Hawkeye heard a loud bang outside and his eyes jerked open. He moaned as he slowly gained consciousness and began to feel the effects of the night before. He closed his eyes tightly, hoping that it would help; it didn't. He felt something move beside him and he tentatively opened his eyes again.
The corners of his mouth began to tug upwards as he watched Margaret sleeping beside him. It had been one hell of a party the night before.
There was a knock at the door and Hawkeye winced at the noise.
"Cap'n Pierce?" Radar whispered. "Cap'n Pierce, are you awake?"
Hawkeye moaned in response, hoping Radar would just leave.
"My head hurts too you know," the boy complained. "But I got up anyway to let you know that Cap'n Hunicutt and Major Winchester got back this morning. They're really confused."
Hawkeye found himself smiling in spite of his splitting headache. Hawkeye decided to let them puzzle over the mess a little longer. He pulled Margaret closer to him and closed his eyes.
"I got you some coffee," Radar continued. Hawkeye pulled himself up a little too quickly and eagerly jerked open the door, grabbing the two steaming mugs of coffee. Hawkeye sipped it cautiously and smiled in amusement as Radar peeked curiously inside the tent.
"Peeping Tom," Hawkeye whispered fiendishly. Radar blushed and mumbled a response as he staggered back to the office. Hawkeye made his way back to the mattresses they had thrown on the floor and put a gentle hand on his wife's back. He leaned over her, waving the mug of hot liquid under her nose.
Margaret's eyes fluttered open and she immediately began to whimper, reaching for her head.
"Here, this might help." Hawkeye whispered, handing her a cup. Margaret only groaned and buried her face into her pillow. Hawkeye sat both mugs down and laid back down, stroking her back comfortingly.
"You had a heck of a lot to drink last night Hot Lips, even more than I did, if that's possible." Hawkeye chuckled cynically, feeling sorry for his new bride. He had gotten used to the constant headache over the past year and a half, but she hardly ever got drunk, as she fully knew how it affected her.
"How 'bout a shower?" He suggested quietly. "I'll even promise not to pester you."
Margaret tentatively turned her head so she was facing Hawkeye and opened her eyes slightly. She frowned for a moment and then rolled her eyes as everything began to make sense.
"That was some party." She said in disbelief as she thought about the night before. "Oh god," she groaned," I'm surprised I'm still alive." Hawkeye smiled and kissed her forehead.
"Well I'm glad you are." He said sincerely before grinning wickedly. "If you had died I really would have missed your sexy little ass."
Margaret's eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed until her eyes flashed angrily through narrow slits. Hawkeye smiled as he saw the corners of her mouth begin to twitch upwards.
"Pervert," she muttered as shakily rose while untwisting her slip. Finally Margaret relented and smiled. "I think I'll take your advice on that shower." She whispered as she tightly wrapped Hawkeye's robe around her.
Hawkeye watched as Margaret stumbled out of the tent and made her way towards the showers. He smiled contentedly and then stood up to get dressed.
A few minutes later Hawkeye unsteadily made his way towards the mess tent, smiling in amusement at the littered compound. He walked inside the large tent to find BJ and Charles completely alone, extreme bewilderment etched on their faces.
They both sat up straight when they noticed him, both men desperately wanting to ask the obvious, but for some reason held their tongues.
"Hey Beej," Hawkeye greeted, thoroughly satisfied with their confusion. "How was Tokyo?" He grabbed another cup of coffee and sat down across from the two men.
"It was okay," BJ said evasively, still completely preoccupied with wondering what his friend had been up to while he was gone.
"That's nice," Hawkeye mumbled staring sleepily into his coffee. Colonel Potter shuffled into the tent, still in his old, thread-bare, blue and white robe.
The older man nodded towards the surgeons and sat beside Pierce, resting his head in his hands.
"How much?" Potter directed his question to Hawkeye, who shrugged.
"A lot," was all he responded, knowing the CO was referring to how much they had to drink.
"Damn that was some party."
BJ opened his mouth, trying to form a question, but he was cut off as Margaret crashed through the double doors, wearing her dress uniform.
After eagerly grabbing Hawkeye's coffee away from him, she sat down beside Colonel Potter, so the man was seated in between the new couple.
"What's with the getup?" Hawkeye asked his mouth splitting open with a large yawn.
Margaret laid her head down on the table and groaned. "Somebody stole my clothes." She mumbled. Charles grunted in amusement, imagining Margaret's angry reaction, BJ was still too confused to react at all.
Margaret turned her head slightly, so she was looking towards Hawkeye.
"So who's lost already?" she mumbled. Hawkeye shrugged and Colonel Potter chuckled softly. "Well, I believe Rizzo was out first, with two hours." The old man responded. "Then I believe Klinger lost at around…" Colonel Potter looked down at his watch and shook his head in amusement. "Well he will have lost in four minutes."
"Wow," Margaret began sarcastically. "Everyone certainly does have a lot of faith in us."
BJ and Charles both stiffened at the word us. Colonel Potter patted the woman's back. "Well, I bet ten years and Radar guess far out of anyone else's."
Hawkeye raised his head curiously. "What did he bet?"
Potter smiled softly and looked back and forth between the couple. "A lifetime," he muttered quietly as he stood up, silently encouraging Margaret to sit beside her husband. She scooted over compliantly and Hawkeye put his arm over her shoulders and winked at BJ.
"Come on Beej, you know you're dying to ask." BJ's mouth opened, trying to decide exactly how to form his question. However, Charles, who never had any trouble in deciding what to say, beat him to it.
"Good God, Margaret, what have you done?" an expression of disgust etched onto his face.
Margaret didn't even bother to lift her head; she simply slid her left hand out for Charles and BJ to examine.
BJ quickly grabbed her hand to scrutinize the ring. "It's pretty isn't it?" Hawkeye asked smugly, while he poked at his food tiresomely.
"Hawk did you… um…" BJ stuttered. Margaret took her hand back and lifted her head a few inches off the table, rolling her eyes at Hawkeye's self-satisfaction.
"How do you like it?" she asked purposefully. "This arrogant jackass to my right convinced me to wear it yesterday."
Finally BJ seemed to find his tongue and he began to laugh loudly, shaking his head in astonishment. "I don't believe it!" he gasped out.
"It's true," Margaret assured him, her voice completely flat. "It's certainly horrible, but it is true." BJ looked at Margaret and Hawkeye strangely, wondering at their bitter sounding comments. He was at a complete loss until he noticed Margaret look sideways at Hawkeye, a distinctive twinkle of amusement in her eyes.
BJ rolled his eyes, and began to chuckle softly. He stood up and left the tent, watching the new couple out of the corner of his eye while they continued to hurl blame and accusations back and forth.
Charles left the table and caught up with BJ. BJ looked at him and grinned broadly. "Ain't love grand?"
Finis
Yay! I finally finished this story! I haved decided to continue the story, it will most likely turn into a trilogy. I'm not certain if anyone wants to follow it all the way through, but I'm doing it anyway. The second story will focus on the year and a half left at the 4077th. And the third one will be when everyone heads home. Thanks so much to all my faithful reviewers! You guys make writting these stories withwhile!
-Major-Baby