AN: Alright…this is the last one for the week. Tomorrow is back to the real world…and the real world means constant homework and tons of reading! But no worries, this is a good one to pause on!

Sleeping Dogs Lie

Allison was looking through a medical journal that came in that afternoon's mail. She had hot chocolate in hand and Remy's head on her lap. She had been flipping through, spine of the journal on the arm of the couch so as not to smush her girlfriend's face.

Her eyes went wide and her cocoa was suddenly out of her mug and flying through the air. She jumped up with no warning and Remy…well, Remy pretty much ended up on the floor, covered in cocoa.

Remy looked up at her with anger, frustration, but mostly curiosity. She opened her mouth to speak, but Allison finally let words out, "THAT SON OF A BITCH!" She yelled, "That mother fucking son of a bitch! He fucking stole my article!"

Remy's jaw dropped….when Cameron did drop 'F' bombs, it was generally quite casually or when she was being literal with Remy…and sexy-like when she told her to fuck her… Cameron rarely cursed when she was angry…it was something she had always found adorable: the girl could curse any damn time of the day, but when she was mad, she used replacement words that a middle schooler would use…unless she was this mad. Remy had only seen her this mad a hand full of times. At this moment though, she was glad it wasn't her that pissed her off.

She sat there cautiously. She didn't make any sudden movements…didn't want to alert the beast. She spoke softly, trying to calm Allison, "Honey, I'm gonna need you to give me a name so that I can be mad too…"

"Fucking Foreman!" She crossed her arms in a huff, "Are you fucking kidding me?" To Allison, Remy was no longer in the room. "I mean, what the hell! My article has been on House's desk for forever! How the hell did Foreman…? Gahhh! FUCK! Fuck him and his fucking….fuck him!"

Remy started laughing, "Okay Honey…lovely thought, really…but I'd prefer you didn't." Allison spun and looked at her, "Mainly because of two reasons… One, this is a monogamous relationship and if you bring a third party into the mix, well we'd be swingers and… this is not the 70s, and I'm pretty sure you would hate it. And two, you obviously hate him and we both know that unless it's me you hate the hate sex is never gonna be good for you…"

Allison stood there arms crossed, clearly pissed off and did nothing. Remy wanted to dive under the couch and hide, "Please don't hurt me…I'm already covered in cocoa and I was just trying to lighten the mood…"

Allison looked at her girlfriend's appearance, She saw the hot chocolate and the fact that she was on the floor…and now realized how she got there, "I'm sorry…" She said genuinely as she walked over to help Remy off the ground, "I love you and your attempts to lighten my mood when I'm pissed off, but this…I'm not gonna be light with this for a long ass time!" She walked into the bedroom and slammed the door.

Remy turned everything off and locked up, then followed her and quietly opened and closed the door again, "Do I still get to sleep here or do I have to go to my place?"

"Oh no." Allison looked at her, "You're sleeping here. You are not about to leave me here alone, not when I'm pissed of—What are you doing?" Allison almost jumped when Remy took off her shirt.

Remy gave her a look, "I'm changing my shirt…you threw your hot chocolate on that one…it's cold and wet and sticky…"

"Why aren't you wearing a bra?" Allison stared as Remy dug in the dresser for a sleeping shirt.

Remy smirked, remembering why she liked it when Allison was mad…she got horny when she was mad and nothing was to be done…and her being as mad as she is means extra horny…which means extra sex. She kept her smirk as she pulled the white V-neck from the drawer, "Am I turning you on?" She asked as she turned to her.

Allison stared at her girlfriend. Instead of answering, she took matters into her own hands. She walked over to her, "Take off your pants." She commanded before she grabbed the taller women by the back of the neck and gave her a knee-weakening kiss.

~0~0~0~

An entire night of sex did not off set Cameron's anger. She grabbed the article on her way out the door. When she walked into the office a little later than usual, she saw Foreman and chase already there.

She walked over and slapped her article down, "You stole my article."

"I wouldn't do that."

