House was glad he went on with his plan to confront Casey. It was definitely entertaining and gave him something to think about. Of course that man wasn't anywhere near Chase, that fact was even more obvious now. If anything he behaved more like Foreman with his righteous anger and no quick thinking. Still it was interesting how fast he was turning from anger to calmness and back. No self-control in the firefighter, that had to have a reason. And he wasn't going to kick House out of his way, well not in his calm state. It meant he liked to get to the bottom of things and House could live with the fact he used that to help people. After all everybody had their flaws.

House looked around his room. Now was definitely the time for some white board session but there was nothing good enough for his purpose and he didn't like using paper. He had to see the whole picture and not a bunch of sheets. Finally he decided that bathroom tiles were the best place he could find. Damn with those who decided wall-papers should have had flowers and birds on them.

Confidence

It was the first word he wrote down. He didn't have to look too hard to see that one in the guy. After all he was a Lieutenant and you just didn't become the one if you weren't ready for the duty. The good thing was he didn't look too self-confident allowing his men to have some freedom and even suggest something to him.

Quick temper

House wasn't sure should it be considered as good or bad but it was an interesting symptom. Even more interesting was how scared he was after realizing he allowed himself too much. It could mean he had had some problems before with his actions or maybe someone from his family. That led to the third thing on the board.

Nothing personal/family related

There could be hundred reasons for that beginning with 'he had just moved in and didn't have time to pack off'. But House preferred the one with him not liking to discuss his past. It would explain everything so good. His anger-control issues, his efforts to become mister Perfection for everybody and of course his almost unnatural (now when House thought of it again) inconspicuousness. It was something Chase had been good in, too. House had had hard time getting anything from his Wombat. That was why now he was looking forward to Casey's reaction on his inquiry. Would he try to stall or get angry again?!

House paused thinking one more time about that possible secret. It couldn't be something too awful because the boy didn't look paranoid or at least cautious enough for that matter. House had been following him for two days and he hadn't noticed that. Maybe something he had already paid for. It'd explain both his peacefulness in life and his scare of getting too far with his anger. But it should have been that way all the time and he acted differently with his fellow. Yes, it definitely wasn't something he had done but some of his relatives. House would bet his father.

Anyway the rest he could write down was he had no conflicts with his fellows sans that one and he had some relationships with two women even if he didn't see it that way. It could be interesting but for now House decided to start with some search about Casey Sr.

Strangely but he didn't have to search for too long. There was a fifteen years old article about mother who killed her husband with the son sleeping in his room. Looked like it had made quite a story then.

"Once again you've found yourself such careful parents, wombat." He muttered wondering whether there was his own twin struggling with his life and too demanding family somewhere. Maybe there were even more twins of them so mother-nature could see who'd be able to live through that kind of experience.


House was going to confront Casey again but his leg had its own plans for him. So he was forced to stay inside for three days fighting through the mind-numbing pain and begging for it to end. He knew he was walking too much with all the stalking but he didn't expect things to be that bad. At some point House was wishing he hadn't been saving from that building because it would mean no pain for him right now and it was everything he could dream about. But of course as always the pain decreased eventually leaving him with just a reminder of what could happen if he overworked his leg.

When he got back to his observation point House found out with surprise that dynamics in the firehouse had changed in some way. There was no tension between squad and truck team anymore still Casey looked like he was under some pressure. He looked around as if waiting for someone to appear out of thin air and attack him. House was sure he didn't even notice he was doing that half of the time. He watched other firefighters more closely but they didn't seem different, except maybe for that paramedic girl. But House was pretty sure it was more because of Casey's strange behavior than something else. That meant it was something private.

House cautiously followed him back home being aware that in his present state of mind the boy was paranoid enough to detect him. But it came as a huge surprise to him that there could be some real reason for that paranoia when he spotted a black car following his possum on some distance. The car driver could have noticed him because he drove away suddenly.

House didn't know what that was about but he didn't like it already. What reason to follow and then disappear because of House' presence could one have other than attacking Casey in some dark alley? Things could become very ugly very fast.

"What do you want from me?" The exact man he had been following secretly yelled angrily in his face.

That car distracted House too much to keep caution and he was caught.

"Tell him he can stop stalking me, I won't change my statement. I…" Casey stopped looking at House again and then slowly stepping back.

"You?! What the ... What are you doing here? " He asked suspiciously. The boy looked calmer now still House was sure that one wrong word and he'd explode.

"Calm down, Hulk. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course it was just a coincidence you have been walking here. I don't know what you're planning but it won't change anything." He huffed.

"If you want me to answer you should start making more sense. Because the answer on the only question I was able to understand is I'm breathing some fresh night air here."

"What?!" Casey gaped at him.

House laughed internally at how easily he could be distracted. It did have some appeal talking with such an open-faced guy.

"Stop your games!" He frowned at House finally coming back to his senses. "Why are you following me?"

"First good question this evening." House applauded. "But I don't think we should do it here. Your house is more comfortable." He finished and left before Casey had any time to argue with him inviting himself or asking about House' knowledge of his address.


A/N: One more chaptrer from House POV and as you can see we're already around the big mess. The only problem I've got was I'm not that good with nicknames as House was/is. So if you had some ideas feel free to suggest, if not... well then you'd have to bear with me.

Thank you for reviewing, it made my days. So don't stop ;)