A/N: For all those in wonder, I'm going to write complete this fanficion for my English teacher. Hopefully, I'll get an A+ on this thing, and you guys will shower me with nice reviews, right?
So, feedback is (always) obviously appreciated, and those of you waiting on my other numerous stories, I offer my deepest apologies for putting them on hiatus as of the moment.
Since this is for my English class, I'm going to need to update this story more and more often, so I guess that's good, as long as you like it…right?
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Title: The Devil's Heartbeat
Author: Jake Caldefore
Rating: T for violence and language.
Summary: Dr. Gregory House was never a patient man, and when he is given the job to diagnose one by the name of 'Alex Rider,' questions spring up, answers reveal themselves, and the truth is unraveling. House/AR crossover.
Song: "Chasing Cars" – Snow Patrol
Disclaimer: All recognizable settings, characters, and plots of Alex Rider and House, MD belong to their respective owners. This story is purely for entertainment purposes only, and in no way is the author trying to get money off of this story.
Chapter One: In Which I Prolong the Prologue
In all honesty, the man was surprised. Of course, most people would be surprised if they had found a 15-year old boy laying the city gutter.
Upon seeing this phenomenon, the man – a melancholy soul by one Dr. Gregory House – had immediately checked the child's vitals after recovering from a temporary shock to his system. The boy was delusional but awake, muttering incoherently under his breath, which came out in short, seemingly painful bursts. His eyes were glazed over like the frozen winter ponds of New Jersey, and his skin was of a sickly pale pigment and cold to the touch. His only protection from the elements was a ragged pair of jeans and a torn T-shirt.
Dr. Gregory House sighed in frustration, his breath clouding before his eyes in the chilly morning air. He had a bag of groceries in his old blue backpack, a pained leg, a recently polished wooden cane, and now a sickly 15-year old he had to share his last bottle of Vicodin with.
So, it was understandable that he was quite upset.
Shifting his cane from his right hand to his left wrist, he struggled to find his pager, clipped onto his belt. Lifting the plastic device to his eyes while removing his hand from the thick black gloves he fashioned, he fingered several buttons before sending the short message to a Dr. Lisa Cuddy and a Dr. Allison Cameron.
Returning his pager to its rightful place on his belt, he dropped his backpack, letting it fall to the street with a dull thud. He then removed his gloves, scarf, and knit cap to the boy who lay prone on the street, trying in vain to thaw the frigid body.
Sitting back, blowing warm air onto his chilled fingertips, Dr. Gregory House could only wait as help sped on its way.
He tuned his head to watch the boy, before he grumbled incoherently into the biting wind. He crawled over to the prone figure and checked his worn pockets for any kind of ID.
He was in for his second surprise.
"A knife?" House muttered, and flicked it open with an experienced, weathered hand. He watched as the early light danced along the length of the blade. He fingered it for a moment, tracing the engraved, golden letters reading XR on the body of the pocketknife.
He glanced at XR (assuming that was his initials, for it might've been stolen), narrowing his eyes. He was probably some teenage runaway, crying because 'his mommy wouldn't tuck him in at night.'
He sat on the frozen asphalt, thinking more of the knife than the child's condition, before he was startled out of his musings when two pairs of footsteps and a call of "House" made him drop the pocketknife.
He turned around to see Cameron and Cuddy, his female 'buddies.'
"House, what are you doing out here? It's 5 in the morning. Are you drunk or something? Well, maybe not, because then you'd call Wilson over or something –" Cuddy broke off when House shifted his body so they could see the boy laying on the ground.
Cameron, the younger, more petite of the two female doctors, hurried to XR, stripping off her thick wool coat as Cuddy did the same.
House watched from a fair distance away, seemingly glaring at them with his head bowed. He watched as they bundled the boy up in their coats. He then noticed the boy flinch.
Curiosity ensnaring him into its grasp, he unsteadily got to his feet and stumbled towards the group. Cuddy and Cameron protested as he tried to grab the boy, but he pushed them away with his hand. He grabbed the bare skin on the boy's arm and squeezed it hard.
Cuddy and Cameron stopped protesting and stepped a bit farther back to watch the process. House seemed to grab and prod the boy with his hands, before he suddenly yelped a bit as the boy started seizing. Shouting in surprise, the female duo rushed to support the boy as he flailed, almost being knocked over in the process.
Soon after the attack, House stepped back and wiped an imaginary bead of sweat from his brow.
"Well, that can't be good."
Short chapter, 'cause it's a prologue, what do you expect?
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