Summery: Just read…


Spoilers: Up until midway through "Heavy" and takes a twist.


Rating: PG-13


Disclaimer: You know I don't own it! I play.

A/N: Okay, even though I watch Law & Order religiously, I have no idea how long trials take and all that stuff. So, I made my own rules. Be warned!

Update: whoKMH was right. I didn't explain Cameron's mood swing completely. That is now fixed. Just an extra paragraph. Thanks for the point out! Hope this clears things up!

"House, may I have a word with you," Dr. Cuddy asked after lunch, stepping into his office.

"What? You too? It must be my lucky day."

"What are you talking about?"

"When you ream me, could you at least do it topless?"

She sat down across from him. "What did you do now?"

He tilted his head to look at her. "Ah. So you're not here to ream me." He paused. "Could you still do whatever you're going to do topless?"

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "No. And please don't use that word again. It's just… dirty. I prefer 'scold' or 'chastise' or 'reprimand'."

"Prude. So what are you here for?"

"Wait- I want to hear who you pissed off now."

"Go ask Wilson. You. Here. For. What?"

She laughed. "Wow. You pissed off Wilson. It must be really bad."

House scowled. "You're starting to bore me. What do you want?"

She cleared here throat and sobered. "The detectives who were working on Cameron's case called me about a half hour ago. You do know that Kevin Breaker's trial started last week, right?"

He nodded. Damn right he did. He followed what was going on with that bastard religiously. The detectives practically had him on speed dial. There was probably a message on his machine at home from them about the case. House didn't want him harming Cameron or any other woman ever again.

"Well," Cuddy continued, "he pled guilty and the decision came back already. He got 10 years for each rape, and 5 years for Cameron's sexual assault, for a total of 55 years."

"What about parole?"

"For good behavior, signs of rehabilitation and a psych evaluation—after 15 years."

"So the guy is, what, 35 years old? He could be out and raping again at 50. Fucking judges," he muttered. "What if he gets out?"

"He has to stay at least 500 yards away from each victim, register as a sexual offender and do a door to door introduction in his neighborhood."

House paused to talk this all in. "Have you told Cameron yet?"

"No," she said, biting her bottom lip. "I was hoping you would. I figured since you've been helping her through everything, she'd take the news better from you."

He sighed. "Fine. I'll go find her. But if she gets upset, keep Wilson and Dr. Stevens away from me!"

"You pissed off the two most easygoing men in the hospital," Cuddy said, the mood a bit lighter. She got up to leave. "And before you give her the news, apologize to Cameron."

House pointed his cane at her. "I knew it! You were going to ream me!"

"No I wasn't," she said with a smile, walking out. "I knew it had been taken care of already."

"Oh yeah," he called, hobbling after her. He poked his head into the hallway and yelled, "If she gets upset again, look for my body in the end zone at Giants Stadium!"

Great. Now he had to go brace himself to talk to the gorgeous brunette who was quite possibly extremely pissed at him, and tht he was quite possibly falling in love with.

Since there weren't any new cases for the Diagnostic Department, and she was all caught up on her paperwork, Cameron was helping out the actual Immunology Department for a change. It was a little boring and slow, but it was work—and got her away from House for a bit. According to—well, the entire hospital, House was someone you DID NOT want to be near today. He already bit the head off of a nurse for saying "Good Morning" to him. And when he did his clinic hours today, he ordered a rectal exam for someone who was in for a broken finger. AND she had it from a good source that he started off with a full bottle of Vicodin today… and already had it refilled by noon. Yes, Allison Cameron was glad their department had no cases today.

She sighed and took off her glasses. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she couldn't help of thinking over her situation. The whole thing mad her sad at first: House abandoning her, needing people to stand up to him for her, and finally figuring out that he really did have some kind of feelings for her. Now, the anger was starting to set in. Instead of the paranoid, scared, upset feeling of being alone that she felt last night, a slow burning anger was starting course through her. Jealousy was a childish thing, and his could have caused her to get hurt again.

"God," she muttered out loud, "why is everything always so complicated?"

Cameron sighed again, put her glasses back on, and went back to work. She kept herself busy, diligently going over files for about a half an hour. Then, at about half past two, she stiffened. She didn't hear him come in, but she could feel his eyes on her back. She knew he was there before he spoke.

"What are you doing?"

"Working," she replied shortly, without turning around.

"We don't have any cases."

"I know."

House paused for a second, waiting for her explanation. When it was evident that she wasn't going to give one, he said, "So?"

"So, what?"

"So what are you doing here?"

"Well, because I'd rather be working than twiddling my thumbs waiting for the next person to come in with Cushing's or African Sleeping Sickness, I offered my services to the actual Immunology Department."

"Oh."

"Yes, 'oh'." She turned around to face him. "So if you don't mind, I still have a lot of cases to go over before 5 o'clock."

"Actually I do mind."

"Oh, really."

"Yes."

"Fine, you stay here," Cameron said, gathering her files. "I'll go somewhere else." She moved to go around him to leave the office. House grabbed her arm, preventing her escape.

"No, Allison, we need to talk."

"So after the last few days, it's back to 'Allison'? I don't think so. It's Dr. Cameron, and there's nothing to talk about," she said through her teeth. "Now let me go."

"Not until we talk."

"Why? Is Troy forcing you to apologize? Or Wilson? Could they have possibly made you feel guilty enough about me? Is it possible for the great Dr. House to feel remorse?"

"Oh, it's 'Troy', now is it?" House cringed at the flash in Cameron's eyes. Ooops.

"Jealous much, House?"

He let go of her arm and was silent. Taking his silence as confirmation, she continued her path away from him.

"Dr. Cameron, we still need to talk."

"About what," she snapped, irritated.

"Kevin Breaker."

"I already know about it. I gave the cops my pager number, and they paged me when the verdict came in. I called them and I know everything, okay? You don't need to baby-sit me anymore. You don't have to feel burdened or guilty or fake like you care about my welfare anymore. You already ditched me yesterday. You're free, okay? Just leave me alone now." She was near tears at this point.

"Okay. But there are things we still need to talk about."

Cameron let out a half laugh-half sob noise. "What? What is there possibly left to talk about?"

"Us."