House, M.D. 1. Life

**Authors Note:**

**This story will follow our two favorite doctors from Season 4 through some alternative time line that will make up Season 7+ if I can keep focused on writing it. I will be the first to note that this story is a bit strange. Both central characters will seem as though they have some sort of split personality disorder so when a name is different (Cameron instead of Allison, Thirteen instead of Remy) it is for a reason. The story starts in Season 4 told from Allison's/Cameron's point of view and despite how it seems to go in the first couple chapters I do intend to make this into a Camteen fic I promise. Aside from that I just want to throw myself on the mercy of the crowd and plead my case that this is my first fanfiction piece and I am without a beta so please provide any helpful notes if you have any. **

**I will also note that I do not own any of the characters, locations, furniture, titles or names featured in this story nor do I intend to make any sort of financial gain off this. If I did have control over the television show House I would have hired many of the fine Camteen fic writers on here to work on the show and things would have gone a lot differently in Season 6, not to mention I really doubt I would have had the time to write this.**

William Shakespeare once wrote a comedy that included the line _I had rather have a fool make me merry, than experience make me sad_ and for Allison Cameron that summarized her life neatly. Everyday Allison Cameron faced this duality of life and everyday she knew that given the choice she would take the fool, not that she had much of a choice. Love and happiness were not just choices they were her choice of addictions and everyday she was at Plainsboro was everyday she needed both that much more. Allison craved that happy feeling of knowing she had done well for herself by anyone's standards and Cameron could not live without that warm fuzzy feeling that came from seeing a look on a patient's face when she tells them everything will be all right. The problem with addiction though is that by the time you want to stop you know it is too late to do so without the pain.

The ER was a daily mess that doubled as the favorite hangout for the addicts, homeless, dying and dead that were close enough to the hospital for friends, family, or ambulance to bring them in for help from a person that probably did not want to be in the ER any more than they did. For most doctors it was where they ended up during days when bus crashes and freak blizzards. They showed up only when such events overwhelmed the usual group of those suffering through their residency. Other than that, most days the staff was underpaid nurses and the three doctors that for some reason had found they were actually employed as staff members of an emergency room instead of a more intelligent hospital department or in a private practice.

For Allison Cameron she had done the intelligent thing of working for a hospital department. Actually, she had worked for the premiere department of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, diagnostics, for three years and found herself as the head of its ER after realizing that she needed more in her life than a puzzle. The noble gesture of healing those that other doctors did not even want to be around was right up the alley of the woman with the bleeding heart.

The ER was the red headed step child of the Plainsboro teaching hospital, though it was still perhaps a more fondly looked upon member of the family than the crazy uncle who lived upstairs, and it never got the attention it needed unless it was a special occasion where mom insisted everyone get together to act like they cared. This was the perfect environment for the ambitious Allison and the addict Cameron to both get what they needed. Allison could demonstrate she was truly a capable doctor by healing the sick, making sure a key part of a hospital kept its records in order and doing both why managing a personal life. For Cameron she got a daily fix from patients that she could comfort for a while before the next ones arrived needing to hear those kind words from the woman in pink scrubs almost as much as she needed to say them.

Both found they never truly got tired of the waves of wounded victims and injured fools that would come pouring in. For Allison it was the challenge of keeping up with it all as bones found ever new ways of needing to be mended and charts found ever new ways of getting more complicated. Cameron on the other hand could offer each of the masses that extra touch of care from the former duckling as she put her bleeding heart to work. By the end of a twelve, or eighteen, hour shift, when she was all done with strangers, Cameron could find her future husband to fuss over for a few more hours before they went to bed and Allison could find a new medical journal to read for a bit.

That routine worked for both women for a while and Allison thought she had finally gotten a hold on her bleeding heart well enough that Cameron would be satisfied. When her former boss finally realized she was still in the same state, let alone the same hospital, as he was Allison thought nothing more of it than a sign that the two had finished with each other. As it would turn out though having a former boss that taking dozens of doctors on as fellows only to weed those he did not actually want on his team out after a period can create some issues in a hospital that find their way to the ER department.

When dozens of people were not flooding through the doors following House, as if he was some sort of prophet they were crowding labs trying to be the first to discover the answer to his latest mystery case and thus keep them in the running. Despite Cuddy swearing to shut it down after she heard House filled an entire lecture hall with possible candidates Cameron found the game continued until the point she was getting more involved in it than she should have been. At first this was simply passing along cases that were avoiding the obvious solutions the ER was able to treat them with but then it was watching them all from a distance as they scrabbled about, which Allison tried to ration away as an outsiders fascination with a process she herself was once part of.

Facilitation became interest as House formed a more manageable group of minions and a betting pool formed on who would be the next to be removed from the doctors that were being asked to commit any number of felonies in hopes of securing one of the team positions. Though as Cameron began to linger around diagnostics after presenting a case, even if a few times it turned out they were simple enough that House solved them right after looking at the file and pursued something he had discovered instead, she noticed how he reacted to certain candidates. Why she had no intention of placing a wager with her boyfriend an interesting side bet did form with the cane wielding egomaniac regarding how far he could push one of the doctors without challenging him in return. When she heard the news that House did end up taking a full on punch to the face, which in turn actually cost him some of his precious money, Allison's day went by with an ease she had not felt in a while.

When House had finally selected his new team, with Foreman being put in a weird sort of deputy position where he wouldn't technically have any more authority than the other three, the association between the ER and Diagnostics department became fairly stable. The team would hunt for cases, or Cuddy would have them working around the ER because there were no interesting cases, and House would do is best to make sure none of them did anything that could be considered helpful.

With the death of a former coworker, who incidentally turned out not to just be impersonating House as the department head thought but actually shared such similar qualities that she became Wilson's girlfriend, everything at the hospital changed. House would never admit it but he cared for his ducklings, even former ones that went on to date his best friend, and watching as one of them died because they were trying to save him from himself nearly killed him. Seeing a man she was still not over slip ever further down a path of self-destruction and straight towards death put cracks in whatever walls contained that bleeding heart.


	2. Fuel to the fire

**The 5th season offered so much more to work with so this chapter is about twice the length of the previous one and does feature some subtle hints of Camteen that I could get from the canon episodes without going too far AU. Enjoy.**

With Amber's death, Allison did her best to keep herself distracted with the ER as for weeks afterwards she could not help the nagging feeling that she would somehow end up reliving everything she went through with her husband's death if Wilson called her. It was nearly two months before most people heard from the oncologist. House made a special effort to ignore actually talking to his best friend over his choice to close down his practice. With that trusted tactic in mind, it did not surprise the busy woman when House showed up looking for good old wounded Doctor Cameron to go on the rescue. She knew she should tell him no and actually stay out of it, particularly as Wilson had sounded desperate enough that leaving the hospital for a while made sense as he really was in no condition to be treating terminally ill patients.

The refusal to get further involved lasted for Cameron right through a threesome joke, an attempt to get a patient too believe she only dated larger men and a crack that her own attempt to relocate in order to get away from her husband's death had gone poorly. How all of that, combined with a general nagging, convinced her to speak to Wilson, who yes was a friend but a friend she had previously decided to let sort out his grief in his own way, Allison was not sure.

Still at least when she did speak to the departing doctor it was a conversation that stayed on her terms, for the most part, and ended without opening up too many old wounds in Cameron's attempt to convey an understanding of what the poor man was going through. Though when Wilson called her a couple days later asking her to come over to talk that control did not last through the afternoon. Cameron ended up at Wilson's almost every day for the next week going over everything that had happened with her husband from diagnosis to still living with the memories of him every day. People say talking about grief is therapeutic but Allison did not feel relieved after those days, she did not even feel drained, it was more like something was missing when Wilson found that the actual group therapy was going well enough that he did need to take up any more of his friend's time.

The next couple of weeks did allow Allison time to engage in a bit of diagnostic work alongside Chase and Foreman, despite a certain level of aggravation Cameron could not help but feel by their lack of consideration on picking out a sympathy gift for House's mother. House did his best to assist with the differential why dealing with his father dying, which the man insisted was not only not a big deal but seemingly not a problem at all. Wilson and Cuddy apparently did not agree with House, an occasion in and of itself, as they decided to drug the man and load him into Wilson's care in order to get him to the funeral.

In the end the department still solved the case without House being there, though not exactly without his help, and Allison got to work alongside one of the doctors on House's team, Doctor Kutner, rather frequently as he seemed to be with the patient more frequently than the others. That was a strange week but having Doctor Hadley show up in the ER with a woman whose name she did not know at 3:15 in the morning was not exactly a return to a routine situation. Most doctors do not end up with patients at their home who they do not know and why Allison was not going to judge why Doctor Hadley did not know who the other woman was House seemed to take a sudden interest upon hearing the woman had come in early that morning with his duckling already at her side.

It was not exactly a secret that Doctor Hadley was bisexual and given that she was a single woman it was not as if it should have been a shock to anyone that she would be pursuing something of a social life with a member of the same sex. What Allison did find to be a bit odd was that she assumed the two women had to know whom the other was at all before ending up at the apartment of House's least talkative duckling. Yet, even when the EMTs were bringing her friend in, the statuesque woman did not really have more than a few words to say to anyone. House and his team seemed to solve the case just fine on their own and last Allison heard the patient checked out of the hospital without any complications.

The weekend passed by quickly enough. Things in the ER seemed to continue their weird trend though as the mother of the child Lisa was looking to adopt turned up with a rash that the dean insisted be looked into with a full work up on both patients despite the lack of medical evidence showing a need for anything more than treatment for a rash. As it would turn out the baby had pulmonary hypoplasia and the child had to born early after the secondary treatment option of after the mother refused a transfusion of plasma. Unfortunately, the patient decided to stop the adoption process after the successful surgery and raise the child herself.

It was not long after that before Cameron found she needed House's help with a patient whose case he was initially lacking any interest in at all. Throughout the whole case, the obsessive puzzle solver seemed particularly more interested in berating her, or the patient, over their choices in life, despite Doctor Hadley's objections to his harassment of Cameron and Cameron's objections to House's constant insults towards the patient. As it would turn out though House did the patient some good and he pushed Allison into looking towards a more stable relationship, despite her own concerns that she was not ready.

Things seemed to slow down for work until a lunatic with a gun decided to start taking hostages in order to get House to accept his case. As it would turn out the guy simply never bothered to actually learn the difference between temperate and tropical before answering questions. Unfortunately he figured this out only after putting Doctor Hadley in a hospital bed, which came about to begin with thanks to the head of diagnostics deciding to play mind games with a guy holding a loaded gun that was in turn being given several dangerous medications that he insisted be tested on the already sick doctor.

After that, Allison realized that House was eventually going to get someone killed if he was left to continue on as he had and realizing that emotional reasoning was not going to work perhaps forcing him to look into the irrational cycle he was in would work. It took some time but eventually Allison got the financial records for the entire diagnostics department caught up to a current level and dug a case for him to work on out of the stack he was ignoring why she was at. Fighting not just House but pretty much his entire team to get them to work on the case had not been a fun event and when Doctor Hadley offered a simple answer Allison kind of snapped at her out of irritation that she obviously wouldn't have wasted her time on a simple fibromyalgia diagnosis.

Nothing really changed as House continued to refuse the idea his pain was anything except physical despite confirming a diagnosis that the patient was suffering from epilepsy, a mental disorder that was causing his physical symptoms. At the end of the last day what did change was who got the wonderful task of keeping an eye on the hospital, or more specifically someone within the hospital, as Lisa decided to take some time off. It was a nice gesture in a way, getting a promotion to deputy administrator, but Allison knew the job meant being in a position where House would have direct contact with her constantly and that was generally something she preferred to avoid as much as possible. By the time Allison had gotten into the office she knew it was going to be the first of several very long days but once she found a case there was no sense in putting off dealing with House.

