Greetings once again from my bathtub! So, I'm sitting here (obviously), steadily watching my stats rise on this story except for one… Any guesses as to which? THE REVIEWS (go figure). Now, I know I can be lazy at times and be a little lax in my reviewing, but hey, I'm trying to change. Good, bad, or otherwise, can you at least leave me ONE WORD (It'll take you all of 5-10 seconds)? Please? I swear I won't update for an eternity if I don't get some more reviews. (j/k—I couldn't do that to Huddytheultimate—LOL) So… one word. Examples: Awesome, intriguing, humorous, sad, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, daring, blasé, dreadful, and finally—Huddyrific (lol). With that, it's story time:D

Cuddy stared up in horror at the owner of the voice as she tried to scramble away from House…or at least stop herself from straddling him. Her skirt was slowly riding up her body and that just looked…well…bad. House, on the other hand, wasn't moving at all; his grin was a little wider, but he kept his hands firmly in place on her hips, not allowing her to escape from their current position.

Cuddy looked into his eyes and glared at him. Although Gregory House may lie, his eyes did not. Those eyes… They were sparkling with amusement—amusement at how embarrassed she was at being found in such a compromising position. She wasn't really surprised to see that he was enjoying the scene though. After all, he did spread those rumors about them sleeping together. Why shouldn't he add more fuel to the fire? she thought contemptuously. Cuddy squirmed against his grasp, trying to stand, but to no avail—he was just too strong. "Cripple" my ass.

Before Cuddy could yell at House to get off, or at least offer an explanation for why she "assuming the position" with an employee, the intruder had walked huffily out of the door, slamming it viciously behind her.

"That's glass ya know! And learn to knock…we were getting busy!" House yelled at the retreating figure. He smiled up at his boss. She was quite the sight—face flushed, chest heaving, and eyes blazing—hot.

"House," she finally yelled, losing her temper, "GET THE HELL OFF ME!"

He chuckled amusedly and removed his hands from her waist, watching her struggle to stand while maintaining a little decorum. Try as she might, he still got a flash of garters before she was able to fully retreat. "Last time I checked," he began, getting to his feet slowly and advancing towards her, "you were the one on top." House smirked at her disheveled state, realizing how easily he could take advantage of the situation.

Cuddy had to think quickly as he backed her against the desk, his tall frame looming over her. He was bringing up college…again…a subject which never seemed to bore him. "Somebody needed to take charge and be the man. You obviously weren't going to," she spat.

"Do overs?" he questioned with mock innocence. "It might be a little hard with the bum leg, but if you're up for it, I'm willing to take one for the…team." He took a pointed glance at her chest. There was something in his eyes…Lust? Love? What?

"In your dreams," she retorted, knowing that her response was less than adequate. She could feel her face turning red, the blood rushing to it. If she didn't do something soon, there would be a lot more going on here than just a little kiss. She would either murder him or jump him right in her office. Neither sounded very Dean of Medicine-like.

"Weak and you know it. You getting…hot?" he questioned, amusement etching every feature of his face. He reached around her, brushing against bare skin, and grabbed one of the file folders. He began fanning her briskly, mussing her curls.

She shot a glare at him and quickly ripped the folder from his hands. "Uh-oh," he said, "I think the Ice Queen has returned."

Turning around and setting the folder back on the stack, she lifted the entire pile up, turned to House, and shoved the whole mess to his chest. He smirked knowingly. Every time things got too close to that invisible line, she would inevitably change the subject. "Go talk to her and get someone else to do your paperwork. Then get your ass to the clinic." She pushed him back from her.

"Hey," he grumped, "be nice to the cripple."

"Don't play the cripple card with me," she scoffed, fixing her hair. "GO!" She pointed to the door impatiently, and then sat down at her desk, pointedly ignoring him. The only sign she had of his departure was the slow swish and click of the door closing behind him. That was close.

It couldn't have been more than 30 seconds after his exit that Evan entered.

"Dr. Cuddy?" he questioned uncertainly.

"Yeah, Evan?" she responded, head in hands once again.

"Do you want me to…reheat your coffee?" he asked, approaching her desk.

She looked up at him. Sweet guy. What a contrast. "No, that's fine, Evan. I was about to head out to the clinic anyway," she responded.

Standing up and smoothing out her still-rumpled clothing, she put her lab coat on. "Thanks anyway," she said, smiling, as she walked though proffered door.

Two hours later and House still hadn't shown up for clinic duty. Why shouldn't I be surprised? she asked herself. The clinic was short-handed today and she really needed him there. She, however, couldn't spend half the day trying to find out where he was hiding with his PSP and subsequently, spend the other half berating him into actually working. Guess I'll have to take over a room today, she thought irritably while heading for Exam Room 1. As if I don't have enough to do… Her thoughts wondered to her schedule for the day: board meeting, paperwork, consults, appointments with potential investors…and now, clinic duty.

