Hey everyone. You all might have noticed two things: 1) I deleted that chapter about the crew going to Australia. This is coz I decided that it was too long-winded and unnecessary and I had a better idea.

2) I haven't updated in a long, long, long time…hehe. That's coz I've been in China, and computer access is difficult.

Well here's the renewed…whatever chap number this is!

Please review!

-0-

"What about Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia?" Chase says.

"Do you even know what that is? You just really wanted to say that, didn't you?" House retorts.

"Well it's possible-" Cameron starts.

"No, if you guys bothered to read the patient's history, you'd know that he couldn't possibly have it," House says.

"What, and you did?" Foreman says.

"Never underestimate me," House says.

"Believe me, we don't," Kimee says not looking up from her magazine.

"Shouldn't you be somewhere? Shopping? Drinking? Having sex?" House says.

"You know I would be, but my first candidate is being whipped by his boss," Kimee replies.

Chase coughs, and House opens his mouth to say something but closes it.

"Don't wanna know," House says in the end.

"Don't wanna tell," Kimee says.

House just shudders and makes a 'eurgh' noise.

"What do you think Taylor?" House asks.

Taylor looks up; she'd been idly doodling.

"Huh?"

"Surprisingly that's not a very intelligent differential diagnosis," House says snarkily. "Lemme explain this to you very slowly; do you think its Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, like Chase said, or do you have a better idea?" House says sounding out each word as if he were talking to a three year old.

"Um…I'm not sure," Taylor says.

"You know, you were hired for a reason; to be a doctor. Not a bored high school student. Say something worthwhile next time you plan on opening your mouth, or you can start looking for a spare position at Wal-Mart," House says.

Taylor has an affronted look on her face, her mouth agape. She looks around at the other doctors and Kimee, but they just avoid her gaze.

"Well, it can't be pneumonia. Her history-"

"Lesson number thirty four, Taylor; everybody lies," House says

-0-

Cameron, Foreman, Wilson and House sit in the cafeteria eating lunch.

"So, how's Taylor doing?" Wilson asks House.

Cameron and Foreman exchange glances.

"Why, do you want to ask her out?" House asks him.

"Yes, you know me, awkward blonde cardiologists turn me on," Wilson says sarcastically.

"Chase is blond," House points out.

"I meant is she doing OK on the team," Wilson asks.

Cameron and Foreman both snort.

"What?" Wilson asks.

"He just gave her the full House-over," Foreman says

"That sounds kinda gross," Wilson says, arching an eyebrow.

"You know. Fully degrading and humiliating her," Cameron says.

"I did not!" House says indignantly.

"You said she'd end up working in Wal-Mart if she didn't do better," Cameron says.

"You said that to her?" Wilson says.

"I might've," House says sniffing.

"You are incredible," Wilson says shaking his head.

"You don't know how many times women have said that to me," House says.

"Really?" Cameron says raising an eyebrow at him.

"You wanna see?" House says.

"I don't think so," Cameron says with a small smile. "Look, I've got work to do. I'll see you later,"

She gets up and picks up her things and walks off.

"Yeah, I gotta go too. I'm meeting a friend," Foreman says getting up.

"Don't care," House says to him as he leaves.

Wilson looks at him.

"What?" House says.

"Why are you being so mean to Taylor?" Wilson asks.

"Aw, Wilson the Knight in Shining Armour is coming to Princess Taylor's rescue," House says.

"House. You were never like this when you first hired your precious ducklings," Wilson says.

"Um, are we talking about the same thing here?" House says.

"What I'm saying is, why is Taylor so different? Why do you have to destroy her?" Wilson says.

"I don't want to destroy her. I just don't want her," House says.

"Why not? She's clever and successful, but you just want to break her," Wilson says.

"Oh stop it. You have no idea," House says darkly.

"What is the big deal? A new doctor on your team is not going to do any harm," Wilson says, almost yelling.

