Here's the next bit of the story. Reviews feed the mind and make new chapters come faster!

Three days later, House skipped out on work (without informing Cuddy, just to mess with her) and visited Jacob. The kid was getting ready for the trial that would officially place him in the hands of the state and send him into foster care. That's where House came in.

He'd already made the necessary calls to get the boy into his custody. It hadn't been too hard, with the connections he had. Blackmail was a wonderful thing, and the ability to lie thorough his teeth was even better. Within a few hours, Jacob would officially be in his care.

House wasn't sure how he felt about that. For one, it felt strange to know that he was going to be taking care of another person. He'd never been responsible for another living being's needs, aside from Steve McQueen and Wilson's ex's dog. Being a doctor didn't count, because he didn't have to personally feed and watch his patients, he just had to make them better.

He walked into the government building, and without pausing to look around, went straight to the courtroom where Jacob was already waiting. The last time he'd been in this building, Cuddy had been perjuring herself for his sake. Not really something he liked remembering. His leg seemed to twinge at the memory of the painful detox he'd gone through because of that stupid cop, and he rubbed it absently.

The kid was definitely having a worse time than he was, though. His eyes were huge, his face white, his hands shaking. He was sitting in the front row, hugging himself like he was freezing.

House slid in next to him, on the opposite side of who was supposedly the kid's social worker.

Jacob looked up at him, eyes widening. "You came?"

House scoffed. "Duh. What kind of potential guardian would I be if I let you sit this out alone?"

He was close enough to be touching Jacob, their arms brushing ever so slightly. The child seemed to take comfort in the gesture, and House couldn't quite bring himself to move aside like his body was urging him to do. Jacob needed some sort of support.

The trial was over quickly, an open and closed case, as far as the judge was concerned. Not only had Mr. Darning been accused by his son, his son was backed up by a world renowned doctor and medical proof. He'd also had matching injuries, sustained from using his fists to beat the crap out of his child. On top of that, the man's blood alcohol level, when the police had showed up at his house, had been high enough to kill a small horse. He'd also had drugs in his system. A bigger, more official trial would come later, to permanently remove him from his duties as a parent, but for now, he'd lost custody of Jacob and was going to be in the county jail.

Jacob was stock still when his father was led into the room, his features deathly pale. House felt sympathy stirring in him as the kid's eyes followed his father across the room.

The man shot dagger eyes at his son, the meaning clear. House glared right back, and noticed with satisfaction a flicker of surprise on the man's face.

When the trial was over, House glanced down at his phone. He'd silenced it for the trial. There were about fifteen missed calls, mostly from Cuddy and his team. Wilson knew where he was, but House had firmly told him not to say anything about it, and apparently Wilson had complied.

Jacob was shaky and looked like he was about to cry as they all filed out of the courtroom. House looked the kid's social worker up and down, while she did the same to him.

"Gregory House," he introduced himself finally, sticking out his right hand after hooking his cane on his left arm.

She took it, eyeing him warily. "Dr. House, I've been told that Jacob is already set up to be in your care."

House nodded, seeing Jacob relax slightly out of the corner of his eye. "That's right."

"Are you prepared to take him now?" she asked him frankly. "I have a lot of work to do, other kids who aren't as fortunate to attend to. If you're ready for him, he's all yours."

House hesitated. He hadn't really planned on taking the kid that instant- after all, he had to go back to work. But one look at the kid crushed his negative response. Jacob was looking at him hopefully, bags under his eyes and posture slumped. The boy was obviously emotionally exhausted.

There was something about this kid that took House's nastiness and flushed it down the drain. He wasn't sure he liked it.

House nodded, meeting the social worker's eyes.

"Great. You can go by the foster care center and pick up his clothes and things. I'll be checking up on you later this week, making sure Jacob's best interests are being met. Do I make myself clear?"

House raised an eyebrow at her thinly veiled threat. Clearly, the woman didn't think much of the scruffy doctor before her. "Crystal."

"Peachy. I'll see you later, okay Jacob?"

Jacob nodded at her, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "Bye Mrs. Tate."

Tate nodded and hurried away.

"Well, she's just a bundle of joy, isn't she?" House mused, turning on his heel to leave the courtroom. "Come on. I have to get back to work, hopefully before Cuddy finds her axe."

