Tumbling Dice

Disclaimer: I own none of the House M.D. characters and get no financial gain from using them in my story.

Thank you for all the great reviews! I was really nervous about writing this coz I haven't written a word in a long, long time. So, thanks for making me feel welcomed back.

Taz

******HOUSE*****

Part Two

You Can't Always Get What You want

Two days later, Chase and Masters were giving Kendall an M.R.I. after Master's had got an epiphany following a run-in with House/Wilson and their chickens.

"Salmonella enteritis was a nice catch," Chase complimented.

Masters beamed. "Thanks." She started clicking buttons on the machine. "Starting on the soft tissue windows."

"Once this case is over, you going back to surgery?" Chase asked, curious because House had seemed to be trying to get her to stay on the team.

"That's the plan." She paused and then said, "So, what's your plan?"

He frowned. "What do you mean? I'm not planning on leaving. At least not anytime soon."

"No, I mean about Dr. Hadley." His eyes widened comically and his jaw dropped a little and she giggled. "I saw the way you looked at her when House said she had a crush on you."

He almost laughed out loud at the word 'crush' and Thirteen being mentioned in the same sentence. He couldn't imagine Remy Hadley with a crush. It was too schoolgirl. No. If Thirteen wanted him, it would be with a white-hot, raw passion that would burn. And, it certainly wouldn't be described as a crush. She was far too passionate for something so tame. Unfortunately though, it seemed she didn't want him at all considering she'd shot him down once again. Chase wasn't looking for strike three.

"That's just House being House. He's trying to stir the pot," he said, almost parroting the words Thirteen had said to him a few hours earlier. "And I didn't look at her," he added as an after-thought, irritated and maybe a bit embarrassed that he'd been so transparent.

"Yes, you did. You were staring actually. And you looked…hungry," she whispered, biting her lip.

Chase was glad for the dim lighting in the room because he could feel his face flush. "I did not!" he retorted hotly.

"Maybe you didn't realize it, but you did," she contradicted. "I've seen you flirt with a lot of women, but I've never seen you look so…attracted to any of them before. You must really like her," she said softly. Chase gave her a curious glance, but she wasn't done yet. She plastered on a bubbly smile and continued. "That's nice. I mean, because it's obvious she likes you too. But then again, who wouldn't? You're handsome and a Doctor. That's like the total package, right?" She paused in her rambling and frowned. "Well, except that you sleep with a lot of women, and that's kind of whorish, but maybe she wouldn't mind—"

Her babbling trailed off abruptly as she spied Chase staring at her in wide eyed silence. "Um…so what was your plan again?" she asked weakly, as her face turned a bright shade of crimson.

Chase decided to completely ignore the awkwardness of the entire conversation and let her (and him) bow out of it gracefully. "I don't have a plan, except to diagnose this case, but I think you should go back to surgery."

"I just said I was," Master's replied, confused and a little defensive that he seemed to be pushing her to leave House's team. "And why are you trying to get rid of me?"

Chase shrugged. "I'm not. And, you didn't say you were going back, you said it was your plan. Which means House might be right, and you're lying to yourself."

"Would it bother you if I did? Go back to surgery, I mean?"

She stared at him for a moment and there was a certain longing in her gaze that made Chase a little edgy. He'd always suspected she had a thing for him, but had never really pushed it to discover the truth. Now, it was staring him in the face and the only thing he could think of was; how did he put Pandora's secret back in the box before she actually said it out loud?

"Masters…" he started, unsure of what he was going to say, except maybe to tell her it was never going to happen. "Look, I'm sorry if you have certain…um…feelings…"

He was floundering and he knew it, but thankfully she cut him off.

"Forget I asked that. I'm not your type-I know that. I'm not beautiful and mysterious, like Thirteen. I'm quirky and some guys go for that, but…" She sighed. "I'm not good with people. I'm…" She paused as if searching for the right word. "Awkward. So, I guess it'd be better if I stick with what I am good at." And with that she firmly focused her attention back on the screen in front of them, doing her best to ignore the flaming heat in her cheeks as Chase continued to stare at her for several long moments.

Chase was relieved to let it go since he had nothing positive to say, but he felt she deserved at least some kind of explanation that didn't hurt her feelings. "Look, it has nothing to do with you, really. It's me." She rolled her eyes at the cliché line and he gave a small self-effacing smile. "I mean that. It is me. I don't do well in relationships."

