Amazing Grace- A House/NCIS story
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything House related except DVDs. Ryan is mine, though.
Chapter thirteen:
The next morning as Nina served breakfast, Cameron seemed to be in a daze. She wore a simple black dress, and ate no breakfast, merely nursing a mug of coffee for an hour, before slipping outside.
"She's just gone to see the horses," Andrew reassured Abby, seeing her and Ziva stare after her. "She'll be fine, just needs some time alone."
"Awfully convenient she gets out of the dishes again," Nick grumbled, not serious, but Jacqui turned on her brother.
"Nick, give her a break. She's has to watch two of her friend's get buried today and the love of her life is god knows where, either dead or alive. Now is not the time to get pissy over doing some dishes."
Nick seemed taken aback, but didn't reply. The funeral, as all funerals are, was awful. Cameron, Pete, Sam and Josh met up with the rest of their classmates who had returned to their childhood town for the funeral, and comforted the grieving widows and children and families of their old friends.
For the service, Cameron sung an even more haunting version of Amazing Grace then she had sung in the hospital, and the mourners seemed to cling together as they remembered and celebrated the lives of Paul and Jake. The Washington and New Jersey visitors felt rather awkward at first, but everyone welcomed them, and everyone who met House, after learning he was Cameron's boss, was incredibly eager to praise her.
"If I have to listen to one more person telling me that Allison is beautiful, smart, caring, a lovely girl who's been through so much, or a beautiful singer once more, I'm going to beat myself to death with my cane," House sighed sitting next to Wilson at the wake, interrupting his friend's conversation with Gibbs,
Gibbs and Wilson exchanged an amused look. "Because you already know it or because you don't believe it?" Wilson asked.
House glared at his friend. "Shut it."
House stole some food of Wilson's plate, and just as his friend opened his mouth to protest, Gibbs cell phone rang.
"Gibbs," he answered brusquely. Then a strange expression crossed his face. "Yeah, ok hang on a sec."
He stood up and moved away, leaving House and Wilson staring after him confused. "Do you think it's to do with Ryan?" Wilson asked.
House shrugged. "I dunno."
Gibbs didn't say anything until they arrived back at the Cameron's home that afternoon, when Cameron had collapsed wearily on the couch, kicking off her heels. Then he stood in the doorway of the living room and spoke up to everyone.
"I got a call from one of my army contacts," he began and Cameron looked up, trying to remain calm.
"Ok," she said hoarsely, sitting up slowly.
"They found Ryan in a field hospital about ten miles from where they were attacked."
Cameron nodded and tension filled the room, as all eyes were fixed on Gibbs, who suddenly smiled. "He's alive."
She seemed to collapse with relief, and let out a shaky laugh as Jacqui and Sophie hugged her happily.
"There's more too," Gibbs continued. "He was blown back by a bomb blast and hit his head. Someone found him, unconscious and took him to the hospital. He woke up yesterday, and there we are."
Cameron smiled, relaxing with the good news. "He's okay then?"
"He had a concussion, but he'll be fine. Apparently, my contact mentioned the NCIS wanted any information on his whereabouts, and he couldn't understand why. When he found out we'd been acting on behalf of one Allison Cameron, he decided to change his flight path home."
Cameron's jaw dropped. "What?"
Gibbs nodded. "He'll be here by noon tomorrow."
Everyone let out cries of joy, and Cameron beamed. She stood up, hugged Gibbs tightly in thanks, and hurried out to call Ryan's father and Sam, Pete and Josh.
That night, too jittery to sleep, Cameron found herself downstairs at two in the morning, watching old home videos and eating ice cream in near silence.
"Can't sleep?"
She jumped as Abby and Ziva entered the room in their pajamas. "No," she smiled shaking her head.
"Why?" Abby asked, sitting next to her.
Cameron shrugged. "Part of me is too excited, another part is too sad over today, and the other part is afraid to sleep in case this all turns out to be a dream."
Ziva gestured to the TV screen. "What's this?"
"Home movies," she replied. "This is me the night of the prom."
