Okay, folks! Here is the seventh chapter of this story!

Now, this chapter is the beginning of some of the changes that'll be taking place with the 4077, the first of which Radar getting discharged as he did in Season 8, and how the camp is coping along without him. In short, most of this chapter is loosely based on the episode; 'Period of Adjustment'. with the chapter starting with the insight on everything leading up to this moment.

Also please take notice, this'll be the last chapter to include Radar in any part of this story (albeit in a flashback that Andrew has before he left). Just want to let you know about this.

Lastly, this is the first chapter to contain any drama-like moments in this story.

Anyway, this chapter will showcase how the compound is doing with Klinger as the new company clerk; most of them are more displeased than others, and how Andrew feels about all of this. How will this go? Find out now!


AT THE M*A*S*H 4077:

Quite some time has passed since Andrew has gotten into the unit. He has gotten more comfortable with the place, learned a bit about the place, and has gotten to know some of the people here; some of them were better than others. He couldn't have had it any better than this.

However, lately, some changes were made to the 4077, mainly for the absence of one of the people having been assigned to the unit: one Radar O'Reilly. It all started when he came back from R&R in Tokyo, where he had a miserable time there, nothing but bad luck hit him from one corner to the other. He was appalled by the mess that was left behind in his office, no thanks to Maxwell Klinger. In addition to that, the auxiliary generator has gone missing; it was stolen to be exact.

And to top it all off, Colonel Potter had gotten a call from the boy's mother with some tragic news; his Uncle Ed passed away. When Andrew heard about it, he felt sympathetic for the loss of one of Radar's close relatives, expressing his sorrow for the tragedy. After some discussion with him in his office, Colonel Potter gave Radar the news that he's being properly discharged and is being sent back home to Ottumwa, Iowa, where he belongs.

Andrew was as happy for him as the others. He was happy that a close friend of his in this unit was finally going to go home and never have to deal with the harsh realities in Korea that is the war. Things for rocky for him at first, considering how they were missing a generator, and how Radar was convinced that if he leaves the 4077, the unit will fall into shambles. But after doing some careful thinking, and thanks to Klinger coming back to the base with a new generator for the base, Radar eventually changed his mind and decided to go back home after all. Everyone was planning to give him a big sendoff party before he leaves for Iowa.

Unfortunately, it was all for naught, since more wounded came to the base and the doctors and nurses had to treat the wounded. It was a sad fact; Radar might be finished with the 4077, but the war was far from over. Everyone gave their final farewells to the former company clerk before going into OR to get started. Andrew could remember exactly how his last interaction with Radar went before the ex-company clerk left.

"Radar," Andrew said to him, in his doctor's outfit. "There isn't much time left, so I just want to say thank you for everything you've done for us. Even though I haven't been on the base for very long, I got the pleasure of knowing you."

"Oh don't be sad sir," Radar said with a smile. "I'll try to write to you and the others at the 4077 some time. And I appreciate the friendship that you gave me."

"Same here, bud," Andrew felt sad.

"Oh please don't start crying, Major."

"I know, but...damn it, I just can't help it," Andrew told him honestly. "I'm going to miss you, friend."

"I'll miss you too sir," Radar told him.

"Now Radar, you are no longer a member in this unit. So you can stop calling me sir and Major," Andrew insisted. "As a close friend of yours, I want you to drop all the formalities and call me Andrew."

"Alright, Andrew." Radar had a sad smile.

"Hey Major Peterson! Hurry it up!" One of the doctors hollered to him.

"I'll be right there," he called out before turning back to Radar. "Listen Radar, I want you to behave yourself. I want you to keep out of trouble. And above all else, have a nice life."

"You too Andrew," Radar didn't hesitate with giving him a hug, which he graciously returned. "I hope you can take care of all my animal friends, and I hope to see you again someday."

"You got it, pal," he said before breaking out of the hug and heading for the door. But before he could enter, he gave Radar one last look. "Take care of yourself Radar! So long, and have a happy life back in the US! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!"

"I will Andrew!" He gave him his final farewell. "It was nice knowing you! FAREWELL!"

Andrew gave his final farewell before stepping into the OR, leaving Radar all alone in the compound, until it was time for him to leave.

Andrew recalled how he got to work in the OR and saw just how forlorn he looked. They all knew what he was going through. Radar was going to be missed, but at least he will no longer deal with the Korean War. His partner Major Houlihan was pretty sympathetic for how he felt.

"Are you going to be okay, Andrew," she asked him with worry.

"Yeah. Yeah," he said, maintaining a tough composure. "I'll be fine, really."

"You're gonna miss Radar, aren't you?" Margaret asked him.

"I am Margaret," Andrew then tried to boost his spirit up with something positive. "I'm just happy that he's going back home and will never have to deal with the war again."