"But, you were married!"

"And look how that worked out."

"If Thirteen wanted a relationship, would you give it another try?"

He hesitated, but decided to tell her the truth, giving in to the urge to finally come clean with someone. "Look, maybe I do have some feelings for her. But, I honestly don't see it going anywhere because we've both learned, the hard way, that dating a co-worker isn't such a great idea."

She frowned. "But you've dated like half the nursing staff! How can you say that?"

"I have not dated half the nursing staff," he stated, huffing in irritation that his love life was such interesting fodder for the gossips. "Plus, I don't work with any of the nurses I've dated—at least not every day. It's different. And can we please drop the subject of my sex-life now?" He muttered as his eyes went back to the screen. "No masses," he said, clicking a few buttons on the keyboard. "Moving on to bone windows."

"Do you think people can change?" she suddenly asked.

Chase kept his gaze on the M.R.I. screen as he answered. "Yes, but not always in the ways you want."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed and shot her a sideways glance. "My time here changed me in ways not everyone in my life thought was for the better."

"Were those people right?"

Chase thought back on the things he'd done since working with House. He'd killed a man working here. Yeah, the guy was a genocidal dictator, but still…Chase knew he'd lost something precious that day and he wasn't talking about his wife. He'd lost a part of himself.

"I think when you do change… it's not so simple to go back."

"Why?" Master's asked.

"Because once you've crossed a line, it's crossed. There is no going back," he finally said, very softly.

"I don't know," Master's replied, "look at Dr. Hadley. She's obviously changed—" Chase's snort cut off the rest of her words and she frowned. "What does that mean? She had a problem. Got help and now she's back. Something must have changed."

Chase wasn't sure he believed the whole rehab story, but at that moment he spotted something in Kendall's M.R.I. and the subject was forgotten. "There. Look at that…in the humerus," he said, pointing to the bone in the girl's arm.

Masters studied the abnormal shadow there. "It doesn't look like an infection."

"That's because it looks like cancer," Chase told her with a worried frown.

******HOUSE******

Later that night, they'd finally closed the case, but only after being forced to amputate the patient's arm so the cancer wouldn't spread. It was late and Thirteen was bone tired. She wanted nothing more than to head home, climb into her big, soft bed and conk out. She'd almost forgotten how exhausting working on House's team could be. The rest of the team had already left, or at least she'd thought so, until she stepped out of the office and spotted Chase standing by the elevator banks, chatting with a pretty blonde nurse. The woman was young and obviously flirting with him. Remy stood there for a moment, watching them as Chase flashed the girl a winning smile. She rolled her cat-like eyes and resisted the urge to gag as the woman leaned in, fawning over him as she put her hand on his arm and practically drooled all over his lab coat!

Chase didn't seem to mind though and Remy wondered if he'd be taking the woman home tonight. The thought was so disturbing, that she realized, with a start, that she was jealous. She didn't do jealous! The last time she'd felt anything even remotely this bad was when Eric had started dating that other blonde nurse after they'd broken up. It had hurt like hell. And, to Remy's surprise, imagining Chase with yet another blonde nurse bothered her almost as much! She didn't like the feeling, but it did make her finally acknowledge, (to herself at least) that she wanted Robert Chase. It may be all physical—maybe it was more. She honestly wasn't sure, but one thing she was sure of; she wanted it to be her that went home with him and jumped his sexy bones, not the clingy nurse he was chit chatting with so seductively. The elevator doors opened with a ding and Chase and the nurse stepped inside.

Remy took a step back so that he couldn't see her and waited for the doors to close. When he was safely gone, she stepped into the hallway again. She stood there for a moment, allowing for the insane urge to run after him to slowly subside. She was humming with the desire to kiss his lips and see if they were as soft as they looked.

Remy groaned aloud. This was terrible! "God, I need to get laid," she muttered to herself as she made her way to the elevators. She decided she needed to get out tonight and she knew just the place too. She'd taken House there once. It was perfect and she felt better almost immediately. If Remy couldn't have the man she wanted—well, she'd go find a woman instead…

****HOUSE****

Chase groaned when Stacie's (or was it Tracy's?) nails raked his back as he gave it to her harder, angling his hips so that he hit that sweet spot inside every woman that could wring a scream from her lips. He braced himself on one arm and grabbed the headboard with the other to provide his thrusts with the extra momentum he wanted. Within seconds, she was chanting his name like a prayer and Chase felt the rippling flutters inside her that let him know she had hit her climax. Her arms tightened around his back, clinging to him and he finally let himself go, losing all finesse as he pumped in and out of her, seeking his own release, now that his partner had gotten hers.

