Second Chances Part 4 - The Holly and the Ivy

Second Chances Part 4 – The Holly and the Ivy by Bethhawke.


Hawke could hear the phone ringing as he opened the front door. Le answered it, listened for a moment, then called out, “Uncle String? Is that you?”
“Yeah it's me, who else are you expecting?”
Le ignored his question, “It's Archangel on the phone. He says it's urgent.”
“Isn't it always?” grumbled Hawke taking the receiver from his nephew, “What d'you want Michael? I've just got back from the clinic with Beth.”
The voice on the other end was apologetic but firm, “I'm sorry Hawke, but I have an urgent job for you and Dominic. How soon can you be at my office?”
Hawke sighed. It had to be important. Marella would have told Michael that Beth was coming home and she knew better than to disturb them. “I've just walked through the door. Let me speak to Dom. If you don't hear back from me expect us within a couple of hours.”
“Thank you Hawke. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't a case of life or death.”
“Yeah well it better had be!” Hawke muttered under his breath as he hung up.


After settling Beth in and introducing her to Holly, Hawke had a quiet word with Le.
“Half-Pint, you're the man of the house while Dom and I are away. If there are any problems Beth knows how to get hold of Archangel or Marella and Cait is just a phone call away. Don't leave the baby alone and help Beth as much as you can. D'you think you can manage all that?” Caitlin had decided not to stay with Dom while Holly was there but Hawke knew that she would help Le out if needed.
“Yeah, piece of cake,” Le replied with a grin, then noticing the serious look on his uncle's face he added. “we'll be okay. I'll look after them.”
Hawke hugged him and ruffled his hair, “I knew I could count on you. I'll be in touch.”
Saying goodbye to Beth was harder. After their long talk in the hospital they had been eager to start their reconciliation only to find themselves separated again. Hawke felt the need to reassure her that he hadn't had a change of heart.
“I'll be back soon,” he told her, holding her close, “Archangel said this was a case of life or death or I wouldn't go.”
“I know, I work for him too remember. Just come back in one piece.”
“I always come back,” he said seriously, too seriously judging by the look on her face, “Hey, don't worry, I'll come back, maybe not in one piece, but I will come back,” he grinned to show her he wasn't completely serious.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his chest, “Love you Stringfellow Hawke,” she whispered, “be safe.”
His voice was husky as he replied, “Love you too,” before kissing her soundly, their first proper kiss in a long time.
“String we need to go,” Dom had entered the room without them noticing, followed by Holly who was glaring at the couple.
Hawke took his time releasing Beth, partly because he couldn't stand to leave her and partly to let Holly see that he was taken. He was so wrapped up in her that he didn't notice the look on Holly's face; if he had he may not have left.


It was an hour and a half later when Dominic and Hawke were escorted to Archangel's office.
Archangel got straight to the point, “One of my agents needs urgent transportation out of East Germany. The last time I heard from her she was gathering information on a new weapon that was being developed, some sort of hand held laser, which was at the prototype stage. We lost contact with her a couple of weeks ago and last night we received a coded message via another agent which indicates that she may be in trouble. We haven't been able to get a message back to her.”
“What did her message say?” asked Dominic
“Not much, just the code and some coordinates.”
Hawke was starting to get a bad feeling about it, “How do you know what the coordinates are for. It could be a pick up point or the location of the bad guys.”
“If an agent is in trouble they have an unique code that they transmit to us, so we know who it is from, and follow it with the coordinates of where they need picking up. It's standard procedure. All of my agents have a code, Beth has one too.” Hawke frowned at the mention of Beth but let it go.
“Okay. Sounds simple enough, but why do I get the feeling that it's not?” Hawke commented, knowing that Michael often left out some important detail until Hawke had agreed to a mission.
“We'll discuss the details in a minute. For now I need to know if you can do it.”
“If you arrange the refuelling, we should be able to get in and out undetected. Is that what you want to hear?”
“She must be someone important for you to be so concerned,” Dominic commented.
Archangel nodded, “Marella will be here in a moment with her file. Her code name is 'Medusa'.”
“Medusa! That's hardly flattering,” Dominic exclaimed, “what did she do to earn a name like that?”
“You'll see why in just a moment,” Archangel looked up as the door opened, “Ah, Marella, just in time. Do you have Medusa's file?”
She handed the file to Archangel with a nod of recognition to the two men seated in comfortable chairs in front of the desk. “I'll make coffee while you brief them,” she told Archangel, and she left the office.
“Marella and Medusa go way back, so she's understandably worried. And of course Marella doesn't officially work for me any more although I don't think the committee can object to her making coffee,” Archangel said a little sarcastically. He handed the file to Hawke who opened it at the first page. A smile crossed his face at the sight of the photo, the first genuine smile to grace his lips for a while. He handed the photograph to Dominic who chuckled.
“She's very beautiful,” Hawke commented, “she looks a little like Marella. Are they related?”
“Well spotted Hawke. They're cousins, another reason why Marella can't officially be in on this one.”
The photo showed a woman who looked about Marella's age. Her skin slightly darker and her hair slightly lighter, but the features were similar. Same mouth and eyes. But it was the hair that was making the men smile. She had it tied into hundreds of thin braids, each finished off with a coloured bead, which at a glance looked like the snakes on the legendary Medusa's head.
“Does she still have her hair like that?” Dominic wanted to know.
“As far as I know, but even if she doesn't she looks enough like Marella for you to easily recognise her.”
“How will she know when to expect us and for that matter know that she can trust us?” Hawke wanted to know.
“Well, that's the bit I haven't mentioned yet......” Archangel sounded cagey.
“I knew it!” Hawke exclaimed, “there's always something.”
“It's not that bad, I promise. It's just that you will have a passenger.”
“No Michael, no passengers. It's hard enough keeping me and Dom safe without further responsibilities.”
“You need this person. Medusa will not trust you, she has been betrayed too often in the past. The only way she will go with you is if there is someone with you who she trusts.”
Hawke cottoned on first, leaving Dominic looking puzzled, “Marella,” he sighed, not liking at all the thought of being responsible for Michael's partner.
“Why can't you just give us a password?” Dominic wanted to know.
“A password only works if the other party knows it too, and we can't get hold of Medusa. Marella is your only chance of getting her to go with you. She won't hinder you, she's the best agent I've ever had,” Michael's tone expressed the pride and love he had for Marella.
“I know she's professional,” Hawke agreed, “it's just that where Airwolf is concerned we prefer to work alone.”
Michael sighed, “I know, and if there was any other way....”
“Okay, okay. Marella can come, but she does exactly as I say.”
“You need me Stringfellow, so a little trust would be good here,” Marella, entering the office, had caught the end of the conversation and placed the tray of coffee heavily onto the desk, the cups rattling dangerously. Archangel put a soothing hand on her arm in an effort to calm her down. Everyone was emotional at the moment and the mission needed a calm head.
Hawke had another worry though, “Can you have someone check in on Beth, keep her up to date on our situation? I don't like leaving her alone so soon after leaving the clinic,” he gave a pointed look at Marella, knowing that she would understand why.
“She'll be fine. Holly can help her with the baby, she's a good girl,” Dominic said, not realising that Holly was part of the reason why Hawke was worried.
Marella handed cups of coffee around and reassured Hawke that she would get Lauren or Andrea to call at the house and keep Beth up to date.


