November 29, 1952
Back in Town! The Swamp, Uijongbu

I had a strange dream the night before, Journal, and it frightened me for quite a while and even after my shift because of how deep it was. I guess the old ghosts of the past seem to plague me, you see, and it all came together in one dream in my mind, in different places and plains of existence, maybe as the scenes changed. How I came up with this in my mind, I cannot say, and I have no other explanation. You see, like I said, everybody – all three of them – in this dream are dead, even the one person who had never met me and never will because I was after her time. That person was Hawkeye's mother, the one that Daniel Pierce was said to have named Annabeth because her own Italian name was too difficult to pronounce.

I am almost frightened to go to sleep now because I might have this dream again. It's nighttime. The crickets are saying goodbye as the weather turns colder and the frost on the ground tells us about the snow that is possibly coming soon. Hawkeye is sleeping since he's had none in the last forty-eight hours (Thanksgiving kept him and me busy in the Supply Room and in Post-Op), BJ is writing to Peg and Erin and Charles in is Post-Op with Kellye. So, it is a quiet night, too quiet to say anything out loud to anybody, but to scribble it down quickly. What harm can it do?

So, this dream I've had the night before, if I can call it that. It started out normal, like I was reliving the past, something I've done in my slumbers before. After all, it all began when I was the happiest before I came to Korea, in West Germany. Falk was there, walking with me in the cold winter air that only Germany could give. He was holding my hand, the both of them covered in mittens, talking in his fast German about the cold weather and how much he hated the Army as always. I responded in German, which I had been learning slowly, and laughed at my errors as Falk corrected them, talking in English about how cute I was when I talked to him in his native tongue.

Suddenly though, as we reached the old museum towards southwestern Berlin, where the British and Soviet guards were butting heads, we stopped walking as we always did when we wanted to be quiet and not fight with the military personnel. Falk then hesitated, as if something was really bothering him, and he turned to me. On impulse, he ran to the nearest alleyway and dragged me along with him, like he was hiding from somebody or something. However, to me, it felt like he was taking me on a wild ride, pulling me as he raced to the quiet darkness in-between the museum and the bank. It was terrific and I laughed in glee, but Falk's face was stony and silent, not even laughing with me like he normally did.

Falk eventually slowed down towards the other end of the alleyway and I stopped laughing, knowing that he was serious and wanted to tell me something. However, I noticed that this end of the alleyway seemed so long, so dark, that I didn't know when we were going to stop until Falk found a spot near the end. I waited until we were alone, since some homeless people milled around us, and then felt Falk move me behind some garbage bins, which was the end of what seemed to be a tunnel. There was light at the end of it, but I was not allowed to go through it with him this time.

And I knew it. Even then, in my dreams where I thought that I was happy and with the one I loved before Korea destroyed me, I knew that I wasn't dead, but a surreal person in a demented mind that yearned for happier times.

"Jeanette, you have to understand something," Falk finally began in German, making me face him. He then stroked my dark face with his hand, as if committing my profile into his own dead memory, pausing and then talking once more as a rare tear went down his face. "You have to move on with your life. I am your past, what makes you who you are now, and some of the future, and I will be a distant memory when you think about me."

"Falk," I interjected, almost yelled because it sounded so preposterous.

"No, no, my Little One…" Falk shushed me and petted my hair, holding me as I put my face into his neck, trembling as he spoke. "You have to stay until the war in Korea is over. It's almost finished. I promise you that it's almost over. And you can live with your Love."

"But you are my one and only," I sobbed suddenly, my heart suddenly reaching out to him, protesting this goodbye.

"Jeanette, listen to me." Falk made me look at me with my sore, red eyes and this this time, he was serious. "I came to you, when you dream and wish for me when Hawkeye could not be there for you, wishing that you and I are together, but we are not because Colonel Flagg had me killed in the Soviet Union. Oh, just listen to me please."

I chocked back another sob, just for Falk, and listened to him as he continued. "You and Hawkeye are happy together. I am happy for you because you are happy with him. I want you to have a happy ending, you know this? So, go back. Go back to Korea. Because the war is not over yet and you have more to handle than just missing me. You will have more trials to face before you can run home and be the mother you cannot be in Korea."