Between House making ridiculous medical requests, bad jokes and finding out her former coworker thought she would go out of her way to destroy House miserable was not a strong enough word to describe how the second meeting of the day had left Allison feeling. However, the interruption by Cuddy and House into her workday as the two bickered about Lisa's choice to adopt a kid why trying to run a hospital made things that much worse. At least she finally got House to do something helpful towards the goal of treating the patient. She also shut up Foreman before he could go on about his moral dilemma regarding Doctor Hadley. Finding out the issue came about as the two were involved was rather surprising though as a mystery woman, whose last relationship was with another woman, did not seem like she would be the type to get involved with a guy still repenting for some stupid teenage mistakes.

House did not leave the office after until he finally got her to give into what he wanted and not only did Cameron let him cut off part of a patient's skull she actually assisted in the testing of the patient during the surgery. The patient damn near dying on the table when the woman's blood pressure plummeted into the ground made Allison realize that she couldn't trust herself to say no to house but telling Cuddy she was going back to the ER however turned out to be remarkably simple.

Allison found herself focusing strictly on the ER until House started trying to destroy yet another relationship after grabbing a patient file from her that involved a drunken priest, which is something one normally wouldn't see but that was the ER for you. Adding to that House trying to get Foreman to leave, Cuddy refusing to give the oddly placed former duckling the papers he needed for a new job and Chase agreeing with House that people who work together shouldn't date, Allison found herself in a very poor position when Doctor Hadley asked to come work in the ER. The department was in need of another actual physician on its employment sheets and hiring the woman that was asking about it would be the easiest way to fill the vacancy that anyone could ask for. Yet Cameron felt if she did hire her that she would end up upsetting House, Cuddy and Chase by going against them in that the relationship would continue with her and Foreman remaining in the hospital. The solution was to mention Mercy and hope for the best, which turned out was an acceptable solution to Doctor Hadley. Allison still felt bad for directing her away from the hospital for no real reason, but noted there was really nothing else she could do.

As it would turn out both doctors stayed in diagnostics after claiming to break up due to the stress of trying to remain together and find jobs where they wouldn't resent each other. No one really seemed to believe this excuse; despite a lack of affection between the two, but House didn't say anything for a while and seemed willing to accept it when he did notice.

With weeks turned into months Allison Cameron noticed two constants in her life: her boyfriend was increasingly paranoid about the woman being around their former employ er and that she did not entirely believe herself when she dismissed it as being entirely work related. That became an ever more constant problem after Doctor Kutner's suicide and the discovery that the coworker that was supposed to be simply a part of her life was getting ready to ask for a bigger role with a marriage proposal.

Allison was not ready for any of that. In the time she had spent working with the other doctor he seemed fine, perhaps a little out there compared to most that graduate medical school but certainly not at the same level, let alone passed that, that her former boss was at. She was not ready to be married again; to commit to another until some tragedy separated them. The head of the ER was making up excuses and buying time to stay away from the man that wanted to become her husband because if they were not in the same room it would be hard for them him to propose.

House took the case and actually did one better by assigning her to test the patient despite suggestions from the team that he was a lunatic that liked to play in toxic waste, pretending to care about the environment to get chicks and generally faking his problems in order to get rich off a lawsuit. Thankfully, enough Allison got out of there with just one comment that she was looking for a job and another that she was looking to get laid. Fortunately, no comparison of her legs to those of the brunette in the same room, which would be ridiculous even for House as the other woman had several inches on her and all of it seemed to be legs.

The tests went well enough when the patient was not vomiting on her shoes but the conversation with the Chase would have been nice to avoid. Nothing like having to tell your boyfriend you are lying to him but to trust you that it is for a good reason. Though after the constant conversations with House, being removed from the case and having Cuddy tell her to leave the man she wants alone Allison would have rather have had to get new shoes again. By the time House found her in the ER, it was just getting to be too much and Cameron cracked. The need to just curl up and hug someone, the need to know everything is going to be okay, the need for it all too be true rather than some scared response to a bad situation.

A rather angry conversation with her former boss and a rather desperate plea to her future fiancé ended a week of distraction with a reignited addiction that to Cameron felt like she just took her first hit from the love drug. Seeing Chase days later come in the emergency room after suffering an allergic reaction at his bachelor party only added to that need to be there for him and to the guilt that she had been keeping something from him. After a takeout dinner is not usually the best time to tell your future husband that you still have your late husband's sperm frozen in storage and that you kept it because there is no guarantee of a lifelong future with anyone. Yet Allison had to make sure they were not going to start their marriage with a secret like that hanging over her head.

Having Chase walk out on her the next time they had a conversation was not an easy thing to live with either but it gave her time to think and she knew that at some point she was going to need help. How help and House managed to seem like a proper idea after days of driving herself nuts she wasn't sure but it seemed to work out as it scared Cameron into preparing to have the lab destroy the sperm. Ironically, enough that crack in Allison's plan to keep what remained of her deceased husband no matter what lead to a wedding resuming that had never stopped and Allison slipping further down the rabbit hole.

Filling Chase's need for a stable married life was her new addiction and it nearly consumed the woman. The flames came just short of destroying anything that not dedicated to keeping a jealous husband from driving himself insane that his wife was still interested in another man or agonizing over if she could have done something differently that could have helped stop the damage House inflicted on himself. Then there was treating the random patients that passed before her in a blur of blood, bone and various impaled objects but slowly something, someone, pushed them back.


	3. Darkness Falls

**Note: This is the "start" of the story in that this picks up roughly a week after into the break between season five - season six and will be the starting point for the Camteen relationship that the producers on House wouldn't pursue. Unlike the previous chapters, this one shall feature some actual scenes of interaction and dialogue instead of just a retelling of the events from the past seasons.**

Chapter 3:

At a time when her life was spiraling out of her control Allison found herself very grateful for the moments she had to herself at an empty nurses station. Through centrally divided time slots of worrying about keeping the department stable, caring for the masses that do not seem to understand that using their head to break their fall will lead to stitches no matter how insistent they are about being fine and convincing Chase she was entirely devoted to their marriage. The week was just getting started and already it was showing signs of just being one of those that made her consider starting the weekend early by taking a few of those vacations days off. It was so tempting but the obvious argument against it was that come next Monday the problems of this would be there, waiting, along with another week's worth problems.

A stolen glance towards the artificial light of the lobby had long turned into an obsessive stare as the doctor examined every detail of the color that stood out as such a stark contrast to the pitch-black night that was threatening to sneak past the glass walls. It was a no doubt strange thing to do but a thought had taken hold that would not release from her mind. The world around her was always bright because the lights never turned off. That was all that stopped the darkness from sweeping the hospital and consuming her, a false light that see had left on but that would eventually give out.

That was what Allison feared. At any moment during the night someone could simple turn hut off the lights and she would be lost in the dark, swept away from everything as she became fully engulfed by it all until there was no way separate the woman from the void. The very person that she was would negated by the complete eclipse of the light and the woman would left blind to the world around her, left to the whims of her environment with no control over where she would end up as she moved through it. She could see it approaching; she could see the day that turned into a night where even the torches would not be burning and she felt herself slip into the darkness.

Little bits of light begun to return and soon the subtle noise of privacy curtains drawn and monitors filled the Allison's head, which began to feel every sound as a painful vibration. After a few attempts resulting in sheer agonizing torments the woman finally got a look at her surroundings without the light torturing her senses. She was in the ER, still near the nurses' station, but she was no longer on her feet and given the sudden pain in her back the change in position had not been intentional.

Not really wanting to be seen lying on the hospital floor by anyone the doctor was about to sit up when a rather loud noise made her shut her eyes again and hope that whatever the sound was it would go away. Instead, the noise came again, louder, and too close to the woman's ringing ears to be from a distant patient or departing nurse. It took a few seconds for Allison to realize someone was talking to her.

A few blinks confirmed that whoever it was they were not in front of her but as she went to turn her head pair of hands were suddenly holding it in place. The grip confirmed a presence but she had no actual conformation of who would get to ridicule her for passing out in her own emergency. Someone asking her to stay still before they stuck a light in her eyes was a not a pleasant experience and despite the value of the test for medical conformation of injury Allison really just wanted to get to her feet and find the nearest bottle of aspirin.

As the particularly obnoxious light went away, and the annoyingly bright emergency room came back into focus, she felt a hand on the side of her head again. This time it moved down to her neck for a few seconds before both hands lifted her head slightly before being placing back down on something that was far softer than the cold tile. Allison knew the whole event actually only took a few seconds but suddenly it felt like an eternity of having to lay their why someone kept their hand on her neck, which she suddenly hoped was as far as the hand was going to go. There was no chance of actually adjusting her position so that she could at least see whoever was behind her and trying to locate them by moving her eyes backwards only made her head spin.

Almost on queue, the person behind her moved to her side and picked up her arm before fingers pressed against her radial artery. Rather hoping the person would be satisfied with those two measurements of her heart rate and not pursue a full medical exam why she was laying on the floor Allison finally got a look on the person manhandling her. The persistent examiner was wearing a simple black shirt came to rest just at the top of the ever so casual grey jeans with no medical coat in sight. She could not figure why some random passerby would go through the basic steps in checking for head trauma instead of yelling for a doctor.

With the world slowly starting to come into focus, still not a place that seemed to make much sense, she noted the clothes covering the woman's ethereal frame seemed familiar and look towards the long brown hair that covered a face of someone still counting her pulse added to the familiarity. Each second that ticked by brought less pain and more clarity to the woman's temporarily oxygen starved brain and suddenly she realized the mystery woman was her latest hiring. Well hiring was a strong word but technically Doctor Hadley now worked in the ER, even if technically the paycheck from the hospital said it went to the diagnostics department.

Most of the time was not hard to notice Doctor Hadley based entirely off her attire. There were few doctors that did not come to work in a full suit, or end up spending all but then minutes a day dressed in scrubs, yet the mellow clothing with the white lab coat that was currently missing never seemed out of place.

"Doctor Cameron?"

Allison did her best to straighten up and look like she had not been starring into an empty lobby, blackened out and then starring at the other doctor in a span of what was probably less than a minute if the clock on the wall was believable.

"Are you alright?"

It was a rude reaction to have but the fallen doctor was surprised about the concern she could hear coming from the duckling about her well-being. After all the younger woman was a doctor and one that had shown far more interest in the well being of patients than a lot of the white coats that got put in the ER from what were considered far more glorious departments. Yet she did not trust her, not in the way she trusted her other colleagues. There was just something different about the woman that bothered her. She treated patients better than many other doctors did. They sick and injured all able to face the world after an encounter with the young doctor, from what Allison could tell anyways. Yet the difference did not match that shielding touch that Cameron made sure to place on all of her patients either.

"I am fine Doctor Hadley." Realizing that a response was a good way to rule out severe head trauma Cameron tried to think of what else to say that sounded half away intelligent at the moment because something along the lines of 'I slipped' was not going to get her out of this situation any faster.

"I just had a few more reports to file before I headed home."

The blue eyes of the other woman left her wrist and looked her straight on before she felt her arm touching the cool tile again.

"So you decided the best way to celebrate putting your signature onto the forums was to blackout in the ER?"

