Globes and Maps:
Part Two
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A/N: Well, I have to say that the response to this so far has been overwhelming! I am thrilled, but also terrified that the rest won't live up to your expectations! Even though I didn't respond to every review, I just want to say that all of your responses have meant a lot to me. I'll do my best to make it worth your while. :)
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Unnecessary disclaimer: None of the characters appearing in the TV show "House, M. D." belong to me.
Abstract: Post Ep. 608, Teamwork. Five years after leaving PPTH, Cameron is roaming an antique store when she comes across the last person she expected (or wanted) to see. HC.
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The next weekend House again found himself at the antique shop. This time he came alone.
He wandered back to the same bookshelf where he found her the first time. He held his breath as the area was revealed to him. No immunologist.
House released his breath in a sigh. He limped over to the shelf, his finger trailing across the worn bindings. He saw the atlas Cameron had been looking at before. He picked it up and opened it, willing the pages to speak of her. Why this book? Why didn't she buy it? Where was she now?
He heard a voice from behind him. "That's my book."
Cameron walked up next to him breezily, taking the book out of his surprised hands.
"Not even a hello?" House complained.
"You were never one for pleasantries. Why should that change now?" she responded, heading towards the cash register with her prize.
House followed her. "You're not even going to talk to me?"
Cameron whirled around, a hint of angry disdain in her voice. "What exactly is there to talk about?"
When House didn't have an answer she turned back. House watched her as she made her purchase at the cash register.
As short as it had been, their interaction hadn't been completely fruitless. He knew now what was different about her.
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House attempted to stay unnoticed as he followed her home. He rode at a distance behind her into an old suburban neighborhood until Cameron finally pulled her sensible sedan into a driveway. House watched from the end of the block as she exited her car and entered the house.
He pulled up to the curb a minute later and headed to the door, without much thought as to why, or what he would do once she answered.
He rang the bell with his cane, leaning on it longer than need be. Cameron opened the door quickly. "It may have been years since I worked for you, but you can't expect a move like this to surprise me," she said calmly.
He stared at her intently without answering. She frowned back at him. "What are you doing?" she said, sounding slightly unnerved.
"The eyes," he stated. "Your eyes are different."
She looked at him with annoyance. "I grew up. Goodbye, House." She began to close the door.
House shoved his foot in the crack between the door and frame. She had changed, yes, but he was sure she was still too nice to slam it on him. "You won't even ask an old friend in for a drink?" he asked facetiously.
She gave him a look, frustrated with his insistence. "How exactly does you destroying my marriage make us friends?"
"We were friends once," he said.
"When?" Cameron insisted, her mouth set in an angry line.
"The monster truck rally," House said defiantly. He saw a hint of a smile cross Cameron's face. "You smiled! I am so in," he said.
Cameron softened in spite of herself. "Fine." She left the door open and walked inside briskly.
House entered, his eyes going everywhere at once. There was so much a home could say about a person.
It was an older house, probably built in the 1920s, with cozy rooms, curved archways, and charming details. Everything was light and airy with large windows in each room. The entry was painted the color of sunshine.
Cameron went into the kitchen, but House wandered, taking in every detail.
"It's a little early for alcohol," she called to him. "I'm making coffee."
"You're no fun," he grumbled. He continued to scrutinize the house, his cane making a loud thump as he walked across the antique hardwood. One room in particular caught his eye. He headed to investigate.
The room had cream paneling and old-fashioned decorative parquet flooring. But this was not what caught his eye. The walls were lined with shelves of books. House guessed that there must have been at least a thousand. The rest of the walls were covered in framed maps from a variety of locations and years. In the corner he saw what looked to be an antique globe cradled in the curve of a grand piano.
Cameron entered the room and handed House a cup. He gestured to one of the maps. "What is this?" he asked.
Cameron glanced up. "The Fra Mauro world map, 1459," she said casually, fingering the frame gently. Her affinity for the map showed. She walked away, leaving House staring at the map, and seated herself in an oversized chair by the window. She looked at House expectantly.
He breathed in the coffee's steam, reveling in the scent. He had missed Cameron's coffee. He took a sip and seated himself on the nearby sofa.
"Why maps?" he finally asked.
Cameron's mask went back up. "I like travel."
"But you don't travel," he surmised.
"No."
House sighed inwardly. That was a dead end conversation. He tried a different tactic. "What happened after you left?"
Cameron shrugged. "I moved to Chicago. You know that much. I ran the ER and eventually got promoted to Dean of Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. I moved back here when I saw an opening at University Medical Center. That's pretty much it."
