Chapter 25

About a week later House still hadn't gotten any closer to uncovering Buffy's big secret but having her around at work gave him the amusement and something close to contentment. Not that he'd ever admit it, mind you; in fact he never tired of seeing that indignant spark in her eyes whenever he verbally abused his ducklings. She caught on quickly to his game yet she still allowed herself to be surprised at his gruffness.

Wilson had even joined them one night for dinner when it was just he and Buffy and the two had ganged up on him, Wilson telling her all sorts of outrageous lies about him while Buffy cast him side-long glances and laughed. He drank in the sound of her laughter and even watched her at times while she typed or wrote in her little notebook. He wondered just what her big secret was and when she'd be comfortable telling him.

One day House got a break, he walked into the Clinic for duty to avoid her nagging him and he absently picked up a file and entered the exam room. He sat on the stool and appraised his patient. He hated Clinic duty; frankly he thought he had better uses for his talents to be wasting them on runny noses and STD's. Yet he did it mainly because when Cuddy didn't bug him about it, Buffy or Wilson did. He inwardly smirked in triumph at getting one up on them and waited for his patient to tell him her problem.

"I've been having problems with my leg," His patient stated finally, tapping her knee. House struggled to remain impassive and opened her file to read her history. One fact stood out above all the others and he turned calculating eyes back to the patient, a Mary West. He scooted his stool closer and motioned for her to roll her pant leg up so he could inspect it.

"What sort of problems exactly?" House asked her as he felt the muscle for any sign or a break or something else halfway obvious. Nothing jumped out at him but he figured it might have been a sprain or pulled muscle since she looked like an athlete. "Do you run?"

"Yeah, every day. I run ten miles before I go to work." Mary answered. He released her leg to make a note in the file and she rolled her pant leg back down. "Do you know what's wrong?"

"I'm sure you know what a pulled muscle is, so it's nothing some heat packs can't cure." He answered but handed her a prescription for some muscle relaxants and pain pills. "Your file says you're from California?" He prompted and she nodded. "What part?" He pressed even though the file stated where.

"Sunnydale, you know the one that fell into the sink hole." Mary answered as she got down from the examining table.

"Interesting, I happen to know someone from there too. In fact, your leg might seriously be hurt and what sort of doctor would I be if I didn't make sure everything looked good?" He said slyly, already formulating a plan in his mind.

"Oh I don't think that's necess-," Mary started but he stood and walked over to the door.

"Of course it is, don't worry, we'll have you finished up and on your way home faster than you can say Aspirin." He interrupted and stuck his head out the door. He caught the nurse's attention and asked her to page Buffy and went back inside to wait.

"What year did you graduate?" House asked Mary as they waited and she told him and he remembered that had been the same year Buffy had graduated as well. He was about to ask more about the ceremony itself when the door was knocked on and the girl in question entered.

Buffy turned her curious gaze from House to the girl upon the exam table and noted that she looked vaguely familiar yet she couldn't place where.

"Ah!" House said delightedly and Buffy felt a little wary when she noticed the glee in his eyes accompanied to what she know recognized to be mischief. "Mary West, this is Buffy Summers, it seems you have something in common."

Buffy looked at the girl, Mary, and gave her a polite smile and Mary brightened and claimed, "Buffy, yeah I remember you!"

Buffy's expression grew even more puzzled, "I saw you at the mall a few years before Sunnydale sank, I was buying a dress and you showed up with some big gun looking thing." Buffy's eyes widened a fraction as she realized exactly what incident Mary was talking about and she shot a look at House who looked like a child at Christmas at Mary's revelation. "Geez do you remember graduation? That big battle and the mayor turning into a big snake?" Mary went on and Buffy hurried to reply, to hopefully derail House's train of thought before she was exposed.

"Yeah he was a major snake," she answered, hoping House would assume she meant figuratively. Besides, how often did people turn into giant snakes and get blown up by a bunch of dynamite?

"Thank god we had all those flamethrowers, I mean that was just crazy!" Mary shook her head at the memory and Buffy was about to reply with some vague answer but she was interrupted by Cuddy opening the door and peering at the three of them.

"Is everything alright in here?" Cuddy asked but mainly directed her question at Mary.

"It's just wonderful, it turns out that Buffy and Mary came from the same town, small world huh?" House answered mildly and Cuddy examined him with a frown. She knew House really well, and she could tell when he was playing his own agenda.

"It seems so," she answered slowly and turned her attention to Buffy who looked like she wanted to bolt from the room any second. "Buffy I wanted to speak to you about one of the reports; I noticed that you got the date wrong on the form." Cuddy explained and Buffy beamed a look of relief.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I'll, uh, go fix that right away!" Buffy said and quickly left after saying a vague farewell to Mary. God how was she going to do damage control now? Maybe she ought to just tell him the secret, she thought.

She paced the hallways until she heard the sound of Cuddy approaching, no doubt to question if she was alright. She stopped pacing and forced her body to relax and smiled at the Dean of Medicine brightly, squashing her nerves.

"Are you okay Buffy?" Cuddy asked once she reached her and Buffy nodded, "I know how House can be when he's got a puzzle he can't solve. He's like a dog with a bone until he figures it out. Perhaps it's just best to put him out of his misery," Cuddy suggested lightly, feeling bad for the younger woman.

Buffy's gaze strayed back to the Clinic where she watched House exit the exam room with a grin and start toward the door and them. She worried her lower lip as she watched him, mentally debating whether Cuddy was right. So far she'd only told Chase but he'd taken it well. Was it incredibly naïve of her to hope House never figured it out, to wish things could stay exactly as they were between them? She couldn't handle seeing him look at her as if she was a freak of nature, or worse that he would lose interest in her altogether once the puzzle was solved.

"I, uh, have to go do, um," Buffy stated and fled before finishing her sentence as House got closer. Cuddy and House watched her take off down the hall and out of sight, identical frowns and curious expressions on their faces.

"What are you doing, House?" Cuddy asked him softly. She liked Buffy, and even she had noticed the difference in her Diagnostician since Buffy's appearance in Plainsboro and she worried that the more he tried to find out who Buffy was, the farther he'd push her.

"I don't know what you mean," House deflected absently though he knew what she was referring to.

"House she needs time; she needs to figure out her place here. Lay off the mind games or she's only going to run farther." Cuddy told him and walked away. House stayed in place, processing Mary's insights into his blond girlfriend, if in fact she could be called that.

Suddenly he was pulled from his thoughts by a nurse yelling through the open door of the Clinic for him. He turned to head back with a heavy sigh, deciding to track Buffy down later to pry more details from her about what Mary had revealed.

His attention immediately zeroed in on the reason the nurse had called him as his frown deepened when he recognized the young girl that had just been brought in. He quickened his pace as much as he could with his cane and snatched the clipboard from the girl's gurney.

"Who made the call?" He demanded and the EMT informed him that a passerby had found the girl lying on the ground, unresponsive. House checked for vitals and a heartbeat and relaxed only marginally when he found one. He swept his gaze across her form, taking in the blisters and burns as well as the gashes upon her arms, the blood drying and making her clothes stick to her.

"Page my team and Miss Summers." He ordered the nurse who nodded and went to do as she was told.

"Miss Summers?" The EMT asked and another nurse aimed a questioning look at him that echoed the EMT's.

"This patient's name is Lauren Mason, Miss Summers is her proxy." House stated and went off in the direction of his office.