Fanfiction: You Are Cordially Invited - Part I

[rachel500]

Fandom: Airwolf
Series: The Lost Season (Story 12)
Summary: Hawke runs into trouble on his bachelor night - will he make his wedding to Caitlin?
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: Hawke/Caitlin. 
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended.  Written for entertainment purposes only.


You Are Cordially Invited

Part 1

Thirteenth February. Racino Pass.

Stringfellow Hawke shivered violently against the cold gust of wind and pulled his leather jacket tighter around him. He pressed closer into the wall of the mountain pass, huddled over the small fire he’d managed to light and rubbed his hands together trying to get the circulation moving in his pale frozen fingers. He was going to be lucky not to end up with frostbite, he grumbled to himself. His blue eyes darted to the more serious problem; the bloody wound in his leg where his attacker had knifed him. The wound was deep into the thigh and was still bleeding despite the makeshift bandage Hawke had rigged. He shivered again. He was losing too much blood. If he wasn’t found soon…he shoved the thought away. He would be found. Caitlin O’Shaunessy, his fiancée would have raised the alarm when the fishing group hadn’t made it back to the cabin at the right time. She and his surrogate father Dominic Santini had probably gone to get Airwolf. The technologically advanced helicopter had the surveillance capability to find him.

Caitlin was going to be worried, Hawke mused. He was due to marry the pretty redheaded pilot in two days and instead of being home at the cabin and helping with the last minute details of their wedding, he was lying injured on the side of the mountain. He frowned. He still couldn’t quite work out how it had happened. He guessed it had begun a couple of days previously when he’d returned to the cabin from a fishing trip with Caitlin’s father…

Eleventh February. Hawke’s Cabin.

‘Where have the two of you been?’ Caitlin turned from the pot she was stirring and greeted Hawke with a kiss as he slid his arms around her. Her blue-green eyes flickered to her father who was handing her mother the fish they had caught. ‘I was beginning to get worried.’

‘It looks like someone had a good day.’ Maggie O’Shaunessy commented holding the fish aloft.

Patrick O’Shaunessy grinned at his wife. ‘I had a lousy day but he,’ he pointed at Hawke, ‘he had a fabulous day.’ He shook his head in wonder at the younger man. ‘You are a genius with a fishing rod.’

Hawke shrugged. It had been odd sitting out on the lake all day with the man who would soon be his father-in-law; odd but good. Their relationship was improving in leaps and bounds, he thought.

‘Sounds like you had a good time.’ Caitlin murmured.

He hugged her tighter. ‘Yeah.’ His blue eyes twinkled at her. ‘You should have seen the one that got away from your father though.’

Patrick spun back to his wife. ‘You should have seen it, Maggie. It was this big.’ His arms extended to an improbable size.

Maggie rolled her eyes expressively. ‘Sure.’

Patrick turned to Hawke. ‘Help me out here, son.’

‘He’s right.’ Hawke agreed readily. ‘It was at least that big.’ His lips twitched. ‘Maybe bigger.’

Caitlin started laughing and soon even Hawke was smiling as Patrick continued to protest the size of the one that got away to his disbelieving wife.

It was an enjoyable dinner and as Hawke cleared away, he was pleased to see the happy smile lighting Caitlin’s face. Both of them had been a little nervous of her parents’ arrival a few days before. Apart from her elder sister Erin, Caitlin’s family had never seemed to approve of her relationship with Hawke. It had been a nice surprise to find that whatever doubts they still had, the O’Shaunessy’s seemed to have put them aside and accepted their daughter’s decision to marry Hawke. Her parents had even acquiesced to the couple’s invitation to stay at the cabin although the rest of her family were staying in a hotel near the Van Nuys airfield. During the last couple of days her parents had moved from polite civility to friendly warmth. Maybe, Hawke thought as he handed out mugs of coffee as they moved to sit around the fireplace, Dom had been right. The older man had always maintained that Caitlin’s parents just needed to spend time with Hawke and Caitlin for them to accept the relationship.

Hawke sat on the sofa next to Caitlin and slid his arm around her shoulders as she leaned into him. His fingers brushed a lock of red hair back over her ear and she smiled up at him. He smiled back. He couldn’t remember a time when he had been so content.

From the moment the friendship between himself and Caitlin had been forged in a jail cell in Texas there had been a sense of rightness about their relationship that he had never questioned. Their decision to move beyond friendship, to become lovers had only solidified the bond between them further. He couldn’t imagine what he would do if he ever lost her. He pushed the thought away ruthlessly. He had sworn not to let his fears of losing her like so many others in his life interfere with their relationship and it was a resolve he was determined to maintain.

‘You know that lake of yours is something.’ Patrick commented as he took a sip of the coffee.

‘You should see the rest of the mountain.’ Hawke said. ‘There’s a tributary stream further up that’s teeming with fish.’

‘Really.’ A speculative glint entered the other man’s eye. ‘How far?’

