M*A*S*H 4077 By Taylor Froelich and Sammi Simonar

Day 8: M*A*S*H Compound, Post-Op, 1830 Hours

Day 8: M*A*S*H Compound, Post-Op, 1830 Hours

"You saw what she did to that soldier! She attacked him, and now it'll take twice as long for both of them to heal. Who's to say she won't attack someone else, including her cousin?" Winchester reasoned in his posh Bostonian accent.

"She wouldn't do that to Jess. I know she wouldn't. And the only reason Dalli attacked the North Korean was because he had a grenade. Jess is smart enough to not try something crazy like that. I know it!" Hawkeye repeated with conviction.

"No, Pierce, you don't know either of them. They are just patients, we get thousands of them every day, patch them up, ship them out, and get on with our lives!" Winchester shouted.

"They are my nieces!!" Piece shouts in a rage.

Everyone in post-op had been listening to their shouting match, including B.J. who was warily standing watch in case Hawkeye got mad enough to throw a punch.

Everyone had heard it, including Dalli. Her eyes grew wide when Hawkeye had said 'nieces', but she didn't say anything. She was still refusing to talk.

"Does Colonel Potter know about the girls being your nieces?" Winchester inquired accusingly.

"Why do you want to know?" Pierce snapped, answering Winchester's question with a question.

"I have a right to know," Winchester jeered back at Hawkeye.

Hawkeye opened his mouth to reply just as Colonel Potter walked into post-op and demanded with authority, "What was all the shouting about?"

"Winchester told Jess that she wasn't allowed to talk to her cousin," Hawkeye explained.

"I had asked Jess if she could try and get Dalli to talk to her again," Colonel Potter informed Winchester, giving him a pointed look.

"In my personal preference, Colonel, I think Dalli is dangerous for Jess to be around, but Captain Pierce told me that she wouldn't hurt her," Winchester stated.

"I believe that Captain Pierce is right," Colonel Potter answered decisively.

"Yes sir, Colonel," Winchester mutters grudgingly, defeated. He exits post-op without another word.

After Hawkeye calms down enough that he's not going to blow up at the next person who approaches him anymore, he goes over to try and talk to Dalli, cause he knows she heard him say that she was his niece.

"Dalli, I-" Hawkeye starts but then falters. B.J. is standing a little ways back, watching Hawkeye and Dalli but not interfering.

Dalli stared blankly at the ceiling and ignored Hawkeye.

Pierce sighed and continued talking anyways, staring at the wall rather than Dalli. He knew she could hear him even if she was pretending she couldn't.

"I know I should have told you sooner. I told Jess earlier today, actually. She was happy, I'm sure she always hoped for someone else to take care of you two. Jess wanted to tell you right away, but B.J. and I didn't think it'd be a good idea. I didn't mean for you to hear that," Hawkeye explains, almost apologetically.

He stands up and turns to leave but then turns back and says, "Jess really misses talking to you. She might stop by later," he mentions in an offhanded way, but he was, in a way, trying to convince Dalli to talk to Jess later.