A gunshot went off and Hawkeye jerked awake. He sleepily sat up and tried to determine what was going on.
"Frank you leave that poor animal alone!" he heard Margaret screech. Another shot went off and Hawkeye pulled on his boots and bathrobe and made his way towards the yelling. A small crowd had gathered and was now watching expectantly as Margaret did her best to wrestle the gun out of Frank's hand.
BJ informed him that a stray dog had tripped Frank, much to the amusement of a General who had just been loaded onto an evacuation bus. Frank picked himself and his wounded pride off the dirt and angrily began to shoot at the dog; Margaret chasing after him pleading with him to stop.
Hawkeye pushed himself to the front of the crowd just as Frank shot at the mutt again, pushing the dog towards the minefield. Margaret gave up and watched in horror as Frank shot at the dog again. The animal began to run at the noise and then it hit a mine.
Margaret screamed and Frank smiled in satisfaction. The few people who had been watching now quickly began to scatter off to their jobs, leaving Hawkeye standing beside Frank and Margaret.
Hawkeye glared at Frank who was chuckling to himself, he desperately wanted to knock the asshole senseless. A small whimper from Margaret took Hawkeye's attention away from Frank. Hawkeye peered through the settling dust in the minefield and noted with horror that the dog had not died, but was writhing in pain, and covered in blood.
Hawkeye reacted quickly as he saw Margaret move out of the corner of his eye. He grabbed onto her waist as she tried desperately to make her way over to the minefield. She was crying hysterically and it was all Hawkeye could do to keep her away from the field.
"Margaret are you crazy?" he shouted. "That's a minefield, you'll kill yourself." He slowly felt Margaret relax in his arms and he let go of her and turned to Frank who had been watching in surprise as Margaret clung to Hawkeye.
Hawkeye asked for the gun and Frank quickly handed it to him. Hawkeye raised his arm in one shot, killed the mutt.
Frank took back his gun, muttering about annoying showoffs. Hawkeye helped Margaret to her feet and they slowly walked back to her tent, Hawkeye holding Margaret as she cried on his shoulder. Frank begrudgingly made his way to the swamp, not daring to complain about Margaret being alone with that degenerate.
Hawkeye led Margaret into her tent and they sat down on her cot, Hawkeye gently stroking her hair until her crying ceased. Hawkeye looked down at her golden hair and smiled. She reminded him of a small child terrified of the dark. He was surprised with her crying so openly. He had never seen her act this way before. He knew she would cry today but by tomorrow she would be back to acting like Major "Hot Lips" Houlihan. She would continue on, believing that the strong wall around her heart would remain invincible. However, for now, Hawkeye was thankful that she was Margaret Houlihan, the caring, gentle, passionate woman that he held in his arms; the woman that he slowly found himself falling in love with.