Standard stuff: Not mine, just borrowing them, don't sue me, I've got about £50 to my name and I have to pay for all my course books for Uni! Technically Mike's mine, although I don't really want him…

A/N: This is my first House fan fic and it's completely not what I was planning to write. After the first chapter it sort of took on a life of it's own and now it's going in a completely different direction. I'd love to hear what you think of it.

And without further ado…

Broken

Chapter 1

Doctor Allison Cameron arrived at work late that day. She strolled into the conference room quite casually and beamed at everyone there. That had been her downfall. If she'd just come in and sat down it would have been one thing. Better yet she could have come in late looking stressed and worn with her hair tousled and a ladder in her pantyhose. Failing that a short skirt would have kept him entertained. Bur it was the smile that did it, she was happy about something and so House decided to make it his mission to wipe that smile off her face.

Allison had no intentions of letting anyone know why she was in such a good mood. House would just use it as a reason to bait her so she decided to keep quiet and weather the storm. At least she had that evening to look forward to.

She had told her closest friend, Maggie, all about House. While she couldn't really understand why her best friend would want to take up with her grumpy older boss she did offer an ear for Allison's gripes and moans. When Cameron has suddenly announced that nothing would happen between her and House Maggie set about finding the perfect Anti-House for her friend.

Now Allison and Mike had been seeing each other for almost two weeks and things were going well. In those few days she had learned more about him than she had learned about House in the entire time she had been working with him.

That night they had gone out for dinner and had ended up back at her place. That night they had shared a bed, and although nothing happened between them, Cameron couldn't help smiling at the memory of waking up in Mike's arms.

She should have known it was too good to last.

…

Cameron wanted to prove to House that she didn't just date damaged men, she imagined dropping the subject into conversation in a few weeks time. Of course she wouldn't put Mike through the trauma of meeting her colleagues. She had an image in her mind of Chase looking fairly nonchalant, Foreman giving him non-verbal threats about upsetting her and House leaning on his cane giving Mike a stare designed to terrify him into submission. Typical of House, I don't want her, but nobody else can have her either.

After her display that morning House had made sure that she had gotten all the really nasty or boring jobs – the ones he normally reserved for Chase. Cameron was the one who got landed with testing stool samples and when she gave the wrong diagnosis after House pitted her against Foreman she ended up with Eric's load of clinic duty. Not that Cameron minded so much, it was an excuse to get away from House for the afternoon.

…

That evening Wilson ended up at his friend's place and so had to ender House's rambling about Cameron. Wilson had to admit that he found the whole situation rather amusing, after all, the whole time Cameron was trying to make herself available to House he wasn't interested but the moment she moved on suddenly Greg was obsessed with her.

Apparently 'playing hard to get' was the way to attract House.

…

"So where are we going tonight? There's this little café Maggie told - " Cameron began but Mike interrupted her.

"We're always going out for meals. I thought we could do something different tonight."

The request seemed simple enough and so Cameron agreed as long as she could pick up something to eat on the way to wherever he wanted to take her.

As she looked about her now she realised that this wasn't really the sort of place she would really want to go to.

It was a club, at least, that was what it said above the door. In reality it was a long dark room with a low ceiling which left patrons walking around in a haze of cigarette smoke. The lights from the DJ box didn't help at all as they reflected off the fog and gave Cameron a headache. In turn the music was loud and more than made up for the lack of people.

Mike seemed happy enough, he dragged her up onto the dance floor twice either not noticing or choosing not to see how uncomfortable she felt. She had never been a great dancer, a simple waltz she could handle but she'd been too uncoordinated as a teenager and it hadn't been something she'd picked up as she matured.

On Mike's third attempt to get her to dance she point blank refused and so he snapped "Fine!" at her and asked one of the scantily-clad young things at the bar. So Cameron sat alone and watched the vague figure of her boyfriend through the smog. He'd had more to drink than she'd ever seen him take before and it had brought out a new side of him that she wasn't particularly keen on.

She turned her attention to the diet coke in front of her mainly as a way to keep herself from watching as Mike and the girl he was dancing with pressed themselves together closer and closer. Slowly she debated ordering something stronger but decided against it as she reminded herself that someone had to be responsible and sober.

When she next looked over at the dance floor Mike and his 'friend' had disappeared.

…

House had never actually considered the possibility that Cameron would go off and start seeing someone else. He had assumed that she was pretty much stuck on him.

All the same, it didn't really come as a surprise to him when Wilson pointed out that she had probably found someone else to set her affections on. House knew that he shouldn't have any strong feelings about this, but he did and it made him angry.

Surely that feeling in the pit of his stomach wasn't jealousy…

…

After sitting alone for almost twenty minutes Allison Cameron stood up and walked resignedly to the exit. She wasn't going to sit around there and wait for Mike to reappear, she was going home.

Pulling out her cell phone she checked the display. No signal. Damn. This night just couldn't get any worse. Luckily she noticed that there was a pay phone at the end of the street so she headed towards that, keeping her cell phone out the whole time just in case she got some reception.

The pay phone had been vandalised recently and the cord for the receiver had been cut. Cameron sighed, there was nothing for it, she'd have to go back into that club to get them to call her a cab.

As she was walking past the alleyway beside the club she heard someone call her name. Turning, she saw Mike appearing out of the shadows, she didn't need two guesses to work out what he'd been up to. He had lipstick over his face and neck and his fly was undone.

"Ready to go?" He asked as casually as if they were at home.

"I'm just calling a cab." She replied tersely.

"I'll drive." He replied. His speech was a little slurred and he stank, alcohol, cheap perfume and something else, an acrid sort of smell which Cameron guessed came from some illegal substance.

"You're drunk."

"Just tipsy." He slurred. "It's nothing. Come here." He made to put his arm around her wait but she moved away. Mike staggered a little and glared at her. "Come on." He tried again. "I've seen your bedroom, I thought tonight I could show you mine. We could have some fun Allison."

He lunged towards her again and this time she was too slow, his hand was firmly around her waist. The more she struggled the tighter his grip became so she forced herself to relax a little and allowed herself to be led to the passenger side of the car.

At the last minute she pushed all of her slight body into him. He was forced against the car and as he fell forward he let go of her.

Cameron turned and walked briskly back towards the club. She didn't look back otherwise she would have seen him coming towards her. He grabbed at her but missed, succeeding only in pushing her down. She grazed her knees and palms but nothing more. It took her a moment to right herself but Mike was coming at her again.

He was surprisingly quick for someone who was having so much trouble walking in a straight line.

Cameron kept on walking, trying to ignore him. She kept on telling herself that if she could just get into the club she'd be safe. But as she felt his hands on her waist again she stopped. The plan was to scream and shout at him, perhaps she could attract someone's attention and force him to back off. But she didn't get the chance.

The first blow hit her square on the lip and threw her to the ground. Then the blows came, entirely random, sometimes hitting her, sometimes hitting the ground on which she lay. Neither seemed to feel the pain.

Allison raised her hands to protect herself and aimed her knee at his crotch. Her aim was better than his and he crumpled almost instantly. Quickly she picked herself up and started to run. She ran past the entrance to the club, past the vandalised phone box on the corner, past some shops and a bar until she found herself outside a pizza parlour. Breathless she stopped and checked her phone. There was a signal.

Trembling she called a cab and hoped that it got to her before he did…