Welcome to the Artists' Portion of this year's Big Bang Challenge!

Behind the cut are the fifteen stories of Round Three for your consideration. Please post a comment with the NUMBER AND TITLE of the story you'd like to create art for. You can comment with your first and second choice in case your first choice is already claimed. A mod will reply to your comment to let you know which story you've been assigned. This is the final story-picking round.

Remember, artists, these stories are for the most part first drafts--they aren't polished stories yet. In effect, they should work as jumping-off points, or, if you will, really long prompts. Hopefully you'll be able to find a scene or a moment that jump-starts your creative energy!

If you already have been assigned two stories, please give the chance to someone else. If you have been assigned one or no stories, this round is open to you.

The artists' selection period is now over. There will be a reminder post for artists on March 15. Good luck, artists!

Now, with no further ado, drumroll, please!

1. Title: The Abyss - First Artist: sadpie; Second Artist: wolf_in_sheeps
Pairing: House/Cuddy
Rating: Teen And Up
Length: 33 565 words
Spoilers: AU. College - Season 2.
Summary: Despite their wealth of history and genuine love for each other, missteps and angst fuel the disintegration of a marriage and a seemingly irreconcilable fall into an emotional abyss.
Excerpt:

"That's it. Don't you have anything else to say to me?" Greg goaded moving towards the bed, "Well, it's good to know that I can't count on you!"

"Shut up!" Lisa shot up causing the covers to pool at her waist. "I have always been here for you when you need me, even if you're too stubborn to admit it," she scoffed. "What do you want me to say Greg? That I'm glad that you're ruining your career? That it's great that you're putting strain on our relationship, our marriage? That I'm happy for you and your little God complex?" she retorted.

"No," he sighed slumping down on the bed next to her. "I want your support – to be on my side this time. I saved the kid's life, Lise. He was going to die, and I knew what was killing him. They wouldn't give me permission to save him, so I did what I had to. Would it be okay if it had been our kid? One day, it could be our kid. Hopefully, the peson with the answer to cure him will have the balls to do it," he quietly returned.

Lisa stared at him for a moment. Finally, she reached out to cover his hand with hers. Her brows furrowed in question. She pleaded, "Greg, I'm sorry. I am on your side. You know I'm on your side. I just want what's best for you – for us. But you can't keep doing this – you've had two warnings and now this probation. What's going on with you? It wasn't like this two years ago. What's changed?"

2. Title: The Difference - First Artist: vicodin_martini; Second Artist: housecam379
Pairing: House/Cameron
Rating: Teen and Up
Length: 22 500 words
Spoilers: All episodes up to and including S06E08 Teamwork
Summary: You knew from the start a relationship with her could only end in disaster. You've never been one for making good choices.
Excerpt:

"Race you to the car!" She laughs as she bounds away and you can't help but share in her enthusiasm. It's contagious, as any infectious disease guy could tell you, and even an old curmudgeon like yourself is not immune. A smile pulls at your lips as you take a moment to admire the curve of her ass encased in dark washed denim before following her at a fast walk, the closest you can manage to a run. Your legs are long, so it's good enough, and you arrive at the car close behind her. Even the pain that rips through your thigh at the exertion isn't enough to erase your rare good mood, and so you toss a couple of pills down your throat, hoping she doesn't notice, as she searches through her purse for something. Surely she'd have something to say about mixing painkillers with the couple of beers you shared earlier.

But notice, she does not, and so you open the passenger door for her and then settle yourself behind the wheel.

You're not ready for the night to end and so you drive around aimlessly for a time listening to her happy, tipsy chatter about the colourful trucks and the even more colourful people who were seated around you on the bleachers. Classic rock plays softly on the radio and you watch her from the corner of your eye while you drive. She looks so different in casual clothes. Not older exactly, but without the vivid contrast between her youthful appearance and her professional attire, the age difference seems less daunting and you feel attracted to her in the way of a normal red-blooded male, and not as a creepy old man.

