Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

ah, yes. that feeling of finally getting off of work after a long day (in this case, a 12-hour night shift,) was exquisite. your time at princeton-plainsboro teaching hospital was done for the night– er, technically day, but nonetheless the same feeling. being the head of the PICU was hard enough on yourself, but overworking yourself? now that was another story. 

you were in your office, collecting your things for the night. purse, computer bag, computer in the bag, your patient files that you planned on doing once you came out of your little slump (which was going to be fixed by an 8 hour nap,) as well as the cold on-call room coffee you had brewed at least 5 hours ago. 

as your back was turned to your small trash can to throw out the cheap liquid, a faint knock was heard at the door. 

“heading out for the day already?”

the accent could be recognized anywhere; courtesy of robert chase. 

the aussie had been one of your best friends, as far as colleagues went. seeing that he specialized in the ICU and you in the NICU, it was natural for the two of you to talk about work with each other due to the fact that your lines of work crossed paths at one point or another. yes, he did piss you off somewhat, making snide remarks in the beginning of your friendship, but you knew you could rely on him for anything. 

“you’re not? i’m getting the hell out of here, armadillo.” you shook your head, not being able to resist the slight smile that graced your face upon his entrance to his office. it was as if his presence seemingly lifted a subtle weight off your shoulders; relaxing you, almost. 

“close, (name). armadillos don’t live in australia. you want me to walk out with you?” his voice was soft, yet teasing as he spoke to you. he was probably just as exhausted as you, if not even more so. he had talked about working a 12 hour shift the day before, and you couldn’t imagine doing it yourself. “you’d think for someone who worked with ankle biters all night wouldn’t be so cranky.”

“ankle biters?” you laughed softly at the negative connotation of pediatric work. yes, it was a pain, especially their parents, but it couldn’t be worse than having to treat and operate on the parents themselves. “yeah, you can come out with me, i don't mind. you might want to watch yourself, though. i feel like i could fall asleep standing up.” 

his laugh was an agreement as he nodded his head at you, his precious blonde strands staggering across the crown. “i know the feeling. sooner we leave, the better. going to get brekkie when i get home, then crashing on the couch.”

“brekkie?” you couldn’t help but ask, coming to the realization on your own that it was slang for breakfast. “you australians and your slang terms.”

“don’t knock it ‘til you try it, miss americana. i’ll have to show you a real australian brekkie one day, and you’ll never argue with me again.” 

was that his way of flirting with you? whatever it was, it made your heart stutter. cameron had mentioned something about him being infatuated with you a couple weeks ago, but you simply brushed the comment off. there was no way, right? you were both colleagues, and pretty good friends. friends. nothing more, nothing less than that. nothing was going to change that. 

you hoped.

as you did to cameron’s comment, you brushed the breakfast comment off. “c’mon, chase. another day, definitely.” you had picked up your things, heading out of the office with him in tow.

stepping into the elevator was like a breath of fresh air. it finally meant you were going home, and getting off the energy-eating fifth floor of princeton-plainsboro. a quiet sigh left your mouth as you leaned against the wall, pressing the ‘ground floor’ button. chase was standing against the opposite wall, as most people do because of unspoken elevator etiquette. 

the door closed in front of the both of you, a bit of silence filling the air. robert was never good with silence, always taking it with hesitance. silence meant one of two things to him– either someone was thinking too much, or they weren’t thinking at all. 

“so, uh– any plans for the weekend?” his voice was drowsy as he spoke, finally being plagued by the beast of sleep. 

“no, not many. probably going to be called back in by cuddy, which is why i don’t make many anymore.” a stifled laugh escaped from the two of you, having a slight hatred towards cuddy at the moment. she was the one who made you work long shifts, after all. 

before robert could respond to your sentence, the elevator stopped with a loud ‘bang!’, and the two of you were on your rear ends instead of your feet before you knew it.

“crikey, (name), are you alright?” he wiped his face with his hand, trying to process what in the world had just happened. he got to his feet quickly, extending a hand for you to take.

“yeah, yeah, i’m fine. are you? anything bleeding?” you had stood up slowly, trying to regain your balance. you looked around to see if anything in the elevator was broken, such as the darkly tinted window outlooking the streets of new jersey. nothing. 

