part 1

Dropping files into the clinic's inbox, Doctor Lisa Cuddy told the nurse, "See to it those are on Doctor Jennings desk by 9 am, all right?" As the elderly nurse affirmed that would be the case, she continued on her path to her office; and then paused midstep to see one of the members of the board waiting for her.

Adjusting her blouse and saying a silent prayer, and went in declaring, "Mister Cunningham, I didn't realize we had a meeting this morning." "Sorry to make you rearrange your calendar Doctor Cuddy, I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by and get the initial report on Doctor House's department," Bruce answered as he stood up, placed his hands in his pockets and she commented, "I'm sure he's probably already filled out the proper paperwork for his first case, I can send it over to you if you'd like."

"I'd rather that you handle that, Doctor Cuddy. My sources tell me that Doctor House may tend to leave out certain vital pieces of the information, in order to save face with the board," Cunningham answered.

"I don't understand, you're the one that hired him; shouldn't you be a bit more lenient of him?" Cuddy asked.

"The board is still unconvinced that this hospital even requires a diagnostic department. House has been on the job for two weeks, and he's only had one case. Where I come from we call that lazy," Cunningham remarked.

"I'll send the message along," she said with a nod as she sat down. "I'd appreciate that," Bruce said and then added, "I'll be in touch." As he turned to leave, he spotted House walking into the clinic, choosing a patient at random and then pointing to an examination room. Glancing back at her, Bruce walked thru the glass doors and commented, "Doctor House."

He paused as the patient went into the room and then muttered, "Go in and count to a hundred, if I'm not there play a game of hide and seek with yourself."

Turning to the board member, House declared, "Bruce, good to see you again. Have you lost weight?" "Why are you here at the clinic when you should be reviewing more critical cases?" he asked. Defensively House shrugged, gesturing toward Cuddy and remarking, "She can be quite overbearing."

"It's mandatory that all doctors here at PPTH participate in clinical duty," she replied, to which House stated, "See what I mean, she's a slave driver!"

"There should be several cases on your desk waiting for you, handle that and handle it fast. I want to present the board with something worthwhile tomorrow," Bruce declared, and then walked off without another word.

"Guy needs to drink more coffee," House declared as he turned toward Cuddy and then stated, "I like him." "Wipe that smile off your face, this is only temporary; once you've proven how invaluable you are you'll be back swabbing decks with the rest of the slaves," she countered.

"I can hardly wait," he answered sarcastically and then prepared to leave, and spotted his patient leaving the examination room and commenting, "I just needed this prescription refilled." "Sorry, you violated the rules of the game, try again next time," House declared, leaving the clinic and Cuddy turned to one of the nurses on duty and muttered, "Escort this woman to the pharmacy please."

Sliding the pile of patient files across the table in a carefree manner, House announced, "Pick your poison." Gabe glanced at all of the files and remarked, "A simple good morning would've sufficed."

"My, my; someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Did you suddenly realize you're not a horrible clone of Wilson?" House countered to which Jason said, "I told you already, I wasn't hired by Doctor Wilson. I don't even know who that is."

"Ever have a grandma?" House asked, to which his fellow looked at him befuddled and remarked, "Umm, yeah."

"Same persona, only with more teeth," their boss quipped as he spotted the latecomer, Doctor North entering the department.

"Did the ER run out of room?" he asked, glancing at all of the patient documents. "Board of directors has decided they want me to pin the tail on some lucky donkey, even better we get to pick the donkey," House declared.

"Patient presented with sarcoidosis," North began, to which his boss remarked, "Boring, next."

"You know actually North wasn't wrong about the staff in the ER running out of room. I heard Doctor Cuddy saying just this morning she needs more doctors to work clinic duty," Vale said as she glanced at the files and added, "None of these are going to whet your appetite, House. So if you'll excuse me, I think my skills are better suited elsewhere." She stood to leave, but House merely shook his head and remarked, "You'll never carry the torch with that kind of attitude."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Natasha asked.

"It's no secret you think you're the smartest person in the room," North commented dryly, to which House stated, "Running off to be Cuddy's gofer won't earn you any brownie points. On the other hand, find a case for me and help solve it; and there might be a few words of praise in my report to the board."

"Which is when?" Natasha asked. "Tomorrow morning, bright and early," House declared, to which she sighed and said, "Fine I can wait that long." "Knew there was squeamish coward underneath that stalwart façade," her boss said with a smirk as Gabe opened another file and asked, "How about this? A veterinarian was admitted into the ER by her assistant technician just an hour ago, apparently her boss had gone into shock."

"She's still in the ER?" North wondered in surprise. "They haven't gotten to revive her yet," Gabe said as he read the file.

"Good choice," House said taking the file from him and adding, "By the way, sucking up to me also doesn't earn you brownie points." As he left the office, Natasha placed her hands in her pockets and Scott asked, "Out of curiosity, what does earn brownie points?" "I don't think we want to know," Vale retorted.