A/N: This story is timed between "Nobody's Fault" and "Chase". It's a quieter family moment between brother and sister. House and Susan once again learn and grow from each other and a special bond develops between the men in Susan's life. Not so much angst in this story, so I hope you'll still like it. I know that I usually post the entire story in one sitting, but I'm doing this during work breaks so I don't know if I'll get it up all today or not.

Nobody has really asked if I will continue to write after the show ends, but I thought I would take a moment to answer the question anyway. It all depends on what happens in cannon. I know for a fact that there will be at least one more story regardless of what happens in the actual show. If they decide to terminate House's existence, then it will be hard for Susan's story to continue. If they allow him to live, then her story can go on in its own universe.

For now, please enjoy and if you would leave a review, I'd be most appreciative.

clp66

Snowed In

Chapter One:

Susan leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. She's been staring at the computer monitor for several hours working on the monthly productivity report for the various lab departments. The census of the hospital had gone up over the winter due to the flu season which was particularly hard on the elderly. As a result, the number of tests requested had gone through the roof. Microbiology had been hit the hardest which was understandable given that pneumonia was the most common secondary infection to the flu. Chemistry had also seen its share of specimen volume increase. The only department that didn't seem adversely affected by the number of patients was the histology department. Their time would come though; each spring the hospital ran a "Breast Cancer Awareness" campaign which resulted in a larger number of biopsies as women came in for free mammograms. A similar campaign for prostate cancer was run in the fall. In those months, histology was inundated with biopsy material which generally meant lots of overtime for the employees. She stretched and as she relaxed, she placed her hand on her now poochy belly. She was five months along and doing well. As least as well as a nearly 47 year old hypertensive pregnant woman can do. Her OB was pleased with her progress and her brother was watching her like a hawk, although discreetly enough that only she was aware of his attention. The baby was healthy and so far there had been no signs of congenital defects. The amniocentesis had come back clean and Susan had framed the chromosome map of her son and placed it next to the family photo they had taken while Laura was home over the Christmas holiday. She'd given a copy of the photo to Greg, but of course he didn't display it on his desk. He'd grunted when she gave it to him and tossed it in a drawer without giving it another look. She smiled to herself at the memory of seeing him looking at it out of the corner of her eye as she passed by his office a couple of hours later. If anybody had a clue, she thought to herself. She shook her head with a small laugh to herself.

She decided she'd had enough of sitting at her desk for a while, so she got up and walked out to the lab. Everybody was busy. The techs were each at their stations; some aliquoting and diluting the specimens for the various tests. Others were entering specimen information into the computer system, and a few more were adding reagents and supplies to their analyzers. Jason had his head buried in his instrument mumbling obscenities as he pulled the sample probe out of a specimen tube. Susan walked over, "You know if you take the stopper off of the tube before you started the instrument, that wouldn't happen," Susan teased.

Jason glared at her, "This is the third sample probe I've ruined this week."

"Guess it's a good thing we have plenty of spares and they don't cost me anything extra," Susan said. She'd worked out a deal with the manufacturer during their last service agreement update to provide 26 sample and reagent probes for this particular instrument. She knew they wouldn't need to replace them that often, but she was bound and determined to get as much for her money as possible with each contract renewal.

"Now I have to re-align the entire instrument," Jason complained.

"Consider that your punishment for being in such a hurry," Susan said. "All this has done is slow you down even more than if you'd taken the time to do it right to begin with."

"I know, I just get so rattled every time House calls yelling about his results, I end up doing stupid things."

"Dealing with cantankerous doctors is part of your job, learn to manage them and your life will be much less complicated," Susan advised.

"Who are you calling cantankerous?" House said from behind her.

Susan turned to look at him; it always amazed her how he was able to sneak up on people even with his cane. "Oh, not you Dr. House, I would never…." She gushed in a teasing manner.

House rolled his eyes, "Where are my results?" he barked at Jason.

