Author: Milady Dragon
Disclaimer: I don't own either House or the Tomorrow People…although I really like messing them up a lot!
Author's notes: Another big thank you to those out there who are at least trying to read this. You guys are the greatest!
Chapter Five
When House got back to his office, Cameron was waiting for him.
She'd had a little time to think – and to ask Tim to send her some sort of robe – before he arrived. The strangest part of the situation she found herself in was that she'd never even considered telling anyone about herself; had, in fact, nearly forgotten the part of her life she was now about to impart. And she was going to tell House, of all people…the most obnoxious man on the face of the planet…and yet she trusted him. Had done, for a long time now.
There'd also been time for Elena to call her, and offer to come and support her. Another mental voice had joined hers – it was Paul, finally able to break away from his family trip – and had chimed in the same, despite not having met Cameron yet. She was touched by the offers, but had declined. This was something she had to do herself. Elena said they'd stand by to help her if she needed it. Cameron promised to call if she did.
She was sitting in the dark when he finally came in. House was limping tiredly, and Cameron wondered vaguely why he'd been here so late, then decided it must be about the patient they'd been given this morning. It had been a mysterious set of symptoms…
"Is everything alright?" she asked, announcing her presence.
"Yes, as you well know." He paused slightly, then headed around his desk. He plopped down in the chair, levering his bad leg up onto the desktop. "I expected you to cut and run the moment I was busy."
"It is my friend you were going to see," she pointed out.
"True." He reached over and switched on the desk lamp.
Cameron blinked in the sudden glare. "Besides, I do have to work here. And I know you too well to think you'd ever drop this."
"You think you know me. Nice robe, by the way. Can't wait to hear where you got it."
"A friend sent it to me." She pulled the collar a little closer to her throat, still a little uncomfortable with her boss – and yes, the man she still had feelings for – seeing her in such a state of undress.
"Well, that was a suitably mysterious answer. Was it Elena?"
Cameron was surprised by his guess. It was close enough to make her realize House might have put more together than she'd given him credit for. "Why do you think that?"
"Well, you didn't have the habit of suddenly appearing in hospital corridors in nothing but a long t-shirt and strange belt before your friend became a patient here. A belt, I might add, that matches exactly the one Elena wears. Fashion statement?"
She decided to ignore that last little jab. "We all wear them, actually."
"'We'?"
"Yes." She took a deep breath. "We call ourselves the Tomorrow People."
He raised an eyebrow. "That sounds a little pissy, don't you think?"
Cameron snorted. "Don't say that around John. He's the one who came up with it. He was the first of us, you see."
"Is it some kind of club?" He sounded incredulous.
"In a way…although you're born into this club, and you can't ever resign. You might walk away, for a little while, but it always comes back to you in the end. And when you least expect it, it seems." She smiled wryly, thinking about how she'd seen John after so long.
"And this happened to you when you were thirteen?"
Ah. He had been listening. That was actually gratifying. "That's when I broke out, yes."
Now he was confused. "I don't think you mean with zits."
She chuckled. "No, I don't. When I was thirteen, I started hearing voices, in my head. Of course, the automatic diagnosis was schizophrenia…"
"Of course it was. Didn't anyone test for any other underlying causes?"
"Not really. I mean, the symptoms were classic. They were very sure of their facts. I was put on medication…it worked for a while, but the voices kept coming back. It got so bad my parents were seriously considering institutionalizing me."
"Idiots. When the meds didn't work they should've been looking for some other cause."
"In a way, maybe it was for the best. Because it meant the doctors didn't find the real reason for the voices."
"And it had something to do with this 'breaking out' you mentioned."
"It did. Because, you see, the voices I was hearing were real. I was hearing the thoughts of others around me."
His leg came off the desktop as he swiveled to look at her directly. "Can you repeat that please?"
"I said: I was picking up other's thoughts. Telepathically." It was pretty nice to see him all flustered like that.
"That's impossible…can you tell what I'm thinking now?" House stared at her fiercely.
Cameron had to laugh. "I don't need telepathy to know you're thinking I'm completely nuts."
He leaned back. "Well, that was a gimme."
"You wanted to know the truth."
"I just didn't think I was getting an episode of John Edward."
"He talks to dead people. As far as I know, I can't do that."
"But you claim to be able to read minds." This idea was busting through the credulous wall.
"Can I just finish this before you call the nice young men in the clean white coats?"
He gestured for her to continue.
She curled her feet under her, in an effort to warm them up. She wished she'd asked Tim for a pair of socks, too. "Well, as I said, it was really bad. I couldn't sleep, eat, or function in any way past the voices. But, one night, as I lay in bed thinking this might be a good time to end it all, a single voice broke through all the noise in my head. He told me everything was going to be all right, that he was going to help me. That there wasn't anything to be worried about, that what was happening was natural and all I had to do was be patient, and tell him my name. I did, and the next day John showed up on our doorstep."
"And this is the same guy up in the ICU right now."