House looks at him

"Why are you defending her so much?" he asks him.

"Why are you against her so much?" Wilson asks, hands on his hips.

When House's gaze doesn't break, Wilson just shakes his head and walks off.

House sits there by himself.

This is why hiring new ducklings are bad

-0-

"Hey," Kimee says walking into House's office. He looks up from the magazine he was reading, with a look of 'what the Hell do you want?'

"Do you have a DVD player around here?" she asks.

"Yeah," House says slowly. "Why?"

"I wanna watch something," she says.

"What? Here? Can't you go somewhere else?"

"No. I'm waiting for a friend to come meet me here, but he said he'd be another hour, so I thought I might finish watching this show I'm watching," she explains.

"What?" House drawls.

"It's this totally awesome Korean show my friend gave me. It's really good," she says.

"You don't understand Korean," House says.

"Yeah, but there's subtitles and half the time the guy is speaking English. He is so hot. If I ever date an Asian guy, he'd have to look like him-" Kimee says

"Kimee, you are Asian," House points out.

"Yeah, but only FOBs date Asian guys. The closest I'm ever getting to an Asian, is unless he's a halfie," Kimee says.

"I have absolutely no idea what you just said," House says. "I'm losing my perspicacity,"

"FOBs. Y'know, 'Fresh Off Boat'? Like those Asian girls who dye their hair, wear too many hair ornaments, and dress like Harajuku girls? And they always pose like this:" and she smiles wildly and does a peace sign with her fingers. "FOB,"

"I think I'm gonna be sick," House says slightly pale.

Just then the ducklings come in.

"You have anything for me?" he asks.

"Tests show that everything is normal," Cameron says handing him the files.

"Normal?" House asks.

"Yeah, everything. If you just look at her test results, she's perfectly healthy," Chase says.

"Yet she is vomiting blood. Great. So we have a sick patient who is healthy. Makes sense," House says getting up.

"What cause's all this?" House asks. When nobody says anything he looks at them.

"Well?" he asks.

"Nothing fits. Maybe she is healthy," Cameron says.

"Oh yeah, spewing blood is very normal. I do it all the time," House says.

"Maybe its just a stomach ulcer that perforated," Taylor says.

"And she speaks," House says sarcastically, and Taylor's face reddens. House turns back to the board. "Go stick a tube down her throat and see what you find,"
They all leave and Kimee goes as well, except Taylor who lingers behind. She looks at House as if trying to work out what was wrong with him.

"What?" he asks.

"Why do you hate me so much?" she ask him.

"Who says I hate you?" he says.

"The way you are treating me says so," she says.

"Yeah, you're the only one I'm a jerk to, so sorry," House says sarcastically.

"What about Cameron?" she asks

House stops and bites his tongue.

"At work, I treat her no differently," House says, very seriously.

"So you're even a jerk to your girlfriend," she says.

"Mmm, pretty much," House says.

"What have I done to you? What do I need to do to prove myself?" Taylor asks him exasperatedly.

"Nothing. That's the answer. I haven't asked anything from you. You know why? Because I don't need anything from you. I don't want anything from you. You are more naïve than Cameron, twice as irritating as Chase and not half as smart as Foreman. The question is; what do you want from me?" House says to her, his blue eyes staring at her, unwavering.

"All I want from you is the respect and equality I deserve," Taylor says, firmly, but she can tell her eyes reveal her timidity.

"I've told you before, you have to earn that," House says and walks out, leaving her standing there, mouth slightly agape.

-0-

It's the end of the day, and Taylor sat in the conference room reading some files. Wilson comes in and she looks up.

"Oh, hi, Dr Wilson," Taylor says

"Yes, hi," he says, slightly awkwardly.

"Are you looking for Dr House?" she asks him.

"No…I actually came here to see you," he says.

"Really? Oh, ok. Um, why?" she asks

Wilson sighs and rubs the back of his neck.

"I…wanted to apologise," he says.

