Chapter 6: You know What They Say, She Always Get's Her Man

Tom watched as String sat silently waiting for news from the doctor. He knew a storm was raging inside of him. He had questioned Cait's decision to marry him because he really didn't know what kind of man he was. Having gone through what he just did with Cait and String he was sure their marriage was a solid one.

Laying his hand on Strings shoulder he sat down beside him "I don't know if this will help relieve some of your worries about her, but I don't think Santos or his men touched her. She was never gone that long when he had her and it didn't seem like she had been undressed when she returned."

String looked over at him. "I appreciate that. It's not that I would feel any differently toward her because I wouldn't, I just don't want her to have to deal with it if they did assault her."

Tom offered him a smile that communicated he understood where he was coming from. "She had no recollection of anything while she was still suffering the effects of the drug, but once it wore off she was able to remember details. I'm sure she would have told me if they had touched her."

String looked at him as if to say "Then you don't know Cait."

"Yeah, you're right; she would've hid it from me knowing I would have acted irrationally had I known."

"Mr. Hawke" Pam said as she walked toward him. "You can see your wife now. She's still groggy. The doctor would like her awake a little longer. She needs to work the drugs through her system. He'll be in to talk with you shortly." She led him to Cait's room.

"Thanks Pam" String said as he entered the small ER room. Turning around he was met by his favorite set of green eyes. Walking over to her he reached down and slightly lifted her up so he could hold her. He wasn't sure if she had all her memory back."

"Are you mad at me?" He barely heard her whisper.

He laid her back down so he could see her face. "Cait, why would I be mad at you?"

"Because, I took Airwolf on my own without you."

"We'll talk about that later. Right now all I want is for you to be ok."

The doctor walked in just as String was softly kissing her lips. "Sorry, I should have announced myself. My bedside manner needs some work." He said grinning.

"How is she Doc?"

"Actually very well for going through what she has. It appears they kept her fed and hydrated which has helped speed up the process of getting the drugs through her system. We verified it was Burundanga they were giving her. The only concern I have is the dosage was high for the short intervals it was being given to her."

"Are you saying she could have permanent damage from it?"

"I'm sorry I should have made that clearer. My only concern is her recovery time from the effects will be longer than usual. I don't foresee any complications at all."

"When I take her home is there anything special we need to know?"

"Yes, I want her drinking plenty of water. She may be extremely tried for the next several days but that is to be expected. She needs to rest, and of course flying is out until I give the ok. Are there any other questions?"

String looked at the doctor then to Cait as if he wanted to ask something but not in front of her.

The doctor made sure he had Cait's attention. "Cait, remember we talked about the possibility that you may have been assaulted? Cait nodded yes as she looked to gauge the expression on Strings face.

"That is standard procedure for your circumstances." "I want to reassure both of you that we found no signs of rape."

"I already knew that." Cait said trying to hold her eyes open.

"So you have full recollection of what happened to you while you were drugged?" The doctor asked as he was checking her pulse.

"Yes, it would take a few hours after the drug had worn off. Once the fog was gone I could remember everything. Santos needed me, he'd warned his men to stay away from me."

String felt as if a weight had been lifted from him. He couldn't stand the thought of someone hurting her, but most of all he was relieved she didn't have to carry the pain and memory of being raped.

"I would like to keep her here for a few hours for observation and then you can take her home, I think the best thing I can do for her now is leave you two alone."

As the doctor left the room String once again lifted her into his arms. "Cait"…. He tried to say more but he choked on the words as he was fighting back the tears.

"I'm ok, you can stop worrying now." Cait realized as soon as she said these words how hollow they must have sounded to him. It was obvious that she wasn't just ok and there was no way he was going to stop worrying.

Sitting on the edge of her bed he took her hand in his. "I never want to be away from you again."

"Does that mean you still want to be married?" She said sitting up so she wouldn't fall asleep.

