Dom grinned and waved wildly at the chopper coming into land. He barely waited for the rotors to slow before he was ducking underneath them to help the small blonde pilot from the cockpit and wrap her in a bear hug. He pulled back and gave his niece a gap-toothed smile as her blue eyes sparkled back at him.

'Ah, aren't you a sight for sore eyes.' Dom said.

'You look good, Uncle Dom.' Jo Santini smiled. Her eyes scanned over him anxiously. Hawke's phone call had been brief and to the point; Dom had met a woman in Italy, fallen for her and she'd tried to kill him. That Hawke had called her at all was a worrying sign of how badly he thought their surrogate father had been affected and now she could see for herself the tense deep lines on her uncle's face and the hint of sadness lurking in his eyes even as they smiled at her in welcome, she agreed with Hawke's assessment that the older man needed company. Jo also figured there was more to it than Hawke had told her but she knew better than to try to get the answers from him; she would have more luck with her uncle. She hugged him again.

'What's that for?' Dom asked with a laugh.

'I just missed you.' Jo said pulling back.

'Well, maybe you should come visit more often, huh?' Dom chided her gently and without heat; he'd accepted a long time ago that his fledglings had left the nest.

'Maybe I should.' She admitted surprising herself at how much she meant the comment.

Dom released her and reached into the back of the chopper for her bag. 'Well how about we get you settled into my place and have some lunch whilst we catch up properly?'

'Sounds good to me.' Jo slipped an arm around his expansive waist as they walked over to the Santini Air hangar.

Dom's apartment was only a short drive from the airfield, the noise of the landings and take-offs clearly audible as they walked up the path. Dom ushered her inside and Jo smiled as they walked straight into the small sitting room. She'd never stayed on her previous visits back to see him and she hadn't been back to the apartment since she'd graduated high school. It hadn't changed at all, she thought. The wallpaper was still the same green and yellow lurid print that screamed of the Sixties; the matching green carpet was clean but worn and the pale beige leatherette sofa and chair were original Sixties design. A battered coffee table took up floor space in the centre; an old sideboard crowded one wall, its surface covered with pictures of family and friends along with an old record player. A Formica table and four chairs took up the back wall where an open door led to a narrow corridor.

It was smaller than Jo remembered and she wondered with some bemusement how three teenagers and her uncle had managed to fit into the small space as she followed her uncle through to the bedrooms. He opened the first door on his right and placed her bags on one of the twin beds. Jo scanned the room and gave a brief sigh of relief that Dom seemed to have updated this room at least. It had been the Hawke brothers when they'd lived there but their old stuff had been cleared out, the walls painted in a fresh blue colour, the floorboards in a whitewash. The bedding was simple and not overly fussy, a deeper shade of blue that didn't quite match the paint or the curtains hanging at the window.

'I hope this is OK for you.' Dom said.

'It's great, Uncle Dom.' Jo smiled at him reassuringly.

'Good, good.' He said. 'Kitchen's across the hall, my room is just next door like always and the bathroom's down the hall to your left.'

'I remember.'

'Well, I'll get started on lunch if you want to get settled in.' Dom rubbed his hands together and backed out of the room, leaving her alone. Jo took another look around the small space. She hadn't been allowed in the room when she'd lived in the apartment with the Hawke brothers; it had been a real no-go zone. Not that it had stopped her from trying she remembered with rueful amusement…

Jo skipped into the apartment, threw her school bag onto the sofa with a careless abandon, turned on the old transistor radio on the sideboard on her way to the kitchen. The music blared out; a Beatles song…she started singing along, slightly off-key, as she grabbed some cookies from the jar on the kitchen counter and made her way back to the sitting room. Jo was half-way through the first cookie when it occurred to her that she was alone in the apartment.

She turned eagerly and made her way to the forbidden door; the Hawke brothers' room. The sign on the door said 'Keep Out'; she paid it no attention but slowly lowered the handle and swung the door open. Her nose wrinkled at the musky smell. The room looked as though it had schizophrenia. The half by the window was a mess; the bed was unmade, dirty clothes littered the floor, the dresser was covered in junk, books, socks, other stuff she didn't want to examine too closely. The half by the door was orderly, neat with everything put away in a certain order; a cello and bow hung neatly from the wall; String was such a neat-freak, so uncool not like his brother, she thought with the type of disgust only teenagers could muster, casually forgetting her own belongings were similarly ordered.

She ventured in and made immediately for Saint John's haphazardly stacked record collection; he'd bought the Rolling Stones album and she wanted to listen to it. She flipped through the records till she found it, holding it aloft triumphantly. Her glee was short-lived. The sound of the apartment door opening had her dropping the record back into the pile and hastily making for the door. Jo stopped in her tracks as she heard the brothers' voices coming closer. She was going to be discovered. Quick as a flash she noiselessly closed the door and scurried under the first bed just as they entered.

