Disclaimer: not mine!
This is what I would have liked to see happen at House's trial. It was really great of Cuddy to save House's ass, but what if Cameron had stepped in to help him?
I wrote this as a sort of a House/Shark crossover. I wondered who the best lawyer would be to get our favourite drug-addict off the hook and it came to me...Stark (The Greggory House of the legal world!).
This fic is written as if House never went to Rehab (I know, it makes the episode so good, but trust me, Rehab and contempt of court really wouldn't work in my fic- call it poetic license!). Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
The eve of the trial.
It was the day before the trial and everyone was acting normally.
Cameron couldn't bear it.
Cuddy was still yelling at House about clinic duty; Foreman was still arguing with him about treatments for their latest patient; Chase was still trying to win his approval with an amazing diagnosis that never came….and House, well, House was just acting like he might not be going to jail for ten years.
It had all gone too far.
House was an addict; Tritter had proven his point. But was it really necessary to hammer it in?
It had gone far enough. If House was willing to go to jail for his principles, then he couldn't change. Wilson, Cuddy and Tritter were wasting their time.
In order to get to House, Tritter had struck at him through his friends and employees. He claimed to be trying to protect patients from a doctor that bent the rules, but what was Tritter doing? He'd frozen House's fellows' accounts for no apparent reason- other than to make them roll over on their boss. He was using every dirty, underhanded trick he could think of to get at House. What he was doing went above and beyond the call of duty. The man was a hypocrite.
She'd kept silent when Wilson had sold out House (well, comparatively); she'd said nothing when he'd stolen a dead patients pills to get high; but now, she'd had enough. She couldn't cope with the situation anymore.
It was time to put a stop to it.
She sighed. She couldn't do it though if she didn't run it by House first. (Somehow she doubted that be would appreciate any interference on her part without a heads-up first).
There was nothing for it; she was going to have to talk to House.
She found him in his office playing his gameboy.
He didn't even look up as she entered.
"If you want to talk about feelings, you should try Wilson. I know he's just dying to talk to somebody about how much he's going to miss me."
It was a bad joke. Not even a joke. And as he uttered the words it seemed to Cameron like his heart wasn't really in it.
She watched for a few moments while he wrestled with his gameboy.
"I came to let you know that I'm quitting," her voice was completely neutral, she felt proud of herself when she heard it.
He looked up then, sending her one deeply searching look, before he replied: "Are you looking for a bigger parking spot this time? or are you hoping for another date?"
She didn't even flinch as his words lacerated her pride. Instead, she continued in the same, faintly bored tone, as if she hadn't heard him: "Tomorrow is my last day. I don't care about a reference," she added, "A friend of mine has already offered me a position."
He was on his feet: "I suppose I should be grateful that you're letting me know in advance. For future reference, though, saying nothing and leaving a goodbye note is much more dramatic."
She ignored the comment: "Before I leave, I wanted to ask you something."
He pulled a mock-exasperated face: "For the last time, I do not have feelings for you! I mean, the girlish obsession is flattering- if a little 'Fatal Attraction'…"
Her face hardened almost imperceptibly: "Do you want to go to jail?"
It wasn't what he had been expecting.
House was nonplussed for a moment, before he took refuge in heavy sarcasm: "Sure, I've been working towards it all my life. I just couldn't decide what I wanted to go down for. Drugs and forged prescriptions may not have the glamour of murder, but at least they're a little more original…oh wait, no they're not. My bad."
"House, for once in you're life, would you give somebody a straight answer," there was exasperation in her voice, though she tried to hid it, "Do you want to go to prison?"
"Of course not!" He shouted back, angry at her for not letting the subject drop. He didn't want to think about tomorrow. If it was his last day as a free man, he wanted to enjoy himself…instead of having this useless conversation with his youngest duckling.
Cameron was satisfied; she'd gotten the answer she wanted.
"In that case, I'm going to make you a deal."
"Are you going to take it off the table when you get what you want?" The reference to what Tritter had done was hardly comical.
She didn't respond to it: "I'm going to guaranty you that you won't go to jail tomorrow."
He was watching her closely: "And how are you going to do that?"
"That's my business," she evaded the question, "But in return, you have to do something for me."
"I'm not marrying you," he said sarcastically, "Sorry, I'm sure you're perfect wife-materiel, but I think I'd rather go to prison."
It was as if he was deliberately going out of his way to try to hurt her.
"That's ok, I'm sure you'd make a lousy husband," she shot back, and was pleased to see a gleam of amusement in his eyes, "No, I just want fifteen minutes of your time tomorrow, after the trial is over."
"Fifteen minutes of my time?" her boss stared at her as if she'd gone crazy.
"Fifteen minutes," she repeated, "I want to talk to you about something."
They looked at each other for a moment.
"Do we have a deal?"
House held out his hand to her, and Allison Cameron smiled as she slid her own into his and shook it firmly.
"Deal."
AN: What did you think? Was it too unrealistic? I know House was a little bit mean, but I've noticed that he's been getting worse! Please let me know if I can improve. I'll update as soon as I can (if you want me to!)