Whether people really took notice or not, it was clear that Doctor Remy Hadley, who was known as "Thirteen" by her colleagues that worked with her at Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey, was nothing like the other doctors. There was a clear divide between her and everyone that she had met while on-board with Dr. Gregory House's team. But Remy stood out, still. She was a young woman, in her mid-twenties, who had what others considered to be somewhat of a bittersweet advantage of life. Remy Hadley knew when she was going to die; not an exact date and time, of course, but within a few years, she figured she could probably narrow it down to a couple of months at best. In all predictions, it was clear that she'd be lucky to see forty candles on her birthday cake.

All of her life, Remy knew that she wanted to be a doctor at heart. Her mother was cursed with Huntington's and died from it shortly after the disease went into full-affect. Remy had that feeling in the pit of her stomach that she would most likely end up just like her mother, but ignored that thought - instead she studied medicine and worked her ass off for years to become a doctor and help others. However, by the predicament that her disrespectful boss put her into, she had to either get tested or lose her job that she worked so hard to earn in the first place. Thirteen took the test, and the results were positive for her having the dominant gene of Huntington's disease. She knew her life was doomed.

Depression definitely took its toll on her, and the only way she found herself to cope with the knowing of her shortened life, was to go out and stay up all night taking drugs and partying until she could hardly stand up, and let's not leave out where she brought strangers into her home night after night and became involved with them sexually only as one-night-stands. Most of those strangers were women. With a close-call on a one-night-stand that almost ended her hospital career, followed by a near kidney failure from taking drugs that worked against her body and almost killed her, Remy tried her very best to straighten up and take it a day at a time. She finally got the hint that all of her partying and illegal doses of the drugs caused her short life-span to become even shorter. Now she'd be lucky to see past thirty-five. Those first months without partying and drugs really made her spiral even further into depression, she'd get angry quickly and her nerves would be all messed up. But she surpassed those feelings in time when she got herself a pet dog. She named her after her mother, Anne. The sad thing about it is that the dog died four days later.

It might have been just the cheap shot of bad luck, but she pegged it to be the ironic fate that she too was to face. The Huntington's disease would destroy her bit by bit. It had already started with the small symptoms. She became anti-social, fidgeted at times, and was easily irritated. Thirteen would feel nauseous and would drop things that she was holding at random occasions. To one who didn't know what the curse of the disease was capable of, it was basically losing all ability to function. There was no cure and the only thing that one could possibly do, was to take medicine to slow it down and gain some extra time on life.

"Sit back and relax, we will be leaving for Bangkok in just a few moments." The pilot of the plane announced over the intercom. Everyone on the plane was just getting settled and situated for when it was time to take off. And there she was, Remy Hadley, sitting by a window and looking out at the large runway as her doubts started to take over. Leaving like this, it seemed right at the time, but now…

'Is this what I should be doing?'

One of the flight attendants took notice of her comfortless look. The woman had seen that similar look hundreds of times before; however, not to this degree. "Excuse me, Miss?" Remy instantly snapped out of her train of thought and looked at the older woman in uniform.

The lady stood before Remy with a look of great concern. "Miss," She repeated again, "I'm sorry to disturb you, but you appear uncomfortable. Is everything alright?"

"Oh, um…" Remy paused, furrowing her brows as she bit her lower lip, trying to decide for herself if she was truly okay or not. "I don't think…I should be here, on this flight." The words poured out from her faster than her mind could comprehend. But there it was, clear as day. She knew that she should get off that flight and get back home to her apartment, at least to figure things out. Something was keeping her back, she just didn't know what.

"I see…Well we still have a few moments before we secure the plane to take off…You may go if you wish." The lady with a generous smile informed her.

"Okay. Thanks." Remy got up and stepped on over to get her luggage from the compartment above the set of seats. That's when her worst nightmare was once again kicking in, that painful reminder that she wasn't healthy. The flight attendant saw the young woman's hand trembling as she tried to grip the suitcase by the handle. Even she could pick up that something was wrong with her, something devastating.

