| |
Pass Interference
by Belladonna
Wilson quietly walked past the Ducklings, and into House's office, quietly closing the door behind him. He waited, and couldn't help smiling as he heard the beeps and mini-explosions as his lover conquered the video game of the moment. After a minute, House groaned and put the game down, then smiled at Wilson.
"And what can I do for my favorite doctor, today?" House asked. He could see the signs of strain around Wilson's eyes and the tension in his best friend and lover's shoulders.
A wave of warm fuzzies, which he would deny to his death, and love, swamped Wilson because he could see that House meant what he said. "I've got a present for you."
Greg rubbed his hands together, leering exaggeratedly. "Ooh, what can it be?"
With a snicker and a marked loosening of his shoulders, James tossed the envelope with its address of his lawyer in the corner, onto the desk. "It's a surprise." He sat down and sighed with relief. He hadn't realized how tightly wound he'd been.
Casting a sharp look at Wilson, measuring and checking him over with a knowledgeable gaze, House opened the envelope and his eyebrows rose. "Divorce papers. Wow, how did you know?" he asked facetiously.
"It's not diamonds, but I thought you would like it. Notice, she didn't contest it. And I also don't have to pay alimony, though I think that's because she was cheating too and didn't want her parents to find out."
The two men gazed silently at each other, then House smiled. "We should go out and celebrate!"
**
Stacy was at home, staring at her husband who was dozing after dinner, when the phone rang. She quickly went into the kitchen and answered it. "Hello?"
"Stacy? It's Blythe."
Stacy stiffened in surprise. "Blythe, how nice to hear from you. How are you and John?"
"We're fine, dear. We've just arrived in the States from a trip to Europe."
"Oh, I think Greg mentioned you were flying there. How was it?" Stacy was very curious about the reason for the call. Her ex-mother in law never called.
"It was wonderful. Listen dear, I need you to do something for me," Blythe said.
"If I can," Stacy said cautiously.
Blythe's laugh was long. "Relax dear, I'm not asking you to break the law. I want you to do a search on the hospital's position for same sex relationships."
Stacy blinked. "All right. Should I call you back?" she was little taken aback because she really didn't know what the hospital's policy was and she wondered why Blythe wanted to know.
"No dear, I'll call again soon. Good bye." And then there was the buzz of the phone line that said Blythe had hung up.
Shaking her head, Stacy wondered again how people as normal as John and Blythe had produced Greg. She grabbed her PDA and made a note in it before going to check on her husband. As she gazed at him, she abruptly compared him to Greg. Both men handicapped, but whereas her husband had let it defeat him, Greg was still grabbing life with both hands and choking the crap out of it, and a wave of homesickness grabbed her so hard her knees went weak. She missed him.
*
John shook his head at his wife. "You're interfering, dear."
Unpacking her suitcase, Blythe held up the marble statuette she'd bought in Italy and smiled. "I'm a mother, I'm supposed to interfere. Besides, it will stop Stacy in her tracks if she tries something. Do you think Greg and James will like this?"
"It's ugly."
"John!"
John laughed and flipped the page of his newspaper. "They'll love it, it's from you."
"Hmm. Do you ever wonder what Greg saw in Stacy? I mean, she was a nice girl, but she never understood him."
"She has legs up to her ears, honey."
Blythe threw a balled up pair of socks at her husband, hitting the newspaper and making him chuckle.
*
James was panting, his heart racing as he lay on his back. Beside him, Greg was trying to get air into his own lungs, and he thought that they sounded like a pair of wheezy asthmatic old men. "Wow."
Greg laughed, carefully turning onto his side to admire the rosy, just fucked look of his lover. "Wow, indeed. I think the book really understated how damn good that anal sex would feel."
"No kidding!" James rolled to face Greg, wincing slightly.
"Are you okay?" Greg asked, running a shaking hand over James face before pushing back his sweaty bangs.
"I'm gonna need a cushion for my chair tomorrow, but I'll live," James said, his brown eyes warming at the caress. He'd never thought that Greg would be a touchy feely kind of lover.
"I'll make sure you have one. God, Jimmy..." what Greg couldn't verbalize, he more than made up for it with his actions and he leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to James lips.
