Disclaimer: I do not own house. This story will contain quite a bit of dialogue from actual episodes, but it all belongs to david shore. I know I'm not the best at keeping up with updates, but I hope this one will be different and more enjoyable. Please Read and Review.
Cuddy took in a deep breath to calm her nerves, attempting to maintain that confident image she had tried so hard to build. It was hard to believe that Vogler and the godsend he was tied to had traveled this far. The plan she and Wilson had originally conjured up had slapped them both in the face with a consequence neither had expected. The two-faced man that stood before her had finally decided to show his true colors, stopping at nothing to get what he wanted: House out of the picture. With Wilson gone, she stood alone against the monster of a man she had let herself believe was a savior to her hospital. The very man that was out to destroy not only who, in her eyes, was its biggest asset, but the man she has always worked so hard to protect.
"It's the same motion as yesterday, people, same reasons. All those in favor of dismissing Gregory House raise a hand." The condescending giant took his time getting to his seat, leisurely leaning back in his chair.
Cuddy watched the hands that led up to him rose one by one, some of them glancing at her from the corner of their eyes. She kept her eyes front, though, staring determinedly at the chairman.
"Dr. Cuddy, you realize this is going to happen." He sat up and raised his chin at her.
It didn't take a scientist to figure out what was coming next. She took a deep breath and prepared herself to put her career in the hands of her staff. It was her last resort.
" I can't do it." Her heart was in her throat.
Vogler allowed himself a small smirk as he delivered the rules, "You can't abstain."
Beneath the strong wood of the table separating the two competitors, Cuddy's legs wouldn't cease to move. "I'm not abstaining, I'm voting no." As the words made their way through the room, she sat straighter and prepared to do whatever means necessary to get her point across to the others.
"You've changed your mind since yesterday? What'd he do, buy you dinner and roses? Threaten to drown your dog?" Vogler was obviously flustered, nearly bouncing out of his seat at her admission.
She allowed herself a small ounce of satisfaction before making her case. "He did his job."
"Right," Vogler sneered, "he saved another life."
"Maybe." She challenged.
"Good for him. It's great. It's not the point." He was struggling to stop the power play.
She was ready for him to try and shrug off her point, "It's what we do."
"And you could do it a lot better if you didn't have to worry about some madman running around the hospital accountable to no one!" He had lost his temper now.
Digger her heel into the floor, she remained visibly flippant, "That's not the choice you're giving us-"
"House won't listen to anyone." He cut in, before she could finish, which only added fuel to the fire.
"-And you're not accountable to anybody, either! Because you think you own us." She raised her voice.
Vogler had heard enough. She was starting to turn heads and he wasn't going to let some woman who had no sense of business destroy what he could so easily protect. "I move for the immediate dismissal of Dr. Lisa Cuddy."
Already anticipating this move, Cuddy sat back and cautiously watched how her staff reacted to the proposal.
"She's upset, we all are." Dr. Simpson blurted out, trying to stop the madness. He turned to regard her, "Why would you risk your career to save him?"
Here it was, the big question. She began to stand and didn't give herself any time to consider it as her entire committee, now Vogler's committee, faced her. "If you think House deserves to go, if you think I deserve to go, Wilson deserved to go, then vote yes." She forced the last part out, praying that she knew these people how she thought she did. It was her only hope. "But if you're doing this because you are afraid of losing his money, then he's right! He does own you." She gathered her files and prepared to leave, but she wasn't finished. "You have a choice. Maybe the last real one you'll have here."
Cuddy gave Vogler one last glare, not willing to accept defeat as she turned around and walked out of the dead silent room. Adrenaline was bursting through her veins as she strut through the hospital with no real destination. With a slap she dropped her files onto the nurses' station and let her legs carry her to the stairs entrance, not willing to give herself the long ride of the elevator to where she needed to be. Her pumps felt like air at the speed she climbed the levels up to the roof. With a final burst of energy, she burst through the door and took in a huge breath of the air her lungs had desperately needed.
"Shit!" A deep, dreaded voice to the left of her announced, making her nearly jump out of her skin.
