Title:Mentor
A/N- Hey guys! I know we're all saddened by the lack of new House episodes. So as an aid for this moment of despair, I'm gonna try and keep my updates frequent. I may be even more encouraged to keep supplying you with House/Cam goodness when motivated by the splendid reviews! I love hearing from you guys, and knowing what you do (or don't) like about the fics! So here's another chapter! HOUSE/CAM 4EVER!-Andi Chapter Ten: Casablanca and Bloody Noses
"Remember to call when you get settled into your room." Allison's mother kissed her cheek as they went to the gate, "And remember to study hard. Don't get swept away with the city!" She called as Allison went through the metal detectors, still trying to wave her mother off.
Free at last from her mother's constant fussing, Allison grabbed her carryon and headed for the corridor that lead to her plane. Finding her seat, she relaxed into the chair and quickly fastened her safety belt. She hated flying, but she had to if she wanted to get to New Jersey in a time and cost effective way. Taking long deep breaths, Allison managed to survive take-off. Now she just had an hour and a half to kill before surviving the landing.
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"You didn't have to come with me." House grumbled as he glared at Cuddy and Wilson who were sitting down next to him. Lisa was flipping through a magazine, and Wilson was leaning over her shoulder to glance at the turning pages.
"The only reason you're here, House, is so that I know what she looks like." Lisa reminded him. "Last thing I want is to be one of those goofy people holding up a person's name on a cardboard sign."
"Well, if you did that, then you could always write on the back "Will Flash for Food", and then- Hey! Free dinner." House leered and then looked at Wilson. "And why are you here, Jimmy-kins?"
"To keep Lisa sane. You think I'd let her subject herself to an hour of waiting with you all alone?" Wilson didn't even look up from the magazine article he and Cuddy were reading.
The announcements came on and all three listened. "That's her flight." House stood up and the other two followed him. "I don't see why you two think I'm going to be able to pick her out of a crowd. I saw her for a total of an hour and a half almost two years ago! The odds of me remembering what she looks like are about a 7 to 1... Plus or minus 2..."
"Plus or... What the hell are you talking about?" Wilson looked at him strangely.
"House, the Magical Number 7 Plus or Minus 2 is not relevant in this case." Lisa rolled her eyes.
"Still don't get it!" Wilson raised his hand.
"Don't worry, James." Lisa groaned.
"I still don't think I'll recognize her." House grumbled, though he was already picturing her in his mind.
"Well, we'll have to rely on her being able to remember your gentlemanly behavior." Cuddy nudged House.
As passengers started filtering out of the gate, House watched them intently. Most he knew for a fact weren't her. But then, she appeared and he wondered how he could think that he would ever forget her lovely face, let alone confuse her with another individual. "That's her." He jerked his head slightly.
Allison seemed to recognize him as well, because she paused and broke into a large smile before she all but cantered up to the three doctors. "Hi, G-... Dr. House." She kept herself from being as informal as she had almost been. "And you two must be doctors Cuddy and Wilson?"
Cuddy stood for a moment, and it took her a moment before she realized her head had begun to tilt. Glancing at Wilson she noticed his jaw had gone slacken. "Yes! I am Dr. Lisa Cuddy. This is Dr. James Wilson." Cuddy shook Allison's hand, recovering from her moment of being transfixed by Allison's overall appearance. "Well, let's get your bags and then, I'm sure you're hungry." The trio followed Allison to baggage retrieval.
Finding her single suitcase, Allison hoisted it up. "Can I take tha-" Wilson's jaw hung wide open before he could finish asking Allison if he could take her bag. His jaw went agape, because House had already relieved her of it. Falling back in step with Lisa, the two started comparing notes on their observations.
"You don't even have to say it. I saw it with my own two eyes." Cuddy murmured out of the corner of her lips. "Did you also notice that neither one had a single second guess over who they were?"
"You don't think they've been exchanging pictures do you?"
Lisa shook her head, "No way. That was purely by memory."
"So, when do I see your apartment?" Allison asked House as they walked towards the exit together, trying not to look behind herself and see the other two doctors watching them. "And when does your entourage leave? I feel like the paparazzi is after me."
"Actually, there's been a change in plans." House admitted, "You're going to be staying with Lisa."
Allison tried not to sound disheartened when she asked, "Why?"
"I don't want anyone at the hospital thinking anything indecent is happening between us. If they think that, then I lose credibility and so do you." And as an after thought House added, "And so do they." He jerked his head at Wilson and Cuddy.
