The power went out with a groan, and the elevator stopped suddenly, sending its occupants stumbling. Dr. House and Dr. Cameron were plunged into darkness for a minute before the auxiliary lights came on. The two doctors could barely make each other out in the soft blue light, which did little to dispel the shadows.

House let out a long string of curses - the stumbling made the pain in his right leg flare. He leaned against the back elevator doors and gripped his right thigh.

Cameron frantically pressed the third floor button.

House dry swallowed another Vicodin, and then let out a long suffering sigh. "I don't think pressing the button a hundred times is helping. Why don't you try the door open button?"

Cameron shot him a dark look, "And what, you'll crawl out of here? We're not even on the third floor yet." She pressed the button anyway, several times for good measure, "That's not working either." House shrugged and started to pace. A few more minutes and the Vicodin would kick in and dull the pain from inferno to slow burn.

Cameron slipped her fingers in between the elevator doors and struggled in vain to force them open. After several failed attempts, she stepped back let out a frustrated yell.

House looked over at her with his eyebrows raised, "You could barely open a jar of pickles with those matchstick arms, and you thought you could force steel elevator doors to open?"

Cameron clenched her jaw, "Well I figured it was better than doing nothing, like you. Go ahead, He-Man, you try to open it."

"I'm crippled." He said, waving his cane.

"You're leg is crippled, not your arms." Cameron snarked back and House had to bite his lip to keep from smiling. He limped over towards the door as if he were actually going to try, but then turned and pressed the emergency call button with the end of his cane.

"Hello?" A raspy male voice came over the sketchy connection, "Do you need help?"

"No, I'm trying to order a happy meal. Yes I'm calling for help!"

"How can we assist you?" The voice replied, heavily laced with sarcasm.

"We're on elevator 5, stuck just below level three."

"Is this Dr. House?" The voice asked, and House sighed.

"Yes, this is Dr. House, you know, Department Head of Diagnostics? Now send your worker drones up here to get us out."

"Sure thing, Dr. House. That was Elevator 7, near the 5th floor?" The voice said, and then the connection cut out completely.

"Damn it!" House yelled, "Goddamned imbecile! I clearly said Elevator 5 on level 3!"

"I'm fairly sure they're leaving you stuck in here on purpose - probably because you were a giant ass!" Cameron said bitterly, and walked over to the opposite side of the elevator. She slid down to sit, and put her head in her hands. House paced the elevator, back and forth, back and forth, trying to think of a way out.

"The power has to come back on soon." House reasoned as he paced. Cameron muttered something unintelligible and angry into her hands.

"Why so upset, Cameron?" House demanded, "This must be a dream come true for you. The two of us, stuck in an elevator. Just think of the possibilities!"

Cameron looked up and glared at him, "Oh, it is. Watching you pace back and forth, grumbling under your breath, alienating any help that may have come for us - how can I contain my excitement?"

House raised his eyebrows, "What, you never had a quickie in an elevator before?" His laser blue eyes held hers, and then slid down over her pink scrubs. Cameron felt her heart skip a beat. Was he just messing with her? Of course he was. He always did this - threw out some sexual innuendo, gave her that fuck me stare, and then ran away whenever things got real.

Well, there was nowhere to run in this elevator, now was there? Cameron stood slowly, her green eyes holding his. She walked over to where he was leaning on his cane and licked her lips. House's eyes stayed on her lips for a second, mesmerized.

"I don't do quickies…I prefer to take my time, do things right." She said, her voice low and hypnotic. Cameron stared at his lips - perfectly sculpted, full and oh so warm. She remembered how it felt to kiss him, the way his lips slid in-between hers, the way his tongue found his way into her mouth...

House backed up a step, "Don't you have a boyfriend now, Dr. Cameron? The wombat wouldn't be too happy to know you're trying to seduce me in an elevator."

Cameron closed the distance between them again, and ran one hand over his shoulder and down his right arm. "You weren't very concerned about Chase when you fired him."

House tried to keep his cool, but that was becoming more and more difficult every minute. Cameron's perfume was heady, a mix of vanilla and honeysuckle. Her eyes had something different in them today, a daring that hadn't been there before, even with that kiss last year, "I could care less about the wombat..." Words failed him when she licked her lips again, and ran her hand over his.

