Title: Hidden Past
Pairings: House/Cameron
Rating: M
Summary: A man from the past is threatening Cameron. Can House save her before it´s too late?
A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews on and LJ! Keep the coming because they make me soooo happy
Hidden Past
Chapter 4
It´s been 5 days now since Cameron is gone but it feels like a lifetime for everybody knowing her. The time seems to stand still and it´s not possible to forget her even for a minute or two. It´s like her ghost is everywhere, haunting, screaming for help. Of course there are many different gossips going through the hospital. Some say she found someone and run away with him. Other think she´s been kidnapped because of House and then there are some who think she´s murdered by one of her former boyfriends. But all these people immediately shut up when Doctor Gregory House is near. He´s was always one to scare people but since his favorite duckling is gone, nobody has any control over him and his very bad moods, not even the doctors Cuddy or Wilson.
The walls House has built around himself since he was a child are even higher now. Not even Wilson is allowed to come near them. It´s like he has shut down the whole world around him. He doesn´t shout or annoys people anymore, he just doesn´t even react. Every morning he walks into his office, shuts down the blinds and locks the door. He doesn´t drink coffee anymore and nobody is allowed to use his coffee maker since this is still Cameron´s job. Sometimes he leaves the office and drives away. It´s an open secret that he spends hours in front of Cameron´s apartment: sometimes just sitting around and sometimes in search for any hints that might have been missed by him or the police. He even hired Lucas, his private investigator and his whole team but they haven´t found much yet.
Cuddy knows better than to pester him with his work or better said the work he is missing. She can see in his eyes that he suffers and misses Cameron. Of course he would deny it but she knows better and deep inside she already knows that his feelings for his underling are deeper than he would ever admit it. It hurts her to know that since she has strong feelings for the diagnostician, too but it´s not the right moment to take advantage of him.
Wilson tries everything he can to take care of his best friend but it´s easier said than done since House is shutting him off as well. All he can do is sit next to him and just keep him silent company. Most of the nights, he is the one who carries him to bed when he´s too drunk to walk with his cane. It happens far too often these days. Not even the piano and his beloved music are helping him anymore. Wilson knows that if nothing changes soon, there won´t be much he can do to help him. Losing Cameron means losing House as well.
"What do you mean, you still don´t have a clue what happened to her? She was kidnapped and God knows what could have happened till now and you are just sitting around doing nothing! I knew you were a bunch of idiots from the beginning! All you can do is sit around on your fat asses and eat…."
Just in time, Wilson opens the door and stays in front of House, preventing him to insult the police officer even more.
"Shut up, House. NOW! You have to excuse him. He´s really worried about his doctor and I know that is not an excuse for what he´s doing or rather saying right now but the last days were pretty hard for him and the rest of us."
Although the police men look skeptically at the angry doctor in front of him, one of them just nods and continues speaking.
"I know that this is a very hard and difficult time for all of you but you have to understand, Doctor House that we need to ask you some questions since you are the only one we didn´t had a chance to talk to. It won´t take much time. Please."
House´s eyes narrow and turn darker with the anger he is feeling inside.
"Do you think I kidnapped her? Is this what you have in mind?"
"No, Doctor House but we need to speak to everyone who was with her on the day she got away. We already talked to Doctor Cameron´s co-workers, Doctors Wilson and Cuddy and now it´s your turn. We wanted to talk sooner to you but somehow we never got the chance. I know what you told the police at the phone when you called from Miss Cameron´s apartment but would you be so kind and tell us what happened this day once more?"
House is limping up and down now, not able to stay calm anymore. Some fucking sick idiot has Cameron and all the police is doing, is sitting here and ask stupid questions.
"This is bringing us nowhere!", he almost shouts but sighs loudly when he sees the desperate and pleading look on Wilson´s face.
"Okay, okay here we go. It was a normal case. We came here to work, worked on a difficult case involving a little girl whose name I already forgot and when we finally solved the case and started the treatment, it was around 9 pm. I´ve send my team home since there was nothing else to do. That´s the last time I saw her. When I got here the next morning, it was already after 9 and my coffee wasn´t done. That´s Cameron´s job every morning. Chase and Foreman were there but not Cameron. I called her phone at home and her cell phone but nobody answered. This was a very untypical thing for Cameron and so I drove to her apartment and found her keys near the car. Then I called the police who is now sitting here and doing nothing at all to find her!"
Not listening to the last part, the officer continues.
