"Well then, I suppose that settles it." Dr. Lisa Cuddy closes the current meeting of the hospital board and all of the doctors file out, leaving Dr. James Wilson behind.

"So…who's going to break it to him?"

"You're his best friend." Cuddy tries to convince him.

"So?! What does that have to do with anything? You're his boss."

"Compromise. We'll tell him together."

"Deal. How do you think he'll react?"

"About the new doctor, or the fundraiser?"

"Either, both. Regardless of what we break to him first, he's not going to be pleased. Let's tell him about the new doctor in private. Then we'll leave it to him to tell his team."

"Sounds good." By now they have reached the Diagnostics office and see House running a differential with the team. Cuddy knocks on the glass to get House's attention and motions him into his office. House limps over and the trio enters the room. House takes one look at the serious looks on his boss's and best friend's faces and immediately goes to jokes.

"Uh-oh, serious faces. Are Mommy and Daddy getting a divorce?"

"House, this is serious." Wilson starts. He glances to Cuddy, who takes over the story,

"You're getting a new doctor on your Fellowship-"

"And yet I didn't interview any doctors." House interrupts.

"I've gotten one too many complaints about you, House."

"And hiring another doctor will stop the complaints?"

"Hiring this doctor will help."

"What's their specialty?" House questions with trepidation, dreading where this could be going.

"Cardiology." Cuddy takes a long enough pause for House to realize who she's talking about.

"WHAT?! NO!" House shouts loud enough for the three doctors in the other room to turn their heads in shock. House immediately lowers his voice. "Tell me that you're joking."

"Sorry House. We had an opening in Cardiology, she applied right after your last complaint about you. Whenever you don't have a case, she'll be working in Cardiology, but she will be working with you on every single case you've got from the instant she starts here." Cuddy leans on the desk, giving House the perfect opportunity to comment on the low cut of her blouse, which he doesn't.

"Is there anything else, or can I get back to my patient?"

"One more thing." Wilson cuts in. "The Diagnostics Department is in charge of this years hospital benefit. The theme has been chosen, you and your team get to organize it."

"What's the theme?"

"Karaoke." Wilson deadpans. House stares at him disbelievingly before turning and hobbling back into the conference room.

"Well," Wilson turns to Cuddy, "That went better than I thought it would."

------------------

"Is everything okay?" Cameron immediately asks when House reenters the room.

"Peachy. Where were we?"

"MRI is clean," Chase resumes speaking, oblivious to what Cameron believes is wrong with House.

"But indicators in the blood work show that he's got a tumor." Foreman cuts in.

"Run another scan." House orders. "Two millimeter segments. Anything abnormal, no matter how small or insignificant, get back to me on." The team starts to get up, when House stops them. "Two things irrelevant to the case. We're getting another Fellow, and the Diagnostic office is in charge of this years hospital fundraiser. It's a Karaoke theme."

"Fun." Foreman responds before he and chase head out to run the scan. Cameron lingers behind the two.

"Are you sure that everything's okay?"

House pauses for a moment before meeting her gaze. "Yeah, everything's fine. Thanks for asking."

Cameron pauses, shocked that a 'thank you' just came out of her bosses mouth without a hint of sarcasm. "You're welcome." She pauses, waiting for a sarcastic comment that doesn't come, then turns and exits the room.

------------

"At last," Chase closes the file after giving it his signature, "case closed." He grabs the tennis ball on the table in front of him and begins playing with it. "Let's hope that the cosmos are kind enough to give us a break after that last one." Cameron pours herself a cup of tea and takes a seat at the table.

"Hello, duckys." House limps in and goes to our himself a cup of coffee, only to find that one is already made, courtesy of Cameron. He is about to return to his office, when he's stopped by Cameron's voice.

"When is the new Fellow starting? You never told us."

"Started here last week, only going to be on loan to us when we've got a case."

"Does the fellow have a name?"

"Yes." House limps into his office without further elaboration, leaving three very confused doctors behind, Cameron especially.

"Did you honestly expect to get a straight answer from him?" Chase questions the immunologist. Cameron doesn't say anything, just gets up and leaves the room, walking briskly toward the one person that she knows will answer her questions.

------------------

Wilson is getting the necessary files in order for the day when there is a knock at the door. Before he can respond, Cameron opens the door and pokes her head in.

"Hey, do you have a minute, Dr. Wilson?"

"Of course. What's going on?"

Cameron comes in and takes a seat in one of the chairs across from Wilson's desk, taking a moment to compose what's she's about to say. "Does House have some sort of history with the new doctor we've got coming in?" She finally asks bluntly.

This time, Wilson is the one to take a moment to compose his thoughts, knowing that this is something that needs to be told by House.

"Yes, and no. Yes, they have some past ties, but no, they don't really have a history."

"I don't get it."

"It's complicated, Cameron. I wish that I could explain more, but this is something that really needs to be told by Greg."

"So the outburst when he was first told…"

"Dr. Reed coming to work here will definitely open some floodgates for House, and he's going to try his damnedest to keep them shut."

"Which means that he's going to be even more of an ass now."

"Yup. And he's going to avoid taking on cases even more so now then he did before, so if you want him to take on a case, make sure that you have a really good argument as to why he should. Now," Wilson shuffles through some of his files, "I hate to kick you out, but I've got an appointment in ten minutes, and I really need to prepare."

"Sure thing. Thank you, Wilson." Just as she's about to leave, Wilson stops her.

"One question for you, Cameron." She turns to face him. "Do you still have feelings for House?" The look on her face answers the question for him. "Never mind, your face said it all. Believe me when I say that you could get a lot of insight into Greg House through this doctor. Enough to make you realize a little more about why he is the way that he is."

Cameron nods her head to acknowledge that she heard him, and turns to leave.