-Guy walks past with a sign that says "The End Is Here!"-

Kooshball note: Ok guys, last chapter of Alex EVER! It's about three times longer than usual, and went through about six different drafts, as I wanted it to be PERFECT. Enjoy the final chapter of the final story of Alex's Trilogy, 'cause she won't be coming back after this. -sob-

November, 1954

Alex had never been the same after the war. She had come back with the long scar down her left cheek which made people look away uneasily when they saw her, the jagged scar on her left shoulder, and the terrible limp that worsened when she'd been thinking about Isaac, which was all the time now she was home. She had trouble holding things in her left hand when stressed or under pressure, and her right eye was a pale, milky green, a visible scar across the retina. If Alex had been shown a picture of herself after the war in 1950, she would have just laughed and said that could never happen to her.

It wasn't just physical. Alex had gone away as the cheerful, drinking, card playing nurse who liked a good joke. Now, no longer a nurse, she was quiet and sullen, and stayed away from alcohol when she could. She played card games still, but this was only occasionally, when she was bullied into it by one of her friends.

Her mother, Naomi, had also been affected by the war, though she'd never stepped foot outside of America in her life. She'd lost her only son, and, in effect, her oldest daughter. She'd given up on Alex ever being fully happy again, though she seemed slightly brighter when she was with on of her friends from the war. Naomi always welcomed Alex's friends into her home.

Naomi opened the door one chilly November afternoon to find a dark haired man waiting nervously.

'Yes?' she asked suspiciously, looking him up and down. Lately she had been getting a lot of door-to-door salesmen, though this man didn't appear to be selling anything.

'Is Alexia Dustin in?' he asked, taking another quick glance at the paper in his hand.

'Who's asking?' Naomi demanded, the door not moving open an inch. Last time someone had asked for her daughter, she'd been sent to Korea.

'I'm Benjamin Pierce, I was a doctor at the same unit she was at,' the man explained. Naomi suddenly beamed.

'Why didn't you say so? Any friend of Alexia's is welcome here,' she said, throwing the door open. The man stepped in gratefully, looking relieved. 'Can I get you anything?' Naomi asked, leading him into the living room.

'Uh, no thanks,' he said, sitting on a fat couch. Beside him, a ginger tom cat with three legs stared at him a moment, then went back to sleep. Naomi sat on the arm chair opposite him. She was shorter than Alex and Dani, with greying ginger hair tied into a loose bun at the base of her neck. Her green-grey eyes were still bright behind the glasses she wore, and by the way she moved and talked, it was obvious that this woman was Alex's mother.

'I suppose you were at the 4077th,' Naomi said. 'Alexia said that only the people there cared enough about her and Danielle to get them sent back home on false discharges.'

'She was one of the binding threads of the unit,' the man said.

'Now, how can I help you?' Naomi asked.

'I was hoping to see Alex. I haven't seen her since the war.'

'Is that so, Benjamin?' Naomi asked, sounding slightly confused. 'Were you close to Alexia in anyway?'

'I shared a tent with her and two other surgeons. Not that she got into any mischief,' the man added hurriedly.

'Your name, your nickname, it's Hawkeye, isn't it?' Naomi asked. The man just nodded. 'Captain Hawkeye Pierce. Alexia used to send the longest letters home about you.'

'Really?' Hawkeye asked, surprised.

'Uh-huh,' Naomi said, going to a china cabinet and opening the draw. She pulled out a stack of letters bound together by a piece of string. 'These are all her letters from the war,' she said fondly. 'You started coming home in her letters just after she was transferred the first time, and didn't stop until the last few.' Naomi picked one out of the first half and opened it.

'He's charming and has the blues eyes in the whole world. Hawkeye's sense of humour is second to none as well. If I ever wanted a second chance with anyone, it'd be with him.' Naomi looked up from her reading to see what sort of impact it was having. Hawkeye just sat there in silence.

