Hawke sat on the porch steps and contemplated the gathering clouds in the sky above as Tet whined at his feet. It looked like there was a storm brewing. He took a gulp of beer and checked his watch. Caitlin would be tucked up in bed by now. The sheer effort of moving around tired her these days. Hawke sighed. Their goodbye had been hard; he wasn't sure Caitlin was going to forgive him for the decision he'd made and deep down he honestly wasn't sure she should; he was risking his life to get Dom's killer when she and their baby needed him. Not to mention that she was probably worrying about him again, something else she didn't need at the end of an already difficult pregnancy. But, Hawke thought, she and their son were safe away from the cabin and when he got Rosalind, they wouldn't need to worry anymore or be parted again.

Hawke's blue eyes turned icy as he considered Rosalind Bening. He could believe that she had been the one to organise putting that bomb into the helicopter; she was so twisted, so crazy. She had put Dom through one of the worst experiences of his life; conning him into falling in love with her before her true identity and purpose had been revealed. Hawke could still remember how torn up the older man had been at the revelation that the woman he had intended to marry was only after revenge.

Hawke heard the sound of the electric tool outside the door of the hangar. Dom was still up and working. He braced himself; this wasn't going to be an easy conversation but it was one of the most important he had ever had in his life. Dom had been so angry with him over his investigating Rosa's…no, not Rosa – Rosalind's background. He touched the cut on his lip where the older man had punched him. Hawke sighed. Of course it didn't help that he'd been proven right; that Rosalind did have ulterior motives over her relationship with Dom, fatal motives that had almost killed Dom earlier that day. He opened the door and stepped into the harsh white light. He followed the sounds until he came to a halt at the bottom of the workbench where Dom was sat.

'Hey.' He said trying to get Dom's attention from the engine component he was fixing. The older man looked stern, his craggy face set in harsh lines.

'It's late.' Dom said not looking up. Hawke knew it was way past midnight; it had been past midnight when Cait had finally chucked him out of bed and told him to go talk to Dom.

'Yeah. I just…I just wanted to check you were OK.' Hawke said. He hunched his shoulders and rocked back on his heels.

'The doctor said I was fine. Just some pulled muscles and scrapes.' Dom still hadn't looked at him. Hawke struggled to find the right thing to say.

'That wasn't what I meant, Dom.' He said at last.

Dom finally raised his head to look at him. There was anger in the gaze, embarrassment and pride, a whole lot of injured pride. 'What do you want me to say, String? That I feel a fool.' He said angrily. 'Well, I do. An old fool.'

'You're not the first one of us to be fooled, Dom.' Hawke reminded him quickly. 'And I seem to recall you're usually the first to tell us not to beat ourselves up about it.'

Dom harrumphed. He sighed and admitted that he'd really liked Rosa. 'I just can't believe my Rosa turned out to be General Bening's sister. She was so twisted, String. Why couldn't I see it?'

'You wanted to believe in her.' Hawke said gently.

'I did want to believe in her.' Dom admitted. 'I wanted to believe a beautiful woman loved me.' He sighed. 'Who was I trying to kid?'

'Dom…' Hawke didn't know how to comfort the other man; he looked so…defeated and disheartened.

Dom sighed again and looked up at Hawke. 'Before she started shooting…she said some things, String. How she was going to destroy us both.' He looked down. 'She was going to kill Caitlin and then you. And she told me how she was going to destroy us, poison our relationship.'

'She would never have been able to do that, Dom.' Hawke denied firmly.

Dom's eyes settled on Hawke's split lip. 'I don't know, kid. I was pretty furious with you.'

'We would have gotten past it.' Hawke said confidently. 'I know we kid around with each other a lot but we're family. We'll always be there for each other.'

Dom nodded slowly and his eyes warmed with humour. 'Always is a long time, kid. You sure you want me around that long?'

'I'm just glad we'll get the chance to find out.' Hawke returned.

'So am I, kid.' Dom pulled him into a hug…

Hawke frowned. Rosalind had taken that chance away from them when she'd arranged the bomb in the helicopter; Dom was dead.

'Is this a private party or can anyone join?'

Hawke glanced up as Michael lowered himself carefully to sit beside him. The spy had left Hawke alone since Caitlin had departed with Marella and Hawke had been grateful. He sighed. He guessed even Michael's patience wasn't endless.

'Do we have a plan?' Michael asked.

'She can only get her by horse, motorbike or chopper.' Hawke said. 'I figure we'll hear her coming.'