"Here, let me help you with that." The older woman stepped in and assisted Remy with the suitcase and led her to the doorway of the great mechanical bird. After brief goodbyes, Remy walked towards the front of the busy airport to haul herself a cab back to her apartment.

"What is wrong with me?" She whispered to herself; as she watched the plane that she had been on just moments before, take off to Bangkok. There went her chance to escape this city and the people in it, and she didn't take it…Why?

Once she managed to get herself a cab and told the guy where to take her, she pulled out her phone and dialed a particular number and placed the phone to her ear, waiting for an answer. "Wilson…I, didn't go. I couldn't." Wilson, being on the other line, was quite grateful of that news. He tried to get her to realize that she was needed there, but his attempt failed. He was, however, ecstatic by the fact that she decided on her own to not go.

"So this means you'll go back to work with House?" He seemed quite hopeful.

"I…don't know."

The morning started off to Rachel's little cries to inform her mother that she was awake and needed a fresh diaper. The baby-sitter arrived just a half hour later when Lisa had finished feeding and dressing the toddler for the day. "You know the drill; call me if there are any problems. I should be home by 9:30, tonight." Lisa said with a reassuring smile right before kissing her baby goodbye and made her way to work. Things had been pretty hectic due to the changes to the Diagnostics team and it kept her quite busy these days.

They were one short of a complete team, for Dr. Hadley was fired by Foreman. Everything was pretty blurred in the fellowship, but she knew that things had to be fixed, immediately. Lisa never gave Dr. Hadley much credit, especially in the beginning where her foolish mistake caused a patient and a dog to die.

But…As time passed by, she noticed Dr. Hadley's greatest strengths and also saw the spark in House's eyes that told her that he actually liked her, as a person and a fellow doctor. Given, there were some things that she didn't approve of about the young woman. She had been into drugs and her partying level was going over the top; not to mention the fact that she had been involved briefly with a patient of the hospital. Nevertheless, the team just didn't seem right without her. Something had to be done, and soon.

"Good morning," said a few of the nurses when Cuddy first walked in and signed some papers at the main desk. She said her brief hellos and went directly into her office to deal with her morning messages. By the third hour into her work schedule, she was roaming the halls and making sure that everyone was on task. Only one team was missing though, of course it was the one team she was most worried about. So, she visited the next best thing.

With a double-knock, she entered the office to find Wilson just hanging up the phone. The look on his faced instantly caused her to be suspicious. Her brow arched slightly as she stood tall, "Should I even ask?"

"Ah, well if you must know, that was Thirteen. And let me guess why you're in here to begin with, you can't find House. Correct?" The guy appeared on the top of his game today.

"Uh, yeah…I can't find any of them and that makes me worried…Wait, I thought Dr. Hadley was for Thailand?"

"We all did, but she changed her mind at the last minute. Good thing, too. She's needed here; that is…If she decides to return to work here. I'd check the clinic for the team. As for House…That soap opera of his should be on right about now, right?"

Cuddy nodded briefly and made her way out of the office, and went onward to search for House. Her mind lingered on what Wilson had said about Remy, though. She was still in Princeton, but was she going to return? She didn't know why, but the Dean wanted to see to it that Remy was back to work. A call was in order, or maybe, a visit.

It was odd, stepping back into that lonely apartment of hers. Nothing changed from how she left it the previous night. She was so sure that she wouldn't see this place again for months…or maybe longer. All she had here was the chance to go back to work for House. And now, there she was, sitting on her couch with the phone in her hand, debating, whether to call up that brilliant yet mischievous fool known as her old boss.

'No, I can't. I can't work there. I refuse.'

She sighed after a few moments of thinking. Was she too afraid? No, she was just greatly confused as to why she didn't want to go to Bangkok. She missed a great opportunity to escape, but didn't take it. The morning turned to evening right before her eyes. Everything was quite peaceful, but her mind was the complete opposite at the moment. Usually when she felt like this, she would go out and party the pain away. Her will to do so was growing stronger, and yet, something was holding her back.

Knock, knock.

