Hey guys, I'm trying to update as often as I can but my first exam starts in just over a week and I am panicking like nobodies business. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. I am soooo screwed its frightening.

Along with that I have sinister scribe shacked up with me (crazy Scottish coconut)…so it's all party, party in ma free time. (I seem to have forgotten how to sleep :s) lol

Anyway, I have literally just finished this chapter, started it a while back but just hadn't had the time. I'm sorry I can't reply to all your reviews as I'm exhausted and need to return to the work once more.

Anyone this story is in the happy faze now :). So much fun to come…and of course the smut is on the way.

Hope you enjoy this one, a few people mentioned to me they didn't' want the monster to have had such an easy death…who said it was…after all, things are not always as they seem.

Hope you enjoy

Huggles

Scarlett

Ps: This is for Mixy, was meant to be for her birthday but I just never had the time, sorry its taken so long bubs I hope you enjoy it you crazy aussie.

--SS--

The Coming of the Dawn

Her eyes flickered open, breathing calm as she listened to the silence, soft and gentle, only broken by the sound of songbirds slowly singing the world awake. The sunlight was streaming in, warm and golden, dancing in patterns over the floorboards as the clouds raced by over head.

She loved the morning, the brief moment where nothing else existed; her mind was blank of any memories, just content, lying there, safe beneath the covers. Her relief was only short lived, along with the rising sun the memories seeped back in, but every morning they stung a little less.

House was out of the House early every day. He'd joke about how having his boss in his home meant he couldn't play hooky, but she knew it was because he felt awkward. However his affection and care came through in subtle ways. Her eyes fell upon the papers and forms from work, an untidy pile placed there every morning before she woke.

The hospital hadn't allowed her to stay, forcing her to take a recovery period. She hadn't wanted it, desperately wanting to remain, burying her mind and memory beneath piles of paper. The board had voted against her, claiming that she should take the time off and relax, the real reason was very clear. To them she was a liability. Her mind so fractured by thoughts and feelings, emotions in turmoil she couldn't' be trusted to perform to her best ability as a doctor and a boss.

If she was honest, if any of her doctors had gone through the experience she had she would have enforced the same decision, however now she had a little more sympathy and understanding for their desire to work. Remorse, suffering, negative emotions were the only time when people wanted work rather than resented it, ironic it was the only time people wouldn't let them.

She remembered House's reaction when he'd found her in her office. She hadn't even been released from the hospital and she'd already snuck her way down. She knew her timetable, knowing when her office would be empty of Wilson who was standing in, in her absence. She'd been going crazy trapped in her room, desperately wishing to have something to relieve her mind from the mantra of memories and thoughts that kept flowing through it.

She had seen him leave and darted in, trying to remain unnoticed and failing. The nurse staff had alerted the doctors within seconds. When he'd entered her office A flicker of relief had fallen across his face quickly replaced by worry before closing in on himself completely, only his eyes giving away his fear at finding her crumpled on the floor by her desk tears silently streaming down her face as she took in the little blood stain on the carpet; the only remaining evidence that she'd ever held a child. He'd gathered her up, drying her tears as gently as he could, dragging a calloused thumb across each cheek, before taking her back to her room, frightening anyone who stopped to stare. For once his anger was directed at other people, and on her behalf. His arms were the only place she felt safe, the way he held her, his heart beat thrumming through her body, a sign that she was still alive and that life went on.

When she'd been released she hadn't even had to ask him, he'd just brought her to his and settled her in, her stuff already in his room. She hadn't had the energy to ask how it had got there from her home.

Now she laid here a few weeks down the line. A routine struck between them where Wilson would deliver half the work load to House and it would be left on her bedside table ready for when she woke often accompanied by a note mentioning another lawsuit and how it wasn't his fault.

She rested back against her pillow, sinking into it; eyes staring at the ceiling remembering the aftermath of the devils death. There had been a brief enquiry; the police doing their duty to uncover what had happened, justice for the wicked, an inquest over the loss of a life that was never deserved. She'd given her statement, reliving the nightmare, clinging onto House who refused to leave even at the policeman's request. It was weird that a man who was so unstable in himself was the only thing that was holding her up during that week. The one constant, supporting her, not overly emotional or caring, living life like it always had been just with a softened edge.

