House Repairs (Prologue 2/?)
Title: House Repairs
Rating: PG-13 this chapter
Pairing: House/Cameron, House/Cuddy, Chase/Cameron, House/Wilson, all in some capacity
Summary: House is back from Antigua, not all of his own free will and with more than a few problems. Cameron is back, too, and she wants Chase... But when she thinks she can help House out, things may get more complicated than anyone thought.
Prologue 1: Phone Call
Prologue 2: Homecoming
I hate airplanes. I hate them with all of my will. I’ve always hated them, Allison Cameron repeated as her plane began to spiral downward towards the Newark Airport. She jostled and shook and held on for dear life before finally being able to let out a sigh of relief as the plane stopped shaking and the announcement came over the PA system that All passengers may now depart in an orderly fashion. Thank you for flying American Airlines.
Maybe it wasn’t airplanes that she hated. Maybe it was just the entire fact that she’d decided to come back to Princeton, now, over a year after she’d divorced her husband, Robert Chase. She didn’t know what she would find, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Maybe there was a chance.
He killed a man, Cameron’s internal voice reminded her, and if it had a face it would have been giving her the same morally outraged gander that she’d given House more than once. Why do you think you can ever get over that?
Yes, Chase had killed a man - a dictator, yes, but still a man, but he’d done it for good reasons, he had done it to save people and why should she destroy her own happiness on the account of a dictator who was dead anyway? There was no bringing him back - not that anyone would have actually wanted to - and Cameron was still alive, and she deserved the right to be happy.
Just… keep telling yourself that. Maybe it will work long enough to get you to Chase. That is, if he hasn’t already found somebody else.
The thought was like a knife through her heart, and it stopped her as she walked down the aisle; a man behind her shoved her out of the way and broke her out of the thought as she gave up a small “umph!” of protest.
This is a mistake.
But now she could go back and at least see Chase. At least find out if all hope was really lost for them.
If nothing else, at least you get to see House again.
Where had that thought come from? She was over House. Definitely. She’d been over him for years.
I just miss him. He’s my boss. It’s normal. I’m here for Chase.
Cameron didn’t realize she had been moving until she flagged down the cab.
“Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital,” she told the driver, a young Indian man who had his radio on and who smiled at Cameron as she slid into the backseat.
“I’ll take you there,” he replied simply and didn’t talk for the rest of the ride. She wished he had, maybe then she’d stop having these conversations with herself. Questions that she wasn’t ready to answer.
Pulling into the hospital parking lot was like walking into a dream, one that wasn’t quite real and one that she wasn’t sure she could or should touch, lest it fade, lest it turn into dust and dissolve.
She reached through the slot, paid the cabbie, heard herself saying, “Keep the change” but not remembering how much change that actually was; the look on the cabbie’s face indicated to her that it may have been a lot. She no longer cared, though, because the thing was that she was going to see Chase.
She was going to see Chase.
She half-expected him to appear as soon as she walked through the door of the hospital, but she was relieved that she didn’t - she had to figure out what she was going to say, how she was ever going to start this. Maybe she should just turn around now and fly back home; she still could and this could have just all been chalked up to an aborted plan.
Instead of seeing Chase, she was surprised to see Cuddy racing by her on the opposite side, her face contorted in worry, and she followed her instinctively even as her brain was thrashing her for doing so. You don’t even work here anymore, the voice critiqued, why the hell are you bothering Cuddy?
Instead, she heard her voice yelling, “Dr. Cuddy!” even as she ran to keep up with her former boss… or former boss of boss.
“Cameron!” Cuddy exclaimed, surprised, and stopped dead in her tracks. “What are you doing here?”
“I came back,” she said simply, and couldn’t add to see Chase.
“Okay,” Cuddy replied, her voice a mix of tired and skeptical.
“What’s going on?” Cameron pressed, wanting to deal with someone else’s problems instead of her own, needing to be the helper, the fixer, even as she was sure that Cuddy was going to tell her she couldn’t do anything as she didn’t even work here anymore. “Can I help?” Cuddy’s lips pursed and she nodded.
“Yeah, you can help,” she replied, “Get yourself tested for bone marrow type.” Cameron looked at her, raising an eyebrow.
“Bone marrow type?” Cameron asked. Cuddy began walking swiftly again, with a purpose, her eyes straight ahead. “Who needs a bone marrow transplant?”
“House does,” Cuddy replied curtly, still walking, before she disappeared into a room, and Cameron couldn’t follow. She stopped in her tracks and she couldn’t quite comprehend the words. House needs a bone marrow transplant?
She could understand Cuddy’s worry, now - House had always been vital to her, almost like a part of her. Cuddy would never let anything happen to House, she would protect him endlessly, the way Cameron had always wanted to. Cuddy must have already gotten tested, Cameron thought wryly, there’s no way she’d let me have the satisfaction of helping House if she could help him instead.
But that was neither here nor there. She needed to go take the test, see if she could be a donor. She might spend her first day back in Princeton on a hospital bed. It was ironic. When she found Chase - if she found Chase - she would have to tell him so.
But at least now, even if Chase told her to go away, even if he laughed in her face, she would have a reason to stay.