Allison was not actually sure how luck was that bad that she could pass out in her own hospital, manage to completely fail at stopping herself from hitting the floor and somehow end up as the informal patient of the second most sarcastic doctor to ever work at Plainsboro at 12:30 in the morning. Sure, she had spoken to Doctor Hadley before but discussing possible diagnosis on a few cases, a bit of occasional small talk why in the cafeteria and assigning the woman emergency patients were not exactly friendly chats that left with them with plenty to discuss later on. Still recognizing that seemingly patented sarcasm that Doctor Hadley spoke to everyone with was something and felt surprisingly comforted by it. After all, she would not be able to separate the sarcastic nature of the question if she had suffered major trauma from the fall.

"It is an emergency room Doctor Hadley; people generally only show up here when they are losing coconsciousness and it is not usually a pleasant experience for anyone."

The reaction from the duckling was almost instantaneous as her eyebrows raised in surprise before a small smirk came across the woman's lips. Obviously, the woman had not entirely considered just whom she was talking to before speaking. Allison Cameron had earned her role as head of a department after years of being underestimated by male colleagues and overlooked by her superiors before putting up with years of House's sarcastic abuse. A single remark from the elusive Thirteen was not going to disrupt her thoughts, although it did seem to linger amongst them.

"Now I think we can both agree that the floor is no place for an examination or conversation. If you don't mind I would appreciate it if you moved so I could get to my feet before someone from legal rushes down here with some waver of liability forms they want me to sign."

Allison was pleased when the brunette stepped away from her side but found she was starring again as the other woman suddenly put one leg over to her other side creating a position of standing where the doctor was standing over her. Whatever was happening was lost on the blonde as she starred at the blue eyes of the woman who suddenly snapped her out of the trance, literally. The sound of a finger snapping at her, twice none of the less, brought her eyes to the hands that had previously examined her that were now being extended down towards her. She did not appreciate having someone snap at her but accepted the help up all the same.

Slowly pulled to her feet by slender fingers wrapped tightly around her wrists Allison got back to her feet, feeling slightly dizzy from the change but well enough to free herself from Doctor Hadley's grip. Fixing her scrubs with one hand and keeping the other firmly on the counter the department head watched as her rescuer calmly walked past her and picked up a neatly folded lab coat from the tile floor. The mystery that was Thirteen moved towards the otherwise of the hospital without a word.

The ER doctor considered her choices, as she knew the other woman would be taking the coat that just moments ago kindly placed behind her head to its resting place within a locker before heading home. If she followed her, or remained at the station, there would be no doubt she could catch and thank Doctor Hadley for her assistance but if she returned to her office they would miss each other entirely. Realizing it was not really much of a choice Allison Cameron grabbed the files that had caused her recent troubles and headed off.

**Second Note: I had not meant to take this long to update the story but about the same time I decided to put my free time into this life decided I did not get any free time. I hope that updates will become more frequent (and longer as this only hit about 2,000 words) as I figure out my schedule better.**


	4. Momentary Relapse

**I would like to start of this chapter by thanking everyone who has read this story, added to their favorites, subscribed for alerts and reviewed so far. I had not meant to take this long to update the story but about the same time I decided to put my free time into writing this story life decided I didn't get any free time. I hope that updates will become more frequent (and longer in length) as I figure out my schedule better.**

**This chapter is from the point of view of Remy/Thirteen and features a fair amount of interaction that will continue to escalate in the next couple chapters. Again thanks to everyone that has looked this over and I look forward to more reviews. Please offer any advice you can think of in regards to what could be improved as I am always looking to better my writing and can only do that if I know what is wrong. **

Having patched up the third broken bone from the half dozen participants of a bar fight Doctor Remy Hadley took off her gloves, for what was hopefully the final time of her extended shift, and threw them away. Reaching into her coat to pull out the prescription pad it was a few simple words on the paper and she would officially be done. With the wrist set and the man now a pharmacy visit away from getting the painkillers that would not do anything to stop his stupidity the man set off and the young doctor was finally finished with her shift. Albeit an hour after it was suppose to end. How these men, each of who's closet were probably full of the same mid-range suits that walked in with blood stains on them, had decided to settle their problem was by running their faces into someone else's fist she couldn't understand.

Why the brunette never been one to deny herself the pain and pleasure of a life lived alone she had never felt the urge to actually get into a bar room brawl. The whole thing seemed contradictory to why she went into an establishment overflowing with men, women, alcohol and enough drugs to make sure she couldn't remember her own name for three days, let alone anything else. That would be exactly what she was intending to do with the next few days off had it not been for her actually insane boss and another idiot putting her life a little too close to the edge for even Remy's liking.

These days she was all about she was living a life of sobering reality that had replaced those vices with the ideas of monogamy, vitamins and health drinks. In fact they had done such a good job of taking over for past vices that the doctor was lacking any particular enthusiasm towards them. Had she really burnt out on life before she was 26?

No, it had to be ending a rather long week with a patient whose very existence seemed to prove that Neanderthals were still very much present in modern society. A couple beers, some time with the latest violent video games those psychologists are always complaining imitated life too accurately, and 12 hours of sleep would her forget all about that idiot. After that she could get on with the rest of her weekend. Of course, what she really wanted to do was turn around and add a broken jaw to the list of things he needed treatment for at the hospital but going home seemed like a better way to keep her job. As an ace in the hole in case she still had the urge to track the idiot down and put him back in the hospital, or do anything else reckless, she could always trying taking up base jumping.

"Stupid jackass."

"Get another patient that couldn't keep his hands to himself Doctor Hadley?"

There was no doubt that the voice belonged to the head of the ER but what Remy couldn't figure out is where it was coming from as the blonde was not behind her. The ER was generally lacking in people that could say anything coherently, let alone do it with such a positive tone that showed no signs they had just spent the day with people who literally could not screw a light bulb without hurting themselves. Remy never could decide why that didn't bother her like it seemed to bother the others but figured that she was just more tolerate than the others when it came to accepting people from whom they naturally were.

The slightly out of place partly closed privacy curtain did provide a seemingly intelligent place to check as the rest of the ER looked empty. Sure enough there was Doctor 'People just need other people to love them' Cameron finishing up a chart near what had obviously been a recently occupied bed.

"Only if you include the guy whose nose he broke because he did not like the way the man bumped into him."

The woman in pink scrubs looked up from the chart she seemed previously invested in to offer a quick smile before a more confused look distorted her features.

"Then why exactly did the patient get qualified under the jackass category?"

"That idiot put himself and five other people in the ER all because of some guy knocked into him. Apparently, it was too suggestive for that idiot to brush off as a drunken accident where the other guy simply stumbled and grabbed the nearest person to prevent himself from falling. Doctors have better things to do than cast and stitch up drunken idiots that feel their reputation was somehow insulted by a different idiot mistaking them for a support beam. If people like that had to suffer through the pain of their actions than maybe they would learn to stop hitting each other and wasting resources that could be spent on patients that deserve it." It was not entirely the patient's fault things happened at they did. No one likes the feeling of some drunk grouping them in some bar but it happens and countless people are able to move on with their lives without the matter ending up in the ER. The idiots presence was simply a reminder that there are people out there who would the next seven decades of their life as hateful bastards yet get to see their family grow, society progress and the world change. She got to wait for the very fabric of what made her who she was too slowly destroy her mind which in turn will kill her body.

"Ah. Unfortunately, I doubt depriving him of medication would do anything to change his outlook on life. Might actually make them act out against other people more frequently." That was the typical response Remy had figured she would get from the blonde, just a slight touch of annoyance of someone doing something mean with plenty of care for those that make everyone else in the world miserable.

"Right well I am going home before someone shows up with another fascinating tale of how it is not their fault they're in the ER. After all I am one short of my daily tree appearing out of nowhere average and I would rather not chance ruining that milestone with a few more hours of waiting around."

Heading off to the locker room it was rather obvious that the other woman was following behind her at a respectable distance yet still having that killer in a bad horror movie feel about it. The distance was fairly short but it seemed to last a lot longer when listening to two sets of feet wondering down the hall, particularly when they fell into sync with each other half way there.

Remy walked over to her locker and was prepared to open it when that voice popped up again.

"Thank you for the other night. I should have said something right after it happened or at the very least made an effort to thank you sooner than this." The blonde had apparently left the chart somewhere along the way and was now standing just into the locker room with almost perfect posture. The brunette had noticed that ever the start of the week Allison had seemed more uptight than usual, almost as if relaxing for a moment might just kill someone. That would not do. This woman had followed her through the hospital to offer words that were obviously giving her difficulty; she shouldn't be allowed to get through it as if Remy had just picked up a dropped file for her.

Besides if there was one thing Thirteen knew how to do it was how to make women lose their self control. It had been a while since she had put into practice and despite House's insistence that it would involved a pay raise afterwards she had never engaged a female member of the hospital with the intent to just get a reaction out of them. Then again it was not like she had ever failed to achieve something she wanted, no matter how rusty or inexperienced she was at getting to it.

"It was no problem, honestly. Besides you are not the first woman I had to help off the floor after she just could not stand up any longer."

The brunette offered a brief smile to the blonde before setting to the task of opening her locker. In actuality the coat did need to be put away but Thirteen was also in need of some more time as the first comment did not seem to faze the posed doctor in the slightest.

"Well I appreciate it all the same Doctor Hadley. Most of the staff gossips so much that I have little doubt that word of what happened would have avoided Cuddy's ears for long and if knew she I have no doubt she would have made me stay home for the rest of the week."

"There was nothing to say Doctor Cameron. However, for future reference I generally prefer to keep my encounters involving other women going unconscious in a more private setting. So let's try to not make a habit out of it in the ER."

It took a few seconds but the younger doctor got the reaction she was waiting for. It was not much of anything and it was gone as quickly as the habit arrived yet for one instant Allison's two hands came together to sooth the bottom center of the already flat scrub top the woman was wearing. That was the sign that Thirteen had won, she had cracked the woman that had obviously no intention of showing her true form to the brunette. Yet she needed just a bit more from Miss Perfect before she could let her go.

Sliding off the coat and hanging it up the previously irritated woman retrieved the prescription pad and pen once more. A quick flurry of writing and the tearing of paper from the pad resulted in the brunette extending out a piece of paper towards her colleague.

"My cell number, be sure to use it the next you start feeling like you are going to pass out. We wouldn't want you hurting yourself."

The blonde seemed to take the steps toward her easy enough, even offering a kind smile towards the oh so very thoughtful offer. However as soon as her hand was on the paper Thirteen took an extra steps closer and leaned forward.

"I like to stay on top of these sorts of things."

With smirk and remaining within her personal space for a few seconds Thirteen finally separated from Allison, put the pad of paper and pen back into a coat pocket and gently shut the locker door. Giving the poor woman a quick smile the brunette walked past her without another word.

Allison on the other hand was just stuck where the other woman had left her standing after what had been such a simple turn of events that the blonde had no explanation for why she suddenly felt unable to move her feet from the floor.


	5. Standing Still

**This is not so much a chapter as it is something that was bugging at me to write when correcting some grammar and wording mistakes in the previous chapter. This is simply Allison's point of view on what happened between her and Remy during the later part of the 4th chapter. I am posting it at roughly the same time the edits hit chapter 4 and the true next chapter, Chapter 6, will be on the site at the same time. I debated even adding but it typed up so I figured what the hell.**

Allison had followed Doctor Hadley after their brief conversation, which was mostly been filled with the other doctor ranting about a patient. It was done out of a simple need to thank the woman for helping her up after she collapsed earlier in the week. It had been bothering her that she had let herself get into that position in the first place and discussing it with the one person that knew about it was not something Allison wanted to do. Still, the woman had been considerate enough to help her and be considerate enough to keep silent about the entire encounter.

