Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital

"You've been busy."

Thirteen looked up to see Dr. Cuddy standing over the desk she was working at. She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "I've just been updating a few patients' charts for House; it's not so bad."

"House usually makes Chase or Cameron do it, and they always complain about it," Cuddy added with a small smile.

"Cameron?" Thirteen's bright eyes flickered with confusion, "Who is Cameron?"

"Dr. Allison Cameron, she's an immunologist here; she's also on your diagnostics team. Surely you've met her?"

Thirteen pursed her lips, and shook her head slowly.

"Oh, that's right!" Cuddy finally strung the pieces together, "She walked in late to the meeting yesterday."

"Oh," Thirteen replied uninterestedly.

"I'll be sure to send her your way," Cuddy assured.

Thirteen gave low mumble and a diminutive smile, and then continued writing. Cuddy disappointedly went back out to the hall, leaving the handsome, young girl to carrying on her task alone.

Cuddy, as did the rest of the world, wanted to know more about her. She graduated from a respective school with great marks, and yet, her story is a complete mystery. She never once looked open to discuss with anyone.

The next day, Allison Cameron walked into the Prince-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital to take over her 6 p.m. shift. She first trailed off to Cuddy's office to express her appreciation if she could schedule to be on-call with Chase as little as possible. Last night's confrontation in the locker room left Cameron uneasy.

Cameron found Cuddy's door completely ajar, and entered to find she and House in the midst of a deep discussion.

House turned to face Cameron, pointing his finger at her, "You," he stated.

Cameron twisted her face in confusion. Now pointing at herself, she replied, "Me?"

"Yes, you. Go introduce yourself, see if you can get anything out of her."

Now, I'm really confused, Cameron thought, "What are you talking about?"

"Are you serious? New kid is on the block, and you're not the least bit interested in her story—"

"I'm not in the mood for your games, House. I need to speak with Cuddy. Go figure out this social puzzle yourself; you seem to enjoy annoying the hell out of people anyway," Cameron snapped uncharacteristically.

"Ah, irritability is an emotion so highly encompassing in the world." House began to make his way over to and out of Cuddy's door, saying over his shoulder, "Go introduce yourself, wouldn't want to forget your manners would you? After all, she did save your patient's life yesterday."

"Asshole," Cameron muttered under her breath.

Cameron, currently with no sense of direction, rounded a clinic corner in search for Dr. Hadley. Her talk with Cuddy went over well, no longer having to worry about any late-night hold-ups in the staff locker room. Cameron was a little nervous about introducing herself, half-hoping that Hadley would evade their meeting; however, that seemed like a hopeless contingency, considering Dr. Hadley didn't even know what Cameron looked like –

On the contrary, Cameron had caught a glimpse of her new colleague, for she had watched her at a distance for a few unwavering moments, the prior day. Death had almost snatched another victim on Cameron's watch, but the stranger with a handsome right-profile brought the victim back – saved him.

Cameron felt a pang of overwhelming bashfulness; she never went out of her way to go introduce herself to someone. She wasn't the type, but the forceful push from House, and the reinforced push from Cuddy, told her that she needed to do it.

It's almost like she can appear or disappear at will. I just want to find her, and get this over with, Cameron thought.

As she maneuvered around several hallways and obstacles in the clinic, she finally rounded a corner to find her target carrying a rather large, heavy crate only a few feet away. The pang in Cameron's stomach that was beginning to subside came back, and with a vengeance.

After a hardy gulp, she impulsively declared, "Dr. Hadley, hey—uh, I'm Dr. Allison Camer—"

Thirteen, however, ignored Cameron's gesture and interjected, "Charmed, but I'm a little too compromised to have this introduction here." She toned her words a little harsher than she intended.

Cameron wasn't sure whether to be offended or amused. Her mouth went slightly agape, as she side-stepped for Thirteen to continue on her path with the crate in her arms, which covered her face the entire time.

What the IN THEE HELL is she doing, Cameron thought, performing a 180 to observe Hadley's back as she lumbered away.

With an eyebrow raised, "Would you like some help?" Cameron offered indignantly.

Not breaking stride, Thirteen replied, "Does it look like I do? No thanks."

Cameron scoffed, obviously perturbed. What is her goddamn problem? Whatever, I tried.

A few hours later, House stopped Cameron on her way to see a recovering patient, pulling her off to the side hastily.

