by Sammie
Dom
She isn't what he's used to. Certainly not a yellow rose, Texan or otherwise.
She's not what he's used to, but she's sweet and kind, and now that his incident with his poor niece is over, he has time to think about his new employee.
He has to admit he's been hard on her. Her comment at the funeral, in retrospect, really wasn't...it wasn't anything. He just expected some flowery praise for Holly's comforting Hawke, and she hadn't supplied his expectations.
Caitlin O'Shannessy doesn't seem to supply many of his expectations at all, but he has to admit he rather enjoys the little girl. Oh, he's got a right to call her a little girl, even if String doesn't. Cait's young enough to be his daughter.
She takes his comments in stride with a grin, and the only time he's seen her mad in the last week has been over the bust cyclic, and given that she nearly died, well, that's understandable.
She's cheerful in what she does, from vacuuming helicopters to welding to flying, and he's noticed that in the last few days String has been smiling and laughing more than he generally does. He was rather dour after poor Gabrielle died. Not that he didn't have an excuse to be.
Dom adjusts his costume (why does he always get these awful-looking monstrosities?) and looks out over there. This time it's a fight scene, and unfortunately it's a scene that needs to be shot in sequence to match a fight. String's supposed to grab her from behind and throw against the helicopter; she's supposed to fight back, then jump into the helicopter and take off in one shot. Whether it's kissing String or kicking him, Caitlin seems to do both with equal gusto.
"Action!"
The struggle ensues, and suddenly Caitlin manages a shot that makes even Dom wince and suddenly lands String on the ground, groaning in a fetal position. Caitlin ruins the shot by instantly dropping to the ground next to String - as much as she can in this dress, which she is currently cursing - and reaching for him. "Hawke? Hawke? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to kick you that hard! Are you OK?"
"D-mn, Cait!" he groans in agony, and Dom frowns, about to hurry over. "What did I ever do to you?"
"I'm so sorry!" Caitlin's on her knees, hunched over him, her hand on his face. "I didn't hit you too hard, did I? Hawke, I'm so sorry, I - "
He takes the opportunity to peck her on the lips, and she squeaks in surprise, falling backwards. She looks up to see him still lying on the ground, laughing.
"You - you faker!" She snatches the hat off his head and hits him repeatedly with it. He deflects it easy, still grinning. She's making a face at him, but her expression is more of vague irritation than fury.
The anger is reserved for the director. "That's not what you were instructed to do!"
"Aw c'mon. That's most likely a better shot than your stars gave you," String interjects with an amused smile and earns himself a glare from the director.
Dom chuckles to himself. The director most likely is regretting asking Santini Air to do his stunts, but he dug his own grave. He wanted a female pilot.
Ironically, he's getting some more calls about stunt jobs now that Caitlin's here. Carlson's big mouth apparently was a big help, and the news has been traveling that Santini's got a female pilot who's a daredevil and a great pilot and shoots in one take - and the only problem is that she comes saddled with two nervous Nellies.
This stunt involves Caitlin in a strapless, mid-thigh dress during the fight, and she hates the costume. While it's easy to run in, giving her full motion in her legs, the top of the dress has so much ribbing she can't even bend at the waist. It holds everything up so there won't be any "wardrobe malfunctions", as the costume designer puts it, but it's left her with rib marks on her back - and presumably, on her front, too, though she won't show that to anybody. Unfortunately, there's no way that anybody but her can match the body shape and the legs of the original female star - though Caitlin did cheekily suggest that String could try on the dress and got a dark look in response.
He's gotten a few more calls which require similar shots and already has a second job lined up for Caitlin. He just hopes they pan out; he's had enough calls in which people showed interest and never followed through. Until this flow of interest is permanent, Cait remains a part-time employee.
"Set it up again!" the director barks angrily, and Dom wanders over to where Caitlin and String are waiting.
Caitlin shivers, tugging at the dress. String takes off the long great coat they have him in and puts it on her shoulders; she smiles gratefully and wraps it tight. "This is ridiculous. I can barely move with this ribbed bodice! It's like trying to climb into a helicopter wearing a barrel!"
"Aw, we just give 'em what they want."
"What they want should be accuracy," Caitlin huffs. "And anybody who flies a chopper will see through this gag in a second."
He hasn't seen Hawke try any of this normal acts to impress women. (And women are generally impressed.) Caitlin's far more fascinated by flying movie stunts and shooting film, and once has Dom already found her with a book open on movie stunts, smudges on her face.
He has a feeling that, even if Hawke were to try to impress her, there's only two things that could: Airwolf and more "fancy flyin' stuff."
He's overheard her pressing Hawke about Airwolf, and at some point Hawke's been coming out, muttering, "Curiosity is going to kill that cat," to himself.
Yet, despite all outward signs, Dom knows String too well. The boy is falling, and fast, and he doesn't even know it.
Caitlin is, Dom thinks, what String needs. She's sparky, fun; she's a pilot and loves flying, and she's intelligent and sharp, and she's educated. He was shocked to hear her quoting his niece's favorite book without falling out of step, as if it were her normal speech. The reference actually went over Hawke's head - it's rare when it does that - but it's an obscure piece of literature.
Most of all, she still loves life. She's not just in it; she's living it.
String makes a cheeky comment from where he's lying on a cart, fixing the undercarriage of one of the Jet Rangers. A dirty sponge comes flying down from above, where Cait is working on the rotor; it hits him square on the leg. It's followed by a retort, and then String's laughter.
