Rachel sat in the cushy chair in her mommy's outer office, waiting patiently, her chubby legs were swinging like a pendulum keeping time. She was tired, and her head hurt, but still she sat there, trying to read her book. Her nanny, had to leave early for a family emergency, Rachel had overheard Ginni telling her mommy that her own mommy had a stroke, so Rachel had to come to work with her mommy, since there was no one to take care of her. School was out the next few days for parent-teacher conferences, so Rachel didn't have to go to school, but there just wasn't much kid-stuff in her mommy's office.

She rubbed at her eyes, grimacing a little. Her head had been bothering her the past few hours, and she felt very tired. She had to wake up really early to go to work with her mother, and she really just wanted to take a nap. She yawned, widely, not worried if anyone saw her. She knew that her mother had the main nurse, who's name was Judi with an I, looking over her, making sure she stayed out of trouble until her mother got out of her meeting. Her mother had a lot of meetings.

She had reread the same paragraph in her Harry Potter book several times, stifling another yawn. It was the part where Harry finds out he's a wizard and gets to leave those wretched Dursleys. She dashed at her eyes again with her hand, hoping they would stop being so heavy. She was becoming very bored, and she wanted to go home and watch tv or a movie, like Cars. Watching Cars would be good. She was thinking about Cars, especially Mater, she liked Mater, when a tall shadow fell over her. She looked up, craning her neck to see the tall man's face.

He seemed familiar. He was very thin, with bristly whiskers covering his hollow cheeks and jaw. His face was heavy with lines, he kinda looked like the pictures of Abraham Lincoln she'd seen in her history books, except he didn't look kind, he kinda looked mean, with a scowl. His right hand gripped a long cane, and he leaned on it, taking the weight off of his right leg. He wore a wrinkled suit jacket and an untucked button shirt and jeans, and he wore Nike's. He had the most brilliant blue eyes she'd ever seen, and she felt an odd feeling of familiarity come over her; she knew she'd seen him before, but didn't know where.

He towered over her, shifting his weight uncomfortably; his leg must really hurt. "You're not the Chief Administrator," he sneered at her.

She should be scared of him, she normally would be scared of him, but, for a reason she couldn't put her finger on, she wasn't. "Of course I'm not," she answered back, rolling her eyes. "I'm only eight."

His eyes grew wide, as if he'd seen a ghost, then, as quickly as he looked surprised, he recovered, his features taking on the mask of feigned indifference. He hmpfed, then took a seat beside her, studying her like she was an alien from another planet. He folded his long-fingered hands over the polished wooden handle of his cane. "If you're eight," he said, staring absently at the wall in front of him them, "then why aren't you in school?"

"Parent-teacher conferences," she answered him matter-of-factly, warming to his game. "Why do you want to see my mom." She shook her straight, dark hair back, giving him an authoritative look.

"Your mom is the Chief Administrator?" he asked, mimicking her childish cadence.

"Yup," she said proudly. "And you never said why you wanted to see her." She narrowed her eyes, and started shaking her right foot in an imitation of how her mother would tap it, waiting for his answer.

He opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the loud sound of heels rapidly clicking across the floor. "Rachel, honey," her mom sounded out of breath. "Sorry my meeting ran ov-. What the hell are you doing here." Lisa had rounded around the corner, and had spotted the man sitting next to her on the seat. Rachel noticed a raging storm of mixed emotions that she didn't understand cross both of their faces. "Rachel," her mother finally called, her voice straining. Rachel bit her lip; she thought she was in trouble. She grabbed the bookbag that had been nestled under her chair, then she hurried, red-faced, over to her mother. "Judi," her mother called, "take her to the cafeteria for lunch." Judi came over and took Rachel by the hand, while Lisa handed her a few bills from her blazer pocket. "I'll be there in a moment. Judi nodded, then hustled Rachel toward the cafeteria, while Rachel kept trying to look back at her mom and the man standing there.

[H] [H] [H]

He was the last thing she expected to see.

