A week later, Hawke was still waiting for the Company to make contact with him. He figured Locke's intention was to unnerve him by keeping him hanging so he tried to ignore his rising impatience. If Locke wanted to play games, Hawke thought angrily, let him. He slammed the door on the Santini chopper shut and nodded at Jo to take them up.

He pushed his brooding about the situation away and glanced across at Jo. She was watching her instruments intently, making adjustments before they started to test whatever the hell it was they were testing.

'How are the lessons going?' Hawke asked referring to her training in Airwolf. Either Dom or Caitlin had taken her up every day since she'd signed on.

Jo smiled at him. 'Great.' She adjusted their course. 'Caitlin's a good teacher.'

'Dom'll be thrilled to hear that.' Hawke said dryly.

'And Uncle Dom.' Jo said smiling wider. 'I guess it's just Caitlin's kinda been where I am. She wasn't a combat pilot when she started in Airwolf either.'

'Yeah.' Hawke agreed.

'You know when we were kids, I thought Saint John would get married, settle down,' Jo admitted, 'but you? I never had you pegged for that.'

Hawke gave a small laugh. 'Neither did I.'

'It suits you.' Jo said. 'Caitlin suits you.'

'Yeah.' Hawke smiled.

She switched on the system they were testing.

'What is this thing anyway?' Hawke said gesturing at the tangle of wires and equipment in the cockpit.

'A wind drift auto-compensator.'

'A wind drift auto-compensator?' Hawke questioned trying to get his mouth around the words.

'Yeah. It's wired into the RPM governor. Allows for hands off hovering in really erratic wind conditions. It's great in air-sea rescue.'

'Well, if it works, I'm impressed.' Hawke said.

'I just hope the world market shares that opinion.' Jo pursed her lips. 'Let's she how she handles some high speed manoeuvres.'

Hawke caught as his breath nervously as Jo climbed steeply and then dived. He relaxed recognising her competence and gave her an admiring glance. Jo looped them back toward the airfield.

'You know, kid, you're one hell of a pilot.' Hawke commented as they walked into the hangar.

'Uncle Dom's one hell of a teacher.' Jo said.

Hawke looked back out to where Dom was talking with a customer over by the new chopper he'd bought. The older man had nagged him about his hair again that morning. 'He's kinda like an old mother hen.' He muttered.

'Hmmm-hmmm,' Jo said trying hard not to laugh.

'How about some coffee, huh?' Hawke asked.

'I'll join you in a minute. I'm just going to get the unit out.' Jo turned and raced back to the chopper. She had just started removing the connections when an envelope in the back caught her attention and she picked it up curiously. It was addressed to Hawke. She finished taking out the prototype compensator and took it, and the envelope, back into the hangar. She handed the envelope to Hawke who exchanged it for a mug of coffee.

'What's this?' Hawke said turning it over in his hands.

'Hey, anymore coffee in that pot?' Dom said walking into the office to join them, rubbing his hands together. 'Do you believe the weather out there? Jeez but it's cold for the time of year.' He picked up a mug and gestured at the envelope Hawke was opening. 'What have you got there?'

'I don't know.' Hawke opened it and withdrew a note and a tape. He stilled suddenly at the writing on the note.

'What is it?' Dom asked worriedly.

Hawke handed him the note and went to get a tape recorder.

Jo read the note over her uncle's shoulder. 'Saint John is alive.'

Hawke slapped the tape into the compartment and pressed the play button.

'String…D I A arraign…Storm Season…Blackjack.' It ended with static noise.

'That's Saint John.' Hawke was certain.

'Aw, now String,' Dom said warningly, 'that could be anyone. That tape is all garbled.' He gestured at the tape recorder. 'You can hardly make out any of the words.' He sighed seeing the militant look in Hawke's eyes, the one he got when he was certain of something to do with Saint John despite the evidence in front of him.

'It's my brother.' Hawke insisted. He plucked the tape back out of the machine. 'I'm going to head over to the FIRM…Company…whatever. Get Jake to clean it up.'

'That's a good idea, String.' Dom paused. 'What about that Locke guy?'

