Hey everyone. Thanks for the feedback on the past chapter! I love you guys so much with all your wonderful comments and/or suggestions! Even though I can't respond to everyone's reviews all the time, just to let you know, they do brighten my day like you wouldn't believe! ^^

I'm posting this a little early because all the way up until Labor Day, I'm going to be swamped at work and won't even have a chance to come home and look at this story for at least the next five days. :(

Enjoy :)

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It was late Wednesday afternoon, the day before their court hearing at the Mercer County courthouse. For the past two days, House and Cuddy got along great. They were just like a normal, happy, everyday couple. Cuddy went back to work Tuesday, although it wasn't completely official just yet. They needed Stacy to perform some legal matters and print up some documents to sign. But Feeney was gone and Eric resigned from the board. It didn't please Cuddy that she lost her top benefactor, but at least they left without a fight. Hopefully it would stay that way.

As far as she could also tell, her parents and sister left without a fight as well. Perhaps Cuddy coming back into the picture didn't need to be brought up between all of them while performing their scams. How likely would it be that someone comes walking back from such a horrible accident? They were all happier than pigs in shit. Cuddy had no idea she had family members that would take advantage of her. Well, at least they didn't touch her bank accounts or her pension. If she didn't get back when she did, she was almost sure that would be next. Who even knows if they're done with her yet. They're probably forming a pact together to slam her all at once, even Eric, although he doesn't associate with the family. If they all want the same thing, they'll figure out how to compromise. They wouldn't stay this quiet for nothing. Cuddy wasn't worried. At least about that anyway. Her biggest concern was Stacy coming back into their lives. It was fine before, because Stacy was married and Cuddy wasn't with House. Now that Stacy was divorced and had nothing holding her back, even House and Cuddy being together. Stacy obviously didn't care about cheating on her own husband; she's not going to care if House is seeing someone.

"Okay, that's the last thing that should be on your mind right now, Lisa," Cuddy whispered to herself, hanging her framed awards back on her summer colored walls.

Ever since House so casually mentioned Stacy coming back, it's all she's been thinking about. The last time they saw each other, Stacy was ready to leave Mark to be with House. House sold Stacy the same crap that he tried to do with Cuddy, saying that he could never make her happy. Stacy never fought back. She just accepted it and left. But now that she's coming back, what's going to happen? Surely, she's not going to keep her mitts to herself. She never could. Ugh…

She was not leaving Cuddy's mind whatsoever. The closer the time came for her to come to the hospital to have them sign paperwork, the more on edge Cuddy became. It made it almost impossible for her to restore her office to the way it was before she left, although the thoughts of her nephew reigning over the parade would be a little harder to shake.

Between Stacy, her nephew, brother, and her family, it's a wonder that Cuddy could focus on any tasks at hand. Good thing she really didn't have to. She was the innocent one here. All she wanted to do was go to court for a maximum of five minutes, be declared alive again, and get her assets back in her name. Easy, right? It would be that easy for House. Whatever Sam has cooking up, it's not going to be so easy. She knew he had his hands on her original assets, will, deeds, and title to her car. With the simple forgery of her signature, everything can simply be altered. Sam was good at what he did. He wouldn't go through with this fraud unless everything was perfect.

That hearing was first thing Monday. Tomorrow, they were simply getting their lives off the dead list; reclaim their jobs, medical licenses, and anything else they lost from the crash. That was step one. Cuddy was just nervous on what they were going to tell her tomorrow. House would walk out of there like none of this ever happened. Cuddy would be living again, but with nothing that belonged to her. At least not until Monday came along. At least she would have her job back. Tomorrow after court, she planned to come back here and get started right away on everything Feeney slacked on. He picked the charts he wanted to review and tossed aside those he didn't. He also never stayed on top of what the hospital needed, making him a terrible administrator. He was definitely in this for the money, not for the job.

Cuddy sat back in her chair and looked at the pile of charts she wished she could go through and start reviewing them. She felt like a stranger in her own office. They let her in there only to clean up. Same with House.

She left her office to head up to his. When she got there, he was talking to Wilson by his desk. It looked like a grave conversation, for she had never seen House's face so serious. She debated whether or not she should interrupt them. She wouldn't have, but House looked past Wilson when he saw her at the door.

Cuddy walked in, a little hesitantly, but was greeted with Wilson's warm smile, taking some of the thickness out of the air and making it more comfortable.

"Hey, Lisa."

"Hey, boys. What's going on?"

