Disclaimer: David, Katie and Fox own them all – I just wish I had figurines of House and Cuddy to play with. HAHA

A/N: I know there's still one more chapter to 5 Step Plan, but this thought just would not leave my brain… and so I gave in to the temptation and started to type, and well here's what I came up with. This is just the start to give a little background on what has already happened and to lay the foundation for the next few chapters.


Chapter 1

House grunted with pain as he pushed the door leading to the rooftop open. He could have taken the elevator, but he needed to keep his mind occupied, and there was no better way to do that, than to focus on the blinding white pain in his right thigh – self inflicted – when he had chosen to climb up five flights of stairs to get some much needed fresh air. The cold wind settling on his heated face and aching body was a welcome respite, and he breathed in deeply, filling his lungs to capacity with the nippy winter breeze. He scanned the rooftop and was not surprised to find it deserted as usual, and for that he was grateful. He needed time to process the scene he had just witnessed downstairs and the thoughts that had filled his mind after witnessing the dramatic show his boss and her toy boy had displayed in her office.

He walked out further onto the landing and came to a halt at the side of one of the brick housings for what he assumed were the electrical boxes of the hospital. House placed his palms on the concrete roof of the small house and heaved himself up onto it, settling himself comfortably on the cold, hard slab. His leg was still throbbing painfully and House unconsciously rubbed his hand roughly over his jeans clad thigh, now willing the pain to go away. It would have been so easy for him to make his way down to the hospital pharmacy and ask for a few Vicodin pills and popped two to relived the ache in both his thigh and his heart, but House had not spent almost four months in a freaking mental institution and rehab centre to get over his drug addiction or rid him of his hallucinations only to have him start the entire process again with two measly Vicodin pills. No he would get through this without the help of alcohol or drugs; he was stronger than he believed.

"It's a good thing you didn't get pregnant, because you suck as a mom," the words reverberated through his mind as though it were a mantra as House sat in silence, allowing the cold wind to wash over him. He remembered the that day as though it had happened yesterday; he had, had a crappy few weeks, and while he knew what he said to her would hurt her in the most painful way, House knew there was no way he could take back the words that had already passed through his brain filter and rolled so easily off his tongue. Besides for insulting his boss he had punched Chase in the face, angered Cameron for no reason and almost killed a little girl, all because he wanted to prove a damn point to a freaking cop who was in every essence – a jackass of note. Cuddy had even gone as far as perjuring herself in court in order to protect him and insulting her in the most detrimental way possible was the thanks he gave her.

The diagnostician closed his eyes, and tried to calm his mind, hoping to shut out the thoughts that had already infiltrated his over exhausted brain, but he knew it was already too late when the sound of her voice and the next few words sounded in his head. That was the case he had taken, where the middle aged mother had fought tooth and nail to keep her unborn child alive. The photographer had questioned his every decision, his every treatment, everything he stood for when he had told her that in order for her to live she had to kill her 'foetus', but the woman had refused to even let House near her after that. And that was when Lisa Cuddy had stepped in. The patient had been refusing all treatment House had suggested, just in case it would lead to the death of her unborn child and Cuddy saw no other way to save either the woman or the baby she was desperately fighting to keep alive.

"What would you do, Dr Cuddy, if you were faced with the choice of keeping your unborn baby alive or keeping yourself alive?" House had watched his boss's face carefully for any type of reaction, but he was granted with her Administrator's face, and that didn't give him any insight as to her feelings, though in his heart he knew Cuddy would do the same thing his patient was doing – fighting with every cell in her body to keep her 'foetus' alive even though it was killing her.

Her reply though, surprised him, "if there were anyone I would trust to save my baby, it would be Dr House," Cuddy stated clearly. There was no trace of doubt, or uncertainty in her tone. She really did believe that House would do everything in his power to save her baby, and she made it clear to their patient that House would indeed save her kid. The faith that Cuddy had placed in him had scared him to bits, he was not even sure he could do what she was promising their patient…

This memory was replaced with another that had happened a few months after when House had stuck a pocket knife into a wall socket in his office, simply because he wanted to see if what his patient had said was true, that there was something on the other end. What he had not counted on was rendering himself unconscious and landing himself in the ICU for almost two days. He was shocked to learn that Cuddy had spent those entire two days sitting beside him, holding his hand, waiting for him to wake up, and when he finally showed some signs of regaining consciousness she had bolted away, not ready to face him and tell him what a stupid and careless thing he had done.

