Disclaimer – Chapter 1

Author's Note – At long, long last a brand new, never seen before chapter. I've got back into the swing of things and am enjoying the new turn the story is about to follow. I hope you enjoy it too. Let me know your thoughts by writing a review – it can be good or bad as all feedback is useful! Enjoy.

For the second day running, Allison Cameron found herself standing outside her home scraping ice off her car windscreen. It was as though Princeton was off the map, as weather forecasters across the networks continued to predict higher than average temperatures for the time of year. It was an eerie feeling that Princeton seemed to have become its own country, separate from the rest of the world without anybody noticing.

The drive in was surprisingly fast considering the icy conditions and Allison arrived at the hospital, as she had hoped, at least an hour before the rest of the Diagnostics' team normally arrived. The long, cold night had given her an opportunity to think things over and she had decided upon a plan of action. It was best for her to begin things early when there was little risk of someone distracting her.

It was natural, therefore, that Allison was surprised to see a light on in her department's conference room where the many heated differential diagnosis sessions took place. All of her previous thoughts quickly vacated her mind as she began to wonder who was snooping around a staff only area. She quickly jumped to a conclusion and strained to see her husband's bed from her awkward viewpoint outside the lift. Allison squinted until she saw the rough outline of a sleeping figure inside his bed and she ruled out the possibility that he had broken in.

Cameron crept up to the conference room door and could see more clearly the silhouette of a man sitting with his back to her reading through what looked like a patient's file. She had no idea who the man could be. The rest of the team wouldn't be here for a long time and the cleaning staff would have left hours ago. Only the nurse on duty had access to the room and she was reading a magazine at the other end of the hallway. Allison could only think that Mark had got himself into trouble during his time away and now someone had come to find him.

While Allison knew she wouldn't be able to fight the stranger off she thought it was best for her to try to deal with the situation if only to quench her curiosity into what Mark had done since he had left her. With one hand on her panic alarm and the other on the metal door handle, Allison took a deep breath before entering the room.

"Excuse me sir, that's confidential information-" she stopped abruptly when she saw the intruder's face. "House," she sighed.

House stood up so that he was looking down on her. "Good morning to you too," he looked at her without smiling, instead summing up her appearance and taking in her tense posture and clearly visible panic alarm. He could so easily have been rude to her but knew Cameron too well to insult her when he wanted answers. "Something bothering you?"

"What are you doing here?" She spat at him. Her plans were ruined. Of all people to arrive early it had to be House. She would not get a moment's peace now.

"The same thing as you. We work together in case you hadn't noticed." Cameron scoffed and House's expression changed to one of interest. "You're not here to work?" he asked.

Allison paused. She couldn't say she was here because she wanted to work. She doubted he would have believed that even before she had inadvertently given it away. Telling the truth, however, would only increase his intrigue and getting rid of him would become even harder. Suddenly an idea came into her head. "I'm looking for Stacy," she replied with a polite but secretly triumphant smile on her face. She knew that if House didn't want to give her privacy around Stacy, the lawyer would make sure he did.

House stared at her for a moment trying to force the truth out, but Allison held his eye contact, making it clear that he would get no more answers. "Stacy is a lawyer - this is a diagnostics department. You seem to be lost. I'd try the third floor." His voice remained expressionless as he held her eye contact. They stared at each other a little longer each urging the other to break.

"Dr Cameron," a voice broke through the silence and both doctors turned to look where the sound had originated from. It was Cuddy. "I need to speak to you."

Allison took a step forward and felt a hand on her shoulder holding her back. "Actually Dr Cuddy, Dr Cameron here was just about to meet Stacy."

"This is more important."

"What is more important than an appointment with on of the hospital's lawyers?" House was stalling, trying to discover what Cuddy wanted Cameron for. Normally everything in this department revolved around him. He hated being out of the loop.

"A confidential discussion with her employer," Cuddy replied pointedly and gestured to Allison who put down her bag on the table and left behind her superior.

House sighed. It would take a lot of manipulating to reach the truth behind this case. A lot more than he was used to. He sat back down in his chair and looked at the leather bag in front of him. A newspaper cutting was sticking out of it slightly, inviting him to take a look. It was so tempting. Maybe it held a clue; perhaps a hint of Cameron's past. Then again it could be irrelevant, a photo of her niece who's got into the local paper for winning the local three-legged race or whatever her family got up to.

House decided to chance it. Looking about to check that no one would unexpectedly enter the room he reached out and took the cutting. There was an article under the heading "Police Search for Missing Salesman" about a man, David Miller, who had gone missing after taking a taxi home form a bar is Boston. The photograph alongside it had, according to the article, been taken just a couple of hours before he went missing and showed him with four friends at a table in the bar he had visited. House looked at the photograph carefully trying to find what had made Cameron keep the article. After a few moments he recognised someone sitting at the tabled behind the men, but he couldn't tell who it was. Undoubtedly the odds were that Cameron had seen him too. The question was, who was he?