A/N: I will slowly be building up to some Huddy action within the next couple of chapters or so. Can't say more than that because I don't want to give too much away.

SCENE 1:

Rachel and Cuddy arrived at the police station at around 8:30 in the morning. Rachel really didn't want to be there. She didn't want to turn on her best friend. All she wanted was for everything to go back to normal. Normal. Rachel didn't even know what that was anymore. She sighed as she turned towards Cuddy. "Mommy?" Cuddy looked up at her. "Do I have to go in there? Can we just go back home? I'll go to school and you'll go to work and then everything will go back to how it used to be." Cuddy sighed.

"I'm afraid things will never go back to how they used to be" she said. "And we have to go in there in order to protect you from both Mark and Annabell."

"But Annabell's my best friend" Rachel protested. "I can't backstab her."

"She threatened you" Cuddy pointed out. "A true friend wouldn't have done that." Rachel shrugged her shoulders.

"I can't do this" Rachel muttered. "I'm too scared!"

"You have to be brave, Rachel" Cuddy told her. "You have to go in there and tell them everything that happened." Rachel's body began to tense. All she wanted was for her mom to say that she didn't have to go in there if she didn't want to; that there was nothing wrong with turning around and going back home. Unfortunately, Cuddy didn't say that. "Come on!" Cuddy said as she opened the car door. "Rachel! Hurry up." Begrudgingly, Rachel stepped out of the car. She held her mom's hand as they walked into the police precinct. Rachel sat down in one of the waiting chairs as Cuddy went up to the desk and began talking with an officer. After talking with him for about two minutes she walked over to Rachel and sat down next to her.

"What'd they say?" Rachel nervously asked while staring at the ground.

"Just that they'd be with us shortly," Cuddy responded. Rachel nodded her head and then went back to studying the patterns of the multi-colored tile floor.

"Ms. Cuddy?" Rachel heard a voice call a few minutes later. She looked up and saw a woman standing there. Rachel glanced over at her mom who stood up and nodded, urging her to follow. Rachel got up, took a deep breath and followed the woman into a small room with a rectangular table. The woman shut the door. "Hello," she said extending her hand out to Rachel. "My name is Detective Brown. And you must be Rachel?" Rachel nodded. She then proceeded to shake Cuddy's hand real quick. Then the three of them sat down around the table; Rachel next to Cuddy and Detective Brown sitting directly across from Rachel. "So, Rachel" Detective Brown began. "Your mother informed us that a man by the name of Mark Stevens raped you and that you've been receiving death threats from both him and a fellow classmate of yours named Annabell Lewis." Rachel just simply nodded. "Can you tell me more about that please?" So Rachel began to tell her harrowing tale. As she was speaking, she saw Detective Brown arch her eyebrows and scribble something down on a pad. She seemed truly interested in what Rachel had to say. "Do you have any of these alleged text messages and know the website of the online group?"

"Yeah," Rachel responded. She took out her phone and showed Detective Brown all of the threatening texts. "But here's one showing that Annabell was being pressured into doing this. I don't think she would have done any of this if she wasn't scared for her life."

"We'll take that into consideration" was all Detective Brown said before taking Rachel's phone and walking into an ajoining room with it. Rachel looked over nervously at her mom.

"You're doing great!" Cuddy said. Rachel forced a smile.

"Why'd she take my phone?" Rachel asked.

"She needs to make copies of all the texts they sent you. That way they can use it as evidence in court." Cuddy explained.

"What?" Annabell exclaimed, freaking out. "I have to face him in court and say everything he did to me with him sitting there? No, I can't do that!" Rachel began to hyperventilate.

"I understand that you're scared. But you have to testify against him."

"What does that mean?" Rachel asked. "To testify?"

"To tell the judge and the jury what he and Annabell did to you. You need to be completely honest" Cuddy said.

"I can't" Rachel uttered. "I…I just can't!" Tears started to form in her eyes.

"How about I ask Detective Brown if they can make a recording of your deposition, or your testimony if you will, and then they can share that in the courtroom? That way you don't have to be present." Cuddy suggested.