Yet before encountering her rescuer again, she was not entirely sure she was actually going to bother to thank Doctor Hadley for her aid and the lack of water cooler discussion. Realizing that would be rude she trailed behind the brunette until she reached her destination. The locker room offered them plenty of privacy and Allison knew it would be her only chance to say something before it would end up going unsaid for another four days.

Taking one last deep breath the doctor entered the communal area with complete professionalism. Letting a patient know you care that they exist and you want to make that existence as painless as possible is something that came naturally to Cameron. Accepting that she could have easily put a patient's life at risk if she was not fully alert did not. She did not even like to consider the possibility in her own mind, let alone actually admit it to another Doctor.

"Thank you for the other night. I should have said something right after it happened, or at the very least made an effort to thank you sooner than this." The comment left her lips surprisingly easy for all the concern she had over bringing up the incident at all. It was obviously stupid to worry that the brunette was suddenly going to tell everyone that Allison was a danger to those in care of the hospital.

"It was no problem, honestly. Besides you are not the first woman I had to help off the floor after she just could not stand up any longer."

Doctor Hadley was not known for being a particularly talkative person, at least as far as Allison had heard, and the thankful doctor was unsure if others were just misinformed or if the woman standing across from her was making an exception.

"Well I appreciate it all the same Doctor Hadley. Most of the staff gossips so much that I have little doubt that word of what happened would have avoided Cuddy's ears for long and if knew she I have no doubt she would have made me stay home for the rest of the week."

"There was nothing to say Doctor Cameron. However, for future reference I generally prefer to keep my encounters involving other women going unconscious in a more private setting. So let's try to not make a habit out of it in the ER."

Though understandably the duckling would some concerns over mysterious image being put at risk by their encounter in the ER Allison was not entirely sure what to make about the rest of the comment. The brunette did not seem to shy from conversation about her attraction to other women but there was a certain implication in those words that made the blonde feel nervous again. It was obviously just a joke that she should have laughed and smiled at; satisfied that Thirteen had no real interest in the topic of their encounter. Yet there she was fiddling with her shirt like an idiot over a simple sarcastic comment as if she had not heard far worse from House over the years.

Grateful that Doctor Hadley seemed occupied with her lab coat and not waiting for an actual response of some sort Allison set her mind to thanking the woman once more before trying for a graceful exit. When a prescription paper with what she figured was Thirteen's phone number written on it had been offered to her it seemed reasonable enough to accept the considerate gesture and continue forward with the plan.

"My cell number, be sure to use it the next you start feeling like you are going to pass out. We wouldn't want you hurting yourself."

Allison stepped forward trying to convince herself it was the gesture that Doctor Hadley felt comfortable enough to offer the personal information that was suddenly causing the smile that was plastered all over her face. After all it could not be that she was suddenly excited to be getting the woman's phone number, which could lead to further contact between the two of them. When she went to retrieve the piece of improperly used hospital paper Allison suddenly felt concerned again. The grip on the other side tightened instead of releasing and Thirteen was suddenly a lot closer than necessary.

"I like to stay on top of these sorts of things."

Seeing those eyes stare right at her for what felt like an eternity yet was over in an instant Allison realized that was the second time in less than a week she had remembering what had been happening before they crossed paths. Unsure of anything except that if Doctor Hadley were to examine her now there would no doubt that the diagnosis would come up as shock the older woman just stood there.

A smile passed by her and a door shut shortly thereafter but Allison did not pay attention to either one as something in the palm of her hand was only thing she could focus on. It was just a misused prescription paper with nine digits on it; it shouldn't have been anything important. After all seven of the digits were just for a phone number but the other two intrigued the woman far more than it should be possible for a number to do.


	6. Can't Fight This Feeling

**Again I would like to note my thanks to all those that have read, reviewed and added this story to their alerts and favorites. It is great seeing that people enjoy the story and helps keep my motivation up. My updates are not as frequent as I would like but I will try to make the chapters longer to make up for that. This chapter is full of Camteen interaction and goodness. So when I bring back the angst and drama in the coming chapters no one will kill me...and just to be clear I am still as poor as when I first started this story and I still do not own anything that would generate money from it.**

On a chilly Sunday morning Remy Hadley was a mile from her destination at the end of her run when the cell phone started going off. A check glance showed a local area code attached to a string of numbers that she did not know and thus on silent it went to ring until the caller got her voicemail. Either they would find it important enough to leave a message or would get the hint that after six rings she was not going to answer.

A few seconds later the complete lack of sound confirmed that they had gotten the point. Resuming her run towards the apartment complex she had been calling home for the last several months it would just be another ten minutes of peace before she had to start facing the end of her weekend and she really did not want to spend any of them on the phone. Unfortunately, that literally seemed to be all the peace Remy had earned that morning as not ten minutes later Remy had put her feet mere steps from the entryway to her building when the cell phone went off again.

She wasn't entirely sure but the number looked like the one that had called minutes earlier and it was either some insurance company, in which case they could enjoy being the newest addition to her blocked callers list, or something might be up at the hospital and someone was just using a different line. Pressing the 'send' button the woman put the phone to her ear in order to see what the caller had to say.

There was no sound coming from the other side for a couple seconds but she moved the phone away and almost shut off when a single word came over the receiver.

"Hello?" The voice was a little off from when compared to how it normally sounded but a cell phone can do that to a person. Placing the phone against the side of her face, Remy was quick to voice her own confusion, perhaps faster than was normal for someone that had been looking to avoid talking to people.

"Doctor Cameron?"

"Doctor Hadley. I wasn't sure if I got your number right. I realize it is sort of early, and it is your day off and you were probably asleep but I wanted to get this out of the way before I had to go to the hospital for a couple hours."

The explanation seemed more out of place than the random Sunday morning phone call before 10 am from someone she knew from the hospital. It had to be work related but why something work related couldn't wait until at least the ER head was at the hospital, or better yet tomorrow, was answered when a sudden panic set in.

Last time she had seen the blonde had been Thursday night when they talked. Well the woman talked and Remy hit on her before giving out the very number Allison had now used to get in touch with her. She remembered exactly how she carried her side of the conversation, not to mention the way she handed the paper to the other woman. There was no explaining away the fact that she had made several suggestive passes at someone that was, essentially, her boss.

This was the call telling her not to bother showing up for work tomorrow and that as of first thing a restraining order would be in place. There wouldn't even be a helpful letter from Cuddy to ensure she could find another job. Actually the Dean was probably putting together a list of people to alert that she had just fired a patient killing, drug abusing, sexually harassing, crazy woman that should not be employed under any condition.

"Doctor Hadley?" Doctor Cameron was still on the phone and somehow hanging up right then did not seem like a viable escape plan from the words that were about to destroy her future.

"Yes?"

"_I am screwed, so very, very, screwed." _

If she was lucky, she might find a job on the other side of the country working in a morgue.

"I was wondering if you had any plans this afternoon, say around 2?"

She would have put past House to drag her into the office only to have security remove her but Remy had a hard time imagining Saint Cameron getting that petty over some flirting by a coworker.

"Why?" The annoyed tone even caught Remy by surprise but if this woman was going to drag out the day just to fire her in person she at least deserved to know it in advance.

"Oh…umm I was wondering if you wanted to get some lunch. It would be my treat. I know the hospital doesn't exactly offer satisfying compensation for all the work you have been putting in after your shifts and plus I owe you for the other night. Though if you are busy, or something, I understand. It was just I am not going to be able to get free until about 2 and given how things at the hospital have been I doubt either of us will get have enough time off next week." There was a slight pause, not really long enough for her to say anything but apparently long enough for the caller to breathe.

"You probably have already plans though, and I shouldn't have called this early, so I'll just see you around the hospital."

Remy could not really think of a single thing she actually had to do. It was not that early to where it was unreasonable for someone to call. A couple ago the phone call would have replaced her need for an alarm clock but she wasn't that lazy as to sleep in until noon after a couple other days off. Besides finding out there you are not fired has a surprising way of adding news to the day that requires some celebration. She really didn't know the woman, but if Doctor Cameron was offering her a free meal instead of ending her career after that conversation the other night than she should change that. It would also be a good chance for her to demonstrate that she could be friendly without giving off the impression that she was strictly doing it to better her odds of getting into the other woman's scrubs.

"Cameron?" There was no immediate response but a quick look at the phone confirmed it was still tracking the seconds the two had been talking for so no one had hung up.

"Yes Doctor Hadley?"

"I'll see you around 2:15?"

"Ok."

"Ok."

With that, Remy ended the call. Despite finishing a run not more than a few minutes ago she felt rather calm. Deciding to try that same route again next weekend and checking the time on her phone she had more than enough time to continue her usual routine of take the stairs to the roof than back down to her apartment. That wouldn't take more than few minutes really. She would have plenty of time to get some other things done before meeting Allison for lunch. The only actual problem would be that she had no idea where they were going to have lunch, what they were going to eat or what they could possibly have to say to each other.

"Shit!"

Taking a quick look at her reflection in the glass walls that separated the building from the street Remy took notice of how she looked for the first time in awhile. It was not just looking good enough to pick up a random few hours of fun and turning some heads at the hospital; she needed to make the right impression today. If the impression she was looking for was sweaty, dehydrated and suddenly panicked workout clothes demonstrator than she was ready to go. The respectable doctor and friendly neighborhood lifesaver look though was going to take some effort to achieve. The other option was of course calling Cameron back to find out where they were going to lunch, or just canceling claiming she forgot something important.

One option made her sound like an idiot and the other a complete jerk. Not liking either of those two options she opted for the third; even if that meant dressing for an occasion she had no idea how to dress for and going in completely blind. Overall, there did seem like there was a lot of work ahead of her for a day that technically involved doing very little and then getting lunch with a coworker.

The clock in her car was showing 1:49, which meant that she had officially been sitting in her car for the past five minutes. It was a stupid thing, being nearly a half hour early just to find out where they were suppose to eat, yet waiting in a car out of fear someone else would agree with her did not seem a whole hell of a lot better. Reluctantly invoking the premise that there was no time like the present, Remy shut off the car and forced her legs to move her out of the vehicle.

Being in hospital on a weekend had been a rare event when working in diagnostics, one where Remy did not get the luxury of leaving the hospital for a couple days before hand. She had thankfully avoided the experience entirely during her shifts in the ER so far. Though she would have thought that definitely after a few 60 hour weeks, if not before than from general knowledge of the hospital, that she would know where the office for the head of the department was at.

"I am looking for Doctor Cameron's office?" Finding someone at the front desk that did not seem to be doing anything had to be considered a positive on the day.

"You are?"

"Doctor Hadley"

"Doctor Hadley?" The woman typed her name into the computer and then looked at her like she had lost her mind.

"You are not scheduled to work today nor are you on call."

"Very true, Doctor Cameron's office?"

"Why are you looking for Doctor Cameron?" Just what she needed was an inquisitive provider of information that did not want to provide any information.

"There was scheduling conflict for my shifts next week. Her office would be…"

"It would probably be one on that says Doctor Cameron on the door."

About the time she was considering asking again, with a few choice words mixed into the question, a familiar voice got her attention instead.

"Thirteen?"

Remy saw her companion for the afternoon walking towards her but the mountain of folders the blonde was carrying did not exactly raise her hopes that showing up early would be welcomed as a fantastic surprise.

"Doctor Cameron. I was just trying to find out if you were in your office still." She gave her would be lunch companion a smile that would hopefully make up for the fact that was sort of lying.