"Did Doctor Cameron mentioned any problems or worries to you? Did she had enemies you know about?"
House stares at the man with disbelieve shining through his eyes.
"Cameron and enemies? Hell, no! She is Little Miss Sunshine, Little Miss Perfect! She´s never late, always there if you need her, caring way too much for everybody no matter what one did. She can´t even kill a fly! She is not a bitchy cat that has claws and is ready to fight if you annoy her. She´s more the lost puppy type of woman – always faithful, even if you hurt her. Listen, I can´t help you more here because I wasn´t with her when this happened. As Doctor Wilson already told you, he spent the night at my apartment since his wife kicked him out again and he knows I haven´t left it at night. We even drove to the hospital together. Stop these stupid questions and answers game and try to find the sick bastard or bastards who did this! I need my doctor back, alive!"
Saying this, House storms out of the room, in need for some air. He couldn´t understand that losing Cameron would feel so horrible. He always thought she was just another doctor on his team, nothing special. But now he admits that he was fooling himself all the time. All those feelings for her he tried to hide so hard all the time, from the whole world, from her and mostly from himself. He was so stupid to believe that she meant nothing. The realization of what he really feels for her hits him hard and without mercy. He cares about her more than he would ever admit and more than he knows himself. House has no idea what it is with her since he doesn´t even know how love feels anymore but what he really knows in this moment is that she is a very important and special part of his life and he needs her back. Time will tell what will happen when she is back again. He knows she comes back, she has to, he tells himself when he stands on the roof of the hospital and looks down at the city. She has to be here, in one of these houses but where? And why?
Silence fills the room after House stormed out until one officer speaks directly to Wilson:
"Was he somehow involved with her? He seems like a man who has lost the love of his life, you know?"
Wilson sighs loud. "They were never involved because he never returned her love, always saying that he doesn´t even like her. I guess you have to lose someone to discover what you really feel and that´s what House is doing right now. Maybe you are right and he really lost his one true love in this life and that´s why I am begging you to find her soon. Maybe there is still a chance for them to be happy together."
Not knowing what to say, the police officer just nods and leaves the room with his men, leaving Wilson with many desperate thoughts behind.
An hour passed and the oncologist still hasn´t seen House. He only hopes his best friend isn´t on the roof anymore since it started raining really bad some time ago. It seems like the heaven is crying with them. Wilson takes the stairs and finally reaches the roof. Blinking several times in search for his best friend through the darkness and rain, he finally finds him. House is sitting on the cold floor, the rain has soaked his clothes and hair completely but it seems like he doesn´t care. It breaks Wilson´s heart to see him like this and he makes his way slowly towards him, sitting next to him in the rain, not caring to get soaked. It takes some time until House starts talking but Wilson doesn´t rush, he only sits there and listens.
"I am a diagnostician, Jimmy. People say I am the best one in the world. It´s my job to read people and find out what is bothering them but I failed when it comes to Cameron. I must have missed something. There must have been signs but I missed them. She seemed so normal or that´s what I thought. I have missed something and now she must pay the prize. I couldn´t save her, just like I can´t save Chase and Foreman right now. I know I am their boss and I see how hurt they are. I see the pain in their eyes and it´s my job to do something against it but I just can´t. I feel helpless and I never feel like this! I am supposed to solve every puzzle but I fail when it comes to the most important one."
Seeing his best friend like this is horrible and heartbreaking for Wilson. He knows that nothing he can say will help him or bring Cameron back but he has to try.
"Look, House. I will tell you this once and for all: What happened to her is not your fault. If there were any signs that she is in danger, you would be the only one to notice but there weren´t any. Stop blaming yourself. You don´t have any reason to do so and it´s not bringing Cameron back. No need to worry about Chase and Foreman either. They´re both adults and can take care of themselves. Cuddy told Doctor Madison from Psychiatry to look over them from time to time. They get all the help they need. Right now we have to focus on finding Cameron. We´re the only family she has because her parents are already dead and there are no signs of her brother. She needs us and especially you! Stop crying over yourself and this cruel world. You have better things to do. Get up, old man. It´s time to bring you home and get you some dry clothes before you freeze yourself to death."
It takes a while until House takes the hand Wilson is offering and gets up. On the way to the car, both changed into dry clothes in the lockers room and meet at Wilson´s car.
"Wilson, drive me to Cameron´s apartment on our way home, just for some minutes and hurry up. We need to be there in 10 minutes. Don´t ask questions, just drive! I will tell you more when we get there."
