A/N: Thank you for the awesome comments on chapter 1 :) We're glad you liked it. This story is going to be a two-parter. So hold onto your hats :)

Chapter Two

"You're an idiot."

House stilled at the sound of the voice coming from the doorway. Wilson stepped to one side and House turned his head. Cameron walked into the room and stopped at the end of his bed, her arms folded as she glared at him. She wore a short-sleeved pale pink blouse that didn't show a hint of cleavage and her blond hair just grazed her shoulders. House noticed a hospital ID badge clipped to the waistband of her pale green and pink floral skirt.

"You cut your hair," House commented. "You no longer look like a hooker. I hate it."

She continued to stare at him.

"Still trying to pierce me with your stare?" he asked with derision. "You still can't."

"Still trying to block your misery with pills and booze?" she snapped in response. "You still can't."

"Why are you here? Aren't there some idiots in Chicago who need stitches?"

"I'm the new Dean of Medicine," she informed him. "The board gave me an offer I couldn't refuse."

House raised his eyebrows and waited for her to go all soppy and weepy on him about Cuddy. She looked at Wilson instead.

"Once his bloodwork comes back normal, send him home." She looked back at House. "As for you, I expect you to be back at work next week or you're fired."

House stared at her as she walked out of the room. "Well, this is going to be fun," he smirked.

"You better not think about testing her," Wilson informed him. "She's already fired Chase, Foreman, and about twelve other doctors as well as half the nursing staff. Taub quit before she could fire him and I find working with her refreshing." He sat down in the chair beside the bed and smiled.

"It's Cameron," House said as he closed his eyes. "She would never fire me. She loves me."

"Like I said, don't test her. She isn't the same Cameron. She's stronger and better. A Cameron 2.0, if you will."

House closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. Wilson was crazy. Cameron wasn't any different because people don't change. She would be putty in his hands, as usual. He knew why she fired Chase and Foreman. She didn't want to work with her ex-husband and House knew she never really forgave Foreman for stealing her article all those years ago. She told him she loved him so he wasn't worried in the least.

House stared at Cameron in shock. Shaking his head, he closed his eyes. Since he returned to work two weeks ago, he spent that time in his office watching porn and drinking.

"You can go," Cameron told him as she turned her attention back to her laptop.

"I have tenure," he told her. "You can't put me on probation."

"I can and I did. Hire a team and start seeing patients or you're fired. Until you do that, you are on probation. Doctor Rohella will be supervising you."

"What the hell kind of a name is Rohella?" he demanded.

"It's my name," a woman said.

He turned and looked at her. She was tall and slim with a muscular build. Her hair was cropped close on the sides. The hair that remained was blonde with subtle streaks of blue and fell over her forehead accentuating her bright blue eyes. She wore slim black pants, a sleeveless grey shirt and black ankle boots. House could see the edge of a tattoo on her shoulder. Her nails were painted blue and she wore a leather bracelet. House also noticed her large diamond engagement ring and wedding band.

"So the biker chick is in charge?" he asked.

Rohella smiled. "Yes she is. At least until you get your shit together." She grinned at Cameron. "This is going to be fun!" She crooked her finger at House. "You! Let's go. I set up some interviews. Your ass is mine now." She looked him up and down appreciatively. "And a very nice ass it is."

Rohella turned and sauntered out of Cameron's office.

"You can't do this to me," House told Cameron with a hint of desperation.

Cameron sighed and looked up at him. "You have two choices. Choice one. Go with Ro and get your shit together. Get the department up and running again. Choice two. I fire you. You go home and drink yourself to death."

"Yo, yo, House," Ro called from the doorway. "Those people aren't going to interview themselves."

"I hate you," he ground out.

"Feeling is mutual," Cameron said.

They stared at each other before House finally turned and followed Rohella out of Cameron's office.

"Okay, Coachella, let's roll."

"It's Rohella."

"Whatever."

By the end of the day, House hired four young doctors and one nurse. Rohella disappeared for about thirty minutes and returned with two cups from Starbucks.

"You look like the black coffee with lots of sugar type," she told him as she put one of the cups in front of him.

He picked it up and looked at the name scrawled on it. "Hose?"

Rohella laughed. "I spelled it and that's what he wrote. Mine says Orila. Gotta love those Starbuck drones."

She sat in his Eames lounger, put her feet up and sipped her coffee. "Heard you were dating Doctor Cuddy when she died. Sorry about that. What happened to her kid?"

House leaned back in his chair and looked at her. "Don't know. Don't care." At Ro's stern look, he groaned. "I think she's living with Cuddy's sister or something," he said with a wave of dismissal.

"Al told me you could be a real asshole," she laughed.

"Al? Are you referring to Doctor Cameron?" he asked archly.

Rohella nodded. "I was the instructor at her gun class. She's a helluva shot."

"A doctor teaches little circle princesses how to use a gun?"

Rohella shifted and got more comfortable. "I was in the Army. It's how I paid for med school." She took a long sip of her coffee. "So are you going to cooperate? Al's not the woman you think you know. Not anymore."

"Al," House said with a grim smile, "didn't give me too many options so I'll cooperate, for now. And people don't change so she is still the same Caring Cameron underneath. She's just hiding her compassion and extra thick sap to make a point."

Rohella nodded. "You have a very cynical view of humanity and Al." She sat forward and rested her arms on her legs, the cup dangling from one hand. She stared at him intently for a few moments. "You were abused as a child. You're exceptionally bright and insightful. You like puzzles which is probably why you are so good at your job. You're also anti-social; probably only have one friend. You flaunt authority yet you expect to be obeyed at all times. Which parent was in the military?"

House swallowed and stared at her. "My dad." He licked his lips and flicked his eyes toward the balcony door.

"I've made you uneasy and you want to escape," Rohella observed.

House drew in a deep breath and centered himself. There was no way he was going to let this woman get under his skin. "You're a shrink."

She smiled. "That's such an ugly word." She lifted her cup and took a long sip savoring the taste of her coffee. "I'm just your friendly neighborhood psychiatrist."

"Still makes you a shrink, Rubella. It's written in the title."

Rohella stood and walked to his desk. She dropped her cup in the trash. "See you at nine tomorrow morning. Don't even think about being late." She reached out and tapped a file on his desk. "Everything is laid out here in regard to your parole...err...I mean probation." She spun on her heel and sauntered out.

House opened the file, read it, read it again and put his head down on his desk. "I miss Cuddy," he sighed.

The next morning, rain pounded against House's bedroom window. It was just after six and he laid on his side and stared at the water running in rivulets down the glass. His probation contract required him to report to work each day at nine, check on his patient once a day, supervise any tests, required a member of his new team to get a key from the patient to check the home, keep his charts and billing up to date, and the clincher was that he had to sign off with Rohella on his duties completed that day. The only good thing was that Cameron assigned clinic duty to the residents. At least he was spared that particular hell.

He thought about defying Cameron just to see what she would do. If she did fire him, he would have trouble finding a job as perfect as the one he had. Cameron knew that. She knew him. Yet she was so different. Maybe Wilson and Rohella were right. Maybe Cameron had changed. He remembered the look on her face when she left the last time. Maybe he did poison her. She was cold and distant. She fired half the staff in one fell swoop. Wilson actually respected her. From what he heard, the hospital did better now than it ever did when Cuddy was in charge. He rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. As contentious as his relationship with Cuddy could be, he did miss her. Being in a relationship with her was hard but he liked having someone in his bed each night.

When his alarm finally went off, he crawled out of bed, showered, dressed and grabbed an umbrella. Carefully, he made his way through the rain to his car and headed to work.