Rediscovery

By Ellie J

Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue.

A/N: Sorry it's been so long. The illness I mentioned in the last chapter turned into a bad upper respiratory infection and the docs gave me some really good cough medicine that had the unfortunate side effect of making it very difficult to think.

Chapter 11

Cuddy slowly opened her eyes and stretched to work the kink out of her neck. House's couch was not comfortable. She groaned as she moved into a sitting position. The combination of the accident yesterday and the lumpy couch last night made for some seriously displeased muscles. She briefly regretted not taking House up on his offer to join him in the bed, but the Dean of Medicine in her quickly squashed that sentiment.

Cuddy sat there for a moment trying to decide if she wanted coffee or a shower first. She finally decided to start the coffee before taking a shower so it would be ready by the time she was done. She made her way to the kitchen where she found House's coffee, measured it, and started it brewing. Cuddy saw the bottle of the painkillers that he had given her yesterday on the kitchen table. She smiled as she took some. She then went back to the living room, grabbed her bag and headed for the bathroom to start her shower.

House closed his eyes tighter as the sound of the shower running invaded his sleep. The noise wouldn't go away. He opened his eyes and squinted at his alarm clock and groaned. Only Cuddy would get up before 8:00 in the morning on a day when she didn't have to be at work. He turned over and wrapped himself in his blankets as he tried to ignore the shower. The smell of brewing coffee peaked his interest a few moments later. He opened his eyes again and decided to stop fighting the inevitable. He got out of bed and walked to the kitchen where he poured himself a cup.

He took a long drink and closed his eyes as he waited for the caffeine to kick in. House thought about the previous evening's game. It hadn't turned out at all like he had expected when he had first suggested it to Cuddy. He was not one to talk about his feelings, but it had felt right last night to share them with Cuddy. He knew that she would understand without asking lots of stupid questions or giving him suggestions on how to make it better. That's not what he wanted, and she understood that. It had felt good. Not that he planned on having this emotional diarrhea of the mouth on a regular basis, but every once in a while, he mused to himself, a person needed a good cleaning out.

House inspected his cupboards. He really didn't have much to offer in the way of breakfast. Only a couple of boxes of children's cereal that he had gotten because he wanted the toy inside. He opened up the refrigerator, grabbed the milk and inspected the expiration date. It was still good. He poured himself a bowl of Lucky Charms and waited for Cuddy to finish her shower. He smiled as he thought of Cuddy's thong and bra safely tucked away in his nightstand. Last night was definitely one of the good ones.

He heard the shower turn off and Cuddy appeared a few minutes later, wearing one of the more professional outfits that she had packed. They stared uncertainly at one another for a moment.

"I see you've brought the girls out for an airing in your nice outfit" he said, breaking the silence.

Cuddy smiled. This was familiar territory. "The sweats were getting a little grungy after wearing them all day yesterday and then sleeping in them."

"You're not hearing any complaints from me. I'm all for any outfit that that gives me a good view of the twins," he leered.

"You have no idea how happy that makes me," she deadpanned. Cuddy poured herself some coffee and inspected the cereal selection that he left on the countertop. "Do you have anything that won't rot my teeth?" she asked.

"They came with really cool toys," he told her. She chuckled as she finally decided on the Fruit Loops, telling herself that it at least had the word 'fruit' in the name.

They ate their breakfast in relative silence. House had turned on the radio and they were listening to the latest weather report. It had stopped snowing, but another storm was approaching.

Cuddy sighed as she ran her hand through her still wet hair.

"Sick of my company already, Dr. Cuddy?" House asked in a faux-hurt voice

She smiled. "Hardly," she told him. "I just hate being away from the hospital when something like this is going on."

"You know, rumor has it that you have a top notch staff who can handle this sort of thing."

"I know," she said. "And I trust them. I just hate …" she trailed off, not sure what she wanted to say.

"You hate not being the one calling the shots," he finished for her.

She smiled at him and nodded her head. "Yes I do," she said.

They were silent again for a few moments. "I've been thinking about what I want you to play for my private little concert," she said.

House scrunched up his face. "You're not actually going to make me do that, are you?" he whined.

"You bet your sweet ass I am," she told him. "And if you refuse, I will assign you an extra four hours of clinic duty a week, and I'll make sure Brenda gives you the patients that are going to ask a lot of really stupid questions."

"Fine," he grumbled as he stood to put his bowl in the sink. Cuddy smiled at his little boy antics, but refrained from saying anything as she finished her own cereal.

"You start warming up. I'm going to call the hospital and make sure everything's all right," she told him.

