#Thinking about Chase getting fired opened up a gigantic can of worms and somehow led me to Amber and House's talk in Don't Ever Change

[ljblueteak]

Thinking about how Chase getting fired is discussed & seen by Chase, Cameron, House and the candidates for the new team (where Amber, Cole, and Taub separately raise the subject with him).

Chase: Seems to have accepted House’s "Because you've been here the longest, learned all you can, or you haven't learned anything at all... either way, it's time for a change" explanation from Human Error (3x24). He tells Cameron that "[House is] right; it's time for a change” when she meets up with him later in the episode.

He does also tell Cameron that "the why doesn't matter"—it was time for a change no matter what brought it about—but when Cole asks him in Guardian Angels (4x4) whether it was a "mistake" to always "put up with [House's] crap," Chase says "It was irrelevant" and that "He'll fire you either way. Eventually." My read on that (at least right now) is that he realized that he wasn't supposed to be a permanent member of House's staff and he'd have had to go eventually.

House also would have offered him his spot back in The Right Stuff (4x02) even though he had the reputation of going along with House's "crap" when he worked for him, so it seems that having put up with him really wasn't relevant. And Chase probably knew about Cameron's bet with House re: getting Cole to fight him, which is another reason the "putting up with" conversation might not have been relevant. There was more going on than Cole realized.

That's not to say Chase is 100% chill about having been fired. He doesn't want back on House's team and his instinct is to avoid getting involved in any of House's drama. Still, the show makes a point of demonstrating that he's not harboring thoughts of vengeance or out to make House miserable.

Cameron: She tries to reassure Chase in Human Error, telling him, "You know House firing you has nothing to do with you?"

She does also bring up the firing in The Itch (5x07)

Chase: You gonna keep working on this? Cameron: Yeah. I brought in the case. Chase: There is no case. He's gone. You've been tossed. This is totally nuts. Cameron: He's incredibly sick. We don't know — Chase: Forget about the patient. What is going on with you? This is why we left House's team to avoid this constant flood of pure craziness. Cameron: That's why I left House. You got fired.

I'm... not convinced that's why Cameron left. Anyway, she was annoyed when she threw being fired in Chase's face and she was trying to hurt him, but I doubt she was trying to hurt him that badly. If she'd thought Chase considered it an open wound, I don't think she'd have said it. And it's interesting that Chase himself has gotten to the point here where he's glossing over the whole involuntary nature of his departure. He definitely doesn't seem to be licking his wounds.

House: Despite very strongly believing that it's his team/his choice in terms of who's on it, and despite denying to Wilson that he feels guilty about firing Chase, The Right Stuff makes it clear he misses the original trio despite his attempts to deny it. I don't think we're supposed to buy that Chase really is just "someone [House] used to know." Wilson says re: picking a new team, "I think you're going to choose people for reasons that have nothing to do with their skills. I think you're going to choose people just because you can't stand them. Because if you like them, well, that's just, stressful." And House stares somewhat wistfully at the empty space where Chase used to be when he takes off after providing a diagnosis (and shakes his head "no" to the idea of working for House again.)

In that same episode, House tells the people competing to be on his team, "So here we are. The big moment. Which of you gets to live to be abused another day? And which of you goes home and rationalizes being fired as character building?" Sure, it's not directly related to Chase, but it's an acknowledgment that being fired doesn't feel great.

The conversation he has with Amber in Don't Ever Change (4x12) where he accuses her of sticking around in the hopes that he'll change his mind about firing her is also not about Chase, but...Chase is another blond doctor who stuck around Princeton because of his love life after having been fired by House.

In Don't Ever Change, House tries out and rejects the idea that Amber would have stuck around in the hopes that House would realize he'd made a mistake:

House: You just wanna stay in my orbit 'cause you figure I'll eventually realize that I made a mistake and you're gonna be able to rub my face in it. Amber: I can't wait. It's gonna be awesome. House: No, it's not. And you know it's not. 'Cause you know that even if I made a mistake, I'd never admit that I made a mistake. Which means that you're just toying with Wilson to toy with me.

But...he does look like he's ready to take Chase back by 4x02. He's not saying the words, "I made a mistake in firing Chase," but Amber wouldn't have been totally out of bounds in thinking that sticking around might have worked out for her. It would have for Chase. But at this point, both Amber and Chase have moved on anyway. House also considers vengeance as a motive for Amber, but he never does for Chase.

Interestingly, he overhears Cole and Chase talking about Chase's firing and is right there when Taub pressures Chase into performing surgery by claiming he'll spread the (false) word that Chase refused to work on the patient because he was angry about House having fired him and he doesn't jump in with any commentary of his own in either case.

He does yell "I could have you fired" At Chase in 97 Seconds (4x03), but imo it's pretty clear he wouldn't, actually, and Chase isn't phased.

