Thank you for the reviews. I have a few chapters of this already written, but was always too afraid to post it!

"Well I never worry, and that is a lie" – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Under The Bridge.

"What the hell did you do?" House looked up from where he was sat scribbling notes to see Cuddy storming through his door brandishing a piece of paper.

"Adopted a rat. I hope these are his official adoption papers for me to sign."

Cuddy slammed the piece of paper down onto his desk.

"Stacy. What did you do?"

House glinted his eyes to the side and upturned the corner of his mouth.

"Oh I haven't done Stacy in years, between you and me though; I'd quite like the opportunity to 'do' her again."

"Well sadly, you won't get the chance to 'do' her again. She's left. And without Mark. I've had several frantic phone calls from him." House looked up sharply. "There's only one reason she'd leave, and that's you. So please, tell me, what the hell did you do to make my best hospital attorney, the only one that can deal with you and my friend pack everything up and leave?"

House turned the paper over and quickly read the words that Stacy had written. Trying to keep his face neutral he replied to Cuddy.

"And what do you expect me to do about his? Go off and find her and bring her back here, slung over my shoulder like someone from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers? She's clearly seen that marrying that lemon was a terrible idea, and that coming back here to work was an even worse one and she's gone off to lick her wounds."

He paused and glanced back at Stacy's printed words. The letter was short, to the point. Written in a rush he imagined.

"Why do you care so much? I don't have that many pending lawsuits against me."

Cuddy folded her arms.

"You have three, but that's beside the point. Stacy is my friend, and I care because I'm a human being! I just want to know that she's okay. This behaviour….this doesn't concern you at all?"

He fiddled with his pen and avoided Cuddy's eyes.

"No. Stacy's a big girl, she can handle herself."

"Fine."

Cuddy turned on her heel and stormed out of his office. House sighed and picked up his ball, thinking. Stacy was many things, but irrational was not one of them. The control she had over herself was one of the things that first attracted him to her in the first place, and something he admired about her the most. Flaky, irrational women weren't really his thing. It was her strength of mind and confidence that drew him to her when they had first met. She was authoritative without being too bossy, assertive without being too pushy, dominant without being aggressive. Although he wouldn't admit it to Cuddy, he was concerned. Running away wasn't in Stacy's nature. She wasn't one to back down from a fight, and that was part of what made her such a good lawyer. He knew he'd caused her some upset over his actions, but he'd been fully expecting for her to come and berate him this morning which was why he was sat in his office, like a sitting duck pretending to work. They'd always been so good at arguing, and even better at making up afterwards. He read through her e-mail to Cuddy again. He didn't believe deep down that he was solely to blame for this. So what else had happened? Fight with Mark? But then that he would have known she'd left and that wouldn't explain the frantic phone calls. So what else? There were only a few times during their relationship where he had seen her lose it completely. She'd had bad days, and work stress where she would cry quietly. But running off completely? She may have felt like doing that after his surgery, but she stayed. Even during all the painful months after, she stayed. The only time she'd ever really lost it was….A thought crossed his mind and he checked the date on the e-mail again.

"Dammit." He said to himself, then sighed. "I know where you are."

"Where is she?" Wilson craned his neck to peer at the entrance of the bar.

"She's five minutes late! Stop acting like such a girl."

"I'm just curious, I've heard her name around the hospital but I've never met her."

House took a long sip of his drink and placed his hands in his lap. They were fidgety, and he didn't want to give away any hint of nerves. He would never admit it, but this was a big deal. Wilson had never met any of his girlfriends before, heck, none of them had ever stuck around long enough to actually meet anyone in his life. Stacy was completely different from anyone he'd been with before. Sure, she hated him at first like most people did, but to go from hating him on day one to moving in with him a mere four days later….that had to count for something. He'd joked to Wilson that she'd fallen for his charms, but the truth was that he had completely fallen for her. She was the first woman that he'd ever met who could easily match his snarky banter. Not to mention that the sex was incredible. He knew that a match in snarky banter and dynamite sex weren't usually the best pre requisites for reasons to live with someone, but so far it was working. He knew she felt the same way, he could tell by the way she would sneak him into her office at lunchtime, pushing him against her desk, kissing him hard and climbing on top of him.

He shook his head, trying to rid his mind of sexual thoughts. It just wouldn't be right if he began to sport an erection, and Wilson was nervous enough about simply meeting Stacy. It just wouldn't do to start humping her on the table in front of him. However fun that might be.

He pushed his mind back to their conversation.

"The reason why you've never met her" he said in measured tones. "Is because you've never been sued. By the way, you're really missing out on hot lawyer action." He said with a smirk.

"So I should endanger my patient's lives just so I can get sued and get some 'hot lawyer action'?"

House smirked.

"I forgot, you'd rather screw your nurses."

Glancing up he saw Stacy enter the bar and look around. As she spotted House she broke into a smile and Wilson noted that a dopey grin spread across his friend's face as he stood up to greet her.

"Well" House said. "Here she is."

Striding through the long hospital hallways, House kept Stacy's letter firmly tucked into his jacket pocket until he reached his destination. Pulling it from his pocket he opened the door without knocking and brandished the letter in front of Wilson's face.

"What do you know about this?"

"If you're holding a positive pregnancy test then you only have yourself to blame."

Wilson spoke without bothering to look up.

"No it's not." He said it with more edge to his voice than he intended. That made Wilson looks up sharply. Spotting the piece of paper in his hand he said. "I take it that's Stacy's resignation?"

House shoved it back in his pocket and sat down.

"So you knew?" Then half to himself he muttered "Of course you knew."

"I didn't intend on knowing. I interrupted her."

House nodded. So the break between sentencing, the slight incorrect punctuation…..she had been disturbed.

"So what did she say?"

"You mean is it your fault she's gone?"

House exhaled noisily. This blame game tag team that he'd had from Cuddy, and now Wilson, was starting to annoy him.

"I don't you think you helped matters, but there is…." Wilson squirmed. "I think you were the last straw..as you could tell though from your illegal heist of her psych notes, there are other difficulties in her life besides you."

He did know.

"Dishes in the sink and leaving the toilet seat up aren't normally a pre requite for running away."

"She didn't run, House, she walked. She walked away. She was confused and upset, but she knew what she was doing. She thought of an escape plan and went with it."

House tapped his cane onto the floor, the familiar rhythmic sound feeling comforting to him. Wilson gave him a sideways glance.

"You're not asking the question I thought you'd ask."

"That's because I already know the answer. I just don't know what to do about it."