'You're meddling.' Stringfellow Hawke said as he slid his hands around his wife's waist and hugged her to him. The pilot had married Caitlin O'Shaunessy over a month and a half before and was enjoying his new marital status. Their relationship was built on the solid foundation of the friendship that had preceded it and it had settled him in a way he hadn't realised he needed until it happened.

Caitlin leaned back into Hawke and continued to stir the pot of stew on the stove. 'I'm not meddling.'

'So you have no ulterior motive in inviting Michael and Marella to dinner?' Hawke shifted to look directly into her blue-green eyes and Caitlin sighed.

'OK,' she allowed, 'I may be meddling a little.'

'Michael's not going to appreciate it.' Hawke pointed out. The deputy director of the FIRM was a deeply private man. He wasn't sure Caitlin's match-making between Michael and his former senior aide, Marella, was going to be welcomed.

'It's not like I'm being obvious.' Caitlin said defensively. 'We have him and Marella over for dinner all the time and Dom's coming too.'

'Maybe.' Hawke tapped a finger on her freckled nose. 'But we should stay out of it.'

'So that's why you told Michael to send his ex-wife back to New York?' Caitlin poked him with a finger. 'You were staying out of it.'

Hawke felt a flush of heat on his cheeks. 'I didn't tell him to send her to New York.' He denied even as he remembered how he had prompted Michael into remembering why his ex-wife was his ex so the other man would send her away.

'Hmmm.' Caitlin lowered the heat on the stove and slid her arms back around her husband. 'I promise I'm not going to hint that they should get together,' she said, 'not even a little bit.'

Hawke hugged her closer. 'I just think they'll work it out on their own.'

'Sure,' Caitlin agreed, 'you're probably right. After all, I'm sure Michael reassigning Marella is just them working it out.'

'I sent you to Texas.' Hawke pointed out, tucking an errant strand of her red hair back behind her ear. The forced separation after Caitlin had taken a bullet saving his life had made him realise just what the former Texan cop meant to him. 'We worked it out.'

'We sure did.' Caitlin happily agreed as she kissed him.

Hawke raised his head; his sensitive ears catching a distant sound.

Caitlin smiled. 'Chopper?'

'Yeah. It's Dom.' Hawke gave her another quick kiss as the sound of the rotors filled the cabin. He walked out of the cabin to greet the older man.

Dominic Santini was climbing out of the cockpit as Hawke arrived to help him. He was wearing his usual blue shining Santini Air jacket and red baseball cap.

'You OK, Dom?' Hawke shut the cockpit door as Dom stopped to catch his breath.

'Guess I'm still feeling the ribs a little.' Dom admitted as they walked back toward the cabin. He'd just been released from the hospital. The week before he'd been kidnapped and tortured by a hit man called Sallis who had been looking for Hawke's father and Dom's former best friend, Alan. Alan Hawke had been pivotal in Sallis being jailed for the murder of his father, Hawke's grandfather, Elijah Hawke.

Sallis had wanted Dom to tell him where Alan Hawke was; the hit man believed the pilot was still alive and in some kind of witness protection despite the reports that Hawke's parents had been lost at sea. A review of his memories and a confrontation with the FBI agent in charge of the Sallis investigation back in the Sixties had brought Dom to the uncomfortable conclusion that Sallis might be right. He suspected his friend Alan and his wife, Jane, might still be alive but it was only a theory and one he had decided not to share with the boy he'd raised. Hawke had enough to deal with looking for his missing brother without adding the rest of the family into the mix and besides, Dom reminded himself again, Hawke was just finding some happiness – the younger man had even confided that he and Caitlin were going to try for a family – and Dom felt he had no right to ruin that with half-baked theories which seemed more improbable to him as time moved on.

'Hey.'

Dom turned to Hawke to see the younger man staring at him with disconcertingly serious blue eyes.

'Is everything OK? I mean, apart from your ribs?' Hawke asked. Dom had seemed distracted ever since his kidnapping and he was worried the older man was still brooding about what had happened.

Dom nodded and smiled. 'Everything's fine, kid.' He glanced back at the clearing. 'Michael and Marella not here yet?'

'Not yet.' Hawke confirmed.

'Angelina's definitely not coming with them?' Dom asked.

'Michael's parents are visiting.' Hawke explained. 'They're baby-sitting.'

'You should have invited them.' Dom said as Hawke closed the cabin door and ushered the older man into a chair by the fireplace.

'We did.' Caitlin said as she leaned down to kiss Dom's cheek. 'Michael said no.'

'Ah well.' Dom smiled in satisfaction at the couple who had sat down next to each other on the sofa. 'So it's just the five of us?'

'Yeah.' Hawke sighed. 'Did Jo get away OK?'

Dom nodded. His niece had asked to move back home but it would still be a couple of months before the arrangements could be put in place. In the meantime, Jo had promised to visit more often. He'd helped raise his niece and she was more like a daughter to him just as Hawke was like a son. 'She'll be back in a month.' He said cheerfully.