The New Team:

They were probably already having a hard time figuring out what would get you fired and what wouldn’t because early on, you could get fired for sitting in the wrong row but you might *not* get fired for setting a patient on fire or making a mistake that contributed to a patient's death. They must have been really, really curious about what was going on with House and Chase. Chase had been on the team the longest and had been fired because....why? And when they first encounter him, House looks at him to see if he'll take the job back?

House tells Thirteen, Kutner and Taub that they need to stop worrying so much about getting fired in Frozen (4x11), but after the games and after what happened with Chase—and House's apparent nonchalance about the possibility of Cameron getting fired in that episode—how easy would that be to do?

I do love that the conversation with Amber in 97 Seconds establishes that Chase doesn’t think House is wrong even when he no longer works for him:

Amber: Do you think House could be wrong? Chase: I thought he fired you. Amber: No, he fired the men. Chase: I don't think he's wrong. Amber: If he is, how would I prove it? Chase: Just said I don't think he is. Amber: Well, thinking isn't good enough. Chase: You'd have to run a blood test for anti-centromere antibodies.

and also shows that he’s really not feeling vengeful:

Amber: Would you mind running the labs? Chase: You can't. Amber: Well, I can, but... Chase: No, I was making a statement. You've been fired, so you no longer have lab privileges. You weren't coming here for advice, you were coming here to con a favor to save your job. Sorry. I'm not working for him any more, but he can still make my life miserable. Amber: You have a chance to make his life miserable. Chase: I'm insulted. You conned Cameron by appealing to her humanity. Amber: I told her what she wanted to hear. Chase: And you told me what you thought I wanted to hear. Amber: If it's any consolation, I think your motives are more interesting. Chase: I cannot believe he fired you. Go draw his blood. Meet you in the lab when I'm done here.

He knows what Amber's up to from the beginning and winds up being impressed by her and how she gets things done—and that, imo, is what convinces him to do her this favor. He also starts out saying House can still make him miserable—and indeed, House proves he can still make former fellows miserable—i.e. Cameron in Frozen—but that's just an excuse because he generally doesn't want to be involved. He isn't phased at all by House threatening to have him fired later.

The situation with Taub in Games (4x09) is another case where Chase demonstrates he's not vengeance-motivated and is ultimately impressed by someone trying to manipulate him to get on the team.

House: We want to look at his heart. With our eyes. Chase: So I kill the patient on my operating table. You get to keep testing your team and I take the heat from Cuddy. House: If it goes that way, yeah, that'll be excellent. Taub: His respiratory status is through the floor. If there's a vessel and we don't remove it fast, best case, he's on a ventilator for life. House: Granted, it'll be a short one. Who do you think I should hire? Chase: You want me to tell you in front of him? House: It would be rude to ask him to leave now. Taub: If you don't do the surgery, patient will die. You'll have had nothing to do with it. And everyone will know that you had nothing to do with it. And everyone will know that it's because you were pissed off at House for firing you. Chase: You know that's not why I'm saying "no"… Taub: But that's how it's gonna play out. Chase: Keep him and Amber. You'll get stuff done. Prep him for surgery.

I'm wondering to what extent Taub and Amber may have talked, because Taub's trying to impress House here but also possibly trying to impress Chase, who's just given the impression that Taub might not be on his list of hires. If Amber let on in any way that Chase responded well to her coming clean about her attempt to con him, then maybe Taub decided it was a risk worth taking to win him over, too. And it worked. Chase not only agrees to do the surgery but he also recommends Taub and Amber to House and doesn't seem to harbor any ill will toward them for what they pulled (or tried to pull) on him.

He was very possibly not entirely serious about the recommendation and also might not have really thought House would take his advice, but considering that Chase often thought House was correct in terms of diagnoses, he may have genuinely thought that it would be more important to have new people on the team who could clear paths for House. And actually, that would've been a new-ish quality on the team. The original team would do your garden variety B&E and pretend to be the CDC on the phone, but I don't really see any of them, even Chase, doing what Taub did to Chase here or doing some of the things Amber did.

Something like blackmailing a surgeon was something House did to help Chase in The Mistake (2x08) but iirc it was kind of beyond what we saw the original team coming up with themselves in order to get things done (Yes, there was Vogler, but something the Tritter arc cements is the idea that Chase isn't going to feed someone information in order to save himself again, and the Vogler circumstances were very particular.)

And again, no one in that scene between Chase, House, and Taub in Games thinks that Chase is actually refusing—or would refuse—to operate because he's "pissed at House."

At the end of the day, and certainly by Chase (8x12), Chase is probably 98.9% sure House wouldn't ever fire him again. Especially after he murdered someone. But he also knows that even if House did fire him, he'd be okay.