Title: Stab Me in the Back to My Face
Author: Goddessof7s
Summary: Deaf!Chase! Volger happens!
Rating: PG
Notes: AU sequel to Ears and Eyes, Talk is Cheap, Spanish Inquisition and Cursed with Anger There will be a newer shinier beta'ed verison but I decided to go ahead and post the un-beta'ed version.
Series: Sense and sensibility 5
Warnings: Pre-slash House/Chase. Talks of Volger Cross posted to house slash, house-chase and house fanfiction
It'd been a week since Volger had left and for some reason Chase had started to act really depressed. Normally House wouldn't have given a rat's ass, but things had changed ever since he'd opened his door and found Chase standing on his doorstep.
"What are you doing here?"
Chase at least has the good grace to look chagrined. "I needed to talk to you," House opened his mouth to make some snarky comment Chase is sure, "away from the hospital." That shuts House up and he beckons for Chase to enter. House really didn't feel like dealing with any of this right now, he'd just had his first run-in with Volger.
"I thought you should know that Volger came to see me. He wants me to turn rat on you or he gets me fired."
"What?" That makes House stiffen with shock. Chase was staring so intently at his lips that House knows this conversation is really important to him. "Why?"
Chase tells him all about his first run-in with Volger and how upset he was to find out that Chase is deaf.
Cuddy turned to Volger, "excuse me I'll just be a minute," she pointed to the women's restroom and left him by the nurses' station to soak up the atmosphere. It was nine in the morning so she didn't have worry about House being in yet. Volger watched the people mill about and catching a flash of white decided to flag down the young doctor, probably an intern he looked so young, and ask a few questions.
"Doctor!" He just kept walking. "Doctor! Doctor I order you to stop right this instant!" Volgar was not a man to be trifled with and he wasn't used to getting ignored. He grabs the white clad upper arm of the young doctor and swings him around. "What do you think you are doing ignoring me?" Volger stares into wide frighten blue-green eyes and starts shaking him. "What is your name?"
Suddenly Volger's hand is wrenched away from the doctor's arm. "What is going on here? Why are you assaulting Chase?"
"He ignored me when I called for him! What if I had been a patient needing assistance?" Cuddy glances at Chase quickly who is wearing a befuddled expression, he's still not sure what's going on.
"Mr. Volger, I'm sure Dr. Chase didn't mean to ignore you, you see he's deaf so he couldn't have heard you call out after him."
"You employ deaf doctors?" Cuddy winced, God if this was his reaction to Chase what was he going to think of House?
Chase looked like he was going to open his mouth to speak, but Cuddy shot him a look that clearly said 'shut up'. "Dr. Chase is a wonderful doctor. He has one of the highest positive patient reviews ever. Now why don't I show you the labs?" Cuddy led Volger off but Chase saw him throw one last calculating look over his shoulder.
"Later that day he came to me, told me that he wanted me gone, but that he wanted you gone more and that if I finked on you, fed him information to get rid of you that he would save my job."
House looked thoughtful during the story. He knew that some patients didn't like finding out that Chase was deaf, but Chase had always handled it well and House was always surprised at how few patients figured out something was wrong. It just went to show that Chase was that good at talking to a patient. And that the patient was even better at being oblivious than he had originally thought.
House knew that no one would believe it if told that he was capable of not being sarcastic, but the truth was he felt worse sometimes about how patients reacted to Chase being deaf than Chase. He would never tell Chase himself, but he'd always admired him and how well he dealt with his limitations and frankly he was just too tired to come up with a seriously snarky come back, and he feared for his reputation if he were to say something too lame. "So what do you want to do about Volger?"
Then House saw what had to have been the sexiest smirk ever. It was so very devious with just a hint of dangerous. Ohhh House liked danger, it was like playing with fire he just hoped that Chase would deliver on the promises made by that smirk. "Well I thought we could..." And deliver he did. House felt his fatigue lift from him in the face of a truly diabolical plot. Chase and he had opened a bottle of good red wine and plotted half the night. House had never seen anyone be as light weight as Chase, two glasses of red wine and he wasn't even fit to drive home so he'd ended up sleeping on House's couch. Despite the fact that it was lumpy and uncomfortable as hell Chase seemed to sleep with the bonelessness of someone truly drunk. Despite the fact that House went to bed, his mind was still in his living room watching the young Aussie sleep. The next morning wasn't awkward but it should have been. Instead House had woken up to a plate of eggs and toast and smiling Aussie.
"Gimme," House snatched the coffee and food and didn't bother to look up as Chase talked.
"Sorry to wake you up early but I want to swing by my place to shower and change." House glared at him over his plate of eggs. Food time no talk, but it was too much effort to stop and clear his mouth to make a snarky comment and Chase wouldn't read his lips well if there was food in his mouth. Evil death glares of doom would have to do. Chase just laughed it off and House had to wonder if he was slipping or just hadn't had enough coffee yet. "I didn't want you to wake up and have me just be gone." Two vicodin and another cup of coffee later House was thinking more clearly. One: those eggs were damn good, what had Chase done to them? And two: if Chase was going to make breakfast then House was willing to let him sleep over any time he wanted.
