Thirteen, and just about every other employee of Cuddy's found out near the end of the day that Cuddy had fired House. The majority of them congratulated her for finally going through with it while a small percentage condemned her for it. Wilson, Kutner, Taub, Foreman, and even Chase and Cameron paid Cuddy a visit before she headed home for the day.

"Are you on crack or something?" Cameron, dressed in her light green scrubs, had asked when she confronted her with Chase as her moral support. She didn't choose her words too carefully.

Cuddy chuckled, but no humor came from it. She looked up from her paperwork. "I wish."

"House is the best doctor in this hospital! You can't just—"

"I've already had this talk with his lackeys, as well as Wilson. I've thought about this for a long time now and I'm not changing my mind. I'm hiring a new diagnostician, one that won't make me leave with a headache at the end of the day."

Chase and Cameron exchanged both worried and surprised glances. They were both thinking the same thing. Who the hell is this and where is the real Cuddy? She wouldn't just fire House unexpectedly! There must be one heck of a story to this one.

"You won't do that," Cameron challenged, folding her arms across her chest. "House will be back here tomorrow morning and you know it."

Cuddy didn't appreciate the confronting and it showed. She didn't hide it. "Unless you want to join him, Dr. Cameron, I suggest you go back to the ER and—"

"It's funny now all of a sudden you grow a backbone when it comes to House." Cameron was just getting started. Cuddy still looked neutral. "All these years, he breaks every rule in the book and gets away with it. You don't even have the nerve to tell him to get his ass down to the clinic to do his clinic duty, but yet you have the nerve to fire him."

"This doesn't concern you. You don't work for him anymore, and as far as I can tell, you no longer had feelings for him." She looked to Chase. "What do you have to say about this?"

Chase raised his hands in his defense. "Absolutely nothing."

Cameron's mouth dropped as he turned around and left the office. He's always been somewhat afraid of Cuddy when it came to confrontation. Cameron made a mental note to yell at him later.

"You won't win," Cuddy said when Cameron refused to move.

"Yes I will, because you'll cave."

Cameron looked a little worried when Cuddy reached for her phone and dialed a number from a file she was looking at. At first, she thought Cuddy might be calling security, but that thought quickly faded when Cuddy put the phone on speaker and hung up the receiver.

"Hello?" came a young woman's voice.

"Hi, is there a Dr. Laura Crosby there?" Cuddy asked, looking at Cameron, who was wondering where Cuddy was going with this.

"This is she," she said.

"Dr. Crosby, this is Dr. Lisa Cuddy from Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital," Cuddy introduced, still not faltering and being completely professional.

Laura Crosby paused a few seconds. Small utters came across the line before she spoke again. "W-What can I do for you, Dr. Cuddy?" It was obvious Laura knew of Cuddy. She went from sounding sweet to sounding scared out of her mind.

"I was looking over your résumé and saw that you specialized in diagnostic medicine. A position has opened up and I would like to set up an interview with you as soon as possible."

Cameron fought the urge to march over to the desk and disconnect the phone call. Cuddy had completely lost it!

Cuddy hung up when the phone call was over. Cameron wanted to slap the smile right off her face. "Looks like you lost the bet, Dr. Cameron. Should I go through the résumés and look for an ER lead or are you going to get back to work and leave me alone?"

Cameron's fists clenched so hard by her side that her knuckles turned white. Her jaw clenched. Fortunately for Cameron, she did know when to stop. As much as she wanted to lash out at Cuddy, she knew she wouldn't get anywhere. Emitting a loud growl, she stormed out of Cuddy's office to vent somewhere else.

Cuddy watched her go. It's a good thing she left when she did, for a tear fell down Cuddy's cheek that couldn't be stopped. She brushed it away quickly.

