House leaned over the first floor safety rail and stared down at the small gaggle of doctors. There was seven of them; new residents to fill out the roster. Cuddy was on an expansion kick - not of her already ample breasts, but of the hospital. Her stated mission was to make PPTH the number one hospital in New Jersey, and she was going to drag the rest of them along with her.
"Fresh meat," a voice drawled from next to him. "Hope they're better than the last lot."
"Fuck off, Browne. I was here first." House responded pleasantly. Browne was okay for a round of golf but a pain in his ass the rest of the time.
Browne didn't answer him. Instead he whistled softly. "Well, will you look at that. One of them's a sub."
House sharpened his attention on the newcomers. One of the new doctors had been looking away when he first saw them. Now he was facing their way and House could see not only the telltale gleam of his collar but also his face. His pulse quickened, Wilson! What the fuck was he doing here?
"He's pretty too. I wonder if he's tagged?" Browne mused.
House didn't say anything. He had good reason to know Wilson wasn't tagged. Or at least he hadn't been at their last encounter, and that had only been three weeks ago. Wilson hadn't said anything about coming to Princeton then.
"Hope he's in my department. Guess he won't be in yours, will he?"
House was the nominal head of the Diagnostics Department. Said Department consisted solely of himself, answering directly to the new Dean of Medicine - Lisa Cuddy. There was no chance that Wilson was going to be assigned to him. The boy wonder Oncologist would indeed be going directly to Browne's department, even if Browne didn't know it yet.
He was about to tell Browne where he could go, and what he could take with him, when Cuddy approached the new doctors and exchanged a few words with them. Then she looked down at her watch and up to the second level. House ducked back from the railing, but not quickly enough.
"House, clinic!" she called out sharply. Without waiting for an acknowledgement she turned on one of her high heels and led the small group of doctors off on a tour of the hospital. They all scurried after her, although a few cast quick glances up at the balcony. Wilson didn't look up. The bastard.
Browne laughed when she was out of earshot. "Better go to the clinic, she'll only double your hours next week if you don't show up. Maybe you can find some mysterious disease to diagnose while you're there. I'll keep an eye on the newbies for you."
House gave him the finger and moved off. Bypassing the elevators as too risky - he might be spotted - he took the stairs two at a time and made his way up to the sixth floor and then the roof. Cuddy's tour group would never come up here, and nor would Cuddy if she decided to try and track him down and make him do his clinic hours.
When the tour was over he had a sub to see.
Wilson was walking along a corridor on the fourth floor when House spotted him. He was by himself so House went straight up to him, his hand held out in front of him.
"Doctor Wilson? Greg House, I don't believe we've met."
Wilson stared at him and then looked around apprehensively.
"House, I can explain..."
House dropped his hand. "You can explain why you didn't tell me you were transferring here? Oh, no need. I'm just the guy who's been banging your brains out every month for the last year. Why would I need to know?"
"House!" Wilson hissed at him. "Keep your voice down. This is my first day."
"Oh, so I can say what I like tomorrow? Good to know."
"No. You can respect that I'm a professional, and I'm working here now and this -" Wilson made one of those awkward hand gestures that he liked to indulge in," -this, whatever we have, is private. Nobody has to know about it."
"Nobody has to know?" House tried to keep the hurt he was feeling off his face. True, they didn't have any sort of formal arrangement but he thought they'd gone past the 'casual fucking' stage. Obviously he'd thought wrong.
Wilson sighed in frustration. "Look, it's okay for you - you're a Dom, and a Department Head. I'm just a newbie resident, and a sub as well. Do you think I don't notice the looks I got when I walked in the front door of this place? And all during Cuddy's tour?"
House felt a surge of jealousy but scoffed. "You're hot; of course you're going to get looks. All the more reason to let them know you're off the market." To let them know you're mine , he had the good sense not to actually say out loud.
Wilson's expression darkened anyway.
"Am I? I don't see a tag on my collar."
"You want a tag? I must have been confused by how quickly you've always run away after we've finished fucking!"
They glowered at each other and then Wilson backed off, putting up his hands in a 'stop' gesture.
"I'm not doing this here."
House was about to insist when he heard footsteps approaching. Carpenter from Cardiology. Another asshole.
