Title: Suffer the Little Children
Characters: Father Mulcahy
Summary: Tragedy befalls the 4077th when Sister Theresa's orphanage is destroyed by shelling.
Rating: PG-13

Note: I used an online translator for the Korean. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

"RADAR!" Colonel Potter barked for his company clerk just as the office door swung open, with Corporal Radar O'Reilly walking in, clipboard in hand.

"Get Captain's Pierce and Hunnicutt in here, and Major Houllihan too," The Colonel was saying.

"Captain's Pierce and Hunnicutt and the Major are on their way, sir," Radar was replying at the same time.

"Good." Potter said, never failing to be amazed by how Radar was always one step ahead.

"What about Father Mulcahy, sir? Shouldn't he know?" Radar asked with a stricken look.

"Not yet, Radar…news like this would cripple him."

As prophesied, Hawkeye, BJ and Margaret all entered the colonel's office with curious looks.

"You wanted to see us, Colonel?" Margaret was asking.

"Sit down, all of you," Potter said with a thick voice as Radar left them alone. The two surgeons and head nurse exchanged grave looks but seated themselves at various stations in the room—Margaret in the chair in front of the Colonel's desk, Hawkeye on the edge of a small filing cabinet near the window flap, and BJ leaned next to the colonel's saddle. Potter laced his hands behind his back, looking at the floor as he tried to compose himself. "I've got some real bad news from I-CORP…Sister Theresa's orphanage was hit by shelling last night."

Margaret gasped. Her eyes filled with tears. "The children?"

Potter looked at her, his own eyes red and watery. "There were no survivors."

"GODDAMN IT!" Pierce yelled, slamming his fist down on the filing cabinet. "When is this madness going to end? How many more innocent lives need to be sacrificed?"

"Does Father Mulcahy know?" BJ asked.

"I haven't told him yet." Potter admitted.

"This is absolutely going to destroy him, you know that right?" Pierce was saying. "His whole life is centered around those kids. And now we're going to tell him they're all gone? Just like that? Blown up for no reason other than the insanity of the war?"

"That's why I called the three of you here," Potter said. "I'm afraid of what this news is going to do to the Padre, and I thought having you here might help me hold the pieces together when he falls apart."

Margaret was still sobbing, covering her mouth with her hand as she cried. BJ stood and offered her a handkerchief. "Those poor children."

"I know," Potter said gently. "We can all grieve later, but right now, we've got bigger fish to fry."

"They were just kids," Hawkeye reiterated, still in disbelief and shock.

"A war zone is no place for children," Margaret sniffed.

"Or for any of us," Hawkeye said.

Just about that time, Father Mulcahy came through the door, looking concerned at the sight of the Margaret in tears and the other doctors looking somewhere between somber and murderous.

"Excuse me, Colonel, but Radar said you needed to see me?"

"Padre, come in and have a seat." Potter instructed.

"Here, Father… sit here, please." Margaret said as she got up and rounded the chair.

"Oh…thank you, Major." Mulcahy said as he took the chair.

"There's no good way to say this," Potter prefaced. "Last night, around 2200 hours, heavy fire commenced in the vicinity of Sister Theresa's Orphanage."

"My God…" Mulcahy breathed.

"To retaliate, shells were dropped around the area…one of them landed on the orphanage, Father."

"What?" Mulcahy's shock and disbelief pained the other's in the room as they watched him try and comprehend what he'd just been told. "Colonel, you can't mean…"

Potter's eyes glistened with tears as he softly shook his head, "They haven't found any survivors, Padre."

Mulcahy's panama jack hat, which had been held in his hands, fell to the floor. Hawkeye watched the priest carefully, recognizing the pain and anguish and disbelief and anger towards the injustice as it shadowed Mulcahy's face.

"There…must be a mistake," Mulcahy said slowly, hopefully. "Surely this can't be true…"

"I'm afraid not, John." Potter said as he came around the desk and placed his hand on Mulcahy's shoulder.

Mulcahy staggered to his feet, raking a hand through his short white-blonde hair. "I have to go, Colonel. I have to go over there."

"Padre, there's nothing left but a pile of rubble."

