Name: I Believe In You.
Writer: Ann.
Fandom: House.
Rating: PG.
Timeline: Post finale.
Disclaimer: All rights for House reserved to Fox and the studios. I don't own anything (unfortunately).
Others: Just an idea that came to my mind after talking about the Chase/House relationship with a friend.
The hospital was quiet at this time of the day. He knew it. And why shouldn't he? He worked in that hospital for so long that he already knew everything he needed to know about it. Some may say he knew it too well. But he knew there was no such a thing as knowing a place too well. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, this hospital was an important place in his life. And… he was always proud to say he came from there. It may not have been the biggest or the most famous hospital around, but it was great to work in. Especially for him.
And so it was for the doctor sitting in his office in the fourth floor. He was looking at a whiteboard and playing with a red-and-grey ball. On the big office next to it sat two women, who remained there against the fair-haired doctor's will. He told them to go home and rest, but they remained anyway, and he let them stay, knowing they might have a breakthrough that would help their patient.
As he watched the two of them sitting there and eventually leaving the office, his mind was reeling. He thought about the diagnosis, about what might have happened to the patient he and his team were treating that moment. He tried to figure out what had happened, and as he worked to find the solution his mind slowly drifted away, until he found himself thinking about his old boss and mentor. These thoughts were always painful for him, even after Foreman, Cameron and he realized he wasn't really gone. Like his friends', his relationship with their boss was complicated. But no matter what happened, he never once stopped caring about him.
He threw the ball in the air, and barely captured it only to throw it upwards again. But this time the ball slipped out of his reach and rolled down on the floor, until it was stopped – not by the door, as he had imagined would happen, but by someone's feet.
"I loved that ball."
Chase turned around, surprised. This was a voice he hasn't heard in a few months. He wasn't surprised when he saw his former boss, House, standing in front of him. He was only surprised that he took the time to come and pay him a visit.
"House." Slowly, a smile appeared on his lips. "What are you doing here?"
House bent down and grabbed the ball. He didn't throw it back to Chase, but played with it alone, as he used to do so often. Then, looking at Chase with a slightly vulnerable look, he spoke. "You're not surprised that I'm alive. Which means you knew I wasn't dead."
Chase nodded. "Yes. We figured it out about a month after the funeral," He said, a slightly smile still on his lips. He got up, but House still didn't move. Only then he noticed his cane was missing. "Your leg, how-"
"It's fine," House cut him off shortly. "'We' means?"
"Foreman, Cameron and I," Chase replied.
They stood there silently for another moment, House looking at the ball in his hands and Chase looking at House. Eventually, throwing the ball back at the other man, House spoke. "I see you've got my old job." Chase nodded silently, not exactly sure what to say. "Congratulations. You deserve it."
Chase seemed slightly surprised. "Thank you." As a new thought occurred to him, he looked up at the blue-eyed man in front of him. "Did Wilson tell you to say that?"
House shrugged. "Maybe."
"House-"
"Does it matter?" All of a sudden, he sounded like the House Chase knew what felt like so long ago. Impatient and not caring what others thought about him, that's who he was towards others. Seeing Chase's face, House sighed quietly and then sat down, his right hand rubbing his leg. "No. He didn't."
"But he told you to come here."
"Yes."
Chase looked at him seriously for a moment before asking, "Why?"
"Where should I know?" House's response was tired and impatient. "Ask Wilson."
Chase sat back down, still looking at his old mentor. "You're not here because Wilson told you to," He said, slowly realizing the motive behind House's sudden visit. "You're here because you wanted to say something. Well, what is it?"
House got up. "I'm running late," He said, turning to leave.
"For what?" Chase sounded amused.
"Nothing you need to know," House replied sardonically, stopping and turning around. Chase raised his eyebrows in a mix of question and confidence that House had nowhere else to be. Expect by Wilson's side, obviously. Understanding he had nowhere else to turn, House's voice returned to the honest, slightly vulnerable quite tone he had. "We heard you're the new head of diagnostics. I came to congratulate you." Nodding slightly to himself, he added, "If there was anyone who deserved it, it's you."
"Really?" Chase smiled in both delight and slight surprise, and for a moment he reminded House of that young man he hired years ago, the one who needed House's approval. Despite the way Chase changed, there was still a part of him that needed that approval from House. "You think so?"
House shrugged. "You're the one who's learned the most. If there's anyone who can run this department, it's you."
"Thanks." There was nothing else he could say.
House didn't reply. He just turned around, and limped towards the door, his pain clear in each and every step he made. He opened the door and then turned around, looking at Chase seriously with his pure blue eyes. "It's Lupus," He said, tilting his head towards the symptoms written on the whiteboard.
"It's never Lupus."
House's smile was small. "Well, it is now," was all he said before shrugging and leaving Chase alone.