This scene's been toned down from what I'd originally wanted...I've borrowed too much from various movies already, no need to borrow more. I hope that ya'll enjoy it.
"Admit it, you guys…you had fun." Cameron turns to the team as they return from the walk through Central Park and the stop they made at the musical presentation.
"I had fun watching you and Ashley interact with each other." Foreman supplies. "Are you sure that the two of you are related?"
"That's what Daddy says. You should meet Maggie, Adam's wife. She and House would get along famously; she's like House - in female form."
"That's a scary thought." Reed hides a yawn and glances down at her watch. "What time are we leaving for this club?"
"Sevenish?" Cameron replies, looking around at the others, who all nod in acceptance. "Sounds good. That gives us five hours to get some rest and get ready." Cameron hangs back while Reed heads toward the elevators. Chase looks like he's going to remain behind, but Foreman grabs his arm and drags him along. As they board the elevator, Cameron throws him a thankful glance, which Foreman warmly responds to.
"Did I miss something?" House questions once the doors close and Cameron punches the call button for the next elevator.
"Foreman knows about us." Cameron readily supplies. "Don't know how, but he does."
"He saw me in the lobby last night. Do you remember seeing him?"
"No, but I was a little distracted. What's the problem? We said that we'd tell everyone as it happened."
"I don't have a problem with it. I'd just like to know so who does know so that I don't get caught unawares."
"Very well. Chase is the only one that doesn't know now." the elevator opens and the couple gets on, House uses his cane to stop a young man from getting on after them, withdrawing it as the doors close.
"What was that for?" Cameron turns to him.
"Didn't want to give him an anatomy lesson." House leans forward, wrapping his arm around her and giving her a kiss. One that she warmly returns, groaning as he pulls away - seconds before the door opens on their floor.
"I'm not really in the mood for resting before the club…are you?" Cameron smiles coyly at him before heading down the hall to their room. They open the door to their suite and find that the common room is empty, causing Cameron to pull House into his room before anyone can come out.
"You're going to be the death of me, woman." House mumbles as she pulls him in. "But what a way to go." He manages to mumble just before she crushes her lips against his, closing the door behind them.
"Is that a tattoo?" Chase exclaims as Cameron turns her back to him to get her coat. Everyone turns at his exclamation and finds that she does indeed have a tattoo on her left shoulder, displayed perfectly by her shirt which ties around her neck.
"Yup," Cameron turns. "Why? Is that a problem?"
"No, just wondering why I never saw it."
"I usually keep it covered up - with a special make-up." Cameron adds the last part before Chase can make some stupid comment about one of their many romps in the hay. House stops her before she can put her jacket on and takes a closer look at said tattoo. Even he is stumped by what the design is.
"It's a tree in the Earth with a crown, twig and-" House tilts his head sideways to get a different look, "-the silhouette of a man's face above it. Hate to say it, but this even has me stumped."
"It's my siblings and I. We've all got the same tattoo in the same spot. In fact, we all got them together when Adam and Ashley turned 18."
"And what does it mean?" Foreman asks, taking his turn staring at the design.
Cameron sighs deeply, knowing that they won't get out of the room without an explanation. She goes to the counter at the kitchen, taking a piece of paper and a pen out of her bag along the way. She draws each part of the tattoo as she explains.
"Adam's name means 'of the Earth'; Ashley: 'of the Ash tree fields'; Allison: 'of a noble kin'; the olive branch is for Angela, whose name means 'messenger of God'; and Alex has the silhouette of a man's face because his name means 'defender of man'." Cameron finishes the drawing, turning it so that the rest of the group can see the copy of her tattoo.
"What about the shading surrounding the whole design?" House - the ever observant one - questions.
"For the one who's always watching over us." Cameron replies while putting on her jacket. She turns to see four questioning glances staring back at her and she sighs once again. "It's for Addison - my twin sister - she died when we were three days old. Now let's go."
The team wisely stays silent as they follow her out the door toward the elevators.
"Is it just me," Elliot glances around the club, "Or does it seem like we're the oldest one's here?"
The team glances around them before agreeing with the newest member of their team. Together they all turn towards Cameron.
"We're not the oldest ones here." Cameron reassures them before leading them to a grouping of empty tables in the corner.
"Are you sure about that?" Foreman questions.
"The bartender's older than us." Cameron tilts her head toward the other side of the bar, smiling impishly before conceding, "Alright, so most of the people here are younger than us, but not everyone. Call me selfish, but I haven't spent much time with Adam and Ashley in the past few years and I knew that Ashley would be spending time here tonight, whether she got a company offer last night or not."
"Company offer?" Chase asks while shedding his coat.
