SINS OF THE DAUGHTER
A/N: I do not own or make any profit off of the Airwolf name or any of the characters involved within. My stories are for entertainment purposes only.
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Chapter 12
"This makes no sense Dominic." Archangel observed as he watched the radar on the cockpit console of the Huey helicopter he and Dom had rigged up the best they could to go in and retrieve Airwolf. She was no mach one, armor-plated battleship like the black and white technological wonder that they were going after but it would have to do. "I'm not seeing a thing on that island other than Airwolf just sitting there like she's waiting for us."
"No bogeys in the air either?" Dominic asked.
"Clear as a whistle," Michael answered as he shook his head. "You think it's a trap?"
"Only one way to find out, Archangel," Dom said with determination. "Keep your eye on that radar, I'm setting her down."
Dominic quickly and efficiently landed the Huey on the beach near Airwolf. "Still nothing, Dominic," Michael informed him.
"Better have your weapon ready Michael. This is too easy." Dominic said as he drew his own gun and disembarked the chopper. Michael did the same. As they cautiously approached Airwolf, Dom noticed the note that had been left by Andrew. "Hey, Archangel. I've got something." He advised the spy as he unfolded the paper and read the contents.
"It looks like instructions to another island a couple of hundred miles southeast of here." Dom observed. "And it's got this strange message on it."
"Well….what does it say?" Michael asked impatiently.
"The best revenge is to be unlike her who performed the injury" Dom read. "And it's signed with the initials AW. Now what the hell do you suppose that means?"
"Let me see that, Dominic," Michael said as he took the paper from the pilot. "Hmmmm, if I'm right, that's a quote from Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor. Of course it's slightly paraphrased, it should say him instead of her but…"
"But what, Michael? What's it supposed to mean?" Dominic interrupted.
"What it means, Dominic, is that we've just been handed a gift. My guess is that Ms. Horn's right hand man, Andrew Winters from all accounts we've heard, has had enough of his boss' hijinx. He's just handed Airwolf back to us. I'm not sure what the hell she did, but evidently he's had enough. This is his form of revenge.
"You mean, The Lady, she's ours for the taking?"
"You got it, Dominic. And I suggest we get going before either Mr. Winters' changes his mind or Angelica finds out she's been betrayed."
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80 minutes after leaving the beach in the Bell 205 helicopter, Hawke could see his final destination coming into view. Breathing a slight sigh of relief that he had made it in time, even with a few minutes to spare, he took the time to speak with Caitlin. Even though she was fully unconscious he truly believed she would hear everything he had to say to her and it calmed him to speak to her even if she couldn't respond.
"Hey, baby. It's almost time. We'll be touching down in about five minutes. No matter what you see or hear when you wake up…and you WILL wake up…know that I love you." Tears were already streaming down the normally unflappable pilot's face as he continued. "I promise you, that one way or the other I'm going to get you out of this and we'll be back at the cabin before you know it. You and me, we were meant to be together, I can see that now and I'm not going to let Angelica Horn or anybody else ever keep us apart. I love you, Caitlin. I'm nothing without you so you come back to me, you understand?"
With that, Hawke readied himself to land at the well-fortified mansion that rose up in front of him from the cliffs of the shore.
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Angelica watched with a smug satisfaction as Hawke expertly piloted the chopper onto the rooftop landing pad of her island hideaway. After so much time, her plan was coming to fruition and she would once again have Stringfellow Hawke. She knew he would be resistant at first, but with time she was sure she could convince him that with her was where he really wanted to be, even if he didn't know it yet. And if all else failed, there were always the mind-altering drugs that had almost been such a success before.
Finding out that his beloved Airwolf had been destroyed would also prove to be further incentive for String to stay. Andrew had phoned her just 30 minutes earlier confirming that the aircraft had been blown to bits along with Dominic Santini and Archangel. Other than Caitlin O'Shannessy, that which meant the most to Stringfellow Hawke had all been destroyed or killed. Sure, she could have made an insane amount of money selling Airwolf to any number of foreign interests but money was never her goal, she had plenty of that. .
As for Caitlin O'Shannessy, she would prove to be slightly more of a challenge but Angelica was sure that once Hawke realized that Caitlin's life would forever be in Angelica's hands and under her control, he would do whatever he had to to keep the red-headed Texas tramp safe. Stringfellow Hawke was nothing if not loyal and protective of the ones he loved.
As the chopper's rotors powered down and the door opened, Angelica was surprised to hear String's voice crying out in a somewhat distraught manner. She had expected anger but not the almost pitiful cry she heard emanating from the man.
"She's dead! You killed her!" he cried as he made a weak lunge for the blonde haired woman only to be pulled back by two large muscle bound men.
"String. I've killed no one. I assure you, Ms. Shannessy can be cured. I have the anti-toxin right here." She said as she pulled a vial from her skirt pocket.
"You're too late, Angelica.!" Hawke informed her. "She's dead . Look for yourself, she died shortly before we landed," Hawke cried as he fell to his knees between the two men that hel d him by each arm.
Nodding towards one of the men that held Hawke, she ordered them to check the woman in the back of the chopper. Hawke watched out of the corner of his eye praying that, one, his performance had been convincing and, two, that Caitlin's heart rate and breathing had slowed enough to fool anyone checking her. Although he, himself, had almost been convinced that their plan had gone awry when he checked her himself one last time before landing and almost couldn't detect any vital signs. Luckily Marella had given him some clues on how to check for signs of life other than the normal pulse points that had confirmed that she was in fact still alive.
