'So you have to test this electronics panel to rule it out before you start on the starter engine switch itself.' Caitlin tapped the panel in question with a screwdriver. She felt comfortable even wedged under the console; Airwolf always felt like home to her and the lilac flight suit added to the sense of familiarity. 'You can see the wires are loose?'

Jo nodded and brushed her blonde fringe back to get a better look as Caitlin tightened the tiny screws that held the wires in place. 'Why would they loosen like that?'

'High speed manoeuvres.' Caitlin murmured. 'You should be checking these three panels,' she gestured at them, 'during your regular maintenance checks.'

'Right,' said Jo wondering whether she should mention they didn't really do regular maintenance checks. She sighed. She guessed they were going to be doing them from this point forward.

'So you can see I've just tightened the loose wires.' Caitlin replaced the panel. 'That should do it.' She wiggled backwards out from under the engineer's console.

Jo followed her and took position on the jump seat as Caitlin tested her work by punching the start button. The engines fired and they heard the thud of the rotors in the bubble of the cockpit.

Caitlin smiled in satisfaction as she watched the system information flicker across the monitor. Her smile fell away and she frowned.

'Didn't it work?' Jo asked.

'It worked but your rotor power systems are out of alignment. In fact, half of the systems are out of synch.' Caitlin muttered. She adjusted the balance and inputted in the commands to readjust the power ratio. 'You guys do perform regular maintenance checks, don't you?'

'Well…' Jo sighed as Caitlin's eyes shot to hers. 'Not exactly.'

'Jo!' Caitlin motioned at the monitor. 'These systems are temperamental and sensitive. They need constant maintenance. Just looking at this, half of what I corrected before the mission to Russia is back out of whack.' She shook her head. Dom was probably rolling over in his grave at the state of the helicopter, she thought sadly; the older pilot had been a top engineer and he had taken great pride in maintaining Airwolf.

'We just don't know half this stuff.' Jo said defensively. 'I mean you never taught me and the guys don't even have what you did teach me.'

Caitlin pressed her lips together. Jo was right. There had barely been time to teach Jo the basics before they'd had to hand Airwolf over. She sighed. 'Well, listen up because I'm about to give you a master class.'

For the next hour, Caitlin took Jo through the Airwolf systems showing her how to maintain them. They were in the middle of going through the turbo power ratios when Mike Rivers stuck his curly, blond head into the cockpit.

'Ladies.' His boyish face lit up with a cheeky smile that made it all the way to his green eyes.

Caitlin felt a smile tug on her lips. Rivers was an irrepressible flirt. 'Mike.'

'Lunch is served.' Mike said with a grin.

Jo rolled her blue eyes and made her way out of the cockpit. Caitlin followed her out. Her eyes immediately picked out her brother-in-law on the other side of the Lair. Saint John was sat cross-legged on the floor of the steel platform which housed a number of computer, security and communication systems. He was waving a soft toy at his nephew who was lying on a blanket. Nicky's tiny arms were reaching up for the stuffed animal. Caitlin wandered over and leaned on the yellow railing to look fondly at them both.

'Having fun?' Her Texan accent rolled through the words.

Saint John's hazel eyes glanced up at his sister-in-law and he smiled ruefully. 'He woke up.'

'Yeah, your brother uses the same excuse with me.' Caitlin said smiling. 'I don't believe him either.'

Saint John looked properly abashed and Jo hid a smile as she took a drink of water. There weren't that many people who could chastise Saint John and get away with it.

Mike hurried over with a plate of sandwiches to rescue his team-mate. 'For your pleasure today, madam, we have cheese sandwiches or,' he smiled, 'cheese sandwiches.'

Caitlin laughed. 'I guess it's a cheese sandwich then.' She picked up her share, accepted the bottle of water Jo offered her and wandered up the ramp to perch on one of the consoles with her lunch. She took a hungry bite.

'So how are the systems looking?' Saint John asked pushing a hand through his short light brown hair as he picked up his own lunch.

'We'll finish resetting the turbos systems after lunch and she should be all fixed up for the time being.' Caitlin said. 'I'll come back next week and take Jo through the rest of the systems. And I'll put together a maintenance checklist for you that should help.'

'How did you learn all this stuff?' Mike asked curiously.

'Dominic.' Caitlin said softly. 'He knew her inside out.'

