Disclaimer: Same as before…..please don't sue me!

SpectralLady: Vanquish is a good word…and don't worry I know what you meant and thanks for the good wishes! This has been the best chapter for me so far, still not great but was the easiest to do and I did find a few parts quite funny to write. Hope you agree. I thought the 'dog did it' story was the best bit of that chapter, and the others will be working towards that end….but it may not end up as we think. Listen you come across as very smart to me…so don't put yourself down. My Mum had to ask me how to spell 'that' the other day as she couldn't remember (mind you, she is 63!) so don't sweat it:O)

The Lilac Elf of Lothlorien: Thank you very much for such a lovely review. I'm glad you liked it, I did too – it was much better than the others. Anyway, I hope you like this one as well.

Calliann: I know…'Sod's Law' in action! Glad you liked it so much and have to say thanks for longer e-mail review. This is the chapter I've promised – split into two parts, this one just House (and a bit of Stacy) and the other part will include the ducklings. Hope you like it.

WARNING: BAD LANGUAGE, SO READ AT YOUR OWN PERIL.

All reviews, and constructive criticism, gratefully received – but no flaming please; and I will try to update regularly.

'—' signifies thoughts.

"—" signifies speech.

Anyway…chapter Nine!

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kindred Spirits

Chapter Nine – Molly & House (Part 1)

House arrived back at his apartment block with Molly in tow. The little girl looked perplexed as they trudged up the two flights of stairs to his apartment.

"What is it, Midget?" House sighed when he could stand the quizzical looks no longer. He put some coffee on and popped two vicodine.

"Why do you live upstairs when you can't walk?"

"I can walk; just not well..."

"Yeah, but don't the stairs hurt your leg?"

"Well, yeah…..but…"

"So why do it? I mean if I had a cut I wouldn't keep picking the scab…"

"See, now I would…."

"Ewwww - gross!"

"Yup, that's me….gross…." he dug around the freezer and fished out two TV dinners.

"Okay, for tonight's culinary delight we have…." He checked the labels "Chicken a la King and Beef Bourguignon."

"I'll have the chicken thing, mummy's made that before and it's lovely…"

"Monty's made Chicken a la King? I should come to dinner more often."

"House you used to come round nearly every night until Uncle Carl started dropping by..."

"And I will again now I know there's Chicken a la King on the menu; well, when Monty's home. But, how did I miss the chicken?"

"I think mummy made it the night uncle Carl came round crying because Uncle Alex had been mean to him, and then Uncle Alex came round crying because Uncle Carl had walked out crying – then they both sat and cried for ages before eating all the chicken…." She rolled her eyes "I thought we might have to start treading water at one point…."

"What did Monty do?" House stifled a smirk.

"She ordered pizza and tried not to laugh…."

"Tried not to laugh?"

"It was what they'd argued about…"

"Which was?"

"Coffee…."

"Coffee? Midget, grown men do not argue about coffee….."

"Coffee grinders actually; and apparently grown gay men do. Uncle Carl likes fresh coffee that's really strong, and Uncle Alex likes fresh coffee that's really mild; they both accused the other of mixing the grinders up and trying to poison them…….what's the beef thing?"

"Kind of like a beef….ummm…."

"Stew?"

"Yeah…stew; way to go Ankle Biter – take a classic French dish and reduce it to its basic component. Do you even know what gay means?"

"It means that Uncles Alex and Carl are like boyfriend and girlfriend, though I can't figure out who's the girl - they're both so bitchy…"

House pretended to cough to cover the laugh that bubbled out. "You are so you're mother's daughter…."

The microwaves pinged "Why do you have two microwaves?"

"So that I can cook for more than one if I have a guest…"

"You don't do a lot of entertaining do you House?" she looked at him with a sigh "I mean guests like me….okay; but anyone else - got to be more than a TV dinner….."

"Guests like you are all I get…" he fished out the packets and dropped them onto the table.

