Alison wandered through the back hallways of Princeton-Plainsboro, drifting instinctively towards a place she used to hide out at during her immunologist days. On the third floor of the hospital there was a hallway that dead-ended into a small alcove. This alcove was off the beaten trail and as such rarely had people in it, which is why Alison used to retreat there often back when she worked here.

Alison settled into one of the giant chairs that lined the walls and pulled out her cell phone. Hart had, after cooling off for a bit, approached her and given her a new cheap phone, telling her to lay low and wait for his call.

While she was waiting, she figured she might as well make a call to a certain friend of hers that she missed exceedingly. She sat now, the phone pressed to her ear, listening to the ringing and praying she'd be home. And, sure enough, after the third ring she heard that familiar, friendly voice chime,

"Hello?"

Alison felt herself relaxing already just from hearing that calming voice.

"Hey Jan, it's me."

This was met with a squeal and a garble of rushed words as Jan overwhelmed her with joy, telling her how much she missed her and how work had sucked without her there to gossip with. Alison just smiled, listening to her friend rant on and on about life back in Kingwood, and for a moment Alison actually felt a little homesick.

It was ironic that she would feel homesick towards her cover home when she was here now, in her old life and old home. In reality, she didn't know which one she considered her true home. She didn't really belong in Kingwood, as she always felt the shadow of Rick Medici cast over her. And here, well, here she was nothing more than a ghost.

No matter where she went it seems that Alison could never truly find where she belonged.

"So sweetheart, I thought you said this was only going to be a day trip. Why are you still up in Princeton?"

Alison sighed. She knew this question was coming, but that didn't mean she wanted to answer it. She knew how Jan would react.

"Well, on the way up here we ended up getting in an accident. There was this interstate pile-up and-" she wasn't allowed to continue, though, as Jan all but screamed,

"What?! The pile-up on Interstate 64? You were in that? Oh Alison, are you alright? Where's Jayden? Is he ok? Did you get hurt? Did you-"

Alison sighed, listening to her friend's endless list of questions. After a moment of silently waiting, Alison finally interrupted with,

"We're fine, Jan! Really, we're both fine. I've got mild injuries and we're just waiting for Jayden to be released from the hospital. Everything is ok… well, except for my car, I guess. It didn't survive the accident."

Jan just laughed, her laughter filled with relief, before saying,

"Well your car was a piece of crap, anyway. At least now it's where it belongs- in some landfill."

Alison just rolled her eyes at her best friend. She'd missed this, missed being able to talk to Jan. She hadn't spoken to the woman in two days and she was feeling really alone right now.

"So we'll be home in a few days, I guess," Alison murmured, trying to get excited. And I'll probably never come here again. There was silence on the other end before Jan said,

"What's wrong?"

Of course. Jan had always been able to read Alison and she always knew when she was upset.

"Nothing's wrong," she lied.

"Al, please. You can't lie to me, you know that. Now tell me what's wrong. Come on… I can tell you want to."

Alison chewed on her lip subconsciously, mentally debating whether or not to tell her. Obviously she couldn't tell her anything about witness protection, but she could at least tell her about House. Alison felt as though she were going to explode with all these secrets she'd kept in, and she really just needed to get something off her chest.

"Alright, well… you know Jayden's father…."

There was no reply, because Jan didn't. Alison never mentioned Jayden's father, not even once, and so Jan truly knew nothing about the man. But Alison didn't need her confirmation, so she continued.

"The thing is… he's here right now. He's Jayden's doctor."

This revelation was met with more silence before finally, hesitantly, Jan responded.

"….Wow, Alison. I mean, just- wow. Is it beyond awkward there?"

"No, actually, he hasn't seen me yet."

"What? How exactly have you managed that?"

"I'm pretty sneaky. Plus, he doesn't know who Jayden is so-" her sentence was cut short, however, by Jan's sudden interjection.

"Wait, he doesn't know who he is? Does he even know that Jayden exists?"

Now it was Jan's turn to be met with silence.

"Alison….." she murmured in a low, sad voice.

"Listen, Jan, it's complicated," Alison said in a clipped, sharp tone, "besides, you don't know him. What happened between us was… a drunken night. And he would never want Jayden, he hates kids…"

Jan let out a slow, cathartic breath, before muttering,

"Well then he's an idiot."

Alison just chuckled softly.

