It's the revenge of The Elf! Lilac here again.

How's this for a list of challenges, eh?

Cassie gets jealous when she sees Stacy and Wilson together

House finds out Stacy was hired and explains to Cameron who she is.

Cameron gets discharged and House stays with her.

There is a brawl between House, Chase, Foreman vrs. Munch, Stabler, Tutuola

A kiss (Either House/Cameron or Wilson/Cassie)

(Author's notes at the bottom.)

Ch. 7 Complications

Cassie was in only a slightly better mood as she left the hospital lab. She liked that Wilson had come looking for her. He was a sweet man. Any woman should feel kissed by God to have him for a husband. So why was he getting a divorce? Cassie stopped as she saw the current object of her thoughts at the end of the hallway with a tall woman with black hair. Wilson seemed relaxed, so Cassie didn't think this was the soon-to-be ex-Mrs. James Wilson.

Cassie's hand tensed on the top of her cane. She didn't like this woman, whoever she was. She liked Wilson, and this woman was too… rigid. He needed someone relaxed, a little ornery… 'Maybe even a 39-year-old police captain with a cane and a limp.'

"Captain? Captain Ross?" Dr. Robert Chase was trying to get the police captain's attention, when he noticed her staring at Wilson talking with someone down the hall. Thinking of something Wilson had mentioned, Chase tried another tack. "Oh, Captain, my captain?"

Cassie seemed to come out of her reverie and turned to look at Chase. "Yeah?"

"I was just wondering if you were okay."

"Great. As always," Cassie replied, trying not to feel hurt by Wilson.

"You sure?" Chase asked, noting the pained expression in her eyes. He'd been around House long enough to be able to read someone's eyes for physical and emotional pain.

Cassie nodded and rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah, um… listen, I'm, uh, looking for either Detective Munch or Tutuola. Have you seen them?"

"Oh, yeah. Detective Munch was talking to House a while ago."

Cassie's interest perked. Now why would John deal with House? "Really?"

"They've been talking a lot. Well, threatening, really, I think, judging by House's attitude after their encounters."

"Those twits!" Cassie snarled under her breath. Bastards! That's what House meant about sending lackeys!

Chase looked at her, confused. "Something wrong?"

Cassie looked up. "Yeah. But it's… police business. Excuse me." Cassie headed down the hallways and finally found Munch and Tutuola talking with Benson and Stabler. "Olivia, me and the boys need a moment. You mind?"

Benson shot a warning look at her partner before nodding. "Sure. I'm going to check on Dr. Cameron."

Once Benson was out of earshot, Cassie rounded on the guys. "What the HELL are you guys doing?"

"Cassie, just calm do- Oww!" Stabler was cut off by Cassie giving him a light rap upside the head with her cane. "What was that for?"

"I'm trying to work with these people, and you're threatening Dr. House? What gives?"

Munch looked at Cassie, concernedly. "Look, we just wanted to make sure House doesn't get in your way here."

"No," Cassie said, looking at Elliot Stabler, John Munch and Finn Tutuola in turn. "That's not it. Spill it, guys. What's going on here?" No one spoke and Cassie again looked at each of them. "Look, just tell me who said what."

Finn sighed. "I told Munch about you and House having the first fight."

Cassie sighed. "Oh, jeez. Let me guess," she said, looking at Munch and Stabler. "You two running into House wasn't an accident."

Stabler looked at Cassie. "We just wanted to set House straight about you, is all."

Cassie's eyed froze. "Set him straight about what?"

"About what you went through, with Peters and the whole deal."

Cassie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You told him about the infarction and-" No, they wouldn't go that far. That's personal.

"Cassie," Munch said, trying to keep her from flipping out again. He could see that she was inches away from going nuts, and that usually didn't end well. When Cassie got really angry, she either lashed out physically, or hyperventilated herself into passing out. "Elliot and I just asked House what he had against you, and to back off on the verbal assault. That's it."

"Look, Cassie," Finn said, also trying to keep her calm. He knew as well as Munch that Cassie was close to losing it. And from the look of things, if she went south, she was going to go the hyperventilating route, and falling wouldn't be good at all for her leg. "We know how hard this is for you. We're just trying to make sure it's not any harder than it has to be."

Stabler took a step closer to her, but Cassie carefully took a step back. "Don't. Just…" Cassie tried in vain to slow her breathing. She knew that if she didn't leave now, she'd end up passed out on the floor. She put a hand up, as if to stop the onslaught. "Just leave me alone, okay? Just leave me alone." Cassie turned and limped away.

Stabler watched her retreating back. "Well, she didn't kill or arrest us."

"Yeah," Munch said, as Cassie turned a corner. "Am I the only one who's worried right now?"

Finn shook his head. If Cassie left when she was still angry, it wouldn't end well. "Nope. You're not the only one. I'm going to find Olivia. Maybe she can talk to Cassie."

