THE MANY CAMERAS

It seemed like the police arrived in no time at all. They headed to Cuddy's office after her assistant had informed them that both she and House were there waiting for them. Detectives Kane and Jacobs stopped in front of Cuddy's door and Jacobs knocked lightly.

Inside the office, House and Cuddy were waiting for the police. They were sitting around her table that was against the wall. When they heard the knock, Cuddy stood up to answer the door.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Cuddy," Detective Kane greeted her.

She gave both of them a nod and gestured for them to enter her office. They made their way to the table and sat down.

"Dr. House," said Jacobs.

House nodded.

"I'm sorry we are here under such terrible circumstances," Jacobs began. "But we need you to tell us about this email that you received Dr. House."

"Thought that's why you're here," said House. "Can't tell you much about the email. We don't know who sent it."

"So there was no name attached to it at all?" Kane asked.

"Just someone claiming to be a 'concerned friend'." House replied bitterly.

"Right."

House began to tell the detectives everything he knew about the email. He explained to them how Cameron was the one who first opened the file and how she and Chase were both in the office when he came in. He told them what the email was and how he figured it had to be a few months old because of the way Cuddy looked. While House spoke, Cuddy sat still.

"Dr. Cuddy, I know that you've been through a lot," Kane began. "But as a precaution we would like to search you home."

"We need to see if there are any other cameras hidden around your home," added Jacobs.

"Um, I understand," replied Cuddy. "I haven't gone home yet so...you wont be in the way."

"Okay, Dr. Cuddy," said Kane.

"About the email, any way to trace it?" House asked.

"We'll be looking into that, Dr. House," replied Jacobs.

"Was there anything else?" Cuddy asked.

"Not at the moment. We'll be sending a team over to your house tomorrow morning," said Kane.

"Thank you," said Cuddy.

House stood up and showed the detectives to the door.

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The Detectives were talking to Wilson, Chase and Cameron in Wilson's office. Cameron was sitting in Wilson's chair while Chase and Wilson stood behind her. Kane and Jacobs were sitting down in chairs on the other side of the desk.

"There was no return email," Cameron explained.

Kane and Jacobs were confirming everything that they had heard from House.

"And can you tell us what was on the video?" asked Jacobs.

"It was of Cuddy, in her bedroom. I think she was getting ready for work," Chase told them.

"And how did you find out about the email, Dr. Wilson?" Kane asked as Jacobs wrote some things down.

"I met Dr. Cameron and Dr. Chase in the cafeteria," Wilson explained, "they told me about the email and that's when I gave you a call."

"Okay, well, we have all we need," said Kane. "Dr. Cuddy is still staying with you, correct?" He asked Wilson.

Wilson nodded, "Yes she is."

"Well, we have your number," said Kane. "You'll hear from us soon. Thank you all for your time."

"Don't mention it," said Wilson as he followed them to the door.

The Detectives said good bye, leaving the three doctors in the office. Wilson turns around and looks at the two younger doctors.

"You two should take the rest of the day off," Wilson told them.

"Yeah, I think you're right," Chase agreed.

Cameron nodded and slowly stood up. Wilson watched as Chase handed her her lab coat before he held the door opened for her. Before leaving, Cameron turned to Wilson.

"What are you going to do?" She asked.

"I'm gonna go see how Cuddy is," replied Wilson.

"Oh, okay," said Cameron. "Tell her to...call me if she needs anything, 'kay?"

"Okay. See you two tomorrow," said Wilson.

"See ya," replied Chase.

Wilson watched as they headed towards the elevator. Once they were gone he sighed and headed over to his desk. He picked up his phone and dialed Cuddy's number. He knew that House was with her and opted to call before going down there, just incase his two friends were...talking things out.

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House and Cuddy had moved from the table and were now sitting on her sofa. They hadn't really said much since Kane and Jacobs had gone. Cuddy was leaning back against the cushions while House leaned against one of the arms.

