A/N: Thanks everyone who reviewed the last chapter. The site has been acting up again so I was able to reply to a few of you. We're glad you're still enjoying this. The excitement's not over yet!
Chapter Twelve
House heard Cameron stirring so he went to her room and leaned against the door frame. "Have a good nap?"
"Yeah."
"Feel better?"
She nodded and stretched luxuriously, like a cat, and House couldn't help but notice the perky nipples through her shirt.
"What time is it?" she yawned.
"Dinner time. What do you want?"
"Do we have to eat in our room again? Or can we actually go out?"
He shrugged. "We can do whatever we want, but we will be followed. If you're okay with that then so am I."
She shrugged too and followed him into the living room.
"We can't avoid it so we might as well just deal. Besides, I'm sure they'll protect me in case you try to get fresh," she said with a wicked grin. House picked up on that and decided to go with it, moving closer to her.
"Do you want me to get fresh, Cameron?"
His nearness made her heart race and then he was standing right in front of her, looking into her eyes, waiting for an answer.
"Well, House, let me put it to you this way; I wouldn't kick you out of bed for eating crackers."
House grinned and placed his hands on her hips, pulling her a little closer so they were standing toe to toe.
"Something has shifted between us lately," he said, still looking into her eyes, searching for answers.
She nodded and looked up at him. "Yes, I felt it too."
"What do you want to do about it?"
Cameron's hands slid up his chest and linked around his neck, pulling his head down so his lips met hers. The kiss was tentative at first, both of them a little unsure about what was happening, or what was going to happen. Then House's tongue touched her lips and she opened her mouth. Suddenly desire engulfed them and the kiss intensified as they strained to get as close as possible.
"This is probably a horrible idea," she panted when their lips finally parted.
"I don't see why," House said, also a little out of breath. "We like each other, don't we?"
"Well, yeah, but…."
Just then, there was a loud knock on the door. "Open up, Dr. House! It's the FBI."
House looked annoyed at having their moment interrupted. He had plans to take Cameron right back to bed and finish what they started. He went to the door and flung it open to find Agent Austin standing there.
"What the hell, Austin?" he grumbled. "You said you were going to give us time to discuss it…"
"Complete change of plans. Franklin's intel must have traced you to this hotel. Probably the same way he got House's cell number. We have to get you two out of here. Grab a bag and let's roll. Franklin and his people are in the lobby right now. Come on, chop chop!" she urged with a clap of her hands for effect.
Cameron froze. "Joe's here? Oh my God…"
"Relax, Dr. Cameron. We have a plan. But we have to hurry."
Once she and House had their bags, they were whisked away to the top floor and then up to the roof of the hotel where a helicopter waited.
"In you go," Austin said as she held the door open for them to get inside.
Meanwhile, Joe's lackeys were chasing a couple of House and Cameron look-alikes they spotted getting into a van outside while Joe went up to their suite to find them indeed gone.
The high speed car chase ended when the lackey's car sideswiped the van, causing it to collide with a lamp post and burst into flames. Among the smoke and fire, nobody noticed the hand reach up to pull the manhole cover closed underneath the fiery wreck.
Wilson sat, stunned, as he watched the news that evening from his room at The Swan Inn.
"This just in...the medical field is in shock today as two doctors, Dr. Gregory House and Dr. Allison Cameron, of Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey, were killed today in what can only be described as a high speed car chase that resembled that of a scene from a Hollywood movie."
"What the…." Wilson said faintly.
Just then, the phone in his suite rang and he looked at it in wonder, since nobody but the Feds knew where he was. He tentatively reached for the phone and cleared his throat. "Hello?"
"Are you watching the news?" House inquired. He sounded amused.
"House? Where are you?"
"Can't tell you that right now. I just wanted you to know that Cameron and I are fine. Joe's flunkies on the other hand...not so much."
"There's a news report that you and Cameron died," Wilson informed him. "What the hell is going on?"
"I can't talk right now," House told him. "Just stay where you are until Austin comes to get you."
Before Wilson could answer, House hung up. He put the receiver down and sighed. Only House could get into this much trouble.
The helicopter landed in Homestead, Florida. Austin got out and motioned for House and Cameron to follow her. They were in the middle of an open field. A few cows grazed in the distance. A black SUV pulled up next to the helicopter. Cameron slipped her hand into House's. He entwined his fingers with hers and looked at Austin.
"Now what?" he asked looking around.
"Now you get in the SUV and go to the airport in Tampa," Austin told him. "From there you fly back to Princeton."
"But Joe will find us in Princeton!" Cameron protested.
"If he believes you're dead he won't be looking for you."
"Is that the part where we smoke Joe out of his hidey-hole?" House asked.
"And hopefully, Keener, too," Austin told him.
Cameron leaned in toward House. "Your parents are going to think you're dead!" she whispered. "Everyone we work with…"
"Yeah, but we aren't. Besides, only my mother will care. Wilson knows we aren't dead so it's fine."
"Get in the car," Austin said. "We can hash all this out on the drive to Tampa."
An agent opened the back door of the SUV. Cameron climbed in followed by House. Austin got in the front seat and they drove toward I-75.
"We haven't eaten," House told Austin. "How far is it to Tampa from here?"
"About three hundred miles," she replied. "We'll stop and pick something up."
