[Author's Note: Sorry, had to edit a few things. One: Definitely not December in the story. ...That's it, that's all I had to edit.]

Chapter 20

Tell her yourself. Geeze, why'm I the one who got picked for this crummy job? Sure, the money's good.. But man, I could be sitting behind the fireplace drinking hot chocolate or somethin' right now. This is shit. I bet you he's gonna kill me. I bet you he doesn't even have the money. Shiiiit. I should just bail. But... Five-million cash. I gotta see what that looks like.

Thoughts ran through the man's head, kicking dirt up while he walked across fields (that probably contained land mines, but he didn't care. Not like he could die) when a soldier appeared out of the bush and yelled at him. Catching his attention, his head whipped around to see who it was. "Hey! Hey, you! What the hell are you doing in that field!? Don't you know there could be mines there?"

The man rolled his eyes and groaned, walking towards the soldier. If he was going to pretend to be human he might as well be cautious about where he was going. "Wasn't thinkin'. Hey, what size are you?"

The soldier was caught off guard, blinking once or twice. "What?"

"What size are you? Shirt, pants, shoes. What size are you?"

"Uh.. Medium.. Thirty-three... Twelve? Eleven? Why..?"

Impossibly blue eyes contemplated the sizes. Would they be good enough for him? Sure. He'd have to tighten the belt, though. "You have any family back home?"

The soldier went quiet. Then, "Just my sister. We were orphans."

Perfect. Without another thought, the man with the dirty blonde hair jumped at the soldier's throat. He had gone by many names in his past lives. If it hadn't been for the necklace he wore 24/7, he'd have forgotten his original name already. This time, he was going by Collin, as it was the name of the soldier he'd just drained and fed on.

"Your sister'll get over you," Collin said, wiping the blood from his mouth. Then he changed into the soldier's clothes, picked up his gun, and began walking again. This time, to the 4077th.

Once again, the days were beginning to drag on as they became colder and colder. It was nearing February and the war was coming to a slow. The only wounds the hospital was getting were multiple cases of frostbite and hypothermia. Neither side wanted to fight in the damn near freezing weather, making work for the 4077th and other surrounding M*A*S*H units easy on them.

Nurses, doctors, and personnel alike were always found huddling around the metal bins, warming themselves up in the cold. People jogged from one place to another to quickly get out of the cold, closed doors as quickly as they could to keep the warm air from escaping and the cold air from intruding. Winters were particularly harsh when blizzards came around. The only person who wasn't as impacted by it was Lucy. Of course, she had to pretend to be impacted by the cold as much as the rest. Which was why she was wearing six layers. She had long johns sent from her brother underneath her regular clothes. Then she had a thin jacket on top of the standard thick winter coat the army gave out. Then she had a thin blanket underneath a more thicker blanket. She was wrapped in a cocoon and felt much better than most in the same garb as her.

"W-why's it g-gotta be s-so c-c-cold?" A shivering BJ asked, his teeth clattering against each other.

"Need more layers," Lucy replied after she had quickly entered the Swamp. Charles, BJ and Hawkeye groaned and complained at her to quickly close the door.

"S-says the ice q-queen," Charles huffed.

"I hear they're serving hot chocolate in the mess tent. C'mon, it's gotta be warmer in there than it is in here."

Hawkeye, jumping up and down to get his blood pumping, still shivered. "W-warmest place in the ent-t-tire camp is post-op."

Perhaps I should shiver too. So she shivered once, then nudged Hawkeye with her hip. "Still. I hear Radar found two heaters for the mess tent. Better than your no heater. C'mon."

It was enough to get the three of them to scuttle across the compound and quickly make their way into the mess tent. It had turned out to be quite full as the information of the extra two heaters in there had spread. Plus, more bodies equals more heat. ..And more temptation, as Lucy's throat had been on fire. She couldn't understand why, but lately her thirst for blood simply couldn't be satiated. Not even the blood bags were doing it. But she was determined to keep it down for as long as she could until she could slip away and go hunting for some poor unfortunate soul in the freezing winter night.

"See? Told you it was warmer in here," she said and swallowed the burn in her throat.

Something in her tone must have alerted Hawkeye because he was right at her side, pulling her close so only she could hear him above the laughter and cheerful atmosphere. "Everything okay with you?"

She kept her voice low as well. "Throat's burning again, is all. Nothing I can't handle."

"When was the last time you.. you know."

"Days. But it shouldn't be as bad as this."

"You should go, then."