Then came the bus accident that had claimed the life of his best friend's girlfriend and ultimately caused the temporary break of their friendship, though it did not feel like something impermanent at the time. They had tried everything to help him remember that it was Amber who was on that bus with him. There was hypnosis, tracing his steps of the previous day hell he had even gone as far as trying deep brain stimulation, in his condition to try and remember. That with the use of drugs to keep him awake and alert had finally caused his heart and brain to overwork and he collapsed. He vaguely remembered Cuddy performing CPR on him, giving him the breath of life – her breath of life to keep him alive…

The arrival of Rachel a few months later had turned his world on its axis, and while House did not say anything to Cuddy, he hated the fact that he now had to fight for Cuddy's attention with a damn two month old kid. Things had changed for the worse as soon as Cuddy had taken the little rug rat home, seeing as she had invited all her close friends for her daughter's Simchat Bat but she had purposely not asked him to come, and while he kept up the appearance that he didn't actually give a damn whether he was invited or not, House was hurt that she didn't want him there. He went home, composed a song in her name and drowned himself a sorrow and a bottle of bourbon, which he knew his liver was not too happy with.

House was almost sure though that the thing that finally pushed her over the edge and was her deciding factor in giving up on him were his hallucinations, though she had no idea what exactly they were about. He had been in pain, gone through the entire detoxification process in his mind, with her at his side every step of the way and she had no idea that he thought of her as his heroine, his saviour, his everything.

Well it was not like he could blame her, she was the one who supported him whenever he needed it, and he had never given a second thought to how she would feel when he didn't give her his all. There was nothing he could have used to convince her to wait for him until he returned, and besides, what right did he have to ask her to put her life on hold while he was away trying to get his life back on track? He sighed tiredly, and as he continued to rub his throbbing thigh, the cold was not helping it at all, but hell it was better to have an aching thigh than a breaking heart, he consoled himself.

He was startled from his somewhat relaxed position on the concrete slab when he felt something warm being pushed into the open palm of his hand that was not massaging his thigh. House turned his head to see a silver cup being handed to him, and the smell of bitterly strong coffee permeating into his nose. Grateful for the little warmth someone had without question offered him, House took the mug and a long swing of the strong, steaming liquid, allowing it to race down his throat, and into his stomach, feeling the warmth as it made its way down. A few more warm sips later, House turned his face to see exactly who it was that had offered him a slight bit of warmth in this cold. To say that he was surprised was an understatement of the week.

Sitting cross legged on a folded hospital blanket a few feet away from him was an incredibly young, dark haired, grey eyed woman with long dark hair cascading down her back. House gave her a thorough once over from head to toe, trying to take in everything about her in just one look, not sure if she would permit him a second glance, just in case she knew who he was and whether she believed all the stories floating around the hospital about him. Guessing from her age House had expected her to be wearing scrubs of some colour, either pink for the student nurses, or light blue for the interns but she was not wearing scrubs at all. She wore a bright orange jersey that fit her snugly, an ironed pair of black formal pants that seemed to simply hang off her hips, accenting her figure all the more, and knee high, flat heeled boots to keep the cold from invading her bones through her feet. Her white lab coat was placed next to her, so as to not get creased as she sat in silence.

Even though he had no intention of talking to her House found the words tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"You're sitting in my space," he informed her, his tone not as hard as he thought it would be.

"Yeah? I don't see your name on the slab," she replied, humour colouring her voice.

"Someone removed it while I was… away," he whispered not wanting to think of reaction Cuddy would have had when she finally found out he had used spray paint to print his name on the cement roof.

A few minutes of silence passed and when House was sure the woman was not going to start a conversation he found himself talking again.

"You come out here often?" he asked her. He didn't know why he had asked her that question. He figured it would do him some good to know that if he had to come out here more often if he would be bumping into her or not.

Before she could answer him though, her pager went off and House watched as she carefully, though gracefully made her way off the roof to stand on the landing. House held out his hand to give her, her cup back but the woman gently shook her head.

"It's cold out here, you need it more than I do," she informed him and House watched as she quietly made her way back into the building. He also noted that she had left behind the blanket she was sitting on as well as her lab coat for him, and House smiled to himself. Maybe there were people out there who were not simply out to make more miserable than it already was… That was when he realised that he didn't even know her name, but that wouldn't be much of a problem, seeing as she was part of the PPTH staff now.


Lisa Cuddy groaned at the sight of paperwork littering her desk. It felt as though for every file she had completed and signed off on, four more were put in its place. She had spent the better part of the week doing paperwork and even when she was not looking at her computer screen she could see the numbers swimming in front of her face. She glanced at the clock on her wall and noted it was almost time Rachel to have dinner and settle down for a power nap before her mother got home. Cuddy picked up her phone and started dialling her home number but she stopped in the middle when she saw House walking past her office doors and directly into the clinic.

