Amazing Grace- A House/NCIS story

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything House related except DVDs. Ryan is mine, though.

AN. This chapter one of my favs. Especially scene with House and Wilson.

Chapter fourteen:

Andrew, Matt and Nick left that night, hurriedly packing when they returned from the lake, and dashing their families off to the airport. Sophie and Jacqui were remaining a little longer, and the New Jersey and Washington groups left on two different planes the following morning.

"What was all the noise last night?" Gibbs asked the girls as he entered the kitchen that morning. Cameron, Ziva, Abby and surprisingly Tony exchanged half-guilty, half-amused looks.

"We were just talking, Gibbs," Abby replied after a moment.

Gibbs didn't add anything, but they could tell he didn't believe them. At the airport, Cameron hugged them all a little harder, thanking them all, especially Gibbs, Tony and Ziva, for their help finding Ryan and the others. Gibbs merely winked at her, and turned away. And she also thanked House and the others for coming with her, when they made to part ways at Newark airport.

"We were glad to," Chase and Foreman assured her, and she nodded, smiling.

"Ok then. Alright, I'll see you all next week." She turned to House as she began to walk away.

"Call me if you need a consult," she offered, and he nodded briefly.

After a week away, House was even more reluctant than usual to go into work on Monday morning, especially when he finally got into the office and found a stack of unsorted mail on the desk, Chase's bitter tasting coffee, and no Cameron. He spent the morning playing his PSP, and then found Wilson and badgered him into buying him lunch.

"How's it going?" his friend asked him, as they found a table in the back of the cafeteria.

"Chase can't make coffee to save his life," House muttered irritably.

Wilson suppressed a smile. "That good, huh?"

"No cases, nothing interesting. Cuddy's not even bugging me about my clinic hours." House paused, then frowned.

"That's actually a good thing. Odd, but good."

"Well, I'm sure things will pick up soon. Maybe a pretty lady will come down with a sudden cold," Wilson said sarcastically.

House stole Wilson's chips and rose. "One can only hope," he deadpanned.

And it did. When House arrived in the office the next morning, Cuddy was waiting for him, where she presented him with a new case.

"Twenty-three year old woman. Presented with a fever of 102, has a rash, joint pain and swelling," she rattled off, trying to pass the file on to him.

"And the doctor you got this from is Doogie Howiser?"

House asked her. "No," she replied in confusion.

"Oh, then there's another twelve year old boy who can't recognise a simple case of the flu?" he snarked.

Cuddy sighed impatiently. "It's not the flu. She's been in remission for Hodgkin's disease for nine years now," she continued, following her employer into the conference room.

"That's notorious for returning after a decade," Chase interrupted.

"And suppresses the immune system," Foreman added.

"Yes, well done. Your knowledge of Hodgkin's is much more impressive than this coffee Chase made," House retorted, and Chase sighed.

By the next day, the team had had three differentials, six rejections of lupus and ten instances of House sending Chase to starbucks for "drinkable coffee"; the team had narrowed it down and decided upon an auto-immune disease.

"We'll start the tests," Chase said, as he and Foreman rose.

House nodded and retrieved his jacket and helmet from his office.

"Where are you going?" Foreman asked.

"To consult with an immunologist," House replied.

"Why? We have the diagnosis," Chase protested.

"Still, doesn't hurt to double check."

"She has a phone," Foreman called after him.

"It normally helps when we look at files," House returned, over his shoulder, limping out of the office.

Foreman and Chase rolled their eyes and headed for the lab. When House knocked on Cameron's door twenty minutes later, she was sitting on the couch, looking through her senior yearbook. At House's knock, she opened the door, not seeming surprised to see him there.

"Please tell me you have decent coffee here," he moaned, stepping in without being invited, whilst thrusting a file in her face.

"Gee House, won't you come in?" Cameron said sarcastically, closing the door behind him. Dumping the file onto the bench, she went to the kitchen and poured him a cup of coffee, which he greedily took and drank.

