Chapter Five

Cameron was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling when he walked back into the hotel room twenty minutes later. The lights were all on and it was clear that she wasn't sleeping and had no intentions of even attempting to. House sat on his bed watching her for about thirty seconds before he spoke.

"So – that was fun. We should do it again some time. Maybe next time you could throw a punch instead of just yelling."

He was surprised when Cameron actually let out a small chuckle.

"That was a mild family meal, House. The fun ones are always during the holidays. Tensions run a lot higher then and we add in at least a dozen more family members."

"And is it always you and Emily causing problems?" He asked, messing up her sister's name to see if he could pull a reaction from her.

Cameron didn't acknowledge the slip up, merely shrugged. "Ellie and I have always clashed." She snorted quietly then. "Actually, she's a lot like you in that way. Irritating and always needs to be right."

"I am always right."

Cameron didn't respond, merely rolled over onto her side, her back to House. "You can turn the lights off whenever you want. We don't have anything scheduled tomorrow but I have plans."

"Excellent. Where are we going?"

"You can go wherever you want. I'm going home."

House took his shoes off and followed Cameron's actions of lying down. "But Cameron if you leave me all alone there's no telling what I'll get into and that will just make Cuddles unhappy and then you'll be glued to my side for the rest of the conference."

Cameron didn't answer and House wasn't sure if her steady breathing was actual sleep or her faking it, but he decided in that moment not to bother her. No matter what tomorrow brought, House would be with her and, hopefully, her very entertaining family.

Monday, October 15, 2008

Cameron rolled over with a groan and glanced at the clock, startled to see that it was already 10:15. She wasn't on a set schedule – and Shi had agreed to meet up whenever, so Allison breathed a mental sigh of relief and grabbed her phone from the bedside.

Awake? The first text read, followed by about three or four more asking the same question in a variety of ways finally stopped just three minutes ago with a long and drawn out, Allliieeeeeeeee

Sorry Shi, she shot back must be the jet lag or something. I'm up. I have to shower and get dressed and then I'll grab a train and we can meet up for brunch and the like?

Allison got out of bed and began to rummage through her clothes as she waited for her sister to text back. Her phone finally beeped twice and Cameron glanced at it long enough to see the Yeah, sounds good just let me know when to get you before she left the room to make good on her word.

Cameron stepped out of the bathroom and let out a small yelp at seeing House standing in the bedroom. When she had woken up, he had not been there and she had thought nothing of it.

"So," he asked, almost pleasantly, "what are we doing today?"

"I am going to brunch with Shi so she can fill me on her life and you are going to do whatever it is that you normally do on your free days during conferences."

"I normally follow my ducklings around and terrorize them," House reminded her.

Allison winced. Indeed, just a few months ago he had done the exact thing to Foreman. However, Foreman had not had family in the area that House delighted in.

"But if you go to lunch," Cameron pondered, pulling clothes of the dresser, "you won't be able to attend the shit show that will be dinner."

"Dr. Cameron," House smirked at her almost lasciviously. "Are you, propositioning me?"

"If that's what you would like to call it, go ahead. But I know my way around the city and I can get where I need to be a lot faster than you would be able to follow me. So, if you let me do things my way, you'll get to join the delightful bunch without having to sneak around to do it. I'll give you a moment to mull it over." She disappeared into the bathroom and emerged nearly ten minutes later dressed casually.

"How will I know that you're actually going to tell me where to meet you?"

Cameron sighed and rummaged in the bedside table before finding the paper and pen she was looking for. On it she wrote three phone numbers from memory follow by names.

"Shi, Nicky and Steven if you don't hear from me. And Steven always answers his phone 'just in case'." At the quotes House raised a brow and Cameron shrugged. "He's a psychiatrist. He's on call more often then not."

House took the list of numbers from her and Cameron put her boots on before grabbing her jacket and purse. Picking up her phone from the table she saw a new message and opened it.

"Well House, I say you've hit jackpot on family dinner tonight. Apparently the whole damn family is coming."

"There are more of you?"

"Ellie is married with three kids, Steve and Matt have two and Tea has a long term boyfriend from high school. You never know who Nicky will decide he wants to bring with him or if Shi or Finna have anyone to drag along. Plus my dad, stepmom and stepdad are coming as well." Having said her piece Cameron moved towards the front door.

"It's like the Brady Bunch, isn't it?" House couldn't help but calling down the hall.

Cameron popped her face in and grinned, somewhat manically. "One more thing before I forget – my stepdads name is Joseph Dyer."

Before House could comment she was out the door and down the hallway laughing as she went.

House sat on the bed for a moment and allowed himself to absorb the information Cameron had shot at him. Joseph Dyer? The Joseph Dyer? Action Film Maker Galore right up there with Steven Spielberg, Joss Whedon and Quentin Tarantino? There was no way.