"Nice dress," Ziva said, admiring the full length red dress she was wearing. Cameron smiled.
"Mom almost had a fit when I picked it. She said red was too old for me, and it gave the wrong idea." Then she laughed softly.
"It was worth it though. I was the only one in red, and I thought Ryan was going to have a stroke when I came downstairs."
She fast-forwarded the tape to fit the spot, and indeed, Ryan's eyes bulged when he saw her. Ziva and Abby laughed.
"If you can get one guy to look like that when you enter a room, you must be doing something right," Cameron laughed.
On screen, the young Ryan presented her with a red rose wrist corsage, and kissed her gently, and Cameron sighed wistfully.
"Isn't hard being friends with someone that you're still in love with?" Abby asked her.
Cameron shrugged. "It was at first, a little. I remember not wanting to tell him about Dan in case it was weird, but it gets easier. Now, he's my best friend. The fact that I still love him and he loves me is a separate issue."
She offered the ice cream tub to the girls, and they continued to watch the movie. Just before the sun rose, Cameron dragged them and her sister's out for a horse ride to watch it.
"Wow," whispered Ziva as they watched it light up the countryside.
"And you didn't want to come," Jacqui teased her.
Sophie took a deep breath of the air. "Nothing beats the country air,"
"I always miss this most," Cameron sighed.
Eventually, they returned to the stable, brushed and cleaned the horses, and returned to the house in time for breakfast. As they ate, Ryan's father Marcus called for Cameron, and told her he would pick Ryan up from the airport and bring him to Pillan Istu. Following the call, Cameron bounced around excitedly, until Tony teased her about acting like she was on drugs.
House raised an eyebrow in interest. "Really? What is it this time?"
"Happiness, the one drug you're cut off from," she glared at him, and Foreman and Chase snickered.
Pete, Sam and Josh arrived mid-morning, and they sat with Cameron in the living room comparing high school memories, until a horn beeped outside. With her heart in her throat, Cameron was up in a flash and out the door. Ryan stepped out of the car, smiling broadly and his smile widened as Cameron dashed out of the house and jumped into his arms.
She didn't cry, or scream, or whisper in his ear; she merely clung to him as though her life depended on it, her face buried in his shoulder. He too, held her tightly, not wanting to let go, inhaling her scent deeply. As Marcus got out of the car, and Ted invited him inside while Nina got him coffee, and everyone else stood on the porch watching, the couple still hold one another, until finally, Josh coughed loudly.
"Hey, McMahon- we're here too! We survived a war, if you're interested!" he cried, and grinning Ryan reluctantly released Cameron and greeted his friends.
Then Cameron seized his hand and dragged him over to the porch, where her siblings welcomed him home.
"Everyone, this is my best friend in the entire world, Ryan McMahon. Ryan, this is... everybody. This is Foreman, Chase, Wilson and House. And this is Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, McGee and Abby."
Ryan grinned at them all. "Hi, it's nice to finally be able to put a face to the names," he smiled in his Irish accent with a faint American twinge. "Ally's told me so much about you all."
Cameron blushed slightly, but brought them all inside where Nina and Ted greeted Ryan like a son. Ryan and Marcus stayed for lunch, where Ryan and the boys told endless stories of Cameron growing up, to the delight of Tony and Chase, and to her embarrassment. In the early afternoon, Ryan said quietly he'd like to go to the cemetery, and Pete, Sam, Josh and Cameron decided to go with him.
"I'll just get my jacket," she told them, and they went to wait on the porch, bidding goodbye to the others.
"So when do you fly home?" Ted asked his daughter when she returned.
"What, you trying to get rid of me Dad?" she teased.
He smiled lovingly at her, and his eyes twinkled. "No, Princess. Just trying to figure it all out."
"We leave the day after tomorrow," she replied. "Then back to work on Monday."
"Actually," Wilson interjected. "We go back to work on Monday. Cuddy gave you next week off."
Both Cameron and House startled. "Why? I'm fine," she frowned in confusion.