Chase gave Foreman a look that told him he was in his nonexistent prayers.

"I wrote up the case where we induced hypothermic cardiac arrest in the terminal cancer girl."

"I wrote my own, I didn't steal yours."

"You knew I was writing one, you gave me notes!"

House walked in, "Got a case. It can wait, you two finish." Then he looked at Chase, "Five bucks says someone loses an eye."

Cameron snatched the article from House's hands and began looking through it.

House almost laughed as he spoke, "Fine. You're only putting off the inevitable. Twenty five year old female, hasn't slept for ten days."

"I assume the ER tried giving her some sedatives, we should up the dosage." Cameron said studying the file.

"Sedation isn't the same as sleep." Foreman argued.

"Thanks for your insight. For someone who hasn't slept in ten days, sedation is a great start."

"Sleep is an active process." Foreman said, "Reboots the system, restores the brain, sedatives don't—"

"The brain is being stressed, we need to relieve that." She turned to House, "You've had my article on your desk for the last four months!"

House gave her a sideways look, "I'm a very slow reader. No fever, no white count, means no infection."

"Schizophrenia?" Chase asked.

"No delusions." House replied.

"You read his!" Cameron was still fixating, like she did.

"I signed it, I didn't read it… Aside from the sleeping pills, tox-screen was clean. No cocaine, meth, amphetamines, or diet pills."

"Any medications she'd had recently are steroids for poison ivy, and ibuprofen for a knee she hurt skiing?" Chase questioned.

Cameron: shook her head, "Nothing that would cause sleep disturbances. When did you get his article?"

"Ahh.. about three weeks ago. Let's go back to the beginning."

"How far back?" Chase wanted to focus…not on the elephant in the room.

"Genesis. God said, let there be light."

"Sleep is initially controlled by external light cues." Foreman provided.

"And if the brain can't interpret those cues.." Chase added on seeing where they were going.

"Optic-nerve disease." Cameron stated it for the bunch.

House turned to her, "I'm sensing another article."

"I'll go run the tests."

After Cameron began running the tests Foreman came in. She didn't want to have anything to do with him. She tried to make him leave, but he wouldn't..then Hannah fell asleep.

~0~

After being told to keep her awake no matter what, another symptom came up: Rectal bleeding. House told them to keep her awake during it…no sedation. If she had a tumor, then they could put her out, if they didn't…keep stressing her. So here Chase and Cameron were, giving the poor woman a colonoscopy.

Hannah was groaning and her partner, Max was trying to comfort her, meanwhile, Chase and Cameron were having their own conversation.

"How am I supposed to work with him?"

Chase looked up at Cameron in disbelief, "Maybe.. we shouldn't be talking about this right now?"

"You think I'm overreacting?"

The Australian sighed, "Um.. I need you to relax your anus." He told Hannah.

Max continued to try to comfort her as Hannah tried to do what she was told.

Cameron looked to Chase, "Is that what you told him - I'm hysterical and I need to relax my anus?"

Chase decided to just get this conversation over with, "I told him... how many cases do we work up in a year? They're all weird, he could have written up any one of them."

Hannah then began bleed intensely from her nose.

After they got this taken care of, they were back in House's office.

Foreman started, "We prescribed coagulants to control the bleed, and started transfusing two units of whole blood."

"Pathology from the rectal bleed showed traces of nasal epithelium." Cameron said.

"So the blood bleed is just a nosebleed."

Cameron gave him a sarcastic look, "That much blood is not a 'just a' anything."

House looked at the both of them, "When two people fight this much - you know what it means."

Foreman ignored him, "It's gotta be a massive sinus hemorrhage, that was draining down her throat and out the back."

Cameron, of course, argued, "The question isn't what, it's why."

"Oh, get a room." House looked at the both of them

"Rat poison mixed with some sort of neurogenic toxin can cause bleeding and sleep disturbances." Foreman ignored House again and threw out his suggestion.

"Do you have a specific type of neurogenic toxin in mind, or should we just start running a thousand different tox-screens?" Kitty had claws…and right now, Cameron was all feline.

