Author's note – Sorry about the last chapter. I forgot to fix the page breaks so the whole dang story ran together. I've gone back and fixed it, so if it was confusing to you, go back and see the new and improved version.
Disclaimer – House doesn't belong to me, I'm merely fiddling around with it.
CHAPTER 31
David went up the stairs, quick and quiet, two at a time with Robert just behind him and Eric trailing in the back. Dave stopped in front of a door where they all heard noises. There was a very loud thump and a hoarse shout of pain. Eric and Robert looked at each other and ran to open the door. David stopped them. Eric looked at him almost frantically. "That was Cameron! We heard her voice!" David told them, "Stand back!" David lifted his foot and kicked the door open. He went in low, followed closely, much to his annoyance, by Robert and Eric. The three men spread out, with David in the middle, holding the gun, Robert on his right, his arm holding aloft the tire iron, and Eric on his left, the hammer at his side. All three men looked around the room and saw Allison Cameron lying on the floor by the bed, her wrists in shackles chained around the brass headboard and a gag partially covering her mouth. Apparently she had been banging the shackles against the headboard, trying to bend the links in the chain. She must have just fallen on the floor, because her arms were stretched over her head and her body was half on, half off the floor.
When Allison caught sight of them, her eyes widened, then closed and her shoulders started shaking. Eric and Robert rushed over to her and Robert lifted her off of the floor and back on the bed. Eric sat next to her, trying to soothe her by stroking her hair. "It's okay, Allison. We've got you now. You're safe. We're here." He gently held her while Robert untied the gag in the back. When the knot was loose, Eric pulled down the gag, expecting to see tears in her eyes when she opened them. He looked down at her and was shocked to see tears alright…tears of mirth.
"Wha…?" Eric looked at her in confusion. Allison was laughing so hard she was nearly gasping for air. She could barely control herself enough to hold her arms up for David to unlock her shackles. The three men were looking at her in utter confusion while she got herself calmed down. Robert gaped at her. "What in the world could you possibly find funny?" Allison took several deep breaths and said, in between chuckles, "When the three of you came busting through the door, you reminded me of Charlie's Angels. The tallest one in the middle, the other two on either side, holding weapons…" she glanced at the tire iron, "…sorta. I know it doesn't make sense, but it just struck me as hysterically funny." She started laughing softly again, but this time the laughter turned into tears and she began to sob. Eric gathered her into a hug and let her cry.
Robert stepped back and was pulled aside by David, who had just finished talking to Agent Mix on his earpiece. "There's an ambulance on the way for Dr. Cameron. And Sera isn't here, Rob. Ruth and Dexter just searched the house and it's empty. Hopefully, she's at the other house." Robert frowned and looked at him. "Maybe we need to call Mitch and House and find out."
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Mitch ran over to where Winston had landed on the floor and kicked the sword out of his hand while House gently lowered Sera to the floor. Sera gasped in pain and her eyes fluttered open. She looked at House then her eyes drifted over to Winston. "Check…him…for…more…" She gasped for breath and coughed up more blood. House shushed her and called over to Mitch, "He may be hiding more weapons." Mitch pulled several shuriken and a 6-inch long dagger from a special belt on Winston's waist. "Ya think?" he said to House sarcastically. He divested the prone man of several more weapons and handcuffed him to a chair in the room. He put ankle cuffs on him, too, just to be safe. He pulled out his phone and called for an ambulance as he knelt down next to Sera.
Mitch gently took Sera's hand. "You okay, kiddo?" Sera struggled to take a breath. "I…want…knife…out" House put his finger gently over her mouth and glared at Mitch. "It would help if she DIDN'T have to answer inane questions right now." Mitch gritted his teeth and mentally reminded himself that if it wasn't for House, they might not have gotten to Sera in time. This thought kept him from reacting to the doctor's sarcasm. "Dr. House, can't we take the knife out?" House shook his head. "I don't know exactly where the knife is. Pulling it out may cause her to bleed out before we can get her to the hospital." Sera reached up and grabbed House's shirt. "P…poison?" House paled. "Was there curare on the blade?" Sera shrugged her shoulders slightly. "Don't…know…ask….ask…." House nodded and gestured to Mitch to get his cane, which he'd dropped when he went to catch Sera.
