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The time was almost nine and Thirteen was just now dashing through the doors of Princeton-Plainsboro. She had overslept, due to not getting to sleep until around five in the morning and her alarm clock wasn't out in the living room to wake her. Her mind kept racing, not allowing her any sleep.

Great…now I'm going to be fired…again, Thirteen berated herself for the millionth time. She also scolded herself for not thinking about the possibility of oversleeping. She's always had the ability to wake up at the time she wanted to without the use of an alarm clock. She hated that this was the only time her ability ever let her down! Working for House would be the best job anyone could have, even if he is a complete jerk more than half the time. However, this was more about Cuddy. What would she think of her now? Cuddy's fairly strict when it comes to the attendance policy. Cameron told her about how Cuddy practically shot her head off for being a half hour late one time for clinic duty. This made Thirteen even more nervous. What if Cuddy was in a mood or something? What if House got to her before she could and already poked and prodded her for the day? Maybe House wasn't even here yet, because of it being early. Thirteen hoped it would be that. She knew from experience that House showed up whenever he felt like it and that was usually later in the morning. Cuddy, however, is always there before everyone else and leaves after everyone does. Thirteen admired that in her. She was dedicated to her job. Probably so dedicated that when she does someone a favor and they don't show up on time, she'll take back the offer without thought!

Oh god, I'm so screwed!

45 Minutes Ago

Cuddy sat behind her desk, chin resting on her palm as she glanced up towards the clock. It was already fifteen after eight. Where was Dr. Hadley? Did she change her mind? Did she notice something in her voice last night on the phone when she called? Did whoever was in the next room prevent her from coming? There were so many things that ran through her mind and none of them were positive. She also wondered if something bad might have happened to her on the way and felt the urge to pop into the lounge and catch the morning news to see if there was an accident on the freeway or something.

Cuddy glanced at her cell phone laying idly on her desk, beside the report for the budget committee she had to get done by noon and give a ten-minute speech to some head honcho and his goons that managed their finances on why it was important to get a second MRI scanner in radiology. Somehow, the phone call to Dr. Hadley seemed much more important to her right now.

Cuddy picked up the phone and dialed Thirteen's number. Once again, she had to keep glancing at the number in the file to be sure she got it right.

It rang.

And rang.

And rang.

Finally, Thirteen's voicemail greeting came on. Cuddy hung up without leaving a message. She should've left one expressing her concern, but didn't think about it until she was in the process of flipping the phone shut. With a heavy sigh, Cuddy put down her phone and picked up a nearby pen, attempting to write her speech. Since this was her idea to write one, for she really wanted to get another scanner in radiology, the speech should come natural to her. It would if she didn't have Thirteen on her mind.

She continuously glanced to her office door to peek out into the clinic. Every time she saw a shadow of some kind, she would look up, thinking it was Thirteen.

"Oh Lisa, you have to get it together!" Cuddy scolded herself aloud and forced herself to focus on the speech in front of her. "Dear committee members…no…" She scratched out the word 'dear' and scratched in 'fellow.' "Fellow committee members…it has come to my attention that…" She tapped the paper with the tip of her pen, "…that…Damn!"

It was no use. She couldn't do it. At eight-twenty, she picked up her phone again to call Thirteen. Cuddy had to wonder if she told her to come at nine o'clock instead of eight o'clock. Usually she doesn't slip up like that, but who knows what mistakes she would make around Thirteen! She was already doing a crappy job on her speech for the committee…what next?

The next forty-five minutes went by vastly slow for Cuddy. She had called Thirteen three times and gave up. She even left a voicemail on the last try, knowing it was futile. She was tempted to drive over to Thirteen's apartment and find her herself.

Just then, Cuddy was paged to the clinic. They didn't say why, but it sounded urgent. Good…maybe it'll get her mind off Thirteen! Cuddy, who was on the second floor, took the stairs down to the first, different thoughts running through her head. She clearly wasn't paying attention when she rounded the corner after coming down to the first floor, for she ran straight into someone who was coming around the corner twice as fast. Their bodies slammed together so hard that Cuddy almost lost her balance. When she saw who she almost ran over, she immediately blanched, the color draining from her face in the next second as Thirteen stopped herself from toppling over. She also looked scared that she bumped into Cuddy.

"Oh god, I am so sorry, Dr. Cuddy," she said, feeling foolish and embarrassed at the same time. How ironic that she run into the very person she wanted to woo now for the past couple months. "Are you okay?"