"Just pretend I'm not here. I'll be reading." House said off-handedly.

Again, Foreman ignored House as the older doctor's request, "It also could be some kind of coagulopathy."

"Or it could be us, do you have any idea what it feels like to have a six-foot long hose shoved into your large intestine?" Cameron was on her last straw.

House looked up form his magazine and gave her an intrigued look, "No. But I now have a much greater respect for whichever basketball player you dated in college."

Cameron gave him a look that both thanked him for ensuring her 'straightness' and told him how annoying the sexual innuendos were. After coming up with more ideas, they left to start their tests.

~0~

House had just finished with a clinic patient and found Cameron outside the door waiting for him, "Is this just one of your experiments? You just wanted to see how I'd react to being screwed over by Foreman?" She asked as they started walking.

"Nice idea, but no. This was just good old-fashioned laziness. Gotta hand it to Foreman though, he knew that you were a suck up and I don't give a crap. He successfully exploited us both."

"Right. We're both victims. A simple heads up, that's all I needed. You know, between your incredibly witty remarks about anal sex and Cuddy's breasts, you could have tipped me off." She said sarcastically.

"Then I'd have Foreman pissed at me. And as annoying as you can be, at least I know you're not going to pop a cap in my ass. Witty, huh?"

Cameron sighed and began walking away from him.

"You on the other hand, continue to be flabbergasted every time someone actually acts like a human being. Foreman did what he did because it worked out best that way for him. That's what everyone does." House limped a couple feet after her.

Cameron turned, "That is not the definition of being human. That's the definition of being an ass."

~0~

After discussing whether or not Hannah had slept sitting up with Cameron and Chase in his office, and finding out that Foreman was still keeping her awake, House asked, "Did she have a dog?"

Cameron was the one to answer, "For less than a week. She had an allergic reaction, so they had to give it away."

"Allergies." The Australian provided.

"Animal allergies seems unlikely, but its possible that—"

"When?" House interrupted Cameron.

"When what?" Cameron looked at him questioningly.

"When did she get rid of the dog?"

"About a month ago. Her girlfriend gave it to her for her birthday."

House shook his head. He was almost smirking, "Well then it's not allergies. She's just leaving her girlfriend."

Cameron raised her brows, "You've... spoke to the dog?"

"If her birthday was a month ago, she would still be on steroids for the poison ivy. And those meds would have suppressed any reaction she might have had to the dog, which means she lied about being allergic. The dog's a commitment. You pretend to be allergic, because you don't want to tell your girlfriend that you're not planning on being around that long. So I think we can move onto options other than allergies." House explained.

"We should still do a scratch test. If she's allergic to one thing—"

"She is not allergic." House cut Chase off, insisting he was right.

"Okay. Well," Cameron folded the file and crossed her legs, "We could either base the diagnosis on your admittedly keen understanding of lesbian relationships, or, we could do a scratch test." She gave him a look.

"Do a scratch test." House waved her off.

Cameron went to Hannah's room to complete the scratch test. Max had offered to go get Hannah a soda and left the room.

Cameron looked at Hannah pointedly, "You and Max have got a very nice relationship."

"Yeah."

"She's very supportive."

"Uh-huh."

"When Max got you the dog, did you lie about having an allergic reaction?" Cameron asked…there was no way House was right about this…except that maybe there was.

"No. Why?"

"If you have pre-existing conditions, it's important we know. But, if you don't, it's just as important. If I'm wasting my time doing—"

Hannah interrupted her, "You're not going to tell her, are you?"

Cameron shook her head, "It's none of my business."

"She's a good person. We've just been together so long, I... I'm tired of her. Sounds terrible, doesn't it?"

Cameron looked down and off into space, "I guess… it happens sometimes.

That afternoon Cameron went to Remy's place. They had decided to meet there for lunch. Allison was quiet. She watched as Remy put fresh lettuce in the aquarium that held Remy's turtle, Witherspoon.

