1
Dead Man Mocking
Michael's image suddenly appeared on the wall of monitors, bathing the muted space in bright light, bringing everyone to attention.
His impish smile setting deeper wrinkles into his face which had aged extensively to those who hadn't seen him in the few short years.
The crew glanced wonderingly between themselves, their expressions all equally unaware of what was going on. Even Marella was wide eyed and seemed perplexed.
"Oh, don't look so surprised," came Michael's voice, his eye's sparkling with the mischief, the way they always did when he was up to something.
He chuckled mirthlessly. "Cliché, don't you think? But what did you expect? For me to leave without a final word?"
He paused for a moment, looking down the lens as if he were assessing everyone individually.
"Not a chance."
Only Marella knew how her partner died. At least she thought she knew.
That was about to change.
"So this is the bit where I say, If you're watching this video, I didn't die the way you think I died… and that's probably true, but a moot point in any case because dead is dead."
There was a long pause where Michael likely expected all the things that would happen in the room actually did. There was an eruption of aghast emotion that varied from Marella's ridged silence to quiet astonishment to veiled anger while the group processed and commented on who what and why.
They started to settle down, when Branson gently shushed the room.
"So, I'd wager you're asking the million dollar question - who dun it?"
Michael shrugged "Could be anyone who has a vested interest in bringing our country to its knees, retiring was always going to put a target on my back, because agents don't ever retire in the strictest sense of the word… we all know way too much."
Especially when they know you're talking to the enemy." He finished, his eagle like eye looking over the rim of his glasses.
"Well, I thought that I actually had retired after handing off our last operation, but…."
Michael shrugged, looking guilty about something and shook his head as if he regretted the path he'd taken.
He drew a deep breath. "I was approached by Project Guardian regarding what turned out to be a connection to a personal matter.
"If it hadn't been for that, I wouldn't have touched it with a barge pole, but I couldn't refuse.
"And I knew that it could lead to a whole world of potential trouble that could destroy me six ways from Sunday.
"So, I kept it to myself." He said sheepishly.
Michael's comments were mostly directed at Marella, her grief was compounded by his confessions and while it may have been the life of a secret agent, it didn't make it any easier when a partner was left out of the loop.
Her jaw was tense, so Cait took the opportunity to reach out and take her hand to squeeze it in a show of solidarity.
While Marella's tension didn't subside, she did squeeze the other woman's hand in acknowledgement.
Michael pushed his glasses up his nose with a gnarly hand.
"Anywho…. Getting back to the why's and wherefores.
"We all know where all this started and some of us know that there was a similar venture, well before Airwolf."
"Project Proteus" Marella said, speaking for the first time.
"Project Proteus was the first helicopter project that Moffet had been enlisted to. It was a budget blowout and not well received.
Moffet never got over that and what he thought was a wasted decade of work.
"I first met him in the early eighties when I was promoted to Deputy. We became well acquainted while on Project Airwolf. I only found out why the man was so keen to befriend me when it was too late and at the time I just chalked it down to the best man on the day…." He said, his voice drifting away.
He withdrew from the direct conversation, his eye glazing over and his mind going back in time as he reminisced.
He spoke about a woman he was seeing at the time, an up-and-coming actress, who he'd met during the start of the Reagan campaign in '79. Her mother knew the man in his acting days and were friends of the family.
Michael and Adeline hit it off right away and it wasn't long after, that they became more serious. There was talk of marriage and children until Moffet caught wind of the striking blonde.
With both Michael's career establishing and Adelines taking off, they two grew apart in their absences, Michael missing all the signs until it was right in his face. There was nothing he could to do convince Adeline to reconsider, she had fallen for a flyboy scientist who stimulated her in every way he did not.
Charles enjoyed Michael's pain as he paraded the prize at high level events, and six months into their relationship, it became apparent that Adeline was with child.
Charles took her on a trip to the Caribbean and it wasn't until the FIRM was ready to sell the Airwolf Project to the DOD, that he came back to iron out any bugs in the system and help put together the theatrical demonstration.
When he did come back, he came back without Adeline.
Moffet was dismissive when people asked about the woman he'd left with, he simply shrugged it off saying that he'd lost interest and moved on.
One day at the FIRM's bar, Michael was compelled to ask Charles about the baby, and he responded by blowing cigar smoke in Michael's direction before smirking and said, "If I told you Michael, I'd have to kill you."
Of course, those words almost became prophetic on that fateful day when Moffet went off script, by destroying Red Star Control and taking Airwolf to Libya.
Even though Moffet had been dispatched by String, his ghost had continued to haunt both the machine and all those associated with her for years to come and it was only when Saint John took The Lady the final time and Michael was kept busy on other projects, that the perverted Dr Moffet was for the most part finally out of mind.
Until Project Guardian
Michael always knew the alphabet agencies had an element of corruption. That's what power did.
He wanted to do good. And he wasn't just good, he was great. He was efficient and he may have done his job a little too well having been a thorn in their foot many-a-time – especially when Airwolf was concerned.
That was probably why he never made it to the SES level beyond the FIRM.
With the benefit of hindsight, he was more than happy that he'd always slept with one eye open and kept his nose clean enough to be able to leave when he did without anything hanging over him but a few loose ends.
In the few short years since he and the Santini Crew had completed their last mission. There had often been talk within the family regarding the black chopper – but then, when had there ever been a time that the thought of The Lady hadn't crossed the mind of anyone who had interacted with her?
They knew that it wasn't safe that she just be hidden in one place. And while she would not return home to the Lair, She wouldn't be stored at sea, on the RV Dolphin to rot away either.
So, the crew decided that Airwolf would be disassembled and stored in separate locations but as always, hidden almost in plain sight.
Her Frame was stored in a barn on a ranch owned by Branson, just outside of Victorville, her engines were at Santini Air, the remaining weapons underground, with Project Guardian, and her brain was in Le's possession.
It was time to throw the old girl together, it was time for a new adventure as their country suffered under the weight of their current Administration.
"And here is where we come to that part where the senior agent introduces your new mission if you choose to accept it," Michael said with a wry smile.
The Mourners shifted with anticipation, some eyeing one another with questioning glances and internally bracing themselves for Michael usual twist to events.
Michael's image shook his head, "I warned them," he said.
"I warned them that if anything happened to me that I had a dead man switch."
He sighed and said " I apologize in advance, but ya'll may want to see what's in the box."
"Bastard" was the last thing Marella said from between tight lips before the screen went black, leaving the room in darkness.
