A/N: Sorry to anyone that I might have confused with my last messy chapter posting. I accidentally posted the last chapter to my old story, Too Much Too Soon, and then had to delete it from there and add it to here, which somehow I think I manage to do twice. All I'm saying is don't go posting if you've been drinking pinot noir with my sister. She's a bad influence.


As soon as Wilson left his office, House picked up the phone and dialled Maddie's cell.

"Are you still at work?" he asked as soon as she answered.

"Yes, but I'm about to leave. Why?"

"How about you avoid the media hounds and come to my place tonight instead? They won't think to look for you there. I could even come to pick you up so they don't follow your car – you have a basement car park in your building, right?"

"Oh, Greg, that's a really nice offer, but are you sure you want to get yourself messed up in this?" Maddie could think of nothing better she'd like than to avoid the questions and cameras, but she knew it was a lot to ask. If they followed her, or somehow found out where she was, he'd be just as hounded.

"I don't care – it sounds like fun to me." House had to admit, he was kind of excited by the idea of a media car chase, him out-gunning them all on his bike, Maddie's hair streaming out behind them as they raced away into the dark.

"Well, if you're sure," Maddie still sounded hesitant.

"Organise with your security guys to let me in to your car park and I'll meet you inside the entrance." House was strategising now. "Tell them I'll use the codename Red Baron and that I'll say I've come to pick up Snoopy."

Maddie laughed at his silliness, such a relief after her stressful day she felt tears prick at her eyes.

"I don't think code names are necessary, but I will let them know you are coming. You can say who you are and just tell them you are picking up a package in case there's anyone in the vicinity who might overhear." Maddie smiled as she hung up, imaging explaining code names to Victor, their burly head of security, who'd assumed the role of her personal body guard since the first media crews had followed her to her building that morning.

Forty minutes later, Maddie was standing inside the entrance to the basement car park, Victor by her side.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Miss Cooper?" he said; about the fourth time he'd asked since she'd called and outlined House's plan to him.

"Thanks Victor, I'm sure it will be fine."

The roar of a motorbike pierced the silence of the concrete cave. A bright orange Honda revved its way through the security gates. House spotted Maddie and the security guard immediately and drove over, stopping in front of her and killing the engine.

Maddie looked at him in shock. "A motorbike?"

"Yeah," House said, proudly, admiring his pride and joy.

"I wasn't expecting a motorbike." She looked down, holding out the seam of her fitted, knee-length skirt.

House just smiled wickedly at her. "You'll just have to hitch it up."

"Greg, I'll freeze," she protested.

"No you won't, if we get home fast."

"Miss Cooper, I could get one of the guards to drive you home, you know, and I'm sure they'd make sure you got inside OK," Victor asserted. "It would be much safer for you."

"Miss Cooper is coming home with me, thanks…" House peered at his name tag, "…Victor."

Maddie turned to Victor and to his surprise, gave him a light peck on the cheek.

"Thank you Victor, you've been very sweet to me today. I really appreciate everything you've done and I hope things will have calmed down by tomorrow, for both our sakes."

Victor blushed a little, but frowned, keeping his professional manner intact.

"You're very welcome." He turned and walked away, but not before giving House a daggers stare.

Maddie hitched the strap of her purse over her head so it was crossways over her body. House tossed her a helmet, helping her to fasten the chin strap. She hiked her skirt up and straddled the bike behind him. House raised his eyebrows in appreciation of the tops of her stockings and suspenders that were now clearly visible.

"Please don't go too fast," she said. "I'm not good on these things."

"Sorry, what was that?" House asked, pulling her arms tight around him, then revving the engine and taking off at a roar up the basement ramp.


Maddie was shaking a little by the time they got inside House's apartment. She wasn't sure whether it was relief at escaping unseen, the fact that her legs had been turned into icicles by the wind, or just sheer terror from the ride there.

"Wasn't it cool when we sped past those news crews?" House asked, his eyes bright with excitement. "They didn't even give us a second look."

"No, I imagine they don't expect to find the head of corporate affairs on the back of a motorbike with her lingerie on show to the world," she said, her teeth beginning to chatter. "I'm freezing," she complained. "My legs are numb. I need a whisky."

"Coming up," House said. "And much as I'd love you to stay in those stockings, I'm sure I can find you some track pants or something." He hobbled up the corridor, returning with track pants, a sweater and a pair of thick socks.

"Bathroom's that way if you want to have a shower to warm up a bit," he gestured up the corridor. His eyes narrowed and he grinned, "But then I guess you already know that."

Maddie slapped him playfully with the socks, making her way to his bedroom to change.

"Will I order a pizza?" House called after her.

"As long as I can have anchovies," she called back.

"A woman after my own heart!" House exclaimed, rifling through his desk for a pizza delivery menu.

She returned to the lounge, warmer but feeling a little ridiculous. The pants were not bad length-wise, given her height, but the socks hung off the end of her toes and she'd had to roll up the top's sleeves.