"I know," she nodded. "I'm here for you if you need some support."

"Thanks for that Margaret," he gave her a smile behind the mask.

"You're welcome Andrew," she returned the gesture and they got right to work on the patients along with the others in OR.


It had been two weeks since then, and Klinger has been trying to get into the position as company clerk. The problem is, Klinger hasn't been getting it easy lately. In addition to dropping all the cross-dressing altogether, some of the people were giving him a hard to for not following their expectations. For starters, Colonel Potter has been upset that Klinger hasn't been delivering the reports on time along with doing a poor job in his new position, Margaret was upset that he hadn't delivered the personnel requisition to Potter for two new nurses, and Winchester was ticked off because Klinger dropped his letter outside of the Swamp.

And it didn't stop there. Aside from Hawkeye, BJ, and Father Mulcahy, the others continued to give Klinger a hard time, while Andrew stood onto the sideline. Although, he couldn't help but think that maybe they were being a bit too brutal with their new company clerk. True, Klinger was lacking the efficiency of the company clerk, and he wasn't Radar, but really, it was starting to become a problem. Andrew decided not to think much about it, but at the same time, he was wondering if this was a bit unfair.

He recalled sitting at the table in the mess tent where the others (bar Hawkeye, BJ, and Father Mulcahy) were berating Klinger for being incompetent when Father Mulcahy decided to speak up on the subject.

"Please. Don't you people think enough's enough," the Padre spoke up on his behalf. "You have to stop picking on poor Klinger. He's doing what he can under very trying circumstances."

"Father Mulcahy has a point," Andrew agreed. "Don't you think that we're being a bit too harsh on Klinger? I mean, he wasn't granted the ability to be a company clerk yesterday, but he feels like he needs to live up to high expectations. In other words, I think we're all overreacting a bit."

Some of the others looked at Andrew with an incredulous look on their faces, understanding what he was getting at. But there were still some problems with it.

"Look, Andrew, it's not that we don't want to give him the chance to the position," Margaret spoke up. "It's just that he is a nincompoop at his new job compared to Radar! Radar was a far better company clerk than he is, and we miss him!"

"I know! I miss him too," Andrew admitted sadly. "In fact, Radar was the first person that I met and interacted with when I stepped into Korea, and I appreciate what he's done for us. But that doesn't mean Klinger is any less important than Radar was."

Andrew recalled how other comments were made at that point, along with BJ making comments about how he is sick of hearing about Radar. He decided not to think too much about that.


Currently, Andrew was standing right outside the Post-Op Ward door as he was thinking to himself. Were they really doing the right thing with how they've been treating Klinger? The way things were going now, was it only a matter of time before Klinger stepped down and passed the ring to someone else? Whatever the reason, Andrew was definitely giving some serious thought to the issue.

There was no easy outcome as of now.

He was brought out of his thoughts when a voice got his attention.

"Ahem, Major Peterson," it was Father Mulcahy, who noticed Andrew was standing by himself. "What a surprise seeing you here at this time of night. Enjoying some nice fresh air, aren't we?"

"Oh, hey Father," Andrew greeted before sighing sadly. "Yeah...sort of..."

Father Mulcahy noticed that something was troubling the major, judging by his tone of voice.

"Hmmm, judging by the sound of your voice, it seems that something is troubling you," he said. "Would you mind telling me what's the matter?"

"Well yes, there is," Andrew looked at the Chaplin. "You see, it's about..."

He trailed off because he couldn't find the right words for the sentence. Father Mulcahy decided to guess as to what it was about.

"It's about Radar, isn't it?"

"Kinda, yes. But it's also about Klinger," Andrew spoke up. "I honestly feel that we haven't been giving him much of a chance to handle the job the way he could. I do think that we have been a little rough on him."

"I understand," the priest said. "I too think we've been expecting so much from Klinger after Radar left for home. For the Lord's sake, I pray that the others will understand what I am trying to say about the situation."

"That's true," he gave him a small smile. "I mean when I first came to this unit, I was left wondering how all of you would feel about me staying here. Most of you accepted me for who I am, and I was grateful that a large portion of you guys didn't reject me from staying in this compound."

"I'm flattered that you were being honest with me, Major," Father Mulcahy said. "When we first heard of a new member coming here, some of us were doubtful about how you would be in real life, and we were worried that you'd be mean, cruel, or even a mole who is serving the other side to conspire against all of us. But then you came to our compound, and we saw what you are truly like. Despite preferring to be quiet, you are a nice and modest young Major who tries his best to do the right thing."

"I see what you mean," Andrew nodded. "I just hope that things will turn around with everything that's been going on. I'll find out more about Klinger later on when some of the tension lightens up."

"I understand Peterson," Father Mulcahy was satisfied with the talk that they had. "Well, I'm going to go to the mess tent to read some of the Bible for a bit over a cup of tea. You are more than welcome to join me if you want."