'If he shows up, I'll handle it.' Hawke said. He stuffed the note back into the envelope with the tape and walked out without another word.

Dom raised his eyes heavenward, prayed for patience.

'Is he always like that about Saint John?' Jo asked concerned.

'Not always.' Dom gave a rueful smile. 'Most of the time he's much worse.' He patted her hand and went back out to greet another customer, leaving Jo standing looking after him with a stunned expression.

It didn't take Hawke long to make the journey to the FIRM's old headquarters. He could see evidence of the merger in the changing posters and notices around the building; the new faces mixed in with the old. He headed straight for the labs and sought out Jake MacIntosh. The other man was eager to help him and ushered him quickly into the sound technician room.

'I've put it through the best equalisers and noise reducers money can buy. That's as good as it's going to get. Jake said and returned to his seat.

Hawke gestured. 'Start it again.'

'String, D…I...A…arraign…the Storm Season…Blackjack…' The tape cut out.

'That's my brother. That's Saint John.' Hawke stated. There was no doubt in his mind. He heard someone behind them and turned just as an African-American man with short black hair and a neat trim black moustache came into the room and reached across to stop the recording.

'I'll take over from here, Jake.' The new visitor said firmly.

'What the hell is this?' Hawke asked.

'It's called following orders.' The man put the tape into the envelope.

Hawke caught sight of the id badge; Jason Locke. This was Michael's replacement? He lurched out of his chair and grabbed the man's lapel. He just caught himself from revealing what he knew and changed what he'd been about to say to cover his knowledge of Michael's reassignment. 'You're not going anywhere until I talk to Archangel.' Hawke demanded.

'All you're seeing is me and you're not going to see much of that if I don't feel some space between us quick.' Locke met Hawke's furious gaze with an even determined stare.

'I want some answers, partner, and I want them now.' Hawke said keeping hold of Locke. The Company knew where his brother was; it was the only explanation. 'Where is Saint John?'

'I can't hear a word you're saying.' Locke shook himself free and went to leave with the tape.

Hawke gave into his temper and slammed Locke into the door, his arm at his throat. 'Something stinks here. If you didn't have orders from the Company, why are you seizing that stuff?'

A man rushed Hawke from the door and grabbed his arms before he could react, swinging him around. A second security guy was lining up to hit Hawke; Locke intervened before punches were thrown.

'All right, fellas. Take it easy. He's my problem.' The guards let Hawke go and Locke held his gaze for a moment. 'Come with me.' He turned and started walking away without waiting. Hawke had no option but to follow him.

Locke's office was substantially smaller than the one Michael had occupied but it looked like Locke was an industrious man. There were documents out on the desk, an open briefcase. Hawke paid little attention to the room and sat in the chair waiting for Locke to speak. He could tell his own refusal to talk was beginning to irritate the other man.

'Listen, Hawke,' Locke walked round and perched on his desk, 'Archangel has been stationed somewhere in the Far East. I've taken over your file.'

'Real nice of him to tell me about it.' Hawke murmured and decided he'd better move the conversation on before he laughed out loud. 'OK, spill it. What's going on?'

'I really am sorry what happened with your brother.' Locke said. 'But you know the scene here; they don't tell me, I don't tell you.'

Hawke leaped up and grabbed the envelope from Locke's hands. He pointed at it. 'This says right here that my brother's still alive.'

Locke grabbed it back. 'A scribbled note and a tape so scrambled this could be my mother.' He chucked the envelope on the table. 'It adds up to squat and you know it.' He glanced away before looking back at Hawke. 'You know this isn't my idea of a good time either but according to orders you're my pain in the butt and I'm yours so…you'd better sit tight. I'll access our files on Saint John and verify what I'm saying.' His dark eyes were filled with sincerity; Hawke believed that Locke believed what he was saying. 'In the meantime,' Locke continued, 'be patient.'

Hawke's blue eyes iced over. Hadn't he been patient enough? He leaned forward into Locke's face. 'I have.' He bit out. He left before his temper got the better of him again. He went back to the airfield to collect Dom and flew them out to the cabin.

