Just Like Old Times

Stringfellow Hawke brought the Jet Ranger in for a bumpy landing at Santini Air. He didn't usually land so heavily, but be Hoth he and Dominic Santini were exhausted after their mission to return a Firm spy back to the United States from Germany. Hawke put his head back and closed his eyes. He thought that Dom was still asleep from the long ride in from the Lair.

"These missions were a lot easier when we had Caitlin with us," Dom said quietly.

Hawke thought a minute about their mission and how Dom had had to let him out of Airwolf to go in and get the spy out of the house. It had taken him a long time to find the man and to get him out of the house. After he'd located the man, he'd run into a group of military types who had fired on them and given chase until they reached the safety of Airwolf. Yes, it would have been a lot easier with Cait helping to find the spy and covering his six on their escape out of the house.

"Yeah, it would have made it a lot easier getting out," he said. Pausing for a couple of minutes, he went on, "I wonder why she decided to up and leave out of the blue like she did. Everything seemed to be going so well and then Cait just up and left." Hawke looked over at Dom waiting for an answer.

Dom thought for a couple of minutes before answering, "I can't say why she left. Something must have come up her for her to leave like she did." Dom glanced over at Hawke to see if he had accepted what he had told him.

"Did you ever ask Cait why she left?" Dom asked.

"No... I just don't get why she left," Hawke continued, followed by a deep sigh. "We really could have used her today. Maybe we need to think about getting someone else on the team so we have three people when we need them."

"Yah, I guess we could think about that. But how do you advertise for someone to fly Airwolf missions? It's not like you can put an ad in the paper," Dom replied.

Hawke thought about what Dom had said and added, "Maybe I'll talk to Archangel about getting someone to help us out."

They sat there quietly for a few minutes, too tired to even move.

Hawke finally asked what had been bugging him, "Have you talked to Caitlin lately?"

Dom looked over at Hawke and said, "Yeah, I talked with her a couple of days ago. I'm going down to Texas to see her this weekend." He paused for a couple of minutes before he added, "You want to come with me?"

Hawke thought about the request for a couple of minutes before saying, "Nah, I've got other plans for this weekend," Hawke answered without looking at Dom. He was afraid to see the look that Dom had in his eyes—knowing that he wanted him to go with him to Texas. Dom probably figured that Hawke's 'plans' were for a date with some female, but Hawke's 'plans' for the weekend were just to go fishing at the lake, do some reading, and—truth be told—to miss Cait. "Tell her that I said hi and to take care of herself," he added as an afterthought. At the same time, he thought to himself what he'd really like to say was, 'Tell her that I miss her and I wish that she would come back. Things have not been the same since she left. When she left, she left a whole in my life that I can't fill no matter what I do."

Dom looked over at Hawke noting the sad expression on his face. Then he asked, "You going up to the cabin or are you coming home with me tonight?"

"I'll bunk at your place tonight. I'd fall asleep if I tried to make it back to the cabin," Hawke responded.

Dom smiled, "That's great! It'll be just like old times!"

"Yeah, sure," Hawke responded. "Just like old times," he said out loud while thinking to himself, 'If only Cait was here with us. That would be just like old times."