House's attack on the man had been deemed self defence, the man having wielded a knife which was a much greater weapon than either House or Cuddy had in their defence. His death was a mystery in itself. On his death certificate it was detailed that the man had died of a brain haemorrhage, the blow to his brain doing excessive internal damage the surgeons were unable to fix; a combination of House's upper strength and his anger and fear meaning he hadn't held back when he'd hit her attacker, the only time she'd ever been thankful for the pain of another person. The only unanswered question was the heart rate on the man's chart. His blood pressure had risen then fallen dramatically minutes before his death. The police assumed it was to do with the man's body experiencing pain even though his mind was unengaged, drugs keeping him unconscious. Cuddy however felt there was another answer.

…………………………

House leant back, eyes tight shut, blocking out the turmoil of the day. He'd never wanted to be here, especially while knowing she was in his home, alone. A case had come up, demanding his attention, demanding he been everyday, her refusing to have him at home. Once a boss always a boss, she couldn't switch off, or relax knowing he was needed elsewhere, needed to save someone's life.

He'd felt thankful for the work load at first, needing something to occupy his mind fill it with thoughts and puzzles of patients not leaving room for anything else.

He was tired, the day almost over, his mind mulling over the last few days, the enquiry, the questions…so many questions. He hadn't been his usual self, choosing to get it over with quickly, end this ordeal finally and get them out before anyone thought he was lying.

Because he had been.

The guy had died, that was for certain, but he'd been the last one to see him alive. A moments anger, forcing him forward, wanting to face the one who'd caused all the pain, and who'd shattered Cuddy into pieces, the ones that had caused him so much pain to see before he'd begun to pick them up.

It had been silent; the slow beep of the monitor, constant, the only sign that the monster was still tied to their world, one which he wasn't welcome in.

House had woken him, wanting to watch him suffer, knowing he'd been in agony only having just come out of surgery. He'd switched off his morphine for only a moment; hovering over him, watching him squirm as his eyes flickered open. He'd gasped for air as the pain sunk in, body tossing and turning in agony, trapped in a damaged body unable to escape. The walls were sound proof, no one aware of his screams apart from House, a cold observer of his suffering. Knowing the man could never suffer enough for what he'd done.

He'd stayed there, watching, waiting, numb, empty of all emotion, before hobbling up to the mans side, fingers fumbling with the morphine drip, increasing the number one by one, watching as the man slowly slipped away, unconscious, death crawling up on him unknown to no one else but House.

He'd slipped away to go and find Cuddy, everything seeming normal within the ward, the patient still alive and well, even when the nurse had came to inspect only moments after his departure.

It had been when he'd returned with Cuddy that the morphine had finally kicked in, allowing them to view the monsters final moments together. There was no way House could risk her rapist returning to the world so he'd removed him for good.

The death was signed off as a brain haemorrhage, the surgery already highlighting this as a possible risk and hence assuming that was what had been the cause of death, no autopsy, no nothing, body now six feet under, the nightmare having ended many days ago.

It was done, the police had ended there enquires, lawful killing, at least for once justice was on his side.

He breathed in deep, a sigh, releasing all the stress of the past many months, emotional and physical, his form fully drained.

His Fingers grasped his cane as he stumbled to his feet, slinging his back pack up onto his shoulder before wandering from his office, very happy to be heading home, because for once in a very long while there was someone to head home to.

…………………………

She heard the rumble of his bike, the noise making her jump if only for a second, her nerves still on edge as they always would be, even though the ordeal was over, an experience leaves untraceable scars and this one ran ever so deep.

But she had her life back; it was all over, no need to be looking over her shoulder waiting for him to strike, knowing he wouldn't have given up till he'd destroyed her, leaving her with nothing, living her life in fear, until he'd finally emptied her of her last breath. She was sure that was his aim, wanting to make her suffer, so overly obsessed wanting to inflict his own pain onto someone else…seeing her as the ultimate target.

But it was over, ended, she was safe.

She snuggled back down on the sofa, content for the first time in ages, eyes returning to the program she'd been watching, well half watching, her mind always wondering, returning to the single question and deciding she had to know the answer.

And she'd find out tonight.