"Oh... Well that's too bad. I remembered how you said you were a big Italian food guy. So I grabbed a few of my mom's recipes while I was home." She sighed as if it were scripted before craning her neck to look at Lisa, "Hey, Dr. Cuddy, do you like Italian food?"
Lisa paused a second, "Yeah, why?"
"I thought since you're letting me stay with you, the least I can do is cook and clean. Yeah, I know it sounds kinda Boxcar Children meets Oliver Twist, but, hey, at least it's an offer." Allison shrugged.
"I will accept cooking as payment-"
"Yeah, last time Cuddles tried to cook, she nearly burnt down her dorm room." House teased.
"Cuddles?" Allison quirked an eyebrow.
"We're old college acquaintances." Lisa supplied.
"Aw, we were buddies." House insisted, "You don't have to lie; I know you worship me. You don't have to hide it anymore."
Cuddy groaned and fell back once more in step with Wilson, "He's pulling away already." She grumbled.
"I know, I know." Wilson nodded, "It looks like he's going for Plan B: Make Allison think she has no chance so that she won't even try and he won't have to resist anything."
Staring at her colleague for a brief moment, Lisa shook her head, "If that were a title for a plan, we wouldn't have to give a summary of what it was afterwards." Cuddy mocked.
"So sue me. We can't all be lined up with sarcastic comments for any given moment like House."
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"I have a guest bedroom upstairs, second door on the right. The bathroom is just across the hall." Lisa instructed as she came into the home, holding the door open for Allison. "I'm sure you're tired from your flight. So we'll all get together tomorrow and talk."
"What's the point? You and Dr. Wilson have been observing us all night." Allison grunted, heaving her suitcase up the stairs. By the time Allison had gotten the suitcase on the bed, she was ready to collapse.
"What makes you say that we've been observing you?" Cuddy asked as she leaned against the doorframe of the guest bedroom.
"You don't have to go to medical school to know when people are talking behind your back." Allison looked at Cuddy as she flicked open her suitcase, "You usually start recognizing that in middle school."
"Yeah, well, I guess House has rubbed off on us." Lisa sighed and came into the room.
"I guess I have no room to talk." Allison sighed, pulling out clothes and shoving them into dresser drawers. "It must seem pretty middle school-esque, when the student starts crushing on the teacher."
"So, you do like him like that." Cuddy didn't know what made her start helping Allison unpack, but she just began grabbing blouses and hanging them up.
"No point in hiding it. I figured since you and Dr. Wilson are so close to him, he would have come to you and ranted about how some college girl was trying to get him in trouble." She supplied.
Lisa paused, "Yes and no." She sighed. "Yes, we kind of figured it out. But no, there hasn't been any ranting." When the suitcase was unpacked, both women fell onto the bed. "Do you like old movies?" Lisa asked after a long moment of just sitting there.
"How old are we talking?" Allison glanced at her new roommate.
"Wanna watch Casablanca?"
"Sure."
Simultaneously, the women rose and went down the stairs to the Tv room. Lisa popped in the movie and went to the freezer as the DVD got to the menu screen. "Do you like chocolate peanut butter swirl or mint chocolate chip ice cream?" Lisa called.
"Mint." Allison had snagged a throw blanket off of the back of the couch and was curling under it.
Lisa came back to the living room with two bowls of ice cream.
"You had to choose Casablanca though, didn't you?" Allison sighed, accepting her ice cream.
"What's wrong with Casablanca?" Lisa demanded with a glare.
"Nothing. It's a great film. But you had to pick a movie where the lovers don't end up together in the end. Are you trying to tell me something?" Allison took a spoonful of her ice cream.
"We could watch Dirty Dancing next." Lisa offered.
Allison snorted, "Sorry, I'm just imagining Greg... I mean... Dr. House dancing like that." She busted up laughing again.
Lisa choked on her ice cream as she laughed at trying to picture House dancing like they did in the movie. Finally composing herself she assured Allison, "You can call him Greg." Lisa gave the younger woman a nudge, "Just not at the hospital. It either has to be Dr. House or just House. Outside, it doesn't matter."
Casablanca began to play and the two women found it nearly impossible to stop chatting their way through the film.
"So, are you going to try and keep me from Greg?" Allison finally asked halfway through the film. Lisa sighed, "Uh oh, long sighs are not good."
"You'll have to wait." Lisa finally told her. "If you want to be taken seriously, you can't be with him yet. You have to get into medical school first. The medical director of PPTH is already interested in you, but if he finds out about you and Greg, he won't hire you."
