A/N: One more chapter after this one. Enjoy!
Chapter Thirteen
"You there," Lady Katherine called to Emmett as he finished shoeing one of the horses.
He stood up and smiled at her. "May I help you?"
"You may address me as Lady Katherine," she said in a harsh tone.
He winced. "Yes, Lady Katherine. What can I do for you?"
"I wish to take one of these horses for a ride."
"Very well. Are you an able rider, Lady Katherine? I might suggest a horse that would suit you."
She smiled at the man. At last! Someone who seemed to know how to treat nobility with the respect she deserved.
"I have been riding all my life."
Emmett studied her. She looked not much younger than himself and he classified her as late fifties, early sixties, tops.
"Very well then. This one here, Galileo, should do nicely. He's very well behaved."
"What kind of a name is that?"
"I named him after the famous scientist, M'lady."
She looked totally clueless, and Emmett simply shrugged. "I'll prepare his saddle for you. It won't take but a moment."
"It better not. I am very anxious to survey these grounds." She sneezed and then coughed. It wasn't a simple, dry cough, either.
"Have you seen a doctor, M'Lady?"
She glared at him. "What business is it of yours, sir?"
"Your cough doesn't sound very good. You should get it looked at."
"What I should and should not do is not your concern, Mister..."
"Doctor. Emmett L. Brown at your service," he said with a deep bow.
She looked him up and down like he was vermin, taking in his clothes that were covered in dirt and grime from working by the forge all morning.
"You are a doctor?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.
"A scientist, not a medical doctor. You'll want to see His Grace, Dr. House."
She nodded. "I have heard of this man they call Dr. House. Where would I find him?"
"I honestly don't know, M'Lady. He could be anywhere in the kingdom right about now. He sees a lot of patients."
She frowned but allowed him to help him onto the horse. "Thank you, sir."
Emmett smiled up at her and bowed. "Have a good ride, M'Lady."
XXX
"Ohh Greg!" Althea sighed as he lowered her back against the blanket they were laying on and kissed her neck, nipping at the sensitive skin there. "That is very nice."
"Mhm," he nodded as he brushed her hair to the side so he could have more access. He was just about to go in for the kill when they both heard someone approaching and sat upright just as Lady Katherine came into view.
"Oh damn," Althea muttered under her breath so only he could hear, and he chuckled.
"You there!" she called to them. "Shouldn't you be at the castle, young lady?"
"I may go where I wish, M'Lady," Althea replied icily while House watched with amusement.
The woman looked at House and a small smile graced her lips. Evidently, she liked what she saw. "And who are you, sir?"
House stood up. "Dr. Gregory House."
"You're Dr. House?" she asked, looking back and forth from him to Althea and finally making the connection. "Does his Majesty know about this rendez-vous?"
"Yes," he answered simply. "So?"
She coughed into her hand and sat up a little straighter in her saddle, but House heard that cough, and he didn't like it. "You will tend to my cough. I will expect you back at the castle in thirty minutes."
House rolled his eyes when she turned around and headed back the way she came.
"Oh, do you have to go?" Althea pouted.
"Yep. But we'll continue this later. I'll come find you," he said as he folded the large blanket and tossed it over his shoulder.
"Alright. Do you promise?"
He smiled at her. Damn, but she was beautiful when she was sad. He wanted nothing more than to take her right there in the middle of the woods, but he didn't like to be rushed.
"You know I don't make promises. I'll do what I can. That'll have to be good enough."
XXX
House entered the Lady Katherine's chambers where she was laying in bed, already in her night clothes, even though it was the middle of the day. He gave a silent order to the lady in waiting and she went to do his bidding as he closed the door behind him.
"How're we feeling, M'Lady?" he asked. It was his intention to be as cordial and polite as possible so he could get out of there as fast as possible.
"Not very well, doctor. As soon as I got back here I felt very tired."
"That would explain why you're already in your nightgown. I need you to sit up for me so I can listen to your chest and lungs."
He took the rolled up parchment paper he brought with him which worked surprisingly well as a substitute stethoscope and held it against her chest. "Deep breath in," he ordered. "And again." He had her sit forward so he could listen to her lungs, and as he expected, they didn't sound too good, although not as bad as he thought. Worst case scenario it was early onset Bronchitis.