"Thanks for the offer Padre, but I think I'm just gonna go back to the Swamp for a bit," Andrew told him. "It was nice having this chat with you Father. I'll see you later."

"Alright. See you, Major," Father Mulcahy gave his farewell to Andrew who was heading back to the Swamp. Once he was gone, the Chaplin headed straight for the mess tent where he would spend some time reading the bible to some tea, at least for a little bit...


Meanwhile, Andrew was thinking about what he talked about with the Padre. Perhaps the others should be giving Klinger a chance to find his own place as a company clerk. He decided that sometime later, he'll talk to some of the others about this, and hopefully get through to them the point that he and Father Mulcahy were trying to make.

As soon as he got back to the Swamp, he realized that only Hawkeye and Winchester were there, but BJ was nowhere to be found. But that was the least of his horrors at the moment.

"Hey guys, I was wonderin-" he cut himself off when he saw what happened to the still. It was smashed and destroyed. "Oh my god! What happened to the still?! I mean, I don't drink from it, but what happened to it!?"

"BJ, that's what," Hawkeye said as he turned around to see Hawkeye on his own bed. Hawkeye was sporting a black eye, which Winchester was checking out closely on his bed.

"Pierce! What happened to your eye?! It's all swollen up! You need to do something about it," Andrew informed him. "Where did you get that black eye anyway?"

"From BJ, the one who destroyed the still," Hawkeye answered with no hesitation.

Andrew stared at him with a combination of shock, horror, concern, and worry. "BJ did this to you?"

"That's right."

Andrew was growing more curious by the second as he sat down next to Hawkeye. "How did this happened?"

"Well, you remember the letter he got from Peg?"

"Yeah."

"Turns out he's upset about that letter and how Peg and Erin met Radar," Hawkeye explained. "And was also upset at how Erin called Radar 'Daddy'. So he got drunk, broke the [still], and knocked the lights out of me, before taking off. I've been out for the last few minutes, so I don't know where he disappeared to!"

Andrew was in a state of disarray. What was going on with everyone? It's bad enough that they put too many expectations on Klinger, now there's this?

"I can't believe this," Andrew pinched the bridge of his nose. "First Klinger is upset, and now BJ? I feel that it's only a matter of time before morale around here falls to an all-time low."

"You're telling me," Hawkeye groaned. "My eye is feeling at an all-time low right now!"

"Pierce, Peterson, as much as I admire your little drama session, I must say that we should get that eye checked out," Winchester spoke up, checking Hawkeye's black eye. "After all Pierce, I can't tell you how sorry I am this happened."

Andrew gave him a look of uncertainty as Hawkeye groaned. "Thank you, Charles."

"Without me being here in the Swamp to see it," Charles chuckled. "Hunnicutt was probably aiming for your mouth. But as usual, it was moving too fast."

"Nice to see that you can be supportive when it's necessary Winchester," Andrew huffed sarcastically.

"Indeed. I rest my case," Charles rolled his eyes before checking Pierce's black eye again.

"Ow!" Hawkeye winced in pain.

"Steady, Popeye. Come on," Winchester told him. "The next time you two Neanderthals determine to brawl, have the kindness to do it someplace that I don't have to live."

"Yeah, because chances are there is no other place here to settle a brawl," Andrew retorted, crossing his arms.

"Andrew had a point. Don't blame me, Charles," Hawkeye spat. "I turned out to be the guest of honor at a surprise beating."

"Look, I think it's safe to say that there are a couple of problems in this compound; and they involve Hunnicutt and Klinger," Andrew sighed. "First thing we should do is get that eye treated Pierce. Then we can figure out about where Hunnicutt disappeared to."


Before anyone else could say something, the door opened up. Entering the Swamp were Colonel Potter and Major Houlihan. Apparently, they were looking for Klinger, who had all but disappeared from the compound.

"Hey, boys, has anybody-" Potter cut himself off when he saw the horror before him. "What the name of Sweet Fanny Adams happened here?"

"That's not the only problem sir," Andrew got his attention. "Captain Pierce was also given a black eye."

"You're hurt," Colonel Potter exclaimed as Margaret decided to check him out for a second. "Did that still finally blow up in your face?"

"Actually the Still didn't do this. Hunnicutt did," Winchester revealed.

Colonel Potter had a grave look on his face as he asked the captain. "Hunnicutt did that?"

"Yeah, he also did that," Hawkeye pointed to the mess that was the Still. "He got drunk, he went crazy, and he punched out his two favorite roommates; me and the still."

"I am puzzled by his behavior, although I do admire his judgment." Charles snorted without shame.

"It's safe to say that Hunnicutt finally lost it, and it resulted in this," Andrew exclaimed.

"Pierce, how did this happen," Potter asked. "What on earth made him do a thing like this?"