"I love you, Falk," I choked, my eyes and nose dripping snotty puddles on Falk's broad shoulders.

"I love you too, my Little One, my Light." Falk let me go. "Now and forever, remember me, Little One."

I saw a blinding light, the same shade at the end of the dark alleyway. Within seconds, it seemed I was in another place, on another continent even. I was in Bloomington, Illinois. I was right next door again, standing next to Henry Blake in an Army winter coat and clothes as Lorraine was playing with the children – Janie, Molly and even Andrew. She was trying to hide her tears and sorrow at the newly-snowed yard and thinking of how lonely she is. Somehow, this made her think of Henry and how the family should have been together, be playing together, and it broke her heart.

Even looking to the Lowes residence next door, where my mother was all alone and without heat, Lorraine sadly thought about me and Dean and how we're faring in Korea, since the last letters from us were cynical and even hopeless, wishing to be home. The both of us had been utterly depressed and full of despair and it was something that she could not hold in anymore. Dean was paranoid that he'd be killed by his CO and Jeanie was tired of going impossible things in an impossible place all the time.

I heard Lorraine's thoughts as well as Henry did (I knew that somehow) and even tried to throw myself out of her mind, but I could not. I tried looking to my mother's place over the fence, thinking of her all alone as she perhaps heard the children's laughter (memories popping up of me and Dean maybe), but Henry had my attention before long. It seemed that he knew that I was coming to him and would have to talk quickly before the next dead person claimed me for yet another message or lesson.

"How is it over there, Child?" Henry then asked me, without taking his eyes off of his wonderful children. I even had to admit that Andrew was a handsome little bugger.

"Korea is as dark and bleak as ever, Sir," I replied, also following his eyes, knowing what he was inquiring of me. I wasn't giving in though, admitting nothing more than the truth that Henry realized when he was in Korea.

"Why is it 'Sir', Jeanie?" Henry turned to me, making me face him as well. "You've never been very Regular Army before. I've always seen you sulking, drinking, working, loving and playing. Since when have you been so depressed?"

"You know that I can't help it, Henry. Things have been difficult lately."

I turned back to the family and saw Andrew being taught to make a snowball by Molly. Soon enough though, the child was rolling around and laughing as his older sister stomped away in complete frustration, trying to tell her mother about how dense he was being before being chided herself. Lorraine seemed to be in no mood for sibling arguments. She wanted to soak in the moments with her family alone and did not want that ruined by something so trivial.

Henry only sighed. "Difficult is hardly the word for anything. I mean, look at them! I can only watch over them, Jeanie. I can't touch them, like I would have liked to. I just look over them and make sure that these children at least have their mother with them. It's all that I can do."

Poor Henry looked like he wanted to cry as he continued. "I try to lie down in bed with Lorraine at night, to reassure her that I am there with her, but sometimes, I can't even feel the comfort. She wakes up suddenly, wondering who is in the room with her, and becomes scared without realizing that it's me. Or I'll sit in the kitchen, watching her cook, and Andrew will be crying. The next moment, I'm up without meaning to and he's calmed down and she sees that somebody got to him before I realized what I did."

"She knows you're with her always," I said with confidence. I understood Henry's double-talk, worse when he was upset, and tried my best to comfort him with the only weapon I had. Confidence was something I hardly had, but it was something to show it.

Henry saw through my deception quickly enough and played the parent again. "And I'm with you as well, Jeanie. I walk around in Korea when I can't stand looking at Lorraine and the children anymore and watch you all. I never realized how loved I was until I was gone and even then, it's worse to see another man struggle in my seat. It hurts. It hurts worse to know the truth, though, Child. And it hurts the most to see that the people who are down there, way down there, don't know what's going to happen next and I do. I know what's going to happen to you and Dean and Hawkeye and Hot Lips and even Radar."

"But Radar is gone and home safe now!" I protested. "What worse can happen to him?"

"Even the little monkey grew up," Henry replied sadly, shaking his head to keep his mouth shut from the future. He was vague though. "Radar went home and is safe now, but even he has some more growing up to do before he sees an end to it."

"You sound so cynical, Henry. It's not like you at all."

