Please review and I apologize if none of you like the idea of Chase smoking but I do so it's in the story.


Wilson fell back onto the surprisingly soft motel bed and closed his eyes in relief. The car ride had been extremely long and they were almost out of New Jersey by now. About half way through House had decided to annoy both him and Chase until they were both ready to shove his crippled ass out of the car while going 100 mph.

The moment he closed his eyes he heard the familiar annoying knock he knew to be House.

"Go away!" Wilson yelled tiredly.

House ignored him and came into the room "Your Australian has lost his mind," House said as he plopped down onto the bed next to his friend.

"He's your employee so that makes him your Australian and he hasn't lost his mind," Wilson mumbled as he closed his eyes once more.

"He's taking us to who knows where…" House said before Wilson cut him off.

"House he's just trying to help us, we haven't even left the state yet if you really think he's lost his mind and that this is a waste of time then why don't you go home and do whatever it is you do when you're at home alone," Wilson said in annoyance.

House was silent for a moment "You really think he knows what he's doing?"

Wilson smiled "Yea I think he has a good idea of what he's doing and that's enough for me."

Wilson felt House stand up from the bed and heard him make his way over to the door and make a rather noisy exit. The oncologist breathed a sigh of relief before letting himself drift off to sleep.

"Does Jimmy know you're giving yourself cancer?" House asked as he walked over to where Chase stood, leaning against his car, a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips as he fiddled with his iPod.

Chase looked over at the older doctor, a guilty look on his face. "No, and don't tell him ok he doesn't need to be worrying about me right now," Chase said as he flicked away the ashes.

House leant against the car next to Chase "Lemme bum one."

Chase chuckled and shook his head before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pack of Marlboro Lights and a black bic lighter and handed them to the older man.

"So you're gonna try and fix Jimmy by taking him on a road trip, never heard of that one before," House said before lighting the end of his cigarette and inhaling deeply.

"I'm not trying to fix him, he doesn't need fixing he just needs to take a break and remember who he is," Chase explained.

"Where did all this psychobabble come from, talking about going out to find yourself you sound like a fucking hippie," House said.

Chase shrugged "Nobody said you had to come with."

"What and let you turn Jimmy into a dirty hippie with flowers in his hair," House scoffed.

"I'm not asking him to march on Washington with me or to go have sex with the first person he sees, all I want is for him to be happy and maybe for you to be happy," Chase said.

"This isn't about me, we're talking about Wilson," House said not wanting to get drawn into Chase's insane plan anymore than he already was.

"This is more about you than you know," Chase said as he put out his cigarette and began to walk away from the older man before stopping and turning around once more.

"I mean do you really want to be known as the man who couldn't smile?" Chase asked before turning back around and headed to his room. House glared at the younger mans back for a moment before putting out his own cigarette and making his way to his motel room.

House stared at the mirror, water dripping from his hair and rolling down his skin. His face was stoic with a hint of perpetual annoyance. Chase's words rang in his ears as he looked at himself. He was never one to let an opportunity to prove someone wrong pass him by so he determinedly tried to smile. He frowned when his first attempt was more of a cat-caught-the-canary grin. He shook his head and tried again but his second attempt was a smirk.

House stood at the mirror for what felt like hours as he tried to get himself to break out into a true smile. "What the hell is wrong with me?" House growled. In a last ditch effort he placed his index fingers on either side of his mouth and pushed the sides upward. He pulled his fingers away from his mouth hoping it would stay upturned in a smile but it went right back to a frown in seconds.

The older man sighed and hung his head; maybe Chase was right after all. Maybe this trip would help him as well as Wilson. Because Chase was right about one thing, he didn't want to be remembered as the man who couldn't smile.