Standing across from his younger brother, Seb in the hanger at Red Star, Hawke rubbed his chin wondering uneasily what to say.
"Okay, out with it, bro," Seb quipped. Something's eating you. Let's hear it."
Hawke grinned abruptly. "Cut right to the chase don't you?"
"Yep," Seb tossed back. "So, spill."
"I need a favor," Hawke said.
"Sure," Seb commented off-handedly.
"You might want to wait until you hear what it is, before you agree." Hawke returned.
"Why? It involve breaking the law?" the younger man wise-cracked.
"Pretty much," Hawke rejoined, "among other things." He watched the amusement slide from his face.
"So, we'll go in here," Hawke said, pointing one tanned finger at the fence depicted on the Chem-Tech blue print spread before him and Seb on his dining room table.
"What about the alarms when we cut the fence?"
"Don't worry about it, I'll use Airwolf to take care of it."
"Easy for you to say."
"I'll take care of it Seb, believe me I'm not wanting to get caught any worse than you are."
"You sure?" Seb asked a little worriedly.
"I'm sure. I'll get us in, all you have to worry about is getting us the info," Hawke said. He paused. "You know, Seb," he said looking his younger brother in the eyes, "you can always back out. It's still your choice…"
"I said I was in," he avowed. "I meant it."
"Great," Hawke grinned, allowing his relief to show. "Good to have you."
Sliding his magnetic key card through the reader, Stringfellow Hawke slipped silently through the entrances to Red Star. Calmly striding down the halls, he greeted Jerry, who ran the evening security and one of Michael's angels - which one though he really couldn't say, after awhile all the beautiful women in white just blurred into one. Smiling at her, he held open the elevator door flirting just a little.
A couple of floors later, Hawke disembarked giving her an easy grin as the doors closed behind him. The elevator gone, he headed for the stairwell taking the steps two at a time without a backward glance.
Walking out of the stairwell door into the hanger, Hawke strode quickly over to where the sleek, deadly black aircraft known as Airwolf sat. Sliding a fond hand over it, he slipped into a grey flight suit.
Opening the cockpit door with a whoosh of pressurized air, Hawke climbed in, reaching for his helmet. "Any problems?" he asked, slanting an amused glance at the engineer's console.
Hesitantly, Seb's head poked up from below. "No," he returned, still looking nervous. "Anybody see you?"
"Yeah," Hawke replied his eyes glittering. "Security, and one of Michael's agents."
"They what?" Seb moaned in a horrified voice. "Oh man, we're so dead!"
"Nah," Hawke replied his voice muffled as he slid the helmet into place. He turned and looked over the console at the other man with laughter in his eyes. "Only if they catch us."
Looking decidedly green around the gills now, Seb took his seat at the engineer's position.
"Got the code for the hanger doors?" Hawke asked him, starting the engines and slowly taxiing towards the doors.
"Yeah," he replied. "Opening doors."
Sliding open noiselessly, the hanger doors opened to the starless night outside as the rotors began their slow lopping noise, biting into the air around them with increasing speed. Hanger doors open, Airwolf eased out into the night like a flowing river of darkness.
"Ready?" Hawke asked.
"Would it matter if I said no?" Seb pleaded.
"Sure," Hawke snorted. "Turbos!"
Pulling back on the collective, and hitting the turbos on the cyclic Airwolf's distinctive howl ripped through the still night air as she screamed into the sky.
"Subtle, Hawke. Subtle," Seb grumbled from the back seat. "I'm sure they'll never notice that," he added sarcastically.
Stringfellow Hawke simply smirked, amusement tugging at the corner of his mouth behind his helmet in response.
Laura swept breathlessly into Archangel's office. "It's gone, sir!" she gasped, sounding like she'd run up a flight of stairs, which in fact she had.
"What's gone?" Michael asked, raising a startled blue eye from the paperwork scattered across his desk. In surprise, he stared at his normally unflappable under assistant.
"Airwolf, sir," she answered with a painful gulp.
"What?" he yelped, his hands slamming the top of the desk as he flung himself to his feet.
"When?" he demanded.
"About fifteen minutes ago, sir," she replied cringing, waiting for the next explosion.
"Marella!" he yelled.
Sauntering calmly into his office, a cup of coffee poised in each hand, Marella merely raised one well-coiffed eyebrow at him. "Yes, Michael?"
Flustered, Archangel subsided somewhat. "Laura just informed me Airwolf is gone!"
"Yes, sir," she responded, not seeming in the least surprised.
"Do you know how far it could be gone in fifteen minutes?" he ranted turning to look at her.
She paused considering. "Well, at 1.7 mach that's about 21.25 miles per minute, so…"
"Marella!" he exploded losing all sembalance of patience.
"Approximately 318 miles, sir." she finished, amusement seemed to be tugging at her lips.
"You knew," he said, his good eye narrowing suspiciously. "You knew, and you didn't tell me?" he finished, his voice starting to rise again.
