Challenges
Disclaimer: I wish I owned them, but I don't. If I did you would be watching this rather than reading it.
Summary: Set during 4x08, 'You Don't Want to Know'. What if Thirteen got Cuddy's panties instead of Cole? What would she do with them when she thinks that she is displaying signs of Huntington's? Why does her plan include Amber?
Pairing: Thirteen/Amber. I know it's kind of weird for me because I am such a Thirteen/Cameron fan, but I just liked this idea.
Spoilers: Takes place during the season four episode Whatever It Takes. This story takes place solely during that timeframe.
A/N: I had this story in the works before Taking A Chance ever came to be. I finally finished it after letting it sit around on my computer for nearly seven months.
A/N2: I always liked the 'Thong Challenge' and wanted to do a different take.
A/N3: This is only going to be a three-part story.
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Chapter One- Making a Deal
After Kutner leaves, House carefully eyes the four fellows before him, a grave expression on his face. "Bring me the thong of Lisa Cuddy," he instructs them, silently amused by their incredulous stares.
The others share a look, wondering if they are being toyed with by their boss…yet again. "Not kidding. Thong. Cuddy. Go," he instead barks at them, forcing them into action.
Thirteen, the first to stand, glances at him suspiciously before filing out behind the others. In the back of the room, they all pause to look at Foreman expectantly, hoping for him to tell them about the hidden camera that must be somewhere in the room.
Instead, he barely glances up from the newspaper. "It's how I got hired," he insists seriously. Nodding dumbly, they walk out of the class into the hall. Thirteen shakes her head, hoping that, for the sake of her sanity, Foreman was bullshitting them. With a sigh, she joins the others in the hall only to hear them actually discussing the challenge.
"You're actually considering this?" She asks in utter disbelief, wondering how this can be at all looked at as a good idea. After a moment of getting no reply, she crosses her arms over her chest and looks at them sternly. "I'm not going for it. I don't think any of us should."
At this, Amber walks over to her and places a hand on her arm. "If you want to stand on principle, I really respect you for it," she soberly informs the brunette, a small smile tugging on her lips.
In response, Thirteen uncrosses her arms, forcing Amber's hand to drop. As she prepares to point out the blonde's apparent lack of principles, Cole intervenes.
"It's childish, unprofessional, and inappropriate. The job is not worth it," he states diplomatically, trying to break up an impending catfight.
"Yeah," Taub agrees. "We should all beg off. Tell him we failed. No winners, no losers," he adds.
Everyone turns to Amber expectantly. "Fine," she sighs reluctantly with a roll of her eyes.
After a beat, Cole narrows his eyes at the blonde. "You're going to do it, aren't you?" He asks, merely voicing what the others were thinking. "Of course I'm going to do it," she scoffs at them stupidly before turning on her heel and leaving.
Thirteen watches the other doctors go off in their separate directions, finding herself torn as to how to proceed. She wouldn't put it past Taub to lie to cover his tracks, but she isn't sure about what Cole could be up to. Obviously Amber was off to get the dean's thong and Kutner was simply too wrapped up with the magician.
With a sigh, she turns to make her way to Cuddy's office to warn her of House's challenge and the impending panty raid of her coworkers.
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Unfortunately for Thirteen and, in effect, Cuddy, the dean was out of her office. So, in an effort to at least make herself somewhat useful, she sets off to find Kutner and help him out with his patient. However, on her way, she spots Taub and Amber discussing an "alliance" in order to get Dr. Cuddy's thong and save themselves.
"What is this, an episode of Big Brother?" Thirteen mumbles bitterly to herself as she overhears Amber's plan of getting the dean's panties wet. She does, however, smirk as she watches the blonde shamelessly shove Taub so that he spills coffee on himself before Amber decides to suck up to Dr. Cuddy.
No longer willing to waste time, Thirteen stuffs her hands into her pockets before going to find Kutner and get to work.
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While Finn is being prepped for an MRI, Thirteen once again finds herself with a spare moment. So, she goes off to try and warn Dr. Cuddy once again before something gets in the way. Luckily, she is actually in her office doing paperwork. Before knocking, she notices a suspicious-looking Amber making her way to an empty exam room. She shakes the image from her head, not allowing it to distract her as she knocks on the door.
"Come in," Cuddy calls out to her. She enters the office looking somewhat unsure. "Thirteen," the older doctor greets warmly, "Something I can help you with?"
"Actually-" she begins before being cut off by the phone. Cuddy offers an apologetic half-smile before answering.
"Yes?…The nurse's station?…Did she say why?…Okay then…Thank you," she hangs up. After shooting a perplexed look towards her phone, she eyes her paperwork warily before making as if to stand. "Sorry about that. Apparently Amber needs me at the nurse's station," she sighs.
Thirteen finds herself suspicious immediately. "Actually, I can go see what Amber wants to save you the trip so you can finish your paperwork," she offers, knowing that the blonde must be up to something.