3. Title: The Doctor-Doctor Relationship - First Artist: jiraiyasgirl; Second Artist: kirili; Third Artist: wihluta
Pairings: House/Wilson, Wilson/OFC
Rating: Explicit
Length: 24 200 words
Spoilers: Set late season 2. Spoilers through to 3.1 'Meaning'.
Summary: What if Wilson found a girlfriend whom House actually liked? Moreover, what if she kind of liked House too?
Excerpt:

Wilson sighed. "But now you've got your hooks into it, my relationship with her is doomed, isn't it? You'll go out and stalk her, find out lots of terrible things that mean she's really unsuitable for me, scare her with a few well-chosen anecdotes about my marriages, and that'll be the end of that."

"You don't need me around to screw up your relationship." House objected. "You're perfectly capable of doing that all by yourself."

Wilson put his fork down and looked at House. "You've never even given me the chance."

"I bet if I did, you'd screw things up perfectly well all by yourself. I'd lay money on it."

"All right then," Wilson said unexpectedly. "A hundred bucks says I don't screw things up this time. And you don't sabotage it."

House consumed some more French toast, frowning.

"House?" Wilson pressed him.

"You want to bet on a relationship succeeding. That has to be the most stupid bet ever."

"That's right." Wilson was enthusiastic now. "Give me the time and space to screw it up myself, and we'll see what happens."

"I can do that." House's tone was magnanimous.

"Promise?"

"What is this, the Boy Scouts?" House snapped, and rolled his eyes. "All right, I promise I will let you screw this relationship up all by yourself with no interference from me."

4. Title: Girl In The War - First Artist: bironic; Second Artist: ollee
Pairing: Cuddy/Thirteen (House/Cuddy and Thirteen/Foreman implied)
Rating: Explicit
Length: 20 000 words
Spoilers: Picks up from around 5x11 'Joy To The World'. AU in that Cuddy doesn't get Rachel and Thirteen breaks up with Foreman almost right away. Further spoilers for 5x20 'Simple Explanation'.
Summary: Cuddy happens across Thirteen in a bad situation which leads to a blossoming friendship. Can that possibly survive in the fishbowl of PPTH?
Excerpt:

"So, Dr. Hadley, spill. That was the arrangement, remember?"

Depositing the used packaging in the trash and then the sharps into their own yellow bin, Cuddy listened to the sharp exhalation of air that warned of the story to come. Thirteen seemed to take her time in choosing her words.

"Eric and I broke up last night. Today was so awkward and crappy I thought I'd treat myself to a night out, blow off a little steam, you know? Then I end up getting the crap kicked out of me in an alleyway because some bitch at the club thought I was giving her girlfriend the eye."

The two females in the equation registered briefly with Cuddy, but that old rumor was pretty much established back when Thirteen had been treating her one-night stands on hospital time.

"And were you? Giving her the eye, I mean? Not that anything warrants this kind of violence, of course."

Cuddy asked the question as neutrally as possible, now that she was done with her clearing, she leant against the counter to listen to the younger woman's tale.

Thirteen squinted curiously at her boss before replying, a wicked grin on her face for the first time since Cuddy had encountered her.

"I'd already fucked her in the bathroom. If the girlfriend had known that I'd have been showing up here in a body bag."

Startled by the frank confession, Cuddy was at a loss for what to say next. She felt her cheeks flush at the overly personal information, and the crudeness reminded her too much of House. He really was a bad influence on every single one of his fellows.

The laugh from Thirteen wasn't entirely unexpected, but it did ease some of the tension in the room.

"I guess I'm still a little drunk, Dr. Cuddy. Still, you don't seem too offended. I guess you hear a lot worse."

Cuddy shrugged in an all-too familiar way. Of course she heard worse, as the head of the hospital she was referred to as bitch, slut, or worse far more often than by her name. At least this particular bout of cursing wasn't aimed at her, she figured.

"Okay, Dr. Hadley. Let's get you home."

