Airwolf is somebody else's, probably Universal's or Bellisarius', and I freely admit that whoever's it is, I'm borrowing their show and they retain all rights, etc. There are scenes from the episode 'Blackjack' incorporated into this story; no copyright infringement is intended.

NOTE: I have taken a little artistic license with Blackjack in terms of the timings of the scenes but hopefully it still holds together. This ties together the 3rd and 4th Season.

UPCOMING: Closure: Those left behind deal with the repercussions of the events of Blackjack.

The Other Blackjack is the twenty-third story I have written covering the period between the 3rd and 4th Seasons of Airwolf. If you have read the other stories (Single Parent Hawke, The Jade Wolf, The Truth About Caitlin, Old Friends New Enemies, Hawke's Wolf, Father Figures, Personal Business, Hidden Truths, Homecomings, The Ex Factor, A Question of Loyalty, You Are Cordially Invited, The Odd Couple, Spirit of the Wolf, Ghosts, A High Price to Pay, Prime Suspect, Traces in the Mist, Duplicity I & II, A Child Friendly Date and Reality Check), you can skip straight to the story in the next chapter…or read this brief recap of the story so far:

When Stringfellow Hawke reunites Le, the boy he incorrectly believed to be his nephew, with the boy's newly found mother, it is the start of a hectic time for the Airwolf team as a series of missions test their ingenuity, abilities and even the strength of their relationships…

An attempt to take Airwolf by a power hungry General brings Dominic Santini's niece, Jo, back into his life and provides new information on Hawke's missing brother, Saint John which eventually leads Hawke on a mission to Cambodia to find Saint John; the mission is ultimately unsuccessful and the deputy director of the FIRM, Michael Coldsmith-Briggs III, continues to try and find Hawke's brother – now believed to be working for an intelligence agency called the Company, the same agency the FIRM is being amalgamated with by order of Congress.

The imminent merger of the intelligence agencies prompts a number of revelations and events: Michael knows the Company will not honour the deal he has made with Hawke and the spy confesses to Hawke that the FIRM is building a third Airwolf. It is a fortunate project as the original Airwolf starts showing signs of developing artificial intelligence and provides them with an opportunity to devise a strategy to keep an artificially intelligent Airwolf out of the Company's hands. Their first strategy – a duplicate fails and the team are reliant on hoping a transfer of the intelligence might work.

In addition, the whole idea of the merger incites Zeus, the director of the FIRM, to make an attempt to take back Airwolf to consolidate his own position that leaves Michael's former senior aide, Marella badly injured. The incident encourages Michael into moving his relationship with her to a more personal footing, asking his former senior aide on a date. Although their first attempt is interrupted by Michael's daughter, Angelina running away, a second child friendly date has better success…

The merger also reveals that Jo Santini may be a Company spy and although Hawke confirms that she isn't, it worries him especially when she is duped into revealing information to someone that leads to the kidnapping of Hawke's wife; his close friend and the third member of the Airwolf team, Caitlin O'Shaunessy. Hawke is devastated when he believes for a short time that Caitlin had been killed by her captor, John Bradford Horn but he works out Horn's plan and rescues her. The trauma leaves the couple battered as they start to recover and have to face the merger…

And now the next instalment: The Other Blackjack