AN- Okay, I did some proofing, I hope this chapter is a a bit less hard on the eyes!

"Okay suction . . . " Hawkeye said as he removed another fragment from the stomach of a young man laying on the table in front of him, "This guy has got enough metal in him to make a new currency, Retract that for me will you Trap."

"When did they start using kids to store bullets?" Trapper asked as he complied, "Someone should tell MacArthur that it's unhealthy."

"You think he'll really listen?" Sara asked from one table over where she was assisting Henry as he stitched up a sergeant's lacerated artery.

"I don't think he can hear over the loud hum of all the medals he's won." Trapper said with a smirk, "Lap sponge."

"Really, can we please have some army conduct in here?" Frank Demanded from the last table.

"Military? Is that where we are?" Trapper asked, "I didn't join the military, did you Hawk?"

"Join? When the draft board came looking for me, I jumped in the ocean and tried to swim to England."

"You didn't make it?"

"I was swimming against the current," Hawkeye replied, "They caught me with a martini on a fishing pole."

"Colonel Blake!" Frank whined, "Can you please control these . . . these rats?"

"Careful Trapper, he may poison the still," Hawkeye said.

"We'll have to gnaw the photo of your mother a bit if you do that, Frank." Trapper replied.

"Colonel!"

"Okay you two, settle down, we've still got more soldiers out in pre-op waiting for a seamstress."

"How many more?"

"At least a dozen," Radar said as he stood in the doorway, "Colonel Blake, Colonel Flagg . . . er . . . Whatever his name is, wants to talk to you."

"Well tell him I'm a little busy. I'm wrist deep in this kids lunch."

"He says it's important . . . "

"It's always important to the CIA," Henry scoffed, "Where I was June 3rd, 1942 at 6:42 a.m. is important to them. I can't talk to him now, Radar. Tell him to go to my office and wait."

"Henry, are you sure that's such a good idea?" Trapper asked, "Knowing him he'll probably look through all the files and find a way to arrest half of the camp."

"Good point McIntyre, Radar, don't . . . "

"I won't let him look at any of the files sir . . . "

"...Let him do any snooping."

"Okay, I think we're done here, Trap wanna stitch this guy up?"

"Only if you stitch up Frank's mouth . . . "

"I dunno, that's a pretty big job . . . "

"Colonel!"

"McIntyre! Pierce! Lay off!"

It was only a few minutes later when Radar entered the OR once again, looking slightly more nervous than he did before.

"What is it now Radar?" Henry asked with a sigh.

"He says he's not going to wait, if you don't talk to him now he'll go to drastic measures."

Henry half sobbed and half sighed, "It can't be THAT important, Radar, tell him . . . "

"He says he has reason to believe Sara has communist connections."

There was a very long and very awkward moment of silence, the snipping, cutting and clamping in the OR ceased, Even under the white surgical mask everyone could still see Frank Burns grinning madly, he was finally getting his wish.

In complete unison everyone in the room turned to look at Sara who was smiling to herself, "Really? Communist you say?" Radar nodded nervously, The young girls smile broadened, "I think his uniform might be cutting off the circulation to his brain."

"He said your dad . . . er . . . your real father had connections . . . "

The smile suddenly faded from her face, she looked down into the bloodied body laying before her, determined not to let anyone see her emotions to the news.

"Sara . . . is it true?" Henry asked softly.

"I...I don't know." She replied meekly, "I never saw him very much, he . . . never talked about his work."

"Radar, Get the crazy Colonel out of here and in my office now!" Henry ordered, "It'll be okay," He whispered gently to Sara who had gone incredibly pale beneath her white scrubs, "We'll sort this out . . . "

"Ha!" Frank laughed loudly from the other end of the OR, "Didn't I say? Didn't I tell you she was nothing but bad luck, Didn't I say she probably had connections everywhere??!"

"Shut up Ferret Face." Sara said glumly as she gave a sniff and desperately fought back burning tears.

"I knew the minute you came here you'd bring nothing but bad luck! I KNEW there was some reason those commies filled you with bullets, I KNEW-"

"Frank, how would you like to surgically remove my boot from your butt?" Trapper demanded from the other side of his patient.