5. Title: A House Divided - First Artist: housecam379; Second Artist: queenzulu; Third Artist: chemina42
Pairing: Gen
Rating: Teen and Up
Word count: 22 130 words
Spoilers: Through 6.07, Teamwork
Summary: What might happen to the team without the presence of Cameron as their moral compass? An angsty take on their downward spiral precipitated by a case involving Taub's neighbor. A cautionary tale, taken from The Adventures of Gregory House by Dr. James Wilson
Excerpt:

For years, as long as I've known him, I've followed House's cases, marveling over and over at the workings of his superior brain. But it wasn't until recently, as a way to avoid thinking about what I'd lost when Amber died, that I decided I wanted to record his cases for posterity, sort of Watson to his Holmes.

House and I were discussing Cuddy's latest outfit, a very demure shirtwaist dress with a high collar, very unusual for our boss (but of course, she HAD to open one button too many), when Chris Taub, one of House's staff, entered his office.

"House, I have a case for you," the short doctor said.

"Not interested," House said, dismissing him.

"But you haven't heard anything about it. How can you tell?" his slightly raspy voice demanded.

"Don't get me wrong, Taub, but if you're the one bringing the case to me, how interesting could it be?" House is almost a foot taller than the former plastic surgeon so when he stood over him, he could be very intimidating.

But Taub was used to House and wouldn't be denied. He went on. "Thirty-one year old woman, fell from a step on a ladder no more than four feet above the ground, but she's still unconscious four days later. There's no sign of any contusions."

"See, I told you it wouldn't be interesting. She's got a concussion," House stated as if that was that.

"The CT scan ruled out a concussion," Taub persisted. "There's something else wrong, but the doctors at Princeton General refuse to look further. They're just waiting for her to wake up on her own."

"And you care because?" House seemed more curious about Taub's interest than in the case itself.

6. Title: House Renovations - First Artist: brynnamorgan; Second Artist: pandorashollow
Pairing: House/Cameron
Rating: Mature
Word Count: 24 545 words
Spoilers: Broken, Teamwork, and possibly other eps of season six, with references to previous seasons as well.
Summary: It's not just the broken down house that needs fixing. It's the two people sharing it. And maybe, by working together to fix up the old house, they can fix themselves as well.
Excerpt:

Her house is a one story ranch with a wide front porch that stretches across the entire structure. The sagging steps and mismatched columns are weather beaten and the shutters hang from the windows like droopy eyelids. The paint, a shade of eggplant that is far less garish than it would seem, is peeling away from the house in papery wisps. To the casual eye, the house is cold and unfeeling, ravaged by time and the elements, but Cameron looks deeper and sees the heart and soul beneath the harsh exterior and she knows in an instant that she's found home.

House has very few regrets, but this... this unintended consequence of his meddling is one of them. Chase should be the one leaving, not Cameron. There is a big part of him that wants to set things right, make her come back. But the little voice in his head that now sounds suspiciously like Dr. Nolan, tells him he's already meddled enough, that he should apologize and move on instead of trying to fix things. That doesn't mean he can't make Chase's life more miserable though. On the other hand, she's gone. How much worse can he make things? He doesn't even know where she's gone and the not knowing bugs him more than anything. She's the itch that never got scratched; the one that got away. A wisp of cobweb stuck to his psyche. She's unfinished business-- his not quite lover.

7. Title: It's How You Play The Game - First Artist: hjsnapepm; Second Artist: tuckp3; Third Artist: ticcyyy
Pairing: House/Cuddy/Wilson
Rating: Teen and Up
Length: 22 000 words
Spoilers: None/AU
Summary: Separately, House, Wilson and Cuddy suck at relationships. Together they make it work. They don't know how they make it work, but they do.
Excerpt:

Cuddy started with Wilson. She pointed her finger at him and opened her mouth only to falter before she could fire off an accusation. "Okay, you're not too bad. But you…." She swiveled the gun of her finger to take aim at House.

"I do the laundry," House protested immediately.

"Not until the pile's big enough and old enough it's developed its own ecosystem," Cuddy shot back.

"Once," House retorted. "I created a new life form once. I'd think you could cut me some slack on that one."

"Apparently you've forgotten the other new life forms you bred in the refrigerator."

"Experiments," House said. He wore a mask of innocence. Unfortunately for him, that mask had long since worn thin. "For the children's benefit."

"You thought the kids would benefit from being exposed to botulism?" Wilson asked.

