Author's note: I don't own these people, I am a poor student! I live on Easy Mac and reviews!!! Thanks for reading!
Hawkeye settled back in his seat in the chopper taking him to Seoul. He was done with Korea forever. He had a smile on his face, partly of course because he was finally going home, but also because he finally got his goodbye note. He remembered snapping when Trapper left without saying goodbye, Then BJ left without saying goodbye. Luckily or unluckily, BJ had returned for the last few days of the Korean police action. He almost thought he'd never get the goodbye he really wanted. It wasn't till his chopper started lifting that Hawkeye saw that BJ had written "goodbye" in stones. He hoped he would see his friend again once he was state side, but Hawkeye knew his dad was worried about him. Ben was anxious to get his son home and keep him there. Hawkeye tried to assure his dad that at this point all he wanted to go home and sleep the war off, and then catch up with Linda, Cathy and Susan and his other girlfriends in Crab Apple Cove.
After that kiss with Margaret though, Hawkeye mused, Linda, Cathy and Susan just didn't sound as appealing. Oh that kiss! Hawkeye's lips were still tingling. He and Trapper hadn't called her Hot Lips Houlihan for nothing. Trapper…Hawkeye couldn't wait to get home and call him. From his letters, Hawkeye learned that Trapper was divorced now and shared custody of his daughters with his ex wife, but now he was living the life he had always wanted; full-time golfer and drinker, part-time doctor. Hawkeye supposed he was happy for his friend, but knew that was a lonely life and not the life he wanted.
As the chopper flew over a small lake, Hawkeye's smile faded away as he thought of the men who didn't make it home. Henry Blake was one of those men. Hawkeye knew that he never gave Henry the respect he deserved, but deep down he'd always thought of Henry like a big brother. He loved Henry like a brother and knew that he'd never forget the man. There was someone though, Hawkeye remembered, who thought of Henry as a father, Radar. The sweet, innocent guy who came to Korea as a boy, but left a man, had a tough go of things in Iowa, with his mother's failing health and bad weather. Word was that Radar had packed up and moved to Des Moines.
Hawkeye thought of the others lost along the way. Frank Burns was one odd ball that Hawkeye didn't miss too terribly, but then again, Major Winchester wasn't as much fun to tease. Though Frank wasn't the best doctor, or much fun, he wasn't a bad person all around. Hawkeye hoped that Frank was doing better after his meltdown in Tokyo. He chuckled a little at the memory of Frank, in his jealousy over Margaret's wedding, jumping fully clothed, into a Japanese bath with a general and his wife. Yes, Frank Burns was defiantly an odd ball, but hey, after a week in Korea everyone was a little off their rocker; everyone that is but one man, Father Mulcahy.
That guy that was like a rock, Hawkeye mused. At one moment he'd be in the compound delivering last rights and at the next he'd be wheeling and dealing in a poker game. Hawkeye could clearly remember the time the Father and Radar had gone on a suicide mission to get some supplies from battalion aide. Mulcahy and Radar picked up a wounded Korean and Mulcahy had performed a tracheotomy on him in the middle of the country side, receiving instructions from Hawkeye over the phone as snipers shot around him. Yes, Hawkeye thought to himself, Father Mulcahy was one tough bird.
A smile returned to his face as he thought again of Margaret. Hawkeye's mind practically ran a montage of their history. He was the annoying twerp that made a mockery of the war. She was the uptight head nurse on a power trip. Later, they became comfortable colleagues until one fateful night. They'd been sent on a trip to the 8063rd. On the way back, the jeep died and Hawkeye and Margaret were forced to take cover in an abandoned shack in the middle of nowhere. As shells exploded around them, they'd clung tightly to each other that night and shared quite a passionate kiss. Afterwards, there'd been an uncomfortable silence between them. It took some time, but they'd become friends again. Had they just ended their friendship on a second kiss, Hawkeye wondered. He tapped his foot impatiently.
"We're about five miles out Captain, the pilot reported. "Your plane should be on time from here to Guam, but I hear Guam is pretty backed up though with so many flights trying to get in and out. If you get in there before five tonight, you should be able to get on to the States today."
Hawkeye nodded and watched the scenery go by as he continued to think about Margaret. She was helping with the consolidation of the 8063rd and then headed to a stateside hospital. Somehow, Hawkeye remembered that. Last night was all a blur as he and BJ decided to throw Klinger an impromptu bachelor party and empty out the still. Here, everyone was leaving Korea, but Klinger, who'd spent the better part of three years acting crazy to get out, was staying behind with his new wife Soon Le to find her family. Maybe the kid really was crazy Hawkeye thought, but then with a smile, he realized crazy in love. Hawkeye hoped that he would find that special someone to settle down with too. Max was a character, and Hawkeye knew there was no way he could fully explain him to his father or friends. One of the benefits, Hawkeye thought with a sigh, of his time in Korea was in the interesting friendships he made.
When Hawkeye's chopper landed, he grabbed his duffel bag and rushed to meet his next connection. Luckily there were two seats left on a plane bound for San Diego in twenty minutes. Hawkeye happily took one of the seats and even more happily welcomed an army nurse to sit down next to him. When she pulled a book out of her carryon bag, Hawkeye started thinking again. If he could find Margaret, maybe he could try to explain the kiss. He'd just tell her that in that moment, no words seemed to express what he wanted to say. He just had to find her. He had a pen and notepad in his bag which he pulled out now. Maybe BJ remembered where she was going. Hawkeye held the pen over the paper and thought to himself. His friend was pretty drunk last night. Maybe this whole thought of finding Margaret was a crazy pointless goose chase. He was about to put the pen and paper away when he remembered the night he'd celebrated with Potter when Mrs. Potter made the final mortgage payment. Why that memory came to him now was beyond him, but Hawkeye could easily imagine himself and Margaret in Sherman and Mildred's position in twenty or thirty years. He looked at the pen and paper in his hands. He had to try.