"That would be great," the other doctor sighs with a grateful smile as she resumes her work.
Quickly exiting the office, Thirteen glances around for any sign of the blonde as she heads over to the nurse's station. "Dr. Cuddy sent me to see what was going on," she tells the nurse behind the desk apprehensively. Before the nurse opens her mouth to reply, the overhead sprinklers turn on, almost instantly drenching anyone in the vicinity, including Thirteen.
Seconds later, Amber comes running towards them, taking a brief moment to smirk at the soaked brunette. "Where's Cuddy?" She asks the nurse irritably, seeing no sign of the dean.
Pointing, the nurse indicates Thirteen. "She sent her," the nurse explains. Amber glances at the other doctor only to be met by a stern glare.
"We need to talk," Thirteen growls as she grabs the blonde by the arm and drags her in the general direction of the locker rooms.
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"Seriously, what is your problem?" Amber snaps as she wrenches her arm away once they are in the locker room and clear of anyone who may be eavesdropping. Thirteen just stares at her with an obvious expression on her face. "Well?" She impatiently prompts.
"God Amber! What did you expect her to do when she got wet? Did you expect her to just be like, 'Fuck it' and take her panties off in the middle of the room and throw them to the side?" Thirteen asks calmly, but incredulously nonetheless, as she stands so close as to be dripping water on the blonde's shoes.
Struck by how obviously dumb the idea is now, Amber grins sheepishly. "No, I guess not," she smirks. Thirteen takes a moment to glare before turning to her locker to change into the dry set of clothes that she keeps just in case of, well…anything.
"Maybe you should actually think about what you're doing before going through with one of your plans," the brunette grumbles as she shrugs out of her lab coat. After she unclips her suspenders and is beginning to peel her wet shirt away from her body to pull it over her head, she feels the blonde's eyes still on her. "What?" She asks through the shirt presently covering her face, exasperation and trepidation seeping into her voice as she finishes getting the shirt off.
"Give me your panties," the other girls demands suddenly.
After several moments, Thirteen manages to remover her jaw from the locker room floor. Her face then takes on a dumbfounded expression, a girl not having been that blunt with her since high school. "Uh…Did you just-"
"No! Not like that," Amber yelps, pulling her gaze from the brunette's half naked chest back to her eyes. "Look, we're both smart women and we should work together to eliminate the competition and keep each other safe," she reasons.
Catching on to what Cutthroat Bitch was actually suggesting, Thirteen narrows her eyes. "Yeah, I'm going to work with someone who, just last week, happily declared that she hated me," she snarks as she pulls out a clean, dry black t-shirt and begins to unbutton her pants.
"Oh please. I didn't say that," Amber scoffs, casually waving off the accusation. She then sees the other girl staring at her with a quirked eyebrow and a ghost of a smirk crossing her face. "Okay, so I did. Big deal. It was way back in the beginning of last week. Let it go already. Come on, what do you say? Partners?" She asks with a grin.
Thirteen catches herself actually contemplating making a pact with the devil. "First of all: No," she responds irritably. "Secondly, I still wouldn't put it past you to throw me under the bus even if I did agree to work with you. So, thanks but I'll pass. I'd rather abstain on principle and have you continue to mock me about having principles in the first place," she finishes, pulling on the pair of jeans from her locker.
"Hey! Where are you going?" The blonde asks as Thirteen grabs her still damp lab coat and begins walking off.
"Some of us actually have work to do. This is still a hospital you know?" With that, the brunette stalks off to the MRI.
Amber takes a moment to glare at the space previously occupied by the other doctor before deciding to speak to Taub again and attempt to get Thirteen out of her hair for good this week.
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Since her encounter with the blonde doctor in the locker room, Thirteen has found herself even more on edge than usual. In her agitated state, she smacks a folder out of Kutner's hands before proceeding to bite his head off over it.
A welcome distraction comes in the form of Dr. Taub entering the room gloating as he shows off Cuddy's panties. Thirteen is understandably skeptical as she glances over to Amber, who refuses to meet her eyes.
However, the brunette gets a sort of perverse satisfaction when House argues the nature of the panties and goes on to humiliate the other woman. House and Kutner exit the office, taking a moment to leer at the blonde on their way out the door. They are soon followed by Taub and Foreman, thus leaving the two women alone in the room.
Thirteen smugly turns her attention to Amber. "So…" she trails off, offering an amused smirk at her colleague as she glances down suggestively towards the blonde's skirt.
Amber glares at the other woman. "Not a word," she growls menacingly before turning on her heel and stalking off.
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At the end of her shift, Thirteen is sitting on a bench in the locker room leaning her head down in her hands, cherishing a few precious minutes of peace. Unfortunately for her, this peace is short-lived as the door opens and Amber walks in.
