A/N: I'm not even going to try to explain what happened, besides my laziness and the file where I'd started it getting erased by my father. x.X I hope I still have readers left after this. But um… thanks to all of my reviewers, and even to the readers who read and don't review. I tell you, I'll be shocked if this thing gets more reviews. And I can't even tell you how remorseful I am about the time delay in getting this chapter up. I've just been out of ideas and out of will power, I suppose. And now that I've read through this thing a few times, it's actually quite embarrassing; just the quality (or lack thereof) of the writing just sounds blech to me. Maybe I'm just depressed. shrugs Let's see what you guys think.

Jeran: Yesh, we do need more Jimmy. He will be in this chapter quite a lot.

Elbereth Gilthoniel: I think I review replied to that, but maybe not. Maybe I'm going insane. x.x But in any case, I'll reply to that here: sure, I really could use a cookie. And that disclaimer thing would be sweet. xD

Rubix-Complex: I suppose it WOULD make my story look bad... all right, all right. Thank you. pants

identityless: Yes, I'd love to see House's face if that were the case. He was ORIGINALLY intending for it to be just him and Cam, but backed out and invited Wilson when Cam invited Chase. Foreman and Cuddy are extras. Can't have a party without them.

Beaglicious: xD I thought so, too.

neptuneskiff: Here's more. xP

Bessyboo: I find House strangely addicting. xD

soccerchick13: I think it's creative, too. XD

Jordan: I like it too. xP

Calwyn: Ah, crap, I'm gonna cry (not really). I really am flattered, though. :3

July '91: Really? I'm having second thoughts as to the quality of the writing. Reading through it, it's almost embarrassing. X.O

ade721: Laughter is good. Even if you don't know why you're laughing, it's still good. xD

claire kelso: xD. Yes, chapter 5 was fun for me to write. Still don't think it was that good, though. X.x

Jess112092: Thanksh. xP

BabiGirlBri16: Heh. I guess it's okay. Thanks for the encouragement, though. Really helps the writing along.

CSIfreak89: Hehe. Thanks. P

Esther: Really? It was on lj? Where? O.o And yes, I thoroughly love Huddy too. My fandoms are all whacked out. I really could go anyway. I'm having trouble with my OTP. Can ya tell? XD

PrettyKitty688: Hehe. Chameron was my first ever fandom, I must admit. Thanks for the review!

yellowfur: Haha. Copyright infringement? Who cares? xP Thanks for all the reviews!

Alyy: Heh. I just thought of them e-mailing each other, and how I could get them to do that. Team-suspension seemed like fertile ground for a fic. XD

Tursipiel Althins: You have no idea how flattered I am that someone would go through my profile and read and review all my fics. Thank you for the reviews, and for that boost of confidence.

Final A/N before continuing with the long-awaited chapter 7: Wow. You guys really gave me a confidence boost. 2 pages of size-10 review replies on MS Word. Thanks. –glomps—

The place was shabby-looking, that was true, but it had a sort of quaint feel to it. It was brick, and had vines growing up the walls, and was probably around before she was born, Cameron thought, but it was nice, nevertheless. She peeked through the grime-covered windows, searching rather uneasily for her company. Was she the first one there? No. She had a feeling House had been there for a while.

She walked into the bar, and was immediately winded by the heavy smell of years of tobacco and alcohol. The building was dirty and worn, but it somehow fit the gathering tonight. There were several people up at the bar; regulars, she figured; clamoring for their drinks and sipping them slowly. Cameron took off her coat and scanned the room. There. House was at a table in the back, glaring at a group of teenagers and trying to scare them off so he and his… charges, per se, could play pool. Foreman was sitting next to him, picking idly at a stain on the table, and Cameron felt a pang of guilt. She'd forgotten to invite him. Oh well, she thought, this wasn't Jr. High, and he obviously got an invite from someone…. And yet her concerned instincts wouldn't let her feel completely at ease.

"Cameron!" she heard a familiar voice, and turned around to see Wilson, heading from the bar with a huge tray of drinks.

"Hey. Long time, no see," she commented. Wilson nodded.

"Could you give me a hand with these?" he asked, nodding his head towards the assorted drinks in his hand. Cameron nodded, and grabbed a few.

"Who all is here?" she asked, letting Wilson lead her in the direction of the table.

