This is my first M*A*S*H fanfic. I don't own the characters and I make no profit from this.

This piece takes place in Season 2, directly after Operation Noselift. Thanks for reading!

Hawkeye Pierce stared at the small rip in the ceiling of his tent and sighed. The night, warm and muggy, left him too hot to sleep when using his scratchy, army-issued green blanket, and too chilled to sleep without it. The two men with whom he shared the Swamp were sound asleep - Trapper snoring softly and Frank mumbling in his dreams. Trapper, he could tune out. But Frank's outbursts were intermittent, punctuated with bursts of "Oh, Margaret," followed by contented little giggles.

The dark-haired man frowned, his thoughts turning to the head nurse. He could still read the panic in her eyes when he had burst into the supply tent earlier that day and found her pinned - unwillingly - under his "friend" Stosh. Hawkeye threw off the blanket and grabbed his ratty, red bathrobe - a gift from his father before he left for Korea - and crept out of the tent to get some fresh air.

Walking around the compound in the middle of the night did little to relieve his stress. He was so lost in thought that he soon found himself staring into the muzzle of a rifle.

"Don't shoot, lady," Hawkeye said to the soldier wearing a poodle shirt and saddle shoes. "This is my only clean shirt."

Klinger lowered his gun. "What are you still doing out here? You must have been wandering around in circles for the last half hour."

"I'm following my mind," the surgeon replied and Klinger nodded. Bouts of insomnia were common among the members of the 4077th. For some reason, days with less shelling and fewer casualties seemed to keep the soldiers awake at night.

"Carry on," Klinger replied, curtsying as Hawkeye passed by.

After lapping Margaret's tent twice, Hawkeye finally walked up to her door and knocked softly. When she didn't answer, he hissed, "Margaret."

A light turned on inside the tent and the woman in question opened the door wearing face cream, her hair up in curlers. "What do you want?" Her annoyance was evident, even though she spoke in a whisper.

"I need to talk to you. May I come in?"

Her eyes widened at first, but when she caught the pained look on his face, she relented. "Oh, all right. Hurry up. I don't want anyone else to see you in here."

Hawkeye ducked under her arm and took a couple of steps into her tent. "Nice place you've got here." The smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

Margaret didn't notice. She folded her arms, narrowed her gaze, and glared at him. "I'm assuming that you have a good reason for waking me up in the middle of the night, doctor?"

His eyes dropped to the floor and his shoulders slumped. "Yeah, about that." He looked up to find her staring quizzically at him. Hawkeye swallowed hard and forced himself to say the words out loud. "I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, his eyes dropped to the floor again.

"Sorry for what, doctor? For staring at me in the shower? For the time you destroyed my tent? For all of the pranks you've played on Frank?"

The eyes he raised to her were red-rimmed. "I'm sorry that Major Robbins tried to rape you," he whispered.

The head nurse stared past him to the door. "I can take care of myself, Captain," she said, stiffly. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself and he could see that she was trying to tune him out and withdraw from the conversation.

"Margaret, listen to me! I'm trying to apologize here." Hawkeye took a step toward her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She flinched at his touch and he dropped his hand from her arm.

"I'm fine," she whispered.

"Well, I'm not! I invited that animal up here and he tried to hurt you. I have no idea what he attempted with the nurses." At the mention of her nursing staff, the blond woman focused her attention back on Hawkeye. "And it's not like I can ask. I need you to check on them for me, Margaret. I need to know that no one else was hurt the way he tried to hurt you."

Margaret nodded. "All right."

When she looked at him, he ventured another step closer. "Are you all right?"

She nodded again, but didn't respond verbally. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders and rubbed her upper arms. After a minute, she whimpered and collapsed into his chest, sobbing violently, and he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's okay, Margaret. It's okay. I'm here. No one's going to hurt you." He stroked her hair and placed a gentle kiss on top of her head.

After allowing herself to cry for a few minutes, the head nurse stiffened and pulled away. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Hawkeye looked at her in bewilderment. "Margaret, you were assaulted today! You have a right to feel pain. Or maybe the army doesn't allow for that?"

She pointed at the door. "Get out!"

He held up his hands in mock defeat. "Okay, maybe I shouldn't have said that."

She turned her pointer finger toward him. "You have no idea what it takes to become a woman Major in this man's army."

Hawkeye blanched. "You mean that kind of thing happens all of the time?"

"Like you should talk! Staring after my nurses, treating them like objects, saying all of those lecherous and depraved things!"

"Now, hold on a minute, Margaret. I may joke about a lot of things but I've never once forced myself on a woman who wasn't willing."

Margaret stopped pointing. "No, I suppose you haven't," she said, in a quiet voice. Her eyes locked onto his troubled blue ones. "You really are upset by this, aren't you?"

He nodded. "Enough that I'm planning to file a complaint against my former 'friend.'"

Margaret shook her head. "I don't think that's necessary, Hawkeye. You found me in time." Her voice cracked over words.

"I'm just glad that I did." His voice wavered as well.

For a moment they stood there in silence, staring at each other. The heat in the tent was unbearable.

Margaret broke the mood first and cleared her throat. "Thank you for checking in on me, Captain Pierce. Good night."

He blinked his eyes and smiled at her. "Good night, Margaret." He was relieved when she gave him a genuine smile in return.

Hawkeye slipped out of the head nurse's tent, breathing a sigh of relief that she was okay. But he continued to pace around the camp for another hour. Now he couldn't sleep for other reasons.

END