Hawke concentrated on remembering the twists and turns of the building that he was being marched through. It had been the strangest fifteen minute journey that he had everflown in an aircraft…

'Airwolf has control.' Caitlin confirmed. 'We're on a course heading away from the clinic.'

'Damn it.' Hawke thumped his seat. 'Saint John's going to think I've abandoned him.' He looked back at Caitlin's pale face. 'I should have known Moffett would find a way to gain control of the computer remotely.'

'That's just it, Hawke.' Caitlin said hurriedly, looking at the monitor. 'It's Airwolf who has control. She's targeting Moffett's signal with missiles.'

'You mean, Airwolf, Airwolf has control? The artificial intelligence?' Hawke's eyebrows shot up.

Caitlin nodded awkwardly in the heavy Airwolf helmet. 'Yeah and she's trying to get a missile lock on that signal. Hawke, if she succeeds, we could end up with the same result – not knowing if Moffett is alive or dead.'

Hawke grasped the controls and tried to move them. He gave a grunt and gave up. He looked around at the machine cockpit.

'She's seconds off a lock.' Caitlin's voice rose in horror. 'Hawke, what do we do?'

'What are our options?' Hawke asked.

'We don't have control.' Caitlin sighed. 'I might be able to jerry-rig a bypass on her electronics and shut her down but I'm not even sure that will work. I think she'll reroute around me.'

'There has to be something else.' Hawke said plaintively looking back at her.

'Dom might have tried sweet-talking her…' Caitlin suggested.

Her husband stared at her for a long moment. 'Airwolf,' Hawke began, 'this is Captain Hawke. Desist immediately.'

Caitlin frowned. 'No effect.'

'Airwolf…' Hawke sighed, 'I know you don't want Moffett to have control of you. I don't want that either. But what you're doing, it's not going to work.'

'Hawke, she's started scanning her records.' Caitlin noted. 'On your front screen.'

Hawke looked at the monitor; the images replaying across the screen were his previous showdown with Moffett.

'My God, Hawke.' Caitlin said. 'She's taking her battle strategy from her records. It's her learning cycle.'

'Airwolf, listen to me.' Hawke repeated. 'This won't work. It didn't last time. Moffett survived.'

'She's cycling through data.' Caitlin noted. 'Oh my God. Hawke, look at your monitor.'

Hawke's blue eyes widened at the text there.

Request input for corrective action to eliminate Moffett?

Hawke laid his hands on the flight controls. 'Keep him out of your programming but return controls back to Cait and me. Let us deal with it.' He fingered the stick. 'I promise you, Airwolf. He won't get control of you again. Trust me.'

Request confirmed. Controls returned.

Hawke felt the controls respond to his touch and sighed in relief.

'I have access back into the computer.' Caitlin confirmed. 'What now?'

'We should maintain the heading to Moffett. He's leading us right to him.' Hawke said, his quick mind thinking up a strategy.

'And?'

'And you're going to hide in the missile compartment.' Hawke said. 'They'll take me hostage and take me right to Moffett. You can provide a distraction so I can take care of him.'

Caitlin swallowed at the euphemism; Hawke meant to kill Moffett. Not that they had much choice, she thought, if they were to keep control of Airwolf.

'Airwolf,' Hawke instructed, 'when I'm taken, start an audio scan locked to my voice pattern. When I greet Moffett, lock the doors, take off and release the missile compartment door to let Caitlin out. Once Caitlin is ready, give her flight control.'

Order confirmed.

'Cait, as soon as I've dealt with Moffett, I'll head to the roof. You can pick me up from there.' Hawke said.

'OK.' Caitlin adjusted one of their systems. 'Approaching signal location.'

'Get in position.' Hawke instructed.

'Hawke…' Caitlin sighed as he glanced back and met her worried eyes. 'Be careful.'

'You too.' Hawke turned back to the front and brought Airwolf in to land…

At least with Caitlin in the missile compartment it kept her out of the showdown he hoped he was about to have with Moffett and with the knowledge that she was relatively safe he found he was much calmer about their situation than he thought he would be despite the circumstances. His hands were currently tightly bound with rope in front of him; a guard either side of him had a hand on his bicep urging him forward and there were an additional guard in front and behind him. He was worried about Saint John and Mike. With Airwolf's departure from the clinic they had been abandoned and would have to use their own ingenuity to survive until they could get back to help them.

