[House] Wheel Within A Wheel
title: Wheel Within A Wheel
part: 2/10
author: Me, apparently
pairing: Foreman/Chase; implied House/Chase; implied others/Chase
rating: R
summary: Something has happened between Foreman and Chase - the latter just doesn't know what. When House sends them to Australia to save a patient's life they end up facing death - and each other.
a/n: Set sometime during season 2. Old school, baby!
When Chase finally opened the door to the hotel room, feeling more tired than ever, he expected to find temporary shelter. It was 2 AM, Foreman had to be tired, too. But the other doctor was still awake, lying on the bed and looking up when he entered.
“Something happened,” Chase said. “More patients from Ceddie’s dorm fell sick.”
“House’ll be so pleased.” Foreman chuckled darkly.
“Yeah.”
Chase briefly considered going to sleep as he was. He didn’t feel like undressing in the tiny room and he knew from experience that there was only one bathroom on every floor. Meeting a couple of backpackers making out wasn’t high on his priority list right now. Still, he needed to wash away the travelling sweat.
“What’s wrong with you?” Foreman sat up, directing that sharp gaze of his at Chase.
Chase felt that he couldn’t possibly deny him the answer. That was one of the many things House and Foreman had in common; somehow they always managed to get to the bottom of things.
“I’m fine. I’ll go take a shower.”
Chase hastily grabbed a couple of things and rushed off to the bathroom. The house was completely silent around him. Shining through one high window, the moon showed him the way to the familiar bathroom door.
He’d spent a couple of months here after his mother’s death when the hotel had still belonged to Romy’s parents. They, too, had died.
The tub was rusty and old like everything here, but Chase stepped in without hesitation. The night was warm and he hated the fresh sweat beading on his brow, his chest. It was just another memory.
The water slowly trickled over his body, bringing no relief. It was very little water, he realised. Apparently Romy didn’t take very good care of the hotel, but that was not really surprising. It was too old to ever make it function as it should. It was just too late.
***
When Chase returned to their shared room he didn’t seem particularly refreshed or happy. Foreman could relate; if this hotel was an example for Australian hygiene standards he had a pretty good idea why the kids had fallen ill.
“I hope we won’t have to spend more than a night here,” Foreman said as a way of greeting.
“It’s free. Don’t complain.”
“Who is that Romy anyway?”
Chase quickly slipped under the covers, shivering a little. Apparently the air conditioning was a little too much for him, but Foreman certainly wouldn’t do anything about that. It was just way too hot in this place.
When he was settled Chase merely shrugged. “An old friend.”
And after that neither of them spoke although Foreman could tell that Chase was just as restless as he was. It must have been weird to return home after such a long time. Still, it wasn’t his business. Chase was no responsibility of his and he wanted to make that abundantly clear. Conversation was all right, but he certainly wouldn’t dig too deeply into the void that was Chase’s soul.
Yawning, he turned around once more, now facing the window. He was tired, no, exhausted. His limbs felt swollen and heavy, like he was an elephant. Sighing softly, he turned to face Chase’s back.
“You’re still awake, aren’t you?”
“What is it?”
“I was just wondering if you were still awake.”
Now that was kind of awkward. Foreman wished he hadn’t spoken at all, it wasn’t like they really had anything in common they could talk about other than work. The least thing he wanted was to talk about that now. Really, he should’ve kept his mouth shut.
“You don’t need to be here,” Chase murmured, sounding like he was finally going to sleep. “I can do this on my own. I know you don’t want to be here.”
There were two unspoken words here and Foreman decided they best remained where they were right now; in the safety of their own minds.
With me.
“I’ll do my job, Chase. I have to.”
***
“Morning! Though I doubt it’s a very good one for you.”
Romy grinned at Chase and Foreman who were slowly making their way towards the dining room. Chase hadn’t slept very well after their conversation and, judging from his swollen eyes, neither had Foreman.
“Cut out the yelling, sweetheart.” Chase smiled wryly at her before settling at one of the tables, automatically starting to nibble on the toast Romy shoved in his direction. Foreman on the other hand was already digging into his eggs and bacon.
“Um, there’s something else we need to talk about actually. Robert, I need the room.” She bent forward and Chase had to force himself not to look at her breasts. Well, he was only a man, wasn’t he?
“Sure, we’ll find another place to stay, I suppose.”
“Robert.” She paused, shaking her head. “You’ll have to go back to the house eventually. I’ve been taking care of it, but… I just think you should go back there. It’d be good for you.”