Hawkeye took a deep breath and explained to them exactly what he just told Andrew; about the letter he got from Peg, how he went into a drunken rage, broke the still before knocking out Hawkeye, and then stormed off. And on top of that, Hawkeye admits that he didn't see where BJ ran off too since he was out cold for a few moments, and both Charles and Andrew came back after he had runoff.

Needless to say, Colonel Potter was absolutely appalled by all of this.

"Has everybody around here gone dingus," he hollered, waving his hands up. "Margaret and I came here looking for Klinger. He's been missing since dinner."

This got Andrew actually concerned as he stood up and looked at the colonel in the face. "Klinger's gone missing?"

"Yes," Potter nodded. "Have you two seen him? Pierce? Winchester?"

"I haven't seen anything. My lights were out," Hawkeye exclaimed.

"And as for me Colonel, I have neither seen him nor missed him," Winchester huffed.

Andrew only gave him a dirty look and nothing more. Now was not the time to make any remarks. Two people are missing, and they've likely gone AWOL.

Margaret then stood up and walked over next to Andrew. "Now we have two people to find, Colonel."

"Margaret is right," Andrew exclaimed. "We better find them before they go AWOL on us!"

"Right," Potter nodded. "We'd better split up to find them. Margaret and Winchester, you go check out the officer's club, and then you head to Rosie's Bar at the end of the camp afterwards. And I'll take the great John L. with me."

"Can I help too, sir?" Andrew asked him. "After all, I'm getting worried for both of them, especially Klinger."

"Yeah," Colonel Potter told him. "You better go with Houlihan and Winchester. If anything comes up, you can step in case something goes wrong. Understood?"

Andrew nodded at this. He understood his reasoning for this, as he had no objections to this decision.

"I'll do my best to find them, Colonel," Andrew told him, with a salute.

"Right. Let's split."

Before they could, one of the nurses known as Kellye told Hawkeye that his patient's blood pressure is dropping and that he's gone into shock. Hawkeye decided to take care of that, while still sporting the black eye. Potter decided to go find the two runaways by himself, while Andrew remained with the other two majors in the outfit to go to the officer's club and then to Rosie's Bar. They hoped that they could find them before something bad happened to them...


LATER ON...

The three majors had taken notice of Klinger and BJ having walked out of the officer's club once it closed up. They were very drunk and they headed to Rosie's Bar, where more mishaps escalated there. Andrew had been to Rosie's Bar a couple of times, but not often enough. Several marines often went there too, but that's something that Andrew didn't pay much attention to. The three of them headed there, but by the time they got there, they were too late. They were already gone. As of now, the head nurse was getting some questions out to Rosie with the two majors on both sides of her.

"After the officers club closed, they were headed this way together," Margaret explained. "Very drunk. Have you seen them?"

"I have seen too much of them," Rosie said in a rather bitter tone.

"Ahh, then they were here," Winchester retorted.

"Winchester," Andrew warned, furrowing his eyebrows at him. "Now's not the time for that kind of attitude."

"You know what they did? They drew a face wearing glasses on a napkin. They stick it up on my dartboard and throw darts at it." Rosie explained, pointing to said napkin stuck onto the dartboard.

"Wait! Are you telling me that they drew a picture of Radar's face on a napkin and then they threw darts at it, thinking it was the real thing?!" Andrew asked in a panicked tone.

"Yes! As a matter of fact, they called the game 'Vaccinate Radar'," Rosie revealed.

Now Andrew had a horrified look on his face as he muttered. "They didn't..."

"But they did."

Margaret looked just as horrified as Andrew, with disgust put on top of it.

"That's sick," she said in distaste.

"Yeah, I'm absolutely shocked and horrified," Andrew agreed with her.

"Not so bad. They never come close to the target. But they nearly stick three Marines. That's when I took away the darts from them," Rosie exclaimed. "And then they started to throw pretzels and peanuts at Radar's face. So I kicked them out."

"Do you have any idea where they went?" Margaret asked her.

"Uh-uh," Rosie shook her head. "Just happy they went."

And with that, Rosie walked into another room of the bar.

"Well, at least we know that they were here, since only they could make a crude drawing of Radar and then try to throw darts at it," Winchester said.

"Yeah, but they are still on the go," Margaret shook her head. "We're gonna have to tell the Colonel about this."

"Indeed. Perhaps the Colonel has some leads as to where they went," Winchester huffed. "We should get going."

"Yes."

They were about to tell Andrew to come along with them, only to stop when they saw Andrew starring off into thin air as if he was completely lost in thought.

"Uhhh, Major Peterson, as much as I find your current position to be highly...amusing, is there a reason why you are starring off into a trance?" Winchester queried.

