The phone was ringing. The shrill tone woke Hawke and one hand reached to silence it even as his other came up to rub the sleep out of his eyes. The room was in darkness; a glance at the radio clock's neon glow confirmed he'd slept the day away.

'Yeah.'

'Hi.' Caitlin's Texan drawl, softened with the time she'd spent living in LA, travelled down the phone and warmed him.

'Hi.' Hawke fought the bed and struggled to a sitting position. 'You're here?'

'We're here; pushed Airwolf's speed threshold a little. Dom's catching some sleep.' Caitlin confirmed. 'How are you?'

'I'm OK.' Hawke said. 'Rimmington hasn't been in touch yet.'

'So what's the plan?' Caitlin asked.

'We're going to have to play this by ear.' Hawke admitted. 'Rimmington doesn't trust anyone very easily.'

'What do you want us to do?'

'Stay close. I may not get the chance to let you know I've been contacted.' He heard her sigh. 'I'm counting on you guys to keep me under surveillance.'

'Oh, I'm not planning to let you out of my sight.' Caitlin drawled. 'We're about forty-thousand feet above you and not going anywhere.'

His blue eyes flickered to the ceiling. 'Sorry about dragging you away from the wedding arrangements.'

'It might be a good thing.' Caitlin admitted. 'At least when I'm in Airwolf, my mother can't call me to check on another detail.'

Hawke smiled. Caitlin's mother had taken to calling once or twice a day to remind her daughter of some aspect of wedding etiquette or arrangement. He knew it was driving Caitlin nuts and delighting her in equal measure. 'We should be back in plenty of time for the wedding. Rimmington won't sit on these weapons for long.'

'Is that a promise?' Caitlin teased.

Hawke smiled again. 'Hey, take care up there.'

'We will.' Caitlin said. 'Stay safe. Contact us when you can.'

Hawke said goodbye and dropped the phone back into the cradle. He stripped as he walked into the bathroom and took a shower. He didn't bother shaving and walked naked back into the bedroom. He towelled off and dressed. He was pulling the t-shirt over his head when there was a knock on the door. He reached for his gun and had it in his hand by his side as he cracked open the door, keeping the chain attached. The two men who'd been following him stood outside his room.

The thin, brown-haired one smiled at him. 'Mr Rimmington wants to see you.'

'And you are?' Hawke asked.

'The messenger.' The thin one gestured. 'We're to take you to him now.'

Hawke held the cold brown stare. He gestured for them to take a step back whilst he flicked the chain off. He used the moment of being unseen to slip his gun into his jeans waistband at the small of his back and grabbed his jacket. When he opened the door again, a mere second later he was shrugging into the jacket.

'I'm ready.'

The car journey was silent and Hawke quickly realised that they were driving in the opposite direction from Rimmington's house and out to the outskirts of Washington D.C. Hawke kept track of the twists and turns they'd taken in case he needed to find his way back but he hoped Caitlin and Dom were keeping track of him in Airwolf. He'd been told to take the passenger seat but he'd insisted on being in the back claiming he got nauseous in the front. The position gave him the option to shoot his escort and to escape if necessary. He was relieved that many of the instincts that had made him a good operative hadn't eroded completely. He was lucky, he thought, that he'd been performing Airwolf missions for the last two years; it had kept him sharp.

They pulled into an airfield. It wasn't one which Hawke was familiar with and he frowned. It looked like a private airstrip. They made their way down a strip of tarmac which ended at the single hangar. It was lit up with bright yellow light that glowed through the darkness. A small plane sat ready in the centre of the hangar but it was the tableau happening on the right side of the aircraft that held Hawke's attention; Rimmington stood over his bloodied butler who was tied to a chair. A muscled goon stood next to Rimmington, his knuckles torn and ragged. Hawke deduced he was the guy doing the actually beating; Rimmington never had liked getting his own hands dirty.

Hawke shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and followed his escort into the building. His blue eyes flickered to the plane before he gave his full attention to Rimmington. He couldn't see the weapons anywhere.

'Hawke. Glad you could make it.' Rimmington pulled out a silver cigarette case and offered Hawke one.

Hawke shook his head. He'd always refused to smoke as part of his cover stories and he wasn't going to start now. 'What's going on?' He asked casually.

'My butler turns out to be a spy.' Rimmington smiled nastily. 'He won't say which agency but I'm guessing CIA or NSA.' He tapped his cigarette against the case before he placed it in his mouth, put the case away and lit it with the matching lighter. He took a long drag on the tobacco. His pale green eyes met Hawke's. 'I want you to shoot him.'