"Been ill recently? Sniffles? Sore throat? Sinus congestion?"
Her eyes went wide. "Yes."
"Yes what?"
"All those things you said."
"Fatigue? Headache?"
"Yes. What is it, Doctor?"
"Your heart is fine and your lungs sound okay. Just get plenty of rest." The young girl returned with a steaming cup of tea and honey. "Drink this."
Katherine's eyes widened. "What is it? Some kind of potion for what ails me?"
"Not a potion so much as an elixir. It'll help loosen up the mucus in your lungs and your cough should go away on its own."
"But what is it?"
"Tea mixed with honey. Drink it two to three times a day, rest and take it easy and you'll be fine. I'm done here."
"Wait!" she called to him and he turned around.
"Yes?"
"Rumor has it you will be leaving."
"It's not a rumor. I am leaving."
"Are you taking the Princess with you?"
"No."
"Interesting."
"Not really. I don't belong here and she wouldn't belong where I'm from."
"Do you love her?"
He chuckled. "If I said yes would it make you stop bugging me?"
Katherine frowned and anger flashed in her eyes. "I am not sure what you mean but I was just asking what your intentions are towards her. She is very young."
"Yes, she is. And you're not."
"Exactly my point. Wouldn't it serve you to be with a woman with... more to offer?"
Now House was amused and he snorted in laughter.
"Rumor has it you're to marry His Majesty. And here you are offering yourself to me on a silver platter. So much for the sanctity of marriage."
"The Princess is but a child. She can do nothing for you."
"And you can? As it stands right now, in your condition you can't do much of anything. Good day, M'Lady," House grinned as he turned around and left the room. He went immediately to Emmett's workshop where the man was tinkering with the DeLorean's computer.
"How soon can we be out of here?"
Emmett looked up at House. "A few days. Why?"
"The Lady Katherine just propositioned me."
"And this is a problem?"
House glared at him. "What do you think? You think I'd actually want to bed that old bag? She's closer to your age than mine."
"Gee thanks."
"Hey, just trying to steer some action your way, my friend. Let me remind you that if I hadn't arrived, Althea would be spending her nights in your bed."
"I doubt that."
"Well you shouldn't. So anyway, what's the deal? What's the hold up?"
"The computer. I need to make sure it works, which will require a jump through time and back as a test run."
"So let's do it."
Emmett sighed. "It's kind of noisy. We'd have to go out quite a ways to do it."
"How is that a problem? We'll just go out into the country where nobody's around. What happens when the car makes the jump?"
"It has to hit eighty-eight miles per hour before the time circuits kick in and when it does, it leaves fire trails behind. And when the car arrives at its destination, it's covered in ice."
"Cooool. This I gotta see. So if it does work, when can we officially leave?"
"Monday. I have some potential replacements to take over for when I leave. I have been considering one thing, however."
"What's that?"
"Going to your time. It might be nice to start fresh and get rid of my reputation as the town crackpot."
"And you think 1999 will be much better?"
"Well, I don't plan to just change times, I was also thinking of changing locations. I have the credentials to teach Physics anywhere I want."
House nodded. "It's always good to start fresh. I won't ask how or why you've earned that reputation. God knows I have my own."
Emmett chuckled. "Yes, I've heard quite a bit about your reputation. I don't suppose you'd be able to use that reputation to get me a job out there, would you?"
House arched an eyebrow at him. "You want to move to the east coast? Get away from sunny California?"
"It's not all that sunny," Emmett said. "And as they say, the grass is always greener on the other side. That other side being of course, the other side of the country."
House nodded. God knows he knew all about how one's reputation could follow him and he did sympathize with the older man. If he got him home like he promised, House would do his damnedest to help him out. Getting him a job at one of the big universities would not be a problem. When he got home he would do some research on the man and see what he could find out.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime, let's just work on getting back to 1999."
Emmett nodded. "Any thoughts on how you're going to handle Althea?"
"Nope. Whenever I try to think about it, I just get depressed. I have someone back home. It's not an easy situation."
"Althea mentioned her. What's her name?"
"Stacy. She's a lawyer."
"How did you two meet?"
"At a paintball tournament. Doctors versus lawyers. We went on a date and she moved in right after. That was nearly five years ago now."
