a/n: who remembers this iconic episode? i had to write it in...
...
The next morning, Talia woke up feeling marginally better. She could hear the clinking of a spoon against a bowl from somewhere in the kitchen, implying that Chase was still around. She had no idea whether he was still angry at her or not. So she showered, dressed herself in her usual work attire, slicked her hair in a low side bun and began to apply her everyday makeup.
As she glanced into the mirror, she caught sight of her boyfriend stood behind her with his coat on. "Morning," she murmured, before rummaging through her makeup bag instead.
"Hey," Chase replied awkwardly, avoiding her eye contact. "How…uh…how was your…sleep?"
"Peaceful," Talia answered as she snapped her blusher pallet shut. "Yours?"
"Decent…thanks," Chase answered as carefully as possible. Talia nodded and ran her tongue over her teeth, still not looking directly at him through the glass. "You wanna…talk about it? Last night, I mean?"
"I guess we should. Preferably after work, though," Talia murmured, parting her hair into a side fringe. Chase nodded and dropped his gaze.
"You wanna take two separate cars there? Or…one?" he asked whilst nibbling on his bottom lip.
"One," Talia answered with a frown.
"Oh! So you're not that mad at me, then…?" Chase guessed quietly. Talia immediately picked up on the mixture of surprise and relief in his voice as she spun around to face him.
"Mad at you? You have every right to be mad at me," she blinked. Chase just shrugged back at her, unsure of what to say - so Talia sighed and dropped her shoulders. "Baby, I really am sorry for-"
"We'll talk about it later, T," Chase sighed, walking up to her and slowly taking her hands in his. Talia nodded and gave a gulp.
"But, we're…we're not b-breaking up…right?" she winced.
"Breaking up? Did you….want us to break up?" Chase frowned, his grip on her hands loosening slightly.
"No!" Talia blurted out hurriedly as she squeezed his hands tighter. Chase couldn't help but smirk at her.
"Well there you go then. So, to recap - we'll talk about it later. I'll drive us."
…
The team sat in House's office later that morning, looking over the case file that House had slammed onto the glass table. "Guy with a…swollen tongue?" Talia frowned, as she and Cameron peered at the words in surprise. "Um…House, I know this is somewhat amusing to you but really?"
"Wait. Did you actually take the patient history yourself?" Cameron scoffed to House in disbelief. "Like, instead of getting Talia to do it?"
"I know, right?! Honestly, I surprise myself sometimes," House murmured as he stirred his coffee. "I mean it's important, is it not?" Cameron blinked over at him, clearly waiting for the catch.
"Well yes, but-"
"But since when have you ever done what's important?" Talia pointed out, closing the file again.
"He didn't! He asked him what book he was reading as part of the patient history," Chase muttered irritably. "Why-"
"Of course he did Chase, his tongue has tripled in size," Talia rolled her eyes as Foreman immediately gathered his bags to leave, "the guy can't speak two words. I imagine House was asking him all sorts to try and get a kick outta him - anything to take the piss, right?"
"Ugh. I hate how well you know me, child," House swooned mockingly, causing Talia to roll her eyes. "Where are you going?" House suddenly frowned up to Foreman.
"I'm going to catch a film…cos you're an ass and this is a waste of time," Foreman muttered, taking his briefcase into his hands.
"Can't argue with that," Cameron murmured as she also shut the patient file and reached for her coat.
"Hey, wanna go play rookie?" Chase hummed into Talia's ear whilst snaking an arm around her shoulders, making her blush.
"I would, buttttt I wanna have a catch up day with Cameron. Loads to talk about," Talia whispered back, although she was smiling. Cameron beamed back at her, genuinely touched - when suddenly, a rather disgruntled looking man walked in. He glanced around at the group first before calmly asking,
"Which one of you is House?"
"That one," House nodded across to Talia, whose stormy eyes widened in surprise.
"No, that's Dr. Talia," the man corrected him calmly, much to all their surprise. Chase frowned and Talia blinked at him, now trying to place his face. Did she know him from clinic duty somewhere? Had she been his doctor at some point?
"How do you know-" House began - but it was too late.
The man had flat out shot him.
Twice.