'We have to decide what we're going to about her and Airwolf.' Hawke said. Jo had discovered their secret, their ownership of the world's most technologically advanced helicopter, on a previous visit. She understood that Hawke flew the mach capable chopper on missions for the FIRM in exchange for them finding his missing brother, Saint John, and had promised to keep the secret. Hawke still felt uncomfortable; there was something nagging at him…he just couldn't put his finger on it.

'I still think we should just include her in the crew.' Caitlin said. 'It would give us some options and it would mean we wouldn't have to do this dance around with Michael not knowing about her knowing.'

'Maybe.' Hawke said.

Dom smiled. Their conversation had the tone of one that had occurred before – many times. 'For what it's worth, my vote goes with Cait.' He added.

'Yeah.' Hawke said standing up. 'I figured it would.' His head tilted again and he headed back out of the cabin; the others followed him.

They stood and watched the white chopper descend before Hawke went to help Michael from the cockpit. The spy was still recovering from knee surgery and was using crutches to get around. His injury hadn't deterred the spy from his usual choice of clothing and he was wearing tailored white pants with a white sweater. His black eye-patch added the usual eccentricity. His Hawaiian former aide was also all in white although Marella was wearing a one-piece flight suit.

There was a flurry of greetings and they all headed indoors. The meal was a relaxed affair and the conversation drifted from current affairs and politics to the latest movie release. It seemed a surprise to them all to find themselves at the end and they retired to sit around the living room fire with cups of coffee. Tet, Hawke's dog, took prime position on the rug in front of the hearth.

'That was great meal.' Marella said sipping the dark brew appreciatively. She leaned back in the chair she had taken next to the fire.

'Indeed.' Michael raised his cup from his position in the other chair. 'Compliments to the chef.'

Caitlin acknowledged the toast with a slight inclination of her head. She was sat on the sofa curled up next to Hawke. Dom was sat next to Hawke on his other side. It had been interesting to see Marella and Michael both make for the chairs when they'd left the table. She quickly took a sip of coffee to hide her amusement as Hawke asked how the new Airwolf was progressing.

'Good.' Marella said. 'We've requisitioned the materials so we can start building the frame and the shell again.'

'And the fake Airwolf we're supposed to be giving to the Company?' Dom asked. Airwolf had exhibited signs of being intelligent and there was no way the team were going to hand her over to the Company when the larger agency took over the FIRM.

'Progressing.' Marella said. 'We're working from the designs Karen downloaded from Airwolf so we can make it as authentic as possible.'

'Will it be ready in time?' Hawke asked.

Marella nodded. 'I believe so.'

'We're going to be in trouble if it isn't.' Michael commented. 'It's been officially announced that the Company takes over the FIRM on July 1st.'

'Great.' Hawke muttered. Nobody in the group was happy about the take-over.

'At least it will be easier to find your brother once our systems are integrated.' Marella pointed out.

'Are we even sure Saint John's working for the Company?' Hawke asked.

'I have people digging,' Michael said mildly, 'but, honestly, I think even if you're brother isn't working for them, they do know where he is. The reaction of the Company director when I confronted him at the Senate hearing was not the reaction of someone who knew nothing.'

'Well I'll be glad when we get the information, find him and bring him home.' Dom said. He patted Hawke's arm.

Hawke gave him a small smile in gratitude for the reassurance. He settled back into the cushions and slid his hand into his wife's. 'I take it nothing else has come to light yet?'

'Like I said I still have people working on it.' Michael repeated. He pushed his wire-frame glasses up his nose. 'I'd like to think we'll find your brother before we need to worry about the merger with the Company.'

'Me too, Michael.' Hawke said.

'Me three.' Dom added with a laugh.

Michael glanced at the clock and put his coffee cup down. 'I'd better head back home.'

'You have a curfew now your folks are visiting, Michael?' Hawke teased.

'Funny, Hawke.' Michael said reaching for his crutches.

The Airwolf team escorted the FIRM agents out of the cabin and Hawke assisted Michael back into the cockpit before he joined Dom and Caitlin on the porch to watch the white chopper take off into the night sky.

'Well, I might as well get going too.' Dom said slapping his red baseball cap back over the grey wispy hair.

'You're not staying?' Hawke asked surprised.

'Nah!' Dom pulled him into a brief hug and did the same to Caitlin. 'I'll see you both tomorrow.'

The couple watched the Santini Air chopper leave and Hawke slid his arms around Caitlin.

'You think Dom's OK?' Hawke asked.

'He's a little quiet.' Caitlin commented.

Hawke sighed. 'I guess the kidnapping hit him hard.'

'He took quite a beating.' Caitlin reminded him. 'He'll come through it. It's just going to take a little time.'

'Yeah.' Hawke knew she was right but it didn't stop him worrying.

She patted his arm and slipped out of his arms. 'Are you coming in?'

Hawke nodded. 'In a minute.'

Caitlin reached over and kissed him. 'Don't be too long, huh? We need more practice at making a baby.' She smiled and went inside.

Hawke's lips curved upwards, and with a final glance at the night sky, headed indoors to his wife.