The young woman hadn't expected any company, so she figured it to be either Wilson or House. Dear God if it was House, she didn't know what she would do. He would ask questions, mentally badger her, and wouldn't leave without an answer that he could agree with. Or he would just get bored and leave whenever he wanted to.

But her guesses were completely wrong.

Her eyes widened slightly the moment she opened the door to reveal the person who had been knocking. "Hello Dr…I mean, Remy. May…I come in?" Cuddy smiled. Remy was completely taken off-guard, yet she stepped aside and motioned for her to come in.

"Lovely place you have."

"Thanks…What are you doing here?" She asked bluntly, wondering if Wilson put her up to this.

The graceful Dean of Medicine turned on her heel to face the younger woman with a serious look, getting right down to business. "Well, I am here to see if you want to return to Princeton Plainsboro. I'm sure you've heard it from House, and Wilson; but now you're hearing it from me. You are a good doctor and I think you complete the team. It's not the same without you."

"Wow, this is a whole new low. Even for you; as I do recall, you didn't like me from the start. Don't think I didn't know that the only reason you told House to hire me was because I'm a woman." Maybe it was too harsh, but she couldn't help but get angry. Her mind was a mess about everything right now, and things just seemed topsy-turvy. Not to mention, her blood was boiling and dying for some type of release; and here was this so-called Dean of Medicine to put more pressure on her to return to her old job.

"I'm not here to argue with you. I'm here to tell you that my offer won't last forever. I find you valuable to the fellowship. However, I can't wait around for months just so you can make up your mind." The Dean stepped closer to Remy, making full eye contact. "Can we at least sit and talk this over, like mature adults?"

After a brief minute of silence, Remy nodded in agreement. "Okay, fine. Anything I can get you? I have water, soda, wine, or something stronger?" She was already making her way into the kitchen.

"Wine, please?" Cuddy called out to her as she took a seat on the couch, crossing one leg over the other and glanced around at her surroundings. The place seemed so empty, as if there wasn't a single hint of Remy's personality in the place. She knew the younger woman was a very mysterious person, but this was taking it a bit too far.

Within moments, Remy returned with two wine glasses and a freshly opened bottle. She seated herself on the other end of the couch and poured wine in both glasses and handed one to Cuddy, who thanked her and accepted the drink.

Remy took the first swig of the two, and had emptied half of her glass in no time. When she first glanced at the clock, it read 6:00, and after some mindless chit-chat and getting to know the Dean better, it was 8:45. The time flew right by; now that was surprising. Who knew she'd actually enjoy Cuddy's company. They even joked around and had a few laughs during their time together.

The bottle was empty and both ladies only had a little wine left. Cuddy picked up on the fact that her visit was almost reaching the end, for she needed to go home and take care of her daughter. So she brought up the 'work' factor once again. "Now, can I ask why you don't want your job back?" Cuddy questioned before she sipped away the last of her wine.

"Well…I was fired. By Foreman. The guy I thought I could actually trust and count on. He fired me because he felt threatened by me… I can't work with him." Her body tensed up, as she took the last swig of her wine to calm herself down. Both women placed their glasses on the table and continued on with the conversation.

"House is back, Foreman isn't technically in charge…"

"It doesn't matter. Foreman's still there. I made the mistake of trusting him in the first place; working with him again would just make things awkward for the both of us."

Remy actually thought she had found someone to be there for her, to see her through the darkness that awaited her at every turning point. And for him to betray her like that, for his own personal gain…It was just disgusting, and heartbreaking. Lisa licked her lips and suddenly placed her hand on the younger woman's shoulder. It seemed that every time Lisa would see any hint of emotion from the woman, it was always sadness and despair. It was as if she wanted to do something, anything, to make a meaningful smile appear on her lips. "Is there anything I could do to make you change your mind?" Her tone was soft, yet so powerful.

'What the hell?'

Remy felt goose-bumps soar through her body like electricity; the source being the hand that was placed on her shoulder. Lisa's hand. That one touch was setting her body on fire and the lines of being professional and being personal were blurred.

"Sleep with me."