Apologies for the delay in getting this chapter up. I've been sick lately and it's been kind of hard to get into the appropriate House mindset with my mind full of fluff!

House had retreated back to his office after Cuddy's visit, leaving his team to look after the four women now in his care. When Wilson arrived just before lunch, he found his friend poring through a medical text. Other books lay on the desk and the floor, most looking like they had been discarded in frustration.

"No luck I take it," Wilson said as he sat down.

House gave him a flat, unfriendly look. "I'm not even entirely sure what I'm looking for," he growled.

"The lab still hasn't delivered then?"

House shook his head then leaned back in his chair. "The second girl, the college student, came round about an hour ago. Had the same kind of reaction as the Hooper woman."

"I hope you told your team to be careful," Wilson said seriously. "If this is a virus you don't want them getting infected as well."

House waved a hand. "They didn't need me telling them that." He tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling. "The roommate presenting with whatever this is makes me think it is a virus."

"Infected by the bite?" Wilson asked and House nodded. "Short incubation time. She was bitten in the evening and showed the first symptoms the next morning."

"Unless she got it somewhere else," House replied.

'The frat party?" Wilson suggested. "Didn't Chase say they'd both been there?"

"Yes but both the first two women went out the same night," House pointed out. "Sarah Hooper on a date and the college girl to the frat party. Now unless Sarah and her date went to the frat party as well…"

"Then their paths didn't cross," Wilson finished. "What about the guy she went out with?"

"Haven't found him yet," House replied, still staring at the ceiling. "Chase is still looking."

Wilson stood and walked around the desk. He leaned against the shelves behind House and let his hand run through House's hair. The older man closed his eyes and gave a tiny sigh, bringing a small smile to Wilson's face. They stayed like that for several minutes, Wilson continuing to card through House's hair. Then he let his hand rest momentarily on the older man's shoulder.

"Come on. Let's go and have lunch," he said in the companionable silence.

House didn't open his eyes. "Not hungry."

"Don't care," Wilson countered. "I'm not picking you up if you fall over from malnourishment. You didn't have breakfast so you are having lunch."

"Your Jewish mother act is scarily accurate," House said as he opened his eyes.

"Get up," Wilson said with an amused snort. "I'll even pay."

"Hmmph," House grumped as he pushed himself to his feet. Wilson moved forward almost unconsciously to provide House with someone to lean against as he balanced himself. "Lucky for you I'm a cheap date."

Wilson raised an eyebrow. "I'll remember that."

He paused and glanced out into the conference room and corridor. Once he'd ascertained that both were currently empty, he took advantage of their close proximity to lean forward and kiss House. The older man stiffened in surprise then relaxed and returned the kiss. Wilson reluctantly pulled away and met House's gaze. The older man looked pleased, surprised and just a fraction languid. As Wilson watched, House shook that off and raised a curious eyebrow.

Wilson chose to deliberately misunderstand. "Sorry to finish that too soon. Your fault. This office is like a fishbowl."

"We'll have to try it in your office then," House replied as he limped towards the door. "Less windows."

Wilson closed his eyes briefly at that thought then followed House out of the office. "Now there's a thought," he said blandly and was inwardly delighted at House's startled look. He didn't often manage to do that to House.

After Wilson had forced House to eat something they separated and went back to their own offices. This despite House's lurid but somewhat half-hearted suggestions regarding Wilson's office and its lack of windows. Wilson had raised an eyebrow and chuckled before suggesting that scarring the ducklings when they tried to deliver the test results House had been waiting for might be fun but could possibly result in House having to interview again. House had shuddered melodramatically at that thought before limping off towards his own office.

Once he arrived back at his office, House found two thirds of his team sitting around the table in the conference room looking tense and worried. He rolled his eyes and ignored them as he headed for his office. He'd only just pushed the door open when the door to the conference room slammed open and Foreman walked looking both confused and pissed.

