Thirteenth February. Racino Pass.

Hawke's head jerked and his eyes flew open. His eyes went straight to the fire and he sighed; it had gone out. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and shivered. It didn't matter; the kindling was gone and he knew that he lacked the energy to get more. He checked his leg. The bandage had soaked through and was sticking to the wound; the ground beneath him was stained with blood. He must have almost fallen asleep, he thought tiredly. He took a breath and assessed his situation.

The sun had travelled across the sky; he figured he'd been on the mountain a couple of hours. His body was stiffening with the effect of the cold and physical trauma not just from the knife wound but also from the jump out of the chopper. He had to hold on. Dom and Caitlin would have Airwolf by now; they would be looking for him; they would find him.

A movement in the undergrowth caught his attention. He stared at the rustling leaves and his eyes widened at the sight of a wolf creeping out of the vegetation. The amber eyes regarded him for a long moment and Hawke held his breath. He'd known that there were a few wolves left on the mountains and occasionally he'd hear one howl but it was the first time he'd seen one. It looked like a relatively young she-wolf. He froze as she started toward him. He barely took a breath as the wolf padded over to him. She nosed his foot and he barely restrained himself from jerking away in an atavistic response. She turned once, twice and then to his amazement settled by his side.

He shivered as the wolf's warmth started to transfer to his own body. He let out a slow breath. He felt his eyes start to droop and yanked them open at a low growl. His gaze slid to the wolf. She was looking back at him.

'Guess you want me awake.' He murmured. 'OK. So what do you want to talk about?'

The wolf lay her head down between her paws.

'Maybe I should tell you about my wolf.' Hawke said. 'She hasn't got so much fur but she's smart.' He gave a rueful smile. 'Too smart, I think. She's been doing a few things on her own; opening doors, responding to SOS calls…I don't know.' He shook his head. 'I kinda think something's going on with her.' He sighed. 'She's great but I can't help thinking her creator's planted something else in her, like another logic bomb.'

Hawke's blue eyes darkened with the memory of Charles Henry Moffett. He had never gotten along with Moffett. 'He was bad to the core,' Hawke commented to the wolf, 'and I killed him. He killed…he killed someone I…someone I cared about.'

Gabrielle. The image of the small dark haired woman who had been his lover for a short time floated into his mind. They'd spent six days with each other. It was strange to think it had been such a short time. He'd lost her in the Libyan Desert; held her in his arms as she died after being tortured by Moffett. He had mourned her death for a long time after it had happened. Had he loved her? He'd thought so at the time. He sighed. He rarely thought of Gabrielle these days. It had been over two years since her tragic death and the ending of what might have been between them. If she had lived…if she had lived he probably would never have met Caitlin, he mused.

Caitlin. His heart warmed at the thought of her. Their friendship had been so fast and so easy…Caitlin had told him once that she had thought they were always meant to be friends like it had been fated and deep down he agreed with her. Even at that first meeting he had described to the other men, somehow he had known he could count on her. When she'd tracked him down to tell him about Jimmy, there had been no question in his mind that she fitted into his life. Their only issue, he thought, was his own fear of losing her. It had led him to almost letting her go the year before; she'd been shot saving him and he'd tried to push her away but in the end the brief separation had simply forced him to face up to his feelings for her. He couldn't imagine his life without her in it…'I'm getting married soon.' He murmured sleepily to the wolf. 'I have to hold on. I promised I would be at the wedding…'

The wolf was getting to her feet. Her head lifted to the sky as if she scented something on the wind. Hawke felt the absence of her warmth immediately. 'Where are you going?' He asked as she padded away. 'Where are you…' His eyes slipped shut.

Thirteenth February. Airwolf.

'We're almost there.' Dom said. 'You need to ease up…'

Airwolf shook as Caitlin brought her to a complete halt. Dom sprang to adjust the systems and keep them in the air.

'Dom?' Caitlin tried unsuccessfully to keep the panic from her voice.

'I'm scanning.' Dom confirmed. 'I have the chopper.' His lips thinned. 'But no life signs…oh God.'

'What?' Caitlin's head whipped around to look at him. Her mouth went dry and her heart was beating so loudly she wondered it didn't burst from her chest as she waited for the reply.

Dom's eyes met hers slowly. 'I have two bodies on the ground.'

'Where?' She demanded and followed his quiet directions furiously blinking back the tears that threatened. Hawke couldn't be dead…he just couldn't be…she would know it…

'I have a better visual.' Dom said. His quick intake of breath as the images became clearer had Caitlin whirling back to him. 'It's not him.' He hurriedly told her. 'It's not him.'

Caitlin breathed out. 'Then where is he?'

'I'm widening the scan.' Dom said.

Doc followed the results on the monitor in front of him. 'There!' He stabbed a finger at the screen. 'He's by the path.'

'I got him.' Dom said. 'He's alive.'

Caitlin swung Airwolf around to the coordinates and landed her as close as she dared on the rocky path. Her blue-green eyes went straight to Hawke lying motionless by the mountain wall. She shoved the helmet away and fumbled with her door before running over to him. She slipped on the path, oblivious to the cold wind cutting through her Airwolf uniform and fell to her knees by her fiancé, barely aware of Doc crouching down next to her or Dom struggling up the path behind them.

'Hawke?' Her shaking hand cupped his cheek. 'String? Do you hear me?' He was so cold; too cold. 'Doc?' Her eyes flew to their friend's anxiously.

Doc's fingers were pressed against Hawke's neck. He frowned as his eyes calmly catalogued the injuries the other man had endured. His gaze went unwillingly to the brown rusty stain on the dirt path beneath Hawke's leg. The pilot had lost a lot of blood.

'Well, Doc?' Dom said breathless. 'What's the verdict?'

'He's alive but we need to get him to a hospital and quickly.' Doc said. He gestured at Caitlin and Dom. 'Give me a hand to get him into Airwolf.'

They all lifted an unconscious Hawke and began the treacherous descent back down the path to the helicopter. Dom scowled and stopped.

'What?' Caitlin asked her voice sharp with anger at the delay.

'Look there's a chopper.' Dom said.

'It's heading towards us.' Doc noted.

'Come on. Let's get moving.' Dom hurried them forwards.

They were almost there when the chopper got close enough to send clouds of dirt and dust through the air, obscuring their vision. They lowered Hawke gently to the ground and covered him until the chopper moved away. It swung around and came back; their eyes widened in alarm at the attack pattern forming.

'Dom, get to Airwolf!' Caitlin yelled. 'You can cover us.'

'Right.' Dom stumbled away from them but his progress was soon halted by a stream of gunfire that impacted the ground in front of him and cut him off from Airwolf. He crouched by the mountain wall and looked helplessly at the distance between him and the helicopter. His eyes shifted back up the path where Caitlin was covering Hawke with her own body, protecting him; Doc was attempting to protect her, both of them were faced away from him and didn't know he hadn't made it to Airwolf or that the chopper was coming back for another run.

Dom's lips firmed; he had to get to Airwolf or they were all dead ducks. He'd taken two steps when the ADF pods suddenly deployed under Airwolf. He froze and stared at the machine in shock. He glanced back at the chopper as it started its run…the missile shot out from under Airwolf's belly and headed straight for its target. The chopper exploded.

Dom swallowed hard and headed back to help Caitlin and Doc.

'That was some shot.' Caitlin said clambering back to her feet.

'Yeah.' Dom agreed without elaborating as he hefted an arm under Hawke's shoulder and lifted him. 'Come on. Let's get out of here.' He thrust his concern about what had happened away; getting Hawke to safety was the most important thing.