The sound of giggling coming from the office was the first thing Mike heard when he entered the hangar. He grimaced a little and hoped he wasn't interrupting something; it had been bad enough almost walking in on Jo and Saint John in the shower that morning in the apartment he shared with the other man. Jo had stunned them all by planting a kiss on Saint John at Nicky's christening and the couple were very much still in the first sappy phase of romance. He decided that he should give them some warning and banged the outer door firmly behind him. He was rewarded by the abrupt cessation of the giggling. He walked with more confidence into the office and stopped short in the doorway as he suddenly understood why the giggling had ceased; the couple were wrapped up in each other's arms in the midst of a very passionate kiss.

He coughed politely.

No reaction.

He coughed louder.

Still nothing.

'Hey guys!' Mike yelled and slammed the office door.

The couple stumbled out of their embrace.

Saint John put a hand dramatically to his chest. 'God, Mike, you almost gave me a heart attack.'

'Good.' Mike said with his usual humour. 'I might have been a customer, you know.'

'We were celebrating.' Jo said defensively. Her hand went to blonde bob and quickly rearranged it back into place.

Saint John picked up a document from the desk and waved it. 'I'm now a proud half-owner of Santini Air.'

'Wow' Mike held out his hand for Saint John to shake enthusiastically before he wrapped Jo in a platonic hug under Saint John's watchful eye.

'Coffee?' Saint John asked holding up the pot.

Mike nodded and slumped into a chair opposite one of the desks. He waited until Saint John handed him a mug. 'So I guess you guys are really doing this?'

Saint John's lips twitched in amusement as he leaned back against the desk and took a sip of his own coffee. 'You thought we'd change our minds?'

'Well, not about each other, no.' Mike clarified. His green eyes twinkled mischievously. 'It took you long enough to work it out though.'

Jo stuck her tongue at him and he grinned as Saint John rolled his eyes.

'No,' Mike said keeping his tone light, 'I thought you might have had a change of heart about the career plans.'

Jo and Saint John exchanged an amused glance.

'You missing us already?' Saint John quipped.

Mike gestured with his mug. 'Well, it's not the same without you.' And it wasn't. He missed flying Airwolf with his friends. He pulled a face to lighten the moment. 'Your brother doesn't let me eat candy in the cockpit.'

Saint John smiled; he'd seen his brother training other pilots and knew he was a hard taskmaster. 'He was always serious about his flying.'

'So am I.' Mike said defensively. 'But seriously; banning candy?'

'I bet there's an upside.' Jo said perching on the second desk across the room. 'Have you had a chance to fly that new ship yet?'

The team had been stunned to see a new version of Airwolf in the skies the week before; stunned and, as pilots, envious. The new Airwolf helicopter had the same basic design as the original but looked sleeker, sharper and deadlier.

Mike nodded enthusiastically. 'Actually, that's all I've flown this last week. They've been upgrading the old ship. You should see the new one; she's incredible. You should fly her. Her balance is beautiful and she's fast; real fast. You have to experience it.'

Saint John looked over at Jo amused at Mike's almost reverential tone. 'There's the upside.' He commented wryly.

Jo grinned.

Mike smiled good-naturedly at the teasing. 'They're training me to fly her.'

'Training you?' Jo asked curious.

'Apparently your brother thinks I have bad habits.' Mike sighed dramatically. 'And,' he added, 'she is a different ship especially with the intelligence.'

'How is that?' Saint John asked. When String had told him about the artificial intelligence he'd been shocked and he wasn't afraid to admit the idea freaked him out a little.

'Weird.' Mike shook his head and gestured with the mug. 'The first time your brother spoke to her and she responded…' he shrugged, 'I admit it scared the hell out of me.' He grinned suddenly. 'She's beginning to respond to me now though.'

'Well, of course,' Jo said rolling her eyes, 'she's a lady; how could she resist your charms?'

'Exactly.' Mike responded breezily ignoring the hint of sarcasm in Jo's voice. 'Apparently she has a favourites list which I'm not on yet.' He smiled. 'But I will be.'

Saint John shook his head. 'I think I'm just pleased she wasn't in our ship.'

Mike hesitated a moment before he replied. 'Actually, she was.'

'She was?' Jo shot back before Saint John could reply. 'How?'

'Apparently, she can link to the old computer using the telecommunications network.' He shook his head. 'She's been with us most of the time we had her.'

'OK. That's just creepy.' Saint John said.

Mike nodded. 'She saved our lives too. You remember that time in the Balkans when we thought we'd lost her and found her a field over?'

'Yeah,' Saint John replied slowly, 'you forgot where you parked her.'

'No,' Mike pointed at him, 'ten minutes before we got there she'd moved position to avoid being detected by an army patrol.'

Saint John assimilated the new information in disbelief. If an army patrol had discovered Airwolf, the team would have been ambushed on their arrival back; they would have all been captured probably killed.

'And that's not the only time.' Mike said. He looked down briefly into the dark contents of his mug. 'She's balanced systems, lined up missiles, ran scans; all to make up for what we didn't know we needed to do.'

'We all barely got any training.' Jo said defensively. 'You learned in that simulator; I only had about a few weeks of training with Caitlin and Saint John had even less than that. I think we did OK.'

'You're right.' Mike cheerfully agreed. 'We did OK.'