"Are you going to marry her?"
"I wasn't planning on it. We like the way things are. We're both very busy. A marriage certificate wouldn't change anything."
"If you had to stay here, what would you do?"
"I don't dare think about it. I don't know what I'd do. I live for the medical puzzle. There's none of that here. I'd die of boredom. Literally. And even once I diagnose someone, I can't save them because the medicine and technology doesn't exist yet."
"You could always come back to get her," Emmett suggested with a casual shrug before he went back to working on the computer. He wasn't aware that he'd planted a seed in House's head.
XXX
Althea was sound asleep when House slipped into her bedchamber. He paid a page a farthing to guard the door and make sure nobody disturbed him, claiming he was treating her for the cold that Lady Katherine had.
He stripped down to his shorts and climbed into bed with her, gently kissing her until she began to stir. "Greg?" she murmured as she rolled onto her back. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled when she saw his bright blue ones staring down at her.
"Hi," he whispered.
"How did you get in here?"
"I have my wicked, wicked ways. It's not important, really. What is, is the time we have left."
She sat up and frowned. "You'll be leaving soon?"
He nodded. "Emmett's fixed his time machine and it works. We'll be leaving in two days, as soon as he finds someone to take his place."
She nodded, and a single tear slipped down her cheek. House sighed as he took her hands. "Althea, I can't stay. You know why."
"I know. It just... hurts so much. Not so much that you are leaving but because you won't take me with you."
He didn't let on what was going through his mind. "Life's too short to be upset about this. I want to make love to you," he whispered as he began to kiss her cheeks, then her forehead before arriving at her mouth. "Let me." He lowered her back against the pillows and moved on top of her as he pushed her long nightgown up over her hips.
"Oh Greg!" she gasped when he slipped inside of her warmth and began to thrust gently at first.
"You feel so good," he whispered in her ear as he moved slowly and penetrated her with long strokes.
"Greg please... take me with you... I'll be lost without you."
"You'll manage. You're young."
He moved faster, grabbing her leg and lifting it higher so he could get deeper. "Oh God... Althea..."
"Greg!" she cried out as she hit her climax and fell over the edge. "Oh God I love you. I'll never love anyone the way I love you. You've ruined me for anyone else."
"That was the plan," he grunted as he moved faster and fell over the edge.
"I don't know how to make you understand why I can't stay," he said as he stretched out next to her in bed and stared at the ceiling. "I do have feelings for you. But if I stayed, lady Katherine would make all kinds of trouble for us. I know she would. She's already propositioned me once. And something tells me she always gets what she wants. I want to get out of here before she does."
Althea frowned. "Are you saying what I think you are saying, Greg? Would you actually take her to your bed?"
"If I did it would be to get her to leave me the hell alone. Is your father seriously considering marrying this woman? Because he should know what kind of person she is."
"I cannot tell my father anything. He needs to learn it for himself."
House grinned. "Well, I might be able to help with that."
She rolled onto her side and looked at him. "What did you have in mind?"
"Let him catch her in the act."
Althea caught on to what he was trying to say and she grinned. "I think I understand what you're saying. "What can I do to help?"
XXX
House entered Lady Katherine's room the next day with an herbal supplement known to cure sore throats. At the same time, Althea was working on getting her father up to lady Katherine's room.
"Feeling any better today, M'Lady?" he asked her as he sat on the edge of her bed.
"No," she croaked. "My throat is very sore. It hurts to speak."
"This might help," he said as he handed her a cup of tea mixed with various herbs.
"Your last remedy was quite helpful. I will try this one as well," she said as she took the steaming mug from him and sipped. She made a face. "What is this? It's horrible!"
"It has to hurt if it's to heal," he reminded her as he took out the rolled up paper he used the day before. "I want to check your lungs again."
She sat up and let him examine her once again. "Your lungs sound much better already. I guess you had a couple of cups of tea with honey yesterday like I ordered."
"Yes, Dr. House." She leaned over and caught a whiff of him. "Is that... a woman's perfume?"
"It might be," he said with a coy smile.
Katherine frowned. "You came from the Princesses bed?"
"I did. But when you sent for me, I came didn't I?"
"Quite quickly," she nodded. "I am impressed, although your bedside manner leaves little to be desired."