"Dancers are recruited by companies at the various performances held throughout the year. Ashley did get a company offer last night, but a few of her friends didn't. There are dancers that are obviously good enough to get into Julliard, but they aren't good enough to get leads in productions, so they have less exposure to recruiters. So they come here. The atmosphere here allows them to let loose and be themselves as performers. I've heard of more people being recruited from clubs like this than from dance schools. And not just as dancers. Some of the singers and musicians get record deals from clubs such as this also."
"And what are those of us that can't dance supposed to do?"
Cameron turns to House before responding, "Sit back and leer at the girls that can?"
House is prevented from responding as a young man approaches the group and asks Cameron to dance. She quickly sheds her jacket in acceptance, allowing the man to lead her onto the dance floor. A song has already begun by a woman that doesn't even look legal - it's obvious that she's a student somewhere. The men are so entranced by seeing Cameron dance so freely on the floor that they don't even notice when someone fills her seat at the table halfway through the song.
House watches in envy as Cameron and the man that she's dancing with are singled out for one portion of the song, though he's reassured when her eyes meet his as the final note sounds. Cameron warmly hugs her dance partner before leading him back to their table.
"Cheating on me already?" The teams whips around to see Ashley sitting in Cameron's spot, glaring at her sister's dance partner, the teasing tone obvious in her voice and smile. Cameron answers before he can.
"As if he has eyes for anyone but you." Cameron releases her partner's hand, snagging a waiter on his way past, giving him her drink order. The waiter quickly takes down everyone's order before leaving. The group turns back around to find Ashley in the young man's arms.
"So, Tyler," Cameron addresses the man, "Where were you last night?"
"My little sister had to have surgery two days ago, I went home to help my mom out with my brothers."
"How's she doing?"
"Fine. It was just an emergency appendectomy; textbook surgery - or so the doctors claim - she's going to be fine."
"Great. Sorry guys," she turns to the team, "This is Ashley's boyfriend, Tyler; Tyler, this is Greg House, Elliot Reed, Eric Foreman, and Robert Chase."
"Chase…right, the Ken doll that slept with you while you were high on crystal meth."
"That's right." Cameron easily supplies once again, ignoring the blush that's seeping up Chase's face.
"Does your entire family feel the same way about him?" House questions her.
"Yup. Just be thankful that Alex was in uniform when he met you," Cameron addresses Chase, "Though that hasn't always stopped him before."
"He's got a file full of complaints to prove it." Ashley supplies, glaring at Chase - and not entirely playfully.
"So," Elliot breaks in, "I thought this was supposed to be a fun night out." She grabs Chase's hand and drags him out onto the dance floor as a new song starts, Ashley and Tyler following suit.
Foreman is approached by a woman, who easily fires back that she's legal when House loudly states that he's not in the mood to bail him out of jail that night, before following her out onto the dance floor, leaving House and Cameron behind, just as the waiter returns with their drinks.
Following the dance, Cameron and House watched as Foreman's dance partner thanked him and moved onto the next guy. Confused, he returned to the table with the other two couples…Ashley spoke up before he could voice any questions.
"Word of advice, Dr. Foreman, don't take any requests by girls here seriously. She probably thought you were a recruiter…In fact, most people here will think that all of you are recruiters. It's the curse of being here and over 25. Why didn't you join us out there, Allison?" She abruptly changes topic.
"Because I didn't want to leave House here alone. It's not fair that we dragged him out here when he can't dance."
"That doesn't mean that you can't. Are you afraid that all your time away from the dance studio will show? Or are you afraid that it won't and you'll be recruited?"
Cameron shoots her sister a murderous look (similar to the one that she gave Angela when she revealed her singing talents), causing the questioning looks to once again reappear.
"What?" Chase speaks up as his position of 'One to ask the obvious'.
"They aren't serious, are they, Ally?" Ashley looks around and sees three questioning glances. She focuses on House, realizing just how much her sister has told her new boyfriend about her past. "Let's put it this way," Ashley takes pity on her sister and givers her coworkers the short version, "Julliard's loss was Columbia's gain; one less entertainer for one more savior."
"Is she serious, Cameron?" Foreman questions her. Cameron shoots her sister one more murderous look before going into more depth for her friends.
"Yeah. I was offered a dual scholarship to Julliard for their music and dance/theatre departments."
"Music? Voice or instrument?"
"Could have gone for either, but this was for instrument." Cameron answers before they can ask, "I played the piano and guitar seriously; dabbled a little with the drums, but just enough to give some of my compositions a beat."
"Why didn't you accept it?"
"For the same reason why Alex chose the Marines instead of the Navy, and the same reason why I chose Columbia over Northwestern-"
"And the same reason why I chose Julliard over Stanford." Ashley supplies.
"One in each field is enough." The sisters finish simultaneously. Cameron elaborates when they look at the two as if they're crazy.
