electronic lock and pulled out his radio.

'Airwolf, come in.'

The static crackle told its own story.

'Damn!' Hawke muttered. The walls were blocking the radio signals; the building had additional security compared to the others. He was debating his options when he heard voices approaching. He dived around the corner to hide.

'….I don't disagree that these test results are worrying, Dorothea but they still don't prove anything.' A male voice was protesting stridently.

'They prove the remote system doesn't work, Peter.' A woman's voice responded, presumably Dorothea thought Hawke.

'All systems have glitches that's why we have testing.' Peter soothed.

'These are more than glitches.' Dorothea claimed. 'I think I need to speak with Doctor Shellton about this.'

'Come on, Dorothea. There's no need to go to the lab director yet.'

Their footsteps halted in front of the secure lab and he peeked cautiously around the corner as the couple continued their discussion.

A tall blond man stood with his back to Hawke facing a beautiful African-American woman in her thirties; her smooth skin was the colour of dark mahogany and she had dark, almost black eyes that were pinned on the man in front of her challengingly. Her black hair was braided and caught in coils close to her head. Her face was tense with anxiety and he could clearly see her hands were fisted in the pockets of the white lab coat she wore over a simple blouse and skirt.

'Peter, this is serious. These planes aren't ready.' Dorothea frowned. 'To claim otherwise is fraudulent. We could all get into serious trouble.'

'You're making too much of this. Give it another week. We'll have the problems worked out by then and this will all blow over.'

'That's what you said to me last week, Peter.'

'You're over-reacting.'

'No, I'm not.' Dorothea sighed. 'I'm going to see Shellton.' She made to turn away.

'I can't let you do that.'

Hawke's eyes widened along with Dorothea's as Peter pulled a gun and pointed it at her.

'What are doing?' Dorothea said aghast.

'I can't let you ruin this contract, Dorothea. It's too important.' Peter bit out. 'I'm sorry.'

Hawke couldn't stay out of it. As Peter went to pull the trigger, Hawke stepped out from behind the corner and slammed the butt of his gun into the other man's head. Peter crumpled obligingly to the floor.

Dorothea gave a small cry and slapped her hands over her mouth. Her eyes wide open with shock.

'Are you OK?' Hawke asked.

She nodded.

His ears picked up on footsteps approaching. 'We need to leave. Now.'

'But…' She gestured at Peter who was groaning and coming to on the floor.

Hawke grabbed hold of her arm and dragged her around the corner, hustling her down the corridor. He found an empty office and pushed her inside. He closed the door and moved her back into the shadows, motioning for her to be quiet as he took a position behind the door. There was shouting in the corridor and the sound of running footsteps. Mere moments later, they heard Peter's voice as he walked by the door.

'I don't care what you do just find her.'

'And what do you want me to do when I find her?' The security guard asked.

'Eliminate her.' Peter confirmed.

Dorothea blanched and cowered back against the wall she was leaning on.

Hawke waited until the voices couldn't be heard before turning to her. 'Are you alright?'

'I'm not sure.' Dorothea admitted matching his low tone. She gave a nervous giggle. 'My boss is trying to kill me and I seem to have been rescued by a thief.' She shook her head and sobered abruptly. 'Thank you. If you hadn't….thank you.'

'Don't thank me yet.' Hawke cautioned. 'We still have to get out and for the record, I'm not a thief.'

'So who are you and what are you doing here?' She whispered.

'Long story.' Hawke said. His eyes raked over her. She was regaining her composure. 'Why's that guy all fired up to kill you?'

'We won a contract to provide the government with a new spy plane capable of being controlled remotely long distance.'

'So I heard.' Hawke said keeping one ear cocked for trouble.

'Only the remote system doesn't work properly.' Dorothea said. 'You try and operate it outside a radius of a 100 kilometres and it fails.'

'You want to report it.'

Dorothea nodded. 'I think we can get it to work, just not in the timescales the government wants the planes operational.'

'The timescales Solartech contracted for.' Hawke deduced.

