It took some tempting words and several long weeks of TLC (that Cuddy allowed without question), but finally both House and Wilson returned to work. Everyone knew now so there was no hiding anymore, but even Wilson was surprised by how normal everything was. No one mentioned anything. It was like they were any other couple.

The best thing about returning to work though, was the little things that made him smile. The times when House burst through his balcony door to ask if a tumour looked cancerous or lung scarring like sarcoidosis or, more often than not, just to pretend to ask Wilson something simply to give him an excuse to visit the other man.

Every day, at exactly one thirty, House would enter through the blcony door and steal half of Wilson's lunch. Of course Wilson had been taking enough lunch for both of them for almost a year now, so it wasn't really stealing.

They'd sit together and chat about everything and anything. Cases House was working on, drug trials Wilson was trying to get his patients into, what colour they were going to repaint the spare room.

The day came though, when Wilson had to face once more the horrible reality of what he'd been through. House pushed open the door and flopped down onto the couch as usual after grabbing a sandwich off Wilson and then proceeded to start complaining about Foreman.

"-and then he started telling me he'd go to Cuddy if I didn't hand over the syringe!" House scoffed. "As if I care what Cuddy thinks?!"

"Yeah..." Wilson replied distantly.

"Ok, what's up?" House asked, sitting up now.

"I... what?" Wilson blinked as if only just realising House was there.

"You've been acting weird since we got in this morning," House frowned slightly. "What's wrong?"

"It's..." Wilson hesitated. He was being silly. "It's nothing."

"It's not nothing," House stood up and wandered slowly across the room, leaning on Wilson's desk. "Tell me."

"My... my patient... Lily Swallow... she died earlier," Wilson began after a moment. "She... she was only eight years old."

House nodded. When he'd recovered enough to talk about dying Wilson had explained everything that he remembered. There was no afterlife, but he remembered the darkness, and something moving. It was a place filled with fear of the unknown and Wilson didn't want to go back there.

"You can't save everyone," House said softly. "You're going to have to let some of them go."

"I know," Wilson sighed. "It's just..."

"Yeah," House, for once, was not happy at having his claims vindicated, least of all by Wilson.

"I couldn't bear to have to go back there," Wilson shuddered.

"You don't have to," House promised, walking round the desk so he could lay a hand on Wilson's shoulder, squeezing slightly. "Not for several years anyway."

"But I do eventually," Wilson glanced up at House.

"We all do eventually," House said meeting Wilson's gaze.

Wilson looked away, returning to his paperwork. House let the hand that had been on Wilson's shoulder fall to his side. He needed a way to make Wilson feel better. A sudden thought popped into House's head and he left to go and make some arrangements.

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Despite the good news, the minute Melody left the flat, Jack retreated to the bedroom and curled up under the covers. Ianto had remained in the living room, sat on the floor, knees drawn up, his back leaning against the sofa. He was chewing the tip of his thumb absent mindedly as his thoughts raced at ninety miles per hour.

All the weeks they'd spent pondering what would happen if the baby died, neither of them had really considered what would happen should the baby live. Now though, Ianto was beginning to ponder this outcome and what exactly this would mean for both of them. For one thing they'd have to monitor the baby's mental state. Having his genes would mean that it was at least four times more likely to develop schizophrenia as well. There was only a little scientific proof that it was hereditary but cases like Ianto's where several family members had the illness were becoming more commonplace.

Ianto heard Jack move in the other room. He ought to go and make sure the other man was ok really. Ianto stood up shakily and turned to head into the bedroom, but something made him stop. It just didn't seem real. He felt that if he went to find Jack then the captain would tell him he'd been dreaming and the baby was dead. Maybe he had made it up? Who knew? When was the last time he took his meds? Ianto thought quickly but he was so used to taking them now that he never committed it to memory. Had he taken his pills today? Had he taken them at all this week? He could ask Jack, but Ianto knew that would only worry his partner. Ianto pondered over the notion of just taking a few extra pills whilst he was thinking about it, but then decided that this wasn't a good idea. Ianto sat back down on the floor, his hands clasped tightly together, waiting for something unknown.

Jack had spent an entire hour crying. They were mostly tears of relief but also sadness that his baby would never know the siblings it had once had. Then of course there was the guilt he felt at landing Ianto with a child when he was still so young and recovering from the past few months. Eventually Jack calmed himself enough to sit up. They would have to start planning now. They'd need all the baby stuff they could get their hands on, they'd have to tell the others what was going on, Jack would need to prepare himself for the months he'd need to spend in hiding...

For now Jack couldn't think about any of that. He needed to go and find Ianto, make sure the Welshman was ok. He stood up shakily and walked slowly out of the bedroom and down the hall, one hand straying subconsciously to his stomach. He spotted his partner sat on the floor and Jack lowered himself down next to Ianto. Reaching out Jack took one of Ianto's hands and squeezed it lightly.

"You alright?" Jack asked after a while.

"I think so," Ianto said though he sounded unsure.

"You think so?" Jack rubbed his thumb across Ianto's hand.

"No, I am," Ianto shook his head after a moment. "I just can't quite believe that..."

"I know, neither can I," Jack said quietly as Ianto trailed off.

"That's what it felt like when I went insane," Ianto continued after a moment, meeting Jack's gaze. "When they first told me that Melantha didn't exist. It didn't seem possible."

"But you're ok with the whole 'becoming a parent' thing?" Jack asked.

"I... I don't think it'll really sink in until he's born," Ianto could feel the tiny beginnings of a smile on his face. "But I think I'll be fine. Especially since I can't wait."

"Good," Jack grinned with relief, kissing Ianto softly.

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House waited outside Wilson's office at the end of the day and smiled slightly as the Oncologist came out.

"I've got something to help you with the whole dying thing," he said, falling into step beside Wilson as they headed towards the elevator.

"Oh?" Wilson asked, not sure he wanted to know what it was. "I'm ok now you know. Honestly."

"I know," House nodded. "But I thought it might help you to talk to someone else who's died and been bought back. More than once."

"How did you manage that?" Wilson frowned slightly.

"Might've set up the webcam," House smiled innocently. "To link with Cardiff again."

"Cuddy's gonna go mental when she finds out," Wilson reprimanded him.

"Will she?" House asked pretending he didn't already know that. "Added bonus then!"