Disclaimer: I still have no rights to the show, movie, etc.
A/N: The chapter does contain spoilers from episodes. Thank you to my friend Amber for looking over this chapter for me.
"This is ridiculous!" B.J. slammed the screen door to the swamp in anger, unaware that Charles was following him in. Charles flinched back, closed his eyes, and sighed in exasperation before opening the door again to enter. B.J. had stormed out of the meeting with Potter and headed straight to the swamp feeling useless.
"Pierce and Margaret have been in this situation before and there is no reason to think they won't return again," Charles pointed out as he took a seat at his desk. Potter opened the door to the swamp and walked in.
"This was supposed to be simple trip, they weren't anywhere near enemy lines and now they could be right in the middle of it!" B.J. exclaimed as he looked over at Potter.
"You have news Colonel?
"I came for a drink," he replied. B.J gave him a nod and filled two glasses with the newest liquor from the still. He handed one to Potter and kept the other for himself.
"I have Klinger talking to anyone who could possibly help us or give anymore information, but with the storm above, the phones are out of whack," he explained as the clouds turned darker and the rain started to pour.
Klinger opened the door to the swamp, already dripping wet from the short walk he took to get there. "Sirs, we have wounded coming," he informed them quietly.
"Pierce and Houlihan have survived this situation before, and I have no doubts that they will return. They are both strong people and as long as they are working together, they should be fine." Potter told the three men but B.J looked unconvinced.
"Unless their luck runs out." B.J said quietly as they all exited the tent just as a bus pulled in with the wounded.
It had been almost two hours since Pierce had fallen asleep next to Margaret. She had gotten up a few times to check the surrounding areas and to fill the empty peaches can with some of the fresh rain water. Pierce stirred next to her as she sat on the ground with her jacket pulled closely to her body, trying to stay warm. The windchill from the storm and the dampness of the cave had made it much colder than she was accustomed to.
"Needs to be dry," Pierce said in his sleep as he shifted and let his head fall onto her shoulder. "Hmm, warm."
Margaret didn't want to wake him, but he needed to drink something, and they had to discuss some sort of plan if they were going to be there overnight. She moved her head slightly to speak into his right ear. "Pierce."
"It's too cold to have wounded," he muttered and burrowed further into her. In his sleep state he wrapped his right arm around her waist and whined in his sleep from what she assumed was the stiffening of his shoulder. "Captain!"
"What?!" He woke with a jerk and jumped away from her. "Where are we?" He asked still asleep and looked around, as his eyes took in the surroundings. She could instantly see when he remembered. "Oh," he muttered to himself and ran his left hand over his face.
"How long was I asleep?"
"A few hours, drink this," she told him as she handed him the can filled with water. He took the can and had a sip.
"I had hoped it was a bad dream," he took another sip, then handed the can back to her.
"No such luck," she replied and glanced outside, the rain hadn't stopped, nor did it let up since before he fell asleep.
"Did you get any sleep?" He asked as he got to his feet and stretched, regretting the minute he did as his stomach muscles reminded him of the bruises he had acquired.
"I was keeping watch," she replied as she grabbed the discarded blanket and wrapped it around herself.
"Get a little sleep," he offered as he walked around as much as he could in the cave.
"Not tired," she told him truthfully. During the time he was asleep her mind had gone over many scenarios of what ifs and none of them were pleasant except leaving the cave and returning to camp. "I was thinking about something while you were asleep."
"Yeah?"
"You mentioned Klinger would be disappointed with your shirt being ruined, why?"
"Oh, that," he hadn't meant to mentioned that and secretly hoped she would have forgotten he'd said anything about it. "It's a long story."
"We have no plans to leave, at present," she reminded him. "You can tell me, you know that."
Pierce studied her for a moment before going over to the box and pulling out the second blanket. Heading back to where she was at, he took his previous position, and wrapped the blanket over himself. "Remember my last trip to the aid station?" he began.
"Of course," she was worried about him just as B.J had been when there had been word that a surgeon was killed. If it hadn't been for B.J noticing his stitching they wouldn't have had word until much later.
"While I was there, I started to write my will," he told her in a whisper.
"Your will?"
"The last one I had was no longer important to me and I wanted to update it, to add more people than just my father as beneficiaries," he told her softly. She opened her mouth to reply but couldn't come up with the words to say.
"So," he took a deep breath but didn't continue. He hadn't told anyone what he had written in that will.
"You don't have to tell me anymore," she told him in a whisper. He glanced down at her and smiled.
"I left most of my possessions to my dad except for a few items. I left Father Mulcahy the only thing I had on me which was a nickel. He had been there for me in a time that I needed him, and I am forever grateful. I left Charles my robe. Despite the many tricks we have pulled on him, he has always risen above them. For Potter I left my copy of The Last of Mohicans, the copy my dad had given me. The one that is still in my tent. In the will I explained my reasons for leaving those items to them. To B.J I didn't leave anything. I couldn't decide what to leave him." he laid his head back against the wall of the cave and sighed.
"He's my best friend and I couldn't think of a damn thing to leave him."
"I'm sure he would have understood," she replied trying to make him feel better.
"When I got back to camp, I finally decided what to leave and it wasn't for him, it was for his daughter. I left the names of everyone he has saved since he's been here, and have added to it since then," he told her in a whisper.
"That was very sweet of you," she told him as tears tinged her eyes.
