"Hawk? Hawk, calm down." I tried to soothe him from thousands of miles away. "I told you, I'm perfectly fine."

"How can you be fine? You spent an entire month in captivity!" He was hysterical.

"Hawk, Hawk." He was babbling about how I should be sent home. "BEN!" I screamed into the phone to get his attention. He was silent. I had never called him Ben before. "Look, I am fine. I have no broken limbs, I'm clean as a whistle, and I'm as healthy as an ox. They were some of the nicest people I had ever met, Hawk. The Colonel treated me like one of his own men. I was respected, and well taken care of. You don't have to worry."

"I'm your gramps, I'm always going to worry about you." I chuckled.

"Look Hawk, I've got to go. I just wanted to tell you that I'm fine. And I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay. Just please stay safe."

"Always. Love you Hawk."

"I love you, Art. Bye."

"Bye." I hung up and handed the phone back to Petey. "Is Margaret all packed? Her flight leaves in an hour." Margaret had retired from the army. Finally, I know. She was going to surprise Hawkeye, with her coming home and all.

"I don't know, the Colonel's in her office." I went into the next room and found Margaret slowly packing her things.

"Margaret! What are you doing! You have a flight home in an hour! You should be leaving any minute." She just looked at me.

"You don't get it. I've been in the army my entire life, and now I'm leaving. It feels like I'm leaving most of my life for a man. And I've always been the independent woman."

I just smiled. We really were alike. "Margaret, we all get that feeling. How do you think I felt when I left Crabapple Cove for the first time without Hawkeye? I felt so empty. My entire seventeen years had been based on that place when I left. My first week at Niagara University was a wreck. I didn't want to talk to anyone, I didn't want to interact with anything but the food in the cafeteria." I really hoped that my tiny speech was helping her.

"Did it get better?" She asked as she put the picture of her, Greg, and I into the box with her stuff.

"Yeah. The next week I made a friend, and it went uphill from there. You just have to give things a shot Margaret."

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"Bye Margaret." Greg said as he hugged her and pecked her on the cheek. "It's gonna be awful lonely here without you."

She smiled. "Good bye Greg. Hopefully we'll see each other soon." Then she turned to me. "Bye Art."

"Bye Grandma." I gave her a tight hug and she smiled even bigger at the name.

"Grandma, I could get used to that." All three of us chuckled. "You two are going to take care of camp, right? I won't have to worry?"

"Of course not. We'll be good children."

"Yeah right." Greg said under his breath.

"I heard that Greg." She shot at him and he smirked at her.

"Oh," He suddenly remembered something that he left in his tent. "I'll be right back. Don't. Go. Anywhere." She nodded and he sprinted back down to the camp. She looked at me for an explanation and I just shrugged my shoulders. A minute or so later he ran back up the hill with a box wrapped in brown paper. "Could you give these to Hawkeye for me? I promise I'd send him some."

"Since when do you talk to Hawkeye?" I looked at him in surprise.

"You know that entire month when you weren't here?" I slapped him in the arm for that.

"Sure." Margaret was laughing as she took the package from him. "Be good." She pointed her finger at us.

"Yes mom." We waved at her as she got into the helicopter. She took off, and Greg and I were in charge of the camp. Normally Guy would be in command, but he got transferred to another unit and we still haven't gotten the newest surgeon yet.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I snaked mine around his waist as we started to walk away from the helicopter pad. Were we an item? Not officially. When I got back he had promised never to let me out of his sight again. He's even made me sleep in his tent. Oh how I love that boy. "What shall our first decree be? Officer's Club open all day every day? No casualties until noon?" I chuckled as we strolled into the compound.

"Better, no casualties...ever."

He nodded. "I like it." We laughed as we made a distinct course for the mess tent. We were almost there when we heard a shot bering fired. "Snipers!" Greg exclaimed and we ran into the mess tent along with about ten other people. After two more shots, you could hear the shouting of the POW's in their chicken coop. Father Drake was in the mess tent with us, and you could see that he wanted to go out and help them so badly. He was itching do go out.

"Father." I warned when I saw him getting ready to run for them.

"Cal I have to. Even they are God's children." Then he ran out. I longed to go after him, but Greg held me back. I watched him. Every step he made toward the coop I watched. He had gotten to the door and opened it for them, and he started to come back when he got hit. I let out a small scream and Greg held me closer to him.

"Father!" I cried out to him.

"Cal don't." He warned.

"I have to." I ripped out of his embrace and shot towards Father Drake. There were a few shots following me, but I managed to pick the surprisingly lightweight man up and carry him into the nearest tent, which was Greg's. I placed him on Guy's old bed, and searched for the nearest first aid kit.

"It's under my cot in the bottom of the footlocker." Greg said coming in after me, ducking a bullet on the way. I dragged the locker out and searched for the kit was he started to prep Father Drake. "He got hit in the chest, and he's bleeding out pretty good." Greg told me, only making me look faster. When I found it, I ripped it open and grabbed all of the gauze and handed some of it to Greg to stop the bleeding. Then I took out the tweezers, a pair of scissors, and a needle already threaded. I came back over to them, and picked the biggest hole in the Father's chest to cut the first line.

"Forgive me Father." I mumbled right before I jabbed into his stomach. He groaned in pain and Greg shushed him.

"It's going to be alright, Father. It's going to be alright." He started to calm him down.

After the cut, I jabbed into his chest with the tweezers. I pulled out a huge piece of shrapnel with half of my hand coming out bloody. If he gets an infection, I'm going to kill someone. "One." I put the piece on the floor next to me and went back into his stomach. Father Drake groaned again and Greg continued to soothe him. Four times this happened before all the shrapnel I could get to was out. "How's he doing?" I asked as I took the needle and poked it through his skin to start sewing him back up.

"He's alive." Greg checked his pulse again.

"That's all that matters." I quickly finished sewing him up, and cleaned his stomach. "How're you doing Father? You okay?" I asked him as I went next to Greg.

"It's hurts so much." He mumbled.

"I know, but you'll be fine. Every thing's going to be fine." I took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"How can I thank you both enough?" He took a sharp intake of breath.

"Just stay alive." Both Greg and I said at the same time. We gave a quick look at each other, and blushed as we looked back to the Father. Absentmindedly, my free hand (which was next to one of Greg's hands) gently took his hand, and we laced our fingers together. And so we waited like that for the shooting to be over.