“nothing. god, that gave me a scare. now, let’s get the ‘ell out of this-” chase went to press the ‘open door’ button, but nothing. abso-effing-lutely nothing. “thing. why won’t this thing work?”

“give it a second, would you?” you set your things back down, your legs starting to hurt due to the impact of the fall. “maybe it’s just slow because it slammed us down on our asses. i would be too.”

he had to chuckle at that, but the small bit of anxiety was starting to eat at him. what if they couldn’t get out? house would have a laugh at that, wouldn’t he? he’d probably leave the two of you in there if he had a choice. what about his brekkie? chase had packed a protein bar in his computer bag the day– night— whenever the hell it was, and never ended up eating it, but would that give him the energy to survive a day? what about water? was he going to die of dehydration–

you had pushed the button again, raising your eyebrows as the button didn’t glow. that was unusual. 

and then the power went off.

the elevator shaft had gone completely dark, leaving the two of you to your own defenses.

“damn it, robert, stop moving! you’re stepping on my pumps!”

“yeah, and your hand is touching my ass, deal with it.”

did i mention that the shaft was small? a bit too small.

“good grief. i’ll just use my flashlight.” you shook your head, pulling your phone out of your lab coat pocket and turning it on, shining it onto the wall to keep it from blinding the man in front of you. 

“so smart, (name). wish i had thought of that.” he rolled his eyes, taking his phone out of his pocket as well, doing the same thing. 

you sighed softly, coming to the realization that you weren’t going to get out of this elevator anytime soon. “you’re not the worst person to be stuck in an elevator with.” you admitted, which brought a shit-eating grin to robert’s face.

“it could be worse. i could be british.” he seemed as if he had come to terms with the situation at hand as well, slowly slumping against the wall until he was sat in the corner farthest from the door (which wasn’t far at all.) “come ‘ere, i don’t bite, unlike those little ratbags you work with. maybe you like it. i didn’t think of that. i can bite if you want.” he chuckled softly, which resulted in an eye roll from you as you sat down across from him. 

“i can guarantee you that i do not like being bitten. speaking from experience.” you couldn’t help but laugh at yourself, as well as the predicament you were in. if someone had told you that you would be stuck in an elevator with robert chase today, you would have called them batshit crazy.

chase began to loosen his tie and unbutton the top two buttons on his dress shirt, which earned him a quizzical look from you. “what? if we’re gonna be stuck in here for a while, wouldn’t you want to be comfortable?” 

you nodded softly, admitting he was right. your feet had been killing you for the past who knows how long, thanks to your stupid idea to wear heels to work. never. again. you slipped them off, stretching your legs out as you set the light pink pumps beside you. 

“i could really use a nap. or really just some sleep, at this point.” you grumbled to yourself, sighing as your head leaned against the cold metal wall.

“mate, i could too. but we should probably stay up, n’case anyone tries to come in, y’know?” he rationalized, which earned him a soft grunt from you.

“fine, but you’re going to have to figure out a way to distract me from the back of my eyelids, because they’re looking mighty sexy right now.” you laughed softly, pushing your hair out of the way of your eyes. 

“well…” he took a moment to think, his face turning the slightest hue of pink. no, he couldn’t, could he? in forced proximity of all places? what if she said no? what if she said yes? what if–

“tell me what you’re thinking, rob.” the shortened version of his name wasn’t something you had meant to do, but might stick. you had been meaning to come up with a nickname for him anyway. he would often call you sunshine, due to the fact that any time he saw you, (which was almost always in princeton-plainsboro,) you were quite literally beaming. like, infectiously smiling, beaming. it always brought a flush to your cheeks, but you had never thought anything more of it than playful teasing. 

“well,” he paused, trying to mull over an idea in his head that wasn’t half terrible. “damn, this is going to be bad either way. do you remember how, probably a couple days ago, cameron asked you about me, i’m assuming?”

“i- y’know assuming makes an ass out of you and me?” you teased, but nodded your head. “uh, yeah? why do you know about that?” did cameron set you up? did she just tip chase off about what you had said to her fellow colleague (in secret?)

“i asked her to do that; well more like begged at one point, but that’s not my main worry. i asked her what you thought about me. if you just thought of me as a friend, dare i say it just a colleague, yeah. damn, this is not how i wanted, or even expected to do it.” chase awkwardly chuckled, shaking his head at himself. why was he getting so worked up over it?

