Sorry for the hiatus guys. I was in South Korea for a couple weeks.

This takes place during 4x10, 4x11, and 4x22.

Enjoy!

A few days after Frank ransacks Margaret's tent, there is a lull in the compound. With nothing to do, Hawkeye sits in the Officers Club eating pretzels and drinking cheap beer. It is not until the next day that he gets the bright idea to stuff as many people as he can in a jeep. Rounding up willing participants, he starts to work. Coercing one nurse inside, he sees Margaret and Frank come up making comments while Margaret tells him that he has one of her nurses. Telling her he will return her, Hawkeye goes back to work. After a minute he looks over at the nurse who stares at the chaos.

"'Squeeze in Major! There's still room'," Hawkeye states as he continues to help Nurse Grable in.

"'That is utterly beneath me'," Margaret insists even though she simply doubts she will fit inside. When Hawkeye tells her he is hoping for the honor to be beneath her instead, Margaret lets Frank become offended while she merely watches the insanity. Thoroughly entertained by Hawkeye's being dragged into the jeep, she does not notice Frank run off.

"Hey! You can't drag me in! I have to photograph this thing!" Hawkeye insists merely trying to escape the confined space. Getting out of the jeep, Hawkeye fits a couple more people in the passenger side before walking over to the driver's side. Noticing there is still room, Hawkeye tries to persuade Margaret to get in. He knows she has a playful side, and just wants her to express it more, especially since Frank seems to drag her into Regular Army shenanigans. When she agrees, he nicely pushes her behind the wheel.

"'Will you photograph my best side?'" Margaret asks once she is inside the jeep.

"'Absolutely'," He answers before hitting her rear and heading toward the camera. Setting the camera timer, Hawkeye quickly squeezes in beside Margaret with one leg out of the jeep. Happy to see Margaret smiling, he is less than thrilled when the head chaplain comes to visit turning any fun version of Margaret into the pretentious Frank loving Margaret he despises. Part of him wishes to be closer to her so that he can tell her how Frank makes her act. Instead, he remains impartial.

A week later, Hawkeye somehow ends up in a jeep with Frank and his crazed Army zeal. After performing surgery for hours straight and having to deal with Frank's complaining, Hawkeye is beyond annoyed. Finally getting back to camp with a few extra bodies, Hawkeye takes comfort in the fact that he can sleep soon. Sadly for him, he is stuck with Frank's racist remarks in the operating room, but is saved by Margaret being the nurse he operates with. They are both calm under the tension of the surgery and Hawkeye happily demonstrates his surgery techniques for Margaret. Even if she is still with Frank, Margaret can at least admire Hawkeye's surgical skills. What Frank has that he does not, the Head Surgeon will never know. Instead of dwelling too much on his own problems, Hawkeye finishes the surgery and tiredly steals one of the unused post op beds to sleep and keep an eye on his patient. The next morning, Margaret enters post op to find Hawkeye asleep on one of the cots. Knowing what and who he has to deal with in the last two days, Margaret takes the blanket at the end of the bed and begins to put it over him. When he suddenly wakes up, she can see the shock in his eyes and wonders what he dreams about.

"'I woke you, I'm sorry'," She apologizes. Sitting up, Hawkeye jokes that they can try again tomorrow. Brushing off the sexual comment, Margaret asks if he sleeps in post op all night.

He tells her he has before explaining how he keeps Colonel Spiker from dying. Impressed, Margaret commends his workmanship.

"'There's only one reason this man didn't die'," the nurse commends.

"'Yeah, HQ didn't cut him his orders'," Hawkeye states tiredly not in the mood for a compliment. He is still hoping to sleep again.

"'I've never seen you work better'," Margaret compliments still in awe over how much he cares for his patients no matter who they are. Moments like these make her question her choice in a lover at the 4077, especially since she and Hawkeye already have a history. Again, she commends him and tells him that she is proud of him only to have her comment turned into a joke. Then, she remembers why they are not together. Hawkeye merely likes to annoy her and flirt with her whenever he can. Still having feelings for her is not doing him any favors, and he knows it.