After he'd gotten to his feet, House hobbled over to Dumas, who was breathing shallowly. House could hear Mitch talking on his phone, telling the other agents, who had just arrived, to search the house for others, especially Dr. Cameron and Carmela. House awkwardly got down next to Winston. He looked at the young man in shock. It was like looking in a mirror from 20 years ago. He saw some of Carmela's features, but there was no denying the boy was his. Identical blue eyes stared at each other for a few moments, then Winston looked away. House leaned closer and asked him, "Was there curare or any other substance on the dagger?" Winston closed his eyes for a moment, struggling to draw in breath. "No. The…blade was…special…didn't…want to….use…. Winston started gasping and coughing up blood. He drew in ragged breaths, keeping his eyes closed so that the room would stop spinning.
House watched the young man, surprised to find that he actually felt a twinge of sympathy for Winston's suffering. He clamped down on it quickly. The man brutally murdered several people and hurt three people that he cared about. He looked over at Mitch and shook his head. "No curare, but keep her still and don't touch the blade." House heard Sera mumble something about being uncomfortable and Mitch shushing her and telling her to suck it up. House smirked momentarily. That sounded like something he would have said.
One of the agents came into the room and reported to Mitch. "The house is empty, sir. There's no sign of Dr. Cameron or Dr. Ling." Both Sera and Dumas tried to speak when they heard this. Mitch put a finger on Sera's lips and told her to shut up. House didn't bother shushing Dumas, who was struggling against the cuffs trying to get up. "The other…room…she's dead…in the…other…" Dumas fell back on the floor, fighting to breath. House, who had gone pale, pulled him up by his shoulders. "Who's dead? WHO?!!" House was shaking him at this point. Winston gasped and whispered, "Mom." House let him go, feeling somewhat relieved. He had thought Winston was talking about Cameron.
Mitch looked at the agent, about to send him back for another look in the bedroom, but the agent cut him off. "Sir, I was about to tell you. We found some blood on the floor by the bed and a bloody dagger, but no body. The crime scene guys are on the way here." Mitch nodded and told the agent to check the perimeter of the house and call in some more people to search the area. "If she's injured, she can't get too far."
House could hear the ambulance in the distance. He looked down in surprise when he felt Winston grab his hand. "House…she told me…you didn't want me…didn't want to…be…a dad. I hated…you…I thought…you didn't want me." The effort of talking clearly took all of Winston's remaining resources and his eyes fluttered. But his grip on House never weakened.
House looked down at his son. "My son", he thought angrily. He felt a surge of hatred for Carmela rise up in him as he thought about all of the time he never had with his own son. Maybe…just maybe he could have had a relationship with someone – a relationship that wasn't depraved or twisted or weird. Maybe he could have been an actual good person to someone, perhaps even someone's hero. Not because he saved their life, but just because he was dad. Maybe Winston would have still grown up to be the sick little psycho that he was today, but maybe not. He could feel Winston's pulse becoming slower and weaker and knew that he would never find out. But he did want to tell Winston something before he died. He leaned over, gripped his son's hand tighter, and said in a soft voice so that Mitch and Sera wouldn't hear, "Winston, I want you to know something. I never knew that you existed. If I had known, there is no way in hell she would have been able to keep me from getting to know you. She never would have kept me from my son."
Winston squeezed House's hand tighter for a few seconds, opened his eyes, and looked up at his father. "I'm…sorry. Tell…Sera…sorry…" A single tear trickled down Winston's cheek as his grip slackened and his eyes closed for the last time. House held his hand for a minute, blinking his own eyes furiously. He carefully checked Winston's pulse and made a note of the time of death. As the paramedics came bursting through the door with the gurney and equipment, he let go of Winston's hand and stood up. House looked at Mitch, who had been watching the whole time, and said quietly, "Case closed." He then proceeded to bark orders at the paramedics who were moving Sera.
As he was about to swing his leg over the motorcycle so he could follow the ambulance to the hospital, House felt his phone vibrate again. He had felt it upstairs, but had ignored it. He knew it was Chase and he didn't want to have to tell him about Sera's condition. He flipped open the phone and asked gruffly, "Do you have Cameron?" House closed his eyes for a second in relief, then snapped, "Get to the hospital ASAP. We're on the way there with Sera." He flipped the phone shut before Robert could say anything, started his motorcycle, and pulled out behind the ambulance.
As he drove, his thoughts were racing. He had 3 staff members injured, at least one critically, an ex-girlfriend/baby's momma who was injured and on the lam, and a dead son. As he followed the ambulance into a left turn, he glanced briefly up at the heavens. "You know, this is so NOT the way to convince me that You exist", he thought grimly. With dark thoughts and gloomy emotions, Gregory House followed the ambulance back to PPTH.