Hawke stowed the last of the bags in Airwolf and climbed back out of the cockpit. They'd run every conceivable check on the helicopter and her systems were performing at maximum capacity. The armaments had been restocked and they had stowed enough water and rations to maintain a sparse existence for two weeks. They had otherwise packed lightly; a few spare uniforms and one or two personal items. Hawke patted his pocket where he'd put his photo of Caitlin.

'All set?' Michael's question had Hawke sending a questioning glance at Dom.

The older pilot gave a nervous laugh. 'I'm as ready as I'll ever be, kid.'

'Then we should go.' Hawke held out his hand to Michael who took it solemnly. 'Thanks, Michael.'

'Don't mention it.' Michael said. 'Good luck with finding your brother.'

Hawke's eyes slid to his wife who was hugging Dom goodbye and back to the spy. 'Take care of her for me.'

Michael swallowed hard at the sudden wave of emotion that flooded him. Caitlin was the most important thing in Hawke's world; for the other man to ask him to look after her…he was at once awed and fearful of the responsibility Hawke was entrusting to him. 'I will.' He promised gruffly.

Hawke turned to Caitlin and was barely aware of Michael moving away to the platform area in the Lair or of Dom climbing into Airwolf as both men tried to give the couple some privacy for their farewell.

Caitlin's fingers twisted nervously together. 'Well, I guess this is it.'

Hawke took the step that separated them and wrapped her in his arms. 'I love you.' He whispered in her ear before he kissed her.

Caitlin had tears in her eyes when he eased away. 'I love you too.' She murmured. 'Come back to me.'

'I always come back, Cait.' Hawke kissed the top of her head and before he could change his mind stepped away from her and got in Airwolf. He put his helmet on and started the engines. He saw Caitlin move back out of the way of the rotors as they started to whir. Hiss eyes never left hers as he took the helicopter off the ground and hovered in front of her before rising slowly up. She gave a small wave and he held her gaze until it physically wasn't possible to hold it any longer. He kept Airwolf hovering above the funnel for a long moment, torn with the sudden urge to forget about the search for his brother and to stay with his wife.

'String?'

Dom's gentle prompt had Hawke taking a deep breath. 'Turbos.' His voice was a little rougher than he would have liked.

'Turbos.' Dom confirmed.

Hawke pressed the button that ignited the turbo engines and Airwolf shot forward through the sky, screaming a banshee cry over the Valley of the Gods.

'She'll be OK, String.' Dom's quiet words broke the silence in the cockpit. He'd left the younger pilot alone for a long time other than to confirm system metrics and course adjustments.

Hawke had been glad of the silence; that the other man knew him well enough to know he needed it even if it didn't suit Dom's personality to be quiet for long. He'd figured Dom would speak soon and he accepted the end of the silence with resigned equanimity. 'Yeah.' He glanced back over his shoulder at the other man. 'I can't help remembering the last time I left her alone she was almost raped and murdered.'

'Michael will look after her.' Dom said.

'He'd better.' Hawke muttered turning back to the endless blue sky that was darkening rapidly as they headed east.

Dom raised his eyebrows at the terse comment and hoped for Michael's sake that Caitlin didn't break as much as a nail in Hawke's absence.

'I just hope this is worth it.' Hawke said with a sigh.

'It's the best information we've had in a long while on your brother.' Dom said defensively. 'Larry did a great job.'

'Larry always does a great job.' Hawke said. 'How come Michael collared you to go anyway?' The question had been bothering him since the two men had turned up at the airfield with the information; he just hadn't had a chance to ask it in the chaos of preparing to leave for Cambodia.

'You were supposed to be out of town, remember?' Dom said glad that Hawke had his back to him and couldn't see the tell-tale sign of guilt in the flush spreading across his cheeks. He still wasn't comfortable with his decision to inform Michael of his theory about Hawke's parents but done was done…and if Michael managed to find out anything…he sighed.

'I guess.' Hawke said. His expression lightened as he decided to tease the older man. 'You and Michael are teaming up a lot these days.'

'Huh.' Dom muttered. 'I'm not the one getting all pally with him.'

'What do you mean by that?' Hawke asked.

'I mean you didn't tell me you'd told Michael about you and Cait trying for a baby.'

Hawke's blue eyes widened. 'That's because I haven't.'

'But he said…' Dom began and realisation hit as he went over what Michael had actually said to him.

Hawke shot a look over his shoulder. 'You told him?' He said accusingly.

'He acted like he already knew.' Dom yelled. 'How was I supposed to know he lied?'

'You'd better hope he doesn't let on to Caitlin that he knows,' Hawke said turning back to the front and shifting in his seat, 'or she'll kill us both.'

Dom was silent as he considered the truth in the statement. 'How's it going anyway?'

'What?'

'Trying for a baby.' Dom repeated with a roll of his eyes. 'What d'ya think?'