"I was just heading that way now." Taking the hint the younger woman went to follow, ignoring the glares she was getting from the receptionist with the exception of offering a single signal to the annoying bitch. Remy did not fully understand why she felt the need to make a good impression on the ER doctor that had offered her lunch but she did. The only problem was that a good impression meant nothing that was a fault could show and she had many faults.

As they entered the office, the brunette watched as Allison attempted to flip on the overhead light before settling on the fact that dumping the paperwork onto her desk first would be a requirement. Noticing the distress and deciding something of a helpful hand would be proper Remy switched on the light. Observing as the office's usual resident went through the effort of putting each folder into one of two piles based on some system she didn't get. Whatever it was that required that Allison bend slightly over the desk though Thirteen was not going to complain.

In fact the choice of the woman's office attire of black slacks, a dark blue fitted shirt, that was currently not covering the small of her back, and short heels did not offer any reason to complain either. The outfit wasn't obscene, or even borderline scandalous, but it was one of a handful of times the two women had crossed paths where the department head wasn't dressed in scrubs. Not that it should matter if Doctor Cameron wore office clothing, or scrubs, or if she wondered around the hospital naked, because the brunette should not be starring at the remarkably fit woman for any reason. Her focus should have been entirely on just getting through lunch like it was a requirement for job security. It shouldn't matter if it was the 5'5, blonde haired, blue eyed woman, or her insane boss, or Cuddy, which had asked her to join them for a meal because she should be acting like a professional and possibly at most as a friend.

However, if they were friends, there was nothing saying that her eyes could not wander over Cameron's form from head to toe strictly out of curiosity for how Cameron was dressed right? As long as it was from a safe vantage angle it could not hurt to look to see exactly how the clothes fit right?

No. Remy was going to look at Cameron strictly as a coworker and possibly as a friend but not as someone who could provide her with a new workout routine. Besides whatever curios interest she had it would be clearly one sided as the woman was purer than the driven snow and there was no indication that Allison had any _curiosity _she was looking to explore. There is also the slight factor that neither woman was not exactly available.

"I hate to do this but I have got to cancel lunch." Remy suddenly found herself in reality again. It had been a rough trip as she felt a lurch in the pit of her stomach. As the woman turned around, but didn't truly face her, she felt bad that the blonde seemed so upset over what could be chalked up to a minimal problem at its worst.

"Someone messed up the expense reports. According to the purse string holders the ER just ordered eight new bed sheets and 200 new office chairs along with some other minor inconstancies that didn't make any reason. I tried to assure the budget committee that the numbers could be easily corrected in a few minutes during the session but they are insisting on a whole new report before Monday." The woman was still fiddling with folders, opening them to the first few pages before placing them on one of the piles.

"They are making you redo it by yourself?"

"It is either I do it or the ER goes without supplies."

That was definitely not what she had been expecting when she showed up. A bit of paperwork left undone, maybe, but having her afternoon completely turned around by some group of paper pushers whose own anal tendencies didn't sit well. She couldn't believe that they were that obsessed with reports that they would kill the efficiency of the ER over them. No. That definitely was not going to happen. Not after the effort it took to find her favorite and iron her favorite pair of dark grey skinny jeans and the long sleeve black top.

Shrugging her shoulders and hoping to make the best out of the situation Remy decided that if lunch meant doing expense reports and eating take out then so be it.

"How do you feel about Tai food?" The brunette took out her phone and began scrolling through the list of names looking for a new restraint that had been recommended to her.

"I have never had it but this thing with the committee shouldn't mean that you have to be stuck here." The voice had an interesting combination of surprise along with genuine consideration that stalled the search for a split second before Remy made the phone call to order lunch.

Remy ordered for both of them why Allison returned to the paper work. Watching the woman make notes throughout the reports the taller woman quickly noticed a problem with her offer to help, which she had to make clear to the buyer of food why she was on hold.

"Your hand writing is awful, even for a doctor." The blonde sat the first folder on her desk before grabbing a hold of a stack of loose papers that she had written on just days earlier. The comment seemed to have been ignored for a while until the report filler finally snapped when the brunette hung up the phone.

"It is not! My writing is perfectly legible and I have never had a complaint about it."

"I am sure you haven't."

"What is that suppose to mean?" The blonde placed her hands on her hips and starred at the internist, challenging her to explain the comment.

"You could easily win the world's nicest immunologist award, and are a strong contender for the general human being category. That is not someone most people are not going to tell that their writing is so jammed together that it is almost looks like serial killer wrote it."

"Yeah, well…you hold your phone weird." That caused Remy to give the other woman a blank stare, almost as if she was in complete shock over the ruthless comment.

"Sorry." The word came out with a sort of hurt that followed the woman taking a completely vulnerable stand. There was no sign of the defensive posturing that she held a moment ago. That happened faster than the woman initiating the torment had figured and was rather pleased that it did.

"I think I can take a comment about the way I hold my phone Doctor Cameron. Though for those several seconds I was sure my life was over." Her lighthearted attitude about the whole thing quickly drew the blonde's attention, which lead to the brunette seeing a look of annoyance in those blue eyes before something a bit more devious took over.

"Oh I am sure it was not the first time you had to face an angry woman after saying the wrong thing. Though compared to the usual experiences you have regarding what women are threatening to do to you after you have talked to them I imagine you were able to recover rather quickly." That she did not except and the sudden lack of personal space as her coworker got closer definitely added to that surprise.

"Lucky for you I have never been one to mix words with a wasted a drink on a bad date. That is where your good fortune ends though I am afraid as I promised to pay for lunch but I never said anything about buying you a drink." The innocent, love everyone that walks into the ER with a screwdriver stuck in their head, was without a doubt crossing a line. It might not have been the four-lane highway Remy had crossed the other side but it was still something. As the two starred at each other, both trying to react to what the other one would do before either one could do anything, there was a ringing sound in the background that added an annoyance to the room that hadn't previously been there.

Neither the pair of light greenish blue eyes, nor those of a true blue, moved from the other as seconds went by with the ringing continuing in the background. Finally, those of Allison looked away, with a small smile on the woman's face, as more space was created between the two in order for the blonde to answer the phone. It was the briefest of calls with the doctor just saying yes and thank you before hanging up.

"The food is here." And with that she walked out the door without saying anything else. The scene was so familiar yet the setting and the one left behind were so different. Realizing that she needed to move before the woman returned with lunch Remy decided that going and getting a couple drinks wouldn't really be in violation of her cardinal rules of seduction because she was strictly going to be friends with woman. At least it seemed like a good enough excuse to put her ego aside and go get something for Allison…except she didn't know what the woman liked to drink.

"Shit!"


	7. Mind Games

After a few agonizing minutes of standing in front of the vending machine, all spent trying to figure out which drink best suited Cameron, Remy finally settled on walking down to the cafeteria and buying two bottles of water. It was the safest choice to make and that itself put another dent in her ego. Why she was not on the woman's Christmas list, they had spent a rather great deal of time near each other over the years. The ER was never overflowing with doctors vying over who got to treating the kid with the bloody noise whose parents fully believed the child was going to bleed to death. Yet, during her whole time at the hospital, she never really _got_ Cameron.

Most people around the hospital had their opinions as to what Cameron was like but they generally seemed to stick to what would it took thirty seconds to realize. The consensus was that Cameron was nice, dedicated and honest. All of which are fine qualities, they even gave the woman a rather attractive charm to her, but none of them revealed anything truthful. There was something else, beneath all the reassurances that distracted anyone from looking further, Remy was sure of that.

Opening the office door Remy walked in fully expecting the smell of Thai food, which instead was completely absent. The office was also missing its usual occupant. A good ten minutes had passed in her efforts to get them drinks and that should have been more than enough time for Cameron to walk to the lobby and back.

Though having a moment alone in the office would give her the chance to investigate the woman without having to ask obvious questions. Nothing would actually be touched, certain boundaries had to be respected amongst colleagues, but a look around couldn't hurt. There was just something enticing about being able to see whom Cameron was when work did not involve the rush of screaming patients to deal with.

Setting the water bottles on the desk, Remy glanced around the room. There really was not a lot to look at. A large wooden desk mostly took up the little floor space that existed in the office. A light blue upholstery couch took up most of one wall, which were mostly empty except for a large window centered behind the desk and a few framed diplomas. Last of the furniture was an office chair, which looked exactly like the very uncomfortable ones at the nurses' station, pushed into the empty gap within the desk.

There were no personal effects around the office. No picture frames, trinkets or even an out of place coffee mug full of pens and pencils. All that seemed to be around was what came with the office and what the woman needed to work. The only thing occupying the desk was the papers Remy had agreed to assist. How anyone could accept, begrudgingly or not, the responsibility of correcting what had been three months worth of work, and to it within 24 hours, was beyond her.

Before Remy could start over analyzing every detail, like the door handle clicked open and in walked Cameron, balancing two Styrofoam containers in one hand. Remy moved to close the door behind the shorter woman, thus allowing the lunch to reach the desk safely rather than ending up on the floor.

"I have no idea what you ordered." Remy took a second to take in the annoyed look on Cameron's face why the woman was starring down at the unopened containers. The confused tone in the woman's voice brought a smile to Remy's lips, which she quickly tried to hide.

"It is called Pad Thai. The dish is a great one to start with if you're not familiar withThai food as it is not overly spicy, if done right."

"What do you mean_ if_ done right?" The wide-eyed look on Cameron's face was something Remy wanted to remember. Crazy people in the ER, demanding Committee members, and a mountain of paperwork did not even seem faze Cameron but spicy food apparently terrified the blonde.

"Sometimes they do not blend the peppers and the sauce properly, which can make it a bit hot."

"Oh." Cameron, picked up one of the lunches, rather tentatively, and grabbed her bottle of water before moving to sit behind the desk. The food smelled normal enough but instinct took over as her fork started poking at the dish and moving some of it around, hoping to uncover anything hazardous before she tried to eat it. Concerned that she might again look like a completely helpless fool again Cameron missed a pair of sharply focused eyes watched her slightly panicked movements and the amused look on Remy's face.

After the show was over, Remy sat down on the couch, using the arm of it that was closest to the desk as a miniature table. Based on the first few bites the food was exactly what anyone ordering Thai food from a restaurant in New Jersey, which passed the safety inspection, to taste like.

Looking over at the blonde, just to make sure the food was okay, Remy noticed that there seemed to be more poking and less eating again.

"Is it too spicy or just generally awful?"

Cameron shot her head straight up, having almost forgotten that someone else was in the room. She must have looked like one of the patients suffering from paranoid delusions by the weird look the duckling was giving her. It took a few seconds before someone turned on the lights and she was able to offer a reassuring response.

"No, the food is great." Intent on proving that point Cameron took several large bites of her food faster than anyone should because they will end up choking. After a couple minutes of drinking water and slight coughing the room returned to silence.

Remy was lost in trying to decipher the strange symbols Cameron claimed were letters and eating her food when she glanced back over to the enigma in the room. Instead of finding the senior attending with her blue eyes, highlighted by a pair of glasses, lost in similar paperwork the woman was just starring at an unopened folder. She made an effort to ignore but after a couple more minutes there was just no getting around it.

"Okay. Obviously, you liked the food well enough and this is your office, so it can't be the setting. That means either I have done something since showing up that upset you or you really just like torturing your food and trying to read through a paper cover. Which is it?" The words came out harsher than intended but not being able to understand someone was really quite infuriating.

Allison sighed as she sat folder next to the closed up container on the desk as she moved the chair slightly closer towards the couch. "Can I ask you something?"

Remy was not sure that exchange really took place. She pretty much took the woman's head off and all she got in return was a rather meek question. Though if the blonde was that distracted by whatever was on her mind it made sense to at least let the question be asked.

