A/N: You all have my permission to shoot me for taking so long to update without warning. I can explain, though. See, here in Michigan, it gets very, very cold. And sometimes we Michiganders like to get in our cars and drive for ridiculously long amounts of time until we get to this warm and sunny place called Florida. We generally do this during this special week called Spring Break.

Now on to things more related to this story, thank you all for your reviews.

House24Fan - In response to your question about who Cameron left with...you'll find out in the very near future! (Haha...I feel like Ausiello).

blueheronz - House hasn't told Cuddy anything (How OOC would that be?). Everything she knows, she's guessed or been warned about by Wilson.

Eienvine said "I'm excited to see how House reacts". Well to be honest, so am I.

sweetgreuy - All these questions! You'll be getting some answers soon. Around the time that House and Cameron reacquaint.

saz89 - Thanks for the vote of confidence. Here's hoping I can live up to it.

rmartin - Glad I'm not obvious and weak. Thanks!

bones4life - Yes, House's eyes could present a bit of a problem. Hmm. Maybe he can wear sunglasses for the first week.

LittleDragonfly23, SapereAude, graybaby1, and mishy-mo - Thanks for the reviews!

Oy with the poodles already! (10 points if you get that).

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The first thing Cameron did when she woke up the next morning was look for the phone. She could have sworn it was on her bedside table last night. She peered under her bed, sneezing as a dust bunny sailed across the floor. She glanced around the small bedroom and then stood up. Walking into the kitchen, she saw the phone on the table and remembered why it was there. She had called Cuddy last night, when she was hurting and lonely. And Cuddy had offered her a job. Cameron glared at the phone for a minute and then picked it up. She had a call to make.

For some reason, though, she couldn't call. Not yet. She sighed and put the phone in the pocket of her hooded sweatshirt. She felt the weight of it against her stomach as she made coffee. She had grown to like it just the way House used to. She wondered if he still drank it that way. She sat on her couch, flipping through channels, but concentrated more on the little bulge made by the phone in her sweatshirt than on the screen. Finally, she gave up. She picked up the phone and dialed with shaking fingers.

"Cuddy?" She said the moment the other woman answered.

"Yes, Cameron?"

"I'll take it." Cameron felt herself relax.

"I'm glad. Because I already told House you had." Cameron laughed. Of course Cuddy had already told House. "What's so funny, Dr. Cameron?"

"Some things never change." Cameron laughed.

"Welcome to the staff, Dr. Cameron. I'll see you Monday." Cuddy hung up the phone and Cameron heard the dial tone in her ear. She grinned again, happy to finally be going somewhere that she could make a difference.

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Dr. Gregory House sat at his desk. Actually, under his desk would have been more accurate. He didn't want Cuddy or Wilson to see him like this, or worse, send him down to do his badly-neglected Clinic Duty. His iPod headphones were in his ears, blaring some kind of music that would undoubtedly cause early hearing damage. He didn't care.

She was coming back. Here, to his department. To his office, even. She would be there to make his coffee and sort his mail again. To pick up after the messes he made and calm down all the people he pissed off. To question him, to challenge him. To force him to be human. He hated how she could do that.

He didn't know much about what had happened to her these past few years. She'd left PPTH when her fellowship was up, along with the British one. House had no idea what had happened there, but took a certain satisfaction from the fact that it obviously hadn't worked out.

He knew she'd probably changed, but in his mind, she was still the naive, pretty, caring-to-a-fault immunologist he had hired all those years ago. He closed his eyes and saw her eyes, staring him down. Saw her auburn hair pulled back into a ponytail as she worked in the lab. Heard her voice yelling at him for some problem he had caused. He remembered all the parts of Allison Cameron that he had tried so hard not to remember, and on his face, this hint of a smile had begun.

She was coming back. She'd want a desk in his office. She'd probably insist that she be allowed to decorate it or move the furniture, or something equally girly. She'd demand he let her write on the sacred whiteboard, and tell him to sort his own mail. He just hoped she wouldn't refuse to make his coffee. Wilson's sucked.

After all these years, Cameron was coming back to PPTH. And as much as House was dreading it, cursing Cuddy for it, and praying Cameron would change her mind, he was also excited that he'd get to work with her again. He twirled his cane absentmindedly. Cameron was coming back.