"They'd certainly learn to never do it again."

"I'm going to order the pizza," Cuddy said, getting up from her seat. "Sausage and mushroom."

"But I don't like mushrooms," Rachel repeated.

House stared across the table at her with the same sort of horrified fascination he'd experienced while watching "Wild Kingdom" as a child. Ever since he'd been old enough to ponder the point, he'd wondered at the lack of survival instincts shown by the average human child. Fortunately for Rachel, Cuddy was less likely to eat her own young than some wild animals. She merely gave Rachel a quelling look and headed toward the counter.

"So what brought that on?" House asked Wilson.

"Aside from the mountain of laundry and lack of food at home?"

"Yeah," House said impatiently as he reached for the spoon Cuddy had confiscated. "And aside from the hormonal riptide of PMS."

Wilson snatched the spoon from the table before House could grab it and stuck it in his breast pocket. He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Nope, I think that pretty much covers it."

8. Title: It's Only the End of the World (Again) - First Artist: kirili; Second Artist: graceasaur
Crossover fandom: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Pairing: House-Wilson friendship
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Length: 30 000 words
Spoilers: Takes place after 6x10 "Wilson," but tiny tiny spoilers for 6x11 "The Down Low." For Good Omens, several years after the end of the book.
Summary: A misanthropic bastard, a doormat oncologist, a reluctant demon, and a body-challenged angel team up to save the world. Much confusion results.
Excerpt:

From Further Nife and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter: Concerning the Worlde that Is To Com; Ye Saga Continuef:

213. Whene the onee who Dyed desends frome the Skye and withe thee Boye liveth near Tadd Fyeld, two menne sharl arriveth fromme the Newe Sweaterre, bearynge a Sir Afare withine. With the sirpint Crow lee and the Stollene Sworde of Flamme they sharl bringe aboutte the ende of thee Worlde.

"Oh no...not again."

~*~

"So...tell me why we're doing this again?"

"We're going to save the world."

"...really? From what?"

"..."

Crowley: "Were you not listening when we explained yesterday, Wilton?"

"It's Wilson. And no. I was drunk."

"Well, long story short, Adam—that's the Antichrist to you—fell in love with Jesus—or the other way around—anyway, they're together now and unless you want the world to end it's generally a good idea to stop them before the fireworks start."

"Wilson."

"What, House?"

"Am I hallucinating this?"

"It's one hell of a hallucination if you are. But no, I don't think it is."

"...right. Well, nobody's naked yet. And I don't see Cuddy anywhere. So I'll take your word for it."

Crowley: "People get naked in your hallucinations? What the Hell do you two do for a living?"

"He's a doctor. We both are doctors. Uh, go back to the Antichrist part. And the fireworks part. What does that…mean, exactly?"

"It means that we have to save the world, Wilson. Jeez. Weren't you listening?"

9. Title: The Last Post - First Artist: pandorashollow; Second Artist: vicodin_martini
Pairing: House/Cameron
Rating: Mature
Length: 30 000 words
Spoilers: AU.
Summary: In 1942, the world is at war and House has nothing left.
Excerpt:

It was cold. His body was shaking and he was having trouble moving. The air was too thick and the silence was oppressive. He was balancing precariously on a duckboard over a wide pool of mud. He knew that if he fell, that would be it. He'd seen men and even horses disappear into these endless pools of slush and no one ever got pulled out again. Even if someone were quick enough to throw you something to hold on to, the weight of your clothes and equipment would drag you down, the earth welcoming you into its embrace. The duckboards weren't wide enough and they were too slippery for any sort of rescue effort to have a chance at success. Most men simply watched sadly as their fellow soldier drowned quickly. House knew that the mud wanted him, like it was a living thing capable of such desires. He could feel it somehow. So he was careful, making sure that his foot was safely in the middle of each wooden plank before he took a step. He didn't want to be here, had fought so hard to stay away and there was no way in hell he was going to die in this cesspool. He would make it. His breathing sounded harsh in his ears, the only sound at all.

