Thanks again, guys!

The three of them stood in front of that nightclub and Cuddy had rolled her eyes so often during the last hour that she was afraid they might pop out pretty soon.

"So what now? Where can I get my keys?"

House pointed at the building. "Someone in there might know the answer."

"That is ridiculous! It's 8 am, nobody is there anyway."

House just shrugged.

"It's not my car. So then let's go back to the hospital."

Suddenly the door behind them opened. A man came out carrying some trash bags. He walked around the corner into the ally and threw them in a huge garbage can.

"Seems you are lucky. That's Frank, the janitor", House explained.

Frank obviously recognized House as well and threw him a nod.

"So you have to chain a woman to your hand nowadays to get a date?", he smirked and looked at Wilson. "But what's with him?"

"Well, you know me. I am that nasty", House grinned.

"Excuse me!", Cuddy interrupted them. "Do you have any idea where my car keys are or even better my car?", she asked him and felt ridiculous.

Again Frank grinned. "Late night last night? Always the same with drunk people but at least you remembered where to look for your keys."

"No, actually I wasn't….", Cuddy accepted the idea of this guy thinking she had a huge hangover and lost her keys in action the night before instead of telling him the truth.

"I might be able to organize them", Frank smiled now and brought out her keys from his pocket, "but what's in there for me?"

Cuddy glared at him. "What do you mean? These are my keys so give them back."

"Oh come, nice lady. How about a drink tonight? No keys necessary, I'll drive you home."

House's mood changed immediately. He shot Frank a death glare but the janitor had only eyes for Cuddy.

"How about a nice kick in the crotch if you don't hand them over at once? And don't worry, no ambulance necessary, these guys here are doctors."

House smirked while Wilson still tried to figure out what was going on here.

Frank got the message and gave her the keys. "Sorry. You are really everything he ever told me about you", he pointed at House. House rolled his eyes. "Good bye, Frank", the diagnostician said angrily and the janitor got that message as well. "See you around, guys", he said and vanished inside.

"What was that all about? What did you tell him about me?", Cuddy wondered.

"You should have asked him for the next step. He knows where you can find your car", House deflected.

Cuddy shook her head and got the keys for the handcuffs that chained her to Wilson.

"Oh don't worry. I can take care of this myself."

She released her own hand and chained the boys to the stair-rail leading down the few steps to the entrance of the nightclub.

"Hey!", Wilson protested but he couldn't react quickly enough.

"I'll be back in let's say two hours. Maybe you want to tell me about my car then. Have a good time."

She turned around and walked away. In that moment thunder interfered the silence and she looked back at them.

"Oh dear, I think it might rain pretty soon!", she grinned and left them.

Wilson starred at his buddy. "Well done, House!"

The diagnostician chuckled. "She is soo mean!", he just smirked and shook his head.

It thundered again and Wilson observed the grey sky skeptically.

"Call her and tell her where she can find her car", Wilson ordered him.

"What's the matter with you? Relax!", House told him and sat down on the stairs.

"Relax? You want me to relax? I'm linked to a stupid stair-rail and you, and I have to tell you right now I prefer the stair-rail. Get me out of this!"

House raised his eyebrows. "Just say the magic words and you are out of here!"

"Did you plan this to make me give up?", the oncologist wondered.

House rolled his eyes. "Sure, I made Cuddy steal our food and money so we have to take a cab over to her place so I can steal her car just to make sure we sent her on this chase because I knew she would drag us along and chain us to something. Please don't handle any heavy machinery today!"

"I just thought…", Wilson got cut off.

"Yeah, that was your first mistake", House mumbled while he searched his pockets for the key.

"Relax, we'll be out of here in a minute. Same handcuffs, same keys."

It took them longer than just a minute since House couldn't find the key.

"You got them?", he finally asked Wilson. The oncologist started searching his own pockets as well but shook his head eventually.

"You lost them?", he asked House.

"That bitch!", House mumbled. Cuddy had sneaked the key from his pocket earlier. He was sure about this since he was missing his cell phone as well.

There they were sitting on the stairs of a nightclub in a part of Princeton that was fun at night but not very attractive during the day. And the only thing they could wait for was Cuddy coming back in 1 hour and 56 minutes. Damn! She was mean!

Oh and then the rain started.

14 minutes later they were both bored. Bored with each other, bored with the situation definitely bored with the rain and bored with the silence that had built up between them.

