A/N: I love cliffhangers, don't you? Don't worry, I managed to catch myself up on my summer coursework, so the next update will come sometime this weekend. I refuse to go outside in the Southern California heat, so it'll be perfect to stay home and write. Though I may have to go check out downtown, as the Universal trucks are rumored to be in the area - I will spontaneously combust if they happen to be filming House (though I think it's still too early for season three filming).

Random bit of information:The stadium scene in "Sports Medicine" (which included the infamous House/Cam monster truck rally scene) was filmed literally two blocks from my apartment building! My town isin LAbut a less busy suburb that has the ability to pose as a million different cities...they're ALWAYS filming something here! Too bad I hadn't started watching the show yet when they filmed it! LOL, okay I'm getting carried away here. Read, review and enjoy!

Ch 13 - What We Found

I'm not quite sure how I got roped into into this plan. I told House he was going to get himself killed, why not call the police and give them the possible lead?

I got the look - the one he'd mastered over the years, the one that screams, "DO YOU REALLY WANT TO DISAGREE WITH ME?" - and I just silenced myself, and agreed to go with them. I figured House just wanted to kick Vogler's ass himself. Come to think of it the police were not in any hurry to listen to our possible leads about Vogler's whereabouts - just last week they'd completely blown Foreman's idea off and went about their own investigation.

I just couldn't believe that Vogler had done something this drastic. I know the guy was evil, but I didn't really think he hated House THAT much, to go and steal his only daughter years later. I also found myself wondering how I could have acted the way I did, when Vogler ran the hospital? It's true testimony to how immature I was in those days - always looking to get ahead, not caring whom I hurt in the process. I sold House out to Vogler for my own personal gain.

House loves to torment me about it to this day, but I think he knows I do care. I've come to love Allie like my own child. With that, I've also realized my fears of having a family of my own could be significantly calmed. House and Allison trusted me with their only daughter and often called upon me to baby sit (okay, maybe House blackmailed me into it) and I always looked forward to hearing Allie scream, "UNCLE CHASE!" and come running at me full force.

I haven't told anybody yet, but I'm in the process of adopting a child of my own. I suppose I have House, Allison and their daughter to thank for that. I will thank them when I get the chance. I pray I get the chance.

Wilsonfound anextra copy of the news article online and we set off from House's place. This article was published months ago, but gave us the direct location of Vogler's warehouses.

We sat in relative silence the entire hour it took to drive up the highway.

Wilson was driving, for fear that House would run us all off the road. He drove slightly above the speed limit, while House sat in the passenger seat...completely silent. He rested his head against the window and kept looking at his watch...as if he knew his daughter's time was already running out. Foreman and I sat in the back seat, staring at each other silently - not really sure that words would be appropriate, taken the current situation. I kept my fears to myself, knowing the dark images I held in my head would do nothing but give House a reason to kick my ass. I stared silently out the window, watching the sky darken and the windshield become moistened with a light drizzle. It was if the sky sensed the mood of the car's occupants.

An hour later, around four o'clock in the afternoon, Wilson broke the silence and told us this was the off ramp we'd need to take. We drove down a deserted road lined with pine trees - just a single paved lane in each direction. In the distance, if you looked closely, you could make out the outline of a bank of warehouses. Approaching them, the SUV crept to a crawl...if they were here, we didn't want to announce that we were coming. The area was virtually deserted. Two minutes ago, there was only a single car far behind us, and those headlights had disappeared about one hundred yards back, as we stopped fifty yards from the warehouse area.

As we all got out of the car, the sky opened up and started pissing rain - which issued a "damn" from House.

Slowly, we all walked along the edge of the highway, stopping at a large graphitized sign reading "VOGLER INDUSTRIES"

We hid behind the large sign and peered over, seeing no cars parked in front of the first three warehouses. We all walked up to the first warehouse and quietly went inside. The entire warehouse was composed of a single floor, the ceiling stretching at least fifty feet up to the broken skylights. Pipes ran along the walls and puddles were everywhere. There was obviously nobody present in this warehouse in particular. We waited to make sure no one was outside before leaving and walking the few yards to the next warehouse.

The second warehouse was the same as the first, only the three tiny office rooms off the north side of the warehouse were completely empty...sans a rusted desk that looked like it had seen better days. Walking out of the warehouse, we spied a rusted over metal sign, featuring a picture of Vogler pointing and the caption, "I WANT YOU, TO DO A GOOD JOB!" House mumbled something under his breath that I don't care to repeat and gave the sign a giant poke with his cane.

Upon approaching the third warehouse, we all stopped. When we heard the unmistakable echo of somebody crying over the sound of the rain, we all ran as fast as we could towards the door. We entered in a hurry and looked around.

Upon first glance, the warehouse was divided into two separate rooms. Like the first two, the ceiling was composed of broken window skylights and pipes ran everywhere. It was freezing and large puddles of water littered the concrete floor.

We entered the second room and all stopped at the same time. What we found was one of the most sickening sights I've ever seen.

Allie was bound against a large pipe along the west side of the warehouse. Puddles of water sat all around her, tinted dark red from her blood.

We all ran over and crouched around her, Wilson reaching over and taking her pulse. She was whimpering, burning up despite the freezing temperatures and overall disoriented - and she appeared to be unconscious, though the rapid eye movement under her closed eyelids suggested otherwise. House just stood there as we all tried to assess the rest of the damage...almost in disbelief that we'd actually found her, and that she was alive.

Closer look showed that she was bruised over at least half of her body. One side of her face showed the unmistakable signs of a gun barrel, dark bruising up the side of her face. Lifting up her auburn hair, lacerations along the base of her skull came into view. The front of her neck had bruises across both sides that bore the sickening resemblance to a pair of hands. Foreman swore under his breath and Wilson looked so unlike I'd ever seen him - completely frightened. Upon discovering a bullet hole in her leg, we all went silent. Displaying no exit wound, the bullet was obviously still lodged in her leg. Perhaps most frightening of all, were the dark red streaks encircling the entrance wound and shooting up her leg. Septic shock - we'd all seen it more than enough times in our career.

A loud bolt of thunder rang through the sky as I got up enough nerve to ask House if he was just going to stand there, or help us out with his daughter? I received silence and turned away from Allie to face House.

The thunder must have blocked the sound of the door being flung open, because Vogler now stood behind House - a gun aimed directly at the back of his head.