A/N: Sorry, short chapter, but it made sense to break the story this way. Thanks so much to all the lovely people reading and reviewing!

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The first thing Alice did when she got to work was look up law firms in Florida. Collins and Lukowzski were listed in Orlando and they had a website. Alice wasted no time typing in the address and was not surprised to find a fairly cheap and shoddy site pop up. Lawyers should really go out and meet some web geeks. Both groups of people needed friends, Alice thought. They might find they had complementary needs.

Collins and Lukowzski were small-time attorneys who seemed to specialise in that particularly nasty and grubby ambulance-chasing-style of law. "No fee unless you win settlement" was banner-advertised across the top of the site. The firm also offered pages of advice on what type of claims were likely to be successful and how to go about deciding if you had a claim worth pursuing. The site even offered a link to the Florida Office of Insurance regulation, where you could check a doctor's history of malpractice claims.

So, not divorce lawyers.

But still, it wasn't exactly a smoking gun. Simon could easily have called for advice from a legal firm from his home town. His current attorneys were based in New Jersey, Alice knew, but then he'd probably had to hire someone local to complete the action because laws varied from state to state.

Without much hope, Alice placed a call to the Florida law firm, leaving a message with the receptionist and asking to speak to the lawyer who'd advised Simon Ferguson. She left her real name and said she was calling from the Observer – she didn't know enough to fake an identity and figured that being from the media might actually help in dealing with this particular type of legal bottom-feeders.

Then she went to see the paper's lawyer again.

"Max, I need your help."

Max Summers was thankfully a fairly patient guy. He reminded Alice of her grandfather, thick, curly grey hair, kindly eyes but with a piercing stare. Apparently he'd once been an almost unbeatable defence attorney, but had taken on the advising role at the paper when he'd wanted to go into semi-retirement. He removed his glasses and gestured for Alice to sit down.

"Again?" he teased gently.

Alice realised this would be at least the fourth time she'd been in his office about this story. Normally reporters avoided Max like the plague, mainly because his contribution to stories was generally to cut out the good parts or to advise Mad-Eye against publishing them at all. But this time she needed his help.

Quickly she outlined what she'd discovered, including the law firm in Florida.

Max took in a deep breath and leant back in his chair, steepling his fingers as he thought. After a few moments he gave Alice a small sympathetic smile.

"Alice, it's still completely circumstantial. And if the New Jersey doctor and hospital are about to settle, then there's probably very little you can do. You're right, you'll lose the guy's story – the hospital would be crazy not to include a non-disclosure agreement. Although judges don't like them, Princeton Plainsboro has enough legal muscle to get one through.

"Your source – Simon – could easily have called his hometown attorneys for advice. But is it possible that he successfully pursued a case there? Yes. There are definitely people out there who try to make a living from suing doctors. Generally they have to move around a bit, because they get a reputation and doctors share that kind of information with each other. Then if they're really sick, they find it hard to get treated."

"Hmm." Alice's mind started to pull pieces together. "Could he sue two different doctors for the same thing?"

"What, for the same illness? I don't know." Max sat back and thought for a while. "I guess it's possible, if the same mistake was made twice. States aren't good at sharing that kind of information. And a lot of these cases are sealed afterwards to protect patient confidentiality and doctors' reputations. It can be tough to find out if something happened."

"Max, could you look into any sources you might have in Florida? Find out if Simon Ferguson ever sued any doctors there?"

He nodded. "Will do. And it might be worth putting in a call to the Sentinel in Orlando – just in case it got any coverage."

"Yeah, that's a good idea, thanks Max."

"And what about that doctor you're sleeping with? Maybe he could make a call to a few colleagues down there? They're far more likely to tell him something than a reporter."

"What? Is my personal life on the bulletin board or something?" Alice said exasperatedly.

Max chuckled. "Ah, Alice. Actually, I think we're all just pleased to see you happy after such a long time. You deserve it."

"Oh." Alice still felt annoyed that her sex life seemed to be a topic of discussion in the office, but now she felt embarrassed by Max's gentle concern.

"Right," Max said, getting back to business. "So I'll see what I can dig up. You'll call the Sentinel, and you'll get your doctor to make a few calls too."

Alice grimaced. He was right, House would be an invaluable ally at this point. And if there was a chance of helping his friend, perhaps saving Wilson from this stain on his reputation, then maybe he'd see beyond Alice's betrayal. Maybe.

"I'll see what I can do," Alice said vaguely.

"Good. So we need to move quickly, yes?"

Alice nodded.

"Check back with me in a couple of hours."

"Okay."

