Title: Safe and Sound

Author: Monker

Rating: K (G)

Summery: This is a short oneshot that takes place after the war. It is just a short story about the friendship Charles shares with his sister, Honoria. It's just some sweet Bother/Sister moments. Both Charles and Honoria are adults. There is absalutely ZERO amount of incest in this story.

Disclaimer: I don't own MASH and receive no payment of any kind through this work of fiction.

Author's Note: This came to mind after I watched "Run for the Money". This is my first MASH fic but I've been a huge fan of the show for a long time. I hope you guys enjoy the story. Reviews are always welcome!

Ok, deep breath in…deep breath out…here we go…

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"Goodnight m-mother, goodnight, father."

"Goodnight darling, sweet dreams," Mr. and Mrs. Winchester bid their daughter a goodnight as they both gave her a kiss to the head. She wished the help a peaceful night and they returned the gesture, then she set off to her room. It was dark as Honoria climbed the stairs to the mansion's second floor, but she didn't mind. She had walked those stairs hundreds of times through the years and knew each step vividly. She was taking the long way to her room, going up the east staircase. But she didn't care. She wanted to pass his room. As she approached her brother's room she practically held her breath, straining to hear him inside. She could just barely hear his soft breath from behind the door as he slept. Honoria smiled to herself. It had been too long since anyone was heard sleeping in that room, it had been left unoccupied for the past two years.

Without thinking of what she was doing, Honoria opened the door and stepped silently into the room. The carpeting was soft under her feet and absorbed the noise and she treaded ever so lightly across the room to the desk by the back wall. She grabbed the chair and slowly pulled it out from under the desk. She picked it up in order to avoid making any dragging sounds and placed it by her brother's bed. Then she sat down in the chair and proceeded to watch her brother as he slept. He seemed so peaceful and calm, almost like he had never left. But she knew the contrary. He had left all right.

"Not that one, Henry. I'm taking this one with me aboard the plane," Charles said as he took a small bag from the chauffer's hand.

"Right you are, sir," the man replied politely before continuing to unload the rest of Master Charles' luggage.

Charles looked up toward the sky just in time to see one of the large airliners climb in altitude over head. When he lowered his gaze again it landed square on his little sister's watering eyes. He walked up to her with an encouraging smile on his face.

"Honoria," he said, resting a hand on each of her shoulders, "Come now. Try to face this like an adult, won't you?"

"I'm t-t-t-trying Charles. It's just th-that…why you? You're c-certainly no SOLDIER! You've never even t-touched a weapon! You aren't the f-f-fighting kind, Charles. Why do they want you in k-k-k-Korea?" Honoria questioned.

"It was a draft, Honoria. You know as well as I do that I couldn't refuse it. And I'll be serving as a private physician for General Warren, remember? And I can assure you, dear sister… I will be at such a great distance from any and every form of combat that it will be like I never left the States."

"But you will have," Honoria muttered to herself as her eyes dropped to the ground.

"Honoria?" her brother's comforting voice pleaded for her to look up at him. She did.

"I'll go, I'll do my required service, and I'll return as quickly as that. Alright?"

"And you will stay s-safe?" she asked.

Charles closed his eyes and held up two fingers. "Scout's honor," he swore, then opened one eye and grinned at his sister.

They both simultaneously began laughing at his comment. Charles had never been a scout! How absurd would THAT have been? But as Charles turned to hug and kiss his mother and to give a firm handshake to his father, Honoria's laughter subsided. She knew he was in no position to be promising that to her. After all, he was going into a WAR zone! He could make no such promise to her. And that realization scared her so terribly much.

But he had kept his promise; he went, he served his time (though it DID end up taking a good deal longer then any of the Winchesters had anticipated), and he returned safely. And now he was there, sleeping so peacefully in his own bed. As the moon light snuck in through the sheer summer curtains it casted a luminous glow on the placid features of Charles as he slept.

Honoria smiled. She was so glad to have her big brother in the house again. It had been so lonely there without him. Charles was, after all, more than her brother…he was her best friend. And with him in Korea, Honoria's daily activities lessened dramatically. She found herself spending more time with her mother planning and attending various formal functions. She stepped outside of her comfort zone and broadened her social circle. She actually grew rather fond of the Westmier's youngest girl, Amelia. Once one moved past her mother's unseemly taste in jewelry and her father's unpalatably liberal opinions, Amelia was actually a rather pleasant girl and made for a good friend during Charles' absence.

The more she thought about it, the more Honoria realized just how much she had grown since her brother's departure those two years ago. And she could tell that he had changed too. Charles was so tired from all of his travels by the time that he finally returned home that he only stayed awake long enough to have a quick brandy and chat with his family before he retired to his room. But during those few short hours, Honoria noticed a change in her brother. He somehow seemed more…what was the word? Casual. He seemed more casual, not quite nonchalant. But definitely more easy-going than when he left. And he seemed to value everything a great deal more. When he first entered the house and the help was gathered to welcome him home, he went down the long line of them; one by one greeting them by name and thanking them for everything they had done in preparation for his arrival. It was so charming the way their faces lit up as he called them each by name. Oh, of course he had always been kind and generous with the help. But never had he seemed so genuinely happy to see them. And Honoria truly thought that everyone in the house was genuinely happy to see him in return. They were just glad to have him home, safe and sound.