The plan had fallen together perfectly and House had taken a moment or two throughout the day to admire his devious little wombat. Chase had said that night that the best kinds of plans have broad ideas and fuzzy edges allowing for lots of on the spot improvisation, and right he was. House wondered what Chase would be like as a general leading an army. House could have never pulled it off, he was the kind that leads a small special ops team behind enemy lines for assignations and such, but Chase has the charisma and sheer fiendish intelligence to lead an army to war and win. The image of Chase in shining chain mail on horse back sword raised in the air was certainly an appealing one.
House had found his mind fixating on Chase more and more, and dammit! He was way too old for school boy crushes. But in his more maudlin moments he entertained the thought that something might come from it, not that he would ever admit that or anything. Cameron had come back after some cajoling. He'd refused to give in on the date issue. Cameron acted all smug and superior because he'd come to see her, and well that had really turned him off from the whole thing. It had the feeling of a trophy, "I went on a Date with House and Survived". There could be a fanclub and t-shirts or something. Either way her whole additude made him feel disgruntled about it. So he'd said fine and turned around and walked away, his mind already on that spitfire half-jewish girl. She wouldn't kow-tow to House like Cameron or go through his mail for him, but she'd work well enough he supposed. Cameron apparently realizing that she had lost the upper hand changed her mind because when he got back to his place she'd left a message saying she'd come back.
And that Ladies and Gentlemen seemed to be that. Except for this pesky problem of Chase and how tired and quiet he'd been. It was funny the first three times he'd found Chase asleep at the table, but it had started to lose it's amusement. Oh don't think for a second that he had stopped tormenting Chase just because he'd acknowledged feeling of lust for him. If anything he got worse, but House admittedly could be quite juvenile in his show of affections.
He'd arrived early to the office to try and get a better fix on what exactly was going on with his duckling dynamic. He watched in interest as Foreman stood guard at the door. "Okay he's coming." His eyebrows show up in surprise as Cameron dumped the half full pot of coffee down the sink.
Chase walked in looking haggard and worn out. "Sorry Chase," Cameron said all false smiles and sweetness, "last of the pot. There's some decaf grounds if you want to brew some yourself." Wow. House was going to have to remember this whenever Cameron came to sweet talk him into something, she was quite the little actress. Chase turned and walked out mumbling something about coffee on the second floor.
As soon as Chase's back was turned, "Okay kiddies what was that about? Did Chase steal your bulldozer so now you can't play well?"
Foreman gave him a look of complete disbelief. "What are you kidding? He openly betrayed you!"
"Yeah House we're just protecting you!"
House sighed in exasperation, why hadn't Chase said anything? "Morons! If I'd wanted Chase punished I'd have done it myself! He didn't betray me! Him being the down right devious little wombat that he is played double agent!" Damn did some of his admiration of Chase's plan seep out?
"What!" Ohh look stereo.
"Chase came to me told me about Volger's offer and then purposefully fed him information that would hurt him more than me." It really was a thing of beauty, he remembered so clearly everything that Chase laid out.
"See it's like this. Volger wants a rat, he's going to keep searching for one until he finds it, so lets give it to him. I tell him a few things to gain a bit of trust and then start leading him away. Have him watching one hand while you do something completely different. Plus we have the added bonus of him guaranteeing my job. You know that he's going to demand one of us get fired. He's a power monger and he doesn't like things he can't control. You he can't control. He blames something on you or whatever you can always push it off on me, because me he won't fire me, not as long as I'm his best source of info." God it had been so beautiful in it's simplicity. Throw in a few fights in hallways and everyone knew that Chase and House were on the outs and Chase was in Volger's pocket. In return Chase also got inside information into what Volger was planning.
It had been Chase's idea to leak that the federal witness was 'better' as he pointed out, the witness would get worse or sick again, House could make a big stink and then feel vindicated and Volger would look like an ass. House hoped that he never truly pissed Chase off because he'd probably wake up to having all his canes glued to the floor or something.
House shook his head in disgust at Foreman and Cameron, "What else have you been doing to him" They both mumbled something about convincing him to take extra shifts for various reasons. "Dammit the only person that gets to torment my fellows is me. So stop it. Heavens knows why Chase didn't just tell you himself that it was all part of the plan. Stupid self-sacrificing..." House mumbled under his breath as he walked off.
Chase had come to him thanked him for sticking up for him and all that rot, House didn't really give a flip, or that's what he said anyway, but part of him was happy to see Chase smiling more.
A few weeks later found him playing a piece of Chopin that went beautifully with the pounding rain over head when the doorbell rang. He opened it to find a drenched Chase who looked like his dog died. Ohhhh. It was going to be an interesting night.
