Goodbye Allison Cameron

In a few hours, they landed at LaGuardia. House, still riding the crippled vet card, received golf cart service gate to baggage claim. An attendant offered to help get their bags to the curb. Greg managed to wake up enough to walk himself from baggage claim to outside, all the while holding House's left hand.

"Daddy?" he asked, playing his part well.

"Yeah, kid?" House answered back.

"I gotta pee." House looked down and the boy was holding his crotch and squirming. Of course. The little guy had been out cold the whole trip. His bladder would be ready to explode. Cameron jumped in. She knew House could move fast bad leg or no, but she was doubtful House could get him to a bathroom in time while still playing up his 'war wound'.

"I've got it, Dad. You load our stuff in Grandma's car. We'll be quick." With that she scooped up Greg and jogged back through the doors and found the nearest men's room and darted in, setting Greg down in front of the first urinal she came to and unzipped him with a practiced efficiency.

"T'anks," he said as he let it rip. Two men came in and flanked them. Cameron focused on Greg and tried to act normal. She was a doctor after all, and this wasn't the first time she'd watched a man take a piss. Even so, to her, this situation felt like an invasion. She was never more relieved for Greg to finish.

"Don't forget to shake," she told him. He often times did if she wasn't paying attention. "Let me zip your pants this time. I know you can do it, but Gran isn't supposed to stay parked outside, so we need to hurry.

One of the men turned his head and spoke to her. "Man, I wish my older son was that good with his younger brother. He's way too busy being cool."

"Well, our mom just past… um.. she's not with us." She gave the guy a look, then a nod to the boy, to indicate he didn't know what that meant. "Our dad has a bum leg, so I have to pitch in now."

"Sorry to hear it. Still, it's nice to see a young man take care of his family." With that, the man shakes and zips. Cameron holds Greg up to the sink to wash his hands. Then makes a beeline back out to the curb. A security guard was there, talking to House and his mother. Probably telling them not to park there so long.

House glances over as they walk out. "There they are! Sorry, sir, the little one really had to go, and I couldn't get him there fast enough."

"No problem sir. I understand, but we have a policy. Next time just have your mom drive the loop once and come back around. Okay?"

"You got it. Sorry. I don't do this much. And since the wife passed…" House's eyes fell for a moment. With a sigh, he looked back up. "Well, this is the first time I've had to do this alone."

The guard's look softened, "I understand, sir. Sorry for your loss. I'm just doing my job is all. I hope you have a safe trip wherever you're going."

"Thanks," House answered with a look of genuine sincerity. Then his mother placed a gentle hand on House's shoulder and followed with "Yes, thank you, young man, for being so patient with us. It's been very difficult the last few weeks."

A minute later they were in the car. Greg was belted into the car seat and Blythe pulled out and headed for the highway. As soon as they merged House began snickering from the front passenger's seat. "Like shooting fish in a stocked pond."

He turned in the seat and glanced back at Greg, who was sitting behind Blythe. "Greg, man, you are doing a great job! Your teacher was right. You're really good at acting."

The boy smiled and answered with a cheeky "Yep. I's a natural. It's fun to pretend."

"And already with the Hollywood attitude. You've got a future I think." House glanced at Cameron and gave her a wink and gave her a lecherous grin as she began to disrobe to get ready for phase two.

She rolled her eyes and he shifted focus back to prepping Greg. "So now, there's going to be a little bit of a change. We had an actress quit so Mommy's going to change costumes and play another character. In this part of the movie, she's going to be your Mom. I'll still be your Dad. Here's the hard part — Mommy's not playing your real-life mommy, but your character's Mommy. Like if one of your teachers were to play your mom. Her character's name is Nora. She'll be my wife and your mom and your still Greg, okay, but we had to write your brother out of the story because there's no one to play him. You got all that?"

The boy's brow furrowed, "I t'ink so." He sounded a little less sure of these changes.

House piped in to reassure him. "Look, keep it simple. I'm Daddy. She's Mommy. That's all you have to remember. Otherwise just act like yourself. You might need to know your last name for this bit too. It's Stephenson. So you're Greg Stephenson. Can you say that for me?"

"I'm Greg Stephenson."

"Man! You are good." House praised him and Greg beamed again.

