Thanks guys for the wonderful reviews! It is way more than what I was expecting! Big hugs and kisses for everyone!

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House felt someone take him by the arms and something press up against his lips that resembled a mouth. Was he dead? He was sure he was still under the water, but what was going on? He found himself incapable of opening his eyes to take a look.

He was able to take a breath because of a tactic involving someone else's mouth that shared their air with him. It wasn't much, but just enough so his lungs didn't hurt. As soon as his lungs were filled, he was able to wave the dizziness and return to somewhat normal. Fortunately, as this happened, he had already broken the surface, thanks to a pair of strong arms.

"Cuddy…" he whispered, although it sounded more like a gasp as he sharply drew in a much-needed breath, followed by a series of coughs.

His eyes opened immediately, but he was having trouble fighting off the blurry vision, due to the salt. His arms were placed on something hard that steadied him and kept him afloat. It was the seat from the plane.

"I'm here," Cuddy said, sounding just as worn out as him. She looked as if she had swam a mile to reach him and did so in record time. "My limbs are tired and my side hurts like hell from landing on an angle, but I'm okay." She put her arm around him to give him extra support.

House struggled to catch his breath. This worried Cuddy. She leaned in closer to him.

"I didn't…see you jump." It hurt to speak. It felt like his lungs were being pressed on.

"I followed after you so I was able to see where you were if you needed my help," Cuddy explained. She was clearly in better shape than he was. Her voice never faltered. It's like this never happened.

"Where did you learn that mouth thing?" He looked at her. "From an old Baywatch episode or something?"

Cuddy had to chuckle. House was still House. "I read it somewhere." She lightly ran her fingers around some bruising that was starting to appear at the side of his face. "Never thought I'd get to try it though."

"Did anyone else jump with you?" he asked, just now remembering the plane wreck.

She dropped her hand from his face and shook her head solemnly. "No. They went down with the plane. I think people were trying to follow me, but it was too late. I heard the plane explode when I was under the water." Cuddy closed her eyes as the images of passengers panicking and screaming up until the last minute filled her head and ears. When she was under the water, it sounded like a million shotguns were going off in her ear at once when the plane broke the surface and exploded from the inside about a mile away from her. The explosion also caused some breaking of the water beneath the surface, which officially pushed Cuddy in House's direction to help him. "God…I swear if I survive this, I'll never fly again."

"Me either. Although I'm starting to wish you went with Wilson instead. Or Cameron. If you went with her, you'd probably be dead right now."

"This really isn't a time for jokes, House," she breathed and then picked up her head to look around.

"Who's joking? And now I have to float around for days on an airplane seat filled with beer farts while my Vicodin is probably waterlogged."

"You brought your Vicodin?" Cuddy asked, as if it were a surprise to her.

"In my pocket. I'm not sharing," he quickly added.

"I didn't ask you to. The bottle, by the way, is waterproof, assuming you put the cap on correctly."

"I've been putting the cap back on correctly for six years, except for when I tried to kill Wilson's mutt."

"Well, then, you'll live." All House needed was his Vicodin. As long as he had that, he would continue to make wise decisions and stay alert.

"For now. It's only a matter of time before some hungry shark comes along and wants to nibble at our legs."

Cuddy's stomach turned. Sharks isn't something she gave a thought about. Floating in the water like this was definitely dangerous if they had to remain this way for a long time.

"If I knew these were the clothes I'd be dying in, I would've picked different ones."

"House, stop! We're not going to die!"

"You think positive, I'll be realistic."

"What you're being is an ass. I didn't save you so you can make an already miserable moment more miserable."

"Then you should've let me drown. You're only delaying the inevitable, Cuddy."

"I wasn't going to let you drown, no matter how much of an ass you are. You're not leaving me alone up here. And don't give up before you start trying."

Back on the plane, House definitely didn't appear to be the type to give up. At first, he was in denial and didn't care, but picked right up with crazy ideas to save himself and Cuddy. Why go through all that, including a dangerous jump from an airplane, just to give up now? House was in denial again. It was easier for him to be in denial than for him to express his feelings.