"Can I please have my left hand?", Wilson asked him. His right hand was resting on the stair-rail since he couldn't get it away from there anyway but House rested his head on his right hand which forced the oncologist to rest his left hand on House's thigh which was freaky enough.

"Sorry", House mumbled and switched and switched hands.

Wilson realized the lack of snappy comments.

"What's up?", he asked him.

House sighed. "Nothing."

"Oh come, let's talk about it."

"Oh God, my worst dream comes true. You start a lecture and I can't run away."

"No, I was just asking whether you have a problem."

"Yes, actually I do have a problem", House yelled. "It's this fucking rain, the really annoying company on this stairs and my butt is freezing from sitting here on that damn concrete let alone my leg. So yes, I have a problem! And the last thing I need now is you analyzing me!"

They were silent for a while again until Wilson couldn't hold it back any longer.

"It's funny you know. You blame everyone and everything for this except the person that is responsible, Cuddy."

House had closed his eyes and didn't show any reaction at all.

But he startled when they heard a voice behind them half a minute later.

"What is going on here?", a deep voice asked them.

They both turned their heads and knew they were in trouble. Two cops were standing behind them. That would need some explanation.

House couldn't do anything but sneer while Wilson buried his face in his left hand.

"So gentlemen, is there any reason you are sitting here in the rain?", one of the cops asked them now.

"We would have gone inside but we didn't want to leave his hand behind", House told them.

"Yeah, that would be my next question. Who did this to you?"

"That's a long story", Wilson admitted.

The cop brought out the key for his handcuffs. "Then we better listen to it back at the police station."

He uncuffed Wilson from the stair-rail and grabbed for his other hand.

But House pulled it away. "No, please don't unlock them."

The officer glared at him. "Sir, you shouldn't interfere with my business."

"You don't understand. This is a life and death matter. We need to stay connected."

The other cop stepped closer. "Sir, you don't want to screw with us!"

Wilson sighed. "Just let them do this, House!"

"You think I will clean her apartment because these cops get their noses into our business? We better go now."

But the cop placed his hand on House's chest to prevent him from walking away.

"Ok, that's enough! You are both under arrest. You better play along now or you're charged with resisting arrest."

His colleague smirked. "Tell you what, guys. At least we won't separate you now."

Wilson rolled his eyes. "Oh thank God. All we had to do to stay in the game was getting arrested. Thank you so much, House! It's only the second time in one year you get us into this."

They kept on arguing on their way to the police car. The two cops shook their head and threw each other an amused view.

Cuddy sat behind her desk and tried to concentrate on her work. But that was impossible since she couldn't get her mind of her two friends sitting there in front of the nightclub.

She looked out of the window. It was raining like hell and she felt pity. Only for Wilson of course. That's what she told herself anyway. Every five seconds she glanced at her cell phone and finally she couldn't sit there any longer. She called a taxi, got her purse and umbrella and left her office.

But when she arrived at the Jazz Club 20 minutes later House and Wilson were gone.

She brought out the two keys for the handcuffs. She had been so proud of herself when she had been able to sneak it from House. Just to be on the safe side she checked the floor for blood. But apparently Wilson still had both hands. How the hell did they manage to do this?

Wilson in fact still had two hands and one of them was still used to keep him close to House. It was like a déjà vu but in contrast to the police station they had stayed last year the Princeton Police department offered a nice cell with a view for the two of them.

House rested his head against the wall. He had his eyes closed and whistled every now and then.

Wilson was really upset and if they had not been in an area surrounded by cops he would have probably used the opportunity to kill House.

They were still both wet and freezing.

Finally the two cops approached the cell.

"Hey guys. Let's get this cleared out now", one of them started and held out their IDs.

"I just checked you out and I have a question. Are you two really department heads over in the Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital?"

"Yes.", Wilson answered in an unsecure voice.

The officer turned to his colleague. "If I get ever shot get me over to Princeton General please."

"So, why the handcuffs?", the other one asked them.

House opened his eyes and looked at their guests. He felt like in the zoo and was annoyed but he also realized it would be easier to tell them whatever they wanted to know so he played along. Also he couldn't need another charge on his record.

"It's a bet. All that lifesaving can get boring for us doctors sometimes so we agreed on hanging around together for a week to prove our lady boss wrong."

"How long have you guys been like this?", the other one wanted to know.

"It's our forth day", Wilson told him.

"Look officer. I haven't read the constitution lately but I doubt it, it is a crime to be chained to another person. Maybe you should get back on the streets and find some real criminals", House explained now.