Safe…oh how glad she was that he was SAFE! There had been countless nights when she would awake to find herself crying in her sleep from another one of those terrifying dreams; the dreams in which her brother is surrounded by explosions and bullets as he tries to save some young man's life. But while he's focusing on keeping the boy safe a rebellious bullet or ill aimed missile strikes him dead where he lay. Or maybe he was out for a walk on a beautiful day and strayed too close to the mine field and would be too far away from the camp for anyone to hear his cries of pain. Yes, she knew each of those dreams all too vividly. At first she was having them every night, then as the months went past they became less and less frequent until she was only experiencing them a few times a month. But the amount didn't matter, one of those dreams was enough to have her scared senseless for a lifetime. Honoria felt a tear slip from her eye as she remembered how frightened she was for her brother's life. 'But now he's home Honoria,' she told herself, 'and you won't have to worry about any of that anymore.'

Charles stirred in his sleep before opening his eyes and bringing his hand up to his face to inspect the cold wet drop that had landed on his hand. 'Is that a tear?' he thought to himself. He soon noticed the person sitting next to his bed and quickly reached to the lamp next to his bed. His face looked tired and concerned as he sat up a little in his bed.

"Good heavens Honoria, what are you doing?" he asked as he rubbed his eye gently.

"Charles!" she cried as she fell forward to wrap her arms around his neck. "I'm s-s-so glad you're safe!" she wept into her brother's shoulder.

"Okay, aaalright. It's okay. Shhh…You're alright," he said softly as he hugged his little sister and rubbed soothing circles into her back. He brought his right hand up to his face and wiped his own tears away. He finally let it hit him just how much he had missed his baby sister. And he reveled in the feel of her in his arms again and the sound of her radiant voice and the sight of her gorgeous brown eyes. Oh, he missed her! He pulled away from his sister only long enough to make room for her on his king sized bed. She climbed in next to him and cuddled up against his shoulder.

Charles smiled to himself, 'She's always been a cuddler' he thought.

"y-You can't imagine h-how w-worried I've been these past t-t-t-two years! I'm just glad you're h-home!"

"Yes," Charles said in an almost far off voice, "I'm rather glad myself."

"It hasn't b-been the s-s-same without you, Charles. I fear yourphonograph has been unf-f-airly neglected in your absence."

He laughed softly, "Well, we'll have to rectify that as soon as possible now won't we?"

Then brother and sister fell quiet. Charles continued to hold her just like that. And it was in that position that they stayed for a good while, simply enjoying the proximity to each other that they had been denied for those long two years. Finally Charles spoke, "You know, I can remember holding you just like this when you were still but a babe."

"Really?" Honoria asked, bringing her head up to look him in the eye.

He looked at her and nodded the affirmative. "When you were still very young and would start to cry during the night, I would come to get you. Mother and father would be asleep in the west wing. But my room was separated from yours only by the conjoining nursery, remember?"

"Yes, I do," she nodded and placed her head back down on his chest.

"I would hear you cry and would go into your room, retrieve you from your crib and take you over that that huge armchair by the window."

"What ever happened t-to that armch-ch-chair?" Honoria asked.

Charles inclined his head as if to think, "I believe mother donated it to some charity auction."

Honoria nodded, "That s-s-sounds like something mother would d-do."

Charles chuckled, "Indeed it does."

"Then what would y-you do?" She wanted him to keep talking. She needed to really believe that this wasn't a dream; that he really was home. And with her ear pressed up against his chest, each word he uttered gave a low rumble at his core. It was a sound that soothed her ever since she could remember, and she liked hearing it at that moment.

"I would try to calm you down. Sometimes I would sing to you that lullaby mother always sang. Or I would think up a story to tell you, you usually liked my stories, or I would try to tell you a joke I had heard."

"A J-JOKE? Oh, Charles, t-tell me a joke!" she said with excitement.

"Now? Honoria, I can't think of one now!"

"Please?" she begged with a smile, knowing he couldn't resist.

Charles sighed in defeat as he tried to think of a good joke. The only joke that came to mind was a stupid one he heard Pierce tell Hunnicut one time. But it would have to do, "Alright, alright," He cleared his throat, "I can't believe I'm about to tell this stupid joke..."

Honoria nudged him in the side for him to continue.

"Alright, what's gray and sort of gooey?"

She waited for the punch line.

"…a melted penguin," Charles muttered as though he loathed every ounce of that joke.

Honoria gave a rather unladylike snort which gained her an amused cocked eyebrow from Charles. She straightened up and said, "That was stupid."

Charles chuckled, "But at least you laughed."

Then they drew quiet once again. Honoria was quickly growing tired. After about five minutes of silence she spoke into the still air of the room, not knowing if he was asleep or not. "Charles?" she asked.

"Mhmm?" he responded sleepily.

"I l-love you."

He kissed the top of her head before saying, "I love you too, Honoria."

"Goodnight, Wonderboy."

Charles chuckled at his sister's old nickname for him. "Goodnight, Squirt," he replied.

Then they both slipped off into a comfortable sleep free from those terrible dreams.

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There you go, I hope you enjoyed it! Leave a review if you'd like!

Author's Note: Ok…I wasn't sure if I should put the penguin joke in but finally decided that I needed to. It was seriously the ONLY joke I could think of, and it makes me laugh when I'm really tired so I thought I might as well. Plus, Charles needed a joke and that was all I could give him. I hope it wasn't THAT stupid on screen and I hope it flowed well.

Thanks for reading!! --Monker