A/N: Thank you all for the responses to this fic! It's greatly appreciated. Without further ado, here's the chap. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Alison Cameron

The hot African sun pounded down onto the small house, even in the morning hours. Dr. Alison Cameron lay in bed, eyes still closed. She was awake, had been for some time, actually. But she made no move to get up just yet. She had a feeling about today, that it would be different. For some reason, she was sure that her life was about to change.

She'd been here in Africa for 6 months, and every day was different. Different faces, different situations. She shrugged off the feeling, and opened her eyes, her gaze travelling to the other side of the bed. It was empty. She stepped out of bed and threw on a robe, walking into the small kitchen nook.

"Sebastian?"

"I thought I'd make breakfast," her boyfriend looked at her a little sheepishly, gesturing at the eggs in the pan that he was scrambling.

"I see." She felt a smile creep across her face. "Thank you. I was just a little concerned when I woke up and you weren't there." She felt stupid saying such things, but oh, well. She kissed him on the cheek and took a seat at the small table where a cup of coffee was already waiting for her.

Sebastian Charles laid a plate in front of her and sat down across from her.

"Dr. James Wilson is due to arrive today, and maybe a colleague of his too. He wasn't sure if he could convince him to come."

Cameron sipped at her coffee and took a bite of egg. "Good. We could always use more help. How long are they staying?"

"A week. An oncologist will be helpful, although I wish we had more equipment for him to work with."

"It'll all be fine. We've gotten along without technology until now, and we'll continue to get by. The important thing is that we help people, which I'm sure is an opinion that Dr. Wilson and his colleague share."

"You're right. It just bothers me that we can't get more funding." He sighed in frustration at the powers that be, and stood. He kissed her on the lips, and headed out the door. On the way out, he called over his shoulder at her.

"I'll be at the compound. No hurry, take your time. Dr. Wilson's plane arrives at 11. I've arranged for him to be picked up and brought here."

She nodded her head, and continued her breakfast, wondering if maybe Dr. Wilson's arrival was the reason for the feeling she'd had earlier.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Wilson's feet hit solid ground and he felt like dropping to his knees and kissing it, bacteria and all. He was so glad to be off that plane. Well, more accurately, he was glad that House was off the plane. He'd been an absolute terror, and Wilson was not looking forward to their return journey.

House followed Wilson off the plane, glad to be out in the open. He wrinkled his nose and pulled out his sunglasses.

"It's hot Wilson," he whined.

"It's Africa, House. How did you think it was going to be?"

"Is it gonna be like this all week? Cause if it is, I'm getting right back on that plane."

"Suck it up. A little discomfort is worth it."

"Speak for yourself."

Wilson sighed and looked around for their ride. A young man noticed him gazing around and trotted over to them.

"Dr. Wilson?" he asked.

"Yes. This is my colleague, Dr. House."

"I'm Kwame." The young man smiled at them both and gestured toward the baggage claim area.

"As soon as you have your belongings, I'll take you to the compound."

"Thank you," Wilson said, and shoved House in the direction of the claim area. Once they had their bags, or once Wilson had all the bags, they followed Kwame out to a truck.

"I'm afraid one of you will have to sit in the back," he said. "We weren't sure you were coming Dr. House, and our van is being used elsewhere."

"I'll sit in back, no problem," Wilson offered. It would give him more of a view at least, and he couldn't wait to see the beauty that was Zambia.

"We're a couple of hours away from Victoria Falls. If you should have the opportunity to visit, it is definitely worth the trip," Kwame said as Wilson loaded up the luggage. House planted himself in the passenger side of the truck and didn't say anything, which Wilson was thankful for.

"Sounds good. I've seen pictures of the falls, of course, but I'm sure they don't do it any justice," Wilson said. He was getting more excited by the second.

"Certainly not. You must see the falls up close to fully appreciate their beauty." Kwame made sure Wilson was situated in the back of the truck before moving into the driver's seat. He started the truck up, and with a loud rumble, they were off.

