A/N: Just a random little story I thought up a few weeks ago, and i decided to go through with writing it. And posting it, apparently. Hopefully I'm not too off on House. I can never tell...
Also, un-betad. any mistakes (which are probably many) are my own.
On with the show!

"Baby I've been here before.
I know this room,
I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew ya."

The sweet voice rang through the empty clinic of Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Only one man was close enough (or awake enough) to hear it; a bitter cripple with a love of sarcasm. The man, obviously a doctor despite the lack of proper attire, stopped dead in his tracks just outside the clinic doors. The voice was young and unspoiled, having not faced harsh reality yet. The man almost felt sorry for the owner, obviously young and female. She'd break eventually; figure out life for what it was. It would be the worst day of her life, in all likely-hood. Suddenly, the man wanted to see who the voice belonged to.

"I've seen your flag on the marble arch,
And, love is not a victory march;"

Truer words never spoken- err, sung. The man walked in to the clinic, a certain curiousness combined with a need to know lighting up his eyes. He leaned a bit less on his cane than he had before; no one would have noticed even if they had seen him.

"It's cold and it's a broken Hallelujah."

Okay, that's where the man disagreed a bit. He wasn't particularly religious - in fact, he was 'an atheist on Easter and Christmas'. But still, the words were sung rather well, so he couldn't complain. If the voice was good there was really no point focusing on the lyrics, right?

"Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah…"

The man clapped, leaning against the wall, his cane propped up beside him. The only person there looked up from her book. A girl, no older than thirteen, with wavy brown hair and huge, doe-brown eyes - the kind that brought people to their knees. She gaped for a second, before shutting her mouth with a slight click, smirking in to the pages.

"I'm glad you enjoyed the performance. I never liked the lyrics myself, but it had a nice tune." Ah. Not a religious girl then; just heard it somewhere and liked how it sounded. Interesting.

The man nodded, not saying another word. When it was clear he would be leaving, the girl looked up, one eyebrow raised. The man shrugged.

"What, no more songs for the kiddies?" She laughed.

"This place is pretty much dead; I don't want any members of the staff to fall asleep on my account."

"I'm sure you could think up something that wouldn't put people to sleep. Probably." She smirked in return to the comment,.

"I'm Suzan, by the way, Suzan Tracey, but my friends call me Pasha. And you might be…?"

"Busy." And he turned away, fully prepared to leave, trying not to puzzle over the nickname. Pasha...? Wasn't that Russian for something?

Suzan laughed. "Obviously not. If you were busy you wouldn't be here. Unless, of course, your just trying to get out of working again, Dr. House." She stopped, looking thoughtful, and House stopped dead in his tracks.

"You know me how?" He was definitely curious now. What was a young teenage girl doing at a hospital, in the clinic, reading a book on a perfectly good Friday night? And, more importantly, how did she know him?

Suzan laughed again; a full, hearty sound that reverberated off the walls. "I come here a lot - mostly for people watching. You're an… interesting subject, and I always make sure to learn the names of interesting subjects."

Wow, she sounded like him! Hmm. He never thought he'd be thinking that before.

"Define "interesting". Interesting like "Oh look, there's a cripple, how'd he get the limp?" interesting, or "Wow he's a jackass. Why's he like that?" interesting." Suzan laughed again, shutting her book loudly.

"I choose option c, which you failed to list by the way. Interesting like, "Wow! He's a bloody genius, and yet, everyone seems to hate him except these few people… I wonder why,". Big difference." Was that a smirk? Yeah. It was almost a completely innocent smile, like one would expect, but there was just a bit too much tooth in the grin for House to actually call it a regular smile. He sat down in the chair across from her, meaning to get a better look for his study.

"You a Stones fan?"

Well… that was unexpected.

"Yeah. Why?"

