Amazing Grace- A House/NCIS story

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything House related except DVDs. Ryan is mine, though.

Chapter seven:

Cameron opened her closet and paused thoughtfully before its contents. Abby sat on her perfectly made bed, playing with her hair. She had denied Cameron's offer to borrow an outfit, but that didn't stop her from admiring the contents. Ziva stood awkwardly in the doorway, inspecting her new friend's home.

"Okay, Ziva pick whatever you like," Cameron said generously.

"Wouldn't you go rather go first?"

She laughed. "No, it'll be way easier for me to choose this way."

Ziva laughed too, and reluctantly began to flick through dresses.

"Hey, Lissy, what's this one?" Abby asked, pulling out a long white plastic bag.

Cameron smiled softly, partly at the dress Abby was holding, and partly because the girls had began using the nickname her sister's used for her.

"Uh, that's my wedding dress."

Abby and Ziva stared at her. "You're married?"

"I was," she corrected. "Six months, when I was twenty-one. He died of cancer."

Ziva winced. "I'm so sorry, that must have been awful."

"It was. Some days it still is. But life moves on." Cameron reached past them and pulled out a simple green dress and handed it to Ziva.

"Here, try this. It should fit, and the colour will look amazing on you."

Ziva nodded, recognizing the change of subject and went to change in the bathroom. After a moment's reflection, Cameron selected a one-shouldered deep blue cocktail dress and pulled back her long, soft curls.

"So where are we going?" Abby asked as they left the apartment forty minutes later.

"Well, the boys are downtown," Cameron said thoughtfully. "So I suggest we go uptown."

Ziva and Abby agreed, laughing. They ended up at a club Cameron had found shortly after her arrival in New Jersey three years ago, and they snagged a back table and ordered a round of drinks.

"So, what do you think of Tony?" Ziva asked Cameron bluntly once they were seated.

Cameron blushed. "Well, I don't know."

"Oh, come on Allison! Like you haven't noticed he's onto you."

"In to," Abby corrected her co-worker.

"Oh no, I've noticed!" Cameron laughed. "He's not exactly subtle, is he?"

"Subtly is not one of Tony's strong points," Ziva said dryly.

Cameron paused thoughtfully. "Well, he's certainly..."

"Cute?" offered Abby.

"Very, very cute," she corrected.

"But?" Ziva pressed.

"But... he's confident. He came right out and said he liked me. Which makes it far too easy."

"And what's wrong with that?"

"If anything's too easy, something must be wrong," she replied quietly. "After everything I've been through in my life, I don't trust anything that happens too easily."

"Like your accident?"

"Yeah. Like the fact I grew up on a ranch. Like how I had to work my ass off to get into med school and college, and how I married my husband knowing he was dying."

Abby raised an eyebrow. "Like the fact you're in love with your boss?"

Cameron nearly choked on a mouthful of her wine. "What?"

"We're trained to notice details," Ziva told her quietly. "Things other people don't."

"So, what's the story?"

Cameron hesitated. "I don't think I even know the story. I know I like him. About two years ago, I quit. There was so much going on and I was just realising my feelings for him...and then two weeks later, he turned up on my doorstep, begging me to come back."

"Awww, that's so sweet!" Abby smiled.

She shook her head. "No, it's not. He wouldn't tell me why he wanted me back. In the end, I said if he took me out on a date, I'd come back."

"You blackmailed your boss into taking you on a date?" Ziva asked in amazement, raising an eyebrow.

Cameron winced at the memory. "Yeah, not one of my finest moments. So we went out, and House proceeded to tell me that I don't love, I need and the only reason I like him is because I want to fix him."

Both girls' jaws dropped. "Ouch, what a barstard!" Abby swore.

"I've spent the last two years trying to move on with my life. Which is hard when I have no life."

Ziva sighed softly. "That must be hard."

"Yeah. But I've accepted that no matter what I feel, he doesn't feel the same."

"So the jealous death stares he's been giving Tony all day are what then?" Abby asked playfully.

Cameron laughed. "When it comes to House... he's like a little kid. I'm just a toy, he got given for Christmas and doesn't play with. But when another kid comes over, and wants to play with the toy, he gets possessive, saying that it's his toy and no-one else can play with it."

"Men should grow up," Ziva grumbled.

"And dogs should stop licking themselves, it's not gonna happen," Cameron smiled, taking a sip of her wine.

Across town in a dark and dingy pub, Chase, Foreman, Wilson, and McGee sat giving Tony a hard time about Cameron.

"Dude, the only way you could make it more obvious that you like her is to paint a billboard," Foreman laughed.

Tony laughed too, not embarrassed in the slightest. "Okay, she's hot. I like her. Is that so wrong?"

"It's scary," McGee replied. "You, Mr. Commitment-phobia, in a serious relationship? The longest relationship you've had was giving them coffee in the morning."

Tony scowled. "Thanks, Probie." He turned to the others. "I go to McSappy for all my relationship advice."

"So, is this going to be a holiday fling thing, or do you seriously like her?" Wilson asked seriously.

"I really like her. It's not often I find someone with the complete package," Tony said earnestly.

Foreman and Chase exchanged a look. "Ok. It's just... Cameron's a friend. And she's been through more than you realise. The last thing she needs is another heartbreak."

Tony took a swig of beer. "What did House do to her?"

Wilson was startled. "What? What do you mean?"

"Come on, he's been giving me non-verbal death threats ever since I got here. What did she dump him or something?"

"Yeah, right. That would require them to be in a relationship, which would require House to admit he likes her," Chase rolled his eyes.

"Hey, he's been through a lot too!" Wilson defended his friend.

"I know that. But not as much as Cameron, and you know it's true."

"Is he afraid of the age difference?" McGee asked Wilson.

Wilson shrugged. "He won't talk about it. He'll hint he likes her, but I doubt he's even admitted it to himself yet. But I think that's part of it. I also think he likes her too much he doesn't want to hurt her. And he doesn't trust himself not to hurt her."

"Well, I'm not going to hurt her," Tony reassured them.

"Good. 'Cause if you do, we'll kick your ass back to Washington," Foreman said quietly