When it was over, he rolled off her and onto his back, panting from both the exertion of the sex and his orgasm. She followed after him, wrapping an arm around his waist as she laid her head on his sweaty chest. He closed his eyes and heaved a huge sigh. These were the moments he used to love with Allison, but hated now. The cuddling afterwards—for some reason, he just couldn't fake it; so, he removed himself by gently easing her off him.

"Let me up for just a moment, sweetheart, I've got to uh…" he gestured downwards, "clean up."

The blonde nurse gave a small nod and let him go. "Mmmm, okay. God, that was amazing…" she purred, giving him a lingering kiss on his lips before rolling over and curling up on her side like a contented kitten.

Chase glanced over at her laying there and a part of him felt sick for using this woman so shamelessly. He wanted to feel something—anything, but he just didn't. She was a nice girl, but she was just one more of the many nameless women he'd bedded since his divorce. He was damaged, and he knew it. His disastrous relationship with Cameron hadn't made him that way, it had simply put the cherry on an already fucked up sundae!

Thirteen's image flashed before his eyes and he felt a stirring of renewed desire. He sat up in bed, ran a hand over his face and mentally cursed his far too attractive co-worker's effect on his libido. Dammit! He'd hoped a romp with Stacie-Tracy-whatever her name was, would get her out of his head, but no, here she was, right back on his mind, tempting him.

How could that be when he'd gotten off only moments before?

It was too much. "I'll be right back," he whispered to his sleepy lover before he climbed out of bed, disposed of the used condom in a trashcan beside the bed and headed to the bathroom for a shower and the space he always needed after a casual hook up.

As he stepped under the hot spray of water, allowing it to wash off the smell of sex and sin, Chase wondered if he would he ever feel whole again. He wanted something real—he did, but at this point, he wasn't sure he was capable of that kind of emotion anymore.

******HOUSE*****

Remy crept out of the bed, biting back a curse when she stubbed her toe on the unfamiliar nightstand she'd missed in the darkened room. She gathered up her clothes, quickly and quietly before tiptoeing over to the bathroom to get dressed. She spared a small glance back to the rumpled bed, where the woman she'd picked up last night slept on and sighed in frustration. Meaningless sex had always been her go-to for a release of tension, but tonight had backfired on her big-time! The woman in bed just hadn't had the right equipment to truly satisfy her tonight.

Thirteen slipped inside the bathroom, flipped on the light and leaned against the door to gather herself back together. Dammit! She'd really hoped that getting it on with a woman would wipe him from her mind, but it hadn't. If anything, it had only made the ache worse. She wanted Chase; wanted him inside her-she'd felt so empty all night and even the introduction of some very creative sex toys hadn't filled the void.

Thirteen caught her reflection in the mirror and she stared back at her haggard appearance. Shit! She looked tired, not relaxed like she should after a good romp of some very decent sex. If anything she looked more high-strung than she had earlier that evening.

That wasn't good.

"You're so screwed," she sighed to her reflection.

Thirteen picked up her clothes and began to dress, hoping she could escape the apartment without the awkward 'after-casual-sex' conversation. As she dressed, she started to hum the old Rolling Stones tune 'You Can't Always Get What You Want', and it took a second for the implications of that to sink in and when it did-she sighed in frustration again. She didn't see a way to get what she wanted. That road led back to Chase, and Thirteen was bound and determined to never fall victim to an office romance-ever again.

She sat on the toilet and called for a taxi before sliding her boots on and zippering them up the sides. She splashed some cold water on her face before silently exiting the bathroom and the woman's (whose name she'd forgotten already) apartment without incident.

Once outside, she finally breathed normally again, that is, until it dawned on her that not only couldn't she have what she wanted-but she couldn't even get what she needed in random sex anymore.

"Oh yeah," she sighed, running a weary hand through her tangled hair. "I'm fucked."

And unfortunately, that was not in a good way!

********HOUSE*******

Okay there's the next part-let me know-good or bad? I'm trying to keep the UST on high alert. Did I succeed? Thanks again for the fedback. It means a lot. *smiles happily*