10. Title: The Mayfield Redemption - First Artist: sunset_my_house; Second Artist: usomitai
Pairing: House/Foreman, House-Wilson friendship
Rating: Explicit
Length: 30 000 words
Spoilers: Through season six.
Summary: "I want to get better, whatever the hell that means."
Excerpt:

"Consider this your chance at Zihuatanejo," Nolan said. His amused half-smile meant he was one-upping House's prison humour to prove it didn't bother him.

"The villa on the Pacific might not be cripple-accessible," House returned, hefting his cane. "And if you're casting yourself as the man who can get me things, hand over the letter."

"The Atlantic will have to do," Nolan agreed. "Do you have someone you can stay with for the first few days?" His hand rested on House's letter, in its envelope.

House tensed, eyes boring into Nolan's fingers, watching for the first sign that they'd twitch it back. "No," he said.

"I need you to be reachable."

"I have a phone."

"It shouldn't be a surprise that I'm going to be checking up on you," Nolan said. His voice was gentle, on the edge of sanctimonious, but he'd never slipped over that line. Nolan treated their sessions like a verbal chess game. More often than not he sounded like he was genuinely interested in seeing House's next move, and the fact that he didn't pretend to know if his mate was going to hold made him tolerable. Sometimes.

House sat back, rolling his cane over his lap with his palms. "Not Wilson."

Nolan raised his eyebrows and let one of his damn silences spin out. House glanced across his face, checking for some sign beyond faint, polite interest, and then looked down into his lap, gripping the cane's handle to stop himself from giving tells. Nolan would file this away with everything else he'd dragged out of House over the last few weeks, and lord it over him when House was least ready for the attack. "He doesn't deserve it," House muttered.

"The pleasure of your company," Nolan asked, "or the problem of it?"

11. Title: The One Where It Leads To Something More - First Artist: hockypocky; Second Artist: thedeadparrot
Pairing: House/Chase
Rating: Teen and Up
Length: 20 555 words
Spoilers: Late season 4. Vaguely AU in that Cameron has left Chase.
Summary: House finds out about Chase's method for dealing with Cameron leaving, and takes part in that method. It leads to something more.
Excerpt:

Wilson gently smoothed a piece of skin tape over the end of the gauze, and looked at his friend, "are you sure you're alright?"

"I got tied up for half an hour and my wrists are scraped. I'm getting free food out of the deal. What do you think?"

Wilson chuckled, putting the first aid kit away, "well, okay. I'll see you tomorrow."

House nodded, "‘kay."

Wilson got up, and walked out.

House watched him go, shook his head, and turned back to his computer, absently rubbing his fingers over the edge of the gauze as he watched a DVD of General Hospital.

12. Title: Past Lives and Non Regrets - First Artist: thedeadparrot; Second Artist: shutterbug_12
Crossover Fandom: Leverage
Pairing: Cameron/Eliot, House/Wilson, Chase/Foreman
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences, Mature
Length: 20 787 words
Spoilers: For House, it is for all past seasons, along with the first half of season six. For Leverage, I'm going to say just season one to be careful.
Summary: As a patient is put under House's care, Cameron's past life crashes into her present to making a choice about going back to the past or living in the present.
Excerpt:

Allison couldn't believe she was doing this. It was the end of the semester and she had just finished all of her finals for the fall semester of her final year of undergraduate work. On top of that stress, she had to figure out a way to break into a secure room in a bank in order to steal money to pay off her loans. If it wasn't for the fact that I borrowed from the mob, I wouldn't be doing this she thought as she mentally cursed herself. She sighed softly as she waited for the reader to go through the codes to open the vault, looking around as she felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. She saw a guard turn a corner and whimpered "Shit."

"Hey!" The guard said but it was the last word he could before Eliot hit him hard in the back of the head. He moved over to her, looking around. "Last one of the guards. How much longer?"

"Another second or two," she whispered to him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

"The sooner we get out of here, the better it'll be," he said quietly as he looked at her oddly. "So does this mean we're not broken up?"

"No, we're still broken up on the account of you being an ass," she replied in a whisper.

