It was a day without cases. Everything that had taken his interest before had been solved; Jack would be cured, Natasha would die, and Julia already had. House had nothing else to do, so he took a nap.

He'd had that dream before. Many times before. And it always tricked him; he always thought it was real. He always thought he had actually been stupid enough to wear shorts in public; putting the ugly indent on his thigh on display. It wasn't a nightmare by any standard.

He preferred nightmares to that dream. It was always the same circumstance, but never the same people looking at him. Looking at his leg.

While he had been asleep in his office, New Jersey had transformed from a clear, green afternoon to a silent world of white. Perhaps if he had been taking the bus home, his leather could have kept him warm. But on his bike, it cut through it like a hot knife through butter. But House didn't so much mind the cold. Ever since Amber, he was loath to take the bus.

Cutting a sharp left into oncoming traffic to narrowly avoid the patch of black ice had him narrowly avoiding an angry truck-driver. He ignored the gestures of watching pedestrians; he couldn't hear what they were saying anyway. Would they rather see him get thrown into a tree?

Idling on the corner of Nassau and Dodds, he looked over to his left, looking at the unplowed street. Making a face behind the shield of his helmet, he turned onto Dodds and drove up to Cuddy's, forcing his motorbike up the slick driveway and parking sideways; so it wouldn't slide into the street. He kicked down his kickstand and removed his helmet, tucking it under an arm before grabbing his cane and standing up. He limped to the front door, unlocked it and pulled—but it was stuck. Looking down, he saw the icy barrier. He stood there for a moment, pondering the reality of his situation; then the living room lights came on. He took out his phone and speed-dialed his wife.

"We have dinner reservations in two hours. You better not be stuck at work."

"Actually, I'm stuck outside the house."

Cuddy materialized at the window. "I suppose I can pass the shovel through a window."

"Except Chase borrowed it."

"Do you think you could hop the fence?"

"Absolutely. I'll just get a time machine."

"If you went back in time, you wouldn't need the time machine," she said, and hung up. Moving to the window, she began tearing off the plastic sheet. House hung up, watching as she tossed the plastic aside. Then she unlocked the window and pushed it open, upwards. "Be right back," she said, and momentarily disappeared. When she returned she was holding her purse.

"Do you keep an extra shovel in there?" House asked.

She leaned out and stretched out her arm, straining slightly to try and deposit the key into his palm. She still ended up dropping it in front of him. "Sorry," she said, as he knelt to retrieve it from the hole in the snow.

House looked at her a moment longer, then turned around and limped to the car. As he let it warm, he watched her hanging the plastic back up. After a moment, he backed out of the driveway and went back the way he came.


The car slid to a slushy stop beside the sidewalk. He got out and limped up to Chase's front door, knocking with the tip of his cane. When there was no answer, he began to snoop for a spare key; and a neighbor noticed the suspicious activity and decided to confront him.

"Young man, what do you think you're doing?"

Still bent over and peering into a potted plant, House rotated his torso and answered the old woman with nonchalance. "I think I'm breaking in. Course, I am mentally unstable, so...for all I know, I could be serving you tea and cookies. You like tea and cookies, right?"

"I'm calling the police."

"Oh, relax. Look, I'll even get permission." House took out his phone, flipped it open and speed-dialed Chase.

"Yello."

"I'm at your house. Gotta break in."

"Why?"

"Because I'm snowed out of mine, and you've got my shovel."

Chase sighed. "Fine, but you're getting me a window for Christmas."

"Sure. And maybe you can consider getting me a spare key." House snapped his phone shut. Turning around, he smashed the window and reached through it to unlock the door. He entered the house as the old woman walked away, shaking her head.


Author's note: In the season 7 finale, "Moving On," you can read the street sign behind House's car. It says Nassau. Dodds is random. Just FYI.