Hi everyone!!! Decided to write another HM fanfiction. I don't own the characters, but I wish I did. Please enjoy.

Margaret got out of the taxi, paid the driver and picked up her luggage. She didn't exactly know what she was doing. All she could think about is that she felt a bit like Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady. She, like Eliza, had been transformed by a man. The man in Margaret's life never tried to change her, he only helped her to open up; to become the Margaret she used to be. For people who knew her in Korea, she was a transformed person, but for those who knew her in nursing school, they would never know how close she came to losing herself.

As Margaret looked up at the white Victorian-style house near the ocean, at that moment she didn't know why she had come. It had been two years since Korea had ended and the only person she had kept in contact with was Sherman Potter. And that was because he kept trying to find her. She had moved a lot, had been assigned to many military hospitals by the Army and now, she was alone. She had resigned her commission and she had no idea what to do. She had never been a working civilian before and she had no idea how to cope. This is why she came to this particular place. She came to lean on the persons she could trust, Hawkeye. There was more to her decision, but she was convinced that that was it.

She slowly walked up to the door and was about to knock when a beautiful young woman opened the door. She was brunette, about 5"5 and had a very bright smile.

"Hi, can I help you?"

Margaret looked away, figuring that Hawkeye was with a date or something. She didn't want to interrupt.

"No, it's ok. Don't worry. I'll come back."

Just then, Margaret heard that familiar voice.

"Who's at the door Louise?"

"I don't know her name, but she's probably her to see you or your dad."

"Let her in then."

Margaret, unsure of what to do, was led into the house by the woman. She looked around, admiring the neatness and cleanliness if the Pierce home. Just as she was looking at a picture of what seemed to be Hawkeye with his mother, Hawkeye flew down the stairs to meet his guest. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"Margaret? Is that you?"

She turned around and looked at him. It felt good to see him again. To see her friend, her supporter and maybe even her healer.

"Hey Hawkeye… How are you?"

Hawkeye looked at her and could not believe it. Margaret had gained some weight since the end of Korea, which made her look much better in his opinion. Her hair was a darker blonde and she looked remarkably sad.

"Margaret, wow. I'm ok. Just fine… Oh sorry, I haven't introduced you. Louise Pierce, this is Margaret Houlihan. A friend from Korea."

For a moment, Margaret thought the worst. Margaret thought Hawkeye was married to this woman and that hurt her, for some reason.

"Hi Margaret, Hawkeye's talked a lot about you. This big cousin could never stop chasing the girls, but I think you're more special to him than even he realises."

Hawkeye blushed.

Margaret smiled, "Hi, so you're cousins?"

"Yeah, Uncle Daniel and my dad are brothers. We live about 10 minutes away, so I come to see them and try to keep this house tidy. They're both pretty messy."

"I don't know about Dr Pierce but Hawkeye certainly is a messy man."

Hawkeye looked at both women and laughed.

"Don't talk about me as if I wasn't here!!! Come on Margaret, let's go outside."

Louise called out as they made their way out. "Nice meeting you Margaret. I'll see you soon?"

"I hope you will. Bye Louise."

As Louise closed the front door, Hawkeye took Margaret out the back way. There was a little backyard with a view of the ocean.

As both looked at each other, they spoke at the same time.

"Hawkeye, you go first."

"Margaret. How have you been? I've tried to contact you for the last two years. I've even called the Army. I don't think they were impressed that I tried to even contact them after Korea. Did I leave that bad an impression on the Generals?"

"Hawkeye! You left the most horrible military impression on them!"

"Yeah, well. They were no help and yeah, I couldn't find you. I was worried."

Margaret gave him a sad smile, but began to tell her side.

"I came back to the US after my furlough and started working in DC, then I was transferred to California and then to New York. I was later sent to Hannibal, Missouri for a while and Colonel Potter found me. He's the only person who has known my whereabouts for this time. I was then shipped to Alabama and at that point, I knew. I knew I needed out of the Army. I've been moved around so much in two years that I couldn't handle it anymore. I went to see my CO and resigned my commission. That was yesterday."

Hawkeye could see the absolute fear in Margaret's eyes.

"And now you have no idea what to do because you've never been a civilian before, right?"

Margaret smiled.

"How did you know?"

"Simple. I know you."

"So, what am I supposed to do?"

Hawkeye smiled.

"Well, we could go up to my room…"

"Hawkeye!!! We'll so no such thing. Really now, what do I do?"

Hawkeye laughed. "Well, you could help me at the clinic for a while. Our nurse left some days ago for a visit to her relatives in Vermont, so she won't be back for a few months. Do you want to do that?"

Margaret gave the first genuine smile of the day.

"Yeah, that would be good. That way we can think of what jobs I could apply for and how to approach them."

"Ok, so we start work tomorrow?"

"Ok, we start work then."

Hawkeye looked at Margaret's luggage and had to question.

"Where are you staying?"

"Well… I haven't exactly decided yet. I just got here, remember?"

"You can stay here. And I won't take no for an answer. We have a guest room and it would be nice to have some female company in this house for once."

"I though you always had female company?"

"I do, but they leave at sunrise. They never stick around for breakfast. This will be different."

"I guess it will be. Ok, I'll stay."

Any good? Comments please to see if I continue this :-)