He had googled all of his employees before hiring them – it was one of the activities he enjoyed most. Wilson told him it was weird, but House enjoyed it far more than the resumes that Cuddy shoved in his face. Who cared what their resumes looked like if their facebook page was much more interesting?

Searching Allison Cameron brought up little new information. Links to facebook, her alma mater and some other odds and ends popped up, but nothing too interesting.

House tried again this time pairing Allison Cameron with Joseph Dyer. Immediately a Wikipedia page for the man popped up and he clicked on it, scrolling down to the label Personal Life. He skimmed until he came close to what he was looking for.

"On August 15 1981 Joseph Dyer married Lizzie Kramer after two years of dating. They had no children together but Dyer became stepfather to her four children from her previous marriage to Thomas Cameron. Lizzie Kramer died from injuries sustained in a car accident on September 29th 1990 that also nearly took the life of her daughter Allison Cameron."

House, satisfied with what he had learned put his phone away and turned the tv on, popping a vicodin as he moved.

It only took Cameron twenty minutes to get from Ogilvie to the train station in Evanston where she found Shi waiting for her in the parking lot.

"Morning sunshine," Shi sang out as her sister dropped into the passengers seat. "I made the executive decision that large groups of people suck so I picked up bagels and the like from Panera. We can have a picnic at home."

"And that," Allison proclaimed with a grin, "is why you are my favorite sister."

"Also because I don't get in fights with you in the middle of Denny's."

"Minor detail."

"Not really." Shi paused for a moment and then glanced at her sister. "Do you remember what you said last night?"

"Does it matter?" Allison mused. "I know none of it was particularly mean or cut throat. Otherwise Steven would've marched me back in there like I was 16 and made me apologize."

"None of it was new – for us." Allison's face still registered blank and Shi sighed. "However, I would bet all the hair on my head that your boss didn't know all of it."

The car was silent for a long period of time, finally broken by Allison burying her head in her hands and groaning out load. "Shit. Shitshitshitshitshit."

"Allie." She ignored her and continued to curse into her hands. "Seriously. It can't be that bad."

"I told House that PJ would be coming to dinner tonight. If he wants he can look it up."

"Oh." Siobhan paused and thought for a moment. "Yeah, I don't actually have anything comforting to say in regards to that. Beside the fact that you liked this guy enough at one point to want to date him. And it's very, very hard to date someone and not tell them the truth about yourself. Especially in regards to a rather dark sexual history full of triggers, sometimes panic attacks and one attempted suicide."

The trial had, while not been highly publicized, been publicized enough. Anyone who used the correct search terms would dig up old archived articles and find exactly what they were looking for.

Cameron didn't lash out her sister for anything that she said, for it was all true. If her words had come from Ellie, it would be an entirely different story. But for someone who shared the same past as, Shi wasn't being anything but brutally truthful with her sister.

June 27 1996

Allison found herself sequestered in her room on Saturday morning trapped between a rock and a hard place. Ever since her release from the hospital the adults in her life had been moving around like ghosts trapped between wanting to talk to her, and being terrified that something they said would set her off.

PJ had insisted, and had finally been granted (by her father, not legally) the right for her to move back into her old house for a while. He believed that the change of atmosphere would help her recovery, and for the most part it did.

But, as always, all good things come to an end and after about three months of staying at the Dyer house, her father had asked her to move back in. Unable to explain why she didn't want to, Allison had agreed.

Which was why she found herself in this position at nine am on Saturday. At 11:00 she had to be back at the hospital for another one of her outpatient sessions. If she delayed long enough she might be able to pretend to sleep in and entirely miss having to associate with anyone downstairs until after therapy. The school had been very accommodating during her hospital stay, and thus Allison had not only walked with her class but also had completed all of the homework she had missed months ago. Thus, there was really no excuse to not hang out with everyone later that afternoon.

Heavy footsteps alerted her to someone coming and Allison immediately flopped down on the bed, curling up and closing her eyes in hopes that they would go away after seeing her asleep.

"Uncle Adam," Shi whispered, "Allie is still asleep. We should go back downstairs until she wakes up."

Allison couldn't help the tension that spread through her body and her uncle laughed softly. "Nonsense Siobhan. Allison is indeed awake, and if not we should probably wake her. After all, she is still a growing girl. And growing girls need to eat breakfast."

Allison could feel Adam step closer to her bed and had to resist the urge to roll away. He very rarely went up to her room with someone, or when many others were home, seeing as it could end extremely badly for him.

"Daddy said to let her sleep," Shi protested, still whispering.

"But they left to go see Tea and Finna play soccer, so now I'm the grown-up."

There was a pause as Shi took that in. At eight she still felt that it was always in her best interest to listen to the adult and she was clearly conflicted.

"But we have to show Allie what we've been up to before your mom and dad get home, remember?"

At that Allison's eyes flew open and she sat up in bed. Adam smirked at her and bent down, kissing her fully on the lips, catching her shoulders when she tried to pull away.

