AU S8 one-shot: "Threshold of Change."

[lit_luminary]

Title: Threshold of Change
Author: lit_luminary
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Chase, Wilson, House; House/Chase mentorship/friendship; House/Wilson friendship.
Summary: With House’s record, arranging a new start for him was never going to be easy.
Note: This fic is a prequel of sorts to damigella_314’s “A New Beginning.”  What follows is Chase’s perspective

Comments

[blackmare]

I like this a lot. Yes, the "thank you" is there in the fact that House is taking the job. :-)

[lit_luminary]

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

What makes their respective relationships with House work is that neither Wilson nor Chase needs to hear gratitude expressed as 'Thank you' (or many other things expressed in conventional forms).

[damigella_314]

Thank you so much for writing this. It's good to see just how much Chase had to work to help House, and I think the prison visit, while not formally necessary, was actually a focus point for the whole fic. Because after all that's the point; Chase is giving back time and effort to the person who taught him. It's a debt one can only fully repay indirectly, by teaching others.

The epigraph quotation is perfect.

[lit_luminary]

You're very welcome. It was my pleasure.

The visit wasn't formally necessary, no, but it was emotionally and psychologically necessary: in case House didn't respond as hoped to the job, in case this was actually goodbye, it was important to Chase to acknowledge what he'd been given; to acknowledge that House had played a significant role in shaping him, personally as well as professionally.

And as a teacher-in-training myself, I agree absolutely with what you've said: that's a debt that's repaid only when student becomes teacher, and it's the best teachers who instill the desire to teach in their students. (That's where I see Chase's character arc going, ultimately: that when House retires, he'll be the one who takes students and passes on what House taught. Because that knowledge shouldn't end with House's career, and Chase--by my reading, at least--would make a fine teacher in his own right.)

[waylandsmithy]

Terrific! Your ideas and your prose flow as smoothly as ever.The scene between House and Chase cleverly reveals feeling without being mawkish.

[lit_luminary]

Thank you! This is the first piece I've posted in a while, and it was a very satisfying one to write. (Tonight's episode has given me some hope for canon, though, so I may come out of strictly-AU territory in a few weeks and begin with post-eps again.)

That's the line that has to be walked with a scene like that: feeling, but never sentimentality. I'm glad to hear I was successful.

[menolly_au]

Ah, that was very satisfying :) And Chase, Wilson and House all coming to Sydney, can't wait :) Very nicely drawn characterisations of all three of them and I love that Chase took all that effort to visit House in prison to say goodbye. And House sort of asked for that hug didn't he? A great companion to Dami's hopeful story.

[lit_luminary]

Thank you. The original story mentioned things I wanted to hear about in more detail, so a companion piece was more or less inevitable. I'm glad to hear the characterizations were tone-true.

Chase would absolutely have visited to say goodbye: on the chance House didn't respond as hoped to the job, it would have been important to him to have closure and acknowledge House's role in his life. And as it is, even though it's not goodbye--much better to say those things when House is literally a captive audience and has to hear him out.

Yes, House did sort of ask for the hug. He was able to tell himself he was doing it just for Chase--because he'd have learned from the brain cancer gambit that Chase places importance on contact--but on some level, he was getting something from it, too. Because he does have a certain affection for Chase, for all he'd never say so straight out.

[freddie_mac]

Yes, yes, YES! What a wonderful (au) look at how things could have (should have?) gone. I've always liked the relationship between Chase and House, and I can certainly see Chase working with Wilson to develop a proposal like this. You and House are correct: on some level, Chase has adopted House as his father figure, and House actually does respond to that. Now, have to run off and read Dami's fic.

[lit_luminary]

Thank you so much for commenting; I'm glad you enjoyed the fic.

It seemed like an alliance between Wilson and Chase would be the natural thing in this situation: the two people who care the most about House working to give him a future. And yes, Chase's relationship with House does include paternal/filial implications; it makes me wonder why so few fic writers explore that angle.

Damigella's fic was excellent, so I'm sure you'll love it.