"Being dead has its ups and downs, Jeanie. This is one of those things that make me sad." Henry frowned and blew out some air, a small cloud of chill coming from it. "Eternity is long thing and I've realized it now. And I have to sit and wait for it before something else comes up for me. My job isn't done yet. I think there's another life ahead."

"In that big fishing hole in the sky," I joked, remembering how much he loved to fish…like BJ.

"You know what I mean." Henry then cupped my chin in his hands. "Jeanie, honey, you've got a lot ahead of you. People may have told you this already, but it's true. You have to deal with a lot of things soon and you need to be strong. This is this obstacle and you need to be ready for it."

"Like you've also told Dean?" I asked, uncomfortable that I was leaving Henry soon…again. I could not bear it. "You've been enough messages."

"Yes, Child." Henry sighed. "I think Dean understands, but still hopes to keep away from the Grim Reaper. It's up to him now."

"You're not saying he's going to die?!" I screamed, trying to loosen Henry's grip on me.

"I can't say, Jeanie, but everybody's time has to come someday." Henry let go of me. "You have to prepare because any day could be your last too. I wish I knew that when I died or else I'd know that the airport kiss with Lorraine was our last."

I closed my eyes and shook my head as the winter wind picked up, almost unable to believe these sad words from Henry…silly Henry Blake, my former CO, father and neighbor! But by closing my eyes, I left Henry behind, maybe for the last time. I left snowy Bloomington behind me and came upon some sand and ocean. I felt and smelled it, my eyes still closed and wondering where I was and what I was doing still.

It's a dream. It has to be! I kept thinking it and yet…it seemed too real, not surreal. Or was it? I don't know. God, I don't know…

"Oh, you're much more beautiful than I thought you would be. I think Daniel has been thinking too little of you and praising you less in his mind, but he's on the right track."

A lightly accented voice filled my ears as I opened my eyes to the ocean and felt the open air it brought, a balm to my soul. However, a calming presence made all the difference. Before me was a short woman, about my height (maybe slightly shorter), with pure jet-black hair, dark brown eyes and a light olive-skinned complexion. I knew, right then and there, that this woman was Hawkeye's mother, Annabeth.

"Come, Jeanette," Annabeth Pierce said to me, holding out a hand as a seagull cried out behind her. "Or do you like Jeanie better?"

I liked this woman instantly, this woman who radiated kindness and goodness onto me. She seemed the total opposite from my mother, in which an aura of disaster and dysfunction was around. "Jeanie, please. It's Jeanie."

Immediately, I walked up to her and took that hand, feeling everything from her sink into me: memories, old and new. Hawkeye was there as a child, as well as someone I assumed was his father, with the blue eyes, dark hair (not quite black, more brown) and a tall height. And then, there was that little girl playing near a large mountain laurel bush, the flowers dying in the autumn sunshine. After that, it grew hazy as hollers of grief filled the space.

Annabeth laughed as she saw my face. "Oh, you're unbelievable, aren't you? You don't believe in anything, do you?"

We walked hand-in-hand like mother and daughter, my Army boots crunching the sand and my uniform getting wet with sea spray. "I believe in it when I see it," I said slowly, enjoying the beach, despite the deep chill in the air. "Lately, I've been seeing things that I thought couldn't exist. I thought that everything was as it is and that I could not see people that are…dead. That things in front of me were the truth. I thought that there was some sort of afterlife, but that it seemed nonsensical. There was nothing after we died."

Annabeth soon grew serious. "All souls are everywhere, especially when you see death often. You see, Jeanie, Daniel has the same problem. He saw death too much here in this seaside town, more so than life, and knows about it. My Hawkeye is learning about it too, in the worst way possible. I don't like it, but as a mother, I can do nothing for him except watch and wish that he would not go crazy. I can see it coming."

"Why did you have to die like that?" I blurted out, aware of Hawkeye's pain. "You and Loretta left him and his father and never came back. He's devastated."

"As he should be," Annabeth replied lightly, seeing her ring on my hand and smiling about it. "But it can't be helped, Loved One. It was all a part of the stars."

