Happy birthday possiblycrazee! Took a while to get posted up here, I know.
"Hodgins." Jack answered, not checking the caller ID of his cell phone.
"Jack?" The voice on the other end seemed unsure.
"Yes, that would be me."
"Don't take that tone with me kid. I wasn't sure if this was still your phone number."
"Dr. H?" Jack grinned, pushing away from the autopsy table.
"The one and only. How've'ya been kid?"
"The same. Still working at the Jeffersonian."
"Great! That's actually why I called. I'm going to be in Washington for a while in about a week and wanted you to give me a tour of that lab you always brag about."
"I do not brag." Jack muttered sullenly, tone belying the grin.
"And the moon is made of cheese." BJ retorted, used to his quasi-student's attitude.
The two finalized their plans and Jack promised to have a visitor's pass ready.
He hung up and returned to the samples.
"Who was that?" Zack asked from behind one of the lab's many computers.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to eavesdrop on other people's conversations?" Jack glared over his shoulder at the other man.
"Well yes." Zack admitted.
"But I never listened to mine," Angela broke in, leaning against the rail at the top of the steps. "So who was it?"
"An old mentor of mine. He'll be in DC next week and wants a tour of the lab." Jack left it at that, no matter the amount of questions, first from the young assistant and later from the rest of the squints and Booth.
The lab workers only became more nosy as the date of BJ's visit came closer and Jack only became more close mouthed. The techs and FBI agent clustered around the door as the specified date and time of the visit arrived.
"What? Wha- Get away from the door!" Jack scowled at his coworkers. "Your hovering like a group of vultures is not going to make Dr. H come any faster!"
"No, but it's amusing us." Booth smirked.
"Well, I'm so glad I can provide you with amusement." Jack snapped, eyeing the other squints, not noticing that Zack met his glare momentarily and stared resolutely away.
"Am I interrupting something?" A bemused voice asked from behind the group.
"Dr. H!" The bearded squint broke into a grin and stepped through the others to greet his mentor with a hug.
"How're you doin' kid?"
"I'm good. How have you been?" Jack ignored the others.
"Oh, you know how it goes. This the rest of the team?" BJ asked, looking around.
"Yeah. These are the other squints and FBI agent Booth. Dr. Hunnicutt meet Angela Montenegro, Zack Addy, Temperance Brennan, and Special Agent Seely Booth. All, this is Dr. BJ Hunnicutt. Dr. H, my… coworkers."
"Nice to meet you all." BJ said politely. "Jack's told me a lot about you."
"All of it bad." Jack chimed in. "Now we're going to go, and you're not going to follow." He led his mentor away from the group, deeper into the lab.
"The Jeffersonian Institute…" BJ commented, looking around the state of the art lab. "I had a friend from the war end up in one of these."
"A lab sir?" Zack asked, earning a glare from Jack.
BJ laughed sadly. "No, an institution. He went mad just at the end of the war. He was a damn fine surgeon and a hell of a person. I wonder what happened to him…"
Jack blinked at the wistfulness and sadness he heard in his mentor's voice. "Ah, well," he began, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot.
"But you brought me here to show off all your shiny equipment, so show me why you left California." The two poked around the lab, Zack trailing after. "I never did understand your fascination with all things dead. You'd've made a fine surgeon."
"You know I never wanted to be a surgeon."
The two continued silently, the only conversation Jack explaining some piece of equipment or other.
"You worked at a MASH unit sir?" Zack piped up from the computer station where he'd been analyzing soil and water samples.
"I did. With some of the best people you could ever hope to work with. Well, except for maybe Charles, but we'll ignore him for now."
"Do you keep in touch with any of them anymore?"
"Zachary Uriah Addy!" Jack's barked reprimand only got a 'what, nutjob' look in return. Turning to his mentor, Jack said, "I am so sorry. Zack hasn't learned the basic rules of human interaction."
Zack's muttered "only cause you're teaching them," went unnoticed by the bugs 'n slime guy but was loud enough for the surgeon to catch.
"It's all right," BJ assured the younger man, stifling laughter. "Really it's been too long since anyone asked about them. When Jack's done showing me around here, I'll spring for lunch and you can hear all about my… exploits and friends from the 4077."