"T'anks!" he looks over to Blythe and she caught his eyes in the rearview mirror.

"Who you playing?" he asks.

"Well, I'm playing your Grandma. Don is my son."

"Are you going to make us cookies? Grandma Jan makes 'em look like snowmen." He asks and Cameron let out a little laugh. It was becoming apparent that his cold has passed and he is feeling better. Which meant he would now be awake for much of the second phase.

While Blythe chatted away with Greg, Cameron changed clothes in the back seat. Transforming herself from boy to woman. She dressed in dark grey slacks and a blue sweater both picked and purchased by Blythe. Her shoes were a pair of ankle black boots with a two-inch heel to go with them, and thankfully they were comfortable. She'd given Blythe a specific name and brand for the shoes, not trusting that the various sizing would make for an easy fit when picked by random. Lastly, his mother had provided a grey pea coat to top off the ensemble.

Allison wished she had makeup and something to style her hair with as she put in her contacts. All of that would be purchased after they checked into their hotel room.

After checking into a downtown hotel, Blythe babysat Greg as Cameron and House shopped for enough clothes to fill a suitcase. It would look odd if they get searched in customs and all she had was the outfit on her back. Makeup and other personal items were purchased too. As they passed a jewelry store House grabbed her hand and dragged her in. Together they picked out three rings. Two were simple matching platinum bands, one was a Tiffany style solitaire diamond on a platinum ring.

He teased her for her simple taste. She quipped back stating it was elegant. They had in-house sizing and once they were happy with the fit they didn't bother taking the rings back off before leaving the store. Afterall, Don and Nora were married months ago.

They ended the day with a trip to a stylist to turn her little boy clipper cut into a properly styled pixie cut. House made an appointment for himself as well. His stylist talked him into a short messy look and topped the new look off with a professional flat-razor shave. Cameron had only seen him cleanly shaven once.

He was practically a different man. She had to admit to herself she preferred his scruff but still she looked forward to getting to know this other face more intimately. He looked like a hot English professor when they were done with him. The kind all the girls in his class want to sleep with.

When they got back to their room, Blythe took a look at them and smirked. She offered to take Greg for a snack and to play some in the lobby.

They were on each other as soon as the door latched. On their shopping spree, he purchased a few dress shirts and a couple pair of slacks that flattered his well-formed ass. She definitely enjoyed him modeling them in front of the dressing room. Now she wanted him back in them so she could do what she'd wanted to do at the store. "Put on your new clothes Don. I want to see the full ensemble so I can take it all back off of you."

"Isn't that my line?" He asked with a wink as he grabbed his shopping bags and headed to the bathroom. "No peeking. And when I come out, I expect you to be in that hot little matching set you picked up from Victoria's Secret. I'm still pissed you didn't' let me come into the dressing room with you to inspect it more thoroughly."

He disappeared into the bathroom and gave her plenty of time to change. When he came out, she was lying on the bed looking like a pin-up girl. Or a very expensive escort ready to pleasure a high paid business executive. He looked good enough to eat. His new blue dress shirt was uncharacteristic pressed. The top button was undone and the sleeves rolled up a couple of turns. She loved the way men's forearms look when they wear their shirts like that. House was no exception. She found his forearms to be extremely sexy.

And his eyes were devouring her. "I think that hairstyle suits you. I missed it dark and with it short I can see and access every inch of your delicious neck. I'll have to be extra careful not to mark you… or not…" She loved the way his eyes danced as he assessed her. Examined her in every detail, as only he could. The growing bulge in his pants told her he liked what he found.

He limped forward and crawled into the bed and over her body. She spread her legs for him to settle between. The first kiss was bizarre. She wasn't sure why. It's not like all the other men in her life had beards. Quite the opposite, but his kisses, both real and imagined had always been accompanied by the friction of facial hair. Now he was so smooth. It was almost as if he wasn't House. Maybe this was how he became Don. The Don he was in Germany. The one she was now married to as far as anyone was concerned.

"I do love you, Don. I'm happy we're doing this. I'm tired of being Allison Cameron. I like being Nora Johnson, wife of the incredibly sexy Don Johnson."

"I love you too. I'm not the type that will say it often, but if you'll have me, I'm yours, Mrs. Johnson."

