The three musketeers were in the conference room waiting for House so they could go through the post-operative tests that had been done on Mr. Park. Soo had been sent to the cafeteria to get sandwiches for them all. Foreman was making notes of things to explain to Soo, once she got back, so she could have answers to House's questions. Cameron was making fresh coffee and Chase had just returned from his stint in the clinic.

"You know," Chase said gleefully, "I think I know who the Abyssinian Maid was."

"Chase, you know how House feels about his privacy," Cameron warned him. "It's not a good idea to discuss it. Besides I don't want to know."

"That's because you are jealous of any woman who gets that close to House," Chase taunted her.

"I'm over my infatuation," Cameron insisted. "But that does not mean that I'm comfortable with speculations about his love-life."

"Normally I would be perfectly happy to speculate about it," Foreman inserted, "but this time I think we better be careful as his reaction to Cuddy's question rather makes me think it is a sensitive issue."

"Oh yes," Chase agreed vigorously. "It is very much a sensitive issue. It's big trouble kind of sensitive issue."

"Then you should most definitely leave it alone," Cameron cried. "I'm sure we can find something better to do than speculate about other people's sex-life."

"Are you really telling me you are not the least interested in knowing who was with House last night?" Chase wondered.

"I can't say I'm not interested," Foreman admitted. "But I'm much more interested in my continued good health! So thank you, but whatever it is you think you know, keep it to yourself."

"Better take Foreman's advice, Chase," House said curtly from the doorway. "Your father is no longer around to make phone calls for you. So if you know what is good for you, you shut up."

"What phone calls?" Chase was distracted from his original subject. "What are you talking about?"

"Here, Chase, your coffee," Cameron tried to change the subject by giving Chase a mug. "House, Soo ought to be back from the cafeteria with sandwiches soon, so we can then go through the test results."

"You know something about that, Cameron?" Chase could hear the slightly false note in Cameron's voice. She had never been any good at lying or even prevaricating.

"Yes, Cameron," House was happy to share misery. "Do tell Chase what it was I was talking about."

"It's none of my business," Cameron insisted. "Besides I cannot see what relevance it has anymore."

"What is going on?" Foreman looked at the others. It seemed to him that Cameron and House knew something about Chase that Chase – and he – didn't. "What is it that you two know that we don't?"

"What I know and you don't could fill volumes," House pointed out. "But if you mean things that Cameron also knows, then I think the answer is: not much."

"But still something," Chase stated. "What is it, Cameron?"

"You have to take it up with House," Cameron said. "You two can talk it out; I'm not getting into this."

"House?" Chase turned to his boss.

"It's quite simple," House told him. "Cameron wanted to know why she was hired. I told her that and also why I had hired you and Foreman."

"And... ?" Chase prompted. "Why did you hire me?"

"Because your father made a phone call," House revealed.

"My father called you and told you to hire me?" Chase couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"No, of course not," House dismissed the idea. "All that would have got him would have been advice to wipe his blue-eyed boy's ass himself. No, he called one of his buddies who was also one of the hospital's biggest sponsor's who in turn called Cuddy and couple of the other board members. You were supposed to have the fellowship in the bag even before you set a foot on the premises for the interview."

Chase stared at House appalled and speechless.

"Supposed to have?" Foreman could not contain his curiosity at House's choice of words.

"You know me," House flipped. "I don't really do well with orders. So what all that calling really got for Chase was an interview."

"So you hired me because I did well on the interview?" Chase sounded puzzled. He hadn't thought it had gone that well. In fact he had always thought he got the fellowship just because House was too lazy to do interviews at all.

"Nah," House confirmed Chase's recollection of the occasion. "You sucked at the interview. But what I found interesting was that you were not interested in securing the position. From the beginning it was fairly obvious that you didn't know it was supposed to be an arranged thing already and yet, you didn't really care what kind of an impression you were giving when we met. You were looking for a parking place only."

"Parking place?" Cameron wondered.

"Yes. A parking place," House said, but would not explain further as he saw that Chase understood.

Before anyone could ask more questions Soo came back with the sandwiches.

--------

At the end of the day House was sitting alone in his office. Mr. Park's tests had confirmed that they could bring him out of the coma in two days time. It was still necessary to monitor his condition closely as there were still enough dead muscle cells to cause problems, but so far so good. House had released his ducklings for the day.

House was reading a medical journal when Chase entered his office. House had half expected him.

