'I can't believe it,' Hawkeye said, the truth in the open.

'I knew you wouldn't,' Alex said.

'Why didn't you tell me before?' Hawkeye asked.

'Because you wouldn't believe me,' Alex said. She was ashamed, and wouldn't look Hawkeye in the eye.

'He could have seriously hurt you,' Hawkeye said. 'Or killed you.'

'He wouldn't care. As long as my soul was saved,' Alex said bitterly. She sniffed a little bit. 'I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth, Hawkeye,' she said. 'It screwed up our relationship, and I've been kicking myself since.' She felt Hawkeye's arms close around her shoulders warmly and she leant back onto him, letting the tears fall.

'I'm sorry I acted the way I did,' Hawkeye said finally. 'I don't know why you felt you had to lie to me.'

'Neither do I,' Alex admitted.

'Hey, it's behind us now,' Hawkeye said. 'We can forget about it, ok?'

'I don't know if I want to head straight back into a relationship, Hawk,' Alex said. 'Remember what it was like when I first arrived here? When Trapper was still here, and Henry was still-' Alex stopped herself from saying "alive".

'It was just you, me and Trapper,' she continued after a pause. 'We'd play poker, drink, annoy Frank. I know Trapper and Frank aren't here anymore, but there's always BJ and Charles. Can it just be like it was back then?'

'Let's just be friends?' Hawkeye asked.

'That was my idea,' Alex said. Hawkeye nodded.

'If that's what you want,' he said. The two just sat like that for about half an hour, Alex leaning onto Hawkeye, enjoying the warmth of his body.

'Hey, do you think the storm has stopped?' Hawkeye asked. Alex got up and went to the window. The canvas covering it had stopped blowing around and when Alex freed it, it was clear outside. Hawkeye was at the door, trying to move the shelving.

'We have two choices,' he said. 'Stay here and wait for the others.'

'What's the second choice?' Alex asked.

'Stay here and wait for the others,' Hawkeye said. Alex sighed, running her hand through her hair. Dust fell from her head, settling lightly on her shoulders and on the floor.

'What?' Alex asked, catching Hawkeye staring at her.

'You're beautiful, you know that?' he said.

'You didn't seemed to think so when you were avoiding me,' Alex said. 'BJ told me all the nasty things you said about me while we were fighting, too.'

'Yeah, but I was trying to protect myself from the hurt,' Hawkeye said. 'There have only been a few really special women in my life, Alex. You were one of them. It hurt me to find you had given up your- our child. It hurt me when we argued. If I told everyone how much I hated you, maybe I'd start to believe it myself.' He got a sly look in his eye. 'Want to try for another baby?' he asked. 'This time, you can keep it.'

'I thought we talked about this,' Alex pleaded. 'I don't want to get back into a relationship like that. Please don't ruin it, Hawkeye.'

Outside, someone started banging on the wall.

'Anyone in here?' BJ called through.

'Beej, in here,' Alex yelled back, and Hawkeye stared banging on the wall. There was a yell from BJ, and Alex put her hand on Hawkeye's arm to stop him from banging so they could hear BJ.

'Are you ok, Alex?' Margaret called.

'Yeah, we're ok,' Alex yelled back. Outside, the group paused.

'We?' Klinger asked.

'Maybe another nurse is there too,' BJ suggested.

'Impossible, all of my nurses are accounted for,' Margaret said.

'How about a corpsmen?' BJ asked.

'Also all accounted for,' Father Mulcahy replied. BJ frowned for a moment.

'Who else…' he started before realising. 'Hawkeye's with her,' he said with a mix of relief and horror. 'We'd better get them out soon, before they rip each others throats out.'

'Is Hawkeye with you, Alex?' Margaret yelled.

'Yeah, I'm here too, Margaret,' Hawkeye shouted.

'We can't get out,' Alex yelled. 'The shelves fell on the door, and Hawkeye isn't strong enough to lift them.'