"Look at our options!" he said, throwing his hand out to a random spot in front of him. "There's ocean, every which way you go. There are no boats, no people, no nothing. There isn't even any land."

"Someone must know about the crash," Cuddy said, voice low.

"Even if they do, they'll never reach us in time. For all you know, the nearest shark is just around the corner."

"You saved us knowing we would have to float! Why not just go down with the plane then?"

"I didn't want to die that way," he said, grip tightening around the edge of the seat.

"Oh so it's better to die being shark bait rather than blowing up in an airplane?" Cuddy asked bitterly. "And you thought you'd bring me with you, just in case the shark was extra hungry."

"No, I brought you so he'd eat you first and leave after he was done."

Cuddy wouldn't have minded the joke. A joke would be great right now, but House didn't make it sound like one. His tone was serious. It's as if he really saved her life just to throw her to the sharks.

He wouldn't do that. He wouldn't put all his focus to save her on the plane just to throw her to the sharks once they reached the sea. She was sure that wasn't the first thing on his mind when he planned the rescue. He said this because he was just as scared as she was, only he couldn't admit it.

Cuddy didn't know what to say back to something like that. Luckily, she didn't have to. She glanced past House and saw something large floating a few feet away.

"What's that?" Cuddy asked, pointing behind him. House wrenched his neck around to see what she was talking about.

"The emergency door to the plane," he said and looked back at her, wondering if she was thinking the same thing he was.

"Think it'll hold our weight?"

There was only one way to find out. It was floating, which was a good sign. At least this way they would be out of the water completely with room to stretch out. The water was very cold, but neither hardly noticed. They had other things on their mind.

Cuddy tried to help House onto the large emergency door, but her hand was slapped back.

"I can do it," he said and struggled to hoist himself up there.

"I'm just trying to help you," Cuddy pointed out, not understanding why his ego still had a mind of its own at a time like this.

"I don't need to be helped." Eventually, he got up there, but it took a lot out of him. He fell onto his back as Cuddy easily mounted the door without it tipping over.

"I didn't need help either. Thanks for asking," she said sarcastically.

"You're welcome," he played along, shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand while fishing for his Vicodin with the other.

Cuddy laid beside him with a small grunt. The salt was starting to dry out her skin and make her hair feel stiff. The salt in her eyes made her sleepy. At least they were out of the water, doubling the chance of their survival rate.

House pulled out his bottle of Vicodin from the zipped up pocket and shook it. The pills still rattled against one another, indicating that no water had gotten into the tube.

"Good thing I brought a full bottle," he said, but put it back into his pocket. He knew he had to save them, and plus, he was too weak to use both hands to open the bottle to take some.

Cuddy turned her head to where the crash was. Nothing was there anymore. It was like the Titanic – there one second and then the entire thing just vanishes under the water with no sign of it ever being there. Even the water calmed down completely. They were the only people out there within a hundred mile radius, give or take, with nothing around them except for ocean.

"Bet you didn't expect this when you woke up this morning," House murmured tiredly.

"I'm starting to wish you did get us arrested today," Cuddy said, making herself comfortable beside House and resting her head against his arm. "What do we do now?"

Both of them were extremely exhausted now that they were safely out of the water and laying down. They wanted nothing more than to fall asleep until they were rescued. It would certainly pass the time.

"We wait," he said, intuitively putting his arm around her to draw her closer to him.

"How long?" she asked just as tired and despite the events that just happened and how awful it was to see your own flight go down and claim all those lives, Cuddy's strength was zapped. Her mind wanted sleep.

House just hummed a response, too tired and worn out to form words.

"…Those…poor…" Cuddy was asleep before she could finish her sentence.

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"Did you reach House yet?" Cameron asked Foreman when he tried for the tenth time to call House in Japan. She entered the office and took a seat at the table across from Chase.

"His phone keeps going to voicemail. So does Cuddy's."

"Maybe they're still in the air," Chase suggested.

"It's been almost a full day. They would've landed by now."

