Chapter 1

"Is this what you want?"

"I'm certain".

"Cameron, don't try to be the hero. It doesn't look good on anyone."

Cameron sighed, counted to ten slowly in her head while looking up at the ceiling and then brought her head back down to face reality. It was really quite amazing how she had not yet needed to afford a therapist.

"House," Cameron continued on, masking her voice with a much icier tone. If they were going to revert back to last names, she might as well do her part. "I don't know about you, and honestly, I'm not saying that, because I stumble upon this question every time I think about it, but I became a doctor because I wanted to help people. That's why I'm going and there's little that can stop me at this point. The decision has been made, I'm receiving my vaccinations in two days and boarding a plane in one week." She hoped that her last statement would guide him into her obviously hinted finalization.

"Doctors Without Boarders? C'mon Cameron, do you even know how dangerous that is? You think that because the war is over, people aren't driven into starvation enough that they won't try to claw your eyes out in the middle of the night, just to take that piece of bread from your tent? You think they're just waiting in line, civilly, for a doctor to finally try and cure them of that nasty disease they picked up from the water they drank? Africa isn't a safe place for someone-"

"Someone like who House? Someone like me? Poor fragile Allison Cameron, she can't handle seeing any sort of death or violence now can she? She's too naive to actually understand what she's about to face. Newsflash, I can handle it because I've seen death and I'm numb against it now-I guess I have you to thank for that." Cameron's angry voice was growing louder as her eyes became hollowed.

"I didn't say that. Now you're putting words in my mouth." House thumped his way around his office, he to becoming angrier as he slowly watched her slipping into something he didn't feel that for one, she could handle and two, he could handle. He watched her splutter, her mouth opening and closing, daring to speak but not. She knew that was what he meant, or at least, partially and she also knew he was trying to protect her-she just wasn't letting him.

"Okay I'm going to be blunt. I don't want you to go so you have to stay."

"You think that I'm some sort of toy House? That I can be played with and put on the shelf, told to stay and I'll sit still? I don't know what you want but I'm getting tired of playing your games. I'm walking away and doing something that I feel I need to do. Why can't you just accept that and leave me alone?" Cameron was becoming emotional and he could see it coming. But he needed to press further. He needed to break her more then he already had because it was his specialty, and because his name was Greg House.

"Well that is why I offered you the job after all. You're the toy I look at when I'm bored. What? You thought your brains got you somewhere? Newsflash, you're a trophy." House wanted to kick himself and bash his head into the wall while he was at it. He knew what his snippy comments could do to her, and he knew he had been leading up to something that could have potentially saved her from going, but he couldn't bring himself to.

Cameron had tears down her cheeks as soon as his painful words tumbled from his lips. She held an accepting hint of a smile, like she hadn't expected any different. To House, all he saw was a woman he had broken and not one who looked lost as she had a time earlier, but rather, a look that suggested she had given up on everything. The look tugged at his conscious and his heart and screamed at him to apologize and grovel for her to stay.

"Goodbye Greg". Cameron whispered. She shot out her hand for him to shake, but he was too disappointed with himself for giving her another reason to leave, and for her to have given up so easily, to actually think about taking her hand. His head tucked as he glared at the floor. He was losing her.

Her rejected hand lingered for only a few seconds before she dropped it to her side. The noise echoing as it once had when she came to self sacrifice herself for Foreman. The reminder alone was enough to send him on edge.

She turned quickly and made to leave but on instinct, House grabbed one of her retreating hands and slammed her into him, adjusting his balance as he could. He pressed his lips to hers insistently and pleaded with her without words to reconsider.

Cameron's surprise only left her mouth more open for House to consume. He could still feel her anger radiating off her skin, especially when he held her and her arms remained limply to her sides. Suddenly she had her palms pressed into his chest and she was pushing herself out of his grasp, fighting him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Cameron wanted to know. Her tone wasn't as angry as she had hoped it would be, and a breathy note would surely not remain undetected.

"Don't go" House's voice had gone down an octave and he sounded genuinely upset. His big blue eyes bore into hers.

Cameron didn't say another word as she stepped forward and took the initiative, wrapping herself in House's ready embrace. How many times had this happened? She couldn't even count. She knew her decision was for the best, a few months apart would be enough time for her to decide what she was doing and for him to figure out what he wanted. Until that point, she couldn't bear to be around what she so desperately needed, especially when he didn't understand anything.

Their kiss was passionate and long. It was the type of kiss that left room for suggestion and often times moved on to become something higher rated, but before that could happen, Cameron once again pushed herself away. She always pushed herself away, he only ever watched, sometimes contributing.

"Goodbye House." Cameron turned quickly, tears streaming down her face and hands wiping furiously to at least hold some dignity within the hospital walls. She wouldn't dare look back because she knew that one more glance would spare her another step in the direction she knew she should take.

Cameron was heading to Luanda Norte where an outbreak of Angola Cholera, a water borne disease had already killed nearly two thousand people within the Angola provinces. The disease was spreading because there was a lack of sanitation within water systems due to extreme poverty, creating the spread of Cholera. The fact that there were only two water sources available for four million people was not easing anyone's mind either. Cameron was heading out to join as the fifty-third international doctor in the Angolan medical team, hoping to alleviate the crisis as another helping hand.

Nerves were racking at her as she thought about just how close it was until she was off to Southern Africa, alone. When she had spoken to Chase and Foreman about it, she figured one of the two might be interested as well. The fact remained that they were both thinking selfishly, not seeing any benefits from traveling to a potentially dangerous place to save people who were dying. Their concerns lay in their futures as doctors in the United States alone.

When she had overcome the obstacle of telling House, she only felt more certain of her choice. He could kiss her and tell her to stay, her knees could buckle because despite all his torture, she still loved him and wouldn't have him any other way. She would consider staying if he just told her those three small words. The words he didn't necessarily need to say aloud because she knew Greg House and he was never going to be that type of guy. She understood and accepted that. Expecting him to verbally repeat those words to her meant he was changing and she didn't know that she could handle that between the two of them. But if he showed her, she just might have stayed. He didn't though. She knew that he cared, otherwise he wouldn't have spent countless hours yelling at her for her 'stupid, incompetent ' decision, but he wasn't ready for her yet. Time away would give them air. She was afraid that when she returned however, her chance would be gone and if that happened Allison Cameron wasn't sure what she was going to do.

All House could do was watch her retreating back fade into the distance. It would not be the last time he saw her before she headed to Africa, logic repeated that constantly. The confusion he had felt in the last while over Allison Cameron was not becoming any clearer.

House could solve a five thousand pieced puzzle in eight hour, a new game boy game game in ten and a rubes cube in three minutes. When it came to the Allison, he wouldn't credit ten years to figuring her out because it almost seemed impossible. All he knew was that he did not want her to go and he was attempting what was in his power of not looking like an absolute fool, to make sure that happened. Kissing her had been instinctual-which he hadn't done since Stacey. Now House knew he could not lose Allison Cameron because she had become more than just a duckling, she had been promoted to damn importance.

Note: 'Doctors Without Borders' is an organization made up of national and international doctors, working to alleviate crisis' worldwide. They are currently working on the outbreak of cholora in Africa which has become a national medical issue due to poverty. If you want to know more about the issue check out their website (google DWB and you'll get there). I am attempting to keep it as accurate as I can when describing Africa and the current pendemic. Hope you enjoyed it!