"Colonel!"

"Burns, Shut up and lay off of Sara."

"We wouldn't have these problems Colonel, if you just listened to me . . . "

"Frank, please!" Margaret said quietly, "Try to be reasonable!"

"But Margaret . . . "

"Frank, you're about to donate your body to science if you don't shut up now!" Hawkeye snapped bitterly, "Ginger, Scalpel, Come on people there are more wounded out there, this conversation can wait."

"Are you going to be all right kiddo?" Henry asked as he accepted a lap sponge from the nurse.

"Fine . . . " Sara replied quietly, "I'll be fine . . . "

xXx

She followed Henry, Hawkeye and Trapper numbly through the post of ward and out into the compound. The sun was making a feeble effort to shine through the thick grey clouds that hung overhead, her heart felt as grey and heavy as the sky. After five hours of surgery the young girl had left the OR in a rush, she quickly shed her scrubs and ventured outside where she threw up the little food in her stomach, nausea seemed to have settled down comfortably in the pit of her body, not giving the girl even a moment of rest. Klinger found her leaning against the tin walls of the Post op, crying silently into her hands, he assumed right away that she was upset because of the allegations made against her father but when he asked her, she simply shook her head and refused to reply.

Klinger quickly fetched Hawkeye who was still inside, he raced out to the spot where Sara was sitting and gently helped her up, "It's freezing out, you're going to get sick again." He flinched as his hand passed over her forehead, she felt warmer to the touch than she had before. He silently led her back into the post-op ward where he had her sit down on a cot for a few minutes until the colour returned to her cheeks, Henry and Trapper waited around patiently, Hawkeye knew it was better than to ask any questions.

"Are you all right now?"

She nodded slightly, "Fine . . . just getting a bit tired of Flagg sticking his nose in everyone's business."

'I don't think that's the only thing you're tired of...' Hawkeye thought sadly.

"Come on," Henry said quietly, "We should go discuss this in a more private place."

"Does he have to come?" She pointed at Frank who was hanging out behind them, listening in on the conversation, ears perked in delight.

"He's second in command," Henry said sadly, "Sorry, but yeah, he does."

Sara gave a weary sigh, "Fine, let's go."

Hawkeye helped her up on her feet and the small group began walked through the ward with Frank trailing behind in his ferret like way, When they passed by Christopher Everett's cot Sara suddenly paused, "I'll be there in a minute," She replied, "I need to talk to someone."

Hawkeye exchanged a nervous glance with Trapper before nodding, "Don't be too long."

She waited patiently for the surgeons, including Frank, to leave the post op before walking over to Chris and staring at him with a curious glance.

"You told him . . . didn't you?"

"What?"

"Flagg, or whatever he's going by now, you told him about my dad . . . "

Chris shook his head, "No, Never! He came asking though, I told him I didn't know anything and I wouldn't betray you."

"Why?"

"Well he's knows everything already, he just wants to pin the info on someone so he comes off looking like the good guy . . . "

"No, I mean why did you say you wouldn't help him?"

"Well . . . " Chris said slowly, "As you pointed out, you did have your fingers in my neck for fifteen minutes," He smiled slightly, "Besides, the guy gives me the creeps, I know you don't want to go home . . . "

"He'll find something on you," Sara said sadly, "He always does, just because you didn't help him get to me."

"Yeah . . . " Chris replied slowly, "Well I'm not too worried, you just go deny it all or whatever you have to do to get the insane Colonel out of here."

"Thanks Chris." She said with a feeble smile.

"Anytime Sara."

xXx

"There she is! There's the communist sympathizer!" Sara was hit hard with the loud words as soon as she entered Henry's office, both Frank and Colonel Flagg stood at one side of the room looking at her angrily, Hawkeye and Trapper were looking slightly amused as they sat in two chairs in front of Henry's desk while Henry Blake was busy taking the lid off of his migraine medicine.

"Well, it's nice to see you too, Colonel Flagg." She smiled and leaned against the door frame, "How have you been?"