'…I don't see why you want to go to Vietnam, Saint John.'

'I was always going to join up, String, you know that.' Saint John replied.

'But why now? You haven't even finished school.'

'I told you.' The bed creaked as the brothers slumped onto their respective bunks. 'It was just like Pauley said, the new recruitment officer didn't even look at my id.'

Jo's eyes widened; Saint John was leaving? He was going to join the army and go to Vietnam? She shivered. She didn't know much about the war but she did know soldiers went there and didn't come back. She frowned; String was asking what he was going to do if Saint John went…

'You'll be OK.' Saint John said. 'You've got Dom.'

'It's not the same, Saint John.'

'We were going to have to go our separate ways eventually, String. I mean, you want to go study the cello like Mom wanted you to, don't you?'

'Yeah but…'

'And I want to be an army pilot.' Saint John insisted. 'Like Dad.'

'But does it have to be now?'

Saint John sighed. 'You're going to have to stand on your own two feet sometime, little brother.'

Jo's nose suddenly twitched. She made a futile effort to stop the sneeze which exploded from her and brought the conversation between the brothers to a sudden halt. There was a moment's deathly silence before hands grabbed her and yanked her from under the bed. She struggled and managed to kick Saint John's shin whilst she elbowed String in the stomach.

'What the heck is going on here?' Dom's grumpy voice had all three of them breaking apart and looking guiltily at their guardian. They stayed quiet, bound by the unwritten teenage rule that you didn't squeal even if it meant you all got into trouble.

Dom crossed his arms and stared at the three teenagers. 'I'm not going to ask you again.'

'It was my fault, Uncle Dom.' Jo said hurriedly knowing the older man would go easier on her than on the boys. 'I was in their room. I wanted to borrow a record.'

'You know you're not allowed in here.' Dom chastised her. His dark eyes flickered to the boys. 'But that's no excuse for manhandling her; she's only twelve and you don't treat a woman like that. Ever.'

'No, Uncle Dom.' The brothers said in unison.

'Well, we'll figure a punishment out later. String, you're due at Mrs Gantree for your music lesson. You'd better get going.'

'Yes, sir.' He took his cello and bow off the wall and reached for the cello-case in the wardrobe.

'Jo, you can start the dinner.' Dom gestured at Saint John. 'I need to have a word with Saint John.'

Jo opened her mouth to protest and closed it again at the stern look her uncle gave her. She shuffled out of the room and into the small kitchenette across the hall as String made his way out of the apartment. She glanced back and saw with surprise that her uncle had closed the bedroom door. What was so important he'd closed the door? She hurriedly put a large pot of water on for the pasta and tiptoed back to press her ear up against the wood.

'…better example.' Dom finished.

'Yes, sir.' There was a sulky undertow to Saint John's voice.

Her uncle must have heard it too because he sighed loud enough for the sound to travel through the door. 'I had a call earlier from the army recruitment office. It seems you tried to join up today.'

There was a silence.

'Nothing to say for yourself?'

'I want to join up, Uncle Dom, you know that.'

'I know, we talked about it but this…this isn't the way. Lying and cheating. You're lucky the guy in charge down there is an old buddy of mine and your Dad's; he recognised your name and called me.' Dom said. 'You're too young.'

'I'm almost eighteen…'

'And you haven't finished school yet.' Dom interrupted. 'Look, Saint John, if you knew what war was really like you wouldn't be in such an all-fired up hurry to get there. It's bloody and it's brutal and it's hard. I could tell you stories…'

'I know. I'm ready for it.' Saint John insisted.

'And is your brother?'

'He'll be OK here. He has you.'

'But he won't stay here, will he? He'll follow you. You know that.' Dom pointed out.

'I can't live my life always thinking about String.' Saint John's voice rang with frustration.

'I know that and he knows that.' Dom said. 'But there's a time for these things, Saint John and this isn't it.'

Another silence.

'Saint John, you're not going. Not yet anyway. You understand?'

'Yes, sir.'

'And if I catch you at that recruitment office again before you finish school, you and me are going nose to nose, you understand that?'

'Yes, sir.'

Jo hurried back to the kitchen and was putting the pasta into the furiously boiling water when her uncle joined her.

'So what you're cooking?' He asked her.

'Pasta.'

'Pasta, huh?' Dom smiled at her. 'What sauce do you want to go with that?'

'What sauce do you want to go with your pasta?'

Jo shook herself free of the memories and turned to smile at her uncle who was stood a little awkwardly in the doorway.

'You OK? You seemed miles away.' Dom noted.

Jo's smile widened. 'Just thinking about how I used to sneak in here all the time and how it always made the guys mad.'

Dom returned the smile. 'So, tomato and basil sauce OK?'