"Maybe the weather is bad somewhere," Cameron offered, looking at the chart of their current patient, one in which they needed House's help on with the diagnosis. "Or they're stuck in the air, in which case they can't turn their phones on. Give it a couple more hours. We know that tomorrow is the meeting with Koshidi-sama, so if they aren't there then, we know there's a problem."

"Why would there be a problem?" Chase asked, dividing a look in between each of his colleagues.

Cameron shrugged. "Anything could happen."

"Like what?" Chase prompted.

"Like anything! What's with the third degree?"

Chase held his hands up in defense. "I was just asking. You get so anxious when you don't know where House is."

"Why do you assume that, because I don't want you bothering me about this?" she bit.

"No, because it's true!" he poked back immaturely. "I thought you said you were over him."

Cameron lightly brought her hands down to the table. How did he come up with something totally different than what they were talking about? With Chase, House usually got the brunt of everything involving Cameron. He always found a way to blame him.

"I am over him," she said. "But no matter how many times I say it, you'll never believe me."

"Because it's not the truth. I see the way you stare at him." His tone comprised of so much jealousy that it made Cameron laugh.

"I don't stare at him," she said, followed by an extra chuckle. "You're being ridiculous."

"Am I?" he asked, tone not letting up. He folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Did you sleep with him?"

"Okay, guys, let's focus on the patient. Remember her? Cardiac arrest? Unusual brain activity? Ring any bells?" Foreman asked, tired of the bickering between the two. Every time there was a free minute, they would one way or another talk about her being with House.

"I'm not answering that," Cameron said, ignoring Foreman completely, even with eye contact. "Like I said, it's none of your business. I don't ask you who you go around sleeping with."

"If I told you, would you tell me?"

"Not a chance."

"Enough! Just because House isn't here, doesn't mean you get to get off the subject. As long as we're in his office, we stick to the protocol, and that doesn't involve outside personal lives. Save it for later."

"We need House's diagnosis," Chase said.

"So…in the meantime, go run some tests. Do I really need to tell you how to do your job?" His tone towards Chase was hard. Chase left the office after that, glancing at Cameron in the meantime, telling her that this conversation was far from over.

"And you…get a grip on yourself, unless you plan to kill the patient," he said to Cameron.

He left the room before she could say anything.

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During their nap, House and Cuddy weren't unaware that the winds picked up and drifted them off course, heading north. It was hours later when House awoke to a searing, sharp pain in his leg. He automatically took his arm from around Cuddy and reached down to massage it, biting his lip to fight the hurting. His actions also woke Cuddy up, fully alert and concerned.

"You okay?" she asked, propping herself up painfully onto her arm and offering him a hand.

He shook his head. "My leg is killing me." His eyes screwed shut told Cuddy that.

Cuddy felt a pang of guilt in her chest. "What can I do?"

"There's nothing you can do," he said, speaking through clenched teeth.

"Take some of your Vicodin."

To her surprise, he didn't want to. "It has to last."

It hurt Cuddy more to see House in pain than him actually being in pain. It almost brought tears to her eyes. "You need it now," she said, taking it upon herself to reach into his pocket and pull out his nearly full bottle of Vicodin. She unscrewed the cap and extracted two pills without permission.

He accepted them anyway, swallowing them dry after building up enough saliva to do so. His throat was incredibly parched. Cuddy capped the bottle and put it back into his pocket.

"It'll be dark soon," he pointed out, turning his head to the side to watch the sun just slightly dip into the ocean in the far distance. "I don't think help is coming tonight."

"Probably not," Cuddy said. "I'm sure Narita International is aware of the missing plane, but a search and rescue won't happen for about a day or so. They need time to gather the right equipment. And even if they do come out tonight…they have no idea where the plane went down."

"Maybe the pilot radioed in before we crashed. If not, unsinkable debris must be floating around somewhere."

"You can't see debris in the dead of night, House. Plus, we're still miles from Japan. Looking for debris is like trying to find the clichéd needle in a haystack. We're stuck in the middle of nowhere."

"We're a hundred miles from Hawaii. That's somewhere."

"We were a hundred miles when the plane went down. God knows how far we are now. The sun was just about high noon when we crashed. It's setting now. We had to have been sleeping for about seven hours or so and judging by the way the water is carrying us, I'd say we drifted at least ten miles."

