'Thanks for providing the transport tonight.' Michael glanced at the dark shadowy ground below the chopper as they headed toward his beach house.

'No problem, sir.' Marella said. 'It was good of Caitlin and Hawke to invite me especially as I'm not directly involved with the team's activities anymore.'

'It means they've adopted you.' Michael commented wryly.

Marella's dark eyes shone with amusement. 'You mean like a stray cat?'

Michael chuckled. 'Maybe.' He shrugged a little self-consciously. 'If it's a consolation, they've done the same for Angelina and me.' As far as the Hawke's were concerned, he mused, once you were a friend, you were a friend for life.

Marella sighed a little wistfully. 'They seem very happy.'

'Marriage suits them.' Michael commented.

'Are you still worried about their relationship causing problems with Airwolf missions?' Marella asked. She thought she heard some tension in the words.

'A little.' Michael admitted. He smiled inwardly. Only Marella knew him well enough to pick up on the concern he had about the Hawke's marriage. He cleared his throat.

'It doesn't seem to have prevented them from performing successfully to date.' Marella said.

'No.' Michael said and stroked his moustache thoughtfully. 'But I'm not sure what they're going to do when they start a family. Hawke and Dom will be back down to a two-man team.'

'I thought you said Hawke told you they were waiting for a while.' Marella murmured.

'He did,' Michael said dryly, 'and I think they'll change their minds if they haven't already.'

Marella nodded slowly. 'Hopefully we'll have found Saint John before we have to worry about a pregnancy.'

'I hope so.' Michael paused. 'I have Larry Mason working on it.'

'Larry?' Marella's dark eyes opened wide in surprise. The former FIRM employee had been the best intelligence gatherer they'd had before he'd retired. 'I thought he was serving cocktails at his beach bar in Mexico.'

'He is.' Michael said. 'But in between customers he's sifting through the information on the intelligence databases seeing what he can find.'

'I guess he feels he owes Hawke.' Marella said.

'Hawke put himself on the line to protect Mason when he went off the deep end over his friend's death and he did save his life.'

'Ours too.' Marella reminded him. They had been transporting Larry when an assassin had attacked; Airwolf had shown up just in time to rescue them.

'Hawke has a knack for turning up at the right time and rescuing people.' Michael said.

There was a comfortable silence for a while and Michael's mind wandered to his work. There was a situation developing in the Middle East he was keeping under watch and an ongoing investigation into a US Senator's activities. He had that meeting in the morning on the merger…

'Damn!' Michael muttered suddenly.

'What's wrong?'

'Meryl was putting together a report for me on the merger. She left it in my desk for me to pick up when I left the office and I…'

'Didn't pick it up.' Marella concluded. She would have put it in his briefcase, she thought smugly. Michael never remembered to pick stuff up from his desk.

'I don't suppose we could swing by the FIRM headquarters?' Michael asked hopefully.

Marella smiled and checked the fuel reading. 'Of course, sir.' She altered course and informed the nearest air traffic control of the change to their flight plan.

'Thank you.' Michael said relieved. 'I know it delays your return to Red Star.'

'It's OK, sir.' Marella said. 'I actually have some things I forgot to take with me so I can pick them up whilst you pick up the report.'

Michael nodded and pushed away the disappointment at hearing the last of Marella's belongings would be removed from the office. She'd been working at Red Star for a couple of weeks but her statement had suddenly made her assignment real for him. He shifted in his seat. It had been the right decision. Marella certainly deserved the promotion and the project needed someone of her calibre overseeing delivery. It wasn't as though he'd reassigned her to the field; they spoke on a regular basis and…and he still missed her, he concluded with a sigh, and not just because she would have made sure he didn't forget his report.

He wrenched his mind away from the idea. His one and only marriage had been to a former senior aide and that had ended in disaster; he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice even if he did have feelings…he cut the thought off abruptly. His relationship with Marella was purely professional. That was it.

Michael sighed in relief as the FIRM's headquarters came into view and he listened absently whilst Marella requested an approach. She made a perfect landing on the helipad and disembarked quickly to assist Michael with his crutches. She escorted him away from the helicopter with a brisk order to the ground crew to refuel it.

'How's Meryl working out?' Marella asked as they entered the elevator. The young blond woman had taken over as Michael's aide.

'She's not you.' Michael said unthinkingly as he wrestled with the crutches. He stopped at the look of surprise on Marella's face. 'I mean,' he said hurriedly, 'that she's doing fine but you've set a high standard for her to live up to.'

Marella's cheeks warmed. 'Thank you, sir.'

They were both relieved when the elevator doors opened and they walked out and along the dimly lit corridor to Michael's office. The outer office door was open and Michael frowned. The cleaners were usually very good at locking up; security procedures were paramount in the FIRM. He exchanged a worried glance with Marella.

He limped into the office and glanced around. There was a single desk light on at Meryl's desk and her handbag sat on the floor next to her chair. Michael sighed and Marella breathed out deeply in relief.

'It looks like Meryl's working late.' She said in a low voice. Her eyes twinkled. 'Probably trying to impress the boss.'

Michael arched an elegant eyebrow at her and Marella hastily waved a hand at her old desk on the other side of the room. 'I'll just get my things.'

Michael nodded and headed for the inner office; the door was shut and he balanced carefully on the crutches to open it before he continued into the dark space. He stopped a couple of steps in and stared at the dark shadows letting his good eye adjust to the lack of light. A strange sensation washed through him and had the hair on his neck prickling. He frowned. Something was wrong. It was his last clear thought before a blow to the back of his head sent him crashing to the floor unconscious.

Marella's head jerked up at the thud in the inner office. Michael must have fallen over something in the dark, she thought anxiously, and hurried away from the desk. She slapped the main lights on for the office and stopped in frozen shock at the two intruders leaning over Michael's prone body.

'You…' she said, her quick mind leaping to the right conclusion and she reached for her gun. One of them tackled her; they went hurtling back into the outer office.

Marella was rammed into the desk and the breath left her body in a rush. She fought back; thrust her elbow into her attacker's stomach, stamped down on their foot and kicked them across the office. The gunshots from the door of the inner office were loud and the bullets were a direct hit to Marella's abdomen. She ignored the waves of pain and vaulted across the desk as another bullet slammed into the wood.

She was bleeding badly but she reached under the desk and pressed the alarm, smearing blood across the small button. Light flooded the room and a shrieking siren filled the building. Marella slumped onto the floor, her hands flat across her belly. Her eyes fluttered shut even as she saw one of the intruders approaching her. She shook her head at the intent on his face and tried to move away but she couldn't. The bullet must have hit something vital, she thought, desperately trying to stay conscious but the darkness was pulling at her; the blow to her head sent her spinning into it.