A/N: I meant to post this last night but the site wasn't working. It is now, though. I'm starting to see an end in sight, I'm just not sure when. I'm almost finished chapter 30 but I'm not quite done with our favorite couple yet :) I'm going out of town on Thurs. so I'll try to post another chapter or two before I go :)

Chapter 26

Greg returned to Tina's room to find her alone once again. He handed her his script pad and a pen. "I want you to write down your name, your home phone number, your parents names and where you're from. The FBI are on their way. Where's what's his name?"

Tina took the pen and wrote: His name is Rob Martin. He's from New York. He said he went to get breakfast. He'll be back soon. He never leaves me alone for very long. And then she wrote down the info Greg requested and he took it.

A tear slipped down Tina's cheek but she wiped it away. When can I see my parents?

"I'll call them. How old are you?"

16.

"And you ran away to meet some guy online? Stooooopid."

She frowned. We talked for months.

"Oh, that makes it okay then," Greg said as he rolled his eyes and took a seat at the end of her bed. She didn't seem like a bad kid. Just naive and clearly too trusting.

I felt like he was the only one who understood me. Nobody likes me. He did. We used to chat online for hours every night. We had plans.

"I'll bet he made most of them."

They sounded good at the time.

"So you ran away to meet this clown, thinking he was just another horny teenager like you and he turned out to be this...loser in his late twenties. Am I getting warmer?"

Tina nodded. I told him I had to go home, that I could only hang out for lunch, but next thing I knew I was in some crappy hotel room. I guess he drugged me.

There were footsteps outside in the hall which Greg could hear and he quickly grabbed the pad she'd been writing on and shoved it in his pocket before Rob Martin entered the room.

XXX

Cory and Star entered the lobby and stared at the directory to find Greg's office. "Can I help you?" A pleasant voice inquired from behind them. Cory turned and came face to face with an attractive, younger man with the nicest brown eyes she'd ever seen.

"I'm looking for Dr. House."

"Fourth floor. I'm House's friend, Dr. James Wilson, Oncology. I was on my way up there myself. Please, follow me, ladies."

Star wiggled her eyes suggestively behind his back and Cory shook her head. Star was always trying to fix her up. Not that Dr. Wilson wasn't her type. He seemed nice enough but he wasn't Greg. Nobody was.

"How is it you know House?" he asked Cory once the elevator door closed.

"You call him House?" Star laughed.

Wilson smirked. "Everyone does. Just like everyone calls me Wilson."

"We're old friends," Cory told him. "And he called me about a missing teen."

He nodded. "Ahhh you're Cory, aren't you?"

She simply nodded but didn't say another word.

"I'm Star," her friend smiled as she extended her hand to the man. If Cory wasn't going to jump on the chance, she definitely would. It seemed a shame to let such a nice guy go to waste. However, when he extended his left hand, she saw the indent on his finger where a ring had once been.

"Cory's partner in crime," Wilson smiled a perfect smile at her which reached his eyes, and Star smiled right back.

"Are you Greg's?"

"You could say that. Some would say I'm his Watson to his Sherlock Holmes."

"Everyone needs a sidekick," Cory muttered under her breath as the doors opened and she stepped out ahead of them. She really just wanted to see Greg and was oblivious to Star and Wilson's flirting.

X X X

Greg checked his watch. It had only been a few hours but he knew Cory would be arriving soon.

Damn, he was nervous! He reached into the bottom drawer of his desk and grabbed the bottle he kept stashed there for such emergencies. Pouring some whiskey into his lukewarm coffee, he sat back and drank it.

Why he was nervous, he didn't know. He was with Stacy now. And happy. Well, as happy as he could be. He wasn't sure what he had with Stacy. It felt like love, but not the deep-rooted, emotional connection he had with Cory. He didn't think he'd be able to find that with anyone else. Sure, he and Stacy were great together but they had their moments and some wicked fights over the most mundane things, All of which ended up in some amazingly wicked make-up sex.

"Hi, Greg," the familiar voice spoke softly from the doorway, yanking him out of his thoughts and he glanced up to see Cory and Star standing there.

"Hi. You made good time."

"Yeah. The FBI badge is good for something besides scaring the crap out of people," she smirked. "How're you?"

"Fine. Good." He stood up and walked over to her. She looked the same, yet different. Her hair was cut very short and she looked like she had been doing some hardcore weight training, if her arms were any indication. "You look good. Your trainees must be working you to the bone."

