Fanfiction: Christmas Night in White Part 2/2
Title: Christmas Night in White Part Two
Prompt: Anything House/Murphy
Characters: Dr. Greg House, Lt. Connie Murphy, Dr. James Wilson. Mentions of Bree House and other House and Dresden characters.
Rating: PG
Author’s Notes: And the second part is for cant_have_any. Anything House/Murphy was a very broad request and I went through like three other ideas before I had the idea to continue toomuchlikedad’s request fic. It seemed to fit together perfectly once I got going. Narrowed things down pretty quickly too. Oh and Murphy’s explanation of why she’s in New Jersey should be considered canon for her House verse.
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“I’m surprised you’re not making her sleep on the couch.” Murphy commented once she heard the door to Bree’s room close. She knew House had come into the kitchen from the sound of his cane and didn’t bother to look up from the take-out she was putting in the fridge.
“It’s a short walk.”
“So’s the walk to the piano but you wouldn’t let her do that.” She pointed out with a slight smile as she turned to face him. He really was concerned about Bree’s knee. She couldn’t blame him for it though. If it was Anna, Murphy would act the same. Only with less insults.
“She didn’t sound angry,” he said as he went to get more eggnog.
“Who?”
“Your kid.” He studied her for a moment. “She didn’t sound angry at you.”
“Anna knows I can’t control the weather.” She looked down, an ache settling in her chest. Reading the Grinch over the phone hadn’t been the same. It wasn’t about the story anyway. It was about the time she got to spend with her daughter snuggled up to her side. Missing out on that made her ache. It was that time that made dealing with her ex-husband and her ex-in-laws worth it.
“Still, she’s nine. Most kids would have lashed out.”
“It’s not the first Christmas I’ve missed.”
“It’s your first one in a different state.”
She took a deep breath and looked at him a little annoyed. Was he deliberately trying to hurt her? “If you want to ask something, ask.”
“Why are you here?” He leaned back against the kitchen island, his eyes intent on hers.
“Because you invited me.” She leaned back against the kitchen counter, crossing her arms over her chest. Defensive? Her? Never.
“Here in Princeton. Why did you come here? You want to be in Chicago and not just because it’s Christmas.”
She thought about denying it for a second, but he’d see through that. She was homesick, had been since coming here. She wasn’t sure anymore if it would fade with time.
“I know you think I’m the perfect straight arrow cop.” She raised her chin a little, making sure he saw she wasn’t afraid to talk about it with him. Or at least, that was the illusion she was trying to project. She hated talking about it. “Well, I’m not. I just wanted to close cases, but the way I chose to do it didn’t sit well with the Chicago brass.”
“You’re corrupt?” He really sounded shocked at that.
She rolled her eyes and shot him an annoyed look. “No. I hired a wizard.”
“A wizard?” House practically sneered the word, taking a step towards her, closing the distance between them and crowding her personal space.
“A private investigator who called himself a wizard. I didn’t care if he called himself the Son of God, he closed cases. That’s what mattered in the end. He closed cases.” She paused to finish what was left of her eggnog and regroup. She couldn’t back away but even if she could she wouldn’t have. She didn’t run when House tried to make her.
“The brass cared. Eventually they had enough. They offered to send me to Special Investigations or I could find another department.”
“So you chose to move? I didn’t think you ran away from things.”
Now she glared at him. “In Chicago, Special Investigations is where trouble cops get phased out. Cases that other detectives can’t seem to solve get sent there and when you’re not closing cases you’re not doing the department any good so they’ve got a legitimate reason to fire you. I took a transfer instead of a dismissal. How many hospitals did you go through before Cuddy hired you?”
She knew she hit her mark when he shifted slightly and avoided her eyes. The best defense was a good offense in Murphy’s mind. When he hit too close to home, she had to do the same to distract him. Sometimes it worked.
“You’re not me.”
Sometimes it didn’t.
“You could have stopped hiring the wizard. You could have fallen in line. You should have fallen in line. That’s what a good cop would do.”
“He closed cases.” She felt her back go up. She was a good cop, damn it. She was. “So what if people were talking? Cases got closed, the bad guy was caught. It worked.”
“But it wasn’t the right way to do things.”
“Does that matter when it works?”
“You tell me.”
He was watching her more intently that normal. She didn’t get it. He was a completely unconventional doctor. Hell, he was a completely unconventional person. He gave the gun back, he stabbed a light socket, and slept with his married ex-girlfriend. Why was he trying to judge her or make her feel guilty?
