Several minutes passed before either of them spoke again.

"Come on. This mission is over." She tugged on his arm. "And you have another one to do in Tanzaku Town."

"… Right." He whispered, slowly turning his back to the broken glass. "Prepare adequate quantities of fluoroquinolones and third-generation cephalosporins. They've been poisoned, all right - by a bacteria called S. Enteritidis. The giant serpent inadvertently contaminated their water supply during its attack."

Cameron nodded. She turned to leave, but House didn't follow.

"You wouldn't really join Orochimaru…" Cameron's voice trailed off. She could see a deep sense of longing painted painfully across House's face. If there was a technique, even a forbidden one, which could not only take away the pain, but also heal a cursed leg… "… Would you?"

House replied by silently downing a small handful of vicodin.

Cameron, meanwhile, was left to wonder whether that was a yes or a no.