After checking on the Colonel later in the day, Hawkeye heads to Margaret's tent to apologize. When she lets him inside, the captain is shocked by her appearance. She looks upset, and his hand immediately goes to brush some hair out of her face. After he does, Margaret turns her head away from him. The gesture reminds her too much of when they first meet, and she is too confused about her relationships to fully look him in the eye. Only when Hawkeye formally apologizes for his callous reaction to her compliment, does she look up. Searching his eyes for any hint of a lie, Margaret finally thanks him. After a moment, he asks if she is okay. Nodding, Margaret replies, "I just need some time to think."

Not believing her, Hawkeye decides not to answer, and leaves her. Grabbing his lawn chair and taking it to another area of the compound, Hawkeye sits and watches the camp go by. B.J. finds him half an hour later and sits with him until her goes to get them a couple of beers. He comes back to find Frank searching around. Asking Hawkeye what Frank is doing, B.J. helps his friend make fun of their bunk mate who digs up a kimchi pot. Once Frank leaves in humiliation, Hawkeye and B.J. burst out laughing. Finally, the younger man states, "I have to write Peg about this!"

"Someone should tell Margaret she is dating a certified nut!" Hawkeye remarks with a laugh.

"Thinking of taking her for yourself?" B.J. teases. Hawkeye merely rolls his eyes secretly wishing the remark is not true. What he wants is Margaret to leave Frank for him.

Deciding to only be around Margaret when he has to be, Hawkeye tries to keep himself as distant as possible until Frank cries about his wife wanting a divorce. Slipping out of the tent once he is sure Margaret knows about the letter, Hawkeye heads across the compound. When he knocks on her door, Hawkeye notices Margaret is less than amused.

"How are you feeling?" He questions seriously. Margaret shrugs before letting him inside her tent. Slipping behind her desk, Margaret leans back in the chair before stating, "Frank's wife knows about the affair, if that's what you can even call it, now."

"That's still going on?" Hawkeye questions thinking the affair is over. Sighing, the nurse answers that it is.

"But you know how slow mail is," She humorlessly jokes. Nodding, Hawkeye adds, "I know."

"Hawk?" Margaret asks softly. "Do you ever think we should have started over?"

Confused, Hawkeye parrots her question. Sighing, Margaret explains, "I sometimes think that my relationship with Frank was wrong. That it shouldn't have happened."

"What makes you think that?" He asks trying to keep a self satisfied smirk off his face. After a moment he asks why she even dates Frank. Shrugging, the nurse responds, "He liked rules and regulations, and was the complete opposite of you."

"Still can't get over me, huh?" He teases. Shaking her head, Margaret counters, "Can you?"

Swallowing, Hawkeye looks at Margaret before excusing himself. The next day, he finds himself caught between his emotions for Margaret and his resurfaced emotions for a former girlfriend from med school who is sent to the 4077th.

"I proposed myself into a corner, Margaret!" Hawkeye exclaims as he sits in the head nurse's tent after leaving Carlye. Sympathetically, Margaret takes Hawkeye's hand wondering if he has a hard time forgetting all of his former girlfriends, or just the blonde ones. Running his hands through his hair, Hawkeye admits, "I thought I still loved her, but she left so suddenly! I never got a note."

Realizing why he is so upset over people leaving, Margaret whispers his name. Shaking his head, Hawkeye tells her he does not need the sympathy. Thanking her for listening to him, Hawkeye heads back to his tent only to confide in B.J. who asks, "What does Margaret have to do with this?"

Noting Frank's absence, Hawkeye explains his history with both Carlye and Margaret. Eyes wide, B.J. asks, "You slept with Margaret?"

Nodding, Hawkeye remarks, "Of all the camps, they had to walk into mine."

"Technically, you walked into Margaret's," B.J. corrects. Waving away the comment, Hawkeye states, "Same difference. It's just, Carlye brought out all these feelings, but I don't think they were for her."

Review!