"Cuts down on washing up…" he gestured to the plastic trays the food was served in "If I could find reliable plastic cutlery that didn't snap the minute you pressed down on it, I'd never have to wash up again…"

Molly grinned "You know you're not a guest to us right, House? To us you're family…."

House stopped eating and looked at her "Am I? Really? I'm touched…" he snorted slightly in derision and then smiled.

"Yeah, seriously…mummy loves you muchly" she smiled as he rolled his eyes at the word "you're all she talks about after me…"

"What she say?" he was intrigued.

There was a slight pause "Oh she just tells me some of the stuff you two got up to….you were so naughty!" they both knew she was missing stuff out, but he let it go. "I don't like Stacy though….she makes mummy cry…"

House's head shot up "Does she now – have they met recently?"

"No…it was back when you first got sick - first Mummy cried because she was angry you were so poorly and no one told her, and then she cried because Stacy was so mean to you."

"Ah, I see…."

"Then she cried because you were so mean to her; why were you mean to my mummy?" There was no anger or reproach in her voice, just curiosity.

"Did she tell you all this?"

"No, I heard her telling Auntie Jaynie."

"Aren't you angry with me Midget?"

"Nope, because Mummy isn't – she said it was because you couldn't believe someone could love you, be your friend; not after Stacy was such a bitch. But mummy was…is…your friend I mean. She loves you more than even that though House." She looked at him seriously "Don't ever hurt her; if you did I couldn't be your friend anymore."

"I won't; well, not on purpose anyway." He changed the subject, she was too young to be so serious "So, what do you think of the chicken?"

"It's not chicken; its grey goo with lumps of….actually I'm not sure what that is, but I don't think its chicken. Still, it's alright." She smiled, as she uncertainly poked the goop around.

"You're more diplomatic than your mother I'll say that for you."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

After dinner they sat in front of the TV watching the baseball, Molly loved the New York Yankees and was getting very irate that they weren't winning by more runs "Oh come ON! I could run faster than that!"

"You know I think I could!" House was equally as fervent and they spent the next hour cursing the game, eating popcorn and throwing it at the TV, even though the Yankees won.

Then they watched reruns of General Hospital, Molly looked at a transfixed House "You know you can get loads of info on the internet about this…."

"Really? And there, I didn't know the World Wide Web existed; shut up and watch midget."

45 minutes later Molly was losing the will to live and decided to have a bath; House yanked himself away from the TV and ran it for her.

An hour later he decided that Molly must have had friends over when he wasn't looking; the bathroom was a swamp and one small child could not have done that single handedly.

"Hey House; sorry about the mess…." She apologised as she left the bathroom. He entered gingerly as he was sure one false move and he'd be on his butt.

2 minutes later he was staring at the ceiling wondering what had possessed him to say he'd have her. But then she came in in her pyjamas and helped him to his feet and cleaned up the mess whilst he mopped the floor, and he decided that maybe she wasn't sent by Satan to torment him.

The door buzzer went and Molly trotted out to answer it "Hello? What are you doing here?" Stacy asked coolly as she walked past Molly into the apartment.

"I could ask you the same question – I was invited; you?" Was the equally icy reply.

House was in the bathroom and all his instincts screamed at him to run out and stop what was happening, but he was also curious to see what Molly would do – she was, after all, a miniature of her mother; the opener to this conversation proved that.

"Oh yes, I heard what happened to your mother - sorry about that."

"Yeah, you sound it; what's the matter - jealous?"

"Of who - you? Hardly!" was the sarcastically amused reply.

"No….if you were jealous of me I would say you need therapy – that is sick on so many levels, I can't even tell you." House bit his lip "actually, my mummy. I mean, you know they love each other right?"

"As dear friends, yes…"

"Yeah, right – believe that and I have a handful of magic beans you can buy…." Yup definitely Monty, House decided. Choosing to ignore what the kid was implying.

Molly regarded the woman icily, she didn't like her – not one little bit; she was going to cause a lot of trouble, she could just feel it "Haven't you got a sick husband to go sit with instead of standing arguing with a 7 year old?

