A/N: We're back! Get excited! haha. This isn't a long story but we hope you'll enjoy it.
Disclaimer: We don't own House or any of the other characters. They belong to David Shore and FOX. So don't sue us. We're poor.
Chapter One
December, 2012
The cell door clanged shut and House let out a soft sigh of relief. After more than a year, he was being released from prison. While incarcerated, he refused to see any of the people who came to visit him. As a result, he didn't expect to find anyone waiting for him at the gate outside.
A bus would take him back to Princeton and drop him about a block from the half-way house where he would spend six months. There he would receive more anger management classes and try to get someone to hire him. He still had his medical license but after all he'd done over the years he wasn't holding out hope that anyone would hire him.
Once he was dressed in his own clothes and given back his belongings, he leaned heavily on his cane and limped outside. It was a cold, cloudy day and he turned up the collar of his suit jacket. Then he slowly made his way to the bus stop. As he sat down on the bench, he saw a royal blue Corvette drive toward the prison release gate. Suddenly, it reversed and came to a stop in front of him. The tinted driver's window slid down and Chase looked out at him.
"Get in," he told House. "I'm taking you with me."
House got up and limped around to the passenger door. Once in the car, he looked at Chase. "I fired you, didn't I?"
Chase smirked as he turned the steering wheel and began driving away from the prison. "You did but I don't work for you any more."
"So, you just showed up to drive me to the half-way house?"
Chase glanced at him out of the corner of his eye before turning his attention to the road. "You're staying with me at my apartment. Our new Dean contacted your parole officer and made a very strong case for your return to work. You'll take your anger management classes at the hospital. I'll drive you to and from work. Oh, and you're in your own lab working on infectious disease research."
"Cuddy's gone?"
Chase cleared his throat. "Yeah. She left about a month after you went to prison. I'm not allowed to tell you where she is, though. Sorry."
House shrugged and slouched in his seat. "Not your fault. You didn't drive your car into her house."
They remained quiet until Chase pulled into the parking lot of a luxury apartment building.
"Primo car and primo apartment," House commented as Chase drove into the underground parking area. He parked the car in a slot marked with his name. "Impressive. Cameron not riding the alimony pony?"
"No."
They got out and House followed Chase to the elevator. Chase punched a button and House let out a low whistle of appreciation.
"Penthouse. Your stepmom cut you in on Daddy's inheritance?"
"I'm the head of the surgical department. I get paid well."
The elevator doors slid open to reveal a short hallway. At the end was a door.
"You have a Jeeves who 'Indeed, sir's you?" House asked with a slight laugh.
Chase stopped with his keys in his hand and looked at House in confusion. "Jeeves?"
"Oh, sad. I thought all you Brits knew who Jeeves was."
"I'm Australian and I actually have all of PG Wodehouse's books," Chase said with a cheeky grin.
He unlocked the door and House walked in. There were floor to ceiling windows, sleek, modern furniture and hardwood floors. House crowed with delight when he saw the huge flat screen TV.
"Please tell me you have video games and porn," he said with wide eyes.
Chase tossed his keys on a side table. "Of course. Wanna see your bedroom and bath?"
House followed Chase down a hallway to the left. House's new bedroom was spacious with room darkening curtains in a muted shade of gray. There was a king size bed with matching nightstands and lamps. A long dresser sat along the wall opposite the bed. In the adjoining bathroom, there was a soaker tub and shower with a bench.
"Shower has a steam option," Chase told him. "Your apartment is being paid for until you are cleared to move back in."
House sat on the bed, put his cane between his legs and looked at Chase.
"Why are you doing all this?" he asked. "I fired you, blew up your marriage and basically treated you like shit the whole time you worked for me. I even lied to you about your father. You should hate me, not be treating me…"
"With decency and respect?" Chase asked. "You were right to fire me. I had been with you too long. As for my marriage, I blew that up the minute I lied to Allison about what I did to Dibala." He shrugged. "You didn't technically lie about Dad. He asked you not to tell anyone. You didn't." He sighed. "I am who I am because of you. That's why I'm helping you."
House tapped his cane on the plush carpet. "What about food? I haven't had a decent meal in over a year."
"I usually order takeout. We can have whatever you want."
Chase turned and walked out of the room. House pushed himself up and followed.
"I want a steak, rare, with a fully loaded baked potato, and a lot of good whiskey," House told him.
"No alcohol, remember? You can have anything non-alcoholic," Chase told him.
"Fine. I'll have beer."
Chase sighed and folded his arms.
"Root beer," House grumbled.
Once they'd eaten, Chase carried the dishes into the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher.
"Wilson still working at the hospital?" House asked as casually as possible.
"He is. He wanted to come pick you up but one of his patients took a turn for the worse. Nolan told the parole board it wasn't in your best interest for you to live with him. He asked."
House nodded. "Foreman? Taub? Thirteen?"
"Foreman works with Marty Hamilton now. Taub has two babies to support so he's working for a pharma company. Thirteen lives in Europe with her girlfriend. Not going to ask me about Cameron?"
House let out a loud belch. "Nope. I'm going to soak in that tub and then sleep for a few days. Wake me up next Monday."