Of course all House noticed was how her breasts made lovely mounds in his sweater. He handed her a glass of whisky and she downed it in one. He picked up the phone and dialled, placing their order.

"About thirty minutes, apparently," he said, placing the phone back in the receiver.

"Do you have any red wine?" she asked. "I really feel like sitting on the sofa with a nice glass of wine and some stupid television."

"Is there any other kind of television?" House asked, making his way into the kitchen, opening a cupboard and pulling out a dark bottle.

Maddie helped herself to his Scotch, pouring another measure and drinking it quickly.

He brought the wine and a couple of glasses and set them down on the coffee table, falling back heavily into the sofa. Maddie joined him on the sofa, reaching over to pour them both a glass.

She sat back, tucking her feet beneath her.

"Thanks for rescuing me," she said gratefully, looking him in the eyes.

"You are very welcome principessa," he answered.

"I thought you were supposed to have a white horse, though, not an orange Honda" she joked, leaning in to kiss him.

He caught her around her shoulders, pulling her into him, deepening their kiss. He was still caught up in his own chivalry and was surprised to find its major side-effect was to make him extremely horny. After a moment Maddie pulled back, not wanting to go too far too early.

House looked at her, her flushed face beautiful, still honestly wondering why he felt so drawn to her.

"Just be thankful I met you in the basement and didn't make you throw down your hair like Rapunzel," he said, turning on the TV and flicking between shows. Almost instantly he landed on a news station.

"…taken into custody. Walters' lawyers say he will be contesting the charges, saying that he was acting in self-defence…" House quickly switched to another channel, the TV then blaring with the colors and sound effects of a children's cartoon.

"He probably was," Maddie muttered, getting up from the sofa and absently wandering around the room.

House looked at her.

"Have you thought that you might need some help to deal with all this?" he asked, hesitantly. He was fully aware of his own hypocrisy, of the number of times others had urged him to seek psychological assistance, the number of times he'd downright refused. But he also knew that she did need to talk about things and despite Wilson's pep talk, he still didn't want to be the one she turned to.

"Oh no," Maddie laughed bitterly. "I've always found that ignoring things and pretending everything is OK works much better for me. You know, 'path of least resistance' and all that."

"Yeah, I have a similar philosophy," he agreed, reluctantly.

"Right!" she said with false cheer. "So if we weren't hiding from the paparazzi and avoiding the news, what would we be doing? I, for one, think we'd eat pizza, drink wine, talk about our favourite books and then have sex. How does that sound to you?"

House shrugged, at least he could tell Wilson he'd tried.

"I'm pretty happy with that," he agreed.


The next morning

Maddie woke to the feel of a strong arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her back across the bed.

"Hey," she said sleepily, annoyed at being woken. But then the feeling of the warmth of his body as he wrapped himself around her made her forgive the interruption to her sleep. She snuggled back into him, trying to recapture the threads of the dream she'd been immersed in.

"Good morning," a rough voice whispered into her ear.

"Shhh. Sleeping," she replied quietly.

They were both naked. She'd caught some strands of the dream but now they were irrevocably intertwined with the feel of his chest hairs tickling her back, the lazy caress of his hand on her breast, and the insistent touch of his erection on her thigh.

"That's OK, you stay sleeping. I'll give you some nice dreams," House whispered, inhaling her smell, intoxicated by the touch of her skin. He'd woken from some nice dreams himself and was delighted that he could act on the feelings they'd evoked.

She obliged when he placed his broad hand on her hip, guiding her to reposition slightly. Still slick from the previous night's lovemaking, he slipped inside her easily. The angle made penetration shallow but sweet. He moved inside her slowly.

Her dreams changed pace, filled with snippets of images and a warm feeling, she had the sense of walking on a grassy slope with the sun on her back; at the same time still aware of the pillow against her cheek and the feel of him against her, filling her.

House's movements quickened; his breathing moving through her hair and past her ear. Trees appeared on the grassy slope, the wind rushing through the leaves. She stopped to pick up a leaf and held it up to the sun to see its framework, the leaf beneath the leaf, the real thing inside.

There was a quiet groan and spreading warmth, his breath slowly retuning to normal. In her almost-dream, Maddie marvelled at the leaf skeleton, a fragile and beautiful thing. She peered closely at the leaf and it had turned to gold, sparkling in the sunshine. She smiled.

"You're the best alarm clock I've ever owned," she murmured, belying that statement by falling back to sleep almost immediately.

--


A/N: (Another one) I just felt I need to explain that I think House using diminutives (like darling, baby, honey, sweetheart, etc) is one of the most out-of-character things ever. But in this chapter I really wanted him to call Maddie 'princess' to carry through the whole fairy tale rescue thing. I hope you'll agree that 'prinicpessa' (Italian for princess) is an OK exception.