"Do you think they'll find anymore?" She asked suddenly.

"Anymore what? Cameras?" He asked.

She nodded her head.

"I hope they don't, but I don't know. Its hard to know how this sick freaks mind works," he replied.

She simply nodded again and then her phone rang. She sighed and was about to go answer it but House beat her to it.

"Yes?" House asked when he answered the phone.

"Hey, its me." Came Wilson's reply. "The police just left. You guys okay?" he asked.

"Fine," House replied. "Where's Chase and Cameron?"

"I sent them home. I know that's not in my power but they both looked like they needed some time to away."

"Yeah, okay," said House. "Are you doing anything now?"

"No."

"Good. Come and take Cuddy home."

"Sure. I'll be there in a few minutes."

After that House hung up and turned to Cuddy.

"I assumed that was James?" Cuddy asked.

"Yeah." He replied and made his way back to the sofa. "Police have gone and the team has gone home."

"Oh."

House sat down and leaned against the arm of the sofa again.

"Wilson's coming to take you home. No arguments."

"I'm not going to argue with you," she replied, "I can't stay here. I'm too tired."

"I know," said House.

The door opened and Wilson walked in.

"Hey," he said to Cuddy. "You okay?" He asked her.

"Yeah," She nodded.

"Um, are you ready to go?" Wilson asked her. "I can wait you if there's something you need to do."

"No, its fine. I'm ready."

Wilson smiled slightly as Cuddy stood up and grabbed her coat and bag. Before she left she looked over at House.

"Thank you," she said.

"Yeah, I'll um...call you later. Okay?" said House.

"Yeah," she replied with a smile.

Cuddy walked out first. Wilson looked at House and nodded his head. Silently saying 'I'll keep her safe' and House tilted his head forward and Wilson knew his friend was agreeing with him or at least saying he understood. Wilson left House alone in Cuddy's office.

House sighed and turned off the lights before leaving. He could go home but if he did he would only call Cuddy straight away and that would just make him look needy. At least staying at the hospital would fill in some time for him. SO he headed in the direction of his office.

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It was 11:36am the next morning and a team of investigators were already searching every inch of Cuddy's home. The team was being led by detective Jacobs while his partner, detective Kane was back at the office trying to trace the email. (So far he had no luck).

They had been searching since 9am and had already found two other camera's. One was set up in her kitchen and sat above a cupboard. The second one was on top of her bookcase in the living room, leaving that one mostly destroyed by the explosion.

By 12 o'clock they had searched every inch of the house inside and out several times. They were only able to find three cameras all up. The one in the kitchen, living room and another one in the bedroom but set at a different angle to the last one.

"At least this sick freak didn't put one in her bathroom," one policeman commented.

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After the email situation, Cuddy had decided to take more time off. She hated being away from the hospital but there was no way she was going to be able to do her job with this hanging over her. Wilson was the one who informed the board about her leave and they offered her an extra few days off (with pay). She was glad that no one around the hospital, except those close to her, knew the details about what was going on. Everyone else knew about the bomb, the poison and some of the letters, although they didn't know what was on the letters. But they didn't know the full story and Cuddy liked it like that.

So now, since she wasn't going to work and she couldn't go home, she was sitting in Wilson's apartment with all the doors locked. When Wilson had left that morning to go to work he had asked her about five thousand times if she was going to be okay by herself. She had said that she would be fine but if anything happened then she would call the hospital. Normally Wilson would annoy her with repeated questions but now she welcomed them. Before he left, Wilson pretty much ordered her to lock all the doors and windows as if she wouldn't do that anyway.

Now Cuddy was sitting on Wilson's sofa. A cup of coffee in one hand and the remote in the other. She was quickly changing the channel since she couldn't find anything worth watching.

"Why isn't there ever anything good on this time of day?" She asked the empty room.

