Author: Milady Dragon
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except my car and it's really, really old…
Author's notes: Once again, thanks to my readers and reviewers. You are all great, and I much appreciate the support.
Chapter Seven
Cameron didn't say anything as she and House made their way toward the other doctor's office.
She just wasn't sure about this. Yes, it had been years since she'd tangled with anything other than the odd mysterious illness – and House's moods, of course – but it had all come back to her, and she could remember vividly just how dangerous the life of a Tomorrow Person could be. And, yes, House had claimed to know, just by John's current condition, but there was more to it than that. They'd all been hurt, at least once, and she really didn't want to say that John's injuries were just more in a long line of damage done to each and every one of them. There'd even been deaths…more deaths than Cameron cared to know about. And she'd known Kenny, although for only just a short time; while Tim hadn't explained how the elder TP had been killed, she knew it had been in the line of duty, so to speak.
It was a life they'd all accepted, as part of their responsibilities toward the Earth and their fellow Tomorrow People. Cameron herself had accepted, once…before she'd gotten a case of normality. She'd even hidden it from her own parents, knowing her mother would have a heart attack if she knew her baby girl was out there, putting her life on the line for others. Although she suspected her father would have been dreadfully proud of her…
But House…he was a Sap, albeit one that had above normal intelligence and an above normal sarcasm quotient. Did he truly understand what he was getting himself into? Could she explain it to him in such a way as to completely disavow him of this notion of being involved?
Could she admit that she was dreadfully worried about him? That she didn't want him to go, and put his life in danger?
No, it would never work…
House held the office door open for her. She entered; Paul and Elena were already there, having jaunted from the ICU. They both looked equally confused. Cameron couldn't blame them.
"Hail, hail, the gang's all here," the older doctor chanted as they entered. He immediately went to his desk, propping his bad leg up onto the top.
"Look," Paul began, "we don't know what you're on about, mate – "
"Don't bother," Cameron sighed. "It won't work."
"She's right, you know." House stared up at the younger Tomorrow Person, looking at him as if he were an uninteresting problem. "I'm here, and I'm staying."
"We've had Saps working with us before," Elena replied, trying to be the voice of reason.
"What she said." Then House did a double-take. "Did you just call me a sap?"
Cameron smirked. "I call you a Sap, and you shrug it off. Elena calls you a Sap, and you object?'
"I expect it from you."
She ignored the tone. "Sap is short for Homo Sapiens."
"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"
Cameron rolled her eyes. "It's not important at the moment, all right?"
"If you say so."
"I do."
"Do you think we could get back on topic here, please?' Elena interrupted.
"Of course." It was a good thing she did; Cameron knew she and House could go on sniping at each other all day.
"Tim," the other woman called telepathically, "since it appears Dr. House wants to be involved, maybe you should phone his office line? Short of bringing him to the Lab – "
"Not a good idea at the moment," Cameron cut in.
"I don't want to have to 'translate' for him, if you know what I mean. And it appears he has a speakerphone here."
"Indeed I shall, Elena," the computer replied. "Stand by."
"Phone's going to ring," Cameron said innocently.
And it did.
House about came out of his chair. "Clairvoyance one of your tricks now?"
"Are you going to answer it?" she questioned in return. "You might want to put it on the speaker."
It took two more rings for House to punch the right button. He didn't use that particular function on his telephone that much. He did manage to put some snark in his answer, barely hiding his surprise. "Thank you for calling. At the sound of the tone, please leave a message and your sexual preference and I will call you back as soon as I can. Beep!"
Tim's chuckle came through clearly. "It is nice to finally speak to you, Dr. House. My name is Tim."
House narrowed his eyes at Cameron. "If you want to play mind games, we can go back to my place and I can show you a few things."
She just smirked in response. If that was the best he could come up with…
"Have you come up with anything else, Tim?" Elena asked.
"I am afraid not," he answered. "There has been nothing on the news, nor in any of the eyewitness reports I have managed to scan. However, I am still looking."
