Stuck

"About what you said today in that office…" House turned to Dominika.

"I told you, not to vorry," Dominika shrugged. "I lied."

"Yes, you already made that clear," House agreed. "But I wasn't going to warn you about me."

"Then vat?" Dominika was puzzled.

"I wanted to say: thank you," House stated. "You came up with probably the only thing that saved our hides."

"No need to thanks," Dominika smiled. "I did not vant to go back to Ukrraine."

"I know you weren't unselfishly trying to sacrifice yourself," House nodded. "But I still thank you."

"Then I also need to thank you," Dominika stated. "You could have saved yourself alone. You could have said I trricked you or that ve married for real but found out that ve vere mistaken in ourr feelings. I vould have been sent back home but you vould not have gone in prrison."

"That wouldn't have been fair," House said. "We got into this together. Thanks for getting us out together as well."

"It is not overr," Dominika warned. "And I didn't mean to make you live vith me."

"No help for that," House stated. "And I definitely prefer you to my roommate in prison."

"Good to hear," Dominika smiled. "I'm going to bed. Coming?"

"No," House shook his head.

"I do not vant to make you do something you do not vant to," Dominika frowned in puzzlement. "But if the Man comes in to check on us, ve cannot sleep in separrate rooms."

"I know," House sighed. "But right now my leg is acting up. I'm going to walk it a bit, take a few drinks and see if it will ease up."

"Ok," Dominika didn't sound too convinced but there was no point in arguing.

"She's right, you know," Nyx told House as soon as he had dozed off on the couch.

"About the sleeping arrangements?" House asked.

"That," Nyx nodded. "And that she owed you thanks as well."

"As I told her, we got into this together," House said. "I can't say that I was any less culpable. It wasn't like I married her to do her a favour; I married her to stick it to Cuddy. I couldn't let her be the only one who had to pay for it."

"Didn't stop you from accepting her money, though!" Nyx reminded him.

"That was her idea," House defended himself. "And she could afford it. She is apparently quite the businesswoman."

"Smarter than you believed?" Nyx suggested.

"More cunning," House corrected. "I didn't really pay much attention to her smartness when we first met. Not that I thought she was stupid, she would not have survived this far were she stupid."

"True," Nyx agreed. "Ukraine is not the easiest country to live in today. Nor is it easy to come alone to a completely new country and completely new culture and not get gobbled up. Trust the wrong person and you are neck deep in trouble."

"I don't think she really trusts anyone that much," House observed. "She certainly knows how to work her assets without promising something she isn't willing to deliver."

"A skill a girl with her looks had better learn fast," Nyx pondered. "Especially …"

"Yeah," House nodded.

"So, how do you think you two will go on now?" Nyx asked. "Though going back to Ukraine isn't something she wants, you do have more to lose. Is she going to call the shots?"

"She's hot," House stated.

"Does that give her the right to be, now what was it that your patient said?" Nyx tried to recall. "Something about being 'the man of the house', wasn't it?"

"No," House said. "But she is hot. Which does give her an edge. I mean, It's not that easy to argue with a hot girl who jumps up and down in your home. And cooks like a dream, too. Besides, I'm not going to be home that much."

"Unless you have a case and have to be at the hospital, you have to spend at least most of your time with her," Nyx told him ruefully. "Unfortunately she really is your ball and chain for the next six months."

"Damn," House sighed. "You're right. I just acquired a new electronic monitor! Though it does work both ways. She has to stay here, too. Most of the time."

"Yeah," Nyx got thoughtful. "How is her boyfriend going to react to her suddenly much more binding marriage? And where is he?"

"She hasn't mentioned him," House frowned. "Maybe she has changed boyfriends. It's been two years. And her business is bound to take up a lot of her time. However, it doesn't really matter. We are now stuck in this situation and whoever her boyfriend is, if there is one, he has to stay out of sight."

"How are you going to play it then?" Nyx asked. "Between you two?"

"I think we'll just have to play it by the ear," House assumed. "Not much we can plan here. Just be ready for an inspection, at any time. This really is sounding more and more like prison. Except that I do prefer Dominika as a cell mate. I suppose she is the one who really has to carry the burden of convincing the bureaucrats, so she better take the lead in this."

"Why is it more her business?" Nyx wondered.

"Because she is hot," House said – again.

"Your conversation is really limited this night," Nyx admonished. "She does have other attributes than her appearance. She is fun, for one."

"I know," House agreed. "Or at least she has been so far. But, like it or not, her defining quality as far as this marriage is concerned is that she is hot. Nobody, at least no male, and come to think of it, nor any female who knows me, will wonder why I would want to keep her around. But she will have to convince the immigration that she sees qualities in a grumpy cripple that make her love him. That to her I really am more than just a ticket to the Green Card."

"You are a doctor," Nyx ventured. "You save lives."

"And even the people whose lives I save don't like me," House pointed out.

"She comes from Ukraine," Nyx said. "Women there appreciate maturity in men. And are more used to traditional roles."

"That might make me like her," House pointed out. "Who wouldn't like a hot woman who serves him hand and foot. But that does not explain why she would want me. I don't usually even say thank you."

"Nor do most men in Ukraine," Nyx muttered. "Or anywhere else for that matter."

"You may have a point, there," House accepted. "But maybe she came to the States to find something else, something better. And I'm still an ex con."

"You weren't when she married you," Nyx pointed out.

"She would have been an idiot to marry me had I been," House agreed. "But by the time she supposedly fell in love with me, I was. She has been here for two years now. Most of that time I was first abroad, then in prison. She, however, did just fine alone. She even made a small fortune for herself. All she needs me for is the Green Card, and trying to convince immigration that that isn't the only reason she 'loves' me won't be easy. And if she fails, then she will be deported, but I can state that she convinced me, too, of her sincerity and was duped. Which means that I may not need to go to the Big House. This does rest mostly on her shoulders."

"So why does the Beauty love the Beast," Nyx pondered. "Too bad immigration isn't more romantic, otherwise selling a Classic like that wouldn't be even difficult."

"This is no fairy tale," House stated. "We are stuck in real life. And with each other for now."