She did what she had to do. The main reason was because of him stressing her out on a daily basis, but another reason was because of Lexi. Cuddy threw her hand over her face as more tears snuck out of her eyes. This threat was running her life and her decision-making. Everyone knew there was a deeper reason behind House being fired, but no one knew what that was, except Thirteen, who stayed quiet during all of this. Thirteen saw how hard this was on Cuddy. She was new to PPTH, but knew that House and Cuddy had a special bond that started as far back as twenty years or so. She cared about him and even though he's an emotionless ass, he cared about her also. She wouldn't fire him over him being insolent about clinic duty. If that was the case, she would've fired him years ago. Cuddy had every good reason to fire him. So then why did she feel so bad?

Thirteen entered her office just as she was brushing away another wave of tears.

"Cuddy…" Thirteen started softly. She didn't want to scare her.

Their eyes met, but just briefly before Cuddy hid her face again. "How's the patient?" she asked in a low voice, pretending to be working.

"She has malignant melanoma. House diagnosed her before he…left. Lisa…if you let him go because of Lexi—"

"Yes, I did let him go because of her. And because of you. You happy now?" Cuddy spat. "The hospital lost its best doctor and I lost a friend because I had to think of your crazy ex over my hospital. And to top it off, I lost the trust of some very good colleagues because I fired House."

Thirteen grew angry. "What is the matter with you? Why are you letting Lexi get to you? To fire House over some elementary level intimidation…it's not like you. In fact, it's childish."

"Childish?" Cuddy echoed angrily. "How is taking the threat of some madwoman I don't know childish? She threatened House!"

"But that doesn't mean you have to fire him! What this tells me is you've been wanting to fire him and used Lexi as an excuse."

Cuddy looked horrified. "That isn't true! House is the best doctor in this hospital and I've tolerated him for nine years, and I can tolerate him for nine more if I have to!"

Thirteen was so confused. She didn't know what to think anymore. Between Lexi's immaturity and Cuddy's fear of that immaturity, Thirteen was quickly being shoved out of the way against her will. To get Cuddy back, which is what she wanted, something had to be done about Lexi. Otherwise, she would be just wasting her breath trying to get through to Cuddy. She wasn't giving up. Cuddy meant too much to her to pull the plug. She only wished Cuddy felt the same way and would work with her, not fire every employee that Lexi plans to terrorize to get back at her every day she's with her.

"Do you really think that House is any safer now that he's gone? It only makes it easier for Lexi to go to his apartment and secretly do the job. At least here he was safe being around people."

"I didn't fire him!" Cuddy said loudly and lightly delivered a fist onto the surface of her desk. "I only wanted to make it look like I did so you can tell Lexi and she wouldn't come around here anymore. But I guess that's out of the question now," she murmured, throwing her hand out.

Thirteen's face fell serious. "You lied to me."

Cuddy groaned. "Oh don't get so personal, I lied to everyone. When you see Cameron, tell her the phone call to Laura Crosby was staged. She'll be happy to hear it."

"Why do you think I would tell Lexi that House was fired? Why do you think I would have anything to say to her after the hell she put us through? Dammit…this is just so fucking frustrating. Not to mention annoying."

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Cuddy murmured, going back to her paperwork. These events have slowed her progress down, making the work pile up. She'd be lucky if she was able to leave to go home tonight.

"Just tell me one thing, Cuddy…do we even stand a chance anymore? Because it looks to me like you don't give a damn."

Here we go again. Cuddy couldn't help but let out a small groan of annoyance. "There's nothing I can do, except wait here for you to deal with your girlfriend, but why I subject myself to this is unknown. I feel like I'm waiting for nothing."

Thirteen felt a tad insulted at that comment, but didn't respond on it.

"Please, just go. I have a ton of work to do and I want Lexi to be the furthest thing from my mind."

"And evidently me as well," Thirteen said, folding her arms. "You know, Lisa, when I said I wasn't giving up, I meant it. If lives have to be lost because of me wanting to be with you, then so be it."

That deserved a deep frown from Cuddy. "What?" She didn't expect something like that to come out of Thirteen's mouth. She was willing to sacrifice lives so they can stay together? She had to be joking, despite the anger in her eyes.

