Chapter 10: Jealousy (part 2)

Margaret marched over to where she knew Frank had to be, sulking in what used to be his office. "Frank?" she called out, stepping into his office.

Frank looked up from his desk. "What is it?" he sourly asked. He wasn't quite done pouting yet.

"People will respect you more later on if you handle this like a man," she explained. "Besides, I know you deserved this, and you know you deserved. Why does it matter what everyone else thinks out there?" Margaret questioned.

Frank looked up to her. She was still standing by the closed door and not beside him. Normally, she would have been right there with him, but today, she was keeping her distance. "Margaret! You're supposed to be over here making me feel better!" he whined.

"That's what I'm trying to do Frank!" she argued.

"Oh I get it," Frank stated as he stood up. "You're disappointed in me too. There's no way that a failed CO is good enough for you."

Margaret huffed. This was getting annoying. Now that she had been with Hawkeye, she had a chance to step back and see Frank Burns how everyone else saw him. She always knew that he was whiny and that he was more like a little kid than a grown man, but she never fully realized exactly how annoying he could be until now. She had been annoyed by him before, but this was getting ridiculous. "You know that's not true," she argued.

"Then why are you and Pierce always together now?" he asked.

Margaret stood there for a moment, taken aback by the question. That glare, he did know, it wasn't her imagination. "We're just friends," she lied, trying to maintain her composure.

Frank sat back down and looked to her, pleading eyes. "But I thought that it was us against them, and how it can us against them if you're friends with one of them?" he implored.

Margaret sighed. "And you don't think that they'll listen to me more if I'm friends with them?" she asked. It was the first thing that came to mind, and now she was hoping that it would work. "I thought your job as CO here would be a little less stressful if I could get them to behave. Just for the first couple of months while you got settled in."

"Well you can stop now," Frank stated.

Margaret just looked to him. She didn't think about that fact. Then again, her brain had started shutting down a few minutes ago when she needed it most. "But they haven't done anything horrible yet, don't you want it to stay that way? At least until the new man gets here?" she asked.

"How about you meet me tonight and we can discuss it?" Frank questioned.

"Okay," Margaret obliged. She was sure that they could behave. She knew that she could, and then if he tried anything, she could easily kick him out. "I got out of post op at nine," she said and then walked out.

ooo

Margaret went back to the Swamp where Hawkeye and Trapper were waiting for her to come back. "How did your talk with Ferret Face go?" Hawkeye implored.

Margaret slowly closed the door behind her and nervously looked to him. "We have to talk," she announced.

"Here? Or at your place?" Hawkeye asked.

"Mine, in about an hour," Margaret explained and then left.

Hawkeye and Trapper exchanged looks. "Well," Trapper started. "I don't think it went how she wanted."

"I think he knows," Hawkeye said and then stood up and looked towards her tent. "You know what really stinks?" he questioned, turning back towards Trapper. "I think she sees this as something worth ending our relationship over."

"Why are you stressing out now? She hasn't broken up with you," Trapper responded, trying to get him to calm down.

"Because, that's how she is! What she thinks her reputation is, is important to her. She can't handle people talking about us sleeping together. I mean, I'm convinced that she and Frank were convinced that no one knew about them. I'm also convinced that if Frank knows about the two of us, that she'll pick up on the fact that most people are aware and want to prove them wrong," Hawkeye explained, getting himself worked up.

Trapper looked up and shrugged. "The way I see it, if she really feels that way about the two of you, then she isn't worth all this stress," he casually informed him.

Hawkeye just stopped and looked to him. His shoulders dropped. "Yeah," he distantly replied and then turned back and looked towards her tent.

That thought had never even entered his head. Hawkeye had just gotten used to the way that Margaret was, he expected it out of her and would have gotten worried if she acted any differently. Trapper was right though, if she was that worried about being seen with him, if she was that ashamed of dating him, then she wasn't worth all the stress.

ooo

Margaret nervously sat on her cot as she waited for Hawkeye to come. It had been an hour and she needed to talk to him. The longer that she had to wait, the more nervous she was growing.

Hawkeye casually entered the tent and closed the door behind him. "Hey Margaret, you wanted to talk?" he implored. During the last hour, he had calmed himself down and was ready to hear the worst. He was going to give her a chance though, let her talk before he jumped on her. There was some hope that he held onto though, hope that she might have changed, just a little.

"Yeah," Margaret breathed out. "He thinks that I'm friends with you and Trapper so that you two will listen to him better."

"So he's delusional as usual," Hawkeye commented.

Margaret sighed. "I lied to him to buy a little more time in order to think of a better lie to tell him," she explained.

Hawkeye looked up to her, this was the time to start asking questions. "Why do you care so much about whether or not he knows?" he steadily asked.

"He doesn't handle bad news too well. If he finds out about us he might just go insane," Margaret explained, beginning to wonder why he had to ask. She was sure that Hawkeye could be able to see that.

"Are you worried about other people finding out about us?" Hawkeye implored.

Margaret stared to him for a moment, as if she was waiting for him to say that he was joking. "Yes," she answered.

Hawkeye looked down and scratched the back of his head. "I see," he said and then looked back up to her. "See ya," he said and then stood up to go leave.

Margaret quickly jumped up. "Wait!" she ordered. "Why these questions all the sudden?"

Hawkeye stopped and turned around to face her. "How about you tell me why you are so ashamed for people to find out that you're dating me instead of the married man?" he snapped. "We've been together for three weeks, and still the most important thing on your list is whether or not other people find out about us!"

Margaret remained stoic, briefly at loss for words. "I happen to care about my reputation. How do you think it looks if I'm sleeping around with the men here?" she questioned.

"The chief surgeon as opposed to the various Generals that have come through here and the married Major? Yeah, I'm sure that I'm the one that will tarnish your good name, hotlips," he scoffed. The more he did think about it, the more angry it made him. He would have been excited to announce to anyone there that he was with her. He wanted Trapper to know, and he would have wanted Henry to know. Why was she was concerned with the secrecy? At first, it might have been a little understandable. A couple flings was never anything to share with everyone, but this was starting to get serious. They were spending most of their free time with each other. As far as he was concerned, he wanted to spend more time with her after they were able to go home.

"How dare you make those types of accusations! Those Generals happen to have been close to my father! They are very close to my family! That's why I spend time with them talking about my father and the war and how things are going!" she explained.

Hawkeye chuckled. "Does daddy know just how much closer his little girl is to his friends? Or was that part of that whole, I only do what my father tells me to do type deal?" he shot back.

Margaret was now seething with anger. "Get out," she firmly demanded, trying her hardest to keep her voice down.

"First, you tell me why you care so much about what other people think," Hawkeye stubbornly ordered.

"I said, get out now Pierce!" she slightly raised her voice. "That's an order!"

Hawkeye stood there, suddenly realizing that he had gone a little too far. She was back to calling him Pierce instead of Hawkeye. "Listen, Margaret," he gently started, carefully approaching her. "I'm sorry."

"I swear I'll file charges if you do not leave this tent this instant," Margaret informed him.

Hawkeye sighed. "Fine," he said throwing his hands up in defeat. "I'll leave."

Margaret sternly stood there and watched as he left the tent. Her shoulders dropped, and she allowed herself to calm down. Now, that she stood alone in the silence, she regretted what just happened. Why couldn't she have just accepted his apology? Why did she have to send him out?

Instead of thinking too much and keeping herself fixated on the last few minutes, she went and started on some paper work that she had to get done before the end of the week.