'I was very fond of her as well,' he said after a moment.

'Oh, I never said they were always saying nice things about you,' Naomi said, putting the letters back in the draw. 'There were a few tear stained ones saying how much she hated you. I wouldn't worry,' she added when she saw Hawkeye's face. 'They became much nicer again towards the end of the war.'

'So where is Alex? Working?' Hawkeye asked.

'I shouldn't tell you,' Naomi said, suddenly not so talkative. 'She said you were the only person in the war she didn't want to see back here in the states. I shouldn't tell you.'

'Tell me what?' Hawkeye prodded. 'What shouldn't you tell me?'

'Alexia is living with another friend from the war, interstate,' Naomi said.

'Charles?' Hawkeye guessed.

'No, not Charles. Another surgeon, nice man, with a lovely family,' Naomi said. 'In California.'

'Where in California?' Hawkeye asked, already knowing the answer.

'Mill Valley,' Naomi confirmed.

'BJ,' he said. Naomi walked Hawkeye to the door.

'Alexia is very stubborn,' she said to him. 'She might not talk to you.' Hawkeye sighed. He didn't need telling, he knew first hand of her stubbornness.

Naomi watched the man leave. She hoped her daughter would talk to him. He seemed too nice to ignore. And Alex was right, he had the bluest eyes in the world.

The Hunnicutts were just sitting down to dinner when the phone rang. BJ answered it as Alex passed him in the hall on her way to the dining room.

'Oh, hey, Hawkeye, it's been a while,' BJ said, making Alex stop in her tracks. BJ glanced at the woman. 'Alex Dustin?' he asked.

'I'm not here,' Alex hissed at him, leaving the hallway quickly as if just being in the same room as the phone would let Hawkeye know she was there.

'Sorry, Hawk, she's not here,' BJ lied.

'But you know where she is,' Hawkeye said. 'I know she's living in Mill Valley, BJ. I want to talk to her.'

'She swore me to secrecy,' BJ said. 'She's been having a rough time lately. I'd hate myself if I betrayed her.'

'I miss her, Beej,' Hawkeye said softly. 'I need to talk to her.'

'I'll tell her,' BJ said. 'I just don't know if she'd listen.'

'Thanks, BJ,' Hawkeye said.

'Just don't try finding her or contacting her just yet,' BJ said. 'Let Alex make the decision to talk to you, ok?'

'Wouldn't have it any other way,' Hawkeye promised. BJ hung up after a while and went into the dining room to find Alex.

'I don't want to know what he said,' Alex said the moment she saw him. 'Not one word of what he said.'

'Alex,' BJ said, not sure where to start.

'BJ,' Alex retorted, staring at him defiantly. 'Not. One. Word.' BJ shrugged and sat down. He could never win against her when she was like this. He'd try later.

July, 1946

'Ok, Dani, the one person you'd want a second chance with,' Alex said. Dani put a finger on her chin and stared at the roof thoughtfully.

'Anthony Smith,' she said eventually.

'Nostrils?' Isaac asked, keeping his eyes on the road. 'He was a moron.'

'Come on then, Mr "I've got the most perfect boyfriends", who would you pick as your second chance?" Dani asked. Isaac was quiet for a moment.

'Bobby Thomas,' he said. 'Be damned if I ever saw anyone with teeth as white as his.'

'Mom, how about you?' Dani asked, leaning forward in her seat. 'Who's your second chance?'

'Your father,' Naomi said almost instantly.

'What, so you could kick him where it hurts?' Isaac muttered darkly.

'Isaac, not in front of your sisters,' Naomi scolded, but Dani wasn't paying any attention to her brother's comments.

'Alexia, who is the one person you would want a second chance with?' she asked.

'No one, and don't call me Alexia,' Alex said.

'Come on, you brought it up,' Dani wheedled.

'I haven't met him yet,' Alex declared. Isaac laughed.