House scoffed. "That's nothing. They won't stop searching for us just because we drifted ten miles off course."

"I didn't say they would, House! I'm just telling you what I think."

"Well let me tell you again what I think, Cuddy," he replied bitterly. "I think that by morning, it's not going to matter either way, because we'll both be fish food to the sharks and whatever else likes the taste of blood and human muscle tissue. Ever see Jaws? I have. If they want you bad enough, they'll tip you over and sink their teeth into your flesh."

It was hard not to be worried by his blunt statement. It was definitely worse than his comments earlier about sharks. An unsettling feeling stirred up in Cuddy's stomach.

"You didn't have to be so graphic. I'm aware of sharks and what they eat."

"Misunderstood creatures or not, get near one, they'll tear your limbs off."

"Enough, House! You act like I'm planning on jumping in and swimming with them!"

"I'm just preparing you because if you don't stop yelling in my ear, you will be swimming with them."

House's head was already throbbing as is. He didn't need Cuddy's shrieking voice making it worse.

"Don't start threatening me again," she said, glare not letting up on him.

Even though they were stranded in the middle of the largest ocean in the world, he still managed to be an ass. She knew he would never go so far as to going ahead with that threat. If anything, he would jump in and swim with the sharks before making her do it, in spite of him saying otherwise. House is quite far from being noble and honest, but when it came to Lisa Cuddy, he would do it with no questions. Right now, his head hurt, his body hurt, his leg absolutely killed, and his throat was like cotton. If House was with anyone else, he would be thinking about self-preservation throughout the entire ordeal. He wouldn't try to save them like he did with Cuddy. It would be every man for himself.

"What are you going to do about it? Jump and swim away from me?"

Cuddy wished she could walk away from House right now. Back at the hospital, she would either walk out or tell him to leave. On the plane, she could escape to the bathroom. Here, she was forced laying next to him, no matter what. If she pushed at him, they could both tip and fall into the water. They had a lot of extra room on the door they were laying on, but with the seas going from calm to slightly wavy, Cuddy didn't want to take a chance in even switching direction. She would have to deal with House being a jerk. At least it took her mind off a few things, like worrying about what they were going to do once it was so dark that they couldn't see the area around them.

"I would jump, but then you'd come in after me."

"Wanna bet on that?"

"I know you would. The reason you took me with you is so you wouldn't have to be alone, not so you can throw me to sharks."

House laughed quietly. "Right. You think you have me all figured out. I saved you because if Princeton Plainsboro had another Dean of Medicine, I'd be fired that same day and have to flip burgers for a living, making minimum wage. Worst of all, I'd have to move in with Wilson."

Cuddy sent a smile in his direction. He turned his head to the side also and met her eyes. "Then you better be good to me."

A somewhat small smile formed on his face. "Never."

Cuddy laughed and straightened her head out so she was looking back up at the sky. House did as well. They didn't speak for a moment. The sun went down in that short amount of time, leaving a light pink and purple sky behind it. Even the small clouds were a different color. Cuddy thought it was the most beautiful thing. She wished she could enjoy it more on a beach someplace, cuddled up with House on a blanket instead of on a door in the heart of nowhere. Fate was funny at times.

The beautiful colors were only there a short minute before the entire sky lit up almost instantly with a blanket of beautiful twinkling stars. It got dark amazingly fast.

Cuddy was worried. Who could blame her? But with House by her side, she didn't feel as worried as she would be if she were alone. She rested her head up against his shoulder with a content sigh. She felt his right arm move from in between them and embrace her again. Cuddy smiled. There was no securer feeling than this. His arm tucked under her head and his hand came to rest on her arm. Cuddy shifted closer so their sides were touching, but quickly jolted away from him with a small wince.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately.

"I landed on an angle jumping into the water. I couldn't straighten myself out when I was pulled from the plane. It's okay though," she added quickly. "I didn't realize how tender it still was."

"You sure you're okay?"