"Sure. I am an open book." Trying to prove the point of her sarcasm the younger doctor leaned back against the couch, regaining the distance Cameron had removed and then some. There were a number of questions that Remy would like to hear, and a number that she expected, but she rather doubted it would be anything shocking.

"Do you and Eric get along?" That was not a question that was expecting, wanting or really felt anyone was justified in asking.

"Despite what the gossip mill might have to say about it I have not slept with half the nurses in the ER over the last couple months why my boyfriend was kept around so someone could keep my hair back when Saturday night returned to haunt me Sunday morning." The comment was delivered without an ounce of anger, though it wasn't missing any sarcasm. Her personal life was not some mess of problems people could offer her their deepest sympathies on, even if it was technically getting to the problematic mess stage.

"I didn't mean it like it, I was just wondering because Foreman can be a bit much at work and you two seemed pretty serious." Cameron definitely felt like backing away and hiding in a hole somewhere. They really did not know each other well enough to be discussing personal details like that.

"We are doing fine, and why Eric has his flaws, none of us are perfect."

There was no vocal response from Cameron, just a slight nod before the overstepping doctor went back to work.

For Remy that was not going to be that easy.

"How is married life?"

By the sudden absent of any movement, except a slight dropping of the jaw, there was definite promise that Remy was getting better at getting underneath the perfect skin of Plainsboro's perfect doctor.

"I find it strange sometimes just sharing an apartment a couple nights a week with someone. The thought of having that shared existence as a permanent situation seems like it could be rather overwhelming."

"Being married is not all that different from dating someone for a while; there are subtle differences but mostly it just a continuation of the relationship with the added bonus of a tax credit." Cameron responded with a lack of enthusiasm on the topic, which even surprised her a bit. No one had really asked how things were going but she never figured that her response if they did would be that lackluster.

"What stayed the same? The bad habits? Irritating friends? Mind blowing sex?"

"Doctor Hadley!" The admonishment was said rather quietly as Allison felt her cheeks turn a slight hue of pink why shifting her eyes to the door, half expecting a group of people rushing into her office and wanting details.

"What?" Remy did her best to look innocent about what question drew the blonde's attention. Fortunately, she had gotten better at denial than when she first started working for House.

"My sex life, Doctor Hadley, is not something I discuss with colleagues over expense reports and lunch."

"I simply asked about the lack of changes Doctor Cameron. You mentioned discussing that one specific aspect of the relationship. Though, as a doctor, I could not live with myself if I did not inform you that sexual frustration, if left untreated, can lead to serious health problems." Remy offered the advice as if the other woman was actually a patient, after all the only people to call her Doctor Hadley were patients and Cuddy.

Allison found herself smiling as she once again found herself the target of smart-ass remarks from the brunette doctor. It was strange but she found being engaged in yet another odd conversation with Plainsboro's resident mystery woman a rather amusing highlight on her weekend.

"If you must know Doctor Hadley" Allison noticed a slight shifting in the brunette that seemed out of place but ignored it as the couch starting to take its toll as she continued on. "The bad habits seem to stay the same."

The department head could feel a weight come off her shoulders as she said those simple words. It was not really a big deal; but there still seemed to be a distance between her and Chase that Allison had assumed would fade as the final boundary was crossed. She did not want to burden a colleague but the internal debate would have to settle for mental kicking her later.

"I know it is nothing to get worked up over, that I shouldn't be upset, but at times it does feel more like I am sharing an apartment with someone instead of being married to them."

Remy was nervously trying to press into the back of the couch even further as the immunologist walked past her, despite there being no chance of contact at the previous distance. When Cameron came to occupy the couch, even if she sat on the opposite end, those nerves did not settle down.

"At times including today?" Why the other woman suddenly wanted to talk, had to sit closer in order to have the conversation, or made her jumpy she could not understand.

"On my way to pick up the food from the front desk I called Chase to let him know I would be at the hospital longer than I expected. We were supposed to be going out to dinner tonight but that was decided before I knew why the committee was meeting today. Apparently, he was already on his way to a pub to meet some guys from work and watch the Rugby finals. I don't want him to just sit around and wait for my phone call but"

"On an occasion you would like it if he offered to change plans around, even when you are okay with him keeping them as they were."

The interruption got a smile out of Allison, whom suddenly seemed like she might just jump off the couch to celebrate the obvious conclusion to her own thoughts.

"Exactly. I always ask make the gesture to try to put any possible time we could have together above anything else. For once it would just be nice to know that he would consider putting his plans second to something we could together."

"Well, in all fairness to your husband, you did marry a guy. Most of them cannot even adapt from being a bachelor to getting married without the help of a massive amount of liquor and some half-naked women. If you actually want to get one of them to pay attention it typically requires taking out a billboard and running some commercials during Sport's Center. "

"Spent a lot of time studying the ancient ritual of marriage?" Cameron was definitely annoyed that the younger, inexperienced in relationships, brunette would defend Chase's behavior and criticize that she had not done enough to address it.

"Not marriage but being the only woman not taking her clothes off, usually, at bachelor parties has offered some interesting insights." The look that followed from Cameron had a strange little glint about it that Remy had not seen before.

That little comment had intrigued Allison. Normally she did not hear more than a few words about the duckling's past and none of them from the source. "What exactly does _usually_ mean Doctor Hadley?"

"You can stop calling me Doctor Hadley at any time. My parents did actually give me a first name and it wasn't Doctor, or Thirteen. It is not as if Remy is all that difficult to pronounce." Remy was going to do her damndest to steer away from that slip up about a stupid mistake. It was not even something she had told Foreman, not fully anyways, and it was not anywhere near appropriate for a conversation over lunch with a colleague. A different topic, any topic, except that one, would be good right now.

"Okay, _Remy_, what is the story behind you only _usually_ keeping your clothes on at bachelor parties?" It did seem like a strange subject to be hung up on but a chance to learn something embarrassing about the brunette was an opportunity Allison didn't want to pass up.

"It was just a stupid incident that happened during my residency." Remy did her best to focus on the report in her lap hoping Cameron, like everyone else, would eventually give up.

"Why so embarrassed? Not get any tips?"

"Why so interested in what it takes to get my clothes off?" Cameron asking annoying questions was something she could ignore easily enough. However, suggesting she could not part drunken idiots from their cash under any circumstance, let alone if she was trying to when she did not have any actual clothes on, that was crossing a line Thirteen could not let stand.

"What?" The blush that swept up through Allison's cheeks had to be borderline dangerous as it caused a sudden rise in temperature.

"It is a simple question _Allison_. Why do you want to hear about me being half naked so badly?"

Allison was going crimson by the time a stuttered response came out of her mouth.

"I…uh…no I didn't mean…it was just…uh…you said it and I thought…well it just…"

Thirteen moved further down the couch, getting closer to the blonde as the incomplete rambling stopped in favor of Allison just looking down at the floor.

"The next time you have a question you want to ask, remember that we ended this conversation with you wanting details about me in an undressed state." There was that flash in those aqua eyes as the brunette glanced over the woman before ending the game Cameron had obviously lost, twice.

"Now, let us get back to work before we end up staying here all night." Quickly moving back to her abandoned seat, and paper work, Remy smiled at the slow reaction of Cameron to do the same.

As the hours passed in relative silence, only the occasional few sentences over something work related, the two actually managed to finish the reports. Despite the good food, and unquestionably interesting conversation, by the late evening Remy definitely felt like going home. Her back hurt from sitting upright, her head pained from all the stupid numbers and she was certain her asthma was acting up as every now as her chest would tighten. The later had to be the most aggravating of the problems as it came up right when Allison would be asking her something; fortunately, it seemed to go unnoticed by her colleague.

By the time they reached the exterior side of the hospital entranceway, with the reports safely prepared for tomorrow, it had been over six hours since Remy had arrived. Of course given the time spent on waiting for lunch, talking about matters that had nothing to do with work and her having to decipher Cameron's hand writing it had not exactly been six hours of solid effort.

"Thank You for your help today. I did not think I would finish before tomorrow. Now I can go home, get dinner and sleep in my own bed."

"No worries Doctor Cameron."

"Its Allison and I suppose I'll see you at work."

"Assuming the ER doesn't get shut down because of someone's shoddy record keeping." Satisfied with getting one last shot in against Allison, Remy glanced at the darkened parking lot trying to remember what space her car occupied.

"I'll ignore that last comment, instead of dragging you back in there to show you my dedicated filing system, because, thanks to you, I get to go take a nice hot bubble bath." 

Remy felt a sudden shiver run down her spine, which must have been from the complete lack of a breeze or not suddenly dropping temperatures, as those words rang in her head and a pair of arms wrapped around her for a second. It had to be the world's shortest hug yet, by the time her eyes moved from the car door in the distance, Allison was out of sight. There was something about a cab ride floating around in her head but the thought was lost to random words trying to form sentences Remy was certain she would never actually hear Allison say.

What was certain of by the time she reached the car was that the windows would down for the duration of the drive and there would be no risking that relaxing shower tonight.

**I would like to apologize about the delay in updating this story. I just have not had the time to write for any real meaningful length of time and writing in one, or two, sentence intervals seemed to be doing more harm than good. To those that have continued to read, review and favorite this story - thank you. I hope that this chapter was worth the wait. No guarantees on when updates will take place but I would like to believe that this was an unusually long gap and that the next chapter won't take three weeks to get posted.**


	8. Complicated

Doctor Cameron found herself starting off the new month the exact same way she had ended the previous one, with her head on her desk. Sheer exhaustion and a lack of enthusiasm were not two feelings she seemed headed for six months ago. The recent wave of endless days filled with patients' eager to find new ways of harming themselves with mundane tasks finally seemed to stop in the last couple of days. As a bonus, the constant worrying that something was going to go wrong occupied less of her time as doctors patients were not threatening to kill their doctors and doctors were not threatening to quit.

Being able to shut the door, put her head down and close her eyes for a while was not an opportunity she was going to pass up. As her blackberry made an obnoxious buzzing sound against the wooden desk the thought of shoving the noisy device into one of the drawers crossed her mind, only to fade as the sound no longer harassed her. Peaceful silence was a rare event in the ER and whatever the phone call was would only serve to disrupt that. For right now, all that mattered was that nothing mattered. She had no patient that had ended up with a steel pipe shoved through his leg and even the papers that still covered her desk would only take a few minutes to file away. The last time she had with so little on her plate had been weeks ago after having lunch in her office with Doctor Hadley, who graciously helped her avoid working until sunrise.

In their time spent together over the recent weeks Allison had gotten to know the brunette better but all of it felt like she had just skimmed the surface of an ocean. Humans, by their very nature, are complex creatures but Remy seemed to be genuinely more complicated than most and it was hard to deny a certain fascination with that complexity. Rarely had she encountered someone that seemed like they could move through a crowd of people without ever noticing anyone was around them at all yet there were few times when someone had shown her such kindness during just random moments in her life. Why firmly believing most people are good people they are not all that considerate except for that moment when they find out about her first husband, when she lost a patient, after she saved a patient or if a favor was needed. With Doctor Hadley, with Remy, there did not seem to be anything except a genuine interest to help. Anytime she tried to offer thanks, to make things even, the younger doctor gained the lead over her with another thoughtful gesture. Even buying lunch for them seemed to be a gift the younger doctor could not accept as by the time Allison returned to work on Tuesday morning a mysterious benefactor had put a total of $18.13 on her cafeteria account. The total must have seemed like the strangest amount to the cashier given that they had not spent 18 dollars, including tip, on lunch that a certain doctor.

