A/N: Sorry it's been a while. I just got a Mac and had to figure out how to convert everything to my old PCso that I could post it because the Document Manager doesn't support Pages. I think that this is my shortest chapter yet, and I guess that that makes sense because this is sort of an in between chapter. Hope you all like!

Curiosity Gets The Better

Thirteen sighed as she fondled the silver band on her ring finger whilst walking into the diagnostics office. She smiled in relief when she saw no one was there, and she removed the ring. She and Foreman had had a not unpleasant discussion the night before, and had decided not to tell anyone at work about their engagement until after Thirteen's impending suspension. When no one else knew, it was special and intimate and completely their own. It was their secret. She had, however, dropped in early to tell Natalie, who at the time had been helping Brock gather his things to be discharged. The couple had been thrilled for her and offered their congratulations, and she in turn guaranteed them a wedding invitation in the near future.

Thirteen took a moment to examine the diamond set at the pinnacle of the ring, still in awe of the previous day's events, before slipping it into the breast pocket of her lab coat, and airy smile adorning her face. I'm lucky. Damn, so lucky. Images of white dresses and bouquets began to envelop her mind as she leaned against the conference table and swayed back and forth slightly after closing her eyes. She never thought that she would be one of those sort of brides, but she couldn't help herself. She felt like one of the princesses in the fairy tales her father used to read her as a small child, though she had never particularly liked them. My father. Thirteen hadn't spoken to her father since she graduated from medical school. She wasn't sure exactly how to go about telling him that she was to marry a man she hadn't even introduced to him. She wasn't even sure she should tell him. Her father hadn't been a part of her life in so long. He didn't even know that she was sentenced to be killed by the same thing that caused the death of her mother. "I'll talk to Eric about it," she resolved aloud.

"About what?" came the voice Thirteen glanced up from her trance, only to see Taub and Kutner. "About what?" Kutner repeated.

"If I wanted to talk about it, why didn't I bring it up?" she replied.

"But you did," Taub countered.

She sighed in annoyance. "Not to you. Anyway, you'll probably find out in a week's time, so just leave it."

"Whatever you say," the older doctor shrugged. "You know," he continued, changing the subject, "Kutner just figured out what your name is." Kutner's cheeks began to burn red in embarrassment.

"That's pretty old news," Thirteen laughed.

"Well why did you expect me to know?" Kutner defended. "It's not like you ever tell us anything..."

At that moment, House barged in, dumping his backpack and coat on the floor as per usual. "Where's Foreman?" he asked loudly, directing himself at Thirteen.

"He's talking to Cuddy about getting some time off," she replied, unfazed as always.

"Oh, that's right! I heard about your little escapade with your stalker. I'm impressed. But then you had to go and ruin it by getting suspended."

Kutner and Taub appeared puzzled, so she explained. "I slugged Jeremy. Even loosened a few teeth. It was pretty gratifying."

"Yep," House added. "And I take it that Foreman saw this as an opportunity for some...eh hem...alone time?"

"Uh ha." Foreman then entered the room, and he and Thirteen exchanged welcoming glances.

"What did I miss?" he asked.

"It was great!" House exclaimed. "Your girlfriend gave Taub a lap dance!" Thirteen simply rolled her eyes at her boss. "Anyway, new case! Fifteen-year-old female presenting with a fever, swollen lymph nodes, chills, nausea, and decreased consciousness. Go."

"West Nile?" Thirteen suggested.

"Well, that's not good. Put her on anything that has shown promise in curing West Nile." Thirteen smiled to herself, thinking about what Foreman may have planed for the upcoming week. What she didn't realize was that House had seen her smile, and his curiosity had been piqued.

It was Thirteen's third day out of commission when House decided to go to her apartment. Four days earlier, she had smiled after diagnosing a patient with having a potentially fatal virus, who indeed had it and was currently being monitored at the hospital. He knew that his sole female employee wasn't that sadistic, but he was sure that something was up between she and Foreman. He hated being ignorant. He needed to find out. He banged on her door unceremoniously, and as he did so heard some incoherent clamoring from the opposite side. The door then swung open, revealing Thirteen with a black silk robe tied about her otherwise bare body. Her chest was heaving and her pupils were dilated. A thin sheen of sweat glistened over the skin that was exposed and her cheeks were flushed. House couldn't help but smirk as he silently prayed to a God he didn't believe in that he would get a chance to see her in this light again. The smell of sex-good sex-was in the air.

Thirteen frowned instantly when she saw him. "What the hell are you doing here?" She proceeded to gesture with a hand in the air, but quickly drew it back when she noticed his eyes dart to her ring finger.

"So that's the big secret? An engagement?"

"Yes," she moaned in a disgruntled manner, quite a contrast from how she had done so only minutes before. "Now can you leave?"

"No," House replied. "Where's Foreman?"

"Not in a position to see you," She smirked back. "Now go." She was about to close the door when House stepped abruptly in her way.

"Cameron and Chase are, too, you know."

"Really?" Thirteen asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. He proposed yesterday."

"I know what you're doing. We have about four days on them."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. We were planning on telling everyone after my suspension. Let it slip and I'll knife you."

"I'd prefer a whip..."

"Goodbye, House," she said firmly, slamming the door in his face before he had time to say or do anything else. Thirteen made her way back to the bedroom, where Foreman was lounging.

"Who was that?" he questioned.

She said nothing, but her facial expression told him everything he needed to know. "He saw the ring."

"It's House. He was bound to figure it out."

"Yeah," she replied. "He just really pisses me off sometimes."

"You shouldn't dwell on it too much."

"No." After a few seconds of silence, her mouth twisted itself up from a contemplative frown into a seductive grin. "Anyway, where were we?" Thirteen asked as she slowly slipped her robe down over her skin.

Foreman's face echoed her own. "I think I remember."

A/N: Soooo how was it? Every writer thrives on reviews, so leave some, or I might carry out Thirteen's threat on the lot of you.