'How will you know when you have met him, Alex?' he asked, slowing down for the stop sign.

'He'll be the one who wants me as his second chance,' Alex said. Isaac took the stop sign as a chance to turn around to face his closest sister.

'I'm sure he'll come one day,' he said, smiling at her.

"Second Chance" was Alex's favourite game on car trips. This game gave the family a moment to dream about those special relationships they had hated ending. Even when Alex did name someone in these games, she knew she had never really met her real "second chance" person yet.

January, 1955

Alex was curled up in bed. She'd been there for the last ten days, not moving except for toilet breaks, small amounts of food forced onto her by Peg, and cramps. Her life felt like a black abyss, that she was falling down with no way of stopping herself. Though she'd only recently taken to living in her bed, Alex had felt like this for nearly a year and a half.

There were a few things that helped, though. BJ, Peg and Erin's support helped a lot. If they hadn't been there, Alex wasn't sure who she could have turned to. Trapper's wife despised her and distrusted her, Klinger was struggling to set his own family up, as was her sister Dani and the other nurses she'd been close with, and Margaret had her own life. She couldn't go to either Hawkeye or Charles, for obvious reasons. Potter and Radar were there, with their own families, but they weren't as close to Alex as the others had been. If BJ and Peg hadn't agreed to let her stay, she would have probably ended up in a ward somewhere.

Constant letters from Jefferson and Kellye helped, too. They sent them every week, and BJ or Peg would read them to her. They lifted her spirits greatly. Dani sent letters occasionally, too, of her toddler son, and the second baby on the way. These small touches of reality seemed to make Alex better some days, and she'd actually attempt to make an effort.

'Alex, get up,' BJ pleaded. 'You need to, for your own sake. You and me will go out and do something while Peg takes Erin to visit her Grandma. We could see a movie, or go to the park or even go shopping.'

Alex didn't reply, but just stared at the blank wall in front of her eyes. She hadn't talked since retreating to her bed. BJ just stood over her, looking concerned.

'Anything you want to do, we'll do it,' he pleaded with her. Alex lifted her head and turned to face BJ.

'I want to go have a drink,' she croaked. Her throat was dry and her voice cracking from not using it. BJ's face broke into a smile.

'Ok, we'll go to the bar,' he said. 'I'll wait down stairs for you.' Alex sat up, her body aching from not having moved since sometime yesterday. BJ left, and Alex forced herself to have a shower. She didn't really care how she looked going out, but she owed it to BJ not to go out looking like she did at that moment. Her hair was greasy and stringy, her skin paled from the hours she refused to get out of bed, and the clothes she'd put on ten days ago were wrinkled and creased.

Twenty minutes later, Alex came down the stairs in a knee length dress, her hair still damp. She hadn't bothered putting on any makeup or jewellery, or even try putting her hair up. Alex was lucky to have been bothered brushing it. She was using a walking stick as her limp had become almost impossible once she'd gone into depression.

'Let's go,' she said. BJ looked up, relieved to see she had made half an effort. He nodded, and led the way to the car parked in front of the house. Alex got into the passenger seat, and didn't say a word.

'What are you thinking about?' BJ asked after a few minutes of driving. Alex looked over at her friend. She hadn't been expecting that.

'Nothing,' she said.

'Alex, you've been like this for over a week. There's got to be something you think about,' he said. Alex didn't say anything, but stared ahead silently.

'I was thinking about Isaac,' Alex said after a minute, gripping the top of the walking stick tightly. 'How if he saw me now, he'd wondered what had happened to his little sister.'

'I'm sure he'd understand and love you just as much,' BJ said. Alex didn't say another word for the trip, preferring total silence. She ignored BJ's questions, and even turned the radio off when BJ tried turning it on.

Walking into the bar, Alex almost instantly regretted it. It was full of males sitting around small tables, playing cards. Alex refused to play cards any more, her luck had gone with her sense of humour and happiness. She followed BJ to the bar and sat on one of the stools, ordering a scotch when the barman came to ask her what she wanted.