She turned towards him, faces only inches apart, and stared into his eyes. She was determined to do this. To keep it down as long as possible. She could do it. It was all about discipline. "I'm fine. I can do this, Hawk. Don't worry about me."

Still, he was concerned. But she was her own woman and he wasn't about to make her do a god damn thing in this cold. So, he sighed and leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek. "If you say so."

The two joined Margaret and Charles with their piping hot cups of hot chocolate and got into a lively debate about weather. It was an odd subject to be debating about, but when days were slow like this and there was nothing else to talk about, this made do. It didn't last long though, for all personnel was called to the OR. Apparently, some folks weren't going to let the cold ass weather stop them from fighting. Everyone rushed outside to do their jobs, Hawkeye leaving Lucy with a small squeeze of her shoulder. I can do this. I can. I'm going to. Nothing's going to stop me. I'm strong. I can do this.

Frostbite. Shoulder wound. Broken leg. Hypothermia. Hypothermia. Frostbite. Hypothermia. Nothing they hadn't seen. And then.. Someone with a few scratches, bruises, and one hell of a concussion. After Lucy had taken the broken leg patient, she moved onto the one with the concussion. While flashing her small flashlight into the man's eyes, she noted how blue his eyes were. He could be a surfer from California. Probably was, which was pretty unfortunate as he seemed extremely out of place in South Korea. Both his pupils reacted, leaving her to check for other symptoms, asking him questions, and getting him to do a few things to make sure he wasn't off balance. He always seemed to reply in a quiet voice that seemed too far off for her to be not concerned. "Get this man into post-op and keep watch over him. I'll check on him after surgery."

And she did, as thankfully the hours weren't as long as she thought they would be. Still, she was exhausted and she was starving. Once again wrapped in a cocoon, she visited the concussion patient and found his name was Collin. She sat by his bed and poked her hand out to take his pulse. Fine. The man was fine, save for the scratches and bruises. So why send him here? Triage could have easily treated him there, though she knew they were busier than them. With a small sigh and another shiver, her hand retreated back inside of the blankets and her coats. "So, Captain. You remember anything that happened to you before you got this?"

Collin's eyes darted to her and held her gaze, as if he was determining whether to trust her or not. He simply shook his head and turned his head away from her. "I need you to try and remember, Collin. Can I call you Collin?"

Still, he said nothing. So, Lucy sighed and began to stand from the bench beside his bed. Out of nowhere, his hand shot out from the blankets and grabbed her wrist, fingers tight but weak and shaking. His eyes pleaded for her to stay. As if he was afraid of being alone. Another sigh and she sat back down. "You gonna talk? Cause if not, I have other patients to check up on."

The fingers loosened and slid back underneath the blanket. He did a pretty good job at looking sheepish because it made Lucy chuckle. "C'mon, I'm here to help you. Anything you say will be kept between you and me. I promise. No- wait. I pinky promise." She held her pinky out and grinned. His eyes locked onto her teeth for just a second, then to her hair, then to her eyes. No doubt this is her. Her skin looks too pale this time of year to be human. Finally, he reached up and took her pink with his and let out a soft sigh. He spoke slowly, tentatively. "I don't.. It was cold. Snowing. My squadron was just sitting around a fire. Then.. Boom. That's it. All I remember." His eyebrows furrowed, his lips pursed.

"That's all? Nothing else?"

Again, he shook his head. Just a normal concussion from what must have been a mine going off due to the expansion or something like that. At least that's what Colonel Potter said at one point. She thought it might be something else, but.. No. She was becoming paranoid. The stronger her thirst was, the more paranoid she grew.. About anything. "And the rest of your squadron?"

"Dead." Drained.

She'd heard this story before. Everyone in the squadron died and only one survived. It was sad, but it was a regular occurrence in the war. "I'm sorry.. Well. If.. If that's all, I'll leave you to the nurses. I'll be back in the morning to see how your head's doing, okay?" She gave him a small, tired smile. He smiled back and nodded. And then she passed out in her tent.

[Author's note: I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVEEEEEE! Been like what, a year? Tooootally my bad. Haven't been in the right mood all year. Heat wave after heat wave after moderately warm weather to warm weather, there hasn't been any chilly or cold weather here in California at all. And now today, I look out my window and there are big fluffy clouds from the rain we just had. Praaaiseeee.

Anyway, hi! Long time no see. Hope everyone's been doing well. I've been well. Ish. School's a but, as usual. Look forward to more chapters. Or don't. I don't want to get your hopes up if I end up falling off the face of the planet, again. :c

As usual, your views and reviews are greatly appreciated.
xx -Hearts]