Their lovemaking was slow and thoughtful. Each took turns worshiping the body of the other. Touching, tasting, exploring in the way that spoke of love and trust. There was no frantic stripping. No getting lost in the primal act. She rolled a condom on him before sitting astride him, guiding him to her entrance she leaned forward and kissed him as she pushed onto him unhurriedly.

They moaned in the other's mouth as he filled her completely. He held her tightly against him and encouraged her to take him with small slow movements. This was more than just getting off. They'd committed fully to one another. They were saying their vows with their whole bodies.

His legs encased hers. One arm wrapped under hers and up into her short hair. His fingers traced her exposed neck with feather light touches. "I love the access this gives me to your neck." He confesses as his lips work their way to the area in question and nibble lightly as to not leave a mark. His face was so smooth. So different from anything real or imagined she'd felt with him. And for the first time, she felt like she was making love to Don and not House. "Fuck, Don…" she sighed, lost in how he felt. How fully he filled her. How tightly, yet gently his whole body embraced her as she wiggled her hips in slow circles to milk him.

He rolled them over and kissed her again. His large body covering hers and spreading her open with longer purpose-filled strokes. Then he pushed in and stopped. His eyes closed as he staved off his peek. It took all her willpower to not wiggle and drive him over the edge. But she knew he wanted to extend this session for as long as he could. So she fought the urge to make him come.

A moment later, his eyes opened and he smiled. "That was close, but I think I'm good to fuck you for a long time now. Roll over." He ordered and raised up to give her room to obey.

As soon as she was on her stomach, he reentered her and began thrusting with longer, stronger strokes. He kissed her cheek, her neck, nipped at her earlobe and whispered "I love your neck. All this new flesh so readily available to my mouth." He sucked then teased. "My little boy turned woman."

"God that's wrong," she moaned, but couldn't deny his perverted teasing turned her on even more. She put her hands under her and stroked herself as he picked up speed.

"Fuck that's hot. Yeah, Nora, I love it when you fuck yourself while I fuck you. Grind that hot little clit against your hands," he encouraged and sucked on the small ridge at the base of her neck. She screamed in pleasure, that spot was one of the most sensitive on her body.

She arched against him as she came. Her inner muscles throbbed around him, milking him and sending him over the edge. "I love you. I promise to always love you." She pledged as he collapsed over her, his cock twitching in time with her, his weight a welcome burden.

They laid in bed for a while enjoying the afterglow. Then House's stomach broke the silence. Cameron snickered, "I guess that means we should get up and go get dinner."

"We're ordering dinner in. I was thinking pizza. Figure Greg would like that."

"Yeah, way to the heart of any kid is paved with cheese pizza."

"I was wondering — now that you're back to being Mommy and back to being brunette — should we darken his hair? Just for the trip? We could use the temporary stuff that washes out with one or two shampoos."

"Maybe. I mean it's not like two dark haired parents can't make a blond baby. But I guess, if by some stretch someone sees a missing child report with his picture, it would be enough to keep them from putting two and two together down the road… He's always wanted blue hair. We could be the cool parents who let their kid do that."

"When we get to Germany he can have a different color of the rainbow every day if it makes him happy, but we are trying to not draw attention to ourselves. A cute kid with blue hair is going to have folks paying attention."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Think your mom could grab something for us?"

"No need. I have some already."

She looks at him incredulously. He shrugs and tells her with a bit of a lisp, "Girl, you can't just let your roots show. It defeats the whole purpose of dying your hair in the first place."

She chuckles and lays her head back on his chest.

"Besides, I don't bother dying it back home, so I don't like to use anything that lasts more than a few washes. This is just me playing a part. The real Don embraces his grey… 'cause chicks dig it."

"We should probably get dressed and text your mom."

"Five more minutes," he begged.

"Okay," she gave in softly and cuddled closer to him, never really wanting to leave his embrace.

Greg sat on the toilet lid with a large towel draped over his small naked form. He was not excited about the new requirement for his role and was fidgeting to no end while his mother had to work harder to keep the dye from getting into his eyes. "Come on bub, it's just for a few days, and after that, you can make your hair whatever color you'd like for a week or two. Okay? Like maybe blue, like you asked for a few months ago."