You know, Like my mummy sat with House after you'd left him, or don't you do that with this schmuck you married either; what is it you told mummy – you don't handle sick people well? That is what you said wasn't it?"

"I don't remember, it was a long time ago….." Stacy was uncomfortable and House was intrigued; he'd never been told she'd said that.

"Old age'll do that to you, the memory's the first thing to go….you must be really old then, even older than House; because his memory's really good."

"You're very precocious aren't you?"

"It's a lot better than being a bi….."

"Hey…."

House stepped into the living room before Stacy could throttle her, clapping his hand over Molly's mouth.

"How's Mark?" he tried to look like he cared, at this point the urge crack up was overwhelming and the stifled laugh was actually hurting. Molly was going to crack as many skulls as her mother when she got older.

Stacy's face softened, but Molly could see the 'concern' didn't really reach her eyes "Oh, bearing up – I just wanted to thank you for all you've done and for allowing me to take the job at the hospital" she reached out and rested her hand lightly on his arm.

House stepped back "Yeah well, no problem – we've all moved on; I mean she's right, he's your husband."

Stacy's soft gaze suddenly became much harder "I see - well, I'll see you at the hospital tomorrow right?"

"Yeah, I'll be with Monty." he looked down as Molly's hand crept into his; a smirk in her eyes as she gazed innocently up at Stacy.

"Right, bye then." She left with an icy glare at the little girl that was returned with interest, and shut the door hard behind her.

"I don't like her at all."

"I'd say the feeling's mutual."

"Good – then we both know where we stand."

"Both sides of the hate fence?"

Molly ignored him "Why does she want to try and take you away from us when she already has a husband?"

"She isn't taking anyone; but I don't know…." He looked at the door Stacy had gone through.

"I don't like grown ups who play nasty games with other people." She thought for a moment "and I don't like her….."

"So you keep saying - I think I've got the message, 'you don't like her and I should stay away'. I'll do my best, but I am her husband's doctor." He looked at her "Why so worried about it midget?"

"Mummy won't be your friend if you go back to her; she couldn't take it again – that's what she told auntie Jaynie when she heard she'd been back to the hospital. "I can't take him crucifying himself because of some other bullshit she's fed him this time when she dumps him….I can't."

"Does Monty know you listen to her conversations?"

"Are you mad? How would I hear anything if she knew?" Molly looked at him as if he'd lost his mind.

"Of course; how stupid of me! I don't know what I was thinking…." He slapped his forehead and gave her an incredulous look.

Molly giggled and went to get a glass of milk and some cookies. House watched her go; why did he get the feeling that more had gone on between Monty and Stacy than he'd been privy to?

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The next morning he awoke to find a still half full bottle of Vicodine and, on doing a quick tally, found he'd only taken 4 the previous evening instead of the usual 6-8.

He'd only had 1 scotch as he'd wanted to be compos mentis in case she needed him in the night; and also managed to avoid taking any of the damned amphetamines too.

There was a knock on the door and she came in carrying a tray with orange juice, a hot frosted blueberry pop tart – he's favourite thing in the world – and a plate of toast on it. "I couldn't make the coffee as your machine isn't like ours and I didn't know how to make it work."

Though he would rather have cut his tongue out than admit it, House was genuinely touched the midget had gone to so much trouble for him – he cast a glance outside "Don't worry….." she said as if reading his mind "I've already cleaned up the mess."

He smiled "Thanks Ankle Biter…." It was more than he usually had; a cup of coffee and two vicodine was his normal 'breakfast'.

She picked up his bottle of vicodine "how's your leg?" she asked as he reached out for them.

"Sore, why?"

"Right" she handed two over.

House was intrigued "If I'd said alright, would you still have let me have them?"

"Nope….I want you to live House; you won't if you keep taking so many."

He sighed "You're right, but we all have our addictions Ankle Biter – mine is those…"

"Mine's chocolate, Mummy's is cutting herself and Auntie Jaynie's is cigarettes. Stacy's is using people." She added spitefully.

