I don't own House or any part of the show. Rats!

Thanks for the friendly, lovely reviews! They really mean a lot to me. This chapter is shorter than they have been, but I couldn't resist the urge to end it where I did!

Like Father Like Son

Chapter 20

House had almost made it to the clinic when he realized that the clinic was the last place he wanted to be. He wanted to talk to Wilson. He wasn't going to tell him about Greg, he just wanted to intimate that maybe he had a secret worth telling. The elevator took forever returning to the first floor and so House had to wait. That was fine. House wasn't really in a hurry. After a moment of introspection, House was surprised to realize that he wasn't very surprised to find Greg in the conference room. Had he known, deep down that his son was "Intern Eddie"? No. If there had been any clues to the deception House had never picked up on them. Then why wasn't he surprised?

The elevator doors finally opened and House stepped in and pushed the button to his floor.

He wasn't surprised because what Greg did was exactly the way he would expect a son of his to behave. Why say "Dad, I want you to give me a job at PPTH" when deception could be involved? House smiled. Maybe Greg wasn't all goodness and light. He knew that he shouldn't feel the way that he did, but he was relieved that his son was capable of deception. He found it comforting, somehow.

Ten minutes after discovering Greg in the conference room, House walked into Wilson's office to find him there still fingering the triangle of paper as he spoke with the oncologist. Stunned at his friend's arrival, Wilson stood and pointed to Greg.

"Uh…House….I want you to meet my intern, Greg Dubois. He'll be your intern soon so try to make a good first impression."

Greg stood and held out his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Dr. House."

"House." He clarified as Greg's hand continued to hang in the air unshaken. "So, I finally get to meet the famous 'Intern Eddie.'"

"I've heard a lot about you, too, sir. Most of it hasn't been very good. I think Dr. Wilson and your team was planning to keep me hidden for as long as possible."

"I understand. I heard you made them all look bad. It isn't difficult to do. I do it all the time."

Throughout this interaction, Greg and House just stared, as though sizing each other up. Then silence reigned for awhile and finally Wilson could take it no more.

"Speaking of the team, I think I hear them calling." Wilson decided that it was time to rescue Greg. He didn't know where the conversation was headed and he felt responsible for the boy. He was sure that whoever took care of him would want Greg home in one piece that evening.

Greg looked at Wilson and then back to his dad. He smirked a very House-like smirk that only his dad could see. House returned the smirk with an eyebrow lift that said to Greg "We'll talk."

Greg's stomach flipped and as it did, House smiled reassuringly, which frightened Wilson into thinking about spiders and flies.

"House, aren't you supposed to be in the clinic today?" Wilson's words reminded House that, indeed, that was where he was supposed to be.

"Yes, and aren't you suppose to be curing the incurable?" House started to leave, and then rocked back on his heels as he changed his mind. "You know, I really could use some help in the clinic today…."

Wilson sat down hard in his chair and scrubbed his face with his hands. He needed to save Greg. Now. "I don't think Greg's ready for that. I'm sure that one of the team would be more than happy to help out."

"Only the best and the brightest will work and according to everything that I've been hearing about this young doctor, he's the bestest and the brightest-est to come along in quite awhile!"

House's words dripped with sarcasm and Wilson hoped that Greg wasn't about to fall into the trap of trying to prove himself. Teenagers sometimes felt ready to take on the world before they were ready and there was no way that Greg was ready to deal with House. No one was ever ready to deal with House.

Greg was unsure of how to handle the situation. Wilson was clearly terrified that House would eat Greg alive given the opportunity and he was pretty sure that his dad was playing on those fears. So, did he act terrified and plead with Wilson not to be thrown to the wolves, or did he act overly confident and appear to be a lamb led to the slaughter? Overall, either method was going to cause Wilson to go apoplectic so Greg's real concern was which response his dad would prefer. He decided to go with fear.

"Uh….Dr. House….I'm supposed to stay with Dr. Wilson for another week or so, then your team is going to work with me." Greg worked just the slighted hint of a tremble into his voice.

"But why work with the apprentices when you could work with the Master; and why wait? Even you must know that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I get hundreds of applications every year from people just dying to be my minion and here you are given the opportunity without lifting so much as your pinkie finger and you are hesitating?"

"It's the dying that I'm worried about…."

Greg looked pleadingly at Wilson. He wondered if he could muster a tear and suddenly had to fight the urge to laugh. Wilson looked helpless to stop the inevitable and the conflict washing over his features was priceless. Wilson knew that what House had just said was true. Greg would be a fool to pass up the chance. Greg would also probably never become a doctor once House was finished with him.

"Greg, I think you should…."

"Wilson, let the boy decide for himself. If he's as good as everyone says he is he is certainly capable of making a simple, obvious decision such as this."