AUTHOR'S NOTE Sorry for the delay! Also sorry that this chapter is so short…I've been battling a little writer's block on this story and also I just moved so I've had a lot going on. Hope you enjoy!

DISCLAIMER Don't own them. Still.

Chapter Four – The Swamp

"No!"

Colonel Potter leaned back in the rickety Army-issued chair as Hawkeye paced around the room ranting. "Hawkeye, this is for the best."

"No way!" Hawkeye shouted. "I will never agree to this!"

Potter sighed. "I'm not asking for you to agree Hawkeye. I'm just telling you like it is."

Hawkeye turned to glare at him. "Who's running this campaign anyway?"

"I am," Potter replied. "Remember?"

"Oh yeah." Hawkeye dropped down on his cot, his head in his hands. After a moment, he looked back up at his manager. "Are you sure I have to do this?"

"Absolutely."

With a sigh, Hawkeye stood up once more. "Alright. Have someone put in a call to him. What about the rest of the campaign staff?"

"I started assembling some of them. I wanted to talk with you about if you had anyone in mind that you wanted on your team."

"Really?"

Potter nodded. "They're your staff, after all. Just give me names. I'll see what I can do."

"Well," Hawkeye said as he paced back and forth. "I want BJ and Trapper to help out. You think you can get Trapper back?"

Potter shrugged. "I can try."

"And Klinger. And Radar. And Margaret."

Laughing, Potter held up his hands. "Slow down, Hawkeye! I can only write these down so fast!" He finished jotting down notes and sighed. "Damn, I never realized how hard Radar must have worked for me."

Hawkeye laughed. "We didn't call him Radar for nothing."

Potter finished making notes and heaved himself to his feet. "I'll see about getting in touch with these people. For now, just get some rest, Hawkeye. We're coming up on a busy few months."

Hawkeye raised an eyebrow. "Busier than a war?"

Potter considered for a minute, then shrugged. "Still getting up at all hours of the night. Still having to deal with bureaucratic crap. Not as much blood."

"Great. Sounds like fun."

Still laughing, Potter clapped Hawkeye on the back and headed for the door. "I'm serious about the sleep. I'll check in with you when I hear back from our new Vice-President."

Hawkeye lay down on his cot groaning. "I can't believe you're making me do this."

"I'm not making you do anything that won't further your chances of winning. Trust me on this."

He nodded, then threw a hand over his eyes to block out the light. "Explain to me again why we're still in Korea?"

Potter didn't answer. Instead, Hawkeye could hear him laughing as he made his way back across the compound. He groaned again and rolled over to bury his face in his pillow.

However hard he tried, he couldn't fall asleep. All of a sudden, things were happening way too fast. The election was already out of his hands, just like everything for the past three years had been. Elections, he mused, were just as bad as war. Potter was right – they weren't that different. And he only needed two days of election turmoil to figure it out.

At least he would have his friends by his side. Trapper and BJ and Potter and everyone else would help him through everything that was coming. And his VP? Well, he would just have to learn to deal with that.

Eyes closed, Hawkeye smirked into his pillow. Pierce and Burns. No one would have ever expected that ticket.