"I suspected," she drawled, emphasizing the last word. Security called up here about ten minutes ago mentioning Capt. Hawke had spoke with them on his way up."
"Hawke's not up here," Michael responded unnecessarily.
"No, sir he's not." There was no doubting it now, he thought. She was smirking.
Realization dawned in Michael in Michael's face. "He took it?"
"It would appear so."
"Oh, good grief!" Archangel flung his hands in the air. "It wasn't enough he stole it before, now he's waltzing into the FIRM control center to take it out joyriding whenever he feels like it?"
"He'll bring it back, Michael," Marella placated. Laura meantime had beat a hasty retreat. "You know that."
"Yeah, I suppose," he muttered grumpily. "What I want to know, is whatever happened to him supposed to be working for us?"
Handing him the coffee cup, she shrugged. "Well, Hawke is Hawke after all. And besides, he warned you."
"Warned me?" Michael quiried, his gaze flying to hers.
"He told you he'd do what he had to do," she responded, calmly taking a sip of her coffee.
Michael groaned in response, dropping heavily into his chair.
"By the way," Marella remarked as she walked out of his office, her drink still in her hand. "We think Seb is with him."
His coffee cup crashed as it hit the wall with surprising velocity as she crossed the threshold into the hall. Lips quirking in amusement, Marella kept walking staccato heels clicking on the hallway tile.
Heading silently towards the Chem-Tech facilities Airwolf cut through the starless night in stealth mode like a deadly shadow.
"Infared," Hawke called out from the cockpit.
"You got it," Seb returned, earlier nervousness forgotten in the adrenaline rush of the mission.
"Kick on IFF scanner," Hawke commanded.
"Beginning target identification."
Focusing on the layout in front of him with Airwolf's Starlight Amplification System Hawke didn't respond. Methodolically, he made pass after pass cataloging the building's weaknesses.
"Got it," he finally spoke after about the fifth pass. "I'm going to set her down behind that ridge."
"What about the alarms?" Seb asked.
"On it. Deploy ADF pod."
"Huh?"
"ADF pod," Hawke snapped.
"Deployed," Seb responded, knowing to keep his doubts to himself this time.
"Maverick," Hawke called. A second later, a single missile shot took out the generating system that supplied primary power to Chem-Tech.
Giving a satisfied glance to the now smoking rubble, Hawke turned Airwolf away towards the nearby ridge. Sliding over the ridge she settled to a landing in the darkness with the barest of thumps.
"Let's go," Hawke said, sliding his helmet off unconcernedly. Reaching behind the seat, he grabbed a black bag Seb hadn't even noticed.
Letting out a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding, Seb nodded. Clambering, he slid out of the helicopter, booted feet hitting the ground quietly.
"Here," Hawke said tossing him a can.
Glancing down, Seb raised an inquiring eyebrow. "Shoe polish?" he asked.
"Yep," he replied laconically.
"Do you really think that's necessary?"
"Don't know. Do it anyway," Hawke said tersely. Turning on his heel, he headed down the slope, not looking to see if Seb followed him.
Realizing he was about to get left, Seb hurriedly swiped a streak of black shoe polish across both cheeks and hustled down the path after Hawke. He caught up with him at the fence. Electrified of course, he thought mentally rolling his eyes.
Crouched down, the older chopper pilot fumbled through the bag. Grasping a pair of cables that looked remarkably like the jumper cables in Seb's car, he whispered, "Get back. Just in case something goes wrong."
" 'kay," Seb answered deferring to him.
Pausing, Hawke looked at him seriously. "If anything happens to me, you make sure you get Airwolf back to Red Star."
Nodding, Seb agreed.
"I mean it, Seb," Stringfellow Hawke's serious blue eyes gazed intensely at his brother. "No matter what happens, we can't lose Airwolf."
Solemnly staring back, he answered. "Understood," he promised suddenly sober. "No matter what."
"Good," Hawke answered, the moment gone as abruptly as it'd come.
Turning back to the task at hand, he reached for bolt cutters and slid on heavy gloves. "Wish me luck," he muttered wryly. Cutters poised next to the fence he squeezed his eyes shut as metal jaws cut the first wire. Snapping through with a decisive click, Hawke let out a shaky breath realizing he was still alive. Hurriedly, he cut through the rest of the wires leaving a hole big enough for them both to easily slide through.
Climbing quickly through the opening, he tossed the tools back into the bag and slung it over his shoulder as Seb joined him. Crouching, the two of them ran for the building guns in hand. Merging with the darkness, Seb waited covering Hawke's back as he deftly picked the door lock.
Sliding noiselessly inside, he warily scanned the office .45 in hand. Motioning Seb to join him, they split up, quickly scoping out the offices for anyone. Finding no one, Hawke jerked his head towards the computer in the main office.
Interpreting his signal, Seb immediately set to work. Impatient fingers booted the computer to life off of backup power, while fishing out spare jump drives and disks.
Shifting his weight uneasily, Hawke checked the window again. "Hurry up," he whispered.