Dorothea nodded again. 'I know the company will lose a lot of money but if we declare the planes are ready, our test results will be fraudulent.' She sighed. 'Peter's been the director on the programme for a long time. I guess he figures he'll lose his job if the problems with the planes are published.'

'Do you have any proof?'

'Yes. It's all stored on computer. I just need to find a terminal and get a print out or a copy on computer disc.'

Hawke rubbed his chin. 'I have a friend who can help you get the truth out.' He sighed. 'But I need to finish searching this building first.' Something which had just got a lot harder with the security guards deployed to search for Dorothea.

'What are you looking for?' Dorothea asked. 'Maybe I can help you.'

Hawke regarded silently for a long moment before he decided to tell her. 'A man was kidnapped this morning. We tracked the van that took him here. I've searched the other outbuildings and there's no sign of him which leaves this building and the main one. I can't see them taking him in there.'

'No,' agreed Dorothea faintly. She sat down heavily on a chair. 'I can't believe this. I mean, I believe Peter's gone a little overboard but kidnapping and for what reason?'

'Can you think of anywhere they might be keeping him?' Hawke said ignoring her question.

She thought for a moment before her eyes flickered to his. 'The security department are located in the basement. None of the regular staff are allowed down there. If they're keeping him anywhere, that's probably it.'

'Great.' It would be like walking into a lion's den, thought Hawke, particularly with Dorothea. He frowned. If he helped her, got her out to Airwolf…no, security would be swarming all over the place; there was no guarantee that he'd be able to return and get Zeus.

'OK,' Hawke said, 'we're going to go and find you a safe place to get the proof you need to back up your story. Then we're going to the basement.'

Dorothea swallowed hard. 'OK.'

'Where's the best place for you to get what you need?' Hawke asked.

'The secure lab.' Dorothea said immediately. 'It's usually deserted at this time and I don't think Peter would think of looking for me there.'

'OK then that's where we'll head to.' Hawke peeked out into the corridor; it was clear. He motioned for Dorothea to follow him and they made their way back to the secure lab door cautiously.

'Let's hope my access code still works.' Dorothea muttered pressing the numbers into the keypad. The red light went to green and they both entered quickly.

The lab was almost in total darkness apart from the light of a computer monitor in the corner of the room. Hawke bolted the door from the inside as Dorothea reached for the light switch.

Hawke caught hold of her hand. 'Can you do this without the light on?' He asked.

She nodded and he let go of her. She walked swiftly to the computer console and accessed the data she needed. She pursed her lips and reached for a new disc. The computer flashed a message confirming the transfer was in progress. She turned and found Hawke at the door, his gun ready.

'Are you nearly done?' He asked.

'Just another couple of minutes and the transfer will be complete.' Dorothea said glancing around the lab, suddenly aware that it would be the last time she would be there.

'I don't think we're going to have long.' Hawke said worriedly.

'Almost there.' Dorothea tapped her fingers impatiently. The computer screen flashed. The transfer was complete. She hurriedly released the CD from the computer and slid it into the pocket of her white robe. 'Done.'

Hawke breathed a sigh of relief. 'Good.' He reached for the bolt and froze as the handle of the door was tried and then a thud against the door as they tried to break through. He stepped away from the door. 'Is there another way out of here?'

'No.' Dorothea said panicking. 'That's the only door.' Loud bangs on the door sounded as the security guards continued to try to break it down.

'They must have been alerted when you used the code.' Hawke looked around the room and his eyes caught on the grille of an air vent in the top right corner of the far wall. He pushed a desk underneath it and climbed up, holding a hand out to help Dorothea onto the desk. He took a penknife from a zip compartment on his uniform and unscrewed the grille, grunting as he yanked it from the wall. He gave Dorothea a boost into the metal shaft and then followed her.

They shuffled down the metal tunnel on their knees and elbows, clunking along at the best pace they could. The shaft widened and Dorothea stopped to let Hawke come up alongside her.

'Which way?' He asked.