"I guess that's alright." Cuddy smiled as she took her hand off Rachel's shoulder.

"Good," she said. Detective Brown came back into the room a moment later and gave Rachel her phone back.

"Am I going to have to testify in court?" Rachel asked.

"It would be better if you did." Rachel looked over at her mom.

"Look, the girl is terrified to be in the same room with this pedophile" Cuddy explained. "Can't we just record her deposition?"

"We could do that" Detective Brown said. "But Rachel would still have to appear in court in case the judge or either attorney has any questions for her."

"But if he walks free he could come and kill me" Rachel said in a shaky voice. "He said he would. I'm too scared to die!"

"I'll be with you the entire time" Cuddy promised. "And there will be a court officer who will step in if Mark tries anything."

"Is Annabell going to have to go to court too?" Rachel asked.

"We're going to call her and her parents in. She may or may not have to appear in court depending on what we and her lawyer decide upon." Rachel gulped.

"She's going to hate me for turning on her."

"Rachel, listen to me! Like I said earlier, a true friend wouldn't have done that." Cuddy then turned towards Detective Brown. "Is there anything else you'll need today, Detective?"

"Just the name of the online group. Then you're free to go" she said. Detective Brown handed Rachel a sheet of paper and a pen. Rachel wrote down the name of the group and handed her back the paper and pen. Then she and Cuddy got up, got into the car and left. Rachel looked at the clock in the car.

"It's only 9:15 and I already feel so exhausted, like the whole day has passed" Rachel told her mom.

"I don't blame you" Cuddy said. "You've been through a lot."

"So what are we going to do the rest of the day if I'm not going to school and you not going to work?" Rachel asked. "I'm not used to both of us having nothing to do and especially at the same time." Cuddy let out a quick laugh.

"I don't know," she said. "What do you want to do?" Rachel was about to answer when Cuddy's cellphone rang. "Rachel, honey, can you put it on speaker, please?" Rachel did. "Hello?"

"Hey, former Boss Lady!" House said. "In order to avoid yet another lawsuit, I want your permission to perform a brain biopsy. I was going to do it anyway, but Cameron has me on lockdown in my office until I call you. Just say yes so we can both go about our merry ways."

"Why does the patient need a brain biopsy?" Cuddy asked.

"Damn! Why do you always need to go into specifics?" House whined. "I thought it would be fun to open up his head and poke around just to see what happens."

"House, that's not funny" Cuddy said, annoyed. "Either tell me what's really going on or I'm hanging up!"

"Fine! We found evidence of a tumor on their CT scan and I want to biopsy it to see whether or not it's cancerous." Cuddy hesitated.

"Are you 100% sure it's a tumor?"

"Either that or the patient has a golf ball lodged into his Cerebellum" House said sarcastically.

"Did you get Wilson's opinion on this? Cuddy asked him in a very professional tone.

"If by THIS you mean whether to watch "General Hospital' or 'WWE Wrestling' I tried but he kicked me out of his office because, according to him, he was too busy for my antics."

"I don't have time for your antics either, House. Just go and ask him for his opinion and then call me back and let me know what he says."

"What'd she say?" Cuddy heard Cameron ask in the background.

"To go for it" House lied.

"House! I heard that!"

"But she didn't" House said as he hung up.

"Damn!" Cuddy muttered under her breath. "Rachel, I am so sorry. Can you dial Cameron's number? It's in my contacts list and keep it on speaker, ok?"

"Alright," Rachel sighed as she did what she was told.

"Hello, Dr. Cameron"

"Hi, it's Lisa. Don't do the brain biopsy. Run the CT scan results by Wilson and then call me back and let me know what he says."

"Oh crap! I have to try and catch House before he wheels the patient into surgery." And with that she hung up.

"I am so sorry for the interruptions," Cuddy apologized again. "Anyway, what do you want to do today?" Rachel shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know."

"You say you want to spend more time with me and then when you have the chance to spend more time with me you don't know what you want to do?" Cuddy joked.

"You wanna hear a song I wrote when we get home?" Rachel suggested.