"Yes. He came that day, and literally saved my life. I was about to kill myself, to escape the voices." She still remembered how he'd apologized about taking so long getting to her, but he'd been away…it was much later that she found out that "away" was just a euphemism for being off planet.
"What did he do?"
"He showed me how to open myself to what I was becoming. Once I did that, everything else was simple. He taught me a lot of things…about myself, about what we were. That we weren't alone, there were others out there just like us. I wasn't alone."
Now she could tell he was intrigued; it was by the way he didn't seem at all interested in what she was saying.
"I also found out we had other powers, besides telepathy."
"Really?" he drawled. "X-ray vision, maybe? Am I wearing boxers or briefs?"
"Even if I did, I wouldn't be looking at your underwear." Well…she might, but she wasn't going to admit it. "He called us Homo Superior…the Tomorrow People. The next stage of human evolution. It was a little hard to take, at first, but after a while it began to make sense. After all, evolution hasn't stopped, and who's to say that Homo Sapiens are the top of the chain for humankind? Besides, we can do things normal humans can't."
"So you're saying you're better than everyone else?"
"No. Not better…improved. The problem is, there are so few of us, we remain hidden for our own protection. But we're also sworn to protect humanity, and that's what we do."
"And that's what you're doing here…hiding?"
"No." She flushed slightly. "What I said before was true: after about three years I decided I wanted to be just like everyone else. I turned my back on my responsibilities, my friends…and I pushed my powers and memories of that time so far down I honestly didn't remember any of it until I saw John. Then it all came back to me."
"And what was your friend doing here? He was a reporter?"
"Not really. John was…investigating something funny going on at Intellex. We suspect the explosion was caused by whatever he was investigating." She wasn't about to mention alien technology…there was just so much she knew she'd get away with. "We figure the explosion caught him by surprise, or else he would've been able to get away."
"Outrun an explosion? Is superspeed in your repertoire, as well?"
Cameron laughed. "Not hardly. But this is." She closed her eyes…
And was across the room, in another chair.
House came up from behind his desk so quickly he banged his good leg into the wood. He swore a blue streak, while staring at her in the purest astonishment.
She let him rant. She kept her expression neutral, but inside she was enjoying this immensely. She hadn't planned on jaunting in front of him, but his reaction was priceless!
When he calmed down enough to for her speak again, she said, "Teleportation, obviously. We call it jaunting. The belt we wear gives us a power boost, and allows for better accuracy."
"I'd call that pretty damned accurate!" He gestured from one chair to her current seat.
"It's pretty good, considering I haven't done it on my own in years."
"Then you didn't…jaunt…to get here?"
"I did, but Tim helped me. I did this one myself." She motioned to where she'd been just moments before.
"And Tim's another one of your…group?"
She didn't think "group" was the original word he'd intended on using, but let it slide. "Tim is…special. I don't want to say any more than that."
"So you're only going to tell me selected bits of your story?" He sounded a little put out.
"You don't really need to know about Tim. If he wants to tell you about himself, he can. It's not my place." Besides, how could she explain the artificial intelligence without actually taking House to the Lab? And she wasn't about to do that. Tim was perfectly capable of contacting House on his own, by phone, if he so wanted.
"And how did you find out about what was going on with your friend?"
"Tim told me." She smiled sweetly.
"Why did I know you were going to say that?" He was frustrated.
"Look, House," she said seriously, standing to make her point, "we live in secrecy for a reason. If word of our presence got out…well, let's just say I've seen what happens when a Tomorrow Person falls into unfriendly Sap hands. And right now John is helpless. It's too dangerous to move him somewhere safe, where we can take care of him. I'm trusting you with our very lives, by telling you this. If this is too much, all you have to do is say so and we'll risk jaunting John out of here. We don't want to do it, but it's better than the alternative: someone getting access to one of us. But they'd also be getting the greatest one of us there is, and he'd be unable to stop them from doing anything they wanted to him."
"You didn't mention that I'd be putting your life in danger."
"Right now, John's the important one. If they got me…" she shivered, hugging herself, "well, I'm not that big a prize."
"You're one of my doctors," he snapped. "Of course you're important."
Cameron smiled. "Thanks."
"Besides, I've just got you trained up the way I want. I'd hate to break in someone else."
She rolled her eyes. So much for the bonding moment! 'Does that mean we can trust you with this?"
"Jesus, Cameron! You have to ask?" It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Okay, I admit this is a lot to take in, but your friend is my patient. I do have some sense of what's right and what's wrong. After all, there is such a thing as doctor-patient confidentiality."
"But I'm not your patient."
"I could smack you upside the head with my cane. That would make you my patient."
"Or put you jail for assault."
"That, too. But then it's been a long time since I've visited Bruno. I'm not sure he'd remember me, though."
Cameron snorted. She'd never figure him out. "Can I go home now?"
"What's keeping you? You can pop out anytime you want."
And just for that snide comment, she did.