‘You have to take a chopper.’ Hawke said. ‘It’s not accessible by foot.’ He frowned. ‘It’s really an overnight trip.’

‘An overnight trip.’ Patrick repeated.

‘Don’t even think about it.’ Maggie warned wagging a finger at her husband.

‘What?’ Patrick said innocently.

‘What you’re thinking.’ Maggie rejoined. ‘You are not leaving us here organising the wedding alone to fly up a mountain and go fishing.’

‘We wouldn’t think about it, would we Hawke?’ Patrick denied.

Hawke let a small smile drift across his face. In truth, he wouldn’t mind getting away from the wedding planning and going fishing but given how much he had already left to Caitlin, leaving her to cope with the last minute stuff on her own didn’t seem right. ‘Maybe next time.’ He said.

‘Which reminds me,’ her father said incongruously, ‘what are the arrangements for the bachelor night?’

‘Bachelor night?’ Hawke blinked and shrugged. ‘Well…I…’ he gestured vaguely, ‘I’m not sure.’ The subject of a bachelor night had never come up.

Patrick frowned. ‘Dom does have something planned?’ Hawke’s surrogate father was standing as the pilot’s best man.

‘Actually, Dad,’ Caitlin murmured, ‘I think we’d all kinda forgotten about it.’

‘Well you and Erin have planned your bridal shower though, right?’ Maggie checked.

Her daughter’s blank expression told its own story.

‘You know a bridal shower is a tradition.’ Maggie said.

‘Like a bachelor night.’ Patrick added.

‘You should have a bridal shower.’ Maggie said to Caitlin.

‘You should have a bachelor night.’ Patrick insisted to Hawke.

‘OK, OK.’ Caitlin said laughing and holding hand up in supplication. ‘I think we get the message.’

‘Well, it’s a bit last minute with you getting married in four days but I’ll talk to Erin tomorrow and see what we can arrange.’ Maggie said. ‘With a little bit of luck we might be able to do something for tomorrow night.’

‘And I will talk to Dominic tomorrow and see what we can do for your bachelor night.’ Patrick concluded. ‘It’s not right a man getting married without one last night of freedom.’

Caitlin’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at her father’s gleaming eyes. ‘Why do I get the impression you’ve got something up your sleeve?’

‘Because he does.’ Maggie said before her husband could reply.

‘You see what you’re going to have to put up?’ Patrick said to Hawke.

Hawke’s eyes settled on Caitlin’s. ‘I can’t wait.’ He murmured.

Caitlin smiled back at him and the conversation moved on to other aspects of the wedding. It was meant to be a simple ceremony in front of the lake with their closest friends and family but even so the multitude of things that needed organising still had the ability to take Hawke’s breath away. He was pleased that Caitlin hadn’t wanted a big Texan society wedding because he hated to think what it would have taken to organise. Not that he had done much, he thought with a mixture of shame and relief; Caitlin had pretty much organised everything except for the honeymoon. He’d taken full charge of that and he’d already decided it was going to be two weeks of pampering his new wife.

It was good she was getting a bridal shower, he thought as they all retired for the evening although he wasn’t too sure he wanted the bachelor night. The traditional male humiliation ritual had never appealed to him even as an innocent bystander never mind as the main participant. He sighed as he stoked the fire in the bedroom back to a cheerful blaze. Dom knew Hawke wouldn’t really enjoy bars and strip clubs; maybe the older man would talk Patrick into an evening of poker…

‘You know you don’t have to have a bachelor night if you don’t want to have one.’ Caitlin’s gentle Texan drawl interrupted his musings and he glanced over at her. She was already in bed waiting for him.

He smiled at her; she had developed a knack for reading his mind. He shrugged as he started to undress. ‘I’m OK with it.’

She raised an eyebrow at him sceptically. ‘Really?’

‘Really.’ Hawke slipped under the covers and pulled her the last few inches into his arms as she moved to cuddle into him. ‘Besides, Dom won’t let them organise something I’ll really hate.’ He hoped.

‘You’re right.’ Caitlin reassured him. She reached up and brushed his fringe out of his eyes. ‘Well we won’t have long to worry about it if it’s tomorrow night.’

He frowned. ‘You’re worried about the bridal shower?’

‘Do you have any idea what happens at a bridal shower?’ Caitlin asked.

Hawke’s lips twitched. ‘Thankfully, no.’ He stroked a hand down her back. ‘You know you don’t have to have a bridal shower if you don’t want to have one.’ He parroted back to her.

She smiled. ‘My Mom would never forgive me.’ She shrugged. ‘It’ll be fine.’ She hoped.

Hawke cuddled her closer. ‘Well I’ll guess we’ll find out tomorrow.’

‘Yeah.’ Caitlin agreed. ‘Tomorrow.’

There was silence.

Hawke sighed. ‘You still worried?’

‘Of course not.’ Caitlin automatically denied.

‘Yeah.’ Hawke agreed as he shifted to kiss her. ‘I’m still worried too.’

