Hawke came abruptly awake but the remnants of the nightmare held him in its hold for a brief moment and he couldn't catch his breath, his vision filled with fire and smoke that only existed in his mind.
Caitlin's touch steadied him; her palm cupped his cheek and he turned his head to look at her worried eyes in the shadowy darkness of their bedroom. 'Hey.'
'Hey.'
He shifted so she could cuddle into his side, her arm across his chest holding him tightly. He glanced over at the crib to check he hadn't disturbed the baby.
'Nicky's fine.' Caitlin murmured sleepily.
Hawke stroked her shoulder. Nicky. Caitlin had shortened Dominic to Nicky within five minutes of naming him. She had come up with a name that was uniquely their baby's. Whilst they had both wanted to name their son for the older man, the usual derivative of Dom was too painful for both of them. The memory of the explosion flashed through him again and he shuddered.
Caitlin's hold on him tightened.
'Sorry.' He whispered.
She raised her head. 'Nightmare?'
'Hmmm.' Hawke knew it was pointless to pretend to her. There had been too many nights in the past months when he had woken caught in the grip of a bad dream.
Caitlin snuggled closer to him. 'Go back to sleep.' She whispered.
Hawke closed his eyes and let Caitlin's rhythmic breathing lull him back to sleep.
When he woke next, sunlight was streaming through the window and he was alone in the room. He got up, showered and dressed before making his way outside. He nudged Caitlin further along the porch bench and snagged the mug of coffee from her hands as he dropped a kiss on her cold lips.
'Morning.' He said as he settled her into his arms and pulled the carrier carrying Nicky closer to them. 'You should have woken me.'
She shrugged. 'He got up early hungry.' She grinned. 'You wouldn't have been much good to him.'
'Yeah.' Hawke returned her smile. 'Wrong equipment.' His thumb stroked over her cheekbone before he kissed her again.
She eased back and examined his shadowed blue eyes with concern. 'You OK?'
Hawke sighed. 'I'm OK.'
She bit her lip. 'You had another nightmare.'
Hawke stroked a strand of red hair back over her shoulder. 'I know.'
'You want to talk about it?' Caitlin asked taking back the coffee.
'I get a choice?' Hawke joked trying to lighten the moment.
She smiled but wouldn't be diverted. 'You had a tough weekend.' She observed. Saint John had left the day before after spending the weekend with them. She hadn't been oblivious to the tension that remained between the two brothers. They were still finding it hard to find their way back to their old relationship. Their one area of neutrality seemed to be Nicky. The little boy was bringing an ease to their relationship for the first time since Saint John had come back; their shared love for him was something the brothers could bond over without any past feelings to crowd in on them.
'Yeah.' Hawke didn't disagree with her.
She took a sip of the warm liquid and handed the mug back. 'It'll get easier.'
Hawke sighed and took a gulp of coffee. 'He wants to tell Jo.'
'About you being alive?' Caitlin murmured. It would be a big step.
'About me, about you, about Nicky.' Hawke said. 'I think he's feeling increasingly bad about keeping us a secret, particularly from Jo, especially since we dealt with Dom's killer.'
'What do you want to do?' Caitlin asked. Hawke had been suspicious of Jo before the explosion.
Hawke sighed. 'I don't know.'
'She was pretty fantastic after the explosion.' Caitlin said thoughtfully. 'She juggled the business, the hospital, the mission to get Saint John and she lost Dom too. I only kept her out of the plan to take you to Switzerland because I thought the fewer people who knew the better.'
He frowned. 'I still don't like how involved with the Company she is.'
'She's no more involved than Saint John.' Caitlin pointed out. 'And your brother feels the same way about your involvement with Michael.'
'Yeah, I talked to him about that.'
Caitlin's lips curved. 'You talked to him about Michael?'
'He's going to have to get used to him.' Hawke pointed out a little defensively. 'Michael's a big part of our lives whether he likes it or not.'
Caitlin took the mug from him. 'I'm thinking he didn't like that very much.'
'No.' Hawke agreed.
'Well, they probably just need to get know each other better. Dom never liked Michael much at the beginning either.' Caitlin said.
'Maybe.' Hawke sighed. Dom had never made his distrust of the spy a secret but the older pilot had grown to respect Michael. He dragged them back on subject. 'What do you think about Saint John telling Jo? After all, it affects us all.'
She didn't answer him straight away taking her time to really consider it. 'If it's only Jo,' she began, 'I guess it'd be OK. I think Dom would have wanted us to treat her like family.'
Hawke smoothed an errant lock behind her ear. She was right; Dom would have expected that they treated Jo like family. 'I guess I'll tell Saint John that he can tell her.'
'Maybe he should bring her over.' Caitlin said. 'I could make some dinner…she could spend time with Nicky.'
'Yeah.' Hawke sighed. 'I'll give Saint John a call later. Set it up.'
They finished their coffee and began their day. It was surprising how hectic the day turned out to be; a morning appointment at the post-natal clinic ran on and they only returned to the cabin in the early afternoon. Hawke encouraged Caitlin to take a nap whilst Nicky slept and he set about the chores in the house. He was just finishing stacking the new firewood on the hearth when he heard the radio crackling into life.
'String? Are you there? Come in.' Saint John's voice drifted over to him.
Hawke rubbed his dirty hands on the sides of his jeans as he made his way over to the radio unit they had stored at the back of the cabin. He picked up the mike. 'I'm here, Saint John. What's up?'
'Jo's missing.' There was an underlying note of worry in the older man's voice.
'What do you mean missing?' Hawke asked.
'I got back from a gig in Nevada and she's nowhere. I've just found her chopper abandoned on a beach. The charter she took up earlier says she left them and that was the last time they saw her.'
Hawke frowned. 'What do you need?'
'Something about this doesn't feel right.' Saint John said. 'Mike's checking out a few things but could you stay on standby? I might need you.'
'Sure.' Hawke radioed back hiding his surprise. He knew his brother had been getting in and out of scrapes since he'd joined the Airwolf team but Saint John hadn't asked him for help until now. 'I'll be here.'
'Thanks, String. Catch you later.'
Hawke put the radio down and looked over at Caitlin who was stood at the bottom of the steps. The radio had obviously woken her from her nap.
'Sorry.' Hawke said gesturing at the machine.
She waved away the apology. 'What's wrong?' She asked.
'Jo's missing.'
'Missing?' Caitlin frowned and walked over to him.
He pulled her into a hug. 'Saint John wants me to stand by.'
Caitlin's eyebrows rose. 'Really?'
Hawke nodded again. 'I know. Weird, right?'
She patted his shoulders. 'Well, maybe this is his way of trying to get closer to you.'
'Maybe.'
Caitlin's head turned to the bedroom an instant before Hawke's excellent hearing picked up the baby's cry.
'How do you do that?' He asked.
She smiled, dropped a kiss on his lips and headed back up the stairs to see to their son. She stopped half-way and turned to look at him. 'You know he could have asked you because you're his brother and he needs you.' She disappeared leaving Hawke looking after her with a frown.