'Me?' Hawke didn't need to act surprised.

'Yes.' Rimmington muttered. 'You.'

'I think your friend here,' Hawke's head nodded at the guy with the bruised knuckles, 'wants to do it.'

'Ludo might but I want you to do it.' Rimmington answered.

Hawke stared back at Rimmington. His mind was racing; he had no idea how he got out of shooting the captured agent without blowing his own cover. 'You're testing me.'

'Give the man a prize.' Rimmington bit out. 'Let's just say I'm a little suspicious of your timing.'

'You want me to kill him; you're going to have to find someone else to fly your plane.' Hawke said firmly. He was going to try and brazen it out, he decided. He'd never gotten involved with the violence when he'd flown for Rimmington before. 'I'm a pilot not an assassin.'

Rimmington glanced at the thin man who'd been following Hawke. He drew a gun and pointed it at Hawke. 'If you don't kill him, I'll kill you.'

Hawke glanced at the beaten man who looked back at him pitifully. He could see the butler, whoever he really was, believed he was going to die. He'd been caught; his cover was blown and he didn't expect a rescue. Hawke looked back up at Rimmington. 'You know I don't do violence, Rimmington.'

Rimmington smiled and blew out a long stream of smoke. 'This job is worth over ten million dollars. You'll get a cut of that once we've picked up our cargo, completed the deal and we're in Mexico. All you need to do is shoot this piece of government crap.'

'You need me to fly,' stated Hawke.

Rimmington gestured at Jasper's friend. 'Trent here will fly us if I have to dispose of you too.'

Hawke shifted nervously and he surreptitiously looked around the hangar. Jasper and Trent were behind him; Rimmington and his goon in front. Hawke looked again at the man tied to the chair; he was going to be no use to him. There was no room to manoeuvre, Hawke realised. Rimmington had him surrounded and taking on all four men was a death sentence, not to mention he would be left with no idea where the weapons were. He rubbed his chin. He needed to play for time.

'OK. I'll kill him.' Hawke said.

Rimmington crushed his cigarette out under one designer clad foot. 'Give him your gun, Jasper.'

The thin man handed Hawke his weapon. Hawke shook his head and kept his gaze on Rimmington. 'Not that way. It's too messy. Leaves too much evidence for the cops.' He gestured at the plane. 'Let's load him up. We can drop him off on the way.'

Rimmington's green eyes narrowed on Hawke. 'That's a fascinating idea but I'd prefer it if you just shot him.'

Hawke stared at Rimmington for a long moment. He whirled suddenly, grabbed the gun and without seeming to think about it, swivelled and shot the guy in the chair. The man slumped to the side unconscious. A red stain spread across his left chest and shoulder.

Jasper walked over to the agent and shoved his fingers against the guy's neck. 'He's still alive.'

Hawke shrugged. 'Unless you're planning on calling an ambulance he soon will be.' He hoped Caitlin or Dom would pick up on the hint and would call the authorities. He had deliberately aimed for a part of the body where he knew he wouldn't hit anything vital. The agent had a chance at least. He handed the gun back to Jasper.

'I'll finish him off.' Trent offered.

'No.' Rimmington intervened. 'Leave him. He deserves a slow, painful death.' He checked his watch. 'We need to leave now if we're to make the exchange.' He gestured at the aircraft. 'Everyone into the plane.' He looked at Hawke. 'I'll give you a heading when we get airborne.'

Hawke nodded and headed for the cockpit. He got settled into the small seat and ran through a pre-flight check. Everything seemed in order. Rimmington took the seat next to him; Jasper and the other two men took jump seats in the cargo section. Hawke checked the doors were shut and locked before he taxied out to the short runway.

Moments later he was in the air. Rimmington was true to his word and gave him a heading. They were flying due North.

'Where are we going?' Hawke asked when they'd been flying for a while.

'To a meeting.' Rimmington said shortly.

They flew for fifteen minutes before Rimmington pulled at Hawke's sleeve and pointed at the ground. Flares appeared suddenly marking a makeshift runway on a road. Hawke frowned and concentrated on the landing. With any luck this was where they picked up the cargo of weapons. He hoped like hell that Caitlin and Dom were still following him. He landed and taxied to a halt. The wing lights and flares illuminated the road and he could see the dark shape of a truck coming towards them.

Rimmington patted his shoulder. 'Stay in the plane and keep the engines running. We'll be taking off soon.'

