Chapter 5: Lost Family
Challenge: #3064 'conception by conspiracy *non-stargate*' by shelli.
Thanks to my betas: zigpal and AshDawnSoulmates.
Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. House, MD characters belong to David Shore and Fox. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Previously…
Buffy left Wilson – who was still trying to catch his breath from laughing so hard – so she could get to her mom. As she turned the corner, she bumped into a doctor with light brown hair.
"Excuse me," the woman said before her eyes went wide with shock/fright/some emotion Buffy couldn't identify. The woman must have read the shirt because she asked, "The Slayer is carrying House's baby?"
P-PTH, floor with Joyce's room
Buffy looked for a empty room to drag the doctor in. "What did you say?" she demanded once they were away from prying eyes and ears.
The young doctor kept talking like she hadn't heard Buffy's question, "It's just of all the people in the world, House is fathering your child?"
"How do you know who I am?" Buffy tried again, giving the woman a slight shake of the shoulders.
It must have worked because the doctor's eyes focused on the Slayer again. "Oh, sorry. Got a little distracted by the House issue. I've heard about you from my brother out in California," she explained with a smile. So, apparently it was a good thing…maybe.
Going with the logical assumption, Buffy guessed, "They lived in Sunnydale?"
Unfortunately she was wrong. "No. Actually, he was from LA." The doctor's eyes moistened with unshed tears, and she had to clear her throat before adding, "He worked with your ex for a little while before he was killed."
"Worked with Angel…" the Slayer trailed off as she attempted to figure it out. The only guy she knew was Wes. Oh, there was that one from around Thanksgiving; he died shortly after that if she remembered correctly. "Wait, was he a short guy with an Irish accent?"
"Yes. Francis Doyle, but he preferred to go by Doyle," the brunette replied with a sad smile.
Knowing how embarrassing the wrong first name could be, Buffy grinned back. "Gee, big surprise. But hold on, he was…" she looked around for any eavesdroppers before she spilled the big secret.
The doctor finished for her, "A half-demon? Yeah, I know; so am I." She felt fairly safe in admitting it to this particular Slayer. Buffy had a reputation for fairness when it came to neutral demons.
Buffy whistled in admiration at the woman's guts. "Wow. That's gotta be tough to keep quiet in a hospital – especially if you work with Greg. I got the impression he enjoyed solving riddles."
"He does," the doctor admitted ruefully. "Fortunately I got human genes, so my blood looks completely normal. Well, there's one tiny anomaly, but you have to know to look for it." Just her luck, someday House would decide to look.
"I'm sorry about Doyle. I only met him one time – and we didn't get a chance to talk for long." Buffy felt really awkward talking about somebody she barely knew, but she felt the need to add, "From what I heard, it sounds like he died a hero though. Not sure if that means anything to you."
"Not thrilled that he died, but it helped him come to terms with his situation. And he got to out-hero the champion he was helping, so that had to be nice for him." The brunette winced when she realized how that might sound to Buffy and apologized, "Oh, sorry…I forgot his champion was your ex."
The Slayer just snickered though, "Don't worry. I got the stars out of my eyes where Angel's concerned months ago. Just so you know, it's often the 'sidekicks' that save the day. Or at least make it possible for the champions to do it. My friends made all the difference in why I'm still alive when most other Slayers would be dead. So even without his final act, Doyle was a hero," she said with genuine admiration in her voice.
Doyle's sister blushed on his behalf. "Thanks. I know that would mean a lot to him coming from you."
"So how do you know Greg?" Buffy asked, deciding to get to the other important part of the conversation.
The woman held out her hand to shake Buffy's. "I'm one of his interns," she began to introduce herself.
"You must be Cameron then," Buffy interjected, shaking the intern's hand firmly, yet gently. How strong was a half-demon anyway?
Cameron couldn't help the slight flush of excitement she felt at knowing House told Buffy about her. "He mentioned us?"
"Umm, kinda? I figured that since you were the only female in the group, that would make you the quote 'pretty one' unquote," Buffy replied with a embarrassed grin. She realized how sexist that would sound, but chances were that Greg had said worse to the interns' faces.
"I can't believe he said that to you," Cameron fumed. "What am I saying? It's House! Of course he said that to you!"
Buffy tried to calm Cameron down by letting her know she was used to blunt people like Greg, "Don't worry, I know people like him. People who don't think the word 'tact' should apply to anything they say."
"That's definitely House," Cameron agreed. She started staring at Buffy again in amazement. "Wow, I still can't get over the fact the Slayer is pregnant – and with House's child. Were you drunk or something?"
Despite how much Greg probably deserved to be mocked or ridiculed, Buffy simply shook her head and said, "I think I'll leave the explanation up to Greg to share – if he wants to."
