The loud thud as the wrench hit the worktable resounded across the Santini Air hangar and caught the attention of the two pilots working industriously on the far side. Caitlin Hawke was oblivious to the amused look Jo Santini and Major Mike Rivers exchanged; her attention was on the rather one-sided telephone conversation she was enduring with her mother. The wrench met the worktable again as Caitlin rolled her blue-green eyes, looked heavenward and prayed for patience.

'Mom…' she tried to cut into the stream of dialogue and let out a short frustrated breath when her mother continued talking. 'Mom.' Something in her tone must have finally broken through to her parent because there was a sudden silence on the other end.

Caitlin took a deep breath. 'Look, I know how you feel about none of the family being included as godparents; I do. I get it but Hawke and I have made our decision and I wish you'd respect that.' She sighed. 'Look, I have to go. I'll see you on Saturday at the airport.'

She bit her lip as her mother responded in a clearly upset voice and there was a hurried goodbye before Caitlin disconnected the phone and threw it on the workbench with a disgusted scowl.

'Problems?' Jo wiped her hands on a rag as she approached the other woman a little cautiously. Caitlin had a temper to go with her red hair and at that moment, the temper was playing across her delicate features like a warning.

'No. Yes.' Caitlin rubbed her forehead absently, leaving a streak of grease across the freckles. 'Mom's still complaining about our choice for Nicky's godparents.'

'Ah.' Jo smiled sympathetically. Caitlin and her husband, Stringfellow Hawke, had chosen Hawke's brother, Saint John, as godfather, and their good friend Marella Chappelier as godmother for their son, Nicky. Jo had felt a tiny dart of jealousy which she ruthlessly smothered. She might have grown up with the Hawke brothers when she had lived with her uncle Dominic for a while as a teenager but time and distance had made that connection a dim memory and her own friendship with the couple at the time of Nicky's birth had been embryonic at best. She might have been disappointed not to have been considered as a godmother but she hadn't really expected to be offered the role. Of course, Caitlin's family had probably entertained different expectations.

'I thought your brothers and sisters seemed fine with the decision when we talked about it at your wedding anniversary a couple of months ago.' Jo said perching on the workbench as Caitlin leaned back against the chopper she had been working on before she'd taken the call.

'They were.' Caitlin sighed and crossed her arms. Hawke had surprised her by arranging for a renewal of their wedding vows complete with family and friends present on their first wedding anniversary and Caitlin had happily delayed the christening on the basis that it was too soon for her family to travel again from Texas but she couldn't continue to delay it indefinitely and they had finally decided on the weekend. It was rapidly approaching like a runaway freight train. She rubbed the back of her neck which had seized up with tension. 'I'm going to kill Hawke.'

'He gave you up, huh?' Jo said grinning.

'He didn't have to tell her where I was.' Caitlin grumbled although she didn't really blame Hawke. She hadn't explicitly told him not to tell her mother she was helping out at Santini Air. 'It was my own fault. I should have told him to cover for me.' She admitted.

'Well, if she calls again, I'll tell her you're out on a lesson or something.' Jo commiserated.

'Thanks.' Caitlin smiled at the petite blonde pilot gratefully.

'Hey, it's the least I can do after all the help you've given me on your day off.' Jo glanced around at the hangar and waved at the helicopters. 'There's no way we could have turned around all these without your help.'

'My pleasure.' Caitlin said warmly. It had been great to spend the day at Santini Air. Her eyes flitted around the wide space and she hugged herself unconsciously. She half-expected to see Jo's late uncle, Dominic Santini, barrel in from the office complaining about film directors and clients that didn't pay. She yanked her thoughts back to the present and met Jo's curious blue eyes firmly. 'Dom would have been proud of you.'

Jo flushed at the praise. 'I still can't believe Hawke just signed this place over to me.' The airfield and service had been ostensibly left to Hawke following Dom's death the year before in an explosion.

