Jan. 18th, 2008 10:51 pm
Ashes to Ashes
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lovely_ambitionTitle: Ashes to Ashes
Fandom: House M.D.
Pairing: None
Prompt: Earth
Word Count: 806
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: 'Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust'. Chase might not be born-again, but he has enough faith to defend his religion.
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”
“What?” Chase asked, glancing up from his medical texts, researching all the rheumatologic reasons of why a person could possibly be on death’s door for what seemed to be a simple cold and suddenly, House was quoting the Bible to him. It didn’t take more than a single second for Chase to kick himself for even acknowledging House. If he’d just been quiet, then Foreman could have gotten the diagnostics going.
But no, he had to speak, he had to say something.
House flipped his book shut and Chase inwardly groaned and let his head collapse into his hands. House had a copy of the Bible in his hand, waving it around like a prop.
“Foreman, get the kid on steroids,” House commanded. “Thy God hath spoken,” he added heavily when Foreman didn’t make a move to get out of the room. Chase had the distinct feeling of being a one-man firing line, sitting there and waiting for the inevitable, for daring to speak up at the random burst of House’s brilliant sadism. He dared to give House another look into his personal life.
Normally, Chase was so good about keeping himself closed off, a Great Wall not visible from space so much as blocking out anything that he couldn’t and didn’t want to deal with.
“What I’m curious about is what you told our little patient yesterday,” House said, dropping his copy of the Bible into Chase’s lap from a high enough distance to make a ‘thump’ of a noise as it came crashing down. “You said, and correct me if this is off... ‘whatever happens, I believe that God knows if we have faith in the end.’”
“He’s Catholic,” Chase got out through gritted teeth.
“Does that mean you’re not going to be born again?” House asked, no...almost demanded. He had that utterly persuasive nature to him. “I’d even bought the white robes! We could have used Cuddy’s bathtub for the baptism!”
“I was just trying to reassure him.”
“By telling him that his body’s going to rot into the ground while his soul takes a flying trip around the world?” House asked evenly.
Maybe Chase didn’t have enough faith to get him through seminary or even to feel as if he were welcome inside a church. Maybe he was doomed to a life in the shadows, always knowing that faith in God was around the corner, but he wasn’t brave enough to take the turn into the unknown. Maybe he wouldn’t ever be the man he thought he would be one day, with God’s sacraments behind him and making him capable of dealing with anything the world had to offer.
Maybe he didn’t have that much faith, but he said three prayers each night, just three. An Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Psalm to ask for strength. He had enough faith to believe that their bodies didn’t just rot, didn’t just become physical manifestations and didn’t believe that no one’s influence lasted beyond the grave.
“It’s spirituality, House,” he said, more clipped than usual.
“Spirituality you share?”
Chase winced and hung his head as he picked up both his medical texts and the Bible and set them in a perfectly neat pile on the desk, slowly getting up to see if he could escape without actually answering the question. Eventually, he did turn around, one hand on the door and one foot out in the hall. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Because it reminds us where we came from and that one day, we’ll be back there. That God’s always been with us, whether we’re as insignificant as a single mote or as a multi-celled human being doing his works.” It was spoken low and said evenly and his eyes never once met House’s. “Because we’re all the same in the end. Not worthless, not just a physical thing we walk on every day, but the rich and the poor and everyone in between is the same in the beginning and the same in the end, and that doesn’t matter to God. So long as you have faith.”
He left as he exhaled a deep breath, not exactly sure if what he’d just said qualified as a reinvestment in faith.
But it was a start.
That night, instead of a Psalm for wisdom, he offered the soft words of a passage he had long since memorized. These trials only test your faith to see whether or not it is strong and pure. Your faith is being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it. And your faith is far more precious to the Lord than pure gold; so if your faith remains strong after being tested, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day of His return.
end
Fandom: House M.D.
Pairing: None
Prompt: Earth
Word Count: 806
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: 'Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust'. Chase might not be born-again, but he has enough faith to defend his religion.
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”
“What?” Chase asked, glancing up from his medical texts, researching all the rheumatologic reasons of why a person could possibly be on death’s door for what seemed to be a simple cold and suddenly, House was quoting the Bible to him. It didn’t take more than a single second for Chase to kick himself for even acknowledging House. If he’d just been quiet, then Foreman could have gotten the diagnostics going.
But no, he had to speak, he had to say something.
House flipped his book shut and Chase inwardly groaned and let his head collapse into his hands. House had a copy of the Bible in his hand, waving it around like a prop.
“Foreman, get the kid on steroids,” House commanded. “Thy God hath spoken,” he added heavily when Foreman didn’t make a move to get out of the room. Chase had the distinct feeling of being a one-man firing line, sitting there and waiting for the inevitable, for daring to speak up at the random burst of House’s brilliant sadism. He dared to give House another look into his personal life.
Normally, Chase was so good about keeping himself closed off, a Great Wall not visible from space so much as blocking out anything that he couldn’t and didn’t want to deal with.
“What I’m curious about is what you told our little patient yesterday,” House said, dropping his copy of the Bible into Chase’s lap from a high enough distance to make a ‘thump’ of a noise as it came crashing down. “You said, and correct me if this is off... ‘whatever happens, I believe that God knows if we have faith in the end.’”
“He’s Catholic,” Chase got out through gritted teeth.
“Does that mean you’re not going to be born again?” House asked, no...almost demanded. He had that utterly persuasive nature to him. “I’d even bought the white robes! We could have used Cuddy’s bathtub for the baptism!”
“I was just trying to reassure him.”
“By telling him that his body’s going to rot into the ground while his soul takes a flying trip around the world?” House asked evenly.
Maybe Chase didn’t have enough faith to get him through seminary or even to feel as if he were welcome inside a church. Maybe he was doomed to a life in the shadows, always knowing that faith in God was around the corner, but he wasn’t brave enough to take the turn into the unknown. Maybe he wouldn’t ever be the man he thought he would be one day, with God’s sacraments behind him and making him capable of dealing with anything the world had to offer.
Maybe he didn’t have that much faith, but he said three prayers each night, just three. An Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Psalm to ask for strength. He had enough faith to believe that their bodies didn’t just rot, didn’t just become physical manifestations and didn’t believe that no one’s influence lasted beyond the grave.
“It’s spirituality, House,” he said, more clipped than usual.
“Spirituality you share?”
Chase winced and hung his head as he picked up both his medical texts and the Bible and set them in a perfectly neat pile on the desk, slowly getting up to see if he could escape without actually answering the question. Eventually, he did turn around, one hand on the door and one foot out in the hall. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Because it reminds us where we came from and that one day, we’ll be back there. That God’s always been with us, whether we’re as insignificant as a single mote or as a multi-celled human being doing his works.” It was spoken low and said evenly and his eyes never once met House’s. “Because we’re all the same in the end. Not worthless, not just a physical thing we walk on every day, but the rich and the poor and everyone in between is the same in the beginning and the same in the end, and that doesn’t matter to God. So long as you have faith.”
He left as he exhaled a deep breath, not exactly sure if what he’d just said qualified as a reinvestment in faith.
But it was a start.
That night, instead of a Psalm for wisdom, he offered the soft words of a passage he had long since memorized. These trials only test your faith to see whether or not it is strong and pure. Your faith is being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it. And your faith is far more precious to the Lord than pure gold; so if your faith remains strong after being tested, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day of His return.
end
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