Andrew had spent the next couple of moments or so taking in everything that Rosie revealed to them. A lot was getting pieced together combined with what Father Mulcahy told him earlier. It wasn't entirely their fault that they were this way. With BJ, that letter he got from Peg drove him off the edge. In regards to Klinger, the others did nothing but push him further into a state of pressure and anguish that he flipped out. All because he's a tough act to follow towards Radar. It had all begun to make sense to him now. He saw the grave reality of the situation that was before them.

"Guys? We screwed up big time..." That was all that he could say.

The two majors were shocked and confused when they heard him say that.

"Why, whatever do you mean by that?" Winchester asked him what he meant by that.

"US! ALL OF US!" Andrew made motions with his hands to emphasize his point. "Don't you get it!? Klinger's acting like this because we drove him to this point! This whole time we've done nothing but egg him on about how he's not like Radar! And because of that, he finally snapped, gone crazy, got drunk, and is now with BJ, who's also drunk-mind you, feeling resentful towards Radar, all because of us!"

They seemed a bit uneasy by his outburst, as Charles shifted a bit by him shouting.

"Major Peterson, I understand what your getting at, but..."

"But nothing Winchester!" Andrew cut him off as he continued ranting. "We could say that Klinger's at fault for getting himself drunk, but we did nothing to help him out with getting broken into his new job but make it a living life of hell for him!

"When I first came to this outfit, I didn't know what to expect from you guys. I didn't know if I would find my place in the unit, or if all of you guys would give me the shaft. But when I did come here, you guys were willing to have me fit into the outfit and help me with getting broken into the compound, regardless of how quiet I've been!

"I know Klinger has been here longer than I have, but we still could have done the same for Klinger as you did for me! Instead, not only did I just stand on the sideline and not try to comfort Klinger when he was feeling at his lowest, but we've done nothing but make him feel like a total pariah as a company clerk! I feel like such a big jerk for not noticing it sooner!"

With that, Andrew slammed his right fist into the table, getting both of the majors to jump. They had to take in everything that he just told them. Charles didn't seem to get what the fuss is about, as he hardly cared about any of that stuff that he mentioned.

As far as Margaret was considered, she realized that Andrew was right. They did allow Peterson the chance to get broken into the outfit at his own pace, but they never thought about doing the same for Klinger, even though he's been in the same outfit as them far longer than Andrew has. So she couldn't be too mad at the new company clerk.

Stepping up to the major, who has started to calm down a bit, the head nurse sighed. "You're right Andrew. But we can talk about this later. Right now, we got to tell the colonel about all of this."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Andrew sighed. "I'm sorry that I snapped like that."

"No. It's fine. You had every right to," Margaret admitted, helping him to the exit. "Let's just get back to the colonel."

"And hopefully you would've cooled off by the time we get to him, Major Peterson," Winchester muttered grumpily.

Margaret could only give Charles a stern gaze, not wanting him to start up anything, as the three majors went back to the 4077...


Meanwhile, Colonel Potter had just gotten done with a talk with the Padre, who had explained to him how long ago, when Radar started working at the 4077, he wasn't all that great either, as he too had his problems, as well as letting him know about how times were like here when Colonel Potter took over as the C.O. after his late predecessor. Suddenly, the three majors came in as Potter looked at them, hoping to see if they knew where they were.

"Any news? You three see either of 'em?" Potter queried.

"No, Colonel," Margaret shook her head.

"We just missed them," Andrew added.

"But we have been regaled with glorious tales of their exploits," Charles commented.

Sherman Potter gave them a look of uncertainty. "Uh, they are together, right?"

Charles nodded. "Sparing you the sordid details, they are setting new standards for inebriate behavior. Additionally, we may be teetering on the brink of war with the Marines."

"But that's not all, I got a realization for all that has happened," Andrew said.

"What are you getting at, Major Peterson?" The colonel asked.

"I uhhh...kinda flipped my lid a bit about how we are the reason why Klinger's acting the way he is," Andrew felt a bit ashamed by that.

"Yeah. Andrew claims that we are the reason Klinger got drunk and ran off with Hunnicut," Margaret added.

"I hope you can understand what I'm saying, Colonel..." Andrew said slowly.

Sherman Potter remained calm when the major said that, as he nodded solemnly.

"I understand perfectly Andrew. You aren't wrong," he said softly. "Padre here was just telling me about how Radar used to be worse than Klinger when he started as the company clerk before improving, and he also brought up how when I first got here, things were rather rough for me, and that I had to take over for Colonel Henry Blake when he was discharged, and then had his plane shot down over the sea of Japan, where he died."

Henry Blake. That name stood out like a sore thumb in this M*A*S*H unit, albeit in a positive manner. Andrew had heard talk about the former Colonel who used to run this outfit before Sherman Potter took over. He seemed to be a laid-back type of guy from what was described to him. He didn't know how things were like here before Colonel Potter took over, but he was more than certain that it was vastly different than how things are now.