"I'm saying I'm not going to give in to Lexi. We should continue to see each other."

"But not at the cost of a life!" Cuddy exclaimed.

"She won't kill anyone!" Thirteen yelled back. "I've known her almost a year, dated her for about six months. There's a lot of things Lexi is, but she's not a murderer. Your hospital and your diagnostician are safe. Can we stop this juvenile antic and think like adults now?"

"Funny you should suggest that, because out of everyone, your behavior is the most hedonistic." Cuddy stood up, taking a few folders with her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Thirteen asked, following her out of her office.

"It means stop following me and get back to work."

Cuddy stopped at the nurse's station just outside her office and tossed a few charts in the wire bin.

"House has no current cases," Thirteen said, as if that were a free invitation to follow around the Dean of Medicine all day until she says what Thirteen was looking to hear.

"Then you're on clinic duty," Cuddy said, thrusting three charts into her hands. Those were just ones to start.

"It's Kutner's day to do clinic," she said to Cuddy's back once Cuddy made her retreat.

Cuddy looked over her shoulder just before going back into her office, thankful she was now Thirteen-free. Anything to get her away from her. "It's yours now."

Cuddy disappeared into her office and Thirteen let out a loud sigh. Maybe having clinic duty was a good thing. It would take her mind off Lexi and Cuddy long enough for her to get some sanity back.

"Great offer, Dr. Cuddy, but what if I don't want to come back?" House asked when Cuddy called him that evening to give him his job back before she went home. She never planned to tell him it was a spur-the-moment thing to get Lexi's attention off him. He'll probably find out about that at some point, but not from her.

"If you don't, you'll be working at a fast food joint, because they're the only ones who will hire you. Unless you want to be making minimum wage and ten thousand a year, I suggest you come back tomorrow."

"Why? Just so I can be bossed around by you? I'll have to give it some thought. I don't like being threatened to be fired every time I see you." He was being sarcastic. She could hear it in his voice. He was playing with her.

"House, I flipped out and fired you because you give me more grief than anyone I know and I lost it. You're an ass, but everyone's crowding around me, giving me the third degree about firing you."

"Yeah? Like who?"

"Kutner, Taub, and especially Cameron."

"Cameron? Hmm…She's only saying that because she doesn't work for me anymore."

"She's saying that because she wants you back. So do I."

Cuddy hoped she didn't regret saying that.

House hummed in thought. "I'll come back on two conditions."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. Figures. House knew he had the upper hand here and was going to drag all he could out of her. Firing him was a very bad idea, even though it wasn't really legit.

"Depends," she said, voice hard.

"One, you give me a month free of clinic duty."

That's always one of his stipulations. She was prepared for that.

"We'll see. Next."

"You meet me in exam room three for about a half hour when I get in tomorrow. I think I see what Thirteen sees in you. I spent the whole day today—"

"House, I don't want to hear any stories about you fantasizing about me. The answer is no."

"Well then I don't think I'll be able to come back."

"You'll be back. Just get your ass in here tomorrow and you'll be let off clinic duty for a month."

"YESSS!" House cheered loudly. "I knew you'd see it my way."

"I expect you in here, bright and early."

House groaned. "Like…eleven?"

"Try eight. You haven't been on time in five years."

"Hey, you screamed at me, fired me for no reason, and begged me to come back, as I expected you would. I think it's only fair I show up at eleven."

"The yelling was a joint effort. Do you want me to fire you again?"

"You could…but it would only cause more problems for you. In order to hire me back again, I'd make you take me up on that second offer."

"House…" Cuddy said in her warning voice.

"Oh, and I also want to know what that girl said about me."

"What girl?" Cuddy asked, trying to play it dumb.

"You know who I mean…That blonde that was in your office yesterday. Both of you looked back at me at the same time."

Cuddy sighed. She had no choice but to tell him. Maybe he could keep an eye out for Lexi easier that way.

