As Hawkeye came back to their meeting spot after safely tucking his luggage away some minutes from where he was, he couldn't help but think that he was being followed. That nagging pain in the back of his head would not go away. The end of his hair was also standing on end as he strolled carefully through the dark woods, hopefully to see Claus and Klinger once more.

"Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to Grandma's house I go," he sang inanely and then whistled, as if to dispel the ache he was feeling. "Hi ho, hi ho, hi ho, hi ho…"

Equally disturbing thoughts wouldn't go away either. What happens after we meet this friend of Claus'? Where do we go from there? And what about poor Margaret, trapped in her tent, a murder charge over her head? And those MP's that followed us…are they Major Floyd's, out to arrest…or kill…us?

Hawkeye became relieved as he met back with Claus at their original meeting spot, but both of them said nothing, preferring to stand next to each other in an awkward silence. However, there was no sign of Klinger as of yet. Both assumed apprehensively that he was still trying to hide the remains of what was his Klinger Collection and wanted to find an appropriate spot before the ladies (and geishas) found it.

"So, who is this friend of yours?" Hawkeye asked randomly as he put his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.

"Somebody who might shed some light on this Major Floyd character, like I've told you many times before," Claus replied quietly, looking around the trees as if he, too, knew that they were being followed.

"Does he have a name?" Hawkeye started searching the dark arms that shielded them as well, seeing nothing but the invisible, slight destruction of the light breeze. "We keep asking that too, but John Doe is all I can come up with."

"It does not matter, like I've also said." Claus dismissed the question with a wave of his hand. "He is my trusted contact in Guam and that's all that matters. He commands many men and could get anything from anybody, like a torturer to a prisoner. He's been with me for many years now. I trust him with my life and that of my wife and son."

Hawkeye detected a tone of sadness in Claus' voice, just as he did when the German spoke of Winifred Curtis and their adapted son, but could not think of anything to console him. He could not imagine losing a woman so precious to you, other than family members, and was starting to feel a strange kinship towards Claus. He had lost a woman he loved in cold blood and Hawkeye himself lost his mother at an early age. He also was actually losing one of his closet female friends, the one everyone seems to think that he loved.

Do I though? As a friend, I'd go to the ends of the Earth for Margaret. To love her? I don't know. I don't think –

"Wait, did you hear that?" Claus stopped himself, turning to the left and then to the right. "Shh!"

"Hear what?" Hawkeye crouched down just as Claus did and eyed the area that his companion was inquiring about. "I didn't hear any –"

Suddenly, shots rang out.

~00~

It had been a long day already, the summer sun beaming down on the already hot jeep. BJ (and his companions, for sure) was in no mood to head back to the place where he could easily be detained for murder or, worse, killed by a firing squad. Already miles away from the 4077th, he was nervous about leaving. He had been following regulations since he came to Korea for the cocktail party that they called a war, albeit was a prankster along with Hawkeye. On the other hand, when he was arrested for murder and treason, he had been secluded in a tent with Charles and would have done anything to prove his innocence.

However, running away and escaping like Klinger seemed to prove his guilt, even if he wanted to find out the truth. And, for BJ, the stockade was no place for his family to visit him in.

They were almost to their destination even, a plane to Tokyo waiting for them. There was one more checkpoint in Kimpo that Charles had to drive through before they could board the plane and that one would have been the toughest, in BJ's opinion. The others were easy, since none had heard that they had been arrested for something that they had not done. Using Nurse Kellye (escaping along with them) as an excuse to go to Kimpo, claiming that she was sick and needed to be in Tokyo for further examination, both BJ and Charles drove through each MP's checkpoint without problems.

BJ, squirming apprehensively in the passenger seat of their jeep, anxiously twisted his fingers in a ball as they neared the final checkpoint. He was still unable to believe what had conspired within the past twenty-four hours (or even the last few days). Kellye, in the back seat still, was luckily sleeping peacefully, trying to ease away the hours in which she was interrogated, a hell in which she did not want to talk about. Charles, cool as a cucumber, drove with little effort, not showing his innermost thoughts other than his passive demeanor.

"Aren't you in the least bit worried, Charles?" BJ finally asked, untwisting his fingers. "Don't you think that Major Floyd would have radioed them by now? Don't you think that he would have figured out we escaped and would call the airports and his fellow over glorified police officers?"

"Hunnicutt, Hunnicutt, Hunnicutt…have you no faith in me?" Charles braked slowly as he saw an MP raise a sign, to tell them to stop. "We've easily managed to cause chaos in a camp where the action seems to be its middle name. A small part of the camp is in flames. Nurse Kellye was fortuitously in the next tent and dashed out with us. Rizzo had a jeep ready for us, eager to see us off."

"And it makes me wonder what we owe him now," BJ lamented.

Charles chortled as he handed his papers to the MP. When they were given them back without a problem, Charles pocketed them, driving and continuing the conversation. "Hunnicutt, we owe him nothing. He has been accused, like we have, but is awaiting his orders to vacate his usual sleeping corner. In the meantime, he has displayed an unusual distaste for Major Floyd and would do anything to discredit him. The man personally thinks that he alone is responsible for this…ruckus, as he calls it, in the camp. That should tell you something about the man who discovered, along with our Klinger and that Mess Tent maniac, a brutally murdered woman, cut down in her prime."