Over coffee they read the file and talked over a few more details. Eventually Michael asked, “How soon can you leave?”
“Right away if you've told us everything we need to know,” Hawke replied standing up.
“If there's anything else you need to know Marella can brief you on the way,” Michael stood up also, “Good luck gentlemen and take good care of Marella for me.”
Marella kissed Michael goodbye much to his embarrassment; he was used to hiding his feelings in public not showing them.
“Hawke will take good care of me. He knows he will have to face you if anything goes wrong. Now I just need to make a few arrangements then I'm ready to go.” She could have let Michael speak to Lauren and Andrea but he didn't know the full story of why Hawke wanted Beth watched and she didn't want him finding out. Only Hawke, Marella and Andrea knew how depressed Beth had been after her kidnap and rape just over a year ago. Marella and Andrea had both been involved in her mental and physical healing and agreed that nobody else need know unless it was essential.
Her depression after the baby was born was now being treated but Hawke wasn't sure how soon she would start feeling better and she had definitely not been herself lately.


A couple of hours later they were in Airwolf and had just cleared the area surrounding the Valley of the Gods.
“You can remove the blindfold now,” Hawke told Marella who was sitting in front next to him.
“About time too. I hate flying when I can't see,” Marella replied grumpily, unwrapping the blindfold that Hawke had tied around the helmet, “That's better.” She looked out in the hope of recognising where they were.
“I've flown an indirect route so you won't be able to tell where we've come from,” Hawke told her with a sly smile.
“Why don't you tell us more about Medusa?” Dominic asked, hoping to defuse an argument before it got started, “Archangel said she's your cousin.”
“Yes, my father's sister's daughter. We spent a lot of time together as children. Adriana's only a year older then me.”
“Adriana, that's a pretty name. What's she like?”
“Well,” Marella was thoughtful, wondering how much to tell the two men, “she's nothing like me, not really. She's more open and friendly, quite loud to be truthful. If she likes you she will probably flirt outrageously, but she means nothing by it. She's not interested in men.”
“What? No men?” Dominic asked surprised.
“No Dominic, no men at all. She's gay but she hasn't had a partner in about five years, not since Amy who she lost on a mission not dissimilar to this one. We sent a team in to bring Amy out but the enemy hijacked the plane and went in to pick her up. She didn't know the men who Archangel had sent so went with the bad guys without question. They tortured and killed her.”
“That's sad. I can see why Adriana might not trust us.”
“There's no 'might not' about it. She will not trust you and will have no problem shooting you. That's why you need me.”


It was dark and there was snow on the ground when they eventually arrived in East Germany. The journey had been uneventful thanks to Airwolf's ability to fly undetected by radar. Tiring but uneventful. They flew over the the area where they were to pick up Medusa but saw no life signs and decided to find somewhere safe to set down until morning. They found a clearing not far away and wrapped up warm before covering Airwolf with the camouflage net. It was too cold to camp out so they had to spend the night inside Airwolf, taking it in turns to sleep.


Hawke was on watch when the sun finally made an appearance, peaking through the snow clouds that were building up again. He made coffee and woke Dom and Marella.
“I hope it doesn't snow. I don't want to be stuck here any longer then necessary,” Hawke commented, looking up at the sky..
“It will snow, and soon,” Marella replied, “but we should be okay as long as there isn't a blizzard, right Hawke?”
“In theory, yes, but I'd prefer clear weather. No point in taking any chances.”
They stood close to Airwolf sipping the hot coffee, letting the heat warm their chilled bodies.
“I'm going to take a walk to the rendezvous point. Dom, keep scanning, I don't want any surprises.”
Hawke picked up a hand held radio and started his walk through the thin layer of snow. The rendezvous point was only 5 minutes away and he was soon back.
“We'll have to leave the lady here. There is no room to land any closer. I just hope Medusa comes looking for us. Keep scanning for heat sources Dom, I'll keep watch out here.”
“Yeah no problem, it's warmer inside Airwolf,” Dom climbed into the back just as the first flakes of snow started to fall.
“Damn!” exclaimed Hawke, pulling up the fur trimmed hood of his parka.