'Are you going to cut to the chase here or what, Michael?'

Michael sighed at Hawke's irritation at the presentation and abandoned his plans for a detailed explanation of how they'd found Hawke's sister and the dramatic reveal. He should have known Hawke would never have the patience to sit through it, he chided himself; Hawke rarely had the patience to sit through one of Michael's presentations never mind when his missing family was the subject. He sighed and turned to face the audience.

Both Hawke brothers were sat side by side wearing identical expressions of impatience; Hawke's eyes were guarded; Saint John's openly hopeful. Hawke's hand was wrapped in Caitlin's who was sat beside him; Jo stood behind Saint John, Mike beside her. Marella smiled sympathetically back at her fiancé from her position perched on his desk.

Michael cleared his throat and skipped to the end of the slides. A map of Colorado appeared on the wall behind him. 'Your sister is in Gilly Pass.'

There was a collective sigh of relief.

'How do you know for certain it's her?' Saint John asked.

Michael folded his arms over his white sweater. 'Larry Mason is convinced so, so am I.'

'Larry?' Hawke asked surprised. He caught Saint John's questioning glance. 'Larry used to work for the FIRM.' He explained. 'He was the best information analyst I've ever worked with.'

Michael nodded. 'He's the best in the business. He's been working on this for me.' His good eye met Hawke's. 'He says he still owes you for saving his life.'

Hawke shrugged away the comment a little self-consciously.

'How did he reach his conclusion?' Saint John pressed.

Michael smiled. 'As I mentioned, your sister must have become separated from your parents when she was sixteen around the birth of her child.'

The brothers exchanged a wordless look of wonder at what had happened; neither could believe the parents they remembered would have abandoned a daughter especially one pregnant and in trouble, but then they barely believed that a child their parents had raised would end up pregnant and in trouble.

'In some ways, what was obviously a stroke of misfortune for your sister is a stroke of good luck for us.' Michael said. 'Your father obviously had contacts to create new aliases, false social security numbers, that kind of thing. Your sister doesn't so…'

'So she's a lot easier to track down once you have a name.' Caitlin concluded.

'Exactly.' Michael agreed. 'Although not that easy.' He noted wryly. 'She's made it as difficult as she could given her situation.'

'Well, she is a Hawke.' Caitlin commented and was gratified when Hawke turned to her with a quick smile.

'So she gets separated.' Mike prompted. 'How does that help us?'

'When we got the name, we put that together with the information we got a couple of months ago from Yahara's correspondence with his men that indicated they thought she was in a town called Belle Falls in Arizona.' Michael said.

'We went there. We couldn't find anything.' Saint John pointed out. 'There wasn't a thread to pick up.'

'That's because you weren't looking for a young woman with a child.' Michael punched up a picture. 'A Christopher Hardy was enrolled in this pre-school; his mother was listed as Sarah Hardy on his records.'

'Her son.' Caitlin murmured.

'And a Christopher Hardy is enrolled in the kindergarten at Gilly Pass, again with his mother listed as a Sarah Hardy.' Michael added.

'You've tracked her through the kid.' Mike noted.

Michael nodded. 'We only found her because of the kid. Larry's good; he checked all the various official documentation for mention of a Sarah Hardy including school records even though we didn't know she had a child.'

'She kept the same name when she moved.' Caitlin frowned. 'Wouldn't she have changed it just to be safe?'

'We think she did.' Michael said. 'There's a clear time gap between her being in Belle Falls and showing up in Gilly Pass six months ago.' He brought up another slide. 'Larry also searched for driver's licenses and pilot's licenses in the name of Sarah Hardy. A woman in South Carolina is registered as having both and matches your sister's age.' He gestured at the photo on the screen showing a grainy image of an airfield with a family standing in front of it. A fuzzy sign proclaimed it as 'Hardy's.'

'This came from a local newspaper article about how a Bill and Sarah Hardy had helped take part in the rescue of a young car crash victim. It mentions how Bill and his wife took in Sarah and effectively adopted her so much so that she officially changed her name from Hargreaves.' Michael used a laser beam to point at the young child clutching Sarah's hand in the picture. 'This is your nephew.'

Hawke let go of Caitlin's hand to stand and walk up to the image. It was the only photo they had of their sister and her son; the only photo period. He felt Saint John's hand on his shoulder.

'She's been on her own all this time.' Hawke said softly.

'Not anymore.' Saint John replied.

The brothers looked at each other in silent agreement.

