A/N: Wow! Another chapter thatbloody fast? I know! don't expect this from now on. I was just hit with inspiration soon after posting chapter 1. Updates will probably be few and far between from now on.
Oh, and this one includes the team! No diagnosis though. thank goodness my mother buys all sorts of health books, otherwise we might not get any differential diagnosis. am I right?
Robert Chase walked in to the diagnostic department wearily, a cup of coffee in his hand in an attempt to wake himself up at the early hour. The person sitting at the far end was sufficient though.
A girl, a teenager, actually, her red-brown hair was put up into a bun with a few loose, curled strands framing her face. She leaned back easily in the chair, reading. Her orange tank top was slightly low-cut, and her legs were crossed on the table. She was obviously comfortable with her environment, which mean she likely had no idea whose office she was actually in. Why else would she be so at ease? Then again, House wasn't in yet so…
He cleared his throat loudly, sitting down across from the girl, setting his crossword and coffee down on the table. She looked up, head cocked to one side in confusion as she sat up. "I'm sorry," She said politely. "I don't believe I know you."
Chase awkwardly stuck out a hand. "Doctor Robert Chase. Who are you?"
The girl grinned. "Ah, an Aussie. Never heard thatparticular accent before. Just another to add to the list." She clasped his hand firmly, eyes shinning mischievously. "I'm Suzan Tracey, though my friends call me Pasha. I'm basically here out of boredom and to try and dissect your boss." Chase nodded.
"I see." He looked down to his crossword for a spilt second, though decided not to be rude. "Where'd you get the nickname?"
Suzan let out a pseudo long-suffering sigh. "I watched Star Trek -the new movie, I mean- with my friends for the first time, and they immediately decided I was most like Ensign Chekov, Pavel Andreievich, though I don't see how, seeing as I'm clearly McCoy. Anyway," She paused. "One of them looked up what the name "Pavel" meant, as well as the nickname. Well, the nickname for it was Pasha, and the name means young one, or small, and I'm the youngest in our little circle so…" A shrug. "The rest is history."
Chase nodded again, and went to his crossword. Suzan immediately went back to her book, giving him no reason to feel like he was being a rude cad.
It was barely five minutes before she stood up, leaving the book discarded and open on the table. If Chase had bothered to look, he would have noticed that it was Collision Courseby William Shatner; the first in his Star Trek Academy series. But of course, Chase didn't look up, so he didn't see the title.
He did, however, hear the quiet, fast steps that started as soon as Suzan stood up.
It was easy to ignore at first. Hell, Chase would have gone as far as to say it was soothing the way it got rid of the silence, but it was only a matter of time before he looked up.
She'd been at it for a good ten minutes when he did, and he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
She had her eyes closed.
Pacing around the table at an abnormally fast speed, fingers drumming to an unknown beat at her sides, Suzan had her eyes closed.
Even more interesting, she didn't run into anything.
So he watched, leaving his half completed crossword open and his coffee to get cold.
Two minutes later, he realized her lips were moving, near silent whispers escaping, made slightly louder by the tune they carried.
Barely thirty second after that, the door opened and she ran straight into Taub.
Her eyes snapped open when her step faltered, and Taub nearly tripped into a chair. "Sorry," A pause. "Haversham. Yeah, Haversham works." Taub stared for a second when Suzan continued pacing, being careful to go around him.
Taub carefully sat down, and Chase went back to his crossword.
"Who is she?" Taub asked quietly, and Chase barely glanced up.
"Suzan Tracey. She apparently here to try and dissect House." He said, and puzzled for a five letter word meaning to clone or forge.
Suzan stopped in her mad pacing and glanced over his shoulder. "I believe the word your looking for is xerox, Blondie." And she kept going.
Chase gave her a weak glare, but put in the word.
Within ten minutes Foreman and Thirteen were in, and the only one they were waiting for was House, which wouldn't be in for at least another hour considering it was barely ten.
Suzan just kept on pacing.
Finally, it was Chase that snapped.
"Would you please stop pacing?" She stopped, going straight back to her original seat.
"'Bout time. Though I was honestly expecting it to be either Haversham-" She motioned to Taub. "-Or Warrick over there." Foreman. "Then again, I really shouldn't be surprised since you were here the longest."
Silence.
Suzan stood up, walking over to House's office. "I'm gonna snoop around in your bosses desk. Anyone wanna join me? No? Alright then." And she walked in without another word.
"Who is she?" Asked Foreman after a moment.
"Friend of mine. Met her in the clinic last night." Said House from the doorway, smirking.
"How long have you been there?" Asked Taub.
"Long enough to hear her call you Haversham."
"It's a term of endearment, Sherlock!" Suzan said from House's office, still rummaging through drawers. "I give nicknames to- why do you have a condom in here? What the bugger?" House snickered quietly, sitting down at the head of the table.
"Well, now that that's cleared up, you can go. Clinic duty to do, sick people to cure." He tossed his ID card to Taub, who, unfortunately, wasn't fast enough to catch so it ended up hitting him square in the head. "You can do my clinic hours. There should be a good amount to keep you busy."
"The Aussie stays!" Suzan called, just as Chase was getting up from his chair. She popped her head through the door. "I don't wanna be left alone with him so he can interrogate me." She clarified.
House gave Chase "The Look". The one that told him to leave, and let him have his fun before he got hit with the cane. Chase complied.
Suzan gave a fake long suffering sigh as Chase left, walking back to the table and laying a few items down as she sat at her original spot. "Funny. Condom, vicodin, whisky, and an original Conan Doyle. What can you tell about the person who owns these items, other than the fact that he is very messed up considering they were all in his office."
"I put the condom in there last night to screw with you."
"I figured, but still. Other three items?"
"You're guy has no regard for his health and enjoys reading Sherlock Holmes." House responded, a slightly sarcastic tone slipping in.
"Yes, he enjoys reading about a man he could be the reincarnation of. Unless it was a gift. I didn't actually read the note on the front page." Now the sarcasm was dripping off her tone, and she was rather good at it, eye roll and all.
She snatched the book before House could even move, opening and immediately raising an eyebrow. "'Just to screw with you, Suzie. Keep if you want; I have another copy at home. ~House,'" she looked up at him, her expression puzzled. "Did you just give me a gift?" House shrugged.
"I checked your file. You're birthday was yesterday. You dyed your hair I see."
"I'm going to assume you want me to address both subjects. Everybody lies. Why did you even look at my file? And yes, I did dye it. Last night, in fact. I wanted to see what it would look like closer to my mother's color. You know, honor my Scottish heritage and all that."
"I looked at your file because I was curious. Why did you lie about your birthday of all things? And can you do an accent to match your heritage?"
Suzan sighed, rolling her eyes. "Aye, I can do the Scottish accent. And Ah've got an arse kickin' Russian too." She said in a perfect Scottish accent. "And I lied about my birthday because I just didn't want you to know, simple as that."
"I see. But why didn't you want me to know? That's all I care about."
"I don't like people making a big deal about it. I figured you wouldn't, but I didn't want to take the chance." There was something unspoken behind those words, something not even House could find, and it frustrated him to no end that he couldn't.
Just like before, Suzan looked up at a nearby clock, and grinned.
"well, I'd love to challenge my mind more, but I've got a date. And before you say anything or follow me out, no, not a date date. I'm going out to the movie with a few friends of mine." She winked at him, collecting her original book along with the Conan Doyle. "See you later, Holmes."
And she left.
House honestly hoped she'd be back, just so he could figure her out, of course.