Hawke nodded. He watched as Rimmington and two of the other men walked over to meet the truck. Jasper stayed in the cockpit with Hawke and the pilot figured Rimmington still didn't trust him. He frowned. Rimmington was gesturing at the truck driver angrily. There seemed to be quite an exchange going on but it was too dark to read lips. Hawke wished he was back in Airwolf with the audio scan picking up every word. He straightened. Rimmington was on his way back and the truck…the truck was driving away. Rimmington got back in his seat.

'Let's go.'

Hawke manoeuvred the plane and seconds later was back in the air. He was about to ask for a heading when Rimmington supplied him with one. They went through the same drill at another two locations and Hawke was beginning to think the whole exercise was another test as they headed to the fourth location.

He was relieved to see it was an actual airstrip and he landed the plane easily on the well-lit runway before taxiing to a stop outside a large hangar in front of two helicopters. Hawke looked at them uneasily noting the modifications; rocket launchers had been attached to both helicopters and they weren't any kind of rocket launcher he'd seen before; Michael's prototypes, he thought. They had found the weapons.

Rimmington followed Hawke's gaze. 'Fascinating, aren't they?'

'I haven't seen anything like them.' Hawke admitted.

'New armour piercing rockets and launchers.' Rimmington said with satisfaction. 'Specially purloined from the navy.' He gestured out of the cockpit window at the sight of the two cars approaching. 'And this will be our buyers. Come on.'

Hawke took the headset off and followed Rimmington out of the plane. He frowned. There were another four men walking out of the hangar to join them. They were wearing flight suits and Hawke deduced they were there to fly the helicopters and provide a demonstration of the rockets capabilities. He tried to peer into the hangar without being too obvious and almost sighed in relief at the sight of the military boxes stacked in one corner. All the weapons were here. It was going to be messy getting out, he thought. The two cars had pulled up and another eight men had joined the party; four buyers and their protective muscle.

Rimmington moved forward and greeted his customers. Hawke remembered one fat, balding man from the last time he'd worked undercover; they were all middle-men, agents for terrorist groups or unfriendly governments. Hawke rubbed his chin thoughtfully; he needed a plan.

'Thank you for coming, gentlemen.' Rimmington's educated accent travelled back through the night air to Hawke. 'We will be providing you with an interesting demonstration and then we'll be taking your bids. The lucky owner of these new weapons will have them delivered immediately afterwards to a location of their choice.' He waved at the plane and Hawke before turning back to his guests. 'So shall we start gentlemen?'

The four helicopter pilots headed for their aircraft and Hawke followed after Rimmington reluctantly. There was no way he could arrange an exit, call Michael and have the FIRM come in; there was just no time. He resisted the urge to scan the sky above for Airwolf. He doubted if Dom and Caitlin had already called the authorities; they would be able to see it would be a bloodbath and they wouldn't want him caught in the middle of it. If he was in the Lady, it would be relatively simple to blow the place up; the weapons would be destroyed but at least they wouldn't be falling into the wrong hands. What he needed, he thought, was a distraction.

They had come to a stop by a viewing platform and Rimmington was handing out night-vision goggles. Hawke ignored the general laughter that the goggles elicited as the buyers and Rimmington's men put them on.

'You not wearing yours?' Jasper asked quietly seeing the goggles dangling from Hawke's hand.

Hawke shrugged. 'I'm not the one who needs to be impressed by whatever these things are.'

Jasper nodded sagely. 'You might want to stick them on anyway. Wouldn't want to upset the boss.'

Hawke frowned as Jasper moved away and he looked at the goggles with narrowed eyes. The goggles gave him an idea but how did he make it happen? He took a couple of paces back from the group towards Jasper's silent friend, Trent. The guy was a blond, very muscular in shape but he was also holding his goggles and not wearing them. Maybe if he struck up a conversation with the guy, Dom and Cait would hear him and follow up on his hint.

Hawke's head tilted; the helicopters were taking off. He had to do something quickly. Hawke gestured at the silent man.

'I guess we're the only ones not wearing them.' Hawke said in a friendly tone.

'They make me sick.' The blond admitted with a rueful smile. 'Just doesn't seem right things glowing green.'

'I know what you mean.' Hawke held out his hand. 'I'm Ray Hawkins. Most people call me Hawke. You're Trent right?'

'Right.' Trent shook Hawke's hand. 'Jasper's a real whiz at this stuff but not me.'

Hawke nodded slowly. 'I'm pretty useless at using these things. I remember one time in 'Nam, we were all using these goggles and some idiot sent up a flare. Damn near blinded all of us.' Please, he thought desperately at the sky, drop a sunburst.