That didn't stop Andrew from mourning the loss of Henry Blake when he heard about him and his death thought. The major was just a very respectful guy in so many ways.

"I see," Andrew said slowly. "At least we are seeing the whole story behind all of this. Thanks for explaining everything to the Colonel, Padre."

"It was no trouble at all Major," Father Mulcahy said. "I was happy to have him hear out my thoughts on the whole situation."

"Yeah. And it's about time I make things right with Klinger," Colonel Potter remarked.

"That's after we find him and Hunnicutt," Margaret added. "Colonel, I think we should call in the military police."

"Yeah," Andrew agreed. "Chances are they've gone AWOL by now."

"I think so too," Potter got up from his seat. "Let's go to my office. We'll get 'em on the horn."

"Ah, I hereby resign from the Missing Cretins Bureau." Charles decided to step down.

"Thanks for the support towards some friends who need help right now," Andrew retorted, rolling his eyes. "I'll go with Potter and Houlihan to the office."

Sherman Potter shrugged. "Fair enough. Let's go Margaret, Andrew."

The colonel headed out of the mess tent with Andrew and Margaret following right behind him, as they headed towards the company clerk's office...


As soon as they entered the office, the three of them headed towards the phone where Margaret was getting ready to call the MPs.

"All right, Colonel, I'll try to get through to the M.P.'s office," the head nurse stated.

"I appreciate that, Major," the colonel exclaimed.

"I hope we can find them," Andrew said. "I honestly think it's my fault that Klinger went off his rocker and ran off with BJ, in such a drunken state. He's supposed to be my friend, and I repay him by ignoring him when he needed help. Some pal I turned out to be."

The colonel and the head nurse took notice of how self-deprecating his tone of voice was.

"Look, son, don't put yourself down like this," Colonel Potter assured him softly. "This isn't all your fault. All of us have a small share of the blame here. So don't go pinning the blame entirely on yourself."

"The Colonel is right Andrew," Margaret added in her comment. "There's no need for you to be so hard on yourself. It's like you said earlier, we drove him to this point and now he's missing along with Hunnicutt. So please don't push yourself around like this."

"Yeah, you guys are right," Andrew agreed with them. "After all, when I first came into this outfit, I didn't know if I'd find my place in this outfit. I thought that I'd be shafted to another unit. But you guys were willing to help break me into the unit. And I appreciate that."

"We know that Andrew," the colonel nodded in understanding.

"Agreed," the head nurse flash him a comforting smile as she reached over to the phone.

Before Margaret could call the MPs, two loud voices were heard in the Colonel's office.

"YAHOO!" That sounded like two male drunks.

This got the three of them confused by what that came from.

"Either we've struck pay dirt, or my office is being overrun by a couple of big, silly mice," Colonel Potter took a wild guess at what that was.

"You don't think that's them, do you," Andrew wondered.

"Only one way to find out," Margaret insisted. "Let's see what's going on."

The three of them headed into Colonel Potter's office and saw what the source of the voices were coming from. As it turns out, it was from BJ and Klinger, who were completely drunk out of their minds. In BJ's case, he was wearing Colonel Potter's cowboy hat. This didn't sit well with the three of them as they were a pathetic mess.

"Howdy, stranger. Do you have an appointment with Colonel Popper?" BJ asked drunkenly.

"Probably does," Klinger was slurring like no tomorrow. "But I bet my stupid 'clompany c'erk' screwed it up."

"Oh for crying out loud," Andrew pinched his nose. "And I thought seeing Winchester drunk out of his mind was pitiful."

"Yeah. What a pathetic pair of sots." Margaret concurred, shaking her head.

"Would that be a pair of argyle sots?" BJ asked.

Colonel Potter didn't bother saying anything about that, as he then suggested Major Houlihan.

"Go get Pierce. I think he went back to the Swamp," he told her.

"Yes, sir," Margaret obliged as she left the office, leaving Colonel Potter and Andrew alone with the two drunks.

"You know, you boys had us turning South Korea upside-down looking for you?" Potter informed them.

"Yeah, we were plenty worried about you two," Andrew added.

"How'd you find us, Colonel," BJ wondered.

"Easy. We just followed the trail of empty bottles." Colonel Potter deadpanned.

This triggered BJ to laugh his head off, as Klinger then decided to say something.

"Don't laugh," Klinger murmured in a low tone. "I think I'm in big trouble."

"I don't mind telling you I was damn worried," the colonel said honestly.

"Do you realize how much trouble the two of you could've gotten into," Andrew informed them. "You would've been listed as AWOL."

"Besides that, you and I have got some things to talk about Klinger," Potter stated. "Let's step outside."

Now Klinger looked scared. Besides being drunk in the head, he felt like he knew what was coming next.