"So... basically... I can't be with him." Allison felt her heart sink.
"Not necessarily... I mean..." Allison could see the wheels turning in Lisa's head. "You wouldn't be able to be public, but..." A look of excitement swept over Cuddy's face, "As long as you can wait until you get into medical school before being public. You'd be fine. Dr. Diar is retiring in about three years, and I haven't told the guys yet, but he's been conditioning me to take his place!"
"You'd give me a job?" Allison stared blankly.
"Well, not necessarily. After all, I still haven't figured out if you're really as great as House has been bragging." Lisa pointed out. "We'll save those judgement calls for when I have seen your observation notes."
Allison groaned and flopped her head against the back of the couch. "You guys specialize in tormenting me!"
Lisa laughed. Spending time with Allison like this, was like spending time with her little sister. It was amazing how quickly she'd taken to Allison, especially since their first few comments to each other had been anything but encouraging. But somehow, Allison had managed to spin the conversation and now they were talking as if they'd known each other for years!
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"So, what's our little lamb doing while Mommy's at work?" House asked as Cuddy strolled into his office. Taking one look at the glowing woman's face, House's jaw dropped in horror, "Oh no... You've bonded!"
"House, she's falling for you." Lisa sat across from his desk, "And we were up almost all night talking and watching old movies, trying to figure out how you two can get together."
"You've been conspiring behind my back, trying to hook me up with a 21 year old, Cuddy?" House's eyebrows shot to his hairline, "Well, while you're at it, making all my fantasies come true, why don't you find me a third member for the party? Or are you interested, seeing as you're so close to Allison now?"
"SH!! No names!" She hushed him. "We can't let anyone know what we're up to."
"This is just pathetic. I thought I was the resident five year old in this hospital." House stood up and walked towards his door.
"House!"
"What?" He turned, a look of complete exasperation consuming his features.
"Stop it."
"Stop what?" He went back to his desk and took up his Nerf ball and began tossing it in the air.
"You're doing what you always do, House." Lisa glared at her co-worker, "You get close to someone and then find an excuse to push them away. That's what Allison was to you, someone to help you push away Stacey."
House stopped tossing the ball and glared, "Are you trying to tell me that everything I feel for her is some subconscious ploy to stay alone? Are you trying to say that she's just an excuse, and that what I feel for her isn't real?"
"No." Lisa went towards his office door, "But now you don't think so either." She said softly as the door shut behind her.
Falling back against his chair, House grumbled to himself, "Lisa and her fucking dramatic exits." Resting his head in his palms he released a long sigh. What if this was a game to her? What if she was using him and his connections to get what she wanted? His brain was rushing with millions of "what ifs", but his heart knew better. Pounding furiously at the brain's suspicions, the heart argued that it knew Allison better than that. The heart knew with every beat that she wasn't using him, and what he felt for her was equally returned. "But how can I be sure?"
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Cuddy groaned while she made her way to her office. For the longest time she just stared at the phone and debated calling her home to check up on Allison. She kept having to remind herself that Allison was a grown woman and perfectly capable of taking care of herself. However, part of her felt guilty that the college woman was stuck in a stranger's home, all by herself in, and in an unfamiliar city. Maybe she should have just brought her to the hospital with her.
Lisa groaned again. Damn her politeness.
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Around lunchtime, House was playing with his yo-yo. Again, he was patientless, and his two colleagues were looking bored as they sat around the lounge room of diagnostics, drinking coffee. House was bored. Extremely bored. And plagued with thoughts of Allison.
"HI!" House fell out of his chair when his office door burst open and Allison's bouncing self came in with a giant bowl.
"Where the HELL did you come from!?" House scrambled up from the floor, grasping his heart.
"From Dr. Cuddy's house." Allison held out the bowl. "I got bored; I made you guys lunch."
House nodded, and clambered to the couch. "Got forks?" He asked as he turned on the Tv.
Allison held out four plastic forks that were covered in a thin plastic lining. "I snagged them from the cafeteria."
"Ah." House took one and tore it open as she un-shrunkwrapped the giant bowl of pasta salad.
"Aren't you going to call Cuddy and Wilson over?" Allison asked as House began stabbing the spiral noodles.
"Nope."
"Why?"
"Because they'll show up within the next five minutes." House took another forkful.
"How do you know that?" Allison asked.
"Because I made a bet with them that the Red Sox would beat the Mets. The game's suppose to start in a few minutes, and I'm the only one among the 3 of us that has a tv."
"Ah, deductive reasoning." Allison started stabbing up her own food from the bowl.