"Daddy says 'only fags color their hair blue.' I don't wanna be a fag." That bothered her, but she said nothing since she wasn't sure how to even begin explaining what "fag" meant. She reminded herself that Greg would forget about it in time and that small minded shit wouldn't find it's way into his new life. Nora and Don would not raise him, or any other children they might ever have, like that. She smiled at the idea of having a baby with Don until Greg asked: "Mommy, what's a fag?"

Of course. She thought. "Well, honey. It can mean a few things. None of which has anything to do with the color of your hair."

"It's a cigarette, at least where we're going." House offers, having just entered the door frame of the bathroom after overhearing the last part of the conversation. "Or a bad word that jerks call men who love other men."

"That doesn't sound nice."

"It's not," Cameron confirms. "Your father wasn't being very nice when he told you that. There's nothing wrong with having blue hair or one man loving another man."

"Jesus says we s'pose to love everybody. Even people who aren't nice to us."

"Well, honey, if people who say they love Jesus actually acted more like him, they probably wouldn't be so mean to people who want blue hair, or call nice men 'fags' just because they love other men."

She looked over at House expecting a comment, but he was holding his wit. "I'm impressed," she told him.

"The reprogramming of his mind doesn't have to happen overnight and he's too young to appreciate sarcasm anyway. I'm learning, in my second life, to save my wit for those who really appreciate it."

"So, we're going on a plane again today," she told Greg. "A really long ride this time. To a place called Germany."

"Germs are bad. They made me sick." He wrinkled his nose, which was still raw from his cold.

House snorted, "Wow. The world history facts I could work into that. Yeah, that's a different thing. Germany has nothing to do with germs, kid. Just Germans. It's where I live. I work there too. After we finish making the movie, you and Mommy are going to stay there with me for a little while. Like a vacation."

Greg perked up at the mention of a vacation. "Do you have Mickey Mouse there?"

"It's not that kind of vacation," House told him.

"Oh," Greg sighed in disappointment.

House seemed bothered by the reaction. But quickly his eyes lit up with an idea. "I have a cat. Do you like cats?"

"Yeah! My Gran-gran has Frank and Molly. I plays with them when I stay with her."

"Well, I have Jerk. He's a big orange tabby that likes to knock all of your pens and paperwork in the floor and step all over your keyboard while your working. He's also pretty fun to play with if you have some string but you have to be careful because he has all his claws."

"You. Have a cat," Cameron states in disbelief as she glances down at her watch to find she only has one more minute to wait for Greg's hair.

"Yeah. Why's that a shock?"

"Well, you never seemed like a pet kind of guy."

"I didn't think I was either. But Jerk decided he was going to be my cat. And after I got to know him, I thought, 'you know, cats really are my kind of animals. They do whatever the hell they want and say "fuck you" if you don't like it.' They plop in your lap, after kicking your stuff around and expect you to pet them and feed them. It's no wonder Wilson kept trying to get one. They're so very Housian."

She gave him a little nod toward Greg at his use of the word 'fuck' and a disapproving look but knew if she made a deal about it Greg would be one hundred times more likely to be saying 'fuck' the rest of the trip than if she said nothing at all. So, she settled for giving House the evil eye and went on. "Yeah. They are. And you named him Jerk?"

"Well, I didn't name him, really, because I wasn't planning on him staying. It's just what I called him all the time and after a while, when he didn't take the hint and leave, it became his name."

She rolled her eyes and chuckled at him, then ordered her son to the shower and rinsed his hair. It was an interesting change, to say the least, but he did match both of them better now. His blue eyes were the one facial feature that he got from Ray. They normally were much lighter blue but the darker hair had the effect making his eyes seem darker, much more of a match for House's. Since they were using the same color in their hair, his matched House's more so than hers now. So the little cover-up they'd done just to be on the safe side had made him look every bit the both of theirs.

House seemed to take note of it too as he looked to and from the boy to his mother. Cameron wondered for a moment if House had ever imagined having a son with her. Maybe he'd imagined he'd look this way. She wanted to ask him. Maybe later she would.

House broke the long pause in the conversation. "We'll kid. You look good. You ready to get back to work?"

He nodded and House took a few steps in and swept him up. "Alright then, let's get you dressed for bed. We have a really early flight tomorrow and you need your rest."

