AUTHOR'S NOTE: Of course I don't own M*A*S*H!

B.J. stepped out on the back porch to talk to Hawkeye. For a moment he just stood there, unsure of what to say to his army buddy. Before he had decided exactly how to break the ice, Hawkeye turned around and noticed him.

"Come here often stranger?" Hawkeye asked with a cocky grin.

B.J. was silent for a moment. "I can't believe you're here."

"Me either." Hawkeye said with happy tone in his voice. Even though he was worried about B.J., he had a childlike excitement about seeing his best friend again. "It's actually kind of strange when you think about it."

"What's strange?" B.J. said, unsure of what Hawkeye was talking about.

"The fact that we're here. I mean, we're not in Korea. There are no choppers overhead. We're wearing civilian clothes instead of Army fatigues. And our old still is nowhere to be seen."

"Bit of shame, really." B.J. interjected. "About the still, I mean."

Hawkeye laughed. "That still was the finest piece of machinery ever made in the army. I guarantee the peace talks would have ended a lot faster if they'd had one of those. But enough about the still. You know, it's just crazy to think that you described Mill Valley to me constantly while we were in Korea, and now here we are standing right in the middle of suburban California. You talked about Peg and Erin all the time, and now I've gotten to meet both of them. They're great by the way…finest kind."

"Yeah, they are pretty great." B.J. said slowly. "Too bad they have such a dud leading their family.

"What do you mean?" Hawkeye asked, not liking the sound of what he was hearing.

"I mean the fact that I can't even be a man and take care of my own family!" B.J. replied, clearly frustrated with himself. "Like you said, I spent years pining away from them while I was over in Korea. Now I'm back, and I still can't take care of them. They deserve better than that." As he said this, he looked over at Erin, who was innocently playing and had no idea what they were talking about.

"Beej, you're putting too much responsibility on yourself. Look, Peg took care of herself and Erin the whole time you were in Korea. Even though you're back, she can still take care of herself. She's a grown woman, after all."

"But she shouldn't have to take care of herself." B.J. said angrily. "That's my job, to take care of her. And right now I just can't do that."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, ok?" Hawkeye replied with a hint of sarcasm. "But isn't marriage a team? You didn't get married to a woman like Peg so you could take care of her the rest of her life. She's a person, not one of Radar's pets. Taking care of her is only part of the deal. You have to let her take care of you too."

"When did you start knowing everything about marriage?" B.J. asked, since Hawkeye had always made it clear that he was better off as a bachelor. B.J.'s question caught Hawkeye off guard. He wasn't sure how to respond at first.

"I don't know. I guess that's what happens when you bunk next to the perfect family man for years. And no, I don't mean the perfect fink like Ferret Face or the perfect snob like Winchester."

"Yeah, clearly I'm perfect." B.J. replied sarcastically.

"Well, you could have fooled me." Hawkeye said, his voice getting louder.

"What's that supposed to mean?" B.J. asked him in a frustrated tone.

Hawkeye looked him straight in the eye and started to yell. "It means that when it comes to perfect family man, you're pretty damn close. I know you don't see it, but other people do. Don't you know that your wife loves you like crazy? Can't you see that Erin thinks the world of you? What about the countless other friends that have done nothing but have your back for all these years? Now stop moping: you're better than that." Erin turned to look at the two of them. They remained silent, and she went back to her playing.

"I guess you right." B.J. said with a sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck. "But Hawk, that was all before the war. Korea changed everything.

Hawkeye thought for a moment before replying in a much gentler tone of voice than before. "Beej, Korea changed all of us. Radar lost his innocence. Frank lost what little sanity he had left. Henry lost his life. And Klinger went home with a much better understanding of women's fashion. But change doesn't mean you can't return to the good life with your family. You're wounded from the war, that's all. Look at all the wounded boys we worked on: why should you be any different? Everyone got hurt over there."

