Chapter 3 Friday—4:30 PM

House's apartment

House finished packing his clothes and shut the suitcase. While he knew this was a great break to be going to Seattle for the weekend, he wondered how Cuddy had come up with the funds for this trip. Something's really strange about this. He crinkled his brow while zipping his garment bag shut.

He labored with the garment bag into the living room. There he found Wilson watching a documentary on TV. "Hey. Mind if I cut in for a second?"

Wilson shrugged. "What's going on?"

"Just wanted to make sure you're set for the weekend," House replied.

"I am an adult, House. I just make sure the place doesn't burn down. And I'll feed Steve too."

"Great. Thanks, Wilson." He squirmed, knowing that Cuddy wanted him to apologize but he couldn't bring himself to do it. "Just try to relax, all right?"

That comment made Wilson turn around and consider the other doctor. "Sure. Thanks, House. Try to have fun too."

With the conference and the concert, I'll definitely do that! Then he thought about Cuddy. Why does the budget have to be due next week? "Oh I'll do that." Hearing a knock at the door, he shrugged. "See you on Monday night."

Wilson listened for the cane clunking to fade down the staircase. Then he looked out the window to see Cuddy's Lexus driving off toward the interstate. "So it begins." In spite of himself, he rubbed his hands together, feeling a weird sense of power at what was about to happen. "You won't know what hit this place, House. I guarantee it."

Security Checkpoint, Philadelphia Airport—an hour later

After getting House's garment bag checked through, he and Cuddy walked over to the security gate.

"Try not to torture too many innocent residents this weekend, Cuddy," he gibed with a smirk.

"Don't worry about me. I'll find something to do." She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Go and have fun."

"Oh yeah…all of those boring lectures." He made a motion with his right fingers and thumb like a jaw and rolled his eyes.

She blushed. "House, stop it! People are watching."

"I do have a rep, you know."

She rolled her eyes and laughed. "Don't I know it? You'd better get going, Greg."

"Wish you were coming, Lisa," he admitted before they kissed.

"We'll do it some other time. I promise," she vowed. For a second, she almost regretted her plan. Then she remembered why this whole deception was happening. He needs to understand this.

He nodded and then headed for the metal detector.

When he had cleared the device and disappeared around a bend, she sighed. "It'd be nice but duty calls." With that, she headed for the parking garage and her larger purpose…..

Cuddy's Office—6:00 PM

After filling Foreman with the details, Chase and Cameron met Wilson in front of Cuddy's office.

"Where is she?" she wondered impatiently.

"Traffic's murder," Wilson supposed while checking a chart. After House's departure, he had hurried back to the hospital to be there for the plotting. Hearing his cell phone, he answered, "James Wilson."

"Wilson, this is Cuddy. I'm getting on the elevator now. Be right there. Are Cameron and Chase there?" she asked.

"We're all here waiting for you. See you in a few minutes," he told her before hanging up. "That was Cuddy. She'll be right up."

"Guess it took longer to get House on that plane than usual, huh?" Chase supposed.

She nodded, folding her arms across her chest. "He had that look yesterday and today. He knows something's up."

"Hey, he's on the plane. We have the place to ourselves," Wilson assured them.

"Sorry. The expressway was murder," Cuddy apologized while letting them into her office.

"He did get on the plane, right?" Wilson asked.

The administrator nodded. "I made sure he did and ordered him to forget about here for a few days at least." She sank into her chair's soft leather cushions. "He's got a full schedule. Now as for our schedule, Wilson, have you done anything in there?"

"Not yet. I wanted to see what you're planning first," the oncologist noted.

"All right. I propose we do some cleaning, straightening and organizing this weekend," Cuddy told them.

"This is House's apartment we're talking about," Cameron pointed out. "Would a weekend be enough time?"

"We can do it," Cuddy indicated firmly. "By the way, I have you all covered for Monday. You'll go right there and finish up what we haven't done."

"And you?" Cameron doubted.

"I'll be there as soon as I hand in the budget to the accountants," their boss assured them. She pulled out the list. "We'll need to do something with the rat though."

Wilson shook his head. "Don't go there. He'll be pissed enough when he sees the place. Touch Steve and we'll be dealing with full House if you get my meaning."

"Leave him in the cage," Chase suggested. "We'll start on the laundry tonight."

"Meantime, Wilson and I can work around the apartment. Okay, let's get something to eat and then we can start in," Cuddy decided before standing and leading the mini-army out.