Sighing in resignation, Cameron remarked with a grin, "Okay, but I can't say the curiosity won't drive me crazy."
"Just like I'm sure my being the Slayer would drive him crazy…right?" Buffy guessed. She wondered how long she could keep it a secret before she had to tell him the truth.
"You're definitely right about that!" Cameron agreed wholeheartedly. "House abhors things he can't explain with science – so your abilities having no basis in things he can quantify?"
Buffy had a sudden, horrible flashback to Walsh and her minions. The fear was evident in her eyes as she asked, "Would he try to turn me or the baby into a lab rat?"
"I'd like to reassure you and say no way," Cameron began, truly meaning what she was saying, "but I honestly don't know. The good news is that a couple months ago my answer would have leaned towards yes," she added, offering a breadcrumb of hope to the worried Slayer/mother-to-be.
"Really?"
Cameron nodded. "He hates unsolved puzzles!"
"You said a couple months ago. What's changed?" Buffy inquired, praying to the PTB that it was something she could use to her and her daughter's advantage. There was no way she wanted to give up slaying just to end up in a cage to be studied. And she'd kill anyone who tried to do it to her baby – even if it was her baby's father. Whoa, guess she didn't have to worry about the maternal instinct not being very strong because she was the Slayer.
Cameron gave her a small, reassuring smile. "I think you have. Well, you and the baby. He's going to therapy, not taking as many pain pills and not being such an ass to everyone. It's freaking us all out," she admitting, not quite successful at containing her laughter.
Buffy rolled her eyes as she thought back to the end of June. She completely understood where Cameron was coming from. "I remember what he was like when we first visited, and if he was like that all of the time, I can't say I blame you for being worried. All I can say – and maybe I shouldn't say even this much – but he's very happy about the baby and the chance to be a father. I've seen people change personalities for less."
"Well, even if it is a little disturbing, I have to say, I still like this House better," Cameron commented, unaware how her eyes lit up slightly when she thought about him.
But Buffy caught it and had to ask, "'Like' as in colleague-like or as in like-like?" She wasn't sure how she felt about the father of her baby being with someone else. Then again, there was nothing that said they had to be involved to share responsibility for her. Might be nice, but it wasn't absolutely necessary.
Cameron felt her face flush in embarrassment as she thought about how to answer that loaded question. Not only was this the mother of House's child, but the Slayer as well. And she was a demon. Who knows how far Buffy's mercy would extend in these circumstances. "Uh, umm."
"Sorry. Had my own little tactless moment there. It really isn't my business." However, she thought that Cameron's discomfort answered for her. Now the question was, who did Greg care for?
Suddenly realizing something rather important, Cameron asked, "So you and House aren't together?"
"Not at the moment. To be honest, I'm not even sure he'd be interested. I mean, he's this famous genius doctor guy and I'm just a college student. He'd probably have more to talk about with my mother than with me. Not that I would try to set them up or anything 'cause that would make us way too 'Jerry Springer' for my taste. You know, 'My baby's daddy is my step-daddy'," Buffy babbled without a breath. On the other side of the country, Willow felt a jolt of pride without realizing why.
"That is a little too freaky," Cameron agreed with a shudder. "And coming from a half-demon, that's saying something."
Buffy smiled at Doyle's sister. It would be nice to get to know her better; maybe learn a bit more about the seer who helped Angel in LA. "I like you. Wanna go shopping this weekend? Greg offered to let me take care of the 'essentials' for Baby Girl Summers-House," she said with a wicked grin.
Cameron's return smile was equally evil. Men everywhere would have shaken in fear if they had seen the pair at that moment. "Spend House's money? How could I possibly pass up an opportunity like that?"
"Good. I'll make sure that I leave our number before Mom and I leave the hospital," the blonde promised as she made her way towards the door.
Reaching out to stop the younger woman, Cameron said in her usual caring manner, "I hope she's doing well."
"Me too. I'm not too proud to admit I want my mommy for the next few months," Buffy replied with bright eyes, then corrected herself, "…or years."
Cameron removed her hand from Buffy's arm. "I'd better let you get to her before House finds out I've kidnapped you for a talk."
"I think it was the other way around, but yeah, good idea." She waved slightly as she walked out and turned towards her mother's room.
Room next to House's office
"Did you hear about House and the mystery woman this morning?" Foreman demanded as soon as Chase walked in.
Chase rolled his eyes at the memory of the last hour. "Which? The announcement he made in the lobby, or the shirt she was wearing?"
That bit of news caught Foreman off-guard. "A shirt? What did it say?"
"It was vintage House. On the front it said she was pregnant with his kid and on the back it was some snarky comment about staying away from the opposite sex if you couldn't figure out how it happened." Chase tried to look disgusted, but couldn't hide the small smile of amusement, remembering all the spit-takes he saw as she passed people.
