Okay... it wasn't my plan to post this in two parts, but I ran out of time last night and won't have a lot of time to write today... so I divided it up. Here's part one... I'm hoping to get part two written and posted later tonight (a lot later) or quite possibly sometime tomorrow.

I also believe that I'm going to post this on . I'll let you know when that's done and where you can find it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing (except O/C's). FOX owns everything else.
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Chapter 21: Round 2/ Who are you? (Part I)

Mikenna awoke to a dim view that Thursday morning. The sky was dark and burdened with heavy clouds—clouds that seemed to metaphorically rain on her parade. She wasn't superstitious by any means and it was a good thing too—if she had been, she would have certainly seen this as a bad sign. She shook it off—deciding that she'd fight off the stereotypical meaning of the dark clouds. This particular rainy and gloomy Thursday wasn't going to get her down. No. She had a job to do—a big one. Today was the day that she was going to execute part two of her little game of matchmaker.

She had called those she needed to call last night—knowing that she'd need a little help this time around with what needed to be done to "set her traps". She needed people with certain abilities… to carry out her plans. Yes, Mikenna decided that this dismal Thursday was going to be a good day—one of personal triumph. Her future victory was all that was on her mind while she was driving into work. She had Ok Go's "Invincible" playing in her car just to set the mood and get her mind focused on the task at hand. No one could touch her today; she was indestructible and ready for success. The plan, in short was: a push followed by some technical difficulties. It was more complicated than it seemed, but she was ready. Ha. Yes, today was going to be a good day for Mikenna (and for the parties involved for that matter).

Part one of her plan for today was going to be implemented around 10am—roughly thirty minutes after House finally showed up for work. She knew that he had clinic duty today and that Cuddy absolutely hates it when he's late for Clinic. Emotions would be running wild later this morning and Mikenna's objective was to channel those emotions into something positive, something chemical, something that would truly benefit the well-being of her aunt, the misanthropic ba$tard that was House, and consequently the entire hospital. Mikenna was well prepared, and now all she had left to do was wait until 10am; she knew that the time would go fast. She was right.

10am came faster than she ever could have hoped, and it was a good thing too; she was ready to get the show on the road. Ever since the awkward little preview House and Cuddy gave her yesterday in the office, Mikenna had been raring to go—and now the time had come. She worked out this particular part of the plan with one of her friends from school, Audrey. The plan was to have Audrey sitting in the clinic, appearing to be waiting to consult a physician. Her boyfriend would show up around 10am, cause a scene and end up accidentally 'bumping' into House or Cuddy—whoever was closer. The bump was to serve as more of a push—and Mikenna's ultimate goal was to get the two pinned up with one another again since they seemed to do so well with that sort of situation the day previous. Mikenna had hoped that it would be House that got pushed into Cuddy; Cuddy was on top yesterday and it was only fair to con them equally.

It was 10am. Mikenna was standing at the nurse's station, pretending to fill out House's paperwork for him. House had just finished a consult with a patient and was whining to Nurse Brenda at the other side of the nurse's station. Mikenna at that time, glanced at the clock, then over to her friend Audrey who had been quietly sitting in the waiting room for some time. Audrey, knowing the look her friend was giving her, sent her boyfriend a text message at record speed. Roughly 45 seconds later, a big burly guy in his early twenties burst through the clinic doors, shouting at his girlfriend and causing a huge scene. So far, everything was going to plan… now they had to wait for Cuddy to come out of her office to do damage control. That didn't take long. The boyfriend had just started on round two of his very audible verbal assaults on his girlfriend, when Cuddy had come out of her office, already on the phone with security.

"Sir? SIR! You need to calm down; you're alarming my patients."

The guy just kept on causing his scene, seeming to increase in decibel with every sentence and insult he had for his apparent girlfriend.

"Please, sir. I've called security; please don't make me have you escorted out."

House, who had been watching the entire scene from the nurse's station, noticed that the boyfriend wasn't going to adhere to Cuddy's wishes. In fact, he was beginning to feel a little concerned for her safety (though he'd never admit it). He started closing in on the scene when the guy started flailing about and pacing… like he was getting ready to hurt someone. Cuddy had backed up against the wall to get out of his way, but House kept on with his approach, wanting to insure that no one (least of all, Cuddy) would be hurt by this maniac.

