Ilessthreethanyou: Well, I had a great time writing their little 'stunt', so hopefully you'll have a great time reading it. It's in the next chapter. =]
Anonymousow: House just wouldn't be House if he wasn't incredibly annoying. Haha. She'll be spending some time with Cameron in the future. =]
Nameless: Glad you enjoyed House annoying Thirteen. I had fun writing it. Lol. She'll definitely be spending some time with Cameron soon. Now that you apparently can't stop thinking of how hot Remy would be as the Red Bandit...I can't either. I watch the movie and I'm like, "Huh...Yeah...Roy should be replaced...as much as I love him." I was playing with photoshop and made her the Red Bandit...and it's my new favorite picture. Baha.
Wesley: You'll find out what's in the envelope. And Cameron is oblivious...for now. -wink- Glad you liked the S-E-X-X-I-N-G part. Haha.
Hanam: I was waiting for someone to pick up on that. Lol. Before I decided what kind of novel I was writing, I was dared to make Kanye show up in my novel...which obviously wouldn't work in this. So House was the next best thing.
Kirei28: -gasp- How can you hate House?! Tho...I do agree about the hating Foreman thing.
Ina: I have that theory too. Hehe.
SignedSealedWritten (Chapt 1): -blush- Thank you. =]
Blah. I always update so fast. -can't help myself!- If you want me to wait longer inbetween posting chapters, just say something.
"So, how is your time with Alex?" Cuddy asked, stopping House outside her office later that evening. "I haven't heard any complaints."
"Things are great," House answered with an enthusiastic nod. "Kids just love me. I'm having the time of my life."
"Huh." Cuddy bit the inside of her lip and glanced off to the side.
"So we hate each other and I'm counting down the days till he dies," House corrected himself with a straight face.
"That's awful, but it does sound more like you. Yeah, that's better," Cuddy said with a sigh. "I might stop by later. See what Alex thinks of hanging out with you."
"You don't trust me?" House asked.
"Quite frankly, no." Cuddy smiled at him then walked back into her office.
-----
"Hey." Cameron was already standing just outside the Alex's door as Thirteen approached. She bit back her nervousness and stopped beside her with a slight smile. Cameron was slouched against the doorway, having been looking at the floor until Thirteen approached. When she looked up, Thirteen noticed her face was paler than usual and she had dark circles under her eyes.
"Hey, yourself." Despite feeling exhausted, Cameron smiled and stood up a little straighter. "I actually didn't have anything to do for once, so I figured I'd wait for you."
"You could have gone inside." Thirteen felt bad when Cameron looked shocked by that.
"I thought you wouldn't want -" Cameron's voice trailed off as Thirteen interrupted her.
"Have you had dinner yet?" She blurted out. "I mean, I know you asked if I wanted to get dinner with you the other night and I was busy. And I haven't had dinner yet and Alex probably hasn't either, so I was thinking we could go to the cafeteria and bring food up for the three of us." She felt like she was speaking a mile a minute and then realized she must have been talking that fast because Cameron seemed to be taking a moment to process what she was saying.
"I think it'd be a great idea to bring food for the three of us," Cameron commented once she had a chance to take in all the words Thirteen managed to fit into what seemed like a five second time period. "I'm starving."
"Great." Thirteen smiled. "Let's go get it before he sees us and demands I rush inside."
-----
House sighed in relief as the two girls walked away from Alex's room. He rounded the corner and walked inside, sitting down on the side of the boy's bed. "You remember me?"
Alex nodded. "You're Dr. House. I don't like you."
"That's okay," House said. "I don't like you either. But I need you to do me a favor." He held up a chocolate bar and kept it a few inches away from the boy. "You can't tell anyone about it."
Staring at the chocolate, Alex's eyes widened. "Okay, I'll do it," he agreed quickly and reached for the chocolate. "And I won't tell no one." He grabbed the chocolate from House and clutched it tightly then paused. "What do I gotta do?"