Zack nodded happy agreement and went back to Dr. Brennan's work.
"You really shouldn't encourage him," Jack said remorsefully as soon as the pair was out of earshot.
"Oh, stop. I know you. You like the kid."
"He just worms his way under your skin." Jack admitted. "I couldn't help it." He glanced up to see his mentor's eyes dancing.
"What?"
"Nothing… Really."
"The last time you had that look in your eyes, I had blue hair for a week. Now give." Jack glared, which only sent BJ into a laughing fit.
"Show me the rest of your impressive lab. Dance, minion, dance."
Jack huffed and rolled his eyes, but did as bid.
The pair met with Zack and walked to Wong Fu's, finding an isolated table. Sid came for drink orders, but refused food specifications.
"He says he knows what you want better than you do," Zack explained to the mystified look on their newcomer's face. "And he's been right all the times I've been here."
BJ nodded. "The last time we were told what we wanted to eat was at the end of the war. After we got out, god help you if you tried to dictate what we wanted to eat."
Zack listened intently, a look of fascination on his face. That look never faded during the ex-military surgeon's retelling of his stories from Korea about Radar and Charles Emerson Winchester III and Col. Henry Blake and Hotlips and Klinger. About the practical jokes and the awful food and the broken boys.
The assistant noticed a continuing use of the royal 'we' and one small mention of a "hawkeye". The young genius filed the small chunk of information away, as well as all the anecdotes of the 4077.
As the stories and afternoon unfolded, the closeness of the 4077 became more and more apparent. Zack sighed almost wistfully as BJ took a break in his narration.
"You guys seemed more like my family- giant, loud, and dysfunctional- than a military unit. That sounds like a nice place to work in."
Jack winced at the other Jeffersonian employee's comment and wondered why the other man thought they weren't a family.
BJ laughed and said, "Kid, if your family growing up was anything like the MASH, it's a wonder you turned out as normal as you seem to be."
"He's not that normal, don't worry." Jack smirked.
"So he really put up with you for more than ten years?" Zack asked, looking back and forth between Jack and his mentor.
"It was hard," BJ smirked as Jack glared at his colleague. "But I've had lots of practice dealing with annoying doctors."
"Why did I invite you here again?" Jack asked the room in general, still glaring at the youngest man.
"Because you're in love with him." BJ answered for the young assistant.
Zack went completely still and Jack turned to his mentor.
"Because I'm what?"
"In love with him. But don't worry. Zack feels the same way." He looked between the two Jeffersonian employees. "What? You didn't know? I thought you knew."
"Obviously you're suffering from the early stages of dementia," Jack began.
"And you're in the late stages of denial." BJ interrupted. "Are you okay? Did I break you?" He asked, turning to a very pale Zack.
"I… he- what?" Zack stammered.
"Oh, you two really didn't know. Oops. Well, now you do. Get your heads out of your very cute asses. But later. I'm hungry."
Zack left the diner before Jack or BJ. The tales and antics of Korea made the distance between Washington D.C. and Michigan seem all the more depressing.
"You're kidding, right?" Jack demanded of the older man. "That I'm in love with him."
BJ looked around tiredly. "I wasn't kidding. Starting to think maybe completely wrong, but no kidding."
"That's not- it doesn't- how can he be in love with me?"
"Oh. That's what this is. It's the way you two act and the way he looks at you." BJ caught the glare. "What? It's the truth. I can be more sentimental if you want, but that never seemed your style."
Jack rolled his eyes. "You know it's not. It'll never work. Don't even start. I'm a realist."
"To quote a billion and a half love movies: It'll never work if you don't at least try." BJ held up the check in surrender. "That's all. I promise. Just get your head out of your ass."
Jack stormed home to find Zack in his apartment, sprawled on the couch re-watching Firefly. "Is what he said true?" He demanded.
Zack stared at him, bewildered by the abruptness. "Assuming that 'he' is Captain Hunnicutt and 'what' is me being in love with you, then yes. But you don't have to do anything about it. Please, forget he said anything. That I said anything. Just now."
Jack closed his eyes briefly. "How am I supposed to forget that?"
"Okay. Okay." Zack gathered his DVDs and fled the room.
"If I had a cat it would be glaring balefully at me." Jack scowled and stalked out to see Zack disappear out his apartment door.
