A/N: It's awful quiet out there LOL. Hope you're still enjoying it. Sh*t's about to get real, yo!

Chapter Eight

"I might need your help," House told Wilson as they had lunch. "Can Cameron stay with you for a few days?"

Wilson's eyes widened. "What? Why?"

"I don't think it's all that safe at my place right now."

"I barely know her!" Wilson protested. "And what is my wife going to think if I bring someone like her home?"

"Just explain to her that Cameron needs to place to stay for a few days."

"So, I just bring Cameron home, who is gorgeous in case you forgot, and tell Julie she needs a place to stay? What is going on, House?"

House reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a folded brown envelope. He opened it and spilled several pictures out onto the table. Wilson picked one up and then looked at House with wide eyes.

"That's...you...there's …" Wilson sputtered.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a red X through my face in all the pictures," House sighed. "I think they're from Joe Franklin."

"The same Joe Franklin who scared Cameron so badly she burned his letter? The same Joe Franklin who is an alleged mobster?" Wilson asked with round eyes.

"Yes, the alleged mobster Joe Frank,in who somehow knows our little homeless waif."

"You have to go to the police," Wilson told him firmly as he tossed the picture back on the table.

"And tell them what?" House asked with exasperation. "Someone who may or may not be Joe Franklin sent me some pictures?" He sighed and put the pictures back in the envelope. "At first, I thought you sent these. They were in a package I got. I told Cameron it was her Christmas present."

"Why would I do something like that?" Wilson said loudly.

Several people turned to look at them.

"Keep your voice down!" House hissed. He rubbed his thumb across his forehead. "Well, if you won't take Cameron in, I'll just have to figure something else out. Maybe Cuddy…"

"Does Cameron know about those?" Wilson asked in a soft voice.

"No."

Wilson shook his head. "Only you could take in someone mixed up with a mobster."

House smiled slightly. "I'm talented that way."


Cameron was working her way through House's mail when she came across an envelope with no return address. It was probably junk mail but she opened it anyway. She stopped breathing when she pulled out a single sheet of paper and a photograph fell onto House's desk. The letter was from Joe. This meant he knew where she lived and worked.

Ally Cat,

You've been a naughty little kitten. But I'm willing to forgive you and pay your debt if you come back. I'm still willing to marry you and give you a comfortable life.

It would be a shame if that world famous Doctor House had an accident and couldn't save anyone any more patients. Don't you agree?

Come home. Steve says all will be forgiven.

Love,

Joe

Cameron crumbled up the letter and looked down at the photo. It was of her and House walking out of the apartment to his car. She closed her eyes. That meant Joe was no longer in Chicago. He was somewhere in New Jersey. How could she have been so stupid as to think he would leave her alone? She'd been so naive to think if she left everything behind, he wouldn't follow her.

"What's that?" House asked.

Cameron jumped in the chair. She tried to grab the photo but House was quicker. He picked it up, glanced at it and tossed it on the desk. He held out his hand. Cameron slumped and handed him the crumbled letter. He read over it and then motioned for her to get up. Slowly she rose and moved to one side. House sat down and pulled the brown folded envelope out of his pocket. Opening it, he pulled out several pictures and handed them to her. With shaking hands, she took them. A gasp escaped her when she saw that they were all of her with House and there were red Xs over House's face in all of them.

"These were in the package I got the other day. You said he wasn't your boyfriend," House remarked calmly. "What do you owe him?"

Cameron shook her head and ran out of his office. House sighed and picked up the phone. Within minutes, a security guard brought her back into his office. Her face was pale and set.

"Sit," House commanded.

Slowly, Cameron moved to sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk. He could see that she was scared. A part of him wanted to comfort her and another part of him wanted to beat the shit out of Joe Franklin.

"Talk. Tell me how you got mixed up with a mobster."

She hung her head. "I got married when I was twenty-one. His name was Ryan Cobb. He had thyroid cancer that metastasized to his brain. Ryan also had a gambling addiction. I didn't know about it until he died. I also didn't know that his best friend, Joe Franklin, was a bookie with ties to the mob." She laughed a little. The was a hysterical edge to it. "He didn't want me to go to medical school. He said if I married him, he'd pay Ryan's debt," she said as she looked down at her hands. "I almost did it, too. He was so good to me when Ryan was in the hospital. Then I found out the truth about him after Ryan's funeral. Joe's boss came to visit me with two men. He wanted all the money Ryan owed him." Tears slid down her cheeks. "He owed over a million dollars. They beat me up but I got him to agree to a payment plan." She laughed again and wiped her nose. "I worked three jobs while I was in medical school. I barely made a dent in that debt. Steve, he's Joe's boss, kept adding on more interest. I tried to get a job after I finished my residency but Joe made it impossible. So I ran and ended up here." She shook her head and wiped her eyes. "I'll leave. You've been so helpful but I can't let them hurt you. I won't."

She stood up.

"Sit down," House told her. "You aren't going anywhere. We'll figure this out."

Cameron sat down. "How?" she asked.

He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. "I don't know yet," he told her. "For now, just go back to work and let me think."

Cameron got up and left. House grabbed his giant tennis ball and began to throw it in the air. There had to be a way out of this.

At the end of the day, when House was ready to go home, Cameron was nowhere to be found. House looked all over the hospital. Finally, he went home. All her clothes were still there. Only her coat, hat, scarf and mittens were missing along with her messenger bag. He looked all over the apartment and found a note tacked to the refrigerator.

House,

Thank you for everything you did for me.

Cameron

"Dammit!" he growled as he slammed his fist against the refrigerator. He walked over to the phone and called the bank. He knew her password and punched it in. The pleasant automated voice informed him that Cameron had a zero balance. He slammed the phone down. She was running again and he had to find her before Joe Franklin did.


Cameron got on the bus and chose a seat in the back. She hugged her messenger bag close and looked out the window. With a hiss and a squeal of the brakes, the bus pulled out of the terminal. It's better this way, she convinced herself. I never should have let House take me in. I not only put him in danger, but I fell in love with him. Knowing him as she did, she was certain he would never love her. She settled back in her seat and pulled her hat down so that it nearly covered her eyes. Looking straight ahead, she left Princeton and House behind. Curling up in the corner of her seat, she began to cry.