"Apologise? For what?" she asks.

"For House being an ass," he says.

"Oh, you don't need to-" Taylor starts.

"Yeah, I do," Wilson says cutting her off. Taylor looks at him questioningly. "He is an ass. He always will be. He can't help it really. But I know he's been giving you a hard time-"

"You can say that,"

"Yeah, but its only cause he is protective of his ducklings. He doesn't like change, and it takes him time to adapt. You won't believe how long it took for him to hire them. He handpicked his team and I guess, he took you to be a disturbance in his divine order. You're new, and he wasn't the one who chose you; don't worry, he'll get used to you eventually, just don't let him get to you,"

Taylor nods, and Wilson gives her a small smile and leaves.

Taylor sits there and muses over these new revelations. She chuckles faintly to herself and continues reading.

-0-

House is sitting on Cameron's couch, his feet propped up on her coffee table, flicking through all the channels.

He hears the key in the lock and raises his head as Cameron walks in carrying a groceries bag.

"How'd you get in here?" she asks him with a smile.

"Found your spare key. Could you get any more unoriginal?"

"What's unoriginal about that?" Cameron asks.

"Puh-lease. Under the doormat? Yeah, no one's gonna look there," House says to her.

"Maybe I left it there for you to find," she says coyly, as she took her coat off.

"That's kinky," he says as she bends down to kiss him. She leans in for a light peck, but he cups her face in his hands, and places a long and avid kiss on her lips, so roughly yet gently that when he pulls away, her lips are soft and reddened by the blood rushing to them.

"And that was fun," he says and she laughs.

"Yes, maybe we should do that more often," she says, but gets up.

"What's for dinner?" he asks.

"Is that all you think about?" she asks him as she heads for the kitchen.

"Nah, first is Vicodin, then sex, and then it'd be food," he says.

"Really? I would never have guessed," she says. "Why don't you cook yourself?"

"Hey! I cooked last time, and you can make more than Mac and Cheese," he replies.

"Yeah," Cameron says with a snort.

House gets up and goes into the kitchen.

"Allison?" he asks her as she's bustling around the kitchen.

"Yeah?"

"Do you like Taylor?" he asks her.

She stops and looks at him.

"I'm not sure. She seems alright, but I don't know her at all really," she says.

"I don't get her. She just gets on my nerves," he says.

"More than Chase?" she asks with a smirk.

"I said to her face she was, but I have to say they tie," he replies. "What I don't understand is why Cuddy had to get her to come to my department. I'm sure she'd be better off in cardiology,"

"Maybe, but that's not really your call," Cameron says.

"I think, being Department Head, it might have something to do with me. Maybe, I don't know, I could just be making this up now," House says caustically.

He pauses for a moment.

"Should I fire her?"

"On what grounds? That she is not what you wanted her to be like? That she's a liability? That she just infuriates you? You know you can't just fire her," Cameron says.

"But its so tempting," House says. After a moment's thought he asks her: "What would you do if you were in my position?"

"Well, I don't know. Taylor hasn't done anything wrong, she's quite intelligent and has potential, not the right frame of mind maybe, but-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't need the Allison-Cameron-psychological-examination thanks," House says.

"Well then what?"

"I wanna know; would you fire her?"

"You shouldn't be asking me this, you know. It sure isn't my call," Cameron says with a small smile.

House nods, and bites his lip, thinking. Cameron looks at empathetically, and walks over to him and kisses him softly on his cheek, then gently caresses his lips with her tongue, then draws back.

"Now that, was too sexy," he says and places his arms around her waist and she laughs, and he places light fluttery kisses on her neck, making her heart beat faster , as it always did whenever she was with him.

-0-

Kimee sits at the conference table, playing with a gold ring on her finger, twisting it this way and that. She takes it off and holds it under the light, inspecting it.

"Nice ring," Chase says coming in.