“You know, I thought you’d get it. You’re all about the answers. Why are you questioning me about doing the same?” She wanted to put some space between them. It would just be a little distance so he couldn’t read her eyes, but with him so close the reasons for moving would be too obvious. He had made it so she couldn’t escape. Ass.
“You’re not me.” He emphasized the last word. Clearly that was his whole point.
She rolled her eyes. It was a cop out in her opinion, but he wouldn’t care about that. Either she answered his questions and satisfied his curiosity or he’d hound her until she caved. She told him, just because it was easier.
“Sometimes it matters,” she said, a little anger creeping into her voice. “There’s a line that you don’t cross. You don’t take the law into your own hands. You don’t judge who’s guilty or who’s not. You go where the evidence leads and you make the arrest. That’s it. When you have to, you pull the trigger.”
“Or hold the knife,” he countered.
“Or give the gun back,” she shot back.
“Touché.”
“The point is even if you do the wrong thing for the right reasons, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s wrong. But what I did, didn’t cross that line. What I did worked.”
“And to be right, you moved.”
“Yeah. You’re not the only one who goes too far sometimes.” She looked down again for a second and then back at him. Now he knew why she was here and just how far she’d gone to be right.
He looked down, twirling his cane between his hands. She recognized the gesture. He was trying to be casual when it was something important. She tilted her head slightly, wondering what he was going to ask or do. Was the conversation over? She hoped so. She wanted to move on to something less painful to talk about.
“You want another?” he gestured to her empty glass.
“I shouldn’t. I’ve got drive home and this weather’s not driver friendly.” She sighed slightly, looking towards the windows. It was still one big sheet of white outside.
“You could stay here,” he offered.
Staying was always tricky. He didn’t want things to change, but spending the night always did change things, eventually. Even if neither of them wanted it to. Spending the night on Christmas Eve? That was a big step out of their comfort zones. Staying on Christmas Eve crossed a line in Murphy’s mind. The things she wanted but knew wouldn’t come from him would just be harder to ignore if she stayed tonight. He had to know that. Yet, he had asked anyway.
She looked away from the weather, back to him. He was watching her, waiting for an answer but still trying to be casual. His body language was stiff, uncomfortable. He didn’t want to ask, but he had. He didn’t want her to answer, but he did. The uncomfortable tangle of emotions in her chest that somehow always showed up around him twisted tighter. She should run from this, from that knot. She didn’t want this in her life, she didn’t want him and the complications that came with him, but that knot in her chest told her she just might need it.
“I can,” she answered, the invitation clear in her voice. She hoped for once he just took the hint and didn’t get suspicious or nervous. He had invited her, he had made the offer for her to stay, couldn’t he just take the goddamn hint and kiss her? He got the message and closed the last few inches between them. She had already raised her head and met his kiss halfway. She let her eyes close, let her arms lift and rest on his shoulders. The knot just got tighter, more complicated but he pulled her closer, he kissed her back. Like this, with his arms around her, his lips on hers, maybe she could admit she did want him and his complications.
---
She was still tangled up with him the next morning. This time it was literal. He had one arm thrown over her and she’d somehow wormed one leg between his. Her internal alarm clock told her she had overslept. She blamed the eggnog. It wasn’t because House was warm and comforting. Warm and comforting were not adjectives one used when describing House. She was very careful about untangling herself, doing everything she could to make sure he didn’t wake up. It was a Christmas miracle that she got out without waking him.
She was still careful and quiet as she got dressed and slipped out of his bedroom. She stood in the hallway and thought about making her escape. The weather was still bad, but not on the same scale as last night. She could leave their Christmas presents and run for it. She could make up some excuse about checking flights to see if she could still get home. She could leave this tangled mess behind. She never got a chance to make that choice. Someone knocked on the door.
“House! Bree? Are either one of you awake in there?”
Wilson. Murphy ducked her head for a second then looked at the ceiling. God/Fate/Karma was a bastard. She opened the door and watched with mild amusement as Wilson barely kept his mouth from dropping open in surprise.
“Lieutenant Murphy. What are you doing here?”
“I was going to make coffee.” When in doubt, pretend like you belonged. “Let me guess, you’re here for Christmas breakfast?”
“How did you…”
“You’ve got a bag of macadamia nuts under your arm.” She stepped back so he could come in. “I’ve heard all about your pancakes.”
“You do realize this is… surreal right? I’m going to wake up in my office and this will be a dream. A very, very strange dream.”
“Welcome to my life.” She closed the door behind him and clapped him on the back. “Coffee will make it better. Then you can pick which one you want to wake up.”