'You'll hear her coming.' Michael agreed. The pilot's sensitive hearing was one of his hidden strengths. 'And then?'

'Best thing is to let her proceed as though she's going to be successful.' Hawke jerked his head back at the cabin. 'I figure we'll let her get inside and up to the bedroom. I'll be waiting for her. You come up the stairs and back me up.'

'Are you sure she'll come inside?' Michael questioned.

'Yeah. She'll want to do it face to face, Michael. She'll want to gloat, torment me over what she did to Dom.' Hawke swallowed hard; a flash of memory…Dom waving in the helicopter, the deadly bang and the ball of fire where the helicopter had stood. Hawke shuddered.

'Will you be able to keep it together if she does?' The question was gentle.

'Honestly, Michael, I don't know.' Hawke admitted.

Michael was silent. As far as he was concerned, his decision was already made; if Rosalind Bening took one step into the cabin, Michael was going to shoot her dead. He wasn't taking the chance of her getting close enough to Hawke to engage him. He sighed. 'Marella checked in.'

'Oh?'

'She and Caitlin are settled into the safe house.' Michael confirmed.

'Good.' Hawke's voice betrayed none of the emotions that churned through him.

'She'll forgive you, Hawke.' Michael said softly.

Hawke's eyes flickered to him in surprise.

'She loves you,' Michael said, 'and she understands.'

Hawke looked away from the compassion in the other man's face. It seemed strange to be sat with Michael. He'd always had these conversations with…with Dom. He rubbed a hand over his face. 'She thinks I've broken my promise to her.' He found himself confiding.

'Have you?' Michael asked.

'Maybe.' Hawke sighed. 'I promised I would be there for her and the baby.'

'Seems to me all you're trying to do is keep them safe.' Michael contradicted him.

'Am I?' Hawke shook his head and gestured with the beer bottle. 'I'd be lying if I said this had nothing to do with bringing Dom's killer to justice. She knows that.'

'And she understands it.' Michael repeated. 'She's just worried about you. She almost lost you with that bomb and she's scared she might lose you now. You, of all people, should know how that feels.'

Hawke felt a wash of guilt. Of course, he understood. God, his fear of losing her could sometimes bring him to his knees. He didn't know how he would survive without her…he frowned.

'What's wrong?' Michael asked seeing Hawke's expression change.

Hawke glanced at the spy. 'After Rosalind tried to kill Dom at her beach house, I went to Santini Air to see Dom, check he was OK…'

'And?' prompted Michael.

'And we talked about Rosalind's plans…' Something in the memory was teasing at him; something that Dom had said. He got to his feet and paced.

Michael watched concerned.

The first raindrop landed on Hawke's skin as his blue eyes widened with horrific realisation. He raced back into the cabin. He headed straight for the satellite phone. Michael followed after him, limping.

'What's wrong?' Michael asked. Hawke's panic was so evident that it immediately worried him; Hawke wasn't the type to panic.

'We need to raise the safe house.' Hawke said, thrusting the briefcase open.

Michael hurried over to help him. He changed the frequency and dialled the number. He frowned. A dead tone. That couldn't be right. His eye met Hawke's. 'It's dead.'

'Damn.' Hawke grabbed the hand pistols he had stored behind the bar and handed one to Michael as they left the cabin and headed for the chopper. The rain was coming down hard and they were both damp when they climbed into the machine. The take off was fast.

'It could just be the storm affecting communications.' Michael suggested as they looped away from the cabin to the coast.

'It's Rosalind. She's gone after Cait.'

'How do you know?' Michael asked

'I remembered Dom told me that Rosalind was going to destroy me by killing Caitlin,' Hawke muttered, 'and I just handed my wife to Rosalind Bening on a plate.'

'Oh my God.' Michael said quietly as he confirmed the coordinates to Hawke. He knew Rosalind's plan had a good chance of succeeding if she did kill Cait. There had been a kidnapping just before the helicopter explosion when Hawke had thought for four days that Caitlin was dead…Michael had found Hawke in the middle of the night with a loaded gun ready to end his own life. It was something that remained a secret between the two men and something neither had spoken about since it had happened.

Hawke steadied the chopper against the storm. He just hoped he hadn't remembered too late. His fear rose through his gullet and choked him along with another wave of corrosive guilt. He pushed the helicopter beyond its top speed and wished it was Airwolf. He had to get to the safe house in time, had to. He couldn't bear to think about the alternative.