"Jawohl," House barked as he headed out of the kitchen. Cuddy picked up the phone and called Wilson.

"How're things going over there?" she asked when she got a hold of him.

"Fine. We raided pediatrics and stole all of their games for the off-duty people to play when they aren't sleeping," he told her. "We're short, of course, but everyone's really pulling together to make sure that the patients don't suffer."

"That's good," she said.

"How're things going with House?" he asked her.

She smiled as she remembered House's call to Wilson last night. She looked over at him in the living room and watched him warming up on the piano. "Just fine," she replied.

"Just fine," he repeated.

"Yes, is there a problem?" she asked.

"Uh, no. I just got a very odd call from him last night, and I was wondering what precipitated it," he told her.

"I wouldn't know," she said.

"Cuddy!" House called from the next room. "I've got your theme song right here," he said as he began to play the Wicked Witch of the West theme from The Wizard of Oz.

"I've got to go, Dr. Wilson. The natives are restless. Call me if anything happens," she said as she hung up on a very confused James Wilson.

She walked into the living room with a big smile on her face as House finished off the song with a flourish. "I can just hear you telling me, 'I'll get you my pretty! And your little Chase too!'"

"Chase?"

"He's the closest thing I've got to a dog."

She chuckled. "If it would mean that you would wear a blue dress with braids in your hair, then I'll say whatever you want me to."

House laughed as he continued to lightly play. "So you've got a half an hour of playtime. What do you want first?" he asked. She pulled a chair over next to the piano so she could watch him play.

"Some Gershwin," she told him.

"Anything in particular?" he asked. She shook her head, and House began playing 'Puttin' on the Ritz'. She smiled to herself as she watched his long fingers dance over the keys. He played whatever she asked over the next half an hour. Everything from Mozart to Porter from Chopin to Queen. All from memory. He finished up his concert with a jubilant version of Joplin's 'The Entertainer'. Cuddy applauded in appreciation.

House nodded in acknowledgement and continued playing. Cuddy was perfectly content to stay and listen to him.

"How're things with the baby?" he asked after a while.

"The hospital's doing fine. Wilson was still a little confused about your phone call last night."

"I'll bet he was," House said with a grin. "I've come up with a plausible explanation for him though."

House's smile made Cuddy instantly wary. "What?" she asked.

"That you agreed to wear nothing but one of my t-shirts if I called him up and told him that crap."

"What?" she gasped.

"You heard me."

"He'll never believe you," she told him.

"Wanna bet? Can you think of a more believable explanation than the chance to see my boss almost naked?" he leered evilly.

"You could tell him the truth. That we were playing a game."

"You told me not to tell him," he complained.

"That was last night before you started planning to ruin my reputation at the hospital," she told him.

"Can I tell about the other parts of the game too?" he asked hopefully thinking of his new underwear collection.

"Only if you want the entire hospital to find out what your middle name is and have an extra five hours of clinic duty a week."

"You use the threat of more clinic hours like a club."

"I use the weapons that work," she told him. "Do we understand each other?" she asked.

"I'm just your little lap dog," he said.

Cuddy snorted. "Yeah, that'll be the day."

House just grinned as he continued to play. Cuddy found herself watching his hands again. He had really nice hands, she noted to herself.

"When did you start taking lessons?" she asked.

"My mother taught me 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' when I was four, and I've been wowing the ladies with my musical prowess ever since.

"Well it's nice that you can wow them with something," Cuddy said with a smile as she closed her eyes to concentrate on the music.

"Nice," he replied.

House watched her out of the corner of his eye. She was a good audience and seemed content to let him play whatever he wanted. He didn't think he had played for anyone like this since moving out of his parents' house. Stacy was either telling him to keep it down or asking him to play something else as she was buzzing around doing work. She never just sat and listened. This was nice.

Cuddy felt his gaze on her, and she opened her eyes to meet it. He had a small smile on his face as he was looking at her. Her stomach fluttered with unwanted feelings as she noticed that his eyes seemed bluer than normal. She heard a voice in her head telling her to turn away, make a joke -- do something to break this mood that she had fallen into, but she was helpless. House stopped playing, and the silent tension between them grew.

The phone rang, breaking the spell. Cuddy felt her cheeks redden as relief mingled with disappointment flooded her veins. She forced herself to take slow steadying breaths as House went to pick up the phone.

"What?" he barked, upset that whatever had been happening between him and Cuddy had been interrupted.

"Excuse me?" he heard an unfamiliar voice ask. "I was given this as a contact number for Dr. Cuddy?"

