(I'm honestly shocked and honored by all y'alls interest in this story. I thought that since it was super niche no one would be interested. Have another chapter today because I love you guys :') )

Bonnie awoke to the cawing of a bird that reminded her she wasn't in the States anymore. She found her wounded leg to be quite stiff with a dull ache, but the rest of her body was warm and loose. When she tried to move her arm she found that BJ's arms were wrapped tightly around her in a spooning position. Bonnie could feel a warmth on her neck and knew it was her companion's face nestled deep in her hair.

Carefully, she began to assess her body, stretching where she found necessary. Moving to her hips she could feel a pressure on her lower back and for a few moments considered what it could be. With a jolt she realized it was BJ and she blushed at the thought. She needed to simmer down...the Korean heat and her bullet wound were going to her head.

From his breathing patterns, Bonnie figured BJ wasn't awake yet. She moved away from him a little to stretch her back out. Moments later he pulled her back in, still asleep. Hugging her close, BJ mumbled something into her hair she couldn't quite hear. It sounded like a name, probably his ex wife's. She let herself be held as she knew this day would be a long one and she needed all the strength she could get. Every so often BJ would repeat the name, his voice soft. The realization slowly came to Bonnie that the captain was saying her name. She heard it ringing in her head in his voice and a sly smile came to her lips. It felt good to have someone worried enough about her that she showed up in their dreams.

Bonnie felt like she had spent enough time mooning over BJ's strong, warm arms around her. She firmly pulled them off and turned to face him. The enemy troop was either still asleep or they had already moved on, so she shook him gently to prevent him from jolting awake and causing a bunch of noise. BJ slowly opened his eyes, for a moment they were bleary with confusion.

BJ rubbed at his eyes to clear the sleep out of them and twitched the corners of his mouth up in a small smile. A thought seemed to cross his mind and he turned so his back was on the ground, his legs tented with one crossed over the other. "Did you sleep alright?" he whispered to her, also not sure if the Korean group had left yet.

"I slept fine, thank you. I'm ready to go as soon as possible," she whispered back, grabbing for the canteen to take a swig.

BJ nodded and quickly stood up, his back to her. He jumped across the stream and began to wake the others. Pierce was the first one to wake up, his arm shooting out to slap his friend away from him. He sat up, his raven haired tussled and unkempt, he looked like he had been tossing and turning all night. "Couldn't you have taken the tent all the way down before coming to see me?" she heard him remark sourly. BJ hushed him but Pierce kept going. "Radar and I woke up a little earlier to check to see if the unit had moved on, and they have. We were allowing for a few more hours sleep before jump starting the day. Since we're all up, we might as well go."

Radar sat up as well, scratching his head. "Yeah they moved out about an hour ago, but it was still early enough we thought the injured could use a bit more sleep." He stretched and repositioned his hat, passing some ration packets around. "Once we down this chow we can be on our way. We're not too far. Maybe about 5 hours, breaks included and we'll be back to camp."

With that, they all sat side by side by the stream, their feet stretched out in the water. Radar wolfed down his portion in seconds and passed it to BJ. BJ stared in wonderment at Radar's abilities and munched thoughtfully on the rehydrated omelette-in-a-bag. Pierce and Bonnie sat close by, passing the food slowly back and forth.

Bonnie hadn't ever found the necessity to use dehydrated rations, but they weren't half bad. For every bite Pierce took, she took two, shoveling the morsel into her mouth. After about two thirds of the pack had been eaten, Pierce gave her the rest of the food and went to work changing her dressings before they shoved off.

He made quick work of the wrappings and tossed them aside. Pierce massaged her leg near the entry wound and her bullet oozed a little bit. Her wound was clotting but they would need to get back to make sure there was no residue before the flesh became too difficult to operate on. Even worse, a bacterial infection could set in and put her whole leg, or even her life at risk. Bonnie chewed with purpose, trying to ignore the pain and the intruding thoughts.

Pierce cleaned and dressed the wound while Bonnie ate and the others prepared for moving. "Looks alright, right?" Bonnie asked, a few pieces of egg falling from her fork onto her chin.

Pierce secured the last of the linen and looked around at her. His hard gaze softened as he reached over to her chin and wiped away the food remnants. "The food is supposed to go *in* your mouth," he said through a smile. "Yes the wound is doing alright. I don't say this much, but you're tougher than you look. If all goes alright...well, it goes alright! I have high hopes for today."

Bonnie reached out to Pierce and took his hand in hers. "I really appreciate you all taking such good care of me," she started; Pierce held up a hand but she went on: "This has been a wild ride but I really trust you...all of you. If I hadn't of been shot, then this whole predicament wouldn't be going on. Thank you for treating me like one of your own even though you don't know me from Adam."

Hawkeye let her finish and then took both of her hands in his. "Honey, I know you from Eve," he joked, rubbing heat into her hands and arms. "I'd like to think I would do this for anyone, but I can't deny that you're a special gal."

Bonnie smirked at the Captain's poor excuse for a joke and pulled her grasp out of his so she could grab another swig from the canteen. Pierce held his smile and looked over her head to see what the others were doing. Bonnie glanced back as well; BJ and Radar were busy looking at the compass and discussing travel plans. When she looked back, Pierce moved, his hands trapping her face in a gentle cradle. Bonnie's heart quickened as she placed her hands over his, but did not make a move to push them away.

Pierce traced his fingers over her cheeks, gently rubbing his thumbs across her skin. She observed that although his hands were soft, they were quite strong; Pierce most definitely spent a long time in surgery so his hands were finely tuned from the endurance work he did. After Hawkeye gave another quick glance over her shoulder, he leaned in.

The kiss they shared was completely different from the last one. The kiss before had been fervent, fearful, shy. When their lips met on this day, it was confident, sweet, longing, and maybe a little bit hopeful. Hawkeye brought their faces together, Bonnie's lips still dewy from the canteen. Neither of them overtook the kiss, their lips simply pressed together in an amicable standstill. After a moment they both would agree did not last long enough, they pulled apart, Pierce's dry lips sticking momentarily to Bonnie's.

"Just wanted to give you a small sample of what we shared the other night," he said in a low voice. "As I recall the kiss was so passionate you fainted." He smiled lazily, his eyes finally joining in on the fun.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and pushed him lightly away. "We have a M*A*S*H camp to get to," she told him.

Pierce saluted and jumped to his feet to help her up. "That we do, Captain!" he projected. "Stop dilly-dallying everyone, we have enemy territory to get through." The others turned towards him, their eyes also rolling. BJ handed a pack out to him, but Pierce pulled Bonnie up and slung her arm over his shoulder instead. "I'll take the first crutch shift," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist.

BJ slung the pack over his own shoulder, rolled his eyes once more, and pushed his way out of the brush. They all followed behind, Radar coming last to make sure nothing was being left behind. Once out they could see the signs of the company that had stayed there over night.

"Looks like there were about 30 people here," Hawkeye said, eyeing the large area around them.

Bonnie looked up at him and gave a small laugh. "Sounds like your nickname serves you right," she remarked at him.

Hawkeye smiled and they all turned away from the scene towards home, setting off on their long journey. Bonnie was almost sad to see their little encampment go, but then was painfully reminded of why they had to get home as quickly as possible. Everyone else seemed confident in their journey so she just had to grin and bear it until the end.