'What about you, sir?' the barman asked BJ.

'Beer,' BJ said, keeping a close eye on Alex. The woman hadn't done so well last time she had had alcohol. She ended up getting horribly drunk and cried for hours on his shoulder.

'Where'd you pick up the call girl?' one man asked BJ. Alex didn't even care that the men in the bar thought she must have been a prostitute. BJ seemed highly offended however.

'She is not a call girl!' he yelled. 'She is a close friend of mine, and it you make another comment like that again, I don't know what I'll do!' Alex watched this unemotionally. She used to have passion like that. She used to get fired up when people insulted her. Not any more.

'Are you ok?' someone asked, sitting on her other side. BJ gave the man a look, but the new comer ignored him.

'She's fine,' BJ said. 'Alex, honey, you want to go home?'

'Let her finish her drink,' the second man said.

'I'm not thirsty after all,' Alex muttered, pushing her glass away. The second man grabbed her arm as she went to stand up.

'Stay a little while longer,' he said. It almost sounded like an order.

'Why?' Alex asked sullenly.

'So I can get to know you better,' he replied, a little less harshly this time. Alex looked up at him, surprised at the reply. Then she gasped. His eyes were a startling dark blue, and Alex found that she did want to stay a little while longer after all.

September, 1956

Alex looked at herself in the full length mirror and sighed. The white flowing dress didn't feel right, and for the millionth time that hour, she wondered if this was right for her.

'Don't look at me like that,' she told her reflection. Her reflection continued to give her the disappointed look. 'Cut it out!' Alex said to it, more loudly this time. The reflection just looked indignant at being yelled at. Alex sighed again. This wasn't her, and she didn't think it ever would be.

'You ok in there, Alex?' someone asked from the other side of the dressing room doors. Alex hobbled out of the change room using her walking stick. Her limping had never really recovered, even though she was no longer depressed. BJ was standing there, looking slightly worried. 'I heard talking,' he said.

'Just talking to myself,' Alex said.

'The dress fits nicely,' BJ said, looking her up and down.

'I don't know,' Alex said. 'Maybe I should try another one.'

'Alex, you've tried on nearly every dress in every shop,' BJ said. 'Maybe you're having second thoughts.'

'It's not that,' Alex said, though she knew BJ could see through the lie.

'Alex, I'll give you my opinion. I think you'll find Dani and your mother agree with me,' BJ said softly. 'Brendan's a jerk and he's doing you more damage than good.'

'He takes care of me, though,' Alex muttered. 'No one else will, except you and Peg.'

'I could name a few who'd take care of you,' BJ said. Alex gave a bitter laugh, going back into the changing room.

'Like who?'

BJ was quiet for a moment, wondering if he dared to continue.

'Hawkeye,' he said after a moment, deciding it couldn't hurt. Alex stopped from changing for a moment.

'That's not funny,' she said.

'I wasn't trying to be,' BJ replied. 'You should really see him. He hasn't heard from you for over three years. How do you think that makes him feel?'

'I don't like it any more than you do, but I can't change it now,' Alex said bitterly.

'He wants to talk to you, Alex. He asks about you every time he calls,' BJ said.

'Really?' Alex sounded hopeful. She seemed to have forgotten about Hawkeye's call two years back, just before she got depressed.

'He's known you were in California for a long time, but promised me he wouldn't try anything,' BJ continued. 'That was when you weren't doing so well. I told him to let you talk to him first.'

'I don't think I should,' Alex said. 'What if Brendan found out?' BJ's face soured. He didn't like Brendan or the way he treated Alex and the people around her. More than once the man had reduced Erin to tears. Brendan was a dominating bully and he hated Alex being even the tiniest bit independent.