House looked at Cameron. Her eyes were huge and he could see the fear and worry in them.
"Everything is going to be okay," he assured her. He put his arm around her and pulled her close. Now if he could just believe it himself.
"I wish I could believe that. It's all so scary," she whispered as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"These guys know what they're doing," he assured her. Of that, he was sure. They orchestrated the staging of their deaths pretty damn fast.
"We're going to stop at Hardee's here in a bit. Any objections?" Austin asked them.
"No, that's fine," Cameron said.
They pulled into the parking lot and the group went in, ordered and sat down to eat. House and Cameron were ravenous and finished theirs fairly quick.
"Did you remember to chew?" Austin said with a chuckle.
"Yep, and now it's time for dessert. Want something?" House asked Cameron.
"Sure. Surprise me."
He returned minutes later with two pieces of chocolate cake for each of them.
"So what's the next part of the plan?" he asked as he dug into his cake.
"A funeral for Dr. Cameron. It will of course be filled with whoever shows up, and the rest will be officers from the NJPD and FBI. We're hoping to kill two birds with one stone and have both Franklin and Keener show up but it'll probably just be Franklin. Either way, we'll get them. They won't be able to resist showing up to make sure you're really dead or to pay their respects, or both. Then we put the squeeze on Franklin, offer him a deal, get him to roll over on Keener and take it from there."
"Do you think he'll go for that?"
"He'd be stupid not to. We have enough on him alone to put him away for years."
"And Keener?" he asked as he shoved a bite of cake into his mouth.
"He'll be going away for a long time."
"But you have to catch him first."
"Exactly." Austin turned to Cameron. "How many times have you met Steve Keener?"
"Only a handful of times, when he…" she stopped talking and looked down at her cake. Austin quickly got the impression that it wasn't something she wanted to talk about in public so she dropped it.
"Right, well, we can talk more about that back at the Bureau."
House was very curious. He thought she'd told him everything but clearly not. Her eyes were rimmed with tears and she only picked at her cake.
"Gonna eat that?" he asked her, and she shoved her container across the table to him without a word.
"We've got to get back on the road," Austin told them and they all got up, with House shoving the remaining bit of cake in his mouth.
"Classy, House," Austin grinned.
"That's me, Mr. Classy."
During the drive to the airport and while they waited to board the plane, Cameron didn't speak.
"Is she okay?" one of the other agents asked House.
"I'm fine," Cameron said and managed a slight smile. "Thanks."
"Want another Ativan?" House whispered.
"Once we're on the plane."
"You okay?"
"I'm going to be."
Once the plane was in the air, Cameron only took half of a tablet but that was enough to relax her and allow her to doze. Since it was a small jet, House and Austin sat together so Cameron could stretch out across the seats and House was able to sit in a seat with lots of room to stretch out his leg.
It wasn't a long flight and they were whisked away to a nearby hotel under the assumed names of Mr. and Mrs. Greene. This time, it was a small suite but there were two queen beds.
"Well that ends that idea," House muttered to himself when he saw the sleeping arrangements.
"Hhm?" Cameron said as she came up behind him. She saw the beds and a bit of relief flooded her. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
She smirked at him. "You were hoping for a king?"
"Am I that transparent?"
"Sorry, but yes."
He looked down, tapping his cane on the floor like he usually did when he was either at a loss for words or thinking.
"House? I don't think we should rush things. Especially not this. Not when there's so much going on right now. Don't you think?"
He felt her soft hand on his scruffy cheek and leaned into her touch. "Yeah, you're right. I just thought it might...help."
"How so?"
"It would make us forget for awhile."
"I'm sure it would, but our problems will still be there."
He looked down at the floor again, and Cameron smiled. "House, you know I'm right."
"I know. Still…"
"I think it will be worthwhile to wait until this is all over and done with."
"And then?"
"We can talk about whether or not we want to venture into a relationship. If I stay at PPTH…"
He looked up sharply. "What do you mean if? Were you planning to leave?"
"No, you didn't let me finish. I was going to say that if I stay at PPTH, get my license reinstated and you hire me to be on your team, you'd be my boss. Would we even be able to be together?"
"I thought about that. I might make you a co-department head. Then we'd be colleagues, on the same level. They wouldn't be able to say anything about that."
Cameron blinked, surprised, which made House chuckle. "What?"
"Nothing, it's just...you have that much faith in my abilities?"
"You're getting good at thinking outside the box and your desire to solve the puzzle is just as strong as mine. I think we'd make a good team. Besides, Cuddy says you're the only one who's managed to keep me in line and it would really piss Henderson off if I made you co-head instead of him. So there's that."
"Why? Because he has more seniority and experience than I do?"
"Yeah. Although it's ultimately my decision if I want a co-head and if you weren't there I wouldn't bother. But for some reason, when shit goes down, Cuddy always puts Henderson in charge of things and that's why his ego is bigger than it should be. He needs to be knocked down a few pegs."
"Yes he does. We agree on that," she said as she tossed her bag onto one of the beds. "I'm going to take a shower and freshen up. Then maybe we can have dinner?"
"The hotel has a restaurant. We should be safe there with our shadows."
"Okay, it's a date then," she said with a smile before giving him a quick peck on the cheek and then disappearing into the bathroom.
The part where the decoys escape the fiery van after the car chase is inspired by my favorite scene in the movie "Eraser."