"Oh God," Klinger whimpered. "BJ, he's gonna beat me up."

"He's not going to beat you up Klinger," Andrew sighed. "He just wants to make things right with you."

"The Major is correct," Potter agreed. "Come on, Klinger."

"Yes, sir, Colonel." Klinger struggled to get up.

"Colonel, I think I should go back to the Swamp so you can talk to Klinger alone," Andrew told him.

"I think that'd be a wise choice, son," Potter told him.

"Okay," Andrew nodded. "Please be easy on him, sir. It's not entirely his fault that he's like this."

"I will Andrew," Potter confirmed softly. "Trust me on this one. Now go back to the Swamp."

"Alright."

And with that, Andrew went back to the Swamp while Potter had Klinger step out into the company clerk's office, leaving BJ alone for the time being in Colonel Potter's office, as the colonel set things straight with the new company clerk...


BACK AT THE SWAMP:

The only ones at the Swamp right now were Andrew and Charles, seeing that Hawkeye was still in the Colonel's office talking with BJ. Andrew was able to walk over to his bed without stepping on shattered glass. He'll get to sweeping that up tomorrow at the earliest convenience.

As Charles was reading, Andrew was sitting on his bed, thinking about everything that had happened today. He really felt bad about not talking to Klinger when he was feeling at his lowest. He was the second person he interacted with when he got into Korea after Radar, and he was a close friend of his.

One could assume that Andrew was just sad about Radar being gone for him to notice Klinger's growing problem. And it also didn't help that he stood on the sideline while the others pressured him about being inferior to Radar. He would make sure to apologize to Klinger tomorrow.

Andrew got out of his train of thoughts when he heard someone knocking at the door, which also got Winchester's attention.

"Uh, who is it?" Winchester hollered out.

"It's me, Winchester," the door opened and it was revealed to be Margaret.

"Major Houlihan? What a pleasant surprise," Charles acted surprised. "What brings you to the Swamp."

"I'm not here to speak to you Charles," she sighed. "I'm here to see Andrew."

"I'm right here," he got his attention from his side of the Swamp. "What is it, Margaret?"

"Can I come over there," she asked.

"Sure," Andrew said as she walked over. "Just watch out for the shattered glass. It's all over the floor."

She took his advice as she stepped over the broken glass that came from the still.

"Uh, you can sit on my bed, if you like," Andrew suggested, sitting up.

Margaret didn't argue as she sat right on his bed next to Andrew. Suddenly, Charles was heard slamming his book closed as he stood up from his bed.

"Well then, feel free to have your little rendezvous together, you two," he huffed. "I shall take my reading elsewhere, preferably the library."

Andrew only gave him a sharp gaze as he said that. Nothing else was said as Charles took his leave.


Once he was gone, Andrew turned his attention back to Margaret. "Uh, Margaret, what do you want?"

"I just want to talk." She exclaimed.

"About?" Andrew looked puzzled.

"About what you said at Rosie's Bar earlier," she got straight to the point. "You were right. We were being a bit too harsh on Klinger when he was just trying to act as the company clerk. He is a nincompoop and he has messed things up many times before, but that didn't mean that we couldn't help him with breaking into his new job as the new company clerk."

"I get what you're saying," Andrew said. "I'll admit that Klinger isn't the brightest person at times, but I still think that he could be have been given the benefit of the doubt."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I guess that the reason why I helped you get broken into this unit when you first came is that you are a really nice man. And I wanted you to fit into this outfit."

"And I appreciate your reason for doing so," he grinned modestly. "I hope that we can make Klinger feel more at home as the new company clerk."

"Yeah. We'll give him the time to break into the job," she said. "No matter how annoying he can get at times."

"I understand," the major told her.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes as the head nurse saw Andrew's side of the swamp and how simple it looked.

"So this is your side of the Swamp," she mused. "It looks kinda nifty."

"Yeah," he agreed. "It doesn't matter much to me. As long as I'm comfortable with it, I'm perfectly fine with it."

"I know the feeling." she echoed the thoughts that she felt about her own tent.

Andrew didn't want Margaret to leave just yet. He felt very comfortable like this. But then something else came to his head. Margaret has been in this outfit as long as Hawkeye was. Surely she would remember anyone else from this outfit that isn't here now. He had heard about Henry Blake from several people in this compound. And he had learned of Frank Burns being stationed in this M*A*S*H unit at one point. Surely it wouldn't hurt for him to ask her if there was anyone else, right?

Therefore, he got out with his question. "Hey, Margaret?"

"What is it?" She queried.

"I know that you've been in this outfit as long as Pierce was, but what I'd like to know is, was there anyone else who was in this unit that isn't anymore?" Andrew asked. "I mean, I've heard a bit about Henry Blake from some of the people here, and I've found out about Frank Burns from you and the others."