They were up at the crack of dawn and House's mother drove them to JFK. She dropped them off curbside and gave her son a big hug, which he returned. She turned to Cameron next, giving her new grandson a pinch of the nose and a peck on the cheek. "You take care of Mommy and Daddy okay?"

He nodded, still half asleep. "And Nora," she looked to Cameron, "take care of my son." She hugged the younger woman and whispered in her ear. "I know what you are doing isn't easy. You'll have days you'll feel guilty and believe you are the worst mother in the world. But you have to do what is best for you and your son. I wasn't brave enough to. Greg, my Greg, Don, deserves something good in his life. If you love him, he will love you fiercely in return. He'll love your son too because it's all he ever wanted from John. Please take care of him."

"I will," Cameron told her, fighting the tears back as they broke the embrace and looked one another in the eye again. "I promise."

"Okay, you two. We're going to have security on us at this airport too if you don't move the car soon. Are we sure we have everything? Bags, tickets, IDs, passports?"

Cameron did a quick inventory. "We're good. You get the chair?"

"Yeah. It'll be here in a couple of minutes. Jack here," House thumbed toward a uniformed man beside him, "is going to check our bags curbside."

"Okay. You can take these two." She pointed to the two larger bags and Jack picked them up. "Well carry the rest," she said and grabbed the small roller bag that had mostly Greg's things which she didn't want to lose because of Stuart being amongst them.

The chair was rolled out a couple of minutes later, this time by a large man who looked like he'd been a linebacker at some point in his life. At least six foot three and built like a brick. He had a low voice and invited 'Mr. Johnson' to have a seat.

"Why don't you let me hold Greg, hon. He's too sleepy to walk and he'll be way too heavy for you to carry the whole way and you'll need to keep all our passports and tickets handy for security."

She nodded and handed House the sleepy boy and felt her heart jump again as House cradled him to his chest and kissed the boy's head. She wished so badly she knew how much of the affection House displayed was him playing the part and how much was his true affection for her son. For now, she would choose to believe it was mostly the latter, if for no other reason than she had to play her part too. She felt just as nervous now because this time she'd have to do more of the talking.

She walked beside House's chair this time, as a wife would. Again, they were fast-tracked through the pre-check line with hardly a second look at their passports at the security check. She had worried when she saw House had used a much younger picture of Greg for his passport. Dating the passport over two years older than hers. But again he was ten steps ahead of her. Greg looked different in the picture and hardly had hair. House knew with an older picture there would be less danger of recognition now or later if their story ever made the national news or social networks.

This time security insisted they all go through body scanners. She was glad there was no reason not to anymore. House limped through first then they woke Greg up long enough to go through. She came through last.

They collected their things without incident. Like in Chicago, another airport employee met House on the other side of security to escort them the rest of the way to their gate. They had far less acting to do, which helped begin to ease Cameron's fears. No one had any desire to give a family with a crippled-veteran dad and small child any hassle.

Greg was more awake since security and was taking in all the sights and sounds of the place. He squealed when they passed a McDonalds. "Mommy! I'm hungry. Can I have a 'Donalds happy meal?"

"Honey, it's breakfast time now. They don't have them for breakfast. We can get you a pancake maybe. Would you like that?"

"Yeah! I love pancakes! You want some'n Don…" he looked mortified with himself after a second. Then tried to recover. "Sorry. I mean Daddy."

Don shrugged, "It's okay. You'll remember next time." then looked up at the young man pushing the chair. "We just got hitched not too long ago. He's still getting used to me being 'Daddy'."

Cameron let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. The young man smiled at House then told Greg, "That's cool. I have a stepfather. Mom married him when I was about ten. He's a great guy. I was pretty excited when he decided to officially adopt me. I sometimes forgot and called him by his name at first. It takes a few months to get used to it."

"Well, despite how the story made it sound, Greg's all mine. I was out of the country when he was born. We had a bit of a fling and I didn't know he…"

"Don, hon. You don't need to give the young man all the dirty details of our lives the last four years. Would you like something to eat or not?" Cameron asked, her hands finding her hips.

"Yeah, get me one of those egg muffin things with pancakes and a hashbrown and coffee, you know how I like it. Here take my wallet. I have a bunch of cash," he offered. Knowing that she still had no cards or credit in her new name. He didn't have time to do everything he would have liked to. She nodded and took his offering and left the group to get in the breakfast line.