"You know Monty cuts herself?" He was surprised.

"Sure – I'm 7 House….what, you think I'm always going to believe that she 'fell' or 'bumped into something'?" she rolled her eyes "Sometimes adults are so dumb."

"You wouldn't would you?" He had often wondered how Monty's little habit would affect the kid.

"What hack my arms like mummy? Are you nuts! Why would I do that? But then aside from you and her, I'm never going to let anyone get close enough to hurt me….so I won't ever feel the need to." She turned to go "oh, and you have a visitor…."

She gestured outside "That nice Doctor Wilson…..he's cute! If he was about 30 years younger….." House snorted as she giggled and left. But her statement about getting hurt left a hollow feeling in him….

Wilson stood at his door "Hey….she is 7 right? Because sometimes I feel like I'm talking to someone who's nearer 37!" he smiled, but then grew concerned "What is it?"

House told him what Molly had said "Right…well, look at it from her point her view – what role models has she got? You, a bitter, sarcastic vicodine addict and her mother a sarcastic self harmer; hardly wonderful role models for love and contentment.

She sees people being hurt to the point where they do this stuff to themselves; you can't blame her for not wanting to be a part of all that." He looked at the bottle of vicodine, picked it up and shook it "What happened – she hit you over the head with a hammer?"

"What? Oh, I didn't get a chance to OD last night; still, I can always try today." He looked brightly at Wilson who shook his head with a smile.

"Don't joke it off, she's feisty and you like her…."

"Yeah and if she were 20 years older I would be a pig in shit – unfortunately she isn't and anything else is illegal; I don't like her like that anyway….she's too…..cute." he shuddered.

"But she's her mother's daughter, and you like the mother too - who is what, about 5 years younger than you?"

"6….she 6 years younger."

"Right…so…" Wilson sighed – he was crap at this. "House, someone will come and snatch her out from under your nose….I mean it…"

"Dear God, I couldn't let that happen – her mother is strangely devoted to the little midget; she'd never forgive me if I lost her. Though that could be easy as she's quite short and easy to overlook…."

"You know who I'm talking about…." Wilson sighed.

"Wilson, the woman is lying in a hospital bed, probably more drugged up than even me; with half her right knee missing, possibly still robbed of the powers of speech….who in the hell is going to want her?"

"I don't mean right this minute….oh, forget it….I don't know why I bother…"

"There, see….defeat is easy isn't it? 'If at first you don't succeed – give up!' Perfect!"

He got out of bed and hobbled to the door, pushing the younger doctor before him as a beaming Molly reached them covered in coffee grounds and milk "I got it working! But Gods, that is one bloody complicated piece of crap!" she smiled brightly and blew a wisp of hair out of her eyes.

Wilson spun on House, who was taking the pro-offered coffee "You didn't?"

"Thanks midget – never say die right? What Wilson, I didn't do what that would make you so agitated – though so much about me does that these days…" Molly giggled.

"You didn't teach her to cuss…..tell me you didn't?"

"Okay…I didn't…. Wilson relaxed "But I'd be lying…"

"House!"

"I was bored, we had a few hours to kill before she went to bed; she actually knew a few already, didn't you Midget? Tell Wilson you're favourite…."

"Oh, that's bi…." Wilson clapped a hand over her mouth as he knelt down in front of her.

"No….Molly, that's fine…but best not to let Mummy know okay." He stood up "House, you're an idiot…..what about her school?"

House rolled his eyes and looked at Molly "Hey midget, what's the rule?"

"I can't cuss at school as I'll get canned." She intoned with a smile.

"See? No problem."

Wilson shook his head as he walked away "I'll see you at the hospital" he stopped and regarded his friend "you know, as a doctor you're scary House; as a father figure you're terrifying…" He shut the door behind him, still shaking his head.

House looked at Molly "see? He's too easy….." They high fived each other.

"You're funny House…."

"Ah grasshopper, you are only just beginning on the road to enlightenment….House style…."

I think this chapter was better….