House had returned from Mayfield almost four months ago, and so far he had not quite managed to tear down the hospital already, she was almost sure he hadn't tried to do it though. Cuddy had fully expected him to start wreaking havoc within the confines of the hospital walls as soon as he got his medical license back but she had not heard so much as a peep from him. She was also quite sure that he had been avoiding her since he had found out about Lucas. Granted, she knew he would not take the news well, but having House avoid her simply because she was in a serious relationship with another man was absurd.

It was not like she could put her life on hold for the four months it had taken for House to detox and recover at Mayfield, and apart from that, she had waited over twenty years for him, and he had not showed any romantic interest in her. Besides, she had not gone out looking for Lucas, he had come to her, they had developed a friendship of sorts and then he had asked her out, and she hadn't looked back since. Looking at him through the double doors of her office, Cuddy could not help the bubble of hurt that rose in her chest. She noticed that his limp was more pronounced now than it was when he had just returned, and she put it down to the stress his leg took now that he walked more without the aid of his cane.

She watched him as he took a patient file from the nurse's station, opened it to read the name on the form, called the patient and then waited for her to make her way to him, before he led her to Exam Room 2. The patient emerged a mere five minutes later, a smile gracing her face and House smiling softly as he handed her a prescription to fill out at the hospital pharmacy. Cuddy's lips automatically turned up in a smile as she watched House's smile grow a little. It was an automatic reaction to his action; it had always been like that. She started with her paperwork once again, hoping that House would at least cause a little trouble in the clinic just so that she could yell at him, challenge him to something, bring back some part of the relationship they shared before he had gone off to Mayfield.

Another two hours passed before Cuddy looked up from the files that were scattered haphazardly across her desk. The sound of her doors opening was what had distracted her and she was about to yell, but stopped when she heard the sweet gurgle of a child. Cuddy looked up to see Lucas standing at her door, holding a beaming Rachel in his arms. She immediately dropped her pen onto her desk and made her way to her daughter, scooping her out of the PI's arms and hugging her to her chest. Rachel, sensing her mother's joy and happiness at seeing her returned the hug and she wound her tiny arms around her mother's neck.

Something outside her office caught her attention and Cuddy looked out the glass doors only to see House staring into her office, his gaze firmly fixed on the little girl currently playing happily in her mother's arms. When she tried to catch his gaze Cuddy saw that he had already turned his attention to another patient in the clinic and was making his way to the empty exam room. She was about to walk out of her office and ask him if he was okay, but stopped two feet before reaching the first of the double doors to her office entrance.

His words sunk into her like lead falling into water and pulling everything it touched with it, and Cuddy gasped as she tried to breathe in lungfuls of air.

"It's a good thing you didn't get pregnant, because you suck as a mother," she remembered the words as though he had said it to her yesterday and Cuddy couldn't stop the tears from making their way to her eyes. She knew he hadn't meant it, he had merely said it because he needed to vent his anger and pain from trying to self detox from the Vicodin because of that jackass Tritter. Still it hadn't hurt any less and it had taken many months before she had finally comet o terms with what he had told her as she sat in the changing room shower, the tears running down her face and the seven year old girl laying limp in her arms.

"Hey are you okay?" she heard Lucas ask her, his voice soft yet hard.

"Yeah, I'm good," she turned to face him, but not before dabbing the corners of her eyes to get rid of the tears that had settled there.

"What did House do now?" Lucas asked, and Cuddy could hear the edge in his voice.

"He didn't do anything Lucas, if anything he's been playing by the rules. And why is it that every time something goes wrong you immediately think it's all House's fault?" she asked him, wanting to know exactly why he kept trying to blame things on House. Cuddy was beginning to feel like Lucas was out to get House, but House was simply not interested in playing any of the games the PI had wanted to lure him into.

He sneered before he started speaking again, "Yeah, that's just like you Lisa, you fight his battles for him or you defend him till the death," he said as he made his way to the sofa in the corner of her office.

"I am not fighting his battles or defending him, Lucas. The truth is that he hasn't done anything to piss me off, or stress me out or keep me at work till odd hours of the morning. Quite frankly I don't see the problem with that, seeing as it leaves me more time to spend with Rachel and you," she informed Lucas hotly, her voice rising with every word.

"Can you tell me, Lisa, if there ever was a day when House didn't upset you or make you cry or frustrate the hell out of you?" he asked her and Cuddy had to suppress a smile at the memories that made its way, unbidden to her mind.

A few weeks after he had told her she'd suck as a mother, House had helped with treating a patient who was on the same flight as they were. They had assumed whatever illness the man was suffering from had been contagious, and that she had contracted it by touching him, but House was the one who had convinced her that it was a simple misunderstanding and that she really was not dying. That had been a huge moment for them, and it had certainly made her day.

