Ta-Da! Amos Whirly has returned! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! I'm so happy to be back, and I will hopefully be doing more writing now! Hooray!

Broken

House, M.D.

Part Ten: The Return

Cameron bent over and tied on her tennis shoes before she stepped onto her treadmill and turned it on. She started running, her long brown ponytail jogging behind her. She closed her eyes and ran, her thoughts drifting to her fast, distracting trip to the Midwest.

Kansas was a nice state, and surprisingly Wichita (the state's largest city) had most of the conveniences of the East Coast, though with a populace who were far more friendly. It was a big city with a down-home feel.

She had arrived in Wichita, met her friend Jeannie Kellogg, and stayed a few nights, never really revealing why she had come for a visit. Jeannie, an old college buddy who had chosen motherhood as her career instead of medicine, had been happy to see her and even happier to offer food, board, and long talks about relationships (carefully hidden in a guise of impartiality).

Cameron smiled as she jogged on the treadmill. Jeannie had always been her friend and confidant, the one she could run to with her troubles. They had been roommates in their sophomore year of college and had forged a friendship that had lasted for many years.

(House M.D.)

The meal was huge and filling and made Cameron feel like she was sitting at home with her family again. Jeannie's husband, Frank, was a cordial man with a booming laugh. Part of Cameron was shocked to discover that he was a businessman who worked downtown. She sheepishly realized she had assumed all men in Kansas were farmers.

"I have to admit, Allison," Jeannie said as she gathered up the dishes after they had finished eating, "it was kind of a surprise to hear from you. Up until now, we'd just been getting cards and emails from you."

"I know. I'm sorry. I just wanted to see you again." Cameron busied herself with helping Jeannie clean up the table. Afterward, she watched Jeannie's two sons and her husband wrestling in the living room.

Jeannie smiled and stood beside her. "So who is it?"

"Who's what?"

"Come on, Allison," Jeannie said. "You've never been able to fool me. You didn't come to see me. You didn't come to see the boys." Jeannie set her hand on Cameron's shoulder. "Allison, the last time you came to see me was just after your husband died. The only reason you'd be here now—"

"Maybe I just wanted to see you, Jeannie."

"You can't lie for beans, Allison. Who is it?"

(House M.D.)

Cameron shook her head as she jogged. She had broken, right there in Jeannie's kitchen, told her the whole story, spilled out her soul. Jeannie had listened, compassionately patting her shoulder and afterward had offered a cup of warm milk, which Cameron had accepted without question.

They didn't speak of it again.

Three days later when Cameron was at the airport going back to New Jersey, Jeannie had hugged her. "Allison," she had said, "running away isn't going to help anything. It won't help you. And it surely won't help him."

Cameron stopped jogging and turned off the treadmill, dabbing at her forehead with her towel.

"It won't help me, and it won't help him," she mumbled. "So why do I want to help him?" She leaned her head back. "Because I'm a doctor. I help people. That's why I do this." She frowned. "But I don't have to help him. He doesn't want help."

She dug a bottle of cold water out of her refrigerator and drank it.

"But I want to help him," she whispered in the silence of her little apartment kitchen.

She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.

I thought we were friends at least. After the monster trucks. After the concert. She hung her head. And then I find out that he doesn't even like me. She smiled sardonically to herself. "That shouldn't matter at all. He doesn't like anyone." You just hoped you'd be different.

Cameron froze as something loud and solid banged against her apartment door. She jumped up and listened. Bang, bang, bang! It sounded like wood against the door.

House!

She set her water bottle down, unconsciously checked her appearance in the mirror, and walked to the door. She tried her best not to look mortified-horrified-terrified to see him standing at her door, blue eyes piercing through her like so many daggers.

She could barely contain the excitement that swept through her. Vogler was gone. House could have his full team back.

"Things can go back to the way they were," House said, his gaze not leaving her face.

Cameron stifled the thrill that surged through her at the sound of his voice. Deep bass timbre that shook her to the core. "The way they were was kind of weird." She managed to speak.

"Weird works for me."

She searched his face. "What are you saying?"

She watched the lines in his face, a slight twitch in his eye. He was about to say something he hadn't planned on saying. She could tell.

"I want you to come back."

Again, it took all her strength to keep from shouting, to keep from rejoicing, to keep from throwing her arms around him and holding him.

He wanted her to come back to work at PPTH.

Stop, Cameron, she told herself. Think about this. This is House. Your boss, House. He doesn't know what he wants. She narrowed her eyes and looked closer at his face.

"Why?" She asked it before she knew she had spoken.

And his pager went off. Something about an epidemic. He said something. She said something. But she wasn't thinking about it.

He wants you to come back. You want to go back. But things will be just the same as they were, with neither of us knowing what to do with each other. She took a deep breath. You have to make a choice here. You can run back to him and the way things were. Or you can stand your ground and make him run for once.

"Why do you want me back?"

House glared at her. "Because you're a good doctor?"

She took a deep breath again. "That's it?"

House frowned. "That's not enough."

Her heart thudded dully in her chest, and she hoped she wasn't making a mistake. "Not for me." She closed the door on him.

She spent the next few days in agony, hating herself. He had come to her, asked her to come back (which for Greg House was a tremendous feat in that he even acknowledged being dependant on another person), and she slammed the door in his face.

He won't come back again. I had my shot, and I blew it.

She received a single phone call during one of those days, a call from Dr. Yule at Jefferson Hospital, informing her that she had been accepted for the immunologist position she had applied for.

She had just hung up with him when someone knocked on her door again. It wasn't a fist knocking. It was that same wooden pounding.

He came back again? her mind was awhirl. Why?

She opened her door and looked out at him. He looked tired and weary, more so than usual.

"I don't want to interview anyone else."

She scowled through her joy. "You're interviewing? I thought you'd just have them send a headshot along with their CV."

She would have sworn she saw a sparkle of laughter in his azure eyes. "Hah. That's good. And that's why I need you around."

She frowned.

"To keep me in my place."

She noted with slight amusement that he was trying to look inside her apartment. She didn't move out of the doorway, though. "I can't come back. I told you that."

"Wasn't listening."

"Right."

He looked down at her. "You want me to listen to you more? I can do that."

She sighed. "Right. I already accepted a position somewhere else."

His face turned dark. "With who?"

Cameron bit her lip. "Yule, at Jefferson."

Again, his eyes flashed. "Unaccept it."

She stood her ground. "Why?"

Finally, his arrogant tone faded into something else, something Cameron wasn't quite sure she could identify.

"Because Yule is boring," he said, his deep voice carefully hiding the pleading he couldn't conceal in his eyes. "He's pedantic and preachy. Because he's short." He shifted slightly. "Because I want you to come back."

She was melting. His eyes were consuming her. But she steeled herself. "Not good enough."

His eyes flared angrily. "You want more money? A car allowance? A better parking space?"

This is it. Do it. Do it now! She lifted her little chin. "Dinner."

His expression betrayed the shock he was feeling, although he covered it up quickly.

"And not just a meal between two colleagues," she kept talking. "A date."

He looked confused. "You'll come back to work if I go out on a date with you?"

Cameron smiled. "Yes."

House tilted his head slightly. "Okay. It's a deal."

Cameron was certain she almost saw him smile, but she stared as he held out his hand. She felt giddy as she took his hand and shook it.