"Night girls." I left for my shift. Suddenly someone grabbed me, I screamed as a hand was clapped over my mouth. I bit it and the hand removed itself immediately.

"Klinger! Help!" The hand came over my face again. After what seemed like forever, a light was turned on me and I recognised the tan uniform of an enemy soldier coming around my front and holding me hostage.

The man shouted something in a language I didn't know and forced me to take a few steps forward. Something cold and hard was pressed to the side of my head, a gun.

"Jesus Christ, where are the MP's? Annie you have to stay totally still." I heard Hawkeye's voice, scared, but trying to remain calm so as not to endanger my life.

I ignored that instruction as I rammed my foot down on his instep, and threw my elbow back into his ribs, and I was released instantly. I spun and brought my boot smashing into his face. He collapsed, as the side of his face caved in. I knew from the force of the kick that I probably fractured, if not shattered his cheek and jawbone.

I grabbed the gun and aimed it at him but he didn't move, he was unconscious.

"We've got him ma'am." Two or three MP's drove up, and rolled him over. His face was a mess. I lowered the gun and gave it to one of the MP's.

"You half killed him ma'am." The MP's lifted him onto the stretcher and corpsmen rushed him to OR, he'd need some serious work if he was going to live.

"Right, thanks." I was still shaken, as was the rest of the camp. I stood there numbly as BJ rushed after them, preparing to save what was left of the soldier.

"You okay beautiful?" I nodded, still numb, I couldn't believe I'd ever struck him like that. I felt strange, knowing that I had enough power to fight off a fully-grown man.

"Are you sure sweetheart?" Hawkeye asked again, as he put his arms around me.

"Yes, I can't believe I can kick like that, it's been years . . ." We went back to camp.

"Years? Annie thou hast to spill thy guts!" Hawkeye demanded.

"I learned to fight, friends of mine teach that stuff. I had private lessons since I was six; they stopped when I left for college. I know how to do some serious damage."

Yeah!" Hawkeye agreed, taking my hand tightly.

"Anyhow, I haven't ever had to use anything I learnt, seriously, I've hit a few times but that's all. That was the first time I've ever put any of it into practise."

"Wow, I don't ever want to get you mad at me!" Hawkeye teased and I kissed him, regaining my composure and leaving for my shift.

"Haemorrhaging, skull fractures and brain damage, complete loss of sight in left eye, loss of hearing in left ear, 25% chance of living, and 0% of full recovery." Angie gave me a run-down on the man's wounds as BJ tried to repair the damage.

One of the patients began choking as his tracheotomy tube was blocked.

"Doctor!" I ran to him, clearing the tube, and before Charles had got there, the man was breathing safely again.

"He'll hear about this, he's got you to thank." Charles said as I resettled him.

"Pierce!" I jumped as Potter strode into the room. "You pack some punch! I heard you saved your own life!" He announced, and went to say more but BJ's voice interrupted.

"At the expense of another, the damage was too serious, and we lost him." There was a small, strangled cry from my throat.

"May I be excused?" I left for the latrine and threw up. Again and again and again. I continued long after my stomach was empty. I returned to Post- Op, pale and sweaty.

"My word, Anne-child are you feeling okay?" Father Mulcahy asked as I came in.

"No, I'm not, I killed a man."

"My child!" His calm face registered shock.

"It was self-defence the Chinese man who you saw brought in, she kicked him in the side of the head. Annie, you saved you own life, and that's important." BJ explained.

"I killed him, I can't believe it." I never knew how hard I could hit, or how much damage I could really do.

"Annie, it was self-defence. He had a gun to your head."

"May I never need that side of me again." I said, seeing the reason in BJ's words.

"I'll second that!" Colonel Potter called.

"I'll third it! Father?" BJ asked.

"Amen!" Father Mulcahy sealed it. I was given the rest of my shift off and I fell into a fitful sleep. When I woke up, the story was all over the camp.