13. Title: Survival Strategies - First Artist: aolian; Second Artist: ice_ziggee; Third Artist: ladymazlyn
Pairing: Gen, House and Wilson
Rating: General Audiences
Length: 21 500 words
Spoilers: None. Set in December 2003.
Summary: A bad week leaves Wilson wondering if he made the right career choice and House struggling to support his best friend.
Excerpt:

Wilson gestured for House to give him the file. "I can't entertain you right now, House. I need to be able to give my patient my full attention."

"Right. Because it takes so much concentration to tell a guy he's got less than a year to live. You should be able to do that in your sleep by now." But he put the file back on Wilson's desk and walked to the door. "Grab me after T-cell guy leaves. I'll be starving by then." He knew he'd be able to talk Wilson into an early and extended lunch. Wilson always welcomed a distraction after delivering a death sentence.

He hesitated at the door and looked back. Wilson was studying the file again, scrawling notes in the indecipherable handwriting that he thought made him seem more like a doctor, as if the lab coat and the multiple diplomas weren't enough to hammer the point home. Wilson glanced up and waved him away with an annoyed frown, but it wasn't enough to disguise the bleak expression in his eyes.

House closed the door and leaned on his cane. On Sunday evening, they'd watched a Monty Python marathon, and Wilson had laughed so hard during The Meaning of Life that he'd fallen off the couch. House loved the sound of Wilson's laughter; the pure, unrestrained kind, not the bitter chuckle that punctuated so many of their conversations. He didn't think he'd be hearing it again anytime soon.

14. Title: That's How Strong My Love Is - First Artist: alexwhitewell; Second Artist: snizzle_snoozle; Third Artist: brynnamorgan
Pairing: House/Wilson
Rating: Mature
Length: 21 000 words
Spoilers: Middle third season, between Lines in the Sand and Fools for Love. After the ketamine wears off, but before Tritter.
Summary: For once, Wilson doesn't fall into a relationship, much to House's irritation.
Excerpt:

Sure, Wilson was quick enough to move in with House when he needed a place to stay after being tossed out by a wife. Then it didn't matter that he was crowding House's closets and dirtying up his kitchen with his disgusting-smelling food. But when House finally wanted him to move in, all he got was a horrified 'no.'

Well, that was going to change. He'd bring Wilson to his knees.

Maybe that wasn't the image he wanted in his head right now.

He checked the conference room to make sure nothing had happened that they'd forgotten to pester him about, and then went down to the clinic. As mindless a place as any to do some thinking of how he was going to get Wilson to make a commitment to him.

He'd worked his way through two colds and a case of crotch rot when there was a tap on the exam room door, and it opened.

"This room is occupado," House said without looking up from the current patient's throat.

"House."

Wilson, then.

"Patient," he called. He was avoiding Wilson, right?

"I just want a word."

"You had plenty of time for words last night, and you didn't do much talking. Maybe Nurse Leah has time to listen."

"Leah Ryder?" Wilson sounded genuinely puzzled, but House wasn't buying that.

House wheeled around on the chair, looked at Wilson. "Yes. Her. The one you had dinner with the other night. Now, if you don't mind? I have a patient."

"House, it wasn't--" Wilson's hand was at the back of his neck, a sure sign that House was being difficult.

House turned to the guy on the examining table. "Patient!" The guy jumped, but kept looking straight ahead, ignoring the doctors.

15. Title: Uniforming (Made To Seem) - First Artist: usomitai; Second Artist: leiascully
Pairing: Cameron/OMC, Cameron/OFC
Rating: Explicit
Length: 35 000 words
Spoilers: None.
Summary: An examination of playing the boy, and the complications therein.
Excerpt:

"Why'd you call Panos?"

He looked over to her, almost amused. "You're on a last-name basis already? Not ‘Doctor Panos'? Not even ‘my new boss'?"

"Just answer the question."

"Returning a piece of communication is just polite. Don't they teach girls that in kindergarten?"

"Was she the first one who called you first?"

"If I say yes, will that be enough for you?"

"Is it because I'm a man now and you wanted to do a favor for me on behalf of our gender?"

House kept looking at her, suddenly much more sharply. "Being a man takes years of hard work and social conditioning. Don't think you can cheat the system by growing a penis in a week."