"Me too."
The next day James grinned at the Pinky and the Brain cushion that House had dug up somewhere. Oh, yeah, it was nice to feel loved. His door opened and Lisa Cuddy walked in with a paper in her hands.
"Hi Lisa, how are you on this fine morning?"
"I found your change of address form in my inbox. It's okay to list him as a temp address until you get a new place, you know."
Taking a bracing breath, James nodded. "I know. I've moved in with Greg. And yes, it's permanent."
Lisa raised an eyebrow at the look of contentment on Dr. Wilson's face. He looked like the cat that'd gotten the cream, and suddenly the paper in her hands made sense and she almost reeled from the abrupt knowledge of why Greg would let his best friend move in with him. "Holy shit!" and she clapped a hand over her mouth, looking mortified.
James laughed, loudly. "God, Lisa, you should see your face."
Watching him laugh, being so obviously happy, made Lisa feel almost benevolent towards Greg. He was obviously good for Dr. Wilson, and she would do her best to keep it that way. "Well, never mind then. I'll pass this into the system," she looked at him speculatively. "I don't suppose that you can keep him in line?"
There was a snort and a look of disbelief. "Are you kidding?"
"I didn't think so. Good luck, Dr. Wilson. You're going to need it," she said, smiling wickedly.
Foreman glanced over at House who was whistling cheerfully. There was something odd going on with their boss. He was happy, for one thing, and the entire time they'd been in the office he'd only taken one Vicodin. And his sarcasm was only moderately nasty, which was more than weird, now that he thought about it.
"Okay, I'm creeped out. Why are you so damned happy?" he asked. Cameron and Chase scowled at him, they were enjoying the change of pace and he was rocking the boat.
House stopped whistling. "I got laid, is that okay with you, Dr. Nosy-pants?"
Foreman winced. "Okay, I didn't need to know that. You could've just said you've got a new girl friend."
"But that would be lying. I don't have a new girl-friend," House replied, almost reasonably.
"If it's not a girlfriend, then what is..." Chase trailed off and his face flushed.
"Ah, the Aussie has gotten it. We'll call you Sherlock. I have a new boyfriend. Well, not new. With three marriages I'd consider him slightly used, but that's okay. I'm no virgin either."
There was dead silence, and then Cameron shot to her feet and fled the room.
Chase and Forman looked at each other, and in unison said, "Wilson?"
House scowled. "Why is that so surprising? I know he's too good for me, but I'd like to think I have something to offer in this relationship."
Chase swallowed a laugh and nodded. "He must be a saint." And Forman wasn't quick enough and guffawed.
"Very funny. Go track down Cameron and send her in here, then find me a patient."
Foreman stood and was about to follow Chase out, when he stopped. "House, don't be hard on Cameron," he said.
House grimaced. "Don't worry. I don't kick puppies either." He wasn't looking forward to the conversation with Alison. The black doctor nodded and let the door shut behind him.
"Well, that ought to get the gossip mills running overtime" he murmured with satisfaction before grabbing his game boy.
A couple of hours later, House and Wilson were talking as they drank their coffee, when a pale Cameron knocked on the door. Wilson looked at her, then at House. "I'll just go to my office."
"Thanks," House said. "Come in Cameron."
Alison stiffly walked in and sat in the seat that Wilson vacated. House sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. "Look, there was nothing between us except a boss and worker bee relationship. It would never have worked and I would have made you miserable, okay?"
She looked at him sadly. "What does Dr. Wilson have that I don't?"
House raised an eyebrow and she blushed, and had to laugh a little. "Well, besides ~that~," she said.
He thought about it for a minute. "James is a three time loser with women, and I know it and I know why. I accept him, warts and all, and he does the same for me. He won't try to change me, at least not obviously," he rolled his eyes when he thought about the dinner with his folks and everyone who'd been invited, "And if he tries, I know it's because he loves me," he shrugged uncomfortably. He hated having his emotions laid out like a three day old dead fish.
Cameron smiled and shook her head. "You'd be lost without him," she said softly, and suddenly it didn't hurt quite so much anymore.
