A/N: The backstory here begins right around episode 5.16. I've never written a story in this way before, so please review and let me know how it works. Also let me know if anyone's OOC, because I haven't written FF in a long time. Hope you enjoy!

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Sometime during the middle of the night Thirteen stirred from her sleep. The room was dark, but a bit of pale moonlight reached down from the skylights. Thirteen glanced over to Rachel. Her chest rose and fell slowly and she looked so serene in her deep slumber. Rachel's arms were wrapped tightly around Thirteen's body, holding her close. Thirteen inched closer and marveled at how safe she felt in Rachel's unconscious grasp.

Thirteen slowly drifted back, thinking through the events that had led them here, of how she had met Rachel.

A few weeks after Foreman's defiance of protocol had ended any participation in the Huntington's drug trial, he had encouraged Thirteen to begin a physical therapy regimen. The conversation hadn't been planned, or even well conceived. Foreman had simply blurted out his concerns over breakfast. "A friend of mine heads the physiotherapy department," Foreman told her. "I passed your file onto her and she thinks she can help you."

Thirteen glared at him. "You didn't think you should ask me before you handed my medical records over to someone?"

"I thought if I asked you'd say no."

"It's only been a couple weeks since-"

"I also thought you'd make excuses. The sooner you start a new treatment plan the better. Working out will build strength, improve balance and coordination, and help delay symptoms."

"Eric…"

"Remy. Just say you'll talk to her," Foreman pleaded.

Seeing the determination and concern in his eyes Thirteen only nodded.

A few days passed before Thirteen could no longer put off her consult with Rachel. With the team in between cases, and she and Foreman still hiding their relationship from House, stalling was only making life harder.

Thirteen made her way to the physiotherapy department. She approached the head office, the door reading:

Rachel Galvin, PT, D.O.

Department of Physiotherapy

Thirteen peered through the parted blinds. She could see Rachel leaning over the desk, reading intently. She watched Rachel for a second, noticing how she tucked away stray curls that fell in her face and how she bit on the end of a pen absentmindedly. Taking a moment to compose herself, Thirteen knocked on the door.

"Come in," Rachel invited.

"Hi, I'm looking for Dr. Galvin."

Rachel smirked a bit before moving to introduce herself. "You must be Remy Hadley. Or do you prefer Thirteen?" She waited for a response, but received only an incredulous look from Thirteen. "Foreman sent you, right?"

Thirteen nodded, "You're Rachel Galvin?"

"Yes."

"You're the head of the physio department?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Excuse me?" Rachel asked as her dark eyes flashed indignantly.

"I'm sorry," Thirteen replied, realizing her rudeness. "I didn't mean it that way. I'm not trying to question your qualifications. I just mean you're really young. You're, what, twenty-five?"

"Twenty-six."

"How'd you do it?"

Rachel narrowed her eyes, "I thought you weren't trying to question my qualifications."

"Sorry, I'm just curious."

"Listen, since you work for House, I'm sure you're used to a certain degree of shameless honesty. It's hard enough having to prove myself to the men for being a woman and to other women for being young. If I have to start proving myself to other young women and potential clients it will be very difficult to do my job."

"I'm sorry, you're right. I'm being an ass," Thirteen looked at her feet sheepishly.

"It's okay," Rachel shrugged. "I hear House rubs off. Which means this will continue to bug you, won't it."

Thirteen winced at her own persistence, "It really, really will."

Rachel smiled slightly, "I earned my bachelor's in Kinesiology at Princeton, then my PT certification from University of Maryland while I was earning my D.O. at Hopkins. I specialize in Physical medicine and rehabilitation, which is why you're here, and my subspecialty is Neuromuscular medicine, which is how I met Foreman. I did my residency here, and when the former department head left, Cuddy felt I would handle this position well. I'm also a certified personal trainer."

"Impressive."

"Thank you. Can we talk about you now?" Rachel asked, settling behind her desk.

Thirteen nodded and took a seat, "Shoot."

"Well, Foreman sent me all of your records, so I really only have a few questions. Have you started experiencing any pain?"

"No."

"Any cogwheeling or rigidity?"

"No."

"Have you noticed any tremors or twitching?"

Thirteen hesitated a moment, "A little. Mostly when I'm tired."

"When did you first notice that?" Rachel asked, making a note.

"About six months ago."

"How severe are the movements?"

Thirteen began to feel uncomfortable. Until this point she had only spoken so candidly about her disease with Foreman. Rachel noticed her wringing her hands nervously and paused for a moment. "Take your time, Dr. Hadley," she started. "But I need to know if your symptoms are advancing."

Thirteen shook her head, "It's not that. I'm just not used to talking about this."

"It's okay," Rachel smiled reassuringly. "So, how severe are the movements?"

"Not very. Just small spasms every now and then."

"Good. How often do you exercise?"

"Two times a week, sometimes three," Thirteen's eyes rolled towards the ceiling as she answered.

"Okay," Rachel smiled. "And now the honest answer, please."

Thirteen laughed at herself and returned the smile. "Once or twice… a month."

"That's still better than most," Rachel said, making a final note. "I'd like to get you in for a nerve conduction study and an EMG."

"Okay," Thirteen replied, becoming nervous again.

"Everything seems fine, I'd just like to get a good baseline of where you're at. I can get you in a few days from now, say Thursday?"

"Thursday sounds fine, assuming I don't have to pull any crazy stunts for House."

"We'll make it work," Rachel laughed. She stood and moved to show Thirteen out. "Just come on down when you're free. It was good meeting you."

Rachel smiled warmly and extended her hand. The warmth of the smile spread to Thirteen, encouraging her to do the same as she took Rachel's hand and shook it. "You as well."