She'd been there, watching him when the police had first arrived, it had been subtle, something only someone who knew House well would notice, seemingly nothing to the untrained eye.

He'd been polite, the bite had still been there, but it was restrained, he'd held back, so subtly no one else would have even noticed, maybe not even Wilson. But she had, her eyes had fallen to his fingers, flexing on his cane, reflecting his restraint.

When the police had left she'd wanted to question him then, but hadn't had the energy to, and hadn't really seen him much since, work occupying his time, and time serving to blur her memory making her question herself and whether she'd really sensed his anxiety correctly.

Her head snapped up when she heard the door open, eyes watching as he wandered in, tossing his stuff aside before slumping down onto the sofa, his body crushing her feet beneath him.

She wriggled them out, him making no effort to move, frowning at him even though she knew he wouldn't notice with his eyes closed. She slid her feet into his lap, watching as his eyes snapped open, quickly coming to rest on her.

'How was your day honey?' she smiled at him, mocking the domesticity between them.

'Stressful, there's this administrator who's slacking off leaving all us hard working doctors to take the slack.'

She frowned, 'Wilson's in charge.'

'That's what makes it so stressful; he knows all my hide outs.'

She laughed, 'I shall have to ask him for the list some day.'

'He'd never tell, bro's before ho's…..and besides, if he snitches I'll just tell you about the time he got with his patient.'

She felt her expression froze, not knowing whether to take him seriously 'Wilson got with a patient.'

'Oh my god really?...if you knew that how could you put him in charge?'

'House!' she sighed, head falling back against the arm of the settee.

'What about me?'

'Oh you aggravating…' she ended mid sentence choosing to move, settling her feet on the floor before rising to stumble into the kitchen.

'What's for dinner?'

'I don't know as your cooking.'

'Soup it is then'

'As always,'

'It's my specialty'

'It comes in a can.'

'And I m very skilled at opening them.'

She shook her head, watching him walk towards her, his skin brushing against her as he entered the kitchen, bustling around, her eyes on him the whole time until the soup was warmed and ready.

They settled down at the table, a routine which House hadn't been accustomed to before she arrived; his own preference being slouching in front of the TV.

Conversation flowed freely for a few moments, before a brief silence sprung up between them, each digging in, allowing a chance for her question to bubble back to the forefront of her mind once more.

She had to know.

'House?'

'hmm'

His eyes weren't on her.

'Why were you so awkward with the police the other day?' She saw him halt for a second, spoon hovering before it descended beneath the surface of the soup once more.

'Was worried the cop was coming on to me.'

'It was a guy.'

'Then you can understand my concern.'

'House…for once will you be honest.'

'About what?'

'What really happened?'

'When?'

'with…with…the day he died.' She still couldn't bring herself to give the man in her mind an identity beyond him being a monster.

'What about the day he died?'

He still wasn't looking at her, ladling his soup slowly, attention on it as though he found it fascinating.

'It wasn't from a brain haemorrhage was it? It was you.'

………………………….

The words he had hoped he'd never have to admit to, especially to her, choosing to ignore the fact it ever happened, accepting the end, relishing in the fact it was all over and ignoring his hand in it. The man had vowed to get her, he couldn't have let it happen, he had to protect her, the emotions over what he had done were still unsettled and raw, but just like the men in the army, they killed to defend their country, he killed to defend something that meant more to him than the world all over. Something he'd finally admitted to himself, not that he would ever admit it to anyone else. She was his secret, his weakness, one that made him act based on his heart and not his head.

He had to tell her, anyone else…well anyone else would never have noticed, would never have known.

He let his soup fall from his spoon, watching it splash back into the bowl before bring his eyes up to meet hers giving on simple, very affirmative answer.

'Yes.'

Her expression showed nothing, eyes not even flickering from his face. His muscles were tense waiting for her reaction not knowing what was going to happen.

He had expected a barrage of questions, anything other than this silence.

Suddenly, and much to his surprise a small smile broke out, her voice slicing through the silence like a warm breeze on an icy day, heating his heart as she voiced words which he never dreamed she'd say.

'Thank you.'

--SS--

Please leave a review peeps, something good needs to be going on about now….cos I hate revising…uni is not funny!!