She lifted her heel, pulling back from his sprawled figure with a stone face. Her hand reached down for him to take, House pushed it away, struggling as he stood on his own. The room was quiet, trying to anticipate what was going to happen next. Cuddy, with her mouth agape, was about say something, when the mystery woman turned around and glared at her and everyone else in the room. Cuddy halted, stepping back slightly.

House noticed, and with a smirk he realized that Cuddy was actually intimidated. As were his ducklings. He scoffed at the the four of them and rolled his eyes hard at the wide-eyed group that awaited reactions.

The woman turned back to him, stopping him in his steps, "I'm not kidding, Greg. Get in there and save my baby's life or so help me God, I will make your life a living hell."

"Oh, so we're-" House started, but he quickly snapped his mouth shut when her glare got harder and she stepped toward him. He looked down at those weapons she called heels, and quietly remarked with a sarcastic tone, "You've killed men for less, haven't you?"

She couldn't help the smile that rose to her face, but she quickly corrected herself. He caught her smile though, and he was proud of himself.

"I never would've thought the United States Marine Corps is what you T-totally lived for!" He shouted the rhyme like a high school cheerleader for emphasis.

"You knew that I enlisted, and now we're done talking about me and my life choices. Pull yourself together and start acting like a fucking doctor. I'll be in my daughter's room, you'll be be there soon after, I presume, unless you'd like another unfriendly visit." She glowered.

"Is that a threat or a promise?" He teased.

"Keep testing me, Gregory…" She warned, "I'm in no mood for your snarky bullshit, this isn't a game and it isn't a choice. I'll see you momentarily." She spun on one evil heel, and strode through the glass doors.

00000000

They met on the military base. He had just moved to Australia and Maxine's father told her to be polite and welcome their new neighbors. She brought over apple pie that her mother had generously made; standing in between her father and mother, she watched curiously as Gregory House opened the door.

She was fourteen, and he was sixteen according to her mother- a known gossip.

The second his blue eyes met her, she felt a spark ignite. He was tall, lanky, messy haired, and he had a gaze that seemed to pierce right through to her soul. It was like he knew every dark secret she kept buried deep down, like he could tell her more about herself than even she knew.

He smirked slightly at her and reached for her father's hand, "I'm Greg. I'm told that because you brought us pie, I should be polite." He remarked, as they dutifully shook hands.

"So nice to meet you." Her mom's Australian accent was thick, which seemed to humor this Greg character, "I'm Angela, this is Maxine, and of course, Dan, my husband."

Greg nodded and opened the door wider for them to step in, "Apologies for the mess, we still have some unpacking to do." He grabbed the apple pie from Maxine's hands, making sure to lightly brush her fingers as he did. Shivers ran through her.

"No need to apologize, son, we understand." Dan said authoritatively. He didn't much appreciate the looks his daughter and this boy were sharing, but he let it slide.

"My 'rents are in the kitchen, I'll fetch them for ya." He sauntered off, grabbing a piece of the pie and filling his mouth as he went along. She was smitten.

"Handsome boy." Angela retorted, winking at her daughter and nudging her with her shoulder a bit.

"I guess." Maxine said, trying to be nonchalant.

Dan rolled his eyes, "Angela, that's quite enough." Angela smiled, giving her daughter another wink.

"Hi! Welcome, and thank you so much for the lovely pie!" Blythe House exclaimed as she walked toward them from the kitchen. She wiped her hands over her apron and reached out to shake hands with each of them.

John House arrived shortly after that, his face was humorless, "Boy, you can't just stick your fingers in other people's pie." He reprimanded and Greg smiled wickedly at the unintended innuendo that his dad had just made, his eyes never leaving Maxine's.

She found herself blushing, and turned away quickly from his gaze.

He looked at his father with fake remorse, "Sorry, father, won't happen again." He saluted him dramatically and Maxine couldn't help but giggle.

John clearly was unamused, but with guests in his house, he decided to focus on them. He invited them into the living room, telling them to have a seat, and the next two hours were filled with war stories between their father's, mother's exchanging recipes and Gregory House staring silently at Maxine, almost studying her. She tried to join in to each conversation, being the polite daughter she was, but his stare kept pulling her back to him. A familiar but still new warmth filled her, and she caught butterflies in her stomach because of his attention.

The adults were tipsy by the time they left to go home, laughing and jovially saying their goodbyes. Greg hung back in the living room, flipping through a magazine, uninterested in the events taking place at the door. Maxine ran back to get her mom's purse that she'd left in her drunken state.

She caught his eyes yet again, "Maxine, huh?" he said, smirking that smirk that she somehow already loved.

"Yeah." She whispered, shyly, not knowing how to interact with such a force of a person, such was Greg.

"Max. Can I call you Max? Or Mac? Or Maxipad?" He stood as he made the joke.

"Call me whatever you want," She found herself saying- she couldn't believe she just said that, either, she was usually annoyed by nicknames people gave her, but coming from him it was totally different. He could call her Mac and Cheese for all she cared, and that shocked her. She thought for a minute, "Actually, don't call me Maxipad, please."

He laughed, genuinely for the first time tonight, and her heart fluttered as he leaned down right in front of her, grabbing her mom's purse that she hadn't realized she had dropped, from the floor. "Okay," he nodded slowly, "Mac it is."

He handed her the purse, still very much in her personal space, "You dropped this...Mac."

She laughed a bit too hard, apologizing as she rushed her way, mortified, out the door to catch up with her parents.

000000000

"I'll have my team run some tests and we can narrow it down from there. She's stable right now and everything is in working order, so that's obviously a good-and boring-sign. We'll know more tomorrow." House stated, after checking everything he could in person. "What's her name?" He asked, seemingly curious.

Maxine hesitated a bit, before rolling her eyes, "Do you even read your patient files?"

He shook his head, "I try not to let semantics get in the way of diagnoses." He smirked at her, when she cocked her head at him.

"So my daughter is just a minute detail to you?"

"I clearly just asked you her name. Had I known she was your daughter in the first place, I wouldn't have treated her like the usual patient that comes into my care. Why did you bring her into my care anyway?"

"I wanted the best, you're the best." She said simply, turning her back to him as she pulled her phone from her purse, plugging it into the wall to charge.

"You wanted to see me." She could feel his smile. His egotistical, self righteous, infuriating smile.

She popped her neck, took a deep breath and turned slowly toward him, "My daughter is sick. You are the best doctor that I know of. So, I've swallowed my pride in order to help my daughter get well again." Her voice was stern, talking down to him as if he were a child.

"Say swallow again."

And of course, she was talking to a child.

"It's comforting to know that you haven't changed much."

"I limp now." He said, showing her his cane.

"I noticed."

He sat down in a chair beside the girl's bed, studying her. She felt his gaze and tried her best to ignore him, but she finally cracked. "Her name is Riley."

He nodded, teasingly, "Better than Maxine, I suppose."

"What happened to your leg?" She asked softly, her wall of defense slowly crumbling.

"Took a bullet in the war." He joked, evading her sad gaze. Of all people, she should know better than to pity him. He stiffened, and winced as he stood up with his cane in hand. "I won't keep you."

She hesitated, wanting to stop him, but decided against it as she watched him limp out of the room. She sighed heavily, exhausted from the day's events, and slunk down into the chair he had just occupied. Her tiredness got the best of her and she dozed off, thinking about Gregory House and the can of worms that had now been reopened between them.