Jo entered the bustling control room and searched the rows of consoles for Marella. She found the dark-haired woman on the far side. Marella was stood staring out at the harsh landscape, her arms wrapped tightly around her middle. Jo walked over to join her and pushed her hands in her jeans.

'Any word?' Jo asked quietly. She had been torn between annoyance and concern when they'd arrived at Red Star earlier and Marella had filled them on what had happened. Jo could hardly believe that Locke had been brainwashed but it was the only thing that made sense. What she had found even more unbelievable was Michael risking his own life to find Saint John; the two men had a very fractious relationship.

'No.' Marella shook her head. 'We finally have a fix on Michael's tracer though. He's in transit again.'

'I would have thought Locke would have worked out Michael was wearing a tracer.' Jo said with a sigh.

'He did.' Marella said wryly. 'Michael was wearing two. Locke destroyed the one we planted as a decoy.'

'Oh.' Jo rocked back on her heels. She guessed they knew what they were doing. 'So do you know where Michael and Saint John are?'

'Not exactly.' Marella admitted. 'Michael's still in the air. They're heading inland towards the mountains. Their previous location seems to have been by the coast in Orange County. I've sent a team to check on the point of departure.'

'Why? I mean if the guys have left there and being transported somewhere else.'

Marella hesitated and turned from the view to glance at the petite blonde haired pilot. 'Have you ever read Locke's file?'

Jo shook her head.

'There was an incident in the Middle East. Locke was the commander of a rescue mission for two captured agents. The terrorist group who had captured them ended up fooling the rescue team by splitting the agents up.'

'And you think Locke has done the same thing with Saint John and Michael?' Jo sighed heavily. 'That's why you're sending a team isn't it? To check it out?'

'Yes.' Marella turned back to the window. 'They'll do a standard recon and let me know what they find.'

'You're very good at this.' Jo murmured.

'It's my job.' Marella replied.

'Is that why you're taking everything so calmly?'

Marella smiled ruefully. 'I'm not.'

'You are.' Jo insisted. 'I can barely piece together two coherent thoughts in a row but you…' she waved at the room, 'you're running all this; keeping tabs on what's happening; planning a rescue. I don't think I could do that.' She sighed again. 'All I can think about is Saint John and whether he's OK.'

Marella shifted her weight. 'The first time Michael was in danger after we got together, I was a mess.'

'You were?' Jo asked doubtfully.

'I was.' Marella sighed and nudged her dark curly hair back over one shoulder. 'I yelled at Caitlin and Hawke; came up with the most insane plan to save Michael.' She shook her head making the curls bounce. 'If it hadn't been for Caitlin, I think I would have gone completely mad.'

'I wish she were here now.' Jo muttered.

Marella looked back over at Jo's despondent face. 'Maybe I can help.' She offered.

Jo was taken aback. She and Marella weren't particularly close although she guessed they had a form of a friendship based on time spent together with Caitlin occasionally. The urge to confide in somebody was strong and Marella was a better choice than Saint John's sister.

'Why don't we go up to my office?' Marella suggested.

'No, Sarah's up there with Chris and I'd rather stay here.' Jo said. 'Just in case…'

Marella nodded understandingly.

Jo folded her arms across her chest. ' Saint John and I had a massive blow up before Locke turned up.'

'Ah.' The one word was filled with understanding and encouraged Jo to continue.

'It was the stupidest argument.' Jo said raising her eyes to the ceiling.

'Let me guess,' Marella said, 'you're feeling neglected and Saint John's clueless.'

'Well, he was until I yelled at him today.' Jo admitted. 'I mean, I know he needs to spend time with his sister but sometimes it seems like I come last on his list; like now we're together he can take me for granted.'

The words spilled out almost without thought; she'd thought about it so much since they'd argued. 'I guess I've got kinda clingy in response.' Jo rubbed her face with her hands and gave a groan. 'It's such a mess. It escalated from nothing and before I knew it, I was telling him to forget the whole thing.' She wrapped her arms around herself. 'I didn't mean it.'

Marella laid a comforting hand on Jo's arm. 'I'm sure when Saint John's calmed down he'll figure that out if he hasn't already.'

'What if he doesn't?' Jo whispered, her sad blue eyes meeting Marella's. 'I don't think I could stand it if something happens and the last thing that happened between us was us screaming at each other.'

'You have to believe it won't come to that.' Marella tried to reassure her. 'You know the Hawkes all have a surprising tenacity for survival.'

Jo nodded. 'I can't believe we argued like that.'

'All couples argue occasionally.' Marella assured her.

'Even you and Michael?' Jo asked.

Marella gave a light laugh. 'We've had our moments. So have Caitlin and Hawke.'

'I guess.' Jo said doubtfully.

'I know.' Marella said firmly.

