Routine

A/N: I don't own anything, I do however hope you enjoy this.

She hates it. Hates the fact that she has gotten used to the idea of waking early, with the sole purpose of escaping the presence of her latest mistake.

Sneaking round the unfamiliar apartment, she locates various items of clothing, strewn about the floor. Unmoved from the position it fell in, when it was tossed carelessly last night, in her hurry.

Being careful not to make any sudden movements that might wake the sleeping girl, Thirteen creeps towards the door. Not looking behind her, at the result of her drinking habits, she walks out the door.

***

Two hours later, Thirteen shows up in the Diagnostic office, looking as composed as usual. Ready to fend off another round of House and his observant insults. The only thing she could do was hope desperately that they had a case.

Taking her place at the glass table, she sits back and stares out of the window, already thinking about this night's plans.

Taub, Kutner and Foreman arrived shortly afterwards, entering the office together. Idly she toys with the idea of a gay threesome between the doctors, before casting it out of her mind. Foreman has the ability to make the funniest of situations seem boring.

The three men quickly start a conversation, something mundane. Unheard of medical conditions. She grins inwardly, as if they didn't see enough of those.

The monotony drags on. House had arrived a few minutes before, stating that they should busy themselves with either his clinic hours or the "files" that he had so considerately left on the desk.

The files of course contained the majority of House's personal collection of porn. Foreman immediately left to do, whatever it was that Foreman did. While Kutner grabbed one of the magazines, and Taub tried to read it over his shoulder.

***

Ignoring her colleagues, Thirteen swung on her chair, and gently tapped her pencil on the table. This continued for twenty minutes, until salvation came in the form of the kindly Doctor Cameron.

She strode into the office, her stance practically oozing confidence. Thirteen watched with mild interest as she explained the complexity of the case to House, paying particular attention to the movements of her hands. Forceful, yet graceful.

Startled out of her musings by that stray thought, Thirteen grabbed the photocopied folder, left on the glass surface. Flicking through, she decided that House would have to be insane to turn this one down, and tried to ignore the compelling force that was dragging her attention to the separate office.

***

Breathing deeply, Thirteen stood outside the hospital entrance, ignoring the biting cold that comes with November. Rubbing her hands together, she starts walking towards her most recent haunt, to continue in her routine.

***

The next morning, the monotony continued. The case solved, House was back to his video games, while the men and Thirteen sat round doing nothing once more.

Standing abruptly, she walked out of the office, ignoring the glances of her colleagues. She strode purposefully down the rapidly dimming corridor towards the elevators, which she hoped would be working.

Pushing a button, she stood back and waited in silence, as the box moved smoothly up the shaft. A slight sigh of relief announced her arrival on the top floor of the building.

Along a corridor, up some stairs, along another corridor and through a door, Thirteen found herself standing in the cool night air. Moving to the edge, she sat upon the precipice and looked out over the campus.

For forty minutes she sat in silence, contemplating the unnecessary overtime that House had inflicted upon them, when she heard the door open once more.

With a small sigh that was whipped away by the wind, Thirteen closed her eyes. Guessing that one of her colleagues had come to bring her back, she turned to face the unwelcome intruder.

The angry reply to an unspoken statement, died on her lips as she found herself face to face with Cameron.

Composing her features, she raises an eyebrow at the older doctor. "Come to talk me down have you?"

Her only response is a gentle smile, as she quietly steps forward, until they are only inches away.

"Not quite," she breathes, moving slowly forwards, until their lips collide.

The fire that erupts within Thirteen overwhelms her, as she responds eagerly.

They break apart at the sound of the door being blown shut. "I guess we'll be up here for a while then," Cameron grins.

Suddenly warm in the endless abyss of cold, Thirteen muses that this isn't such a bad end to her routine.

A/N: this has a sucky ending, but I quite like the rest of the story. Do with it what you will. But as always, read and review - Lollilops