"Quit it!" I tried to make my way to the chow line, but a group of fans obstructed me.

"Weren't you scared though Annie?" Kellye asked.

"I was terrified, now can I get my breakfast?" A gap formed and I grabbed a tray.

"But how did you know to do that?" Someone, Lori perhaps, asked.

"I just did! As much as I hate this food, I am starving and would appreciate it if you'd let me get some slop!"

"Well now I ain't feeding ya if ya don't 'preciate it!" The kitchen hand declared.

"Shut up Private!" I ordered. "Or would we like to make it PFC?" The young man whose voice still squeaked and whose face still broke out served me breakfast meekly.

"You'd better do it, or she'll hit you too!" Someone teased.

"Silence! Captain Pierce isn't proud of that hoo-ha last night, she did a fine job defending herself; however her actions were overdone. Leave it at that!" Potter yelled, as my fan club was obstructing him too.

"Thankyou Colonel, now let me through!" I pushed free and sat down near Hawkeye.

"Say Annie, did it feel good to hit him?" Someone's voice called.

"It didn't! What you have failed to register is that the man died! I have the death of a man hanging over my head, how great do you think it would feel? Shut up and leave me the hell alone!" I stormed out of the Mess.

"Annie?" It was Hawkeye, he knew where to find me, lying facedown on his bed.

"If you say one word about him I swear I am going to choke you!"

"Don't take it so hard, they don't understand. He would have died anyway. His stomach was full of holes and if he had made it to a doctor, he would still have died."

"Really?" I asked, aware that Hawkeye was now kneeling over me, rubbing my back.

"Really, would I lie to you?" I giggled then.

"I won't dignify that with an answer, but I just wish they wouldn't act like me kicking a guy in the head is such a big thing."

"It is in a way. No one expects that someone else here would be able to do something like that, least of all you. You're so, don't hate me for this, small. You wouldn't even make the shortlist for the most likely to do that."

"Mmm." I sighed. Hawkeye's magic hands were doing their best to relax me and turn me into putty as they ran over my neck and shoulders. "Wounded!" I sat up suddenly.

"ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL YOU KNOW THE DRILL, BOTH SHIFTS REPORT TO OR IMMEDIATELY!" Hawkeye and I just ran.

"He can't wait, he can't, neither can he!" I lifted dressing briefly and called my diagnosis. BJ, Hawkeye and Charles came over, inspecting the wounds.

"Get him in! Prep him nurse!" The men were taken into OR immediately I moved on, checking patients.

"He's okay, he can wait, but not forever." I called, and he was taken into Pre-OP.

"Anyone got anything worse than a mine-blown foot?" Colonel Potter called.

"Yep, over here sir! Belly wound, he's eaten bullet stew." I called.

"Get him in!" Potter ordered disappearing.

"Let's go Klinger." I lifted the stretcher and we got it into OR.

"Pierce how would you feel about doing the muscle work today, we're down a corpsman?" Colonel Potter asked as we delivered his patient. "Besides, you look fit to explode if someone says the wrong thing to you." He added softly.

"Yes sir, now if you'll excuse me?" He nodded and I left, going into triage.

"Get him in, start him on morphine." The man reached to me for help, crying out in pain, I pushed his hand down, "You'll be fine."

"We have company!" A group of soldiers struggled in, most walking without help.

"We got caught in some shelling, ma'am can you help him?" Two men were carrying their Sergeant between them.

"Corpsman! Put him on the stretcher men. Igor, give me a hand here. We'll do the best we can. Priority rules of course." Igor and I carried the stretcher away.

"Thankyou ma'am, say some of us are hurt too."

"Someone will get you, you're walking so you're obviously okay. We've got worse injuries than you right now." I called as we took the Sergeant inside and lay him down, checking his wounds, he'd need a bowel reconstruction immediately.

"Can anyone take a bowel re-con?" I slapped a mask over my face as I went into OR.