"Good."
"Do you think we can assume that whoever it was, didn't find what they were looking for?" Cameron asked.
"If they were interrupted," Paul added, "then maybe they didn't have time."
Elena looked pensive. "It's possible. It would help if we knew what race it was in the first place."
"I am sorry," Tim replied. "I cannot pinpoint that information at present."
"What does race have to do with anything?" House interrupted.
"You didn't mention it?" Elena asked Cameron.
She shrugged. "Sorry. I thought if I started talking about aliens, it might stretch my credibility with House past the breaking point."
"You could be right…" Elena sighed. "Dr. House, it might be hard to accept, but we mean what race of alien, not what race of human."House threw up his hands. "Why not aliens? What else could it be? Leprechauns, maybe?" It started out as sarcasm, but ended in a strangled squeak.
"See? I told you." Cameron didn't want to be smug, but she couldn't help it. "Come on, House. We see weird shit every day. What makes this so unbelievable?"
"You do weird shit every day."
"I'm actually retired from that sort of weirdness," she corrected.
"Well, semi-retired," Paul offered.
Cameron didn't dignify that with a response. They'd talked about her coming back, but she hadn't given them a definitive answer yet.
"John went to Intellex in order to investigate a report of possible alien technology at their complex," Tim said. "We did not actually have confirmation of its presence, until the trespass last night."
"They weren't wearing Halloween masks, mate," Paul added. "They were honest-to-God aliens."
"There are far more beings out there in the universe than you'd think," Cameron said. "It's one of the things we do: we protect the Earth from possible invasion from outside our solar system."
House looked at each of them in turn. Cameron knew he'd be more willing to consider her words than her companions, having known her for a while. But for anyone grounded on Earth, not having had the experiences she'd had, it would still be a tremendous leap of faith for him to believe even her.
She leaned over the desk, the better to look him right in the eye. "I've been there, House. I've been to other worlds; places where the dolphins are red, and the seas pink; where there are two suns, and five moons, and where the people are made of living thought. It's a miraculous place out there, and I've only seen a fraction of it."
His blue eyes stared into hers. "And you gave all that up to be normal?"
Her mouth quirked upward in a self-deprecating smile. "It seemed like a good idea at the time." She straightened, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's a lot to take in, I understand that. But you're the one who wanted in on this. If you still do, you're going to have to open your mind to a great many things you might never have considered before."
She could actually see him putting things together; she'd seen that look many times: every time he'd gotten his teeth sunk into a mysterious case. Cameron realized she should have told him sooner, given him time to digest this. But House had one of the most remarkable minds she'd ever seen…in that moment, she found herself comparing him and John, and coming up with the notion that both of them were similar in so many ways. Which meant they'd either get along like a…well, a house on fire…or hate each other's guts.
She kind of found herself hoping for the latter. She didn't think she could handle the two most important men in her life being friends. That was just way too scary.
"So," she finished, turning to her fellow TP. "What are we going to do?"
Both Paul and Elena looked amused, but at the same time Cameron could feel their concern. "Tim," the other woman replied, "why don't you keep on looking for anything that might tell us what we're dealing with."
"Agreed," the computer answered promptly.
"I think maybe a trip out to Intellex might be in order," Cameron put in.
Paul nodded. "Yeah, I'm with you on that one."
"I think we all are." Elena sighed. "Right, we'll go tonight."
"Need someone to drive the getaway car?"
All three of them turned to regard House. He was leaning forward, his eyes glittering. "Oh, I forgot…you don't need a getaway car. How about a lookout, then?"
Cameron chuckled. "You're really serious about this?"
"Absolutely. Sounds like fun: breaking and entering into a secured facility, hoping to find something that aliens from outer space were looking for…can't wait!"
Cameron had to admit…despite the danger she knew was waiting, she was glad to have House firmly in their corner. And she'd do her best to look out for him.