"What did you mean by saying I was just looking for a parking place," Chase asked.

"You know perfectly well what I meant," House countered.

"No, I don't," Chase insisted.

"Fine," House put down his journal. "You got into medical school because your father forced you to. You graduated with top marks, because he insisted and you could. But you had no interest in medicine whatsoever. Your plan was to find a parking place, a position as a fellow or assistant or whatever, where you could stay put until your father died and you could leave the whole profession behind you and live on your inheritance. From the moment you entered medical school you started to mark time till you could get out."

"I'm a doctor," Chase insisted. "You have no right to say that I haven't been a doctor. That I haven't done my job! Besides, I didn't inherit money from my father."

"I know you didn't," House conceded. "But you didn't know that when you originally made your plans. Mind you, I don't think that was your father's original plan either. He was counting on his genes kicking in and making you a doctor no matter how much you kicked and screamed against it. He forced you into medical school; he blackmailed you into doing well there. When he couldn't get you do quite what he wanted, he foisted you on me on the mistaken idea that I would be the one to force you into being a doctor. His last visit here was to check if I was shaping you the way he wanted you to be shaped. I wasn't. And you still showed signs of wanting out of the field of medicine. So he did what he could to force you to stay."

"Why would he do something like that," Chase said. "You don't know what you are talking about. You know nothing about me and my father. And you have no right to say that I'm not a doctor. I have done my job. I have been an asset to this team."

"You have the ability to be a doctor. You have the skills, instincts and the knowledge needed to be a doctor. And occasionally you even are a doctor. But most of the time you still just mark time," House was not going to let his wombat get off easy. "You don't want to be a doctor and you still resent being forced into the field. Perfectly understandable. But you are not doing anything about it. Your father is dead and you have to let him go. Take him out of the equation. You are right, I don't know much anything about him but he does not matter anymore. Either you get out or you get in. Your fellowship is up very soon. I will not renew it unless I know you are in, unless you have made the decision to follow a career in medicine and to hell with your father. The skills, qualities, abilities and instincts that you have can make you a great doctor. But they can make you anything else you want too. What you need to do is to make up your mind about what it is you want. I'm not carrying you anymore. I'm not kicking you any further on this road. You either walk it yourself or you find another road. You have now received due and proper notice on your parking place. Time's up."

"You are firing me?" Chase was shocked.

"No," House stated. "I'm perfectly willing to keep you on my team if you can convince me that that is what you truly want."

"But I do want," Chase insisted. "Why would you question that?"

"I think I need to hear a lot more conviction in your voice to accept that statement," House doubted. "Think about it and let me know. You still have time."

"Why are you doing this to me," Chase questioned.

"Because I can," House said. "I'm not your father. I don't care if you go on in medicine or not. If you want to do something else, go do it. I can find someone else to replace you; I will have to do that eventually anyway. If you do want to be a doctor, there are still things I can teach you, but I will not waste more of my time on someone who doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up. So shape up or ship out. You have until the end of your term to make up your mind."

Chase stared at House for a few minutes but he had returned to his magazine and ignored Chase so he eventually walked out of the office. He didn't know what to think or do. He felt like he had been kicked in the stomach. When he had found out that his father had disinherited him, he hadn't tried to figure out the motivation behind that. He had just marked it up as one more disappointment from a father full of them. That was nothing new, nothing different, nothing that needed thinking or a new reaction – apart from learning to live on one's salary. True, he didn't need to react to this either if he didn't want to. He had his degree, he had his fellowship under House, and he could just leave and find a perfectly good job pretty much anywhere with his credentials. He didn't think House would bother to make things difficult for him. He could go on marking time if that was what he wanted.

Only he couldn't. House had kicked him awake and he had to deal with it. He would have to decide what he wanted because House would not let him just drift anymore. Knowing that he had got the fellowship because his father had pulled strings also put things in a different focus from what he had thought. It didn't much change his feelings about his father, but it did change things with House and about the fellowship. Things he had taken for granted had to be reassessed. House was right; he had let his father dictate his whole life. He had hated it, but he had gone along because it was easier than fighting. And he had got into the habit of doing what he knew his father wanted, even if only half-heartedly and only the minimum necessary to still give the impression that he was following the orders. But Rowan Chase was dead. He didn't want anything anymore. He could not give orders, express wishes or even disappoint anymore. He was dead. And Chase had to let go of him. House was right, it was time to take his father out of the equation and think what he, Robert Chase, really wanted to do with his life.