"So, where were we?"

"I was about to ask you another question."

"ah."

After cracking his knuckles, Chase thought to himself a moment before a smile covered his lips. This was his big chance to ask House anything he wanted without it being shot back in his face. Wait a minute…why am I doing this? Since when have I become so greedy with power? (Pause) There is one thing I am of curious of though…

"What happened House?"

"When?"

Careful Chase…"What I mean is, why did you retire?."

Nice Save

House cringed at the thought of rehashing the details of that event. What had he gotten himself into? You had to answer the damn door didn't you? Shut Up, the door was open…

It took every once of stamina he had left to remain calm while looking Chase square in the eye. There were so many things he could have said in response to this question but the easiest answer seemed to be…

"You know why. Chase, everyone in that hospital knows why I left."

"Only through rumors and gossip from the nurses and you know how they loved to stretch the truth especially concerning the medical staff."

A smirk came to House's lips as an idea came to his mind.

"Why don't you tell me what you've heard and I'll either confirm it or deny it. Does that sound fair?"

Chase was surprised by House's tact but then again if he were in his position he would probably do the same thing. Its one thing to air out your dirty laundry in front of family and friends but it was another thing entirely to be forced into it by your former employees. This was a mistake. Before Chase could apologize and suggest that they forget the whole thing Cameron spoke up.

"People have said a lot of things."

"such as?."

"…anything from had a mental break down to getting a hooker pregnant."

House chuckled at the later of the two choices. No matter what rumor was going around about him the hooker pregnancy always seemed to pop up as one of the guesses people had. There was an heir of sadness in his eyes then as a realization came to him.

They were your colleagues at one time . Don't you think they deserve to know the truth? No, but I don't really have a choice now do I?

"Surprisingly enough, one of those suggestions is true."

"Which one? Please don't tell me it's the second…"

"No…its not."

Would that have been so terrible?

Fortunately, they were both quick to catch on to what House was saying. He had had a mental break down. After sighing to themselves, Chase and Cameron waited for their former boss to begin to tell his story.

"This is not a long story so I wouldn't start making popcorn anytime soon. Unless you want to eat it on the way home…(sigh) To save some time, I'll give you the reader's digest condensed version…in truth, what happened is this, after the bus crash, amber's death and the numerous suicide attempts I had tried in the past decade my brain had had enough and decided to check out for while…It started off as nothing, a few moments of memory loss here and there, a black out every once and a while but then something happened that made my decision to retire the easiest one I've ever made. Simply said, I screwed up a case which…cost a man his life and a doctor his career."

At the end of this explanation Chase and Cameron were on the edge of their seats in anticipation for the next detail. When it never came, they exchanged a glance while sitting back against the soft upholstery of their chairs. The only thing Chase could think about was how difficult that must have been for House to explain just then. After all, the man valued his privacy more then anything in the world even his intellect for medicine.

Before either of them could respond to what had been said, House regained his composure while lifting himself up off the couch with help from his cane.

"You both need to leave."

Nodding their heads in understanding, Chase and Cameron headed for the door but as they walked out into the cold winter's night they were called back temporarily by House who stood in the doorway watching them from a far.

"Night."

Unfortunately, House had closed the door before they could respond with a very honest and hopeful farewell.

"Good Night House, I'm sure we'll meet again."