"So, what's up?" she asked her boss.

He gestured to the file. "Well, I didn't bring the pretty purple file over for you to admire."

Cameron suppressed a roll of her eyes with difficulty, and began to inspect the file.

"It's not lupus," House interrupted as he saw her open her mouth.

"I wasn't going to suggest it," she replied. "I'd suggest auto-immune disease. Have you done the tests?"

"Bert and Ernie are doing them now," he countered, draining his coffee mug, and holding it out to her. She took it, refilled it, and returned it to him.

"I'm guessing Chase has been making coffee," she said dryly, watching him.

House snorted. "'Coffee' is not what I'd call it."

Cameron grinned, pouring herself another cup, and leading him into the living room, where he promptly took her seat on the couch and picked up the yearbook she had been reading.

"Black River Falls High School: Class of 1997," he read.

"Senior year," Cameron informed him, crossing her legs under herself. House flicked through the pages, stopping on a picture of Cameron with Ryan.

"Cute," he said dryly and she ignored him, instead choosing to pick up her cell phone when it beeped, signifying a text. She read it and laughed, making House startle.

"What?" he asked.

Giggling, she explained. "Remember the morning we left and Gibbs asked us what we were doing the night before?"

"Yes. I also remember hearing said noise that night, and wondering why DiNozzo was sleeping with the girls, and if it was what I was thinking, why wasn't I invited?"

Cameron rolled her eyes. "Ok, Abby used her tax return last year to buy the whole NCIS team I-Pods, right? And when she gave Gibbs his, he said he didn't want it because he'd only listen to five."

"Five thousand?" House asked.

"No, five." Cameron corrected.

House was shocked. "What?"

"I know. So, Abby made him take it, but he just kept it in his desk, empty. When we went to Wisconsin, she hijacked it from the desk. And then the night before we left, me, Ziva, Abby and Tony filled it."

House raised an eyebrow. "What did you put on it?"

"A whole bunch of stuff. We kept most of Abby's collection out of it, because it's mostly punk and RnB, not Gibbs' thing, but good stuff. So, we filled it, and Abby was gonna put it back in the desk and surprise him."

"And Gibbs knew what happened?"

"Abby didn't get a chance to return it before he noticed," Cameron admitted. "So she confessed, returned it and made him listen."

"And the message?" House gestured to the phone.

Cameron grinned, and let him read the message.

Gibbs nos. Listened 2 it. Luved everything u picked. Now obsessed with swing. Scary :0 Brrrr. Luv ya!

"From DiNozzo?"

Cameron smiled faintly. "Yes."

"So, was there something you wanted besides to drink all my coffee?" she asked him bluntly.

House paused, thinking whether to lie or tell the truth. Surprisingly, to him and Cameron, he chose the latter.

"We wanted to see how you were doing."

Cameron briefly considered retorting with a sarcastic comment, but refrained. "Honestly? I know, when Wilson said I had the week off that I didn't need it, but I'm really glad I do."

"Why?"

"Because I know that if I didn't, I'd do what I always do. Ignore it, and throw myself into my work until I break. And I think it's better I break at home than at work. Especially considering when I start crying over a commercial for fruit loops, and I can't watch M*A*S*H without sobbing."

House frowned. "Do I ask for further info or leave it at that?"

Cameron smiled. "You can ask."

"Ok, I was going to anyway. What the hell are you talking about?"

She laughed slightly. "It sounds stupid... we used to call Paul Captain of the Fruit Loops. He would just have these really blonde moments, and act all crazy, especially if he'd in taken a lot of sugar."

"And the M*A*S*H?"

"Jake was the school student body president, so he was supposed to have a lot of responsibility and all that stuff. He had no idea, he was just a nice guy, so he got the job. Responsibility wasn't his strong point. And M*A*S*H was, well, still is my favourite show, and I joked he was like Henry Blake, and it stuck."

"That's not stupid," House said gently. "Well, not completely anyway."