String was taken aback by her question. Is this what she thought even after he told her he wanted to talk when he returned from Alaska? Now the guilt he felt was even worse, she had thought this entire time that he had made a decision to end the marriage. What other conclusion could she have come to? After all he had pushed her away and stayed at the cabin mourning over not only another woman but one that had died in his arms."

He lightly placed his fingers on her cheek turning her head to face him "Cait, I love only you and always have. There is no one else I want to be with. You have to believe that."

"I do." She said as she drifted off to sleep.

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Dom and St. John found Tom sitting in the waiting area. "How's our girl?" Dom asked concerned.

"Hawke's been back there with her for about an hour." Tom said standing up to stretch his legs.

At that time Michael came around the corner. "Tom, it's nice to meet you." He said holding out his hand. "Would you come with me? I would like to debrief you about the mission if you don't mind."

Tom nodded yes and followed Michael to his office leaving Dom and St. John to wait for word from String.

"Turned out to be a nice guy." Dom said as they sat down.

"Yeah I can see why Cait went back to him." St. John said as he tried to rub the tiredness out of his eyes. Looking up he saw String walking toward them.

"She's sleeping now. The doctor said I can take her home in a few hours. They just want to make sure she has no other side effects from the drug."

"Was it Burundanga like we thought?" St. John asked.

"Yeah, it was. He said he thinks she'll be fine, just tired for a few days. Her memory's back as well."

St. John and Dom both wanted to ask the question." String could see it on their face.

"No she wasn't assaulted if that's what you're worried about. They did a rape exam. Not only that, Cait said she could remember everything once the drug was completely worn off."

Dom stood up to stand by String. "Did she tell you anything about what happened?"

"No, we didn't get to talk much. She was really tired and having a hard time keeping her eyes open. Michael will have to wait a few days to debrief her. The one thing I did find out is Harkins got away. Tom told me the first drug drop she did she took Harkins to a plane manufacturing plant so he could oversee the manufacturing of his plane."

"That scum got away again. We need to take his sorry ass out for good this time." St. John said with a fire in his eyes. String was starting to realize just how much he loved and cared for Cait as well.

String looked around. "Speaking of Tom, where'd he go?"

"Oh, you know, the white wonder came and got him," Dom said laughing.

"I guess we should go up and join him. I know Michael has questions for us."

"Why don't you two go on? I'm going to go sit with Cait." Dom said.

"I'd like that. I don't want her to be alone." String said giving him an appreciative smile.

Dom walked into her room to find her asleep. He hadn't let on to String or St. John just how much this ordeal took out of him. Taking her hand he said, "Don't you ever scare us like that again young lady."

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"Come in and sit down. Tom was just finishing giving me the details of their ordeal at Santos's compound." Giving String a stern look, "Hawke, sounds like you left your calling card again in Columbia."

St. John looked confused as Michael explained. "Your brother has a tendency to blow things "and people" up when he's pissed."

"Well, I for one am grateful that he did." Tom chimed in. "I wish I had the freedom and the means to do what he did. If I could we could speed this war on drugs up about ten years."

String raised his eyebrows in agreement."Michael I need you to find out what you can about Harkins. This time he won't get away."

"And I agree Hawke, but I want him alive. From what Tom told me about him he's spineless and will probably talk to save his own skin."

"I don't want his skin saved." String said taking a defensive stand pointing his finger at Michael.

"You know me well enough that after the Firm gets the answers we want from him he's as good as dead. I plan on turning him lose."

"What the hell." St. John was now to his feet in Michael's face.

Tom stepped in between him and Michael. "Whoa, take it easy. Michael knows what he's doing. Once Harkins talks there won't be a place on this earth that he can hide from the people he rats out. Right Michael?"

"That was my intention." Michael said as he made his way back to his chair behind his desk. "The Firm has a policy against assassinating people you know." Michael said as he grinned at Hawke and St. John. "Now I think it would be best if you all go and take care of Cait. Hawke I'll stop by in a few days to talk to her."

As the men were leaving the office String turned to Tom. "You got some place to stay tonight?"

Tom was surprised that he cared enough to ask. He really had misjudged him. "Actually until you just said something I hadn't given it a thought."