Saint John smiled knowingly. 'But Caitlin and String do better.'

'I didn't say that.' Mike said his voice bubbling with restrained laughter.

'You don't have to.' Saint John commented.

'We've both flown with them, remember?' Jo shook her head and folded her arms across the blue overalls she wore. 'I remember the first time I flew with them in Airwolf. They just have this rhythm.'

'They do.' Saint John agreed.

'They are amazing.' Mike added.

There was a moment's silence.

'OK, well, I'm depressed.' Jo said with a sigh.

Saint John crossed the room and slid an arm around her. 'They've been doing this for a long time, Jo.'

'It's just a little galling to admit they're better than us.' Jo said easily.

'String's always been the best pilot I know.' Saint John said, hugging her gently.

'Thanks.' Mike laughed.

Saint John smiled apologetically. 'Sorry, Mike.'

'Nope, you're right.' Mike acknowledged. He sighed. 'Although I'm with Jo; it's galling to have to admit it when someone's better than you.' And as much as his own healthy ego hated to admit it, Stringfellow Hawke was better than him. He'd felt more of an equal with Saint John.

'You're enjoying flying with String though.' Saint John deduced.

Mike nodded feeling a little guilty admitting it. Flying with Saint John's brother was like having a master class every time they were in the air. The way Hawke flew was pure poetry. 'What's not to like?' He quipped to cover the awkwardness.

'So you guys are getting on OK?' Saint John probed.

Mike shrugged, his eyes twinkling. 'He hasn't used the eject button yet.'

They laughed.

'Your brother's a hard man to read.' Mike commented when they sobered.

Saint John's lips twitched at the hint of insecurity. 'Relax, Mike. He likes you and if he didn't think you were a good pilot, he wouldn't let you in the cockpit at all.'

'I'll keep that in mind the next time he refuses to let me eat candy.' Mike retorted pleased at the peek Saint John had allowed into his brother's thoughts. He lifted his feet up onto the desk and decided they needed a change in subject. 'Have you guys heard from Locke?'

Saint John shook his head. 'Not since we all said goodbye.' They'd gone out for dinner as a team a few days before to celebrate their time together and effectively say goodbye. 'You?'

'He was at Red Star yesterday.' Mike said.

Jo and Saint John exchanged a concerned look at the serious look in Mike's eyes.

'So what's going on?' Saint John asked.

'I thought you weren't interested anymore.' Mike teased.

'Hey, watch it!' Saint John said. He gestured at Jo. 'Or she'll punch you.'

Jo slapped Saint John's arm playfully as Mike held up his free hand in surrender.

'OK, OK.' Mike drank some of his coffee. 'Locke's managed to identify two more people who were involved with the ambush on Hawke and Angelica Horn last week. They're now in custody. Both of them admit they were recruited by Evan just over two months ago, shortly before the second attempt by Sterling to take Airwolf.'

'If it was Sterling.' Jo pointed out. 'We only have Angelica Horn's word that it was.'

'True.' Mike conceded. 'Anyway, Evan's still at large but Locke is heading for New York to follow up some leads there.'

'Sterling's home city.' Saint John commented.

Mike nodded. 'I offered to give him some back-up but…'

'He wouldn't accept it, huh?' Saint John shook his head.

'He can be so stubborn.' Jo sighed.

Mike drained his mug. 'Which is why I thought you guys might be interested in a little vacation…'

Saint John and Jo looked at each other.

'I guess a little vacation couldn't hurt.' Saint John said mildly.

'I've always wanted to see New York.' Jo added.

'Great.' Mike swung his feet off the desk and stood up. 'There's one more thing.'

'Oh?' Saint John asked amused.

Mike stuffed his hands in the pockets of his denim jacket. 'I'm going to move into quarters at Red Star.'

'Mike…'

'You don't have to do that.'

The couple spoke simultaneously in protest and Mike waved away their words firmly.

'Look, I think it's great you guys are together and you don't need me hanging around cramping your style.' Mike said. 'I've checked with Marella and there's accommodation available with the job so…' he shrugged to complete the sentence.

'I'll miss you.' Saint John said but Mike knew it was an acceptance not another attempt to get him to change his mind.

'I'll miss you too.'

'Thanks.' Saint John held his out and they did a manly handshake-hug that Jo watched a little tearfully.

The phone rang breaking the moment.

Jo picked up hurriedly. 'Santini Air.' She paused. 'Michael, hi.'

Saint John rolled his eyes and mouthed the words 'what does he want?' at her. She sent him an exasperated look as she tried to remain focused on her conversation.

'Right. No, we'll be right there.' She hung up.

'What?' Saint John demanded as she passed him his jacket.

'Michael has a lead on your sister.' Jo said succinctly. 'He wants us to meet him at Red Star.'

'Well, what are we waiting for?' Saint John grabbed his coat and the keys to the Santini Air chopper. 'Let's move.' He was out of the office in the blink of an eye leaving behind a bemused Jo and Mike.

Jo shook her head, torn between understanding and annoyance.

Mike slung his arm around her and gave her a quick comforting squeeze before he started out of the room. 'Come on.' He grinned over his shoulder. 'Or he's likely to leave without us.'

The sad thing was he was right, Jo mused as she locked up the office and headed out after the guys.