Cameron shrugged. "I miss them, you know? And I still can't believe they're gone... Jake had three daughters and a wife, and he was looking after his dad, and their ranch. Paul had two sons and a wife, and she has a daughter from her previous marriage, and he loved her like his own. There was never any question in his mind that she was his daughter too..." she blinked back tears while House watched in silence.

"They had their whole lives ahead of them... families and jobs and friends... and then I think about my life and all I have is this job and my family. I have nothing I always said I was going to have growing up, and I hate that."

House suddenly thought of Cuddy. After putting her career first for so long, she had endured so much in vain to have the thing she wanted most, a baby. He thought of Cameron being in his boss' place in perhaps five or ten years time, and he couldn't bear the image, especially remembering her interact with her sibling's and their children the past week.

"Why didn't you and Di- Tony, go any further?"

She raised an eyebrow in surprise at his reference to Tony by his first name, but answered the question.

"He lives in Washington. He can't leave his job as NCIS, and I like it here. Once my fellowships up, who knows where I'll end up? Long-distance relationships rarely work out, which is why I never tried it with Ryan."

"Have you heard from him lately?"

Cameron smiled. "Tony or Ryan?"

House shrugged. "Either. Both."

"Tony called yesterday, and I've heard from Ryan every day since he got home. I've also had about a dozen emails each from Pete, Sam and Josh."

House paused, tapping his fingers on his mug. Finally, not looking at her, he muttered something incoherent.

"What?" she frowned.

"I said... it actually works in my benefit. That you and DiNozzo didn't hook up."

"How's that?" Cameron asked softly, slightly fearing the answer.

"Well... either he'd hurt you or you'd live happily ever after. And I'm not sure I could watch either way."

Cameron's breath caught in her throat. "Oh," she murmured faintly, not sure how to react.

House chuckled softly. "Yeah."

Their comfortable silence was interrupted by House's cell phone ringing. "What? Great... Whatever... ok... bye."

She raised an eyebrow as he hung up. "Foreman," he explained, not providing any further information.

"I'm guessing the tests were positive?"

"Test positive, treatment started, patient improving, Cuddy looking for me to fill my clinic hours."

Cameron laughed. "So all is right in the world."

House smiled briefly. "Yeah."

He followed her into the kitchen as she rinsed and washed their coffee mugs, then dried her hands.

"I should go," he said reluctantly.

"Ok."

Cameron walked him to the door, handing him the file he had brought with him. "I'll see you on Monday, then."

"Monday," he repeated faintly, and stepped out into the hall.

Cameron slowly closed the door behind her boss and let out a long sigh. "Idiot," she scolded herself, returning to the couch.

A sudden knock on the door made her jump, but unlike the one that had sounded on her door half an hour earlier, the knocking didn't cease as she made her way to the door. She opened it to find House, once again on her doorstep.

"Another case already?" she greeted him, not being able to think of another reason that would make him return to her doorstep.

House, who had returned on impulse, no longer thought his idea was a good one, but his frozen brain couldn't think of a way out of it. He stepped forward, placed one hand on her nape of her neck, and drew her to him until their lips met. Cameron's arms instinctively wound around his back and she didn't think of what she was doing until they separated for air, and she suddenly became aware they were in her hallway.

"Uh, do you want to come back in?" she asked, slightly breathless.

"I'm good with the coffee," he assured her.

She frowned at him, unamused. "I wasn't going to make any. I was just suggesting we don't make out in my hallway."

House looked around them and conceded. He shut the door behind them, and lowered his head once more. Their lips had barely touched when Cameron suddenly pulled back.

"Can I ask you something?"

"No," he replied immediately.

When she merely looked at him expectantly, he sighed. "What?"

"What you said earlier... that there was a possibility that Tony and I could have lived 'happily ever after' and you couldn't watch... you don't want me to be happy?"

"I don't want you to be happy with someone else," he corrected. "I'm all for happiness in general... as long as it doesn't spread."

She giggled happily and he bent his head again when she stopped him once more.