He was even more worried the next day when he walked into the Santini Air office and found Patrick huddled with Dom; his anxiety levels escalating when they abruptly stopped talking at the sight of him and Patrick hastily made his excuses and left.

‘You know that’s a sure fire way to make someone paranoid.’ Hawke commented as he headed for the coffee machine.

‘What?’ Dom said. His craggy face attempted an innocent expression and failed.

Hawke shot him a look before he finished pouring himself a mug of stewed coffee. ‘So what’s the plan for tonight?’

‘No plan.’ Dom said dismissively.

Hawke stared at him evenly and Dom sighed.

‘OK.’ The older man admitted. ‘There is a plan but you’re going to love it.’ He grinned at Hawke. ‘It’s a good plan.’

Hawke tried to ignore the sinking sensation in his gut and took a gulp of his coffee. Damn! He thought he could count on Dom to keep it simple.

Dom’s eyes lit up mischievously as he caught the worry the younger man couldn’t quite hide. ‘You know I can’t believe I forgot about giving you a bachelor night.’ He said leaning back in the office chair and folding his arms over his ample chest. ‘I organised your Dad’s when he and your Mom got hitched.’ He whistled. ‘Now that was a wild night. I could tell you…’

‘Michael’s here.’ Hawke interrupted with relief. He gestured at the white limo pulling up in front of the office window. Maybe the deputy director of the FIRM had an Airwolf mission for him, he thought hopefully; something that would necessitate him being away…

‘Good.’ Dom said.

Hawke spun back round to look at the older man, unable to hide his shock. Dom had never greeted the spy’s arrival with that particular word before. ‘Good?’

‘I asked him here to fill him in on tonight.’ Dom said. He gestured at Hawke. ‘You’re going to have to leave.’

‘Leave?’ Hawke asked blankly.

‘Well, it’s not going to be much of a surprise if you’re standing here listening to every word now is it?’

Hawke shuffled his feet a little. ‘I don’t mind it not being a surprise.’

‘Well I do especially with all the trouble Patrick’s going to.’ Dom said firmly rising to his feet. He harried the younger man out of the office. ‘The Ranger needs her rotors looked at. You can do that whilst I talk to Michael.’

Michael Coldsmith-Briggs stopped just outside the office door to give Dom the space he needed to shove Hawke through it.

Hawke glanced at the spy who was dressed as always in a smart white suit, with wire-frame glasses, a black eye-patch and a rosewood cane completing the slightly bizarre look. Hawke glowered at the open look of amusement on Michael’s face.

Michael brushed a finger over his moustache. His good eye twinkled at Hawke’s furious face. ‘Hawke.’

‘Michael.’ Hawke acknowledged with exaggerated politeness.

Dom gestured for the spy to enter the office and Michael gave Hawke a mock salute before he slipped past him and into the room. Hawke scowled and Dom waved him away from the door before he shut it firmly. Hawke stared at the wood for a moment before he stalked over to the Ranger, muttering under his breath as he went. Maybe he didn’t even need an Airwolf mission; maybe he should take the Lady for a spin…he sighed at a twinge of guilt. Whatever was going on, it was obvious they were going to a lot of trouble for him…he yanked hard on the wrench. Fine. He’d stick around and suffer through whatever it was.

Two hours later, Hawke’s resolve was almost gone. There had been a succession of what he could only describe as furtive visits to the Santini Air hangar by Caitlin’s male relatives. Enough was enough, he decided as Patrick sneaked into the office. Hawke jumped down from the ladder and marched over to the office. The door swung open as he was about to push it and he took a surprised stumbling step backwards.

‘Hawke, good.’ Patrick grinned at him. ‘Are you ready to head to the cabin?’

Hawke shoved his hands into the pockets of the beige overalls he was wearing. ‘The cabin?’ He checked.

Patrick nodded.

‘So what’s going on?’ Hawke asked.

‘You’ll see when we get to the cabin.’ Dom said cheerily ushering him out of the way. ‘Come on.’

Hawke frowned. ‘Isn’t it a bit early to close up?’

‘Let me worry about that.’ Dom said dismissively.

Patrick patted his shoulder. ‘You’re going to like this.’ He promised.

Hawke sighed and gave in with what little graciousness he had left. The ride to the cabin was made in almost total silence. Hawke had been firmly relegated to the back seat whilst Dom and Patrick stayed up front. He peered between the front seats at the clearing in front of the cabin as they came into land. Another helicopter was already parked on the landing pier and Dom had a tricky landing to put their chopper down next to it. They climbed out as the rest of their party made their way out of the cabin to greet them.

Caitlin’s brothers, Brian and Callum, led the way both carrying camping gear. They threw it at their father who stowed it in the back of the chopper. Hawke’s eyes warmed at the sight of his friend Jason Gifford, better known as ‘Doc’, as the bush pilot shoved a rucksack at him.

‘This is for you.’ Doc said grinning.

Michael brought up the rear, handing Hawke his own fishing rod.

Hawke looked questioningly at Dom whose gap-toothed grin couldn’t have gotten any wider.