He rolled his eyes and snagged the cordless phone on his way to collapse on the couch, waiting for the angry call from one of three people. Angela, Brennan, or Dr. Hunnicutt.
The two former because Zack had taken refuge at one of their respective houses, and the latter to continue his scolding.
"What did you do to Zack?" Angela demanded through the phone. "And remember, if you do not answer me correctly, I will hurt you. Or have Booth hurt you."
"I did not do anything." Jack sighed. "It's a long story Angela. I really can't deal with it right now."
"Well you better figure out how to deal with it soon. I may be good, but it takes a miracle to get a full story in comprehensive sections from Zack. All I really got was your friend said the two of you were in love with each other, and he admitted it was true, and then he left his apartment. And now he's here."
"Look, Angela, I'll see you at work tomorrow. Gotta go." Jack turned his cell off.
Leaving Angela to yell at Jack, Zack brought up Google search on Angela's laptop. Frowning slightly, he typed in "hawkeye mash unit 4077" as search parameters. The search engine brought up several hundred thousand sites, some of which referenced Last of the Mohicans. Scrounging through several histories of the Korean War, he found a small, simple site with copies of microfiche and scans of newspaper articles and old pictures.
The pictures were captioned with a personal touch that spoke both to the webmaster's knowledge of the people in the pictures and an assumption that any viewer of the site would have a cursory knowledge of the group as well.
He clicked past pictures of a much younger Dr. Hunnicutt and another man, taller, with dark hair that grew progressively grayer. Few of the pictures were from an area that looked as if it would be in a war zone.
"What'cha looking at?" Angela stuck her nose over Zack's shoulder and ruffled his hair.
"Angela!" He jumped. "You scared me!"
"Sorry," she said blithely. "What are you looking at?"
"A website of the people Jack's friend Dr. Hunnicutt knew when he was in Korea. There are a lot of pictures of these people he was talking about at lunch, but there's also a lot of pictures of Dr. Hunnicutt with a doctor that he never talked about. I think his name is Hawkeye. He mentioned him once, but that was it."
"Why?" Angela asked, pulling the laptop closer to look at the pictures. "I can't imagine being stuck in a war, oceans away from home, with complete strangers."
"I don't know. That's why I was looking him up and found this site."
"They look happy, though." Angela said, studying the pictures carefully. "Happy to be with each other. They were close? All of the camp?"
Zack nodded. "That's what it sounded like. A defense mechanism, I think."
"Are you going to tell me what you and Jack were fighting over?" She closed the laptop and turned to face the young man.
"We… weren't fighting Angela." Zack looked away.
"You only come here when you're fighting with Jack. When are you going to tell him that he can't keep barging into your apartment?"
"It's his. Technically."
"You pay rent on it Zachary. Set the boundaries." She got off the couch and squeezed his shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow morning and drive you to get clean clothes."
"Thanks Angela." Zack smiled briefly.
The two male squints studiously avoided each other, getting looks from Brennan and Booth. Angela rolled her eyes and ignored the tension.
"When are you going to stop barging into Zack's apartment?" Angela cornered Jack in the men's room.
"Do you have any sense of societal boundaries?" He demanded of the woman.
"Do I look like I care about that right now?" Angela demanded back, matching tones with the man. "Why do you keep barging in on Zack?"
"It's my property."
"He pays you rent for it. That makes it his property and you can't just intrude in on him like that."
"Why are you here playing bulldog for him?" Jack asked, leaning back against the counter and crossing his arms.
"That is none of your business. Answer the damn question Jack."
"Because I don't think he'd let me in otherwise." Jack admitted, staring at the ground, in a rare moment of truth.
"Of course he would. What is going on with the two of you?" She asked in a gentler tone. "He won't talk about it, and you don't talk about anything."
Jack sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. "Dr. H. has this idea that Zack and I are in love."
Angela snorted. "Smart man."
Jack shot her a look that suggested she'd thrown him to the lions. "Not you too. It can't be some sort of mass psychosis."
"No, because it's true. It doesn't need to be mass psychosis." Angela patted Jack on the shoulder. "One day you'll see it." She left the restroom as Jack's cell phone rang.
"Hodgins."