The house….
Why did Romy have to bring up this particular subject now when he really needed to focus his energy on something totally different? What had he ever done that he deserved this now?
Whiny as always, aren’t we?
Ignoring his own inner scolding, he nodded. Again, he felt like he’d never really had a choice to begin with.
“Mark’s gonna take your stuff there if you like,” Romy continued. “It’s not gonna be much trouble at all.”
“Sure, sure that works…
Foreman cleared his throat, interrupting them, and for once Chase was actually happy about the other’s presence during this mission of theirs. He just knew Romy would say something that would upset him and-
“We’re gonna have a party tomorrow night, by the way. Your place. I’ll prepare everything.”
And with that she left the room, leaving Chase with no other options but to bury his face under his hands.
“I have no idea what this is about and I don’t wanna know either. What I do want is to get this over with, Chase.”
Grabbing his jacket, Foreman strode to the door. Chase knew he wouldn’t get any help from that side. He’d just have to get through this on his own somehow and hope nothing too bad would happen. For now he had more important things to worry about than a party - like meeting the demon of his childhood.
Marjorie had never been a delicate woman.
Some might call her voluptuous and maybe that was why Chase truly disliked overweight people, maybe not. He did dislike redheads, though, and that was entirely her fault. Her unruly mob of red hair, surely that was what had caught his father’s attention in the first place. That and the stereotypical redhead-personality.
Of course his own mother, fragile and blonde, had not been able to compete with that.
As she stood in the hallway now, her left hand bandaged, he didn’t feel much of his old resentment, though.
Marjorie was just a woman like any other. She was no witch and she wasn’t even particularly cold when she looked at him although he knew he deserved it for how he had been treating her over the years.
“It’s been a while,” she said, extending her hand.
When Chase took it in his he felt the bones poking through pale skin. She hadn’t had such bony hands before.
“This is Dr Foreman,” he introduced his colleague quickly, trying to shake off his personal feelings towards her. “We’re currently treating Mercedes Pullman and we heard some of her room mates were showing similar symptoms so….”
“All of them actually.” Marjorie quickly shook hands with Foreman before leading them down the hallway to their patients’ room. “With the exception of Kyle. The disease is progressing more slowly in him.”
She opened the door and Chase found himself faced by a bunch of kids who might easily have been his own friends from a couple of years ago. It all felt so familiar and….
Shaking his head, he forced himself to smile and do his introductions.
Before he could ever open his mouth, a small girl in the bed closest to the door raised her hand.
“I want him to treat me!” She pointed at Foreman.
“Um, okay.” Chase shrugged. There were two boys and two girls so it seemed only fair to split. “You do the girls, I’ll take the boys?”
“Sure.” Foreman walked up to the girl and she grinned at him. She was of Asian descent and quite pretty. “So, you’re Maggie, right?” he read from a chart at the end of her bed. “How’re you feeling today, Maggie?”
By the end of their examination they came to the same conclusion they had with Mercedes ‘Ceddie’ Pullman: Nothing was wrong with the kids.
It was just that there was far less blood in their systems than there should have been and their hearts were failing at irregular intervals.
Maggie and Jake were worse than Anya and Kyle, but they had no real explanation for that either.
“Something in their environment must have caused this. Why else would they all be showing the same symptoms? We’re gonna have to have a look at their place right now,” Foreman said as they left the room.
“Good luck with that.” Marjorie laughed, but the sound was bitter. “It burned out the night after Maggie and Anya came here. Kyle and Jake barely made it out before they, too, started showing symptoms.”
“Damn.” Foreman curled his fingers into a fist. “This almost feels like something doesn’t want us to do this.”
“Whatever it is,” Marjorie said softly, “we must find out soon or they won’t make it. I’d like you to stay here and help me with this case. I’ve already discussed it with Dr House and for the time being he’s made me your boss. I’ve prepared all we have on the case so far and it’s in this folder. Take it home and work through it.”
She thrust a rather large binder at Foreman and swept into another room, leaving the two of them alone.
Chase knew why House was doing this. House must be enjoying himself right now, knowing that Chase was forced to work with his stepmother on a case. The only thing House would feel sorry about was that he wasn’t actually present to see the results.
“Let’s get home then,” he murmured without looking at Foreman.
The lost son was back and he was going down the rabbit’s hole to face what he’d never wanted to return to.