"What a nightmare," the blonde groans as she throws open her locker.
The younger woman just quirk a brow at even being spoken to by the other woman. "Yeah," she agrees simply.
"Well, at least you didn't have your underwear flashed to the whole hospital," Amber grunts, making sure to slam as much stuff around in her locker as humanly possible.
"If I'd listened to you, then it would've been mine," the brunette mumbles almost inaudibly.
"What?" Amber snaps.
"Come on, it was only five people, not the whole hospital," Thirteen points out, rolling her eyes. "Besides, you only have yourself to blame," she adds.
"Yeah, well…" she trails off vaguely. Amber eyes the other woman briefly before offering a slight smile. "So, see you tomorrow then," she says before leaving.
The dark-haired doctor is mildly perplexed by the sudden attitude change in the other woman. However, she doesn't get much time to contemplate this as the locker room door swings open once more as none other than Lisa Cuddy enters.
"Hey," Thirteen greets the older doctor.
Cuddy turns and offers a small smile as a greeting. "How are you tonight?" She asks politely, briefly shuffling around in her locker.
"Dry," she responds with a smirk, eliciting a light chuckle from the other woman.
"Right. Have a good night Dr. Hadley," she says on her way out the door, finally leaving the young doctor alone again.
With a sigh, Thirteen stands to finally head off for her own apartment. A quick glance in the direction of Cuddy's locker gives the brunette pause as she notices that the locker is still slightly open. Standing up she approaches it, hesitating as she moves to close and lock it up. Giving in at the last moment, she opens it slightly and peeks into the small space, not holding any expectations of what she might find.
Her eyes widen slightly when she sees that the dean keeps a full change of clothes in her locker. She even blushes upon noticing a bra and thong in the back. Taking a deep breath, Thirteen weighs her options before making her decision.
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Needless to say, the next day when House announces that the competition is off, Thirteen is more than relieved. She brushes off the look of disappointment on Cole's face, not even bothering to question it.
After the team breaks to try and fix their patient of the week, House calls Thirteen into his office, only to accuse her of having a medical problem of her own. Even if she did, she'd never tell him. Like he needs any extra ammo to use against her.
Once their little heart to heart is done with, she heads out in search of Amber, finding her loitering around Cuddy's office.
"Didn't you hear him say that the competition was on hold?" She asks the blonde rhetorically.
"Yeah 'on hold', not cancelled," Amber bitterly snaps back.
"Whatever," Thirteen mumbles before walking away, cursing herself for thinking that she could trust the other woman. Amber looks on curiously, feeling as though something is off with the brunette.
Stepping into the women's restroom, Thirteen breathes out a shuddering sigh as she locks herself in one of the stalls. Feeling the twitching in her hands, she looks down and attempts to shake the tremors out of them. It doesn't work.
"Damn," Thirteen whispers to herself. "It's really happening."
"What the hell are you doing in there?" The caustic tone of Amber's voice breaks the brunette out of her musings.
Thirteen unlatches the lock on the stall door and steps out to face the blonde woman. "If you had Cuddy's underwear and got immunity, would you put me up?" She questions the other woman, looking her dead in the eye.
Amber seems a little put off by the question, even more so by the inscrutable expression on the other woman's face. "I don't know," she says hesitantly.
"Amber…" Thirteen trails off, not believing her for one second.
"Fine, yes. Of course I would. I'd be stupid not to put you up. You're my only real competition," she relents after a moment.
"Good," Thirteen replies simply as she reaches into one of the pockets in her lab coat. She pulls out a red thong and forces it into Amber's hands before walking out.
Amber stands there stunned for a moment before following the brunette into the hall. "Wait!" She calls, but Thirteen ignores her and continues on. "Dr. Hadley!"
Thirteen actually stops and turns around to face the other woman. "How did you know-"
"How did you get these from Cuddy? Did you actually…" Amber interrupts, only to trail off at the end, unable to ask the question that she desperately wants an answer to.
"No, I didn't sleep with her. I stole them from her locker," she confesses, ashamed of her actions.
"Then why didn't you give them to House earlier? And why give them to me, of all people?" Amber questions further, relieved to find that the brunette didn't sleep with the dean.
"Does it matter?" Hadley sighs tiredly, itching to tell the blonde everything.
"No. I guess not," Amber responds quietly, wanting to interrogate the younger doctor but unsure of how to do so.
"Just…promise that you'll put me up. Make it against someone good too, like Cole. Force House to get rid of me," Thirteen says seriously.
"Okay," the blonde agrees, unable to find the words to question why she is so willing to go.
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Please tell me what you think about this story because I am not entirely sure how well I got the characters. This was, originally, my first House, MD fic before I got caught up in Taking A Chance.
The next chapter of this will be posted when I update Taking Risks... and Taking the Long Way, probably this weekend…I like keeping whoever is reading this in suspense…even if this is one of my crappier stories.