Hawke put the car in neutral and frowned at the apartment building in front of them. There were a lot of cars parked out front, some he recognised; Saint John's, the Santini Air jeep, Mike Rivers's sports car…the urge to slam the gear on his own car into reverse and head back to the airfield, climb back in his chopper and flee back to his mountain was so strong, Hawke trembled with the effort not to give into it.

Caitlin's hand covered his. 'You ready?'

He sighed and turned his hand over to squeeze hers reassuringly. He didn't know which of them was more nervous. It was Caitlin's first trip out since her accident; the fingers of her spare hand played nervously with the edge of her sweater before drifting up to self-consciously touch the green scarf she had wrapped over her head. 'You look beautiful.' He said quietly.

Her lips lifted. 'You're biased.'

'Yeah.' Hawke agreed. He leaned across and kissed her. 'Come on.'

They got out of the car and Hawke retrieved Nicky in his baby-carrier from the back of the car. They walked up to the apartment slowly. The door opened before they reached the entrance.

Jo Santini smiled at them. 'Hey.'

'Hey.' Hawke answered as the blonde launched herself forward and hugged him and Caitlin briefly.

'I'm so glad you guys could make it.' Jo murmured as she ushered them inside. The crowded room fell silent at the sight of the couple. Hawke stiffened under everyone's regard and Caitlin placed her hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

Chris ran across the room and Hawke immediately crouched to meet the young boy who threw himself enthusiastically at his uncle. 'Uncle String!'

Hawke hugged Chris back and let Caitlin take Nicky's carrier as he lifted Chris into his arms. 'Hey! Look at you.' Hawke commented poking Chris's tummy. 'You've grown.'

'No, I haven't.' Chris said chuckling.

Mike Rivers strode across the room and reached for the baby carrier; Caitlin let him take it gratefully. He kissed her cheek. 'You're looking wonderful.'

'Liar.' Caitlin retorted but she smiled at Mike's cheeky grin.

'She needs somewhere to sit.' Hawke said as he nodded an acknowledgement at his team-mate.

'I'm fine.' Caitlin said quickly.

'Cait, you need…' Hawke began.

'To rest.' Caitlin finished. She rolled her eyes at him and he gave her a chiding look.

'Well, we have the perfect place.' Mike interjected swiftly, he ushered her towards the battered sofa and cleared a place.

'He's right.' Jo said, grabbing another stack of papers and shoving them aside. 'You just sit here and rest.'

'How about some tea?' Jane Hawke offered, smiling nervously at her daughter-in-law.

'That sounds good.' Caitlin replied with a warm smile.

'Thanks.' Hawke said, catching his mother's gaze.

She smiled brightly at her second son before hurrying into the kitchen.

Alan made his way across to Hawke who set Chris down to accept the manly hug of welcome. 'Glad to see you made it.' Alan said gruffly.

Hawke shrugged self-consciously as he accepted more hugs from his siblings. 'So, where do you want me?' He asked Jo finally.

'Why don't you stay in here with Caitlin and Nicky?' Jo suggested. 'Clear the sideboard?' She headed out of the living room before he could argue.

'OK.' Hawke regarded the open sideboard with the packed contents spilling out onto the floor with trepidation. He looked over at Caitlin who smiled sympathetically. 'You going to give me a hand?'

Caitlin smiled sweetly at him. 'I'm resting.'

'Now you're resting.' Hawke grumbled. 'Typical.'

'I'll help.' Sarah offered. 'Honestly, this looks more manageable than the bedroom.'

'Sure.' Hawke agreed. He knelt down and started to shift through the contents. Old newspapers mixed with old letters and paraphernalia. They took out photo album after photo album. He was peripherally aware of Caitlin drinking tea with his mother, the two of them cooing over Nicky and the murmur of his father and brothers as they worked elsewhere in the apartment.

He and Sarah worked in comfortable silence for a long time, passing items back and forth, separating them into piles to keep or throw away. His hand landed on an old photo and Hawke picked it up with a frown. It showed him and Dom at his high school graduation. His finger traced over Dom's beaming gap-toothed smile, the proud look in his eyes, the way his arm was slung around Hawke's shoulder.

