Ficlet: Consequences (House MD, PG)
Because it's still Friday for five more minutes, and I am trying to post everyday, you get House fic.
Prompt: housefic50: 18. Consequences
Character(s): Greg House
Genre: Gen
Spoilers: Contains spoilers for Wilson's Heart.
They think that he doesn't care about consequences, but nothing could be farther from the truth. He's always looking at the bigger picture; he knows that for every action there is a reaction, if not always equal and opposite, as Newton had postulated. It's not that he doesn't care about them (okay, so he doesn't care a lot) it's just that the consequences don't tend to be deterrents from his chosen courses of action.
He didn't believe in lying, especially not to himself, even though partial truths and omissions were a useful part of his repertoire. He was a screw-up at life, but he was good at what he did, better than anyone else. Even the people that hated him tended to describe him as a brilliant diagnostician, if a first-rate bastard. He could live with that. He lived with a lot of things that would bother other people, including his never-ending pain.
He was a (mostly) functional addict, who regularly chose between a mind distracted by pain or one clouded with narcotics. He understood the trade-off between what you want out of life and what you can get. He understood that diagnosis was sometimes a one step forward, two steps back proposition, and even when you had all of the answers, it didn't mean that you could do anything with them. That didn't mean that he was ever prepared to be helpless.
That was the one thing that he had promised himself that he would never be. He was crippled, handicapped, physically disabled, and he milked it for all it was worth, when it suited him to do so, but he was not helpless. He didn't fail. He didn't lose. He didn't ask for help, and he accepted the consequences of his actions when he had eliminated all other avenues of recourse.
That's why he did it; that's why he risked his life to save her. The kids may not get it, and Wilson wasn't ready to see it, but it was true. Cuddy got it, even if she would pretend she didn't, unless he asked - and he wouldn't ask. She'd known him a long time; seen him at his best and his worst, believed in him.
He could count on her, could count on Wilson. That's why he had called him that night. He wasn't that drunk, just a little over the limit, didn't need Wilson to put him on a bus home. It was just what they did. House got into "trouble" and called Wilson. Wilson came and let House convince him to "loosen up" a little, and Wilson got to take care of him and make jokes at his expense. It worked for them.
He just hadn't thought that anyone else would come. He certainly hadn't believed that Amber had really cared enough about Wilson to come after House so that he wouldn't have to. She didn't know the rules, didn't even know it was a game. It cost her life. It may have cost Greg his friendship with Wilson. That was a consequence, and it was his to pay.
And he would - as soon as he ran out of other courses of action.
Prompt: housefic50: 18. Consequences
Character(s): Greg House
Genre: Gen
Spoilers: Contains spoilers for Wilson's Heart.
They think that he doesn't care about consequences, but nothing could be farther from the truth. He's always looking at the bigger picture; he knows that for every action there is a reaction, if not always equal and opposite, as Newton had postulated. It's not that he doesn't care about them (okay, so he doesn't care a lot) it's just that the consequences don't tend to be deterrents from his chosen courses of action.
He didn't believe in lying, especially not to himself, even though partial truths and omissions were a useful part of his repertoire. He was a screw-up at life, but he was good at what he did, better than anyone else. Even the people that hated him tended to describe him as a brilliant diagnostician, if a first-rate bastard. He could live with that. He lived with a lot of things that would bother other people, including his never-ending pain.
He was a (mostly) functional addict, who regularly chose between a mind distracted by pain or one clouded with narcotics. He understood the trade-off between what you want out of life and what you can get. He understood that diagnosis was sometimes a one step forward, two steps back proposition, and even when you had all of the answers, it didn't mean that you could do anything with them. That didn't mean that he was ever prepared to be helpless.
That was the one thing that he had promised himself that he would never be. He was crippled, handicapped, physically disabled, and he milked it for all it was worth, when it suited him to do so, but he was not helpless. He didn't fail. He didn't lose. He didn't ask for help, and he accepted the consequences of his actions when he had eliminated all other avenues of recourse.
That's why he did it; that's why he risked his life to save her. The kids may not get it, and Wilson wasn't ready to see it, but it was true. Cuddy got it, even if she would pretend she didn't, unless he asked - and he wouldn't ask. She'd known him a long time; seen him at his best and his worst, believed in him.
He could count on her, could count on Wilson. That's why he had called him that night. He wasn't that drunk, just a little over the limit, didn't need Wilson to put him on a bus home. It was just what they did. House got into "trouble" and called Wilson. Wilson came and let House convince him to "loosen up" a little, and Wilson got to take care of him and make jokes at his expense. It worked for them.
He just hadn't thought that anyone else would come. He certainly hadn't believed that Amber had really cared enough about Wilson to come after House so that he wouldn't have to. She didn't know the rules, didn't even know it was a game. It cost her life. It may have cost Greg his friendship with Wilson. That was a consequence, and it was his to pay.
And he would - as soon as he ran out of other courses of action.