Yes, I know it's been a while but hey, at least something years later, is better than nothing at all? I do hope you enjoy this new installment and please, don't hate me too, too much.

"What the hell?!" Cuddy yelled, as House hit the floor with a deep thud.

Her accent was heavy now, House noticed, as the Australian woman who just punched him in the jaw slurred, "Fuck you, you asshole!" Probably due to the stress of the situation. Possibly due to being angry. Who cares what the reason was, he loved her accent. And damn, did he miss it…

It only got stronger when her emotions ran free, and usually, it was only around her Aussie born mother that it came out. But, God, Gregory House is probably the one other person who could piss her off just as much as her mother, and damn it if he didn't bring the 'down under' out of her.

He held his jaw for a moment, and everyone in the office looked down at him in shock.

"I deserve that, yeah." He nodded, which shocked everyone even more. Everyone held their breath as tension filled the silence in the conference room. Cuddy wanted to take action but hadn't moved an inch, and Wilson was just as bass-mouthed as the fellows were.

"Yeah, you deserved it. Much like you deserve a whole hell of a lot worse."

"Okay, yeah, I'm sorry." He said defensively, making the room practically pass out from all the shock in such a short amount of time. "I don't really know what to say."

"How about you say you'll take my daughter's treatment seriously, you'll get up off your dead ass and do your goddamn job, and you'll stop acting like a selfish cunt for a second of your miserable life? How about that, for starters?" The gorgeous woman in front of him, practically with her heel pointed at his crotch, was clearly pissed off to say the least. He could tell from the simple fact that the word 'cunt' so easily fell out of her mouth. He smirked, knowing full well that she hated using that word, and it only slipped out when she was absolutely enraged.

It made him smirk even more at the thought that she was so enraged because of him. He missed her passion. He missed that fire. His first true love, stood before him, and even though she had just punched him and her stiletto was dangerously close to his scrotum; he felt like a teenager again, head over heels for this incredible woman.

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"I understand." She nodded, "but, this is bad, really bad." her accent heavy, from lack of sleep and worry and the weight of what she just discovered about her semi-casual-but-totally-amazing boyfriend. "You have to go to a hospital."

"I won't. I don't. And you need to shut the fuck up about it." He said sternly, his voice as icy as his gaze. "I didn't come here to get your advice or opinion, I came here because I was locked out and had nowhere else to go. I'll see myself out." He said curtly, sitting up and grabbing his shoes from beside the windowsill.

"Don't go. Please. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, I just think that you should get those cuts seen about...you look horrible."

"Gee thanks." he mumbled sarcastically, laying his shoes down again. He was exhausted, in pain, and he didn't want to argue with her. Besides his mother, she was the only one who could see through the bitterness and right into his heart sometimes. He softened his gaze upon that realization.

He did love her, there wasn't a doubt about it. But he couldn't bear to bare his soul to her, knowing that he'd be moving again...maybe running away for good, at this rate. He hated the heartbreak of losing people he grew fond of because of his father's military position. He hated having to be uprooted everywhere he went, and he hated it even more now because he couldn't even fathom living in his parents' house anymore after the fight he and his dad just had.

They'd never come to blows like this, and his mom was probably worried sick, waking up to an angry husband and a missing son. No, showing his face at the House house wasn't an option as of yet.

"How many times has he hit you? Is this a regular thing? You seem so...callous about the ordeal." She offered, timidly, expecting him to blow up on her again-but still, so curious about his turbulent home life.

"Not many times has it been like this...maybe once or twice has he actually hit me. But the abuse goes back as far as I can remember. Ice baths, marine drills and the like...he put a collar on me once and tied me to a dog house outside. Fed me dog food and promised to break me of my "rebellious nature", so to speak." The last part made her knees feel like jello. She couldn't believe any parent of any kind, could ever treat their child like an animal to such an extreme extent. "Whatever. It's stupid." He whispered, suddenly retreating from her. He felt so stupid for telling her all that, he'd never even told his own mother about the night he was literally sent to sleep in the dog house, so long ago.

"Its not stupid." she whispered back harshly, grabbing his hands in a fit of desperation. She needed him to look at her, for him to know that she was on his side. He looked so vulnerable and she was awestruck by his honesty, as brutal and inhumane as it may be.

He seemed so much more attractive to her, all of a sudden. She didn't pity him, nor did she want to try and fix him. He didn't need to be fixed, he needed an ally, someone to stand up with him against the tyrant that was his father.

Her own father was in the corps too, but he was nothing like that. She felt her heart swell, break, and melt for the scared and battered, blue eyed, enigma in front of her. Gregory House had her heart now, whether either of them wanted it that way or not.