Okay, I lied. Still long waits between chapters because my teachers sprung exams up on us without ever mentioning it before. But school is out in less than a week.

Oh my god. I've been reading too much latin- when I was proofreading this chapter, I realized I typed latin word for 'nevertheless' instead of the English one. 0.0 *is terrified of becoming more nerdy than I already am*

Sean: Once again, I don't remember what your reviews said. But this a 'note to self' that I stopped training with Pikachu. Marth is next! SQUEEEEE!

Warning: from here on out, this story will contain themes of alcoholism and self-harming- specifically, the sections about Thirteen. May trigger. These sections will be set off as '13 13 13' instead of 'HOUSE HOUSE HOUSE' as a warning.

Chapter 14

Chase smiled at Cameron, trying to appear at ease, though this was possibly one of the most unnerving situations he had ever been in. Eric Mitchel's trial was coming to a close; it only required three more witnesses- Cuddy, Thirteen, and himself.

First, the prosecution got their turn. Casey Novak walked over to him and asked steadily, "Dr. Chase, can you please tell the court what you found, upon inspection of the defendant's house?"

Chase swallowed, then said, "It looked like any normal house, except when we went to inspect the bedroom. Once again, nothing out of the ordinary, but when we looked in the closet, we found numerous suspicious objects like handcuffs or rope. We assumed he might just be into rough sex and were going to move on when we a scrapbook fell to the floor and opened to the middle. Then we saw picture of our patient, Eric Mitchel, on top of over a dozen different women..."

He trailed off here, but Casey prompted him. "And what was he doing in this pictures?"

Chase hesitated, then said loudly, "Raping or killing them."

Casey smiled reassuringly at him, then turned and walked back to the prosecution table as she said, "No more questions."

Chase would have dearly to, at this point, simply go over to Cameron and take her home- although that would mean a return to the dreaded 'baby' discussion that had been going on for the past week- but first he had to answer questions from the defense attorney. Questions like what the hell he had been doing in Mitchel's house in the first place and why the hell they hadn't called the police when they saw the scrapbook.

"So. Doctor... Chase, is it? You say you were in the defendant's home?"

Chase hesitated, then said nervously, "Yes."

Said defense attorney- whose name Chase had already forgotten- asked, "Well, you would care to explain what you were doing in there? Or how you got in, for that matter? Because, my client says he never gave you a key and, in fact, had no idea you ever went to his home in the first place."

Chase glanced anxiously at Cameron before clearing his throat and saying, "I was checking his home for any environmental toxins that could have caused his symptoms. It was purely medical."

"You forgot to answer how you got inside."

"I, um... I found a key above the door frame," he said, glancing nervously at the jury. They were looking between him and the defense attorney uncertainly, as if they were unsure what to believe.

"Ah," the defense attorney said. "Just... found a key under the door frame. And broke into his house. Is this something you do on a regular basis, Dr. Chase? And before you answer, I feel compelled to remind you that you are under oath."

Chase swallowed nervously, then spoke up. "On a regular basis? No. And only when I'm searching a house for a cause for their symptoms."

"Really?" the defense attorney asked as she paced back and forth. "Even after breaking into someone's house nearly caused the death of one of the doctors on your team, when he contracted a parasite from someone's home? Even after you nearly broke your leg trying to escape from the police because of one of these little escapades? Even after-"

"Is there even a point to this line of questioning?" Casey interrupted as she got to her feet, glaring at the defense attorney, "Or is my fellow lawyer here simply trying to make my witness look bad?"

"Oh, there is a point," the defense attorney assured the judge.

After a moment, the judge nodded, but said, "Make it quick."

"I will. Now, doctor, since you make such a habit of breaking into people's houses, you certainly could have quiet few charges of breaking and entering stacked up. That's alot of years in prison."

"Is there a question there, Langan?" Casey asked sharply from behind.

"Yes, there is, Ms. Novak. Dr. Chase, isn't the only reason you agreed to testify today is because The People offered you amnesty for all those past crimes? Certainly a worthy cause to create fake evidence, if you-"

"Objection!" Casey exclaimed, getting to her feet. "Relevance- and the defense has-"

"Sustained, Ms. Novak," the judge interrupted coldly before transferring his cold glare to the defense attorney. "The jury will disregard the defense's last statement, as Mr. Langan has no basis for it. And unless he has any further, on topic questions, Mr. Langan can sit down."