"Yeah, well I shouldn't have been over there in the first place." B.J. said angrily. "This is all my fault."

At this point, Hawkeye was starting to get frustrated. "I'm sorry, did you just say that it's all your fault? Well, clearly you must be right. After all, you control the draft board for the United States Army. And while I'm at it, let's talk about how perfect of a doctor you are, right? You could never lose a patient. And don't get me started on perfect family man! I mean, really, you go beyond perfect. Your wife and daughter would never have any reason to be disappointed in you."

"That's ridiculous!" B.J. interjected.

"Exactly! Then why on earth do you hold yourself to that standard? Don't you see? When are you going to realize that you're not perfect? You're not the Hippocrates of Ouijongbu, and you're certainly not God. Now stop bullying my best friend over your unrealistic standards!"

Both stopped for a moment. Then, B.J. spoke up.

"Best friend, huh?" he asked with a hint of smile.

"Well…yeah." Hawkeye replied while smiling back. "I mean, that's what happens when you're forced to spend two years living right alongside each other and performing meatball surgery together. At the very least we have to like each other a little bit."

B.J. laughed. "I still can't believe you're here. I wasn't sure if I would ever see you again."

"Oh, so that's what the rock gardening back in Korea was about." Hawkeye replied. "But seriously…Beej, you have to let the people who love you help you. That's why Sidney and I came out here in the first place. When Peg told me what was going on-"

"Hold on a second." B.J. interrupted. "You still haven't told me how Peg found you."

"Well…" Hawkeye said, unsure of how much to tell B.J. After all, he didn't want to explain to B.J. why Peg had come to see him. That was her news to tell. "Uh…apparently a friend of Peg's lives out in Crabapple Cove. Peg was staying with her when they happened to run into me."

"Really?" B.J. asked. "That's crazy! I mean, what are the odds of Sally moving out to Crabapple Cove? Even then, the chance of her running into you is so slim."

"Oh, I don't know." Hawkeye said, trying to make his version of the story sound as believable as possible. "Crabapple Cove is a pretty small place. We all end up running into each other, literally, you know. Just the other day I nearly plowed down Marilyn Monroe.

"But still." B.J. said, trying to wrap his mind around the story instead of listening to Hawkeye. "How'd she recognize you?"

"Actually I recognized her." Hawkeye added quickly. "I guess you showing me her picture all the time back in Korea came in handy."

"Yeah, I guess…" B.J. said, still confused by the chance interaction Hawkeye described. However, Hawkeye did not want B.J. thinking about it too long, in case he realized just how fishy the story was.

"Anyway, as I was saying. You can't place all of this responsibility on yourself. I've been where you are. Well not exactly, but I've been my own way. It's not fun. And it's not easy, either. You have to be gentle with yourself, and give yourself time to heal. Trust me on this one."

"I guess." B.J. replied. "I mean, I know your right. But that still doesn't make it any easier."

"Well, you know, our lives have been nothing but easy."

"More like anything but. I just wish things would start getting better." B.J. said slowly.

"Well, things have changed, I can say that much." Hawkeye answered.

"That's for sure." B.J. replied. Suddenly, he remembered something. "You know, that reminds me of something Sidney said earlier."

"Oh yeah? Does it involve taking down pants and sliding on ice?"

"No, but he said that too." B.J. replied. "We were talking about how much the war changed everybody, and he said that it changed you too. He said to ask you about it later. The way he worded it made it sound like he was talking about something specific."

"Oh he did?" Hawkeye asked, realizing that Sidney must have been referring to Hawkeye's budding relationship with Margaret.

"So…how has the war changed you, Hawk?" B.J. asked him. "I guess I might as well ask you now while we're talking."

"It made me a sucker for nasty booze." Hawkeye replied quickly, trying to stall for time.

"C'mon, Hawkeye. It has to be more serious than that. If you can't tell your best friend, then who can you tell?"

"Well…alright. I wasn't planning on mentioning anything about it. But ever since we were in Korea, I guess I've had a change of heart, you know, regarding some things."