Grief hit him like a roller-coaster. His jaw clenched and he dropped the photo as he stood up. He strode out of the apartment, the door slamming shut behind him.

Sarah stared after him open-mouthed and looked over at Caitlin who was already on her feet. 'I'll go.' Sarah offered.

Caitlin waved her back. 'Just look after Nicky.' She left the apartment before Sarah or Jane could argue.

Hawke was by the car, his back to her as he perched on the trunk and stared up at the clear blue sky. His arms were tightly folded over his chest, his legs crossed, his blue eyes guarded. She sat beside him quietly and waited.

'Whole damn apartment is full of ghosts.' Hawke muttered eventually. He rubbed his eyes and kept his gaze forward.

'Why don't you take a break?' Caitlin suggested quietly. 'Head over to Red Star and take the Lady out for a spin?'

He finally looked at her and found her looking back at him with sympathetic understanding.

She nodded. 'It's OK.'

The muscle in his jaw clenched again; the only sign of his internal struggle between wanting escape and not wanting to leave her. 'What about you?'

'I'll be fine.' Caitlin said. 'If you don't make it back before dark, I'm sure someone will give me and Nicky a ride up to the cabin.' She smiled wryly. 'It's not like there's a shortage of pilots in the family.'

Hawke felt the corners of his mouth lift reluctantly. He held his hand out to her and hers slid into it. He squeezed it lovingly before he released it and reached over to kiss her goodbye. 'I'll be back before dark.'

She watched him drive away before she made her way back into the apartment. Everyone had gathered back into the living room. Caitlin sat back down on the sofa and placed a hand over Nicky's tummy.

'He left?' Jane asked, disappointed.

Caitlin nodded. 'It's just hard for him.'

'It's not exactly easy for any of us.' Jo retorted, sitting on the coffee table. 'We all miss Uncle Dom but it's been a year and…'

'Not for Hawke.' Caitlin's lips pressed together. 'Y'all have to understand that Dom was the only family Hawke had for a long time and with all that business in the hospital with…with Dom's ghost when I woke up? He just lost him all over again.'

Jo's eyes gleamed with tears and she headed out of the living room clearly upset.

Caitlin sighed.

'This is hard for her too.' Saint John said mildly before he followed after his girlfriend.

'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea us coming.' Caitlin murmured tiredly.

'No,' Jane's hand covered Caitlin's reassuringly, 'we're glad you're here at all.'

'We just…' Alan sighed. He gestured at her and sat down beside his wife, 'well, we'd hoped to spend time with String.'

'I understand.' Caitlin said. 'I really do but…' she sighed, 'you just need to give him some time.'

'That's what your friend Michael said.' Alan admitted ruefully.

'Michael?' Caitlin's eyes widened in surprise.

'I went to see him yesterday.' Alan confessed. 'He told me we shouldn't push it.'

'Well, he's right.' Caitlin said firmly.

'We've lost so much time already though.' Jane pointed out. 'Is it so wrong of us not to want to lose anymore?'

'I just don't get why he was looking for us if he didn't want to know us.' Seb muttered darkly.

Caitlin looked over at him admonishingly. 'You have to understand, Seb, it has nothing to do with you, any of you, really. Losing Dom again, almost losing me and Nicky…'

'He's dealing more than just us coming back into his life.' Jane realised.

'It's got him a little confused, that's all.' Caitlin said. 'Y'all just going to have to be patient with him.'

'Easier said than done, huh?' Alan sighed.

'Believe me, I know.' Caitlin softened the words with a smile. She glanced toward the door at the back of the living room. 'I should probably go and see if Jo's OK.'

'I'd leave Saint John to it for now.' Mike advised gently.

Caitlin nodded. 'I guess you're right.'

Sarah slapped Mike's arm. 'Why don't you help me with this?' She smiled as he joined her on the floor.

Mike picked up the photo Hawke had dropped. 'Hey, look! It's Hawke at his graduation.'

'Really?' Seb plucked it from Mike's hands and handed it to his mother.

'Oh, look at him.' Jane's eyes filled with tears.

'Here we go.' Alan said knowingly. He handed his wife a tissue.