It was not that people had never bought her breakfast before, a few times it had occurred with less than noble intentions from her male colleagues after she first started working at the hospital, but they had never done it without being in the same room and letting her know first. There was a certain charm to the whole thing that made her smile; despite an odd disappointment that the brunette wasn't standing there, ready to take credit for the action with some smart remark.

When a knock on her office door interrupted her thoughts on the day she could not even respond before the bright lights of the ER flooded her office. Lowering her head to the desk, hoping to block out the offensive attack on her senses, the door quickly closed again but it was too late to avoid the damage.

"Allison?" The blonde had not moved her head off the desk, or said anything. Remy figured those smiling blue eyes would greet her as the woman poured over paper work but after she opened the door nothing happened and suddenly concern was not a strong enough word for what was coursing through her veins. After an ungodly wait, she finally saw Allison lift up her head, though that did not make breathing any easier.

Fully intent to remind whomever it was that it was rude to enter without being welcomed Cameron instead found that upon seeing the familiar brunette hair, and unmistakable confidence, the only thing she really could have been happier to see was dinner and a glass of wine. She had been expecting to see more of Remy after their day together but they rarely seemed to be in the same place and passing each other in the hallways why running to help a patient did not seem like an appropriate time to chat. It was nice to have a visitor seeing as Chase left without saying anything to her after being caught up in the chaos of a busy OR. Not that it made a real difference to her schedule.

"Sorry. I was just resting for a few minutes why things were quiet."

"And yet you're at your desk, which implies intent to keep working, instead of lying on the couch, which would indicate your plans involve sleeping."

As if to prove a point, the uninvited brunette walked over to the couch and collapsed on it.

"Yes. How foolish of me not to ignore my responsibilities when obviously the hospital put a couch in my office because they wanted patient files updated after a patient leaves for a month."

"I am fairly sure no one is going to die if you do not confirm that they suffered a broken leg in the next twelve hours."

"House, is that you? I would have sworn Doctor Hadley walked in here."

"Laugh it up blondie but I am the one that is going to sleep on your couch why you are sitting in an uncomfortable office chair."

"Go find a room in the clinic to sleep in like a normal ER doctor, or, better yet, go get coffee and find a patient to treat. It is a hospital so I am sure there is at least one sick person to keep you occupied until your shift is over."

"My shift is over and I prefer your office to a clinic room."

"Oh and why is that?"

"Probably because Cuddy told me no one was to work past their shift tonight. Instead, we are all supposed to go home as scheduled. There was something about the second shift actually showing up on time and swapping clinics hours for help in the ER or something."

"No. Why is my office better than a clinic room if you are just going to crash somewhere?" Allison was still multitasking through the conversation, as the stack of files had to be finished despite the obvious attempts to bring an end to the organizing. Remy's idea of multitasking on the other hand extended to engaging Allison why trying to get in the ideal spot on the couch. Watching out of the corner of her eye the department head continued to try to figure out if Remy had an actual purpose for showing up when the words registered.

"Wait. Cuddy is sending everyone home on time and you did not start our conversation with that fact?"

Remy did not give an immediate response but Allison's serious tone, about what seemed to her to be a minor issue, made her smile.

"Well I meant to but I was tired from walking over here and opening the door. Besides I am telling you now."

"Then you are going to be especially tired when you have to walk out of here since there is no way I am letting you sleep in office." It was not a matter of trust but actual compassion that made Allison want to ensure the brunette would not be lingering around afterwards. The couch seems comfortable for the first few hours but she knew from experience it would not be such a good idea by the morning.

"Did she say this before, or after, the six car pileup turned out to strictly harmful to the vehicles involved and not the people?"

"It was a few minutes after. A nurse started walking towards her office at that point and she did not stick around to go over the details. I have never seen a woman run that fast in heels."

Missing the joke and ignoring the thought that going home this early did not sound appealing; Cameron mulled the offer over a few times. It did not seem like the best solution for the ER, given what usually happened five minutes after everyone decided to take a break, but if the shift doctors were actually showing up than there was no real reason to stay.

"If you want to get something to eat I know a place that has the best pasta in the state, assuming you have never had pasta anywhere else in the state."

"As tempting as that is, I think I'll let you get home. I am going to call Chase and see if he can arrange dinner. We haven't had a lot of time together and it seems a lot of that is because of my time in the ER."

Looking over at the brunette Allison was pleased to see that same half a smile there that had been present since the woman walked in. Just the thought of disappointing Remy felt unsettling

"Sounds like a plan. We can find some other time to get dinner when cracked skulls have not been preventing some headboard banging of your own."

A completely red look spread throughout her cheeks as the increased blood brought the definite feeling that the room had gotten several degrees warmer suddenly. By the time she was recovering well enough to look at the brunette again all she saw was a door being closed. It seemed that even after embarrassing her, the mysterious woman was not beyond redeeming that with the considerate act of leaving her to her own personal affairs.

Grabbing her phone off the desk Allison dialed one on her speed dial and waited for the house phone to pick up. Still smiling to herself like an idiot, she did her best to brush off the smile suddenly disappearing when she heard a familiar accent answer the phone.

Outside the Head of the ER Department's office stood the mystery doctor herself, trying not to look like she was holding on to doorknob to the office. For some screwed up reason it felt as if the conversation on the other side of the door could not happen if she did not let go of the door. It was an odd feeling, having her offer declined by Allison, and the feeling was not one she cared to experience again. Pulling her phone out with one hand Remy noted three missed calls before ignoring them all and looking at the most recently dialed numbers. At the top of the list was the reason she had just made herself look like a complete idiot.

All Allison had to do was answer her phone, than she could have continued to the exit without both ignoring Cuddy's request that Cameron get everyone, including herself, to clock out on time for once or feeling like a bitch for leaving Allison working in her office without any idea she could go home. If it had just been a phone call than she would not have made such a stupid offer to her colleague and if nothing had been said then she could not be turned down.

Letting go with the doorknob and moving towards the exit seemed like a reasonable thing to do under the circumstances but it was not just an exit she was interested in. Her car was in the parking lot and that meant that within a few minutes she could be at a favorite watering hole, miles from the hospital, doing straight shots without any interference from a noisy bartender or pestering women. Rejection was a rarity that she had not faced for years and that would be all the excuse Remy needed to try to wash the taste of those departing words out of her mouth with cheap tequila.

The drive to her building ended quickly, which not paying attention to the color of traffic lights seemed to help with, and from there the simple matter of getting to her apartment and the bottle kept above the stove was remarkably easy. The first shot seemed to make everything worse as her body reacted poorly to the offending liquid adding to its suddenly ill state but by the third shot the room started spinning a little and the world was much further away than it had been ten minutes ago.

**I know this chapter is later than I figured it would be but as it turns out I am a terrible at estimating how little time a new schedule would leave me. I thank all of you whom continue to read, review, and favorite and receive alerts for this story despite the infrequent updates. I apologize for not being able to write those who left reviews on the previous chapter right. I hope that with a break coming up, I will be able to get a few new chapters posted between my two stories and reply to those that leave a review.**


	9. Talking Bird

Remy had finished her shift hours ago, which meant the intelligent place to be was home enjoying what little sleep she would see for the rest of the week. The day had promised to be a sign of what was to come on her upcoming 72-hour on call shift and voluntarily spending the hours in between her shifts in the chaos of the ER was stupid. She should have her head examined for standing around stitching up drunks that then decided the next step was to get into their car. Not that she was entirely at fault for refusing to leave on time.

Somehow, amongst the mess of stitching, casting, prepping and discharging of patients, the pretty blonde ER attending she was working with kept popping up. Remy could have left anyone else in the ER to deal with the crowd a good couple of hours before the antics of an idiot with gasoline and matches had added another thirty patients to the mix. It would have been their problem, not hers, but watching Allison work without regard to how late it was, or how long she had been there, made Remy want to do the same.

Though the thought to send the woman she was admiring a text suggesting a rendezvous between them when things got quiet was perhaps another reason to remain. Remy knew how exhausted she felt and drinking coffee seemed like a perfectly reasonable idea. It should have been easy enough then to ask a friend to grab some coffee. However, thoughts of what Allison's lips tasted like in comparison to the coffee were already on Remy's mind and that was within the safety of the ER without any actual coffee involved.

Tired of arguing with herself, or perhaps just tired, Remy decided to let chance settle the matter. If she saw Allison then she would send her a message. If the woman resided outside her field of vision than she would go home and try to take in as many hours of sleep as possible. It took only seconds to find the pink scrubs and pulled back blonde hair moving about the ER. Not wanting to argue with a concept she did not believe in Remy pulled the phone out her pocket and sent a brief, yet hopefully coherent, message to the other doctor.

The walk and filling up two cups of coffee had to have taken far longer than the five minutes that had passed, but arguing with time did not strike Remy as a promising sign of what the next few minutes would hold for her ability to have an intelligent conversation. Every moment from when a text from Allison hit her phone with the word 'sure' in reply to her offer Remy could feel her patience slipping away rapidly. It had been a brilliant thought that being in the on doctor's lounge would calm her nerves and it had initially worked. Now that Allison was officially running late Remy was officially on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

At 2:53 she was anxiously awaiting the ER attending, who was likely caught up making sure nothing catastrophic would happen to where the rest of the staff could not control the situation in the ER when she took a break. When 3:03 hit so did a thundering sound, which was surprising given the relatively small size of the smart phone and typically soundproof nature of the room. By 3:10 the phone back in her hands, there was a slight mark on the wall, both coffees were cold, and Remy had decided to give Allison an ultimatum that the blonde would have no idea was ever made. If Allison showed up in the next few minutes Remy would not say anything about the delay, if not Remy would leave the hospital for the night without saying anything to her about leaving.

Satisfied with her will power to settle the matter rationally instead of picking up the phone and flooding Allison with texts like some crazed stalker Remy leaded back against the couch, impatiently watching the door for Allison's arrival.

After a few minutes of sheer exhaustion, the weight of the world had weighed down her eyes and Remy felt herself slipping from her formerly conscious state. Even with her cell phone ringing, an annoyance stopped easily enough by burying the device in the pillow cushions, Remy found the warn niche of the couch intent on forgetting about the waking world and cold air that filled the room. Wrapping her arms around herself, sleep followed almost instantly.

_The locker room on a Tuesday afternoon was the last place anyone at Plainsboro would be looking for her and the first place Remy went after the last screaming patient finally got moved up to surgery. The ER had been flooded after a fire broke out in some theater building after a local pyrotechnic tried to set a globe on fire. It apparently had something to do with song a local band was rehearsing a song about not setting the world on fire. None of it made much sense and there were probably more injuries from people panicking than from the fire. _

_After changing from smoke and blood covered scrubs into her safely stashed casual attire her feet hit the floor with a purposeful stomp and Remy found the unreasonable lack of resonating sound more disturbing than comforting. Exiting the locker room the hall proved only that the outside was equally silent. Approaching the ER with hurried steps, even the heels of her boots against the tile were hushed without explanation. _

_There was stillness in the ER that left behind only panic for those that would witness it. A distant light that was too far to see shadowed the entire hospital, yet there no movement from within that shadow. _

_The thought of calling out scared her almost as much as the thought of being truly alone, but she had to know if there was anyone else. _

"_Hello?" Nothing. _

"_Anyone?" More silence. _

"_Allison?" Allison had to be around, she never left the hospital, and would be there wanting to know what was wrong. However, all Remy heard was the slightest of echoes. _

_She was alone. It was as if all the life had left the hospital. A chill started in her toes and ran through her body that erupted into shiver, as the silent air around her offered no response. Frantically searching the hospital turned up no one and every sound she made became swallowed by the silence before it could spread. The ER seemed endless, with each step just revealing more of the same. There were no doors, no way out and no one to help. _

_Remy ran towards somewhere, anywhere, looking to find some light. The effort remained without regard for time until she was no longer running, but stuck in place. Every attempt to move seemed only to further paralyze her and as a weight pressed against her chest as the air became forced out for the last time as she tried to scream. _

_Slowly the weight faded and Remy watched the shadowy silence slip away._

Allison had finally tracked down the mystery woman after failing to find her and having no idea where they were going to meet. The first place she tried had been her own office, and then the cafeteria before trying to call Remy, which lead to almost all the attempts went right to voice-mail. Finally, one of the nurses mentioned that the numerically named doctor had mentioned going to the lounge.