"Jack? It's BJ. I just wanted to call you and let you know that I'm home. And I wanted to apologize."
"For what? There's nothing to apologize for."
"Look Jack. Erin's moving to St. Mary's hospital in Richmond in a couple of months to head the E.R. And I'm gonna move up to be closer to her. I'd like to know things are," BJ hesitated, "still okay."
"Things were never not okay between us." Jack sighed.
"Look, when I get up there, I want you and Zack to come to dinner with me again. An apology for the last time."
"Because last time went so well."
"Shut up. I'm trying. Go make nice with Zack."
Jack did as bid and spent the next two months in an uneasy truce with Zack.
BJ waltzed in without calling and spent several minutes plotting with Angela before Jack noticed and put an end to that.
"Dinner. Tonight. You, me and Zack." BJ winked at Angela. "The lovely lady here informs me that you're both off as of now."
Angela grinned brightly. "Have fun."
Zack shot a panicked look at Angela as Dr. Hunnicutt took him by the arm and led him out the door.
BJ shot him a look over the booth's table. "Can I ask you a question?" Zach nodded, pulling on every trace of Angela he possessed.
"If I can ask one in return…"
The older man nodded. "Deal. Have you two gotten your heads out of your asses yet?"
Jack choked. "I thought you were going to leave that alone."
"I never said anything like that." BJ looked between the two other men. He glanced over at a red Zack and sighed. "I usually don't play matchmaker-"
"So don't." Jack snapped.
"-but it's so obvious. Just talk." He turned to Zack. "What's your question?"
Zack blinked rapidly. "Uh… Okay. Who's Hawkeye?"
BJ went pale. "What? How… Where? You know?"
Zack shook his head, surprised into silence by the other man's reaction.
"Are you okay Dr. H?" Jack handed his mentor a glass of water."
"Fine, fine. It's just a name I haven't heard in a long time."
"I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by that. It- it's just that you were talking about him… but not. And I was wondering. So I researched. And I found pictures with you and him." Zack said haltingly.
"It's okay kid. Like I said, it's a name I haven't heard in a long time. That I've tried not to think about. He was my best friend in Korea, but we lost track of each other after it all ended and we were sent back home."
"I need to stop having dinner with you two." Jack rolled his eyes. "Too much drama."
BJ rolled his eyes to Zack at the other man. "He says he avoids the drama, but I know he thrives on it."
Zack grinned shyly and continued light conversation with the other men, mostly moderated by BJ.
The older man became a frequent visitor to the lab, gaining the young assistant's trust as well as getting to know his protégé more. Zack adopted the older man as a surrogate father and mentor all in one and grew more opinionated and talkative the longer the men communicated and the more advice and life experience the younger man took from BJ.
Zack found himself back at the website more and more, poring over the faces and wondering about the personalities behind the faces. The webmaster's information stared him in the face on every visit, daring him to make the first contact.
After a round of late-night drinks in which BJ swore Jack had actually admitted his feelings, Zack firmed his resolve to make the call the next day.
"Mr. O'Reilly?" Zack spoke hesitantly into the phone. "My name is Zack- Zachary Addy. I was looking on your website… and your contact information was there… and so I'm calling."
"Well, Mr. Addy, and please call me Radar, most of the people who look at my website know some of the people already. May I ask how you found it?"
Zack took a deep breath and explained about BJ and the small mention of Hawkeye and the Google search and the sadness.
"I always thought they'd put aside their misunderstandings. You know what happened after the war? Hawkeye lost his mind for a while, and was put in an institution. He was released not long after the war ended I believe and went into general surgery. The couple of times I talked to him while he was trying to decide what to do with his life, he always said he'd never go back into thoracic surgery. He lived in Crabapple Cove for a while, and California, but I only get e-mails from him now and the occasional phone call."
Zack nodded and rolled his eyes at himself as he verbally acknowledged the other man. "Can- can you tell him I know where BJ is the next time you talk to him?"
Radar laughed a little sadly. "I've told him many times that I know how to get the two of them in contact, and Hawk always changes the subject."
Zack sighed exasperatedly. "I wish we could just lock them in a room."
Radar was silent. "Actually…"
"No. You're seriously considering this?" Zack stifled a half giddy laugh.
