Title: Might Just Make It
Rating: K
Summary: B.J. has a nightmare and Hawkeye helps him through it. One-shot. Not slash.
He had been woken up from a good nights sleep by Klinger. He had only been told that Colonel Potter needed to talk to him. Now he stood there, where they kept the bodies before they are picked up. The older man had a look in his eyes that made his own stomach feel like lead.
"Hunnicutt, I'm so sorry. She was coming to visit, but was hit by mortar fire. There was nothing we could do." Colonel Potter pulled back the sheet, and there on the table, was Peg, all torn up and bloody. He dropped to his knees and screamed.
"Beej, wake up." Hawkeye placed his hands on his shoulders and eased him awake. "It's ok; you're having a bad dream." Worry was etched in his eyes.
"Oh, Hawkeye. That was horrible." He was trying to keep his composure, but the tears escaping his eyes betrayed him.
"You want to talk about it?"
"Not really." He could feel himself shaking, and Hawkeye's look told him he felt it, too.
"Come on, let's take a walk." They each rose and put on a robe, then slipped out of the swamp so as not to disturb Frank. Hawkeye led them out of the camp, and they walked for about ten minutes. They ended up near the water under a large tree. Hawkeye walked to the edge and grabbed a rock. He threw it and it skipped three times before sinking to the bottom. He turned around and joined B.J. under the tree.
"It's nice out here," B.J. stated, but he thought maybe the darkness swallowed his words when he didn't receive any answer from his companion. It was a long two minutes before he spoke.
"This is where I ended up after my first nightmare out here. You want to know what it was?" He didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "My dad ended up here, somehow, and he died. Killed by shellfire or something." B.J.'s breath caught, and he knew that he had gotten through to him.
"It was my wife, Hawk. My beautiful Peg. She was so hurt, and so still on that table…I…" his voice broke and the tears fell again. He felt a hand on his back, rubbing slowly.
"I don't know how to make the pain go away, Beej. All I can do is assure you that it was a dream."
B.J. nodded. "I know, it just…I'm sorry."
"Hey, you think you're the first one to have a nightmare out here? That's what hell does to you." They sat in silence for a while until sleep began to wash over them. They returned to camp and fell into a dreamless slumber.
The next morning they sat in the mess tent, poking jokes at Frank, and getting chastised by Margaret. Last night's nightmare was still burning in his mind, but he felt that with the help of his newfound friend he might get through it. Hawkeye sat down and handed him a cup of coffee. He took it and looked him in the eyes.
"Thanks." That's all he had to say, and they both understood the depth of the word.
"Any time, Beej."
Yeah. He might just make it.
A/N: Yeah it's short, but I couldn't go to sleep until I wrote it down. I hope you enjoyed it!