'To hell with Brendan,' BJ said. 'It'll be only a few hours with Hawkeye to say goodbye. You at least owe him that much.'

Alex stepped out of the dressing room again, wearing her long winter dress. The white wedding dress lay in her arms, and she handed it to BJ.

'Promise you won't tell Brendan about it if I did go?' she asked.

'Alex, I wouldn't tell that man the time of day even if he offered me a million dollars,' BJ said. Alex thought for a moment.

'Call him,' she said. 'Call Hawkeye and tell him I want to meet up with him here.'

September, 1954

Before she met blue-eyed Brendan in the bar, and before she moved to California, Alex was living with Charles in Boston. She could have everything she wanted, people were paid to do everything for her, and she hated it.

Alex had never been the perfect home-maker every other woman seemed to be. She hated cleaning and only cooked when absolutely necessary. She didn't mind the servants who cooked and did basic cleaning, it was other little tasks she would have been happy to do her self. Like answer the door.

The butler tended to scare Alex's friends and family, who weren't used to having hired help to greet them at the door. Alex tried to answer the door for them when she could. She even sat beside the door when her mother came to visit. Though Naomi adored Charles, she seemed very intimidated by the house and servants, so Alex had wanted to make her feel a little more secure by greeting her herself. The expansive front hall had been empty except for herself when the doorbell rang, Alex would have sworn by it. But somehow, the butler managed to get to the door before her, even though Alex was only six feet away.

Another thing that annoyed Alex with the servants was that damned maid who seemed to follow her around. Once, Alex had stood up from writing a letter to open a window, and when she looked around, barely ten seconds later, it was gone. The maid had put it away, where, Alex didn't know. It took her seven hours to search the house for it, too proud to ask the maid or one of the other servants to help.

Things weren't working out so well for Charles either. Charles loved Alex, but rarely had time to see her. Between working and Alex travelling to see her different friends interstate so often, he felt they never had time together. And, it could have just been his imagination (he doubted it), but Alex seemed uneasy around him. She constantly made excuses to leave the dinner table early, apologised often for her going off at him when she had been discharged from the army, and seemed to shy away from him when they were alone together. They had to do something about this.

'Charles, I need to talk to you,' Alex said one day in mid September.

'I agree,' Charles said. 'We need to talk.' They went to the library of the massive Winchester house, where they sat together on an antique lounge.

'I never get to see you any more,' Charles started. 'If we want this to work, we need to spend more time together.'

'You're the one who's always working,' Alex reminded him. 'If you told me what weekends you were going to be home a week earlier, I could work my visits to my friends around you.' She smiled gently at him. 'But that's not your fault,' she said. 'I know how difficult it can be working at a hospital.'

'What are we going to do then?' Charles asked.

'You know what we're going to do, you just don't want to say it,' Alex said with a sad smile. Charles nodded. It was the only option he had been able to come up with as well. It would be impossible for Alex to get a job at the hospital with him, not with her limp or her shaky arm or her half blinded eye, no matter how good a nurse she was. And it was unthinkable that he give up his job.

Charles took Alex's hand. 'You're welcome here anytime,' he said. Alex just kissed him sweetly on the cheek, and walked out of the library.

Later that night, when she went to pack, Alex found a book and a note on her pillow.

Talk to Hawkeye, the note read. Charles had always known of Alex's refusal to see Hawkeye to save their own relationship, but obviously that didn't matter any more.

The book was Romeo and Juliet, returned to the Winchester family when the war had ended. It was marked and Alex read the quote beside Charles' neat initials.

"Parting is such sweet sorrow."

Alex smiled, closed the book and lay it gently in her suitcase. She knew she wouldn't see him again before she left in the morning.

September, 1956

Alex waited in the restaurant, sipping her water carefully. On the outside, she was calm and collected, but inside, it felt like something was pulling her stomach in different directions. She felt slightly conspicuous in her dressy skirt and shirt, but Peg had promised that it was the perfect thing to wear. Alex only hoped Hawkeye hadn't dressed down, like he had in Korea.