"Nothing," House said, turning back to his computer and minimizing something in a hurry. He did try to make it not obvious by opening another screen and typing in something else on the Net, but Cuddy was still a bit suspicious. She didn't say anything though.

"Uh huh, so how have you been?" she asked Wilson.

"Uh…good, good, just fine, and yourself?" he replied nervously.

Cuddy twisted her mouth in thought. "You just answered three times in a row. What's going on here?"

Wilson cleared his throat, as if it was a cue for House to start speaking. "Stacy's taking an earlier flight and she's staying with us until Monday morning," House said, speaking nonchalantly, and not even looking away from the screen.

Cuddy's eyebrows raised a few centimeters. That definitely wiped the smile right off her face. "Can I ask why?"

"Because she's doing us a favor, so I wanted to do her a favor."

"If you want to do her a favor, House, put her in your apartment. As far as I know, it's been empty for the past two months," she said flatly, definitely not too hot on the idea of Stacy being with them for the weekend. Why was House so blasé about this woman all of a sudden? And why did Wilson appear nervous at the sound of it? Did he know something Cuddy didn't know?

A twinge of jealousy and dislike for Stacy filled her heart. She wasn't being told the complete truth and that bothered her.

"She's not staying at my house, I'll tell you that right now. If you're so hot for her to stay by your side, you can go with her. Either way she's not going to be under my roof, I don't care how many favors she does for us."

House glanced over to her in a feigned shock. "Wow, aren't you cold."

Cuddy threw her arms out by her side. "Call me what you want. I'm not exactly keen on the idea of the ex girlfriend of my current boyfriend in the same area for too long, if at all. Sorry, House, but it's not happening. I don't trust her."

"Wow, my ears are ringing."

Cuddy looked over her shoulder quickly to notice Stacy standing at the door with a messenger bag swung over her shoulder and a briefcase in hand. She had a smile on her face that Cuddy quickly started to despise.

"You're here early," Cuddy pointed out. They weren't expecting her for a couple more hours.

"Took an earlier flight," she said, walking into the room.

Wilson excused himself and left, leaving the three alone. Cuddy took one chair, Stacy took the other, and House stayed where he was. He even turned off his computer screen and everything. It would've been nice if Cuddy got the same appreciation!

Cuddy wasn't comfortable in Stacy's presence. Her distance showed it, although she tried to remain professional and did so with good posture, but didn't say anything unless she was spoken to.

"Before we start, I just wanted to apologize what happened," she said, sounding authentically sympathetic, though she was probably full of shit. "I can't imagine what you must've gone though, especially you, Lisa."

"Gee, ya think?"

"And I know you're a little sensitive about me right now, but I assure you that I intend to make this as professional as I would with any other case. I'm glad you both suggested me. It's a plus when a lawyer already knows about their clients."

'Believe me, I wish I got a say in it,' Cuddy thought, feeling the urge to wipe the smile off Stacy's face.

She opened her briefcase to extract two folders. One was for House, and the other was for Cuddy.

"In here are copies of the documents you'll be presented with in court. You will have to sign them in front of a judge and a witness, which will be me. I'm giving them to you now so you'll have time to look over them for tomorrow. Greg, yours will take about ten minutes after the lecture, but Lisa, yours is a bit more complicating. I went through the database and pulled up your file on the mainframe. It doesn't look good."

Cuddy frowned. "What do you mean it doesn't look good?"

"I pulled up a copy of your will and it states that in the event of your death, your property and assets will go to your next of kin, which would be your sister in Texas."

Cuddy was angry, even at the messenger. "Okay, for one, I didn't even have a will on file! Second, if I did, I would never have put my family as my receivers if I were to die. I'd rather give my assets to the state rather than my sister! And third, I'm not even dead, so that makes my will, if I had one, invalid for the time being!"

"Lisa, trust me, I'll do everything I can to fix this. I will be ready Monday, one way or the other, but Samuel Bernstein is a very good lawyer."

"He must be if he can trump up legal documents and forge my name to them."

"Do you have the original deed to your home?"

Cuddy shook her head. "My parents got a hold of it in my safety deposit box somehow. Supposedly my original will was there too."

Stacy nodded. "That's probably where he'll say he got it."

Stacy talked to them for over an hour about the case and what to expect. Now much would happen tomorrow. They would go in, sign documents showing proof they were still very much alive, and then would be able to go out and reapply for their driver's licenses, as well as get things situated with credit cards and checking accounts now that they would have their social security cards obtained.