When she had finished her coffee, she decided to watch one of Wilson's DVDs instead. She walked over to his collection. She needed to do something to take her mind off the police who were at the very moment in her home. She found the perfect movie. For some reason, Wilson had a copy of Bring It On. She assumed it was because he and House liked to perve on the girls in their cheerleader out fits. She knew the movie was a fun comedy so she put it into the DVD player and pressed play.

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The day at the hospital seemed to be dragging on very slowly. House and his team didn't have a case which was good because none of them would have been able to focus on the case anyway. That was the same reason Wilson wasn't seeing patients today. Sure he had gone over some files and paper work when he had first arrived at work, he even attempted to do some of Cuddy's work but his mind kept drifting back to emails, and stalkers. It didn't take long for House, Wilson, Cameron and Chase to all make their way to House's office. It was a good place to hide out and wait for news from either Cuddy or the police.

Cuddy had told House last night when he called that she had asked the police to call either him or Wilson and tell the what was going on. House had asked why and Cuddy couldn't really give an answer so House just left it at that.

House was sitting at his desk with his legs up on the desk. His yo-yo was in one hand and he was rolling it up and down with ease yet he wasn't paying attention to it. His cane lay across the desk where he had placed it after he had finished swinging it around between his fingers.

Wilson was sitting opposite House in one of the other chairs. He had a cup of coffee in his hands and was stretched out.

Chase was sitting in the other chair, next to Wilson. He had already finished his coffee and now the mug sat on he ground beside his chair. He was leaning forward and had his head resting in his hands.

Cameron was sitting on the edge of House's desk, close to the computer and far from House. She sat in front of Chase and couldn't help but swing her legs slightly out of boredom.

None of them were saying a word to each other. When ever one would stand to get something like coffee, they would just point and the others would either nod a yes or shake their head saying no. They were all to busy thinking about what the police were going to say to actually force a conversation between them.

Suddenly there was a loud 'pinging' noise coming from House's computer. Cameron jumped up startled and nearly tripped and fell onto Chase. Luckily Chase held his arms out and grabbed her arms, stopping her from falling. By the time she got her balance back Wilson and House were already behind the desk looking at the computer.

"You don't think its from the stalker, do you?" She asked nervously.

Chase shrugged as he let go of her and then he waited for her to move around to where Wilson stood before he followed her.

With House still sitting down but now his legs were off the table and his full attention was on the screen. Wilson, Cameron, and Chase all stood behind him leaning in closer. All four of them were on edge and they wanted to know what this email was just as much as they didn't want to know. House finally reached for his mouse and clicked it. Cameron let out a shaky breath when it is revealed that this new email was from someone claiming to be 'a concerned friend'. House quickly opened the file and everyone saw that it was another video. They all feared that it would be another image of Cuddy but what they saw shocked them all. Even House.

The image started to play and it was of them all from behind, staring at the computer...just like they were doing right then. They all jumped a little and looked around. Wilson moved his hand slowly and seconds later the video was doing the same thing. House scrolled down the page and underneath the video was a message in large writing.

'I can see you.'

"Fuck!" House swore.

He stood up, forcing the others to move back. He grabbed his cane and moved heavily toward his cell phone, which was in his jacket pocket near the door. He pulled the phone out and forcefully dialed detective Jacobs' number. Everyone was watching House as he angrily tapped the end of his cane against the floor. Cameron turned back to the computer and quickly shut off the monitor. She can no longer look at herself looking at herself...she was beyond creeped out. She wrapped her arms around herself and moved a step closer to Chase. Chase let his eyes look her over, making sure she was okay then he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Wilson was too busy trying to see where the camera was placed to notice the two young doctors. However, they could all hear House who was now angrily telling the detective about the new video.

"...Yeah okay" House said after a few minutes of talking and then hung up.

He was breathing rather heavily, because of his anger and frustration, and almost missed the small knock. Suddenly everyone looked up towards the door to see Foreman.

TBC

next chapter - FOREMAN'S RETURN ISN'T HAPPY