The maître d' was pointing Alex out to a man near the door, and she felt her heart jump. She pretended not to notice the man amble over, though she instantly recognised the swagger.

'Sorry I'm late,' Hawkeye said as he sat down. 'I've never been in Mill Valley before, it took me a while to find the place.'

'Hello, Hawkeye,' she said politely, tearing up the napkin in her lap under the table. Hawkeye just looked at her.

'Is that all you're going to say?' he asked. '"Hello Hawkeye"? God, Alex, it's been three years.' He didn't sound angry, just disappointed.

'I'm sorry,' she muttered, her head down and turning hot from embarrassment. This was a mistake. It had to be.

'Hey, it's ok,' Hawkeye said, lifting her head gently. 'We don't have time for apologies.' Alex looked at him, feeling as if she was on a first date.

'How did you find out I was in California?' she asked. 'BJ said you've known for ages.'

'I promised I wouldn't tell,' Hawkeye said.

'So did everyone else,' Alex said. 'They said they wouldn't tell you where I was.'

'You're mother told me,' he said. 'I think she worries about you.'

'She's got nothing to worry about,' Alex said. 'I'm no longer in a war zone, have a fiancée, and so many friends I don't know what to do with them all.'

'Fiancée?' Hawkeye asked. 'Who's the lucky guy? Obviously not Charles Winchester.'

'Brendan Adler,' Alex said. 'I met him at a bar a year back.'

'What happened with Charles?' Hawkeye wanted to know. 'I thought you were meant to become Mrs Charles Emerson Winchester the third?'

'I wasn't his type,' Alex replied smoothly, taking a sip of water. The glass shook as she brought it up to her lips, so she put it down hurriedly.

'I bet you still keep in touch with him,' Hawkeye said with only a hint of bitterness. Alex looked at him quickly, shame eating away at her conscience. 'I'm sorry,' Hawkeye said.

'I never contacted you, Hawkeye, because I wanted what I had with Charles to work,' Alex said, blinking away the tears that threatened to push through her eyelashes. 'You could have ruined it all.' Hawkeye gave her a questioning look, but didn't ask why he would have caused so much trouble.

'What about after Charles, when you moved here?' Hawkeye asked. 'I would have come seen you any time.'

'BJ probably told you I was going through a rough patch,' Alex said. Hawkeye nodded. 'I was seriously depressed after I left Charles, right up until I met Brendan.'

'I guess you must really love each other for him to pull you out of depression like that,' Hawkeye commented.

'I don't know if I do,' Alex admitted. 'I've been having second thoughts.'

'If I'm the problem,' Hawkeye said, going to stand up. Alex grabbed his hand.

'No, it's not you,' she said hurriedly. 'It's something else I can't help. Please stay.' Hawkeye sat down again. 'It's just he controls everything,' Alex explained. 'What I wear, what I eat, how I get my hair cut, for crying out loud. He won't let me go see anyone, in case I get up to something, not Klinger, the girls or even my own mother.'

'It's your decision in the end,' Hawkeye told her. 'Don't let him push you around.' Alex just nodded, a tear escaping down her cheek. Hawkeye saw it. 'Don't cry,' he said, putting a hand on her arm.

'I'm not,' Alex sniffed. 'I'm sorry I didn't contact you sooner, Hawk.'

'It's ok,' Hawkeye said as the former nurse hugged him.

'You know I can never see you again after the wedding,' Alex said. Hawkeye nodded.

'BJ said this was just goodbye,' he said. 'I'm not even allowed to the ceremony, even if you said it was ok.' Alex hugged him again, and for a split moment, she wondered where the spirited red haired lieutenant from Korea had gone.