St. John jumped in. "You can stay at my place. I stocked the fridge with beer before we left for Alaska so it should be good and cold by now."

Tom extended a hand to St. John. "You got yourself a roommate for the night."

"Good, we can clean up, order a pizza and finish off the beer while String goes home and plays nursemaid." Both men laughed as String shook his head. The truth be told String wouldn't trade places with them for all the beer in the world.

As they walked back down to Cait's room Tom stopped String so he could talk in private.

"How is she?"

String put his hand on Tom's shoulder. "She's fine; the doctor said there are no other side effects from the drug. He thinks she will make a full recovery and there were no signs of rape."

Tom pulled String in for a quick manly hug. "I'm glad she's ok. She's one hell of a woman, she didn't deserve this.

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String landed the Santini Jet Ranger on the dock. They were finally home together the way it should have been. He really screwed up this time and he needed to make it right with Cait. He looked over at her and smiled. She was asleep again. He wondered if he was ever going to get a chance to talk to her. Walking around to her side he gently picked her up as she opened her eyes,

"Hey sleepy head." He said as he kissed her on top of her head.

"You can put me down; I'm ok to walk on my own." She said with her eyes half open.

"You just hush and let me take care of you?" He smiled.

Snuggling her head into his chest she replied, "OK."

String carried her up the stairs and laid her on the bed. Cait sat up. "I'd like to take a shower."

"Ok, you sure you're up to it?" As he knelt to take off her shoes. "Stay here and I'll start the shower for you."

After turning on the shower and making sure the water was the right temperature he went back to help Cait undress. She was fumbling with the button on her pants.

"Here baby, let me get that for you." He gently helped her out of her clothes and into the shower. As he turned to leave he barely heard her speak.

"String, don't leave me alone." She sounded so frail and weak it broke his heart.

"I won't. I'll stay right here until you're done."

Cait stepped out to String holding a towel for her. As she was drying off he went into their bed room to pick her out a warm nightgown. He intended to pamper her for as long as she would allow him to.

"I'm going to go down and fix us some dinner." He said as he pulled her in and held her. "Do you want me to bring dinner up here?"

"No, I'd like to be down stairs with you." She said as she held him as tightly as he was holding her.

They both held close to each other as they walked down stairs. String walked her to the couch covering her up with a warm blanket he then turned to the fire place to start a fire. Going to the freezer he looked for something he could microwave quickly for them. He decided on some of Cait's pea soup that she made for them to eat on the nights they would come home late and were too tired to cook. Putting the soup in to heat he poured them each a cold glass of milk.

He sat the tray of food down on the table in front of the couch handing her the soup.

"Thanks, I didn't think I was hungry until you handed me this." She said as she started to eat.

They both ate saying very little to each other. Sitting her bowl down String handed her the glass of milk.

"Here, you need this." Cait took it from him taking a sip. It felt good to have him care for her. She had been through hell and now she was home with the one person that made her feel totally safe. She could sense that he wanted to talk about what happened but being String she knew he would have a hard time saying what he wanted to say.

"String, I need to ask you something."

"Sure baby, what is it?" String said as he set his bowl down and turned to face her.

'What was it you said you wanted to talk to me about when you returned home from Alaska?"

String took her hand turning it over so he could kiss her palm. His warm breath brought her comfort. She had imagined his touch so many times over the past few days.

"I did a lot of thinking after you left the cabin that night. I came to the hangar the next morning and wanted to tell you then but you were gone and Dom took that job in Alaska. I know I hurt you. Now that I think back on it I see that I wasn't thinking clearly when it came to you."

Cait brought her knees up to her chest pulling the blanket closer. "Once I found out it was Gabrielle that was causing you to pull away I felt like my whole world had just fallen apart. I thought you had come to the conclusion that you would never love anyone the way you loved her and didn't know how to tell me."

String reached up rubbing her check with his thumb. "I did care for her, and her death was something I never thought I would get over, until you came along."

"Then why did you pull away from me?"

