Author´s note: I don´t own House, I just play a little with them.
As always, thank you Katie-girl!
The lights are moving back and forth, faster and slower, changing colors every time House opens his eyes. For a second he wondered. Why was he lying on the sidewalk in the dark with a burning pain in his upper arm? He remembers walking down the street with Cameron, talking about that Jared guy, when someone hit him hard in the face, and then shot at him. But now, Cameron is nowhere to be seen. It is then that he realizes that the lights are coming from the cars that are passing him, unable to see the weak body on the ground. Help. He had to get help. Slowly House reaches for his mobile phone, trying to remember what to do. Ambulance. He should call an ambulance.
The moment Cuddy had entered Cameron´s apartment, only to find emptiness and quietness, she knew that something had happened. Something must have. Even though she knew that both House and Cameron would have the guts to walk around the streets, regardless of her orders to stay inside, she also knew that they at least would have been back in time. But neither of them is. She almost jumps as her mobile phone inside her handbag starts to ring. Looking at the display, seeing House´s number, she starts to think about all the insults she would throw at him and later at Cameron.
"House! Where the hell are you two?" She hears sirens in the background, and fast footsteps.
"Listen Cuddy; Someone hit and shot me. When I woke up, Cameron was gone." Oh my god.
"Are you, is Cameron…" Not knowing what to say, the shock stronger than her ability to think, she let´s the unfinished sentence hang in the air.
"I´m fine, it´s only a flesh wound. –Cuddy, Cameron said something right before everything went black. I think she said Jared." No no, that can´t be right. The attacker can´t be Jared. My brother is dead.
"No, that can´t be. Maybe you…"
"Listen, Cuddy, for once in your life, we don´t have the time to argue about that part! Let me ask you something: What if I´m right, what if Cameron said that name? What if it is him? What do you know about him? I mean, has Cameron told you anything about him? We need to know more about guy." She can´t answer that question without thinking about it. House still don´t knows that Jared was…god forbid… is her brother. But now is not the time to make any further lies about that. There's no point now in hiding it.
"I knew him very well. He was my half brother."
"You mean: He is." Somehow, House's lack of surprise does not surprise her.
"Meet me at the clinic. And bring a photo of your brother with you."
"What the hell took you so long? Had to do something else important before coming in?" House´s angry voice greets a despaired and exhausted Cuddy as she enters the treatment room.
Ignoring the remark she walks toward him, stopping at the patient´s bed he is sitting on, her eyes lying worriedly on his arm where a bandage covers his wound. "It´s a flesh wound, like I said. The bullet only scratched my arm. Only needed a few stitches. I´m used to being be a target for bullets." Cuddy remains silent; her thoughts are fully on Cameron now, seeing that House is alright.
"The photo?" he asks while grabbing his coat and jumping to his feet's.
Her distant yes are looking right through him and he snaps his fingers before her face, causing her to come back into reality. "Huh?"
"The photo!" Gosh, sometimes he felt the urge to shake this woman, hard.
"Oh, yeah. Here you go." She hands him an old, crimpled photo, immediately seeing the emotional change on his face. "What? Is that…did he shoot you?"
House shakes his head. "I don´t know. Could be. Size and weight fits. But I've seen this guy before." He looks up at Cuddy, his eyes locked into hers. "He was at Amanda Tiek´s office. Talking to her."
"Maybe we should let the police handle this, House." House stops in his steps, turning back to Cuddy who´s not sure if she should just let him go or not.
"The police? You mean the same union that took care of your brother the last time?" Cuddy´s head turns down as a loud sigh escapes her mouth. "Okay, but I´m coming with you."
"I what? Lisa, what is he talking about?" She looks bewildered at House, whose cane hangs in the air, pointing at her while he stares down at her.
"Did you hear what happened?" he asks before Cuddy is able to answer the question.
"Yes, and actually the police was already here, and I told them everything about Dr. Cameron. From the abduction, the circumstances to his death." She now stares back at House, one eyebrow lifted.
"You mean everything till he disappeared."
"Lisa, I really don´t know what this man is talking about! I´m about to lose my patience with this cane-guy!"
House snorts while placing the photo of Jared in her field of vision. "Ever seen that guy?" The therapist takes the photo, nodding. "Yes. He came in once, must have been last week and we had a conversation. But he never showed up again after that. Why? I mean why is that…holy crap! Don´t tell me that this is the guy!"