Charles hooked a right-hand turn, heading to the airport. They had about two miles to go.

BJ, still unsure about how they passed through (and wondering why Charles would indirectly mourn a woman killed), paused. Then: "Charles, I don't know how you did it, but you got us out of there in the nick of time. How did you do it?"

"Elementary, my dear Hunnicutt," Charles replied enthusiastically, although dripping with some sarcasm. "I told you that it was Klinger who gave me many ideas."

"It wasn't just Klinger, Charles. You've been planning this all along."

Charles smiled knowingly, unwilling to part with any information. BJ, on the other hand, had his own ideas of how his bunkmate might have pulled off their amazing escape.

"You had an idea that we were going down with Margaret," BJ theorized. "Since you've been so high and mighty, you had the connections some of us don't. You had the means. All you had to do was time it right, as you've always done things. You overheard Rizzo talk about Major Floyd, so you made a deal with him, especially since all of us, even him, seem to be accomplices in this murder. You forged some paperwork, although I don't know how. And you carried the fireworks that would have caused the distraction we needed."

"Pure speculation," Charles remarked, narrowly missing a pothole left behind by an explosion from long ago.

"If you say so." BJ was quiet for a moment before continuing. "You know, Charles, you could have let us in on the secret. We wouldn't have told a soul."

"And let Pierce run his mouth to the nearest nurse? I think not."

"Margaret would have had some hope."

"Hunnicutt, I have no idea who murdered Nurse Curtis, so my escape plans would have hardly given the poor major some hope of recovering her career and her reputation. Although, I must say, the latter seems to be telling me much more than I realized."

As Charles chuckled, BJ became infuriated. "And Hawkeye? What would you have said about his determination to kick Major Floyd out of the camp permanently?"

"Pierce is hardly an exterminator, so I cannot say whether or not he would help or hinder us in this quest to rid us of this pest. Besides, Hunnicutt, even you at the beginning of this were happily saying that you would stay out."

"Yeah, and now look where we are," BJ answered bitterly. "I might never see my family again after this. After going AWOL and trying to burn down a camp, I think the Army would be very unforgiving and throw us in the stockade, just as they did to Klinger when he escaped last time."

"And he was released," Charles pointed out as the neared the airport.

"Still…" BJ trailed mercifully, hearing Kellye stir in the back seat, yawning as she sat up.

Also unbelieving what she was seeing, Kellye rubbed her eyes in amazement. "We're out of the camp?" she asked excitedly. "We're in Kimpo?"

"Yes, my dear, we are," Charles replied, driving into the airport's gates and trying to find a safe parking spot. "And I think I see an Officers' Club over there. Shall we get a drink and eat a little before leaving for Tokyo?"

~00~

Hair disheveled and his uniform slightly singed from putting out the fire, Major Floyd stomped into Colonel Potter's office. Radar, seeing this as he sat on his cot, had no time to warn the major that Colonel Potter was busily talking on the phone, but could only protest as the double doors swung open violently. At the desk, a startled Colonel Potter stared, apologizing to the person on the other end, and hung up.

Folding his hands together, Colonel Potter continued to stare at Major Floyd, venom in his blue eyes. "What can I do for you, Major?" he asked carefully, fully aware that he had the power to rip his inferior to shreds. "Is the fire out? Are all of your prisoners accounted for and uninjured?"

"It seems like we have a problem here, Colonel," Floyd loudly exclaimed as Radar backed out of the office slowly. "Yes, a fire was started at the south end of the camp and was contained. Also, three of my prisoners are missing and my men have not been able to find them. The immediate area has been combed, but there are no traces of these three."

"And you're missing…?" Colonel Potter unfolded his hands and tapped his desk with his fingers with impatience. Inside, he was rejoicing, hoping that it was who he thought it was.

"Major Winchester, Captain Hunnicutt and Nurse Kellye are missing from their tents. Also, Colonel, there is a jeep from the Motor Pool unaccounted for. It's been assumed that they took it, although the person in charge of the area has not commented yet."

Colonel Potter had to repress a smile, appearing serious. "Anything else, Major?"

"Yes, Sir," Floyd replied, happiness reflected somewhat in his eyes. "We've found Captain Pierce and Corporal Klinger in Tokyo. Another person was with them, but is in serious condition at Tokyo General. That man, Claus Schultz, has been instigating in Army operations and will be tried when he has recovered."

Colonel Potter's heart sank. "And the other two?"

"Unharmed, as far as I know, Sir, but the details are sketchy, at best." Floyd executed his best salute. "I'll let you in on more when I get them, Colonel. Good day to you!"

The salute was returned, but not wholeheartedly. Colonel Potter barely even acknowledged Major Floyd leaving without a proper dismissal, but was more concerned over Hawkeye and Klinger than anything else. The man who led them to the information they have now seems to be one dead man, in his book, and nothing will stop Major Floyd from interrogating them to death, just as they almost did to Margaret.

Even unhurt, those two are in some fine trouble, trapped in a cell that they can't get out of. Hawkeye would be crazy without a nurse and Klinger would be putting in his best for a Section Eight.

Colonel Potter sighed, thinking. Hell's bells, though, I sure hope this time that Klinger has the most successful escape plan he'll ever complete…and the most outrageous of all.