Caitlin shrugged. 'We're both gainfully employed and besides, I think Dom would have been pleased with the decision.' Truthfully, Caitlin couldn't see her husband ever returning to the airfield to work. He still experienced nightmares about the explosion that had killed Dom despite the time that had passed. It hadn't gone unnoticed by her that he avoided the Van Nuys airfield whenever possible; another reason why she had volunteered to help out rather than Hawke when Jo had visited their cabin a couple of nights previously to ask them. 'You get any busier and you're going to have to take on another pilot.' She commented.

Jo grimaced and nodded. 'I know.' She sighed, her blue eyes flickering to Mike who was walking over with three mugs of coffee balanced in his hands.

'Ladies.' Mike offered Caitlin the first and only unchipped mug before handing the second to Jo and keeping the third for himself. He hopped up on the workbench to sit by Jo. His green eyes twinkled at them both flirtatiously as they offered their thanks for the drink. 'So what are we talking about? Boys? Make-up? Babies?' His irreverent tone had them groaning in mock annoyance even as they smiled.

Jo slapped his arm with enough force that he rubbed it a little ruefully. 'We're talking about the business.'

Mike smiled. 'I stand corrected.' He looked around at the hangar and sighed. 'It's definitely taken off the last couple of weeks.'

'Yeah.' Jo frowned. 'Well, I guess that's because I've finally got the time to concentrate on it with Airwolf grounded.'

Caitlin swallowed the slightly weak coffee hastily at the mention of the technologically advanced helicopter that Hawke had kept and flown in exchange for the FIRM, the intelligence agency who had built her searching for Saint John. Jason Locke had assumed charge of the Airwolf file when the Company had taken over the FIRM. Shortly after his appointment, the explosion had happened and Caitlin had agreed to let Airwolf be returned to the Company in order to forestall them searching for either herself or Hawke who'd been badly injured. Locke had surprised them by keeping the same set-up; the new team remained small consisting only of Locke, Mike, Jo and Saint John; Airwolf was still kept hidden at the Lair and its location in the Valley of the Gods remained a secret from the Company allowing Locke's team to operate with a little more independence than if the intelligence agency had complete control. It seemed the lack of control had led to the current situation; Locke had been told to report to Washington for a review of operations and Airwolf was grounded until it completed. 'Have you guys heard anything more from Locke?' She asked.

Jo shook her head. 'He's still in Washington. They've been questioning him for days now.'

'It's only been five days.' Mike contradicted her happily before he took a gulp of his drink.

'Five days is a long time.' Jo said anxiously.

'I'm sure you guys have nothing to worry about.' Caitlin said reassuringly.

'I don't recall any of your missions quite going as pear-shaped as some of ours.' Mike commented wryly.

'Well, you've only read the official mission reports.' Caitlin said smiling. 'We made our share of mistakes.'

'I think they're worried about how often the Lair and Locke have been compromised recently.' Jo noted wrapping her hands around her mug and taking comfort in the warmth that seeped through the ceramic.

'I know you guys have had a couple of bad missions lately…' Caitlin began.

'A couple?' Jo laughed. 'Between the time you got held hostage in the Lair with us and our last mission, we've almost been captured again when the guys went fishing, Locke got brainwashed, the Lair got discovered by an evil robot,' she took a breath, 'there was that whole thing with my Dad and let's not get started on the last mission.' She shifted on the workbench. 'How is Saint John doing?'

Caitlin gestured with her mug. 'You saw him the other night when you were over.'

'He's taken Mickey's death pretty hard.' Mike commented.

Saint John had met up with his old childhood sweetheart only to have it revealed that she had been using him to help her cover up a drug-related murder of her husband who had also been a high school friend of Saint John. The ending had been even more tragic; Mickey had committed suicide.

Caitlin nodded at Mike's words. Saint John had taken the death hard. He'd initially seemed fine, shrugging off any attempt to offer condolences and sympathy but a week before he had travelled back to Paradise Island to visit his friends' graves and he'd arrived back in bad shape. He had turned up at the cabin looking like a shattered man. Hawke had let his brother in and told him he could stay as long as he liked. A week later, Saint John showed no signs of emerging from his cocoon of silence. The only time he seemed to pull himself out of it was when he spent time with the baby. She was hoping that by leaving Hawke and his brother alone for the day, they would have a chance to talk and Saint John would start to move past his grief.

