Chapter 11: Match Point.
House arrived late as usual. He had been avoiding the hospital to let his team work. The less he was around the more time they had to set their plans in motion. He knew Wilson was upset by the car pranks, and he had been amused all evening as he listened to Rachel tell him how fun it was using plastic wrap on Wilson's car. He was also amused by the look on Cuddy's face as she realized that her little two year old was being corrupted and encouraged in her behaviour by House. House assured Cuddy that it had not been his idea to get Rachel involved and that his plan had only been to parade his Team House cheer leader before Wilson, which seemed to unnerve Wilson and make him paranoid, but Cuddy didn't completely believe that his team had taken it upon themselves to let Rachel help.
As usual he walked across the lobby, spotted some of his fellow's in the clinic and proceeded on to the elevator. Once on his floor he found Wilson once again in conference with his fellows. Wilson and House made eye contact and House laughed at him, then moved on to his own office. He didn't notice Doctor Robinson and Doctor Bennett lose interest in what Wilson was saying, but they both followed him with their eyes until he had disappeared behind the solid wall that sheltered his desk from view. House threw his sack in a corner and then leaned in to tune on his computer before sitting down. Blindly he pulled the chair to him.
Wilson heard the thud in the other room as Bennett and Robinson high fived each other.
"What did you do?" Wilson whispered.
"Removed all of the screws from his desk chair," Bennett stated.
Wilson laughed and turned as the limping Doctor House angrily moved to the door that opened into the side office. He looked angry but stepped back in shock and displeasure as he walked right into the door and it did not open as he pushed it.
Robinson and Bennett laughed hysterically as House tried the door again but it would not open into the office, then he tried pulling and the door swung effortlessly into him.
"Well played sir," House said as he stepped into the office and glared at Wilson.
"I had nothing to do with that, but I assure you, now that I know what my team is capable of, I will surely be involved in every other attack on you." Wilson laughed.
"Who flipped the hinges on the door?" House asked as he looked at the two fellows who tried to stifle their laughter.
"It was my idea, Doctor House," Robinson confessed.
"But you took the liberty of removing the supports of my chair while your tall burly friend did the hard work of tampering with my door. Well played, but you will have to do better than that," House said and turning he walked into the hallway and away from the office.
At the elevator he met Chase and Forman.
"They got you?" Chase asked, "We saw it when we snuck by to get to Wilson's office.
"Yeah, but that was child's play," House said, "I have a new idea."
"What are you going to do now?" Forman asked.
"I think I need you two to run a little errand for me." House said wickedly.
"What do you need boss?" Chase asked as all three of them stepped into the elevator and the door closed.
"I need as much shaving cream as you can get your hands on," House stated.
Forman and Chase smiled at each other and nodded at House.
When the elevator opened on the clinic level Forman and Chase walked right out the front doors while House walked into the clinic.
"Morning," he said to Cuddy at the nurses station.
"Good afternoon," Cuddy said, "what are you doing here?"
"Clinic duty," House answered picking up a file and heading for exam room one. "It's a beautiful day to cure some illnesses!" he said jovially and disappeared into an exam room.
"He's up to something," Cuddy said to the nurse and walked away.