Caitlin O'Shannessy shifted uncomfortably on the plastic seat and shivered slightly as the evening breeze began to penetrate the sleeves of her thin jacket.

'You think with the amount they charge for school fees, they'd got seats a little less uncomfortable" she groused silently to herself, as wished for the umpteenth time she'd brought the warm padded jacket, currently hanging on the peg back at the hangar. A shout from across the field, tore her attention back to the game. Caits green eyes widened as Le slide tackled an opponent and regained his footing with intricate poise. He nutmegged a second, his slight stature giving him the advantage of speed to take him cleanly past his opponent. Shouts of encouragement from his coach and teammates filled the air, as the opposing coach waved his arms wildly above his head, motioning for someone, anyone to stop this kid. Cait held her breath and slid to the edge of her seat as a tall, robust defender nicknamed 'the Tank' barrelled towards him. Cait squeezed her eyes closed as she waited for the inevitable collision, and she was sure being half his size, Le would certainly come off worse. Slowly, she opened one eye and stole a peek at the action. Her other eye snapped open as Le jinked the ball past 'The Tank' with relative ease, leaving the hulk of a defender rooted to the spot.

"Ha! Take That!" Cait yelled, punching the air with a balled fist "Come on Le!" She quickly covered her mouth with her hand, as she suddenly realised here she was, a Soccer Mom, yelling from the touch line.

"Ah what the heck! Come on Le!" She yelled as Le sprinted towards the on rushing goalkeeper. "Shoot!"

What happened next, was almost in slow motion as she clasped her hands together in silent prayer. The giant scoreboard at one end of the pitch counted down the dying seconds of the game right next to the score between Van Nuys and Philadelphia Central-0-0.

Cait watched as Le steadied himself , shifted his weight and deftly chipped the ball over the goalkeeper. His arms fell to his side as he stood on the spot with his teammates, watching the ball spin and weave it's way in the air towards the goal. Everyone in the stands held the breath as the goalkeeper scrambled frantically back towards the goal, slipping on rain moistened grass as he went. It wasn't enough. The home crowd erupted as the ball spun into the net along with the forlorn goalkeeper, and Le spun on his heel, his arms triumphantly aloft as he was quickly buried beneath a blanket of yellow and maroon striped shirts. Cait leapt out of her seat with a whoop of joy, clapping enthusiastically as the final whistle signalled the end of the game and a victory for the Van Nuys Academy.

A sense of warmth encompassed her as she saw the looks of sheer joy on the kids faces, and couldn't help but smile as Le was hoisted onto his friend Billy's shoulders as the celebrations continued. He was growing up so fast and her heart ached to think that Hawke was missing out on all of it. She felt an intruder, moments like these belonged to Hawke and she had no place to take it all from him. She needed to talk to Hawke, and sooner rather than later.

"He's very talented"

A voice beside her jolted her out of her reverie

"Excuse me?" She asked, her gaze sliding to the owner of the voice

"I said, the kids talented"

The initial euphoria had dissipated, and Cait's eyes drank in the sight of the man sitting beside her. Her breath hitched as her gaze travelled over his chiseled, lightly stubbled jawline, across his broad shoulders and slowly down towards his tanned, muscular biceps. His deep, chocolate eyes gleamed with amusement and mischief, and a small smile tugged at the the sleek lines of his lips. For a moment, Caitlin was entranced.

"Yo?! Anyone there?" He grinned, dipping his head slightly so he could meet her eyes.

"Wh-what? Who's there?" Cait stuttered, finally managing to formulate something resembling a sentence.

The guy chuckled and shook his head.

"I was saying Le is very talented" he repeated for the third time. Finally regaining some sense of composure, a smile surfaced at the mention of Le.

"Oh ho, sure he is. Well I think so anyway, but I am kinda biased" she added with a shrug.

"Family?" He inquired, shoving his strong, firm hands into the pocket of his track suit top. Caitlin took a deep breath to steady her nerves.

""Yeah." She said immediately, as a frown suddenly creased her brow. "Well, sorta, kinda..."

Family. One single word was all it took to define her relationship with String. She was the kid sister he never had and a trusted friend. However much you tagged or labelled their relationship, Cait wanted, needed more. She wanted to me more than just good ol' , reliable Cait who's a handy chopper pilot to have around. She wanted something meaningful, for someone to love her like she deserved. Being content was no longer enough.

"Kinda? By the way you were jumping up and down earlier, I assumed you were"

"Oh. Yeah, that" Cait smiled sheepishly, feeling the heat begin to rise in her cheeks. "I'm just a friend. That's all"

Her voice trailed away as she felt a sudden, urgent need to crawl inside of her own skin.

"Well, does this friend have a name?" He asked, his gaze settling on the pilot.

"Caitlin O' Shannessy" she replied a little too quickly, and more business like than she would've liked. She mentally cursed herself. It sounded like she was arranging a charter at Santini Air rather than meeting someone new for the first time. Maybe it was time for an extended vacation.

"Well, Caitlin O'Shannessy it's nice to finally meet you" he replied, extending a hand "I'm Jack Stone. Le's soccer coach"

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