From her place by the door, Cameron replied smugly, happy to be one up on the guys for once, "I met her."
Chase looked like a kid on Christmas morning. "Really? What's she like?" he asked eagerly.
"Does she have some kind of mental condition?" Foreman inquired a little more cynically.
Before Cameron could answer, House walked in and did so for her, "Yes. It's called 'Chronic Good Taste'. Don't worry though, it isn't contagious." He sat down and put his feet up on the table, leaning back in his chair to get comfortable. "So…does this help your diagnosis of what's 'wrong' with me?" he asked with a not-so-believeable look of innocence.
Forgetting that maybe they should deny the allegation, Cameron stuttered out, "Umm, how did you know?"
"Please. It's House," Chase scoffed. "He probably has the conference room bugged."
House looked intrigued by the blond Aussie's guess. "Good idea. I'll have to remember that for the future. Actually, you forgot to erase the board before you went home last night. Very sloppy," he tutted like a disappointed schoolteacher. "Apparently I haven't taught you how to be sneaky enough."
Foreman didn't really care that they had been caught; it made finding out the truth that much easier…so he thought. "So, who is she? How did you meet her?"
"Why don't you ask Cameron? She's the one who talked to her," House replied, somewhat interested to see what Buffy would have said to a virtual stranger about them.
"Her name's Buffy Summers, but she wouldn't tell me about your history with her," Cameron recited some safe facts. Deciding that maybe it would be better not to reveal her own connection to the Slayer, she finished with, "She said it was your choice whether to tell us."
"Really? How delightfully naïve of her," House said with a thoughtful expression. Poor girl would have to learn the hard way there were no secrets in his hospital – at least not where he was concerned. Then he was reminded of how much he wanted this child; he may have to choose between curiosity and family. For once, he wasn't sure which would win.
His attention was drawn back to the present with Chase's next inquiry, "What I don't get is why did she need to talk to both you and Dr. Wilson in June?"
Purely for shock value, House stated bluntly, "Because she wasn't sure which one of us was the father."
"Ugh! You mean we were right about the three-way?" Foreman looked like he was going to be sick.
Suddenly House felt bad for making it sound like that and had the urge to defend Buffy's honor, "Hey! That's the mother of my daughter you're talking about. She's not a slut…that I know of," he corrected himself. She didn't seem like she was though.
Even though she already knew, Cameron asked the logical follow-up question, "You don't know her?"
"Only from our phone conversations this past month – once we determined I was the father," House explained, not willing to play with Buffy's reputation anymore than he already did with his t-shirt stunt.
Foreman wasn't willing to concede on the slut issue just yet. "If she wasn't sure who the father was-"
Glaring at his intern, House cut him off before he could say the rest of that sentence, "She was inseminated. And the quack doctor who did it only had a list of possible donors. Wilson and I were on that list. It was done without Buffy's knowledge or permission. Normally, I'd tell you take a flying leap, but I'm concerned about how she's doing with all this, and I need your help to make sure she's okay."
The almost human plea took all three of them back for a moment. Foreman recovered first and commented snarkily, "It looks like House, and the voice is the same, but it sure doesn't sound like him."
"Do it or you're fired!" House ordered with a growl.
Chase almost laughed at the response, but settled for replying, "That sounds like him."
Ignoring the male behavior surrounding her, Cameron said, "I'll help, but only for her sake. Besides, it's nice to have another woman around that I can talk to. We're even going shopping this weekend with your money," she reported with an evil grin.
It was the grin that caught House's attention. "Should I be worried?"
Cameron loved the feeling of power she had with this information. She got up to refill her coffee cup, then leaned against the counter as she warned him, "She's a California girl with a blank check for shopping; you should be terrified."
House's apartment
That evening…
Once they finished dinner, Buffy made herself comfortable on the sofa. "How did it go with your ducklings?" she asked, wondering what Cameron told him.
House plopped down next to her and put his feet up on the coffee table. His leg twinged a bit, so he began to massage away the pain as best he could. "Eh, they're still worried I'm some sort of pod person because I actually show concern for somebody other than myself. I hear you and Cameron are going to bankrupt me this weekend," he said with a bit of a question in his voice.
"Depends on how much money you have to start with," Buffy answered with a smirk. Seeing the pain in his eyes, she grabbed the pill bottle next to her and tossed it to him – which he gratefully accepted. "We actually might want to wait until after the baby shower."
"Baby shower?" he asked once he swallowed the pills.
Buffy's mind was somewhere else at the moment. She was thinking about asking Willow and Tara if they knew any spells or potiony things to help Greg with his pain. She didn't want her baby to be around an addict, but she also didn't want him to suffer unnecessarily. When he nudged her, she shook her head to clear it and said, "Uh-huh. Cameron told me about it when I talked to her this afternoon. Apparently you were going to host the baby shower here in your apartment."