'Sounds perfect.' Jo gestured. 'I'll just finish unpacking.'

Dom nodded and headed back to the kitchen. It took her no time at all to put her few clothes away, arrange her cosmetics and lotions on the dresser along with a cherished picture of her parents. She sighed. Her mother was long dead and she hadn't seen her father for years…Dom had always been more of a parent to her than either of them, she thought. Another wave of guilt curdled in her stomach; with all her travelling she was as bad as her father at staying in touch. She shook herself and headed out to join her uncle.

An hour later, she threw her napkin on the table and groaned dramatically. 'I'm going to need to run an extra mile tomorrow to get rid of the damage that chocolate cake's just done.'

'What are you talking about?' Dom gestured at her. 'There's hardly anything to you. Ah, you girls are all the same. Caitlin's always complaining if she eats this or that, she'll put weight on and there's hardly anything to her.'

Jo smiled. 'What's she like?'

'Caitlin?' Dom shrugged. 'What do you want to know?'

Jo rolled her eyes. 'I mean is she pretty, smart? You know, what's she like?'

'Sure, she's pretty and smart.' Dom said agreeably.

'Uncle Dom!' Jo laughed. 'You know what I mean.'

Dom smiled. 'She's a good pilot.'

'Ah, a good pilot. Well, I guess that is the highest form of compliment.' Jo said.

'And she's a sweetheart.' Dom finished. 'She left you her car. It's parked out front if you want to use it whilst you're here.'

Jo smiled; she liked the sound of the other woman already. 'She must be special if Hawke's serious about her.'

'Oh he's serious about her.' Dom said. 'Like I told you, they're all moved in together.'

It had been a surprise to hear that Hawke had moved in with somebody. She'd always thought that he would end up as some crusty old hermit living alone on his mountain. She sighed. 'I take it she is the same Caitlin that Holly tried to…er…kill?'

Dom's eyes narrowed on hers. 'How'd you hear about that?'

'Please. It was like Auntie Marie's favourite story last year. It was in her Christmas letter. I don't know if there was someone in the family who didn't hear about it.'

'Hmmm.' Dom pressed his lips together. 'Well, Holly's doing OK.'

'She still in the…er…' Jo gestured unsure what to call it.

'Yes, she's still at the clinic but she's doing much better.' Dom said quickly. 'You should go see her. She is your cousin.'

'Does she know Hawke and Caitlin got together?' Jo asked avoiding the subject of her visiting; she'd always thought Holly was weird.

'No.' Dom shook his head and gestured. 'The doctor thinks it might bring on a relapse after the way she kinda fixated on String.' He sat back in his chair and regarded Jo fondly. 'So String called you, huh?'

Jo shifted uncomfortably. 'What makes you say that?' She reached for her coffee. They'd never been able to fool him, she thought ruefully.

He raised a bushy eyebrow at her.

'OK,' she caved under the parental stare, 'he called me. He was worried about you.'

'Well, you don't have to be. Either of you.' He gestured. 'I'm fine.'

'Hawke didn't tell me much about what happened.' Jo said. 'Just that you'd met someone and they'd tried to kill you.'

'That pretty much sums it up.' Dom said. 'But I'm OK. I don't need a babysitter.'

'You want me to leave?' Jo stiffened surprised at how much she really wanted to stay.

'Of course not!' Dom smiled at her and reached over to pat her hand. 'I love having you here but I want you to know you don't need to worry about me, that's all.'

Jo nodded and was about to say something when the phone rang.

Dom shoved his chair back and went to answer it. 'Santini.' He said curtly as he picked up the receiver.

'Dominic, why aren't you at the airfield? I've been trying to contact you.'

Dom rolled his eyes at Michael Coldsmith-Briggs III's exasperated tone. 'Hello to you too, Michael.' He said sweetly. 'Make this quick, huh, because my niece is here…'

'Dominic,' Michael interrupted the older man, 'Hawke and Caitlin's plane went down over White Sands Missile Range this morning.'

Dom froze. 'Are they…?'

'All I can tell you is that Caitlin called in a mayday.' Michael said. 'There's more but I can't tell you about it on the phone. I'm at the Lair, can you meet me?'

'You're at the…' Dom's brow lowered angrily. 'I thought we told you…'

'Dom, this is serious.' Michael snapped. 'Now are you coming to meet me or not?'

'I'm on my way.' Dom slammed the phone down and met Jo's questioning gaze. 'I have to go out. That was…an irate customer.'

'I'll come with you.' Jo took a step toward him.

'No, no.' Dom waved her back. 'You stay here. I'll be back in a little while.' He was already shrugging on the bright blue Santini Air jacket and adjusting the red satin cap. 'Bye now.'

He quickly stepped out the front door and closed it. He sighed worriedly; if anything had happened to Hawke and Caitlin….he headed for the jeep and his meeting with Michael.