"They don't carry the mutated gene for Lesch-Nyhan," he announced as House swivelled awkwardly and returned to the conference room. "But they do have a viral infection."

"What kind of infection?" House asked.

"HIV," Foreman replied, handing the file containing the results to House.

House propped himself against the bench and opened the file. They only had the results of the genetic tests on the first two women at the moment though House had no doubt that the other two would be equally free of the genetic mutation for Lesch-Nyhan. But all four women were positive for HIV.

"HIV doesn't cause the symptoms we've seen," Cameron objected. "Not even when it progresses to AIDS."

"It doesn't present so quickly either," Chase added.

House closed the file and stared down at the floor for a moment before looking up at his team. "Have the genetics lab test the virus. I want a full sequence done," he said flatly. "And call the CDC."

His team stared at him in bafflement for a moment then realisation dawned on Chase's face first.

"Someone's engineered this virus?" he said, disbelief and a hint of horror in his voice.

House didn't answer the question. "Call the police as well. We need to find this Michael Larette that the first girl went out with."

"Can we do anything for the women?" Cameron asked quietly.

House was silent for a moment. "Not unless you have a cure for HIV in your pocket. Also I want you to redo the urate to creatinine ratio and HPRT activity tests for all the women. I want to know what's happening."

The trio of doctors exchanged sombre glances then headed off to carry out House's instructions. House stared down at the file for a moment then into his office. He almost headed inside then realised that this situation actually did need to be brought to the attention of Cuddy. He tucked the file under one arm and headed out of the conference room.

He didn't bother knocking when he got to Cuddy's office. He never had before and didn't really see any reason to start now. Cuddy was on the phone when he walked in and she shot him an irritated glare that quickly modulated into a look of surprise. House could only assume that his own expression was giving things away. That annoyed him.

"Can I call you back?" Cuddy said into the phone then she hung up and looked at House. "Well?"

"We have a problem," House said tossing the file onto Cuddy's desk. "The women are infected with HIV."

Cuddy blinked then frowned. "HIV doesn't produce the symptoms those women have."

"No, really," House said with exaggerated surprise. "I think it's been genetically engineered."

"Have you called the CDC?" Cuddy asked, ignoring the sarcasm.

"One of the ducklings is taking care of that," House said with a wave of his hand then he looked her up and down and raised a suggestive eyebrow. "I just thought I should let you know. You can put on the blue suit, impress the boys from Boston. I'm sure they'll like the cleavage."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Is there anything else you needed, Dr House?"

"There are many things I need, only some of which you can supply," House said smugly as he reclaimed the file and limped out of the office.

"Thank goodness for that," came the muttered comment from behind him and he almost grinned.

When he got back to his office he found Wilson sprawled in the chair in front of his desk and he poked the younger man with his cane.

"Here you are again. No wonder those rumours keep circulating," he said as he sat.

"No wonder," Wilson replied blandly.

"Don't you have your own patients?"

"Well, yes, I do but right now yours are more interesting," Wilson replied, one eyebrow quirking upwards. "What's cancer compared to an obscure genetic disorder masquerading as a virus?"

"I think it's the other way around actually," House replied morosely.

"You mean it is a virus?" Wilson asked.

House grunted. "HIV."

"Really?" Wilson said with surprise then realisation hit him. "Oh, that's…not good. Antivirals won't work. Are you going to start them on HAART?"

House grimaced. "I want to wait for the results of the second set of tests. The virus has been engineered so that means that standard treatment probably goes out the window."

"Have you called the CDC?" Wilson asked. "This has to be deliberate."

"One of the ducklings is seeing to it," House replied. "They'll probably invade tomorrow."

"So what's the problem?" Wilson asked patiently. "You've been distracted ever since you walked in."

House leaned back in his chair. "I think it's safe to say that the man the first girl went out with has something to do with this since going out with him is the only different thing she's done in the last few months."

