Character/Pairing: Gregory House, Allison Cameron, Robert Chase, Eric Foreman
Rating: PG-13 / T (for swear and drug use)

Disclaimer: I do not own House.

Equivalence

It had always been a puzzling question burning in the back of her mind whenever the doctor stirred up thoughts of his practice. Why did he always seem to get his way? How could people trust someone with such a fowl mouth and a lashing tongue?

None could quite understand why no one could deny him. After being an ass for most of his working career and maybe even before that it didn't seem likely that anyone would listen to his quarrels and demands. But they did. Oh did they. What Gregory House wanted, he received, one way or another. No matter if it sounded ludicrous. For House was always right, no matter what.

People believed in his insane ideas and if anyone doubted it, he didn't care. He'd still go for it even with an army offensive army waiting for him at the doors just before Cuddy's office.

Cameron had yet to quite understand the woman's obedience to him. Then again, being as the one who fell for him, she wasn't about to go pointing fingers. She simply observed.

"What are you staring at?" A snappy voice sent her eyes darting to meet annoyed ones.

"Oh, sorry."

House rolled his eyes closed and clutched his leg as pain continued its rampage through the dead muscle and scar tissue. "I don't pay you to daydream. What other reason could this patient have a sudden liver and kidney failure all in one shot. Who is the big baddy, knocking all the other kids out of the game huh?" He gritted the last part out, a hand darting into his pocket to pull out his stash of Vicadin.

"Could be an Auto-Immune?" Cameron suggest, her eyes slowly falling back to hand turning white from the pain.

Maybe to put it simply, they listened out of kindness for what the man suffered.

"I hate these damn children safety caps!" He thrust the bottle at Chase who caught it in the nick of time before getting a black eye. "Open the damn thing. What are other diseases that can cause this? Anyone? Come on, I know you want to bite for a chance to suck up."

Chase started to answer but House put a finger up, "Any suggestions that could actually be the answer here."

"It's more then one bully on the playground." Cameron mumbled, catching House's eyes as they lit up just a bit when she answered correctly.

"Good. Now how do they both end up on the same playground when one has lunch detention and the other doesn't even go to the same school?"

Chase, still fusing with the bottle himself, grunted "Since when did we think the kid got it from school?" Foreman sighed, while House darted a glare at him.

"Finished with opening that bottle?"

"No."

"Keep quiet until you manage that measly task first, it'll save you the trouble of looking stupid twice in five minutes."

Cameron stood and snatched the bottle from chase, making quick work of it as she handed a pill to House. "Maybe it has more to do with why the first one was put in detention."

Again, a sparkle in his eye as Foreman went along with had been stated. But Cameron couldn't pay much attention as her boss popped the pill, his hand still clutching tightly to his leg.

Kindness somehow didn't seem equivalent to the amount of pain and stress in one man's life.