"Hawk, just spit it out." B.J. interrupted.

"Alright, I'm going. Anyway, once I got back, I ended up meeting someone…a woman, I mean. And well, we've been seeing each other for a little while. I guess I feel more serious about her than I have about a relationship in a while, since Carlye probably. That's what Sidney meant when he said that I'd changed too." Hawkeye didn't want to share that it was Margaret he was seeing. After all, what if things didn't work out between the two of them?

"A woman, huh? So, what's she like." At this point in the conversation, it looked less like two war-damaged men talking and more like two high-school boys chatting about girls in the locker-room.

"Well…she's pretty great." Hawkeye said with a boyish grin. Beautiful blonde woman. She's intelligent, too. Plus, she has a feisty side that makes me crazy. She's really something else."

"Sounds like it." B.J. said. "So what's the problem?"

"What makes you think there's a problem?" Hawkeye asked, surprised at how perceptive B.J. was.

"Well, the way you were so hesitant to tell me makes me think that something isn't quite right. Or is it just that you don't like to share secrets?"

"Alright, fine. You drove this secret out of me." Even though Hawkeye sounded slightly frustrated as he said this, he was actually glad to have someone to discuss his concerns with. "It's just that I'm usually more of a love-em and leave-em kind of guy. But this woman, she's different. She deserves better than that. I don't want to screw anything up with her. At this point, we aren't that serious…but if we end up there, I don't want to mess it up."

"Hmmm." B.J. replied thoughtfully. "You know, a wise man once said that one shouldn't be so hard on himself. That same man also said that the war changed everyone. Why shouldn't you be changed? It just means you value some people and relationships more than you did before."

"Using my own advice against me, huh?" Hawkeye said with a goofy glare.

"Well, if you can dish it you can take it." B.J. answered with a smile. "Seriously though, if you think this woman is special then treat her that way. Who knows where it will end up? Love isn't easy, but it's definitely worth it." As he said this, he turned in to the window and glanced at Peg.

"You're right." Hawkeye replied. "And who knows? If I haven't scared her off with my infantile behavior in a few months, maybe you can meet her when…whenever I see you next." Hawkeye had almost blown Peg's secret by saying 'when the baby is born', but luckily he recovered from his error quickly. Before B.J. had time to question his statement, Peg stepped out on the back porch.

"Dinner is ready whenever you are." she said with a quiet smile. "Hawkeye, will you be staying?"

"Sure, why not?" he replied. As they started to head in, Erin ran up to B.J.

"Daddy! Dr. Hawkeey stay?"

"Yes, sweetie. Hawkeye is staying for dinner." He replied as he lifted her up in the air.

"Yay!" He my friend." As she said this, she looked at her daddy, and noticing his grin, asked him a poignant question. "Daddy happy now?"

"I'm getting there, Erin" He said with a sad smile as he hugged her.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello all! Once again, thank you for being patient in waiting for this chapter. I finished my semester last week (finally), but I had to catch up on my Christmas shopping before I had time to sit down and edit the dialogue in this chapter. Anyway, there are a few episode references in this chapter:

"The More I See You" (S4, E23): In the chapter Hawkeye mentions that his last serious relationship was with Carlye Breslin. This is the episode where we are introduced to her and get to learn more about the seriousness of her and Hawkeye's relationship

Bombshells (S11, E6): The joke that Hawkeye makes about literally bumping into Marilyn Monroe is a small reference to this episode, where a rumor is accidently started that Marilyn is coming to the 4077.

"Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" (S11, E16): Hawkeye's joke about rock gardening is referring to when B.J. spelled out "goodbye" in rocks at the very end of the finale.

Thank you again for reading! It means the world to me that there are so many people interested in my story. I plan on posting several more chapters in the next month, so be on the lookout for those. As always, please feel free to review with any comments, questions, or constructive criticisms. Thanks again