"Working on it," his brother returned without rancor. Gloved fingers flew across the keyboard, pulling up directories and files, discarding without a second thought. Finally, coming across something that didn't seem to fit he hesitated.
"Find it?" Hawke asked, slanting a glance his way.
"Maybe," he returned noncommittally, loading the file on the jump drive. Fingers ticking through the keys, he kept hacking, copying anything that looked like it might be of interest on to the jump drive.
A noise outside had Hawke spinning back to the window, gun poised. Carefully he slid the blind to the side with the barrel of the .45. "Time to go!" he announced tersely.
"Just a minute," Seb muttered trying to finish uploading a file.
"Now, Seb!" Hawke bit out. "We can't use the file if we're dead!"
Snatching the jump drive out of the computer finally, and grabbing the discs Seb ran a cloth across the surface of the desk and keyboard. "You touch anything else?" he asked Hawke.
Startled by his thoroughness, Hawke shrugged. He hadn't even thought about fingerprints. He shook his head. "Don't worry about it, " he said hustling Seb out the back. "I'm already up to my armpits in alligators - what difference is one more going to make?"
Crouched by the back entrance they waited, both scanning the shadows for movement. Motioning Seb to stay put, Hawke ran for the nearby car parked in the lot. Making it, he gestured for Seb to join him.
Blonde head ducked, he loped towards him. Bullets rang out almost instantly behind him. "Get down!" Hawke yelled, leveling off return fire.
Army crawling towards the car, Seb headed his way. The bullets pounded into the ground next to him. Throwing his arms instinctively over his head, Seb ducked.
Cursing, Hawke levered off a couple more shots in the direction of the building from which they had come. "Come on, Seb!" he yelled in frustration. Running the last few feet to where Seb lay, he grabbed hold of his collar and physically dragged him back.
Both men breathing heavily, they flattened up against the side of the car, bullets still zinging around them. "We gotta make it back to Airwolf," Hawke panted. "Take the back fence to where we came in. I'll cover you!"
Mutely, Seb nodded in response, bracing himself for the first run. Hawke gave him the signal and he tore off in a hunched sprint for heavier bushes. Firing off a couple of shots in the previous direction, Hawke waited.
Once Seb was there, he took off after him. Around him he heard rifle fire as it hit the ground in front of him and the answering report of Seb's Walther PPK firing back. Flinging himself to the ground, he crawled the last remaining feet.
Sucking in a deep breath they both ran for the fence, diving through simultaneously. Hitting the ground and rolling, String came up firing.
"Hustle it!" he yelled at Seb, as the other scrambled to his feet joining in the firefight.
Staggering across the uneven terrain they both made for the helicopter. Scrambling, they clamored up the hillside, rocks sliding and bouncing behind them. Shoving his gun into his waistband, Hawke grabbed handfuls of brush dragging himself up as he did so.
Making the crest of the hill, Seb tossed a glance over his shoulder before heading down the other side. "Look out String!" he yelled, grabbing his Walther and firing behind Stringfellow. Flinching, Hawke ducked and kept coming.
"Go, Seb! Go!" Hawke yelled, his lungs gasping for air. Glancing at him, Seb shoved the gun into his belt and threw himself down the slope, tucking into a roll as he did so. Following his example, Hawke lunged off the top of the hill sliding and falling as he went.
Reaching the bottom, Seb sat up dazed. Shaking his head, he wobbled to his feet. Staggering, he made his way to the passenger side door of Airwolf and clamored in. Exhausted, he looked up into the faintly glowing horizon and hunted for his brother.
Sliding and tumbling, Hawke made his bumpy way down the hillside, falling and sliding the last fifteen feet or so on his rear as he did so. He skidded to a halt in a cloud of dust at the bottom. Wearily, he rolled to his hands pushing himself up.
Gaining his feet, he limped towards the Lady ducking another round of fire. Opening the cockpit door with a whoosh, Hawke hauled himself up, gratefully slamming the door behind him. Reaching a tired hand towards the instrument panel he kicked the rotors into motion.
"You okay kid?" he asked, sliding the helmet on, watching bullets fly harmlessly off the bulletproof glass as the Lady gathered herself for liftoff.
No response. Concerned Hawke looked over his shoulder at his brother, Seb. "You okay, Seb?" he asked again even as he eased Airwolf up into the air.
Startled, Seb flashed a glance his way. "Oh. Yeah," he replied flustered. A grin of pure relief and shock plastered itself across his features. "I'm great," he said, his voice gaining strength. "Great!"
Giving a laugh, Hawke turned his attention back to Airwolf as she gained lift. Retracting the landing gear, he pulled back on the collective easing her into the fading night sky. She slowly turned towards home.
"Ready?" Hawke asked.
"Ready," Seb answered back.
"Turbos."
"Turbos," the younger man answered cheerfully slamming the lever into place.
Hitting the turbo button, Hawke swung Airwolf around into the night, her howl echoing on the wind.