'He barely spoke with us.' Jo said sadly.

'He'll come around.' Mike placed a comforting hand on her knee. 'He just needs some time.'

'Mike's right.' Caitlin said softly.

Jo sighed but nodded. She slapped Mike's chest. 'Come on. We should get back to work.' She jumped down from the workbench and headed back over to the helicopter she and Mike were overhauling.

Mike rolled his eyes and mouthed the word 'slave driver' behind Jo's back as he followed her across the hangar.

'I saw that!' Jo yelled over her shoulder.

Mike winked back at Caitlin who smiled at him amused at their antics. She shook her head and turned her attention back to the chopper in front of her. She set the mug down, picked up the wrench and headed up the ladder to work on the stubborn bolt that had eluded her previous efforts at budging it. The position gave her a good view of the couple on the other side of the hangar.

They made a nice looking pair, Caitlin thought idly, pushing her hair out of her eyes as she leaned over the machine avoiding the rotor blades above her. Jo was a pretty blonde. The no-nonsense ponytail and the shapeless outfit of the blue flight overalls didn't detract from the overall impression of 'cute' although the fierce intelligence and strength of purpose shining from her blue eyes did. Caitlin looked down ruefully at her own boyish figure in the same outfit and sighed a little enviously.

Mike made a good match physically for Jo; just slightly taller; nice physique, gorgeous eyes, cute smile and a mane of unruly golden hair, not to mention the oodles of charm. However, as good as Jo and Mike looked together and however much they flirted with each other, Caitlin was certain that the couple were simply friends and nothing more.

She figured Jo's romantic aspirations lay elsewhere, specifically with Saint John. Jo had once confided in Caitlin that she'd had a crush on the older Hawke brother when they had been teenagers. Caitlin figured that some of those old feelings for Saint John had come back since the two of them had been reunited as adults. On the other hand, Caitlin had no idea how Saint John felt about Jo. For all his laid-back nature and easy-going personality, her brother-in-law was just as adept as her husband at keeping his emotions well hidden. She'd learned to read Hawke but Saint John remained something of an enigma. She could see that he cared about Jo, loved her even, but it was difficult to determine whether his feelings were brotherly or those of a man falling in love with a woman. She bit her lip thoughtfully. Maybe she should invite Jo for dinner; try a little subtle matchmaking. She pulled a face. Given Saint John's current frame of mind maybe that wasn't a good idea. She rubbed her nose and continued to wrestle with the bolt.

Hopefully, she mused as she concentrated on her task, Hawke had managed to talk with Saint John and hopefully, Saint John would appreciate the effort even if Hawke was unsuccessful. She grimaced. The brothers were slowly rebuilding their relationship but they were some way off their former closeness. Saint John had made every apology he could since his return and Hawke was making every effort to put it behind them but the sixteen year gap was difficult to bridge. They were trying though, Caitlin thought determinedly. Both brothers were enamoured of the latest addition to the family and Nicky was helping them to form new bonds. There was also another more remarkable family issue that was also helping them find their way back to each other; they had discovered their parents had not died in a boating accident as they had previously believed.

The boating accident was supposed to have been a set up to allow Alan and Jane Hawke, and their sons, to enter witness protection after Alan had brought his father's killers, Angelo Cordelli and Edward Sallis, to justice. But the storm that they had intended to use as an excuse had swept in early and sent Hawke and his brother overboard. The FBI had told the Hawkes that their sons had died and they had continued into witness protection. Unfortunately, it seemed that the protection had been brief; an attempt on their lives had caused the Hawkes to run and the FBI file remained blank on their current whereabouts.

It had revealed that Jane Hawke had given birth to a baby daughter just before the attempt. Caitlin, Jo and Marella had also found other information that the Hawkes had gone on to have not only a daughter but another son; a brother and sister for Hawke and Saint John. Hawke and Saint John had reacted to the news of their siblings initially with surprise and delight, and they had been immensely disappointed that the slim lead on their sister hadn't worked out.