Her tone was hurried and she could feel her cheeks burning.

Cuddy looked twice as embarrassed to run into her, but played it out differently. "I'm fine, Dr. Hadley," she said, voice stern, like it was Thirteen's fault the two collided. She collected herself and secured her folders to her chest. Her eyes were harsh. "I tried calling you and I shouldn't have had to do that. Why are you late?"

Thirteen's eyes were still wide. Now they were wide for the reason that she didn't expect Cuddy to sound so harsh towards her. No idea why not. She's over an hour late, it's only right that the Dean of Medicine be furious with her, especially if she's doing her a favor by rehiring her! "I'm sorry, it was an accident. Something happened last night. I know that's not a good enough excuse—"

"Wait in my office," Cuddy said, appearing not to be moved or care about what Thirteen's reason was for not showing up on time, when in reality, for the past hour, she's been on the edge of her seat. Her written proposal for the MRI scanner was practically nonexistent because her mind was somewhere else. Seeing Thirteen in front of her took the weight right off her shoulders, but a part of her was also angry and she had no idea why.

Thirteen was worried. Cuddy didn't tell her to leave the hospital, which was a good thing. It means she wasn't fired, unless she wanted to lecture her and then fire her, but what's the point? Instead of saying anything, Thirteen did as she was told and went to Cuddy's office to wait for her. She took a seat in front of Cuddy's desk. Her hands started trembling. It's like being called into the principal's office on the first day of school! Somehow, Thirteen wished it was like that instead of being called into the dean of medicine's office. Even though it was only Cuddy, this felt very intimidating. For what she understood, Cuddy thought of her as just another employee. There's no way she could share her feelings and if Thirteen went on assuming that, she's the one that's going to get hurt here, not Cuddy.

Just then, the office door opened and Cuddy came in, carrying an open folder. Thirteen stiffened up.

"Dr. Hadley, I specifically said eight o'clock, did I not?" Cuddy asked. This was her subtle way of reassuring herself that she got her own time right and didn't say nine o'clock.

Thirteen wanted to sprout out a bunch of gibberish and speak until she was blue in the face on why she was late, but held her tongue. Cuddy doesn't care. She was much too busy to care.

Thirteen willed herself not to be taken back by Cuddy's beauty. Her eyes seemed bluer today than usual and her hair was in tighter curls. Thirteen liked her hair like that, although when it was up in a ponytail was very nice also.

"Yes, you did, Dr. Cuddy," she said, having to use a lot of willpower not to stutter, especially knowing the fact that Cuddy wouldn't stop staring straight into her eyes without moving or so much as blinking! It was very hard to keep eye contact and stay still in the chair. Just how long has her leg been shaking anyway? "And I apologize again for it."

"May I ask why you decided to show up late for a job that is practically being handed to you?" Was that sarcasm in her voice? "Does it have anything to do with the person that was in your apartment last night?"

Cuddy probably shouldn't be asking these questions. She half expected to get a comment back with Thirteen saying exactly that, but she didn't. Instead, she got back a reasonable answer.

"Kind of," Thirteen said, dropping her eyes to the floor beneath her. "We got into a fight and I couldn't sleep."

"You…got into a fight…" Cuddy stated slowly as if it was an unheard of thing. "Sister? Cousin?"

"Girlfriend," Thirteen said quickly and looked up to see Cuddy's eyes widening a few centimeters. "For about six months, although I guess she prefers to be called my ex now. I overslept because by the time I got to sleep, it was past five this morning. I'm sorry," she apologized again. Maybe now that Cuddy knew the full story, she would go easy on her. But that's not what was bothering Thirteen. She just told Cuddy, someone she barely knew, that she had a girlfriend. Judging by the shocked expression on Cuddy's face, that piece of information bothered her.

"I don't see what my sexuality has to do with me getting the job," Thirteen said immediately, figuring that's what was going to come next.

"I didn't say it had anything to do with it, Dr. Hadley." She handed her an open folder and told her to sign the forms.

Cuddy's heart sped up in her chest as Thirteen read over the documents and signed them at the end. It took a lot not to confess her undying love to her. In fact, the entire time Thirteen was in her office she had to put on a false mood so Thirteen wouldn't suspect anything. Now that Thirteen was either a lesbian or bisexual, it was such good news on her part!

"House is waiting for you with a case," Cuddy said, taking the folders back.