She turned slowly, already recognizing to whom the surprised voice belonged to. "House, you scared me nearly to death." She half-heartedly scolded with her hand resting on her pounding chest.
Said man didn't respond, just dropped his gaze to the heaving breasts that lay under her designer suit jacket. House took a moment to admire how soft her skin looked as it rested against some of her exposed skin; how hard she works at keeping her figure to compete with her professional nature.
"House, I'm flattered." She started in a flat, un-amused tone, "But I'm almost positive that my years here as dean do not compete with One hundred Million dollars and this could be my last day here with power. You think you can not be a child just this once."
She was pleading with him. He tilted his head and tried to analyze her, but only half nodded before leaning back against the wall. Wordlessly, he lifted a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket that seemed to be nearly empty and offered her one. When House saw Cuddy was a bit hesitant, he removed another from the box for himself before tossing the empty carton onto the floor.
"I'm usually not a smoker, but this week…" He left it at that, knowing that she, more than many would understand. She accepted the cigarette and leaned in close to the lighter he struck for her to catch flame. Just shortly after he lit his, they both inhale, the exhaled heavily, almost as if letting go of the last two weeks of hassles.
"What are the odds?" He asked, keeping his face forward and void of concern.
She shrugged, tapping the ashes off the tip of her cigarette. She didn't want to think about it. They continued to smoke in silence, calm and comforted in the seemingly endless space that the roof provided them. House ashed his first, but remained at her side as the sun began to fade. Cuddy threw hers to the floor and stepped on it, only to lean on House for support.
"Head rush?" He asked, chuckling knowingly. She giggled and spent a moment stealing his warmth until she was confident she could steadily walk away.
"I'll know in less than an hour." The words barely whispered past her lips as she passed through the door, leaving House to shuffle his feet and wonder where their lives were headed.
House has a record playing in the background in his office, taking a seat behind his desk and laughs as Wilson pops open a bottle of champagne.
"Cuddy is a genius, " he exclaims as he tosses a bright green nerf ball to Foreman, "convincing four people to give up a fortune to save our sorry asses." They all agree as Wilson uses their substitute mugs and cups as glasses.
Cuddy strides in, hips swaying yet shoulders slightly hunched and merely raises an eyebrow at the obvious private party.
"Dr. Cuddy!" House raises his glass to her with a bright smile, "The man of the hour." He continues to praise her as Foreman tosses the ball to their savior who fumbles to catch it. The men all cheer for her and bring the first genuine smile to her face since the horrid decision. She's glad she's won, glad for the cause, but disappointed at the cost.
"What are you doing?" She asks, trying to distract her thoughts.
"We're drinking. I would have thought that was pretty obvious." House continues to joke, attempting not to choke on his drink when she throws the ball to Chase and takes his glass right out of his hand. She raises an eyebrow, nearly challenging him to try and take it back, one of her legs standing dangerously close to his thigh.
"Well to the great champion." She states slightly sarcastically. "Saved you, saved Wilson, saved the whole team." She doesn't wait for anyone to toast before tossing back the bubbling liquid down, her throat exposed for all to see. While everyone else's eyes glance back between each other and Cuddy, House's eyes don't drift as she sets down the empty glass in front of him and bends down to face level. "Of course," she breathes into his face, "none of them would have needed saving if you could actually get along with another human being."
House's function seems to cease, not breathing, swallowing, much less talk until she straightens her back and looks down at him, waiting for him to respond. "Well thank you, Miss Buzz-kill." Is all he can come up with.
She gave a half-shrug before walking back to his chair that sat in the corner of the room, crossing her legs. "Well, you only cost us $100 million. Could have saved some lives, could have made a few jobs, helped a few people. Yipee." Cuddy let out a small sigh, raising her stolen glass up to Wilson for a refill.
The three other people in the room continued to laugh among themselves in the cheeriness of the day. House stood and walked over to her, taking a seat on the foot rest just in front of her. "you voted to get rid of him." He reminded her, as if she had forgotten.
She drank half of the glass and let it rest in her lap, "The lesser of two evils. At least one good thing came out of it…You owe me."
Smirking and glancing down at her legs, dragging his eyes up to hers, he reached forward, repossessed his glass and downed the rest. "Can't wait."