'I called Caitlin.' Hawke said. 'She's bringing Michael.'

'Do you think we should have invited Jo?' Dom asked. 'She is part of this now.'

Hawke sighed. 'Let's just keep it amongst us for now.' He was pleased when Dom accepted the answer. It wasn't too much longer before they were landing beside the chopper Caitlin was using every day.

Caitlin walked out to greet Hawke leaving Michael on the porch and without saying a word just slipped her arms around her husband and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back taking a moment to allow her comfort to seep into him before he released her.

Her hand swept through his hair and her eyes scanned his worriedly. 'You OK?'

Hawke dropped a kiss on her lips. 'I am now.' It was true; the anger that had been festering in his gut since his meeting with Locke had lessened and he was filled instead with cold, calm determination. 'Let's get inside.'

Within minutes the four of them were sat with fresh coffee in front of the hearth. Hawke finished updating Michael.

'So Locke has the tape?' Michael asked smoothing his moustache.

'Yeah.' Hawke was annoyed that he hadn't thought to grab the envelope on his way out; he'd just been so furious.

'Do you remember what was on it?' Caitlin asked.

'Saint John indicated in code that he needed an extraction. Then he mentioned the words Storm Season and then the word Blackjack, I think.' The whole tape was imprinted on Hawke's brain; he wouldn't forget the content any time soon.

'Storm Season.' Michael repeated and stood up to pace trying to remember where he'd heard the phrase. 'Storm Season.' He stopped. 'A couple of years ago, the FIRM picked up on a Company operation in Asia called Storm Season. I can't remember much about it but it was a small team of deep cover operatives working inside Communist countries to support local insurgencies.' He pointed at Hawke. 'Exactly the kind of work we think your brother was involved with.'

'How about the word Blackjack does that ring any bells?' Hawke asked rocking back on his heels.

'No.' Michael shook his head. 'But I'll get Marella to check.' He hesitated. 'You know Locke could be doing the same thing.'

Hawke's eyes hardened. 'That guy has no intention of helping me.' He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and gestured. 'He doesn't get it yet.'

'Get what?' Caitlin asked.

'That the Company's not quite the stand-up organisation he thinks it is.' Hawke frowned. 'He was apologetic about it but he's following orders and I think his orders on the tape are to quietly forget it.'

'You know I don't get it.' Dom said. 'If Saint John was with the Company, wouldn't they want to find him?'

Michael shrugged. 'They may have written him off. Operatives, particularly those in situations like Saint John, are often told not to expect a rescue if they get caught. That way the agency has deniability.'

'Great people you work for Michael.' Dom muttered.

'Hawke, how did you get this information?' Michael asked ignoring Dom's comment.

'It was left in a chopper at the airfield.' Hawke said. 'It's odd too, because I only had my back turned for maybe a minute.' He looked over at Michael. 'What are you thinking?'

'Two things.' Michael stroked his tie. 'Firstly, if you guys have someone sneaking around you need to be careful and secondly, if Saint John is captured, if he is somewhere where the Company feel it's too risky to extract him, how has he managed to get the tape and the note out? And if it were a friend delivering the information why sneak around the airfield?'

'You think we're being led into a trap.' Caitlin concluded.

'I do.' Michael said reluctantly.

'It doesn't matter, Michael.' Hawke said. 'Even if Saint John is being used as bait to trap me…'

'Then you'll go in anyway, I know.' Michael sighed. ''Well, we have a few clues to go on. I can see what else I can pull up on Storm Season as well as the word Blackjack.'

'Thanks, Michael.' Hawke said sincerely. He had a whole new appreciation for the spy.

'I'll give you a lift back, Michael.' Dom said getting to his feet. He gave Hawke a hug. 'I'll catch up with you in the morning, huh?'

'Yeah, Dom.' Hawke squeezed the other man's shoulder for an instant before letting him go.

Hawke sat down beside Caitlin on the sofa. His hand slipped over the one she had over her belly and their child. They sat for a long while holding each other.

'What are you thinking?' Caitlin asked seeing the fixed look in her husband's eyes that indicated he was planning something.

Hawke glanced at her. 'I'm thinking that even if this turns out to be a dead end, I'm not flying Airwolf missions for the Company.'

She raised an eyebrow questioningly. 'Locke bothered you.' She concluded.

'He's no Michael.' Hawke commented.

The anger was still gilding his words. Caitlin repressed the smile. 'You haven't given him much of a chance to prove otherwise.'

His eyes shot to hers.

'All I'm saying,' she added hastily, 'is that you and Michael had your run-ins when you guys first started working together and look at you now? The same thing could happen with Locke.'

'Maybe.' Hawke allowed. He cuddled her closer. 'Maybe I don't want to put the work in with Locke.'

'If you ground Airwolf, Jo's going to be disappointed.' Caitlin noted. 'She's looking forward to being involved.'

'Maybe that's for the best too.'

'You still don't trust her?' Caitlin was surprised; she'd thought he'd gotten past his mistrust.

'I don't know.' Hawke sighed. 'When we were kids and growing up, Jo was like a little sister to Saint John and me. I would have trusted her with anything back then but her involvement with the Company just doesn't sit right with me especially with what they just did.'

'I think she's on the level.' Caitlin said. 'I think she was just looking for a reason to come home and stay a while to re-establish all her old ties to you and Dom. I get the impression you're the only real family she's known and I think she's more than a little lonely.'

'You could be right.' Hawke admitted feeling more than a little guilt at his attitude towards Jo; they had been family. 'I should ease up on her, huh?'

'It's a thought.' Caitlin patted his hand. 'I'll start dinner.'

The next morning, his conversation with Caitlin prompted him to gather Jo, along with Dom, into the Santini Air office the next morning and bring her up to date; everything from Locke's attitude to their asking for help from an old friend; Michael's name wasn't mentioned explicitly as Hawke wanted to help the other man keep his cover.

'This Locke guy sounds like a stick in the mud.' Jo commented. She folded her arms and sighed. 'The Company prefers them that way; follow orders and don't ask questions.'

'That's Locke.' Hawke said. 'Least from where I was standing.'

'So we wait for your friend to get back to you?' Jo asked.

Hawke nodded.

Jo smiled joyfully. 'Saint John alive…it's just so amazing.'

Hawke and Dom smiled back.

'Well, I guess I'd better do some work whilst we're waiting.' Jo headed out to the hangar leaving the two men alone in the office.

'That was a nice thing you did.'

Dom's praise brought some colour to Hawke's cheeks.

'I kinda got the feeling yesterday you still didn't trust her with it all.' Dom admitted.

'I didn't.' Hawke folded his arms and looked back at the man who was a surrogate father to him. He responded to the unasked question in his eyes. 'Cait reminded me she was family.'

Dom smiled. 'I knew there was a reason why I liked her.'

Hawke returned the smile. 'If we get Saint John back…'

'The whole family will be together, huh?' Dom raised his mug. 'From your mouth to God's ear. Lord it'll be good having all you kids back.'

'You know I don't think I've appreciated enough that you've given us all…given me a place to come back to, Dom.' Hawke commented.

Dom shrugged. 'Where am I going to go?'

The two of them looked at each other with fond amusement secure in the unshakeable bond of love and trust between them.

Dom cleared his throat. It was all getting a little too mushy for the time of day and lack of alcohol. 'Well, we should get back to work too, huh?' He gestured. 'We're not going to earn money sitting here gossiping.'

Hawke started to follow him out when the phone rang. 'I've got it.' He said. Dom nodded and closed the office door leaving Hawke alone.

Hawke sat on the corner of the desk and picked up. 'Santini Air.'

'Hawke, it's me.' Caitlin's voice had him smiling. 'I'm here with Michael and Marella. Hold on, we're going to put you on speaker phone.'

An instant later, Hawke acknowledged Michael's and Marella's greetings.

'We have some information for you Hawke.' Michael's excitement transmitted clearly down the phone line. 'There wasn't that much more information we could pick up on Storm Season, effectively we only just verified what I told you last night but Blackjack was a different matter.'

