Disclaimer: Not Mine…

"Any clues as to why Allison would request two weeks of clinic duty?" Cuddy asked as she sat next to an eating House.

"Nope." He replied as he flicked yet another pickle from his Rueben with his forefinger and thumb towards the cafeteria wall.

"I heard about last night, can't say that I blame her for wanting clinic."

"To each his own." He replied as he bit into his now pickle less sandwich. "Wilson?" Her only response was to nod.

"Cameron wouldn't tell me why she wanted time away…just that she was tired of you so I went to Wilson."

"Jimmy has a way with getting women to open up to him doesn't he?" House asked rhetorically before standing with his plate and limping towards the garbage. His boss wasted no time in following him, continuing the conversation he thought he had ended.

"I'm going to let her do the clinic hours since we are short staffed there." She informed him, to which he only smirked. "I did however inform her that you were still her boss and if a case appeared she would be expected to assist."

"Naturally." He replied as he stepped onto the elevator, Cuddy hanging back and sending him an intense glare.

"You've managed to repulse the one person who could tolerate you." She stated. "You should be proud of yourself." The doors closed as he opened his mouth to respond smartly and Cuddy only sighed at the truth of her words and turned to walk back to the cafeteria to fetch her own lunch.

"Am I repulsing?" He asked as he walked into the conference room where his two other ducklings sat reading their respective sections of the morning paper.

"Is that a rhetorical question?" Chase asked, arching an eyebrow and keeping his gaze on his reading. Ignoring Foreman's smirk House limped his way to the head of the table and plopped down with a sigh.

"Not really, just trying to figure out why my regular Monday evening hooker has declined the invitation to my crib."

"Didn't know Cameron moonlighted as a hooker." Foreman replied, folding up his newspaper as House shot him an intense glare.

"Who said anything about Dr. Cameron?" House barked.

"You did." He replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't remember her name being mentioned."

"You didn't have to." Chase offered, joining in the conversation.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He barked, watching as Chase began to squirm.

"Take it at face value House." Foreman replied, standing to his feet and shrugging off his lab coat and replacing it with his own street jacket. "I'm going home."

"I haven't dismissed class yet." House replied, pushing off with his left leg so that he rolled in front of the conference room door. Foreman only stared down at him, meeting his glare with one of his own.

"I'll tell you what, we'll all take tonight to think about what was just said and we'll argue about it in the morning, I just pulled both yours and my own clinic hours and all I want to do is go home, have a beer and go to bed." Too tired of the Cameron issue he rolled over to the table and nodded his head in silence as the two men left. Pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing he attempted in vein to ward off the pain beginning to pulsate through the back of his head. Blindly he reached into his pants pocket for Vicodin and swallowed two down.

After a moment the pain radiating through his head and leg subsided to a dull throb and he was again able to open his eyes. To his surprise he was now staring into another pair of baby blues. "How long have you been sitting there?" He mumbled, leaning back in his seat but maintaining eye contact.

"Long enough." She replied as he took in her belongings on the table before him.

"What do you want? I thought you wanted as far away from me as you could get."

"I do. I just need to ask you a question."

"So long as I get one in return." He offered, giving her the slightest hint of a smile.

"Deal." She agreed. "Be honest with me…

"My honesty will depend on what you ask me." He informed her, leaning up to the table and crossing his hands on the table where his arms now rested.

"When did – how did – when did you watch The Princess Bride?"

"I read the book." He replied immediately. "The movie was great but I liked the book when I was growing up."

"What would sway you to read the book?" She asked, her face partially lighting up as she leaned towards the table.

"My response to that would then mean I have answered two questions, we agreed on one." He informed her, watching as disappointment swept over her face and she leaned back in the chair with a nod. At this action Cuddy's words swept through his mind and he relented. "I guess I could throw a dog a bone." He started. "I read a lot growing up, I enjoyed it. Medical journals came at about age thirteen, before that it was books like The Princess Bride, Oliver Twist, Robinson Crusoe, Little Women, Huckleberry Finn, Pride and Prejudice…"

"Little – Pride and Prejudice?" She asked, her face lighting up at his revelation.

"I read anything that seemed good."

"Romance novels? I should've known…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked indignantly.

"It only means that it would seem like you, you watch General Hospital and The L Word religiously, it should have been kind of obvious."

"There's nothing wrong with a good book." He said defensively.

"Now your putting words into my mouth-"

"I mean Robinson Crusoe and Huckleberry Finn are adventure novels." He interrupted.

"Why are you getting so defensive over this, I just made an observation." She smirked.

"You called me a romantic." He spat.

"You say that as if it's the pneumonic plague." She replied. "You wouldn't be defending yourself so heavily if it weren't the truth."

"I like a book with a little bit of everything in it, especially picture books." He replied, raising his eyebrows suggestively at her.

"Well I'll take that as my cue." She sighed, holding back the smile that toyed at the corners of her mouth.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" He asked as she picked up her things and walked to the door.

"Oh, goodnight House." She called over her shoulder as she exited the conference room. Watching her retreat down the hall he spun in his chair with a sigh before grabbing his cane and limping out of the office.

Smiling at her ability to stay cool while in a room alone with House she took her time in locating her keys at the bottom of her purse. As her fingers struck gold and she retrieved them from the dark depths of the bag and shrieked in fright as she was twisted around and pushed roughly into the door of her car. Seething she looked into the eyes of her attacker…

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW…