D/C: Pretend that I wrote a disclaimer here, OK? You know what it says here...

Chapter Two: Lunch and a Date

Hawkeye walked down the halls towards the cafeteria. He was still a little shocked that he had met Margaret. When they had separated in Korea, he has resigned himself to never seeing her again. But, now, she had shown up- or to be more exact, he had shown up at the hospital where she had been working as Head Nurse. He was excited to be meeting her for lunch. He had been thinking about her a lot, and missed he more than he had thought possible.

With those thoughts he went through the door to the cafeteria. He glanced around, looking for Margaret. He saw her sitting at a table, waiting patiently. He made his way over to here.

"Hey, Margaret!"

She grinned at him. "Hi Pierce." She grinned impishly. "I'm kind of surprised that you found your way to the cafeteria. I mean, earlier you were lost, so..." She grinned again.

He smirked at her. "I bet you think you're cute, don't you?"

"Not at all, I know I'm cute."

He smiled at her, and sat down at the table.

"I heard that you're working as head nurse of Surgery."

She nodded. "Yeah. I've been Head Nurse for about two years now."

"Guess that means we'll be working together a lot, huh? Me being Chief Surgeon and all."

She shrugged. "I guess so. It'll be just like in Korea! Except only one patient per session, clean operating areas, and no shells crashing around us!"

He nodded. "Thank God for that, though." His eyes clouded over a little as he started thinking about his time in Korea.

After a moment Margaret said, hesitantly, "Hawkeye? Are you okay?"

He snapped out of his reverie. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure? You looked really out of it."

He assured her, "I'm fine. I was just thinking about all the time we spent in Korea, that's all. I don't miss that." He looked at her. "I do miss the people, though. Including you."

'Especially you,' he though to himself, but didn't dare say it out loud.

She smiled. "I missed you too, Hawk."

They looked at each other for a moment, before Hawkeye broke the silence.

"So, I guess we should get something to eat?"

"Yeah. Let's go get in line."

They stood up, and made their way over to the line. They got their lunches, and made their way back towards their tables.

"You know," Hawkeye said with a laugh, "A lot of people complain about how bad hospital food is, but it's a lot better than the Mess Tent!"

"I know what you mean. Anything tastes better after that slop!" Margaret said, chuckling.

While they ate, they talked.

"So, Margaret, what have you been up to?"

She took a bite of her sandwich, swallowed, then spoke.

"After the war, I stayed in the army for a few months, then I left."

Hawkeye stared at her in shock. "You left the army?"

She nodded. "I know it's hard to believe, but it had lost its allure. It just wasn't for me anymore," she said simply.

"Okay, what happened after that?" he prompted.

"I moved to Boston, and got a job here. I've been living here for three and a half years now."

Hawkeye hesitated, then asked, "So your not... involved, with anyone?"

She laughed, and shook her head. "No. I've been staying away from men. I seem to have bad luck with them."

He smiled at her, but inwardly his hoped had been dashed. If she didn't want to date anyone, then he didn't have a chance. "So, Pierce, what about you?" she asked.

"Well, after I got home, I came back to Crabapple Cove."

"I bet your dad was happy to see you, right? I know how much he missed you, and how much you missed him."

Hawkeye smiled, a little wistfully. "Yeah, it was great seeing him. I did miss him a lot."

Margaret persisted. "So, how is he doing now?"

His expression turned sad. He didn't say anything for a moment, then spoke in a very quiet voice, "Dad had a heart attack a week after I got back. He didn't make it." There were tears in his eyes, but he blinked them away.

Margaret gasped. "Oh, Hawkeye, I'm so sorry." She wanted to say more, but didn't know how.

He gave her a sad smile. "It's okay. Not your fault."

She attempted to turn the conversation around. "So, what did you do in Crabapple Cove? When did you come to Boston?"

"I stayed in Crabapple Cove for a few months afterwards, but it was to hard. To many memories. So I moved to Boston, bought an apartment, and now I work at Boston Mercy, as you know."

"And here we are, working together again. That I never expected." Margaret said.

Hawkeye smiled at her, then saw the time.

"Wow, it's already two o'clock. I've got to get back to my office!"

"So do I!" Margaret said. "I didn't realize it was that late already!"

They stood up, and made their way back to their floor. Before they parted to go to their offices, Hawkeye gathered up his courage, and turned to look at Margaret.

"Hey Margaret?"

"Yes, Hawkeye?"

He took a deep breath. He wasn't usually this nervous, especially around women.

"Uh, would you like to.... That is I mean... Would you like to, maybe, go out to dinner with me some night this week?" Her face broke out into a smile. "That would be great, Hawkeye! How about this Thursday?"

"That would be wonderful."

Margaret said, almost regretfully, "Well, we should get back to our offices."

He nodded. "Your right. Well, I'll see you around." He hesitated, then gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Bye Margaret."

She smiled, and suddenly kissed him back. "Bye Hawkeye." Then she turned and walked away.

He walked towards his office, thinking about what had happened. Maybe he did have a chance. She had agreed to go out with him, and had let him kiss her. Even more, she had kissed him back. He couldn't wait for Thursday night.

A/N: So, whaddya think? Do you like it, do you hate it? Please tell me! R&R people, please????? Flames are welcome! Review!!!!!!!!