Alarmed at having a bunch of people in his apartment, House blurted, "What?"
"You still can if you want to," she couldn't help but tease. "But I suggested that maybe it would be better to do it at my house – since that's where most of the stuff would end up anyway."
House breathed a sigh of relief, both from the news and from the pain – even though he logically knew it was too early for the medicine to have kicked in. "Sounds good to me. Now…do you want to explain why you got so worried when you found out we are having a daughter?" he asked the dreaded question Buffy foolishly hoped he had forgotten.
Summers/Giles home
That weekend…
Setting down her bags, Cameron warned, "Buffy, I thought I'd better give you a head's up that House found a puzzle where you're concerned, and he's about to start us looking into your past. I convinced him to hold off until after our shopping trip; I told him I'd try to find out what you're so worried about."
Even though she knew the answer, Buffy still asked, "So he didn't believe that bit about me being worried that my mom's curse I'd end up with a daughter as bad as myself would come true?"
"Not so much," Cameron replied sympathetically.
Buffy just shrugged. "Damn. I thought that was kind of weak when I said it, but he caught me off guard with his question," she said with a small pout.
"Well, you'd better come up with a better answer…and quick. Either that, or tell him the truth about being the Slayer," Cameron suggested, not thinking she would take the advice.
Which Buffy confirmed, "I'm not ready to do that yet."
"I understand," she said, truly meaning it. "By the way, I haven't told him that we have a connection; I thought it would make me too much of a target for him to get information from."
"I wasn't sure. But when he didn't say anything about us kind of knowing each other, I thought you might have a reason for not telling him so I kept quiet too," Buffy replied.
Cameron felt a need to defend herself even though Buffy's tone wasn't accusing, "It's as much for you as it is for me. If he knew that you could tell him anything about my past, he'd be hounding you too."
Buffy laughed, believing that it was true. "Doesn't believe in the right to privacy, does he?"
"Only when it pertains to his privacy; the rest of us are fair game," Cameron confirmed.
P-PTH parking lot
Following week…
"Buffy will be relieved to hear that the shadow on your CAT scan was just that…a shadow," Giles said as they left the hospital. "She needs you more than ever now."
Joyce smiled at her daughter's Watcher, somebody she was beginning to see as a friend to both of them. "Thank you for coming instead of her. How did you manage to keep her away?" she finally asked the question that had been plaguing her since he arrived at the hospital alone.
Clearing his throat guiltily, Giles ducked his head as he answered, "I lied to her; told her that the test was pushed back until tomorrow."
"She's going to kill you!" Joyce said without thinking.
"Won't you protect me?" Giles pleaded, hoping that having Joyce on his side would help.
She looked at his haggard expression, knowing how much it would have hurt him to keep Buffy out of this. Reaching over to squeeze his hand, Joyce replied, "I guess I should, seeing as how it was because I asked you to keep her out of it."
Breathing a huge sigh of relief, Giles suggested, "And maybe we should pick up some ice cream as a peace offering while we're at it?"
Joyce chuckled. "You have quite the devious mind, Rupert Giles." Hopefully the bribe would help calm the hormonal Slayer.
Summers/Giles home
Those hopes were dashed as Giles confessed to Buffy. She stood up and started pacing, stopping every so often to open her mouth like she was going to say something, only to shut it again. Finally, she calmed down enough to growl out, "So help me…if you ever do something like that again! I don't care if I'm in the middle of labor; if something is going on with somebody I love, I want you to tell me…got it?" she commanded.
Joyce couldn't let Giles take all the blame for this. "I'm sorry that I asked Rupert to keep you away. I was just worried that if the news was bad, it would cause trouble with your pregnancy." Her plan to protect her daughter was backfiring rather bad at the moment.
Staring at her mother like she was an alien or something, Buffy demanded, "What? Were you planning to hide it from me if you had to get treatment?" Without letting Joyce answer, she turned to Giles, hurt dripping from her voice, "I thought we promised never to lie to each other again."
Giles fought back the tears threatening to spill. It was worse than he thought. "We did. I'm sorry I broke your trust. At the time it made sense though," he offered weakly.
His Slayer just shook her head, not believing that he would do this to her after all they had been through. "I need to go be by myself for a little bit," she whispered, storming out the front door to the house.
Hearing the door slam, Giles buried his hands in his face. "I really screwed up this time," he said mournfully.
Joyce sat down next to him and put her arm around his shoulder. Knowing her daughter, she felt confident in saying, "She will forgive you."
Giles chuckled mirthlessly and asked, "Yes, but will she ever trust me again?"
A/N: Extra long because I wanted to end with this emotional cliffie.
A/N2: Next…I'll have to get back to you on that, but I think it's the baby shower.