"Chase went after you," House pressed.
Cameron's eyes went hard. "You know exactly why I couldn't give him what he asked of me. I sent him away. But you already know that, don't you?"
"He resigned right away when he came back. Headed back to Australia," House added, hoping to spur a reaction in the usually compassionate young doctor.
Cameron raised a manicured eyebrow. "It's just like him to only try to redeem himself when it's too late," she said haughtily.
"Why so cold, Cameron?" House asked, in a tone that was almost mocking. "Looks like the teddy bear made by grandma has a heart of ice."
"I learned the lessons you tried so hard to teach me. Everybody lies. Caring is pointless. Isn't that what you wanted for me?" Her careful façade was falling, the agitation in her voice rising.
House didn't know how to respond. No, that wasn't what he had wanted. Cameron, innocent Cameron, had been his small hope that all was not wrong with the world. Hope, like a candle, had been extinguished.
"Jesus, what happened to you, Cameron?" House asked.
"Can't you see, House? I've become you," she stated softly with a ghost of a smile. Her voice turned cold. "In all ways except one."
House looked away, unable to meet her gaze.
She continued. "I shut myself away in here with the piano and my maps and hide from the world."
"But don't you want some happiness?" House asked, appalled.
"Don't you?" Cameron countered pointedly.
"I have Lisa," House answered, unable to think of what else to say.
"Yes," Cameron said sadly. "Yes, you do have that." She paused. "I'm not so lucky. Ever since I met you, despite everything, I've never belonged to anyone else."
House stared, stunned.
In a dangerously soft voice, Cameron spoke again. "Get out of here, House."
He obeyed silently.
Cameron swept to the window like a ghost, watching him drive away. She turned from the window and sighed deeply. A lifetime ago, when she had known him before, she would have cried. She didn't cry anymore.
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House drove until he reached Cuddy's house. He didn't feel like being alone to deal with his thoughts. He entered Lisa Cuddy's home with a shell-shocked look on his face.
"Greg," Cuddy said with a hint of relief as she entered the room. "Nice to see you haven't fallen off the face of the planet," she added with a bit more sarcasm as she kissed him chastely on the lips.
The rest of the evening went as they often did at the Cuddy household. House and Rachel watched cartoons while Cuddy fixed dinner for the three of them, popping in and out of the living room to check on them.
It warmed Cuddy's heart to see the two of them together, though, admittedly, their interactions were more friend-to-friend than father-child.
They watched a movie together after dinner and then sent Rachel on her way to bed, leaving the two adults together.
"So are you done chasing ghosts?" Cuddy asked him as they sat on the couch together.
House shook his head. "I don't know, Lisa."
There was silence between them for a few more minutes, but neither was really paying attention to the television.
"She's unhappy," House stated. "She became exactly what I tried to make her," he continued, "And it destroyed her."
""You can't be held accountable for what she did with her own life," Cuddy said, glancing over. She paused when she caught sight of his pained expression. "What's going on, Greg? Do you care for her?"
House, unable to answer, shrugged.
Lisa turned away.
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When House awoke the morning after, it was to the smell of coffee. He followed his nose into the kitchen where Cuddy was lounging with her own cup. House grabbed a mug and filled it, sitting down at the kitchen table to nurse the drink slowly.
"Morning," he said with a nod.
"Morning, Greg," she replied, walking over and giving him a kiss on the temple before sitting across from him. They resumed their silence, both relaxing into their Sunday morning.
Cuddy broke the silence. "Are you ever going to sell that old condo and really move in here?"
"Stop pushing me, Lise," House groused.
"Pushing you?" she exclaimed. "I let you do whatever you want. I haven't asked for a damn thing, all I do is give. And you won't give me the slightest sign of commitment. We've been together three years, Greg!"
House stared at her silently for a moment. "Okay," he finally said in defeat. "I'll sell the condo."
"Thank you," she said quietly, her eyes full of gratitude and relief.
House shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He was sure he was supposed to be happy, but suddenly the walls felt like they were closing in on him. His stomach churned. "I'm going to have a shower," he said, getting up from the table and leaving his half-finished coffee.
Cuddy glanced over at the still steaming cup and let out a sigh.
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Monday morning House got on his computer at work intending to post an ad for the condo, but instead found himself looking up the website of University Medical Center at Princeton. On the front page was a blurb about an upcoming event—a benefit that Friday to support the Oncology department.
The gears in his mind started turning. He had to get into that benefit.
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