A day later, House decided to go into the hospital to check out what the team was working on and look over the paperwork on his desk. He settled down at his desk after checking on the team and glanced through the files. Normally he avoided paperwork like the plague but it felt calming and normal to be doing it today. After a couple of hours the team came back with test results that raised more questions and he joined them in a differential. Just as they were deciding which tests to do next, House's cell phone rang. He pulled it out to see who was calling then held up a finger at the team to wait while he answered it.

"House," he answered. The team watched with increasing concern as his face paled at what he was hearing. "What? Where is he? I'll be right there."

House slapped the phone closed and headed for the door. "Chase, you come with me, the rest of you go run those next tests. Foreman, keep your pager close, I might need you."

"House! What happened?" Foreman demanded.

"It's Marius; he was in a car accident and is in the ER," House explained as he headed for the elevators with Chase in tow.

"Who's Marius?" Taub asked.

"His friend," Foreman answered. "Best help we can be is to deal with the patient and let him deal with Marius. Go get started, I'll let Wilson know what's going on."

House and Chase blew past the ER staff to get to Marius' side, although Chase held him back from pushing Cameron aside and settling on firing questions at her.

"Three car crash, he was T-boned on the driver side," Cameron replied in between giving orders to the trauma team. "Pupils unequal and sluggish, left femur fracture, multiple rib fractures."

House stood back and watched the team like a hawk, noting everything that they did to Marius and logging every test that was ordered. Wilson came up behind him at some point and put a hand on House's shoulder and stood in support while Chase joined the trauma team and bustled Marius off to the OR for an abdominal bleed.

"House? Is anyone here with him?" Wilson asked, having to give his friend a shake to get his attention.

"I – I don't know," House answered, frowning and following Wilson out into the ER waiting room. "No one else is here."

"I'll find out if he was in the car alone," Wilson said. He returned quickly. "Yes, he was alone in the car."

"I better call Lucius," House said, pulling out his phone and stepping out of the waiting room into the ambulance bay.

Lucius told House he was coming down at once, asking where to meet him. House told him he'd be in his office on the 4th floor waiting for word from the OR. Wilson stayed with House in his office until Lucius arrived then he briefly introduced himself and headed back to his own office.

Lucius was polite enough to Wilson, recognizing the name as someone very important in House's life, but his concern was for Marius and for House. One look told him that House was extremely shaken by the accident. He saw the coffee machine in the attached conference room and went in to make both himself and House a cup of coffee, setting the steaming mug on the desk in front of him.

"Drink this," he said firmly. "What condition was Marius in before he was taken to surgery?" Lucius asked, taking a seat in the chair across from House while watching him slowly pick up the mug and take a couple of swallows of the hot coffee.

"Bad. Broken ribs, broken left femur, possible head injury and an abdominal bleed," House reported robotically. "They took him to the OR for the bleed. Chase is doing the surgery. Foreman will do the neuro checks once he's awake."

"Was he conscious?"

"No, he wasn't," House answered hoarsely, staring into his coffee mug.

Lucius lapsed into silence, worried about Marius. Marius had been his sub for fourteen years now and Lucius cared very deeply for him. He took a deep breath to calm himself when he realized that if he hadn't returned from his business trip when he did, he might not have known what happened to Marius. Timmy and Sidney didn't have his contact information. Knowing now that Marius had taken on House while he'd been gone, Lucius shuddered to think about what might have happened to the new sub. Would Timmy and Sidney have had enough ability and trust built up to step in and assist House? The man seemed to be spiraling out of control right before Lucius' eyes. Then there was his own grief at Marius' serious injuries but he had to set that aside right now. His clan needed a strong master, especially now, and Marius would need that as well.

There was movement in the conference room and both men glanced up to see the rest of House's team come in and grab coffee while settling around the table and engaging in an intense discussion. House watched them for a moment then got to his feet and went into the conference room.

"What do the test results show?" he demanded.

"House, these aren't Marius' test results," Foreman answered as Thirteen and Taub studied the table.

"Duh! He's still in surgery! Give me the damn test results," he snarled.

Foreman glanced up at Lucius who was now standing just inside the door, carefully watching House, then shrugged.

"Fine, while you're waiting, we could use your help," Foreman said and concisely reported the test results and latest symptoms to House. Lucius sat down in one of the extra chairs in the conference room to watch the differential. It was clear that the team, especially Foreman, were well aware that House wanted to distract himself with a problem he might be able to solve rather than simply wait for word from the OR. After thirty minutes, the team left with new tests to conduct although Foreman stayed behind.