The guard stopped at a large wooden door and rapped sharply before entering. Hawke was ushered into a large ornate room. He scanned it quickly; antique furniture crowded every wall and a large oak desk dominated the space in front of the window. A corner of the room was screened off. A Russian general rose to greet Hawke from behind the desk; according to his nameplate he was called Noetskot.

'Captain Hawke.' The fat man smiled jovially. 'You weren't the brother I expected.' He gestured at the guards who shifted the screen. 'I believe you know Charles already.'

The small corner was filled with a bank of computer consoles and equipment; standing in the middle of the technology hardware was Moffett. Not a double then, Hawke thought regretfully. He looked healthier than he had in the video. His head was bald and the skin across his head and face was shiny and taut; scarred from the burns he must have suffered. One arm was a prosthetic; the hand a plastic model that hung limply from the jacket sleeve. When Moffett took a step forward, Hawke realised that one of his legs was a prosthetic too. His right side must have suffered major injury from the blast, he mused. Moffett took another stumbling step.

'You!' His face contorted with rage. 'You did this to me.'

'Charles.' Noetskot chided. 'You'll get your chance.'

'I thought you were dead.' Moffett snarled at Hawke.

'Right back at you, Moffett.' Hawke said evenly. His blue eyes scoured the other man contemptuously.

'Charles.' The quiet reiteration of his name had Moffett moving back to his chair. He sat down glowering at the pilot.

Noetskot gestured at a Queen Anne chair. 'Please take a seat, Captain Hawke.'

Hawke sat down.

Noetskot looked at the senior guard by Hawke's left elbow. 'You searched the aircraft.'

'Yes, sir. There was only him. We found this on him.' He laid Hawke's gun on the desk.

'Hmmm.' Noetskot sank back into his leather chair and rested his clasped hands on the desk. 'We picked up two men at Grelod. Your brother and Major Rivers, I believe. They will be brought here and we will have your full crew and we will have your aircraft.'

Hawke stayed silent.

'After all this time, Airwolf will be ours.' Noetskot smiled again. 'You and your crew will be reprogrammed to serve the Soviet Union.'

'I thought you guys were building your own.' Hawke said conversationally.

'Indeed we were.' Noetskot leaned back. 'Charles had much of the design completed when it was unfortunately stolen.'

Hawke remained silent.

'But now we have your machine.' Noetskot noted.

'You made it easy.' Moffett smirked. 'I left Airwolf's programme with a number of back doors. It was simple to get access once Airwolf was in close enough proximity for a wireless connection into her computer system. I knew the video would lure the Company into sending Airwolf to get me.' He looked at Hawke with cold limp eyes. 'You disappoint me, Stringfellow. I would have thought a strategist of your ability would have done better.'

'It's not over yet, Moffett.' Hawke said.

'I have Airwolf.' Moffett replied. 'It's most definitely over.'

'Are you sure about that Moffett?' Hawke raised an eyebrow.

'I am sure that I have your crew and I have your aircraft.' Noetskot cut in.

'I don't think so.' Hawke said. 'You really think I came here unprepared for the possibility that this was a trap?'

Moffett stared at him and Hawke held his furious gaze. 'You know me, Moffett.'

'You wouldn't have left your brother.'

'I left him in 'Nam,' Hawke pointed out, 'and besides, I've had Airwolf for almost three years and the Company's had her back for quite a few months, do you honestly think that either of us haven't taken precautions to stop someone just taking over her programming especially after your little logic bomb?'

Moffett frowned and glanced at Noetskot. 'It's a bluff.'

Hawke shrugged and made a show of making himself comfortable in his chair. 'Come on, Moffett. Wasn't it just a little too easy?'

The door was flung open and a soldier charged into the room. He gabbled something in Russian to the General. The General yelled and two of the guards ran from the room.

'You lose something, Noetskot?' Hawke asked amused.

Noetskot turned to Moffett. 'Airwolf has flown away.'

'That's impossible.' Moffett limped back to his console and tapped in a series of commands. He tried again. He slammed his fist onto the console and whipped around to pin Hawke with a searing stare. 'I'm locked out.'