To neither Allison nor House's surprise, Cuddy and Wilson appeared a minute later. "Did it start yet?... Woah, how'd you get here?" Wilson pointed at Allison.
"Cab. I made you guys lunch. You might want to grab some before Gre--.. Dr. House eats it all." Allison wanted to smack herself upside the head. She'd just had this conversation with Cuddy last night about names.
"Yeah, and if you're a germaphobe then you don't want it, 'cause we've been eating it like this." House stabbed his fork into the bowl and took a giant mouthful.
Allison whacked him in the back after he'd finished swallowing, so as not to choke him, "Stop being mean. I made it for all of us, not just you." She scolded. "I figure if I get letters of recommendation from these two as well, I might be able to get into Johns Hopkins. Since your signature's not going to get me in."
"That's cold."
"That's true."
"Fine, suck up to them then." House shrugged, not taking his eyes off of the tv.
"Fine, maybe I will." Allison threatened.
"Don't flirt too much with Jimmy though, he's already on his second marriage." House sneered.
Allison froze. Had he? Had he just reduced her feelings for him to something as cheap as trying to seduce a letter of recommendation out of him? A quick, rapid restriction in her heart, caused Allison to sway when she stood up and left the office.
"WHAT THE FUCK, HOUSE!?" Lisa screamed as she got up and chased after the woman. She could see Allison running towards the elevators, swiping away tears. Chasing after her, Lisa hoped to make it to the elevator before the doors could even open.
However, Allison bi-passed the elevator entirely and ran towards the stairwell. Unfortunately, as she reached for the door it flew open and smacked Allison in the face.
"Oh, my God! I am so sorry!" The young nurse who had hit Allison with the door, tried to help the girl up as she held her nose.
"I got it, Brittany." Cuddy said as she put an arm over Allison's shoulder and walked her back towards House's office as she cried and held her face as blood began to drip from between her fingers.
"What the hell happened?" Wilson asked as Allison came in holding her face. House leapt up and tried to pull her hands from her bleeding nose.
"How did this happen?" He asked, "You're suppose to punch me in the nose for that remark, Cuddy, not Allison."
"A nurse opened a door in her face while she was running off." Cuddy growled.
"I's'not brogen." Allison garbled, tilting her head forward slightly and pinching the soft flesh of her nose.
"Hey, check that out! Takes a hit and keeps on going." House laughed, apparently trying to make amends for his earlier comment. "Told you she was a protege."
Despite herself, Allison laughed, unfortunately, it hurt and also caused her to release her nose and spray a copias amount of blood down the front of her shirt.
"You remember how we told you that House can be a real ass?" Wilson reminded. "That was actually quite nice for him."
"Yah, but 'e does'gn't say any-e-ing 'e does'gn't mean." Allison's nasally voice was difficult not to laugh at, despite how cold House's remark had been.
"I'll get a cool pack." Wilson volunteered.
"I'll get some gauze." Cuddy said as she went the opposite direction, leaving House and Allison alone.
"You don't really think I flirted with you to get good recommendations, do you?" Allison wiped her bloody hands on her equally bloody clothes as House pulled a pair of gloves from the lab coat he never wore. He gently began wiping the blood from her face and hands before pinching her nose for her.
"No, I don't think that." House sighed, "But I figured if I said it, I could find out if it was true or not, or if I was just being optimistic." He cracked a smile at her, "And I know you were genuinely upset that I implied that, because otherwise, you wouldn't have been distracted enough to run into a door."
"I didn't run into the door. The door flew into my face!" Allison protested, but tried not to make too many facial expressions, for fear of more pain.
"So... What happens now?" House asked softly while his fingers still held her nose firmly closed.
"I don't know. Li- Dr. Cuddy and I-"
"You can call us by our first names, Ally. Just not in front of other people." House assured her.
"Lisa and I were discussing ways that we can sneak around-"
"What if I don't want to sneak around?" He asked quietly.
"Just for a little while." Allison told him. "Until Dr. Diar retires and I start medical school."
"Do you think we could last three years like that?" He asked quietly. "That's how long it will be before Diar retires."
Allison thought for a moment, "I don't know... But I want to try it out."
"And the fact that I'm so many years older than you doesn't bother you?" Allison shook her head. "You just want to see what happens, huh?" She nodded. Looking around, House checked to see if anyone was around. They weren't. Looking back at her, he placed the gentlest of kisses on her forehead. "Then let's just see what happens." He agreed.
TBC
A/N- Let the sneaky-ness begin!---- Review Please!-Andi