2

"It is Hawkeye, I'll prove it. Ask him something that Hawkeye would know."

"Who was here before Charles?"

"Frank Burns, ferret face."

"Before B.J.?"

"Trapper John McIntyre."

"What's your hometown?"

"Crabapple Cove, Maine and my father is Daniel Peirce."

"It is him," Klinger gave up, "How did that happen?"

"We don't know yet, we're working on it," B.J. said half honestly, "Can we see colonel Potter?"

Klinger knocked on colonel Potters door.

"What is it?" The colonel asked from inside.

"Captain Peirce here to see you," Klinger called.

"What's he done now?" Potter mumbled.

Klinger nodded to B.J., who carried Hawkeye through the door. Colonel Potters face lit up when he saw him.

"Look at that, where did he come from Hunnicutt?"

"It's Hawkeye," B.J. and Klinger said in unison.

They told colonel Potter the whole story. He didn't believe it until he'd questioned Hawkeye himself.

"Come here Peirce," The colonel held out his arms.

B.J. reluctantly handed Hawkeye over to him. He instantly began to shake and look around nervously.

"He's still a little edgy about being held colonel," B.J. explained.

"That's understandable," He handed Hawkeye back to B.J..

"We have a little problem colonel," B.J. reminded.

"Yeah, I guess we do. I'll have Klinger call..."

"Sidney," Klinger finished, "I'm going."

B.J. took Hawkeye to the mess tent and got him some soup. Hawkeye refused to eat it and B.J. understood so he took Hawkeye back to the swamp.

It was mid-afternoon when Sidney arrived. B.J. and Hawkeye were in the Swamp playing checkers when he entered. Sidney stared at him.

"Wow, he really is little."

It was true, Hawkeye was pretty tiny for a toddler. It just made him look all the more weak and vulnerable. B.J. stood up to shake hands with Sidney. Hawkeye seemed to have a different reaction. He scrambled off his cot and began to back into the corner. B.J. caught him and picked him up, catching him off guard and scaring him.

"Here he is, Sidney," B.J. said.

Sidney looked at him curiously.

"Hi Hawkeye," He said gently, "How are you doing?"

Hawkeye didn't answer.

"Doesn't he talk?" Sidney asked B.J..

"He does, I think he's just kind of scared."

"I would be," Sidney agreed, "Can I hold him?"

Hawkeye dug his little hands into B.J.'s shirt. B.J. handed him gently to Sidney. As soon as he was in Sidney's arms he screamed. He howled and howled and didn't stop until Sidney handed him back to B.J..

He was still a little shaky, but appeared to calm down in B.J.'s arms. Sidney and B.J. watched him quizzically.

"Hawk, I thought we were over this," B.J. said gently.

Hawkeye didn't answer. B.J. held him for a little while longer before giving him back to Sidney. He screamed again. This time Sidney handed him immediately back to B.J.. He stopped screaming.

"B.J., can I talk to you outside?" Sidney asked.

B.J. seemed reluctant to leave Hawkeye, but set him down and stepped out with Sidney anyway. Once outside the Swamp, B.J. said in a low voice,

"Why is he afraid of you and not me?"

"Hi isn't afraid of me as a person, he's afraid of the fact that I'm there as a psychiatrist."

"But you've talked to him before."

"He was afraid then too, he just never said anything. I could tell but I never brought it up because it wasn't a problem when he could handle it. Now he's a lot smaller and a lot weaker. It scares him to have to depend on anyone and the things that made him edgy before will make him really edgy now."

"But he has to depend on me and he doesn't seem afraid."

"He depends mostly on you because he's less afraid of you than anyone else. Eventually he'll realize that you would never hurt him."

"You can tell all that just by holding him for ten seconds?"

"Yeah, I really would like to talk to him though. Maybe if you could come with us he'd feel a little more comfortable."

"It's worth a try," B.J. agreed.

"I'll come by again in a few hours so he has time to calm down. Talk to him. Try to make him open up to you a little."

"Okay," B.J. agreed.

Sidney went off to check in with colonel Potter and B.J. went back into the Swamp where Hawkeye was sitting on his cot.

"What did he say about me?" Hawkeye asked.

"He said your a little insecuree that's all," B.J. sat down next to him, "Why didn't you want to let him hold you?"

"I don't know, I just didn't."

"I understand. He's coming back in a couple of hours. Do you suppose you'd want to talk to him then?"

Hawkeye shook his head.

"What if I come with you?"

Hawkeye looked up, eyes reflecting fear.

"You don't have to let him hold you if you don't want to. He just wants to help get you out of this," B.J. assured.

Hawkeye still looked reluctant.

"He just wants to talk to you for a little while. You don't have to admit anything."

"He knows. That guy is creepy," Hawkeye said at last.

B.J. laughed.

"He just wants to help, Hawkeye. Besides I'll be there the whole time."

Hawkeye agreed reluctantly to let Sidney talk to him.

When Sidney arrived a few hours later he didn't try to take Hawkeye from B.J., but asked them both to sit down. B.J. did and put Hawkeye, who was fidgeting nervously, on his lap.

"Now, how did this happen?" Sidney asked.

With a little prodding, Hawkeye started the story, although B.J. told most of it while Hawkeye fidgeted on his lap.

"I don't work with the paranormal..." Sidney began.

"Pair of normal what?" B.J. asked, joking to lighten the mood.

Sidney ignored him.

"...But I do think I can make some conclusions."

"I'm not going to stop you," B.J. said, "What do you think it is?"

"Well, I'm not sure, but from what the you tell me the fairy said..." He looked at Hawkeye, who now had one of B.J.'s fingers in his tiny fist.

"Can I talk to you outside?" Sidney asked B.J..

B.J. again seemed reluctant to leave Hawkeye, but did it anyway.

"Poor Hawkeye," He said to Sidney once outside, "He's so small and scared. What is it?"

"Paranormal. I have a hunch about how you can help."

B.J. nodded for him to continue.

"This whole thing probably got started on account of insecureity and fear. But Hawkeye would never tell anyone, he always kept everything bottled up inside."

"So what, he's always done that?"

"Colonel Potter told me on the phone that he'd been having some bad dreams for the week before it happened. Did he say anything about them to you?"

"No, but it is true. He would wake up screaming and shaking. We all wanted to help but he wouldn't let us in."

"Exactly. Now this fairy had made it so he has no choice but to let someone in. My guess is it will go away after he tells you about everything that's hurting him that he's held up inside."

B.J. nodded understandingly.

"I'll stick around, see what comes up," Sidney assured.

"What do I do in the meantime?" B.J. asked.

"You're going to like this," Sidney smiled, "You've got a toddler at home, right? You just take care of him like he was a baby. That might help him to relax a little."

B.J. smiled back. He would like that. It had been so long since he'd held Erin and having another child to take care of might make him miss her a little less.

"Thanks Sid," B.J. said.

"See you," Sidney replied before heading off to the VIP tent.