'Your sister has documentation in both names,' Michael interrupted gently, 'although she doesn't seem to use either at various times. Larry has managed to track down the majority of her movements including a high school in South Carolina which was attended by her and the baby's father.' Michael paused and reached for a folder that he passed to Hawke who began to leaf through the contents, Saint John looking over his shoulder. 'We think that's where they met.'

Caitlin sat forward eagerly. 'But if she was in high school when she met the baby's father then maybe that was when she was still living with her parents.'

'So we've got a starting point for finding them too.' Marella added.

Michael nodded. 'Larry's following up. He also believes Hargreaves is one of the aliases your father created and it's likely that he's used it since then.'

Hawke and Saint John looked up at Michael.

'We're really that close to finding them?' Saint John said in amazement.

'Close isn't exactly the term I'd use,' Michael said, 'but knowing Larry…'

'He'll find them.' Hawke concluded.

Michael nodded again. 'Which brings us to another problem; Sterling and the Cordelli's.'

Jo's blue eyes widened in alarm. 'If you could find her…'

'Then it's possible they might too.' Mike finished; the words devoid of his usual humour.

'Maybe not.' Marella mused out loud. They all turned to regard her inquisitively. 'We only found her because of the information we had from Yahara and Larry's tenacity on examining every official document in Belle Falls.'

'But Sterling could trace her through the driver's license and name change in the same way as Larry did.' Jo argued.

'Maybe.' Marella conceded, gesturing, the light catching on her engagement ring as her hand moved. 'But it would be a lot more difficult and you'd need someone like Larry who can put together seemingly disparate pieces of information.'

'The truth is it doesn't matter. Even if Sterling is tracing her, he hasn't got to her yet.' Caitlin said firmly. She bit her lip as her eyes flickered to her husband. 'The problem will be that we'll reveal exactly where she is when you guys go looking for her in Gilly Pass.'

'Which poses the question,' Michael said smoothly, 'of whether you should go looking for her at all until we've resolved the Cordelli and Sterling situation.'

'You're kidding?' Saint John asked askance.

Hawke moved restlessly back to his chair, tapping the folder against his leg. He slumped into his seat and stared up at the photo of his sister as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

'We're not just going to leave her out there on her own.' Saint John said heatedly.

'We can watch her and make sure she's OK.' Michael allowed. 'But until we get all the pieces into place, she may be safer being on her own. As soon as you make a move, you'll alert Cordelli and Sterling to the starting point where they can start to trace your family. It'll be a race to see who finds them first. At least we have a head start right now.'

'Now look…' Saint John began his hands shifting to his hips.

'She's going to run.' Hawke said.

His quiet words silenced the room.

'How do you know that?' Mike asked puzzled.

'Because he's very good at what he does.' Michael responded amused at Mike's reaction.

'No, seriously.' Jo said leaning over the chair to look at Hawke. 'How do you know that?'

Saint John took a deep breath and met his brother's almost expressionless eyes. 'Gut?'

Hawke gestured with the folder. 'She's typically moved every couple of months according to Larry's info until Gilly Pass where she's settled for the last six months. She must be getting antsy about now.'

'If she moves we can follow her.' Michael argued.

'You can't guarantee that.' Hawke said firmly without switching his gaze from his brother. 'We go now; bring her and the kid home.'

'What about the Cordelli's and Sterling?' Mike asked.

'Michael has a plan.' Hawke's gaze moved to the spy. 'Don't you, Michael?'

Michael refused to squirm under the collective regard of the group. He brushed a finger over his moustache to hide the small smile that tugged on his lips. 'I may have a plan.' He conceded.

'You want to let the rest of us in on it?' Saint John said sharply as he resumed his seat. He felt Jo rest a comforting hand on his shoulder and he reached up to cover it with his.

Michael's jaw tightened. 'We have two problems. The initial problem was Cordelli and Sallis finding your family through your search and enacting their revenge on your father for his part in bringing Angelo Cordelli to justice.' He shifted his weight a little to relieve the pressure on his bad knee. 'We now have the additional complication of Sterling and his interest in Airwolf.'

'Yes, so?' Saint John said impatiently.

'The original plan was to find someway of taking down the Cordelli's to enable your family to come out of hiding.' Michael continued as though Saint John hadn't spoken. 'Sterling is a rival of the Cordelli's…'

'You want to do a deal.' Hawke realised.

'Of course.' Jo murmured. 'Offer Sterling the Cordelli's territory in exchange of his backing off Airwolf.'

'That's obviously where he's going with his own search for your family.' Michael said. 'If he finds them, he can blackmail the two of you,' he pointed at the brothers, 'into potentially handing over Airwolf while at the same time offering information about your family in order to gain a negotiating chip with the Cordelli's over any disputed territory.'