“I’ll flip you for Bree.”
“You’re on.”
---
Prompt: Anything House/Murphy
Characters: Dr. Greg House, Lt. Connie Murphy, Dr. James Wilson. Mentions of Bree House and other House and Dresden characters.
Rating: PG
Author’s Notes: And the second part is for cant_have_any. Anything House/Murphy was a very broad request and I went through like three other ideas before I had the idea to continue toomuchlikedad’s request fic. It seemed to fit together perfectly once I got going. Narrowed things down pretty quickly too. Oh and Murphy’s explanation of why she’s in New Jersey should be considered canon for her House verse.
---
“I’m surprised you’re not making her sleep on the couch.” Murphy commented once she heard the door to Bree’s room close. She knew House had come into the kitchen from the sound of his cane and didn’t bother to look up from the take-out she was putting in the fridge.
“It’s a short walk.”
“So’s the walk to the piano but you wouldn’t let her do that.” She pointed out with a slight smile as she turned to face him. He really was concerned about Bree’s knee. She couldn’t blame him for it though. If it was Anna, Murphy would act the same. Only with less insults.
“She didn’t sound angry,” he said as he went to get more eggnog.
“Who?”
“Your kid.” He studied her for a moment. “She didn’t sound angry at you.”
“Anna knows I can’t control the weather.” She looked down, an ache settling in her chest. Reading the Grinch over the phone hadn’t been the same. It wasn’t about the story anyway. It was about the time she got to spend with her daughter snuggled up to her side. Missing out on that made her ache. It was that time that made dealing with her ex-husband and her ex-in-laws worth it.
“Still, she’s nine. Most kids would have lashed out.”
“It’s not the first Christmas I’ve missed.”
“It’s your first one in a different state.”
She took a deep breath and looked at him a little annoyed. Was he deliberately trying to hurt her? “If you want to ask something, ask.”
“Why are you here?” He leaned back against the kitchen island, his eyes intent on hers.
“Because you invited me.” She leaned back against the kitchen counter, crossing her arms over her chest. Defensive? Her? Never.
“Here in Princeton. Why did you come here? You want to be in Chicago and not just because it’s Christmas.”
She thought about denying it for a second, but he’d see through that. She was homesick, had been since coming here. She wasn’t sure anymore if it would fade with time.
“I know you think I’m the perfect straight arrow cop.” She raised her chin a little, making sure he saw she wasn’t afraid to talk about it with him. Or at least, that was the illusion she was trying to project. She hated talking about it. “Well, I’m not. I just wanted to close cases, but the way I chose to do it didn’t sit well with the Chicago brass.”
“You’re corrupt?” He really sounded shocked at that.
She rolled her eyes and shot him an annoyed look. “No. I hired a wizard.”
“A wizard?” House practically sneered the word, taking a step towards her, closing the distance between them and crowding her personal space.
“A private investigator who called himself a wizard. I didn’t care if he called himself the Son of God, he closed cases. That’s what mattered in the end. He closed cases.” She paused to finish what was left of her eggnog and regroup. She couldn’t back away but even if she could she wouldn’t have. She didn’t run when House tried to make her.
“The brass cared. Eventually they had enough. They offered to send me to Special Investigations or I could find another department.”
“So you chose to move? I didn’t think you ran away from things.”
Now she glared at him. “In Chicago, Special Investigations is where trouble cops get phased out. Cases that other detectives can’t seem to solve get sent there and when you’re not closing cases you’re not doing the department any good so they’ve got a legitimate reason to fire you. I took a transfer instead of a dismissal. How many hospitals did you go through before Cuddy hired you?”
She knew she hit her mark when he shifted slightly and avoided her eyes. The best defense was a good offense in Murphy’s mind. When he hit too close to home, she had to do the same to distract him. Sometimes it worked.
“You’re not me.”
Sometimes it didn’t.
“You could have stopped hiring the wizard. You could have fallen in line. You should have fallen in line. That’s what a good cop would do.”
“He closed cases.” She felt her back go up. She was a good cop, damn it. She was. “So what if people were talking? Cases got closed, the bad guy was caught. It worked.”
“But it wasn’t the right way to do things.”
“Does that matter when it works?”
“You tell me.”
He was watching her more intently that normal. She didn’t get it. He was a completely unconventional doctor. Hell, he was a completely unconventional person. He gave the gun back, he stabbed a light socket, and slept with his married ex-girlfriend. Why was he trying to judge her or make her feel guilty?