"Would you… Would you be interested in getting a dog?" She asked as she sat on one of Remy's bar stools.

Remy looked up from stroking Witherspoon's shell and shut the aquarium, "Where did this come from? Do you all of the sudden want one…or have you thought about this for a while?" Remy wouldn't have been surprised…Allison multitasked a lot and there were things that weren't brought up until they were thought through, and there were things that were brought up randomly.

"I'm not saying I am…just…would you want to get a dog…together?" She crossed her arms and clenched.

"Baby…we aren't around enough to take care of a doggy. I think we'd have to start of with like a hermit crab or fish something…Or you could actually help out with Witherspoon seeing as you did get him for me 6 years ago…" She smiled. Witherspoon was a one year anniversary present from Allison. She got him for her because Remy had always had a thing for turtles…technically it was her grandmother's love, but when she died, Remy kept all of the turtles…and there was a lot of figurines and just…everything. She kept them because they were reminders of the only person that loved her until Allison came along…her grandmother practically raised her after her dad went off the deep end…

Allison gave Remy a small smile, "Well, you like turtles and I thought he'd be appropriate…and I thought his name even more so…"

"Because that's the name of the library at our alma mater…" Remy grinned and wrapped her arms around her.

Allison grinned right back, "Uh huh…that's where you pestered me until I finally agreed to go out with you." She laughed at Remy's reaction and kissed her. Then she turned back to the matter at hand, "But you don't do a lot with turtles…"

Remy nodded, "You're right, but a puppy?…I wouldn't want the poor thing to die of starvation or shit all over the place…"

Allison gave her a warning look and took a breath, "Okay…" She started, "Pretend that we aren't doctors and we have regular 9 to 5 jobs…would you or would you not get a dog with me?"

Remy looked at her quizzically, "Do you even like dogs?"

Allison, exasperated, '"JUST! Will you please!"

"Okay!" Remy raised her arms in surrender, "Yeah, I'd love to get a dog with you…"

Allison nodded and bit her lips with a little more emotion, "House predicted that our patient was going to break up with her because she faked a dog allergy…He was right. She is planning on leaving her."

Remy nodded once and pulled her in, "Honey come here." She held Allison close.

"I just…I haven't felt very close as of late. I want to know that we're strong, you know? And then when Hannah told me that she was just…tired of her girlfriend…it just added fuel to the fire…"

"I'm not gonna go anywhere." Remy told her reassuringly.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Cameron did not see that she had a choice for what she was going to do. She felt sick because of what Hannah was doing and if she wasn't allowed to talk to Max, then she's have to speak with their actual patient.

"I'm going to check for vascular abnormalities that can prevent us from doing the transplant." Cameron said, "At the same time, I'm also checking for mushroom spores to see if that's the underlying—"

"I don't do mushrooms." Hannah stated plainly.

"If you lie about your love life, maybe you lie about drugs. Open." Cameron put the endoscopy tool down Hannah's throat, "Aren't you at all concerned about what Max is going through right now? Shoving a tube up her rectum. Then they're going to swab her stomach just like I'm doing. It's going to hurt just like this hurts, which is nothing at all like the risk she's taking on the table…" She removed the thing from Hannah's throat, "You don't love her, do you?"

"I'm not leaving her because I don't—"

"I'm not talking about the leaving, I'm talking about this. If you care for her at all, you won't let her do this blind."

"You'd really tell?" Hannah looked at her wide-eyed.

"Yeah." Cameron nodded.

"You'd die?"

"Yeah."

~0~

Cameron knew that there was only a matter of minutes before the surgery, but she had to try to get Hannah to tell Max… She also knew that House would soon me on a rampage…of course he got there in the nick of time. If life were a show, it would not be called Cameron it'd be called House…because he always gets what he wants. He pulled her aside after he put Hannah out before she could say anything to Max.

"I told you—"

"I didn't say a word to Max." Cameron interrupted him.

"This is exactly why you got screwed with Foreman. You're looking for people to do the right thing."

"She hasn't slept. Her judgment is compromised due to inactivity in her pre-frontal cortex."

