Downtime, Hawkeye/BJ, G

[quiesce.livejournal.com]

Title: Downtime
Author: quiesce
Author's website: fic index post
Pairing: Hawkeye/BJ
Rating: G
Word Count: 200
Summary: The hardest thing to get used to was the unpredictability.
Notes: Written for the "Hawkeye/BJ, still" prompt for rat_jam. (cross-post)


The hardest thing to get used to was the unpredictability. It didn't matter if he was up to his elbows in blood, scarfing down what passed for a meal, or stealing a few hours sleep; choppers could come at any time. Bombs too.

Even during the quieter moments, there was never time to just stop. There were often complications with patients they'd thought were ready to ship out and frantic attempts to stabilize before it was too late. Off-duty didn't actually mean off duty. Shifts never ended, not really.

It was overwhelming and exhausting and BJ didn't know how the others did it. Maybe once you were here long enough, you just got used to it, but BJ couldn't imagine ever getting used to this.

And then, after a particularly gruelling shift where he'd lost several patients in a row and was ready to collapse under the weight of it all, Hawkeye caught his eye and flashed him a small, private smile. For a brief moment the world stood still, the war called a truce, and there were no choppers or bombs overhead. Nothing but Hawkeye smiling at him and the realization that he could do this, could keep going.