Entering her tent, she sat down on her cot and felt her eyes welling up with tears. She didn't cry easily. She was too strong for the tears. That was her - strong and tough. Her father would be proud of her. Suck it up and deal.

"Attention, all officers, report to Colonel Potter's office. On the double, sirs!" the PA system announced.

"Damn", she swore at herself for crying, pulling out her mirror to see how bad she might look. She quickly ran a brush through her hair. "That will have to do for now," she thought to herself as she pulled on her heavier jacket.

Walking into the new Colonel's office, Margaret saw everyone there already. Captain Pierce and Hunnicutt were sitting over by the windows, Frank was sitting in a chair facing the Colonel's desk, Father Mulcahy was sitting next to him. She took a chance and went over and sat next to Hawkeye. To her surprise, he smiled at her as she sat down. She smiled back.

Colonel Potter was sitting behind the desk that Colonel Blake once used. It was still strange that he was here, assuming command after the death of their beloved leader. He surveyed his current crew before starting the meeting.

Watching the smiles between Captain Pierce and Major Houlihan, he immediately filed that interaction away for future use if needed as that was not completely expected. She had presented to him as so "by the book" and Pierce seems a bit more relaxed that he didn't expect to see any camaraderie between them. And Colonel Potter had heard the rumors that Burns and Houlihan were dating. So this was puzzling, to say the least. Considering he was a happily married man for many, many years. He didn't quite get the younger generations.

Coming back to what he wanted to do with his group of officers, he said, "I wanted to bring you all together for this announcement," he began, glancing around the room to see how they would respond to him. This was his second time addressing the group and he was still trying to figure them all out. This was his crew for the next several months. Until he decided he had enough and retired. He was a little bit skeptical about how all of this would go.

"I heard from General Clayton that he would like to come here and do a little tribute to your late Colonel. He will be here the day after tomorrow. We need to clean up the camp a little for his arrival. Who wants to be in charge of making sure everything is ready for the General to arrive?" he looked up at his officers.

"Sir?" Frank Burns was the first to speak.

"I have been here when General Clayton has come here in the past. I know him the best." Frank practically whined.

"And?" Colonel Potter asked.

"And I should be picked to help, sir."

"OK, Burns. Who else wants to help with this?" Colonel Potter addressed the rest of his officers. He noticed Frank eyeing Margaret at this point. He looked around and waited to see what his officers would do.

"Captain Pierce?" Colonel Potter asked, looking at his chief surgeon. If Burns knew General Clayton, Pierce should know him too.

"You can't be serious? Me help Frank Burns welcome the General? Is it April Fool's Day?" The last thing Hawkeye wanted was to be paired up with Frank to do anything.

"Thank you for volunteering, Captain Pierce," Colonel Potter quickly made that decision. He was still getting to know his officers and Pierce was the hardest at times. Brilliant in the operating room but outside of there, he could be a loose cannon. Colonel Potter was curious to see how all of this would play out especially since he knew that Burns and Houlihan were something of an item and there had been some rumors circulating about certain tensions between Houlihan and Pierce as of late. "Interesting, indeed," he thought to himself.

"I expect to see this unit shine when the General arrives," Colonel Potter ordered his crew. "You all can go. Burns and Pierce, play nicely together."

"Who me, Colonel?" Hawkeye looked at him.

"Dismissed," Colonel Potter announced.

Later that day in The Swamp…

Hawkeye was lying on his cot, sipping his martini. He was relieved that there was nothing to do and he was grateful for the time. His tent mates were somewhere in the camp. He took another sip and heard a knock on the door of the tent.

"Enter at your risk!" he announced to the unknown guest.

"Captain Pierce, I would like to talk to you about the memorial to Colonel Blake," Major Houlihan stood there, feeling very uneasy and looking anywhere but at him. She didn't want to admit it to herself but she was nervous. After all of this time in Korea, she still didn't know what to think of him. He intrigued her at times and made her so angry other times. She never quite knew what he thought of her or what she thought of him. There were times when she worked with him in the OR that she had to keep her focus on the patient and what they were doing or she would begin to let herself wonder what it would be like to be closer to him, to let him kiss her.

"Major? Are you going to stand there staring at the floor or did you come here because you want to participate in extracurricular activities with me?"