A/N: Hi all, thanks so much for the positive reviews! It's nice to know that people are enjoying this :)
Margaret didn't know what to do. Things had apparently changed too much to go back to the way they were but she had no idea how to move forward. What was she supposed to say? "Hey Pierce, you know all those times you've offered to bite my tongue, well, how 'bout it?"
She cringed at the thought of him thinking that she was easy or just another nurse to take into the supply tent for a no strings good time.
She paced back and forth in her tent a few times and grabbed her coat. She needed to go for a walk. Her door had barely banged shut behind her when Frank ran up to her.
"Margaret, Margaret!
"Oh what now, Frank?" She snapped wearily.
"Margaret, my darling…" He said before trying to kiss her.
"Let go of me, Frank!"
"But I love you, we're so perfect together", he whined.
She gave him a small shove that forced him to step back.
"Perfect together? You have a wife, Frank."
"I'll divorce her, I'll do anything…I suppose you think you and Pierce are perfect together?"
Margaret rolled her eyes "I don't know about perfect, but he's got more promise than you!"
"But M…I bet he's secretly married, I'll bet he's got more than one wife!"
"We're over Frank, now leave me alone!" She said and stormed off before a gaping Frank could respond.
Over in the Officer's Club Trapper and Henry were watching Hawkeye who was sitting at the other end of the bar looking morose while playing with the olive in his martini.
"So what's the deal with him and Hot Lips?" Henry murmured, trying and failing to look discreet.
Trapper looked around conspiratorially and leaned in, "Well, she spent the night in the Swamp last night"
"She what!"
"Shhhhh, keep your voice down!" But he needn't have worried. Hawkeye wasn't paying them any attention.
"You mean they actually…?"
"No, no, just cuddled" Trapper smirked, "but there's no doubt they want to".
Henry looked thoughtful for a moment. "Do you think they hated each other so hard they fell in love?"
They burst out laughing and Hawkeye looked at them balefully. He was fully aware they were talking about him but was pretending he didn't care.
Hawkeye stood up. He'd had enough. "I'm gonna head back to The Swamp".
He walked slowly back to his tent only to find a miserable looking Frank sitting on his bunk, staring into space. Hawkeye took one look at him and walked back out again. That was the last thing he wanted to deal with. Maybe it was time for slow laps around the outside of the compound.
He'd only gotten halfway around his first lap before running into Margaret.
"Out of my way, Pierce" She barked, and barrelled right past him before could say anything.
He shrugged and kept walking. If she was doing what he thought she was doing, he'd see her in another half a lap. Sure enough, five minutes later, there she was. He stepped in front of her, forcing her to stop. She refused to look at him.
"I see you're getting another good night's sleep" he said with a hint of sarcasm.
"And how is that any of your business, Captain?" she said, meeting his eyes with a challenge.
"Oh it's Captain now? How convenient. I don't know, maybe because the last two times you slept it was with me and, oh, because you look like hell?" he sneered, barely containing his irritation.
"Why do you care?" she didn't know why she was still fighting, but the emotions she felt from the last few days needed to come out somehow.
"Why do I c…never mind!" he said throwing his hands behind his head in frustration. He started to walk away.
"Wait" she called out.
He turned around, defences up, but his shoulders slumped when he saw the defeat in her eyes.
"Look," he started, rubbing his cheek with his hand, "We don't have to talk right now. How about we just go find a bed and sleep in it?"
She nodded once. She'd been avoiding this all evening but it was one of the most appealing things she could think of at this moment. "Your place or mine?"
"Yours. Frank's moping and Trap doesn't need any more to talk about"
He held his arm out and wiggled his fingers, expecting her to hold his hand if he was lucky, but was surprised when she instead wrapped her arm around his waist.
They walked into camp like this and were nearly back at her tent when they encountered Klinger. "Halt, who goes there!"
"Klinger!" Margaret screeched.
"Captain, Major, going for a moon lit stroll I see" Klinger looked delighted.
Great. This was all they needed. "No, no, nothing like that" said Hawkeye "Margaret escaped from the cage I've been keeping her in and I had to go and get her back. Come on, be a good girl." He tightened his arm around her shoulders and started walking again.
Margaret looked mutinous.
"Careful, she bites!" Hawkeye called over his shoulder as he steered her past Klinger.
"Did you have to do that!" she hissed.
"Well it was already weird, what's a little more weird?"
She huffed, but they were back at her tent.
Hawkeye opened the door for her "After you, milady".
They were too tired to change. They just shucked their coats, lifted the blanket and fell into the bunk. They were asleep within seconds of their heads hitting the pillow.
TBC