“You know, I thought you’d get it. You’re all about the answers. Why are you questioning me about doing the same?” She wanted to put some space between them. It would just be a little distance so he couldn’t read her eyes, but with him so close the reasons for moving would be too obvious. He had made it so she couldn’t escape. Ass.
“You’re not me.” He emphasized the last word. Clearly that was his whole point.
She rolled her eyes. It was a cop out in her opinion, but he wouldn’t care about that. Either she answered his questions and satisfied his curiosity or he’d hound her until she caved. She told him, just because it was easier.
“Sometimes it matters,” she said, a little anger creeping into her voice. “There’s a line that you don’t cross. You don’t take the law into your own hands. You don’t judge who’s guilty or who’s not. You go where the evidence leads and you make the arrest. That’s it. When you have to, you pull the trigger.”
“Or hold the knife,” he countered.
“Or give the gun back,” she shot back.
“Touché.”
“The point is even if you do the wrong thing for the right reasons, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s wrong. But what I did, didn’t cross that line. What I did worked.”
“And to be right, you moved.”
“Yeah. You’re not the only one who goes too far sometimes.” She looked down again for a second and then back at him. Now he knew why she was here and just how far she’d gone to be right.
He looked down, twirling his cane between his hands. She recognized the gesture. He was trying to be casual when it was something important. She tilted her head slightly, wondering what he was going to ask or do. Was the conversation over? She hoped so. She wanted to move on to something less painful to talk about.
“You want another?” he gestured to her empty glass.
“I shouldn’t. I’ve got drive home and this weather’s not driver friendly.” She sighed slightly, looking towards the windows. It was still one big sheet of white outside.
“You could stay here,” he offered.
Staying was always tricky. He didn’t want things to change, but spending the night always did change things, eventually. Even if neither of them wanted it to. Spending the night on Christmas Eve? That was a big step out of their comfort zones. Staying on Christmas Eve crossed a line in Murphy’s mind. The things she wanted but knew wouldn’t come from him would just be harder to ignore if she stayed tonight. He had to know that. Yet, he had asked anyway.
She looked away from the weather, back to him. He was watching her, waiting for an answer but still trying to be casual. His body language was stiff, uncomfortable. He didn’t want to ask, but he had. He didn’t want her to answer, but he did. The uncomfortable tangle of emotions in her chest that somehow always showed up around him twisted tighter. She should run from this, from that knot. She didn’t want this in her life, she didn’t want him and the complications that came with him, but that knot in her chest told her she just might need it.
“I can,” she answered, the invitation clear in her voice. She hoped for once he just took the hint and didn’t get suspicious or nervous. He had invited her, he had made the offer for her to stay, couldn’t he just take the goddamn hint and kiss her? He got the message and closed the last few inches between them. She had already raised her head and met his kiss halfway. She let her eyes close, let her arms lift and rest on his shoulders. The knot just got tighter, more complicated but he pulled her closer, he kissed her back. Like this, with his arms around her, his lips on hers, maybe she could admit she did want him and his complications.
---
She was still tangled up with him the next morning. This time it was literal. He had one arm thrown over her and she’d somehow wormed one leg between his. Her internal alarm clock told her she had overslept. She blamed the eggnog. It wasn’t because House was warm and comforting. Warm and comforting were not adjectives one used when describing House. She was very careful about untangling herself, doing everything she could to make sure he didn’t wake up. It was a Christmas miracle that she got out without waking him.
She was still careful and quiet as she got dressed and slipped out of his bedroom. She stood in the hallway and thought about making her escape. The weather was still bad, but not on the same scale as last night. She could leave their Christmas presents and run for it. She could make up some excuse about checking flights to see if she could still get home. She could leave this tangled mess behind. She never got a chance to make that choice. Someone knocked on the door.
“House! Bree? Are either one of you awake in there?”
Wilson. Murphy ducked her head for a second then looked at the ceiling. God/Fate/Karma was a bastard. She opened the door and watched with mild amusement as Wilson barely kept his mouth from dropping open in surprise.
“Lieutenant Murphy. What are you doing here?”
“I was going to make coffee.” When in doubt, pretend like you belonged. “Let me guess, you’re here for Christmas breakfast?”
“How did you…”
“You’ve got a bag of macadamia nuts under your arm.” She stepped back so he could come in. “I’ve heard all about your pancakes.”
“You do realize this is… surreal right? I’m going to wake up in my office and this will be a dream. A very, very strange dream.”
“Welcome to my life.” She closed the door behind him and clapped him on the back. “Coffee will make it better. Then you can pick which one you want to wake up.”
“I’ll flip you for Bree.”
“You’re on.”
---