‘Why don’t you tell him, Patrick?’ Dom said generously. ‘It was your idea.’

Patrick clapped a hand over Hawke’s shoulder. ‘For your bachelor night, Hawke, we are going camping up at that stream you were telling me about. Maybe do a little fishing in the morning.’

‘All of us.’ Dom added still grinning. ‘Even Michael.’ He slapped the other man’s shoulder heartily jolting the spy forward. Michael shot him a dirty look and rubbed his arm.

Hawke felt a slow smile start to creep across his lips. ‘A camping trip.’ He repeated. The other men looked back at him with pleased smiles. He felt the tension seep out of his knotted shoulders. He could handle a camping trip. His blue eyes met Dom’s. ‘Good plan.’ He agreed.

Dom nodded happily. ‘And don’t be worrying about Caitlin and the wedding plans.’

‘We have her blessing.’ Patrick stated not mentioning the hour of wheedling with his daughter, and the additional hour of negotiating with his wife, it had taken to achieve it.

Hawke rubbed his chin and glanced at the sky. They were going to have to get moving if they were going to make camp before it got dark. ‘So what are we waiting for?’ He said gesturing at the chopper. ‘Let’s get going.’

Part 2

Thirteenth February. Racino Pass.

Hawke tightened his jacket around him as the wind brushed past him sharply. It was so cold on the mountain, he thought tiredly. His blue eyes searched the cloudy sky.

‘Come on, Dom.’ He muttered as he shivered violently. Where the hell was Airwolf? If he wasn’t found soon…the fire flickered with another gust of wind and his trembling fingers quickly added some twigs and leaves to feed the flames. He was so tired; all he wanted to do was close his eyes…he forced his drooping eyes wide open. Hypothermia. He was losing consciousness because he was too cold. His eyes drifted to his numb leg and the red stain on the bandage, on the ground beneath him. Or maybe it was the loss of blood. Either way, he thought stubbornly, he needed to stay awake…stay conscious. Dom and Caitlin would come for him. They had never let him down before; they’d always come through for him.

He needed a distraction. He’d been thinking about the day before and the run-up to the camping trip…his bachelor night. Hawke blew on his cold hands, rubbed them together. He needed a distraction like remembering the camping trip…

Eleventh February. The Campsite.

They had taken the chopper up to the top of the mountain. It was a beautiful clearing surrounded by tall trees and plenty of natural shelter. There was a view across the mountains and in the far distance they would swear they could see the smoke from the cabin meandering into the blue cloudless sky. The stream cut across the right side of the clearing; a wide, babbling torrent of water that poured over the rocks and rushed past them on its way to the lake. They made camp on the left side of the clearing away from the water and nearer to the shelter of the trees. It helped keep the sharp breeze away from the tents and campfire. The position of old campfire stones and fallen logs told of past trips and it wasn’t long before a fire blazed in the centre of their camp.

Darkness was swift and sudden at the top of the mountain and they watched the sunset with a hushed awe as they finished a simple meal. The firelight cast a golden glow over the assembled men and there was a comfortable silence broken only by the faint scrapings of the forks on the camping tins. Dom reached for the coffee pot and refilled the mugs which Patrick topped with a measure of whiskey.

‘To the groom.’ Patrick toasted.

They raised their mugs at Hawke who followed the gesture before they all took a drink.

‘To the bride.’ Dom added.

‘To the bride.’ They all toasted.

‘You know,’ Callum said, ‘I don’t think I know how you and my sister actually met.’

Hawke glanced over at Caitlin’s brother. ‘Cait hasn’t told you?’

‘No.’ Callum shook his head.

‘She’s never told me either.’ Brian, the eldest of Caitlin’s brothers, added.

‘Come to think of it,’ Patrick said slowly, ‘I haven’t heard the story either.’ He looked over at Hawke who was studiously staring into the fire and at Dom who was looking into the bottom of his mug avoiding everyone’s gaze.

‘I know I haven’t.’ Michael rubbed his moustache thoughtfully. The first time he’d met Caitlin had been shortly after she’d started working at Santini Air. Hawke and Dom had introduced her to him as a new addition to the air service without any further explanation. Of course, Michael had run a background check; he hadn’t been comfortable with the idea of having someone else so close to Airwolf. He’d discovered she’d been the police officer assigned to escort the body of a James Blake, one of Hawke’s wartime buddies, to LA and that it had been her last assignment before she went on a leave of absence. He had always assumed she’d connected with Hawke and Santini at the funeral and being an out of work pilot had wangled a job with them. Looking at the expressions on the faces of the two pilots he had a feeling he’d missed something. ‘Why don’t you tell it to all of us?’ He suggested.

‘Now that sounds like a good idea.’ Callum said raising his mug.

Hawke sighed. ‘It’s really not that interesting a story.’

‘Oh come on.’ Doc agreed. ‘How did the two of you meet?’

Hawke glanced over at Dom who shrugged at him resigned.

