Title: Eucatastrophe
Author: euclase
Pairing: Gen: House, Wilson, Thirteen, Cuddy.
Rating: PG-13
Length: 50,400 words
Spoilers: Through season four; some AU for season five.
Summary: Dr. House believes there is something unusual living in Lake Carnegie. Strange events unfold as he attempts to prove his theory.
Excerpt:

"You notice anything strange about Wilson this morning?" asked House.

Foreman shrugged. "Did you?"

"You're supposed to tell me. That's why I asked. I'm pretty sure that's the way it works, anyway."

"My guess is, you've already noticed something strange about Wilson, and you just want an excuse to stalk him when you should be treating our patient."

House made a face. "I don't stalk Wilson. Wilson's boring."

Foreman raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Okay, except for... all those other times," said House.

Thirteen poked her head into the room. "Uh... we have a patient."

"You're right," said Foreman. He turned to glare expectantly at House. "We do."

"Oh, well in that case, let me get my who-gives-a-shit on," said House. He cleared his throat. "Please, Doctor Foreman. Do describe our drug addict's drug addict behavior."

"You still think drugs?"

"I don't think anything," said House. "Because I don't care."

"Should I tell him to come back tomorrow?" asked Thirteen. "Would that be easier?"

"Wilson's apparently more interesting," said Foreman.

"Erno Rubik is more interesting," said House. "Wilson's a canker sore by comparison. Irritating and totally unavoidable."

"What are you doing?" asked Thirteen. She'd noticed the the disassembled Cube on House's desk.

"Did you know--" House picked up his screwdriver and continued snapping corners off the center axis of the toy--"that this cube has about forty quintillion possible arrangements? Of course, now that I've disassembled it, that's increased to about five hundred quintillion possible arrangements."

He put down his screwdriver and snapped off the last few pieces by hand, leaving only the fixed center pieces on their axes. He spread all the pieces out with a sweep of his hand.

"Nice work," said Foreman.

"Some pieces you just can't move," sighed House.

It starts out as one of House's usual pranks. Goldfish crackers all over Wilson's desk inevitably lead to House "borrowing" a groundskeeper's boat to go fishing in Lake Carnegie. But when House catches a salmon and finds a silver ring inside the fish, things start to get truly strange. He can't get the ring off his finger, and Wilson is acting most unlike his usual self. A string of events straight out of folktale and myth ultimately take the two to a mysterious world of legend, where they encounter any number of individuals that seem oddly familiar....

This story focuses strongly on the friendship and ties between House and Wilson. The dialogue has all the banter and wit characteristic of the show, and the plot makes good use of the supporting cast. The light-hearted pranks in the opening scenes quickly shift into a compelling mix of fantasy and adventure as House and Wilson are drawn into a deeply symbolic quest where their own lives may very well hang in the balance.


by chemina42
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by oldblue
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