Joint Custody
Rating: PG
Words: 339
Pairing(s): House/Cuddy/Wilson, House/Amber/Wilson
Note: Written for the House/Cuddy/Wilson/Amber Drabble-A-Thon over at Livejournal.
Cuddy wasn't used to feeling out-of-place in her own hospital. This was where she was truly comfortable, this was where she reigned. She had nowhere else to go.
Yet she found her voice caught in her throat the moment she stepped into House's office.
Cuddy had intended on chewing House out - again - but her own grievances silenced her. House was leaning on his cane defiantly, heated and argumentative. Cuddy could see the same passion burning in Amber's eyes as she stared back at him. Wilson sat alone on the couch in the corner, silently soaking it all in. They were threaded in perpetual motion.
Yet Cuddy's brisk entrance caused them to pause. They all turned, simultaneously, staring at her blankly.
As if she was the outsider.
And now she had no words left at her disposal.
Instead, she found herself staring hollowly at Amber.
Things used to be so different. Cuddy had never before felt unwanted in House and Wilson's presence. They shared a sick and twisted sense of camaraderie. Something Cuddy had never been willing to admit, had never been willing to look straight in the eye. Amber, on the other hand, would not let it out of her sight.
Amber tore into Wilson and House's worlds as if she had been born to live in their light. As if she didn't realize the power they both possessed. As if understanding them and manipulating them was a game she was built to play. As if it hadn't taken Cuddy years to reach the place Amber was now at.
Cuddy wanted to stare her down, ask her to leave, remind her that she no longer worked at this hospital anymore. Her hospital.
But instead, she simply turned around and walked away, refusing to give them even a single word.
Wilson and House had found a new game to play. This time she could only watch them from a distance.
Maybe she would actually enjoy seeing them crash and burn.