What they did not mention was that the woman would be asleep. The right thing to do seemed to be to walk out of the room quietly and leave her to rest. The ER was relatively peaceful and there were enough conscious people to manage it. Waking up a doctor for no real reason had a level of cruelty associated with it that House would do to amuse himself and Cameron wanted no part of it.

However, as she stood there for a moment watching the duckling something did not seem right. The couch started to look like far too small of a place to be sleeping as Remy begin tossing and turning rather violently. The reactions were getting worse and as the normally calm doctor started to visually struggle against whatever she thought was going on Cameron knew she had to do something.

"Remy, you need to wake up." It was a calm request in a tone she often used when a patient needed stirring, but it did nothing to stop the brunette from tossing about. Moving on to a light touching of an arm and a more normal speaking voice Cameron tried again.

"Come on Remy, wake up." No actual sign of interrupting the sleep pattern, but whatever was troubling the exhausted younger doctor seemed to stop ever so briefly when Cameron pushed against her before it just became worse when she stopped. Sometimes it was better to let someone sleep through their troubles, but fearing what would happen if she left and the reactions continued Cameron quickly switched her own phone over to vibrate.

Leaning over the lithe woman, Cameron slid the pillow out from under Remy's head and gently laid her back down. Brushing away hairs that had fallen out of place; she waited for a minute before settling in closer to her coworker. If contact allowed for more peaceful sleep than she was going to sit there and stay close by to keep the woman's troubles at bay.

Coming around to reality, Remy found that she was not alone on the couch, yet she was almost certain there was no one there before. Opening her eyes there was blonde hair just above her as the woman she had been waiting for calmly stroked her arm. It was a strange experience and sight to wake up to, but not exactly unpleasant.

"Are you feeling okay?" Allison figured the younger woman probably wanted some space, shutting off phone when some is calling you sends a clear signal, but Cameron could not help the worry she felt after seeing Remy in distress. It did not matter if it was just a nightmare; she wanted to make sure the duckling was all right.

Remy pushed her back against the arm of the couch as the touch went away and the messy haired ER attendant moved to sit down on the now unoccupied cushion. Lacking any concept of how long she had been asleep Remy found a conflict between wanting to understand what had progressed in that lost time and needing to disrupt the peaceful silence between them to get answers. Although, the longer they stayed like this the more willing she was to forget everything else.

"Yeah, fine, just a little tired."

_"Liar."_

Remy felt more exhausted waking up than when she fell asleep. Her body was weak and she had broken out into a sweat. The only counter to her lethargic state was the charge coursing through her veins that came with being in such close proximity to the other woman.

Allison knew she should drop it, let it go and leave Remy be. The brunette was a grown woman, and a doctor, she probably didn't want anyone making a big deal out of nothing and would no doubt recover from a rough sleep cycle easier than a barrage of paranoid questions. Yet Cameron was not going let the incident pass as if it never happened.

"Do you need anything? Maybe some sleeping pills would help. I could even get someone to cover your morning shift and you could just come in later."

Remy just shook her head slightly and leaned back further. Whatever Allison was saying had been largely lost on her, but the sound was enjoyable and already it seemed to be carrying her back to sleep. There was a thought in the back of her mind that she had moved intending to get off the couch, but that no longer seemed important.

Cameron lingered still. She could not accept that the woman was _fine _when she saw Remy first struggling to sleep and now she looked barely help to remain conscious after waking up. It did not seem to be a life threatening situation, nor was Remy her patient, but that did not make it okay to leave the woman that had been so kind to her.

"I can't leave you like this." She was mostly talking to herself, but noticing Remy stir slightly as she spoke and moved closer was a good sign. Besides she had agreed to coffee before something came up in the ER, the least she could do was make good on that.

The shiver that ran down her spine was unlike anything she had felt before. Whatever was happening did not come in pill form. Noticing that the sensation seemed to be coinciding with a sensation on her face Remy did her best to wake up. Her eyes adjusted to the barely light darkness of the lounge, only to want to seal shut after whatever was happening intensified. No ecstasy in the world could recreate the high she was experiencing and it all being brought on by Allison running the back of her fingers across her cheek.

Even with such knowledge in hand Remy could not help but lean her head against the embrace as the world faded away and the silence was overwhelmed by the beating in her chest. The moment ended when Allison sweetly smiled at her before separating again.

"Come on. Best thing after drifting off like that is to wake up and return to the land of the living." Allison offered the formerly unconscious woman a hand after getting up from the couch herself.

Standing up took Remy a few tries but eventually her body figured out a means of remaining upright under its own power. Letting the blonde lead her along, Remy stepped out of the lounge without question and as the bright interior of the hospital greeted her, the need to understand what happened earlier was lost with the simple closing of a door.

What neither woman realized was the buildup of voice and text messages that had went unanswered on forgotten cell phones.

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**I hope (I find I do this a lot) that the chapter was worth the wait. I do apologize for it taking four months for me to update this story. Unfortunately, I did get to work on this as much as I thought I would. Then when I could get something written, I just was not happy with the chapter. I am still not thrilled with it, but if I do not post it now I will never post it and that seemed worse. So I went through and corrected the grammar mistakes of the old chapters (how any of you read those and understood anything coherent is remarkable) and I think I have a better idea of where to go with this now than I did a month ago, or four, assuming anyone is still interested. Aside from that, I would like to thank everyone that has left reviews, made this a favorite, added this to alerts and sent me private messages. I probably would have abandoned the story without those.**

**For those interested in the titles for the chapters they are from songs, very original I know, and I am only mentioning it because the song that got me through this chapter was Talking Bird by Death Cab For Cuties. If you do not know this band then give them a listen as I have yet to hear a song from them I didn't like. Fair warning, they do not do many cheerful songs. **

** The reviews and notification additions are what keeps me writing, so those are always good if you feel like adding this to alerts or posting a review. **


	10. Chapter 10, Part 1 Of 3

Remy walked into the ER with a coffee in hand and a smile on her face. For the past week, she had felt surprisingly content and found that the days at work went by easier than before. She had even set her alarm for earlier than usual lately to make sure she had the extra time to do put up her hair, find an outfit she really liked and add some extra touches of makeup. Admittedly, it was an odd thing to do. Working in the ER she would see her patients for a few minutes each, at most, before passing them off to someone else.

Oddly enough, someone had yet to walk in to the hospital experiencing a medical emergency that needed a diagnosis that exceeded a specialist confirming what the ER figured out. House would go about destroying the ER's chart system all the time to find patients that required his particular style of help so it stood to reason there had to be a patient like that somewhere amongst the piled charts. Why removing bits of glass from a man whose wife turned out to be the jealous type offered a certain reward she wanted something more significant.

Unfortunately, after ten minutes of searching, the sick and injured of Plainsbro weren't cooperating. A junkie that was three days out from their last fix seemed like the most demanding case that the ER had. As soon as she closed the folder on the junkie, she noticed a familiar presence standing next to her.

"A new patient just checked in and I thought you might want to take a look." Allison held out the folder and her breath hitched as Remy's fingers brushed over her own. Since the duckling started working in the ER there had been something different about their interactions, and at least for her, it had the side effect of make breathing a more difficult task. It remained a mystery to her if Remy had any issue with their contact. Simply thinking about it was often more than she nerves could handle, but the thought of what either answer would mean to her life had occupied much of her thoughts over the last week.

Remy was far from immune to the recent developments, if anything she seemed to have absolutely no resistance to the sensation. The mere presence of Allison within her personal space was enough to make her head spin and her mouth to go dry. Trying to focus on something else, like the file she had yet to open, seemed to be the only way she got through the day. By the looks of the patient notes, there was enough unexplained mystery to keep her busy for the rest of the day, which was good because the ER attending was looking particularly ravishing.

"See something interesting?" Allison found herself smiling as she enjoyed the rare opportunity to study the younger doctor; noticing how the woman's eyebrows tightened, or how she would go back and forth between notes, as if trying to diagnosis the man's condition before she even got started.

"Very." Before eye contact could even be established Remy took in a deep breath why ignoring the part of her brain that was screaming at her to do the smart thing and avoid the woman for the rest of her existence. To her own surprise, Remy found Allison already staring at her. Those dark blue eyes never flinched when she starred into them, pissing off every logical neural pathway she had in the process. She shouldn't be relishing the warmth from being this close to the other woman, she shouldn't be returning that kind smile and she definitely shouldn't be feeling her pulse quickening at the scent of the woman's perfume, but she was and it would have taken a freight train crashing through the hospital to get her to stop.

"Anything else I should know?" Remy found the words left her as if they were the first she had ever spoken. At least they would be talking though. If they talked it might remind her that the woman came over about a patient and not so she could take the small step into the blonde's personal space, wrap her arm around her waist and lock their lips together until hell froze over, at which time she be sure to keep Allison warm.

Allison just stood there, connected to Remy through some invisible tether in another dimension, dragged away from reality simply by the change in Remy's eyes. They were bright and relaxed when Allison first saw them, but they sharpened over the eternity she had spent looking into them and there was a dangerous glint that wasn't helping her capacity to breathe. The question remained unanswered.

Taking a step to the side, putting herself closer to Remy's lithe frame, which looked amazing in shimmering top and skinny jeans with the lab coat settling as if it was inviting her to step in so Remy could enclose them both in it, Allison brushed her fingers over Remy's hand. There was a pleasant surprise when those blue eyes never lost their hold and as they brightened Allison felt Remy's fingers reaching for her wrist to pull her forward when reality kicked in.

Remy heard the crash of something metal hitting the floor and actually jumped, which had the unfortunate side effect of physically separating her from Allison.

"Well, umm, I better go make sure everything is okay. I am sure everything is there in the chart, patient is over in bed six."

It wasn't exactly a freight train, but reality still hit home like a bitch. The hospital raced back into focus and the woman in pink scrubs was gone, leaving behind the quickest pair of sentences Remy had ever heard. It was stupid to be so caught up on someone she couldn't have, especially when it was a woman she was working for.

Putting her own awkward personal life aside Remy reviewed the chart for her patient quickly before finding the bed he was in and starting her day. Focusing on work and putting the rest to the back of her mind was the smart thing to do. Although, given where being a genius 24/7 had gotten House, Remy spared one last look towards bed six. Maybe being stupid once and awhile wouldn't be such a bad thing.

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**There it is, sort of. After almost 7 months I've finally put enough time into getting this chapter up, or well part of the chapter anyways. "Chapter 11" will likely be the last one and, like Chapter Ten Part 2, has mostly been sitting around finished for a while, but lack of focus has extended the lack of updates into this excessive time period. Hopefully you readers will find the updates, and the final product, worth the wait and perhaps even worth leaving a review. Errors found in this update, and the rest of the story, are entirely the fault of the writer.**


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