Amazing Grace- A House/NCIS story
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything House related except DVDs. Ryan is mine, though.
AN. I think I may have stolen the 'goodbye' from CLICK. I only saw the movie once, and don't really remember it, but it sounded familiar when I wrote it. So if so, sorry.
Chapter twelve:
This time, when the group flew out of Washington, their group was expanded by Gibbs, Abby, McGee, Pete, Josh, and Sam. Sam alone was not entirely well enough to travel, but he was desperate to see his family again, and to be there as his friends were buried. Cameron also reasoned he was travelling with five doctors, so he was in good hands.
There was still no news on the search for Ryan, but Cameron was hanging on to all her desperate hopes, though she still wasn't sleeping well. Cameron revealed to the others on the plane to Wisconsin that her siblings were returning home to see her and for the funeral. Plus, as far as they knew, most of their graduating class was also planning to return.
"Most of us are still in touch," she explained to them. "It's a small town, so there were only about thirty of us. We all got really close."
"Allison!" As she stepped off the plane, she dashed forward to embrace the woman who had called out, who they correctly assumed to be her mother.
"Hi, Mom," Cameron smiled, hugging her tightly. Her mother also embraced Sam, Josh and Pete before Cameron could introduce her to her friends.
"Mom, this Agent Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, Timothy, and Abby. And Eric, Robert, James, and Greg House. Guys, this is my mom, Nina."
"It's nice to meet you all," Nina smiled at them politely.
"Thanks for letting us all stay, Nina," Gibbs answered her, shaking her hand.
"Oh it was my pleasure. We've got plenty of room, as long as no-one minds squeezing in."
Nina turned to Sam, Josh and Pete. "I volunteered to pick everyone up, so there wasn't a mad rush when you boys got here. But I'm under strict orders to drop you right of at your momma's house, all of you. Everyone's over there."
She led the way out to the parking lot after they had all collected their bags and stopped next to a large ute. Josh got shotgun because of his leg, and House, Gibbs and Sam clambered into the backseat; whilst all the others jumped into the tray.
"Is that legal?" House asked Nina.
She laughed. "Probably not, but we've always driven this way. And Ally loves it."
After they had dropped Josh, Sam and Pete off at their respective homes, where they and Cameron were pounced upon by their families; House replaced Josh in the front seat; and McGee and Foreman joined Gibbs in the backseat, whilst Nina headed out to the ranch. On the drive, Nina explained that they worked in quarter horses and mustang rescue, and that all her children were riding before they could walk.
The visitor's jaws dropped as the Pillan Istu ranch came into view. It was a large property, over 5000 acres, with a large house (nine bedrooms, Cameron informed them, which had been built in 1884) in the middle and servants quarters next to it. It also contained large stable, which, Nina told the visitors, held their ten horses. The Cameron's had a herd of sixty quarter horses, and currently had eight mustangs.
"What's Pillan Istu?" House asked as they neared the house. Cameron heard and answered for her mother.
"It's Native American. Pillan means a supreme essence, and Istu means sugar pine. There's about twenty hectare of those trees on this property, and my great-great-grandfather, who started the ranch, always believed the spirits were watching over the property, making sure no harm came to it."
"So, who gets to inherit it?" he asked her, and she glared at him.
"We all do. We all get a sixth. If you're asking who's going to work it, I have no idea."
Nina pulled the car to a stop and honked the horn. A man, who seemed not that much older than Cameron came running out of the house, and caught Cameron as she jumped from the tray, and hugged her tightly.
"Hey, Nicky!" she laughed, hugging him back.
He stepped back to look at her face carefully. "How are you doing, Lissy?"
"I'm holding up," she assured him. She turned back to the visitors.
"People, this is Nick. Nick, people."
"Gee, thanks for the heartfelt introduction Allison," Nick laughed.
Cameron simply made a face at her brother, and pulled her bags out of the truck.
"God, how much stuff did you pack, woman?" demanded Nick.
She was wide-eyed and innocent as she answered. "Not much. That bag is clothes, that one shoes, and that one stuff."
"You mean crap," a new voice laughed, and Cameron turned to face him.
"Matt!" she cried, hugging him.
After greeting and introducing him, she and Nina led their guests into the house. "So, who else is here?" Cameron asked her brothers.
"Dad's in the fields, Sophie's in the shower, Andrew's not here yet and Jacqui is taking your lovely nieces and nephews to the stables to visit the horses," Matt answered her.
While they made themselves comfortable in the large kitchen, Cameron explained to the others about her family. Andrew was the eldest at 38, and a captain in the US Navy; he was married to Rhiannon, and they had four children Kylie, Ethan, Michael and Bradley, and were based in Fort Wayne. Then there was Matt aged 34, who owned a nightclub in Chicago; he and his wife Fiona had two sons, Xander and Trent. Sophie at age 32, who taught middle school English in Wisconsin had three children with her husband Guy, Angel, Phoenix and Rain. Nick was 31 and a chef in San Francisco; who was the proud father of twins Lana and Liam with his partner Heather. Jacqui aged 30 was the sibling Cameron was closest to both emotionally and geographically, as she was an interior designer in New York; she was also the single mother of three children, Charlotte, Dorian, and Matilda, following a bitter divorce from her husband Henry a few years prior.
Shortly after Cameron's long-winded monologue, there was a pounding on the stairs, and Sophie Cameron- Anderson dashed into the room to seize her sister in a tight embrace. Her hair was still wet from the shower, but they could tell it was as blonde as her younger sisters, and the eyes which was the common feature among all the Cameron children, were bright and filled with worry.
"Any news on Ryan yet?" Sophie asked, and Cameron shook her head quickly.
"No, not yet," she said sadly.