"If you come in tomorrow at eight, I'll tell you."

"MOOOOM!" he stretched out, whining.

"Come at eleven and you don't find out."

Even though Lexi's threat was nothing to joke about, Cuddy wanted to have some fun with House. She knew she could get him there early if she agreed to tell him.

He agreed. She hung up with him and straightened up, preparing to go home for the night. The second she reached for her lamplight to turn it off, the door to her office swung open. It caught her by surprise.

"There is no Dr. Laura Crosby listed on the roster that specializes in diagnostic medicine here, or anywhere else in the US." It was Cameron and she looked like hell, almost as if she spent her entire day researching this woman and stressing herself out over it. House being fired really must've taken a toll on her. "What the hell is going on?"

Cuddy flicked the light off with a sigh. "Go home and get some sleep, Dr. Cameron," she said, walking over to her coat rack. "It's almost nine."

"I don't care what time it is, Cuddy, what are you trying to prove here? Either you're being lied to or you're lying to us. For that, there better be a good reason for it."

Cuddy frowned at her while putting her coat on. She found it humorous that Cameron was giving her ultimatums. "I don't owe you anything, Dr. Cameron." She grabbed her briefcase by the door. "And more importantly what I don't owe you is an explanation. Excuse me."

Cuddy slipped easily past Cameron and left for the night.

-------

When Cuddy got home, she was immediately alerted when she went to unlock her front door and there was a white piece of paper taped to the doorknob. She tore it off and read it, eyes going wide half way through.

This was getting ridiculous. Even though Lexi's threats are very childish and increasingly annoying, Cuddy took them seriously. She didn't know Lexi; she didn't know if she would actually hurt someone because of her being with Thirteen!

Cuddy entered her home, peeled off her coat, kicked off her shoes, took her phone out of her purse, and then threw the purse and the briefcase to the ground by her shoes. A mix of fear and anger pulsed through her veins.

"Hello?" came Thirteen's voice.

"Lexi left me a note on my door," Cuddy said, pacing back and forth on her carpet runner in the foyer, the note still in her hand.

"What does it say?" Thirteen sounded surprised. Cuddy didn't know why. It was expected that Lexi would do something like this soon.

Cuddy looked at the note again, even though she already had it memorized. "'Give me what I want or someone gets hurt tomorrow.' Remy, I can't do this anymore."

"Can't do what anymore?" she asked.

Cuddy threw her free arm out. "This! Lexi and her threats. I already had to pretend to fire House and it was twice as much hell calling him back and saying I changed my mind!"

"Lisa, Lexi isn't going to hurt anyone! You're getting yourself worked up over nothing and it's seriously degrading. We had something good going and thanks to her, we don't have anything anymore." Her tone saddened. "That's not fair to me."

Cuddy lowered her head to her carpet and stopped pacing. "Tomorrow I'm pulling my staff and telling them about her. I don't want to take any chances."

"Oh my god, Lisa, seriously, listen to yourself! What exactly are you going to say? "Because we had a fling in Boston, Thirteen's ex is a jealous as all hell bitch and making threats because she slept with me?" That's not going to make things get better; it's going to make them worse! Not only will everyone know about us, it'll be pointless! Lexi's not going to hurt anyone; she just wants to hurt me like I hurt her!"

Cuddy paused. She didn't talk for a while, making Thirteen think that she hung up.

"Lisa?" she prompted in a low voice.

"Remy, I like you. I love you, even. What we had in Boston, I haven't had that in a long time with anyone."

"But you're not in-love with me," Thirteen said, voice falling.

"After all this…it's driving a wedge between us if anything. I don't want it to get to the point where I have to look over my shoulder every time I go somewhere. And it's not only that. Everyone knows something is bothering me. Cameron knows something's going on and keeps on me about it. She's been in my office more times today than in the past year."

"Maybe you should just be with her then. It's safer that way. She won't cause you to look over your shoulder." Thirteen's tone was sarcastic. She clearly didn't understand.