Seeing that he is deep in thoughts, Wilson drives without asking a question. When they get there, he follows House outside the car and sits next to his best friend on the stairs in front of the building. Soon House starts to speak again.
"The first time I was here, I bumped into a stranger when I got home. It was the same time like now. I didn´t even thought about him twice but when I sat on the roof, I remembered him again. Don´t ask me why. I especially remember his eyes: Icy blue and the way he looked at me like he knew me. I just remember this stare and nothing else but there was something about the way he looked at me. I need to see his face again. Don´t ask me why, I just need to."
Wilson says nothing but hopes that this is the clue they are waiting for since House and his gut are never wrong. So they spend their time waiting for the stranger to appear again.
Time passes by slowly but House isn´t saying a word, he´s just looking around and searching for the one man who isn´t leaving his mind although he has no idea why. Wilson is getting tired more and more. To be honest, deep inside he has lost his hope that said man is coming back. Maybe he doesn´t even exists and is just a desperate fantasy of House but no matter what, he will stay here with his best friend as long as needed.
Wilson is leaning against the wall now, not able to fight against the sleep anymore while House is still wide awake, his eyes scanning the whole area around them. Suddenly he jumps up, his body straightens and his gaze fixed on a person at the other side of the street.
"Wilson, Wilson wake up, he´s here. Wake the fuck up now!"
Shaking his best friends shoulder, House turns around for a second, ready to show him the man who was just there but when they finally look up, the man is already gone and nowhere to be found.
"For heaven´s sake, Wilson! He was there and what are you doing? Sleeping! How could you be this stupid. At least I got a better view on his face this time, thanks to the lanterns."
"I am sorry, House. I really am but it´s been a long day and…" He doesn´t get the chance to speak further since the other man is already on his way into Cameron´s apartment, this time using the spare key he found the last time instead of breaking in.
"Spare me the details of your long day, Wonder boy and help me finding out who this man is. I just know I´ve seen him before but I have no idea where. I bet he has something to do with Cameron and that´s why we will search for pictures in her rooms. Maybe I´ll recognize him on one of them."
Not waiting for an answer he strides through the living room, opening every cupboard on his way and searching through the stuff of the female doctor.
"This one seems to be the mother of Cam, that´s Daddy I guess. Old High school pictures, childhood stuff. Damn, this woman has far too many pictures around. That´s not him, neither is this or this. The right picture must be here, I just know it! Wait here´s another one! Jimmy, get your ass over here and stop snooping through her bedroom. I think I found something. Hurry up, man! I got him! I found the man!"
As fast as he can, Wilson is running towards House, looking at the picture in the hand of the other man. Both stare shocked at the young man on the picture who is standing right next to Cameron.
"House, are you sure? I mean like really really really sure?"
Looking in Wilson´s eyes, he can just nod and it takes some moments until he finds his voice again.
"I know, this must sound strange know, okay … maybe not strange… but…. unbelievable but I am sure! I know what I saw and it was this man! You could have seen him, too but you decided to take a little nap, you idiot. You have to trust me here, Wilson. I am more sure than I´ve ever been! I saw this man! I just know it!"
The oncologist seems too shocked to speak and all he can do is nod his head slowly. This is getting too much and too mysterious and he has no idea if it´s a good or a bad thing. Finally his mind is starting to work again, trying to put the new information together with the old news. It takes some minutes of complete silence until he finds his voice which is calm but a little bit shaky.
"Okay House. I know it sounds stupid and not logical what you just said but I trust and believe you. To be honest, I have no idea how this could have happened and I am shocked to no end because I would never expect something huge like that but that may be our chance to find Allison again. Let´s call the police. They need to know this as soon as possible."
"No way, Jimmy. You can inform them if you want to but I don´t see anything positive in informing these idiots. Go ahead and call them. It´s not like they believe me and I can´t even prove what I saw. It happened too fast and I guess he noticed that I stared at him and therefor went away as quickly as he came. Do whatever you want but I am calling my private investigators. Let´s see what Lucas and his colleagues will find out. Let´s hope that this is the hint that will bring my Cameron back."
While he speaks, his eyes are fixed on the picture again. His long pianist fingers are softly caressing the Cameron on the picture. He isn´t even aware of what he is doing but of course Wilson notices it immediately, just like the "my" before Cameron´s name. He hopes for both sakes that House is right.