Sophie nodded and hugged her. "They'll find him, baby. It's Ryan, he's never left you."
House was extremely interested about that comment, but decided to wait until he could get Cameron alone. While the sisters caught up, a group of men entered the near to bursting kitchen.
"Hey, there's my Princess!" one cried happily.
Cameron beamed and went to hug him. "Hi, Daddy."
She turned to the others, still smiling, and looking more relaxed than House had seen her in days.
"Dad, these are my co-workers, Eric Foreman, Robert Chase, James Wilson and Greg House. And the NCIS agents, Gibbs, Timothy McGee, Anthony DiNozzo and Ziva David, and Abby Sciuto. Everyone, this is my Dad, Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Cameron."
"Call me Ted," the retired navy officer greeted them, shaking Gibbs' hand.
"Sure, Ted if you call me Jethro," Gibbs retorted.
"And this is my brother in law, Guy, and our workmen, Regan and Tom," Cameron continued, greeting the other men in the room
"Aunty Allie!" a young girl suddenly dashed into the kitchen and threw herself into Cameron's arms, quickly followed by a group of children. House managed to count ten, and realised they were the children of her siblings that had so far arrived. Then Jacqui entered, looking so much like Cameron they could have been twins, and there were more hugs and introductions, including the introductions of her sister-in-laws. When Cameron introduced House to her sister, Jacqui's eyes pierced him as she stared him up and down then mumbled a "Huh..." that had Cameron stifle a giggle, to House's bewilderment.
"So, Nina, where is everyone sleeping?" Ted asked his wife.
Nina laughed. "It'll be tight, but we'll manage. Okay, so first of all, my fourteen beautiful grandchildren are going to have a camp out in the hayloft," the adults all laughed as the kids cheered.
"Then each of the kids is in their old room, except for Jacqui who has agreed to bunk in with Ally. Unfortunately, Ziva and Abby are also in there with them. Now, we've got Eric, Robert, James, Tim and Tony in Jacqui's old room, and then Jethro and Greg are in a spare room each. Is everyone okay with that?"
"It'll be like summer camp," Tony grinned at their hostess to reassure her.
"They're big rooms," Cameron assured them. Then she stood up.
"Ok, I'll take everyone up and we can get settled."
"Sure, honey. Then I'll get dinner started. Tony, Allison said you were dying to try my homemade steaks, so that's what we're having."
Tony grinned charmingly at Nina and her youngest daughter. "They sound amazing, I'm hungry already."
"When are you not hungry, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked him, smiling.
Cameron started to head out of the room, but Matt stopped her. "Hang on, squirt. I'm not setting the table for you while we're here either. I'd rather carry your bags upstairs."
She beamed at him. "Gee, Mattie. Thanks for volunteering!"
She herded the others out of the room before her brother could protest. "Squirt?" Tony sniggered, and even down in the kitchen, they could hear Cameron slap him over the head.
The visitor's found they were indeed big rooms and they all fit comfortably inside. Fifteen minutes later, Cameron led the girls downstairs and found her eldest brother in the kitchen.
"Andrew!" she exclaimed, and her brother smiled down at her.
"Hey, Lissy. Are you ok?"
"Yeah," she assured him, before greeting her sister in law and their children. Dinner was a loud and crazy affair, but they loved every minute of it, and Tony was raving over Nina's steaks.
"Oh, I wish you could eat steak, Ziva," he sighed happily, taking another bite.
"You don't know what you're missing."
"Well, I'm sorry my religion is interfering with your tastebuds," Ziva retorted, perfectly happy with her own meal. Cameron had explained to her mother quietly that Ziva and Wilson were Jewish, and therefore did not eat meat; and Nina had provided adequate food with no extra effort.
"Actually, I'm not sorry," Tony changed his mind. "Then there's more for me!"
Cameron giggled to herself, sighing happily. Suddenly, Sophie and Heather burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Andrew asked them.
Sophie was hysterical. "Can you imagine tomorrow morning, when everyone's queuing for the bathroom?"
Cameron snorted at the image, and Jacqui cracked up too. They made the boys do the dishes, and then everyone moved to the living room to play Pictionary.
"Just how many nicknames does she have?" Chase asked Nick when Cameron left the room with Ted to visit the horses before bed.
Nick grinned. "Oh, a lot. Ally and Lissy are the most common of course. Then, it's Allison Elizabeth when she's in trouble; Squirt is what we normally call her when we're teasing her; and Dad's always called her Princess, ever since she was born. That's it really."
"You forgot angel," Jacqui reminded him.
House, listening in startled. "Angel? Who calls her that?"
"Ryan," Sophie answered simply. "He always has. He says that she saved him, and brought him to life."
No-one dared mention the possibility that he could be dead, but Jacqui swallowed hard before continuing.
"They were the couple that everyone wanted to be, and had all these cheesy traditions... some of them they still have."
"Like what?" Abby asked her.
Sophie jumped in, smiling fondly. "My favourite is their goodbye. One starts with "Will you still love me tomorrow?" and the other replies with "Forever and ever babe." They still use it to end e-mails and phone calls. They're ridiculously close for an ex-couple."
"Which is why it'll kill her if he's dead," Matt said solemnly.
"We're doing everything we can to find him," Gibbs replied.
When Cameron and Ted returned, she yawned and Matt teased her. "You'd better go to bed, squirt. Need your beauty sleep."
"I'm going to a funeral, Matt. No-one gives a damn how you look as long as you look sad," his sister snapped tiredly and left the room without saying goodnight.
"Well she'd know," House muttered and Wilson glared at him. They all went their separate ways then, and House went to his room, thankful to be one with privacy; but all the same, taking a long time to fall asleep.
