TITLE: Two-Faced
PAIRING: House/Wilson (eventually), Tendershipping (if you're really looking for it)
RATING: PG-13
WARNINGS: Crossover with Yu-Gi-Oh! and House.
SUMMARY: Ryou Bakura thought it was only the flu. He was wrong. Now House and his team must figure out what is ailing the young Duelist, while trying to figure out if Ryou's strange, and sometimes violent, mood-swings are part of his symptoms or something else entirely…
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or House M.D.

NOTES: After this, you guys are all caught up with my LiveJournal! The next update might not be for awhile- we're approaching the last few weeks of school in my college, so finals are among us. I am working on this, though. :D Hope you enjoy!

Timeline for House MD: After 'THE GREATER GOOD', before 'UNFAITHFUL'
Timeline for YGO: After Battle City, sometime during the Dragons Arc. Gets rather 'AU' from there.

--

Chapter Four: Rancorous Wretches

"So," House began, turning away from the board and facing the group of people sitting at the table, "a new day, a new symptom! Unless anyone believes he's faking this one?"

No one said anything. House turned to the whiteboard and scribbled on the bottom in large, black letters.

MUSCLE ACHES
DRY COUGH
SWOLLEN LYMPH NODES
FEVER
LOSS OF APPETITE
MUSCLE WEAKNESS
TACHYCARDIA

Ryou's heart rate had gotten completely out of hand, and he had to be shocked to bring it back to normal. He was out of it for the rest of the day. Once he did awaken, however, his mood vaulted between openly hostile and coolly indifferent of his doctors. The fellows accusing him of lying had left him bitter towards them. The only one whom Ryou still placed any faith in was House. How the kid had figured out that House's plan had been to draw another symptom out of him, they weren't sure, but it left them with a rather strained relationship with their patient.

Kutner sighed, resting his head on his palm. "It could be Mononucleosis," he offered. Wilson, who had come up with them after Ryou had regained consciousness, raised an eyebrow at him.

"Mono?" he asked. When he received five curious glances, Wilson shrugged awkwardly. "It's just… he's told me he's never…" Wilson paused and gestured uselessly with his hands for a moment before he sighed and allowed them to fall, "uh, dated."

Thirteen frowned a bit. "Really? He's sixteen and never gone on a date?" she looked over her shoulder at House. "It could be a glandular problem."

House looked at the board. "Ah, yes," he said, "which would solve his loss of appetite, and maybe why he doesn't like girls." House spun around, eyes wide and mouth forming a large smile. "Or he could be gay!" House turned back to the board, as if contemplating putting it on the list. Wilson's mouth dropped open for a second before he leaned in, pointing at House's back.

"You can't just say that!"

"Did he say he's never kissed any girls, specifically?" House asked, drawing the outline of a rainbow on the corner of the board. He picked up a red marker and began to color it in, backwards.

Wilson eyed House quietly. "Yes, but-"

"Gay!" House called over his shoulder, finishing up his inverted rainbow. Then he turned back around. "However, being 'gay' is not a symptom of any real disease, so we'll just have to stick to the facts, okay?" He waved his cane between Taub and Foreman. "Taubman, go search the kid's hotel room. Kutteen, go get a sample from the kid to test for Mono."

Thirteen looked between House and Wilson. "What is Houson going to do?"

Wilson frowned at her. "I'm sticking close to him," he gestured to the man leaning on the cane next to him, "so that he can't go and give Ryou another heart attack." He then gave House a pointed glare. The older man pointed at the fellows.

"They made me do it!"

Thirteen rolled her eyes and led the group of four from the room. Wilson looked over at House and got up from his chair. "So, lunch?"

House smirked. "You're buying."

"Surprise, surprise."

--

Ryou's eyes darted across the room, taking in all four doctors where they stood. Doctor Taub and Doctor Foreman were standing in the back of the room, looking at Ryou's backpack with apprehension. Doctor Hadley and Doctor Kutner were capping the blood sample and throat swab they'd gathered. He offered them a small smile, which made Kutner brighten considerably and Thirteen lost the strange stiffness in her shoulders. Bakura grumbled unhappily in the back of his mind.

'I can't believe you humor these mortals. They doubt you and you smile at them. If they kill you, are you going to give them cards?'I'm sure you didn't mean too!''

Ryou only smiled, shaking his head a bit. He watched as Kutner and Thirteen left the room. 'They're doctors. We didn't really have any symptoms. It's completely understandable that they'd go with the first thing that makes sense.'