'Uncle Dom always made sure his aircraft were in top condition.' Saint John remembered fondly.

'He'd be horrified at the way we've been treating her, huh?' Jo said guiltily.

'Well, you weren't to know.' Caitlin said diplomatically.

'How did you get involved with Airwolf?' Mike asked as he climbed up onto the yellow railing with his lunch.

Caitlin swallowed her mouthful of sandwich and waved the rest at the air force major. 'Do you mean how did I meet Hawke or how did I get involved with Airwolf?'

'It's not the same story?' Mike asked.

'Oh no.' Jo grinned. 'You should tell him how you got involved with Airwolf. I like that story.'

'I don't think I've heard that story either at least not fully,' Saint John mused, 'I think you've only ever told me how you met my brother.'

'I don't tell it as good as Dom did.' Caitlin warned.

'Well, Uncle Dom did have a talent for telling stories.' Jo said leaning back in her chair. 'But I'm sure you'll do fine.'

Caitlin chewed another mouthful of sandwich and washed it down with some water before she started. 'I guess it began when Dom and Hawke got injured doing a stunt for a movie.'

'I heard they did a lot of movie stunts.' Mike commented. 'They were considered best in the business, weren't they?'

'I'd love to get that side of Santini Air up and running again.' Jo said wishfully.

Caitlin gestured at her. 'I'm sure Hawke and I could give you some contacts.'

'So my brother and Dom were injured doing a stunt.' Saint John prompted.

'Yeah. They were both laid up in hospital, Dom with a sprained back and Hawke with a broken arm. They were pretty banged up.' Caitlin's sight turned inwards as she remembered the hospital room. She smiled. 'They still managed to laugh about the accident though. Anyway, I was visiting when Marella turned up. I thought she was a doctor.'

'You didn't know her?' Saint John asked surprised.

'No.' Caitlin shook her head. 'I'd only been working with the guys at the air service for about a month.'

'But you knew about Airwolf?' Mike checked licking his fingers.

Caitlin nodded. 'Sure. Hawke rescued me in Airwolf when we met.'

'The way my brother tells the story, you rescued him.' Saint John said picking Nicky up and cradling him as he started to fuss.

'We kinda rescued each other.' Caitlin waved her hand. 'Anyway, I knew about Airwolf but Hawke and Dom kept telling me that she was a figment of my imagination.' She took a sip of water. 'They wanted to keep me out of it, keep me safe.'

'Which is why you didn't know Marella when she turned up at the hospital.' Mike gently drew her back to the story.

'Exactly.' She pointed the water bottle at him. 'Well, Marella showed up to tell the guys Michael had gone missing in East Germany.'

'He goes missing a lot.' Saint John commented wryly.

'He was a spy for a long time,' Caitlin said in Michael's defence, 'and his experience in East Germany…it was particularly nasty.' She crossed her arms. 'He got played by someone he thought he could trust. They arranged for him to be kidnapped and brainwashed with a new serum.'

'Brainwashed?' Saint John repeated patting Nicky's back softly. 'To do what?'

'To kill the Committee that ran the FIRM.' Caitlin said. 'The team that took him counted on Hawke going after Michael and rescuing him.'

'Which Hawke did.' Mike surmised.

'But he and Dom were injured.' Saint John said puzzled.

'Which is where I came in.' Caitlin said. 'Marella was under surveillance so she couldn't help. There was no way that Dom could manage the engineering console in Airwolf although Hawke could just about fly her.'

'But they needed someone on the engineer's console going into enemy territory.' Jo chipped in.

'They knew I knew about Airwolf despite all the teasing and Hawke trusted me.' The pride she had felt back when Hawke had asked her to help was still evident in her voice. 'So I got recruited but it was only supposed to be a one-off. Dom came with us because he had to train me on the job.' She shook her head. 'I was so naïve. Absolutely clueless about what I was getting into.'

'But the mission was successful.' Mike said.

'Of course but then the bad guys wanted us to be successful.' Caitlin smiled. 'Even so, that first mission. It was incredible and when I managed to pull it together for the rescue, I was so proud of myself.' She sighed. 'By the time we got back, Hawke had worked out that the rescue was too easy. He managed to load Michael's gun with blanks so when Michael attempted to kill the Committee, he wasn't successful.'