Throughout this entire scene, Mikenna had been watching Cuddy, watching House, and watching for security. She knew that they had a very small window before someone broke up the shouting match, which is why she was pleased to see that everything was going so smoothly. Cuddy had her back up against the wall and House had approached the situation. When security showed up, Mikenna made a very subtle face at the loudly ranting boyfriend who in turn, accidentally 'bumped' House, and then turned and ran out of the hospital as quickly as his feet would let him. House on the other hand, had been violently shoved into Cuddy against the wall, leaving the two once again in a rather compromising position.

Cuddy had been able to get her hands up in time to try to slow down the velocity of House's rapidly moving and out-of-control body, preventing him from completely crashing into her. House had dropped his cane and managed to land his hands on the wall, on either sides of Cuddy, also trying to slow down his speed—which naturally sent a sharp pain shooting down his thigh. It had hurt, but it didn't bother him for too long. Cuddy and House were once again left in a rather compromising position and had to deal with the random and rampant thoughts running through their heads.

"Mmm…"

"You okay? How's your leg?"

"Not great. Your head? Sounded like you thumped it pretty hard when I crashed into you."

"I'll be fine."

As House's breathing began to slow down indicating that his pain had subsided, the two were finally able to take note of their awkward positioning. They were, once again, completely meshed together—not one millimeter existed in between their two bodies. It was like they were of one entity. Cuddy's heart began to flutter once again—even more so when she realized that her hands were trapped on his chest (again). Damn! Why the hell does he have this effect on me? I feel like my heart's going to beat out of my chest… I could get used to this position again. If he'd only just… ugh… just do something with yourself, Lisa! She just stared him into the eyes… almost as if she was waiting for something.

House on the other hand, was struggling with his own thoughts and realizations. He knew he had always had a thing for Cuddy, that he had always wanted her for his own. He just loved it when they lacked proximity—when he was close enough to her to feel her warmth, her breathing—close enough to smell her perfume and stare into those piercing grey eyes. Wait, is she staring at me? What does that look even mean? Does she… I'll bet she does… I… hope… she does. He gave her a very very small smile, reiterating to her that yes, he was okay—but it also had another meaning behind it—something that he wasn't sure she'd pick up on. Maybe she understood him. She must've because she continued to stare back at him and gave him a smirk. She looked like she was about to say something, but was prevented from doing so when two security gaurds made their way back into the clinic.

--"Doctor Cuddy. We're sorry, but the guy got away. He took off straight into the O Lot and that's where we lost him. Are you okay?"

Cuddy's attention to the many brilliant shades of light blue in House's eyes was abruptly halted with this announcement. She began fidgeting and ever-so-gently (and with reluctance) started to push House away from her. She had to get back to her job—and a Dean's job is never done, or at least it seemed that way to her sometimes.

"I'm fine. Get a statement from the girl he was yelling at and maybe a couple of witnesses. We should be covered, but I want to have the statements down just in case. Make sure you get an accurate description of him; we don't want him coming back."

With that Cuddy turned on her heels, paused, looked awkwardly at House, and then headed back to her office. She had a few phone calls that she needed to make and she needed to work through the crazy whirl of emotions that the events of the morning had provided her. She needed to get her heartbeat back to normal—most importantly, she needed to decide if she wanted it to go back to normal.

Mikenna, who had barely moved from her spot by the nurse's station in the clinic, was pleased with the way things had gone down. She sent a text to her friend letting her know that her boyfriend successfully managed to slip by security and that their efforts had not been in vain. Part one of phase two had been a success; she had managed to get House and her aunt in a cumbersome situation once again and she liked the interaction that she saw between them. Yes, she knew that the emotions of the two had been elevated by her staged event… they'd be even more so by the afternoon. Luckily for them, there wouldn't be any patients or staff around. It would just be the three of them and it was all going to go down after lunch.

A/N: Well... what do we think? Are we ready to see what else Mikenna has planned for these two? heehee... I love knowing what happens before everyone else. Yeah, I'm drunk with power. lol. COMMENTS.