"Quite the opposite, actually, but I have to stay in shape to set an example."

Greg nodded and nodded at Star. "Hey, Star."

"Hey Greg. Looking handsome as always," she smiled.

He smirked and then reached into his pocket for his script pad. "You'll want to see this."

Cory looked at it. "I know this guy. Well, I know of him. She's not the first girl he's lured away from home. He's got a list of felonies as long as my arm."

"Can I be there to watch when you take him down?" he asked, looking excited.

Cory laughed. "You're still like a little boy, and yes, you can be there, but as long as you stay out of our way. We have plain-clothed agents all over the hospital in case he tries to make a run for it. Do you think he suspects anything?"
Greg shook his head. "Nope. I think he's annoyed that I keep checking up on the girl, but that's too bad."

"Yeah, well let's get the ball rolling then. Lead the way, Dr. House," she said with a grin.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Does it still give you the same thrill? Calling me that and knowing that I'm a real doctor now?"

"A bigger one," she said, looking quite serious when she said it. They made it to the elevator and the doors opened to reveal Stacy.

"There you are," she said to Greg.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" Greg asked her.

"Court was adjourned early. I came to see if you wanted to go for dinner."

Greg glanced at his watch. "I have to take care of something first. Meet me back in my office in..." he looked at Cory, "half hour?"

She shrugged and nodded. "If all goes according to plan." Then she extended her hand to Stacy. "I'm Corinne, an old friend of Greg's. This is my partner, Star."

Stacy shook their hands and smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Stacy, and I know who you are. Greg has spoken of you."

"He has? All good I hope."

"Some."

Greg enjoyed the stand-off between the two women but then ushered Cory into the elevator before the doors could close again. "Let's do this. I'll meet you back at my office and then we can go."

The doors closed before Stacy could say another word and Greg leaned against the wall.

"She's very pretty. How long have you two been together?" Cory asked.

"A year."

He didn't miss the look of disappointment on her face. "Oh."

"Are you seeing anyone?"

"No."

The elevator doors opened and Cory followed Greg to Tina's room. Rob wasn't there, and Cory was glad. She wanted to talk to Tina alone.

"Would you excuse us, please, Greg?"

"She can't speak. Give her some paper and a pen to write on. She just had her tonsils out. I'll go see if I can find her father," he said the last word with a roll of his eyes and air quotes.

"Thanks."

When he was gone, Cory grabbed a chair and pulled it up to Tina's bed while Star stayed out in the hall. "I'm Special Agent Wallace of the FBI, Missing Person's division. Your parents have been called and they're on their way."

Tina's eyes filled with tears and she wrote: Are they mad?

"They're just happy you're alive. It's been awhile and they feared you were dead when they didn't hear anything. I need to ask you some personal questions, Tina. Will that be all right?"

She nodded and Cory took out her own steno pad to make notes and got down to business.

Ten minutes later, Rob Martin reappeared, coffee in hand, followed by Greg.

"Who are you? Another doctor?" Rob smirked. "I've never seen so many doctors interested in a tonsillitis patient. My daughter must be special."

Cory rose, calmly and faced the man, looking him up and down with contempt. "You're her father?"

"Yes, ma'am." He gave her a charming smile and extended his hand. "Rob Reid."

Greg rolled his eyes at the way the man flirted with the one woman who would decide his fate.

Cory shook his hand. "I see. You look young to have a sixteen year-old daughter."

Rob frowned and cocked his head to one side. "I don't get it."

Then she took out her ID and flashed it at him. "Get it?"

His face fell, and turned ashen. "What...what is this?"

"I'm Special Agent Wallace from the Missing Persons division of the FBI. We're looking at a list of rape and kidnapping charges against you that go back ten years. So let's nix the father of the year campaign, shall we?"

"You'll never take me alive!" he shouted and threw his hot coffee at her before he made a run for it.

"Son of a bitch!" she hissed as she took off after him, walkie-talkie in hand. "Subject is on the move. Stand by for my command."

"Copy that. Exits are secure."

Star was already hot on his heels and she followed him down the stairwell to the main lobby. Every plain clothed officer had their gun drawn and Rob realized he was outnumbered. That's when he reached for the gun he had hidden under his shirt but he didn't make it. Star fired first and hit him in the kneecap just as Cory stepped out of the elevator with Greg.