"Dr. Cuddy might come in here later," House said. "You remember who that is?" When the kid nodded, he continued. "Good. She's probably going to ask you if I come in here and tell you stories. Obviously, I don't, but you need to tell her that I do. And don't say anything about Dr. Hadley or Dr. Cameron coming in here to visit you. Got it?"
"Got it." Alex nodded. "I can do that."
"Good." House patted the kid's dark hair then stood. "Make up answers to whatever else she asks. But don't make me look bad. And don't tell her I'm mean." He left the room, quickly turning a corner to avoid Cameron and Thirteen as they came back.
-----
"Why does the mean man have three legs?" Alex asked as the two doctors walked into his room.
"Why does the mean man have three legs?" Cameron repeated a bit unsurely. "What mean man?" She handed him a cup of juice then sat down at the end of the bed.
"Dr. House," Alex explained. "The mean man. Why does he have three legs?"
"You mean his cane?" Thirteen asked, grinning. She glanced at Cameron and began laughing.
For a moment, Alex was confused. He started laughing because they were laughing, but his laughs turned into coughs. He dropped his cup of juice. He managed to grab it before most of it had spilled, but he had still made a mess. "Oops," he whispered. His eyes began to tear up.
"Don't cry. It's okay." Cameron picked up the blanket and tossed it on the floor. The nurse could deal with the stain later. "We brought you something to eat."
Thirteen sat down beside Alex and put the food in the middle of the three of them. "Where'd you get the candy bar?"
"It's a secret," Alex whispered. "What happened to the bandit?"
"Oh, okay," Thirteen whispered back. "Eat your dinner and I'll tell you."
Remy and the rest of the bandits stood before a long, white sheet that was stretched high into the air and held up by two giant wooden pulls. At the bottom, Remy's twin's body was wrapped in the end of the sheet. They were all surrounded by a circle of red boulders. Remy knelt down and placed her hand on part of the sheet that covered her twin. Starting with the space under her hand, the sheet began to soak with blood.
"That which has been taken from me can never be replaced," Remy said. "I think of all the joys we had. I could have saved this, but I was too weak. My grief has gone blood red with revenge. I am stronger now. I will search the four corners of this earth and find Governor House and joyously kill him." She stood with one hand held up in an oath and the other hand behind her back. "By the blue bandit's honor, I swear, I will annihilate him and everything that he loves." She pulled off her mask. "I will destroy him!" Her voice echoed through the rocky, treeless mountains. She lowered her voice. "And every Spanish thing…"
Alex and Cameron both looked at each other. "I thought Remy was Spanish," Alex said. He glanced at Cameron as she nodded in agreement.
Thirteen cleared her throat. "No," she said slowly. "She was…British."
Cameron and Alex raised their eyebrows, but neither of them argued.
Remy held up her hand in an oath again. "Are you with me?!" she asked the other bandits.
"We're with you!" The bandits shouted in agreement as they too held up their hands.
The only problem was, they were struggling to remember which way it was to Governor House's castle. They all stood around and waited as Chase pulled out a map from his box of things. He unfolded it, exposing large holes throughout the map.
"I told him not to put it in the same box he kept his bugs in," Foreman muttered under his breath.
"We're lost, aren't we?" Remy asked with a frown.
Cuddy looked at her then walked toward Chase. She grabbed the map from his hands then jogged a few feet away from him. After glancing at him, she sat down and began to eat the map.
Chase quickly got to his feet and rushed over to her. "Don't eat that!" he exclaimed. "It's poisonous!" He tried to grab the map from her, but she held it away and began mumbling as she lied down on the dirt ground.
"What's she saying?" Foreman shouted over to him.
Chase looked concerned she was eating the map then turned to face Foreman. "She's saying we should follow her to Greener Pastures!" he called back. He tuned to the other bandits as they began shouting back and forth that nothing around them looked green. "Hey!" He yelled as Cuddy got to her feet and began running. "Hey! Slow down!" He took off after her.