"House! Cuddy is looking for you," Carpenter said as he drew closer. "You were supposed to have been in the clinic this morning." He looked between House and Wilson curiously, his eyes lingering on Wilson's collar like he'd never seen a sub before. Well, House wasn't going to introduce him. He wasn't the fucking welcome committee for new doctors.
Of course Wilson held out his hand to Carpenter anyway, one of his annoyingly distracting smiles plastered on his face. "James Wilson, just started this morning in Oncology."
Carpenter introduced himself and they shook hands. House rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You boys can make nice later. Like I said, James , I need a consult in my office. Now."
Wilson glanced his way, a pleasant smile on his face. "I'm sorry, Doctor House. I have rounds starting in a couple of minutes. I'm sure you understand that I can't be late on my first day. Maybe we can get together later."
"I'm sure we will," House said and walked off without another word.
"You missed clinic duty, again ." Cuddy didn't look up from her paperwork as he stalked into her office. "I went out on a limb to get you this position, Doctor House. The least you could do is show up for work ."
"A trained monkey could do clinic duty, and you already have several of them doing it. You don't need me there. I have my own work to do."
She looked up and nodded. "Yes, in diagnostics. How many patients do you have at the moment?"
They both knew the answer to that was zero. He'd had a few cases waved under his nose by other doctors but they were boring. He wasn't here to do boring cases. "Business is slow at the moment. I'm doing research."
"Great. You can do five hours of research in the clinic this afternoon. And if you don't show up you can do ten tomorrow."
He pulled a face. He'd known that coming here was risky but the prize was worth it.
"I need a resident to assist me in diagnostics; I can't take cases without someone to do the scut work."
"Like talking to patients?" Cuddy raised a sceptical eyebrow.
House nodded, pleased she was seeing it his way. "Exactly." He made his tone casual, almost disinterested. "I'll have one of those newbies you were leading around like sheep this morning. Doctor Wilson will do."
Cuddy put her pen down, leaned back in her chair and smiled at him.
"Oh - oh, you want the sub!"
He made a shocked face. "Don't objectify him like that! Subs are people too."
"I know, that's why I hired him. Doctor Wilson is an outstanding resident, and he is going to be working in the oncology department. Not in diagnostics. Diagnostics doesn't have any residents. Diagnostics won't get any residents until diagnostics stops being a drain on the bottom line, gets off its ass and starts bringing in the dollars. Now shut up and go away."
"I'm going to talk to HR about this disrespectful attitude you have towards me, Doctor Cuddy."
She smiled, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair.
"Why don't you do that, Doctor House? And then you can answer the dozen complaints they've received about you in the last week. That's week , Doctor House. Not a month, not a year, but a week. I'm sure they'd love to talk to you. In fact I'll set a time up for you." She reached for her desk phone and looked up at him. He scowled. He knew when it was time to beat a strategic retreat.
He had his hand on the door, about to make good his escape, when she stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Oh, by the way? Doctor Wilson mentioned in his interview that he knew you. Said he met you at a medical conference and you were friends." He looked back at her but her face gave nothing away. If Wilson had mentioned the exact nature of their 'friendship' she wasn't letting on.
"Well, you know what they say. Everybody lies."
Three days passed in an uneasy standoff. He didn't hear from Wilson outside of work, and only saw him a handful of times scurrying here and there in the hospital. He heard some gossip about the hospital's new sub doctor in the - 'oh, Doctor Wilson! Isn't he just adorable?' - vein. He kept an eye on Browne, but he didn't seem to be making a move on House's territory, which was just as well for him.
On the fourth day Wilson turned up, uninvited, on his doorstep, a six pack of beer in his hands.
"Peace offering?"
House stood in the doorway, blocking the entrance to his apartment as he scrutinised him. The sub was looking suitably contrite but House knew him well enough by now to realise that 'contrite' was just a mask Wilson had slipped on for the night.
Still, he wasn't going to turn down either beer or sub so he stood aside, leaving just enough room for Wilson to squeeze by him.
"Get me a beer," House ordered, just to see if Wilson would do it. Wilson hesitated slightly, as he always did with House's orders, before getting the beer. When he handed it to House their fingers touched and House felt the usual flair of physical need that Wilson always aroused in him. He'd missed the sub. Having him so near but not being with him had been difficult.