"My sample probe…..," Jason started.

"I don't want to hear your excuses, I want my results," House interrupted.

"You'll have them in a half an hour," Susan said.

House glanced at her and then turned and walked out of the lab, the techs giving him a wide berth as he made his way across the room. Susan turned back to Jason who was visibly shaken by the encounter. "When you don't have the answers they need, tell them something. It usually shuts them up. Now, hurry and get that alignment done so you can finish the last test on his specimen and then send him the results electronically and to his phone." Susan left Jason to do his work and poked her head in micro and histology for a moment before she headed to the cafeteria for lunch.

MDMDMDMDMD

Wilson came up beside Susan in the line, "How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Susan answered. "You?"

"Also fine," he said. "Mind some company for lunch?"

"Not at all," Susan said as she pulled money out of her pocket to pay for her meal. Transaction completed, she moved off to find an open table. Wilson followed not far behind. "How's Chase?" she asked when they sat down.

"He's recovering, but its slow going," Wilson said. "Did you know House apologized to him?"

"Yeah, the PT overheard their conversation and now it's all over the hospital. That's huge for him; at least to apologize verbally," Susan said. "Outward expression is not his modus operandi."

Wilson nodded his head in acknowledgement. House's methods were reckless and it wasn't uncommon for things to be a little crazy. He had even put himself in danger on several occasions to get the answers he needed, but this was the first time his methods caused harm to a member of his staff. It was natural for him to feel responsible for Chase's injury and this, Wilson thought, was a good thing. It showed that deep down House really did care despite his outward appearance. Susan smiled to herself, "What are you thinking about?" Wilson asked when he saw the smirk.

"His modus operandi," Susan said. Wilson waited for her to continue, "His way of showing he cares. Every day he drops by my office or the lab and growls about something. He really doesn't care about whatever he's growling about, he's just down there to make sure I'm ok. I just laugh at him when he growls and my techs think I'm insane. They're convinced he's the devil incarnate."

"He doesn't do anything to change their opinion either," Wilson offered.

"No reason to; a little fear goes a long way," House said having heard the last part of their conversation as he came up to their table. He motioned for Susan to shift over. He sat next to her, stealing half of her sandwich and downing half of it in one bite.

"You're stealing food from a pregnant woman," Wilson said incredulously.

"Why does that surprise you?" House asked with his mouth still full while reaching for some of Wilson's fries. He swallowed, "She wasn't going to eat it anyway." House handed a file to Susan that he'd been carrying, "We've got a case; I want you on it."

Susan opened the file and started perusing through the admission pages and the laboratory results from the previous hospital, "I'll send Jason up when I get back to the lab."

"I said I want you on it. I don't want your lackey, I want you," he re-iterated.

"Jason is not a lackey, he's a bright kid…"

"Who practically pisses his pants every time I interact with him," House said.

Susan looked at him with some annoyance, "He wouldn't if you'd be a little less abrasive."

House softened his features and lowered his voice as he looked her in the eye, "I need you on this case, Susan. Chase is out of commission, Park and Adams are still too new to working with me and Taub is well… Taub."

Susan nodded, "Okay, but I will be using this case as training material for Jason." House nodded, got up from the table and started walking away, "Hey." House turned back, "Did you get the results you were looking for?"

"What results?" he asked.

"The ones you were barking at Jason about earlier today," Susan explained.

House shrugged. "Don't know. Don't care; clinic patient. I already diagnosed and sent her away," he said and started off. "Be in the conference room in 10 minutes," he said as he walked away.

Wilson starred at his back as House walked off shaking his head.

"I told you," Susan said grinning. "He doesn't care; he's just using it as an excuse to check up on me." Susan put the half sandwich she was eating down on the plate, "I'm full. I guess I'll head to the conference room," she paused, picking up the case file, "after a pit stop. Later," she said as she got up and headed toward the rest room.

Wilson finished his plate alone, cleared the table and then left the cafeteria.