“what are you going on about?” you sighed, knowing that he knew. you had told cameron that you could see yourself liking him, but nothing more than that. it was an innuendo, yes, but what could you say? he was an attractive man, to say the least, and he was like your best friend. “did cameron really tell you?” you figured he was out of your league, anyway. 

“yeah, mate. and i just… i don’t even know how to go on about this. jesus.” he muttered, trying to muster up some liquid courage for whatever the hell he was about to tell you. “i really like you, (name). in a more than “professional friendship” kind of way. and yeah, it’s stupid to tell you now, considering that we’re in an elevator together and i have no escape route whatsoever if this backfires on me, but there you go. that’s why i’ve been so close to you, and joking with you, and doing all of the stupidly idiotic things that i do-”

you cut him off as you put your hand up. “be quiet, would you?” you paused, wanting to keep him on his toes, but also needing a minute to think for yourself. he liked you? non-professionally? that was a shocker, at least to you. maybe that was why house was calling you lovebirds…

he looked absolutely terrified in anticipation of your reaction, and wasn’t good at hiding it. were you going to curse him out? to regret whatever the hell was going on between you because you had unintentionally led him on? everything and every outcome was going through his head, until you said-

“yes.” yes. that was all you could say? you had secretly been dreaming about this happening, but didn’t fathom that it could happen outside your closed eyelids and the comfort of a mattress beneath your back. “me too? is that what i’m supposed to say? i’ve been pining over you for ages, chase, and i can’t believe you’re that dense to not notice. house and wilson put a damn bet on me that i would mess something up and make you hate me because i apparently act like a lovesick-”

you went quiet. you were forced to, anyway. a soft pair of lips were against yours in a heartbeat, rendering you speechless. your hands had gone up due to a flight-or-fight response, but slowly lowered once you realized what was going on. and christ, did it feel right.

“puppy.” you finished, your breath stuck in your throat. did he just-

“sorry. got a little carried away with myself, didn’t i?” chase rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling softly. you shook your head at him, taking the collar of his slightly messy, half unbuttoned dress shirt and gently pulled him back in, the two of you meeting in the middle once more.

and, like clockwork, the fucking lights turn on and the elevator door opens.

house stared for a second or two, trying to come up with something to say to the two of you. the two of you had your eyes closed, so it took a minute for you to become aware that the electricity had come back on. 

“ahem?” house cleared his throat, trying to make his presence known. “you know, when cuddy said to put your heads together because you both work in intensive care, i don’t think that’s what she meant. i’m taking the stairs because i don’t want to slip on chase’s ejaculate on my way home.”

both of your faces turned bright red as you laughed, watching house walk away. chase was up on his two feet before you once more, his large hand extended for you to hold onto.

you had stood up with his help, sighing gently at the moment ending. “guess that means we have to go our separate ways, huh?” you slipped your heels back on your feet, picking up your bags. 

“or you can come to mine, and experience the wonderful cuisine of australia while you’re at it? christ, i sound like an idiot, don’t i? i’ll just say it bluntly. do you want to come over and have brekkie with me, sunshine? least i could do.” he couldn’t help but smile as he felt your fingers against his, not pulling them apart once you were upright. 

you smiled back at him, nodding. “yeah, armadillo. i’ll go have brekkie with you.”

Chapter Text

scared together
fem! reader x robert chase
slight cursing, no use of y/n

after the little… incident in the elevator, chase had invited you over for breakfast (brekkie, if you may.) the both of you were exhausted, but maybe some food would give you the much needed energy you were looking for.

he unlocked the door to his small apartment, pushing it open to let you walk in first. it was cozy, much more clean than your apartment had been at the time. it was almost noon at this point, so it would be more of a brunch than an actual breakfast (not that you minded, you were starving at this point).

“thanks.” you muttered softly, the wave of exhaustion hitting you like a ton of bricks. the night shift was not for the weary.

“just sit down, don’t worry about doing anything, alright?” his voice was like a saving grace to you at this point, almost getting dizzy due to your fatigue. the couch hugged you like your mother would after a bad day at school, and all you could do was sigh in content.