Cuddy still didn't feel reassured that things would go well for her in court Monday morning. Sam would be there and probably her parents and Karen as well. There was so much going on right now that she could barely wrap her head around it all. Would she even be able to get her job back? Sure she scared Feeney into leaving and Eric to resign, which is a good thing, but what happens if they counterattack it and fight? Stacy made it clear that tomorrow Cuddy would also find out if she's able to keep her job without going through the legalities. She was almost sure that wouldn't be a problem. Almost sure? What the hell does that mean?

It was an agonizing hour being in the same room as Stacy. Cuddy was glad when she left House's office.

House opened his mouth to speak, but Cuddy cut him off. "No, House."

"You don't even know what I was going to say!" he semi-whined.

"You were going to say something along the lines of 'see, Cuddy, Stacy really isn't so bad, is she? Can she please stay the weekend? Pretty, pretty please?'" she mocked. "The answer is still no. You want her so bad, take her to your apartment. Although keep in mind that if you stay with her, don't bother coming back to my house."

"She's doing you a favor," he said, standing up and limping after her as she left his office.

"Yeah, and I've done her plenty of favors here before, like employ her at this hospital when she needed it."

"You wanted her to be here."

"No, House, I didn't mind her being here. I never wanted her here, particularly now that she's divorced and thinks she's doing us a favor."

"You think I'm going to end up in bed with her, is that it?"

"It's not you I don't trust. It's her."

"Cuddy, I'm not going to sleep with her," he said, following a chuckle. "She's from another life, a life in which you weren't in."

He grabbed her by the arm, stopping her in her tracks, and pulling her to him. He could see it in her eyes that she was extremely bothered and feared by this. He cupped her cheek with his left hand. "I love you, not her."

"Your feelings for her never went away after you broke up. When she came back—"

"That's in the past," he said. "Cuddy, with so much to worry about, don't make trusting me become one of them. She'll stay at my apartment and we won't see her unless we have to, okay? Will that make you feel better?"

"A little."

House leaned in and kissed her. She kissed back urgently.

"You know what I liked?" he asked a moment later, lips inches away from hers.

"What?" she whispered.

"You called me your boyfriend in my office."

Cuddy smiled. "I liked that, too."

"Come on, let's go home."

Cuddy's smile remained. "Okay."

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Stacy ended up staying in a hotel, and would be continuing to do so until her flight on Monday afternoon. She didn't want to be an inconvenience to House and Cuddy if she stayed with them, or at House's apartment. Why she was even considering to do so in the first place baffled Cuddy. She may want her favor returned, but that's a very dumb way to want it.

Cuddy fully expected her to try something, but so far, she didn't. Stacy didn't even so much as call.

"What's wrong?" House asked her in bed that night when she stared off into space.

"Maybe I was too hard on Stacy."

"I don't believe it. We spend hours full of passion and are in need for one hell of a night's recovery and you're thinking about Stacy?"

Cuddy grinned. "Payback for you thinking about Sam the other night."

"Oh, you little minx. You're lucky I'm exhausted."

Cuddy turned over onto her side and purred, lightly driving the pad of her finger in a circular motion around his chest. She rested her chin on his arm. "Are you really exhausted?"

"Yes! God woman, you are definitely at your prime."

"Either that or I'm making up for all those years I didn't have sex with another human being," she whispered, traveling her hand down his chest, past his stomach, and to his sleeping member. She giggled when it woke up at the slightest contact.

"Looks like it misses me."

They ended up going another round with Cuddy on top. House insisted on it because he was just too tired to perform.

After that, Cuddy finally fell asleep, laying halfway on him. He pretended he was asleep until he heard her breathing softly in a content sleep. He turned his head and kissed the top of her forehead before he wiggled carefully away from her and got out of bed successfully without waking her. The way they went at it, she'd be asleep well until the morning. He'd be able to get away.

He dressed himself and limped out of the bedroom. He didn't think Cuddy would ever fall asleep. Hopefully she wouldn't wake up before she had to tomorrow morning.

He grabbed his cell phone and made a call.

"Hey," a voice answered.

"Hey. Sorry it took so long. Are you here?"

"I'm parked outside the house, Greg. I've been here for over an hour."

House apologized and hung up. He left the house to meet up with Stacy. He slipped into the front seat of her rental car.

"You sure you want to do this without Lisa knowing?" she asked, placing her hand gently over his upper leg.

He sighed, followed by a nod. "I'm sure."

Together, they drove back to her hotel.

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*gasp* what do you think?