Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Mind or House MD. All original characters belong to me. Any similarities to real life persons, in name or description, are strictly coincidental.

10.

The BAU team had found a small corner café a few blocks from Princeton-Plainsborough to grab a bit to eat before heading off to finally see Emily. Sans Reid, none of them had seen her since her admittance to the hospital. They were all feeling uneasy; the last time Hotch had spoken to them he hadn't sounded too optimistic.

JJ broke the silence after a long while of not talking, which was unusual for them. "Garcia is going to catch the next commercial flight here that she can get on."

Reid took a sip of his sugary coffee commenting, "I hope she's able to get a ticket quickly."

Morgan snickered in amusement. "Knowing Garcia, she'll probably hack her way onto the next flight."

"I hope the doctor is alright," said Rossi, ignoring the ongoing conversation.

"Did Hotch tell you what happened to her?" asked Reid, raising his voice to speak over the jingling bells as the door to the café swung open.

He nodded. "Just a cut; she'll be fine. But I haven't heard from him since."

"I hope nothing's happened to Emily since then," JJ worried.

"It's only been a couple of hours," soothed Morgan. "I'm sure everything is fine."

Nine o'clock. House should've been at work, but when ever had he been on time? Not for years. He had instead stopped at the café near the hospital to get a coffee to pass the time until he decided it was a good time to go to work.

"House!" Wilson stood next to him in line, tapping his foot anxiously. "You said we were going straight to the hospital. "You lied. We're late!"

"Keep your pants on," said House boredly.

"I have a meeting," he whined, glancing impatiently at his watch.

House thanked the cashier as she handed him his coffee before replying sarcastically, "What's Cuddy going to do, fire us?" He glared pointedly at his friend, whose mouth stayed clamped shut. "I didn't think so." He took a sip of the hot liquid, his eyes scanning the room as he looked for a seat when he spotted a group of quite professional-looking adults. It didn't seem as if they were from around here, but House could tell from how close they were sitting that these people weren't just colleagues. No, they were closer than that.

Then he heard the name 'Emily' drift over the chatter of the coffee shop, and it registered faintly in the back of his mind that 'Emily' was the name of his patient.

House elbowed Wilson in the ribs, and he let out a high-pitched yelp. "Hey! What was that for?"

"I think that those people over there," he said, pointing to the team as he grinned slyly, "Know my patient. I think they're with the FBI too."

Wilson frowned as he rubbed his sore side. "You're not going to talk to them, are you?" House ignored what he considered to be a rhetorical question, and instead began to make his way towards their round table tucked into the corner. He heard Wilson sigh in annoyance, but he also heard his footsteps as he followed him.

The pretty blonde stopped talking and looked up as House halted at her shoulder. "Can I help you?" she asked tiredly.

"Yes, actually," he answered with a mock tone of sincerity coloring his voice. "You can." He scrutinized the others. There was an awkward-looking kid, who couldn't have been older than twenty-five. Sitting on the blonde's left was a stocky, dark-skinned guy with a look of suspicion on his face. On the woman's other side was a man who looked to be the oldest. He didn't look distrustful, only curious, and perhaps slightly apprehensive. "Do you guys work for the FBI?"

The dark-skinned guy's eyes narrowed. "Yes, why?" House saw his hand waved over the gun holstered on his hip.

House didn't answer the question. "And you have a colleague named Emily?"

The older man rose protectively. "What is this all about?"

"Your colleague, Emily, is my patient."

The youngest perked up. "You're Dr. House!"

"Good deduction, kid," snorted House.

"Why are you here?" the blonde repeated. "Has something happened to Emily?"

He shook his head. "No. I just heard her name and thought I'd ask." His lips quirked upwards. "So, you guys work in the Behavioral Analysis Unit too?"

"House," whispered Wilson sternly, "Stop prodding!"

He didn't even acknowledge Wilson, and was about to reiterate his question when his phone began to ring.

"Damn," he muttered. "The team's been calling all morning."

"Don't you think that it must be important, then?"

House rolled his eyes and placed the phone to his ear. "What is so important that it couldn't wait until-"

"House!" Foreman's angry voice sounded on the other end of the line. "Shut up. We have two problems. One: Thirteen almost got killed by that serial killer that's been running around Princeton-"

"What?"

"-and two: we have a new symptom. Our patient had a seizure."

"Is Thirteen alright?"

"What's wrong? What happened?" prompted Wilson when he heard House's inquiry. House shushed his with a wave of his hand.

"Thirteen is fine; just a cut. The guy is dead. You know our patient's colleague, Agent Hotchner?" He didn't wait for an answer. "He killed him."

"Good." He paused. "Schedule an MRI. I'll be there in five minutes." He flipped shut the phone. Wilson and he dark-skinned man simultaneously asked , "What's wrong?"

House frowned. "Your friend just had a seizure."

The two doctors and four agents hurried to the hospital, and after officially introducing themselves quickly, they parted to go their separate ways.

Chase, Taub, Foreman, and Thirteen were waiting around the conference table when House arrived. A strip of gauze was taped over the lower section of Thirteen's neck.

"Are you alright?" House asked as he took his seat at the head of the table. He was truly sincere; a trait he did not often portray.

Thirteen nodded tersely. "I'm fine."

"What happened?"

"We don't really have time to talk about it now-"

"Tell me. I want to know."

She sighed. "I was about to get into my car when some guy tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to help him do something- I can't remember what. He led me to his car, and suddenly tried to shove me inside, so I screamed. He pulled out a knife-" She paused, and took a deep breath before continuing, "-and that was when Agent Hotchner came running out of nowhere."

"How'd the guy die?" questioned Chase. She hadn't told them earlier; said she wanted to wait for House so she wouldn't have to repeat the story.

"He killed himself with the knife." She looked oddly irritated.

"Thirteen, if you want to head home-" began House, but she shook her head ardently.

"No. I'm fine"

He shrugged. "Alright."

Foreman glanced at his watch and stood up hastily, interrupting House's curious scrutiny of the female doctor. "We'd better head out for the MRI."

The team had taken up residence in the hospital waiting room. Although the all would've liked to stay with Emily, her room was much too small for the large group. So, it was there they sat, worrying, as the doctors came and took Emily for the MRI, Hotch trailing along behind.

Now, Hotch stood behind the four doctors, and, surprisingly, Dr. House was with them as well. He hadn't seen him since the ER. He was still quite frazzled; the seizure, he knew, was not a welcome addition to Emily's list of symptoms.

"So, you caught the bad guy, huh?" said House, disturbing the awkward silence that had settled over the six of them.

Hotch glared at the back of House's head. "I'd rather you focus on diagnosing my colleague, thanks."

"Sorry, he murmured. Hotch pretending not to notice the sarcasm coating his apology."

"Look," Foreman said suddenly, pointing to a white spot on the computer screen.

"A tumor?" suggested Taub, squinting and leaning in to get a better view.

"Or an abscess," Chase interjected.

"An abscess could have been caused by the infection," concluded Thirteen softly.

"An abscess in her brain?" said Hotch worriedly. "What does that mean?"

"Certainly nothing good," stated House grimly. "Take her off the Rifampicin, and do an LP. We have to find out what' s causing the abscess before more pop up."

"And what happens if she does develop more?"

Hotch didn't receive an answer as the doctors rushed out of the room.

Author's Note: I apologize for the lack of Emily in the last two chapters. I will make up for it in the next one. Thank you to all of those who are reading and reviewing. Please don't forget to tell me what you thought of this chapter.