You Were the Hero

A M*A*S*H Fic

A/N: Here is chapter seven! This is going to be a fun one, so please enjoy and review! The next chapter will be more eventful and/or serious. I just wanted a filler chapter that could be light and fun. Remember, we're only in Season Two, so the character development etc. is not going to happen all at once.

"You sure are in a good mood," Margaret commented. She was sitting in her cot, stretching her leg out so that she could paint her toenails a harsh shade of red.

She and Sparrow were relaxing before bed, after a double shift in the O.R.

Sparrow shrugged absently.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

She was tempted to ask Margaret if she might borrow her nail polish, but she wasn't so sure her commanding nurse was in a generous mood.

"Ah," Margaret nodded, as she leant in to blow on the drying paint, "you've met someone."

"W-what?" Sparrow sat up, giving Margaret a pointed glare, "I have not. What makes you say that?"

"Because you're happy and you're sober. Plus, you're all flustered now that I've brought it up. It's obvious. Just tell me who it is."

Sparrow stood up and threw her arms onto her waist.

"Even I did meet someone, I wouldn't tell you Margaret," Sparrow spat, "You've got a loose beak."

"I have not!" Margaret cried, practically knocking over her nail polish, "I happen to be excellent at keeping secrets!"

"Oh I know you're good at keeping your own secrets," Sparrow rolled her eyes, "but I can see a fair few reasons why you'd want to ruin things for me."

Margaret opened her mouth to argue, but clamped it shut. Sparrow was right. Margaret and Sparrow tolerated each other, but they'd do what they could to gain leverage in their relationship.

Margaret huffed and continued to paint her nails. Sparrow fell back into bed and closed her eyes. A little smile flittered back onto her face, and she went to sleep.


Sparrow was sitting down, flipping through her notebook, when Trapper and Hawkeye joined her. Radar shuffled after them.

After Sparrow had turned Radar down, their relationship had returned to normal. She'd give him a small, encouraging smile, and he'd blush and look down at his plate.

"You've ruined the garbage disposal industry," Hawkeye teased the young Corporal.

Radar ignored them, as usual, and indulged his healthy appetite.

Sparrow wished she could be as hungry, but looking at the sloppy green vegetables which she could not name, and the bread that was as hard as a rock, she found herself merely nibbling.

"Don't tease," Sparrow warned, pointing her fork at her brother as a threat.

"I wasn't teasing, I was showing genuine concern," Hawkeye said, looking mock-offended.

Sparrow rolled her eyes and pierced what looked like a potato with her fork, leaving it there and crossing her arms.

"So, what have you two been up to lately?" She inquired, trying to seem casual.

"Why?" Trapper snickered, "want to hear the dirty details?"

"Spare me," Sparrow held up a hand, "forget I even asked."

"Hey," Hawkeye nudged Radar, "do you know anything about that boy we were operating on?"

Sparrow edged forward in her seat, curious to hear what they had to say. She hadn't been on duty this morning.

"Just another wounded kid, I guess," Radar shrugged, his mouth full of creamed vegetables, "How's he doing?"

"He'll be up in around two or three days," Trapper enlightened, "but we don't know much about his family. I know if my two girls were missing, I'd be out of my head."

"You already are out of your head," Sparrow interjected softly, "Radar, why don't you make some calls, and see what you can find out."

"Since when are you invested, Chickadee?" Hawkeye stifled a yawn, "you're not much of a Maternal-type."

"I am so!" Sparrow protested, "I mean I'm not going to have kids any time soon, I'm only twenty. But I don't have a problem with them."

"I don't know," Hawk wagged his work, "I remember you used to get so jealous when our little cousins would visit. You were perfectly rotten to them."

"I did not get jealous," Sparrow spat. She didn't bother to elaborate. Hawk just wouldn't understand.

"I'll get on it, as soon as I finish eating lunch," Radar interrupted.

The swine brothers made their jokes about Radar's eating habits, while Sparrow snuck off to the Post-Op room.


Hawkeye and Sparrow took their turns reading to the little boy- who had eyes so big and bright that Sparrow just wanted to eat him up.

"What's that?" Sparrow asked, as Hawkeye picked up his next book.

"My copy of The Last of the Mohicans," Hawkeye showed her the book, "Why?"

"Pick a different book," she commanded, "just do it."

"Fine," Hawkeye shrugged and picked up a medical text.

"He can't understand English so if I read this in alternating funny voices, he'll think it's a fun story."

"Look Kim!" Sparrow gasped, "A chapter on burn wounds ooooh!"

It was then that Margaret and Frank stormed in, looking doubtful and ready to ruin their fun.

They claimed that Trapper, Hawkeye, and Sparrow were not good company for the child, and commanded that they leave.

"What's going on here?" Henry demanded.

"We're just trying to read to little Kim," Sparrow explained, "but Hot Lips and No Lips are being impossible."

"If you don't have work to do here, then get out," Henry sighed.

Everyone trailed out of the room, protesting as they went. But Sparrow stayed put. She sat in Hawkeye's chair, gazing at the child with a big smile on her face.

It was refreshing to be around something- someone- so innocent.

"You don't even know how bad the world really is, do you?" Sparrow whispered. Then her heart turned cold, and her smile dropped when she realized how quickly he'd be faced with reality.

"He's a cute one, isn't he?" A familiar voice came from across the room.

Father Mulcahy was snapping off his gloves and removing his mask. Evidently, he'd just returned from a shift in the operating room.

"Yes," Sparrow attempted to smile, "he is."

Mulcahy stood just behind Sparrow, and she could feel his presence, but she refused to face him. He'd been avoiding her, ever since the incident in the Operating Room, where he'd saved her life.

"Children are so precious. To some of us more than others. I can see that you really enjoy them," Mulcahy said.

"I just…," Sparrow tread cautiously, "I think it's really important that we look after kids. There are so many bad people in the world, someone has to make sure that kids like Kim turn out alright."

"That's very true," Mulcahy nodded, "and it's good to hear from you again, Sparrow."

Sparrow's ears reddened. She wasn't the one who'd been avoiding him.

"I've been rather busy lately, I'm sorry I haven't had the chance to talk with you."

"It's no problem, Father," Sparrow shrugged, letting her anger subside. It didn't matter now. Whatever she'd felt before was gone. Father Mulcahy was merely the camp Priest- a good resource to talk to. Sparrow had her eyes set on a different prize anyway.

A/N: Okay there you go. A short one, but I'll make up for it next time. Please review!