Cuddy sighed angrily. "It's not a matter of wanting to be with anyone, Remy. That's not the point."

"Then what is? Even if you break it off with me, you're still going to have Lexi breathing down your neck because you had me in the first place. It's you she wants, not anyone else."

"But to hurt me, she'll hurt someone close to me. I asked you already if I had anything to worry about and you said no!" Cuddy cried out of frustration. "Tell me the truth!"

"I don't know! But what I do know is that I'm not giving up on us. For the first time in my life, I found someone I actually love. I didn't do anything to hurt you. I would never hurt you, Lisa. And if I ever find Lexi, I'll kill her myself for driving us apart."

Cuddy balled her fist lightly, but then released it with a short sigh. "I don't want this to end," she said in a small voice. "You're wrong Remy…I am in love with you…and instead of making me happy…it's killing me."

"Don't think about Lexi right now. Think about me. Think about Boston and us drinking coffee in the restaurant. Think how wonderful you were feeling when we made love. Hold onto that and don't let it go."

Tears pooled up in Cuddy's eyes. "I haven't let it go since that night. My mind is the only thing safe from Lexi."

"Open your front door."

Cuddy froze, allowing a tear to roll down her cheek. "What?" She threw her eyes up to the closed door.

"Do it."

She walked over and unbolted the locks, hands trembling. She opened the door to see Remy standing before her, phone up to her ear and tears in her eyes as well. She hung up the phone and threw herself at Cuddy, wrapping her arms around the back of her neck and drawing her into a deep kiss. Cuddy kissed back just as urgently.

In that moment, Lexi was forgotten about completely as Cuddy kicked the door shut with her foot and guided Thirteen through her house and to the bedroom, never breaking the kiss. Good thing her bedroom wasn't too far down the hall.

"I believe you owe me reciprocation," Thirteen whispered sexily, tickling Cuddy's ear.

"I don't know if I can…" Cuddy said, feeling her stomach acquire butterflies.

"You can do it," Thirteen said, unbuttoning Cuddy's white blouse and reaching in for another kiss. "I know you can."

She pushed Cuddy's shirt off at her shoulders and let it slide down her arms. Cuddy's bra color choice of the day was a Candies purple and black shimmering material with a small heart pendant in the middle. It was odd to see her in that brand, but it was very sexy, nonetheless. The downstairs matched as well. Thirteen saw that when she unbuttoned Cuddy's skirt and let that slide down as well. She used a moment to take in Cuddy's delicious body before her. She couldn't resist touching her. It's as if her hands were the magnet and Cuddy's body was the steel. She was drawn to her.

"You're so beautiful," she whispered, cupping Cuddy's heat over her underpants and leaning in for another kiss. Cuddy moaned in her mouth, followed by a gasp when one of Thirteen's fingers dipped in past the lining of Cuddy's underwear and through her wet folds. Cuddy wasn't prepared for that amount of sensation and drew a shaky gasp in between clenched teeth.

"Does that feel good?" Thirteen asked seductively.

Cuddy bit her lower lip and nodded. She wanted to undress Thirteen, but couldn't focus when she had this rippling pleasure zapping at her senses.

Thirteen's fingers drew a few circles at her clit before pulling her hand out.

"Your turn," she whispered.

Cuddy's hands worked like pros. All she needed to drive her was the insanely pleasurable feeling in her body. Expertly, she had Thirteen's clothes off in no time. This part was familiar to her. She attacked Thirteen's bare chest with her hands, as well as her mouth, leaving Thirteen writhing in pleasure. Cuddy knew where her sensitive spots were and attacked those the most. While she did that, her hands slipped around the edging of Thirteen's thong and pulled it down far enough so that it would slide down her legs on its own. This was the first time Cuddy had seen Thirteen completely naked. It was also the first time she touched her. Thirteen bit back a moan when Cuddy's finger curiously invaded her slit. She was nervous, but determined.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Lisa?" she asked, feeling Lisa's nervousness. She also felt her hands trembling against her flesh.