…
It was as if Talia's knee was on vibrate as she sat there at House's bedside an hour later. Her stomach was twisting and turning in loops and coils and she was struggling to focus.
It had all happened so quickly. Once House had been shot and the shooter took off, Chase, Cameron and Foreman rushed him down to the ER whilst Talia emptied the contents of her stomach all over the carpet out of sheer shock. Now that she was a little better, she refocussed all her attention onto her father instead, praying he'd be okay. She'd swapped her white coat out for a hoodie, as it was obvious that she and the team had clocked out until further notice.
Then she felt a hand on her shoulder.
She glanced up to see Chase standing there with two coffees in his hands, also out of his white attire. "You okay, bub?" he murmured empathetically, passing her the drink. Talia bit down on her jaw and nodded as she shakily took the cup and held it to her lips. She wasn't okay, at all, but she couldn't formulate that into words - so she just entwined Chase's hand with her own and bit back her tears.
But Chase being himself meant he saw through it right away. He bent over and wrapped his arms around her tensed shoulders before burying face into her neck in comfort. Talia held his arms there and gulped.
"I can't believe the f*cker just…opened fire," she murmured thickly as her eyes filled with tears. "Twice. He could've killed him right then and there, Robert."
"I know," he murmured into her neck. "It was insane. My heart literally stopped for a few seconds."
"Same."
"Did you…recognise him? Cos he knew who you were," Chase asked carefully, as he pulled up a chair to sit beside her instead.
"Nope. And no, it wasn't Ryan," she muttered uncomfortably. She couldn't tear her eyes away from her unconscious father. "F*ck, Robert - I'm just…so worried about him." Chase reached over to squeeze her knee in understanding.
"Hey, his vitals are all steady and he hasn't spiked a fever or anything," he assured her softly as she leant her head on his shoulder. "It's House. He's a relentless bastard - he'll be fine." Talia smirked to herself and internally agreed. He was right.
"Talia?" came the sudden but quiet voice of Cuddy from the doorway. Both Talia and Chase looked up, soon noticing that she was stood there with two police officers. Her pretty eyes were shimmering with tears too, but she was just about holding it together. "Could yourself and Doctor Chase come to my office for a few minutes, please? The sergeant just has a few questions," she requested uncomfortably. Talia's head immediately shot back in the direction of House's body, clearly riddled with uncertainty. "Cameron said she'd come and keep an eye on him until you came back - she's on her way down now." That seemed to be enough for Talia - she knew that Cameron out of everyone was her best bet. So she stood up, gave House's wired hand a parting squeeze, and then followed the group down to Cuddy's office.
Once they were all sat in there, Foreman included, the guys took it upon themselves to recount all they remembered about the shooter. Talia listened to all they were saying and gave a few nods as and when she felt appropriate - but didn't interrupt once. "…anyway, it was obvious that whoever the hell he was - he knew House," Foreman concluded quietly, sitting back in his chair.
That's when Talia had to say something - because it wasn't entirely accurate.
"No he didn't," she croaked out. Foreman blinked at her and his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.
"Talia…he literally came in demanding to see House," he reminded her under his breath. He was wondering if she'd already repressed the memory as a coping mechanism. But Cuddy knew all too well that Talia was as sharp as her father.
"What do you mean?" she prompted her gently from where she was awkwardly seated at her desk. Talia clenched her jaw and took in a shaky breath before launching into it.
"He walked in and looked around to ask which one of us House was. If he knew who he was, he wouldn't have bothered asking and would've opened fire oh him straight away. He gave each one of the guys a glance and ignored myself and Cameron, meaning he'd never seen House before, but knew he was a guy. Saying that, we administer House's dirty work, so if he was a patient he would've known us all by name and wouldn't have to clarify. Plus, House ends up meeting the patient one way or another after a case. So I'm guessing somebody he knew, knew House. And I can only imagine that whatever House told that somebody during their time with him must've indirectly impacted the shooter. Must've been a throwaway comment to his dying wife or something. Maybe implying he was a cheater…I don't bloody know." Talia finally finished her explanation and shut her mouth, focusing on her trembling fingers instead, whilst everyone in that room stared at her. Chase and Cuddy were awestruck, whilst Foreman narrowed his eyebrows in genuine surprise.