'That you were lying? These mortals would have their throats slit before too long in Egypt.'

Ryou watched Doctor Taub and Doctor Foreman with narrowed, interested eyes. 'Yami, what are they up to?'

He felt Bakura sigh with annoyance before the spirit took a better look through Ryou's eyes. The two doctors were still by Ryou's bag, and eyeing it. And they were not wearing lab coats, but normal, regular coats, like they were planning on heading outside. Bakura snorted.

'They're going to try and steal something from us,' the spirit said. 'Look at them. Like a couple of two-year-olds trying to figure out how to get into the cookie jar. It's pathetic.'

Ryou rolled his eyes at Bakura and cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the two doctors. He raised an eyebrow. "What are you trying to find? If you asked for it, I'd be able to help you."

Taub and Foreman glanced at one another, and then Taub stepped forward. "We… need to search your hotel room."

Ryou stared at him before shrugging. "Why didn't you just say so instead of standing there like a pair of creepy stalkers?" As Ryou reached over to take the card from his hiding spot, a thought struck him, making his fingers twitch. He went into a coughing fit- somewhat faked, if Ryou was honest with himself- and prodded Bakura mentally.

'Tell me you hid the Millennium Eye somewhere.'

Bakura cackled in his mind, and while the noise usually made Ryou's skin crawl, this time it was a welcome occurrence.

'Do you honestly think I'd just leave it lying somewhere? I hid it before we left for the hospital.'

'What?' Ryou said, startled. He grabbed his deck and began to shuffle through the cards. 'When did you have time to do that?'

He could feel his yami's smirk. 'I make time, Yadounoushi.'

Ryou didn't want to know. Instead, he pulled the flat keycard out of his Duel Monsters deck. He held it out to the two doctors. "I'm not sure what you'll find in there," he admitted. "Father and I spent most our time outside, him at the museums and I…" Ryou paused.

'Where did you go while we were here?'

Ryou could feel Bakura snickering. 'Shopping.'

'… By shopping you mean stealing, don't you?'

'When don't I?'

Ryou withheld his sigh and looked blandly over at the doctors. "I took walks through the neighborhoods nearby."

Foreman quietly took the card from him, looking annoyed and awkward. Taub wouldn't meet Ryou's eyes. "Alright," the shorter man said, "but we're going to check it out anyway."

Ryou shrugged, lying back in his bed. They were staring at him now, studying him. Ryou stared back, leaning his head to the side. 'So,' Ryou found himself thinking, 'Yami's little outburst apparently hadn't gone unnoticed.' He bit the inside of his lip. 'This makes things interesting.'

'As you said,' Bakura grumbled from the back of his mind, startling Ryou into flinching, 'interesting things tend to spit in our faces.'

Ryou watched as Taub and Foreman slowly left the room, his eyes narrowing. 'I think this one might bite.'

--

"So," Wilson began, waving his fork in the air, "you and Cuddy…?"

House's mood did a sudden one-eighty- his mischievous, devil-may-care temper faltered, and then settled on gloomy and angry. He glowered at his plate of pizza and fries. "There's nothing there."

Wilson, confused by the sudden shift, forced a smirk on his face. "Nothing?"

House speared a fry with his fork, not even sparing Wilson a glance. "Nothing," he said firmly. "The plant that once held our fruit of love is as barren as her womb." His tone was light, mocking, but he refused to meet Wilson's gaze, never a good sign. "In spring, no flowers shall bloom there."

Wilson blinked, setting his fork down on his salad plate. "House," he began slowly, "what happened?"

House sneered at his plate, and Wilson could recognize the characteristic self-loathing glow in his blue gaze. "Oh," he said, tone sarcastic and mocking, "nothing that can be fixed. I've just realized some things about the people around me."

Wilson watched as House glared at his plate before pushing it away. This was really bad. "House, wait. I don't understand."

House pushed himself to his feet and sneered. "That's okay," House said, staring hard into Wilson's eyes, "I've stopped expecting you to."

Wilson stilled, startled by that. House turned around and limped out of the cafeteria, leaving the oncologist sitting. Wilson blinked rapidly before gathering both his tray and House's and moving towards the tray window. There was really only one thing to do. Go talk to the other end of the trouble.

During lunch on a Wednesday, Wilson expected Cuddy to be buried deep in paperwork that she usually only half-focused on during Tuesdays. And so, Wilson was surprised to find Cuddy giggling over the live feed on her laptop. He almost felt bad about disturbing her.

Almost.