"Oh, hey," she says, and quickly slips it back on. "You here early,"

"So are you. Not trying to sound like House or anything, but don't you have anything better to do?" Chase asks.

"What now you want to get rid of me as well?" Kimee asks pretentiously.

"Like I could," he says with a laugh.

"Yes," she says, a mischievous glint in her icy blue eyes.

Just then Foreman arrives, and shortly Taylor does too, then Cameron and House last, as always.

"Ok, any cases? No? Alright, I'm gonna go see Wilson," he says, and starts walking there.

"Don't you want coffee?" Kimee says, flipping through a magazine nonchalantly and House stops and turns around, heading for the sink.

"So what, nothing today?" Taylor asks.

"Yeah. You are free to do whatever you want. Clinic for Foreman and Taylor, mail for Cameron and Chase can go earn a few extra bucks down at the ER if he wants,"

"What?" Chase says.

"But you gotta go do my clinic hours at 12," he says to Chase before going off to bug Wilson.

"Right. He's in a good mood," Foreman says gathering his things.

"Probably just wants to get rid of us," Chase says, as he leaves

"Yeah, I'm sure," Cameron says.

"Or maybe he just got laid," Kimee says.

"Maybe," Cameron says coolly, and Kimee winks and walks out.

"Chase, wait up…!"

Taylor and Cameron are left in the conference room. Taylor studies Cameron.

"Can I ask you something?" Taylor says.

Cameron stops.

"Um, sure," she says.

"Excuse me if I sound to straightforward, but…you really love Dr House, don't you?"

"Um, that's kinda personal, isn't it?"

"How so? You openly discuss you're sex life with his niece, but can't even tell me whether you love him or not," Taylor asks, brow creased.

"I really don't think that's any of your business," Cameron says, and she makes a move to leave.

"I'm sorry. That was rude of me. Clearly we are not yet at that level to talk about such things," Taylor says.

Cameron stops and turns to look at Taylor.

"Taylor. I think you're a nice person. And in time, I would like to get to know you better. But I think that you will never fully understand me, so please, don't continue to dwell on this subject," Cameron says and then she leaves, her white lab coat fluttering behind her.

-0-

Taylor knocks on House's office, and opens the door. The room is dimly lit, the blinds closed, and House was standing, looking around for something.

He looks at her with his questioning and bright eyes.

Taylor opens her mouth.

"Can I talk to you?" she asks.

"Ok," House says cautiously.

She walks in slowly and stands in front of him, her eyes peering at him. She has her hand on her hips, and she is wearing a simple black dress over a light blue shirt, with her lab coat over it, making her look every bit the chic nerd.

She doesn't say anything for a moment, just looking at him.

"When I was given the chance to work for you, I was thrilled. I thought it was the most prestigious opportunity I had ever been given. To even get an interview for your team is an achievement. You may act like you don't know, but you are the best of the best, and to be on your esteemed team, was like being asked to become royalty. And then when I arrived, I realized. You are just like any other person. You try and put on this façade that you are different, that you aren't human. But how can that be possible when your niece is wandering around, your girlfriend is working with you, and your best friend is in the next office? And when I met you I thought you were amazing. Truly, I thought you were great. And now, I fear that I have really come to revere you; and also I've grown to like you, even though you treat me like this. I've said it. I like you," she says.

"And I need to know; do you like me?" Taylor asks.

House looks at her, his gaze unwavering.

How ironic that the last time I heard a question like that, I ended up with the person who asked me.

"You might think that you like me. But you don't. You're one of those people who see things that aren't there. You want to believe, but deep inside you don't. What do you want me to say to you?" House says.

"How you feel," she says.

Again, talk about unoriginal.

"I don't like you," he says simply and gruffly.

And Taylor nods, as if she were expecting this answer.

"OK," she says, and then turns around and leaves.

House sits down and leans back in his chair, and after a awhile closes his eyes and puts his head back, his right hand playing with his cane.

-0-

"It's so cold!" Kimee exclaims.