"Alex wanted to join the Navy, but Angela wanted to be a doctor, and the Marines don't have a medical Corps. Angela went to Northwestern, pre-med, so I went to Columbia - partly so that I could still be a part of the dancing scene - and I knew that Ash wanted to be a dancer - even when she seven she knew that. She could have gone to Stanford-"
"-But then I'd probably have let our mother have her way and she'd have talked me into getting my diploma in pre-law." Ashley interrupts to tell her part.
"This way, no one's stepping on anyone's toes…or sharing the spotlight. We all have our own spotlights…and no one is stealing anyone's thunder."
"You realize that makes absolutely no sense, right?" Chase interjects. "Basically you're saying that you gave up your dreams for someone else."
"Spoken like an only child." Ashley replies, the dislike for the intensivist evident. "The five of us shared a ton of stuff growing up, including teachers, because our small town school only had so many professionals qualified to teach AP courses. Adam and I had it the worst. We weren't sacrificing our dreams…we were living them. Stepping aside so that none of us shared anything has made us closer. And we don't have to deal with anyone saying stuff like 'Your sister and/or brother was better at such and such than you'; we dealt with that enough in school. Granted it drove us to find our own niches and successes, which led us to where we are today, so it wasn't a total loss, but we didn't sacrifice anything…we merely achieved what we truly wanted, not what others wanted us to achieve.
"And didn't you give up the seminary because your father wanted you to be a doctor? That sure sounds like you gave up your dreams for someone else."
Chase wisely remains silent, though he flags down the waiter and orders another drink.
"Besides," Cameron tries to save the evening, "Dancing and music was a hobby, medicine was what I really wanted to do. And I always preferred New York over Chicago, so it's not like my choices were really sacrifices."
The group quietly nurses their drinks, trying not to say anything that will piss the others off. Reed sees that Chase is about to open his mouth and drags him onto the dance floor once again. Ashley leaves Tyler's side and drags Foreman out. Tyler is about to ask Cameron to dance when another man approaches her and does the honors. Tyler takes a seat when it's just him and House left.
"How long have you been a member of this family?" House speaks up.
"Long enough to know to stay silent when Ash gets into one of her moods."
"They all seem really protective of each other."
"They've been through a lot. You wouldn't think that the age gap was as big as it is by the way that they act towards each other."
"How much have they really been through? I know about their dad being MIA, and then there was Addison, and Allison's husband… What else is there?"
Tyler looks at House disbelievingly. "If you think that's even the tip of the iceberg, than you need psychiatric help. Those events are more like the tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg. Three of the five of them have had drug addictions, two of them attempted suicide in their teen years, all five of them have spent years in therapy - family and individual - just because they look like the perfect family, does not by any means make them one.
"Wait until you get your welcoming gift. Then they'll let you in on everything. Until then, I didn't tell you anything."
"Welcoming gift?"
"Maggie liked you, right?"
"Yeah."
"Ash does too. You'll probably get your gift by the end of the weekend."
"So Maggie and Ashley's opinion determines my induction into the family?"
"No, all of the siblings opinions earns your induction into the family. And since you were allowed to meet Adam and Ashley, that means that Alex and Angela approved of you."
"Good to know." The pair falls silent as everyone returns.
"So, Greg," Ashley comments, "Are we going to get you out on the dance floor at all tonight?"
House holds up his cane while answering, "This really doesn't mix well with dancing… now if one of the singers needs a backup guitarist, then I'm in."
"That can be arranged." Ash takes off for the stage before House can comment, causing Tyler and Allison to laugh.
"Sorry House, but you've just gotten yourself recruited for entertainment." Cameron manages to get out through her laughter.
"Don't we need to get back to the hotel? We've got an early day tomorrow."
"Oh no," Cameron stops him from getting up, "You've gotten yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out of it. Besides, I don't think that another 10 minutes will hurt us tonight."
She's prevented from saying anything more as Ashley returns. "Good news, one of the guitarists sprained his wrist, and his replacement won't be here for another 10 minutes. There could be a revolt in that time if there's no music. They've even supplied a stool for you to use so you don't hurt your leg." Ashley steps to the side, indicating the space that's being set up on stage for him. Reluctantly, House gets to his feet, leaning down to whisper in Cameron's ear,
"We're leaving after this." Straightening, he follows Ashley to the stage, leaving Cameron behind with a goofy smile on her face at seeing House so easily manipulated by her family.
The smile does not go unnoticed by Chase, as a look of realization crosses his face when he sees the gaze shared by his boss and colleague across the dance floor. The gaze is broken as House turns his attention to one of the other musicians that's showing him the music for the next song. Everyone pairs up again, this time Chase is left out while the others go out to the floor - Reed with an unknown man from the audience this time, and Foreman with Cameron. No one approaches Chase, giving him the perfect opportunity to observe House and Cameron.
I think they'll only be one more chapter after this...The initiation gift...that's something my brothers and I do. Nothing fancy, but it is tradition, and we only do it when we know that it's serious with the respective significant other. Review... please... you know that you want to.