"Not now, I'm up to my elbows in someone else's bowel." Potter replied.

"This chest wound is giving me hell." Hawkeye said, as the artery was found to be perforated and it squirted into his face. "Sponge, clamp let's go!"

"Sorry Anne, how desperate is it?" BJ asked, trying to suture a femoral artery.

"Very!" I replied. Potter looked up, giving me a very devious look.

"Pierce, scrub and do it fast! You're going in! Bigalow replace Houlihan, Major you're helping Pierce, don't stand there, Captain, move!" Colonel Potter ordered.

"Colonel are you sure I can do this? I'm only a nurse." I asked.

"Chihuahua Custard! How many times have you seen that operation?"

"Dozens, probably more times than I've been alive in years."

"Well then between you and Margaret you can do it, or at least get him stable enough so we can take over! Now skedaddle!" I ran out and scrubbed, Margaret on my heels.

"He's putting a lot of faith in you, but you can do it." I was gloved, gowned and masked before entering the OR. I took a deep breath and remembered what I needed to do.

"Is he under Lori?"

"Yes Doctor." She teased, slowly I began to work. My hands shook, but I kept going.

"Holding up there Pierce?"

"BP's high, pulse fluttery and quick, breathing regular. Oh and the patient's doing fine! Sponge." The OR chuckled, glad I was relaxed enough to make a small joke.

"Sponge." Margaret handed me the sponge and I dabbed with at some blood with it.

"Clamp, I'll need to get that shrapnel." I talked to myself, remembering all the times I'd seen BJ, Hawkeye, Trapper, Henry, Frank, Charles or Potter do this operation.

"Still good Annie?" Hawkeye called.

"Yep." I was slower than the surefooted doctors but I still knew what I was doing.

"She's going fine, it's amazing." Margaret said.

"3.0 silk Margaret. If we can get this back together, we may be able to close soon."

"Silk." Margaret handed me the black thread.

"Remember double-stitch the intestine-colon join, or we'll have to go in again."

"Thankyou." I smiled. Seeing I was okay, they'd moved onto their second patients.

"I'm done!" Margaret cut the silk as I finished up. A small cheer went through the OR, and Hawkeye came and checked the stitching.

"It's all good and tight, very clean, you can close him now. Well done sweetheart." He smiled proudly at me.

"That was some fine work, I knew I could rely on you. How are you holding up?"

"BP and pulse returning to normal. Breathing deep and regular." Margaret reported, hand on my wrist.

"Well done Pierce, now get out there and patch up his men that walked in."

"Thankyou Colonel." I left the OR, and three or four men crowded around me.

"Is he okay?" I smiled, pulling of the mask so I could be coherent.

"He's ok. He needed a bowel re-con, and he's pulled through just fine. If you'd waited much longer I doubt he'd have made it. Which of you need help?"

"Most of us, nothing big. Say ma'am to which doctor do we owe our thanks?"

"Captain Pierce." I bent down to check out the bandaged foot of the nearest soldier.

"You got shrapnel here. Margie! Get me a med-bag and I can get these guys out." She dumped a med bag near me and I grabbed the alcohol and opened the bottle.

"This will sting." I warned, splashing it on the wound. The Corporal stiffened, as I yanked the little piece of metal free. "It should be fine, any of you guys from Maine?"

"Jersey." The Corporal said through gritted teeth, the wound was minor, but deep.

"New York." I gave the Corporal some morphine.

"Iowa."

"Our old Clerk comes from there, Radar O'Reilly." I moved onto the Iowan.

"Ow!" I flexed his upper arm gently as he indicated where he hurt.

"Yeah, that's a break, Klinger, get him into x-ray. Next please."

"My right foot, I can't feel it." This one was lying on the ground.

"Okay, you'll need a doctor to fix you. And you'll start feeling it soon so I'll put some morphine in you and put you in the queue." I did that and he was taken into Pre-Op.

