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[personal profile] namaste
Title: The Great Escape
Author: Namaste
Summary: I killed Steve McQueen. Sorry about that. House copes and Wilson digs.
Author’s Notes: I guess this counts as my first deathfic, huh?

“So let me get this straight,” Wilson said, “you don’t believe in the afterlife, but for some reason it matters that you find just the perfect place to bury your rat?”



Wilson knocked twice, softly, then forced himself to wait and listen. He had his keys in his hand, ready to unlock the door and walk in, not sure what he’d find on the other side.

Late night phone calls never brought good news: dying patients, family emergencies, House.

House hadn’t said why he needed him, just blurted out a few words over the phone as Wilson fumbled for the light, “Get over here, now,” he’d said, then hung up.

Maybe he was sick. Or maybe he was in pain. Or maybe ...

The door swung open.

“About time,” House said. He turned and walked away, moving steadily across the room.

Or maybe he was just bored. Wilson sighed, both in relief and frustration.

“Jesus, House, it’s 2 a.m.”

“Yep.” House paused and looked back at Wilson. “You coming in or not?”

Wilson stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind him. “So ... did you need something or was this just a test to see if I’d show up whenever you called?”

“No test this time, which is unfortunate, because you would have passed.”

Wilson shook his head. House turned on the kitchen light and stepped inside.

“So, why the emergency call?”

House picked up a shoe box from the counter next to the refrigerator. “Because there was an emergency,” he said.

“It’s not a patient, because you just sent your latest one home today.”

“Nope.”

“And it’s not pharmaceutical because I just wrote you a refill two days ago.”

“It’s rodent,” House said, and handed Wilson the box.

Wilson stared at House, then took the box. He lifted one corner, peeked inside, then took off the lid. “Steve’s dead?”

“Found him when I got home.”

Wilson looked at the rat, lying still on top of a folded sheet of newspaper. He was on his side, his legs curled beneath him, his tail stretched out flat across the paper. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“Why? You didn’t kill him. He was nearly four years old. That’s old, for a rat.”

“Still, he was your ... pet.”

“He was a rat.”

“A rat which you named. And fed.”

“I took pity on him.”

“And yet you have no pity for clinic patients.”

“That’s because they don’t deserve it.”

House took the box from Wilson’s hand. He stared down at Steve, his face unreadable, then put the lid back on.

Wilson looked down at the box and shook his head. “I’m surprised you didn’t autopsy him.”

“Necropsy,” House corrected, “and what makes you think I didn’t?”

House took the lid off the box again. He tilted it to the left. Steve’s body rolled onto his back and Wilson saw a neat line of stitches along the rat’s belly.

“Heart attack,” House said. “He had clogged arteries.”

Infarction, Wilson thought. He stared at the box in House’s hand.

“Wait,” Wilson said, and looked up. “Please say you didn’t use my knives.”

“You said I could use them when you stored them here with the rest of your crap.”

“To cook with, not ... eviscerate Steve.”

“Then you should have said so,” House said.

Wilson covered his eyes with his hands.

“Oh, relax. I went to the lab and picked up a dissection kit,” House said. “Besides, your knives were too big.”

Wilson sighed. Bleach, he thought to himself. Bring bleach next time. Just in case.

House put the box on his desk and walked to the hall closet. Wilson leaned against the couch and watched as House shoved coats to one side, then reached into the back corner.

Wilson yawned. “I’m sorry about Steve,” he repeated, “but why couldn’t this wait until morning?”

“Because we need to do this in the dark,” House said.

“Do what?”

House grabbed something and stepped back from the closet. He held out a shovel. “Burial detail.”

------


“What about here?” Wilson pointed to a spot under the trees, the grass hidden by a layer of freshly fallen leaves.

“There’s a better spot up there.” House pointed further up the walk with his flashlight and kept walking.

Wilson shook his head and jogged a few steps until he caught up with House. “So let me get this straight,” he said, “you don’t believe in the afterlife, but for some reason it matters that you find just the perfect place to bury your rat?”

House stopped and pointed up at the street light with his cane. “There is no afterlife,” he said, “but I’d rather not spend the next three years of this life at Guantanamo answering questions about why we were burying unmarked packages within three miles of a federal building.”

Wilson followed the line of the cane up, and nodded when he saw the surveillance camera pointed toward toward them. “Right,” he said. “Somewhere else sounds like the perfect place.”

