Turnabout's Fair Play

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.

A/N: Mushy, romance alert! Just letting you know ahead of time in case you're not into that kind of thing….

Chapter 7

Cait pulled into The Lair but was confused when she saw no light other than a faint, flickering glow coming from the far side of Airwolf. Cait wondered if the generator they used to give them light had gone out. Sensing that something wasn't right, she pulled her 9mm from the glove compartment of the car before getting out.

"Hawke?" she called out, keeping herself partially hidden behind the open door of the car, the gun cocked down by her side.

"Yeah, Caitlin," she heard him answer as she breathed a sigh of relief. "Over here."

"Everything okay, Hawke?" she asked as she closed the car door and took a few steps towards the sound of his voice. Still, she kept the gun down by her side….something was definitely unusual here.

"It's all good, Cait," Hawke said as he emerged from the far side of the helicopter with a smile. Cait was surprised to see him not in the lilac-colored flight suit as she had expected but in a pair of jeans and a form fitting, red, pull-over sweater that just happened to be one of her favorites on him.

"Hawke? What's going on here?" she asked with surprise.

"Uhm, Cait…you want to put away that gun first?" he asked with a chuckle. He should have known that the redhead would come loaded for bear.

Looking down and realizing she was still holding the cocked weapon, Cait blushed as she quickly put the gun back in safety mode and dropped it in her coat pocket. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"No problem," Hawke said with a grin as he walked over to her and slipped his arm around her waist. "It's nice to know that you've got my back when I need you."

"Always, Hawke," she returned with a smile, "but do you want to let me in on what the heck is going on here? I thought we had an assignment from Michael? Why aren't you in your flight suit?"

"Cait, I have to confess. Dom and I, we may have told you a little white lie about that," Hawke said suspiciously as he started to lead her over towards the far side of The Lair.

"There's no mission…?" Cait questioned with raised eyebrows. "Stringfellow Hawke, you better tell me what's going on right….." Caitlin started but lost her voice when they rounded the nose of the helicopter.

Stretched out before her was an incredible scene. A small campfire had been built and was evidently the source of the flickering light. Laid out beside the fire was a blanket with an open picnic basket on it that appeared to contain various chilled berries, European dark chocolates and a bottle of her favorite merlot. Two crystal wine glasses glistened in the firelight, each with a wild red rose placed inside of it and surrounding the whole scene were various baskets and containers of freshly cut wild flowers, the kind that Caitlin loved to pick when she was up at String's cabin. From what she could tell, Caitlin surmised there must have been more than a dozen bouquets.

Caitlin looked from the scene before her to Hawke whom she was surprised to see looking back at her with a combination of nervousness and anticipation. She wanted to speak but when she opened her mouth, she couldn't seem to form the words.

"Caitlin?" Hawke finally asked softly as he removed his arm from her waist and turned her to face him as he took her hands in his.

Looking into his steely blue eyes, she finally found her voice. "Is this for me?" was all she could think of to ask.

"Yes, Caitlin, it's for you," Hawke said as he gently reached up and brushed an errant strand of hair out of her eyes.

"But, why, Hawke? I don't understand?"

"Because, Caitlin, I've been a fool. Watching you going out with those other guys these last couple of weeks, having you pull away from me because I've been too damn scared to pull you back, well it's torn me up inside. I realized that I've been taking you for granted and I didn't want to lose you but I knew that if I didn't do something quick, that's exactly what was going to happen."

"Hawke, you'd never lose me," Caitlin said warmly. "Our friendship means too much. You didn't have to do all of this…"

Hawke could tell that Caitlin wasn't getting the full meaning behind his gesture. It was time to lay it all out in the open. "What if it's not just your friendship that I want, Cait? What if it's, well what if it's….." Hawke stammered almost afraid to say it out loud. Being more of a man of action than words, he let his instincts take over as he leaned in, wrapping one hand behind her neck and pulled her towards him. Bending down slightly, he placed his lips on hers, kissing her slowly and completely. He wanted there to be no mistaking that this was no kiss of friendship but one of passion and purpose. He knew he'd made his point when he felt her body mold tightly against his and she began to respond with a passion of her own.

Finally breaking apart for air, Hawke pulled back to see wetness in Caitlin's blue-green eyes. Reaching up he wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb. "Caitlin, I'm sorry…too much?"

Shaking her head, Caitlin leaned back in, gently touching her lips to his. "No, I'm not upset, Hawke, at least not at you. You have no idea how many times I've thought about you kissing me like that. But I kept seeing you with all those other women and I had given up hope that you would ever want me that way. I guess I started going out with those other guys because it hurt too much to see you kiss another woman the way I wanted you to kiss me. I guess it was my way of getting back at you…I'm sorry, it was a childish thing to do."

"No, baby" Hawke said with a smile, "it was exactly what I needed. Dom helped me to see that I had just been using those other women as a replacement for the one I really wanted…you."

"Really? I'll have to remember to thank him the next time I see him," Caitlin said with a grin.

"So you're not angry that we tricked you?" Hawke asked.

Caitlin turned around in Hawke's arms so that her back was to his front and placed his hands so that they were encircling her waist. Leaning her head back against his chest she sighed with happiness as she looked at all of the trouble that Hawke had gone to just to please her. "I think it's the most wonderful and romantic thing that anyone has ever done for me," she said.

Leaning down, Hawke kissed the side of Cait's neck sending a tingly shiver down her spine. "Dance with me" he whispered in her ear as he reached into his pocket and hit a button on a remote control causing the sound of smooth jazz to fill the air.

Turning back around Caitlin put her arms around Hawke's neck and leaned in so their foreheads were touching. "There's nothing I'd rather do for the rest of my life, Stringfellow Hawke," she said as they began to sway softly to the music. Being held in String's arms, after all this time, was the best feeling she'd ever had.

"Actually, there are a few other things I can think of doing but all in time…" Hawke said with a mischevious grin. "You know, Dom said we could both have tomorrow off. How do you feel about spending the night with The Lady and a certain pilot?"

Meeting Hawke's hungry gaze with one of her own, Caitlin smiled a Cheshire grin. "Remind me again how much I need to thank Dom the next time I see him," she said as she leaned in and showed Hawke just what a good idea she thought it was….

The End!