"Well damn, I could've said that and shortened the entire conversation," House grumbled.
Chase poked his head in. "I've found a case." They heard Foreman complain loudly that he'd been there too, "Sorry, ~we've found a case," the blonde doctor said with a grin.
House sighed with relief and pushed to his feet. "Alright Cameron, up and at `em. Time to prove the bozo's wrong."
_____________________________________________________________________
Dr. Cuddy looked at the paper in front of her, and then looked at the hospital board. "Okay, I think that's all for old business."
One of the board members, a crony of Vogler's held up a hand. "I have new business."
"Go ahead."
"I want Dr. House fired on the grounds of moral turpitude."
Everyone gaped and Lisa groaned silently. "On what do you base your accusation?" she asked calmly.
"Dr. House is in a homosexual relationship," the man said loudly.
"Oh please," the head of Surgery said. "I'll have you know that ever since House and Wilson took up together I've received at least 50 percent fewer complaints from nurses, residents ~and~ attending physicians, and our incoming donations have tripled. I say if it's not broke, don't fix it."
Stacy's mouth had dropped open and she had a hectic red flush in her cheeks as she listened. Abruptly her mouth snapped shut and she cleared her throat. "Excuse me, but we have no legal standing to fire Dr. House." She blushed as everyone looked at her pityingly. "I've recently looked it up and we can not discriminate based on sexual orientation. If we did, then Dr. House could sue us, as could Dr. Wilson."
Lisa breathed a silent sigh of relief. She hadn't known the hospital policy and wondered how Stacy had known to look it up.
"If that's settled?" Lisa asked brightly as she looked around. "Then we're adjourned."
*
Stacy stood in the hallway and stared at her ex-husband. He was in his office, working with his staff, while James sat and contributed. There was an easiness and affection that was now as clear as day. How did she not see this? She knew that James had cheated on his wives, had he cheated with Greg? Abruptly Greg's eyes met hers, and he stood straighter and said something to James, whose head snapped around to see her. Unable to stand there any longer, she fled to her office.
It was the longest day of her life as she fought feelings of jealousy, despair, rage, regret and sadness. She was glad that no one bothered her, she wasn't sure how she'd react. It was almost five o'clock when someone knocked at her door.
"Come in," she said as she shoved papers into her briefcase.
The door opened slowly, and Greg peeked around it. "Is it safe?"
"I'm not going to shoot you if that's what you mean," she snapped.
"Aw, you're pissy," House said as he limped in and sat down. He rested his hands on his cane and regarded her thoughtfully. "I'm sorry Stacy. I assumed that you'd heard already."
"Did you cheat on me?" she blurted and wanted to take it back.
A gentle expression settled over his face. "No, Stacy. I did not cheat on you. Not with James or anyone."
Stacy nodded, and then automatically closed her briefcase. "I miss you. I miss your zest for life and your intelligence," she looked up at him. "I'm sorry."
House knew she meant for his leg and for leaving him. "I think..." he began, "that it was for the best. We had a good marriage, and it's prepared me for what I have with Wilson. I'm trying harder because I have more to lose."
She nodded and stood up, watching as he struggled slightly to get to his feet. "Are you happy?" she asked as he limped to the door.
He smiled. "As a clam."
**
That night Wilson was laying on the couch, his back propped with pillows and House was against his chest as they watched wrestling. He could lean up and nuzzle to his hearts content, and was happy.
They hadn't discussed what happened during the day, they'd both heard what happened during the board meeting, and James knew that Greg had gone to see Stacy. He was in no hurry; there was a peace about his lover that told him everything was okay.
Now all they had left was to tell his parents. Oy.
Please post a comment on this story.
Legal Disclaimer: The authors published here make no claims on the ownership of Dr. Gregory House and the other fictional residents of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Like the television show House (and quite possibly Dr. Wilson's pocket protector), they are the property of Fox Television, David Shore and undoubtedly other individuals of whom I am only peripherally aware. The fan fiction authors published here receive no monetary benefit from their work and intend no copyright infringement nor slight to the actual owners. We love the characters and we love the show, otherwise we wouldn't be here.
|
|
|