"NO!" Mulcahy raised his voice defiantly, refusing…or unable…to believe what had happened.

"I'll go with him, Colonel," Hawkeye offered, getting to his feet. He knew that Mulcahy wouldn't be able to accept it until he'd seen it with his own eyes and Hawkeye doubted that anyone else would be able to help the priest when the man finally broke down. If he was honest, he wasn't sure he could help Mulcahy either, but he felt like he was closer to Mulcahy than any of the others in the room.

Potter simply nodded, knowing he wasn't going to win that argument. "I don't suppose I have to tell you both how dangerous this is?"

Mulcahy shot a look of ire at the Colonel, but said nothing. It was obvious that he longer he stood there, the more agitated he was getting.

"Dismissed," Potter told them all quietly.

Mulcahy was the first out the door.

"Father!" Hawkeye cried out as the jeep lunged to the left, nearly ejecting him from his seat. "I hate to bother you, but do you think you could slow down a little so that we get there in one piece?"

Mulcahy was white-knuckled on the steering wheel and didn't appear to hear Hawkeye, but Hawkeye felt the jeep slow marginally as they rounded the next turn in the road. They were only a few miles from the orphanage. Mulcahy had said nothing during the entire trip, other than the fact that he was driving. Hawkeye hadn't argued, and hadn't felt much like trying to engage Mulcahy in idle chatter. The situation they were in was grave and Hawkeye had no way of knowing what they would see when they got there. He wondered if the bodies had been disposed of, or if they were still lying trapped in the rubble. That thought made him sick.

When the orphanage finally came into view, Hawkeye heard a strangle sob escape the priest and chanced a look at Mulcahy. Mulcahy had gone pale and his face held an expression of shocked disbelief and utter grief.

Did I just hear his heart break or was that his faith shattering? Hawkeye thought acrimoniously, feeling sorry for Mulcahy.

The jeep rolled to a stop in front of the collapsed building and they both stared at it in disbelief before Mulcahy climbed out. Hawkeye unfolded himself from the jeep as well, watching Mulcahy mutter in Latin as he crossed himself, walking around to survey the rubble.

John couldn't believe his eyes. How could this have happened? By the look of the building, the blast had been intense. John could only hope that the children felt no pain or suffering when it happened. His eyes blurred with tears and he blinked them away, letting them roll down his cheeks. His eyes caught on something buried between two jagged pieces of rubble and he carefully stepped over large pieces of the building until he came to it. He struggled to pick up one of the heavier pieces covering the object, finally managing to shift it away and uncovering a small stuffed animals, singed and dirty.

Hawkeye watched as Mulcahy bent down and retrieved the object from the rest of the debris, recognizing it as a small teddy bear. He could see the devastation on the priest's face even from this distance and watched Mulcahy stumble out of the rubble as he clutched the bear in one hand. Hawkeye was about to say something, though he didn't know what, when he saw Mulcahy fall to his knees before becoming violently ill. When Mulcahy was reduced to dry heaves and sobs, Hawkeye moved over to squat beside him, placing a comforting hand on the Father's shoulder. He could feel Mulcahy tense before the priest threw his head back, releasing a primal scream that could only be described as sheer agony.

Hawkeye heard a rustle in the nearby bushes and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he jerked his head around, trying to see who else was out there with him. He could barely believe his eyes as he saw a small face staring back at him. Hawkeye shook Mulcahy by the shoulder. "Father!"

Mulcahy turned his sad wet eyes in the direction Hawkeye was looking just as a young girl in a nightdress stepped out into the clearing. She was scrapped and dirty, but alive. Mulcahy was on his feet running towards the girl just about the same time she was running with arms outstretched towards him. Hawkeye watched the priest practically slide the rest of the way on his knees, as the girl ran straight into his arms, flinging her own small arms around his neck and wrapping her legs tightly around his waist.

Hawkeye grabbed his field kit from the jeep and hurried to them. "Let me see her," he said gently to the priest. Mulcahy gently pulled the girl's arms from around his neck, sitting himself on the ground cross legged an setting her in his lap so that Hawkeye could look at her. She took the stuffed animal from Mulcahy's hand, looking up at him as if seeking permission and he smiled down at her, smoothing her dirty hair back from her face as he placed a kiss on top of her head. "Are there any others?" Hawkeye asked as he looked at the superficial scrapes.