October, 1956

It was the day before the wedding, and Alex was sitting at the table in Brendan's kitchen with a coffee in her hand. Brendan expected her to cook and clean like a good housewife, even though she despised it. Alex cast a weary eye over the cluttered sink and grubby stove. She was going to hate this kitchen, she just knew it.

'Package came for you,' Brendan grunted, coming into the kitchen, that morning's mail in one hand. In the other was a small box that looked like it had travelled around the world once or twice. Alex took it from him and looked for a return address, but it was too blurred and badly written for her to make it out properly. It looked like it was from a Houvhiji Rjinei or something. Funny, she didn't recall knowing anyone called Houvhiji.

Brendan watched her open it, perhaps hoping for something he could claim from himself. His hopes rose as he saw something glitter within the parcel. He snatched it from Alex before she could have a proper look, and ripped it open more. Alex knew better than to argue with Brendan, he would just hit her.

'What the hell is this?' he demanded, dark blue eyes blazing and holding up what Alex first mistook for a necklace.

'Dog tags,' she said, taking them from him. She turned them over in her hands, reading the details. 'My dog tags.'

'Dog tags?' Brendan asked loudly. Alex had never told him about her two stretches in the Korean War, having wanted to forget it herself. He thought her injuries were from a car accident.

She looked at the tags closely, feeling confused. Her dog tags were lying in a draw in her mother's house. Where had these come from? She suddenly noticed the bloodstains, and early memories of Korea flashed in front of her eyes.

'Where the hell did they come from?' Brendan was yelling. Alex looked at him.

'They're mine,' she said coldly, remembering the respect she had hated as a Major because she felt she hadn't earned it the right way. Here, she wasn't getting any respect, even though she did deserve it. Not any more. 'I was in Korea, during the war, as a conscripted nurse.'

'You, in Korea? Don't lie. They wouldn't want someone like you,' Brendan sneered. 'Anyway, it wasn't a war, the papers said so. It was a police action.' Alex snapped. For too long she had put up with this man's abuse. It was about time she did something.

'See these?' she yelled, holding the dog tags in front of his face. They spun in front of Brendan's eyes, catching the light and sparkling with her temper. Brendan gulped. The red rust on the metal disks looked a lot like dried blood. 'These say I was a nurse in the American Army. See the blood on them? That's the blood of all the people that died who shouldn't have, like my brother. As for it being a police action, I just hope you get conscripted for the next one.' Alex strode to the bedroom and pulled a suitcase from under the bed. Brendan followed her.

'Where the bloody hell do you think you're going?' he asked, more angry that Alex had stood up for herself. 'We've got a wedding tomorrow!'

'Not any more,' Alex said, pausing long enough from packing to take off her engagement ring and throw it at Brendan's feet. She packed her bag as Brendan ranted and raved around her, double checking to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. She didn't want any reason to have to come back.

'You're not going anywhere!' Brendan thundered, slapping her across the face. Without thinking, Alex hit him in the leg with her walking stick. Hard. Brendan fell to the ground, screaming and holding his knee. Alex just shut her suitcase and stepped over the screaming man, making sure to whack him again with her stick.

'Goddamn jerk,' she told him before walking out and slamming the door behind her. All she left behind was the expensive wedding dress Brendan had paid for and a cracked kneecap.

Outside, Alex wasn't surprised to see a familiar figure leaning against a car.

'What did you do to him?' Hawkeye asked concernedly. 'I thought it might have been you screaming and was about to come inside to find out what was going on.'

'Nothing he didn't deserve,' Alex said, getting into the car. Hawkeye got into the driver's seat and pulled away from the house.

'I guess the wedding's off,' Hawkeye commented as they drove.

'You slipped the package into the letter box after the postman had been, didn't you?' Alex accused. Hawkeye shrugged.

'Might have,' he said.

'Don't lie,' Alex said. 'I gave you my first dog tags when I got discharged by Henry.' She looked at the package in her hand still. Now she realised what it said, she knew it hadn't been sent by Houvhiji Rjinei, but by Hawkeye Pierce. 'How did you get the around-the-world look?' she asked.