Cameron was used to seeing House in a bad mood. So seeing him standing in the doorway of her room, grinning like an idiot was slightly disconcerting. "What's going on?" she asked, warily.

"You're being discharged," House replied, happily.

"That's good news for me, but what about you protecting me?"

"Piece of cake. You're coming to stay at my place. Detective Benson's having police posted round the clock."

Cameron looked at House and sighed. "I… don't know if it's a good idea for me to stay with you, House."

"You've been sliced in the shoulder; I'm not going to jump you or anything. I promise to behave myself."

"Okay. I guess I'm staying with you."

Stacy Delaney was not enormously happy to be working at Princeton-Plainsboro again, but under the circumstances, it was a good job. But working so closely with Greg House… that could open a Pandora's Box of problems. Especially now when one of House's doctors had been attacked, and he was having problems with the police captain from Brooklyn, New York. Stacy had heard of Cassandra Ross, but never met her. After the shoot out, and Ross had been promoted, Stacy remembered that dead, resentful look in Ross's eyes when she'd been on the news for one thing or another. House had that look after he'd come out of the coma and realized what Stacy had done.

Stacy paused her thoughts when she heard sniffling coming from the hospital lab. Looking in, she saw Captain Ross sitting on a stool, crying. Deciding to be friendly, Stacy went in and sat down as well. "Hi. Stacy Delaney. New legal counsel for the hospital."

"Yeah. Hi. I'm Cassie Ross," Cassie said with all the enthusiasm of toilet scum.

Stacy sighed. "What's bothering you? If it's House, I understand. He's not the easiest person to get along with."

Cassie scoffed. "There's an understatement. I'm just trying to do my job, and he's acting like I'm a psycho." Turning to look at Stacy, she recognized her as the woman Wilson was talking with earlier. "Aren't you Dr. Wilson's friend?"

Stacy smiled. She had seen Ross watching her and Wilson earlier. "Yes. But I'm not after Wilson. He'd much rather have you."

Cassie straightened up. "Really? He told you about me?"

"Yes. Wilson told me you've been having problems with House, and he's been trying to help."

"He's a sweet guy."

Stacy smiled. "Yes, he is." Stacy paused and decided to ask the question she'd wanted to since hearing about Cassie's shooting. "What happened to your leg? Was it damage from the bullet?"

Cassie shook her head. "No, not really. It was about a week into my stay at the hospital. The doctors wanted to keep me for two weeks while they made sure I was okay and tried to flush out Adam Peters. I had a clot develop in my leg. I told the doctors it hurt, but they thought it was pain from the shooting. Once they figured it out, I had basically two choices: let them amputate or die. I told the doctors to do whatever they could, but they couldn't take my leg." Cassie sighed. "I had this, uh… idea that maybe I could still be a cop."

Stacy watched Ross carefully. There were similarities between her and House. But there were differences as well. "Well," Stacy said, trying to keep Cassie talking. "You are still a cop. A damn good one, from what I've heard."

"Yeah, it's amazing what you can do from behind a desk."

"So I take it you still have your leg?"

"Minus dead muscle." Cassie stood up. "Let's walk. I need to move."

House's day, brightened by the idea of Cameron staying with him, clouded quickly when he saw 2 of his 3 least favorite women coming down the hall. What the blinkety was STACY doing here, and what was she doing with Captain Ross?

"House?" He turned to see Cameron coming up behind him. "You ready?" she asked, looking to see what her boss was staring at. "Who's that with Captain Ross?"

"She's…" House sighed. "She's my old girlfriend."

Cameron saw House's eyes flick to his leg. "Was she the one you were with when-?"

"I don't want to talk about it," House said, tersely. 'I especially don't want to talk about it with Ross in range. She'd probably go laugh about it with her cop buddies.'

Cameron decided not to push House on the subject. "Okay. Let's just go."

House nodded and led Cameron out to his car.

Finn found Benson and when he told her about Cassie, Benson said simply, "Find Dr. Wilson and let him know what's going on." When Finn left, Benson went to find Munch and Stabler. She found them in one of the hallway lounges talking about Cassie and the case. "Elliot, are you trying to drive Cassie crazy? It's not like she doesn't already have enough to deal with, and now you're attacking her?"

Stabler rolled his eyes. What is it about women sticking together? "Olivia, Cassie's just having a hard time dealing with all this again. She's just a little sensitive right now."

Now it was Benson's turn to roll her eyes. Cassie was pissed about the idea of more girls dying at Peters' hand and Stabler was calling Cassie sensitive. "Elliot, Cassie isn't sensitive, and I think she'd kick your ass for suggesting that." Then she rounded on Munch, "And John, you of all people should know that Cassie hates special treatment."

Munch knew that full well. But sometimes Cassie overestimated herself. "Olivia, Cassie likes to pretend like there's nothing wrong with her. Like there's nothing wrong with her leg."