Foreman turned in the direction the mystic was running and peered down over a cliff. "Huh," he thought out loud. "It is greener down there." At the bottom of the cliff was a beautiful space of green land, full of trees, water, and wildlife. "Let's go!"
Cuddy picked up a conch shell off the ground as she ran into a green field. She blew into it.
"Slow down!" Chase continued to run after her. "The poison will work faster if you run!"
Cuddy blew into the shell again then shoved the rest of the map into her mouth. She stopped before several green pyramids that resembled steps.
"It's poisonous," Chase whispered, coming to an exhausted halt. He leaned forward and placed his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Cuddy collapsed several feet away. Chase glanced up and noticed that instead of hitting the ground, a large group of other mystics rose up out of the dirt and caught her. He gasped in shock as they began to carry her away then he and the other bandits followed them.
The mystics stripped Cuddy to her bra and underwear. The ones that weren't directly involved in carrying her or undressing her stood back and waved their hands in the air, wiggling their fingers. They placed her on a rock covered with a bright yellow blanket then backed away.
The bandits stood behind the group. Chase walked to the front of the group and stood beside Cuddy. He grabbed his notebook and pen and looked at the other mystics. They were wearing minimal clothing and completely covered in dirt and mud.
The oldest male out of the mystics stood in the front of the group. He began to chant in gibberish and the other mystics began to echo him. They began to sway and wave their hands in the air.
Chase watched them for several minutes then glanced down at Cuddy. "What?" he whispered in disbelief. A black compass appeared in ink in the middle of the woman's chest. The image began to multiply into images of mountains, pyramids, the Great Wall of China, mountains, rivers, deserts, valleys, the Eiffel Tower, and even the Parthenon. He glanced back at the mystics. The mystics had split into two groups behind their leader and continued to chant. He turned back to Cuddy and quickly began copying the map.
A little bump appeared under Cuddy's skin, almost like a bug in her body. It started with where they were and began to trace in the direction they should go. Her body began to convulse as Chase copied down the directions.
Cameron was staring at Thirteen with her mouth half full of food. She swallowed slowly. "Don't you think this story might be getting too scary for Alex?" she asked slowly.
Thirteen nodded that it might be then took a drink. "You scared, Alex?" she asked after she swallowed.
"Phft," Alex shook his head. "I'm good. I like this story."
"See, he's not scared," Thirteen told Cameron with a smirk. "Don't be such a big baby."
The bandits found horses and followed the map they had copied down. They traveled across the desert on their horses until they came across a fancy home on wheels being pulled by slaves. There were two guards on either side. Each were on horseback beside each other, carrying guns. The slaves were in two long lines, attached to the home by chains. Each of the four large wheels had slaves inside, pushing the wheels like hamster wheels. The Home had House's flag on it.
Kutner stopped on top of a sand dune and stroked his brow. The rest of the bandits stopped beside him.
"We have to free the slaves," Wilson announced.
"Tell me; can you read?" Thirteen asked Alex. She finished her food then licked her fingers.
Alex sighed and shoved a piece of his chocolate bar in his mouth. "You always stop at the same part," he complained. "When it's the best part." He frowned at her.
"I just wanted to know if you can read," Thirteen said. She turned sideways so she could face him better. "Can you?" she questioned. "Can you read?"
"Yeah." He rolled his eyes.
"What's this?" Thirteen unhooked her nametag from her shirt and showed it to him.
"A nametag," Alex stated. He glanced up at her and raised an eyebrow, causing Cameron to laugh.
Thirteen couldn't help but smile. "That's not what I meant, Mr. State-The-Obvious. What's this?" She pointed to her name.
He stared at it for a moment then began to say the letters. "D-R-H-A-D-L-3-Y," he said proudly.
Cameron was trying not to laugh.
Blinking, Thirteen glanced down at her name. "Wait. What's this?" she asked as she pointed at the 'E'.
"3," Alex repeated.
"Huh." Thirteen stared down at the letter than nodded her head. "That's pretty good."
"Is that how you spell your name, ?" He asked, "D-R-H-A-D-L-3-Y?"
