Rain sluiced down, obscuring any sign of the carrier in front of him, leaving String flying strictly by instruments alone. Not such a bad thing - assuming of course, you had instruments, he thought humorlessly.
Cait would kill him, if she could see him now.
Sorrow caused his chest to ache. He hadn't wanted to leave things like that with her. He knew he'd screwed up, whether he'd meant to or not.
She was right, he should've told her.
He knew he'd hurt her - badly.
But how did you explain a marriage that wasn't? He'd never told Dom because he' d never known how. He was even less sure how to tell her.
Tuyen has saved his life - first with the Vietnamese PRU and then later. She'd given him a reason to live, to believe his life had been worth something, to keep trying when he hadn't wanted to.
Far too often he'd wondered, doubted, after he'd lost Saint John - knowing that it had been his fault. The missions had gotten riskier, the odds slimmer, hope fading as time went on.
Darkly he acknowledged, he'd reached a point where he hadn't much cared.
Scott's death had changed that. Holding Phuong that day in the army hospital, he'd realized there was no one but him. It'd been a terrifying thought. Suddenly, what he did mattered very much. Two lives had hinged on it.
The ironic thing was - in saving Tuyen and the baby - he'd saved himself. She'd become a friend, an equal. He'd come to live for her letters, to know that home was still there, that what he and Sinj had been doing had some meaning, something beyond the daily bloodshed.
And sometimes, just sometimes he'd wondered occasionally what it would be like to come home, to have a family, a normal life, somebody to love.
He couldn't, of course. There'd been Sinj to find.
"Airwolf to Eagle 1," Saint John's disembodied voice cut across his thoughts. "Carrier's clear. Let's get this show on the road, String."
Hawke didn't answer.
"You there, String?" Saint John's voice sounded abruptly worried.
Snatching his thoughts back to the task at hand, Hawke swallowed hard. "Yeah, ready and waiting," he rasped, gripping the yoke a little tighter.
He didn't have the vaguest idea how to explain it to Caitlin though. He just knew he couldn't die leaving it like this.
"Engines full ahead," the captain's voice bit out the order.
"Aye, aye, sir."
Nodding, the captain acknowledged the response. "Wind, Davies?"
"Five knots, sir."
Captain John Spencer reached for the mike. He'd given Hawke every advantage he could think of. The rest was up to him. He only hoped the man was as good as he thought he was.
Bryce Polson slid his thumb across the blade, testing it. He'd waited a long time for this day…Too long, he thought, eyeing Hawke's brats huddling across the fire from him.
The blood trickled down his thumb.
He'd almost got caught back there at the hangar, he acknowledged. Thinking of the kid's aunt - he re-lived the fear in her eyes, remembering how she'd fought him, savoring the fierce joy he'd felt in shoving her to the ground - the solid thwack of her head hitting concrete, the gun lowering in his fist…knowing he was going to kill her.
A branch snapped on the other side of the fire, snatching his attention back to the present.
So close… he thought, rubbing his thumb up and down the blade, blood smearing its tip. So close… Irritation bubbled along his nerves.
Hawke wouldn't be so easy.
He'd first crossed paths with him five years ago working for Archangel. Hawke had killed his Sergei, his brother. He'd shot Hawke, and Hawke had nearly killed him.
He'd been ducking Archangel ever since.
This time he wouldn't miss, he'd make sure of it.
Kneeling, Caitlin eyed the muddy footprint on trail leading away from the cabin. Tuyen hovered behind her.
It made no sense. What would Bryce Polson want with Nicky and Amelia? Or better yet, Jo? She frowned, turning the name over and over in her head, trying to match it with some previous mission. It was no use…there were just too many of them, she thought with a groan.
She kneaded her forehead in frustration. The trail forked, turning rocky. Which way had they gone? Panic clawed at her. It didn't much matter who it was. The letter had made it obvious the kids were bait and he'd kill them when he was done.
Just like he'd tried to do with Jo.
"Cait!" Tuyen's voice hissed, from the left fork. "Come on!" Frantically, she motioned her to join her.
And then, she heard what the other woman did - the soft sounds of a child's muffled sobs.
"Shut her up!" the rasped order snarled across his ears. "Or I'll do it permanently!"
Seething, Nicky glared at the man. "Well, if you hadn't shoved her in the first place, she wouldn't be crying!" he yelled.
Polson slapped the knife down on the rock beside him. Thick fingers reached into his waistband dragging out an 8mm as he stood. He leveled the gun at Nicky's head.
Okay, maybe that hadn't been the smartest thing to say.
The safety clicked off. "You've got ten seconds kid, to shut her up." The man grinned maniacally. "Hope she listens."
Stunned blue-green eyes took in the tableau before her. Surely fate couldn't be so cruel as to kill her kids in front of her.
"No," she whispered. "I won't let it." The safety clicked off Hawke's .45.
…but the shot was too far, she thought in desperation, his finger already on the trigger. Even if she made it, he still might kill Nicky.
Crouched beside her, she could hear Tuyen's breath rasping through her lungs.
10...,9...,8...
Think, Cait…think. Time was running out.
7...,6...
Amelia only cried harder. Nicky's eyes were huge, fear glittering in their depths. She could see him hissing at his sister in desperation to shut up.
Polson grinned wider, leveling the gun.
"Wait!" she yelled, stepping around the bush.