"As for Klinger, I left him my Hawaiian shirt," he smiled at the thought. "Guess I'll need to update the will again and leave him another prized shirt, if I ever find another one like it."
"It's just a shirt Hawkeye," she pointed out, closing her eyes regretting it the moment the words left her lips.
"It's the one thing that has been with me since I first set foot in this damn place! It's my tie to home and out of this nightmare! It's the one thing that gives me the warmth of home without being there!"
She was silent after his confession. She didn't realize how important the shirt was. He had had it with him since she had known him, but to hear the heartbreak in his voice at the loss of the shirt, she felt the tears once again threaten her eyes.
They stayed silent watching the rain outside, neither sure of what to say. He looked down at her and whispered so quietly that he wasn't sure she had heard him. "There is also something in the will for you."
She hadn't turned back to look up at him. He wouldn't tell her, and she didn't need to know. Just knowing he cared enough about her to leave something was enough. Wrapping his left arm over her shoulder, he pulled her to him. She rested her head on his shoulder.
"Thank you" she said softly, not only for what he told her but for giving her more warmth.
They remained silent for several minutes just enjoying the sound of the rain and the warmth of each other. "I also left something for you," she told him softly.
"Really?" He asked surprised as a mischievous grin graced his lips. "What is it?"
"When the time comes you will know," she told him as she wrapped her arm around his waist carefully to avoid his bruised stomach.
"Come on tell me!" He whined liked a five year old wanting to know his Christmas gift.
"No," she squeezed his stomach in retaliation and he jerked back but didn't let her go.
"I hope the time never comes that I find out," he whispered after another several minutes of silence between them.
"I don't want to spend the night here," she told him. He nodded and turned his head and looked outside.
"The rain is stopping," he said looking outside and noticing that it was tapering off. "Want to risk it?"
She moved her head off his shoulder and looked up at him, giving him a nod. He got to his feet and helped her up. They grabbed the medical bag and blankets. Placing the blankets back into the box he closed the lid, then picked up the box while she slung the medical bag over her shoulder.
They stopped at the cave entrance and looked in all directions. To the right was where the embankment had been, once upon a time. To the left was open area, and in front of them was what was left of their jeep.
"I say we go left until we can find a way that goes over that hill. We should be able to find the road from there and take it back to camp," she told him. Looking up, she waited for his approval.
"Lead on major," he motioned for her to go ahead, and they both walked out of the cave.
They made their way left of the cave entrance for a good amount of time until the hill on their right started to slope down. Making their way through the mud, they searched for an area that allowed them better access to the road above.
"You know I'm thinking of telling Potter that I'm off any trips that don't go to Seoul or Tokyo." He grunted as he trudged through the mud.
"I think we should request some R&R after this disaster and for future reference, I'm never ever going with only you on another trip," she replied as she tried to keep her footing against the mud.
"I agree," he nodded as he looked up ahead to see where they were.
"Hey, look!" He exclaimed as he motioned to a section of hill that was somewhat dry and not very steep. "I think that's our way out of here."
"Let's get moving," she replied, and they moved faster to the section to climb it. Finally reaching the road they'd once been on earlier that day, they smiled, and began the hike back to camp.
"Should make it back before dinner," she informed him as they walked down the quiet road.
"Think we can find a joint to eat at before then?"
"Yeah, and they will be serving all your favorite foods," she retorted.
"Don't tease my stomach, Major," he warned jokingly before stopping suddenly. Margaret had gone on a few feet before she noticed he had stopped. Turning around to face him she asked him what he was doing.
"Look the sun is coming out," he smiled broadly and tilted his head enjoying its warmth.
"Feels wonder-" her words were cut off as gun fire surrounded them. He tossed the box and dropped to his belly, yelling at her to do the same, but he was only greeted with a scream of agony as she fell next to him bleeding.
Gun shots rang out around them as he crawled closer to her, searching her body. There was blood gushing from her shoulder, and she was crying in pain. "Margaret, I'm here!" He yelled over the gunfire and placed his hands on her wound.
"Hawk, it hurts," she grunted as she writhed on the ground trying to ease the pain.
"Stop moving," he ordered her and try to assess the injury on her shoulder. "I think you'll be okay," he yelled over the gun fire. There was yelling all around him, some voices in English and the others were not. Everything was loud and his heart was pounding so loudly in his ears he couldn't tell what was louder.
He reached into the medical bag as a more frightening sound rang from above. He flung his body over hers as he felt metal burning through his clothing and into the flesh of his back. He stayed where he was and heard Margaret's desperate screams not only from pain but her worry for him.
"Hawkeye!" She screamed and tried to push him off, but he wouldn't budge. She placed her one good arm around his back.
Screaming out he looked up as he heard people yelling and saw a young corpsman running towards him.
"I've got you, solider," the corpsman told him as he slid next to Pierce. He slowly pulled him off Margaret and yelled for another corpsman.
"Schplunky! I need help over here!" The corpsman yelled above him as he felt the hands of the corpsman place something onto his back. Another corpsman slid in the mud next to him just as his eyes started to get heavy from the excruciating pain.
"You're going to be fine solider," The corpsman told him as he felt the man tie the bandage tightly around him.
"Not a soldier, a doctor," he told the young man between breaths. "4077th," he whispered before darkness overtook him.
To Be Continued.
A/N: If there are any fans of the show on twitter you can find me on there under the same name. Feel free to say hello or just want to chat about the show.