"He is." House turns around to Cuddy who finally had to admit that House was right all the time; that her brother is very alive, now with Cameron in his grasp. She had sat down or her legs would give in right now. How could something like this happen, again? How could he be alive while everybody thought that he had died years ago? And – to think about that almost let´s her vomit – how are they supposed to find Cameron?
While handing back the picture to House, Dr. Tiek opens her door fully. "Come on in. I want to hear exactly what happened. Maybe I can help with creating an profile of him."
"So he attacked you from behind. He took your cane and hit you; you went down. And then?"
"Then he kicked me, and I saw a gun, but suddenly he stopped, something distracted him. It was Cameron, I guess. She screamed at him. Then he kicked me again. Before everything went black, I heard Cameron saying Jared. "
"My god." Cuddy´s voice almost breaks as she speaks. "Why couldn´t you two just stay in her apartment? Like I told you? Then maybe this would never have happened!" She´s now on the verge of screaming at him, but his guilty face stops her.
"You think I don´t know that? I shouldn´t have pressed her to tell me everything."
"What do you mean?" Tiek looks suspicious at him, her voice full of curiosity.
"Because that´s the reason we left her apartment. She agreed to tell me, but not in her private place. She said something about not wanting to have bad memories hanging there."
"You´re really not as smart as you seem to think, you know that? You can´t walk around and pretend to know everything right now. Especially not from a traumatized person!"
House begins to reply, but Cuddy waves him off with her hand. "What do you think Amanda? What does he want from Cameron?" Her eyes filled with fear, Cuddy´s not sure that she wants to know.
"You can´t see it that way. He wants nothing from her. He simply wants her." Looking over to House she adds: "And with shooting at you, we have our first clue of how his mind works. It´s only a flesh wound, you said?"
House nods, not sure of the direction the therapist is going.
"So he chooses not to kill you, he probably never wanted to. He meant to show you a lesson; get your hands off my girl. And I bet that he will tell her that you are dead. Just to make her feel guilty."
"You think he will hurt her? She hasn't told me about…what happened between them. She only told me the basic storyline." Cuddy closes her eyes at House's question while the therapist thinks a moment about this before answering.
"I am afraid that he will show the same behavior as years ago. After all, he obviously can´t see or understand the damage he has done. And I´m sure that he has planned this for years, and for some reason, he now decided to make the final move."
"Wake up. Come on, wake up beautiful."
Huh? Is there someone talking to her? Is that a touch of a hand on her cheek? And why is it so cold? Cold and dark? Her head…dizzy and heavy, as if…Wait. Why is the hand moving down along her neck?
"Open your eyes." That voice! She recognizes it, it reminds her of someone. But who? And why is the hand now on her belly? Or are there two hands? It would explain the gentle pressure along her back. She has to open her eyes, but they feel way too heavy. Maybe it would be easier to just keep them closed, she could go back to sleep, escaping this nightmare she obviously has. Oh, no, that´s not right, Cameron. You have to open your eyes to on order to get rid of that ugly dream.
"Open your eyes, Cameron." Boy, now she remembers that voice. The ever-so-gentle-and-caring-voice of Jared! So she really was having a bad nightmare, but at the same time, the pressure on her back and the hand on her belly are tell a different story. "Open your eyes." There it was again. How can a nightmare be so real? She has to wake up. Suddenly she remembers something. She sees a face. House´s? Yes! She was with House when something happened. Something…just what? Damn, his voice now seems to be right in her head.
"Are you awake now?"
"Have to wake up." She mumbles to herself, slowly finding her way back to reality. Her memory is coming back, and with it the terror of it. Jared. House. A gun, the shot. The needle in her arm. Jared. A single moan escapes her throat.
"Something wrong with you?"
Slowly she opens her eyes, trying to see something in the darkness. Then she sees him, right before her, smiling lightly. She realizes that his hands are not touching her anymore, and indeed, they never had. The pressure on her back was coming from the chair she's sitting in, and the touch she feels on her stomach is coming from her own hands, bound together. Think, think. Don´t show weakness. That´s what he wants to see.
"Sorry if I scared you back on the street. Didn´t meant to." Oh my god, how am I supposed to deal with that?
"You…sh…shot House."
"You mean that cripple? Yeah, I think I did. Come on, the world doesn´t need him really." Cameron closes her eyes, trying to banish the image of him lying on the cold ground, blood on his body.
A light wind tells her when he comes toward her, the sound of his breath getting louder. As his hand touches her cheek, he asks: "Why don´t we talk about us? We could start with you trying to kill me."