A/N: Sorry for the long delay... On it again now! :)

"Heard you were treating House…" His young colleague grinned excitedly, obviously enjoying the chance for some gossip.

Morgan just shrugged slightly before focussing on his beer again. "So what? A knee's a knee…"

The other man rolled his eyes at the casual reply. "And…?" He finally prompted with an intense look. "He as big of an ass as everyone's saying?"

Morgan eyed him critically. "Don't know what everyone's saying, but he's certainly got a very strong personality."

That earned him a snort from his colleague. "That's one way to put it, I guess. So… he still on house arrest? Pun intended." He grinned, winking like an idiot. Then, with unveiled curiousity: "Have you seen the ankle bracelet? I guess you must have, huh… Serves him right; he's a maniac."

Morgan's face had closed off completely by now. "Yeah? You don't even know him."

Another scoff. "I know enough. And what," a slightly insecure half-smile, "you suddenly friends now?"

Morgan returned his gaze cooly. "Don't need to be friends to empathize with his situation. And he's a great doctor. Reason enough for me to try and get him back on his feet as quickly as possible."

"Huh." The other man was openly staring at him by now, eyes narrowing slightly in sudden understanding. "You actually like him, don't you?!"

A brief hesitation followed by a light shrug. "What's it to you?" He took another sip of his beer.

"Nothing. But I'm telling you: The man is poison. He'll be hell for your career, probably plotting something behind your back as we speak… Hell, given what happened last year, you're lucky if he doesn't decide to actually kill you one day!"

Staring briefly at the other man, Morgan finally just scoffed at that. "That's ridiculous. – House is not a violent man."

"Was violent last year though!"

"He drove into a house last year. He didn't hurt anybody…"

"He could have."

For some reason, Morgan was slowly becoming impatient. "Yes. And I could hurt you very soon," he finally responded more sharply. "'Cause I'm telling you: right now you're the one who's being aggressive. And you're starting to piss me off."

A small smile. "So, he's just a patient, huh?"

Morgan was fighting to remain calm. "He is a patient. And he sure as hell is a better man than you are. – Though that's not much of a compliment, is it."

With that, he simply stood up, threw a few bills on the table and left.

He never noticed the stunned looking oncologist at the other table who only now turned towards his coffee again, a small smile replacing his previously shocked expression...

"The swelling seems improved, as does your range of motion." Morgan carefully placed the leg down again, visibly satisfied with the progress his patient was finally making. He turned his head slightly to search the other man's eyes. "How does it feel?"

House returned his gaze, the look on his face unreadable.

"I don't need anyone fighting my battles for me."

Morgan coldn't help but smile slightly at that. "We still talking about the leg? 'Cause you've been fighting that battle all by yourself…"

House didn't even reply to that, his steely gaze still fixed on the orthopedist.

Morgan finally gave up the pretense of not knowing what the other man was talking about. "It's not fighting your battles if I simply state an opinion," he then just returned calmly.

"It is if you state it defensively."

Morgan rolled his eyes at that. "Oh, come on. Would you just let someone trashtalk a person you… treat?"

House simply scoffed at that. "Nobody needs to. Doin' that all on my own…"

"Not like that." The orthopedist suddenly looked very serious. "And how do you even know about this?!"

Completely ignoring the question, House finally averted his gaze. "You don't even know me," he then more mumbled than spoke. "Why would you pick a fight with a colleague on a topic you know absolutely nothing about?!"

"I know enough. And Jackson's an ass… I didn't intentionally pick a fight. But the way he was talking… it just really, really pissed me off." Then he simply nodded towards the leg again, the topic apparently closed for him. "The leg looks good, House, you can get dressed again. But I recommend continuing with the physio for now; I think we can still get some more improvement regarding both strength and overall flexibility of the leg. Accordingly, we might be able to bring your level of chronic pain down a little." He was already reaching for his prescription pad, before finally searching the other man's eyes again. "What do you think?"

Reluctantly returning his questioning gaze, House just nodded slightly. "Can't hurt, I guess. Well, actually it can, but still… might not be a bad idea."

The response made Morgan smile a little. "Okay then. I'll write you a prescription for another 20 sessions for now. – What about the medication?"

House completely looked away again at that. "Already gone back to the Vicodin, so I'm… fine; thanks."

Nodding slightly, Morgan handed over the prescription, then started scribbling something in House's chart. He didn't look up from what he was doing when he finally spoke again.

"Vicodin's a great drug, but it doesn't exactly go easy on you in the long run. You ever wanna try something else and need some help adjusting your medication, I know a great pain management specialist I'd be happy to recommend." A very brief glance up. "Just let me know, I'm sure he'd be happy to see you anytime…"

House just looked at him for a long moment, before finally pushing himself up with a clipped nod. "I'm not going off the drugs."

Morgan was hard pressed not to roll his eyes. "That's not what I was saying… All I'm saying is that – as you well know – Vicodin is not the optimal choice in long-term applications. And even just reducing it a little – while supplementing with something else – might prevent serious problems for you in the future."

"My liver. Is fine." House's expression was unreadable by now.

"Right now, I'm sure it is." Morgan was trying for patience. "But you have to know – "

"Has Wilson set you up to this?"

This time, the orthopedist actually did roll his eyes. "Come on, House… Dr. Wilson's not the only one that can actually give a damn."

House threw him a half glance at that. "Last week we were still trying to kill each other." He sounded skeptical, at best.

Morgan smiled brightly at him. "But now I've invested in you!"

House looked at him a moment longer, before finally turning towards the door. "I'm fine for now; but thanks, I guess."

He let the door fall close behind him with a resounding thump.

Dr. Morgan still couldn't help but smile slightly again. "Yeah… you're welcome."

tbc