‘You might as well tell them.’ The older man said.

Hawke took a gulp of his coffee. ‘Caitlin was working as a Highway Patrol officer in Pope County when we met.’ He said finally.

‘You met Caitlin when she was in Texas?’ Callum checked.

‘Yeah, I thought you didn’t meet her until she moved to LA.’ Patrick said puzzled.

‘That’s what I thought.’ Michael added a little sharply.

‘So what’s the story?’ Doc asked seemingly oblivious to the undercurrent of tension. ‘Did she pull you over for speeding?’

‘I…er…well,’ Hawke gestured awkwardly, ‘I was kinda in jail.’

‘You were in jail?’ Patrick’s voice rose.

Doc’s eyebrows rose. ‘And you think this isn’t interesting?’

Hawke shot him a look that effectively silenced him. ‘Maybe I should start at the beginning.’

‘Maybe you should,’ agreed Callum laughing.

‘I had a friend called James Blake. He was a chopper pilot back in ‘Nam, same as me. He saved my life a couple of times back in the war.’ Hawke began. ‘Anyway, Jimmy ended up drifting after we came back and every couple of months or so, he’d call, usually wanting bail money or a favour.’

Brian nodded thoughtfully; he’d served in ‘Nam, had friends like Jimmy himself. ‘Happened to a lot of men.’ He murmured.

Callum and Patrick glanced across at him. It was rare for Brian to talk about ‘Nam.

Hawke nodded in agreement. ‘I never minded. Jimmy was a good guy. The war just screwed him up a little. Anyway, the day before I met Caitlin, I’d gotten a phone call from a friend of Jimmy’s. He explained that they’d escaped from the Pope County jail and Jimmy needed a rescue.’

‘So you headed to Texas to help your friend out?’ Doc clarified. He almost smiled; it was classic Hawke.

‘Yeah.’ Hawke gestured with his mug. ‘Only there was no sight of him. I headed into town to see what information I could rustle up…’

‘I stayed with the helicopter.’ Dom added and avoided Michael’s sharp gaze.

‘When I was having a quiet drink at the bar,’ Hawke continued, ‘the sheriff arrested me for having no id.’

‘Are you sure all you were doing was having a quiet drink at the bar?’ Michael asked sceptically; he had known the pilot to start the odd brawl.

‘The sheriff had some kinda racket going on.’ Dom said supporting the younger man before Hawke could respond. ‘He’d catch drifters and sell them to a local landowner who’d have people hunt them.’

Patrick’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Did I hear you right?’

‘You heard me.’ Dom said. ‘I tell you this guy?’ He shook his head and whistled. ‘Real bad guy.’

‘He was a real mean son of a…’ Hawke checked himself. ‘He beat me up a little and threw me in jail.’ His eyes met Patrick’s across the fire. ‘The next day, Caitlin showed up.’

‘It turns out she’d seen the sheriff run Hawke’s friend off a verge out by the highway. Only the sheriff had pulled rank on her and forced her to leave Jimmy in his custody.’ Dom said.

‘She wouldn’t let it go though and came looking for him.’ Hawke added.

‘Sounds like Caitlin.’ Brian commented.

‘She came storming into the jail demanding to see Jimmy.’ Hawke shrugged. ‘I figured she was my best chance of getting out of there and managed to convince her to let me make a phone call.’

‘To me.’ Dom confirmed. ‘Only before I got the chance to go get him, the sheriff turned up.’ He caught Hawke’s warning stare too late.

‘The sheriff turned up?’ Patrick looked over the fire at Hawke.

‘Yeah, the sheriff turned up.’

‘So what happened?’ Doc demanded.

Hawke sighed and rubbed his chin. ‘He took Cait hostage and took me out to be hunted.’

‘Caitlin got taken hostage.’ Patrick yelped.

‘Only for a short time.’ Hawke assured him. ‘I got away from the hunters, found Dom and went back for her.’ His jaw clenched at the memory of seeing Caitlin in her small Highway Patrol chopper desperately trying to get airborne before the sheriff could shoot her down. ‘We got her out safely.’ He finished.

Patrick subsided. ‘Now I know why she’s never told me the story.’

Michael hid his face in his mug; he had a feeling Hawke had judiciously left quite a bit and didn’t want to alert Caitlin’s father to the possibility.

‘So you and Cait met in Texas.’ Callum stated. ‘I always thought it was when she’d taken that body of some dead guy…’ his voice trailed away at Hawke’s almost imperceptible flinch. ‘The dead guy…that was your friend wasn’t it?’

Hawke sighed and nodded. ‘They found Jimmy out in the desert.’

Patrick shook his head. ‘It sounds like you saved Caitlin’s life.’

‘We saved each other that day.’ Hawke allowed.

‘So you reconnected when Caitlin brought your friend back to LA for the funeral?’ Callum mused.

Hawke nodded. He wasn’t sure if he should tell them Caitlin had searched him out so he kept quiet.

‘Sounds like it was quite an adventure.’ Doc said. ‘Almost like the time we met.’