'How do you know this stuff?' Mike asked amazed again.

'Because Michael's very good at what he does.' Hawke commented wryly.

Michael tilted his head in acknowledgement of the compliment.

'But don't we want to bring Sterling to justice?' Mike asked.

'He has a point.' Saint John stated. 'I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the idea of letting Sterling go free after everything he's done in the past few months just so we bring down the Cordelli's.'

'Actually I don't think offering Sterling a deal was Michael's plan.' Hawke said slowly.

'We make the deal with the Cordelli's.' Caitlin sighed and crossed her arms over the checked cotton shirt she wore.

'Sterling's territory for them leaving us alone?' Saint John mused. 'Would that work?'

'Giovanni Cordelli isn't interested in feuds; he's interested in the best interests of his family's business.' Michael pointed out.

'It might work.' Hawke frowned. 'If we can convince Cordelli that the feud should have ended with Angelo's death which came because of my father seeking retribution for Grandpa's.'

'We need them to sort out Sallis too.' Caitlin pointed out.

'We could always claim if they don't take the deal then we would deal with Sterling.' Marella added. 'It might give us more leverage.'

'So we have a few details to iron out.' Michael commented. 'Are we agreed on the principle?'

Everyone nodded.

'We should get going.' Saint John said to Hawke.

'I'll meet you at the cabin in a couple of hours?' Hawke checked looking at his watch.

'You mean you'll meet us?' Jo asked surprised at being excluded.

Hawke and Saint John exchanged a swift glance.

'Actually, Jo,' Saint John turned to look at her apologetically, 'I think String and I should go alone.'

'Oh.' Jo looked over at Caitlin for support.

Caitlin shrugged and remained silent. She knew it was something the brothers needed to do together despite her desire to tag along and support Hawke.

'Maybe you should go on with that vacation we were talking about.' Saint John hinted heavily, waggling his eyebrows.

'I could come with you instead, Jo.' Mike offered cheerfully. 'After all, if Hawke's away presumably…'

'You'll be busy here.' Michael interrupted. 'Cait'll take over your training.' He pinned Jo with a look. 'And don't even think about going to New York.'

Jo snapped her mouth shut. 'You have us bugged.' She said accusingly.

'No,' Michael shook his head, 'I guessed you'd want to back up Locke.'

'He's alone in enemy territory…' Saint John argued.

'For a reason.' Michael stressed.

Hawke assessed Michael's firm look. 'You're laying a trap for Sterling.'

Michael nodded as Saint John, Jo and Mike all turned to look at him with amazement again. 'Locke's current situation gives him a good chance to lure Sterling into approaching him to become Evan's replacement.' He shifted. 'Locke can play at being the disillusioned agent, bitter and twisted over losing control of Airwolf yet still having access to the helicopter through his work.'

'That's a risky undercover op to undertake without back-up.' Mike said unusually serious.

'Which is why he isn't undertaking it without back-up.' Michael shot back.

'You've got men on him in New York?' Saint John asked.

'Actually they're women.' Marella corrected. 'But, yes.'

'So if you go haring off to New York you'll ruin the set-up.' Michael pointed out.

Jo sighed deeply. 'I guess I'm staying home then.'

Saint John squeezed her hand before he met Michael's gaze. 'Why didn't you tell us before Locke went?'

'You had no need to know.' Michael said adjusting his glasses. 'But given the circumstances and the obvious action you were about to take, I had to tell you or the operation would have been blown.'

'Having an inside man with Sterling gives us an edge.' Hawke commented feeling a little guilty at his earlier uncharitable thoughts about Locke.

'Definitely.' Michael added.

Hawke got to his feet. 'We'd better get going.'

The group got to their feet and began exchanging goodbyes. Mike, Jo and Saint John left first leaving the others alone for a brief moment.

Caitlin caught Marella's dark eyes and jerked her head toward the door with a smile.

Marella nodded almost imperceptibly. She hugged Hawke goodbye and wished him luck before she followed Caitlin out of the room.

Michael and Hawke looked on amused.

'Thanks, Michael.' Hawke said turning to the other man. 'For everything.'

Michael shrugged off the gratitude and patted Hawke's shoulder on his way to his desk. 'Go get your sister, Hawke.'

Hawke made his way out of the office. He paused at the door and looked back at his friend. 'Oh and Michael?'

Michael looked over at him.

'Don't let Rivers eat candy in my helicopter.' Hawke muttered.

Michael held the grin back until the door was firmly closed.