It would kill Thirteen to back down now, but she didn't want to rush Cuddy if she wasn't ready.

"Get on the bed," Cuddy said, her stern voice compensating for her apprehension.

Thirteen grinned and did as she was told. Cuddy crawled in from the end of the bed and set herself on top of her, pressing their chests together. Cuddy still had her undergarments on. Thirteen moaned at the contact the rough spots on the bra had with her sensitive breasts. It was the same with Cuddy's underwear.

"Prepare to be reciprocated," Cuddy said and crashed her mouth onto Thirteen's and delved her tongue in instantly. There was so much urgency in the kiss that Thirteen yelped into Cuddy's mouth periodically.

Cuddy's lips suddenly went from Thirteen's, down to her throat. She nipped and sucked there. She could feel Thirteen's throat hum as she did so. Thirteen was getting edgy. She pressed her hands to Cuddy's shoulders to push her down, but not too hard. It was just enough to let her know that she was doing this too slowly and that Thirteen was very impatient.

When Cuddy didn't get the message and continue to bite and suck wherever her mouth felt like doing so, Thirteen wrapped her fingers up in Cuddy's hair with a light cuss.

"Patience, my love," Cuddy whispered.

"Fuck patience," Thirteen bit. "Do it now."

"Do what? This?" Thirteen's body jumped when two of Cuddy's fingers dived past her folds and brushed up against her clit.

"Yes…That…That is good…"

Cuddy got the sudden urge to taste her lover. She slid off her, taking her fingers with her. She mainly did that to tease Thirteen. Thirteen wasn't happy with that and sent another cuss into the air at the loss of her fingers.

Cuddy brought her mouth to Thirteen's slit, slowly mimicking what she felt Thirteen to do her in Boston. The rest of it came natural to her.

Instead of cussing Cuddy out again, Thirteen wrapped her fingers in her hair again and pushed her deeper into her slit to the point where Cuddy couldn't breathe if she tried to. She pushed her in so deep that she felt Cuddy's nose against her clit and her tongue massaging the flesh between her clit and her opening. Lisa didn't seem to care about her lack of oxygen. She moved her head upwards and attacked Thirteen's clit with her mouth, biting and sucking. Thirteen's body trembled. That's when her grip eased up and Cuddy came up for air. While she did this, she immediately shoved two fingers up into her lover and pumped them quickly. She remembered how Thirteen did this to her and what she did exactly to drive her crazy. She knew she found Thirteen's sensitive spot when her hips bucked up. Cuddy grinned.

"Oh, god, Lisa…God!" That was only the start of Thirteen's screaming. The closer she came to her orgasm, the louder she was. The louder she was, the harder Cuddy wanted to fuck her.

Cuddy added a third finger into the bucking body of Thirteen and also nibbled at her clit to bring her to the edge.

Thirteen's screaming bounced off the walls and probably woke the neighbors. Either she was very easy to please or Cuddy was just too damn good.

Cuddy couldn't remember the last time she liked hearing her name so much. Shooting from the throat of her lover was a wonderful thing. She had caused guys yell out her name, but it didn't feel like this.

Thirteen was recovering from her intense orgasm when Cuddy crawled up beside her with a smile. That wasn't nearly as hard to do as she thought it would be.

"Fuck, Lisa, you must have a hidden agenda or something," Thirteen said, trying to catch her breath. "Are you sure this is your first time with a woman?"

Cuddy chuckled and nodded. "Completely sure."

"Then you are a true bisexual."

That word would scare most people, especially if they're being called that. They would be in either denial or not one at all. Cuddy wasn't afraid of that word at all. She just smiled.

"I believe you're up," Cuddy said slyly, reaching over to kiss Thirteen lightly on the shoulder. "You can't leave me hanging."

Thirteen wouldn't dream of it. She returned her love, plus much more.

The two didn't get much sleep that night.

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As always, reviews are well appreciated! Thanks, guys! :)