‘Ah that’s true.’ Dom said laughing.

‘Sounds like another story.’ Callum said reaching for Patrick’s whiskey bottle. He refilled the mugs and Dom topped them off with more coffee.

‘I’m not sure how much of it I can tell.’ Doc said glancing at Michael.

Michael shrugged. ‘I’m know I couldn’t stop Dom telling it even if I tried.’ He commented wryly.

Dom pulled a face at him before he agreed much to all of their amusement.

‘So?’ prompted Callum.

Doc gestured. ‘I have a place up in the Halynon National Forest…’

‘That’s some beautiful country.’ Patrick commented. ‘Good fishing.’

‘The best.’ Doc agreed. ‘Unfortunately this particular day, a group turned up needing a doctor; one of the men had been shot.’

‘During a raid where they had stolen a new kind of aircraft technology.’ Michael interrupted. ‘I sent Hawke and Dom into the area to find the group and recover the technology.’

‘Only they’d taken my friends hostage to force me to help them.’ Doc said. ‘I managed to get away and convinced Hawke and Dom here to help me.’

‘And we managed to recover the technology.’ Hawke concluded rapidly.

‘And save that British guy from being assassinated.’ Doc added.

‘I guess intelligence work is pretty exciting.’ Patrick commented with a greater understanding of why his daughter had gotten involved with it; Caitlin always had followed after trouble.

Michael said. ‘Most of the time intelligence work is…’

‘Boring?’ suggested Dom sweetly when Michael seemed lost for an adjective.

‘I was going to say routine,’ muttered Michael.

‘It’s hard getting my head around that Caitlin’s mixed up in all this kinda business.’ Patrick said. He was beginning to realise that Caitlin had kept them in the dark about quite a lot of her life and it saddened him to realise it was probably because she thought they wouldn’t be accepting of it in the light of their response to her work as a cop.

‘She’s very good at it.’ Michael said. ‘I’d offer her a permanent post if I thought there was any chance she’d leave Santini Air.’

‘Huh.’ Dom harrumphed. ‘She likes the company at Santini Air too much to think about leaving.’

‘Has to be the company,’ Hawke agreed readily, ‘it sure ain’t the money.’

The group chuckled at Dom’s outraged expression and the subject switched to other topics. It wasn’t long before they turned in with the expectation of an early start for their fishing expedition.

Hawke was the first awake the next morning. He’d chosen to sleep outside under the stars and he turned over in his sleeping bag to gaze up at the pale sky brightening with the weak early rays of sunshine. He stretched and yawned before letting his gaze move around the camp. Doc and Brian had followed his example and slept out. Both were still asleep on the other side of the campfire. There was no movement from any of the three tents beyond them; Michael’s was quiet, whilst there were competing snores from Dom’s and the tent Patrick had shared with Callum. Hawke eased into a sitting position and then noiselessly got to his feet. He headed out of the camp and walked a short distance further downstream to wash-up before he returned and started the chores. By the time Brian started to rouse, Hawke had the fire back to a cheerful blaze, a fresh pot of coffee on the go and was gutting the three large fish he’d caught for their breakfast.

Brian stretched and staggered to his feet. His green eyes took in Hawke and blinked. He headed over to join him by the stream. ‘How long have you been up?’ He asked in a low voice.

Hawke shrugged. ‘A while.’

He pointed at the coffee pot with his gutting knife. ‘Coffee’s fresh and these are almost ready for the frying pan.’

‘I’ll get one warmed up.’ Brian said. He caught the glint of the POW bracelet Hawke wore and hesitated. ‘I just wanted to say…about your brother. I still have friends MIA and I…well…’ he trailed off uncertainly.

Hawke’s surprised blue gaze met Brian’s. ‘It was a hard war for a lot of people.’

‘Yeah.’ Brian nodded. ‘It was.’ He sighed and headed back to the campfire.

The smell of the cooking fish woke the rest of the camp and after a companionable breakfast, they all headed downstream where Hawke claimed the best fishing would be had. Before too long they were all ranged in positions by the side of the stream waiting for the fish to bite.

‘Ah.’ Dom swallowed a gulp of cold beer. ‘This is the life.’

‘It is.’ Patrick agreed. His green eyes landed on Hawke who was helping Callum with his bait. ‘He’s a good man.’

Dom followed Patrick’s gaze. ‘Yes he is.’ He agreed. He hesitated. ‘You know he’ll do anything for her.’

Patrick’s smile widened. ‘You don’t have to convince me Dom. I can see he loves her.’

Dom gave a relieved sigh.

‘I understand you raised him when his parents died?’ Patrick asked casually. He hadn’t really had the opportunity just to sit and talk to Dom.

‘Raised is probably the wrong word.’ Dom laughed. ‘He and his brother were already pretty self-sufficient. His old man brought both boys up to be independent.’

‘His father was a pilot?’

‘Yeah. The best. That’s how he and I met. We flew together in the war.’ Dom smiled.

