Author´s note: Ha. He. This chapter took a while and it´s a little longer than the others. I didn´t get much comments on the last chapter, I hope this one will bring some of the readers out of the dark, telling me how they find this little one here. Good? Bad? Tell me! And, if all goes good, this is the last chapter I will post without a Beta having seen it before you. crossesfingers

Song Lyrics: BLACK HEART FROM A-HA

Chapter Nine

……………………………………

I never saw sunlight
Burn as bright
I never felt darkness
The way I feel it tonight

But I never felt darkness
Like I feel it tonight
Little black heart
……………………………………

She knows the peeving sound of his cane crashing into her front door well enough by now. Oh, why would he never do what she wanted, hoped?

She also knows that ignoring him wouldn´t impress him a second. Worse, he only would take this as a challenge. But Cameron is too tired, too weak to battle him right now. The sooner she would open the door, the sooner he just would vanish.

While once again preparing herself to face Gregory House, she opens the door.

The brown cane stops in his actions, and remains motionless in the air, only hold by a hand. Before she even can see his face, he squalls past her, entering the apartment. What the…

"I just can´t believe it!" His voice is on the top of screaming. He limps toward her couch, letting himself fall on it, looking furious at her, his eyebrows almost making contact with his burning eyes.

Closing the door behind him Cameron is about to yell back at him for "burgle" into her private place when something stops her. Opening her door again she looks into the dark floor while an uncanny feeling is taking over her But, no, nothing there. Nothing more beside her angst. For a second she could have sworn that…

"Cameron?" A worried voice cuts through her thoughts, remembering her of House´s presence.

"Hu?" Did he spoke to her? Of course he spoke to you, Allison. You see any other person here? Get your head straight! Now isn´t the time to freak out!

She turns around to him, an answer already on her lips, as she once again finds herself stopped.

This time, it is a slightly disturbed Gregory House who within seconds stands beside her, peeking through her loophole.

"House, what are you doing?" His action seem weird to her, even considering that it was House.

His voice echoes against the door. "Making sure that everything is okay."

This leaves her astonished. Making sure that everything is okay?

Suddenly he turns to her, his whole posture tensed, his now dark eyes looking inexorable at her.

"What did you see?" It is more a request than a question.

"I..I" What now? What was she supposed to say? How could she escape his scanning eyes?

"I don´t know. Maybe a shadow and…"

"And a shadow causes you to freak out like that?" His eyes tell her that he don´t believe her, and right now, she´s not in the shape to lie at him. So she decides to be honest.

"Fine. I thought that I had seen someone at the end of the floor. But as you can see…"

"So you saw someone?" His questions nerve her. What the heck he wants from her?

"Oh, stop it. It was just a shadow, alright?" She raises an eyebrow, her hands stemmed on her hips. "So. Wanna tell me what you want from me? How often I have to say that I want to be alone?"

House, his weight supported by the cane, looks down at his feet.

"Cuddy talked to me some hours before." He goes back to her couch and sits down, waiting for her to say something.

"I know." She had thought about this confrontation since her telephone talk with Cuddy. Thinking about how to react, what to say, hell, what to do. She didn´t came up with an answer.

"Can´t you just forget it?" She lowers her voice "Please?" How she hates to beg.

When he shakes his head, she´s not surprised. But his words do it.

"No, I can´t. This whole thing is nothing you just can erase from your mind. " He looks up at her and his voice holds a soft tone when he speaks again. "Cameron, why don´t you come over here and sit down so we can talk?"

"No. I want you to go."

"But I won´t."

Suddenly, her own weakness irks her. Here she stands, in her home, the only place where she feels safe, strong, and she can´t fight House. But she should be. She can´t allow him to take away her left strength. Not here, not yet. She remembers the last words Dr. Tiek said on this morning.

"You have to fetch back your life. And for that, you have to fight."

Now was a good time to start with that. She´s sick of being the weaker one. The harsh sound of her voice sends a jolt into House´s body.

"Enough!" She points at him "Enough! You go, now! You grab that silly cane of yours and then you limp out of my apartment as fast as your third leg will allow you. Or," she lowers her voice "do I have to help you?"

He´s so shocked at her speech that he only can repeat her question, with a dumb expression on his face.

"Help me?"

Cameron takes a step toward him, her face almost red, and her left hand now sticks into House´s chest.

"Yeah, helping you. Wanna know how?" Her voice is almost a whisper now.

"I´m not sure." What the hell was happening here? Who was this woman before him, and where was Cameron?

"Oh, never mind, I´m telling you anyway. Let´s be honest, House. You´re a cripple. Think it´s that hard for me to bring you from you´re good leg? And when you lie down, I will drag you out of my apartment – on your ears."

In this moment, looking at a very angry Cameron, feeling her finger on his chest, hearing the fury in her voice, House understands. He sees behind her mask. And what he finds there is pleasing him.

"Nah," he waves a hand at her "you would never do that."

"Wanna see?" She gets impatient.

"Come on. Look at you! You are nothing more than a line in the landscape. One big gust and you fly away. You just too weak to…"

"I am not weak!" How could he dare to even think that? Bastard!

"Pfft! You actually believe that? What lets you think that? Cause I really can´t see you not being weak. Have some examples for me?"

"I defeated him!" Oh, no, no, did she just spoke that out loud? Dear God…

House stands up, his body almost touching hers. He sees the anguish in her eyes. It is nearly too much for him to bear.

"Defeated who?" He whispers, his hand clutches painful his cane.

She intends to move away from him and the warmth coming from his body, but his free hand gently grabs hers, not letting her go. She can´t stop the word coming out of her mouth.

"Jared."

Jared. A name for her ex-boyfriend. A name behind the tragedy that had stroked her. A name for the…wait.

Jared. The letter "J". The scar. My god, this sick Bastard.

It´s then when he just takes her powerless body into his arms. He feels a single tear sliding down his neck. But he is not sure whether it´s coming from her or from him. And it does not matter.

……………………………………………

You say it's getting better
You say it's allright

But I never felt darkness
Like I feel it tonight
Little black heart
…………………………………..

He looks at the picture. Both women on it are looking in the direction of the camera, not aware of being watched. They are both beautiful, though in different ways. One is catching the eyes of a man with her obvious strength, the other with her more hidden. Though both women are thin, delighted with a perfect body, they have a different appeal on a man. He would never accuse his half-sister Lisa of looking fragile, but he would say that to his Cameron. He even once did. But she´s not fragile, he knows. Hell had no fury like her. And she was his fury. She ever was, and she will ever be. Too bad that Cameron hadn´t recognized that fact back on the boat or, in the end, in New York. Now she would pay for her ignorance. Pay for being away that long. And this time, she would not escape him. He made sure of that.

He can´t wait to touch her silken skin again, to kiss her again. Only a few more days.