flywoman

TITLE: Evasive Action
AUTHOR: Flywoman
FANDOM: House M.D.
RATING: PG
PAIRING: House/Cameron UST
SUMMARY: Wilson thinks he understands why Cameron had to leave. Ficlet set post-6X7, “Teamwork.”
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Inspired in a very general way by Visitation Rights by fated_addiction.

He feels the warmth of her lips lingering on his cheek long after she has left, striding purposefully away from him as his throat constricts around the words that might have kept her here.

***

In a bar that night, the third Scotch in thirty minutes burning in his belly the only excuse for his incredulous self-pity.

“Cameron left me.” The moment the words leave his mouth, he curses himself for a moron. What had possessed him to say such a thing? Cameron left Chase. Cameron left Princeton. There’s no reason for him to take it personally. Cameron is always leaving. It has nothing to do with him.

Wilson raises an eyebrow, but instead of questioning House’s choice of words, he asks only, “Did she say why?”

He shakes his head in disbelief. “She said that I had poisoned Chase.”

Wilson laughs softly, derisively, into his drink. “If you did, it happened long before she chose to marry him. Think again.”

Now House looks at him hard. Wilson knows more than he’s telling, and for once, House has no clue what that might be. “What is this, twenty questions? Spill.”

“Have you ever wondered why they got back together right after resigning from your team?”

“Cameron resigned. Chase was fired.”

“Fine. Cameron resigned because Chase was fired. And you’re missing the point here.”

House frowns and waits for Wilson to get on with it.

“Do you really think it’s a coincidence that their marriage failed after Cameron came back to work for you?”

“Enlighten me,” House says. “After all, if there’s one thing you know well, it’s marital failure.”

Wilson doesn’t even wince, although he might have, once. “Yeah. So take it from an expert. She isn’t leaving Chase. She’s leaving you.”

“She wanted both of them to leave me. ‘m a bad influence.”

Wilson stares off into the middle distance for a minute, looking indecisive. “Did I ever tell you that Cameron almost cheated on her dying husband?”

“No. And also, huh?”

“Yeah. We were talking, and I’d told her some things… anyway, she fell for his best friend, but she never actually betrayed him. She told me that she couldn’t have lived with herself if she had.” He doesn’t add that he’d told her, you’d be surprised at what you can live with.

“So, what, he died in the nick of time?”

“Maybe.” Wilson gives him a significant look before draining his glass and then gets up to go to the restroom, leaving House to connect the dots himself.

***

It takes a little time, but with Lucas’ help, House tracks her down. One night when Wilson is working late and he is home alone, he dials her unlisted number and waits for her to pick up.

“Cameron,” he says, and suddenly the speech he’s prepared seems stupid, so he falls silent.

“House,” she answers, recognition roughening her voice. She doesn’t seem surprised to hear from him.

He decides to cut to the chase. “Wilson thinks that you left because you were… because you never really stopped being in love with me.”

There is a pause. Then, “Wilson thinks a lot of things,” she says lightly.

She’s probably too young to remember when hanging up on someone resulted in a satisfying click as the receiver came to rest in its cradle. Nowadays there is just empty air, and eventually you realize that the voice on the other end is never coming back.