‘And his mother?’

Dom took a swallow of beer before replying. ‘Jane was a concert pianist when she met Alan. She was very talented. String gets his love of music from her.’

Patrick heard the reserve in Dom’s voice and gave an apologetic smile. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrogate you.’

Dom accepted the apology with a wry smile. ‘I can understand. If I were Caitlin’s daddy…’

‘You’re a generous man.’

They clicked bottles.

‘I don’t suppose I could ask you one more question?’ Patrick asked hesitantly.

‘Sure.’ Dom agreed readily.

‘Have you written your speech yet?’ Patrick asked.

Dom looked at him bemused. ‘I didn’t think they were having speeches.’

‘I know that’s what they said but…’ Patrick sighed, ‘it doesn’t feel right seeing my little girl get married and not commemorating the moment.’

‘I have to admit,’ Dom said, ‘I was looking forward to doing one but…’ he shrugged, ‘if they don’t want it…’

‘Maybe we could surprise them with a joint speech.’ Patrick suggested. ‘Something short.’

Dom raised his beer bottle. ‘You’re on.’

Hawke sat down beside the older pilot and shook his head at the beer Dom offered him. He’d overheard much of the conversation between the two men although he figured he’d leave them ignorant of his eavesdropping. He knew Caitlin would be thrilled at the gesture of a surprise speech and he didn’t want to spoil it for them or for her. He glanced back down the stream. Michael and Doc were sat together discussing something; it wouldn’t surprise him if Michael were offering Doc a job, Hawke mused, but then he half-expected if his cousin, Matt, had been able to attend, Michael would have been offering the Navy SEAL a job. His blue eyes drifted further down where Brian and Callum were sat. The two brothers were laughing at some shared joke and Hawke felt jealousy bite at his gut as he remembered how he and Saint John had come up to the stream camping in years past. He sighed and got to his feet pulling on his jacket.

‘Where are you going?’ Patrick asked.

‘Camp.’ Hawke said succinctly. ‘Cait’ll be expecting us to have checked in by now.’ A noise caught his attention and his head cocked to the side.

Dom caught the action and sighed. ‘What is it? Another chopper?’

Hawke shook his head. ‘Plane.’ He frowned and pointed at the sky and a moment later they all saw the small aircraft lurch into view. The plane was headed straight for them. The steady stream of black smoke from its right engine left an ominous trail across the bright blue sky.

‘Mamma mia,’ muttered Dom shielding his eyes with his baseball cap. ‘He’s going down.’

‘Yeah.’ Hawke agreed tracking the path of the plane. ‘And he’s headed straight for us. Get down!’

They threw themselves to the floor, Dom instinctively protecting Hawke, as the plane flew low directly over them, missing them by mere feet. The stuttering noise of its one remaining engine filled the once peaceful clearing. Hawke looked up to see the plane shake as it lowered itself to the ground on the opposite side of the stream. There was a horrendous sound as its wing hit a tree. The last engine failed and there was a deathly silence.

Hawke was up and running, splashing across the stream, before he’d even stopped to think; Doc was at his heels with the others not far behind them. Most of them were pilots and knew there were only moments to get free of a plane crash if the fuel tank had ruptured. He grabbed the cockpit door and yanked hard, pulling it wide open. He stepped up on the wheel prop, boosted up by Doc to look into the cockpit. Two men looked back at him.

Hawke estimated both men were in their forties. One looked like a retired military man and sported the same buzz cut favoured by the Marines. His hair was silver and his eyes a pale dazed blue. The second man was smaller with olive skin. He was dark haired with brown eyes hidden behind a pair of unfashionable glasses and a nasty gash on his forehead. He was clutching a briefcase for dear life. They were both dressed for hunting but the second man wore brand new clothes as though this was his first time. Hawke helped both of them from the cockpit and the other men in his group helped them away from the plane wreck.

They sat them by the edge of the stream a safe distance away. Doc grabbed the first aid kit they’d brought with him and squatted down in front of the second man.

‘I’m a medic.’ Doc said. ‘Let me take a look at that.’ He cleaned the wound up and applied a small bandage.

‘Thanks.’ The dark haired man said.

‘Hey, are you guys OK?’ Dom said. ‘That was some crash.’

‘There’s no smell of fuel.’ Patrick said. ‘I don’t think she’ll go up.’

‘Pity,’ growled the ex-Marine, ‘worthless heap of junk gave up on us just as we got over the first mountain.’

‘They sometimes have a tendency to do that.’ Dom said sympathetically.

‘You’re a pilot?’ The pale blue eyes shot to Dom.

Dom gave a nervous laugh. ‘We all are pretty much.’ He gestured back upstream. ‘We’ve got a chopper back at the camp. We should get you boys off the mountain and get the crash reported to the authorities.’

‘Yes. The authorities.’ The dark haired one glanced over at his companion. ‘I guess we should do that.’

‘Let’s get packed away.’ Hawke suggested quietly.