Cameron leaned forward until their lips were a breath apart. Just one slight adjustment and they would meet. But she wanted him to meet her lips this time; she wanted him to come to her. She heard him swallow, watched as his tongue darted out to moisten his lips. His left hand slipped into her lab coat pocket, and she looked down, confused. He pulled his hand out with nothing in it.

"Just checking for needles. I know how you like to kiss and stab." He quirked his right eyebrow and Cameron felt blood rush to her cheeks. He always knew just what to say to make her feel foolish. Well it wasn't going to work this time. He wasn't going to stop this with a few witty retorts. Cameron stood on her tip toes, and brushed her lips against his left cheek, enjoying the feel of his stubble running across her sensitive mouth. Putting her hands on his well muscled shoulders, she continued until she reached his ear. She blew softly into the canal, and felt him shudder under her hands, heard his breath rush out of his lungs.

Smiling to herself, she brushed her lips here, there, down his neck, stopping over his rapid pulse. She licked the spot with a flick of her tongue, and then bit down with her teeth - just hard enough to leave a shallow imprint of her teeth. House let out a soft low moan, and the sound of it tightened her abdomen, and made her muscles below flitter with excitement. She pressed the front of her body against his, crushing her small firm breasts against his hard chest, and whispered in his ear, "Just shut up, House, and enjoy this."

She stepped back and looked into his eyes. His pupils were dilated slightly, and his lids had lowered slightly. He was looking with hooded consideration, like he was curious about this bold woman in front of him. Cameron pulled her lab coat off slowly, and let it fall to the floor of the elevator. House leaned back against the elevator wall, as if he couldn't trust his legs and cane to keep him upright anymore. His blue eyes ran over her lithe form, hesitating over her breasts and hips. Cameron grabbed the bottom of her pink scrubs top, and pulled it off slowly. Underneath she wore a lacy white camisole, but no bra.

She knew House could see her nipples, hard and straining against the soft material, knew he could see their rosy hue. She heard him hiss softly as she pulled her hair through the neck of her scrubs, and dropped the garment to the floor. Her scrub pants were tied low to her hips, and she untied their string slowly, watching House watch her. His expression was pained, like this was too much for him to handle, but eager too, as if he'd wanted this for a long time, just this way.

Once the strings were untied, Cameron ran her fingers along her hips, slid her fingertips underneath the sides, and slowly slid them down her long shapely legs. She stepped out of them quickly, and then straitened up. House's grip on his cane was such that his right hand was completely white. She stood there in white bikini cut panties and her camisole, and she stepped closer to him again, waiting for him to reach out and touch her.

He met her eyes again suddenly, and she saw the doubt swimming in their teal depths. "Cameron…why are you doing this?"

She tilted her head to the side, and ran her hands down his torso. She felt how fast he was breathing, felt the racing of his heart. "Because I want to…and so do you." She raised her eyebrows as her right hand descended past his belt, and brushed over the bulge in his jeans.

Whatever internal struggle House had been fighting was sorely lost at that moment. He dropped his cane, cupped her face with his hands, and pressed his lips hard against hers. She let out a surprised yelp, and he deepened the kiss immediately, slipping his tongue past her lips.

Cameron's head spun as she tasted him – the sweetness of cherry from the lollipop he'd finished as he came onto the elevator, the slight bitter aftertaste of the Vicodin, and the warm provocative taste that was uniquely him. He was an expert at French kissing - his tongue would slide over hers, and the friction would be delicious, and then he'd pull back, leaving her wanting more before he slipped in again, deeper this time. Sometimes his tongue danced against hers, a tease, shallow and barely there, and then he would cock his head, and his tongue would slide deep inside her mouth, until she was light headed from the intensity of it. She pulled back suddenly and realized her hands had bunched up his shirt into two fists.

"God, god, god!" She whispered, trying to calm her heart, which was racing like a piston. She was supposed to be the one making him breathless, and after a few kisses, she could barely stand. She thought he would tease her about her outburst, but House was too busy, pressing burning kisses to her neck, running his hands up her torso, his long tapered fingers dancing over each of her ribs. His hands stopped just below her breasts, and hesitated. Cameron held her breath, waiting for his hands to move. She'd waited so long to feel his hands and mouth on her like this, and now they were here, and no one could interrupt them. If he would just move his hands a few more inches -

The main lights in the elevator suddenly flicked back on, the music started to play again, and they both froze.