House cracked the top of his beer on the corner of his coffee table. When Wilson went to get his own beer out of the fridge House stopped him.
"No. Come here."
Wilson shot him a look but came closer and House tipped his bottle up for Wilson to drink from. After his usual hesitation Wilson drank deeply, his eyes locked on House.
House took the bottle back and took a hefty swallow himself. Wilson was still standing close to him, his eyes intent as he watched House. Leaning in towards him House pressed his lips to his willing sub's throat, feeling the throb of his rapid heartbeat. He travelled upwards, claiming his mouth, running the tip of his tongue around the sub's lips and tasting the beer still lingering there. Wilson lent into the kiss as it deepened. House's arms went around him possessively, holding him tightly against his own body.
When they pulled apart Wilson's normally impeccable hair was mussed and his eyes were wide with need.
"So, am I forgiven?" he asked.
House took another gulp of his drink but this time didn't offer Wilson any.
"Why?" he asked when he was finished drinking, his eyes never leaving Wilson's.
Wilson didn't pretend not to know what he was talking about.
"I heard there was a position open in Princeton. I've been wanting to work in the area for a while. I didn't tell you because my coming here had nothing to do with our..." he gestured between them, as if lost for an exact accounting of the nature of their relationship.
House felt a twinge of... something. Regret maybe, that Wilson couldn't put a name to what they had. That what they had wasn't enough.
"You wanted to make it into the hospital on your own." House surmised.
Wilson shrugged a little. "I'm not moving here to be the sub you have on the weekends. I'm here to fill a position in the Oncology department. I would have moved here even if you weren't here."
House was annoyed at how disappointed he felt at that. Despite Wilson never consulting him on the move he'd still felt that maybe Wilson had come to the hospital to be closer to House. Maybe it had been a sign that Wilson was interested in a more permanent relationship.
"So now that you're here, what now?" he asked, trying to keep the hurt from his voice if not from his words. "You're just going to turn up on my doorstep every now and then with beer and let me fuck you?"
"If that's what you want. We can go on as we have been." Wilson's voice was steady and his face unreadable.
"What if I want more? What if a bit of casual fucking because it's convenient isn't enough for me anymore?"
"Then say that," Wilson said. "Tell me what it is you want because I'm not sure."
"I want you." The words slipped out, almost against his will, but it was true. It had been true from the first time they'd met, and Wilson had left him the next morning. It had been true every time since. He'd never said it to Wilson, whether through fear that Wilson didn't want the same, or fear that Wilson did, he wasn't sure. Now that he'd said it he wanted it more than anything else. He wanted to put his mark on Wilson, to claim him for his own. To tell the world that Wilson was his sub, and only his.
Wilson regarded him steadily and then slowly sunk to his knees in front of him. "Then I'm yours. I want to be with you. I want you to tag me. I'm ready for this. We're ready for this. Do it now. Please."
House looked down at the sub. Wilson's posture was totally submissive, his hands turned outwards where they rested on his knees, his head bowed, his knees spread open. Every inch of his body spoke of his submission to House and his trust in House. House fought his first impulse to flee and instead reached under his shirt for the medallion that rested there at the end of a gold chain. Gifted to him by his father when he turned fourteen he had never used it. He'd never wanted to use it, until now. With fumbling fingers he detached it and then knelt down to be on the same level as Wilson.
Wilson lifted his chin until their eyes met. His warm brown eyes held a certainty that calmed House.
"Do it. Make me yours." He tilted his chin just a little so that his throat and the collar around it was exposed to House's view. The medallion would mark Wilson as being with House. Under his care and protection. His responsibility. His.
It would bind House just as much as it bound Wilson.
House steadied himself with a deep breath and completed the ritual. When he was done he touched the medallion where it hung proudly from Wilson's collar. This wasn't Wilson's first tagging but it would be his last if House had anything to do with it. He couldn't see any future where he would give Wilson up.
As House withdrew his hand Wilson caught it with his own and turned it over, pressing his lips to the palm.
"Thank you," he said.
House couldn't trust himself to speak. Instead he took Wilson's hand and brought them both to their feet. He held his sub to him, feeling him trembling with the emotion of the moment. Or it might be him who was trembling.
"I need to..." he trailed off and Wilson sagged against him for a moment.
"Yeah, me too."
