A/N: And bones4life presenting another oneshot! Leave some feedback please. Thanks. Peace.
At four in the morning, Cameron straightened her back, ignoring the popping sound that she was becoming increasingly familiar with. Grabbing her bag out her locker, the file slid out to the floor by her feet with a few soft swishes.
Crap, I forgot about this.
Rubbing her eyes, she let out a deep sigh before bending down and hearing the small crack in her knees. Almost a year in the ER and she was aging just beautifully. Because she wouldn't be back for three days, she decided to slide the sheets under Dr. Baxter's door so he wouldn't stroke out if he didn't get her input on cutting the budget yet again. The man just had to know what everyone thought.
She decided to take the long way around for some reason.
Cameron shifted the bag on her shoulder once more, fighting the urge to close her eyes and keep them that way. As she was about to turn the corner, she heard his voice and it stopped her in her slow tracks.
"I have to be here at this god-awful time. So do you."
"It's your patient. You should be here. I, on the other hand, would be at home in bed if you hadn't threatened the man's son that you would do a tracheotomy on his father."
"It's not my fault he knows your home phone number."
Like an intruder, Cameron huddled closer to the wall. Like an invader, she knew she should turn away. Their voices wouldn't let her. The way he spoke to Cuddy, arrogant and disdainful was something familiar, but something new was there. Was there softness, lowness, carefulness?
Cuddy pointedly glanced at him and sighed before resuming the position House was in: arms leaning against the top rail, looking down at the clear view of the lobby beside the clinic and her office.
"How's your Wilson withdrawal coming?"
"I'm not addicted to Wilson."
"Yeah. He's the only person you like and he is no longer at your beck and call."
House was silent for a while and Cameron momentarily thought the man had sulked off into his always destination, his office. And then it came, as intimate as a touch across bare skin, barely discernible.
"He's not the only person I like."
With a wry chuckle, Cuddy leaned her elbow on the rail and rested her chin in her palm. "Who else do you like?"
"Your mama."
The slap on his arm made its way to Cameron's ears and she smiled in spite of herself.
"My mother hated you, remember?"
"She met me once!"
"Once is enough. Trust me."
"That was low, Cuddles."
"So was your performance."
"Only because I had to think of Bo Derek swishing her braids every time you gasped for air to scream my name."
From behind the corner, the eavesdropper frowned.
So, it is true.
It would be a lie if Cameron said it meant nothing, though she couldn't say what it did mean to her. She'd always had her suspicions, and now that they were confirmed, she almost wished she didn't know. He'd slept with every woman but her. It never was her.
"I didn't want to hurt your feelings, House."
"You were as cut-throat as cut-throat-bitch back then."
"I was not!"
"You were a freshman and called Dr. Minty out on a diagnosis."
"I thought he was wrong!"
"Think with your wonderful, bounties. Not your brain, Cuddy."
"Shut up, pig."
The amicable silence that engulfed them didn't seem to faze either one of them. It bothered Cameron which didn't make sense because it shouldn't. House wasn't hers. Never had been and never would be.
"Thanks…."
The Dean raised her eyebrows, almost stunned into silence. "For what?"
He kept his gaze centered on the janitor mopping the floor downstairs. "For letting me fire the new team. After this case of course."
"You do know I don't approve."
"Yet, you're letting me do it anyways."
"Only because you cured my sister."
Shrugging, he seemed to say it didn't matter. "It's about time."
"Not even a year?"
"I broke 'em in. Good enough for me."
"You do know you'll have to get another team together."
He replied only by raising his eyebrows.
"House…."
That was all Cameron heard since she walked away after the low tones finally got to her. She hadn't heard him talk so smoothly in so long. She hadn't had a conversation with him in two months. It shouldn't matter.
She walked the long corridors, choosing to take the stairs instead of the elevator for some ungodly reason. Each step echoed with something that sounded awfully like regret, want, need. She paid it no heed since she was perfectly fine where she was…wherever that was.
Pushing the door open, she realized she'd made it to the final floor. The janitor briefly glanced her way, giving her a curt nod which she returned politely. It was then that she realized that she missed the challenge House offered her. Everyone else was normal, completely redundant in everything about them. And him? He was a kaleidoscope of everchanging thoughts and mannerisms that had kept her on her toes. At the time, she hadn't realized the passion in her work which she now understood was taken for granted like most things were. One year later, she thought the good she was doing in the ER was finally washing away the need House had hated for so long. That was good.
Cameron knew they would watch her as she walked through the lobby. The back of her neck felt warmer as she thought about him watching her in her pink scrubs, reminded of her fall from grace. Then again, he had Cuddy to entertain his thoughts.
She caught the movement from the corner of her eye before recognizing the figure that stood waiting for her.
"What are you doing here?"
Chase shrugs his shoulders, a small smile crossing his handsome features. "Figured after that 38 shift you'd have a hard time driving back to your place."
He's so thoughtful. He's grown so much. He knows so much more. He's stronger. Sometimes he reminds me of-.
The short nod he gave over her head made her remember the two figures that still stood side by side at the rails. She didn't mimic the gesture, not wanting to see the man that she never could wrap her head around.
"You ready?" she asked, putting her hands on her bag so she wouldn't have to hold his hand and let them see it.
"Always," he replied, meaning more than the obvious, though knowing at the same time she would never quite see that far. The smile she gave him, tired and loose, almost made him want to tell her to make up her mind and choose the one who was still there in front of her rather than the one who, if given the chance, would push her out of the way with no apologies like he had done before. Chase did nothing however, since he was a selfish man.
Cuddy watched House's reaction, fighting the smirk that was creeping towards her face as she nodded.
"You like her?"
"What?" He asked disconcerted, still looking at the blonde pair below. "No, she's a pocket full of sunshine."
"That's why you can't stop looking at her."
This time, he pointedly looked away to stare at Cuddy's breasts. "Better?"
"You've always liked her."
"I like your wonderfully crafted-."
"Hire her back."
House's head slowly turns up to stare at his boss, his stance suddenly gaining a tension that had been lacking before. "What for?"
"How else are you going to steal her away from Chase?"