"Well," he insisted, as if expecting Cameron to always know what he was implying.

Fortunately, this time, she actually did, "Look, I tried. She just ignored my attempt—"

"You idiot, I already knew that she would ignore you; she ignores everyone! You see, this is why I should never hope, I was over-confident that you'd be the only person hypersensitive enough to confront her about her abrasiveness," House disclosed shrewdly.

"You bastard, I am not hypersensitive," Cameron defended, voice slightly rising.

"Yes and the pope isn't Catholic," he retorted. Before Cameron could lash out, House asserted, "Let's try this again, go introduce yourself; otherwise, go home."

Round two, Cameron thought.

It was almost 4 a.m., and Cameron knew Hadley's first double-shift, work day was almost over. Standing outside of a random filing office, she gathered all the strength she could.

It's now or never. She breathed in deeply, and then rapped lightly on the door.

"Dr. Hadley…" she called timidly.

There was a soft, audible rustling of paper behind the study pine door, but a quick reply followed suit, "Yeah, come in."

Cameron closed her eyes, only to open them after entering the threshold. For the first time since Thirteen's arrival, Cameron fixated on the front profile of her youthful face.

Thirteen's bright, piercing eyes temporarily stunned Cameron into loss of thought. Cameron took a moment to notice Hadley was sitting at the desk; papers sprawled out all over the dark wooden surface.

"Can I help you?" Thirteen questioned, bringing Cameron back to reality.

She replied, "Yes— I uh, just wanted to apologize for earlier." Wait, why the hell am I apologizing for your anti-social behavior?

Thirteen was clearly about to leave the hospital. Her lab coat was off, and she was clad in a plain, pristine white, relaxed t-shirt and slim, relaxed jeans. She apathetically replied, "Oh – uh, it's not a big deal."

Cameron, finally coming to her senses, retaliated, "On second thought, I take that back. I want you to apologize to me for being so abrasive earlier."

Thirteen's eyes went from detached to authoritative in a matter of milliseconds, her gaze remaining on Cameron's enchanting face a little longer this time, studying her carefully. Thirteen hadn't seen Cameron like this before – sight obstructed by the large crate in the halls at her first opportunity, and her immediate withdrawal when Cameron entered the filing office. But now, after Cameron's bold assentation, Thirteen admired her empty, ocean-eyes.

The admiration didn't last long, however, because she countered shrilly, "My, my, hypersensitive aren't we? I admit, perhaps I was a tad… ah, what's the word… bitter, and for that, I apologize. But let that be a lesson to you, maybe you should wait for a more convenient time to hunt me down, and introduce yourself, not because you wanted to, but because you were made to."

Cameron's mind boggled, gasping internally at Thirteen's words. First, why is everyone under the assumption that I am hypersensitive? Second, how did she so articulately string together the intentions of introducing myself? Third, what the hell?

"Okay, don't pretend like you know me. I'm suddenly disappointed that we're not short-staffed anymore, because frankly, I'd rather be short-staffed than have another House in the clinic. I was simply being polite. Don't call me hypersensitive for feeling reproached about your tone!"

A smirk appeared on the corner of Thirteen's mouth. She parted her lips slightly before saying, "You shouldn't compare me to someone when you don't know me either. I apologized for my tone, and now I'm not sure why you're still standing here, is there something else you want?"

Cameron was fuming. Okay, maybe House was right, maybe she was a little hypersensitive, and at the moment, she was hypersensitive and without reason. Thirteen was seemingly enjoying Cameron's frustration, because her smirk turned in to a full, radiant smile.

In a voice dripping with denial, "Whatever," Cameron spat, "if you're going to be a complete asshole, then avoid me at all cost. I deal with enough of them here already."

Cameron turned, totally flustered, groping for the cold, brass handle on Hadley's door. When she was almost completely out, Thirteen called to her.

"My name is Dr. Thirteen Hadley; I'm honored to meet you."

Cameron stopped in her tracks, and returned her gaze to Thirteen's lovely handsome face, which had a clear expression of mostly contentedness, yet accompanied by a side of sarcasm.

What the hell kind of name is Thirteen?

"…And you are?" Thirteen coaxed facetiously, due to the obvious fact that she already knew Cameron's name.

Cameron shook her head disgustedly, and with a biting smile, responded…

"Leaving."