Dorothea pointed. 'I think this will lead to a stairwell.'

Hawke moved forward and was pleased when he saw the grille in front of him. He unscrewed it before giving it a solid kick to send the metal flying. He looked down and frowned. It was a hell of a fall to the landing of the stairs below; a miscalculation and he'd break his neck. He eased out, sliding his body carefully backwards until he hung by his fingertips from the edge of the shaft. He let go and dropped to the floor below. He gestured for Dorothea to follow him.

She looked at the drop and swallowed as she copied his example. 'What the hell am I doing?' She muttered hanging by her fingertips. She closed her eyes and let go. Hawke helped catch her.

'Come on.' He started down the stairs to the basement with Dorothea behind him. They paused at a door which was again protected by an electronic code.

Hawke turned to Dorothea. 'Do you…?'

'No.' Dorothea shook her head. 'It's an entirely different security code.'

Hawke scowled and scoured the door and the small hallway. Michael could get him through that door if the other man knew he was there. He needed something that would signal Michael. But how? The building was impenetrable. Hawke frowned. The security guards had discovered them in the secure lab by tracking Dorothea's code…the system had to identify the codes; the same system that Airwolf's computer was linked into…if he entered a code that Michael would recognise, maybe the other man would see it and know what Hawke was attempting; Michael would be able to release the door.…Hawke was already pressing the Airwolf security code into the keypad as he completed his reasoning.

'What are you doing?' Dorothea hissed.

'Contacting a friend.' Hawke said. 'I hope.' The door clicked open. 'Thank you, Michael.' He murmured and moved forward cautiously. Dorothea took a deep breath and followed him. There was a corridor beyond the door and they walked down it speedily, checking empty offices as they went. Hawke peered around the corner to the next corridor and sighed. A guard stood in front of a door. The young guy was wearing the same garb as the men who'd grabbed Zeus on the surveillance video.

Hawke frowned and turned to Dorothea. 'I need you to distract the guard.'

'How?'

'Walk along the corridor as if you have the right to be there. Stop and talk to him. Get him to face the opposite direction to me and I'll creep up behind him and…'

'…knock him out like you did Peter?'

Hawke nodded.

'I can't do this!' She hissed. 'I'm an engineer not a soldier!'

Hawke took hold of her hand. 'You'll do fine, Dorothea.'

Dorothea sighed and nodded reluctantly. She straightened her shoulders and with another deep breath walked around the corner towards the guard.

Hawke watched as she did exactly as he had instructed. She was good, he thought as he crept up silently behind the man. The blow to the guard's hard was swift and brutal. Hawke had used more force than he had with Peter; he'd needed to know the guard would stay down for a while.

He searched through the man's pockets and found the key.

'Stand back.' Hawke instructed Dorothea who moved back down the corridor. He opened the door and entered with his gun poised. A shot rang out and hit the plaster by the door. Hawke dived and rolled, taking aim at the shooter. He took him out with a shot to the head. His eyes went to the man blindfolded and gagged lying on the floor, hands and feet tied together with rope. Zeus.

'Zeus. It's Stringfellow Hawke. I'm here to get you out.' Hawke withdrew his penknife again and sliced the bonds tying Zeus' hands together. As soon as he was free, Zeus reached for the gag and the blindfold and glared at Hawke as the pilot sliced the ropes binding his feet. His dark eyes zoomed to the body on the floor.

'Can you walk?' Hawke asked.

'Yes I can walk.' Zeus bit out.

Hawke's eyebrow quirked upward at the angry tone but he put his penknife away and stood up. 'Then let's go.'

Zeus staggered to his feet and Hawke resisted the urge to offer him help, turning instead to lead the way out the door. He walked back into the corridor and froze. Peter stood there with a gun to Dorothea's head. Security guards were positioned either side of the corridor.

Zeus came to stand beside Hawke. 'Some rescue this is.'

Hawke shot him a look.

'Put your gun down. Slowly.' Peter ordered.

Hawke complied. 'You don't have to do this, Peter.'

