Title: Break Point
Author: mer_duff
Pairing: Gen: House, Wilson.
Rating: R
Length: 24 000 words
Spoilers: Takes place between "Human Error" and "Alone".
Summary: Wilson struggles to reconcile past and present in the aftermath of the Tritter investigation, while House just wants to understand.
Excerpt:

"Why are you on antidepressants if it's all in the past?" House demanded.

"You don't think I have reason to be depressed?" Some days Wilson had trouble thinking of a reason not to be depressed. "I'm on my third divorce, I tell people they're going to die every day, and my best friend is in chronic pain and the only thing I can do is give him drugs that will eventually kill him."

"This isn't about me," House retorted, but he looked away.

"Of course it's about you, it's always about you. The antidepressants are interesting, but not interesting enough for you to waste a bottle of good rum. Why don't you just ask me what you really want to know?"

House stood up, pushing his chair back abruptly. "I want to know about your brother. He's the one variable I can't predict. He's the particle or wave that you can't see, but you know is there because of how it affects everything around it."

Wilson watched him cross the room, his gait made awkward by agitation. "I don't understand," he admitted. It seemed to be his default position with House lately.

"I need to understand the effect. I need to know how he acted on you. If I know what he did, then I'll know what I did to make you give up on me."

mer_duff has deepened the canonical world of House, MD with Break Point. The story delves into Wilson's past, evoking an amazing, fully fleshed-out backstory that works perfectly with the man Wilson has become. Break Point is a fascinating look at Wilson's family, and mer_duff creates excellent and believable OCs to show his family dynamics; his parents, his friends, and especially his brother, Michael, all come alive. House's motives for demanding to know more are unclear to Wilson at first, but they are simply one more way that House shows that he cares without ever saying so. The set up for the flashbacks--House's interrogation of Wilson, his incorrigible seeking for one last line that he cannot cross--is heartbreaking in its own way, and very satisfying. Break Point is a wonderful exploration of House and Wilson's friendship, and a profound and multilayered story.


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