"His Majesty didn't hire me for my bedside manner. So, are you going to marry him?"
"If he will have me. He has not yet asked."
"You should have fun while you can," House said in such a way that she understood his meaning.
"You are so right," she said as she moved a little closer to him. "You know, I do not normally make it a habit of spending time with men younger than myself. But you have something... something very alluring and I cannot put my finger on it. You're a very unique man, Dr. House. A man I would like to get to know better."
House felt his stomach turn. He really wasn't in the mood to hop into bed with this woman. Where the hell was Althea and her father?
Before he could formulate a reply, she grabbed him and pulled him on top of her, kissing him roughly and feverishly as her tongue invaded her mouth.
At that moment, the door burst open and the king stormed into the room. "What is the meaning of this?" he shouted.
Katherine pushed House off of her and clutched at her gown. "He threw himself at me, your Majesty!"
"What?" House yelled back. "You have got to be fucking kidding me!"
"Guards!" The king shouted, and two armed men stormed into the room. "Take Dr. House to the tower!"
"No! Father!" Althea shouted as she grabbed her father's arm. "Greg is innocent! Lady Katherine is the sinner here, not him!"
"She set me up!" House shouted as the men grabbed both of his arms and began leading him out of the room. "Althea, tell him!"
"This is the last time you'll put your hands on any woman! Your head is as good as gone. You're lucky if that's all you lose when this is over!" the king shouted after him.
XXX
House sat in the cold, damp desolate room. There was a scattering of hay, a pathetic excuse for a mattress to sleep on, and he didn't even want to contemplate the bucket he assumed was to relieve himself in.
This was bad. He knew it. His only consolation was that he knew the time machine worked. He just hoped Emmett would be able to break him out of the tower before it was too late. Thoughts of the worst possible torture began to plague his mind and he shivered.
The door opened and Althea entered carrying a handful of blankets. "I have spoken to Emmett," she whispered as she handed them to him. "Try to stay positive. He's working on a plan as we speak. Do not worry."
"You should be talking to your father and convincing him what a bitch his future wife is and how she set me up. You believe me, don't you?"
"Of course I do," she said, sniffing back tears. "But you have to admit it did not look very good. You were on top of her, Greg! Kissing her!"
"She pulled me on top of her!" he argued. "It's not my fault your father chose to barge in just at that moment. It took me by surprise to say the least. It was bad enough that he knows I'm screwing his daughter, but it's quite another that I was caught kissing someone else. People have gone to the scaffold for much less. And unless Emmett gets me the hell out of here, that's exactly where I'm headed. Or beheaded as the case may be."
"I will not let that happen, Greg."
"I'm going to hold you to that."
XXX
It got dark outside while House dozed on the cot in the corner. He heard the familiar sound of the DeLorean in hover mode and he went to the window, looking past the bars as Emmett rose up and opened the gullwing door.
"How're you holding up?" he whispered to House.
"I've had better days. I'm set to hang until I'm half dead at eight O'clock in the morning. Before I'm cut down, disemboweled and quartered. I've already puked at the mere thought of it. So much for Althea. Where the hell was she when I was being sentenced?"
"She's still campaigning for your release but it seems the King is dead set on seeing you hang for attempting to rape Lady Katherine."
"I hardly touched the old woman. The wicked bitch set me up and my plan was all shot to hell."
"What plan?"
"Althea was going to have her father catch Lady Katherine trying to seduce me so we could get rid of her once and for all. I knew she'd make trouble for me and she's done that in spades."
"Well lucky for you I have a plan. Come closer and hold out your hand."
House held his hand out through the bars, Emmett moved the car closer and handed over a chisel and a hammer. "If you pick at the base of the bars you can loosen them enough to get rid of at least one. You should just fit through."
House wasted no time picking away at the cement and stone, thrilled that Emmett was right. The cement chipped away rather easily and before long, house was able to bend the bars until one of them snapped right off, leaving a wide gap. It looked wide enough for him to climb through.
Meanwhile, Doc turned the Delorean around and opened the gullwing door, pulling the car as close as he possibly could.
"Hurry up! Someone's coming," Emmett hissed as House squeezed his lanky frame through the gap and jumped onto the roof of the car before climbing down into the seat.