"It's been coming for a long time. They always had a thing that neither of them would act on. Everyone saw it. Or at least, I thought there was something for everyone to see. It's nice to know I wasn't imagining things. You always look too hard for love in a war zone."
"He-" Zack blushed. "He's always telling Jack and me that we're in love."
"You should listen." Radar laughed. "Oh, I have to go. May I call you back about plotting against Hawkeye and BJ?"
Zack smiled at the formality of the other man. "You may." He gave the older man his cell phone number and promised to talk soon.
The two formulated a plan over the next days and talked more and more about what they knew of the two men, Radar doing the majority of the talking.
Zack wheedled Angela's laptop out of her for a few hours and constructed an official-looking invitation and booked a room at one of the area's many hotels.
The older man casually mentioned carefully-planned phrases in the few conversations he had with Hawkeye and the younger man mentioned different carefully-planned phrases in the many conversations he had with BJ.
The days between the formulation and implementation of the plan passed nearly as normal for Zack. He talked to Radar nearly every day, the two men able to discuss anything, despite the difference in age.
Zack found a confidant for his troubles with Jack and Radar found an interested ear for his memories of the 4077.
"They found the bones of a baby today. She couldn't have been more than 4 months old." Zack sighed and scrubbed his face with his hands.
"Did you find who she is?"
Zack shook his head and sighed, the sound carrying over the phone line.
"I'm sorry Zack. But at least she's got someone mourning for her now. Someone noticed that she's gone."
Zack smiled sadly. "Yeah. She does. So enough about me- how was your day?"
Radar's voice came, soothing and grandfatherly, over the line, telling non consequential stories of irritating customers and inventory mix ups.
A sharp knock at the door jerked Zack out of the half calm state. "Hang on a sec Radar. There's someone at the door."
"I'll just talk to you tomorrow." Radar suggested. "Take care."
Zack bid goodbye and hung up, opening the door a second later. "Jack?" Zack blurted, eyes wide.
"Yeah, I knocked. Surprise, isn't it?"
"I- what are you doing here? Did I forget to pay rent or something?" He stood in the doorway, hand gripping the doorknob.
"No. No, I came to- ah, can I come in?" Jack shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and shifted from foot to foot.
"Oh. Yeah. Come in." Zack scampered out of the way, still gripping the doorknob.
"I came to see if you'd like to get dinner sometime." Jack said in a rush.
"Dinner?" Zack repeated blankly.
"Dinner. Just… you and me…" Jack stared at his feet. "But if you don't want to, I understand. I realize I haven't been the best person…"
Zack shook his head. "I'd like to." He said softly.
Jack smiled and turned to leave.
"You know Dr. H. was right?"
"What?" Jack stopped short.
"He was right." Zack repeated. "I just didn't want to say anything." His eyes widened as Jack took two quick steps back and moved into his personal space.
"I didn't want to scare you away." Jack whispered. "I always just barged in because I never knew if you'd let me in from day to day."
Zack nodded, eyes never leaving the other man's face. The brown eyes widened even further as Jack leaned closer and brushed a soft kiss across his cheek. "We'll start this right, okay? I'll pick you up at 7 tomorrow."
Zack grinned nervously. "You drop me off at 6:30."
"Give you time to shower or change. I don't want to go out with you if you smell like decomp."
"7 then." Zack quirked a half smile as Jack brushed another kiss across his cheek.
He shut the door behind the other man and thought of the plot unfolding for BJ and Hawkeye.
"Hello? Radar? Erin?" Hawkeye Pierce entered the hotel suite and set his bags down inside the door. "Anyone home?" He ventured further into the room and found a note on the table.
'Gone to explore a bit. Will be back soon. Sit down, have a drink, Radar.'
Hawkeye smirked at the other man's continued ability to predict the needs of others and did as the note bid.
He didn't turn as the door opened once again, the sound of the lock alerting him to the newcomer. "Well, jeeze, Radar. I didn't think you were going to explore the Antarctic."
A silence met his words and he twisted in his chair to see the newcomer. "Oh." His face went slack and he faced forward again.
"H- Hawk?" BJ whispered. "W… What are you doing here? I was supposed to meet Radar…"
"So was I." Hawk said dryly. "I think we've been set up. There's no ceremony for Erin, is there?"
