Finding The 4077th

Adjustment

He looked at his son, taking in the determined expression of the small blond boy. Hawkeye raised an eyebrow, hoping to break through Chris's stubbornness. When that silent challenge did not seem to work, he shifted his demeanor. He put on a deep, angry scowl to show Chris just how serious the situation had become and that he was done negotiating. This wasn't up for discussion.

The change in the boy was immediate. He lost his angry frown as his eyes got big.

Chris gulped and put the phone near his ear. He wasn't about to get in trouble but he also wasn't going to talk. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't. The words would just get stuck in his head anyway, they felt trapped within his mind. He stood there, silently wrestling with his thoughts, fully aware that he was being weird.

He felt so hopeless and sad after Radar's departure that he wanted to disappear or hide away. To forget everyone who left him so that he could forget the pain instead of dealing with it. This in turn brought the side effect of him not talking but he couldn't help it. It was what he always did. It was how he learned to protect himself.

The first thing he heard was loud gunfire in the distance until the gentle voice of Sydney spoke up. "Hello, Angel."

The gentle voice of Sydney was in stark contrast with the harsh and violent sounds of guns firing and bombs exploding in the background. He liked the psychiatrist and hearing the man so close to the front was frightening. Sydney was his friend and this was not helping with his emotions at all.

"That bad, huh?" Sidney asked, breaking through his thoughts.

He nodded as Sidney continued even when he knew the man wouldn't see it. The man explained to him that everyone staying on this MASH must go home at some point and that there wasn't anyone to blame which made Chris frown and sigh annoyed, he had heard this story so many times already these past few days and it didn't help at all. He couldn't just stop his feelings even when he knew people had to leave here to go home but he didn't understand why he was the only one being scared about that. It terrified him, people leaving one by one.

Chris released a small shaky breath and glanced nervously at his dad. Thankfully Hawkeye didn't look angry anymore which made him feel a bit better.

A loud explosion in the background interrupted Sidney for a moment before the man continued his explanation about over-thinking. Chris almost dropped the phone at the loud bang, which made him feel a bit stupid but he couldn't help being scared of loud sounds.

He listened to the man but he became angrier the longer he did. He didn't think he was overthinking at all. He was just scared and everyone was making him angry. He was angry at his dad for yelling at Radar, angry at his friend for leaving, angry at Klinger for messing up so much, and at himself for letting Radar leave.

He debated about just putting the phone down, but with a sudden click, the line fell dead. With shaking hands, he gave the phone back to his dad. He hoped Sidney was okay over there. It didn't sound too good.

"That's just great," Hawkeye said as he briefly put the phone to his ear. With a tired sigh, he slammed the receiver back.

"What did he say?" Hawkeye tried to ask but Chris had already turned around, ready to leave the office, and started walking.

"Ohh no, you don't!" Hawkeye said while he grabbed the back of the child's collar and pulled him back. The young boy's eyes widened in surprise as he felt the sudden tug and turned to face Hawkeye the man leaned down slightly, looking directly into the child's eyes with a serious expression. "You don't just walk away from me while I'm trying to talk to you, Mister," he said sternly.

At least the boy had the decency to look remorseful, remorseful, and a bit shocked. His big blue eyes wide open as he mouthed "Sorry"

Chris looked up at his less-than-pleased dad. He couldn't believe he just did that, it seemed like his anger was getting too much for him if he acted without thinking. He didn't want to get into trouble.