"Rob Martin, you're under arrest for the sexual assault and kidnapping of Tina Parker. Star, cuff the man, read him his rights and get him medical attention."

"You can use the clinic," Cuddy told them, who'd been standing at the nurse's station the entire time.

"Thanks."

"Looks like you could use some yourself," Greg said to her as he pointed to Cory's chest. "Third degree coffee burns aren't a pretty sight."

"I'll be fine."

"Let me take a look at it anyway. Follow me."

With a roll of the eyes, Cory followed him to an empty exam room. "Take your jacket off and unbutton your shirt."

"Gee, Greg. I would've thought you'd at least buy me dinner first," she smirked, but she did as she was told.

"I don't think Stacy would like that too much," he said as he rummaged through the drawers, looking for something.

"Why? Is she the jealous type?"

"She certainly can be. And I don't know if I have the energy to get into it with her."

Cory frowned as Greg came toward her with some salve and a bandage. "Do you want to do this or shall I?"

"You're the doc, doc," she smirked.

He worked quickly, and had a very gentle touch.

"It was good to see you again, Greg."

"You too."

"And I wish you all the happiness in the world with Stacy."

"Thanks." He appeared a little bit disturbed and he turned around. "You can do your shirt back up now."

"Guess I'll see you in another five or six years, huh? That seems to be the norm with us."

He simply shrugged. "Maybe next time we meet I'll have my own department."

"That would be great. Good luck with that."

"Thanks."

"Greg, wait."

He started to leave, had his hand on the doorknob, but he paused and looked back at her. "Yeah?"

"Have you forgiven me?"

He looked at the floor and then back at her. "Does it really matter?"

"It does to me."

"Then yeah. I have. But it's kind of a moot point now, isn't it?"

"It's still nice to know you don't hate me."

Greg shook his head. "I never did. I was just hurt."

"I know. And I'm sorry for that. I hope you can learn to trust me again."

"I guess we'll never know, will we?" And then he was gone, leaving Cory to her thoughts.

"Oh, I think we will," she muttered to herself as she left the exam room. She and Star gathered up their team and were about to leave when Star nudged her.

"Show off," she muttered, and pointed in Greg's direction. Greg and Stacy were talking in the lobby, Stacy had her hands on Greg's face as she leaned up to kiss him softly and Greg looked visibly uncomfortable.

"Bitch. She should know he hates public displays of affection," Cory mumbled. "I need a drink. Let's get out of here."

Greg saw Cory out of the corner of his eye and his chest felt tight. He knew she was watching them and he pretended not to notice or care. But he knew Stacy wasn't kissing him simply for his benefit. She was trying to get to Cory and it obviously worked.

"Are you done?" he asked Stacy as he looked down at her.

She blinked. "Pardon me?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Let's just go. I'm hungry."

XXX

Cory emptied her third glass of Scotch and sighed.

"Why do I do this to myself?"

"Do what?" Star asked her.

"Get all worked up about a man I clearly can't have. And probably won't ever again. Because I royally fucked up."

"Meh," Star shrugged, "it won't last. He might love her, but he's not in love with her. If that makes sense."

"Not really."

"He might think he loves her, but I saw the way he was looking at you today. There are still feelings there. They're just buried beneath the surface."

"I'm not going to interfere."

"I wasn't going to suggest trying to break them up. But maybe it's time you moved on as well. Let him see you're not pining for him."

"I don't want anyone else. You saw how my other relationships have been like. Volatile. I can't even look at a man without comparing him to Greg. How sick is that? It's like I purposely try and sabotage everything just so I can be free when Greg decides he's ready to try again."

Star ordered them another round of drinks and some more food. "Well he's with that vindictive bitch now. And now that she knows you want him, and I'm sure she does, she's not going to let him go without a fight. Not like you wouldn't win, but still."

Cory shook her head. "No, you're right. I need to find someone else. At least for awhile, to get my mind off Greg. I haven't gotten laid in two years. I don't wanna dry up."

"Wilson was cute."

"Yes he was. But he's not my type, and he's Greg's friend. I'm not barking up that tree again, thankyouverymuch."

A/N: Thanks to all who are reading this and reviewing. For the rest of you, don't be shy! I'd love to hear from you. I don't bite. Well, unless you ask me to :P haha.