"Makes sense," Wilson said. "I assume you think he's responsible for infecting the girls?"

"Mmm," House grunted. "Though the how on the first two girls is eluding me at the moment. It's the why that's more interesting though."

"Why is he infecting them," Wilson said softly. "And with something as horrible as this."

"That is indeed the question, Dr Wilson," House said as he stared at the ceiling.

There was silence for a while then Wilson said quietly, "Hate."

"Exactly," House replied. "If it was just scientific curiosity then the victims would be random, male and female, all ages, all types. However four female victims, all aged within six years of each other, all with brown, shoulder length hair, blue eyes, slim build, medium height kind of points to something a little more specific."

"Do you think the choice of Lesch-Nyhan is significant?" Wilson asked.

"No," House replied. "But I do think the choice of HIV as the carrier virus is significant."

"How?"

"Well, ask yourself this question, Dr Panty Peeler. If you went and shagged that pretty little nurse from Radiology and found out three months later that she had HIV and now you do too, you might be a tad upset, mightn't you?" House said with an arch eyebrow, looking directly at Wilson.

"I…suppose I would," Wilson replied then he smirked. "I might feel the same way if it was that crippled bastard of a doctor from Diagnostic Medicine. But I suppose that would make the victim pattern a bit different to the one we're looking at here."

"Indeed," House replied, returning the smirk. "And last time I checked I was as clean and pure…"

"As what they shovel out of a stable," Wilson finished, humour glinting in his eyes.

"Keep that up and you'll be sleeping on the couch again," House said.

"I think that's a record for me," Wilson replied, his lips quirking. "I've never had the romance die so quickly."

"If you wanted romance, you're sleeping with the wrong doctor," House said.

"Good point," Wilson replied blandly. "I guess I'll have to settle for the sex then."

House raised his eyebrows speculatively. They hadn't really spoken about where this change in their relationship was going other than establishing that they both wanted it to change. They certainly hadn't spoken about the…mechanics of what might happen if things progressed as they normally do in a relationship. It wasn't a topic House usually liked to dwell on. The damage to his leg made certain things a little…difficult at best and downright agonising at worst. Last night's little foray into frottage had been fun mostly because they'd gotten the angles right…very, very right. But actual sex brought with it a barrage of problems that House hadn't had the incentive to think about in a long time.

He let his gaze rest on his friend, now apparently lover, and decided that the younger man was definitely incentive enough to have what was likely to be a very frustrating and probably somewhat embarrassing conversation. And not just because of the limitations his leg placed upon him; Vicodin did have its side effects after all. Though that was a topic that was likely to lead to places that did not involve sex so he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to bring up that part of his problems. However the idea of sex with Wilson was one he was quite enamoured with and he wasn't about to let his addiction get in the way.

But now that he thought about it, part of the reason they had gotten the angles right last night was because Wilson had made sure they were right. So maybe the conversation wouldn't be as difficult as he'd feared. Maybe this was a subject Wilson had already considered independently. Maybe he even had some ideas…

"House?" Wilson said a little warily, breaking into his thoughts.

House blinked and saw the slightly worried look lurking in his friend's eyes. He realised he'd probably been lost in his own thoughts for a touch too long after Wilson's last comment.

"We'll have to stick with the bed then," he replied with a smirk. "Sex on my couch would probably leave one of us permanently damaged." He looked down at his leg. "Hmm, too late."

Relief and something akin to anticipation flickered across Wilson's face. "So that's what did it," he said as blandly as he could manage. "Who knew Stacy was into sex on the couch?"

House shuddered. "Way to kill the mood there," he muttered.

Wilson snorted and looked rather unrepentant. "Probably a good thing," he said then jerked his head slightly towards the conference room and what he'd seen reflected in the glass.

House's team were heading towards his office armed with files. House sighed. "All good things must come to an end."

The door opened abruptly and Foreman handed the file to House. The older doctor opened the file and started reading.

