M*A*S*H - the movie

Hawkeye attempts to apologize to Margaret for collapsing the shower tent while she was in there.

This story is written after the sexual harassment scene in the MASH movie where the camp collapses the shower tent while Margaret is bathing. However, I picture the characters from the TV, as that Hawkeye is less lecherous and a better person.

It had been two weeks since the shower incident. Margaret hadn't resigned her commission. But she also hadn't forgiven or forgotten what had happened. And who could blame her? It had been a major violation of her privacy. She had been humiliated in front of most of the camp. Her coworkers.

In response, Margaret had shut down and shut out everyone. She stuck to herself, only speaking to people for work. She kept to her tent except when absolutely necessary. Other than brief forays into the mess tent for food, or her shifts at work, she was never seen. She also had not returned to the showers. She'd started to bathe herself in her tent when alone, washing her hair in a bucket of water. No on saw her. She kept her door barred when she was inside her tent. She trusted no one; for good reason.

Hawkeye felt terrible. He thought she'd get over it and return to her old ways of bossing everyone around. But she hadn't. He'd said sorry to her the day after the incident, after everyone had stopped laughing in front of her face. But that clearly hadn't worked. He decided he needed to do something more.

That's why he was at her tent door this evening, knocking frantically.

"Margaret?" He spoke gently. No response. "It's me... Hawkeye. Can we talk?" He paused again. Hoping to hear a response but not holding his breath, "I know you're in there. You're always in there." He waited, trying to be patient, trying not to be too worried.

Margaret was in there. She'd been reading a novel. She'd gotten a lot of reading done since becoming a hermit. When she'd heard the knock at her door, she'd put a bookmark in her book and listened to hear if it was important. It wasn't. Just that asshole Hawkeye. What did he want? Probably trying to trick her into a false sense of security so he could humiliate her again. Well, she was done with that. They'd humiliated her enough. The only way to win was to not play into his games. She remained silent, hoping he'd leave. She was strong, she couldn't ignore him. Or, she should avoid him and pretend to be strong. Her chest ached and a lump formed in her throat at the sound of Hawkeye's voice. She wouldn't have responded even if she's wanted, knowing she'd start crying if she did. She felt so humiliated. All she could think about now walking around camp was how everyone had seen her naked. Nothing could undo that. No apology could fix what had happened.

The next day.

Hawkeye had been thinking about how he could prove to Margaret he was sorry. He wanted his friend back. He wanted Maragert to talk to him again, argue with him, banter back and forth, flirt even (when he was lucky). He had a great idea. He decided to reveal it at dinner, when he knew Margaret would be in the mess tent grabbing food after her day shift.

His idea was very revealing. He walked into the full tent fully nude, exposing himself to all the unwilling viewer. There were several whistles, but his eyes were scanning the tent looking for Margaret. He saw her turn her head at the commotion, stare at him for a second, then she picked up her tray and left the tent, not giving him another look. Hawkeye realized he'd fucked up.

Hawkeye grabbed his bathrobe that he'd discared at the entrance of the mess tent and ran after her, quickly covering his nudity. "Margaret... please", his voice cracked as he spoke, panting from running and thick with emotion. "Please. I don't know what to do to get you to forgive me. Please. Tell me how to fix it." At the door to her tent, Hawkeye got desperate and grabbed her arm, stopping her from escaping into her tent. "Margaret. Please." Hawkeye implored. "You have to let me in. Give me a chance." he implored.

"I don't have to anything!" Margaret shouted in his face. "You've humiliated me enough. I don't know what this attempt is, but I am done playing your games! I am done with..."

"Listen. Please" Hawkeye cut her off. "No more games. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I fucked up. That was way past the line. That was really really shitty of me to violate your privacy like that. It was all my fault. I am a terrible person for doing that. I can't undo that. But, I can't stand losing you as a friend. I will do anything to fix that. That's why I did this tonight. I... I thought it would help. Again, another stupid idea. But please, believe me when I say I want to fix it. So, please, just tell me what to do. What can I do?" He went silent, staring into Margaret's eyes, still holding her arm firmly, afraid she's run if he let go.

Margaret stared at him, breathing heavy. She was silent for several breaths. Finally she spoke. "Some things can't be fixed." She said in a slow, quiet voice. "You humiliated me in front of everyone. You can't take that back. You can't undo that. And parading around proudly showing off yourself doesn't do anything." She glared at him.

Hawkeye continued to stare into her eyes. She was staring daggers at him; his eyes showed fear. He was starting to panic at the thought of not being able to fix this. Margaret noticed the fear. It made her take a deep breath and think. Maybe he really was sorry.

"Even if you are sincere... there's no way to fix it. I'm the laughing stock of the camp." Margaret shrugged off Hawkeye's hand from her arm, and crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself.

"Margaret." Hawkeye whispered, reaching out to wrap both is arms around her in a hug, pulling her to himself. "They'll forget. They'll move one. They all still respect you because you're the best nurse. You're brilliant. You could walk around the whole camp naked daily and they'd still all respect your nursing skills." Hawkeye gave her a squeeze, holding his breath because he was optimistic that she hadn't pulled away from him. "And I will never go too far with the jokes again. I was so scared I'd lost you as a friend. That would be horrible."

The two of them stood there, Hawkeye embracing Margaret in his arms as Margaret allowed him to hold her.

Finally, she stepped back so she could turn her head to look up at him. "You mean it?" She whispered hesitantly.

"Yes." Hawkeye stated with conviction. "I can't promise not to be an annoying ass. But I have learned my lesson and I don't want to hurt you." He gave her a kiss on the head then pulled back so they could look each other in the eyes, arms wrapped around each other.

"ok" Margaret whispered.