A/N: Like it says in the summary, this is an AU fic and if House seems OOC it's because he is. I wanted to try something different. I'm not sure how it's going to work but I felt like experimenting. So just go with it ;) You might like this side of House.

Also, I wanted to acknowledge my lovely beta, Iyimgrace. This story is better because of her help and insight.

Disclaimer: I don't own House. If I did, I wouldn't need to experiment with OFC's because TPTB killed my favorite ship ;) The only characters I do own are the ones from my own imagination.

Chapter 1

Summer, 1999

Lexi sat in front of her mirror backstage in full costume and make-up, drinking water through a straw while trying to calm herself. No matter how many times she performed, she always felt nauseous right before going out there. She knew every dance step, every word of the songs she had to sing and she could do it all without a hitch, but it didn't stop her from the butterflies in her stomach.

"Showtime ladies!" the stage manager called out. "Time for our preliminary walk through the casino before the show. Line up!"

She took one last deep breath before getting up and taking her place in line. Her headdress felt unusually heavy and she was tired, but like a trooper, she plastered a smile on her face and followed the other girls out of the backstage area.

X X X

"In your face, Jimmy boy," House laughed as he slid an armful of his winning chips towards himself.

Wilson rolled his eyes. "You may have won this round, but the night's still young."

"Damn right. Winner takes all. And I'll do just that. Deal 'em."

House sat back with his drink as the chorus of showgirls paraded through the casino on their way to the theatre. Sometimes they would stop and pose for pictures with tourists if time allowed, but that didn't interest House. However, one of the girls managed to catch his eye.

She was tall, which made her stand out from the other women. At first, he thought it was because she was wearing heels, but when he looked at her feet, she didn't wear any shoes. Her legs were long and very nicely sculpted like that of a runner or a dancer. As his eyes traveled back up her body, he noticed her breasts through the top she wore and he almost did a double take. He could see why she was a showgirl. While she wasn't as big as some of the others, she did have nice breasts. As he continued his observation, he noted her jet black hair. It was glossy and untamed, falling about her shoulders.

Lexi could sense that she was being watched and she scanned the faceless crowd until she came upon the most amazing pair of blue eyes she'd ever seen in her life. They were simply breathtaking. The face of the man they belonged to wasn't bad either. He was clean shaven, in his early forties, with brown hair that was curly on top. She thought he might've been British but she couldn't be sure. It didn't matter anyway. She was being shoved along because she was holding up the line.

House gave his head a shake and took a long sip of his Scotch.

"You okay?" Wilson inquired.

"Yeah. Let's go see the show. We've been sitting here for hours. I need a break."

"Hot girls dancing about on stage?" Wilson asked, surprised that his friend would even consider such a thing. "I'm in. Let's go."

They managed to get seats off to the right of the stage and ordered another drink. "What's Stacy gonna say?"

"Please," House laughed. "It's just a show. It's not like I'm going home with one of them. She won't care."

But Wilson knew that look. House had an agenda. He never would've considered attending such a show unless something about it caught his attention. He could only guess it had something to do with the parade of showgirls in the casino earlier.

"Which one is she?" Wilson chuckled.

House looked surprised. "Which one what?"

"The girl you have your eye on. What other reason would we be here?"

"Because I've never been to one of these shows before and I wanna see what the fuss is about. Didn't you ever see Showgirls?"

"Yes, I saw it."

"And? Didn't you think it was hot?"

Wilson shrugged. "It had its moments, I'll give you that."

"Enough said. Let's go."

House was impressed with the talent in that show, but his attention was on the raven haired beauty on the stage with the long legs,1000 kilowatt smile and amazing voice. After the show, they hit the lounge in the hotel where the showgirls also came to relax and unwind.

An hour later, House was bored and ready go to up to bed. That was, until he saw her.

She was dancing slowly and seductively by herself to Ted Nugent's Stranglehold, and her eyes were closed. House put his beer down and made his way towards her.

She was even more breathtaking up close. With her face freshly scrubbed and her olive colored skin clear and smooth, she was a vision of perfection. He figured she was either Greek or Italian descent as he reached for her hand and twirled her around to face him. Her hands gripped his shoulders as his blue eyes locked with her violet ones.

House blinked twice and took another look. Yes, they were definitely violet. Clearly she was wearing colored lenses. He wondered what color they really were, but he didn't really care for the moment.

For awhile they just danced, neither of them speaking, but neither of them taking their eyes off the other. When the song ended, Wilson interjected with a beer for House and one for her, clearly amused by his friend's reaction to the woman. He was clearly entranced and Wilson couldn't help be curious what it was that drew House to her.

Over the next few weeks, House tried to distract himself from the Atlantic City showgirl. Her violet eyes and long legs haunted his dreams on a regular basis. He had to see her again. The question was, how to go about it?

