It didn't take long for things at PPTH to get back to normal. With Vogler gone, Cuddy could finally get back to her job. She hadn't realized how much of her time was taken up playing hostess to Vogler, and running interference between him and her staff.

Cuddy locked the door and turned on some music. She was in for a long night. She poured herself a glass of water and sat down. Everything was laid out in piles. She started in on the legal issues. This pile was taken up mostly by complaints against Dr. House.

Cuddy sighed deeply. She might as well dive in. She wondered what House had done now. There were all the usual complaints. "Dr. House threatened my mother," "Dr. House made my son cry," "Dr. House lied to us." She'd heard them all. Fortunately, most of these complaints had already resolved themselves. Once House cured a patient, the complaints had a tendency to go away. It was hard to sue someone who just saved your life.

She put a couple of lawsuits to the side. Let her high priced lawyers sort that mess out. Her mind started to wonder as she read another general complaint. She was thinking about House. Things were changing between them. It was too soon to tell if it was for the better, but she was hopeful. She missed him. They used to be very close, a long time ago.

A smile spread across her face as she thought of their last night together. It was amazing how easy it had been to fall back into the intimate aspects of their relationship together. She remembered exactly what he liked, and he remembered her favorite things too.

She'd forgotten what a good kisser he was, so passionate and urgent. His hard body pressed against hers. He must be working out. He had the body of a man half his age. She couldn't see House as the workout type. He just must be one of those people blessed with high metabolism, and good genes.

She laughed suddenly. A picture had popped into her head. It was an image of House wearing a pair of tight black biker shorts, a sweat band around his head, pumping away on a treadmill. No, he was definitely not the workout type, though he did fill out those biker shorts quite nicely.

The phone rang her out of her rather pleasant fantasy. She picked it up, trying not to smile at the thoughts that were filling her head. The smile was erased as she heard the voice at the other end say hello.

"Stacy?" She couldn't believe her ears. She hadn't heard from her ex-friend in ages.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but I need your help." Her voice was wavering. It sounded almost frightened. Not something Cuddy was used to hearing from the hardened lawyer.

"What's wrong?" She and Stacy had once been very good friends. She couldn't help but be concerned.

"James said you might be able to help me. I need House's help with a case." She sounded like she was measuring each word carefully before she spoke.

"Why don't you just ask House?" Cuddy knew that was a stupid question. House didn't ever want to speak to Stacy again. She had left him, and he was still deeply hurt by it.

"It's complicated." Stacy went on to tell Cuddy all about her husband Mark, and the mysterious illness he had. No other doctor seemed able to help, but Stacy seemed convinced that House would be able to figure it out.

Cuddy did not want to get involved in this mess. Last time she'd tried to help it ended in disaster. "You have to talk to him. He is the only one who can give you an answer. If he says he is willing to take the case, I won't do anything to stop it, if that's what you are worried about."

There was no small talk, no catching up. Stacy said thank you, and they both hung up. Cuddy leaned back in her chair. She wasn't going to get any work done tonight. She got up and poured herself a scotch from her private bar.

Instead of going back to her desk, she went and sat on the couch. She stretched her legs across it, and leaned her head against the arm. She took a long, slow sip of scotch and let it slide down her throat, soothing all the tension in her muscles as it wormed a path to her stomach.

Stacy was coming back. That was not something she was ready to deal with. She thought about the conversation they'd just had. She wanted to tell Stacy to stay away. It was just like Stacy to come back to town just as something was growing between her and House.

Cuddy lay on the couch. The room was silent. She had turned off the music to answer the phone and never turned it back on again. Her mind was racing. Having Stacy back was going to bring up a lot of bad memories for everyone. She was afraid that the fragile relationship she now had with House would shatter under the weight of those memories. She wasn't sure he had fully forgiven her for breaking up his relationship with Stacy.

Eventually Cuddy slipped into a restless sleep. The tears that had been welling in her eyes slowly trickled down her cheeks as the memories of the past haunted her sleep. Everything she had wanted was just within her grasp, and here comes Stacy to snatch it all away from her again. She sobbed silently as she drifted in and out of sleep.