"Their urate to creatinine levels have gone up," he said flatly. "Sarah Hooper and Rebecca Upjohn are already showing signs of joint swelling. And the levels of uric acid are so high that even the Allopurinal isn't going to have much effect."

"We've started monitoring their kidney function," Chase added. "It's not good."

Just then four beepers started sounding an alert. As Wilson watched, House, Foreman, Cameron and Chase all grabbed at their beepers. The three ducklings took off out of the room at a run, Chase in the lead and House pushed himself to his feet and grabbed his cane.

"Sarah Hooper?" Wilson asked as House limped around his desk.

House nodded. "If the test results are anything to go by, her kidneys have failed."

Wilson stood and joined his friend as he headed for his patient's room as quickly as he could manage.

"Are you going to try dialysis?" he asked quietly.

"If she lives," House replied shortly.

"How high were the levels?" Wilson asked.

"High."

House was silent for the rest of the journey. When they got to Sarah Hooper's room they found House's team swarming around the unfortunate woman, desperately trying to revive her. House and Wilson walked through the door and stood at the back of the room, staying out of the way. They watched the three young doctors work frantically first with CPR then with the defibrillator. Finally House stepped forward.

"Chase!" he said harshly. "Enough! Call it."

Chase paused and let the paddles fall from his hands. He looked up at the clock on the wall. "Time of death…2.13 pm." His voice sounded tired and defeated.

House stared down at the young woman lying lifeless on the bed. This was the part about medicine that he hated – when he knew the answer but could do nothing except watch the patient die. He stared at Sarah Hooper for a moment longer then turned his attention to his team.

"Start the other women on dialysis," he ordered. "Let's try and keep them alive until the CDC get here. Check the other hospitals to see if any other women have been brought in with similar symptoms. And where are we with trying to find the man she went out with?"

"Uh, there's no record of a Michael Larette in the phone book and none of her coworkers ever met him," Chase said after a moment. "The police have started looking for him."

House grunted. "Go and check on…on Rebecca Upjohn. She was brought in only a few hours after Miss Hooper."

Cameron nodded and left the room, Foreman close behind her. Chase stayed behind and started cleaning up and taking care of Sarah Hooper. House watched him for a few minutes then limped out of the room, Wilson close behind him.

"There was nothing you could have done," the oncologist said quietly when they got back to House's office.

"I should have had their uric acid levels checked sooner," House snapped as he threw himself into his chair with a wince.

"Lesch-Nyhan takes a decade or two to kill," Wilson said. "There is no way you could have know this viral version would act so quickly."

"I should have anticipated it," House said flatly. "Anyone who hates enough to create something like this is going to make something that hits hard and fast. He probably wants as many women as possible to die before he does."

"You don't know that," Wilson replied firmly. "HIV takes years to develop into AIDS, particularly with the current regime of treatment and who knows what will be developed in the future. You had no way of knowing this viral form of Lesch-Nyhan would act this quickly."

House didn't answer. He merely scowled as he pulled his bottle of pills out. He quickly dry-swallowed one and shoved the bottle back into his pocket. Wilson watched him carefully for a long moment.

"What are you hoping the CDC can achieve?" he asked finally. "You were much quicker to call them in than I thought you'd be."

"They've got better resources for sequencing this thing and doing the epidemiology," House admitted.

"So you weren't surprised to hear that 'Michael Larette' doesn't exist?"

"No," House said with a shake of his head. "I'd have been surprised if he'd used his real name."

Movement in the conference room caught his attention and he pushed himself to his feet with a sigh. "I need to get things organised for the CDC," he said. "And I'm sure you have patients."

Wilson sighed, realising that he wasn't going to get anything else out of his friend. "I'm sure I do. I'll be back around five to see how close you are to leaving."

House nodded and limped out of the room. Wilson followed him, nodding to the team of young doctors who were waiting for House as he left.