Then he had come to comfort her after her adoption of Joy fell through, and while it was not the best of actions he could have taken, Cuddy knew that was the only way he knew how to comfort her in her time of pain and sorrow. Sure he had dismissed the kiss as nothing, but she knew he had filled it with love and emotion and everything he wanted to tell her in words but found it difficult to express to her.

He had also saved her hospital from a lunatic gunman who had entered her office looking for her, but finding House instead. She had never been so terrified in her life, but as usual House had come through with barely a scratch on him and for that Cuddy was thankful.

And finally and most importantly he had gotten her med-school desk out of storage and had it delivered to her office once it had been redone. She had known it was him that had it done because the only two other people who knew about the desk were herself and her mom, and her mother didn't have a clue that she was redoing her office. Those had been small gestures to show his caring and appreciation and Cuddy understood it, because she knew he didn't do well with grand gestures.

"No, I can't," she answered after a long silence and Lucas smiled as though he was expecting that answer.

"I thought as much," Cuddy felt like she wanted to slap him, though she kept her anger in check. Lucas had no idea of the relationship she and House shared, and even though she had made the mistake of revealing House's hallucinations to Lucas Cuddy had no desire to tell him any more about the special friendship she hoped she and House still shared.

"Hey sweetie, are you hungry?" she turned her attention to Rachel after Lucas's phone had begun to ring. Rachel smiled at the sound of her mother's voice and bounced in her arms, just happy to be near her mother. Cuddy pulled out a small tub of yogurt and a teaspoon as settled Rachel down on the floor and then positioned herself next to her daughter, getting ready to give the little spawn a healthy snack.

"Anyway," Lucas started after a short silence, "I'm going to be out of town for work. I'm not sure when I'll be getting back," he continued when he didn't hear her say anything to counter his decision.

"I'll see ya soon Rachel," he said to the toddler seated comfortably on her mother's couch, eagerly waiting for her next spoonful of food before he leaned over Cuddy's shoulder to plant a soft kiss atop her head and waited until Cuddy had turned to face him. If he had been expecting Cuddy to kiss him goodbye, his expectation was dashed when she continued to feed Rachel and only mumbled a hurried goodbye and stay safe to him.

She had no idea what the hell just happened…


It was just past seven when House gathered up his belongings and made his way out of his office after switching off his computer and IPod. He chanced a look in the direction of Wilson's office, and was not surprised to see the oncologist had already closed up and gone home. With his cane firmly gripped in his right hand, House made the journey to the elevator at the opposite end of the passage. He found that no matter how hard he tried his just could not get the picture of Domestic Bliss in Cuddy's office out of his head. When he had first come back from Mayfield he had hoped Cuddy would still be there for him, not exactly waiting with open arms for him, but available nonetheless. Now though, he knew better, that hoping and dreaming would only lead to disappointment, and that he had lost her forever.

He was so lost in thought he had not realised that he was already making his way through the clinic and toward the exit doors and he bumped into someone as he walked. He looked up, surprised to see Cameron's concerned gaze already assessing his body for any damage, even though House was fine.

"Sorry, didn't see you there," she apologised after making sure he was not hurt in any way.

""Yeah, seems to be the norm these days," he replied, not really angry at her but taking his frustration out on his former employee simply because there was no one else he could take it out on. He noted the confused look on her face, but he didn't bother explaining anything to her, he simply picked up his cane and started walking toward the exit doors.

He felt Cuddy's presence as he made his way out, but he didn't bother to look back at her, she had made her choice and that was something they both were going to have to deal with.

Cuddy finally dropped the pen onto the stack of papers littering her desk and decided that she had, had enough. She neatened her desk somewhat, put all the documents she thought were important into her bag and gathered up her daughter's toys before she picked up her sleeping daughter in her arms and made her way out of her office. She came to an abrupt halt, though, when she saw House standing in the foyer of the hospital talking to Cameron, and she watched interestedly as Cameron looked him over. Cuddy knew Cameron was over House, she had been for a long time and that she was now happily married to Chase, but that did not stop the feeling of jealousy that made its presence known in her chest.

The thought of her being jealous was absurd though, she was with Lucas right? And had everything she wanted, everything she had worked so hard to get. A man who could make her happy, a man who would make a great dad to her kids, a man who would always be there for her… What more could she possibly have asked for, and yet, as she watched House and Cameron exchange a few words she suddenly felt like there was something missing. She felt Rachel move and it spurred her to start walking again, passing Cameron a few minutes later. She was tempted to ask the blonde woman what House had told her, but decided against it – this was a conversation she had to have with House himself in the privacy of either her home or his.


Please let me know if you guys would like me to continue this fic.