She was more like the man than he thought.
"I see…and Cameron mentioned that he knew you? Did you…recognise him?" a detective asked slowly.
"No, I didn't," Talia murmured back, keeping her eyes fixed on the carpet.
"…and you have a case open with the police right now - a harassment and stalking case, is that correct?" the detective continued to probe, gaining yet another look of surprise from both Cuddy and Foreman. Talia ran her tongue over her bottom lip and nodded slightly. "It may sound like a ridiculous question, but do you have any reason to believe that this man could be linked to Ryan Warner or the Warner family at all?"
"No," Talia denied firmly, finally looking up. "House was in the good books of the Warners - plus, if it was me they wanted, it's me they could've had. Ryan liked mind games but not to the point where he'd hire a hitman. Dude's too lazy." Cuddy turned to the officers nervously, implying that the conversation was done.
"Well…thank you for the information, all of you," the officer nodded at the little group. "We caught the man on tape so we'll finish up the reports and be in touch - but if you find any new information, please don't hesitate to call us."
"Thank you," Cuddy nodded briskly, standing to her feet again. "I'll show you out. Um…you guys stay here for a sec, I wanna have a word with you all before you leave," she whispered to the rest of the team as she swept past them. They all nodded and kept their heads lowered as the cops walked out, and Talia quietly focussed on her breathing again. It was still hard to believe. It had been a wild few days. The silence was heavy and was swallowing them whole as they anxiously waited for Cuddy to return.
Once she did, she shut the door behind her with a long but composed sigh. "How are you guys feeling?" she asked calmly.
"Like sh*t?" Talia mumbled out.
"House is going to be okay, Talia," Cuddy reassured her. "I imagine witnessing a shooting can cause some…psychological damage, so if you need to see-"
"Ya. I'll just tally that up in my never-ending trauma logbook," Talia sniffed back, half jovially and half miserably. Cuddy shot her a brief smile and continued walking through the office to where her desk was.
"I hear you guys have two weeks booked off starting from next week, right?" she clarified.
"Yup," Foreman confirmed with a short sigh.
"Fine. Take the rest of the week off and I'll see you in three instead. I'm not gonna ask you to come in after witnessing that - I'm officially offering you paid leave," Cuddy told them firmly. Foreman's eyebrows shot up and Chase let out a sigh of relief - but Talia barely reacted. Yeah, holidays were nice…but how could she enjoy hers knowing that her father was hurt? "You can go now. I'll keep you all updated on his condition," Cuddy ushered them out quietly. Foreman gave her a thankful nod and swept out of the room without having to be told twice, whereas Talia stayed rooted where she was.
"Come on, babe," Chase hummed, pulling her up by her armpits and leading her out by her hand. "You wanna go back to House or head back home?"
"House is gonna to be in surgery this afternoon," Cuddy informed them both. "You may as well go home and change into something more comfortable and come back when he comes back out. I don't think Cameron's moving from his side for a while." Chase glanced at Talia to see if she was okay with that - and, much to his relief, she nodded.
…
That evening, Talia was sat back at House's bedside, in her black joggers and matching hoodie, her hair in a messy ponytail with her thick black glasses perched on her nose instead - only this time, her knee wasn't jerking around as much. She'd received word that the surgery was successful, and whilst she was grateful, she was still apprehensive. She hadn't even thought about Ryan, because House was overtaking all of her concerns. "T, I know you said you weren't hungry but you have to eat something, so I brought you a sandwich," Chase murmured, bringing in the takeaway bag that he had just picked up from the sandwich shop. Talia glanced up and took the bag from him, before pulling his head down to give him a thankful peck.
"You're cute, honey boo," she hummed against his lips.
"Thanks…honey boo?" Chase chuckled, kissing her one last time before settling himself down in the empty chair and glancing over at House's stat monitor. "How's he doing?"
"Good….vitals are all normal, temperature is fine…he just looks like he's…sleeping," Talia shrugged quietly.
"That's all we can ask for now," Chase sighed, unwrapping his sandwich and taking a massive bite.