'You were in 'Nam?'

'Yeah.' Hawke continued hoping his oblique instruction hadn't gone unnoticed. 'I was…'

There was the merest howl of engines before the zinging sound of one sunburst, then another being released and suddenly the area was lit up. Hawke shielded his arms and started to back out the area as Rimmington and the rest of the men gave startled cries and yanked the goggles off.

Trent was the only other one not affected by the light but he jumped to a simple conclusion. 'It's the cops!' He yelled and began running back to the plane.

Hawke went in the opposite direction back inside the hangar but realised his mistake as the others followed him inside the hangar; he was trapped. He ducked out of sight behind the crates and watched as the customers ran back towards their cars despite Rimmington's best efforts to prevent them from leaving. The arms dealer was furious as he watched the cars screech away from the hangar. Hawke shifted back into the darkness of the shadows as Rimmington whirled in his direction.

'Call those helicopters! I want them to find out what that was! There must be something else up there!' Rimmington yelled at Jasper who nodded and walked over to the radio unit at the other side of the hangar. 'You!' He stabbed a finger at Ludo. 'Get Trent and Hawke back from the plane! Now!'

Ludo shuffled off in the direction of the plane and Hawke knew he had moments before his absence was going to be discovered. He crept around the crates and estimated the distance to the back door of the hangar. He glanced back and swore. Ludo and Trent were already on their way back.

'The helicopters are starting a search pattern.' Jasper said. 'They're not picking anything up on radar though.'

'Maybe it was fireworks.' Trent suggested.

Rimmington's head snapped round to him. Whatever reply he had been about to make to Trent's suggestion was arrested as he suddenly took a head count. 'Where's Hawke?' He demanded.

Trent's head swivelled from side to side as though he'd only just realised Hawke wasn't with him. 'He was standing right next to me when those flares went off, boss.'

'You two, take the night goggles and search outside for him.' Rimmington ordered throwing two of the discarded goggles at Ludo and Jasper. 'When you find him bring him to me. Trent, start the plane up.'

All three men ran to do his bidding. Rimmington reached for his cigarette case and walked back out to the viewing platform. Hawke decided it was his best time to move. He slowly started out from the crates, keeping in a low crouch. He made it to the door and glanced back; there was no sign of either Rimmington or his men. He started to ease the door open. He started through…the blow to his head was fast and sharp. He gave a grunt of pain as he fell to the floor. He was dazed but he staggered to his feet and in the half-light from the hangar doorway found himself looking into the barrel of Rimmington's gun. He straightened slowly to meet the other man's eyes which glinted dangerously in the darkness.

'It was you, wasn't it?' Rimmington said conversationally. 'You're the reason I got arrested in Panama. Who are you? Another agent?'

Hawke took a breath and tried to focus his vision. 'You're not going to get away with killing two agents in one night. They'll hunt you down.'

'You've ruined everything.' Rimmington snarled. 'I would have had the money and left by now if it wasn't for you.'

'Fine.' Hawke took a couple of large steps back and held his arms out wide. 'Shoot me then.'

Rimmington aimed.

Airwolf screamed defiantly as she descended out of the night sky between the two men. Hawke ducked behind the helicopter, keeping a safe distance from her tail rotor as she went nose to nose with the arms dealer.

Rimmington shielded his face with his arms from the dust and dirt that swirled around him. He tried to see through the cloud into the machine in front of him but all he saw was darkness and shadow. He took a step back.

Hawke kept low; his head angled to the sky. The modified helicopters were approaching. Airwolf had been exposed when she'd moved to save him. He inched forward and stopped as someone stepped out of the hangar door. Jasper. Hawke sighed in frustration. He just couldn't get a break…his eyes widened as the thin man raised his gun behind the oblivious Rimmington and struck him down. Jasper ran up to join him.

'I'm NSA.' He shouted as Hawke ran around to the cockpit door and held it open.

'Thanks for the assist.' Hawke yelled over the noise of the rotors and engine.

'No problem.' Jasper shouted back. 'Bob Delaney sends his regards.'

Hawke gestured for the NSA agent to climb aboard and was pleased when Jasper moved quickly into the back of the helicopter. Hawke climbed into the counter-measures specialist chair at the front and slammed the door shut.

Caitlin grasped the cyclic and took Airwolf back up. Rimmington was staggering to his feet in front of them. She moved away quickly but the helicopters were following them.