Stacy would never go for it. She hated that showgirl stuff as much as he did. Still, her birthday was coming up and he wanted to do something nice. A trip to Atlantic city for shopping and dining out would certainly earn him some brownie points. She'd been working on back to back cases and had been spending a lot of her time in a stuffy courtroom lately. A getaway would be just what she needed.

So when she won her latest case, House surprised her by making her pack a bag for the weekend and whisked her away to the hotel he and Wilson had stayed in during the convention weeks before.

"A show? Are you serious?"

"It's really good. You like 70's and 80's music, this show is full of that kinda stuff. Wilson dragged me to it when we were here and I enjoyed it."

But Stacy was skeptical of course. "Are you sure it had nothing to do with the fact that the women are scantily clad?"

House laughed. "Well yeah, I admit that got my attention, but it wasn't the only thing I enjoyed. Besides, why would I stare at theirs when I have yours to grope whenever I want?" he said, as he pulled her close for a kiss.

His hands slid up her back and around the front of her top where he began to caress and massage her breasts the way he knew she liked. Her soft moans told him that he was on the right track, and soon she'd be amenable to anything he wanted.

"I'll make it worth your while," he whispered softly in her ear.

"Mmm...what did you have in mind?"

"If I recall, someone has a birthday tomorrow. And that someone is going to get spoiled rotten. But you have to...indulge me tonight and then I'm all yours for the rest of the weekend. Think you can handle that?"

"I'll suffer through it. But just so you know, I expect plenty of birthday sex."

"I have absolutely no problem with that. In fact," he said as he glanced at his watch, "we have some time before the show starts. I could...whet your appetite a little..."

"Mmm, Greg?"

"Yes?"

"I'm already wet," she whispered in his ear and began walking backwards towards the bedroom area of their suite.

X X X

Lexi stared longingly at the faded picture of her mother that she had pinned to her mirror. When her anxiety was ramped up, looking at the picture soothed her a little. She guzzled her third bottle of water and tossed it in the recycle bin before applying her lipstick. She was exhausted and yet wired at the same time. How was that even possible?

Again, she looked at her mother's picture. How she wished she, too, could be as graceful and have the body like her mother. Appollonia Vakakis was perfect. She was the exquisite professional ballerina Lexi had always dreamed of being.

Alas, nature had its own ideas. She wasn't graced with the ideal body that a ballerina should have. She was too tall, too busty, and too awkward. Or at least, that's what she had been told numerous times whenever she applied to any dance school in the past.

Instead, she was directed to other forms of dance that her body would be more suited for. That being theatre and dance. It wasn't what she wanted, but she needed money at the time. Her mother was getting sicker and there was no money to help her. Lexi was working two jobs and it was just barely keeping her family afloat.

And then suddenly her mother was gone, and Lexi was alone. She left home as soon as she turned eighteen to try and make something of herself in dancing. After many auditions and subsequent heartaches, the best she could do was numerous acts and numbers in Atlantic City.

Now, at the age of twenty-four, she was still miserable, alone and didn't even have a decent place to live. Her apartment was a run down, roach infested den of iniquity. But she couldn't go back home. She just couldn't. It had been too long. And what would there be to go back to? A poor excuse for a stepfather and a verbally abusive stepbrother and stepsister who constantly teased and berated her about her stuttering. It was her version of hell.

"Showtime in five minutes!" The stage manager shouted as she walked by.

Lexi put on the finishing touches of her make-up, her blonde wig and got up a little too quickly, causing a severe head rush. She wobbled a little, but enough that one of the girls passing by grabbed her.

"Hey, you okay, Lex?"

Lexi simply nodded and gave Brenda a reassuring smile before turning and following the rest of the girls on stage.

As the show wore on, Brenda was convinced something was very wrong. Lexi was slow on her cues, appeared shaky and simply not on her game.

Meanwhile, House was in the audience watching her and only her. Stacy couldn't help notice and she glared at him, noting the look of intrigue he wore. "Do you know her or something?" she whispered.

"Nope."

"You never look at me like that," she mumbled under her breath and took his hand in hers. It hadn't escaped her that he never took his eyes off a certain girl since the opening of the show and it bugged the hell out of her.

Lexi felt woozy all of a sudden. Standing there on the stage, wearing 5" heels and little else, she suddenly felt cold and clammy. She was hungry, that's all. She wanted to believe that. She didn't want to believe there could be anything else.

Just hold it together, she repeated in her head as she belted out the final chorus to the song she was singing. Just another couple of minutes. Please...

But her body had other ideas. The light headedness came on so fast she didn't even have time to think. She crumpled to the ground in a heap, smacking her head against the hard floor and stared into space. The hot lights shining down on her made everything around her to appear dark.

Then she was surrounded by nothing. Nothing but blackness.