"You just seem like a Stones kind of guy. I'm more of a U2 gal myself, but I'll listen to pretty much anything. Stones make it on my top twenty though. Right above Sara Barellis, and right below the Zac Brown Band." She grinned. "It's funny. I was always a country girl -well, that's what my momma calls me-, but I don't like a lot of country bands. Strange…" She trailed off, suddenly more focused on her book. House remained.

Alright. Information gained so far. She liked music, and had a voice to go with her preferences. She people watched on an apparently regular basis. Judging by the Spock ears she was wearing and the fact that she was absently humming the Doctor Who theme, she was a sci-fi fan. By the longer-than-seen-on-most-girls skirt and half-inch black heels said she didn't have major self-esteem issues, though still had a few, but the main reason was to say "no, you can't have" to boys her age. If that wasn't what she was trying to convey she would've been wearing a shorter skirt and higher heels. But she wasn't, so she was trying to avoid the male species all together.

Interesting.

She glanced up from her book, which she had re-opened. "You know, when I people watch I don't like to talk to my subjects, since it ruins what I can learn about them without talking to them, nor do I liked then inspecting me like something under a microscope. In retrospect, I'm better with option a than option b, so either talk, or leave before I side-kick you in the chest."

House raised his hands above his head in mock-surrender, smirking. "No need to get violent with the cripple."

A pause.

"What are you reading?"

"You don't care."

"You don't know that."

Suzan snorted. "The only thing that would make you care is if it would help solve the puzzle that is me. Which, in retrospect, it will, but that doesn't make me any more willing to tell you."

"You're getting pretty defensive over reading material."

"Yes. The reason? Because what a person reads says a lot about said person." She snapped the book shut again, stuffing it in a book bag on the ground before House could tell more than the fact that it was either well-read or a hand-me-down. "So I don't usually say what I'm reading. Sometimes I give titles, but I hate giving descriptions because it feels like I'm describing myself- and I'm really falling for it, aren't I? Zark." House's smirk grew wider. She really had fallen for it, though he had to admit, she'd caught on faster than his team usually did. Very good,

"You did better than most. Usually I get a lot more before people catch on to my evil plans, and those are adults, not teenagers."

Suzan rolled her eyes. "Jackass. Don't make fun of my intelligence based off my age; it's usually a grave mistake. Just ask my teachers; they all hate me now."

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen. What do you think? Twelve, thirteen next month."

"Grade?"

"High enough to not fall into this."

"Ah, but I've met med school graduates that fall into it, so you're never high enough."

She scowled. "I'm going into ninth this fall."

Now he was surprised. "Ninth?"

"Yeah. I skipped a grade. Well, a couple grades in certain subjects. It's all rounded up to ninth- I'm doing it again!" She slapped her forehead. "Damn my talkative nature!" House raised an eyebrow. He would hate himself later for admitting this, even mentally, but he was starting to like this girl. Just a bit.

She glanced up at a nearby clock before paling visibly. "Crap! That friggin' late already?" "Friggin'"? House had never heard someone under the age of fifteen use the word "friggin'". Interesting.

Suzan gathered up her book bag, adjusting her heels before standing. "Gotta go! I'm assuming you'll see me here tomorrow now that you know I people watch?" House smirked.

"You have a skill there." Which was basically code for "yes".

She shrugged. "Guess I can't come in tomorrow. Damn shame; I was enjoying this."

She started walking off, heels clicking on the tiles, and if House closed his eyes he could almost imagine it was Cuddy.

"Hey," Suzan turned, one eyebrow quirked ever-so-slightly. "Meet me in my department tomorrow. I have a feeling I could use you." She smiled.

"Diagnostics, right?"

"How…? Never mind. Forgot who I was talking to. Yes, diagnostics."

"I'll see you tomorrow then Doctor." She winked. "I just hope it's not lupus, or else my time there will be very boring indeed." And with that, she click-clacked off with a confident stride, slightly faster than a normal walk.

House allowed himself a small grin as he followed soon after, briefly checking the clock before leaving.

It was barely nine o'clock.