A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed. I realize Cameron has been slightly out of character these last couple of chapters, but it won't be for long. She had some personal issues that will be revealed soon, and her worries about House being in rehab & being in charge have simply gotten the better of her. Thank to all those who are reading, and please keep reviewing!

Chapter 8

Cameron scanned the results the lab tech gave her before handing them to House. House read them over and arched an eyebrow at Cameron.

"Tox screen is clear," House said.

"I can read, too," Cameron deadpanned.

"Okay," House drawled. This bitchy Cameron was throwing him all off his game. It was tough to be the king of snark when Cameron kept beating him to the punch. "Why don't you go pick up the boys and I'll start dinner?"

Cameron merely stared at him for a second or two before turning to page Foreman and Chase to the conference room.

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House and Cameron sat staring at each other across the glass table, waiting for Foreman and Chase to answer their pagers. Well, House was staring at Cameron. Cameron faced in House's direction, but was not really looking at him, her eyes unfocused. House thought her eyes looked slightly glassy. If he hadn't known she wasn't sick he might have thought she was feverish. But, perhaps it was something a little less innocent. Was she really using drugs again? A horrible thought struck House; had she been driven to this because of his leaving to go to rehab and putting her in charge? Had he been wrong, was it really too much for her to handle?

House looked at her with new concern. She stared blankly forward, still not seeing the room around her. She took in a deep, quiet breath and let out an even softer sigh. House, sensing that she might be willing to talk now that she wasn't raging at him, leaned forward and placed his hand on her arm, but before he could speak Foreman and Chase came in and House jerked his arm back.

"We just left Derek's room, and we've got new symptoms, joint pain and difficulty breathing," Chase said to House, sitting down next to Cameron. Foreman went to make himself a cup of coffee while House added these new symptoms to the whiteboard.

"Okay, who wants to buy a vowel?" House asked his team, back to them as he stared at the list.

"What about…" Cameron began.

"Cameron, if you say lupus I'm going to make you eat that chart," House warned.

"May I finish?" Cameron asked loudly. Foreman and Chase shared a look. "Just because his tox screen is clear now, doesn't mean it's not drugs. These symptoms could be the result of long term amphetamine abuse."

"Suddenly everybody's a drug addict?" House asked, turning around. "Now I don't feel special." He spoke to the room, but his eyes locked with Cameron's. Foreman and Chase subtly backed up, not wanting to get in the middle of a confrontation between House and the new Cameron.

They'd noticed the change in Cameron's personality over the past weeks and had learned very quickly it was best not to piss her off. After two years, they were used to House's insanity. And at the very least, most of his tirades were fueled by his desire to solve a case. Cameron was angry about everything.

"How about hemochromatosis?" Foreman asked, hoping to break the tension.

"Good," House replied, but did not look away from Cameron. "Anything else?"

"Lyme disease," Chase offered.

"Also good," House said, still staring at her. He would not be the one to back down. "Go run the tests, let me know which one it is."

Foreman and Chase both left, eager to be out of the room. House and Cameron continued to stare at each other. The longer he stared, the more he felt like she wasn't angry with him. It made him feel marginally better. He assumed she'd be the one to back down, but maybe five hours with the new Cameron wasn't sufficient time for analysis, because she wasn't budging.

Cameron stared at him and willed herself not look away, and not to cry. She'd been so angry the last few weeks; she'd been holding it all in, knowing that if she let go even a little, there would be no stopping it. The sobbing and the screaming would follow and she couldn't afford that now. She had so desperately hoped that they wouldn't get a case on House's first day back, so she could just go home and cry. But fate had once again decided to frown on her, and so here she was, stoically trying to be strong.

House could no longer stand there are stare at her. He let his eyes drop to the floor, and even though she didn't make a sound he could feel her relief across the room. He looked up and noticed her run a shaky hand across her face, revealing a look of such utter exhaustion that House was amazed she was able to move at all.

"Cameron, go home. The boys and I can handle this case. You need some rest," House said, without even a trace of sarcasm in his voice. She gave him a look that was somewhere between a warning not to pity her and a thank you for noticing, as she stood and stepped out from behind the table.

"I'll be fine," she replied.

"You're not fine," House retorted. "You're exhausted, belligerent, rude and unfeeling. You're sneaking out of work to smoke and do who knows what else. You're like the anti-Cameron."

"You mean I'm like you," Cameron responded, calmly but with force.

"Yeah," House said softly, stepping to his left so that he faced Cameron directly. "We can't have two of me. It'll never work out."

Cameron looked at him in surprise. Was he talking about at work, or about something else?

"Right, can't have someone working for you who might actually disagree with you," Cameron said sarcastically.

"That's not what I meant," House said quietly, and he stepped forward and grabbed Cameron roughly by the arms, pressing her body close to his. She opened her mouth to protest but he silenced her with a kiss that had been building since the day he'd left for rehab. She kissed him back, hard, but as she did so he felt the tears begin to slide down her face. He pulled back and looked at her; she silently shook her head, the tears drying almost as quickly as they had fallen.

"Not now," Cameron said. "I'll never get through the whole story without crying my eyes out and we have a patient."

"You're coming home with me, and tell me whatever this is and then you're going to bed and staying there for at least twelve hours if I have to tie you up," House commanded. Cameron nodded. "Of course, once I have you tied up I'll probably want to experiment a little, so you'll need a few hours extra rest," he joked, and Cameron smiled.