House finally stopped at a spot where the path curved left into the woods and pointed the beam of light at the roots of an oak tree. “Somewhere near there,” he said.

Wilson gave him the box and stepped off the path. He pushed the shovel down into the soil at the spot lit up by the flashlight. The blade sank down through a layer of leaves and past the thin covering of grass. He turned the shovel and piled dark earth next to the soil. He dug in again, and again.

“Make it deep enough so some dog won’t dig him up,” House said.

Wilson paused, looked over at him, but didn’t say anything.

“I’m not being sentimental,” House said. “Someone finds a half-rotted rat carcass and they’re going to start panicking about some new health crises, and then they -- and all of their friends -- will end up in the clinic with the sniffles telling me that they’re convinced that they’ve contracted some new rat flu.”

“Right,” Wilson said. “That’s the only reason.”

“Shut up and keep digging. I don’t want to be out here all night.”

Wilson smiled and pushed the shovel back into the ground.

It didn’t take long to make the hole. Within fifteen minutes House stepped over, leaned down and put the box down into the ground. He crouched next to the hole for a minute, then reached over and pushed soil down on top of the box. Wilson packed down the dirt, then spread leaves over the mound to hide it.

They both stood there, looking down at the spot.

“You want to say anything?” Wilson asked.

“Yeah,” House said. “Let’s go. It’s getting cold.” He turned and walked away.

House didn’t say anything on the walk back to Wilson’s car, or on the drive home, but motioned Wilson to follow him inside.

He walked through the living room and into the kitchen. Wilson leaned against the wall and watched as House paused for just a few seconds in front of the empty cage, then reached into the cupboard above it and took out two glasses.

House put the glasses on the table, then took two steps to another cabinet and took out a bottle of Glenfiddich. “It’s not a funeral without a wake,” he said and poured a couple of ounces into each glass.

Wilson pushed himself away from the wall and picked up a glass. House picked up the other.

“To Steve,” he said.

Wilson nodded and tilted his glass toward House, then at the cage. “To Steve.”

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(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-28 09:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fallen-arazil.livejournal.com
This is great.

One of my own rats died not long ago, and I experienced the same sort of bemused sadness that House did--I mean, it was just a rat, but it was my rat.

Anyway, I find it appropriate that House is far more connected to a rat than he is to a lot of the human beings he sees on a daily basis. The rat doesn't expect much of him. ^_^

Lovely.

~Djinn

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-28 10:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thanks. The story came to me as a bunch of separate scenes and discussions, so I was afraid whether it would hold together as a unified piece. Glad to hear that it worked.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-28 09:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hibernia1.livejournal.com
Oh Namaste, it's beautiful. Don't change anything. I love this story. It's sweet and has enough funny things to keep it from being sentimental and both House and Wilson are totally in character.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-28 11:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thanks. It started as something that was just lighthearted, but the quieter moments kept sneaking in there. I'm still not sure which is more prevalent. I'll pop it up in a few different places now that I'm hearing from folks that it works.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-28 09:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kidsnurse.livejournal.com
i enjoyed this greatly, and this is just the reaction i'd imagine house would have upon steve's demise. the fact that house actually did a necropsy is perfect--it's so house. thanks for sharing this gem!

Bleach, he thought to himself. Bring bleach next time. Just in case.

might wanna italicize wilson's thoughts, or at least the first bleach. couldn't find anything else to pick at! :)

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-28 11:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thanks. The necropsy bit came to me as one of quite a few different pieces of the fic, and it just seemed right, you know?

In terms of the italics ... I know that there are different schools of thoughts in terms of whether to use them or not. I tend to go to the "not" version most of the time, unless it's used extensively or is needed to really differentiate thoughts from words. I'll keep it in mind though, and could always change it. (That's the beauty of the Internet. Eminently changeable.)

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-28 10:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] smoothzeta69.livejournal.com
I searched high and low for something to pick at, but alas! Nothing. :)
The fact that everything is in character and the banter is perfect isn't even new to me any more. I've decided that this is the stuff that goes on between the episodes, the things that we don't see, and you just write them for us.


“To cook with, not ... eviscerate Steve.”
“Then you should have said so,” House said.
Wilson covered his eyes with his hands.


Loved that! Great job!