Jo smiled at her; she was feeling a little better, she considered. 'Thanks, Marella.'

Marella squeezed her arm.

'Ma'am?' A technician called Marella over to his station. 'We have an incoming communication from Airwolf.'

Marella almost shoved the hapless man away from his monitor as she activated the receive button. The Airwolf cockpit appeared on the screen.

'Marella.' Hawke greeted her with only a flicker of surprise that Michael wasn't with her. 'You can tell Michael the mission was successful. We have the Russian ship and we're on our way back.'

'I'm afraid telling Michael will be a little difficult.' Marella leaned forward. 'There's a situation.'

Hawke's blue eyes narrowed as Caitlin and Mike both frowned. 'What?' asked the pilot crisply.

'Locke went missing at a meeting with a contact in New York; he turned up today at Santini Air.'

'And?' demanded Hawke.

'And he convinced Saint John into leaving with him.' Marella continued calmly. 'Sarah called Michael earlier because she had a bad feeling when Saint John didn't return as scheduled. Unfortunately, you had just entered the communications black out zone or we would have recalled you.'

'Sarah?' Hawke asked concerned.

'They're here.' Marella confirmed. 'They're safe.'

'Where's Michael?' Caitlin asked.

'Locke called him and asked to meet. He didn't know we knew about Saint John being missing.' Marella explained. 'Michael thought it was the best way to get a lead on where Saint John was being held.'

'There has to be some mistake.' Mike said speaking up for the first time. 'Jason's one of the good guys.'

'We think he's been brainwashed, Mike.' Jo said inching into the frame next to Marella.

Mike subsided unhappily.

'Why did he grab both of them?' Caitlin wondered out loud.

'We think he's trying to lure Hawke to deliver Airwolf.' Marella said.

'No, it's more than that.' Hawke mused. 'He's going to make me choose between Saint John and Michael.'

Marella nodded. 'I think that's possible. Michael was wearing a tracer. We only got a fix on it thirty minutes ago. It left a location in Orange County and is headed inland to the mountains. Locke's splitting them up.' She hesitated. 'Hawke, I think Locke is using an old rescue mission of two agents that he was involved in as inspiration. The good news is that it should help us anticipate his next move.'

'And the bad news?' prompted Caitlin.

'Both agents involved in Locke's rescue mission were killed. One by a bullet in an ambush for the rescue party; the other had already been killed by the time of the rescue by a slow acting poison.'

Hawke's face settled into an expressionless mask; his eyes iced over. 'He's going to kill them both.'

'I think so.' Marella admitted confiding her worst fears.

'You say you have a fix on Michael's tracer?' Hawke asked.

'Yes. We're sending you the frequency now.' Marella nodded at the technician who grabbed the nearest computer console to transmit the frequency. 'We'll keep tracking it until you get within range for Airwolf's sensors.'

'You've pinpointed the location where Michael was being held?' Caitlin checked.

'Almost.' Marella said. 'I have Zebra Squad doing a recon.' She took a breath. 'There's something else you should know.'

They all looked at her expectantly.

'Michael took some of the anti-brainwashing serum with him.' Marella said. 'It's possible that he's administered it to Locke.'

'Wouldn't this be over already if he had?' Jo asked.

'Not necessarily.' Mike answered brightening. 'If they're surrounded with other people loyal to Sterling they might have decided to play along until they could formulate a plan on how to get out of there.'

'I agree.' Hawke said. 'Caitlin and I had to do the same when Horn brainwashed me.'

'So how will we know if Locke's brainwashed or not if he contacts us?' Jo asked anxiously.

'Unless he can give us a clear sign, we should assume that he's still brainwashed.' Hawke said bluntly. He'd already increased their speed.

Jo sighed. 'So what's the plan? We wait until Locke contacts us?'

'No.' Hawke sighed. 'We think Locke's going to give me an ultimatum; Michael or my brother. Presumably he'll give me the location of the one I choose.'

'Presumably.' Marella agreed.

'But we'll know both locations anyway without Locke telling us.' Mike said.

'We need to hit both locations.' Hawke said. 'If we wait for Locke's exchange times either Michael or Saint John will be dead before we can move.'

'There's something we're not considering.' Caitlin said.

'What?' Mike glanced back at her.

'Locke knows Hawke will choose Saint John.' She gave an apologetic look to Marella. 'He's his brother.'

Hawke's jaw tensed. 'He's expecting Airwolf to hit the Orange County location so he'll be prepared for her there.'

'We're going to need to hit both locations simultaneously like we did in that attack at the Lair.' Marella added.

Hawke looked over at Mike. 'Locke's also counting on us only have one working Airwolf to make a rescue attempt.'

'But we have two.' Mike said.

'Yes.' Hawke said pleased. 'We do.' He shifted in his seat and his eyes set on the sky in front of him. 'Here's the plan.'