Wilson couldn't have been happier. Despite the wind whipping his face, he was in awe by the country they passed on their way to the compound, which was located centrally to several of the more remote villages. Dr. Charles had told him over the phone that people traveled for days sometimes to seek medical attention at the compound. And once a week, volunteers travelled to each of the nearby villages to attend to those who couldn't make the journey.

When they arrived at the compound, Wilson climbed from the back, his hair a wreck from the wind. He smoothed it back, which didn't improve his appearance much. House smirked when he got out of the truck and laid eyes on him.

"That's a good look for you Wilson."

Wilson ignored him and looked around. There were people milling around everywhere, and a line had formed outside a tent that Wilson figured must be a medical tent.

"So many people," he thought, sadly.

"We have a small staff of volunteers here. We take turns assisting the doctors during the day," Kwame explained as they walked. "There are 5 doctors here, and they take turns as well. You know about Dr. Charles, but we also have Dr. Stevens, Dr. Cameron, Dr. Okafor, and Dr. Conteh." He led them past several more buildings, pointing out the mess hall, and the doctor's residences.

"Mess hall? What is this, the army?" House asked. Wilson elbowed him. House glared at him, but shut up. Kwame turned them around and led them to the medical tent. Wilson's mood sobered even more when he saw the people up close. Some were clearly very ill and Wilson was impressed with their courage, knowing the time and distance it had taken some to travel there.

They went inside and Wilson and House were introduced to Drs. Stevens, Okafor, and Comteh. All three were very kind and gracious, shaking hands with the newcomers. Wilson felt an instant rapport with all of them. House looked decidedly uncomfortable with all the thanks and warm greetings, but at least he didn't say anything rude.

Kwame noticed Dr. Charles was finished with the patient he'd been speaking with, and he waved him over. House groaned quietly. Sebastian jogged over, and immediately enveloped Wilson's hand in both his own.

"Thank you so much for coming, James. This means a lot."

"Of course, I just hope I can help out."

"You'll be a great help, both of you." He turned to House. "This must be the colleague you had to convince to come with you."

"Yes, this is Dr. Gregory House," Wilson said. Dr. Charles smiled and held out his hand. House glanced over at Wilson, giving him a 'do I have to?' look. Wilson gave him a look back that clearly conveyed that, yes, he had to. House shook Sebastian's hand with a clearly phony smile plastered on his face. Sebastian either didn't notice or chose to ignore it.

"You'll both be staying with me and Dr. Cameron. I hope you don't mind camping out in the sitting room. The whole place is small but it's the best we can do."

"It'll be fine," Wilson said as House was about to protest.

"You'll forgive me for not showing you to the house, but things are a bit busy. Take your time settling in, and whenever you're ready, come back out here, and we'll get you both started. Alison, Dr. Cameron that is, will show you around the place."

He gave another smile and walked away. Kwame, who had been standing nearby, came back and pointed the way to the house. Then he bade them good-bye and went off to assist Dr. Okafor.

"Wilson, do you have any idea how much pain I'm going to be in, sleeping on the floor for a week?"

"You'll pull through. That's why you packed a whole bag of pills, isn't it?" Without another word, Wilson started toward the small house, while House stayed behind for a few moments, looking around the compound. Then, he followed Wilson at a slow pace.

Wilson knocked on the simple wooden door. No answer. He opened the door and poked his head in.

"Hello? Dr. Cameron?" A head peered around the corner, and was soon followed by a body.

"Dr. Wilson?"

"Yes." Wilson stepped inside, and extended his hand, which was promptly shook by the slender woman standing before him in jeans and a sleeveless top.

"Wonderful to meet you. We're glad to have you. Your luggage was already brought over. We don't have much space so it's just kind of sitting there." She gestured to where their bags were piled against the wall.

"Not a problem. That was nice of whoever brought them over here." Wilson smiled. He couldn't believe they were getting such a warm welcome.

"I'm guessing from the amount of luggage that your colleague came along as well?" Cameron asked.

"Yes, he'll be along in a minute. He was wandering around when I started over here."

Cameron grinned and nodded. "All right, well, I'll show you around then for now, although there's not much to look at." She led him through the small sitting room, around the luggage sitting there.