"Wait, we're riding on that?" Jacob asked House incredulously. "A bike?"

House scoffed. "Not just any bike. A Honda CBR1000RR Repsol. And it's a she, not an it."

Jacob looked at the man strangely. "Why is it a girl?"

House looked at him strangely. "Well, I wouldn't ride a guy. That would be weird."

A flicker of a smile passed over Jacob's face. "You want me to ride… her?"

House grunted his assent, handing the kid the extra helmet he kept with him. "Don't have much choice, seeing as I drove her here."

Hesitantly, Jacob put on the helmet and watched the older doctor climb onto the seat of his bike with a practiced, swinging motion. When House had clipped his cane to the side of the bike, he motioned impatiently for Jacob to get on.

Jacob warily slipped on. House kicked the bike into gear. "Hold onto me unless you want to go flying off onto the pavement!" he yelled over the din.

Jacob slowly grabbed around House's middle, but as soon as the doctor took off, he clutched the man's midsection for dear life.

House didn't mind the contact as much as he thought he would.

He silently hoped that Cuddy had taken the rest of the day of.

No such luck. He walked into the hospital and almost straight into Cuddy.

"HOUSE!" she yelled, face flushed. "Where the HELL have you been? Your team's been up my ass all day looking for you-"

House cut her off in his usual way. "I've been elsewhere, but I'm here now. So if you don't mind, I'd like to go sit down."

And he did want to sit down. The extra bike ride had done his leg no favors, nor had sitting motionless on that hard bench for the duration of the trial.

Cuddy was seething, but he breezed past her like it was nothing. It was only then that she noticed Jacob Darning trailing along behind him like a tired puppy.

"House!"

He froze, ducking his head. He'd been hoping that she wouldn't notice the kid just yet. He wasn't quite ready to explain everything to her.

She strode up to him, ignoring the growing crowd in the lobby that was watching their antics. "Why?"

She didn't need to clarify. House rolled his eyes and totally ignored the question, striding to the elevator and pressing the button with his cane. "Why won't I have sex with you right here in the lobby? Cuddy, I do have my limits. Do you know how dirty that floor is?"

He got in the elevator and watched the doors close on Cuddy's red and furious face.

Jacob cleared his throat nervously. "She's your boss?"

"Yep."

"And… You talk to her like that? How have you not gotten fired?"

House smirked. He knew that Cuddy kept him around due to a mixture of unexplainable attachment, residual guilt, and because he brought so much damn fame to her hospital with the weird and off the wall cases he solved.

"She needs me," he stated matter-of-factly. "Besides, I usually don't push her that far."

"So you just didn't want to talk about me, then."

House chuckled. This kid was sharp. "No, I didn't. Not yet anyway. You'll ruin my asshole persona."

A flicker of a frown flitted over Jacob's face. "Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

As the elevator doors opened, House shook his head. "Not as far as I'm concerned."

Page break.

House pushed open the door of the DDX room with his cane, limping in. Jacob caught the door just before it smacked him in the face and followed him in, hovering uncertainly in the background.

The team looked up from the table, where they'd been urgently discussing the case and attempting to call House again.

"House!" Foreman shouted, face angry. "Where the hell have you been? The patient isn't getting any better!"

"Yeah, well, she wasn't getting any sicker either. Do you have anything new to tell me, or did you call me fifteen times to say hi?"

Four pairs of eyes landed on Jacob, and four mouths opened, then closed.

"Uh, House?" Chase ventured eventually. "Isn't that…"

House cut him off. "No. Now back to the case."

They reluctantly discussed the case, Jacob finding a seat near House's office.

"Now go forth, and do," House commanded his team imperiously, after they had come up with a possible diagnosis. "And don't come back until something happens."

They collectively rolled their eyes and filed out. Kutner was the last out, and he stuck his head back in. "House?"

"What, Kutner?"

"Who's the kid?"

House's phone went off, and he checked it. He narrowed his eyes. "You know what, Kutner? He's your charge for the day. Take him with you, because the mistress is summoning me."

He turned to Jacob. "Jacob, Kutner. Kutner, Jacob. Wonderful. Now you're all introduced and crap. Jacob, I'll find you in a few hours, alright? Feel free to torment the ducklings."

With that, he limped out of the office.

"Uh, Dr. House?" Jacob questioned, sticking his head out the door.