'The brainwashing serum worked?' Mike whistled. 'Wow. That must have been some dangerous stuff.'

'Yeah, that was the general opinion.' Caitlin gestured. 'The FIRM sent us back to retrieve the serum and the formula. They wanted to ensure the East Germans and the KGB wouldn't have access to it.'

'Understandable.' Saint John said. He'd worked with the Company long enough to appreciate how the spy business worked.

Caitlin nodded. 'So we went back and I got to be part of the mission again as Dom wasn't recovered, and both Hawke and Michael were needed to go in and get the serum.' She sighed. 'It was rough for Michael going back but we got everything and got out.'

'And from that moment on you were part of the crew.' Mike concluded.

Caitlin laughed. 'Hardly.' She pointed her water bottle at Airwolf. 'I was sat at the engineer's console on the way back and happened to mention that we should talk about the next mission. Michael asks me 'what mission?', so I say, 'oh you know; the next mission you assign them to do in this helicopter.'' She shook her head smiling. 'All three of them in unison went 'what helicopter?''

Mike started chuckling as Jo giggled and Saint John broke into a smile. Caitlin smiled ruefully. 'Hawke and Dom made it clear when we got home that my involvement was a one-off, never to be repeated experience.'

'So how…' began Mike perplexed.

'I'm not sure.' Caitlin admitted. 'They seemed to be determined to stick to it and then…' her eyes flickered to Saint John, 'Hawke received some information that you might be in a prison camp in Laos.' She bit her lip at the sight of the pain that flitted across her brother-in-law's face; Saint John was slowly coming to terms with the fact that his lack of contact with his brother had condemned Hawke to sixteen years of searching for him. 'He and Dom went to find you which obviously they didn't.' She continued. 'When they got back, Hawke told me he was taking me for a drive. He brought me out here.' She gestured at the cave. 'It was the first time he'd allowed me to see where Airwolf was kept. He took me up and started to teach me how to fly her. The next day, Dom brought me out for my next lesson.'

'Why?' Mike asked frowning. 'Why did they suddenly decide to include you?'

'Hawke's never really explained why he had the change of heart and I've never asked.' Caitlin admitted with a shrug. 'If I had to guess I think Laos convinced them that it might have been useful to have a third pilot especially when one of the team was on the ground.'

'You've never asked?' Jo was astounded. 'Really?'

'Really.' Caitlin confirmed. She shifted her weight and looked over at the other woman, tried not to think about how her words were going to affect Saint John. 'Whatever happened in Laos was rough on Hawke. I didn't want to make it worse for him by raking through the ashes of it.'

Mike noticed Saint John's bowed head and the way his friend's hand tightened on the baby's toy he held. He cleared his throat. 'So you started to get trained and became the third crewmember.'

'Over time.' Caitlin said her eyes switching to the young pilot. 'At first, I would help out if Dom was unavailable or if they thought it was good practice for me. They didn't tell Michael so mostly they invited me along if it wasn't an official mission.'

'But Michael obviously knew you knew about Airwolf.' Mike said confused. 'Why keep you a secret?'

'Michael knew I knew about Airwolf and knew I could operate the engineer's console if Dom wasn't around, but he didn't know they'd taught me to fly Airwolf.'

'Why not?' Mike asked.

Caitlin took a drink of water before replying. 'The relationship we have with Michael took a long time to build.' She explained. 'At the time, we still had some trust issues and the guys knew the longer they kept the fact that I could fly Airwolf a secret, the longer they had an advantage they could use.'

'So you guys didn't trust Michael back then?' Saint John placed the sleeping baby back into his carrier.

'Back then.' Caitlin stressed. She knew Saint John wasn't overly fond of the spy.

'What changed?' Mike asked curious. His own team had endured its own share of trust issues and he was interested to understand how the old Airwolf team had gotten past theirs.

'Michael.' Caitlin said with a smile. 'And us.' She gestured. 'Time.'

'What do you mean Michael changed?' Saint John queried rising to his feet and stretching before leaning back on the railing next to Mike.

His sister-in-law sighed at Saint John's tone. 'When I first met Michael he had a very clearly defined loyalty hierarchy; America, the FIRM and then his personal relationships.' She gestured. 'Michael always acted honourably,' she stressed, 'but within those boundaries.'

'And now?' Saint John prompted.