"Good. Close the door and make sure it's sealed shut."
Once both doors were closed, Emmett sped off as fast as possible while relief flooded House. The relief was palpable.
"Time circuits on. Destination: Princeton, New Jersey, June 20, 1999 at 1:00 a.m. Is there a safe location I can arrive at without anyone seeing us?"
"The roof of the hospital. It's probably your best bet since nobody goes up there."
Emmett typed in the coordinates and a picture of the building came up. "That's it," House confirmed, ignoring the feeling of homesickness and then abandonment he felt toward leaving Althea without saying goodbye. But it was better than her knowing about how he was supposed to be executed.
"Buckle up and prepare for temporal displacement," Emmett ordered as he moved the DeLorean higher in the sky and as far from the castle and kingdom as he could get.
Once the car hit eighty eight miles per hour, there were three loud sonic booms and the lights of the city below made House sigh, and feel slightly overwhelmed.
"Are we back?"
Emmett nodded and smiled. "We're back."
XXX
Princeton, New Jersey
1999
House let himself into his apartment after Emmett dropped him off with the promise to call him once he got his affairs in order back home. He desperately wanted a hot shower, hot food and hot sex. Not necessarily in that order. But he was grateful that for once, Stacy wasn't home. As he stripped down and tossed the clothes in the clothes hamper, he wondered where exactly she was. She was usually home by midnight when she was working on an important case, no matter what.
The hot water cascaded down on him and he groaned loud enough to wake the dead as he let months of 1666 wash down the drain. He washed himself and his hair twice until he was satisfied and stayed under the spray until the water started to cool down and he had to get out. His next item of business was something to eat. He found the leftover Indian food in the fridge and it looked so good he almost gobbled it up without heating it, but he thought better of it. He fixed himself a plate and tossed it in the microwave while he grabbed a beer and guzzled it. It tasted so good that once it was gone he grabbed another just as Stacy came through the door.
"Oh, you're home," she said, sounding a little surprised.
"I got home a little while ago. Where were you?"
"I was at the library doing research."
House looked at his watch. "At 1am? Interesting."
She frowned and watched him take the plate out of the microwave when it beeped and sit down to eat like a starving man.
"Hungry, Greg?" she asked as she watched him inhale the butter chicken and rice.
"You have no idea." He made no comment about how he'd had nothing to eat but stale bread and an apple in the last thirty six hours. Being sentenced to death didn't do much for his appetite.
"Well, I'm going to bed," she said as she gently touched his hair. "Coming soon?"
"I'm not tired."
He was exhausted, but his body was still on London time and normally, he'd just be getting up.
"Okay well, I'll be waiting," She said in a sultry tone as she kissed his forehead and walked down the hall toward the bedroom. He watched her as he ate, not stopping eating until the plate was empty and he was sufficiently full. Once he put his stuff away, he went and sat down in front of the TV for awhile, hoping it would settle him down and allow him to sleep.
His mind began to wander about everything. Part of him wanted to go online and see what happened to Althea after he left. The urge to do so wasn't as strong as his urge to have another beer and go to bed.
And yet, something wasn't sitting right with him. Something was off about Stacy and he wasn't sure what it was until it hit him.
She smelled different. Not her usual scent but something else. Something almost masculine.
His blood went cold as he began to put the pieces of the puzzle together and he knew he needed to confront her about it or he wouldn't get any sleep.
So he went down the hall and climbed into bed where she had already fallen asleep.
"Hey," he whispered as he shook her.
"Hmm?" she murmured as she rolled onto her back and opened her eyes. "You okay?"
"I was."
"What's wrong?"
"Who were you with earlier?"
"What do you mean who was I with? You know I was working with Mark Warner on the case."
"Right. In the library at 1a.m. The thing is, there are no libraries open at that hour. I checked."
Stacy was silent as she just stared at him.
"How long?"
She sighed. "Two months."
"Two months? You've been screwing that jerk right under my nose for two months?"
"Greg! I'm sorry! I didn't plan it. It just happened!"
"Right. His penis just happened to slip into your vagina. Oops!"
He got up and started getting dressed again. "I'm going to Wilson's. I want you and your stuff gone by the end of work tomorrow."