"And why wasn't I told?" House demanded.
Wilson shrugged. "In case you said no. Anyway, she has to. When someone suffers a loss, she has to give them time off to grieve. You still get paid."
"Well, that's the important thing," Cameron retorted sarcastically.
Ryan stuck in head in the kitchen. "Are you coming, angel?"
"Yeah, I'm coming," Cameron grumbled good-naturedly, heading out the door; oblivious to the smirks and facial expressions on the faces of Tony, House and Wilson. The five friends left the house and borrowed Marcus' truck to drive to the cemetery, Ryan at the wheel. When they arrived, the four led Ryan to the freshest graves that they had stood at only the previous day.
"I still can't believe it," Ryan murmured, staring at the tombstones.
"I know," Cameron replied, taking his hand.
He turned the them, grimacing. "Sorry I put you all through that, guys," he apologised.
"Forget it," Sam replied fiercely.
"It wasn't your fault," Pete added.
"Besides, we know what it's like over there. Ally was the one falling apart," Josh contributed.
Ryan pulled her into another hug. "Sorry, angel."
For the first time, Cameron had tears in her eyes. "I was trying so hard to make myself believe that you were alive. But I was terrified that you were gone," she whispered into his chest.
Ryan didn't say anything, just held her silently. Finally, when she pulled away, he grinned light-heartedly.
"So... Tony's cute. Is he still into you?"
Relaxing, the others laughed and sitting down beside their friend's graves, began to talk.
The next morning, Ryan flew back to Ireland to see his mother and sisters. Cameron was reluctant to let him go, but then he promised to come back for her birthday in January, so she forgave him.
"Can't miss your big 3-0!" he teased. "You're getting old, angel. How's it feel?"
"I'm younger than you, dingus!" she laughed, hitting him playfully.
"And you've never looked more beautiful," he quickly changed his tune, realising she was right. "Even if you do abuse war heroes."
She glared at him. "Ryan William McMahon, get your ass on that plane, before I do abuse you for playing that Cd for all of Iraq!"
"And on that note, I bid everyone adieu," he said quickly, planting a kiss on her cheek. "Will you still love me tomorrow?" he asked her softly, and she grinned reluctantly as him.
"Forever and ever, babe."
The two exchanged a private smile and he gave her one last hug and kiss before he finally turned and boarded the plane.
"So, what are we going to do this afternoon?" Andrew asked no-one in particular as they returned to the ranch.
"Why don't we all have a picnic by the lake," Nina suggested, and everyone agreed.
It was a beautiful spring afternoon and they were all enjoying the picnic. Nick brought down a soccer ball, and started a game with all the children and his siblings, slowly drawing most of the others into the game. Cameron got a goal in through Matt, and did a series of perfect, elegant cartwheels to celebrate, her long blonde hair flowing everywhere.
Cameron's side ending winning the game 16-14; and as they all wearily returned to the blanket, she couldn't resist the opportunity to tease Tony, who had played centre for the other team.
"Gee DiNozzo, no wonder you're single. I hate sports and you still couldn't beat me!"
Tony began to glare at her, but grinned mischievously. "Oh yeah? Here, Ally, you look a little sweaty. Why don't we cool you down?"
He bent down slightly to pick her up, and she took a step back nervously. "Tony, what are you doing? Tony?"
Tony scooped her over his shoulder in a fireman's life, despite her squealing protests, and jumped into the lake with her in his arms, both fully clothed. Cameron shrieked as the cold water hit her, and when she surfaced, she proceeded to dunk a smugly-grinning Tony, who splashed in objection. Laughing, Jacqui and Abby ran down into the water, hence, half the party moved into the water, starting a massive water fight.
As House watched from shore as Cameron laughed, splashed and raced the others in the water, she looked happier than he had ever seen her; especially in the last few weeks. As the sun began to set, they all emerged from the water dripping, and collapsed onto the ground, laughing and out of breath.
All in all, Cameron thought, smiling at her family and friends, the afternoon had been the perfect thing to help her move on after the past few weeks.