He felt her nod on his shoulder. He let the subject drop after that. Cuddy slowly connected with him and relaxed. She was still tired, but not enough to sleep just yet. Sleeping probably wasn't a good idea anyway.

She watched the stars blink instead. The only sounds she heard around her were the stable shushing of the water and House's steady breathing. Both were soothing sounds to her ears and brought her into a peaceful state.

"How's your leg?" she asked, trailing a line of stars with her eyes that blinked one after another.

"Hurts like hell."

He fell quiet again after that.

"Talk to me," she prompted.

"I'm tired," he said, although he didn't sound tired at all.

"No you're not. Come on, House, what's on your mind?"

"What's on yours?" he countered.

"I asked you first."

"What's on my mind is asking you what's on yours. Your turn."

At least he was talking to her, Cuddy didn't care if he was being a moron or not. She sighed and nibbled gently on her lower lip before speaking.

"Do you think anyone will miss us?" she asked quietly.

"Whatever happen to you being strong, brave, and any of those other words I can't possibly attain and express without sounding like a bastard."

Cuddy frowned and glanced upwards at him. The light from the stars bounced off his face, making him illuminated enough for her to make out the outlining of his face, as well as the droplets of water on his cheeks. "What does that mean?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said after a brief pause.

"House, you've been nothing but strong. If it hasn't been for you…I might be dead right now."

"No, Cuddy, you would be dead right now."

Cuddy chuckled so low that it was a mere rumble in her throat. "See? There's your proof. You're a hero."

He scoffed. "If I was a real hero, I would've seen what was coming sooner and instead of propping you with pillows, I should've gathered the passengers and told them to jump when the time came."

Cuddy's heart sank. Has this been bothering him the whole time? She turned slightly to her side and got a better view of his face. His eyes were open and staring at the stars as well. She also swore she saw tears in his eyes, but that could very well have been a mistake. His face was splashed with water every now and then from the gentle waves.

"You can't let yourself feel guilty, House. You had no idea," she said gently and rested her free hand on his chest.

"It made sense!" His voice raised. "It was such an easy diagnosis that even a three-year-old could've figured out. Everyone knows the pressure of the water will fold into anything not meeting the mass, exploding it from the inside out if it plunges deep enough. The entire time, it made sense and it didn't click until last minute."

"You had a lot on your mind. Stop beating yourself up. That's reserved for someone like me," she said, smiling small, trying to cheer him up. When he didn't speak, she continued, rubbing her hand softly on his chest. "Hey…at least you didn't think of it as the plane hit the water. You can't save everyone. Being a doctor, you should know that. Just let it go, okay? Your job isn't over yet, you still need to be strong for me."

"I already saved you once. You get no more freebies."

House ended it with a joke. Cuddy smiled. It meant he had no hard feelings. In a way, House would always feel terrible for the reasons he listed above. The discussion was dropped, but still existed within him. Cuddy knew him well. The joke meant he didn't want to talk about it anymore. She would grant him that wish. She didn't want him to feel the burden of the crash if it meant hindering his own chance to survive.

"You saved me, I saved you. We're even."

"You didn't save me," he said, sides of his lips twitching into a small smirk. "I totally had it under control."

Cuddy's mouth dropped. "The hell you did! You were like a wounded seal flapping around under water. And since I'm such an animal lover, I had to save it," she said proudly.

House chuckled weakly and glanced over in her direction for the first time in this conversation. "Well…I'm sure the seal is grateful for your need at being an overbearing, compulsive woman who wants everything to be done her way."

Cuddy was still. Did he just thank her for saving his life? That was a first! She was afraid to say anything and break this moment.

The silence must've been uncomfortable for him, for he continued talking straight away after he thanked her.

"Anyway, in getting back to your previous question, you'll be missed for sure. Me, though…probably not." He picked up after she asked him if they would be missed and before the discussion got off track.

Cuddy immediately scolded him. "Don't say that. Do you know what your mother and father would do if they found out you were in a plane crash?"

"Mom would cry, dad would tell her to grow up and get over it," he mumbled.

"He would not."

"What about your parents? Would they give a damn?"

Cuddy frowned. "Of course they would! My father would probably conduct the search himself to find me."

