House wasn't exactly great at moving quickly. Even so, he had balanced his weight on his bad leg in order to be able to shift immediately to his good one and, hopefully, dodge any incoming attacks. His calculations weren't exactly on point and he felt a burning pain in his bum leg. Fortunately, Nigel's aim hadn't been on point either and he shot low. House was out of the doorframe in a second and only took another second to assess the damage. He saw blood on his thigh, but the bullet clearly had not entered, but grazed him. Looking around the lobby, he realized Wilson wasn't there anymore.

"You crippled bastard!" He heard Nigel shout from the office and he knew he was coming after him.

When the door opened, Cuddy had barely noticed. She was too focused on the feeling of snakes crawling over her body as Nigel forced his kisses down her neck. It wasn't until Nigel pulled away from her and her wrist was in his vice-like grip that she even saw House. When the gun came up again, this time aimed at House, she gasped. Pulling at Nigel, she saw his aim go off and House duck out of the vestibule. Nigel knew who he had seen, however and she was suddenly more afraid for House's life than her own. No reason was controlling Nigel's actions right now, and she had seen the anger when she had mentioned House before. Dragging her along, he followed House out of the office.

As soon as they appeared in the lobby, Brenda ducked behind the clinic station and House found himself crouched behind a wall but only moments from being discovered by Nigel and his gun. Sure enough, Nigel rounded the corner and saw House. House sighed and stood, glancing over at Cuddy whose blue eyes were wide and filled with fear.

"So, you're the guy." Nigel's teeth were gritted as he pointed the gun at House's face.

Cuddy interjected before anything could happen, "Nigel, I'll go with you." She pleaded, unwilling to watch House die in this hallway.

Nigel's hand was tensing and she stepped in his view. His eyes slid over, away from House. When Brenda had come in, he had startled Nigel and he just shot. Now, he would be shooting someone at point blank range. He paused.

"If he dies-"

"If you leave him alone, I'll walk out with you now." Cuddy interrupted, trying to get Nigel's brain on the right path.

For the first time in his life, House was speechless. He desperately searched for something to say that would stop this situation from spiraling out of his control. He knew he couldn't let Cuddy walk out with Nigel. There was no room for mistakes.

He took a breath and knew what he was about to say (calling Nigel a raging coward among other things) was going to be extremely detrimental, but he never got the chance. Sirens blared louder as police cars came into view a short distance away. Nigel looked panicked for a moment and Cuddy felt the grip on her arm loosen. Nigel spotted the elevators and House saw there was only a few seconds to act or else possibly lose Cuddy. He grabbed her other hand and stepped between them. Cuddy's grasp in return was tense and he could feel how cold her hands were. His thumb covered her wrist to find a rapid pulse.

The police cars sped into the parking lot and red and blue lights blinked harshly into the lobby and against Nigel as he realized what had just happened. House stared at him, his blue eyes ice.

The gun came up, "I'll blow your brains all over the walls." Nigel threatened.

Cuddy watched as Nigel's trigger finger tensed, there was no more stalling to be done and if the police stormed in, she knew House would not survive the confrontation. There was no solution where everything turned out alright. With a pained expression, she released House's hand. She felt resistance on his end but she persisted and pulled away from him, approaching Nigel. Taking Nigel's unarmed hand, she led him toward the elevators. Once Nigel realized he had won the standoff, he broke into a run and punched the button. Cuddy sighed as it opened immediately. Of course, the one time she would want the elevator to take forever, it would already be on the right floor. He pulled her inside and smiled at House as the doors closed.

Wilson had suddenly remembered something, a conversation that he and House had at least a year ago. Wilson had strolled into House's office one evening and House had pointed a gun at him.

"House, what the hell are you doing with that in here?"

"Self-defense and it impresses the ladies." House had told him.

"You can't just keep a gun in here." Wilson had protested.

"Relax, it's just a very convincing replica." House said, twirling it in his fingers wild west style and putting it at his hip as if to challenge Wilson, "But, if anyone comes in here to shoot me again or make me diagnose them at gunpoint, I act like I can blow them away and they piss off."

"I really don't see that going your way," Wilson informed him, now more calm that he knew it wasn't a real gun.

Now, Wilson thought if he could get House's fake gun that he might be able to intimidate the gunman. God, it was crazy.