After a few tense moments, the man turned back around from the chopper and confirmed Hawke's claim. "He's right, Ms. Horn. The woman's dead." Hawke didn't have to fake the slight cry that escaped his lips upon the announcement. Even knowing that Cait was still alive, just hearing her pronounced dead caused his own heart to skip beat.
Walking over to the distraught man on his knees, Angelica ordered him lifted to his feet. "Well this is an unexpected turn of events, String, and while I'm sorry for your loss I'm sure you'll understand that these things sometimes happen. " Hawke's eyes flashed like steely daggers at the woman that stood before him. "The price we pay for love is sometimes very high."
"I don't love you, Angelica. Not now, not then, not ever," He practically spat at her.
"Well, maybe not then and maybe not now, String, but you will, eventually. Trust me." Turning on her heels, she motioned to a third man to approach her. "Charlie, take Mr. Hawke and clean him up. Get him out of that hideous jumpsuit and into some of the clothes that I left for him in his room. Then lock him up and give him some time to think about his new life here and if he wants to make it easy or hard. Once he's secure, take the woman's body and put it in the cellar until such time I can properly have it disposed of. "
"Yes Ma'am, " he answered as he headed for Hawke.
"Angelica!" Hawke yelled as the she started to walk away. "I want to see her. I want to say goodbye."
"Oh, I don't think that's necessary, String." Angelica said as she turned back around to face the obviously distressed man.
"Either you let me have a few minutes with her alone to say goodbye or you might as well just kill me right here and now because I'll never do what you ask."
"And if I allow this?" Angelica asked hopefully.
"If you give me 10 minutes with her, I'll do whatever you want. It's all I have left, Angelica…give me this one last request and then I'm all yours." He said with a deep sigh of surrender.
After a moment's thought, Angelica agreed. "Fine, get changed and give us time to get the body into the cellar and then I'll arrange for you to see it. But I swear Hawke, if you think you're going to try something, you'll live, but you'll live to regret it."
"I know, Angelica. Believe me, I know," he said as the men led him away.
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Hawke looked at his watch for the third time in as many minutes as he waited for Angelica's men to take him to Caitlin. Thirty-five minutes had passed since they had landed and he knew that if he didn't get to her within the next ten minutes, he could very well lose her for good. Just as he was about yell for his captors, he heard footsteps approaching outside his door.
"Step back from the door, Mr. Hawke" a voice yelled as he heard a key turn in the lock. "I need to see you in the camera before I open it." The room that Hawke had been locked up in was outfitted with cameras so that he could be constantly monitored by Angelica and her staff. The woman was nothing if not thorough.
The man that Angelica had identified as "Charlie" stood in his doorway. "I'm to take you to see the body."
"Well, let's go then," Hawke said as he stepped towards the door knowing that he had precious little time left in which to administer the reviving Epinephrine to Caitlin.
As they approached the door to the room that Caitlin's "body" had been put in, Charlie began to follow Hawke through the doorway.
"Hey, Angelica said I could see her alone!" Hawke said as turned and glared at the larger man.
After a few second stand-off, the man acquiesced and held the door open for Hawke to enter. "Fine, you have ten minutes, no more and if I hear anything suspicious, I'm coming in…got it?"
"Yeah, I got it," Hawke replied as he entered the cold, dark room and closed the door behind him. Seeing Caitlin laid out on the floor before him, he choked up. Seeing her like that was horrifying and a sight that he wasn't sure he would ever be able to get out of his head.
Quickly he knelt down next to her and took her hand in his. It was so cold it frightened him. "See, Caitlin, I told you I'd come for you. Now it's your turn to carry out your part of the bargain. "
Reaching down to her boot, he pulled the Epinephrine pen out and quickly pulled the plunger on the syringe filling it with the life-giving medicine. Gently unzipping the top part of her lilac flight suit that she still wore from earlier that morning, he carefully place the needle over her chest at the spot where Marella had showed him. Taking a deep breath, he slowly exhaled trying to keep his hand steady as he pushed the medicine into Caitlin's heart.
Once he was done, he threw the used syringe into a dark corner of the cellar and leaned over and kissed her on the lips. "C'mon baby," he said as he gently brushed the hair out of her face. "Give me something before I leave, let me know this hasn't all been for nothing."
For several minutes he stared at her and was about to give up when he heard a slight moan and saw her breath catch. Putting his hand over her heart, he could barely feel a faint beating under his palm. "Thank God.," he said. "I knew you could do it…I knew you'd come back to me, " he said as he caressed her cheek.
Hearing Charlie knock on the door indicating it was time to go, Hawke quickly zipped her flight suit back up and gave her one last quick kiss. "It's all up to you now, Caitlin. I'll be waiting." He whispered in her ear as the bodyguard opened the door.
"Let's go, Hawke. Your time is up." Giving her hand one last squeeze, Hawke stood and allowed himself to be led back out the door.
TBC….
A/N: So the end is now near, probably only 1 or 2 more chapters. Thanks so much to everyone for their continued support of this story so far and I hope you enjoy the ending as well, I promise I'll make it worth the read