"Well it's not really a crime, Sir. But still it is our duty to support public policy. And two adult doctors chained to a stair-rail and to each other is something that draws our attention."

"So did you also have a bet about who can go longer without catching a cold in that rain?", his colleague asked them now.

House chuckled. "No, that was our boss."

"Why would she do that?"

House hesitated for a moment.

"Because we stole her car."

Wilson shot him a glare that screamed "IDIOT!!!!"

The two cops exchanged looks and sighed.

"Well, then we better call her", the officer decided and together with his colleague he left to inform the dean of medicine about the arrest of two of her department heads.

Cuddy stood in front of the nightclub thinking about her next move when her cell phone rang. She expected House proudly telling her about their escape and informing her about his next step that would probably be drowning her car in the river to come clean.

It wasn't House though.

"Dr. Lisa Cuddy?", asked the male voice.

"Yes? Who is this?"

"Princeton Police department. We got two of your employees here in custody. Could you come down please and answer a few questions."

Cuddy was shocked and slightly afraid. "Ahm, sure. I'll be there in 20 minutes."

She hung up the phone and cursed the day they came up with that stupid bet.

Half an hour later she stood in front of that cell together with those two cops.

"So these are your doctors?", the cop asked her.

"Yes, my head of oncologist and my head of diagnostics", she said and everyone could hear the shame in her voice.

"We could already figure out the reason for their connection but why did you chain them on that stair-rail like dogs?"

Cuddy glared at their two doctors. Actually she kind of liked them in that cell. Served them right. Especially House. That's what she told herself anyway.

"Oh you forgot to tell that part, didn't you?", she snapped. She turned to the cops.

"They stole my car", she explained.

"That much we already know. Why didn't you call the police."

"We didn't steal your car, Lisa!", Wilson interfered.

"Hey, you had your chance. Now let the lady speak!", the officer shushed him down.

"Yeah, Wilson, let the lady speak. The moment she walked that nice ass in here we had lost anyway", House mumbled. The cops didn't like this statement.

"Are you suggesting that we are biased here due to her appearance?", they asked him.

House rolled his eyes. Damn cops.

"No. What I am suggesting here is that this is a complete waste of time and a huge pile of bullshit! We would all be better off if you had ignored us in the first place!"

"Shut up, House!"

But it was too late. "For that you just bought a 24 hour stay in our nice facility here!"

Cuddy shook her head. "You are such an ass, House!"

"You can't just do that!", House protested.

"Yes, we can. You've shown a huge lack of respect for the authorities from the beginning. Take this time to think about it."

"Now, go on, Dr. Cuddy. They stole your car."

"Well, actually they borrowed it without asking. But when I wanted to pick it up this morning they had hidden it someplace. So in order to tell me where it is I hooked them to that stair-rail. I'm sorry."

"Where is her car?", one of the cops asked them annoyed. They were tired of this game.

House shook his head. "Not before I get out of here."

"Sir, this is not a negotiation. You will stay here and you will tell us right now. Otherwise I will charge you with car theft. She said it herself. You took it without permission."

"Just tell her!", Wilson insisted. The oncologist didn't know where House had ordered Lucas to park the car.

"It's in your garage by now. Save and dry", he finally told them.

"Thank you", Cuddy said and smiled. "Can I go now?"

The cop nodded. "Just make sure in future your strange games don't turn into indecent behavior please!"

Cuddy grinned and waved her boys good-bye. "See you tomorrow. And you will both make up the time you miss today!"

The cop addressed Wilson. "So what about you? Actually you are free to go now but if you insist on staying chained to him…"

Wilson sighed. "Sir, he really didn't mean it. Can't you just let him go as well, please?"

He punched House in the side with his elbow. "Tell them you are sorry!", he mumbled.

"I'm sorry", House said but it was a poor try. With the grin on his face and the sarcastic tone in his voice nobody would have ever believed him.

"Sorry, Dr. Wilson. You are even in or out. Make up your decision."

Wilson couldn't believe himself when he heard the following words coming from his mouth.

"I'll stay. But can I make a phone call, please?"

"That better be a shrink!", the cop smirked and opened the cell.

Wilson used his phone call to inform his department that he was taking a day off and made sure his patients were taken care for.

"You want to call someone? Ops, I forgot, all your friends are here!", Wilson snapped at House but the diagnostician grabbed the phone anyway. Not to inform someone about his whereabouts but to order himself lunch from his favorite pizza place.