"No further questions," Langan said simply before turning his back on a confused Chase and a furious Casey.

HOUSE HOUSE HOUSE

Thirteen watched as Casey paced back and forth, ready to begin her questioning. Chase had already called her and told her what Casey had told him- that the defense attorney was trying to make them all out to be what the lawyer had termed 'liabilities'. He had tried to convince the jury that Chase was a criminal and had faked the evidence, and, simply based off that, Thirteen had a pretty good idea of what he would try and do to her.

First, though, were Casey's questions. "Dr. Hadley, can you please tell me what happened on the night of March the 13th?"

Thirteen nodded, swallowed her nerves, then said, "I went to a bar after work. I had had a pretty... well, horrible day, so I had a drink, and then another one, and then another one. I met a guy before I started drinking, and we just started talking. Eventually, I got up to leave, but took a cab because I didn't want to risk driving. When I got home, I just went to sleep on the couch. I, um... must have left the door unlocked, because when I woke up, the guy from the bar was there."

"And is that man here now?"

"Yes," Thirteen said, turning her cold glare to Eric. He winked at her and Thirteen immediately shrunk back. Casey saw and moved so she was between her and her rapist, nodding at her encouragingly.

"Can you point him out to the court please?"

Thirteen nodded as Casey moved aside, then pointed right at Mitchel. "He's right there."

"Thank you. Now, what did the defendant do after you woke up?"

Casey moved in between her and Mitchel again, and Thirteen took a deep, shuddering breath before forcing out, "He, ah... He said I probably had a headache, since I had had so much to drink the night before... and that he knew the cure for it. He kissed me and then started to take my shirt of but I said no, and he... he hit me. I was still a little, um, woozy, so I couldn't fight him too hard... I couldn't stop him before he... ra- raped me. Then he said he had to go to work, but would be back the next night. After he left, I went to work and stayed there for five days straight. By the time I came back, he wasn't there."

Casey nodded again, then said, "And you got pregnant from the rape, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"No further questions." Casey smiled at her, then turned and left her at the mercy of the defense lawyer.

He got up and walked over to her, saying as he did so, "I'm going to keep this short, Dr. Hadley. I simply have two questions- did you know my client before the night when he allegedly raped you, and how were you so sure he was the father?"

Thirteen blinked- they were surprisingly easy questions. "No, I did not know him, and I was sure because he was the only man I'd slept with in the last five months."

"Really? So you don't have sex often?"

"Your Honor, objection!" Casey exclaimed, getting to her feet and glaring at the defense attorney. "I do not see how that is relevant at all to this trial today!"

The defense attorney shook his head and said quickly, "Just give me a moment to make my point, Your Honor."

The judge hesitated, then said, "All right, but I'm only giving you a moment, Langan."

"That's all I need. Answer the question, Dr. Hadley."

She swallowed, then said, "With men- no."

"With men? So you have sex with women often?"

Now Thirteen realized what he was trying to do- make her out to be a whore. And, unfortunately, her answers to the biased question wouldn't help discount that theory. "Well, um... often may be a bit of an exaggar-"

"I'll rephrase; could you hazard a guess at how often you have sex- with men or women?"

Thirteen bit her lip anxiously, then forced herself to answer. "About once a week."

"Oh, really? So, if you have sex that often, you could certainly forget a one night stand- like my client. And if he had sex with you before, he might have thought that the night he allegedly raped you was just a repeat of that, and that you were willing. And, for someone who sleeps around as much as you do, it surely it wouldn't be too hard for you to forget one or two men, now could it?"

"Objection!" Casey half-shouted, jumping to her feet once again. "Your Honor..."

"Sustained- that's quite enough, Langan," the judge snapped, glaring at the defense attorney. Thirteen blushed furiously, staring down at her hands as the defense attorney walked back to his table with a smug smirk.

"Your Honor, can I redirect?" Casey demanded, shooting daggers with her eyes at Langan. The judge waved her on, so Casey got to her feet and walked quickly over to Thirteen. "Dr. Hadley, do you EVER invite men you barely know into your home simply to have sex?"