Margaret had a thoughtful look on her face as he asked that. He had learned quite a bit about this place and some of the people stationed here. But now that she thought of it, she did remember one other person who was once in this unit.

"Well Andrew, now that I remember, there was one other person who used to be in this unit," she started.

Andrew looked intrigued by this. "And that would be?"

"He was Captain 'Trapper' McIntire," she answered. "He used to reside in the Swamp with Hawkeye before being replaced with BJ."

"What was he like?"

"You really want to know? He was obnoxious, troublemaking, and was a huge prankster in this camp," Margaret grimaced upon remembering the hijinks Trapper took part in with Hawkeye before he was discharged.

"So in other words, he was a second Hawkeye Pierce," Andrew said simply.

"That's exactly what he was," Margaret nodded. "He'd also go out with the nurses in this camp, just like Pierce. Even though he had a wife waiting for him back at home."

"Gosh," Andrew grimaced at that. "It must've been crazy when he was in this outfit, huh?"

"You can say that again," she agreed. "He was also the one who helped Pierce put together the Still before Hunnicutt destroyed it."

"That was his craftmanship," Andrew questioned.

"Mhmm," she nodded.

"Well, I'm glad I wasn't here when he was stationed into this unit at the time," Andrew smirked.

"You're telling me," Margaret laughed. "You'd be surprised if you saw how this unit was like when Colonel Blake ran it."

"I bet," Andrew snickered. "I'm pretty sure it would be far different than it is right now."

"I can guarantee you that."

"Yeah," Andrew took a deep breath. "You know, I like having chats with you, Margaret."

"And I enjoy chatting with you too," Margaret smiled warmly.

The two of them exchange looks with those ogling eyes. They didn't notice that they were doing it.


Before anything else could be said, the door was pushed open, and coming inside of Hawkeye, escorting his friend BJ over to his bed, having finally sobbed his eyes out. After Hawkeye helped BJ into his bed and got him comfortable, he noticed Andrew and Margaret sitting on the former's bed.

"Ah, forgive me for not noticing the man and his wife being here," he said. "Don't mind me. Continue discussing whatever touchy conversation you two were having."

Both of them glowered at him while their cheeks turned a rosy pink. Afterwards, Andrew and Margaret looked at each other again and they started whispering.

"So Margaret, do you think we should call it a night," Andrew whispered.

"Good idea. I should probably get going," Margaret added softly.

"So we can hang out tomorrow, right?"

"Sure, when we aren't busy with our work."

"Yeah, I have to sweep up the broken glass in here anyway."

"Good idea."

"Can you two speak up?!" Hawkeye hollered towards them. "I can barely hear you from my side of the Swamp! Feel free to discuss any plans of playing hanky panky together!"

"PIERCE!" Both of them yelled angrily in unison, their cheeks turning red.

"Fine, fine. I'll stay out of the way." Hawkeye laid down on his bed as the two turned back to each other.

"Goodnight Andrew."

"Goodnight Margaret. And don't step on the broken glass."

"I won't."

And so Margaret decided to leave as she walked out of the Swamp without stepping on glass shards scattered all over the floor. Once she was gone, Andrew lied back down into his bed, throw the blanket over himself, and went straight to sleep. He hoped that tomorrow morning will be a better one for everyone...


THE NEXT MORNING...

After Andrew swept up the broken glass with the broom into the dustpan, which he then dumped into the garbage, Hawkeye and BJ worked on getting the still put back together, with some help from Klinger. As soon as they were finally completed with it, Andrew decided to give Klinger his apology.

"Hey Klinger," he started, getting his attention. "I really want to say I'm sorry for not being here for you when you were feeling down in the dumps."

"Hey, no sweat okay," Klinger told him. "You know what they say, it's better to forgive and forget."

"I know," Andrew nodded. "But I feel that this could've been avoided if I had done something in the first place."

"Don't sweat it, pal," Klinger assured him. "What's done has been done. It's been all taken care of."

"It's all water under the bridge," BJ said.

"Or in this case, it's all alcohol under the bridge," Hawkeye joked.

Hawkeye, BJ, and Klinger were laughing at that one, while Andrew just smirked and rolled his eyes. Things were turning out to be better for them after all.

He just had to wonder how normal things would be for them from here on out, especially since some more changes were coming his way...


END OF CHAPTER 7...

That's it for this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, even with the dramatic elements added to it.

Now from here on out, this is where I feel the story gets more interesting. I do hope you all look forward to it.

Anyway, for the next chapter, some feelings that Andrew has been getting will be surfacing, and some other stuff will take place. How will this go? Find out next time.

With this chapter, feel free to leave a review. Constructive criticism only if you're nice about it, and any positive reviews can be left too.

Now that that's all set, that's it for now. So until next time, stick around for the later chapters, and with that said and done, thank you for reading guys!