"Sure. Rachel, have you ever tried Yoga?" Cuddy asked. Rachel shook her head.

"No. Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yoga is a great stress reliever" Cuddy explained. "Believe me. That's the sole reason I'm able to deal with House without losing it!" Rachel giggled. "I have a couple of CD's at home with relaxation music that I can put on and I'll show you a few poses if you're interested." This was the first time that her mom ever included her in one of her personal activities. Rachel felt special to be a part of it, no matter how trivial it was.

"Yeah, sure" Rachel responded. "I'd love to learn!"

"Great!" Cuddy exclaimed, with an obvious enthusiasm in her voice. "I'll listen to your song first, and then we'll do some Yoga followed by having lunch. How does that sound?"

"It sounds really nice" Rachel answered with a genuine smile on her face.

"Good. After we're done with lunch, I'll go pick up all of your missed work from school and then I'm going to do some of my work from home. But at least we'll have the morning together." Rachel nodded in agreement. A few minutes later they arrived home and walked into the house.

"Wanna hear my song now?" Rachel asked, excitedly.

"Just give me a few minutes to get settled and then I'd love to hear it." Rachel sighed as she went into her room. The thing was, her mom had made promises to spend time with her before, but work always seemed to get in the way. 20 minutes later, Rachel still hadn't heard anything from her mom, so she got up and walked into the living room. Cuddy was sitting on the couch with a mountain of paperwork laid out in front of her, while chatting away on her cellphone. "Tell House he's going to get his butt sued if he doesn't follow proper protocol. No! I don't care if he ends up being right. From what you've told me, he's already broken five different laws. You have to treat the patient within the boundaries of the law. I don't give a damn about his wormhole theory!" She looked up and noticed Rachel standing there with a look of disappointment on her face. "Tell House if he has a problem with this, then he should give me a call. Look, I have to go! Bye now!" Cuddy hung up and put her phone back into her purse. She turned towards Rachel. "Sorry about that. Anyway, I'm ready to hear that song now if you're still interested in playing it for me." Rachel nodded as she ran over to their black baby grand piano.

"I'm not sure if it's going to be that good" Rachel said. "It's the first song I've ever written"

"I'm sure it will be wonderful, honey" Cuddy said, taking a seat on the couch. Rachel put her hands on the piano and began to play. After the third measure, she started to sing.

I walk down the halls

feeling so small,

but one smile from you

changes everything.

But then you look away

and I don't know what to say.

I blend into the shadows.

Invisible; I'm invisible.

If I were to scream your name

as you pass by me today

would you answer me

or just walk away?

I don't know what to say

and I don't know what to feel.

It makes me wonder

were you even smiling at me?

Or was it she

who was walking behind me?

Maybe you and me

just aren't meant to be.

Oohhhhh! Oohhhhh! Yeah. Oohhhhh!

Rachel stopped playing and looked up at Cuddy. "So what'd you think?"

"I like it" Cuddy responded. "Just one question. Is this how you're really feeling?" Rachel shook her head.

"No, I was just listening to a bunch of cruddy break-up songs on my iPod while I was writing this." Cuddy laughed.

"Well, it's very good" she told Rachel. "I'm impressed." Rachel smiled upon hearing this statement. It truly meant a lot that her mom was genuinely proud of her.

"I played this at the talent show back in November" Rachel told Cuddy.

"You had a talent show? Where was I?"

"Work" Rachel responded in a slightly hurt tone.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't there, but at least I got to hear it now. Do you have any other performances coming up?" Cuddy asked, not wanting to miss yet another one. Rachel thought for a moment.

"I have a piano recital next Sunday at the community theatre" Rachel said. "But it's not a big thing. So you don't have to come if you don't want to."

"Of course I want to come!" Cuddy said, feeling slightly hurt with the fact that her daughter thought she didn't have an interest in her life. "What time is it?"

"2pm. But I have to be there at 1:30."

"I'll be there" Cuddy said as she took out her blackberry and put it into her calendar. "There. Now there's no way I can forget!"