"Do you want to stay on call for this case once Marius is out of the OR?" Foreman asked in an indifferent tone of voice that made Lucius look at him sharply, surprised at the lack of concern from the man.

"No. It's about damn time you learned to do this by yourself," House snapped and headed back into his office. If he hadn't still been watching Foreman, Lucius would have missed the concern in his eyes the moment House's back was turned. Lucius nodded at Foreman in acknowledgement then returned to House's office to wait with him.

"That's an intriguing look into what you do here," Lucius remarked as he sat back down. "I suppose I never realized that there were some conditions that took even an extremely talented team of physicians' considerable time and energy to diagnose."

"Hardly anyone understands what my team does," House responded moodily. "That's why they resent my department when we bump them out of line for OR or the MRI. I don't bump anyone who's unstable. But they don't seem to get that all of my patients are unstable and usually weeks if not hours from death."

"Then someone should make it clearer what exactly a diagnostics department does," Lucius responded. "Why doesn't your administrator do so?"

"Yeah right. Have everyone understand? Then she isn't the 'only one who can handle me' anymore. Loses all her street cred with the board." House got up and stared out the balcony door into the gloomy rain that had started.

"I don't think it would matter even if she did. You'd have to walk through a case to understand not just read about it. Aren't many people willing to take the time to do that."

"True. As many people would never take the time to understand our clan's lifestyle," Lucius agreed.

House nodded but remained silent for a while.

"Lucius? What happens now?"

"We will all help Marius to recover," Lucius answered simply.

"No… I mean, yes we will but… I mean… what happens until he does? Do you… will you…" House faltered and fell silent.

"Yes, I will. This is when our hierarchy functions best. I will take care of you, of Timmy and Sidney, and especially of Marius. I will make sure that I help you and Marius through his recovery period. I will keep you safe, even from yourself," Lucius answered with a tone of strong reassurance.

At long last the phone rang. House snatched it up and upon hearing Chase's voice he put it on speakerphone so they both could hear.

"He's in recovery now. We found a couple of bleeds and had to take out his spleen. Ortho wired up his ribs so he could breathe easier. They set his leg but they'll need to do more work on it once he's a bit more recovered. His head injury is a skull fracture with a small bleed that stopped on its own. There is swelling but it hasn't gotten worse in the last four hours. Pupils still reactive but unequal. I paged Foreman, he's with him right now. He'll be in ICU in 40 minutes."

"I want you to be his attending," House demanded.

"Wouldn't think otherwise," Chase responded.

"Thanks," House added then cut off the call, sitting back with a sigh of initial relief.

"That sounded like cautiously guarded good news," Lucius said.

"Yeah. That's a good description," House answered slowly. "If the swelling in his brain goes down, if he doesn't throw a clot, he'll be all right in time."

"After we've seen him and you've had the chance to examine him, we'll go home," Lucius told him. House looked up rebelliously, unwilling to leave the hospital while Marius was there. "I will not leave you here alone as wound up as you are and I will not leave Timmy and Sidney to fend for themselves tonight. You and I will return home after we've seen him," he said with finality.

House looked sullenly away from Lucius but gave an abrupt nod of agreement. He knew that Timmy and Sidney would be maybe more upset than him since they had known Marius longer. He didn't want to leave Marius but he wouldn't go against Lucius right now.

Chase paged him again that Marius was now in ICU. House led Lucius to the unit and the nurse let them in without comment, having been warned by Chase to expect them both.

Chase was there at the bedside and nodded a greeting to Lucius as he silently passed Marius' file to House, who scanned through it thoroughly. House nodded and handed it back to Chase, more than satisfied with his care so far. Carefully, House examined Marius, noting the same thing that Chase had. There really wasn't anything more to be done right now but supportive care while waiting for Marius to wake up.

Lucius sat down next to the bed and took Marius' hand. "Marius, it's Lucius. House is here as well. You're in the hospital, safe and well cared for. Rest for now. I'll take care of everyone and House will see that his doctors care for you here."

House and Chase watched closely for any reaction from Marius. His eyelids fluttered briefly but that was all. Lucius looked over at Chase and gestured for him to come closer. He put Marius' hand in Chase's hand. "Marius, this is Dr Chase. He'll be watching over you with House. Let him hear your voice," he instructed Chase.

Chase was a bit self-conscious but he knew it would help Marius orient himself as he started to come to.

"Marius, I'm Dr Chase. You can rest easy, I'll take good care of you," Chase said clearly and confidently.

Lucius looked up at House who stepped closer and took Marius' other hand.