"It had nothing to do with you or how I felt about you. It's that I can't forgive myself for her death."

Cait moved toward him pulling him to her. "Why do you blame yourself? Dom's told me what happened. Her death was not your fault."

String looked away from her. "If I wouldn't have left her that night and made sure she got on a plane she would be alive."

Cait took his chin making him look at her. "And if you would have stayed they may have killed you as well. You both had a job to do. Getting Airwolf back was crucial. You had no way of knowing she was going to be killed."

"I know to you Cait that sounds logical, and it should to me as well. I thought a lot about how I got this way, why I always blame myself. When my parents died I thought I could have done more. And then I lost Kelly and St. John."

"String, you need to let go of all this. You can't carry this around forever."

"I know, that was the conclusion I came to that I wanted to tell you. I wanted to let you know that the best thing I ever did was marry you. I couldn't wait to see you and then Dom showed up that day and I knew something had happened to you. I've never been that afraid as when he told me you were in Columbia and captured by the cartel."

"I know. I caused you a lot of worry. Are you upset with me for going there?"

"I wish you wouldn't have but I know why you did it. For the same reason I would have done the same thing. I guess I forgot how capable you are. Just promise me you won't take on a mission again without me."

"I promise I won't." She said as he pulled her into his lap.

"Do you want to talk about what happened to you?"

"Yeah, I do." She said softly.

Cait spent the next hour giving the details of her capture to String. He tried not to show it but it pained him to hear what she had been through. He wished that Santos was still alive so he could kill him all over again.

"I'm grateful that Tom was with you. I have to admit he's a good man."

"I almost forgot," Cait said as if she just remembered, "did he have a place to stay tonight."

String grinned. "He's with St. John."

Cait looked surprised. "St. John, Sinj your brother?"

"Yeap, the very same. Seems like they kinda hit it off."

String picked Cait up. "Time for you to go to bed. The doctor said you need your rest."

Cait cocked her head to one side. "Only if you come with me."

String was kissing her as he climbed the steps. "Oh I intend to."

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String and St. John anxiously waited for Michael to arrive with the news he had on Harkins.

"Thank you for coming in on such short notice." Michael said as he sat down at his desk. "Where's Cait? I thought she would have wanted to hear this as well."

String shifted in his chair which told Michael he had better hurry up and tell him what he knew. Patience was not one of his virtues. "She's with Dom trying to make sense of the mess he made of the schedule. Now, you want to tell us what you know."

"We located Harkins. It seems he's living well in the Caribbean Islands. We think that after you took out Santos and his men the manufacturing company that was working with Harkins got nervous and paid him off. This means they also have his plans for the plane. This is why I need him alive. We need information from him to stop the production of that plane."

"We'll take it from here." St. John said standing up to leave.

"Here's the information I have" Michael said handing him a flash drive. "Remember, bring him back alive Hawke."

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St. John and String headed back to the hangar to look over the information they had on Harkins. Sting knew Cait would want to know what was going on. She hated that Harkins got away. Out of all of them she wanted to see justice brought to him the most. Twice she tried to stop him and came up empty handed. Although String did remind her that bringing in the prototype of his plane was no small feat.

St. John looked over at his brother. He hadn't had the chance to ask him if he and Cait had worked everything out. Since Cait's rescue String was never far from her. "How are things with you and Cait?"

"Never better" String said concentrating on his driving. "We've both done a lot of talking this past week. Not that I would want to go through what we just did again, but I think this made our marriage stronger. By the way, you never told me how you and Tom got on. Dom said he stayed a couple of days with you."

"I have to say I like the guy. He told me he approves of you and Cait together."

"Well that was big of him." String said laughing.

"Seriously, he talked a lot about his feelings for Cait. I was surprised by his confession."

"Yeah, what was that?"

"He said that if they would have married it would've never lasted. He realized how much working for the DEA means to him and that at some point he would have had to choose between being a family man or an agent. He doesn't think Cait would have been happy either."

"I'm just grateful he called off the wedding." String said as he pulled up to the hangar.