“do you want me to make you something you’re used to, or are you feeling audacious today?” it took you a moment to realize that he was talking to you, but nonetheless you answered.

“i can deal with being audacious. whatever you’re in the mood for, i’ll eat. i don’t want to be too much of a burden to you.” your voice was drowsy, eyes heavy and begging for sleep.

soon after, you’re waking up on his couch. there was a blanket draped over your figure, the comforting scent of his cologne filling your senses. your hands instinctively reached up to your eyes, wiping them to try and wake yourself up.

“hey. sorry if i woke you, uh..” he paused, his head peering through the opening of the living room. “do you want to eat now, or wait?”

“i’ll eat now. you’ve waited long enough, haven't you?” you mused, sitting up as you pushed the blanket off of your lap. the smell of food was enough to entice you off of the couch and into the kitchen.

the spread out on the kitchen was a sight to see, especially for someone like yourself who usually didn’t have the time in the morning to prepare anything, save for the horrid on-call room coffee and stale donuts that foreman would bring in every once in a while (which would sit there for a week at a time.) you took a seat across from him, your mouth practically watering at the plates settled right in front of your nose.

“i didn’t know what you would like, so i just made a fry up.” he chuckled softly, gesturing for you to sit down. “have you ever had vegemite? you can’t have breakfast with an aussie and not eat vegemite.”

“vegewhat?” you looked up from the food, a confused look on your face. “and what in the world is that?”

“just try it. do you say grace before eating?” you shook your head, and he nodded back at you. “well, neither do i. here.” he held his hand out, gesturing for your plate before taking it.

“just put whatever on there. at this point, i don’t think i would refuse anything.” you got up, grabbing two mugs off of the rack on his counter, turning back to look at him.

“coffee?” you offered, and he nodded. you started the coffee machine, brewing up some dark roast for the two of you and handed him his mug.

“i gave you a bit of everything, i guess.” chase handed you your plate as you sat back down, mixing your drink with your spoon while politely thanking him. “just trust me on the vegemite. if you absolutely despise it, you don’t have to-”

you picked up the darkly-covered toast, raising it to your mouth as you took a bite. it wasn’t too bad, it was just something you weren’t used to. “do people really hate this?” you covered your mouth as you chewed, and robert simply shrugged.

“you like it?” he raised his eyebrows, and you nodded subtly. “it’s not too bad. i can see why you like it.”

this brought a smile to his face as he took a sip of his coffee, concealing his broken facade from you behind his mug.

✦•〰〰〰〰〰〰•★•〰〰〰〰〰〰•✦

once the two of you had finished eating and cleaning up (much to robert’s dismay,) you were seated on his couch, the tv droning on about something in the background. the blanket had made its way over both of your figures, the silence slowly seeping into the air. someone had to break it.

“robert?” your voice was hesitant as you tore your eyes from the hypnotizing tv screen to look up at him.

“yeah? uh, what is it?” he sounded utterly exhausted, and it hit you that he never took a nap like you did. he was too busy cooking for you while you caught flies.

“well..” you paused, trying to figure out if it was the right time or not. you desperately wanted to know what was going to happen once the two of you went back to work, due to the fact that you were coworkers.

you decided to continue, despite the awkwardness of the upcoming conversation. “what are we? and.. well, if you don’t want to be anything, that’s okay, but i would rather know so i can fill out some idiotic HR forms if need be.” great going. blaming it on paperwork? how smooth of you.

robert seemed a bit taken aback by the question, and stammered a bit as he tried to regain his focus on the topic. “you, i, uh..” he paused, trying to read your facial expression. the hesitation was heavy on his part as he tried to find his words, not wanting to sound like an idiot.

“well, if you want something out of this, uhm..” he tousled his hair, pushing the messy strands out of his face. that was the one thing that always seemed to grab everyone’s attention, that action right there. it made the NICU nurses swoon over him, and even some of the higher-ups wanted a piece of him. if he wanted something between the two of you, he would have to give all of that up, wouldn’t he? was he willing to make that sacrifice? all of the other women swooning over him, done. just like that. could he do it?