"He's not an idiot, Jan. He's a brilliant diagnostician."

"….who just happens to be an idiot. Look, Al, the man would have to be an idiot if he didn't want you two."

Alison smiled then, her eyes starting to water as a single tear slipped free.

"You think so?"

"I know so, sweetheart. Now listen, I say you just ignore him while your there and keep your head up high. Never let'em see you sweat. Just focus on getting out of the hospital and getting home."

Home.

There it was again. That word had certainly taken on a new meaning in these last few years, and Alison wondered just where her home was.

Was it back in Kingwood with Jan, or here in Princeton with House?

She knew which one she would pick if she had the choice.

But then, it had been many long years since she'd had any real choices at all.

-----------------------------------------

Kutner, Taub, and Thirteen found themselves locked away in the lab running unnecessary tests on a kid that wasn't even sick. They had unofficially formed a team together, running their tests as a group instead of mingling with the other would-be fellows. Kutner and Taub enjoyed bantering back and forth, and Thirteen more or less just followed at a distance.

"Why do we have to do this? Do you think this is some sort of test?" Kutner asked as he stared into a microscope, already knowing that he would see nothing.

"I doubt it. Probably just House's attempt to piss Cuddy off," Taub contributed as he leaned against the counter, writing down NEGATIVE for everything. This really was a waste of time.

Thirteen, however, was completely unaware of their discussion, as her mind was a thousand miles away. There were so many clues, so many obvious facts that pointed to House being that kid's father.

The eyes, the hair, the facial structure.

And even clues beyond the physical details, like how Ms. Carter was working so hard to avoid House. Maybe a bad one night stand, who knows? She couldn't help but wonder if she should investigate it or just let it slide.

"….no way he's the father," Taub's voice suddenly cut into her thoughts, bringing her back to the conversation.

"Man, you are a broken record," Kutner teased, replacing his microscope slide with another one. Still negative.

"I'm serious. I'd bet money that that man is not the father. Heck, I'd bet House was the father before I'd bet he was."

"Really?" Thirteen chimed in suddenly, drawing the boys' attention to her. Again, they had managed to forget that she was even there.

"What?" Taub asked, confused.

"Would you really bet money that House was the father?" The two men looked at her like she was crazy before a slow grin scurried across Kutner's face.

"Oh I see. Alright, let's have ourselves a little wager shall we?" Taub's eyes flew wide as he tried to backpedal.

"Wait a second, I didn't actually mean-"

"Calm down," Kutner exclaimed, jumping up from his microscope eagerly. Thirteen watched him in amusement, curious as to where he was going with this.

"Here's the wager: I bet fifty bucks that cop-face has a higher percentage on a paternity test than House does. Taub, what about you?"

Taub looked at him in shock, horrified that his little statement had been blown out of proportion.

"You're serious?"

Kutner nodded furiously and Thirteen's smile grew wider.

After a long moment of thought, Taub weakly murmured,

"Cop-face."

This earned him a groan of annoyance from Kutner, who whined,

"Don't change your side, man! If you bet with me than there's no one to bet against."

"I'll bet on House," Thirteen said with a smile, interrupting them. Kutner's grin grew even wider as he nodded his head.

"Here we go, that's more like it. Alright, so all we need to do is run a paternity test for both of them and whoever gets the highest percentage, wins."

They all stared at one another for a moment before all nodding their heads in agreement.

"You're on."

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House couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. He sat at his desk in his office, idly waiting for the day to end, and he could feel eyes on him. And sure enough, as he turned around he caught sight of his little stalker, his deep blue eyes meeting two tiny matching ones.

A little boy stood outside his office, hands and face pressed against the glass as he watched House. House stared at him for a moment before shouting,

"Do you belong to someone?"

The boy took this as an invitation and barged in, his tiny arms barely able to reach the door knob. House sighed in agitation, not at all in the mood to baby-sit some little brat. He had far more important things to be doing, his gameboy being top priority.

The little boy with the bright blue eyes made his way to House's couch, plopping down with a giant smile.

"Hi, I'm Jayden!" he chirped happily.

"Of course you are. Shouldn't you be with your mommy?" House sneered, looking down at the kid. He noted the hospital clothes the kid wore and realized he must be a patient.

Jayden just shrugged, holding up his little hands to further his point.