"Go to the bedroom and get ready for me."
Wilson let go of him and straightened. His cheeks were flushed and he ran a hand through his hair, trying to regain his composure. Then he steadied and nodded before turning away and walking down the hallway towards House's bedroom.
House watched him all the way, scarcely able to believe how fast things had moved. He'd wanted something more with Wilson ever since that first one night stand after he picked him up in a seedy bar. Now he had that.
Don't screw this up.
The beer bottle was still sitting on the coffee table. Everything was as it had been only a short while ago. Except that everything had changed. He had Wilson now. He finished off the beer and went to join him.
Wilson had stripped off and was kneeling, waiting for him, at the end of the bed. House paused to look again at the sub's collar, and the tag hanging from it. With Wilson naked both stood out against his pale skin. House walked over to him and touched the tag again.
"I think you need something else to wear. Close your eyes and don't move."
Wilson obediently closed his eyes and House took another moment to enjoy the feeling of having this man completely under his control. Then he walked quietly over to his closet and took out his box of toys. Accumulated over the last few years they were few in number but each one had meaning to House. Wilson had experienced all but one of them, and that one he would enjoy tonight.
First though he had to prepare him. He took out a simple blindfold and slipped it over the back of Wilson's head. Now it didn't matter if his sub opened his eyes, he couldn't see anything. He felt Wilson's pulse quicken beneath his fingers and heard his breathing pick up. Wilson was a great sub, but he always tried to retain some control. Tonight House was going to take that from him.
He came around the front of Wilson, noting with a smile that Wilson's breathing rate wasn't the only thing that had risen with the addition of a blindfold. His shoe gently nudged his sub's erection, which only seemed to encourage it.
"Wrists," was all he said and Wilson obeyed, holding both his arms straight out in front him. House buckled the leather cuffs on both his wrists and then connected them together with a short link of chain, going from the hook on one cuff to the hook on the other. He tugged on the chain and Wilson's posture straightened. Again House caressed the tag, arranging it so that it fell neatly below the hollow of Wilson's throat.
"Every day at the hospital I'm going to see this tag and know that you belong to me. I want you to make sure it hangs just like that." It would mark him as a sub of course, but the collar already did that. The tag would just ensure that everyone knew that he was taken. And in a hospital full of pushy Doms that could only be a good thing.
"I will," Wilson assured him. House hadn't told him to be quiet, although he normally was when he was being prepared like this. Now he was glad to hear Wilson's agreement.
He let go of the tag and collar and straightened up. Wilson was still kneeling, his wrists now bound behind him.
"Stand up," he ordered and watched while Wilson struggled to his feet. With his vision taken from him, and his arms restrained he was clumsy but still quick to obey.
House left him standing there and went back over to the box of toys. The flogger lay curled on the top. Taking it up he shook out the fronds. He'd never used anything but in his hand or a paddle on Wilson before. Tonight would change that. He wanted this night to be memorable for his sub, and for himself.
Returning to Wilson he guided him to kneel over the end of the bed, his chest on the surface, his arms over his head and his knees on the ground. His back and ass were exposed.
"No more talking," he instructed. He teased the strands of the flogger over the bare flesh, running them down his back and over his ass to tickle at his thighs. Wilson shivered but kept quiet.
House took a step back and swung the flogger at the waiting back, not hard but enough so that Wilson would feel it. The strands connected with a dull thud and Wilson let out a small gasp. House gave him a moment to think about it and then followed up with a harder blow. He settled into an easy rhythm, the falls connecting with the same spot on his sub's back for several repetitions and then moving onto another spot. The sub held his position beautifully even as his breath quickened and he let out small gasps as the blows fell. House kept it up until his whole back was reddened and his sub was moaning with every blow. Gradually he slowed his motion until the falls were just caressing the sub's back lightly, no doubt even that was painful on the sensitized back. Finally he aimed lower, tickling at Wilson's ass and the tops of his thighs causing the sub to squirm, rubbing himself against the bed.
"Stop that," House ordered, one hand resting on the red ass, giving it a warning smack. Wilson stilled under his hand and he patted him reassuringly. "That's good. You took that well. On your knees again. Let me see you."
