"Come with me," Hawkeye whispered, reluctantly pulling back from Margaret. He kept a firm grip on her hand. He led her outside and she shivered in the chilly night air.

"Here," he said, handing her his suit jacket.

Margaret gratefully accepted it and laughed slightly. "Maybe you've changed more than I thought. Forty years ago you would have let me freeze to death before you gave up your coat."

Hawkeye laughed loudly and Margaret smiled at the sound. It had been so long since she heard that familiar laugh. In some ways it made her feel years younger, as if she was still walking through the darkened compound in Korea, with Frank latched on her arm and Hawkeye trailing after them, hurling insults and jokes after them.

"So what have you been doing all these years?" Margaret asked as Hawkeye led her though the parking lot.

"I have a clinic in Maine," he said simply. "My son, Danny and his wife, Laura, moved to Vermont about fifteen years ago. I've been living alone up until two months ago when BJ moved in with me."

"BJ?" Margaret exclaimed in surprise.

Hawkeye sighed sadly and nodded. "Yeah, Peg died in September and he came to Maine for a visit."

Margaret sighed and Hawkeye smiled slightly. "What about you, Hot Lips?"

"Well, my daughter Elaine and her husband, Robert, married when she was only nineteen, they didn't live too far but I never saw them much. I've been working as a waitress in a diner for the past thirty-so years."

Hawkeye looked at her in shock. "No nursing?"

Margaret shook her head, "I couldn't stand to go anywhere a hospital, it depressed me and I would get horrible nightmares…"

She stopped herself and sighed. Hawkeye comfortingly put an arm around her shoulders. "It was hard being alone, huh." He said it more as a statement rather than a question. Hawkeye stopped at an old blue Chevy truck and pulled open the door.

"There's something I want to show you," he said as he rummaged around in the glove box. He pulled out a faded, blue velvet box.

"I've been carrying this around for over forty years," he told her as he dropped the small box into her hands. "I bought it while I was in Tokyo, on my 'vacation' to the funny farm."

Margaret smiled and curiously popped open the lid smiling happily as she saw a beautiful band of white gold with a large sapphire nestled between two smaller diamonds.

"Wow, Hawk, it's beautiful." She breathed as she handed it back to him.

He slanted the box, allowing the stones to sparkle in the moonlight. "Do you know why I bought it?" he asked, not really caring about an answer.

"I saw this and the color of the stone reminded me of your eyes, whenever you're happy."

Margaret's mouth dropped open and she began to stammer helplessly. Hawkeye laughed as he handed her the box.

"I've been hanging onto it all these years and I want you to have it." He paused and grinned. "So long as you promise me one thing,"

Margaret had already slipped the ring onto her right hand and was admiring it happily. She looked up at him, wary of his conditions.

"I want you to wear it on your left hand," he said simply. "I want you to come back to Maine with me, or anywhere else you want to go." He grinned and shrugged. "Wadaya say?"

Margaret's eyes were wide as she hurriedly slipped off the ring. "What is the matter with you?" he hissed as she began to walk back inside.

Hawkeye slipped the ring into his pocket, closed the car door and trotted after her, completely unperturbed. Margaret ignored him until they were inside, where Hawkeye grabbed her wrist and led her towards the dance floor.

"I'm tired of dancing," she firmly, jerking her arm away from him. Hawkeye smiled devilishly and slipped his arm around her waist.

"Too bad."

He looked down at her and Margaret stared back angrily. He winked at her and Margaret found herself smiling unexpectedly.

"So you're saying my eyes sparkle like sapphires?" she asked, a hint of amusement in her eyes. Hawkeye threw back his head and laughed, drawing the attention of several other couples.

"Don't let it go to your head," he cautioned teasingly.

An upbeat jazz song began to play and Hawkeye quickly began to twirl his former comrade around the floor. Halfway through the song Margaret pulled him breathlessly away from the crowd, towards an empty table.

"Don't you ever get tired anymore?" she asked as she tried to steady her breathing.

"Sure, but you were the one doing all the dancing, I just got to watch you." He laughed at the annoyed expression on her face. Hawkeye pulled out the ring and tossed it onto Margaret's lap.

"Marry me." He said firmly, not phrasing it as a question at all. Margaret rolled her eyes and picked up the ring.

"It's pretty," she held it up to the light and watched it sparkling before tossing it back to Hawkeye. "No," she stated resolutely, her eyes turning to ice temporarily.

"Aw, what's wrong, Margaret, don't you love me?" he asked, affecting a child's whining voice.

"Dr. Pierce, we are both over seventy and far beyond the point of some romantic love affair." Her Major Houlihan voice had kicked in, and she straightened her back, keeping her chin high.

Hawkeye chuckled and shook his head. "You'll never change will you?" he asked, his eyes sparkling brightly. "But you never did answer me question," he reminded her. "Do you love me?"

Margaret frowned and glared at him. "If you want the rest of this night to pass pleasantly I would suggest you refrain from asking questions like that." She seethed.

Hawkeye smiled and nodded. "I thought you did." He stood up and held out his hand. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my son."