Globes and Maps:

Part One

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A/N: This is one of a couple ideas I had about getting House and Cameron together after Cameron's depressing exit from the show. Also, I'd like to give a shoutout to Pyewacket75, who has been great for throwing ideas around!

This is a short story in five parts. It's all been written already, so expect each part to be posted within just a few days of the last.

WARNING: There is some House/Cuddy in this story. If you can get through it, good things await, I promise.

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Unnecessary disclaimer: None of the characters appearing in the TV show "House, M. D." belong to me.

Abstract: Post Ep. 608, Teamwork. Five years after leaving PPTH, Cameron is roaming an antique store when she comes across the last person she expected (or wanted) to see. HC.

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Cameron entered the antique store on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

She took a deep breath as the door closed behind her, filling her nostrils with the shop's musty scent. She wandered effortlessly through the aisles of furniture and trinkets, giving them only a glance as she passed by. Though some days she liked to peruse the entire store, today she had only one purpose. She finally stopped when she reached a tall shelf of books. She scanned the titles until she found one oversized volume and pulled it down carefully.

She quickly surveyed the area around her, and, seeing no one, seated herself on the floor. She took the book and gently opened it to the first page, revealing a large, detailed map inside.

She reveled in examining maps, her guilty pleasure. The obsession had started in childhood, when she had felt the desire to travel the world. In her younger years she had the time but not the money. These days she had the money but not the time. It wasn't that her family had been poor—they had money for all the essentials and the occasional indulgence. But her parents worked hard for every cent they earned, and they spent it judiciously.

Cameron leafed through the atlas slowly, examining each page carefully. She heard another customer enter the shop. Her breath stopped in her throat when she heard one particular muffled voice.

She let her breath out in a loud whoosh. That person would die before entering an antique store. She was surely imagining things. Relieved, she turned back to the atlas.

But when she heard a familiar step-thump coming up the aisle, her body stiffened. She could not imagine this. She had avoided him since she had returned to Princeton. She never went to his bars, his hangouts. And yet, here he was, invading her sanctuary. He always found a way.

She closed her eyes and braced herself for the inevitable…

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"I'm going to find the books section," House grumbled to his companion. If he had to be in an antique store, he may as well not be completely miserable, right?

The shopkeeper pointed him in the right direction and he slowly made his way to the bookshelves.

Upon passing a tall shelf to his right, a familiar figure was revealed to him. Sitting cross-legged on the floor of the antique shop was his former immunologist.

"Cameron?" he asked in surprise.

Her head turned slowly. His statement had obviously not taken her by surprise. "House," she responded in kind. "I didn't expect to see you here," she said with a hollow laugh.

"Yeah, Lisa dragged me," House said in annoyance.

Cameron's brow crinkled. "Cuddy?" she asked.

"Yeah." Silence followed. Cameron had heard rumors about their relationship. Apparently they held some truth.

"So, uh…" House began, "What are you doing here?"

"I recently got hired as Dean of Medicine at University Medical Center," Cameron answered with seemingly little care. "It's busy." She shrugged.

"That's… good." He paused. "You're not going to ask about me?"

Cameron's face bloomed into a small smile. "I don't need to. You don't change."

Before House could respond, Cuddy came up beside him. "There you are!" she said before she followed House's sightline to her former employee. "Dr. Cameron," she stated in surprise.

Cameron jumped up quickly. "Dr. Cuddy." She closed the book and brushed off her jeans.

The two women sized each other up. They had been natural rivals since the day they met, first in love and now in the professional world as well.

"Well, we better get going," Cuddy said hurriedly.

"Of course. Nice seeing you," Cameron said, her words in response to Cuddy, her eyes on House.

House nodded his goodbye to Cameron, his eyes still studying her until he was forced to turn and go.

There was something different about her.

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House and Cuddy lay in bed together that night. "You're thinking about her again, aren't you?" Cuddy asked in annoyance.

She was propped up on one arm, watching him as she spoke. House reclined on his pillow, staring at the ceiling as if it was going to provide answers.

"I can't help it! She's a puzzle," House defended.

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "It's always about puzzles for you. Can't you let it go?"

"I let it go for five years," House muttered.

Cuddy reached a hand across and trailed light fingers up his arm. "Do you have me figured out yet?"

"All except one thing," he said, finally turning his head towards her. "Why you've put up with me for this long."

Cuddy closed her eyes and let out a deep, painful sigh. "It's called love, Greg," she said, getting up from the bed and leaving House alone in the room.

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Lisa Cuddy woke from her doze on the couch to the sounds of someone moving around in the room. "What are you doing?" she asked House sleepily.

"I'm going back to my condo for tonight," he said, shrugging on his motorcycle jacket.

"Okay," Cuddy responded simply. She knew better than to interrogate him. She also knew that there was more to this than met the eye. There always was.

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House sped through Princeton on his motorcycle. He hadn't slept at home in weeks, but tonight he wanted to be alone to think.

Somehow he found himself pulling up to Cameron's apartment instead of his own. He wasn't quite sure what had possessed him to go there, and yet, there he was. He slowly climbed up the stairs to the door and knocked on it with his cane, creating a hollow sound, wood on wood.

He expected Cameron to open the door in annoyance and chastise him for visiting at this time of night. He was surprised when a man opened the door instead. "What do you want?" the man asked.

House looked at the man in bewilderment. He knew Cameron wasn't with Chase, but she hadn't mentioned seeing anyone else. "Um, I'm looking for Allison Cameron."

"Honey?" the man called into the apartment. A blonde woman with a baby over her shoulder appeared at the door. House's heart skipped a beat.

She turned, and he saw her face. Relief. Not his Cameron. "This man is looking for someone called Allison Cameron," the man said to what appeared to be his wife.

She addressed House. "Allison Cameron? Oh, she moved out of this apartment years ago. She didn't leave a forwarding address," the woman said apologetically.

"Thanks," House said gruffly, heading back outside. Of course she didn't live there anymore. He could be a real idiot sometimes.

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Inside his condo, House found himself at the piano with a glass of scotch. His two escapes.

Why couldn't he let this go? He was with Lisa. Cameron was just a ghost of the past.

House took a sip of the scotch. If he drank enough, maybe he could forget for a while.

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Neither alcohol nor sleep could diminish his curiosity. He spent the next week wondering about her. What her life was like now. Where she lived. What had happened in the last five years. He was distant to everyone that week, especially Lisa.

Cuddy noted the distance and couldn't help but know the cause. Could this be the end for them? Relationships with House seemed to come with an expiration date. Unfortunately it was impossible to foresee just how much time she had left. She couldn't help but worry.

He had never told her he loved her.

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Cameron's week went by as quickly as any other. Running a hospital was busy work and didn't leave much time for introspection. She always kept up a professional façade throughout her day at work no matter what was going on in her personal life.

When she finally went home at the end of a long day, her only company was her cat, and that was the way she liked it.

If she was distracted that week with the phantoms of her past, there was no one to notice.

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