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-28 11:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Heh. Well since you looked and found nothing, I suppose it's safe to post to the wider audience, right? Thanks for the quick feedback. As I noted to people elsewhere, the fic was written in bits and pieces and fits and starts, and I wasn't sure how well it held together.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-28 11:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] alex51324.livejournal.com
I liked this. I liked the detail of House doing a necropsy on Steve (even though it was kind of gross to think about). It seems sort of...I'm vacillating between the words "respectful" and "tender," but neither one is exactly right. Obviously, for most people, it wouldn't be anything close to either of those things, but for House, it works. Wanting to solve the puzzle is the main way he relates to people, so it seems natural that he wanted to know how Steve died. I like it.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-28 11:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
You're right. From anyone else, the necropsy would be weird. From House? Par for the course, and it actually means he cares enough about Steve to find out what happened. Thanks.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-28 11:32 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Ok, I feel so silly here, but I had to wipe a couple of tears off my face when I got to the part where House "paused for just a few seconds in front of the empty cage". I just still remember after my hamster died (five years ago now), how silent it was the first evening, to walk past the empty cage still standing there, and not hear the familiar rattling of Chess running in his wheel :')

Anyway, I liked this fic! :)

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-28 11:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thank you. I kind of figured that House would never say anything about missing Steve or being sad that he died, but little things like stopping in front of the cage, pausing over the grave, etc., would still show his inner feelings.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-28 11:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aestheticized.livejournal.com
Love it. So completely in character, so lovely. Your House was absolutely spot on, and your Wilson, too, for that matter. Just beautiful.

Also, because I am an idiot, what's this autopsy v. necropsy thing?

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-28 11:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thanks. And an autopsy is for humans. The same post-mortem exam on an animal is called a necropsy, technically.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-28 11:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] silja-b.livejournal.com
*raises glass* To Steve!

“Heart attack,” House said. “He had clogged arteries.”

Infarction, Wilson thought.


Nice detail.

I like that House had a host of very plausible reasons for where to bury Steve and yet I get the feeling there were more to it.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
As House told Andi in "Autopsy," he could come up with ten very valid medical reasons not to proceed if she didn't want to. I figured he had his reasons this time too.

Thanks.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:00 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com
This is great. You really excel at weaving the light and funny -- Wilson's thoughts on bleach cracked me up -- with things more deeply felt. House couldn't dig the hole on his own (although it's amusing that House keeps a shovel in his closet as a research tool, one supposes) and wouldn't admit that he missed Steve, but the pause by the grave and before the cage said it all.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Heh. I told you I was going to have Wilson worry about his knives. The bleach was an automatic reaction after that thought. As to the shovel ... I think House probably has a lot of things around that he can't use anymore, but yet can't bring himself to get rid of, because that really means he's a cripple.

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-10-29 11:20 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-10-29 12:33 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] purridot.livejournal.com
I really liked how House and Wilson shared this experience with a kind of grave (no pun intended) respectfulness and quiet camaraderie rather than sentimentality. You write in a way that not only echoes the canon characters so well, but you have them act in a way that I *want* to see in canon.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thanks. I can really picture Steve's funeral as something neither of them ever mentions to anyone again. It was just something for them -- and for Steve.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] luna-argentea.livejournal.com
I really liked this. I found it touching and funny and sad, very well written and completely in character. Great dialogue and subtle touches, such as House not saying anything but pausing in front of the cage. Thank you for posting!

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:56 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
You're welcome. I started thinking about Steve's funeral after reading various questions on what happened to Steve and that he'd probably died. I just took it from there to House's thoughts on wanting to do right by him, but without it being a "thing."

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] genagirl.livejournal.com
You killed Steve! But it was for a good cause - cause this was good fic. Wilson sighed. Bleach, he thought to himself. Bring bleach next time. Just in case. LOL!

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:58 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
I did. I killed Steve. I'm guilty as charged. I just figured he'd probably died off scene anyway, and went for it.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] poeia.livejournal.com
Nice. I loved how House had an explanation for everything so he could pretend he didn't care. But if he really didn't, he would have tossed Steve in the trash.