Annabeth stopped suddenly, where the sea lapped on our feet in small waves, and let go of my hand, outlining my face with her gentle fingers that never knew much tenderness. "It was destiny. I had to die of an epidemic that swept through Crabapple Cove, as did Loretta, although she could have been spared had it been known her brother would never see the man he should be. Hawkeye and Daniel were thankfully spared and that was what happened. They had a place in this world, to complete a work that would leave a footprint in the sand. They had a purpose where I had already fulfilled mine. Loretta was a tragic loss, but she had filled Hawkeye and Daniel's hearts with happiness for the short time she was here and would forever hold a child's innocence. Oh, Hawkeye loved being an older brother and Daniel loved having children in the house."

"What do you mean?" I asked, tired of the future coming and riddles of every sort.

"Oh, everybody leaves a footprint in the sand. It's just how you did it and if it made a bigger imprint than others." Annabeth smiled, the same one that Hawkeye always had. "If my son had died, would you have been like you are in Korea right now?"

I shook my head. "I can't say."

Annabeth was not done yet. "Nobody and nothing would be the same. You could have died from every possible thing. You would be quite alone and have nowhere to go in your life because of one ripple in the water. For all you know, you could have died as well, committing suicide like so many others before you."

"Nobody could know that," I started to protest, but a finger to my lip, which seemed like such a motherly gesture from Annabeth, quieted me.

"The dead know many things," she only replied, taking a step back. "You've realized this, I see. Many people have told you too. However, you have to learn that, when one soul walks amongst the living, something large will happen, as if they know something has to be finished and feel the need to warn. They feel a need deep inside of them as well, like their work is never done, and they stay behind when others have found peace and move on to the next place."

"Is your work ever done?" I asked as a dark tunnel started to separate us.

"Not until my husband is with me," was the last response I heard before I felt a hand shaking my shoulder sharply.

I opened my eyes again, realizing where I was. I was now back into reality, in Korea, in the middle of the stupid war that I wished was over. However, I was in bigger trouble than I thought. Charles was over me, yelling in anger and shaking me awake. It showed because of the redness in his face and even on his head, up to where his balding head was. It took me a few seconds to regain my senses, but when I did, I understood the words.

"You insolent fool! Your shift has started twenty minutes ago and you are supposed to be with me!" Charles looked more pissed than I thought when I woke up. I pushed him away, rubbing my eyes and remembering that I had a shift.

"Oh, come on, Charles. Be nice and leave the sleeping to those who need it." BJ moaned and rolled over in his cot, his moustache, recently grown, crinkled his pillow and rustled.

"You could have woken me up an hour ago, Major, if this was such a concern," I added sarcastically as well, quickly waking up and putting my clothes on against the cold. "What time is it?"

"Time for you to get in Post-Op, you little rat…now!" Charles stormed away from my cot in disgust, as if the person on it were some sort of plague victim or something. He went out, heading off to Post-Op and making noise as he kicked and punched things on the way, seeming like it was enough to wake up even the dead.

"Can anybody keep the war down?" Hawkeye asked as he too rolled over in his cot.

"What's gotten his panties in a bunch?" I was curious, about to run out the door to meet the cold.

"He found out who threw the martini glasses on his pillow," BJ replied, chuckling softly as he tried to go back to sleep.

I wanted to laugh too, but the dream…three dead people in there…haunted my thoughts and made my mind race faster than I thought possible. Three people, two who knew me well, and their messages plagued me and made me think. Was it real? Were they to come back to me? Is it really all true? Are hardships ahead of me and that I need to be strong for them? Is Dean really going to die? How was I going to be handle it?

I couldn't answer these questions. All I had to do was wake up more and work with Charles. After all, that was a priority, was it not, and something to be handled in the most proper manner?

I'm sorry that this is turning out to be a little more than supernatural, but things in this story are going to change pretty quickly here, I promise. I guess Jeanie is having some sort of "reality check" for a bit before things get hairy. However, most of the ghost scenes are based off of an episode where a soldier died and Klinger was the only one who saw him and that was through his illness. Honestly, I don't remember which season it was, bu with so much death in a war, it made me think that those closest to it would see it. Opinions? Comments? Questions?

Many thanks are also in order. THANK YOU to samanddianedan10 (Melinda) for her comments, encouragement and reviews. Without you, I'd be lost!