"eolin-i?" Mulcahy asked in one of the few Korean words he'd learned. "deo sal-a"

The girl looked at Mulcahy with wide eyes but shook her head no.

"She's the only one," Mulcahy said tightly.

"Well, let's get her out of here," Hawkeye said, still feeling as though there was something more sinister watching them from the bushes.

Mulcahy picked up the girl, and carried her back to the jeep. He held her in his lap as he let Hawkeye take the wheel, hugging her tightly as she rested her head against his chest and clung onto the teddy bear. "Thank God we came."

As they pulled into the camp, Margaret ran towards the jeep, having obviously seen their approach. She looked shocked to see the girl, touching the child as if not sure if she was alive or dead. "Is she the only one, Father?"

"I'm afraid so," he said somberly.

"Do you know her name?"

"Mee-Kyong." He told Margaret, trying to pass the girl over to the woman.

"abeoji!" The girl cried as she flung her arms again around Mulcahy's neck. "abeoji!"

"Oh dear…" Mulcahy said as he held onto the girl.

"What's she saying, Father?" Hawkeye asked as he came around the jeep.

"I think she's saying she only wants me. Abeoji means Father."

Mulcahy managed to maneuver out of the jeep holding the little girl. "Hawkeye, I wonder if you could go down to Rosie's bar and convince one of the waitresses to possibly act as a translator for us? The Korean I do know is very limited."

"Sure, Father."

"Bring her into post-op, Father," Margaret said. "We can get her cleaned up there and get her something clean to wear.

Mulcahy carried Mee-Kyong into post-op and sat with her on one of the beds as Margaret pulled over a privacy screen so that the patients currently recovering from surgery wouldn't be able to watch. The girl finally released his neck when it didn't appear that he would leave her, but stayed in his lap. Colonel Potter came around the privacy screen.

"I hear we have a survivor."

"The only one, I'm afraid." Mulcahy replied somberly, before looking back at the girl. "But I'll certainly take it over no survivors."

"Wonders never cease how one small child can survive something like that."

Margaret came over carrying a white gown and a bowl of warm water with a sponge and a few towels. She sat next to Father Mulcahy, placing the bowl between them and picking up one of the girl's scrawny arms as she began to sponge away the dirt. "We're lucky she knows you, Father. At least she knows she's got one person in this camp she's safe with."

"Yes," he agreed, distractedly, his mind consumed with thoughts of the other children who had not survived and of Sister Theresa. He didn't dare question why God had saved this one girl but no others, but he still couldn't help but feel embittered by it.

By the time Marget had nearly gotten the girl somewhat cleaned, Hawkeye returned with one of the waitresses from the bar.

"Hi, Father," the young woman said, bowing her head a little to him.

"Thank you for coming so quickly," Mulcahy said gently. "Can you please explain to her that she's safe now and that she can trust all of the people here?"

The woman spoke gently to the girl and Mulcahy, Margaret, Hawkeye and Potter all listened as the two Koreans spoke back and forth for a few minutes. Finally, the woman looked to Mulcahy.

"She say she is hungry."

Mulcahy couldn't help but laugh, hugging Mee-Kyong against his chest. "Well, please tell her we have plenty for her to eat just as soon as Major Houilhan gets her cleaned up."

As the woman explained this to the child, the young girl slipped off of Mulcahy's lap, standing before Margaret and holding out her hands. The others beamed at her and Mulcahy finally stood up next to Hawkeye as Margaret finished cleaning her up.

"You've got your work cut out for you now, Father," Hawkeye said gently, then quietly. "What happens to her now?"

"I will have to try and find a new orphanage for her," he sighed, feeling distraught by that idea. "She can't stay here with us, I'm afraid."

"Something tells me she's not going to want to leave you," Hawkeye murmured.

"I fear you may be right," Mulcahy agreed. "She's lost so much. I'm quite literally the only person she knows now."

TBC