Stacy got out of bed. "No, I'll go. And I'll clear my things out tomorrow."
"No, I'm going. I don't want to sleep in this bed again. God only knows how many times you've brought Mark here while I've been at the hospital."
Stacy jumped back like she'd been slapped. "I have never brought Mark here!"
"Well good. That's one good thing that's happened today." He left the room and looked for his coat and his keys and looked at her one last time. He felt nothing, and that surprised him. He thought for sure he should feel something. Anything. But thoughts of Althea invaded his mind and he knew. He didn't love Stacy anymore and even less now that he knew about her affair. Of course, he'd had an affair of his own, but that was when he never thought he'd actually come home.
But what had started as innocent fun turned into something he wasn't prepared for. He had, without a doubt, fallen head over heels in love with Althea. He knew he needed her, but he didn't know what to do.
On the drive to Wilson's he thought about his next plan. He'd go online and look up whatever information he could on Althea and if she fared well, he'd leave her be.
But if she didn't...
XXX
House slept like the dead at Wilson's and when he woke up, his friend was at work so he sat down at Wilson's computer and got comfortable before settling in to do some research.
It took some creative thinking to get the information he needed, but when he did, he wished he hadn't.
There were stories upon stories of Althea marrying some King of Spain, who was as old as Emmett and near death. It was said that it was her punishment for losing her virginity to someone else.
"Son of a bitch," he hissed as he read on to discover that she was sent to the scaffold for not producing an heir to the throne, and convicted of treason because she could not conceive, and therefore led him to believe she tricked him into marrying her just so she could become the Queen of Spain.
He slammed the laptop closed and banged his head against it. He couldn't stand the thought of her being beheaded because of him and it almost made him sick. He needed to talk to Emmett. There was no way he was going to have her stay in that time, knowing what was in store for her. She deserved better than that. Much better.
XXX
Three weeks later, House was practically climbing the walls when Emmett finally called him.
"House, is that you?" his husky voice asked over the phone.
"Emmett? Where are you?"
"Princeton University. You won't believe what just happened."
"You got a job?" House grinned, knowing the answer already.
"Yeah, how about that? I called them when I arrived in town and they wanted me to come in for an interview. You are now talking to the head of the Physics department. As it turns out, my former employers were so anxious to get rid of me in Hill Valley, they gave me a glowing recommendation and told the stiffs here that they'd be stupid if they didn't hire me. So they pretty much hired me on the spot."
"Awesome."
"You pulled some strings, didn't you?"
"Moi?" House laughed. "I might've talked to a few individuals. Everything else was up to you. I merely got your foot in the door."
"Well thank you, House. I owe you one."
"I'm glad you said that. Because I have a favor to ask you."
There was a pause. "You want to go back for Althea, don't you?"
"Am I that transparent?"
"What about..."
"She's gone. She was cheating on me. I kicked her out."
"Well, in actuality, you were cheating on her, too," Emmett pointed out. "But that's neither here nor there. You didn't think you'd make it home. I understand that. I'm assuming you looked her up."
"Damn right I did. And it isn't pretty. I've gotta bring her back here. She can live a long life and be happy in this time. Compared to... what happened to her after we left."
"I won't ask, because I don't want to know. Have you noticed any changes since you've been back?"
"Hmm..." House thought about it. "A few little things. People are using herbal remedies more. But other than that, that's about it. What about you?"
"Nothing of great significance. I'm sure the ripples of time will catch up to us eventually, but the world hasn't come to an end and we're still here so our being in 1666 hasn't hurt anyone or anything. You might've changed history a little, what with all the herbs you used to heal people back then, but nothing that people don't already know. And for that I'm greatly relieved. It feels good to start over."
"Yeah. I might be offered a job of my own soon too. I know the Dean of Medicine at Princeton Plainsboro teaching hospital. She's setting up a new department just for me. We're in negotiations now."
"That's good. So when you go get Althea you'll have everything in place."
"That's the plan. So when can we go?"
"I think we both need to get settled first. I found a house just a few miles from campus. It's got a nice big basement for a lab."
House knew he was right. Going to get Althea would require some preparation and planning. He couldn't just waltz in there and take her away. Well, he could, but it wouldn't be that easy.
But then again, nothing worthwhile was ever easy.