"I know. I think I'm gonna freeze," Chase says.

"What happened to the heater?" Cameron asks

"Who knows? It definitely didn't break because a certain crippled doctor accidentally stuck a fork into it because he accidentally put a certain oncologist's watch into it and was then made to get it out by said oncologist, " House says walking in.

"You need psychotherapy…I'm gonna go," Kimee says and picks up her bag and walks out.

"She'll be back," House says.

"Where's Taylor?" Chase asks.

"I should be asking you that," House says.

Chase rolls his eyes

Then, Cuddy walks in, holding a stack of files, and struggling under the weight.

"No, its OK, I got it," she says annoyed, looking at House who just stood there watching her as she finally plonked the files on the table, making the table wobble.

"Hey, I've got a cane," House says.

"Sometimes I think you enjoy being crippled; you don't have to do half as many things as you should," Cuddy says rolling her eyes.

"Maybe if you cut down my clinic hours I'd be free to help you carry as many files as you like," House says.

"No thanks," Cuddy says. "I got a case for you,"

"Yeah, several by the looks of it," Foreman says.

"A whole class of students present with the exact same symptoms: Abdominal pains, seizures and dark rash,"

"Wow. I can just imagine a whole class starting to seize- maybe they were trying to get out of doing a test," House says.

"So we have to diagnose thirty kids?" Cameron says.

"Yes. I've got other doctors monitoring them, but I need you guys to come up with a diagnosis. Otherwise we'll have thirty lawsuits to deal with," Cuddy says.

"How old are they?" House asks.

"Um, 15, 16. Why does it matter?" Cuddy asks.

"Because 15 and 16 year olds are fun to talk to," House says, and grabs the top file. "First up, Emma Arrington," and he walks out.

The rest of the doctors look at Cuddy pleadingly.

"Thirty?" Cameron asks.

"Yep. Find Taylor and pick a file," Cuddy says and leaves the conference room.

The three look at each other.

"C'mon then," Chase says getting up and takes a file. "Jake Aurora…"

-0-

… "Have you been taking any drugs?

… "What about alcohol?"

… "Have you had any other problems?"

… "What about you're family?"

… "Have you gotten any new chemicals at home or class pets recently?"

… "Do you have any other symptoms?"

… "Nausea? Vomiting?"

… "How long have you had the rash?"

The questions went on for almost three hours, and in the end, they found out nothing.

"OK, tell me, what can it be?"

"Cancer?" suggest Taylor.

"Oh yeah, what a coincidence that thirty teenagers just happen to all have cancer at the same time," House says.

"Lupus?"

"No, progressing too fast,"

"Infection?"

"No fever,"

The team toss around ideas for a while, before House picks his favorite three, and the team leave to perform the tests.

He sits in his office, listening to his iPod, and leans back in his chair, eyes closed.

This whole new-doctor-Taylor-messing-his-life-up-everybody-getting-pissy thing was very taxing on his mental health.

This is all Cuddy's fault he decided, and nodded, as if justifying this accusation.

He knew that besides Allison, this was demanding of Chase and Foreman too; they weren't too excited about a new doctor on the team, as they too weren't accustomed to change and Taylor and Allison's iciness too each other made the entire team difficult to work with each other. Wilson too, had gotten caught up in the Taylor fiasco, and was now either ignored House or replied with short blunt answers. And he could not have this. He had to admit, but he hated it when his team started fighting with one another and when Wilson was mad at him, which was rare. He had to put things back in the natural order.

-0-

So whaddya think? I've been off the writing scene for way too long, I know, so please forgive me. Go on, berate me, yell at me, call me a lazy biatch, but please review at least! Go on, you know you want to…

Preview for next chapter:

"I know you don't want me here. This'll be easier for us both,"

"I'm going to New York for a while,"

"Please stay…"

Hope you liked my comeback!

Completed: 7:30 PM, December 1st, 2006