This, she could answer without any embarrassment. "No," she said firmly, glaring at Langan furiously. Of course, the jury was already convinced that she was a whore. Nothing Casey said could fix that now.

HOUSE HOUSE HOUSE

House sighed unhappily, watching as Cuddy was sworn in. He had already heard about the defense attorney's attempts to lie about Chase and Thirteen and wasn't exactly looking forward to round three.

And as if the defense going after Cuddy wasn't enough, his girlfriend's nightmares had been getting progressively worse ever since the trial date had been set. Last night, it had taken House almost an hour to calm her down after she had woken up screaming yet again, and, as usual, any hopes of further sleep were nonexistent.

Casey, fully aware that this was her most traumatized witness and her testimony would be critical in a guilty verdict, proceeded with caution. Fortunately for her, Dr. Cuddy's record would be the hardest for the defense to taint. She just had to hope that closing arguments tomorrow went better then the rest of the trial had.

She positioned herself directly in Cuddy's line of vision, so she couldn't see Eric, then said, "Dr. Cuddy. Can you please tell the court about your relationship with the defendant, prior to the night where he allegedly raped you?"

"He was my ex-boyfriend. He broke up with me after I told him my pregnancy test had been a false positive, and I wasn't pregnant."

"And what happened the night he came back to your apartme-"

"Objection, leading," Langan said from behind, seemingly with no other purpose then to annoy Casey.

Resisting the urge to turn and either roll her eyes, glare at him, or smack him- personally, she loved option three- Casey said coldly, "I'll rephrase. Did you see the defendant again, after he broke up with you?"

"Yes. He came back to my apartment about a month ago. He forced his way in and... and I think he thought that I had been lying about the false positive... he said I had had an abortion. That it was my fault his mother killed himself. He... he said that... I didn't have the right to kill our baby, and that... he would show me control, and..." She stopped her, biting her lip hard to stop from crying.

"What happened next?" Casey asked gently.

"He... he ripped off my shit, and... and started to, um... rape me. He only stopped because House- my boyfriend- came to my place in the middle of it. Eric ran out the window before House knew he was there. My boyfriend drove me to the hospital and I told him what had happened."

Casey, who had already presented the findings of the rape kit to the jury, nodded gratefully and said, "Thank you. No further questions."

Cuddy watched as the ADA walked back to the prosecution table, slightly longingly- she really didn't want to be left alone with the defense attorney.

Nevertheless, she found herself gazing steadily as Langan approached smugly, his hands clasped behind his back. "What a touching tale, Doctor. My client breaks up with you after you receive the devastating news of a false positive pregnancy test, and then, months later, you let him in and he rapes you, out of blue."

"I... I... first of all, I did not let him in, he forced his way in, and I did not just-"

"How about you answer this question, Doctor- can you think of any reason why he would come back after months of no contact and rape you, just like that? Because I certainly can't."

"Your Honor!" Casey exclaimed, glaring at Langan as she got to her feet once again. "Dr. Cuddy is here to testify about what he did, not his reasons for doing it!"

"Agreed. Langan, I am getting estremely tired of all these shenanigans. Unless you actually have a good question for the witness, sit down before I find you in contempt of court."

"I'm just merely trying to make sure my client knew it was rape, Your Honor. Now, Dr. Cuddy, when you say my client 'forced his way in'- well did you do anything to stop him? Did you try and kick him out?"

Cuddy swallowed nervously and said, "Yes, yes, I did, but-"

"Why didn't you just slam the door in his face when you saw him?"

"I... I was just surprised-"

"Did you tell my client to leave?"

"No, I couldn't breathe-"

"Did you-"

"Your Honor!" Casey shouted as she forced herself upright. "Is Langan going to let the witness answer a single question or not?"

Langan raised a hand before the judge could order him to and said, "I'm sorry, Your Honor. But, based off the witness's answer, se didn't say no, she didn't fight him- sounds consensual to me."

Casey stared furiously at Langan while Cuddy looked down at her lap and bit her lip again, still fighting tears. Langan proceeded back to his table while Casey tried to do damage control, hoping that the jury could see through Lagan's facades, hardly able to believe he had the audacity to talk to a rape victim like that.

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