“i just wanted to know.” you spoke lightly, shaking your head. “it’s fine, really.” god, was he really this dense? you had made out in the hospital elevator for god's sake. did he really not like you like that? you leaned back against the couch, deciding to drop it for the moment.

the two of you sat in a semi-comfortable silence for maybe five more minutes, staring absentmindedly at the tv together.

he decided to break the silence this time, taking your hand in his. it was warm, and much bigger than yours.

“i do want something. i mean, between us. you know i do. did you not know? i’d always choose to do my rounds at the same time as you, just so i could catch a glimpse of you. i forced foreman to take my second set of rounds so i could have lunch at the same time as you, y’know. and now i feel horribly obsessed with you, and i hope i didn’t make a mistake of doing, y’know, kissing you in the elevator, because i’ve been wanting that for a really long time, and-”

“would you be quiet?” you laughed softly, shaking your head as you looked up at him. he looked nervous as can be, his thumb gently running over the back of your hand to soothe himself. “you don’t have to explain it to me, robert. i can call you that, right?”

“yes- i, uh, yeah. that- that’s fine.” he chuckled out of embarrassment at his actions, sighing gently. “and i can fill out the forms if you really don’t want to do them. i know desk work isn’t your forte.” how did he remember you so well? with some things, it was like he knew you better than you knew yourself.

“no, it absolutely isn’t. and if it makes you feel any better, i got one of the nurses to take my morning shift so i could have the night shift with you last night.” your ears started to turn hot, a slight shade of pink creeping up your cheeks. it was good to know you weren’t the only one who did these kinds of things.

“so i see i’m not the only irrational one in this.. whatever this is.” it was his turn to be embarrassed, not knowing what to label the two of you.

“chase– robert, you don’t have to be so awkward about the whole thing.” you murmured, a small blush creeping up your cheeks due to the flip of the script. usually it was you being flustered around people, not robert. he was always so smooth, so refined with everything that he said, so this was a surprise to you (not that you were complaining.) “but the thing is, i don't blame you. i’m actually terrified, if you'd believe that. we're best friends, and colleagues, and.. also don't want to change anything because i don't want to lose the one person i rely on the most.”

your confession hung in the air for a few moments before he decided to reply, a small smile blessing your sight.

“terrified? what have you got to be terrified about? it’s rational, of course, but you don’t have to be scared of, well whatever it is.” his condolences weren’t very strong, but they were there. “if it makes you feel any better, i’ve been terrified of this moment for ages.”

it fell silent in the small apartment once more, and your gaze went down to the floor. how were you supposed to respond to this?

“we can be scared together, can’t we?” your voice broke the uncomfortable silence once more, and chase couldn’t help but smile down at your request.

“i suppose we could, couldn’t we. i think i’d like that.”

— – – – – – – – – –

no matter how tired you were, you still had to return to work the next day, same shift as always. you were first shift, starting at seven in the morning, and ending at four in the afternoon. you had left robert’s house an hour or two after ‘brekkie’, and left the rest of the day to relax and catch up on your much needed sleep.

you had made it a point to swing by the local cafe that morning, deciding to be nice and grab him a cup of coffee while you were there. he had mentioned that he was lactose intolerant yesterday, so you got him a coffee with two creams and one sugar with oat milk, the way he had told you he liked it.

you walked into princeton-plainsboro teaching hospital with a drowsy feeling, which would soon fade away as you finished your latte, the caffeine sending a buzzing sensation to your brain to get your heart pumping more than usual.

the coffee cup was placed in front of him just as he was about to start brewing himself a cup, saving him from the horrid on-call coffee you were usually subjected to in the early mornings or late nights. he smiled softly at you, accepting the caffeinated drink graciously from you.

“look who’s sucking up today, huh?” he smirked, toasting before he took a sip. “oat milk. you remembered.”

“wouldn’t forget something stupid like that, would i? c’mon, chase, you should know me better than that.” you laughed softly, taking a sip of your drink as well. “i do have to start my rounds now, though. had to hand-deliver it to you before i went off.”

“well, thank you, (last name). i owe you one then, i guess.” he seemed a bit more flustered than usual, but you just took it that you had caught him off guard.