"Over there is the kitchen nook. We have plumbing and electricity, you'll be happy to know. It was actually installed very recently. This place is getting more and more permanent all the time. It's so exciting! There's no heat though. It gets pretty cool at night, but we have extra blankets so don't worry about that. The bathroom's over here, and my and Sebastian's bedroom is there, and I guess that's about it." She finished with a little flourish and looked at Wilson.

"It's very cozy," he said.

"What you mean is it's very small," Cameron corrected with a giggle. "But, it's home." She led him out onto the porch. "I suppose Sebastian's eager to get you to work, but before you go, would you like a glass of lemonade? We just got supplies in last week, so we have pretty much everything right now. I always insist on lemonade. It's perfect for a hot day, which is just about every day."

"That sounds great, thank you." Wilson sat in a wicker chair and looked out over the compound. He saw House making his way up to the porch and waved. House walked on to the porch and crashed in a second chair.

"I'm in hell," he muttered.

"I like it here. Everyone's great," Wilson defended. He called to Cameron inside and asked for an extra glass of lemonade for House.

"Not a problem," she called back.

"Another woman? I hope she's better looking than Dr. Stevens. Yikes. The wild dogs of Africa have nothing on her."

"Shut up House," Wilson said sharply. He didn't want Cameron to overhear.

She came back out balancing a tray with 3 glasses of lemonade on it. She set the tray down on the small table between the two chairs, and turned to face House. She stopped as if frozen despite the heat of the day. She found she couldn't move. He was just sitting there, hands on the arms of the chair, face unreadable. And yet, she felt drawn to him somehow. After a moment, though, her manners kicked in and she held out her hand.

"Hi, I'm Alison Cameron."

He didn't take her hand, didn't say anything, and didn't move for a minute or so. He just looked at her. She was beautiful, there was no denying it. He took his sunglasses off to see her better and Cameron suddenly found herself staring into the bluest eyes she had ever seen in her life.

She felt her mouth drop open just a bit, and caught herself, closing it before he noticed. Then she finally felt him take her hand. He had a strong grip, even more so than Wilson's and both allowed the handshake to linger a little longer than it should. All the while, their eyes never left each other, and Cameron had to have an inner struggle with herself before she found the strength to look away from those eyes and that piercing stare.

She collapsed into another chair, and found that her hands were shaking ever so slightly. She quickly folded them in front of her, not trusting herself to pick up her glass of lemonade. Her legs felt weak and she wondered why she was having that kind of reaction. He was here to help Dr. Wilson and she was happy with Sebastian. This was not a feeling she should be having.

She thought back briefly to her feeling that morning. Was he the reason she had felt that way? Was meeting him what made today different from all other days, and was supposed to be life changing?

Wilson didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, but he did notice that House wasn't introducing himself, so he jumped in.

"Dr. Cameron, this is Gregory House."

After a moment, Cameron found her voice. "Just call me Alison, or Cameron's fine too. No one goes by titles here, really."

Wilson nodded his understanding, unable to feel the electricity in the air that had been generated by Cameron and House. The two involved felt it though. Cameron was confused by it, and House stayed superficial about it; he'd just met a hot woman, and he'd checked her out. Plain and simple. After a week, he wouldn't see her again, so why dwell on the possibility of any mutual attraction?

They drank their lemonade, Cameron still not touching hers. Then they headed off to the medical tent to get started. House, of course, needed a bit of prodding from Wilson, but he finally got up and left with him.

"Thank you for the lemonade, Alison. Will you be down to work later?" Wilson asked.

"Yea, I just have a few more things to do around here first," Cameron replied. She watched them leave, and shook her head to clear out the cobwebs that had appeared there when she first laid eyes on Gregory House.

A/N: Wow, that got long! I was going to split it up, but I figured people were waiting for them to meet, so I kept it as one instead of being mean. Proud of me? Anyway, I hope you liked it and I hope the first meeting was ok for you. I'm slightly dissatisfied with it, but let me know what you thought. Thank you!