Title: Welcome to …
Author: Lisa M
Pairing: BJ/Hawkeye friendship - BJ POV
Prompt: #1 Beginnings
Rating: Everyone
Disclaimer: I own EVERYTHING!!! Yeah ... right. All I own is a whole lot of nothing.
Summary: BJ Hunnicutt arrives in Korea.
A/N: Here there be spoilers for "Welcome to Korea". If you didn't see the ep, this fic might spoil it for you. I didn't re-watch the episode, so it's possible that the dialogue I used in this ficlet isn't exactly correct. But, I tried my best. If it seems a little choppy, that is intentional.
The small plane touches down in a strange place. A man, dressed in a stiff, ill-fitting brown Captain's uniform takes his first steps onto foreign soil. He holds nothing in his hands except for a duffle bag filled with olive drab clothing and a few memories of home. In his pocket is a slip of paper that reads: "Captain BJ Hunnicutt, MD. Arrive: Kimpo, South Korea. Transfer to: Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, MASH 4077th. Commanding Officer: Major Frank Burns, MD. Chief Surgeon: Captain Benjamin Franklin Pierce, MD. MASH Liaison: Company Clerk, Corporal Walter O'Reily."
He meets two men.
The first is a short, stocky be-speckled young man who looks completely out of place here. He should be back in the states studying for his High School math test rather than here in the dirt, wearing the too big clothes of the soldier he's not, standing on the front lines of war.
The second is a tall, lanky, nervous man who, in his rumpled Army greens, looks as if he'd rather be anywhere else but where he stands. His is a tired face, eyes haunted with the sorrows of the things he's already seen. Dust swirls around him, but doesn't seem to touch him. He is speaking of someone missed. Someone that is important to him.
"Captain Pierce?"
"Hi."
A missing jeep. They are stranded.
"Pierce, I'm just a little confused."
"Hawkeye. And don't let a little confusion throw you, Captain."
"BJ."
One of the first things you learn over here, BJ, is that insanity is no worse than the common cold."
Drinks and simple conversation. A General's jeep stolen and they are on their way home.
Noise. Fire. Smoke. Blood.
Explosions rock the ground beneath his feet - the percussions flinging the broken bodies of soldiers effortlessly, as if they are weightless, into the air. Moments later, gravity reclaims them, pulling them back and smashing them to the Earth. Heaps of shattered men as far as the human eye can see. Nausea tilts the world until standing is no longer an option. He drops to his hands and knees, retching, breathing in and choking on the stench of pain and death as the world spins, turning from gray to black.
Then, a comforting hand on his back, another on his forehead. The soft feathering of black hair across his blond hair. Held safely in place as the waves of disgust, of despair crash over him and fall away. An offer of help to stand strong again. And kind words are spoken.
"Remember … it's your first day of school."
After the work is finished, in a small, dingy bar, they share beer and Saki.
"Crazy thing is, hell though it is, I think I feel closer to the people in this hospital than I've ever been to anybody else in my life. Or ever expect to."
A seed of friendship takes hold of them and runs, free and unrestrained. The beginning of a relationship that is ready to pull these two strangers into its loving grasp, quickly uniting them together - one entity.
Arms are thrown around each other as they stumble out, laughing, and tumble into their jeep. Across the road is the MASH 4077th - Best Care Anywhere.
The Swamp.
Home.
The End