Hawke bit back a smile. 'Well everything's kinda on hold with me out on a mission.'

'I guess.' Dom said. 'Well, there's no rush, huh?'

'Nope,' agreed Hawke.

'And if we find Saint John and bring him home then at least your brother will be around for when he becomes an uncle, huh?'

'If we find him.'

Dom's eyes fixed anxiously on the back of Hawke's helmet. 'You know I don't think I've ever heard you this pessimistic about finding your brother especially not when we've got some information and we're on the way to find him.'

'Maybe I've been down this road too many times, Dom.' Hawke said. 'We don't even know how old that photo really is. Saint John could have been rescued already for all we know.'

'Is that what this is about?' Dom asked. 'You think your brother might have been rescued already?'

'Maybe.' Hawke sighed. 'He's obviously managed to get in and out of trouble all by himself just fine since he left 'Nam, Dom. Why should this time be any different?'

Dom sighed. 'It's still preying on your mind that he hasn't contacted you, huh?'

Hawke tensed at the accuracy of Dom's statement. 'I guess.'

'You have no way of knowing why your brother hasn't contacted you.' Dom said forcefully. 'He could have a really good reason.'

'I hope so.' Hawke said. 'Because that's the first thing I'm going to ask him when I see him.'

Dom rolled his eyes heavenward and asked for patience under his breath. 'If that's the way you feel, why are we on our way to Cambodia? Can you tell me that?'

'Because there's the chance he's in trouble he can't get out of this time,' Hawke said, 'and he's still my brother even if he hasn't bothered to let me know he's still alive.' And because it was my fault he got left in the jungle alone which started the whole thing, he added silently.

'I'm really beginning to look forward to this reunion.' Dom muttered sarcastically.

Hawke sighed heavily. 'Ignore me, Dom.' He glanced back over his shoulder. 'Guess I'm just worried about leaving Cait mostly.'

'I know you've had a lot of disappointments where your brother's concerned, kid.' Dom said. 'But you know something tells me we're close this time.'

'Maybe.' Hawke admitted. 'Larry's very good at what he does.'

'He was sorry you weren't with us.' Dom said.

'Yeah, I'm sorry I wasn't with you too.' Hawke said wryly. 'I might have been able to stop you blabbing about the baby.'

Dom adjusted a system and checked on their course. They were right on schedule. 'We should probably go over our plan for when we get there.'

Hawke smiled at Dom's diversionary tactics but he agreed with the idea. 'Michael put all the information about his contact on that disc he gave you.' He said.

'Let me load it into the computer.' Dom said. He inserted the disc and the machine whirred slightly as it read the information. He tapped in a few instructions and the contents of the disc began to stream across the monitor. 'OK. I got it.' He said with satisfaction.

'So what does it say?' Hawke asked with exaggerated impatience.

'It gives us some coordinates and a suggested LZ.' Dom explained. 'This guy is called Sok An Chi'ghy.' He mangled the pronunciation badly. 'He's received word that he'll be contacted by us and that he's to offer us all the assistance we need.'

Hawke silently thanked Michael for coming through for them. Finding his brother in Cambodia in enemy territory would be akin to finding a needle in a haystack; Michael's contact made the odds of them finding out anything better than zero.

'Hey.' Dom said reading further. 'This guy's an American but he has Cambodian parents. It says that he's working under cover with the rebels.'

'Good.' Hawke said. An American agent would be easier to work with than a local Cambodian one with their own agenda.

'Michael's included a whole lot of information in here on the current political situation down there.' Dom noted.

'It's a mess.' Hawke said succinctly.

Dom laughed. 'You got that right. I didn't even realise half this stuff.' He sobered as he read on. 'God, so many people have died under the Khmer Rouge regime.' He gestured at the screen. 'Forced labour, no food, no proper working conditions. Political prisoners put to death.'

'Yeah.' Hawke shook his head sadly. 'No one knows for sure how many have died.'

'How can they do that to their own people, String?' Dom asked. 'I don't understand.'

'Me either, Dom.' Hawke said.

'It says here the Khmer Rouge isn't in power anymore since the Vietnam invasion but the party still holds some territory?'

'That's right.' Hawke said. 'The idea of the Khmer Rouge is still popular in some areas of the country.'

'How?'

Hawke turned around briefly. 'You know how indoctrination works better than me, Dom. You saw it yourself in World War II with the Japanese and the Germans.'

'Yeah.' Dom shook his head. 'But it surprises me all the time.'

'America's been offering aid to Cambodia, military, economic.' Hawke murmured. 'I guess that explains why my brother might have been sent on a mission there.'

'Cambodia shares borders with Laos and Vietnam, right?' Dom said. 'So it works out in terms of where we think he's been operating all these years.'

'Yeah.' Hawke murmured.

'Maybe we'll get lucky this time, String.' Dom's voice rang with optimism.

'I hope so, Dom.' Hawke said. 'I sure hope so.'