"So how about some Yoga, mom?" Cuddy smiled as she got up and walked down the stairs towards the basement with Rachel following closely behind. When they got down there, Cuddy grabbed 2 mats off of a shelf and laid them down on the floor. Then she grabbed a couple of C.D.'s.

"Do you prefer nature sounds or classical music?"

"Classical" Rachel answered. Cuddy returned the other CD back to its proper place, walked over to her neon green boom box and placed the C.D. in there.

"Ready?" Cuddy asked. Rachel nodded. "Good. We're just going to start off with some stretching. You should know most of these exercises from Cheerleading." Cuddy was right. Not only did Rachel know all of the stretches, but she was doing them with ease. "Very good!" Cuddy said. "Now for some poses. The first one I'm going to teach you is called the 'Sun Salutation'. It consists of mostly stretching. So it's a good one to start off with." Cuddy showed her how to do it. Rachel messed up the first couple of times, but then she caught on and was doing it flawlessly. "Great!" Cuddy praised. "Now we're going to do 'Child's pose'." Again, Cuddy showed her what to do and Rachel went right into the pose.

"I could fall asleep like this" Rachel said half-jokingly. Cuddy was about to show her another pose when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it" Rachel said as she got up and ran up the stairs. She opened the door and saw Cameron with a tight grip around House's arm.

"Hi Rachel" Cameron said. "How are you?"

"Good, thanks. How are you?" Rachel responded.

"Good. Is your mom home?"

"Yeah, come on in and make yourselves at home while I go and get her." Rachel let them in and then ran downstairs. "Mommy! House and Cameron are here. They're sitting on the couch upstairs." Cuddy walked over to her.

"Rachel, how many times do I have to tell you to come and get me before you let people in?" Cuddy said with her hand on her hip and a gleam of both anger and frustration in her eyes.

"Sorry, I just thought it was ok to let people in if we knew them." Cuddy shook her head and took a deep breath as her expression relaxed a little.

"Next time don't let anyone in until you get me first and let me decide whether or not to let them in. Understood?"

"Yes. Sorry, mom!" Cuddy nodded.

"It's fine" Cuddy said as she headed upstairs. Rachel stood at the bottom of the stairs and listened to the conversation.

"Hello, Dr. House. Dr. Cameron. What brings you both here today?"

"Why don't you tell her what you did House?" Cameron said with a strong disdain in her voice.

"So, the thing is, I might have taken just a teeny-tiny brain biopsy without running it by Wilson, but…"

"You did what?" Cuddy screamed at him. "Didn't you even listen to a word I said?"

"Hey, Cameron is just as guilty for not stopping me. Why aren't you yelling at her?"

"I tried to stop you House, but you were in already in surgery before I had the chance to and by the time I got cleaned up and in scrubs, you were finished. What was I supposed to do?" she complained.

"You could have run into the room and stopped me instead of taking your jolly old time cleaning-up and putting on your precious scrubs."

"Oh and let the patient get sepsis. Great idea, House. Have a second lawsuit on top of the first. Why do you always…"

"Enough!" Cuddy interjected. "Cameron, I'm no longer your boss and I haven't been so for the past 10 years. You should know by now to go to Dr. Forman and let him handle this. It's not a difficult concept to grasp!" She turned towards House. "And you! I doubt you've ever heard the word 'No' in your life. Don't expect me to cut you any deals if this patient decides to sue your ass."

"But…" House started to say.

"I don't want to hear it. Get out!" Cuddy said as she got up and swung the front door open. Cameron walked out got into her car and left, but House stayed put. "If you're not off my property within the next two minutes, then I'm calling the police and having you arrested for trespassing, which really wouldn't be a good thing, in your case, since you're already on probation. And I am not bailing you out this time!" A minute later, Rachel saw House come down the stairs and they locked eyes.

"How long has the little rug rat been standing there?" House asked as he pointed at Rachel. Crap! She was hoping no one would see her.

"Rachel! Go to your room!" Cuddy ordered. "Just because you have hearing aids now does not mean you have a right to eavesdrop on other peoples conversations." Rachel just stood there. "Rachel, now! Come on! Move it!" Cuddy shrieked as she quickly clapped her hands.