'Locked out.' Hawke's eyes gleamed. 'Imagine that.'

Noetskot un-holstered his side-arm and aimed it. He shot the senior guard who had accompanied Hawke into the room. 'I do not tolerate failure.'

Hawke didn't flinch as the body dropped by his side. Noetskot walked around and swinging his hand in a wild arc, slapped Hawke across the face. Hawke felt his lip split the moment before he tasted the blood. 'You had someone hiding in the aircraft.'

Hawke remained quiet.

'I will find Airwolf and if I cannot have her, I will shoot her down.' Noetskot threatened. He motioned at Moffett. 'Keep trying.' The general marched out leaving Hawke and Moffett alone with a single guard by the door.

Hawke glanced around and took in the layout of the room, planning furiously. He sprang from his chair. He dived for his gun on the desk in front of him, getting a good grasp as he slid over the sleek polished wood. He fell behind the desk in a crouch and from his position of cover shot the guard in the head before he could do more than draw a gun.

Moffett froze at his position by the computer.

'I wouldn't bother, Moffett.' Hawke said. 'Airwolf isn't yours any longer.'

'She is mine.' Moffett snarled. 'You never understood that.'

'Actually, Airwolf no longer belongs to either of us.' Hawke corrected. 'Particularly now.' He sighed. 'As much as I hate that you created her, you did and I have to give you credit, Moffett. She's incredible. She learns from every situation, adjusts based on that learning.' Hawke could see his words sinking into Moffett. 'And what she learned from you was enough to ensure she never wanted to be controlled by you again.'

Moffett slowly rose from his chair. 'Are you telling me Airwolf is self-aware?'

Hawke looked at him coldly. 'Do you really think I would have left my brother behind if I had been in control of Airwolf?'

'She took control?' Moffett's eyes were alight with pride and arrogance in his own genius.

'She spotted you breaking into her programming. She knew it was you and what that would mean so her self-preservation module kicked in and she took control.' Hawke knew he had the man's full attention. 'She did something to fool you into thinking you were into her system whilst she traced your signal and came after you.'

'Amazing.'

'Yeah.' Hawke agreed. 'It took me some time to convince her that blowing you up wasn't the answer and to return control to me.' He still couldn't believe that he had spoken to the machine and she had actually listened. It had been the most bizarre moment of his career as a pilot.

'She returned control to you. Why?' Moffett asked suspiciously. 'And why are you telling me this?'

'Because I want you to know the truth before you die; you created Airwolf but your creation doesn't want anything to do with you. She wants you dead.'

Moffett stumbled back. 'You can't kill me. The Company want me alive.' He argued.

Hawke rose to his feet and took a couple of steps around the desk to get a clear shot. 'I don't work for the Company.' He pulled the trigger. Moffett's eyes barely registered his surprise when the bullet hit him directly in the forehead. He crumpled against the electronics.

Hawke took a deep breath and walked over to the body. He checked for a pulse. None. He frowned at the cold empty eyes. He stood up and made his way quickly to the window. He didn't know how much longer he would be alone. He figured he had only a few more seconds before someone came to investigate the shots. His bound hands lifted the heavy sash awkwardly and he climbed out onto the ledge cautiously. He used his teeth to loosen the knot on the ropes binding his hands and managed to pull one hand free. He ignored the raw rope burn and started to climb up the outside of the building to the roof. Bullets hit the brick by his body and he climbed faster. His head cocked as he caught a sound; Airwolf screamed overhead. Her chain-guns spewed ammo at the shooting guards below providing him with cover to finish his climb.

He stumbled over the roof wall and saw the guard rushing toward him. Hawke kicked out and caught the man square on the chest. He flew backwards and Hawke settled it with a good old-fashioned punch to the jaw that knocked the guard unconscious. Airwolf rose up the side of the building and came to hover beside him. He ran over and climbed in. Caitlin moved back to the engineering console when he confirmed he had control.

'Moffett?' Caitlin asked.

'Dead.' Hawke said bluntly. 'I want to blow this place up before we go for Saint John and Rivers.'

'Sequential missiles ready.' Caitlin confirmed.

Hawke circled Airwolf back and targeted the building. He fired a series of missiles into the old structure and watched in satisfaction as it crumbled in front of him; the raging fire and smoke would do the rest of the damage.