"And the other thing you said-" she began, but was interrupted by House sighing.

"I say a lot of things, Allison, and I rarely remember them for much longer than thirty seconds after I've said them."

Cameron broke into a grin at the use of her first name for the first time, but stood firm. "This will only take a minute," she begged.

"Come on, I was very much enjoying the non-verbal form of communication we were engaged in when we were in the hall!"

"I bet you were," she mock scowled at him, but her tone was light.

"Please, Greg?"

The use of his first name, combined with her puppy-dog eyes rendered House useless. "What did I say?"

"You said the other alternative was that Tony hurt me, and you couldn't watch that either. Does that mean you're not planning on hurting me either?"

The remnants of the barriers House had been building around him for so long, were suddenly washed away by that one question. House could see the apprehension in her eyes, and feel her unconsciously begin to clench.

He sighed deeply, picking her up as best he could so that their eyes were level with one another. "I never did. My tongue says things before my brain knows what it's doing. Very sneaky, but it's part of the defence mechanism I've spent the past eight years setting up."

Cameron gave a soft smile and said nothing, and the two simply stared at each other.

"You're not going to try and kiss me again?" she asked.

"If I do, are you going to interrupt me?"

"No," she laughed, and he kissed her.

Barely three minutes later, the two were interrupted by the ringing of House's cell phone, which he answered reluctantly with a groan checking the caller ID.

"Impeccable timing, as always Wilson," he greeted his friend.

"Huh?" Wilson replied, confused.

House sighed. "Never mind. What do you want?"

"Uh, Cuddy's looking for you. You're due in the clinic."

"Yes, I heard that rumour. However, as I am not in the hospital, I am unfortunately out of range of the clinic, and will be sadly forced to make Chase cover for me."

"Where are you?" Wilson demanded.

"I'm not telling. You're not allowed to know."

"Why not?"

House rolled his eyes, and Cameron stifled a giggle. "Because, Jimmy, I am in the middle of a very important meeting of my secret friendship club, of which you are not a member, and therefore cannot know our secret headquarters' whereabouts. Duh."

"Foreman and Chase said you left almost an hour ago to consult with Cameron," Wilson continued, wisely ignoring his friend.

"Yes," House agreed.

"Did you?"

"Yes."

"But now you're not coming back to the hospital?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Yes."

"That wasn't a yes or no question, House."

"Oops. Sorry. I can't come back, because there is a conspiracy theory in the department. People trying to make me drink Australian- made coffee. Ew."

Wilson began to make a reply, but was interrupted when the phone was wrenched out of his hand by a new arrival.

"House, where are you?" Cuddy demanded.

"Hi, Cuddy. How are you?" House said brightly, and his cheery tone had the desired effect. His boss was totally rattled and confused.

"House, are you high?"

"On a workday? Of course not," House chirped, and next to him, Cameron was in silent hysterics.

"Wasted?"

"No, you must be confusing me with that moron in radiology. Unless you're wasted?"

"No!" Cuddy exclaimed.

"Okay then, so we're all sober. I assume you didn't have a sudden urge to talk with me about your new hairdo, so what is it?"

Cuddy was still puzzled by his cheerful demeanour and had no fight in her. "Nothing."

"Great. Okay, see you tomorrow," he farewelled her, and hung up the phone.

"I can't believe you," Cameron laughed at him as he turned his phone off and threw it down onto the coffee table.

"It's one of my wonderful charms," he smiled and kissed her again.

Just before he deepened the kiss, he pulled away. "I'm gonna go. Or I'll miss my show."

"You could watch it here, I do have a TV," Cameron pointed out.

"Yes, but you are also here, and I won't be able to concentrate with you here," he replied, kissing her again and standing up.

"Dinner tomorrow night?" he asked her, seeing her disappointment.

She beamed and nodded. "Yeah, okay."

"OK. I'll pick you up at seven," House told her gently, and let himself out with a final kiss.

Cameron made sure he had actually gone, before beginning to dance around her apartment, deliriously happy.