"Because he loves you or because his ego is bigger than mine and it'll make his image look good if he shows he cares about his daughter?"

Cuddy's relationship with her parents was undefined. No one had ever heard her speak of them in casual conversations, or even refer to them by any means. She never even told House that much about her parents.

"Probably door number two," she said sadly. "Although my mom would make up for it in her own little way by attending church to pray for my survival with other people she forced to join in with her."

"Jews go to church? I just thought they wore those funny-looking cap things and decorated their houses with Menorahs and Draddles without leaving the home."

Cuddy chuckled at how subjective he sounded towards the Jewish culture. "Yes, House, Jews go to church. Some of us, anyway. My mom doesn't go often, only when she wants something. My father, he's a different story, one that I don't like to bring up, even if we are stranded flat dead in the middle of the Pacific with the lack of nothing better to do."

House hummed. "So I take it you don't want to talk about him."

"I believe that's what it sounds like. He makes your father look like a saint."

"No one can make my father look like a saint, not even the devil himself. So does this mean you don't like Christmas?" he asked, changing the subject quickly. Talking about his father was not his strong suit and preferred to avoid it whenever possible.

"House, how long have you known me? You know I'm always the first one with my hand raised every year when the hospital wants to do a party of some kind for Christmas. Just because I'm Jewish doesn't mean I dislike Christmas."

"Actually, that's exactly what it means. You can't have Christmas trees, eat Christmas snow, or come in the vicinity of Christmas directions or you'll be fried by the hand of God."

Cuddy chuckled. "Okay, someone's been watching too much South Park."

House frowned. "How would you know about South Park?"

"I know about a lot of things you don't know." She rested her chin on his shoulder, so close to his head.

"Well good then, for your information, I didn't get all my Jew jokes from South Park. I branch off between Family Guy and American Dad. I'm sure there are some Jewish euphemisms in there somewhere."

Cuddy was so wrapped up in talking to House that she temporarily forgot they were floating on a very hard emergency door in the midst of the Pacific. She tried to imagine herself laying on the beach with him again, just like she did when looking up at the sky. Either that, or they were laying in her bed. She asked him to come over because she couldn't sleep and would spend the entire night just talking to him, because like her, he wouldn't be tired either. She would be snuggled up beside him under a warm comforter, surrounded by fluffy pillows. She would neglect her pillow, because she would have House's shoulder to lay on as he pulled her closer to him with his arm, much like he did now.

Suddenly, she shivered, making her whole body flinch.

"You okay?" he asked, rubbing her arm gently with the hand that hugged her body to his.

"I was thinking about my bed and it made me cold," she said with a laugh.

"It is getting colder out here by the minute."

That it was. Cuddy was dried off from the sun earlier today, but the twenty-degree temperature drop from the day to the night didn't help out much with keeping her warm. She brought herself closer to House and tucked her head underneath his chin with a content sigh. She entered a whole new world of serenity when she heard the gentle shushing of his heart.

"We should get some sleep," House suggested in a whisper. "It'll make morning come faster."

Cuddy didn't argue. His heartbeat already brought her halfway there. The other half involved him lightly fingering her curls. She fell asleep seconds later.

Although he suggested it, House didn't fall asleep that night. Instead, he stared at the stars, listening to Cuddy's deep breathing and occasional moan, signaling she was in REM. At least she was able to sink easily into that stage. House would barely get that far if he tried sleeping. Besides, he needed to be awake in case something happened.

So he just drifted along and watched the stars glimmer above him, lightly stroking Cuddy's hair. Would someone be looking for them tomorrow? They were so far from the wreckage; would someone think to look out this way? Do they even know where the wreckage is located? Even the scraps of metal and other debris left over from the crash probably disappeared by now. The only way someone would know where they were is if before they crashed, the pilot gave somebody the coordinates. Thinking there might be survivors, he could've.

Right now, the only thing House knew for absolute certain was they weren't going to last much longer on the water. There were bound to be rough seas, ravenous sharks, and with the lack of water present, they would dehydrate in three days max.

Things still didn't look good for them.

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