'The FIRM no longer exists.' She shifted a little uncomfortable with the discussion. 'I don't think Michael feels the same way about the Company. I think he feels more able to put some personal relationships ahead of his loyalty to the Company and his relationship with Hawke is one of those.'

'You're that certain of him?' Saint John questioned folding his arms across his chest. He had his doubts about the spy although helping Hawke rescue Michael in Washington and Michael's attempt to help foster a better relationship between them had helped to change his initial negative impression a little.

'It takes time to earn trust,' Caitlin said, 'and we spent the time together as a team. I can't tell you the exact number of times Michael has come through for us or us for Michael; all I know is that I know if I had to count on Michael to come through for me right now, I know without question that he would do it.'

Saint John repressed a sigh at the certainty in her voice. 'How's he doing with his bit of the search for our folks? Is there any news?'

Caitlin took another gulp of water. Hawke and Saint John had come to the conclusion that their parents might be alive and in witness protection after an encounter with a veteran Japanese pilot intent on revenge. 'He got slightly sidetracked in Washington with getting kidnapped by Terrence,' she admitted, 'but his contact is confident of getting the details of your parents' file to him soon.'

'What's taking so long?' Saint John asked impatiently.

Caitlin looked at him exasperated. 'Saint John, Michael's contact is stealing a federal document. If he gets caught it means prison and he's doing this as a personal favour to Michael. Have some patience.'

Saint John had the grace to look a little ashamed. 'Sorry. It's just…it's been a month since we realised our parents might be alive and it feels like we haven't gotten anywhere.'

His sister-in-law looked across the platform at him sympathetically. 'I know but we've gone over the coastguard reports, Dom's old file; there's just nothing there to provide a hint and the agent in charge of your grandfather's case has disappeared without a trace.'

'That seems suspicious to me.' Mike commented.

'Do you think it was the Cordelli's?' Jo mused. 'Or the guy who grabbed Uncle Dom?'

'Edward Sallis?' Caitlin sighed. 'As much as I hate to say it, maybe. Sallis didn't get anything out of Dom so he might have thought Dawson would know something.' She stooped to check on Nicky for a moment. 'How are you guys coming with tracking down the information on Yahara?'

'Not good.' Jo answered. 'We've got a lot of information on Yahara but little on how he got his information about Alan Hawke.'

'What about Jason's intelligence connections?' Caitlin asked rising. 'Haven't they come up with anything?'

'Nothing so far.' Saint John admitted unhappily.

Caitlin frowned. 'Where is Jason anyway?'

'He's on an assignment in France.' Mike explained. 'He left about a week ago.'

'Airwolf is only part of what he does for the Company.' Jo explained.

Caitlin raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything. Michael had worked on more than Airwolf when he had been their contact but then he hadn't exactly been a permanent member of the flight crew. It wasn't any of her business, she told herself firmly. She gestured at Airwolf with her water bottle. 'Shall we get back to it?' She asked Jo.

Jo nodded and got up from her chair. 'You go ahead. I just want to call the airfield and check in with Everett.'

'Sure.' Caitlin made her way back to the helicopter climbing into the familiar cockpit happily closing the door behind her. She glanced back at the platform where Saint John had returned to playing with Nicky and Mike was clearing up the remnants of their lunch. She smiled and slipped into the engineer's chair. She was so focused on the monitor that it was only Mike's startled yell that got her attention. She glanced up; a jeep came to a screeching halt in the Lair and men dressed in black were jumping out with guns to surround the Airwolf team on the platform before they could do anything. Her eyes widened momentarily before she ducked down behind the console.

Saint John picked up Nicky protectively and held his nephew closely as one of the men motioned with his gun for them to get off the platform.

'Over there.' The dark haired man directed. 'Be sensible. Do exactly what we tell you and nobody will get hurt.'

'Why don't I believe you?' Saint John bit out rubbing Nicky's back.

The dark haired man who had spoken scowled at him. 'You'd be wise to keep your mouth shut if you don't want anything to happen to the kid.' He turned to a blond haired guy. 'Check the machine out.'

Saint John exchanged a resigned look with Jo. It looked like Caitlin would be discovered too. He sighed as the man opened up the cockpit and climbed inside. A moment later he reappeared. Alone.

'No one there, boss.'

Saint John shot a questioning look at Mike and Jo who looked back at him just as perplexed. Where was Caitlin?