"I'm here too," House said softly. "You're okay. Chase and Foreman are the best. Don't tell them I said that, it'll go to their heads," he added with a ghost of a smile as Foreman appeared in the doorway. "Lucius is making me go home with him. But Chase and Foreman are going to page me the moment anything changes," he added, fixing both with a glare. They nodded in agreement, completely unfazed by his glare. "Sleep for now."

Chase followed Lucius and House out of the room while Foreman did another quick check and then joined them in the hallway.

"Still no signs of the bleeding starting again so that's good. And the diagnostics patient is responding to treatment," Foreman reported. "The whole team is staying the night. We'll take good care of him, House."

"Yeah. Page me," House responded. "Thanks," he added then headed for the elevator before either man could respond to him with Lucius following in his wake after thanking them himself.

Lucius drove House home and they were met at the door by Sidney and Timmy. House explained everything that he could about what he knew and how Marius was doing now as well as the soonest he thought they would hear anything more about his condition.

"I'll place an order for dinner," Lucius said once all their questions were answered. "We can all eat in the garden and not worry about doing anything but sitting vigil for Marius tonight."

They spent over an hour together over their meal, giving and drawing comfort from each other. House was completely silent although Timmy got him to absently eat most of his portion of food. Timmy and Sidney drew away one at a time, leaving Lucius sitting with House. Lucius was deeply worried about Marius but he knew he had to step in and take care of the others no matter what, especially House, who seemed to be still in a state of shock.

"House," Lucius called quietly, laying his hand on House's arm when there was no response. Slowly, House looked up with a look of bleak despair and defeat in his eyes that raised the hackles on Lucius' neck, realizing that House was in far greater turmoil than he had realized.

Lucius stood up and tugged House to his feet, leading him to the master bedroom that House shared with Marius.

"Sit down," he said quietly, directing him to the bench at the foot of the bed. Lucius gently removed House's clothes then stripped himself and guided him into the hot tub, settling down beside him.

"House, don't think of the worst that could happen. Marius is strong physically and mentally. He has the best staff caring for him," Lucius said calmly, trying to reassure him.

"People die even with the best of care," House answered softly in a flat tone of voice.

"That's true, but it is not reason to give Marius up for dead while he yet lives."

"I'm not giving him up for dead!" House snapped, glaring at Lucius furiously.

"All right. What are you thinking of that has you so devastated?"

"I'm not saying he will die… but what if he does? What happens?" House asked, looking away from Lucius.

Lucius narrowed his eyes and tilted his head as he considered what House was not saying but clearly worried about. He took a deep breath as he realized what it was.

"I don't believe Marius is going to die," Lucius began, "but if he does, all of his subs will come under my direct mastership. You will not be abandoned to your own devices after you've found what you need in our lifestyle. You are all part of my clan," Lucius added, lightly tracing the lines of the clan tattoo on House's chest. "I take care of my own."

House nodded but still seemed in despair.

"Tell me what you're thinking," Lucius said firmly.

"What if… what if something happens to you too?" House said, grimacing as he realized how pathetic he sounded and starting to get up and get out. Lucius took hold of his arm until House settled back down onto the seat.

"If something were to happen to me, my subs, Marius included, know other high masters that have already pledged to take them in. I will make sure that you meet a couple of other masters and see if you feel comfortable with any of them. You'll then have the comfort of knowing that the worst circumstances have been thought of and prepared for," Lucius explained soothingly, lightly kneading the muscles at the base of House's neck.

"I'd rather have Marius," House replied petulantly, although he was inwardly very relieved to know that he wouldn't be alone again if Marius were to die or have brain damage.

Lucius chuckled at his declaration, pleased to see House out of that dangerous state of emotional shock. After a few minutes more of soaking, Lucius got out of the tub and held out his hand to help House out, wrapping him in a bath sheet. Once both men were dry, House climbed into bed and put his cell phone on the nightstand in case any call came in from the hospital. Lucius checked on Sidney and Timmy then turned off the lights and climbed into bed with House, wrapping his arms around House and pulling him tight against his chest.

House was startled and a little uncomfortable with this and made to move away from Lucius but he merely tightened his hold on him.

"Be still," Lucius ordered quietly.

"I'll be okay now," House countered, not certain about sleeping in Lucius' arms and not at all prepared to admit that he didn't want to be alone tonight. Part of him wanted Lucius to back off but most of him hoped that he wouldn't.

"Yes, you will be okay. Now get some rest," Lucius responded, not releasing his hold on House.

House fidgeted for another minute or two, trying to find a comfortable spot in unfamiliar arms, but soon enough took a deep breath and relaxed, falling asleep just minutes later.

Lucius listened closely and drew a deep breath of his own when he knew House was at last asleep. He settled himself in for the night and soon was asleep himself.