"Ceremony?" BJ said blankly.
"I take that as a no." The two men stared in shock, Hawkeye at the wall, BJ at Hawkeye and frantically tried to think of things to say.
"How've you been?" BJ finally broke the standoff.
Hawkeye didn't answer, and BJ edged to the door.
"Interesting, isn't it, B J for James Hunnicutt." Hawkeye snapped at BJ as the startled man opened his mouth.
"I… what… how… my name?" BJ managed.
"It's great what some old dusty plaques can tell a guy. I worked at Stanford for a while. Your alma mater. Didn't you know that?"
BJ stuttered a nonsensical reply and watched this new side of Hawkeye continue.
"I knew where every one of you were. I knew where you went and what you did. I sent flowers to Peg's memorial. I went to the grand opening of Radar's store. I went to …three of Hotlip's weddings. I watched Erin graduate."
"You were there when Erin graduated? Why didn't you find me? Why didn't you say something?"
Hawkeye shot to his feet and whirled around to point an accusing finger at the other man. "Why didn't you?! I was in the damnable place for three months! I got letters and stayed in touch with everybody! Hell, even after I got out, I stayed in touch. Radar…" Hawkeye trailed off, blinking and swallowing hard. "Radar came to see me a day after Dad died, before I'd called anyone."
"Your dad died? Hawk, I'm-"
"No. Don't say it. I needed you then BJ. Not now."
BJ sighed and looked stricken. "What… Can I do anything?"
"You could have done something years ago!" The taller man yelled, eyes too bright. "I needed you then! And where were you?! With your perfect wife and your perfect daughter! You left me in the dirt!"
BJ manhandled his friend into a hug as the tears began to overflow, and Hawkeye clung to the other man, beating weakly at his back as he sobbed.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I thought you were okay. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you like that." BJ repeated over and over as Hawkeye calmed and straightened.
The two regarded each other momentarily, each wanting to make a smart-ass comment to relieve the tension, Hawkeye too broken and BJ too scared to do so.
"I didn't know how to approach you." BJ offered. "You seemed so glad to leave everything about Korea behind, I didn't know if you'd want to stay in touch with anyone."
Hawkeye snorted. "Send a letter. 'Hi Hawk. How's the weather? Doing good here. Yours, BJ.' That would have been acceptable. Did you really think I'd want to just forget about my best friend?"
"You could have written too!" Both men blinked, startled by the vehemence of BJ's outburst.
"I tried." Hawkeye admitted softly. "How about we go get some grub? We have a lot to catch up on."
BJ nodded. "Okay. Let's get food."
Food turned into alcohol with a side of sustenance and both men found themselves on the bed, sloshed out of their minds.
Hawkeye shook a French fry at and considered the other man. "You were my best friend over there BJ," he slurred lightly. "You know… I always a little in love with you."
The other man blinked blearily and raised an eyebrow. "You're drunk."
Hawkeye considered that for a moment. "Yep." As BJ shook his head, Hawk continued. "But I was never gonna do anything about it. You had Peg and it wasn't my place. Sides, if ya had Peg, you were straight and what would ya want with a broken down old surgeon anyway. What was I gonna do?"
BJ shook his head regretfully. "There was nothing you could have done. Then. There was nothing you could have done then."
"But now…?"
"Now, yes. If you'll have me."
Hawkeye lifted an eyebrow. "I don't know…"
BJ tipped his glass over Hawkeye's head. "Funny Hawk. Remember, you're still drunk. And so am I." He looked mournfully at the empty glass in his hand. "And I just wasted the rest of my drink."
Hawkeye nodded sagely. "You did. But you can have the rest of mine."
BJ grinned. "You really do love me!" The grin turned puzzled as Hawkeye laughed.
"No, I just know where the bottle is."
Both men grinned at one another, until BJ leaned in slowly and gently kissed Hawkeye.
"Mmm…" Hawk's eyes slid closed and he wrapped a hand around the other man's. The two kissed languidly for several more moments, before Hawkeye pulled away. "Don't think this will get you off the hook BJ Hunnicutt. You're still in plenty of trouble."
"Yes, I know. Is this at least helping?"
"I don't know. Try again." Hawk smirked.
BJ snorted and kissed him again.