The place of his birth; his mother’s house.
part: 2/10
author: Me, apparently
pairing: Foreman/Chase; implied House/Chase; implied others/Chase
rating: R
summary: Something has happened between Foreman and Chase - the latter just doesn't know what. When House sends them to Australia to save a patient's life they end up facing death - and each other.
a/n: Set sometime during season 2. Old school, baby!
When Chase finally opened the door to the hotel room, feeling more tired than ever, he expected to find temporary shelter. It was 2 AM, Foreman had to be tired, too. But the other doctor was still awake, lying on the bed and looking up when he entered.
“Something happened,” Chase said. “More patients from Ceddie’s dorm fell sick.”
“House’ll be so pleased.” Foreman chuckled darkly.
“Yeah.”
Chase briefly considered going to sleep as he was. He didn’t feel like undressing in the tiny room and he knew from experience that there was only one bathroom on every floor. Meeting a couple of backpackers making out wasn’t high on his priority list right now. Still, he needed to wash away the travelling sweat.
“What’s wrong with you?” Foreman sat up, directing that sharp gaze of his at Chase.
Chase felt that he couldn’t possibly deny him the answer. That was one of the many things House and Foreman had in common; somehow they always managed to get to the bottom of things.
“I’m fine. I’ll go take a shower.”
Chase hastily grabbed a couple of things and rushed off to the bathroom. The house was completely silent around him. Shining through one high window, the moon showed him the way to the familiar bathroom door.
He’d spent a couple of months here after his mother’s death when the hotel had still belonged to Romy’s parents. They, too, had died.
The tub was rusty and old like everything here, but Chase stepped in without hesitation. The night was warm and he hated the fresh sweat beading on his brow, his chest. It was just another memory.
The water slowly trickled over his body, bringing no relief. It was very little water, he realised. Apparently Romy didn’t take very good care of the hotel, but that was not really surprising. It was too old to ever make it function as it should. It was just too late.
***
When Chase returned to their shared room he didn’t seem particularly refreshed or happy. Foreman could relate; if this hotel was an example for Australian hygiene standards he had a pretty good idea why the kids had fallen ill.
“I hope we won’t have to spend more than a night here,” Foreman said as a way of greeting.
“It’s free. Don’t complain.”
“Who is that Romy anyway?”
Chase quickly slipped under the covers, shivering a little. Apparently the air conditioning was a little too much for him, but Foreman certainly wouldn’t do anything about that. It was just way too hot in this place.
When he was settled Chase merely shrugged. “An old friend.”
And after that neither of them spoke although Foreman could tell that Chase was just as restless as he was. It must have been weird to return home after such a long time. Still, it wasn’t his business. Chase was no responsibility of his and he wanted to make that abundantly clear. Conversation was all right, but he certainly wouldn’t dig too deeply into the void that was Chase’s soul.
Yawning, he turned around once more, now facing the window. He was tired, no, exhausted. His limbs felt swollen and heavy, like he was an elephant. Sighing softly, he turned to face Chase’s back.
“You’re still awake, aren’t you?”
“What is it?”
“I was just wondering if you were still awake.”
Now that was kind of awkward. Foreman wished he hadn’t spoken at all, it wasn’t like they really had anything in common they could talk about other than work. The least thing he wanted was to talk about that now. Really, he should’ve kept his mouth shut.
“You don’t need to be here,” Chase murmured, sounding like he was finally going to sleep. “I can do this on my own. I know you don’t want to be here.”
There were two unspoken words here and Foreman decided they best remained where they were right now; in the safety of their own minds.
With me.
“I’ll do my job, Chase. I have to.”
***
“Morning! Though I doubt it’s a very good one for you.”
Romy grinned at Chase and Foreman who were slowly making their way towards the dining room. Chase hadn’t slept very well after their conversation and, judging from his swollen eyes, neither had Foreman.
“Cut out the yelling, sweetheart.” Chase smiled wryly at her before settling at one of the tables, automatically starting to nibble on the toast Romy shoved in his direction. Foreman on the other hand was already digging into his eggs and bacon.
“Um, there’s something else we need to talk about actually. Robert, I need the room.” She bent forward and Chase had to force himself not to look at her breasts. Well, he was only a man, wasn’t he?
“Sure, we’ll find another place to stay, I suppose.”
“Robert.” She paused, shaking her head. “You’ll have to go back to the house eventually. I’ve been taking care of it, but… I just think you should go back there. It’d be good for you.”