'Blackjack is a nickname, Hawke,' Caitlin said, 'for a mercenary called Buchard. The FIRM was tracking him for illegal arms sales.'

'There was evidence that Buchard was on the Company's payroll until last year, using his legitimate activities for the agency to cover his more criminal underside.' Marella chimed in. 'The Company was either unaware of what he was doing or turning a blind eye.'

'Hawke, his last mission for the Company was in Cambodia last July.' Michael added. 'He was meant to rescue two operatives captured by the Khmer Rouge.'

'Really?' Hawke felt his heart pound in his ears. 'That's sounds real familiar, Michael.' Hawke and Dom had gone to Cambodia only a couple of months before to search for Saint John who they had believed was a prisoner of the Khmer Rouge.

'Didn't you and Dom uncover evidence of a rescue attempt when you went to Cambodia looking for Saint John?' Caitlin asked.

'Yeah.' Hawke could feel the hope building inside of him and ruthlessly stamped down on it to think his way through the information.

'Right.' Michael agreed. 'Unfortunately, Buchard's mission was considered a failure and the Company cut him loose or he left immediately, it's a little unclear.'

Hawke mulled over what they knew. 'Saint John must have been in Cambodia on this Storm Season thing and gotten captured. The Company hired Buchard for the rescue attempt but he grabbed Saint John for himself and told them the mission had failed rather than giving him back.' His eyes went hard as ice. 'Buchard wants Airwolf so he can sell her. It would give him a huge payday.'

'I think you've nailed it.' Michael said. 'Given the timescales, I think Buchard must have thought your brother knew about Airwolf. He's probably been keeping him hostage and trying to get him to talk.'

'Only now Buchard's realised that either Saint John doesn't know anything or that he can just use him instead to get to Airwolf through me.' Hawke sighed and tried not to feel guilty. 'Do we know where Buchard is?'

'The last intelligence gathered is that he was operating from a camp in the Burma Highlands.' Michael cleared his throat. 'Hawke, the FIRM's tracking of Buchard was stopped when the Company took over.'

'They know he has him.' Hawke concluded furiously.

'I think they suspect Buchard has him.' Michael admitted. 'It's the only thing that makes sense on the information blackout.'

'We still don't have full access to their computer but we're pretty certain the information on your brother would be missing anyway,' Marella said, 'as we've said before that way they have deniability over finding him and can still use you for Airwolf missions.'

'Like hell.' Hawke snapped. 'I have half a mind to march over there and knock Locke's lights out.'

'He probably doesn't know, Hawke.' Michael replied. 'If they keep him out of the loop he's not going to be able to tell you anything they don't want you to know.'

Hawke took a deep breath and focused on getting his brother home; he'd deal with the Company later. 'The Burma Highlands, right? Any specific area?'

'Afraid not.' Michael said. 'It's a lot of ground to cover but Airwolf should be able to handle it.'

'She will.' Hawke agreed. 'Cait, can you get some supplies together? I'll round up Dom and meet you out at the Lair in about an hour.'

'Will do.' Caitlin said. 'I'll see you then.'

'Good luck, Hawke.' Michael said.

'Thanks, Michael.' Hawke paused. 'For everything.' He hung up before the other man could reply and headed out the office.

He caught sight of Jo waving at a helicopter outside the hangar; Dom was waving back.

'Where's Dom going?' Hawke asked her anxiously.

'He's on a short cargo run up the coast.' Jo reminded him.

Hawke almost swore; he'd forgotten about that. 'I need to talk to him.' He muttered and started towards the helicopter intending to stop Dom leaving.

It exploded in front of him in a ball of fire and smoke.

Hawke opened his eyes slowly. He felt groggy like he'd been floored by a killer punch. He was on the ground, he realised with surprise, the concrete hard on his back. Someone was screaming. What had happened? An explosion…the helicopter…Dom! He put the pieces together disjointedly. He had to get to Dom, had to see if he was OK. He tried to move and pain seared through him, stole his breath and darkened his vision. He cried out in agony and his mind shut down, protecting him. He gratefully accepted oblivion.