Polson spun, bringing up the bore of the gun he held in line with her chest.
"Mommy!" Amelia shrieked, scrambling to break free.
Nicky lunged for her.
The gun wavered, the man's attention split. Abruptly, it swung back towards the kids. "Get back!" he yelled. "Or I'll shoot them both."
Sweat slicked Cait's hands, adrenaline pounding through her veins. Sheer terror clamped down on her lungs.
"No!" she screamed.
The gun swung back her way.
Nicky snatched Amelia down to the ground.
"It's me you want," she gasped, trying to inject some measure of reason into her voice. "I'd be a better bargaining chip." Carefully, she took a step forward, blue-green eyes locking with his, hands submissively raised. She didn't have to fake the tremble in them, now.
Reflexively, her finger tightened on the trigger. Forgive me, String.
She took another step forward.
Love you, always have. Always will. She swallowed hard, edging one foot forward.
"No, mom!" Nicky screamed, his blue eyes wide, reading her intent.
The shot rang out.
Cait dropped, the sound loud, deafening, exploding in her ears.
Everything she'd known it would be…
…except she couldn't be hearing the shot if she was dead…and she couldn't see how he could've missed.
She rolled, hitting the ground hard, wrenching her shoulder whilst she brought her gun up.
Polson staggered back his own shot going wild, a crimson stain spreading across his chest. His eyes were stunned, shocked and even as he fell, Cait knew he was dead.
She spun in confusion, Amelia's screams echoing in her ears as she tried to get the .45 up with numb fingers.
Eyes wide, her startled gaze met Tuyen's as she lowered the gun she held. There was no remorse there, only shadows and sorrow.
Stunned, Cait fought for words.
Memories and darkness receded from the other woman's gaze and she blinked dazedly. "You okay?" she questioned, in that soft melodic voice.
It had an odd singsong quality to it. Why had she never noticed it before?
Dumbly, Cait nodded, trying to push to her feet, her shoulder giving way beneath her.
Tuyen knelt beside her. The kids were already scrambling to their feet, crowding them, jostling, relief evident in their raised voices.
Caitlin winced, as they bumped against her.
Slender fingers closed around her arm, gentle but strong. "Let me help." The brown eyes were sincere.
"Why?" the younger woman croaked, shame flooding her. Tears filled her eyes, knowing she owed her life as well as Nicky's and Amelia's to her.
Tuyen shrugged, pulling her to her feet. "Because it is the right thing to do," she murmured, helping her up. Her eyes didn't meet Cait's.
The redhead frowned. There was more to it than that.
She placed her hand on Tuyen's arm. "Please," she whispered.
She stilled for a moment, before glancing up at Nicky and Amelia's bickering. She smiled wistfully. "They are fine?"
"Yeah," Cait replied softly. "Thanks to you."
The kids scrambled ahead, eager to leave this place.
Tuyen watched them for a long moment in silence, thinking back to a day nearly twenty years ago, before handing back the gun she held to Cait.
Bemused, Caitlin took it - registering vaguely that it was Roper's. How had she gotten it?
Tuyen knelt, checking Polson, verifying he was in fact dead. When she rose, her voice was husky. "You know Hawke almost died in Vietnam. He very brave."
"Yes," Cait murmured, thinking of Hawke's explanation. "With the soldier. He told me. He also said you saved him," she agreed.
"No," Tuyen shook her head, ignoring Cait's compliment. "He very sick."
Cait's brows knit together in confusion. Hawke hadn't mentioned it. "When?"
"First, when Scott die. I not think he make it back to army camp." Sorrow shadowed her face. "Much death, many die," she said, her voice breaking.
Cait nodded numbly, feeling the lump in her throat. She could see that.
The next words caught her by surprise.
"Then after."
The redhead frowned, not understanding. "What do you mean, after?"
Dark brown eyes searched hers, as if evaluating, deciding what to share. Finally, she sighed.
"He saved Phuong and me, that day Cait. I don't know why or how. He brought me to the States, to Scott's family…gave me my life." Imploring, her voice broke as she begged her to understand. "He made me what I am."
Cait found herself nodding, though she wasn't exactly sure what she was agreeing to.
"But he was sick. Sick here -'' a small brown hand fisted against her breast as if to make her point. Her voice was sad. "When Hawke went back, I do not think he thought he'd come home again."
Pain slivered through Cait's chest as she absorbed her words.
Tuyen looked away, sorrow plainly etched on her face. "I did not think so either." She drew a harsh breath. "I was not sure he wanted to."
Pain sliced through Cait at her words. Unfortunately, she didn't doubt her.
Tuyen drew a fortifying breath. "So, I decided I'd better learn to take care of myself, and I did." Slender fingers tucked a silky strand behind her ear, still not meeting the blue-green gaze.
Cait couldn't help herself, she had to know. Stumbling, the words slid out past her lips. "So, did you ever see him again?" she asked.
"No," Tuyen answered softly. "We wrote, and then I let him go."
A faint frown marred Caitlin's forehead. It seemed a terribly lonely way to live. "And you never married?" she queried.
"No. Not 'til now." Tuyen smiled, the brown eyes crinkling softly with her laughter. "What were the odds of me finding another Stringfellow Hawke?"
Cait's soft laugh was rueful. "So, why'd you let him go?"
Tuyen lifted one slim shoulder in a shrug, her eyes solemn. "He was never mine to keep."