'Maybe if you both try,' BJ's suggestion came back.

'Are you ok to?' Hawkeye asked Alex gently.

'It's not like I have to worry about my hands,' she said. 'I just watch surgery, remember?' She got onto the other side of the shelves and the two tried to lift it.

'No good,' Hawkeye yelled.

'How about the window?' Alex asked. She went over to the window and carefully hit the rest of the glass out. Hawkeye made her put a blanket on the ledge before letting her through. Alex climbed through the window slowly, making sure she didn't get stuck halfway. She landed on the ground heavily on her hip, and she winced in pain.

'Are you ok?' Hawkeye asked, sticking his head through.

'Oh, you know, just another injury to add to the list,' Alex muttered loudly. 'I don't even really notice getting them anymore.' She stood up slowly, and Hawkeye held onto her arm through the window to steady her.

'I won't be able to get through that,' he said.

'You're not that much bigger than me,' Alex said.

'Just go get the others. Maybe one of them will fit through and can help me with the shelves,' Hawkeye said. Alex walked painfully back around the building, shocked at the dust piled up at the bottom of the walls. She went to where the others were trying to think of a way to get them out and taped Klinger on the shoulder.

'Alex!' Klinger yelled in surprise, giving her a hug.

'Gently, Klinger, I'm sore all over these days,' Alex said, accepting the hug.

'Where's Hawkeye?' BJ asked.

'Still in here,' Hawkeye yelled through the doors.

'The window's broken, and I climbed through. Hawkeye says he won't fit though,' Alex explained.

'Did he try?' Margaret asked. Alex gave her a look.

'No,' she said as if it were a stupid suggestion. 'Wouldn't even try, the big baby.'

'A little help?' Hawkeye asked.

'He wants someone else to climb in and help him shift the shelves,' Alex said. 'But I'm not sure if any of the corpsmen will try fitting through.'

'If you can, I'll be able to,' Klinger said.

'I'll go, too,' Margaret said. 'They'll need all the help they can get.'

'I might be able to fit,' Father Mulcahy said doubtfully. Alex showed them the window where Hawkeye was waiting.

'How'd you get through that again?' BJ asked.

'Painfully. Very, very painfully,' Alex replied. Margaret climbed through, almost hurting herself on the other side. Luckily, Hawkeye caught her and stopped her from hitting the hard floor. Klinger fitted through easily, and so did Mulcahy. Together, the four attempted to move the shelves from the door. BJ and Alex cheered from the other side of the window as the shelves grated noisily along the floor and away from the door. Gratefully, the four slipped outside.

'I was beginning to think I would be stuck in there forever,' Hawkeye said.

'So what's the damage with the storm?' Alex asked.

'Dust everywhere,' BJ said. 'Jefferson got hit by something because she was outside, but no casualties apart form that.'

'Why was she outside anyway?' Hawkeye asked.

'Kellye, Baker and Jefferson were looking for Alex,' Margaret said, not looking impressed.

'I'm sorry I wasn't there,' Alex said. 'You told me to go, I went. When Hawkeye came into the supply room, I was going to leave, but he stopped me from going.'

'We should thank the Lord everyone is ok,' Father Mulcahy said, looking up to the heavens.

'You know what would calm me down right now?' Hawkeye asked.

'What?' BJ asked. Hawkeye opened his mouth, and was about to say "a martini" but he remembered Alex.

'A poker game,' he said finally. 'Coming, Alex?'

'Yeah, ok. I think my luck is starting to come back, anyway,' she said, linking arms with him and walking towards the Swamp. BJ, Margaret, Klinger and Father Mulcahy stared after them in disbelief.

'Guess they finally worked it out,' BJ said.

Kooshball: I can hear all the readers yelling "YAY! They're finally back together!" and I'm sorry it took so long to get to that point. Hangs head in shame But anyway, the main point is for you guys to review!

Oh, and the last chapter of "Twist of Lemon" is up.