Mash/West Wing ficlet

[louiselux]

Another easter ficlet! This is for yonmei, who asked for Hawkeye/Mulcahy, in Jed Bartlett's White House, theme: Easter.  So, easy then;-)  Apologies for any untoward mangling, as I haven't watched either MASH or the West Wing for quite a while.



It was the call that finally did it, and the sunny, sweet smile he could see even though Francis Mulcahy was 1000 miles away and on the other end of the telephone line, telling him about the coming easter, invitations and  asking him between the lines to please let's go together. He wanted to go, to see him again, although, as the minutes of the expensive long-distance call ticked by, he found it was impossible to say that. Instead, he let it seem that it was because of Jed Bartlett. Hawkeye was a fan, but not so much of a fan that he'd haul himself halfway across the country for a 'gala dinner' that would involve endless small talk and the wearing of formal clothes.

The last time they'd seen each other had been five years ago at another reunion dinner and then-- too many people had died and too many were settled and old to make it seem like a sensible thing to do or say. But when had sense ever come into it, Hawkeye asked himself. He'd never said the things he wanted to say. Other people might think it was surprising for a man with so much experience in fixing other people's problems, but Hawkeye didn’t think he fixed anything beyond the physical. He just put people back together so they could stagger on, making the same mistakes as they'd done before. Putting the phone down, he knew it was time.

Because of that, on a sunny Sunday in April they went to the Whitehouse together and it was the damnedest thing. So many rooms, many of them containing children, painted eggs and clerics, but they didn’t have one set aside for kissing priests in, amazingly. So he had to make do with manoeuvring them both into an empty meeting room, one that had wood panelled walls,  salmon pink roses that had been in arranged in an ugly vase and a lingering smell of beeswax polish. It reminded him of church.

'Hawkeye,' Father Mulcahy whispered.

'Francis,' and it sounded odd to say his name and they laughed as they kissed each other. They were trembling together and clinging tight like teenagers when the door opened.

'Ah, excuse me, gentlemen. I'm sorry to interrupt... '

The woman did look sorry, too, and as they moved apart and Father Mulcahy straightened his jacket she smiled at them for a second; a slow, cautious smile that made her look incredibly kind. A notable achievement when you work in a place like this, Hawkeye thought. She deserves a medal.

'CJ Cregg-- call me CJ.' She shook their hands, then looked down at her flip-pad and frowned. 'Hang on. Let me just check--  I know you're here for either the Non-Combat Veterans Dinner or the Rainbow Sash Reception. That one's just down the hall, by the way,' she added.

'They both sound delightful. Which one do you think is going to be more fun, Hawkeye?'

Hawkeye had the strangest feeling, turning to look at his friend's very pleased and slightly flushed face, that he'd been played by an expert. CJ was looked at them expectantly.

'Lead the way, Father,' he said.

Father Mulcahy took his arm and they followed CJ down the hall.

Comments

[yonmei.livejournal.com]

Liked it? I love it. I put it in Memories and I'm fighting not to go back and re-read it right away so I won't wear it out.

It's lovely. CJ! Finding Hawkeye and Mulcahy snogging! And Mulcahy being so nicely manipulative... and Hawkeye never actually doing anything about it until Mulcahy did... And CJ!

*happy sigh*

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Mulcahy is certainly not as innocent as he looks, although they've both had a good few decades of self-restraint/avoiding the issue by the time they get round to snogging;-) And I had to put CJ in-- she's just so cool.

Yay!