Of course, as she started walking away he continued to tell their story to the attendant. "So, we worked together for a long time. Kind of always had this flirting thing. But I was into someone else and she was so much younger. At the time, I thought she'd be better off with this other guy who was her age that really liked her. After they didn't work out, she left. But we sort of had this fling before she left town. Then not long after I moved to Germany. Neither of us thought it was going anywhere more than some hot sweaty what-might-have-been" he covered Greg's ears with both hands and spelled out "s e x." This cause the young attendant to chuckle and Greg to squirm.

Cameron glanced over when she heard this. House released Greg's ears and got twin Cameron death glares for different reasons. He chuckled and continued. Cameron sighed and continued on to the line for McDonald's still listening in to House's story. "I found out about Greg, through Facebook. Did the math. Started talking to her again. Turns out neither of us was happy. So I guess I figured out that I was stupid all these years for letting her get away and I wanted, if nothing else, to get to meet Greg, and be a part of his life."

He continued talking after she was out of earshot. She wished the story were true. It was far more romantic than her real life. It was something she'd thought about once or twice. Just showing up on his doorstep after she left. Kissing him. Taking his hand. Leading him to his bed. Just to have him, so she could know. He more than likely wouldn't have turned down the free sex. But for her, it would have come with too much baggage, at least that's what she told herself at the time. Now she thinks maybe their lives could have been less tragic maybe. But she couldn't go back in time.

The line moved quickly and she was back with food in about ten minutes. They grabbed a table in the shared food court seating and ate quickly. The attendant hurried them along when they began to get a little too close to the loading time. He took out his phone as they finished and call for a cart. The electric cart was at their table a moment later and they all piled on. Greg sat between them and giggled as they sped past the walking travelers.

Cameron and House smiled at one another as they settled on the plane, starting to feel some relief from the stress of getting past security. Of course, they still had to get past customs in Munich but Don had dual citizenship at this point, so he was confident that getting his new wife and son into the country would be easy.

The parts after that would be harder.

Beyond all the moral questions that nagged at the back of her mind, the question of what her life would become suddenly began to weigh on her mind. This whole thing was exciting, but it was also rash. Now that it seemed they were going to make she realized she had no clue what really lay ahead for her life. All she could do was continue to trust that the man who always thought of everything had thought about that too.

So many details were in the air. What would Cameron do for work as Nora Johnson? They'd been so busy planning the escape, they hadn't even broached the subject. She knew he'd gotten lucky with the lab gig. He knew the guy in charge from his past life. He didn't need to maintain a license to work in a lab. The fake degree was all they required since he wasn't a practicing physician. She wasn't sure if his boss could help her in a similar way or not. Her specialty would most likely land her in a different department. He may or may not have enough pull to help. She hadn't had time to acquire a fake degree and she was young enough that a hiring manager might want to call a reference or two.

She still had no desire to sit around home and be a housewife, despite the truth of the pun. She was a driven as House was. One big difference between he and Ray was she couldn't imagine that House wanted that from her and just knowing that made her feel more at ease. House wouldn't have dragged her this far without having some kind of plan and even if he had, he wouldn't be the man she loved if he couldn't think his way past it.

So, as she has always done, she placed her full faith in the man she once knew as Gregory House. As they settled into their flight and began to pass over the Atlantic, she trusted he'd already made a plan with contingencies. Because there was no going back now. She had become Nora Johnson, for better or for worse.

Allison Cameron was nothing more than a ghost from her past and she decided she was okay with that no matter what lay ahead for her and the two people she loved most in the world.

AN: This brings us to the end and the beginning. Hope you enjoyed my story. I know the ending is very open ended, but I wanted to leave room for everyone to imagine how their new lives will be. I'm not sure that canon Cameron would do this but I enjoyed writing her with a bit of a twist. I wasn't sure how this would be received and I am happy everyone was willing to play along for the sake of fanfiction. :) For those of you in the U.S., I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving.

Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing!

And continued thanks to atavares. Despite the fact our schedules are at odds of late making it hard to find time to work or play together, I still feel like I couldn't do these things nearly so well without you.