"I…wait! You said you had a surprise for me!" Talia suddenly remembered, her eyes lighting up as she turned to him. "Was it a kitten?"
"No, Talia," Chase rolled his eyes expressively.
"Oh. So what was it, then?" Talia frowned, now massively intrigued. "And is it back at home?"
"It doesn't even matter…you're probably not gonna want it now," Chase muttered in disappointment. Talia's head jerked back in shock.
"You clearly don't know me very well at all, then! I am always here for a surprise," she scoffed, beginning to unwrap her own sandwich. Chase sighed reluctantly turned to face her.
"I…I booked us a holiday," he muttered, watching her face fall into shock. "Yup. Five days in Europe, and we were meant to fly out this Saturday." Talia's jaw hung open and her stomach dissolved into butterflies of excitement.
"OH MY GOD! No you did NOT!" she hissed excitedly as a bright smile grew onto her face.
"I did - but you're not gonna wanna leave now, right?" Chase finished off irritably, turning back to face House again. Immediately, Talia's whole smile slipped and her shoulders dropped in realisation.
"Oh…oh god, Chase, I'm so sorry," she groaned, covering her face with her hands. "I can't…I can't even imagine leaving him. If he wakes up with nobody there, he might think that nobody cared and I can't have that happen. I don't want him to be lonely."
"I know, T. And I wouldn't make you do it. So I totally…I totally understand," Chase assured her, although his eyes were clearly hurting. "I mean I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't leave my dad's either if I had the chance-"
"Oh for god's sake. Just go."
Talia and Chase blinked at each other for a few moments before their eyes darted over to the bed. To their amazement, House had cracked a tired eye open.
"House! You're awake!" Talia gasped, reaching over to grab his hand as her eyes welled up with relieved tears. "Oh thank God-"
"How are you feeling?" Chase rushed out as he leapt up to check his stat monitor.
"High as hell," House murmured back lazily, closing his eyes again.
"That will be down to the sh*tload of drugs in your system," Talia breathed whilst giving his hand a little squeeze. "I was so worried-"
"Go on the damn trip, Junior," House interrupted her loudly. Talia's grip on his hand loosened slightly and Chase gulped as he realised that he'd overheard them. "The guy has been looking at flights and things to do in Budapest every lunch break for about three weeks. Even I'd feel marginally bad - well, not that bad but-"
"House, I can cancel the flights and we can just book again-" Chase began, but House was already rolling his eyes.
"Just go! I'll be fine - I'm doped up! Couldn't be happier!" he drawled, closing his eyes again. "Plus, it wasn't only VisitBudapest dot com - but also MasonsJewellers in a category starting with en and ending in gagement rings. So…enjoy that pending surprise too." Chase's mouth dropped open and and Talia let out another shameless gasp.
"PARDON?" Talia yelped, at the same time as Chase scoffing, "That is such a lie!" House said nothing, allowing the silence to coat the room like a thick blanket.
"Chase?" Talia muttered to her boyfriend nervously, as her heart started to race double-time.
She didn't know how to feel.
"Talia, he's lying again," Chase rolled his eyes before turning to House accusatorially. "House, tell her you're lying before she freaks out you bastard!" House let out a huff.
"….alright I'm lying, but I see that as her version of your pregnancy verdict," House yawned. "Now can you two be all happy and stuff elsewhere? It's starting to feel…intrusive." Talia smirked over at Chase and he smiled back with a nod.
"Get better soon mate," he murmured to House, squeezing his shoulder.
"Yeah yeah, get outta here blondie," House muttered back. "Both blondies." Talia wiped her tears and placed a kiss onto House's warm forehead.
"Thank you," she whispered down to him, before grabbing Chase's hand and pulling him out of the ward. Once they were back in the corridor, she dangled her arms over Chase's shoulders and smirked up at him. "So, Budapest, huh?" she giggled tearfully.
"Yup," Chase winced, "was gonna try and surprise you but I guess the surprise is pretty much done for?" Talia laughed and pressed a loving kiss to his lips to show her gratitude, which he then eagerly returned.
...
a/n: chase x talia holiday fluff coming soon...maybe on monday? or tomorrow if i can squeeze it in!