"Who're you?" House asked rudely.

"My name is Erik Mueller."

"Ahhh, Herr Mueller. I've heard of you." Cuddy's eyes widened at House's comment. She scrambled up from her chair as she grabbed the phone away from House before

he could say anything else.

"Mr. Mueller, what can I do for you?" she asked in the most pleasant voice she could scrounge up. House shook his head in distaste as he watched her get into her 'schmoozing' persona.

"Dr. Cuddy, is it your normal practice to be away from your hospital during a crisis?" Cuddy's grip tightened over the phone as she counted to ten before allowing herself to answer.

"I was in a small accident on my way to the hospital and got stranded at a friend's house," she told him as patiently as she could.

"I'll bet," he said in a smarmy tone.

"Mr. Mueller, is there a reason for your call?"

"Yes, I want to complain about the shocking lack of courtesy displayed by your staff. I have called them several times asking for information, and they can never get it to me in a timely manner."

"Mr. Mueller, you have to understand that the hospital is running short-staffed right now. Patient care has to be the priority. I would be happy to schedule an appointment with you when the weather clears up to discuss your questions."

"Dr. Cuddy," Mueller began in an officious tone, "your staff has been unbearably rude to me over the past twenty-four hours, and I want something done about it."

"I understand that you're upset, Mr. Mueller. I promise to look into it when I'm able to get back to the hospital."

Mueller snorted over the phone and Cuddy bit the inside of her lip to stop herself from yelling at him. "I must say, if this is the way that you run your hospital, then I am seriously going to have to rethink my support."

Cuddy's stomach tensed. She did not need this now. She cracked her neck as she chose her next words very carefully. "I'm sorry that you feel that way, Mr. Mueller. Your money does a lot of good at the hospital, and I would hate to lose it. Would you at least wait until the blizzard is over so that we can schedule some time to discuss it?"

"I might be persuaded. Perhaps a meeting over dinner?" he asked in what was supposed to be a seductive tone of voice. Cuddy repressed a frustrated groan.

"I don't think dinner would work for me. I was thinking more over lunch at the hospital so that you can see the good work that your money does," she said.

"My days are very busy in the foreseeable future."

Cuddy closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. She was about to respond when the phone was snatched out of her hand. She opened her eyes in shock as she saw House limping quickly away with the phone pressed to his ear.

"Herr Mueller," House said in his Housiest voice. "She's not interested in you! Get with the program! You are never going to experience having a leather clad Dr. Cuddy tie you up and whip you into submission. It's up to you whether or not you're going to withdraw your support of the hospital. There's nothing that we can do to stop you. But be honest about the reason. It has nothing to do with hospital efficiency. It's because Dr. Cuddy isn't willing to play Doctor with you and bruised your ego. So take your money and leave or keep it where it is. Either way, stop harassing her and stop harassing the hospital staff. That's what they have me for!" he said as he hung up the phone and tossed it on the table.

He turned to face Cuddy. Her eyes were blazing in anger at him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? That man gives over five million dollars to the hospital every year!"

"Oh Cuddy," House said in a disgusted tone of voice. "He's just looking for any excuse to withdraw his support because you won't go out with him, and he'll drive everyone crazy until he does. It's not worth it."

"Really?" Cuddy asked scathingly. "Maybe I should take the money out of your budget? I know you don't like donors, House, but they are the reason why you get to run so many tests. And the reason why you have three highly qualified doctors at your beck and call. His money helps pay their salaries. It also helps pay for the nurses' salaries. And the medication for the clinic patients who don't have insurance. And for your damn lawsuits! I know he was looking for an excuse to withdraw his money, but I was trying hard not to give him one, and you just took that away without a moment's thought."

"Would you have gone out with him to keep his money?"

"What?" she exclaimed.

"Five million dollars is a lot of money, Cuddy. Were you considering going out with him to keep the money for your precious hospital? Maybe you were holding out for more. Hoping he'd up the ante? How much would it have cost him to get between your legs?"

Cuddy inhaled sharply as her anger got out of control. She slapped him as hard as she could. House grabbed her hand and held onto it, his own temper flaring.

They just stared at one another for a moment, the angry tension sizzling between them. Then House began to rub small circles on her palm with his thumb as his gaze intensified. Cuddy's mouth went dry as her anger shifted into something else. She could feel her heart begin to race. House's grip on her hand tightened, and she saw him look at her lips a second before he pulled her to him and covered her mouth with his. She opened her mouth in surprise, and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss.

