AN: Hey all, posting this took way longer than I wanted it to. I've been having trouble with getting this chapter as good as it needs to be, and I'm still not completely happy with it! Hopefully you can enjoy it anyway. Also thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed, followed and favourited, it means a lot to me :)

As soon as Frank makes the connection between Pierce's damaged lip and Margaret's slightly bloodied face he starts pushing for a court martial but is perplexed when she says no. He's also not sure why she lied about how the blood got there when it's obvious that Pierce tried to have his way with her and she defended herself. He decides she's probably just embarrassed because the alternative is too awful for him to contemplate. Frank instead tells anyone who'll listen what Pierce did to Margaret; he wants everyone to know what an animal that man is. He doesn't know that Margaret agrees with the label of 'animal' for Pierce, she just means it differently.

Margaret goes along with it because it's more comfortable than the truth. She agrees with Frank that she's embarrassed about it and doesn't want any more people to know, but really it's because she hasn't figured out how she feels about it yet. That, and if she wasn't the one to make the first move, she definitely moved at the same speed as Pierce. This disconcerts her, because last time she checked she despised him. But she's not going to be analysing it any further. She doesn't know if she'll like the truth – that she does, at the very least, have sexual feelings for a man of lower rank, which is bad enough even without taking into account the way he behaves. Worst case scenario is that it happens again, and then possibly again if they have too little self-control, and then they fall in love or something horrific like that. Her father would be very unhappy with her; he might even disown her. She's worked too hard to let the lid off this potentially destructive force no matter how satisfying it might be. She mentally slaps herself.

She will launch full scale denial.

Another reason she doesn't want Frank to try and Court Martial Pierce is because she overheard a stunned Radar telling Henry what he'd just witnessed in the compound, and he'd relayed it as a mutual mauling. She'd been on her way back from post-op when she heard it. She stopped in her tracks and ducked behind a parked jeep. Oh the indignity. She swore she was better than this, but with what she'd been hiding behind with Frank lately you'd never know it.

"Radar, can you get me the…Radar, are you okay?"

Henry peered at him, perplexed. This was the first time the boy hadn't pre-empted what he was doing to say.

"Uh, sir? You'll never believe what I saw"

"What is it, Radar?"

"Major Houlihan and Captain Pierce were kissing in the middle of the compound."

Henry's brow furrowed. "Radar, have you been in my liquor cabinet again?"

"I've never been in your liquor cabinet, sir"

"Well then what did you see?"

"Major Houlihan was yelling at Captain Pierce when all of a sudden they kind of went at each other and started kissing; he grabbed her backside and everything! Then she, uh, sort of bit him and walked off."

Henry stood, stunned. One thing was also certain in his mind: If he ever had to go near that woman for any reason he would be demanding combat pay. "Uh, well, do you think I need to do anything about this…incident?"

"No sir, but I was thinking of starting up a betting pool betting on how long it will take them to get together."

"How long? You don't think 'if' might be better?"

"No sir"

"Well okay then, put me down for twenty bucks for it taking a 6 months and, as a bonus, it'll only last 24 hours."

"Yes sir." Radar pauses. "You've got no chance, sir."

"Well what did you bet then?"

"Three weeks, and if we're going to do time it lasts, as long as the war."

It takes all of Margaret's self-restraint not to go over to where they were standing and scream the men a new one. The little twerp didn't even have the decency to make the pool if they got together, and Henry was their CO, he should be above this! She's surprised by the bubble rising in her belly that he thought she and Pierce were capable of lasting the war. There it was, some slightly uncomfortable truth revealing itself despite her efforts.

Hawkeye sits in the mess prodding at the lumps on his tray. Margaret's avoiding him. He shouldn't mind; it means she's not snapping at his heels or making disapproving noises wherever he goes, but he finds himself missing it. He sees her once or twice in the mess tent with Frank, but the only reason he knows she knows he's there is because she starts touching Frank more whenever he looks over. It makes his blood boil. He tells himself again that it's not because he wants her but because he hates Frank, but it's becoming harder and harder even for himself to believe. Pity, because that's more palatable than the truth.

Trapper hasn't believed any Major related excuses since he'd come back with his battle scar. He's tried everything from "I'm just trying to do the camp some good, she'll be more relaxed after some I show her a good time" to "Margaret who?". They've just been met with an "Uhuh" and a knowing smirk.

Hawkeye touches his lip absent mindedly, too deep in thought to notice some of the looks he's getting across the tables. He's been trying to distract himself by chasing regular garden variety nurses but lately they all just laugh or brush him off. Whether it's because they fear crossing their fearsome leader or because they believe the rumour that he tried to grab the Major against her will and have his way with her he's not sure, but it all adds to his frustrations. One had even said she'd witnessed the whole so-called 'incident' and that it wasn't worth her time competing with what she'd seen.

He forces himself to think about what his next move should be. He imagines going to try and talk to her, but that would mean going to her tent and he doubts she'd let him in. Yelling at her through the door somehow just doesn't have the same effect. He knows she doesn't like him, sometimes with good reason, and though he's slowly admitting to himself that he has feelings for her he's not sure there's a point to having them. She might find him attractive, but he was certain there was no way she'd consider him partner material. He's also struggling to figure out why he cares: He's barely seen any evidence than she's a human being. She's so uptight and so regulatory, it's revolting, but there's obviously a lot of passion that she's hiding in there. He also won't deny that she's attractive. He needs to find a way to get her to let her hair down.

"Hey Trap," he says, addressing his breakfast companion who's been sitting silently next to him the entire time, "Whaddya think of trying to get Hot Lips drunk?"

Trapper merely shakes his head and says "You're crazy." He learned very quickly that there's no point getting involved in this.

It's after midnight and Hawkeye has just relieved Spearchucker on Post Op duty. He's been noticing that he's never rostered on for post op duties at the same time as Margaret. It's obviously intentional; she's in charge of the nurse's work roster. He checks the time and then heads off to find out who he's meant to be working with tonight because whoever it is is late. He's halfway across the room when Margaret walks in.

"What are you doing here, I thought you were trying not to be on the same planet as me?"

"Baker called in sick and it's not fair on any of the others for them to have to work an extra shift" She says without looking at him.

It was going to be an interesting night.

TBC