"You know String, there's something I have wanted to ask you."

"Yeah, what's that?"

"If Tom wouldn't have called it off would you have just sat there and watched her get married without saying anything?"

String smiled. "Where do you think I was headed when Tom came out of the house?"

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Harkins was enjoying his fruity drink with the little umbrella in it. Life was good he thought looking out at the water as he sat on the beach. If he knew that selling his brilliant design to a bunch of ruthless thugs paid this well he would have done it back in college. Now that he was rich he was able to attract women that in the past wouldn't have given him the time of day. Setting his drink down on the table beside his chair his eye caught hold of a bikini clad bombshell setting up a blanket several yards away from him.

"Come to papa." He said out loud to himself.

For the next half hour he watched her through the shades he was hiding behind. She had long tanned shapely legs. He fantasized what he would like to do with her. He could see himself with a woman like that. Why not? His design earned him millions not to mention the future opportunities he had with the cartels. She was wearing a hat and sunglasses to shield her from the sun. If her face was half as good as her body he thought. Looking around he noticed that they were alone on the beach. The only other people he could see were two guys out surfing and some old guy collecting sea shells.

"What the hell" he thought, "I'm going for it." Reaching into the Satchel he had beside him he took out some breath mints and popped one in his mouth. He then took out a pack of gum laced with burundanga and headed toward the beautiful women on the beach with his chair in tow.

"Mind if I join you? It's not safe for a pretty woman like you being all alone out here."

The woman who was now lying on her stomach sunning herself replied. "Sure, why not."

"The names Jim, and you are?"

"Bored." She replied

Harkins began to laugh nervously. "Care for some gum." As he reached down and handed her a piece. To his surprise she took it and unwrapped it.

"So what are you doing here all by yourself?" He asked

"Sunning myself. What about you?"

"Oh I just landed a deal that made me millions and I am treating myself to a kind of celebration."

"Yeah, what do you do for a living?" She asked nonchalantly as if she really didn't care.

"I design high tech planes." He said full of himself.

"Enough about me, what do you do?"

The women rolled over and sat up. She removed her hat and shook her hair lose. "I take slim like you out of commission."

"What?" Harkins said alarmed. He didn't know if she was kidding or not. There was something familiar about her. He stood up looking around to see if anyone was looking. "You, you're the woman from Santos compound." Deciding he was in trouble he took off running. Cait watched as Harkins ran as fast as he could stumbling as he went. Deciding he had gotten far enough she took off after him. He turned around to see Cait catching up with the two suffers and the old man right behind her. He was starting to panic. A few seconds later he was on the ground face down in the sand as Cait held him there until the guys caught up to her.

"Need these?" String said as he handed her a pair of handcuffs.

"Thanks, I think I do." As she roughly pulled his hands behind his back.

"OWwww, you're hurting me." Harkins protested.

St. John was laughing at the sight. "What a wuss. He'll last all of a day in prison."

Cait pulled Harkins to his feet. "You have no right to hold me." He protested.

String walked up to him taking him by his tacky flowered shirt. "Why don't you call your friends in Columbia? Maybe they'd help you."

Dom pulled out his cell phone. "Hey bub, what's the number? I'll dial it for you." As he laughed.

String threw Harkins toward St. John. "See that he gets back to Knightsbridge."

"What do you mean? Aren't you coming?"

String pulled Cait close to him looking down at how she looked in the bikini. Raising an eyebrow and cocking his head with a mischievous grin. "No, you and Dom can handle this."

Dom scratched his head. "If we take the lady how are you and Cait going to get back?"

"We'll manage Dom, See you in a few days."

Cait watched Dom and St. John take Harkins off toward the waiting jeep they had arrived in. "Ah, String we didn't pack enough clothes to stay here a few days."

"Don't worry, you won't need them."

Cait blushed as he took her with a kiss. "You know you're pretty sexy chasing bad guys."

Picking up the blanket they walked to a secluded part of the beach where they stayed until the sun greeted them in the morning.

The End: Until their next adventure.