Instead, he did the necropsy, stitched him up afterwards (let's face it -- that's really done so loved ones don't get upset), called Wilson, had a funeral and a wake. Very sweet without being maudlin.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 01:01 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Oh, he definitely cares -- and Wilson cares enough to not push the point too. House always has a way to explain away every moment that someone might think he actually cares. That's why it's so interesting to see him in unguarded moments, right?

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] triedunture.livejournal.com
This was "awwwwww" worthy.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 01:01 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thanks. I'm glad you liked it.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:26 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 3kelvin.livejournal.com
Beautiful! I don't know how you do it, but it works so well - the lightness and sadness at the same time. This should really be a scene on the show (I guess they forgot about Steve).

I hope he didn't have clogged arteries from all the junk food House probably fed him. Well, it was his time.

Thank you. And to Steve.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 01:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
I hope he didn't have clogged arteries from all the junk food House probably fed him.
Well, since his original disease was linked to Stacy's smoking ...

Thanks.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] krystalmaze.livejournal.com
*pays respect to steve*
sigh... well at least he lived a long life..(mine lived three years)

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 01:05 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Rats don't live long, do they? At least I think Steve had a good life. And at least House won't send any potential fellows off to dig him up.

I hope.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hannahrorlove.livejournal.com
Steve deserves a grand send-off; if he doesn't get one on the show, I will still have this one.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 01:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thanks. That was my plan, to give Steve a final tribute in some way. (Now watch, he'll probably show up again next week.)

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] artemint.livejournal.com
I hate to nitpick about this one thing, but I've seriously never heard of a rat dying from a heart attack (much less having clogged arteries). Cancer is much more common. Hell, rats get tumors if you look at them funny. Either that or the mycoplasma, which is what Steve was taken in and treated for in the first place, and which often flares up multiple times. If it was an unexpected death, though, a fast growing tumor would be way more likely.

Again, it's your story, but I thought I'd point that out. Anyway, it was rather sweet.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 01:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
I admit that I did not do any research on causes of deaths in rats. I went with the poetic one, for the sake of having Wilson compare the idea of Steve having an infarction to House. (And since House first diagnosed him by talking to Foreman about a hypothetical patient -- without ever revealing that said patient was a rat -- I figured I could play with the concept.) Now I know. Thanks.

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] artemint.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-10-29 01:23 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] annalully.livejournal.com
This is so lovely! Sad and funny at the same time.

I laughed at the first part, but the funeral almost made me cry...

It's definitely one of the sweetest fics I've ever read.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 01:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
You realized you just referred to a fic with a rat, a necropsy, death and funeral as "sweet," right? Heh. Thanks.

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] annalully.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-10-29 09:42 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 01:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dragonwrangler.livejournal.com
Aw, this story really fits House and Wilson. Not sentimental but still tender and practical. Thanks for sharing- I enjoyed it.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 02:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
You're welcome. I was afraid it would either be too light or too sappy, so it's good to get positive feedback.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 01:25 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
This is canon to me now. Of course that's true of a lot of your fics, and it's the highest compliment I can pay. Taiga

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 02:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thanks very much. That means a lot to me.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 01:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] angelcat2865.livejournal.com
Great story. I thought you really nailed House's and Wilson's voices.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 02:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thank you. It's fun to play with them in both light and serious moments. (And when the moments are both light and serious at the same time.)

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 02:26 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] shutterbug12.livejournal.com
Aw, this was great. :) House always gives himself away with the small, subtle things he does and you wrote that so well here.

The bleach comment had me giggling. I wouldn't be surprised if Wilson starts compiling a sort of "House emergency" kit based on previous experiences.

Really enjoyed this.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 02:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Heh. Someone could probably do a fic just on the emergency bag that Wilson has prepared ... an extra supply of Vicodin, enough cash for bail money, credit cards for unexpected out-of-town trips, covers for electrical outlets ...
"Funny," House said, holding out the baby proofing gear.
"Can you blame me?" Wilson asked.

(no subject)

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(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 04:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] axmxz.livejournal.com
:( Poor Steve.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
But just think, if House hadn't come along, he would have died years ago in Stacy's attic. He probably had a better life this way, right?

(no subject)

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(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 05:10 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] starlingthefool.livejournal.com
*raises glass* Here's to Steve. You maybe gone from the show, but you'll never be forgotten in fandom.
This was great.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-29 12:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namasteyoga.livejournal.com
Thanks. Rats may have short lives in the real world, but in fandom, they're immortal.
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