"Sure, send me off to my room" Rachel complained as she headed up the stairs. "That way you can spend even less time with me. I don't understand why you even adopted me when you obviously don't want anything to do with me."

"Now, Rachel, that's not true and you know it!" Cuddy protested, but Rachel was already in her room with the door shut. "Wonderful!" Cuddy muttered. "She's never going to open up the door for me and I don't exactly feel like shouting through a wooden blockade." House walked back up the stairs. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To do what you can't!" he shot back. He walked up to Rachel's bedroom door and banged on it with his cane.

"Go away!" Rachel screamed. "Leave me alone!" House ignored her and opened up the door anyway. "What part of 'go away' did you not understand?" Rachel said with her face buried in her pillows. House shut the door behind him.

"Rachel," House said. "Get over yourself. Believe it or not the world does not revolve around precious little you." Rachel looked up with an expression of shock mixed with anger. "Look, if your mom didn't want anything to do with you then tell me why she's missing work to spend time with you? Why did she take you to the police station this morning? Spend hours on the phone in order to get an order of protection for you? Bring you to the doctor so you could get hearing aids? If your mom didn't care than she wouldn't have done any of this. She would have just let you fend for yourself without giving any of it a second thought. If she didn't care, then she wouldn't be hurt by what you just said." Rachel just shook her head in agony.

"She missed my talent show performance last November because her precious work is more important than me. But it makes sense. I'm not even her real daughter, so why should she love me? If my real parents didn't even love me, than why should she?" Rachel said as tears fell down her face and stained her cheeks.

"Cut the self-pity crap!" House said in an exacerbated tone. "Your mom loves you very much and you know it. She's taking a leave of absence and is working from home in case you need anything. The least you can do is cut her some slack!"

"Oh, so suddenly you're a big Lisa Cuddy fan? I thought you hated her." House shook his head.

"I like to jerk your mom around a little bit, but that doesn't mean I hate her. In fact, I respect her for all that she does. But don't tell her that or else I won't have power over her anymore." Rachel giggled. "So what do you say you go out and talk with your mom? Apologize for eavesdropping and talking back to her, even if you think she doesn't deserve it. Believe me; an apology goes a long way."

"But you never apologize to anyone" Rachel pointed out.

"Think about it, Rachel. Do you really want to end up like me? A miserable cripple who pops pills like candy in order to avoid the realities of everyday life?" Rachel thought for a second and then shook her head.

"I guess you're right" Rachel said. "I just need a few minutes to calm down and then I promise I'll go out and apologize to her."

"Good!" House said. Little did they know that Cuddy was standing on the other side of Rachel's door and heard every word they had just said. House had stood up for her! And not only that. He said that he respected her. Cuddy felt her heart begin to melt as feelings of euphoria pulsated through her body at lightning speed. After Cuddy came to her senses, she quickly and quietly went into her room and shut the door in order to avoid being seen. "I'm going to leave now" House said as he opened Rachel's bedroom door. "Don't forget what I just said."

"I won't" Rachel promised. House gave her a quick nod and shut the door behind him.

"Bye Cuddles. I'm leaving now!" House announced as he walked down the hallway. Cuddy opened her bedroom door and walked out into the hallway.

"Wait!" she called out. House turned around and looked at her. "I want to thank you for how great you've been with Rachel. You're probably the only person she completely trusts now. And I want you to know that the reason I spent $1500 bailing you out of jail was to show you how much I appreciate what you did. You went to jail for her! This was a huge act of kindness that's just beyond words." House nodded and took a step closer to her. Cuddy walked over and gave him a hug. She could feel his breath on her neck. He leaned into kiss her and this time she kissed back. Cuddy felt so secure being held in his arms. House ran his hands through her dark curls before slowly releasing her. They both smiled as they stared into each other's eyes. After a few seconds, House broke the silence.

"I have to get going. Wilson lost a bet to me and is buying me lunch. I don't want to be late for that." Cuddy let out a quick laugh.

"Take care of yourself!" Cuddy said as she watched him walk down the stairs.

"I always do" House said as he walked out of the house and shut the door behind him.