"He's right," Stabler said. "I mean, the only reason Cassie's trying to take her vicodin more often is because she doesn't want the pain in her leg to run her life. She wants to be normal, but she's not."

While Benson knew that the two had a point, she also knew how hard it was for Cassie to be in all this again. "Look, we just have to respect that Cassie's been through a lot and understand that she can handle herself. And if I ever find out you guys have threatened Dr. House again, I'll personally beat both your butts."

When Cameron followed House into the apartment, she was surprised by a makeshift banner saying 'Welcome Home, Allie!' and Foreman and Chase standing at the kitchen table next to a cake.

"'Allie'?" Cameron asked, an eyebrow lifting.

Foreman rolled his eyes. "Chase got the banner too short. That's all that would fit."

"Oh, well, that's…" Cameron trailed off when the doorbell rang.

House went to the door and opened it. "Two words: Go. Away."

"We'll just be a minute, Doctor," Stabler said as he, Tutuola, and Munch pushed past House and into the apartment.

"Just wanted to make sure everything is okay," Munch said, giving a nod to Foreman and Chase. "Captain Ross is posting a police car outside starting tomorrow morning. Until then, we'll be outside."

"Great," House said, a sneer on his face. "So why aren't you outside?"

"Look, why don't we all calm down? We all want the same thing here."

"No," House said, irritably. "We don't. You're here because of Ross again. Now get out. Now."

Stabler sighed. "Dr. House, for once, we're not here because of Cassie."

"Then leave," House replied, firmly. "You're not welcome here."

"House, just calm down. They're not the enemy here," Chase said, trying to keep things from escalating.

"Oh, so you're taking their side now? Fine, then. You're fired."

Foreman looked shocked, but not nearly as shocked as Chase. "House, you're firing Chase because he's trying to play peacemaker here?"

House tightened his grip on his cane. "No. I'm firing him because he cares more about his own personal ass than his job."

Chase sputtered for a moment before saying, "I like my ass, but that's unfair-"

"That's why you went to Vogler?"

Chase looked House in the eyes and said, "I wasn't betraying anyone. I wanted to make sure that I could try and control things."

House looked back at Chase. "You want to control things? Control this." Without warning, House took a swing at Munch, catching him square in the jaw. Foreman and Chase rushed Tutuola and Stabler as they went after House.

Cameron hurried out of the way, and called Cassie's cell phone number. "Captain Ross? I need you to get to House's apartment right away."

"This is your fault," Chase said, grumpily, rubbing his bruised shoulder, and looking at House.

House didn't say anything, but glared at Chase.

Foreman stood from his seat in the prison cell and started pacing. "I can't believe I'm in jail because of…"

"Oh, whine, whine, whine," House said, rubbing his black eye. "You were in it full force."

"Greg," said a female voice from the door. House looked up to see Stacy standing there.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, suspiciously.

"Lisa Cuddy sent me after she heard about the fight."

"But you got us all off, right?" Asked Foreman.

"Yes," Stacy said, but House heard a 'but' in her voice. "But Greg here has been personally requested for a private interview with Captain Ross."

House sighed. "Fine. Whatever. Can we go now?"

Wilson was watching Cassie pace in House's office. "You know, you don't have to do this," he said, making her stop. "Talking to House isn't going to make the two of you best friends or anything."

"Yeah, but maybe if we talk, we can reach a common ground." Cassie smiled at Wilson. "I'll be okay, James. Promise."

"I think I'm starting to like it when you call me 'James'."

Cassie blushed. Damn you for making me act like a friggin' high school girl! "Let me ask you something, doctor. Why would any woman want to leave you?"

Wilson sighed and sat on House's desk. "Because I am deeply invested in my job. Julie—my future ex—didn't like that. She said I was married to my job. And she was right. I was."

"That's something we have in common. And, uh…" She caught Wilson's gaze before letting her eyes move to her leg. "-this doesn't bother you?"

Wilson shook his head. "Not at all." He stood up and went to stand right in front of Cassie. He gently pulled her close and started to move his hand down her right thigh.

She stopped him. "James, please. Not just yet."

Wilson nodded. "Okay." He let her go, but before he got to the door, he stopped and went back to Cassie, putting his hands on both sides of her face and kissed her deeply. "Good luck." Then he left the room.

Cassie just stood there, speechless. "Damn," she breathed as she stared around the empty room.

Author's Notes:

To jeevesandwooster: many thanks for staying with this crazy whirligig of fun. My cowriter and I love repeat customers, and when they leave reviews, well…

Lily Smith: Well, thanks. You know how much I love this stuff, and you liking it makes me feel all fuzzy inside. Or maybe that was the panda I had for dinner.

lovewildfire: I'm glad you like this. Escpecially with Cassie trying to NOT end up like House. Next chapter we'll be able to really see what's going on in those two minds.

To anyone I've missed, thanks for your love and support. And please share the joy with others.