“i’ll see you later, chase.” you smiled softly at him before heading out of the on-call room, a bright blush on your face. how was he able to fluster you so easily?

that was the first time you had interacted with him today. little would you know, you would see him much more than usual.

on a normal day, you would see him maybe once or twice, maybe three times if you were lucky. the cafeteria was the place you saw him the most often, and about 3/7 days of the week you would run into him in the MRI room or be examining a patient at the same time. it seemed to be tenfold today, for whatever reason unbeknownst to you.

during your rounds, he came up silently behind you as you were taking a patient’s blood pressure, scaring the absolute hell out of you. “jesu- oh! doctor chase. scared me for a minute, there.” you laughed it off, but rolled your eyes at him while your back was to the patient. “her blood pressure seems to be going down once more. while you’re here, can you grab some crackers from the cafeteria? saltines, if you can.”

he curtly nodded at you, not saying much of anything while he was in the room. yes, he was in the ICU, but that didn’t give him a reason to be in with you, who worked in the PICU. two completely different professions, which just so happened to overlap every once in a while.

after a few minutes, chase had came back with three packs of saltines, which earned him a soft ‘thank you’ from you. at least he helped you, unlike some people in this industry (gregory house, cough cough).

“thank you, doctor chase. i’ll go update your mom on your condition, alright, sweetheart? you eat those crackers for me, and drink some water.” you spoke kindly to the patient, a nod in response from the younger girl.

you had gone out into the hallway, chase right on your heels. “you scared the shit out of me in there. don’t you have rounds, too?”

he rebutted right back at you, a smirk heavily present on his face. “finished them. thought i would see what you’ve been up to, doctor.” this didn’t help the previous flush on your face, making it worse.

you laughed it off, shaking your head. “well, it’s a bit funny to see you following me around like a lost dog. don’t you think house will be up your ass after yesterday, anyhow?”

“avoidance is a blessing, in this situation. i can go fill in the girl’s mother, if you want to keep doing your rounds.” why did he have to be so sweet to you?

“you really don’t have to- y’know, i won’t argue with you on that. thank you.” you smiled generously, placing a hand on his shoulder in appreciation before moving onto your next patient.

the next time you came across robert was in the mri room, as you waited for the scans to come back on an eleven-year old boy who was having issues with his spine.

you were in the shielding room, typing things onto the computer as you saw chase come in, a small smile rising on your face.

“should i even ask why you’re in here, or did you just miss me that much?” you teased, your eyes heading back to the monitor screens to look at the imaging.

“well, maybe. but i also have a patient that needs an MRI.. did his spinal disc rupture?” he muttered over your shoulder, looking at the scans you had been scrutinizing for the past ten minutes.

you looked up at him, then back down at the scan with a grin on your face. “you’re a genius, robert. thank you.” you got up out of your chair and gave him a small kiss on the cheek before exiting the room, wheeling your patient out.

you didn’t get to see it yourself, but his cheeks had turned a bright red as his fingers glided up to the spot your lips had pressed, his own lips curving upwards.

the final time you had seen him was when you were heading home for the day. it was almost giving you deja vu, the way you repeated your actions every day without fail the same way. you were in your office, collecting your things for the night. purse, computer bag, computer in the bag, your patient files, and your coffee cup which was empty for once.

on your way to the elevator, a small tap was felt on your shoulder as you turned around, the person in front of you making a bright smile paint your face.

of course, it was the one and only robert chase.

“trying to leave without saying goodbye to me, eh? i see how it is, now.” he chuckled softly, his bag in hand as he pressed the ‘down’ button on the elevator. “feels like we just did this yesterday, didn’t we?”

“that we did, chase. that we did.” you smirked, entering the elevator shaft alongside the one who turned your stomach into knots. you pressed the ‘ground floor’ button, leaning against the wall opposite him.

“let’s hope and pray it breaks again. i wouldn’t mind that scenario happening twice in one week.” he murmured towards you, a light pink dust coating his cheeks in the same way it did yours.

“are you just trying to say you want to kiss me again, robert?”

“maybe.” he replied, earning him a grin from you.

“you never have to ask.” you moved closer towards him, your chin tilted up towards his face.

“note to self. never ask to kiss ever again.” his forehead leaned against yours as your lips met in the middle, making your face burn red.

the ding of the elevator rang once more, and the doors opened to reveal an unimpressed house.

“damn you. stairs again, it is. you better be getting real lucky in bed, aussie.”