'Caitlin,' Dom said urgently from his position at the engineer's console, 'we've picked up a tail. Two helicopters armed with rocket launchers.'

'They're modified with those prototypes.' Hawke warned as he got his helmet on.

'You mean they're going to be firing armour piercing missiles at us?' Dom's voice rose sharply.

'Yeah.' Hawke glanced over at Caitlin. 'I'll take over, Cait.'

'Sure.' She relinquished the controls without an argument; Hawke had more combat experience than her and whilst she rated her abilities she didn't really want them tested when they were up against prototype missiles they knew little about.

'Dom, call the FIRM. Tell them the coordinates of that airfield and tell them to get people out to secure the weapons.' Hawke grasped the stick and immediately swung them in a wide circle. He was dimly aware of Dom's voice radioing the FIRM. One of the helicopters fired a rocket.

'Sunburst.' Hawke ordered.

'Sunburst.' Dom confirmed.

Hawke blinked as his vision blurred again. He reached up and snapped down the visor. He ascended before turning back and coming down behind the two helicopters. One of them broke right; he stayed on the other one. The automatic targeting system locked onto the aircraft in front of them.

'Missile.' Hawke called.

'Missile.' Dom's voice was steady as a rock.

Hawke fired. The helicopter exploded in front of them. Hawke sent Airwolf to the left.

'Where's that other chopper?'

The sharp rattle against the tail answered his question. 'He's got another rocket off at us.' Dom noted. 'Releasing sunburst.' His eyes widened at the computer monitor. 'It didn't take the sunburst. Evade!'

Hawke sent Airwolf right and fired another missile at the hill they were flying rapidly towards. He skipped through the flames and over the ridge; the explosion fooled the rocket and it impacted the burning vegetation behind them. Hawke pulled back on the stick. Airwolf climbed sharply into the sky. He came back down and settled back behind the helicopter. He blinked as the red flashing target blurred and he forced himself to focus. It was locked; he fired. The helicopter went up in smoke and fire. Hawke breathed out and swung Airwolf back around towards the airfield.

'Cait, you'd better take the controls.'

Her hands immediately took the stick and cyclic whilst her blue-green eyes shot worriedly to his. 'You OK?'

'My vision's a little blurry.' He admitted grudgingly. 'We need to stop Rimmington's plane from leaving.'

'On it.' Caitlin said. She forced her concern for him to the back of her mind and peered through the cockpit as they neared the airfield. The plane was taxiing down the runway. Caitlin didn't hesitate, she moved Airwolf into a direct intercept position, flying right at the plane. It couldn't take off with Airwolf in her flight path. Caitlin's fingers pressed on the trigger and the chain-guns sent a barrage of gun-fire in front of the plane which lurched to a stop. Caitlin hovered over the plane and flicked on the radio.

'Gentlemen, you are under arrest. Remain seated in the plane or I will be forced to fire on you.' Caitlin said calmly.

They could hear the approaching sirens and it wasn't long before police cars had surrounded the plane below them. A FIRM helicopter landed in front of the hangar and the agent waved at Airwolf.

Caitlin landed beside the plane as Hawke watched Rimmington being led away in handcuffs below. He sighed in satisfaction.

Caitlin glanced over at him. 'We should get you examined by a paramedic.'

'It's just a concussion.' Hawke said dismissively.

'So we should see a doctor and get that confirmed.' Caitlin argued.

'I'm fine.' Hawke insisted. He caught her worried eyes with his. 'I'm fine.' He repeated softly.

Caitlin pursed her lips but stopped arguing.

'This machine is incredible.' Jasper said speaking up for the first time since they'd climbed aboard.

Hawke turned to look at the NSA agent. 'Thanks for your help.'

'I don't think you needed it.' Jasper said. 'But this has been great.' His eyes looked around the cockpit in awe. 'Do you know if the other agent made it?'

Dom nodded. 'He's fine. The ambulance got to him in time.'

'That was some shot you made.' Jasper said looking at Hawke who shrugged. Jasper sighed at the multitude of law enforcement gathering outside the helicopter. 'I'd better go and make a statement.'

Hawke nodded and climbed out to let Jasper leave. They shook hands solemnly as the FIRM agent, an older Asian woman, approached.

'We have things under control here, Mr Hawke.' She shoved her hands in the vast pockets of her white coat. 'You can leave.'

'Thanks.' Hawke said wryly. He got back into Airwolf and settled back into his seat. He glanced back at Dom and then at Caitlin. 'Let's go home.'

Dom laughed. 'Now that's the best idea you've had since we got here.'