'Cait, scan for a convoy of vehicles on its way here from the clinic.' Hawke kept Airwolf at low altitude flying back towards the clinic.

'Scanning.' Caitlin said. 'We're picking up a convoy; course adjustment should be on your screen now. They have one armoured car in front.'

'Ready a missile.' Hawke ordered setting them on an intercept course.

'Convoy dead ahead. Three vehicles. I'm reading two men tied up in the back of the second vehicle.'

Airwolf streaked over the convoy of vehicles and brought them to a screeching halt. Hawke took the armoured car out with a missile. Guards streamed from the rear and middle truck; they started shooting at the helicopter. Hawke triggered the chain-guns and a track of ammo slammed into the road in bursts driving the guards back away from the vehicles.

Saint John and Mike had started to untie their bonds as soon as they were left alone in the truck. They got themselves free and jumped from the back of the vehicle in time to see Airwolf lining up for another run. They crouched low to avoid the gun-fire. Hawke brought Airwolf to hover by the truck and fired another round to keep the soldiers at bay. He kept one eye on the soldiers and another on his brother and Rivers running towards the helicopter.

Rivers climbed in first and half-fell into the back of the cockpit. Saint John slammed the door shut.

'Go. Go.' Saint John said as bullets ricocheted off Airwolf's nose.

Hawke rose up and swung around. He called for the turbos and with Caitlin's quiet confirmation, they went to mach speed. He adjusted their course for a direct run back to the US.

'You guys OK?' Caitlin asked, handing Mike a bottle of water.

'Yeah.' Saint John said. 'They didn't even bother beating us up.'

'As captures go it was very disappointing.' Mike agreed taking a greedy gulp of water. 'So what happened? The last time we caught sight of Airwolf it looked as though Moffett had control of her.'

'He kinda did.' Caitlin said when Hawke didn't reply. They couldn't reveal what had actually happened without revealing the artificial intelligence.

Saint John took a sip of water and looked over at his brother. 'And?'

'And Cait hid in the missile compartment whilst I got captured.' Hawke said. 'I allowed myself to be taken to see Moffett whilst Cait flew Airwolf in to rescue me.'

'So Moffett is…?' Saint John asked tentatively.

'Dead.' Hawke confirmed with a sigh.

'You checked?' Mike asked cheekily.

Hawke shot him a dirty look.

The rest of the journey back was uneventful and they landed in the Lair with relief.

'Would you guys mind giving us a minute alone with the Lady?' Caitlin asked Saint John and Mike as they all pulled their helmets off.

The two men exchanged a look. Saint John glanced across at his brother; Hawke nodded.

Saint John patted his arm. 'We'll debrief the spies. You take your time.'

Hawke stroked a hand lovingly over the front console as the other two men made their way out of the helicopter.

Cait moved into the front passenger seat and smiled at him, her red hair floating around her shoulders in tumbled disarray. She looked around the cockpit with a smile. 'You know I never thought I'd get the chance to do this again.' She said. He looked at her questioningly. 'Fly with you in Airwolf.'

Hawke smiled and took her hand in his.

'I think we scared them a little on the flight out,' Hawke commented, not even attempting to keep the glee out of his voice, 'between my flying and your anticipating my requests before I made them.'

'They never saw you and Dom together.' Cait said wistfully.

Hawke squeezed her hand.

'You think Saint John's right about my folks?' He asked quietly. The brothers had agreed on the journey home to approach the spies separately and in private. Hawke figured he'd invite Michael over for dinner in a couple of days, raise it with the other man then.

'We won't know until we look.' Caitlin said.

Hawke nodded. 'I thought my days of searching for family were over.' He muttered with a glance toward his brother.

She smiled and leaned over to kiss him. 'You don't have to search for them alone.' She gestured towards his brother. 'Looks like you'll have some help.'

'Yeah.' Hawke felt something settle inside of him. Maybe searching for the rest of their family would bring him and his brother closer again.

'Come on. Let's get this over. I want to get home to Nicky.' Caitlin slipped out the cock-pit.

Hawke followed her eagerly. He couldn't wait to hold his son again. He closed the door and patted Airwolf lovingly. He had a feeling it wasn't goodbye just yet.