The week passed slowly, amounting to a string of torturous trials seemingly designed to leave Thirteen hiding in the bathroom. She desperately wanted anything to give her a break from work. Thursday hadn't come soon enough.

That morning, after having a confrontation with a patient's mother, Thirteen headed to Rachel's office. "Is now a good time to for the NCS?"

"As long as you're ready it's fine with me." Rachel considered the discomfort involved in the procedure, "Are you sure you want to do the test and go back to work?"

"Yeah, I've been looking forward to it," Thirteen replied dryly.

"You've been looking forward to having electrodes and needles repeatedly stimulate your muscles with electricity?"

"Can we just do this, please?"

Rachel nodded and led Thirteen to one of the hospital's testing suites. While she retrieved the equipment she needed, Thirteen changed for the procedure. Sitting on the table, clad only in a gown and her underwear, she fell into a state of nervous anticipation. Before she could wonder if this was how her patients felt as they awaited the dozens of tests House usually ordered, Rachel returned.

In no time she had prepared Thirteen's skin with antiseptic, applied electrodes to her limbs, and was ready to begin the test. Thirteen could only nod vaguely as Rachel described the sensations she might feel during the procedure. It wasn't until Rachel began sending pulses to the electrodes that Thirteen realized she had not been paying attention. The brief pain and tingling sensation dancing through her arm caught her off guard, but quickly receded. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to anticipate the next pulse, but the flashes of pain were gone as quickly as they came, leaving nothing but a small twitch in her muscles. She spent the next half-hour that way as Rachel tested sites all over her body.

Thirteen didn't open her eyes again until Rachel placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm moving on to the EMG now. You'll feel a sharp pain as I insert the needle, but it shouldn't last long." When she saw Rachel wielding a long, thin needle, Thirteen snapped her eyes shut again.

It wasn't until after she had tested a few sites that Rachel looked back to Thirteen. She was nervously biting her lip as she held her breath.

"How are you liking all this snow, Dr. Hadley?"

"What?"

"The snow. How are you dealing with it?"

"You want to talk about the weather? Now?" Thirteen asked, drawing in a sharp breath.

"Talking tends to make procedures like this a little more bearable. Plus, you can't talk and hold your breath at the same time."

"The snow is fine. Cold, wet, no big deal," Thirteen blurted as the needle pierced another muscle. "Any more questions?"

Rachel hesitated, "Why are you so eager to do this today?"

"I just wanted to get it over with."

"That's fair. I don't believe you, but that's fair."

"Are you going to do that a lot?" Thirteen asked.

"Do what?"

"Call me a liar."

"Only if you lie," Rachel replied. "I figure since you know how uncomfortable these tests are, the only reason you'd want to endure them with a full day of work ahead of you is if work has become more painful than this."

Thirteen stared at her briefly, "It's not often that I meet someone this shrewd outside of House's team."

"If I'm making you uncomfortable we can change the subject. I just thought that you might want to talk about it."

Thirteen shook her head, "It was a compliment. I can see why Foreman referred me to you. You're not going to put up with my crap."

"Nope," Rachel smiled. "So, what happened?"

"I got too close to our case. I screwed up."

"How's that," Rachel asked.

"We have a thirteen-year-old boy with genetic mosaicism whose parents hadn't told him about his condition. Every time we ran a test or gave him something, we had to lie, and I got tired of it."

"So, you told him?"

"I might as well have. I told him to talk to his parents, and they told him. When we searched the home I found this poem that read like a suicide note, and I thought that knowing might help."

"But it didn't?"

"It didn't matter," Thirteen huffed. "It was a homework assignment. The mom yelled, Cuddy yelled. I had to get out of there."

Rachel flashed another reassuring look at Thirteen. "Why'd you let it get so personal?"

"I kept thinking about how my dad skirted around the possibility that I might have Huntington's. How can you keep someone in the dark about their own body? That's not even taking into account how gender confused the kid was. He was trying to figure out whether he was a girl or just gay. You can't just bury issues like that and hope they won't come up, especially around puberty. Male or female, straight, gay, bisexual, it all comes out eventually." As she finished her rant, Thirteen suddenly became self-conscious. "I might as well stick a Pride flag on my forehead."

Rachel laughed and Thirteen immediately felt at ease. "I've never been much of a joiner myself. I think bisexuals should have their own flag. Maybe two arrows pointing in either direction with a caption that says 'Either way is fine.'"

"You're bisexual?" Thirteen smiled as Rachel nodded. "I'd tell you that I am, too, but my reputation is probably rumor mill fodder."

Rachel shrugged, "I try not to get involved in the gossip around this place."

"But you do have ears," Thirteen pressed.

Rachel looked into Thirteen's eyes, "I understand how easy it is to make bad decisions and stupid mistakes when you're going through hard times. I'm here to help, not judge."

Thirteen held Rachel's gaze. As she relaxed into the safety of the moment a swell of relief passed over her. It took a moment for her to realize that Rachel had finished conducting the tests. "How's everything look?" she asked, sitting up.

Rachel looked over the results that had printed from the machine. "Everything looks good. The conduction in your hands and forearms is a little delayed, but not much. Just make sure you take it easy today. You'll probably be a little sore, and that tingling sensation may continue for a few days."

"So, what's next?"

"Next, I'll come up with an exercise program for you. I want to get some muscle on you. Why don't we meet again next Thursday?"

"Okay," Thirteen said. "Anything I should do until then?"

"Nothing too strenuous, go for an easy run. It should help relieve some stress, too. I'll leave you to get dressed."

"Dr. Galvin," Thirteen called, causing Rachel to look back from the door. "Thank you."

"Anytime, Dr. Hadley."