All rational thought was immediately driven from Cuddy's mind. She could only concentrate on him. The way he smelled. The way his stubble tickled her face. The way he sounded as he moaned into her mouth. She didn't even think about not responding as she wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on her toes to give herself better access to his lips. His hands caressed her back as he pulled her against him.

They kissed like that for some time and only stopped when they both began to get lightheaded from lack of oxygen. Cuddy rested her forehead against him while House kept his arms securely around her. She noticed that he was leaning on the back of his couch for support and realized that he must have dropped his cane. She ran her hands across his chest and could feel his heart pounding through the thin material of his t-shirt. She focused all of her attention on that shirt, suddenly afraid of what was going to happen next.

House pulled away a bit and gently lifted her chin to meet his gaze. Instead of the smug gloating that she had been dreading, his eyes were filled with the same surprised desire that she was feeling. This gave her the courage to raise her hand to caress his cheek and then to run her fingers through his hair as she pulled his head down to her. She moved in slowly, wanting to savor this. She trembled as she felt their lips touch in the briefest of caresses.

The phone rang again. Cuddy jumped and turned away. House swore as he grabbed the phone where he had tossed it after talking to Mueller.

"This had better be good," he growled.

"House?" Wilson asked.

"Wilson, you need to call back later," House was about to turn off the phone when he heard Wilson yell.

"I need to talk to Cuddy!"

House sighed. Cuddy walked over to him with her hand outstretched, refusing to look him in the eye.

"What do you need, Wilson?" Cuddy asked, not as steadily as she would have liked.

"I think I've found a way to get you to the hospital, if you're interested."

Cuddy wondered for a moment how someone could feel so disappointed and relieved at the same time.

"Yeah, of course. What have you got?" she asked.

"We're bringing in a dialysis patient who only lives a block away from House. You could hitch a ride in with them."

Cuddy closed her eyes. This decision was far more difficult than it should have been. Her hospital was running short staffed. She should grab at any opportunity to be there. But a part of her was screaming to forget work and spend the day with House. The Dean of Medicine won the argument. "When are they scheduled to pick up the patient?"

"You have about a half an hour," Wilson told her.

"Thanks. Oh, who gave Mueller House's number to contact me?" she asked.

"What?" Wilson asked, surprised.

"Mueller called over here to talk to me."

"Oh God, did House talk to him?"

"Unfortunately. We may have lost his money. I'll try and contact him later to smooth things over," she said, turning around to ignore House's scowl. "I'll see you in a bit." She hung up the phone. Cuddy could feel House's eyes boring into her back.

"You'll be seeing Wilson?" House asked, even though he could guess at an answer.

"He's found me a ride to the hospital," she told him. "They'll be here in half an hour. I've got to get packed." She didn't move, waiting for him to say something, but he just studied her. Cuddy repressed the urge to fidget and returned his gaze.

They sat like that for several moments, just silently studying the other. Trying to figure out what the other one was thinking. House finally broke the silence.

"You're missing your cue here Cuddy. You're supposed to say, 'House we need to forget that amazing kiss ever happened because I'm your boss and it would be highly inappropriate for us to feel each other up.'"

Cuddy watched him carefully. "It would be inappropriate," she reminded him. "Do you think it was a mistake?" she asked, her tone revealing nothing.

House shifted uncomfortably. Cuddy wasn't reacting the way he expected, and he didn't like it. House watched her closely, looking unsuccessfully for some clue as to what she was feeling.

"It was a nice kiss," he finally answered in a neutral tone of voice.

"Yes it was," she replied.

"Would you be opposed to it happening again?" he asked slowly.

Cuddy looked away. "That's where it gets complicated."

House waited for her to answer his question.

After a moment of silence Cuddy took a deep breath and met his gaze. "In theory, a relationship between us is a disaster waiting to happen. In reality, I would not be opposed to it happening again, but it's all happening a little too fast for me."

House chuckled. "Cuddy, we've known each other for almost twenty years. I would hate to see what you think qualifies as normal pace."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it," she told him a little impatiently. "In the space of twenty-four hours we've gone from being coworkers who fight most of the time to …" she trailed off as she searched for the words to describe their current relationship.

"Being very good friends who were five minutes away from doing the wild thing on my living room floor?" House helpfully finished.

Cuddy rolled her eyes at his phrasing. "I wouldn't have put it that way, but yes."

House groaned as he pushed away from the couch and bent to pick up his cane. "Why do women have to complicate everything? Why does kissing and sex have to require an in depth discussion?"