"Cuddy?" he said softly, rapping his knuckles on the inside of the door. Blue eyes looked up at him, a flicker of annoyance darting through them before they settled. She leaned back, frowning a bit.

"What did he do now?"

Wilson smiled, entering the room and closing the door behind him. "Nothing, actually. It's just…" He paused.

Cuddy raised an eyebrow. "Just what? Out with it, Wilson. I have a daughter to watch."

"He's," Wilson tried once more, "cranky."

Cuddy stared at him. "Oh no," she deadpanned, "call the National Guard."

Wilson brought his arms up and his fingers twitched as he struggled to find words for his problem. "It's not just that," Wilson said. "There's something wrong. Something to do with you and him."

Cuddy blinked, and then looked uncomfortable. Wilson stared at her. "What did you do?"

She sighed, leaning back in her chair. "I… may have told him that I couldn't handle raising two children in my life right now."

Wilson stared at her. "You told him that?"

Cuddy glared at him. "What else was I supposed to do? No matter how I said it, House was going to take it badly. The fact of the matter is that I can't handle taking care of Rachel, running a hospital, and dealing with a Housian relationship at the same time. I just can't."

Wilson sighed, running a hand over his face. Of anyone, Wilson knew that best. He'd lost two marriages to House's neediness. Sure, there had been other things that contributed to them, but House's weight had certainly been a large factor in their collapses. "When?" he asked.

Cuddy shrugged, straightening out her paperwork. "A few days after the Ectopic endometriosis case." Wilson's eyes widened. Cuddy smirked. "We agreed to keep the fighting from the kids. Separation is so hard as it is."

Wilson smirked half-heartedly. "How many clinic hours?"

"Twenty. Man's got a gift."

"He does," Wilson agreed. He then sighed, looking at the Dean of Medicine. "Cuddy…"

"Wilson," she said shortly. "Look, I like House. A lot. I wouldn't have tried it out if I didn't but… well…" She placed her hands on her desk and leaned forward a bit. Unfortunately for Wilson, the computer screen covered her cleavage. "I put tripwire in his office!" she exclaimed, looking disgusted. "I stole his cane. Just because he was being himself." She rubbed her face. "If I had to deal with him twenty-four-seven, I think I'd end up killing him."

Wilson nodded, exhaling. "I… I know," he said softly. "I just wish something would work out for House."

Cuddy raised an eyebrow at him. "You have."

Wilson shook his head, smiling. It wasn't a happy smile, however- more like he was laughing at himself. "Yeah. I abandon him for four months and don't return until his mother calls me for help." He laughed- it was a harsh, hollow noise. "I'm a great friend."

Cuddy rolled her eyes and pointed at him. "You came back."

"Kicking and screaming."

"You still came back," she affirmed. "The rest of us came back by stumbling across him. The rest of us had to come back because we worked with him. You? You could go anywhere. And yet-" she smirked- "here you are. You chose House."

Wilson smiled at her, rubbing the back of his neck. That wound between himself and House would linger for awhile longer- they both knew that- but hearing things like that always helped the healing process. "I-I guess…"

"Good," Cuddy said, going back to her screen. "Now get the hell out of my office and cheer up House. If he makes Mister Bakura cry, I'm kicking your ass."

Wilson nodded, smiling a bit more freely, and ducked out of her office. Feeling better about dealing with this new situation now that he knew the whole story, Wilson started towards the elevator. He wondered if House would go to Ryou's room first, or if he'd throw his ball against the walls of patient rooms. He entered the first elevator to open and pressed the button for the third floor. Wilson could only hope there was no permanent damage.

Several moments later, when Wilson stood in the doorway of Ryou's room, he realized his worry was for nothing. Ryou was sitting, alone, in his room. Glaring at a wall. Shaking his head, and then nodding. Like he was talking with someone who wasn't there.

Alright, maybe worrying was required after all.

"Wilson."

The oncologist turned around and spied House leaning against the wall just across from the door. He was twirling his cane in his hand. Quickly, Wilson made his way over to him. He settled next to House, watching Ryou huff and cross his arms. "How long has he been… doing that?"

House shrugged. "I only got here five minutes ago, and he was quite into the… conversation at that time."

"What are you doing here?"

House's eyes never left Ryou. "I was planning on figuring out if the albino has mood swings or not." House shrugged. "Crazy works just as well, I guess."

Wilson swallowed heavily, feeling a bit ill. Schizophrenia. Just perfect. House grinned at him.

"Let's go talk to all of them!" he said cheerfully, and pushed himself off the wall. Wilson watched House for a moment before sighing and slinking after him. Why did his ward have to suffer from the same thing Daniel had…?