He hasn't heard String laugh so much or so often in a long time.
Well, Dom says to himself. His niece Jo keeps insisting that, if one of literature's most famous couples has anything to teach, it's that love comes from the unexpected pair, the one where neither was looking.
The sponge goes sailing back up and nails Caitlin in the head. She's sputtering when String pulls out on the cart to laugh, but he's too slow in pulling back under the protection of the Jet Ranger; she manages to bean him good.
Dom just smiles.
"This is ridiculous!" Caitlin can be heard exclaiming.
"Oh, no, she doesn't!" Dom shouts. "Barely hired and she's going to lose this second job for us!"
String is no help. He just sits in his chair and laughs.
He gives the younger man a glare and hurries to the office, where a heated conversation is about to start up, and swings the door open.
She comes stomping out, not easy given the fact that she's in high heels and in a dress that's so constricting it's a wonder she can move at all. It's black and entirely beaded, from the two -inch straps that hold the dress on her shoulders to the figure-hugging bodice to the tailored waist to the pencil skirt, which extends from the waist all the way down to the ankle. Caitlin can't seem to take more than hobbling steps, and she's already holding part of the skirt higher than half-calf.
"Wow!" Dom grins. "You look great, Caitlin!"
It also gets a more-than-normal reaction from String, who deigns to lean over from his seat and pull up his sunglasses. He clearly likes what he sees, propping his sunglasses onto his head as his face breaks out into an appreciative grin.
Caitlin clearly does not share the sentiment. "Well, fine," she retorts, her twang ringing in the "i". "If this is so great, tell me how we're supposed to do that stunt they explained? How I'm even supposed to fly the helicopter if I can barely step into it - or walk to it?"
Oh. Right. The stunt involved her running from a shooter and and then jumping into the helicopter and flying away. She's got a point.
Dom looks at the director, who seems immovable. String just looks amused and offers only, "She's got a point about getting into the helicopter, you know. She's got to pull herself in and then straddle the cyclic."
Cait looks triumphantly at the director. "There. Told you. You can't have both the stunt and the dress."
Dom thinks about throttling her. This is a huge offer from Paramount Studios.
"Well, there is a solution." The costume designer looks nervous.
"What?"
"Most of the shots we took in the dress were from the waist up, and a few of standing still. This is the only full-body shot where she's really moving."
"Yes..." the director looks impatient.
"I'll just cut two huge slits in the dress on each side. It'll allow Miss O'Shannessey to run, but it won't show in the shots."
Cait's mouth falls open. She doesn't seem to like this solution either.
The director narrows his eyes at the costume designer, pondering the thought, then grins big and wide. "I like it. I like it!"
"So do I," comments a third voice, its tone full of mirth. Hawke slides his glasses back onto his face, hiding his eyes, but he has an amused grin on his face. Dom just looks amused.
Caitlin makes a face.
Whe she comes back out, she's got her hands on her skirt - trying to hold the slits closed. Her face is flushed a deep pink, and she avoids their gazes as she tries to sidestep and squirm her way out of their sight.
He hears a chuckle from next to him, and he turns to see String sitting in one of the chairs on set, looking after her, an amused grin on his face.
If anything, Dom muses to himself, hiring Cait for String was well worth it. He hasn't seen the boy smile in so long, and he hasn't seen the boy smile so often in so very long, either. Sure, String is still suspicious, still prone to silence. Dom doubts that will ever change. But before and after Gabrielle's death, String smiled only on occasion. Just on occasion.
Dom never thought Caitlin was String's type. String brought home a certain type of girl: elegant, feminine, kind, tough-minded. Sometimes a damsel in distress - albeit a tough one at that. Gabrielle was that, and Dom knew from the instant that String was attracted to her how it was. He was grouchy at work, grouchy at home, and avoided her like the plague.
Caitlin is sweet, homegrown, apple-pie tomboy. He already heard her complaining the other day when the Cowboys lost yet again, and String was ribbing her endlessly about the loss. She's not his normal type, and apparently the dumb boy figured his normal walls of defense are entirely unneeded.
The older man, however, sees it. She's getting under his skin in a way he still doesn't recognize. Apparently String is now finding her just as attractive as his typical bombshells, even if she does hide under those mechanic's uniforms. He most likely thinks she's entirely unsuitable, and that he's entirely safe. And one day he'll find himself in the middle of the creek without a paddle, and he won't be able to fix on the hour, the spot, the look, the words which made the beginning of his feelings; he'll be in the middle before he knows he even began.
If Caitlin were any less than she is, Dom would warn him.
But as Caitlin sidles out the door, still trying to maintain some modicum of modesty by holding the one of the slits in her dress closed, Dom sees String's grin widen, and he can see the cogs in the boy's head turning. He's going to think up some tease, and he's going to make Caitlin blush and give some clever, impertinent retort.
He doesn't like to interfere in String's love life, but too many relationships have been too serious, driven by a deep passion and angst and sadness. Dom is Italian; he understands deep passion. He's also understands that every relationship needs fun and sparks and intellect, and for the first time, String's found a girl whose sense of humor matches his own on the turn-on-a-dime level. He's beginning to think the boy enjoys seeing Caitlin as much as he enjoys working on these movie stunts. Dom's never seen String have this much fun with a woman.
Perhaps he should make Caitlin full-time.
end