"I dunno where she is. She's a weirdo, she keeps sneaking around." This caught House's attention as he recalled the patient with the secretive mother and the U.S. Marshal. He couldn't help but smirk as he realized this little boy must be him.

"When does your mommy come to visit you, Jordan?" he asked slowly, sitting next to the boy on the couch and studying his eyes. This was his chance to finally solve his latest puzzle. He tweaked his head to the side a bit as he studied him, familiarity creeping in. There was something about those eyes…

"Jayden!" he corrected with childlike annoyance.

"Yeah, I said that. So when does she usually come?" House continued impatiently. Jayden just shrugged again.

"I dunno. When it's nap time." This wasn't quite the answer House was looking for, but he realized it was probably the best he was going to get.

"Alright. I should take you to your room." he murmured as he pulled himself up and moved towards the door. He knew the patient really shouldn't be out of bed, even if his case wasn't too extreme. Besides, he really had no interest in hanging out with some kid when he could be at home getting wasted.

The sound of a throat clearing forced him to turn around, revealing an expectant hand held out by Jayden.

"What?" House grumbled, feigning confusion.

Jayden jumped up, taking the man's hand.

"Not allowed 'less I hold a grown up's hand." Jayden explained, as though it were completely obvious. House just sighed angrily, walking the boy down the hallway. He contemplated pointing out that he'd come all the way to his office without an adult, but he finally just settled on murmuring quickly,

"Baby."

Jayden glanced over at him, scanning him up and down.

"Why do you walk with a stick?" he asked, his innocent curiosity evident in his voice.

"Didn't your mommy ever teach you not to talk to strangers?" House grumbled as they reached the elevator. He clicked the button once, and then pressed it once more for good measure. Jayden nodded his head in confirmation, but mumbled,

"You're not a stranger, stick-man." House ignored the nickname and instead focused on the other thing the boy had said as the doors opened. He walked the boy on, pressing the boy's floor before stepping off.

"Oh really? Why am I not a stranger?" The boy just looked at him like he was the biggest idiot in the world before declaring,

"Because, silly! Mommy has showed me your picture a million billion times."

House's eyes widened in surprise, as he had clearly not expected that answer. He opened his mouth to speak, but it was too late.

The elevator doors had already closed.

He stood there for a moment, staring at the closed doors.

"Was that your son?" a voice from behind him called. He turned, starting back towards his office.

"Of course not. Do I look like the kind of person who'd have a kid?" was all he could manage, his mind still reeling from the little boy's words. What could it mean? Almost-Cameron had showed that kid pictures of him?

The nurse who'd asked glanced at him as he passed. It seemed to be a relatively new nurse, one that hadn't yet learned to fear him.

"Hmmm, really? He looks just like you."

House didn't really know how to respond to that, so he just huffed off. He waited until he reached the relative safety of his office before reflecting on everything that had happened. He had no idea what to make of all this, but one thing was clear:

He had to meet this kid's mom.

-----------------------------------------

Alison still sat in the alcove, chatting with Jan. After what felt like ages she finally glanced at her watch, noting the time.

"Well look, Jan, it's getting late and I think I'm going to go get a hotel room. I seriously need a shower and a real bed."

Jan's laugh echoed through the phone before she mumbled,

"I agree with that shower, Al. I can smell you through the phone." Alison just rolled her eyes before murmuring,

"Har har, aren't you hilarious. Alright, seriously, I'm hanging up on you now." She started to pull the phone from her ear, waiting until she heard Jan say bye before finally hanging up.

She smiled down at the phone, a feeling of peace finally setting in. That was her home. It may not have been her first choice, and probably not her second, either, but like it or not that was where she had to be. She needed to get out of this town, this hospital, and back to that. Stirring up old feelings by being here were only going to make her feel confused.

Alison turned to get up, but froze when she noticed a presence behind her. She closed her eyes, silently praying it had been her imagination.

"Cameron?!" a voice filled with utter shock called and she cringed.

Oh please, no. I've lasted this long without being spotted…

Slowly, Alison turned around to find herself face to face with an old acquaintance, his face drained and pale, looking as though he'd seen a ghost. Gulping almost audibly, Alison whispered,

"Hello, Dr. Wilson."

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Fun fact: Paternity tests basically show how similar a child's DNA is to a possible parent. If it matches around 50%, they're the parent.