Rating: PG-13 this chapter
Pairing: House/Cameron, House/Cuddy, Chase/Cameron, House/Wilson, all in some capacity
Summary: House is back from Antigua, not all of his own free will and with more than a few problems. Cameron is back, too, and she wants Chase... But when she thinks she can help House out, things may get more complicated than anyone thought.
Prologue 1: Phone Call
Prologue 2: Homecoming
I hate airplanes. I hate them with all of my will. I’ve always hated them, Allison Cameron repeated as her plane began to spiral downward towards the Newark Airport. She jostled and shook and held on for dear life before finally being able to let out a sigh of relief as the plane stopped shaking and the announcement came over the PA system that All passengers may now depart in an orderly fashion. Thank you for flying American Airlines.
Maybe it wasn’t airplanes that she hated. Maybe it was just the entire fact that she’d decided to come back to Princeton, now, over a year after she’d divorced her husband, Robert Chase. She didn’t know what she would find, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Maybe there was a chance.
He killed a man, Cameron’s internal voice reminded her, and if it had a face it would have been giving her the same morally outraged gander that she’d given House more than once. Why do you think you can ever get over that?
Yes, Chase had killed a man - a dictator, yes, but still a man, but he’d done it for good reasons, he had done it to save people and why should she destroy her own happiness on the account of a dictator who was dead anyway? There was no bringing him back - not that anyone would have actually wanted to - and Cameron was still alive, and she deserved the right to be happy.
Just… keep telling yourself that. Maybe it will work long enough to get you to Chase. That is, if he hasn’t already found somebody else.
The thought was like a knife through her heart, and it stopped her as she walked down the aisle; a man behind her shoved her out of the way and broke her out of the thought as she gave up a small “umph!” of protest.
This is a mistake.
But now she could go back and at least see Chase. At least find out if all hope was really lost for them.
If nothing else, at least you get to see House again.
Where had that thought come from? She was over House. Definitely. She’d been over him for years.
I just miss him. He’s my boss. It’s normal. I’m here for Chase.
Cameron didn’t realize she had been moving until she flagged down the cab.
“Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital,” she told the driver, a young Indian man who had his radio on and who smiled at Cameron as she slid into the backseat.
“I’ll take you there,” he replied simply and didn’t talk for the rest of the ride. She wished he had, maybe then she’d stop having these conversations with herself. Questions that she wasn’t ready to answer.
Pulling into the hospital parking lot was like walking into a dream, one that wasn’t quite real and one that she wasn’t sure she could or should touch, lest it fade, lest it turn into dust and dissolve.
She reached through the slot, paid the cabbie, heard herself saying, “Keep the change” but not remembering how much change that actually was; the look on the cabbie’s face indicated to her that it may have been a lot. She no longer cared, though, because the thing was that she was going to see Chase.
She was going to see Chase.
She half-expected him to appear as soon as she walked through the door of the hospital, but she was relieved that she didn’t - she had to figure out what she was going to say, how she was ever going to start this. Maybe she should just turn around now and fly back home; she still could and this could have just all been chalked up to an aborted plan.
Instead of seeing Chase, she was surprised to see Cuddy racing by her on the opposite side, her face contorted in worry, and she followed her instinctively even as her brain was thrashing her for doing so. You don’t even work here anymore, the voice critiqued, why the hell are you bothering Cuddy?
Instead, she heard her voice yelling, “Dr. Cuddy!” even as she ran to keep up with her former boss… or former boss of boss.
“Cameron!” Cuddy exclaimed, surprised, and stopped dead in her tracks. “What are you doing here?”
“I came back,” she said simply, and couldn’t add to see Chase.
“Okay,” Cuddy replied, her voice a mix of tired and skeptical.
“What’s going on?” Cameron pressed, wanting to deal with someone else’s problems instead of her own, needing to be the helper, the fixer, even as she was sure that Cuddy was going to tell her she couldn’t do anything as she didn’t even work here anymore. “Can I help?” Cuddy’s lips pursed and she nodded.
“Yeah, you can help,” she replied, “Get yourself tested for bone marrow type.” Cameron looked at her, raising an eyebrow.
“Bone marrow type?” Cameron asked. Cuddy began walking swiftly again, with a purpose, her eyes straight ahead. “Who needs a bone marrow transplant?”
“House does,” Cuddy replied curtly, still walking, before she disappeared into a room, and Cameron couldn’t follow. She stopped in her tracks and she couldn’t quite comprehend the words. House needs a bone marrow transplant?
She could understand Cuddy’s worry, now - House had always been vital to her, almost like a part of her. Cuddy would never let anything happen to House, she would protect him endlessly, the way Cameron had always wanted to. Cuddy must have already gotten tested, Cameron thought wryly, there’s no way she’d let me have the satisfaction of helping House if she could help him instead.
But that was neither here nor there. She needed to go take the test, see if she could be a donor. She might spend her first day back in Princeton on a hospital bed. It was ironic. When she found Chase - if she found Chase - she would have to tell him so.
But at least now, even if Chase told her to go away, even if he laughed in her face, she would have a reason to stay.