"Kill her." Falcone commanded.

"Hold on there, Slick." House shouted as Cuddy began to struggle against Antonio, "Did you not hear me? You die unless I decide to save you. What happens in the next three hours will decide that. If your first act to convince me is to kill my girlfriend, then you're going about winning my heart all wrong."

Falcone put a hand up toward Antonio who released Cuddy. Cuddy shakily pulled away from him and grabbed the chair for support. She knew the last thing she needed was more excitement. Torn stitches and high blood pressure were high on the list of risks, both which could prove fatal.

"Now here is how this is going to work." House pulled five more syringes out of the medical kit and placed them on the table. Each one was labeled with a letter from A to E in red sharpie but were otherwise identical, "One of these saves your life. The other four kill you instantly. I take Leatherface's cell phone here and once Dr. Cuddy and I are safely away you call the phone, I tell you which letter to inject. It's as easy as A, B, C…D, E."

"How bout I just test them on you?" Falcone asked, yanking the original syringe out of his back and tossing it to the floor.

"Because even if you did choose the right one to test, you wouldn't have enough left over to save yourself. Don't worry, I thought this through." House said irritably.

"How bout I start snipping off her fingers with my hedge trimmers and we see how quickly you tell me which one to use?" Falcone took a step forward and Cuddy took a step back.

"You'd trust me to tell you the right one after you maim Dr. Cuddy?" House questioned, taking a slight step in between the two.

Falcone's eyes narrowed, "You've overestimated your position. This hasn't gone exactly as planned. You meant for me to send her away and then use that syringe to save yourself. Now, I still have one ace left. You tell me which one to use or I'll kill her. If you give me the wrong one, I give Caesar and Antonio orders to kill you both."

"You were gonna kill us both anyway. I got nothing to lose." House stood his ground. He knew if he faltered, one or both of them would die. He kept the secret, their only chance, safe.

Falcone paused. He knew House was right, he had no more leverage, "How can I trust you to tell me the right one even if we do exactly what you want?"

"You have no choice."


House was not at all at ease even when Falcone ordered the car. He helped the weary Cuddy into the back seat and then climbed in beside her. She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Far too nervous to actually sleep, she was preserving what was left of her strength. She was light headed and felt the world spin whenever she moved too quickly. The situation had also moved very quickly, making her head spin. Their lives had been threatened more in one day than in her entire life. Perhaps this was not true for House, he had probably received death threats often. She doubted it was over, doubted that Falcone would simply give up after the extreme steps he had taken. She would feel a lot better surrounded by police officers.

As the car drove away from the mansion, House pocketed Caesar's cell phone and looked down at Cuddy. He shared her misgivings that this would all go smoothly, "Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital." He said, again. Foreman knew what was going on and had called the police. House had instructed him to. The plan had always been to get Cuddy out first and then use the syringe to get himself out. He had to pull out his ace early, however, due to the game change.

Falcone had argued the logic, which was flawless, but even so, House couldn't shake the feeling that Falcone wasn't a man who liked to be outsmarted and would retaliate. He waited with baited breath.


This is a tad shorter than most, I have a bit of a block on how best to proceed with what will happen next. Thanks for sticking with me and for the reviews, updates soon!