"Don't you try to defend yourself!" Frank snapped, "We know all about you now!"

"Really?" Sara asked, still smiling.

"Yes really."

Hawkeye cleared his throat, "This Major idiot and Colonel Quirky are convinced that you're associating with the North Korean's, Trapper and I have been trying to explain that your ESP hasn't been working as of late and you haven't been able to contact the mother ship."

"They were supposed to pick me up ages ago," Sara admitted, "I don't know what happened."

"Don't joke around!" Colonel Flagg snapped as he waved a folder in her face, "I have it all right here, everything about your father and his association with the North Koreans."

"Could that be . . . because he worked at an aid station?"

Flagg squinted and looked over the papers in the folder for a moment before snapping it shut and tossing it onto Henry's desk just as the Commanding officer downed two pills with a full class of brandy. "There, it says it right there, He gave them aid and comfort, he HELPED them."

"Oh so he was a communist because he thought human beings didn't deserve to have their limbs half blown off?" Sara demanded haughtily, "Honestly, you are the most idiotic man I have ever met. My father, and I'll thank you not to step on his good name ever again, was in China when the war started, he moved to Korea to do research on the war while helping aid stations take care of wounded soldiers from BOTH sides. The bloody US of A claimed he was a communist and traitor and he was forced to move up to North Korea where his own people didn't want to kill him! My father died helping people fighting both sides of this damn war, what have you got to say to that?!"

Flagg glared at her for a moment before opening his mouth to reply but Frank spoke . . . Or more yelled, first.

"COMMIE!"

"Oh for the love of . . . Shut up Burns!" Henry snapped, "Are you happy Flagg? Or Klein or whoever the heck you are? You got what you wanted, she's not a communist, her father wasn't a communist, now will you leave our camp alone?"

"No!" Flagg snapped, "Young Lady, you have to return to the USA, your father had connections-"

"Connections?" Hawkeye laughed, "If helping save people is considered a connection then I should be locked away with the New York Mafia, She's fourteen years old, she doesn't have connections, I don't have connections. We're all here just doing the job that the guys at the front keep giving us."

"Yeah, why don't you go commie hunting somewhere else and let us do our job?" Trapper asked, "We're trying to run a hospital here, you know? Giant red cross? Medicine, knives . . . a lot of blood."

"You're so determined to go catch the enemy," Hawkeye pointed out, "We'll why don't you go take away all the guns? There'll be no one left to kill then we can all go home."

"Sara Howard has to-"

"Pierce, thank you very much." Sara replied smugly, "And I'm not going anywhere with you. Henry, could you please . . . " Suddenly she turned a very pale colour, she lowered her head and squeezed her eyes closed as if an intense pain had suddenly entered her mind.

"Sara?" Hawkeye stood up and gently helped her over to his chair, "Are you all right?"

"What's wrong with her?" Flagg demanded.

"I'm allergic to idiocy, what do you think?" She snapped angrily, "Henry . . . Please!"

"Colonel Flagg, I'm going to ask you one more time to leave," Henry said sternly, "If you don't, then I'd be forced to take such actions which aren't really actions I want to take but taking said actions might make you leave."

"Such as?"

"I'll call General Clayton."

Flagg glared once more at Sara, "You haven't seen the last of me."

"Too bad I wasn't paying attention to the first of you then."

He glared at her once more before stalking out of the office, Frank was still fuming and staring angrily at Sara who continued keep her head bowed as she tried to remain upright in the chair.

"Frank, go study malpractice for a while, would you?" Trapper said angrily as he checked Sara's pulse.

"Colonel-"

"Dismissed Burns."

"Are you okay, Kiddo?" Henry asked quietly as he stood up from behind his desk and walked over to her.

Sara nodded slightly, "Yeah, just got another wave of dizziness, I'll be all right . . . "

"Was all that stuff about your father true?" asked Hawkeye quietly.

"Yeah . . . it was." She replied glumly, before looking up and smiling weakly, "At least Flagg's gone now, right?"

"Yeah," Hawkeye replied, "Come on, Lets get you back to the Swamp so you can rest."