Caitlin wondered how long their delight would last around the reality of two more siblings and their parents. It was going to be tough for the brothers to accept that their siblings had grown up with the love of their parents that they had lost; hard too for the other brother and sister to suddenly come to terms with two older brothers competing for their parents' attention, love and support. Caitlin loved her family but being one of five had taught her nothing if not to be wary of how quickly tension could develop without warning and it wasn't as though there wasn't tension between the two brothers already.

Caitlin sighed. She knew some of the tension was down to Airwolf. Saint John was effectively the commander of the new crew for the helicopter and she knew Hawke hated that Airwolf was no longer in his control. Hawke's new job did allay that to some degree; the former contact for the Airwolf file, Michael Coldsmith-Briggs III had offered Hawke and Caitlin roles as test pilots on his new project which was building the next generation of Airwolf. The new helicopter was sleeker, faster and deadlier than the original and it had one key advantage; Airwolf's artificial intelligence.

Caitlin's mouth screwed up in an unhappy frown. As much as she hated to admit it, Airwolf's creator, Charles Moffett had been a genius; an evil genius who was happily dead but a genius all the same. The original machine had been imbued with one of the most sophisticated computer programmes of the time, one that had been designed for Airwolf to develop intelligence and she had. When Caitlin had returned the original helicopter to the Company, she had already arranged for the intelligence to be transferred to the new ship. Somehow though Airwolf had developed a way of transferring back and forth herself and nobody minded too much; if Hawke was flying, Airwolf always flew with him wherever he was.

Of course, Saint John and the rest of his team had no idea the new Airwolf existed, or about the artificial intelligence, or about the exact nature of Michael's project; the whole thing was classified. It was something that drove Saint John nuts already and when the truth was revealed…Caitlin sighed deeply. It didn't help that Saint John didn't trust Michael despite the close friendship the spy had developed with Hawke; or maybe because of it, she mused. Saint John and Michael had apparently come to an uneasy truce when working together to save Hawke's life and Caitlin only hoped when Saint John found out about all the secrets they had kept from him that it didn't ruin that especially as he would be godparent to the same baby as Michael's fiancée, Marella.

Which brought her mind careening back to the christening.

Caitlin grimaced. She wasn't looking forward to the event. She had always had an abrasive relationship with her mother. Nothing Caitlin had done in her life ever seemed good enough for her mother and she was constantly being compared to her older sister, Erin, who her mother regularly held up as a shining example of everything Caitlin was not. Things had got a little better around the time Caitlin had married Hawke but since Nicky's birth, relations had gradually deteriorated again.

The sound of a taxi pulling up in front of the hangar caught Caitlin's attention and she made to get down from the ladder before Jo waved her to stay put and went out to greet the new customer. Caitlin's thoughts drifted back to the christening and she pulled a face. She did feel a little guilty that one of her brothers or sisters wasn't going to be a godparent but Marella had been a good friend to them. She already was Nicky's godmother in every way that counted. Caitlin sighed again heavily. She knew Brian and Callum, her brothers, and her younger sister Fiona didn't seem bothered; Erin, on the other hand…Caitlin bit her lip. She knew Erin had expected to be godmother; Caitlin was godmother to Erin's daughter.

A voice caught her attention by the hangar door and Caitlin frowned. She could have sworn it sounded like Erin. She looked up as the chatter of voices came closer as Jo re-entered the hangar with another woman. Caitlin began to smile; it was Erin. She quickly clambered down the ladder and headed over to envelope her sister in a hug.

'Hey.' Caitlin stepped back and took in Erin's perfect hair, make-up and clothing despite her hours of travelling and with a young toddler in tow. She stooped and picked up her niece cuddling her close happily.

'Surprise!' Erin's Texan drawl rolled over her and Caitlin grinned back at her.

'Not that I'm not pleased to see y'all,' Caitlin said falling back into the cadence of her native State with ease, 'but what are you doing here?'

Erin adjusted the strap of the leather handbag on her shoulder. 'I thought I'd come a few days early.'

'No problem.' Caitlin said easily. Her eyes narrowed on Erin's. 'What's wrong?'

'Nothing's wrong.' Erin denied immediately.

Caitlin gave her a knowing look.

Erin sighed. 'I've kinda left my husband.' Her gaze took in Caitlin's shock. 'My marriage is over.'