Wilson didn't believe his ears. "You can't do that!", he yelled but it was too late.

He could and he would. He just didn't expect the lunch to actually arrive in his cell. Surprisingly it did.

The cops didn't like his lack of respect but they did have a sense of humor and so House could start making good with Wilson by sharing his pizza with him.

At half past eight in the evening the cop showed some heart and let them go home.

"One of you is guilty the other one is innocent so we decided half the sentence would make it. Get out of here and don't show ever up again."

"Thank you", Wilson said while House just snorted.

They got their stuff and went home.

"And you are definitely taking a shower now!", Wilson ordered him angrily. They both still smelled like wet dogs.

House didn't mind. He knew that smelling strategy wouldn't work out anyway. Wilson had just spent the day with him in jail in order to win the bet. He wouldn't freak out just because House smelled. But House would be House and so he offered Wilson the five minutes to take a shower in private only to tell him afterwards that he wanted to take a bath since his leg would hurt too much. So while House was relaxing in the tub covered in a good load of foam Wilson sat next to it on the cold floor. But he didn't mind. It was the first time this week he had time to look at his files. And his right hand writing definitely improved slowly.

Just about when Wilson was to check up on House who had not moved in quite some time House reached for his Vicodin bottle and swallowed a pill.

"You do know that you are taking way too much pills?", Wilson told him. It was more of a statement than a question.

House took a deep breath. Here comes the drug talk.

"Tell that to my leg. It hurts way too much!", he snapped.

Wilson looked up from his file. "You could try something else for a change."

House rolled his eyes. "Why do you always have to start with this? I don't tell you to stop marrying people although it's obviously not good for you!"

"My marriages don't kill me slowly. Seriously House, you do know that you can't go on with Vicodin forever, don't you?"

House looked at his friend for a moment before his view gazed over to his right thigh. Slowly his leg vanished under the huge layer of foam.

"Tell you what, when I finally realize it you'll be the first one I tell and then you can help me, alright?"

Wilson was surprised. This was not the way it usually works. Only mentioning his drug abuse usually made the diagnostician explode this time however he stayed calm. But Wilson didn't want to push it any further so he let go of it.

15 minutes later House decided that he was done and Wilson was glad that he could change the cold floor in the bathroom with the couch in the living room. Wilson closed his files and looked at House for a while. The diagnostician was concentrating on the TV. It took him a while to recognize his starring buddy.

"What are you looking at?", he asked him eventually.

"You are not going to apologize, are you?", the oncologist wanted to know.

"What?"

"You got me into trouble today. Again! It's always the same with you. You can't keep your mouth shut and I have to pay the bill in the end."

House cocked his head and grimaced. "You got your period or what? Why so bitchy today?"

"Maybe I'm pissed off because we spent the entire day in that shithole."

"It wasn't my fault. These stupid cops had nothing better to do than….", Wilson cut him off.

"Oh sure, blame it on them. Same story like last time. Those bad cops who did their job, the other bad cop who got that special rectal thermometer reading from you. It's always them and never you. And still I'm the idiot in the end."

House shrugged. "Given the fact that we are still friends, maybe you are an idiot."

First Wilson was speechless. But after a moment he chuckled and shook his head in disbelieve.

"I have to be in the hospital early tomorrow. Let's go to bed", he finally suggested and for once House obeyed and switched the TV off. While the oncologist fell asleep within minutes, House lay awake for a while. He had gone too far, he knew it. Out of the two of them he was the idiot. One day Wilson would walk out his life and not return like the last time. One day he would finally finish the job and push it too far and for not appreciating this friendship, for not showing Wilson more often that he mattered to him House was the biggest idiot of all.

Damn, he felt guilty. And why couldn't he stop thinking about Cuddy lately? Why wasn't he annoyed but rather amused by her sudden talent of screwing with him? Every other time he would have cursed the woman and sworn revenge after she had chained him to that damn stair-rail but this week she could do whatever she wanted to him, he only felt impressed. He didn't need to run a ddx about that one. Even without the white board he could add up the symptoms and find a diagnosis.

He was in love and was freaked out about it completely. He was so the wrong person to be in love. And especially not while he was cursed with Wilson at his side. The oncologist had developed a certain talent of reading him like an open book.

Finally he fell asleep with the thought on his mind that losing that bet would maybe not be the worst thing that could happen to him that week.