The sub slid off the bed, coming to kneel at House's feet. His cock was full, his cheeks were flushed and his damp hair fell against the blindfold. House felt a surge of love for him. He'd never felt this way before; he would do anything in the world for the man kneeling at his feet. He knelt down and ran a hand through the silky hair, pushing it back and then removing the blindfold. Wilson's eyes were wet and he wiped away the tears with gentle fingers.
"You're mine," he whispered. "All mine. Forever." Wilson nodded under his hand, forbidden from speaking. Then he looked up, his lips parting as House moved in. House kissed him deeply, taking everything that Wilson wanted to give him. He pressed their bodies together and entwined one hand with his subs, feeling the desperate grip there.
"Never going to let you go," he whispered as he pulled back. Then he pulled an unresisting Wilson to his feet, holding him for a moment while Wilson regained his breath, and his composure.
"Strip me," he ordered when Wilson was steady on his feet. The sub obeyed, his fingers lingering on House's body as he took his pants and shirt off. When they were both naked House pushed Wilson back down to his knees.
"Take me in," he said and watched as Wilson eagerly opened his mouth and engulfed him. As Wilson worked on him House entangled his hands in that enticing hair and pulled him closer. His foot gently nudged Wilson's swollen cock which in turn seemed to speed up the action of that tongue on his own flesh. It didn't take long before he was emptying himself into the willing mouth and watching as Wilson swallowed every drop, and then carefully cleaned him up with his tongue.
"On the bed," he rasped out when Wilson had finally pulled off him. They tumbled together onto the bed and he arranged himself along Wilson's back, reaching around with one hand to find his cock. With a sure, quick, touch he brought him off, heedless of the mess it made of the sheets.
He drifted off to sleep with one hand resting on the collar around Wilson's neck and the other holding him tightly to him.
"House!" Cuddy was waiting for him when he entered the hospital the next morning - staking out the clinic like she often did. "You're two hours later for your shift." Her eyes drifted to where Wilson was standing closely by his side, the tag on his collar plainly visible. She looked between the two of them.
"Don't tell me..."
"Yep." House was smug. Of all the Doms in the hospital that Wilson could have chosen he was with him . "Caught myself an oncologist. Made it official last night. You should have heard -"
Cuddy waved a hand around, cutting him off. "No, I don't want to hear it! Not ever." Her gaze slid to Wilson. "I suppose you're going to ask again for Doctor Wilson to work with you in Diagnostics?"
"No, that wouldn't be a good idea," Wilson spoke up, drawing her attention back to him. He met her surprised stare firmly. "Nothing has to change at work."
"Except for he's taking the office next to mine," House interrupted. "The one that Browne is in." Which was a win-win for him; he'd have Wilson close, and piss Browne off at the same time. He knew Cuddy wouldn't say no - all possible accommodations were supposed to be made to keep tagged pairs together. Switching offices for a couple of residents was well within the scope of that mandate.
Cuddy threw her hands up.
"Fine. Fine. Wilson can have that office. I'll let Browne know. Just keep it professional, both of you. And House, go and do your damned clinic hours."
"Wilson can do them for me."
"No, he can't," Wilson put in. "Do them yourself."
Cuddy looked oddly reassured. As if she thought that just because Wilson had some balls on him he'd be able to get House to become a compliant little employee. Well she'd find out how wrong she was about that soon enough.
Somebody from the reception desk was calling for Cuddy's attention, and as soon as her gaze wavered House grabbed hold of Wilson's arm and tugged him in the direction of the elevators.
"Quick - while the dragon is distracted."
Wilson looked uncertain but then quickly followed him, and they both pretended they didn't hear Cuddy's yell of 'clinic!' as it followed them to the elevator.
House put his feet up on his desk, content with his world. Wilson had gone off to do some boring oncology thing, but House would see him at lunch time, if not before. Cuddy had been evaded and clinic hours warded off for now. Browne wasn't in his office, but as soon as he was, House would have the pleasure of telling him he was being evicted to make way for the hospital's new sub. House's new sub. So hell yeah, life was good. If he had a cigar he'd smoke it.
He picked up a file folder that Wilson had insisted on leaving with him. One of his patients had mysterious symptoms, Wilson had said. Possibly a brain tumour, but could House look into it and tell Wilson what he thought.
He had been going to refuse on general principle but he had nothing better to do at the moment. He'd have a look at the case. For Wilson.
~ End