Back at her desk, Alice made a call to the Sentinel. She'd asked around the newsroom to find out if anyone had a contact there, and luckily Phillip, who sat near her, had gone to college with someone who worked in the features area. It was a pretty flimsy connection, but it had to be enough.

She called and asked to be put through to Jo Leigh. The two reporters had talked at length and Jo had been as helpful as Alice could have wished for. Unfortunately she had nothing. The paper hadn't done any coverage of medical malpractice stories for at least a year, and Jo had gone into the paper's database to check further back with no luck.

Alice sat back in her chair and played with her Rubik's cube. Just as she noticed that by complete fluke she'd managed to get three green pieces in a row, a new option suddenly occurred to her. She didn't have to do the story!

Give up the research. Let Simon Ferguson win his settlement and never think about him again. Tell Mad-Eye she'd lost the main source of her article and that it was pointless now. Refuse to cooperate if he made her complete the story anyway. Accept that she'd have to find a new job if he fired her, as he had threatened he would. Maybe she could take some time out to work on her novel – it wasn't like money was a problem. House would never know. She could write, cook dinner, and be there every night when he got home; martini in hand for him after his hard day.

The idea was appealing for about a minute.

Then superhero-reporter-Alice reasserted herself. She knew it was an old-fashioned way of looking at things, but Alice got into journalism so that the bad guys wouldn't always win. Right now she didn't know if it was Dr Wilson or Simon Ferguson who was the good guy. But for their sakes' she couldn't prioritise her sex life over their right to whatever justice was in her power to bring them. But it's not just your sex life, a little voice inside her prompted. It's your love life. Love. The thing you thought you'd never have again. A chance at the life you thought Stuart had stolen forever.

Alice swallowed hard and pushed the thoughts away. She picked up her phone and dialled.

"Is this important? I'm busy." House's gruff tone almost put her off. Almost but not quite.

"Yes, it's really important. Can I come see you in your office?"

"Christ, you are sick, aren't you?"

"No, not me. But we might be able to save someone's life or someone's reputation. Or both. I'm not sure which, but I need your help."

He paused, and Alice thought for a moment he was going to demand more information from her.

"Okay. See you soon." He ended the call and Alice swallowed a couple of mouthfuls of cold, bitter coffee that had been sitting on her desk since earlier that morning. She grabbed a few of the more important pages of her research and stuffed them into her purse.

"Jimmy?" she called over the newsroom as she walked out. "Can you please tell Max that I'm out and to call me on my cell as soon as he has anything?"

"Sure Al. Have a great day!"

Alice snorted in an unladylike way as she left the room. Yeah, right.

--

Alice walked into House's office with a combined sense of foreboding and excitement which was confusing the hell out of her. It was the first time she'd been to his workplace and, she thought sadly, probably the last time too.

He had a glass-walled office that connected to a conference room with a large rectangular table, a small desk in the corner and tiny kitchenette. The rest of the space was filled with open metal shelves and Alice noticed that almost all the furniture, except for the chairs, was made of glass. It made for a very transparent space – just the sort of place for truth-telling.

House was alone in his office, staring at the computer intently, a pair of narrow spectacles perched on his nose that Alice had never seen him wear before.

"Greg?" she said quietly from the doorway, not wanting to startle him. Not wanting to start the conversation.

Without looking up, he motioned for her to come in and sit down. Alice walked in and sat down opposite him. For a moment she felt that bizarre sense of inferiority and insecurity that she often did when visiting a doctor. It's my body, but you know more about it than I do. The idea had always unsettled her.

He let her sit there for a while and if she hadn't known better she'd have guessed it was a power play – making her wait to let her know that his time was far more important than hers. She knew him well enough now to know that it was just that his attention was elsewhere, completely absorbed by something, and she just had to wait until his brain was ready for her.

He was just the same when he played Xbox. Or the guitar.

Finally, he turned to her, looking at her over his glasses. "Hi Alice. The world was ending or something?"

Alice cut to the chase. "I need you to call Cuddy and tell her to delay the settlement of Wilson's malpractice claim."

Alice wasn't quite sure what she expected, but he simply narrowed his eyes, picked up the phone on his desk and dialled.

"Cuddy. Hold off the lawyers on Wilson's suit."

Alice couldn't make out the voice on the other end.

"Because I said so." He sighed. "Because I might have something that makes a difference. Yes . . . I don't know, a day?" He looked at Alice questioningly and she nodded. "A day. That's easy, just say you're in meetings and won't get to the paperwork until tomorrow."

There was a little more banter back and forward, not all of it about the proceedings, until Alice was sure he'd achieved a delay. Then House hung up the call and sat back in his chair. The look he gave her sent chills down her spine.

"Now, Alice, care to tell me what the fuck is going on?"