And her blood boiled at the thought of him talking to her daughter. Especially after all this time. She made sure Rachel was safely out of the area; she didn't want her daughter to see this, whatever it was going to be. Once they were alone, she briskly walked into her office, knowing that he would follow her. She stood, staring out the large window on the opposite wall of the door, her hands on her hips. So many emotions broiled with in her. She wanted to slap him, kiss him, hit him, scream at him, all at once. The long six years hadn't tempered the feelings she felt towards him at all.

She knew she shouldn't be left alone with him, but she didn't want any witnesses to this reunion, either. She heard the door shut behind her, and she let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding in. Not turning around, she kept her gaze on the lacy patterns the steady falling rain were creating on her window; the weather was turning colder, and they were calling for snow later on tonight.

The temperature dropped in the room, and she wanted to wrap her arms around her body and shiver. Instead she stood straight and rigid. "Give me one good reason not to call security on you," she said, her tone cold and authoritative. He was an invader in the kingdom she had made around herself; the kingdom she had created without him in it.

The cane tapped out a message in morse code; she imagined she could feel the vibrations through the plush burgundy carpet. "So," came the oh so familiar voice, a voice she had hoped to never hear again. A voice so filled with hurt and scorn and dismay. A voice filled with regret and self loathing. "No 'hi, how ya doing?' No, 'let's get some coffee and catch up?'"

She still didn't turn around, didn't want to turn around. She didn't want to look at him. "You drove a car into my living room," she responded in a cool dry tone. "Not the kind of thing I want to reminisce over coffee and scones about." The rain was falling a little harder. She found herself concentrating on the drops. "Why are you here?" she asked, finally.

She could fell him brooding. "I need a job," he finally admitted.

"No," she breathed. She would not go through this again, she would not allow him to manipulate and bully her. She shook her head, turning around. "No. Now leave, before I call security on you," her gray eyes narrowed as she saw him, hardening with resolve. "Go, now."

His face fell for a moment, then hardened into his own mask again. "You need me," his bright blue eyes were lasers into her own. He took a step forward. "Your hospital is only a fraction of how great it could be without me."

She instinctively took a step back, then she shook her head and laughed bitterly. "If the last six years have taught me anything it's how I don't need you." She gave him a brittle smile. "I have everything I ever wanted, without dealing with your headaches, your issues. If you want a job, then you'll have to look elsewhere, House. I've given you enough second chances."

She strode past him with a confidence that she really didn't feel. She paused at the door, then turned for one last look. "You're good, House, but it's not my problem you can't get yourself hired at a blood bank." With that parting shot, she strode out the door, leaving him alone in her office.

[H] [H] [H]

That night, at dinner, Rachel was picking at her food. She wasn't really hungry, and she had felt bad all day. Her head still hurt a little, and her stomach was queasy. She didn't know who the man outside of her mom's office was, but she knew her mother had known him from somewhere, just by the way she reacted to him. As much as Rachel tried to rack her own memory for any indication that she knew the man, she knew her mom knew him, so she should know him, too.

"Are you okay, Rachel," her mom frowned at her with concern. Rachel shook her head no, but that didn't stop her mom from standing up and coming around the table to Rachel's seat. Rachel squirmed as she put her icy hand on Rachel's forehead. "Honey, her mom's brow furrowed as she moved her hand from Rachel's forehead to her cheek. "You're burning up!" Her mom left the room, then came back with a thermometer. Rachel sat there, waiting for the beep. "Ninety-nine," her mom announced, then she began the inquisition. "Does your tummy hurt?" Rachel nodded. "Your head?" Again, she nodded. "Do you have a cough?" A shake no. "Does your head feel stuffy?" A shake yes.

Her mom continued with the questions, and finally she stood up. Rachel pushed the plate of food away from her, and she rubbed at her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and go to sleep. A moment later, her mom came back with a bottle of yucky medicine. Rachel made a face, but took the cap full of sticky red syrup that was supposed to taste like cherries. It didn't, and it made her belly hurt worse. Her mom took her upstairs and let her change into her pajamas. She curled up under her blanket, the glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to her ceiling winking down on her. Right before she fell asleep, she whispered her little prayer, imaging that the stars overhead were the real ones. Maybe the man is my daddy, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.