"Thank you," Thirteen said, coming to a stand, trembling unnoticeably. Instead of leaving right away, she stood still. "Um…I hope you don't think this is too forward and it's probably against the rules anyway, but did you want to go for a drink sometime?"

It took a lot for Thirteen to say that. She tried to make her tone normal, which of course ended in it sounding as if she were nervous and scared.

Cuddy chuckled. "Are you hitting on me, Dr. Hadley?"

Thirteen's eyes widened instantly. She quickly defended herself. "N-no, no of course not! I just…I just wanted us to get to know one another…you know…for employer/employee purposes."

Cuddy tried not to flush, but it happened anyway. Thirteen was asking her out! That's the very thing she wanted to happen, so why isn't she going for it?! Instead, a small smile formed on her face. Was it a sympathetic smile?

"I'm sorry, I can't…I have to fly to Boston this afternoon for a speech I have to give tomorrow and I won't be back for two days. If I want to kiss ass with a new MRI scanner, I have to spare the expense."

Thirteen was disappointed and it showed. "Maybe when you get back," she said. When she received a nod from Cuddy, she turned around and left the office without another word.

Cuddy watched her leave and kicked herself mentally for letting her go. Thirteen was practically throwing herself at her and she didn't so much as flinch! For the time being, it was probably better this way, for she still hasn't done much for a ten-minute speech and time was running out. Cuddy prepared to do some now and the rest when she was on the plane. Hopefully a muse would grant her its presence, because what she needed right now was some big time inspiration! She sat back at her desk and prepared to get back to work.

Did Cuddy seem interested? Or was she just being nice? Thirteen had to wonder. She thought hard up until she reached the fourth floor diagnostics by elevator and got off to see House and his new team in the office. She took a deep breath and opened the door. All eyes were on her.

"Oh great, look who's back," House said, expressing his usual sarcasm. "Did you really miss us that much that you had to take Cuddy up on her offer?"

"I like the job," Thirteen said and join Kutner and Taub at the table. "And plus, it was your offer, not hers."

"It's great to have you back," Taub said from the head of the table and resulted in a smile from Thirteen.

"Okay, can we have a welcome back party later? Let's focus on this kid." He scribbled the word 'lymphangitis' on the board. "What does this mean? Thirteen?"

"Uh…inflammation of the lymphatic vessels as a result of a bacteria infection," she said simply. "Why are you giving us a vocabulary test?"

"I just wanted to see if you knew as much as you think you did. Congrats, you passed," he said, flashing his usual smirk across the room. "How about…lymphadenopathy?"

"Do you have a point in this or are you just throwing out random diagnoses to get me going?"

"His patient has a disorder of the lymphatic system. We were in the middle of tossing out ideas when you came in," Kutner informed.

Thirteen grabbed a folder and opened it. Little did she know it, but House's eyes were on her the entire time, as if trying to read her. Something was up with her.

"Fifteen year old female with swollen lymph nodes in the neck and armpit, most likely caused by a bacterial or viral infection. Sounds like lymphadenopathy to me. Do we know if it's cancerous? Did anyone check if the infection was painful?"

"Interesting…" House said, biting his lower lip and staring at Thirteen as if in deep concentration.

"What?" Thirteen asked, meeting his stare.

"You're glowing…Now that could be because you're back here…or…your personal life has a little romance in it."

"The patient has a throat infection. It being cancerous is unknown at this time. We still need to run more tests," Foreman said, not waiting for Thirteen to answer House. This was Foreman's subtle way of telling House that there were more important things at hand than Thirteen's personal life.

"Tuberculosis?" Kutner piped up.

Foreman shook his head. "No."

"We'll know more if this is cancerous after the tests come back. If it's lymphangitis, we're going to need to take some blood samples," Taub added.

Then, the four looked up at House, who was still staring at Thirteen, as if he wanted to pounce on her. His stupid, silly grin made Thirteen recoil a bit. He only smirked like that when he knew something he shouldn't know…and the only thing he shouldn't know right now was Thirteen's crush on Cuddy. Did he know about that?

"Run the tests," he said, speaking to everyone, but still kept a firm stare on Thirteen.

The three left. Thirteen was the last out the door, but before she could leave, House called her.

"I know," he said when she looked over her shoulder at him.

"Know what?" Thirteen asked, putting on a smile of her own and beating him at his own game. House narrowed his eyes. Thirteen left after that, laughing to herself. If House didn't know about her crush on Cuddy, he'd know soon enough. He makes it a point to know everything about everything, subtly or not. Thirteen had to sort this out before he did.