Caitlin opened her eyes, panicked. She fought the tight swaddle of covers to sit upright. She took a deep calming breath and glanced across to where Hawke was fast asleep in a chair next to her bed with his head slumped forward, his chin resting on his chest, dressed in his usual garb of casual shirt and jeans. The early morning sun highlighted the gold in his brown hair. His hand held hers tightly even in sleep. His blue eyes flickered open suddenly as though he were aware of her regard and settled on hers.

'Hey.' He said gruffly.

'Hey.' Her free hand crept to her bruised throat.

Hawke got up and handed her some water which she sipped slowly. She handed the glass back to him and frowned at how pale he looked with shadows under his eyes and the rough shadow of his beard covering his lower face. A red streak marked one side of his head and a small bandage covered an injury on his forehead; a bruise was forming along his jaw-line.

A thought occurred to her as she settled back against the pillows and her gaze flew to his anxiously. 'Hawke, Marella…'

'She's fine.' He reassured her, sliding his hand back over her bandaged one as he sat back down in the chair. 'She has her own room just down the corridor and apart from being annoyed at being knocked unconscious she's going to be OK. Michael's with her.'

They were silent for a while.

'You didn't get to Paris.' She said.

'Never liked the food there anyway.' Hawke said dryly.

She ignored the attempt to divert her. 'He was going to have you killed. In Paris.' Her eyes searched his. 'Hawke, I know this is completely unreasonable and insane but promise me you'll never go to Paris. Ever.'

'I promise you; I'll never go to Paris.' Hawke vowed solemnly.

'You came back.' She commented.

He sighed, his scraped fingers rubbing against hers. 'It didn't feel right.'

'When I saw Airwolf…' Her eyes flooded with tears and she couldn't speak.

'I was scared.' He admitted, the fear returning to him full force. 'I was scared we weren't going to get here in time.' He tried to smile. 'I think we set a new record for Airwolf's top speed.'

'He is dead, isn't he?' Her other hand crept to guard her bruised throat. 'I didn't dream it.'

'He's dead,' Hawke confirmed.

'I'm not sorry.' She blinked and sent hot tears down her cheeks, scalding the raw bruise. 'I'm not sorry I killed him.'

'Cait.' Her tears ripped at something inside him and he moved to sit on the bed and hold her whilst she cried herself out. She finally inched back to swipe at her wet cheeks. He passed her a tissue and she cleaned up the last ravages, blew her nose.

'You're tired. You should go back to sleep.' Hawke went to move off the bed and she stopped him.

'You need to sleep too and I want you beside me.' She raised her pleading eyes to his. 'I need you.'

He dropped a kiss on her lips. 'I need you too.' He admitted a little shakily. He gestured for her to move across. She shuffled under the covers as he kicked off his trainers and climbed on top of the bed to lie down beside her, tucking her carefully under one of his arms, her head on his chest as her arm slid around his waist.

'Promise me, we'll get through this.' Caitlin murmured.

Hawke shifted to meet her eyes. He held her gaze firmly. 'I promise.' He vowed. 'I'm not going to lose you, Cait, so whatever it takes; we're going to get through this. You, me and the baby.' His hand slipped over her abdomen to where their child was growing despite everything that had happened. 'I love you.'

It was all she needed to hear; within seconds she was fast asleep. Hawke stayed awake and watched his wife; the temptations of dreams just couldn't compare with the reality of her.