'Shut up.' Peter thrust Dorothea at him and Hawke caught her as she stumbled across the short expanse of floor. He squeezed her shoulder comfortingly.

Peter glared at them. 'I don't know who you people are but you're…' A shot cut across his words and his eyes went wide as he jerked with the shock of the bullet entering him. Hawke yanked Dorothea to the floor trusting Zeus still had enough instincts to do the same. He grabbed his gun and shot out the guards behind them. The security guards behind Peter had whirled to respond to the threat and they both lurched backwards onto the floor as they were hit.

Hawke helped a horrified Dorothea to her feet; Zeus staggered back to his and all three of them turned to face Michael who stepped from his position behind the corridor wall to greet them, the gun still in his hands.

'Thanks.' Hawke said.

Michael shrugged. 'Dominic decided you were taking too long.' His good eye gleamed with humour before it landed on Zeus and sobered. 'We should leave.' He said hastily.

'Good idea.' Hawke agreed.

Michael's eye slid to Dorothea and back to Hawke. He gave Hawke a questioning look.

'Dorothea's with me.' Hawke said with a finality that allowed for no arguments. 'Come on.' He led the way back up the stairs and to the back door. As soon as they were clear of the building, he radioed Dom.

'Where the hell have you been?' Dom yelled.

'Busy.' Hawke said shortly. 'We need a pick up. Now.'

'On my way.' Dom said.

A split second later Hawke heard Airwolf's eerie howl.

'What is that?' Dorothea asked.

Zeus looked at Hawke. 'You're allowing a civilian inside her?'

'I'm allowing you, aren't I?' Hawke snapped.

Airwolf circled and landed beside them. Hawke put a hand on Dorothea's back and pushed her firmly toward the helicopter. Zeus and Michael followed keeping low to avoid the rotors.

Hawke kept the door open as Dorothea and then Zeus climbed into the back of Airwolf to join Dom. Michael got into the seat at the front and Hawke closed the door on him. He saw the patrols racing toward them and slid over Airwolf's nose to climb into his own seat. He hurriedly put the helmet on and raised Airwolf off the ground as the patrols got close enough to try and shoot at them. The bullets ricocheted off the bullet proof glass.

'Turn off our wing lights.' Hawke ordered taking Airwolf further up into the dark sky effectively disappearing into the black.

'They're deploying some kinda plane, String.' Dom punched in the identity scan. 'It's reading as an unmanned drone.'

Dorothea read the results over Dom's shoulder. 'It's one of the spy planes.'

'String,' Dom's voice was almost panicked, 'that plane is packed with explosive! If it hits us…'

'Combat mode.' Hawke's lips firmed and he sent Airwolf into a steep ascent, began evasion manoeuvres.

'Combat mode.' Dom repeated and pressed the buttons to deploy the guns and the ADF pods.

'You have missiles and chain guns ready.' Michael stated setting them up on his console.

'That plane is all over us.' Dom warned.

'Redeye.'

'Redeye.' Michael hit the missile selection from his position at the counter-measures seat.

Hawke sent Airwolf into a dive and slipped back up behind the chasing plane. He snapped the visor down on the helmet. The automatic target blinked red in his sight. It zeroed in on the plane in front and locked. Hawke fired. It was a brilliant explosion and he ascended quickly to avoid the burning steel and debris.

Hawke turned in the direction of the FIRM headquarters. 'You'd better call Marella.' He said to Michael. 'I'd rather not have a shoot out with the FIRM's defence systems.'

'Right.' Michael allowed dryly. He pressed the buttons to connect them.

'Sir?' Marella's anxious face appeared in the video link.

'We have Zeus and we're on our way back to the FIRM.'

'Understood, sir. I'll make the arrangements and let the Committee know the good news.'

'Thank you, Marella.' Michael disconnected the link.

Dom's eyes slid to the woman squashed between him and Zeus who was looking over his shoulder at the computer monitor with blatant interest. 'Excuse me, ma'am, but if you don't mind me asking, who are you?'