"Thanks for looking after my Sergeant Ma'am." The remaining soldier said.

"No worries, call me Annie, everyone else does. What brings you up here?"

"There was a Chinese POW escaped, attacked one of our men and made off with his gun. I'd keep an eye out. He was wounded, shot in the gut." The Corporal who looked well into his 30's warned me.

"I wouldn't worry about him anymore." I said, undoing his shirt to inspect the wound.

"Why not?" I cleaned and dressed the injury.

"You guys can stay overnight, and leave tomorrow morning. The POW, he grabbed me from behind, holding a gun to my head. I kicked the daylights out of him."

"So, what happened to him?"

"He died, massive brain injury and skull fractures."

"Wow for such a little girl you have some power behind you!" I tried not to lose it.

"Thankyou, Margie, take the Corporal into the Observation ward." I stood up and tried to remain calm. I didn't really like the fuss that was being made. The worst was yet to come though.

"Great job Annie! I never knew you were a surgeon!" Angie called.

"Well done!" Igor echoed.

"Hey, you saved his life! Awesome girl!" Someone who I didn't know yelled.

"Go Annie! I heard what you did in OR!" Klinger thumped my shoulder.

"Thankyou for saving him!" One of his men shouted. They'd heard who the person was who'd operated on their Sergeant and were now extremely grateful.

"Anne! He's awake, he'd like to see his surgeon." BJ called and I made a glad escape.

"Hi, Annabelle Pierce." I held out my hand and he shook it.

"So you're Annie, I've heard a lot about you, you saved my life and I can't thankyou enough." I blushed.

"It was nothing, really. I just did what needed to be done. Unwillingly, but I did it."

"It was something, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be going home. I want to give you something, here it is." He rummaged around in his pockets for something and pulled out a long chain. It was a Saint Christopher Medal.

"I can't take it." I handed it back to him.

"It was only to keep me safe in Korea, now I'm going home, you take it I insist." He pressed it into my hands and I clasped it tightly.

"Thankyou Sergeant." I whispered.

"Thankyou ma'am." I returned to the Mess where everyone was still cheering.

"For she's a jolly good fellow, for she's a jolly good fellow, for she's a jolly good fellow and nobody can deny!" Everyone started singing as I came back in. I slipped the medal over my head and debated with the best way to ask them to be quiet.

"Shut up! I only saved a person's life like any of you would, now keep it down, I don't want a huge fuss made. Okay I did well and all but ever since I kicked that guy and saved the Sergeant's life I haven't been able to go to the latrine with out an escort! Now would you drop it and let me be?" I raised my voice, but didn't shout.

"Sorry Anne." A few mutters went around the group, they got my point at last.

"It's hard being famous isn't it?" Hawkeye teased later that night in Supply.

"I just don't like being the centre of attention for bashing the shit out of a guy, and saving the life of another." I told him, from where I sat on his back, rubbing his shoulders. "You save lives all the time and no one makes half the fuss over you that they did over me."

"Lift yourself off me." I pushed myself onto my knees and he rolled over so he looked up at me. "Listen girl, we're all very proud of you, no one expected that you could have protected yourself like that or risen to the occasion when we needed an extra doctor." He smiled, as I sat down again.

"I see your point. I just don't want a fuss made." I smiled back at him.

"Well can I tell you that I'm very, very proud of you? And show you just how proud I am?" He pulled me down, kissing me. "You think you can handle that?" He asked.

"Oh, I think I can darling. But only from you!" He rolled me neatly, trapping me under him and preventing any escape.

"Good, because I plan to make it very clear." He kissed me again I chuckled and wrapped my arms over him.

"Okay darling." Conversation ceased and so did any clear thoughts we once had.

I think the next morning Hawkeye had a chat to the camp because they settled down and no more was said about the Chinese man I kicked or the bowel I reconstructed. I didn't like being famous, and I was glad to be ordinary Annie again.