"You know I don't like it when you do that Allison," he reminded her sternly. "I'll let it slide because it's been six months since we've had time together, but I won't be so forgiving next time." Allison didn't say anything and he dug his hands into her shoulders. "Say, 'thank you Uncle Adam.'"

"Thank you Uncle Adam."

"Now, Allison," Adam continued in a fatherly tone, "You know when you left six months ago, you really left me no choice. Siobhan here was just so sad about you leaving – the same way that you were sad when your mother died."

Allison took a moment to look at her sister – really look at her. Shi's eyes were red as if she had been crying and Allison took in the deep-seated fear and hopelessness in her eyes and knew. The anger caught her by surprise but before she could lash out Adam had her pinned to the bed, straddling her hips, his arms pinning her wrists.

"Ah, ah, that's not how it works." With a broken Shi standing helpless, Adam spent the next hour reminding her exactly of how 'it' worked.

It was close to eleven by the time Teagan, Finna and their parents returned from the soccer game. There was a post-it note on the fridge reading Took Shi with me to appointment. Don't worry, brought books and stuff. She was curious. Be back later. ~Allie

Tom read the note and furrowed his brow before shrugging. Siobhan had not taken her sisters hospitalization the hardest out of his youngest and they had been struggling for the last few months to reassure her that everything was going to be okay. Maybe a visit to meet Allie's therapist would help her grasp what was going on. Adam, knowing that his babysitting skills were unnecessary must have either driven the girls to the office or left. Judging by the lack of cars in the driveway, Tom assumed it was the latter.

Alison entered the hospital slowly, clutching her sisters' hand. Siobhan had refused to let go since Adam left the house. She had held her hand while through them both getting dressed, through the tears of Allison refusing to let either of them to shower and the entire car ride to the hospital.

"Excuse me? I'm looking for -"

"Allie?" Allison turned from the front desk to see one of the interns Steven standing in front of her looking surprised. "What are you doing here? I thought your appointments were moved to the outpatient clinic."

Allison nodded slowly. "They were. But it seemed easier to kill two birds with one stone."

Steven looked confused but his eyes passed over her to Siobhan who was now clutching her hand even tighter. "Is everything okay?"

"No." Allison paused for a long moment and Steven looked from the desk to her. "Would you like to go into a room?" He asked. "I can call Dr. Fuller and tell her that you're here and not at the outpatient clinic. I know her schedule is pretty light this weekend because a lot of people are on vacation."

"I – I think that would be best," Allison agreed. "Siobhan and I have a bit of a problem and I was hoping she could help." Steven ushered her and Siobhan into a room, gesturing for the two of them to sit down on the couch.

"I'll just go and call Dr. Fuller now. Is there anything I can get you? Some water maybe?"

"Water would be good, thank you." Steven left the room and Siobhan curled up into Allison and began crying again.

"Allie I want to go home."

"We can't," Allison said firmly. "We have to do the right thing. I'm scared too. But I'm not going to let him hurt you again."

"You can't promise that."

"If we have to move in with PJ so he can't get to us, we will, okay?"

Steven entered again with two glasses of water, handing them to the sisters. "Dr. Fuller is on her way. She said it should be about ten minutes."

"Thanks Steven." He hovered uncertainly for another minute. Although Allison came every Saturday for therapy the tension in her body seemed to indicate that this visit was different from the others she had had before it. The appearance of a younger and unhappy sibling was also an odd surprise.

"Are you sure everything is okay?"

"No," Allison said firmly. "But it will be."

Dr. Fuller was a tall woman with warm brown eyes and short hair that she kept clipped away from her face. She breezed into the room, briefcase in hand and smiled gently at Allison and Siobhan.

"Hello Allison, how are you doing today?"

Allison shrugged and gestured to the girl that Dr. Fuller was eying curiously. "This is my sister Siobhan. I -" Allison took a deep gasping breath, her chest tightening at the thought of what she had to do. Getting them to the hospital had been the easy part, but this, this was going to be one of the hardest things she had ever done. "I never told anyone the real reason I tried to kill myself."

Dr. Fuller nodded and dropped into a chair. "The easiest place to start," she reminded her gently, "is at the beginning."

"It started when my mom died." Those were the easiest words of the story to get out. Allison fixed her eyes above the woman's head and finally forced out the words that had been running through her mind all morning. "My step-Uncle Adam starting abusing me when I was 12." She paused and felt the sobs bubbling in her throat, and fought frantically to keep them down. "He raped me for the first time when I was fifteen. And – when I was in the hospital -" The tears were streaming down her face now and her breath was coming in frantic gasps. It was Siobhan who finally picked up the story from her sister, sitting up and brushing her hair out of her face before staring the doctor directly in the face.

"When Allie was in the hospital he hurt me too," she stated in a firm voice. "But Allie promised if I told, no one would ever hurt us again. So," Shi paused and took a deep breath. "I'm telling."

Dr. Fuller stared at the two in wide-eyed shock.