'I sent it to Korea first,' Hawkeye replied. He stopped at a set of red lights, and turned to face Alex. 'I hope I didn't over step the line by sending—' he started. Alex threw herself at him, kissing him hard on the lips and wrapping her arms around his neck, stopping him from continuing. He kissed her back after a startled moment, and they stayed like that for three changes of green lights. They would have been there longer, but the drivers behind them were getting angry.

'Thanks, Hawkeye,' Alex said as they drove off embarrassedly. 'You stopped me from making the biggest mistake of my life.'

June, 1958

Alex still wasn't the same woman who'd gone off to Korea to save the world in 1950, but she was better than she was just a year before. Naomi didn't worry about her daughter these days, either. The man she lived with now, Hawkeye Pierce, he took good care of her, and seemed to change her for the better most days. Much better than Brendan Adler.

Danielle was happy to see Alex snap to her senses too, and spent many delightful hours sending nasty letters to Brendan. If you messed with one Dustin, you brought the wrath of the rest of them onto yourself. When Jefferson and Kellye and the other nurses heard of all that happened (including Margaret Houlihan), they started doing it as well. Brendan got up to twenty letters a week vividly describing the 'police action' in Korea, which they hoped would give him nightmares. It was easy to get him to read them. All they had to do was address it to Alex and he'd open and read anything.

Alex's arm seemed better these days. She rarely dropped anything, though she tended to carry things in her right hand now, just in case. Her limp, however, stayed strong. It was hard not to think about Isaac, though she was able to speak about him more easily.

Alex loved living at Crab Apple Cove. She was able to have a fresh start there, as no one knew her or her brother, whose sexuality had always caused the Dustin family problems. No one seemed to care that Hawkeye and Alex weren't married, and neither did Alex. She had known Hawkeye wasn't the commitment type, so it had surprised her when he had proposed six months ago, on Christmas morning, in front of her mother no less. She'd declined, knowing Hawkeye would love her just as much without getting married. Hawkeye, to say the least, was relieved.

The biggest change for Alex, though, was Henry. She had given birth to him August last year, a dead ringer to his deceased Uncle Isaac. Now, nearly a year old, Henry Isaac Dustin-Pierce was starting to say full words, much to Hawkeye's delight.

Alex listened to Hawkeye read to Henry in the living room. The book was "The Last of the Mohicans", of course, and although Henry probably didn't understand a work Hawkeye was saying, he seemed to enjoy hearing his father's voice.

Alex smiled as Hawkeye glanced up at her. He smiled back, then went back to reading to Henry. She was so lucky to finally have her "second chance". Few people could say they had been lucky enough to have theirs.

Hawkeye finally put Henry to bed, and came back out to the living room. He sat in the armchair, giving Alex a loving smile before closing his eyes.

'Hawkeye,' she said, finally picking up the courage. Hawkeye opened his blue eyes and looked at her quizzically. She laid a gentle hand over the slight bulge in her stomach that he hadn't seemed to have noticed. 'I'm pregnant again.' There was a stunned silence for a moment, as Hawkeye stared at her in disbelief. His face broke into a smile, and he went to sit with her on the couch. He picked up her hand and kissed it before resting their hands on her stomach again.

'And I thought life couldn't get any better,' he said to her.

-Sniffs- Well, that's it. Finished. Conclusion. No more. Finale. Completed. Over. The End. I hope it pleased everyone.

Words in "Alex": 26920

Words in "Old Friends": 15402

Words in "Nurses": 46711

Words in total: 89024

Total number of chapters: 87

Thanks to all my readers and reviewers, too many to name and thank individually. Your comments meant everything to me, and kept me writing.

She was no Izzy Parker, but then again, Izzy Parker was no Alex Dustin.

-Guy walks past with a sign that says "The End" and waves goodbye-