"Mister Bakura!"

Ryou practically fell off the bed, but managed to hold tight to the comforter. He turned around, brown eyes wide and startled. "O-oh! Doctor House! Doctor Wilson!"

Wilson closed the door behind them, wanting to give Ryou some privacy for this. He then shut the blinds. House smirked. "When were you going to tell us you had friends?"

Ryou blinked at him dimly. "Um… what?"

House smiled, gesturing with his cane briefly. "Well, you were just talking with someone…"

Ryou blinked rapidly, paling swiftly. Then he cleared his throat and scooted backwards on his bed. "I was just… yelling at myself," he said.

House sneered at him. "Oh? And I suppose you nod and shake your head while you hold these conversations with yourself?"

Ryou shrugged, nodding. "I do."

Wilson stepped forward. "Why were you yelling at yourself?" House glared at him.

"Hey, I wasn't done yet!"

Ryou smiled a bit, running a hand through his hair. "I'm just frustrated that I can't give more information about where I've been during the past week or so," he admitted, looking up at House. "I… wanted to try and help you figure out what's wrong with me."

House sighed, rolling his eyes. He moved towards the door, but paused to look over his shoulder. "That conversation isn't over," he declared. Ryou's eyes narrowed slightly, but he kept smiling. Wilson shivered.

"I never said it was," he purred, voice deeper, darker. House shared a glance with Wilson and limped from the room. Wilson smiled awkwardly at Ryou and followed.

"That," House said as Wilson caught up to him, "was interesting."

Wilson stared at him. "What? The fact that he wasn't crazy, or that you just got another symptom?"

House smiled at him, his eyes bright, and Wilson knew he missed something in the exchange. "No," House said as they reached the elevator, "that Mister Bakura isn't just talking to the voices in his head." The doors opened and House stepped inside. Wilson followed. "He's letting them come out and play."

Wilson jolted, spinning around to stare at him. "What?"

The doors closed. House turned over and looked at him. Hard.

"I can't be the only to notice that these 'mood swings' the albino has seem more like personality changes," he said. Wilson stared at him. House rolled his eyes and tapped his cane on the floor. "Back when he first had his little fit-"

"That you brought on."

"-He changed. Kinda. You don't remember?"

Wilson frowned. Of course he remembered. It had been like one of those old movies where the main character slowly turned into a werewolf, except Ryou's eyes had narrowed and his face had become more angular. Even his hair had seemed wilder. House smirked at him, and the door swung open.

"I wanted to see if what I saw was exactly as it seemed," House said, leading Wilson towards the diagnostic conference room. "I think he may have figured me out, however." House walked over to the board and picked up a black marker. He began to scribble on the list.

"Now the question is," House asked, stepping back to admire his work, "did the crazy come before or after he became sick?"

Wilson looked at the board and smiled a little.

MUSCLE ACHES
DRY COUGH
SWOLLEN LYMPH NODES
FEVER
LOSS OF APPETITE
MUSCLE WEAKNESS
TACHYCARDIA
MOOD SWINGS

"What?" he quipped. "Not going to write down 'Dissociative Identity Disorder'?"

House shrugged. "Too many words. Besides," he glanced at Wilson, "you know my lovely assistants. They'll put all their little minds together and focus on that, and we aren't even sure it's a symptom."

"What do you think?" Wilson asked.

House leaned on his cane, tapping the marker against it. "I think," he began slowly, "that we need another clue." He glanced at Wilson. Wilson raised an eyebrow and looked at the board again.

And froze.

"House," he said suddenly, walking forward and toward the board, "House, we've got to get him to a MRI."

House watched him for a moment. "Why?"

"Look, see?" Wilson said, blindly snatching up a green marker. He circled Swollen Lymph Nodes and Muscle Weakness, and connected them with a line. He circled Fever and Tachycardia, and scribbled Shock off to the side before connecting those three with a long line. "House, it could be Hodgkin's Disease. It would explain all his symptoms. Even the muscle weakness. A swollen lymph node pressing just right on the spinal column-"

House nodded, leaning forward on his cane. "Could cause some paralysis. And the fever, shock, and his abused system could cause tachycardia." He pulled out his pager, probably to call his fellows back from whatever tasks he had set for them. Wilson looked at him, pressing the marker into his hands.

"I'll go sign you up for a spot." Wilson said, and smiled before turning around and rushing out of the room. He'd talk with House about his Cuddy issues later- right now, he had a seventeen-year-old boy to save.