Alex was helping herself to a martini one night, when Frank came in. Hawkeye was in Pre-op and Trapper had promised a date with one of the other nurses.

'Are you allowed to touch that?' Frank snapped.

Alex saluted him and replied 'Yes sir, Hawkeye told me to help myself.' Alex took a sip from her glass, and put it down on the table. 'So how are we today, sir?'

'Wouldn't you like to know?' Frank said bitterly.

'Yes, actually, I would, Major,' Alex said. Frank looked up. Alex wasn't laughing or smiling, in fact, she looked quite serious.

'I got a letter from my wife today,' Frank said eventually.

'Your wife? I never knew you had a wife, sir,' Alex said. Still no sign of her making fun of him, so Frank went on.

'Yes, and Margaret is angry with me because I tried to tell her about it,' he said.

'That's right, you and Margaret have a thing going on, don't you, sir?' Alex asked. She took a sip from her martini. 'Go on,' she urged.

'Well, Margaret was angry at me because I told her my wife wanted to come to Korea and see me, maybe even stay for a few weeks. Margaret was so upset, she cancelled our date tonight,' Frank's face fell.

'I see your problem, sir, if your wife comes to Korea, you won't be able to spend a lot of time with Margaret, otherwise your wife will get suspicious,' Alex said. She poured Frank a martini and handed it to him. Frank drained it in one gulp and continued.

'But if I tell my wife not to come to Korea, she'll suspect I'm having an affair,' he said.

'Never mind, sir, I'm sure you'll think of something,' Alex said in a soothing voice. When Hawkeye got back from Pre-op, Frank was laying on his cot, drooling, asleep, and a martini glass still in one hand.

'What happened?' Hawkeye asked.

'Frank was feeling down, so I gave him a few martini's. He's feeling a lot better, now,' Alex grinning, sipping her own martini.

'How many is a few?' Hawkeye asked.

'About five of your driest,' Alex said, grinning. Hawkeye laughed loudly, and Frank stirred in his sleep. 'Keep it down. I only just got him asleep,' Alex said in an annoyed tone, but her eyes sparkled in the light, so Hawkeye knew she didn't mean it.

'You. you didn't do anything, with him, did you?' Hawkeye asked, staring at Frank.

'No way! Hawkeye, that's just sick. I don't like Frank. Why do you think I've been calling him sir all the time?' Alex asked.

'Well, sir is usually a term of respect,' Hawkeye said.

'If Frank wants to be saluted when he comes into a room, and wants to be called sir and Major, I'll do it so much he'll be begging for someone to call him ferret face,' Alex explained, staring triumphantly at Frank's large form.

'What do you call people who you like?' Hawkeye asked.

'Whatever they want me to call them,' Alex replied.

'Who do you like the most?' Hawkeye asked, sitting on his cot.

'I don't really know. Why?' Alex asked. Hawkeye moved forward and kissed her on the lips. Alex looked shocked. 'Oh, wow,' she said, looking into Hawkeye's blue eyes. 'You realise Margaret and Frank warned me about something like this happening with you and or Trapper.'

'I'm sorry.' Hawkeye said. 'But you're so gorgeous. Trapper and I knew we'd have trouble with you. I'm sorry. Just pretend it didn't happen.'

'Hawkeye, I.I know you and Trap, it was bound to happen with one of you sooner or later,' Alex said. 'But I can't do this.' Alex drained the rest of her martini and left the tent quickly.

'Why am I such an idiot?' Hawkeye muttered to himself, head in his hands.

**~~*~~*~~*~~**

Henry came into the Swamp next Thursday night.

'We have a problem,' he told Trapper and Hawkeye. 'Sidney can't make it for poker.'

'Aw, that's a shame. Who can we get to play?' Trapper asked. At that moment, Alex came in. She noticed the cards and poker chips on the table.

'Poker! Who's your fourth? Can you deal me in?' she asked enthusiastically.

'You realise we're the best poker players in Korea?' Hawkeye asked.

'You've never played me before though, have you?' Alex asked, grinning a secretive smile.

'There is no way you'll beat Hawkeye. He's the best there is,' Henry said. Hawkeye grinned modestly as Alex took the seat opposite him.

'How much is each chip worth?' she asked as Henry divided the chips up.

'A buck, five bucks, and ten dollars,' Hawkeye explained, pointing to each coloured chip in turn. Trapper dealt out the cards, and they began to play. After six hands, Alex was doing badly.

'Sure you want to keep playing?' Hawkeye asked.

'Yeah, it's just been a while since I played last,' Alex explained. The next hand dealt, she won with a full house.

'Good job,' Henry said as Alex pulled the chips towards her.

'You guys aren't letting me win, are you?' she asked suspiciously.

'Would we do that?' Hawkeye asked, but Alex could tell they were. After she'd won a few more hands, the surgeons began to play harder. Alex somehow beat them nearly every turn, and when she didn't, she'd been off by beating them by a point. The last hand was long. Alex pushed a chip into the middle and waited.

'I think you're bluffing,' Hawkeye told her.

'Think all you want,' she replied. 'It's your money.'

'I'm out,' Henry said, throwing down his cards.

'She's got too much of my money to be risking anymore,' Trapper added, throwing his cards down as well. Hawkeye pushed in a chip.

'Come on, show us what you got,' he said, laying his cards, revealing a three of a kind with jacks.

'Oh well, looks like I win,' Alex sighed, as she lay down her cards to reveal a four of a kind on tens. She stood up and looked around at the surprised faces around her.

'Uh, did you want your winnings in cash or I.O.U cards?' Hawkeye asked.

'Keep your money. Gamble it with someone you think you can win with. As for me, I'm going to go to bed,' Alex grinned and she walked out.

'She is so much like you two. Gambler, drinker, sense of humour. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's related to one of you,' Henry said.