House turned around, eyebrows up.

"Can I… you know… tell them what happened? What's going to be happening?"

House blew air out of his nose. It really was up to the kid, House couldn't make him do one thing or the other. "Only if you want to. I don't care. See you in a bit, and we'll catch a ride with Wilson. I don't want to take the bike again."

Jacob nodded shortly, his dark hair falling in his eyes.

House struggled not to grimace as he made his way down to Cuddy's office. His leg hurt. It had been getting worse and worse as the DDX with his team had gone on, and now it felt like it was engulfed in flames.

What was worse was that he knew that Cuddy was about to saddle him with more clinic duty because he'd skipped out on a few hours of work. Four, to be exact. So he'd probably be spending the rest of the day in the clinic. Walking around. On his leg. Exactly what he didn't want to be doing.

When he walked into her office, she confirmed his suspicions. "House, you can not just leave the hospital in the middle of your work day without asking permission! I can't believe you'd just take off-"

"Hold that thought," he stopped her mid rant. He limped heavily to the couch and began to sit down gingerly. To Cuddy, though, it just looked like he'd shut her up so he could relax.

"God, House! You can't even let me lecture you properly!"

House bit his tongue, and slowly and painfully stood back up. "Okay… go."

Cuddy glared at him, and launched into a rant. He stood there, not really hearing her, and leaned heavily on his cane.

Cuddy cut herself off after a few minutes, examining House's unfocused eyes. "House, are you even listening to me?"

His eyes traveled to her face, then flickered away. "Yep."

She examined him more closely, taken off guard by his quick response. He was practically on one leg, his right hardly touching the floor. His arm was shaking where he was holding up the weight with his cane.

Suddenly, her anger slid away. She slumped her shoulders. He wasn't trying to garner sympathy from her, but it came all the same. "House, sit down."

He complied, relief flashing across his face. He gingerly rested his hand on his leg for warmth.

"At least tell me where you were," she commanded, but with considerably less anger in her voice.

House didn't meet her eyes. "Justice building."

"What?" she commanded sharply. "Why?"

House rolled his eyes. She was so slow sometimes. "The kid, Cuddy. His dad's pre-trial was today."

Cuddy's mouth dropped open. House had gone? House?

"Why did you go?" she asked incredulously, making an effort to look like he hadn't just smacked her upside the head with a brick.

House shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I wanted to spit on his bastard of a father."

Cuddy cocked her head. House was obviously keeping something from her, and she'd be damned if she let him get away with it. "House, what aren't you telling me?"

He blew air out of his mouth, cheeks puffing. He'd have to tell her sooner or later. This wasn't really something he could keep from her.

"Jacob has nowhere to go," he revealed sullenly. "So I'm going to foster him."

Cuddy's eyes practically bugged out of her head. "You what?"

He just glared at her, daring her to make a snide comment.

Cuddy's head was spinning. "Why?"

"I just said he had no where else to go, didn't I?" he snapped, obviously defensive. "Wilson and I have the room."

"House," she began, an odd look on her face. "You can't take care of a child."

House raised his head, a haughty look on his face. "Says who? I've got plenty of money. And it's not like I'm going to be wiping his ass, he's 14."

Cuddy turned her head to look him sideways. "How in the hell did you get approved?"

"I've got some dirt on some higher ups."

"So basically, you're telling me you're taking this kid on a whim, through blackmail? And he'd going to be living with you and Wilson?"

House stared at her. "Yes."

She shook her head at him. "You're insane. Absolutely crazy."

Her gaze softened. "And a big softie."

House glared at her, but didn't say anything.

"House, listen to me. If he ends up needing to talk to someone… like, a female someone… I'm here."

House looked like he was about to say something nasty, but then his expression changed. " …Thanks. But that's what Wilson is for."

A flicker of a smile passed over her face, but then it hardened. "However, you still left without telling me. You're on cli…"

She looked at him, and the way he flinched protectively to his leg in an involuntary movement.

"…nic."

He sighed, then pushed himself up with considerable difficulty. He limped out of her office without another word.

That was when she knew the kid would be okay with House. If he'd take clinic duty without complaining for his sake, he'd do just about anything.

Next chapter is Jacob's discussion with the team. It might be a while; that's a lot of dialogue.