Finding The 4077th

Playing Ball

Something was wrong, Hawkeye didn't know exactly what was wrong, but something definitely was off about Chris. The child seemed angry or upset. It was very subtle, no big problems like patrolling or any troubles with his school work, but the boy was moody and had an attitude for a while now.

It started after Sidney left so at first Hawkeye believed he just missed the man who had stayed longer than expected but now it seemed more than that.

It started very subtle, angry glances and being moody. But it became more as the days moved on.

Hawkeye felt a bit helpless, he didn't know what was wrong and the boy refused to talk to him. He tried to cheer him up but Chris simply refused. So now Hawkeye was using all his patience not to get mad at the boy, but Chris was making things difficult.

Chris sat on the floor of the Swamp reading some of his comics, his dad sat on his chair telling jokes and tried to get a response from him, but he was still angry. Angry with the distance Hawkeye put between them, it hurt. He had thought his dad would stop being so mean, with keeping him away but it was going on for weeks now and Chris didn't like it one bit.

After a while his sadness changed into anger and he stopped being nice to him. If his dad didn't want to hang out or spend time with him then he also didn't want to spend any time with him either.

"Chris, why are you so upset?" Hawkeye tried after his kid kept ignoring his jokes.

"I'm not," Chris said, not even sparing him a glance while he kept looking at his comics.

"Christopher, don't lie to me. I can see something is wrong. Can't you just tell me? " Hawkeye tried.

Chris just ignored him. Angry tears threatened in the corner of his eyes. It wasn't fair, his dad should know what's wrong. His dad always knew and it was all his fault in the first place.

It started with Chris not being allowed into the O.R while Hawkeye was working, but it became worse after Hawkeye kept sending him away from other stuff as well, like in post op, or even work meetings.

Chris tried to explain then, every time that his dad sent him away he wanted to tell the man he wanted to stay near him, but his dad simply wouldn't let him, he thought the distance was a good thing and it was not. He wanted his father to pay attention to him, but his dad told him he would get stronger with more space, that being independent was important. But it wasn't! He hated it. 

"Are you really going to ignore me? I'm not an easy person to ignore." Hawkeye tried.

"No," Chris said, turning a bit away from the man.

Hawkeye sighed, this was breaking his heart. He looked over at BJ, who just shrugged. BJ had told him multiple times, he thought it was the distance Hawkeye kept creating but Hawkeye wasn't so sure. He was also thinking about after the war, how would his son go to school for several hours without him, or have fun with friends. He needed Chris to adjust and he thought it went great. He tried spending extra time with his son outside of work and meetings, just having fun but Chris refused. He clearly didn't want to spend time with him.

"Fine, did you finish your shores?" Hawkeye asked, he was getting irritated.

"Yes, " The boy replied stoically. He had worked with Klinger in the kitchen, peeling potatoes. It was long and hard work and his dad knew he did it, so asking about it was stupid. It was a good thing that Klinger was very nice and someone who could keep him entertained with stories.

"School Work?" The man asked.

"Paappaa" Chris whined softly. His dad was only doing this to irritate him and it was working.