"Yes," Thirteen replied, not about to correct him. "I guess the three is why people call me Thirteen." She smiled that now they apparently had an inside joke about her name. It was a way cooler reason than just because House had assigned her a number.
"Can I call you Thirteen?" He asked.
"If you want." Thirteen got to her feet and glanced at the clock. She watched Cameron clear the empty food containers from the bed then tucked Alex in. "I'll be back tomorrow," she assured him. "Good night."
"Night, Thirteen and Dr. Cameron!" Alex snuggled against his Pirates blanket, happy he had spilled juice on the hospital blanket and not that one. He watched the two doctors leave the room then closed his eyes.
"Do you think it's a good idea letting him call you Thirteen?" Cameron asked once they were out of the room. She shoved one hand in her pocket and held her bottle of water with the other. "I mean, it's not exactly professional."
"Does it matter?" Thirteen replied, looking over at her. "He's dying anyway. Might as well let him do what he wants."
Cameron nodded slowly. "Is it hard spending time with him knowing that he's dying?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Thirteen stopped walking and turned to face her.
"I just meant with you…" Cameron stopped herself. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"
"I don't think that's any of your business, Dr. Cameron." Thirteen walked away and left her standing there in the middle of the hallway. She glared at the floor and clenched her jaw.
"Hey." House walked in front of Thirteen as he noticed her heading down the hall. "Wow, you look grumpy."
"Shut up, House. I do not." She crossed her arms tightly over her chest and narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you want?"
"I have good news for you," he answered. "Foreman found a promising trial for Huntington's. With me being well…me, we managed to get you in."
"So you cheated me into a trial?" Thirteen confirmed. "Thanks," she said sarcastically.
He ignored her sarcasm. "I knew you'd be thrilled," he said. "I have to go harass Cuddy, but I'll tell you more later. Not tonight though, because we have other plans. I still plan to see you at my house at one. Exactly one."
"One. Right." She nodded and sighed. "See you then."
-----
Feeling guilty, Cameron finally moved from her spot in the hallway. So much for trying to be friends with Thirteen. She managed to screw that relationship up in no time. Her shift was over so she stopped by the locker room and grabbed her jacket then walked to her car.
She noted that her car was parked beside Thirteen's as she got in. She stared at the car beside her for a moment then looked down at her hands. Scolding herself for wondering why the other doctor hadn't left yet, she opened her glove compartment to get her mind focused on something else. Pulling out the unopened envelope with the test results the lab doctor had given her, she ran her finger over the dark ink that said her name. Tears stung her eyes and she definitely was not thinking about Thirteen anymore.
There was a knock on the window.
Cameron quickly shoved the envelope back where it belong and shut the glove compartment then turned to face Chase. After turning on the car, she hit the button on the side of her door and rolled down her window. "Hey," she greeted.
"Hey." Chase grinned at her. "I just got off and I saw you sitting in your car. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go somewhere and get dinner with me."
"Actually, I already had dinner," Cameron answered. "Sorry. I really need to be getting home."
"Oh." Chase looked away in disappointment. "Alright. Maybe some other time then." He smiled at her then took a few steps away from the car.
"Maybe some other time," Cameron agreed. She rolled up the window and watched him walk away. She jumped as the door of Thirteen's car slammed shut. She ran her fingers though her hair. She convinced herself Thirteen hated her now and questioned whether or not to even go back to Alexander's room anymore. House would be unhappy if she didn't go. Not wanting to seem like a stalker, she waited several moments before Thirteen pulled out of her parking spot then also pulled out and began to head home.
A lack of cars on the road put her directly behind Thirteen even though she had waited before leaving. She suddenly wondered why Thirteen was even taking the route she was taking anyway. It would be the long way to get to her house. It hit her as she watched the other car slow down then pull into the bar. This filled her with even more guilt. She wondered if Thirteen had stopped for a drink because of what she said. For a moment, she considered stopping and apologizing, but she found herself continuing to drive forward.