"Oh, she could have the best pre-frontal cortex in the history of mankind, but given the choice of life versus death, those bad, bad people are going to choose life."

Cameron crossed her arms, "Then why did you sedate her? If she wasn't going to tell, if she was never going to do the right thing, why bother knocking her out?" She paused for a moment, "This isn't about them, if she talks, if she does the decent thing, then you don't get to solve your puzzle, your game's over, you lose."

"Yeah. I want to save her. I'm morally bankrupt."

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Cameron was walking the hallway. She found Max sitting in front of Hannah's room, "You weren't in your room."

Max smiled up at her, "The surgeon said I'd heal faster if I walk. Got this far, needed a rest."

"What you did was crazy, but it was pretty amazing too." Cameron smiled back at her.

"Yeah. I'm a hero." Max said, obviously already tired of the new nickname. She watched Hannah through the glass for a moment, "She's been planning to leave me." She stated plainly.

Cameron's jaw dropped, "Really?"

Max nodded, "She told a friend. The friend let it slip."

Cameron was gob-smacked, "You knew, and - you gave up half your liver anyway?"

Max still looked at Hannah. She shrugged, "She can't leave me now."

Cameron didn't know how to take that, "You really want her to stay out of guilt - that's not going to make any of you happy."

Max finally looked at her, "You don't know that. I love her. I just want her to stay."

Cameron made it back to the office…she couldn't stop thinking about what Max said. She decided that after two of the most dramatic lesbians she'd ever met…including Remy and herself, she needed to do some 'spring cleaning' to her emotions. She walked in and found Foreman.

"I don't own House's cases." She started. "You had just as much right as I did to write it up. You should have told me but, I should have handled it better too."

Foreman leaned back in the chair he was sitting in.

So, Cameron continued, "If we want this not to get in the way of our friendship, I think we both have to apologize and put it behind us."

Foreman didn't answer right away. He processed, then started speaking, "I like you. Really. We have a good time working together." He made a face, "But ten years from now, we're not going to be hanging out and having dinners. Maybe we'll exchange Christmas cards, say hi, give a hug if we're at the same convention." He sighed, "We're not friends. We're colleagues. And I don't have anything to apologize for."

Cameron watched him walk out. She watched him leave and she nodded. He was right, probably. He had a different way of thinking. She could get over that. The whole conversation didn't really even affect her. The second the glass shut, her mind was back on Max. Back on the fact that she gave half her liver so Hannah would be guilted into staying.

She went to Remy's place. Remy was in the shower, so she told her that she was there, then went back to the main part of the apartment. She pulled one of the bar stools over to Witherspoon's aquarium and just watched him as he walked from his hut over to the food he still had from earlier.

"Hey Baby." Remy came behind her and wrapped her arms around her lover. She kissed her cheek and neck.

"Hi." Allison leaned into Remy's hold. She didn't speak for a moment, she just felt her. Then she took a breath and let the words fall out from her, "If you don't want a dog then you shouldn't pretend to want one… I'd never give you half my liver to guilt you into staying. I'd give you half my liver, but not to guilt you into staying."

Remy pulled from her and spun the bar stool around, "The girlfriend knew the other chick was planning to leave her and did it so she'd stay?" Allison nodded. It was Remy's turn to take that in, "Wow… well…" She shook her head to clear her thoughts, "Baby I know you'd never guilt me into staying… I love you. I'm not going to ever leave you… Baby…I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Why don't you understand that?" Remy leaned in and kissed her solidly, passionately, "Do you need more? Do you want to move in together for real? Do you want a ring on your finger? What do I need to do to get it through your head that you're stuck with me until you're sick of me?... It's never going to be the other way around."

Allison leaned in and hugged her tight, "I love you."

"I love you too."

I don't need a ring or anything…I just need you to..reassure me like you do when I freak out like I do."

Remy grinned and potato sacked her, "I'll reassure you all night long." She slapped her ass and Allison cackled as she got carried to the bedroom.