Disclaimer: I don't own House, M.D., nor do I own Emilie Autumn's song, Second-hand Faith.

Thanks to all who have read/reviewed/story alerted/etc! Just so you know, this story is going to get a bit darker/angstier over the next few chapters. However, never fear, our dear central couple will have a happy ending!

5goofy24 - Thanks for your review! I'll respond here since you're anon and can't receive review replies. Chase's comment was aimed at Allison's first husband; he still has no idea that Cameron is falling for our dear Remy. But he'll know by the end!

Without further ado, here is the next chapter.

Second-hand Faith: Chapter 4

Dr. Cameron walked into the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital feeling happier than she had been in awhile. She had spent an incredibly fun afternoon the day before with Thirteen, and when they returned to the hospital, Foreman informed her that her diagnosis was correct and the patient had already been treated and discharged. She spent the rest of her shift in the ER without anything too horribly wrong occurring; Remy stayed and helped for an hour or two, even though her shift was over. And to top it all off, she returned home to a beautiful meal laid out on the dinner table and an apologetic Chase begging her forgiveness. She finally felt like she had her life under control.

Chase was gone in the morning to take care of some paperwork, but he left a note and breakfast on the table next to her side of the bed.

Exiting the elevator, she made her way towards the Diagnostics room, two coffees in hand. She glanced at her watch, then back at the room, and frowned. Remy was usually fifteen minutes early to work, but even though her shift started two minutes ago, she wasn't inside.

"Hey, Al!" Chase greeted, smiling, when Cameron popped her head through the door.

"Hey," Allison said, returning the smile. "Do any of you know where Thirteen is?"

"She was here ten minutes ago," Foreman told her. "She went off to run some test, I think a nurse asked her to. Is it urgent?"

"Nope. I'll see you guys later."

As the ER head closed the door and started down the hall, she saw Thirteen leave one of the laboratories, shoving a piece of paper into her coat pocket.

"Rem!" she called out, her breath catching a little by the internist's presence. She lifted the tray of two cups. "I hit the coffee shop before work today, grabbed you a -"

"Can't talk," Thirteen interrupted briskly and brushed past her, not making eye contact. Cameron was stunned for a moment.

"Wait, hold on," Allison said, grabbing the internist's forearm before she went further.

"What?" the younger doctor snapped. Her eyes were colder than Cameron had ever seen them.

"Is... something wrong?" The ER head kicked herself internally. Obviously there was something wrong, but she didn't know what else to say.

"No. So leave me alone." Ripping her arm out of the blonde doctor's grasp, Thirteen spun around and walked away.

Cameron felt sick to her stomach. She had never witnessed the internist so angry before, and certainly not towards her. What did she do wrong? Was it about yesterday? Did Thirteen know about the blonde's growing feelings for her?

She had heard enough gossip about Thirteen to know she could be heartless, emotionally closed off, cold... but Allison was sure she'd gotten past that mask. Remy let her in deeper, she was sure of it. So why was she suddenly being thrust back outside the stony exterior she showed the general public? Why now?

Swallowing down the feeling of nausea building up, she got in the elevator and returned to her post at the ER. She passed off the two drinks to a couple of tired-looking nurses. For the next few hours, Cameron tried her best to focus more on her work and less on the hurt glint in Thirteen's eyes.

The second her lunch break started, Allison rushed down to the cafeteria in search of the internist.

"Al!" an Aussie voice behind her called.

"Hey, Robert... Do you know if Thirteen's coming down to eat?"

"No clue," Chase replied nonchalantly, grabbing an apple from the fruit basket. "Let's grab a table?"

"I need to find her."

"Still?" Chase loaded up the rest of his tray, paid, and headed to an open two-seater. The internist sat down across from him. "Aren't you going to eat anything?"

She shook head, and then confessed, "I think something's wrong with Thirteen."

The Aussie took a bite out of his apple and gave her a questioning look. "What makes you say that?"

"She's just... being really cold."

Chase laughed and tossed the apple back onto his plate. "Al. This is Thirteen you're talking about. If she was being anything other than cold, you'd know something was wrong."

"Chase, I'm being serious." Her husband stopped laughing.

"Okay... well, how long has she been like this for?"

"When I talked to her this morning."

"One conversation? That's how you know something's up? C'mon, Al, you're being paranoid."

"I know something is wrong."

Chase nodded and scratched his head. "Thirteen might still be up in the lab running tests. Check there?"

"Thanks, Chase," she said, and left the table.

Sure enough, she was in the lab, doing what appeared to be a basic metabolic panel.

"Thirteen?" the blonde doctor called out hesitantly.

The brunette looked up for a moment, and then back at the blood. "Hey."

Cameron stepped closer, observing the other doctor's form. "What's going on?"

Thirteen let out a sigh, and then rotated the lens. "This guy's sodium level is right at 141. Looks like our diagnosis was wrong."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about," Cameron said softly. Thirteen pushed her stool back from the microscope and searched the blonde doctor's eyes for a moment. She didn't say anything. "Let's grab a drink or something after work?" she asked with hope.

"Can't. Busy," Thirteen replied curtly, removing the blood sample. She stood up from the stool, preparing to leave, but Cameron stood in her way. "Move, Cameron."

"Back to Cameron, now?" Allison sighed and tried to make her voice gentler. "I'm just worried about you, Remy. Why are you pulling away all of a sudden?" When Thirteen didn't respond, the ER head continued, touching the other doctor's tricep lightly with her fingertips. "I'm your friend, Rem. You can talk to me. I just want you to be okay."

"You know why I like not having friends, Allison?" Thirteen asked, jaw firm. "So I can avoid this." She gestured between the two of them. "Stop questioning me, and leave me alone."