'Good question.' Zeus muttered glaring at the back of Hawke's helmet.

'Stop glowering at me Zeus.' Hawke said without turning around. 'Dom, this is Dorothea. She helped me find Zeus and she has a computer disc that Zeus needs to see.'

Dorothea reached into the pocket of her white robe and pulled out the gold disc. Dom took it from her with a gap-toothed smile. 'Thank you.'

'You're welcome.' Dorothea smiled at him. 'This is an amazing machine.'

'Yeah, she is.' Dom agreed happily as he brought up the information on his monitor. He turned it toward Zeus who stared at it for a moment before the information started to register.

His dark eyes shot to Dorothea's. 'This data is accurate?'

'Yessir.' Dorothea nodded. 'The planes are not ready to fly.'

'You'd be willing to testify to that?' Zeus asked.

'Yes.' She said.

Zeus nodded and held out his hand. 'I'm Zeus.'

'That's your real name?' Dorothea said shaking his hand.

'Codename.' Zeus allowed. 'But I am pleased to make your acquaintance Dorothea.'

Michael's eye flickered across the cockpit to Hawke and returned to the dark star-studded sky in front of them. 'You know, Zeus, it's going to be a close call getting you to Washington for your meeting in front of the Senate Oversight Committee.'

'I'll need to take Miss…?'

'Connolly.' Dorothea supplied.

'…with me too.' Zeus noted.

Michael's good eye slid to Hawke.

'No.' The pilot said firmly.

'Hawke…'

'I said no, Michael.' Hawke rolled his shoulders.

'It's only a round trip to Washington.'

'We've barely got enough fuel to get us to the FIRM.' Hawke pointed out.

'So I'll arrange a fuel pick up.' Michael promised.

'I said no.' Hawke said firmly.

'Of course it's your decision.' Michael said cutting across whatever angry response Zeus was about to make. 'And besides I guess you're probably too tired to make the journey after flying all day.'

Hawke's eyes slid to him and he gave a humourless laugh. 'I'm not falling for that.'

'What?' Michel said looking back at him innocently.

Hawke sighed and turned back to the front. 'I said no.'

'Like I said it's your decision, Hawke. We'll take good care of Miss Connolly.' Michael kept quiet and hoped Zeus would do the same. He counted down in his head figuring it wouldn't take long for Hawke to change his mind.

Hawke shifted in his seat and frowned. It wasn't his responsibility to get Zeus to Washington, he grumbled to himself. Hadn't he done enough rescuing the guy? He sighed. OK, so he did feel bad about just handing Dorothea over to the FIRM, and particularly to Zeus. 'Fine.' He muttered. 'I'll take them to Washington.'

Dom hid a smile turning to something on his console.

'I'm sorry?' Michael said. 'Did you say something?'

'Don't push it, Michael.' Hawke snapped.

Michael held up a hand in apology. 'I appreciate it.'

Hawke sighed. 'You'll contact Caitlin? Let her know what's happening.'

'Of course.' Michael confirmed.

'FIRM dead ahead, String.' Dom said.

'Request an approach.' Hawke ordered.

They came into land on the helipad.

'I have to organise a few things.' Zeus said gruffly as the rotors slowed and the engines powered down.

'We'll wait here.' Hawke said. His blue eyes moved to the guards on the opposite side of the roof. He didn't trust the FIRM not to try and make a grab for the helicopter.

'If you could come with me Miss Connolly. We'll need to get all your details and a copy of that information.' Zeus said turning to the lady in question.

Dorothea nodded and Dom handed her the computer disc back.

Hawke opened his own door to let some air into the cockpit as Michael disembarked and helped Zeus and Dorothea from the back of the cockpit. The two of them were immediately greeted by members of Zeus' staff. Hawke watched as they disappeared towards the elevators.

Michael walked round to Hawke's side and leaned in through the open door. 'Thank you.'

Hawke slumped back in his chair. 'Don't mention it. Ever.'

Michael nodded and tapped the side of the doorway. 'I'll be in touch.'