The house….
Why did Romy have to bring up this particular subject now when he really needed to focus his energy on something totally different? What had he ever done that he deserved this now?
Whiny as always, aren’t we?
Ignoring his own inner scolding, he nodded. Again, he felt like he’d never really had a choice to begin with.
“Mark’s gonna take your stuff there if you like,” Romy continued. “It’s not gonna be much trouble at all.”
“Sure, sure that works…
Foreman cleared his throat, interrupting them, and for once Chase was actually happy about the other’s presence during this mission of theirs. He just knew Romy would say something that would upset him and-
“We’re gonna have a party tomorrow night, by the way. Your place. I’ll prepare everything.”
And with that she left the room, leaving Chase with no other options but to bury his face under his hands.
“I have no idea what this is about and I don’t wanna know either. What I do want is to get this over with, Chase.”
Grabbing his jacket, Foreman strode to the door. Chase knew he wouldn’t get any help from that side. He’d just have to get through this on his own somehow and hope nothing too bad would happen. For now he had more important things to worry about than a party - like meeting the demon of his childhood.
Marjorie had never been a delicate woman.
Some might call her voluptuous and maybe that was why Chase truly disliked overweight people, maybe not. He did dislike redheads, though, and that was entirely her fault. Her unruly mob of red hair, surely that was what had caught his father’s attention in the first place. That and the stereotypical redhead-personality.
Of course his own mother, fragile and blonde, had not been able to compete with that.
As she stood in the hallway now, her left hand bandaged, he didn’t feel much of his old resentment, though.
Marjorie was just a woman like any other. She was no witch and she wasn’t even particularly cold when she looked at him although he knew he deserved it for how he had been treating her over the years.
“It’s been a while,” she said, extending her hand.
When Chase took it in his he felt the bones poking through pale skin. She hadn’t had such bony hands before.
“This is Dr Foreman,” he introduced his colleague quickly, trying to shake off his personal feelings towards her. “We’re currently treating Mercedes Pullman and we heard some of her room mates were showing similar symptoms so….”
“All of them actually.” Marjorie quickly shook hands with Foreman before leading them down the hallway to their patients’ room. “With the exception of Kyle. The disease is progressing more slowly in him.”
She opened the door and Chase found himself faced by a bunch of kids who might easily have been his own friends from a couple of years ago. It all felt so familiar and….
Shaking his head, he forced himself to smile and do his introductions.
Before he could ever open his mouth, a small girl in the bed closest to the door raised her hand.
“I want him to treat me!” She pointed at Foreman.
“Um, okay.” Chase shrugged. There were two boys and two girls so it seemed only fair to split. “You do the girls, I’ll take the boys?”
“Sure.” Foreman walked up to the girl and she grinned at him. She was of Asian descent and quite pretty. “So, you’re Maggie, right?” he read from a chart at the end of her bed. “How’re you feeling today, Maggie?”
By the end of their examination they came to the same conclusion they had with Mercedes ‘Ceddie’ Pullman: Nothing was wrong with the kids.
It was just that there was far less blood in their systems than there should have been and their hearts were failing at irregular intervals.
Maggie and Jake were worse than Anya and Kyle, but they had no real explanation for that either.
“Something in their environment must have caused this. Why else would they all be showing the same symptoms? We’re gonna have to have a look at their place right now,” Foreman said as they left the room.
“Good luck with that.” Marjorie laughed, but the sound was bitter. “It burned out the night after Maggie and Anya came here. Kyle and Jake barely made it out before they, too, started showing symptoms.”
“Damn.” Foreman curled his fingers into a fist. “This almost feels like something doesn’t want us to do this.”
“Whatever it is,” Marjorie said softly, “we must find out soon or they won’t make it. I’d like you to stay here and help me with this case. I’ve already discussed it with Dr House and for the time being he’s made me your boss. I’ve prepared all we have on the case so far and it’s in this folder. Take it home and work through it.”
She thrust a rather large binder at Foreman and swept into another room, leaving the two of them alone.
Chase knew why House was doing this. House must be enjoying himself right now, knowing that Chase was forced to work with his stepmother on a case. The only thing House would feel sorry about was that he wasn’t actually present to see the results.
“Let’s get home then,” he murmured without looking at Foreman.
The lost son was back and he was going down the rabbit’s hole to face what he’d never wanted to return to.
The place of his birth; his mother’s house.