And for the second time that day, Thirteen ripped herself from the blonde's grasp and left.

When Cameron got off her shift at 8pm, the Diagnostic team was already gone. She checked the lounge and labs just in case Thirteen was still around, but she nowhere to be found. Giving up, the blonde doctor got into her car and left the parking lot.

Allison used the car ride home to organize her thoughts. In retrospect, she regretted how she handled the Thirteen situation. If Remy had grown to trust her, as the ER head hoped she had, Allison definitely just blew that to pieces. Thirteen deserved to have her own space, and Cameron was violating that.

She sighed and dropped her head back against the seat, waiting for the traffic light to change. She hated her natural behavior sometimes. Whenever anything was broken, she had to fix it, and that impulse may have cost her Thirteen's friendship.

As she traveled down a smaller street, the lit "open" sign at Sharrie's caught her eye. Parked by the sidewalk a little ways behind was Thirteen's car. I should go apologize to her. Flicking her signal on, she turned and parked against the sidewalk.

Cameron pushed open the door and surveyed the bar. It was packed, alive, hectic, but when her eyes swung to the far right corner, she saw a sullen Thirteen sitting alone. The ER head glanced back around the room, observing two decently attractive women attempting to send her "fuck me" eyes, and more than a few men checking her out. The internist didn't seem to notice.

Thirteen frowned as the blonde doctor approached and sat down. "What are you doing here," she stated more than asked. There were several empty beer bottles on the table, but she didn't appear to be visibly drunk.

"Are all these yours?" Allison asked, gesturing to the drinks. Thirteen nodded morosely, and kept nursing the drink in her hand. She sighed. "You aren't being yourself, Rem."

"Just because I didn't want to go out for drinks with you doesn't mean I'm not being myself, Allie," the younger doctor snapped back.

"I know that," Cameron replied calmly. "But there are more than a few attractive men and women who want to take you home tonight, and here you are, sitting alone. That isn't you."

Thirteen glared at her bitterly, and took another sip from the bottle. "Look, Allison, I just don't want to talk about it. Okay?"

After a few moments of silence, the blonde nodded. "Okay."

Thirteen gave a humorless laugh in disbelief. "That's it? After stalking and pestering me all day, you'll actually leave me alone? No lecture on my 'aversion to friendship' first?"

Cameron let out a breath and leaned back in her seat. "I'm not trying to find out whatever's wrong with you, Remy. I just needed you to know that you can talk to me. You always can." With a small smile, she got up to leave.

"Wait," Thirteen called out, halting the blonde. After a second's hesitation, she stood up. "Take a walk with me?"

Cameron nodded wordlessly.

"Let me go pay. I'll be outside in a sec," the internist said, and made her way to the front of the bar. Cameron exited, waiting outside.

When Thirteen re-appeared, they shared a slightly awkward smile. "This way?" Allison asked, gesturing to her left. Thirteen nodded.

Together, they walked along the sidewalk in silence for a few minutes. Remy tried to gather her thoughts, and Cameron let her take her time. She wasn't going to pressure the brunette.

"Here," Remy said after a while. She pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket and offered it to the older doctor. Cameron took the slip from her and carefully unfolded it, pausing under a lamppost. Remy waited in silence beside her.

"This CAG reading..." Allison mumbled as understanding slowly sunk in. She turned back to the younger doctor. "How many years?"

"Eight, at most." Remy took the paper from her hand.

Allison nodded numbly, and took a deep breath. Tears began to build up in her eyes, but she blinked them back. It wouldn't be fair of her to cry in front of Thirteen. She needed strength.

They kept walking in silence; Allison knew that if she used her voice, the tears would come. Instead, she grabbed Thirteen's hand and laced their fingers together. Remy squeezed back lightly.

When she finally had herself under control, Cameron let out a breath. "I'm so sorry, Rem."

"Don't be. It's not your fault."

"I'm still sorry." When she didn't get a response, Allison looked over at the other doctor. In the dim light, she saw Remy's tear-stricken cheeks.

"Oh, Rem..." Guiding the two of them towards the wall, Allison wrapped the younger woman in her arms. Thirteen had always been the taller, stronger one, but there in her arms, she felt so fragile. Stroking her hair and back with one hand, Cameron pulled her even tighter towards her own body. Remy buried her face in the blonde's neck, her own arms wrapped around the blonde's waist.

All promises she made to herself about not letting herself get emotionally attached to the married doctor left as Remy allowed the ER head to hold her. Before she knew it, sobs were slipping past her restraints and her whole body was shaking uncontrollably. "I don't want this, Allie," she choked out through her tears.

"I know, sweetheart, I know." Cameron nuzzled her face into Remy's soft hair and held her close. Her own sobs were threatening to escape her throat, but she forced them down. She needed to be strong. For Remy.

Thirteen let all of her pent-up frustration and self-hatred and sadness out, trying to dig herself deeper into the blonde doctor's arms. Her mind lost all composure as Allison's fingers brushed through her hair and knocked her walls away. Her thoughts lost all coherency as she cried into the warmth of Allison's soft body. Her touch became the only thing keeping Thirteen grounded with reality, and all Remy knew in that moment was that she didn't want Cameron to leave.

"I can't do this," Thirteen cried. "I can't. I just can't." All of the drinks she had had that night caught up to her, and her entire body felt like it was weakening. "I'm not ready."

"I'll protect you," Cameron promised, holding the slowly crumbling woman tighter in her embrace. She kissed Remy's temple tenderly and squeezed her again, keeping her warmed in the cold night air. "I won't let you fall."

Whew! And that's Chapter 4. Reviews are love!