"House, Foreman, obviously you and I, and I think Cuddy's in the bathroom."

"Wow. I didn't really think Cuddy would show," Cameron said, sitting down at the table.

"Hey, Cam," Foreman said, half-hugging her across the table.

Seeing Cameron's startled look, House piped up, "Hey, don't feel bad. He practically sobbed over me."

"See being suspended hasn't mellowed SOME of us out," Cameron retorted.

"Guess I missed the memo. My bad," House replied, not the least bit regretful.

"I can't believe I'm actually here," Cuddy's voice sounded from behind them.

"Neither can I," House said, "But I always suspected you were the multiples type."

"Where's Chase?" Cameron said, trying to divert the attention off of the daggered looks between House and Cuddy.

"Come on, Cameron. Your drunk self, or high, I'm not sure which, is good, but he's not waiting for you," House remarked. "Although, it's been a few days. He might be up again." Cameron, red-faced and amid prodding looks from Cuddy and Foreman, was about to retort, but at that moment, a familiar Aussie chose that time to make his appearance.

"Hey. Sorry I was late. My uh… car had trouble," Chase said, averting his eyes from everybody else's and sitting down.

"Sure it wasn't your brain having trouble with what to wear?" House said, pointing to Chase's shirt. He had two different colored ties on, and neither of them even kind of matched his shirt. His pants were a whole different story. They had a huge hole in the knee, and grass stains on the other.

"Little nostalgic there?" Foreman teased, smirking.

"They're from when I was in college. I did landscaping to help with the tuition," Chase said, turning red and still averting his eyes from those of his colleagues.

"Why would you need to do grunt work? Daddy Bigbucks could've afforded it," House replied.

"Could've being the key word," Chase said, resentment clear in his tone.

"Cuddy, you've been awfully quiet. Wilson, too. Sure you're not having eyesex across the table?" House asked, looking innocently at the two of them and receiving a glare from Cuddy.

He started to go on with, "I mean, I know Cuddy's—" but Wilson kicked him under the table and muttered, "Don't."

House gave him a slightly puzzled look, telling Wilson with his eyes that, "We need to talk."

"Did we come here to play pool? I forget," Foreman asked, picking up on the tense environment and trying to change the subject.

"I've been trying to scare those runts off, but they seem to need the mark of cane to change their minds," House said, raising his cane and standing up. He nodded for them to follow suit.

"So, what happened to the last guy who stood up to you?" Foreman asked, clearly a rehearsed line.

"Let's just say he's got handicap privileges now," House said, loud enough so the boys at the pool table could hear them. The boys looked uneasily towards them, but continued with their game.

"They actually think they can scare us," one of the boys scoffed.

"Oh no, no no no no. We don't think we can scare you," House said, strolling up to them, "but uh… the dark one there, and the Aussie, they've got minds of their own. And see this here? It may look like a cane, but really, it's a secret weapon of mass destruction."

"Yeah, right," the boy replied disdainfully.

"The cane never lies," House said, stepping towards the teenagers with his cane raised and a menacing look in his eye.

"Come on, this place blows," one of the boys said. Presumably the leader, since all the others followed him out.

"Nicely played," Cuddy said, grabbing a pool stick and chalk. House, Cameron, Wilson, and Foreman each grabbed a stick too.

"I call first captain!" House called a little too loudly, momentarily grabbing the attention of everybody else in the bar.

"House, this isn't elementary school kick—" Wilson started, but House interrupted him.

"Jimmy! You're on my team," he declared.

"Fine, if we're gonna do it that way, I'm second captain," Cuddy said, raising her eyebrows challengingly at House. He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Cameron," Cuddy called.

"Your loss," House said, "Black guys are good with balls, right? Foreman. Over here." Foreman gave House a dirty look, but walked over to where House was.

"Chase, you're on our team," Cuddy said.

Chase looked down and said, "I don't play pool."

"Yes, you do," Cameron said, "Now come on."

"No, I really don't play pool," Chase said.

"Now you do," Cuddy said, "and we better not lose."

A/N: Like I said, I'm really sorry about the wait. And this chapter really isn't that long, but I have exams in two weeks and need to study. I'll write part two tomorrow in history, and post it sometime this week. Really. I'm not kidding this time. And I really need a morale booster; I don't like the way the story went before this. Heh. Thanks for reading.