Hawkeye stumbled out of post-op and leaned against the building's wooden frame. He felt his heart racing and he allowed himself to ease his way to the ground where he crossed his legs and cradled his head in his hands.

"This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't-"

He looked up and sighed, feeling the cool midnight breeze run through his hair. It felt good; not too hot and not too cold, and he could feel the beads of sweat on his face beginning to dry up.

There were plenty of stars in the sky that night; the heavens were clear and free from clouds. The moon in all her glory was also shining brightly, although this beautiful view of the sky brought no comfort to the distraught surgeon.

He rubbed at his eyes and took a look at the empty camp surrounding him. "Is this real? No, it has to be a nightmare," he thought to himself.

Hawkeye nearly jumped up all the way to the moon when the door he was sitting beside swung open and closed with a loud bang.

He turned and worriedly glanced at the other man, "Beej?"

The light outside was dim, but Hawkeye could see a level of distraught in BJ's eyes that he had never seen before. His hands were shaking and his scrubs were splattered with deep, red blood.

"Beej? You gotta... you gotta talk to me."

Hawkeye could feel his heart racing again as he watched the other surgeon rip off his mask and ball it up in his fists. He wasn't crying, but his quivering lips were now visible to Hawkeye.

"BJ, this has to be a dream."

He felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach as BJ kicked a crate placed near the post-op entrance.

"This can't be real," BJ muttered as he looked up at the moon. Anger, however, quickly took over his softened face, as he looked down and gave the crate another few swift kicks. "FUCK! Fuck this war!"

"Beej, please, talk to me!" Hawkeye could feel his eyes stinging and a lump form in his throat, "what the hell is happening!?" He gasped and turned around when he felt someone behind him grip his shoulder.

"That's just how it is, Doc." The man slid his hand off Hawkeye and glanced at BJ, who was now sitting on the crate and letting a few tears trickle out of his eyes. "They can't hear us."

Hawkeye squinted his eyes and got a better look at the man's face, "you... I know you, don't I?"

He nodded, "I wouldn't say that you knew me, but I suppose you could say we briefly met several weeks ago."

Hawkeye's glassy blue eyes widened as he remembered that young soldier who was brought to camp after being shot at the front. "But... you're dead."

"That's the unfortunate reality," he sighed and gave him a comforting smile, "it's hard to accept at first, but in time you'll be at peace with yourself. I can show you the way whenever you're ready, sir."

Hawkeye shook his head, "No, no... this isn't happening..." he looked the man dead in the eyes, "as real as our resident Chaplin makes it sound, there's no such thing as heaven or hell!"

"And you refuse to believe that?"

He thought for a moment as he rubbed at his temples, "If God was even real, why would he bother with the concerns of the dead?" Hawkeye felt a chill down his spine, "This is really happening, isn't it?"

With a nod, the soldier grasped onto the other man's hands, "I never said I truly believed in God either, and I can't say that I believe in the idea of heaven or hell... but maybe those religious folks weren't completely wrong. Perhaps the afterlife is some sort of purgatory, something beyond the idea of our very existence."

Hawkeye turned his head to glance back at BJ, "but why'd it have to be now? Why'd it have to be so soon?"

"I don't have those kind of answers, sir. No one does."

He looked back at him, "I promised my dad I'd be walking with him by the seaside in no time, and... and Beej..." Hawkeye withdrew his hands and wiped at the damp skin around his eyes, "why do I have to lose everything I love?"

"The best thing you can do is let go," the soldier said in unison with a familiar voice.

Once again, Hawkeye turned around and saw Colonel Potter hunched over beside BJ. "We need you back in there, son. We've got other boys to work on."

"I... why couldn't I save him?" BJ stuttered, "I was supposed to save him..."

The soldier grabbed Hawkeye by the wrist and began to pull him away from the scene, "C'mon, follow me. Don't worry about them."

"Where are we going?"

"I'm not sure where we're going yet... but the road there is this way. I'll help lead you there, sir."

"Where is there?"

The soldier shrugged, "who knows?"