Cuddy looked down to study the floor. "House, if we slept together, do you honestly think that it would only be the one time? Do you think that it wouldn't affect our friendship?"

She surprised him again with that question. He was trying to be flippant, and she wasn't letting him. "No," he finally answered.

"And that's why we need to think about it. I am your boss. There are no rules against it, but you're already my most problematic employee, and the Board could have issues with us seeing each other."

"They can mind their own damn business," House complained. "Cuddy, you're too much of a professional to even think about giving me special privileges because I'm your boy toy. I know that. And I would be disappointed if you stopped trying to keep me in line."

Cuddy laughed. "I knew you liked to get in trouble."

"You're very sexy when you're angry."

Cuddy smiled affectionately at him before continuing with her thoughts. "There's also the fact that I … I've missed your friendship since the infarction. There are very few people in my life who know the real me, and you're one of them." She paused for a moment and smiled ruefully to herself. "I have lots of acquaintances and people that I mingle with for professional reasons, but no one who knows me. No one who knows that I'm addicted to watching James Bond movies. No one who knows me well enough to make fun of me when I get too serious."

Cuddy forced herself to look at House. "I just got that back with you, and I don't want to screw that up again by making a decision based on hormones and unusual circumstances. A week ago, you were doing whatever you could to get Stacy back into your life. Yesterday, you wouldn't have even called us friends. I'm not saying that I'm against starting something with you. I just don't want to it without making sure that it's based in reality and not the fact that you're lonely and we've been stuck in close quarters for twenty-four hours."

House contemplated all that she said. He understood her point, but he didn't have to like it. "I am over Stacy," he said, wanting to drive that point home.

"So you say," Cuddy replied, "but that doesn't mean that you should necessarily try and jump into a new relationship less than a week after she leaves town."

"How long do you want to wait?" he finally asked.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"You say you don't want to rush things. I can reluctantly accept that, but I want some sort of timeline. I'm not going to hang around indefinitely while you try and decide if this is something you want."

"I don't know? Three months?" she asked pulling a random number out of her head.

"Three months!" he complained. "Now you're just being ridiculous. We've known each other for a long time. It shouldn't take you that long to decide if you want to do me. One month," he counter-offered.

"That's not long enough. Budget time is coming up, and if Mueller does withdraw his money I'm going to be in lots of meetings over the next month that won't put me in a very receptive mood. Two months," she offered.

"Two months," he grudgingly accepted. "Today is February 17th. For the next two months we'll be 'just friends'," he said sarcastically. "Just remember to keep April 17th open. I plan on seducing you."

She chuckled at his determination. "You're pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?"

"Of course. I'm irresistible," he joked. But then his face became serious and he looked away. "Cuddy, you know me too. In all the years we've known each other, you've never seriously tried to change me. You've complained about me. You've manipulated me into doing things against my will, but you've never tried to turn me into someone else. And you've always been there. Even when I didn't want you to be. That tells me all I really need to know." He paused and met her eyes briefly before looking away again. "I can accept that you need time to do all sorts of soul searching and crap like that, but in the end I know you'll come to the conclusion that it will be worth the risk."

Cuddy could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She fought the urge to push him down on the couch and have her way with him right then and there. "I think that's the nicest think you've ever said to me," she told him. She grinned at him, forcing herself to make a joke. "You never know, House. After two months of soul searching, you could be the one to change your mind."

House chuckled. "Yeah, like I would change my mind about getting free access to the fun bags."

Cuddy examined the clock. "I really need to pack before the ambulance gets here."

"Remind me to properly thank Wilson for interrupting us. I really need to think up something special for him," House said darkly.

House watched Cuddy gather her things. The ambulance was in front of his building by the time she was done. He opened the door for her as she left.

"Cuddy."

She turned to look at him.

"April 17th," he reminded her seriously. She smiled and headed for her ride to the hospital.

TBC

A/N2: Yes, I'm evil. But I never intended for House and Cuddy to have sex during the blizzard. I really don't think Cuddy would be comfortable with their relationship changing that much that quickly. But guess what? We're almost done. And don't worry, I love angst, but I love happy (well as happy as House can get) endings more.

A/N3: I know I wasn't the only one disappointed that there was no piano scene in this week's episode. Damn promo pictures. Anyhoo, my muse is niggling at me to do an add on to 'All In' so I may break my own rule again and work on that if she keeps bothering me like this.

You guys really overwhelmed me with the reviews the last chapter. Thanks so much for them. They really helped me feel better during the illness. Well – the reviews and the narcotic laced cough medicine.