Michael helped Hawke gather the fishing gear. ‘What’s up?’ He asked quietly.

‘My gut.’ Hawke said shortly. His guarded blue eyes flickered to the two men and then to the plane. ‘Something’s not right.’

‘I have a healthy respect for your gut.’ Michael said. ‘What do you want to do?’

‘Just watch them, Michael.’ Hawke muttered as they retrieved the last of the equipment.

‘Got it.’

They started walking single file back along the stream.

‘So,’ said Dom jovially trying to ease the tension that had entered the small group, ‘what are your names?’

‘Frank,’ stated the Marine, pointing at himself, ‘he’s John.’

Dom nodded and reeled off the introductions for their party.

‘Y’all on a fishing trip?’ John asked. He was still clutching the brown leather satchel for all he was worth.

‘Kinda.’ Dom said but didn’t expand. He gave a relieved sigh as they entered the campsite.

The chopper caught the attention of the two men immediately and they exchanged a look that had Hawke’s eye narrowing in suspicion.

‘You know,’ said John turning back to the group, ‘we don’t want to break up the party and it’s clear the chopper isn’t big enough to take us all. Perhaps we could just bother one of you to give us a lift to the…the authorities and then they could come back for the rest?’

‘It’s no trouble.’ Hawke said smoothly before anyone could accept the offer. ‘The authorities will probably want to take our statements anyway.’

Doc looked at Hawke strangely and slowly nodded. ‘That’s true.’ He nudged Callum who was staring at Hawke in surprise. ‘Come on, let’s take down that tent.’

‘I’ll help.’ Brian offered.

Patrick stared thoughtfully at the way Dom and Michael had ranged themselves either side of Hawke; his gaze slid to the two strangers. ‘Why don’t you fellas take a seat?’ He suggested pointing at the logs by the fire. ‘It shouldn’t take us long to pack up.’

‘Thanks for the offer,’ John continued politely, ‘but I’m afraid we’re going to have to insist on doing this our way.’

Frank pulled a gun and everyone froze.

‘Take it easy now.’ Dom said slowly raising his hands. ‘Just take it easy.’

Hawke raised his own hands equally as slowly as Dom even as he stared furiously at the two men. He judged whether he could kick the gun out of the guy’s hands and decided there was too much risk of it going off and shooting someone.

‘Everyone back where I can see them.’ Frank yelled. ‘Now!’

Brian, Callum and Doc left the tents and moved to stand next to the others.

‘Everyone on their knees, hands behind their heads.’ Frank ordered.

They all complied.

‘Can you fly the chopper, Frank?’ John asked.

The ex-Marine shook his head. ‘I told you; only planes.’

John sighed deeply. ‘Which one of you can fly this chopper to Racino Pass?’

Nobody answered.

‘One of you must know the terrain.’ John said. ‘After all, it follows that only someone who knows the area would know this was good fishing ground.’

They all stayed silent.

John sighed again and shook his head sadly. ‘Shoot one of them.’

Frank moved.

‘Stop!’ Hawke snapped. ‘I’m the only one here who can fly you up there.’

‘String…’ Dom started and stopped at a warning flash from Hawke’s icy blue eyes.

‘Good.’ John stated and reached behind him. He pulled a gun from the pocket of his jacket. ‘You’re coming with us.’ He gestured at Frank. ‘I’ll cover them. Search their equipment and trash anything that looks like a radio.’

Frank nodded. They heard him the sounds of things cracking and breaking before he returned. ‘Ready.’

‘On your feet.’ John ordered Hawke.

‘String…’ Dom couldn’t have prevented the name escaping his lips if he’d tried as Hawke staggered to his feet. His eyes held his surrogate son’s worriedly.

‘I’ll be fine, Dom.’ Hawke said with more confidence than he felt. ‘Just make sure…tell Cait I’ll be at the wedding.’

Dom nodded. ‘I’ll tell her.’

‘Touching goodbye scene.’ John said scathingly. ‘Come on.’ He gestured with the gun. ‘If anyone else says a word or moves until we’re gone, your friend here is dead.’ His brief look at the rest of the group effectively silenced them.

John climbed in the front of the chopper with Hawke; Frank sat behind him and held the gun to Hawke’s head.

‘You make one move I don’t like and your brains are going to be splattered all across the cockpit.’ Frank warned.

‘And don’t think of trying anything heroic.’ John warned. ‘I might not be able to fly one of these things far but I do know how to land one.’

Hawke stared angrily at him and checked the rotor speed. ‘I’m taking her up.’ He growled.

‘Take it nice and easy.’ John told him.

Hawke grasped the cyclic and raised the chopper from the ground. He glanced back at the worried faces of his friends, of the family he was due to join and swallowed hard on a rush of pointless emotion. He couldn’t think about them; they would be fine. Caitlin was bound to realise something was wrong and come looking for them. He was the one he needed to worry about, he thought grimly, because like in any hostage situation as soon as he wasn’t any use to his captors, he was going to end up dead.

Continued in Part II.