Opening the door to the room, she was astounded at what she found. House was treating a…patient. A patient? She blinked her eyes rapidly, as if her mind was playing tricks on her. A patient. His presence caught her off-guard and his grin acknowledged the fact. He's up to something…he never comes willingly. Her eyes narrowed at him. What is he trying to pull?

In the middle of deciphering the riddle that was House, a squeak caught her attention. It had come from the care-worn child House was trying to examine. He can't be more than five. Cuddy looked brusquely around the room before her eyes returned to the child. No guardian...the kid is alone with House. Poor boy. The boy seemed frightened; he was curled up on the exam table as far from the doctor as possible. I'd be scared too, she thought sympathetically.

"House," she began, looking pointedly at the boy and then to House, "where are the boy's parents?"

"What? I have to play babysitter to the kid's parents too? It's not good enough that I'm saving his life, huh?" He turned to the boy, "Hey brat, where's your Mommy?"

With that, the little boy hopped off the exam table and ran to Cuddy, clutching her knees and throwing her off-balance. Luckily, before she was able to fall, two strong hands had lifted her back upright. "Thanks," she grimaced as he released her; however, he wasn't looking at her, but rather, over her shoulder. She turned her head to see what was so interesting and the group of nurses behind the desk diverted their eyes, quickly pretending to work again. "Great," she mumbled, "as if you don't cause enough gossip…" She turned back to him, "By the way, did you talk to her?"

As if he couldn't read through the lines. More like 'Is she gonna blab to anyone about us almost doing the nasty in the Dean of Medicine's office?' He smirked before replying, "Wouldn't beat the latest rumor I already sent out."

She gave him an amused half-smile and was about to respond tartly when she heard sobbing. Realizing that she had completely forgotten about the little boy, she kneeled down to him, and placing a hand on his dark hair, she asked, "What's the matter, honey?"

The boy wrapped his arms around her neck tightly and House smirked at the sight, leaning back against the exam table. "I don't know where my Mommy and Daddy are," he sobbed, the moisture from his eyes evident on her skin.

"It's okay, honey. Why don't I help you look for them?"

He nodded into her neck.

"Can you tell me what your name is?"

He sniffled a little before responding, "Jacob."

"Well Jacob," she began, in the voice she reserved especially for small children, "do you remember the last time you saw your parents?"

He nodded once again.

"Where at, honey?" she asked, pulling back from him to look into his bright green eyes.

Jacob seemed anxious at the loss of contact. He started to babble and the two doctors only caught bits-and-pieces of what he was saying, "Hid behind cowch…Mommy…scweam…Daddy…yell…bang… no more scweaming…bang…sticky wed stuff eveywhere…Mommy and Daddy sweeping in da wed…" When he was done, he reached for her once again and she took him in her arms, holding him closely as she stood up. House and Cuddy exchanged knowing glances.

"Hey kid," House said, in what could be considered his 'nice' voice, "are you here with some big old lady with gray hair and bad teeth?"

"Nasty bweath too," Jacob squeaked, hiding his face in Cuddy's curls.

House laughed mirthlessly as Cuddy walked out of the room with the boy, "Kid has spunk," he exclaimed to the empty room.

Walking over to the nurses' station, Cuddy asked the boy for the lady's name, to which she got a mumbled, "don't remember."

"Is it alright if I set you down now, Jacob?" she asked, causing the boy to cling more tightly to her. Cuddy looked to the nurses for some assistance. It wasn't easy carrying a child around while wearing 3-inch stilettos. Unfortunately, the nurses were ignoring her—they were still valiantly pretending to be productive. Cuddy glanced at them, noticing they had their noses in open files, but that their eyes weren't moving at all. "Listen ladies," she said exasperatedly, "you can gossip later, just help me out here." Note to self: smaller heels. These things are killing me with carrying this kid around.

One nurse finally dropped the façade, setting her file down and placing her hands around Jacob's waist, trying to pry him off the Dean of Medicine. The boy sent out a shrill cry at the attempt and squirmed to get closer to Cuddy. Poor thing. He must really be traumatized about his parents. Cuddy flicked her hand at the nurse to stop and tried to calm the crying boy, rubbing his back and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "It's okay sweetheart. It's okay. Shush….shush…" she soothed.

Just as he was calming down, a loud voice assaulted their ears. "JACOB HILLSBOROUGH! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? I'VE BEEN LOOKING EVERYWHERE FOR YOU!" Cuddy looked in the direction of the voice, the boy tensing in her arms. Just as House described her…except he didn't mention loud and annoying. She's scaring the kid! Cuddy placed one of her hands over Jacob's ear and pressed his head to her shoulder, trying to help him block out the sound.

Cuddy was boiling mad, feeling the need to tear this woman to shreds. Yelling at a scared boy who has been through so much…she isn't fit to handle children. She was preparing to berate the social worker—anyone could see her eyebrows rushing together and a frown forming—but she didn't get the chance. Moving deftly from the exam room, House had intercepted the woman and drew her into the room, motioning to Cuddy, "Take the kid to your office. I'll take care of her." With that, he closed the door.