"Soak all you want but you have to report for work at eight tomorrow morning."
"I just got out of jail!"
"And you have to work now," Chase told him.
House growled and pushed himself up from the dining room chair. "My first stop is going to be that new Dean's office in the morning."
XXX
When House arrived at the hospital, it looked the same as it did when he left, but the feeling was different. He couldn't put his finger on it, and he wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing just yet. But with Cuddy no longer at the helm, he already felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He definitely wouldn't have agreed to come back if she was still there, so upon hearing that she wasn't, he was relieved to say the least.
He decided to go see Wilson first and find out what was going on with him. He sort of understood why Nolan urged against House staying with Wilson, but he wanted to get his friend's take on it. He just hoped he wouldn't be pissed anymore. After all, Wilson's arm got broken from jumping out of the way when House drove into Cuddy's living room.
He went up to Wilson's office and the door was closed. When he tried the knob, it was locked, so he pressed his ear to the door and listened for voices. He heard Wilson's but nobody else's so he assumed he was on the phone. Giving up, he went down to the vending machines for a drink and when he came back, the door was still closed so he knocked.
"I know you're in there. I can hear you avoiding me."
A few seconds later, the door opened and his friend stood there staring at him.
House stared back in surprise. Wilson had grown some facial hair and most of it was grey.
"Wow."
"What?" Wilson asked.
"Your razor broken?"
"Not anymore than yours," Wilson said and stepped aside to let him in. "You getting settled in?"
"Yeah. Chase came and picked me up since you were detained."
Wilson nodded. "I had a patient. He wanted me there in his last hours."
"Yeah he said. He also said Nolan told you it was a bad idea for me to stay with you."
"He did. I guess he's afraid of history repeating itself. Can you blame him?"
"Nope."
"So you're working in the lab now?"
"Yeah. I need to see the new Dean to get the keys. I don't get why everything's so hush hush. Is it a demon or something?"
Wilson chuckled. "No, far from it. Honestly though, since Cuddy left, this place is so much better. Almost a complete turnaround. It's not nearly as toxic as it was when Cuddy was at the helm."
"Yeah I got that vibe as soon as I walked in. What's the deal?"
"There's no deal. She's just very good at running things. Go see for yourself. I think you'll be very pleasantly surprised."
Wilson's smug grin was annoying and House rolled his eyes. "I can only imagine. See ya later for lunch?"
"Yeah sure. Come and get me around noon."
"Cool."
XXX
House felt much better after seeing Wilson. He decided it was time to meet the new boss. There was still that sense of change and it grew stronger as he approached Cuddy's old office. He didn't recognize any of the doctors so far but the clinic seemed less chaotic than it did while Cuddy was in charge. He did notice there were more security guards than before and one stood outside the doors leading to the Dean's office.
"Good morning, Doctor House," the guard said as he stood to one side.
House looked at him suspiciously and pushed open the door to the outer office. The doors to the inner office were closed and the blinds drawn. House cocked his head and started to reach forward.
"Please sit down, Doctor House," a man to his left said.
Jerking slightly in surprise, House looked at him. "Who are you?"
"The Dean's assistant. You can call me Mister Malcolm."
"Mister Malcom. Pfft. Riiiight," House grumbled under his breath.
"Please sit down. I'll let the Dean know you're here."
Looking over his shoulder, House saw two chairs flanking a small round table. He sat down and stretched his legs out. Malcolm made a phone call and then looked at House.
"You can go in," Malcolm told him.
House made a scoffing noise in the back of his throat and got up. He pushed open the door and stepped inside. For a moment, he was overwhelmed with memories. The office looked almost exactly the same as it did when Cuddy occupied it. Her desk was gone as were all her personal touches. Then he smelled it. He inhaled deeply and moved forward.
"Still wearing the same perfume," he commented to the back of the office chair behind the desk.
Cameron swung around to face him. "I like it," she told him.
He sank down in one of the chairs facing her desk. "Brown hair is back, too."
She looked at him with no expression and he shifted in his seat.
"Where've ya been?" he asked. "You know where I've been. Prison. Didn't get raped in case you were wondering."
"I wasn't."
He narrowed his eyes. "You still hate me."
"No."
House sighed and tapped his cane on the floor. "Chase likes me. So does Wilson."
She pushed a key card and badge across the desk. "Malcolm will take you to your lab. Chase's schedule can be adjusted so he can bring you to and from the hospital." She held a paper out to him. Leaning forward, he took it, the key card and the badge. He looked at the paper.
"Anger management classes," he said as he looked over the dates and times.
"You're required to attend one every day. Miss one and you're fired," she told him.
House smiled. "You are so adorable when you're trying to be a badass."
She picked up the phone. "Mister Malcolm, would you please come escort Doctor House to his lab and help him get settled in?" She hung up and the door opened behind them.
House looked at her for a long time. She looked back at him with an unwavering stare. This was the difference he sensed earlier.
"What happened to you?" he asked softly.
"I grew up," she told him. Turning to her computer, she went back to work.
Feeling dismissed, House crammed the things she gave him into his coat pocket and stood. She didn't look at him but kept her attention on her computer screen. He turned and followed Malcolm out.