Title: Be Careful What You Wish For…
Author: Hawkeye/Katy
Beta: Alex/Odysseus, Onigami/Ryan and Nox/BJ
Fandom: MASH
Rating: FRT
Disclaimer: I own Adair and the plotline. That is all. MASH belongs to… whoever it belongs to. frowns Who does it belong to? Fox? Meh… I dunno.
Summary: AU. Hawkeye was a doctor with a difference. We all knew that. But, honestly? How different is different?
"I did not have a choice when my orders got changed from protecting you so you could go home to your wife to dying in your place so you could…"
At those words, every bit of anger that BJ was feeling fell away. Die? Hawkeye was supposed to die for him? But… angels don't die. That's why they're angels. BJ's head swung round as he turned wide, blue eyes on Hawk. Hawk cut his sentence off abruptly. Far too late. BJ's thoughts raced manically around his head.
"Hawk?" was all he managed to get out, his voice barely above a whisper.
Hawkeye sighed, "Me and my big mouth."
As BJ just carried on staring at him, Hawkeye frowned, bowing his head before reaching out and leading the blonde man over to their bunks. He sat BJ down and looked at him, wishing once again that he had his wings so he could bring them up to cover his face. BJ just continued to stare, his face two shades paler than it was before.
Hawkeye shot him a wry smile, "You weren't supposed to hear that."
BJ blinked, "Apparently not."
Hawkeye sighed, "Beej, you know I'm not human. You know I'm a guardian angel. But angels aren't all the serene, winged beauties you see in the Bible pictures or da Vinci paintings. Neither are they the fat, little, naked cherub things that people put on Valentine's Day cards."
BJ let out an involuntary snort of laughter at the image of Hawkeye Pierce dressed as Cupid and looking decidedly unimpressed about it.
"Guardian angels," Hawkeye continued, raising an eyebrow, "Aren't actually all that different from humans. I mean, apart from the whole wings thing. We aren't all-powerful. We can't just wave our hands and cure the world's ills," here Hawkeye bowed his head, "We can't live forever on pretty, white clouds. Hell, we can't live forever, period."
At those words, BJ winced, "Hawk, you… you said…"
Hawkeye looked down. He was such an ass. Of all the dumb, stupid, horrible things for him to blurt out in a fit of temper. He shook his head. Way to go, Pierce. Tell your best friend you're gonna end up a casualty of war because of him.
"I know, Beej. Those… those are my new orders," Hawkeye said, keeping his head bowed.
"And you're just going to accept that!" BJ stared at him incredulously, "I'm sorry, Hawk, not gonna happen."
Hawkeye's head came up, confusion written all over his face, "You what, now, Beej?"
BJ frowned at the confusion he saw, "You honestly expect me to just stand back and let you die?"
Hawkeye blinked, "Well… yes, actually."
BJ stared at him. He stared at Hawkeye for so long that the dark haired man began to squirm, shifting his shoulders to try and spread wings that weren't there. Hawkeye shifted uneasily under the scrutiny of the blonde man. He really, I mean, really, needed his wings in times like these. BJ blinked a couple of times, before shaking his head.
"You really do, don't you? You really think I'm just gonna stand there and watch you die without batting an eyelid…"
"Well… yeah…" Hawkeye said, as though it were obvious.
The two doctors traipsed through the camp, wandering slowly over to the mess tent. BJ couldn't get Hawkeye's words out of his mind. A flicker of guilt moved through him as he realized that he hadn't thought about Peg or the divorce papers all day. Or since yesterday for that matter. He scratched his head absently, he really needed to sign them soon, get them to Radar in the next mail run. BJ frowned slightly, that wasn't going to be a happy time. At least he had Hawkeye to keep him company.
BJ got to the door of the mess tent, gallantly opening the door and bowing Hawkeye through mockingly. Hawkeye simply raised an eyebrow at him, smirking as he wandered in and grabbed a tray, passing it off to the blonde before grabbing one for himself. The two joined the line, both wrinkling their noses at the smell of the mess food. They picked an unoccupied table in the corner, setting down their trays and dropping down onto the benches. BJ poked at the gravy with his fork, grimacing as it wobbled.
"Hey Hawk?"
Hawkeye looked up from where he was carefully inspecting his own food, "Yeah?"
BJ gestured to his dinner, "Is this how I'm supposed to die?"
Hawkeye blinked at him for a second before letting out an involuntary snort of laughter, "I dunno, let's find out."
Hawkeye's quicker-than-human reflexes allowed him to snatch BJ's forkful of mashed potato and gravy out of his hand and quickly stuff it into his mouth. The dark haired man swallowed carefully, then pulled a face.
"That right there, that's disgusting… but it's not poisonous," he grinned at the stunned look on the blonde's face.
BJ shook his head at him, grinning as well. Only Hawkeye… The two sat companionably, poking at their dinners, making fun of the gravy, even occasionally eating some of it. Eventually, they stood up, dumping the remnants of their food into the bin and the trays into the pile. They walked towards the door, before BJ paused, offering Hawkeye his arm.
"Shall we, Winged Wonder?"
Hawkeye grinned and took his arm, "We shall indeed."
The two wandered out of the mess tent, meandering slowly through the camp, reveling in the fact that they had no casualties to deal with. They did a slow lap of the camp, pausing to talk to Father Mulcahy and Radar. Then, still bored, they carried on walking, heading in no general direction, but ending up alone on the helipad. BJ had his head bowed, looking lost in thought, while Hawkeye was just wandering, noting absently that the updrafts on the helipad would be brilliant if he had his wings.
"Yo Hawk?" BJ said, face still looking thoughtful.
"Yes'm?" Hawkeye replied absently, eyes still turned wistfully on the sky.
"Do you actually know how I'm supposed to die? Or is it just going to happen?"
Hawkeye raised an eyebrow, "You aren't the one who's going to be doing the dying, Beej…" he said, before sighing, "And no, I don't know, I mean, I'm pretty sure I'll know it when it happens… but…" he shrugged.
BJ looked at him, "I told you before, Hawk… Not. Gonna. Happen."
BJ bristled, starting to get annoyed when Hawkeye didn't even bother to respond. He frowned. He wasn't even looking at him. Hawkeye was staring around the helipad. No. He was staring at the bushes around the helipad. BJ's frown grew deeper. What in the hell…? His eyes narrowed as he looked closely at Hawkeye's face. The dark haired doctor had paled considerably. His hands had clenched into fists as he glanced around the helipad. He almost looked… nervous.
A shot rang out, breaking the silence that had surrounded the helipad. A startled cry was torn from a doctor's throat. A pair of blue eyes watched in stunned horror as the other stared back, swaying unsteadily on their feet for a few seconds, before their knees buckled and they crumpled to the hard dirt below. The same blue eyes stared as a second pair of blue eyes, glassy with pain, looked up at him. A weak smile curled the other's lips.
"Told you so."