A/N: Now that our favorite couple has finally admitted to each other in words what they want...now they have to take action and just do it. There will be bumps along the way otherwise...it wouldn't be Huddy. I'm trying to update once or twice a week now in order to keep the flow towards the finish. And yes, there is a finish, there's always a finish. :)

"I don't want you to go," she said in a soft whisper.

He breathed a huge sigh of relief. "I'm glad you said that because I don't want to go either."

"We've been dancing around this, hinting at it but not coming out and saying it directly." She shook her head and bit her bottom lip. "Haven't we learned anything?"

He shrugged. "Some things are hard to change."

"So what do we do now?" She asked.

"We come up with a plan."

"I'd like you to...live here...with us," she said, pausing to gauge his reaction. "If you want to."

He swallowed hard and nodded. They were treading into new territory.

"But I need to know...I mean it's not just you and me, it's her too," she said, nodding her chin towards Rachel. "Everything we do affects her. I need to know what you want before we do this." She studied him hoping for a glimpse into his thoughts.

"I think you know how I feel about us...about her." He was taken aback that she would question it.

Cuddy brushed her thumb over his palm reassuringly and squeezed his hand. "I do House. I'm sorry. I'm still in unchartered waters here."

"Me too," he said with a slight smile. "Change still scares the hell out of me but not having to going through it alone makes the difference."

House was on a mission as he limped into Stevens office late Tuesday morning.

"I'm busy," the Dean said pointing toward the door without even looking up.

"We need to talk."

"Make an appointment."

House tossed an envelope on his desk.

"What? Another lawsuit?"

"No, my resignation."

"Your what?" He looked up and peered at House over the rim of his glasses.

"You heard me."

"If this is a ploy to keep Dr. Chase-" Stevens warned.

"No," he said abruptly.

The Dean took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I suppose I should've expected it."

House plopped into the chair across from Stevens as he sucked on a lollipop waiting for his boss to continue.

"You seem to be in a good place. You've taken more time off these past months than you have in years, you're clean, you haven't gotten us sued in months, you don't spend every waking moment here, and you haven't terrorized the nursing staff in weeks."

"Clearly I've been slacking in my duties."

"Apparently," he mused. "And surprisingly, you're not the pain in the ass I thought you'd be. Granted I still have to nag the shit out of you to do clinic but other than that, you're actually not as bad as I expected. I gotta tell you House, I'm feeling a little cheated here." He grinned slightly watching House roll his eyes. "So, what about your department?"

"I was going to have to let them go anyway, right? Taub took this job years ago because he thought what we did mattered. I think he's gotten it out of his system. This job has given him confidence. I'm sure he'll find something out there that's better or go back to plastic surgery."

"And the others? Park and Adams?"

"I hired Adams because I'd gotten her fired from her last job." He looked down and tapped his cane on the floor. It hadn't been the only reason. He saw potential in her, among other things. Her compassion and the way she challenged him reminded him of Cameron and her willingness to take risks reminded him of Thirteen. Still...there was something missing that he couldn't yet put his finger on.

"Adams is a good doctor. She wants to do good..because she feels guilty about being born a privileged white girl. In my opinion, guilt doesn't make a good doctor. I don't think diagnostics is right for her mostly because she's not willing to take risks. Same goes for Park. Good doctor, caring, smart but not willing to put her ass on the line. In my job...when you're job is to do whatever it takes to find the problem, you have to be willing to take risks, even when it means your job." He looked up at Stevens. "Am I right?"

Stevens shook his head in agreement. Like his predecessors, he did not like the consequences of the risks especially the lawsuits and the heat from the Board but he was a realist. He understood risk was a part of the job.

"Under the right tutelage, they both might turn out halfway decent doctors," House concluded smugly.

Stevens smirked. He knew House rarely complimented anyone but that was as close as he'd get to it with them.

"What are you going to do with Chase?" House asked.

"I still want him to head the ICU."

"So you don't think you'll keep the department?"

"Dr. Cuddy created the department specifically for you and as I understand it she fought pretty hard until they gave her what she wanted. Even with your unorthodox ways, your department has a lot of backers because of the work you do. Truth is, without you here, there is no department."

"Chase could run it."

"I believe Dr. Chase is a fine doctor but he's not you. Your name and expertise make the department what it is. Donors are not likely to give their money so freely with you gone."

"You could entice them to donate to other causes."

"I could and I certainly will", he said."Losing you is a great loss to our medical community. If some donors choose to pull their funding after you leave, so be it. Let them donate elsewhere. In the end, it doesn't matter where the patients get treated, so long as they get treatment."

"You'd rather I take those patients somewhere else?"

He leaned forward. "House, so long as they get a correct diagnosis and treatment, does it matter where?"

"Nope," House concurred.

"I suppose we need to discuss when you're leaving. When is the big day?"

He nodded toward the desk. "It's in the letter."

"Yes, but that would defeat the purpose of me asking you now wouldn't it?"

House smirked. "As soon as possible. Is that a problem?"

Stevens leaned on the desk and put his head in his hands. "You're making this difficult aren't you?"

"It's not that bad. I've only got a few months left on my contract. I could stick around but that would mean taking on more cases, it'd delay the inevitable."

"Wow," Stevens replied said leaning back in his chair, letting it all sink in. "I'm going to have some explaining to do."

"I have complete faith you can handle the Board. You play ball with them, they like you."

"Can I tell you something off the record?" Stevens asked, tentatively.

"I've never been an on-the-record kind of guy, so shoot."

House watched as Stevens rolled his chair back and opened the bottom drawer of his desk. He pulled out a bottle of whiskey and two small glasses. Without looking at House, he put the glasses on his desk. House raised a curious eyebrow at him but said nothing as Stevens poured them each a shot. Stevens put the bottle back in its hiding place and continued.

"I hate politics, I really do," he said, leaning back in his chair swirling the whiskey in its glass. "I went into medicine to save lives, not to play these bullshit games. I understand the need for rules and discipline, I just hate when it gets in the way of medicine."

"I think I'm beginning to like you."

Stevens chuckled. "Yeah don't let that get around, some people here think I'm a real hardass." He nodded at House, who reciprocated with a smirk. "House," he said. "I know we didn't start off on the right foot and I had to lay down ground rules you didn't like but that's part of the job. I hope you understand that."

"You're just doing your job, I've got no problem with that. But I have to ask why in hell are you doing this job if you'd rather be actually doctoring?"

"Because...," he started, then paused. He swallowed the show and as it went down he closed his eyes and pursed his lips, savoring it. He looked back at House and nodded for him to consume his which he did. "I actually like both. I just hate the politics but I understand the need for it. I think a good administrator understands the needs of everyone and can bring them together. Doctoring and administrating don't have to always be at odds. I don't mind pushing boundaries till they stretch but not till they break. There have to be limits but there are times when stretching is good, don't you think?" He knew of course that House agreed with him.

House nodded then gulped down the shot of whiskey. He placed his glass on the desk with a thud. "I'd have to agree with that."

"It's not an easy job and I know you of all people, know that. This is one of the top hospitals in the country because of the fine staff here and the leadership of its former Dean. I wanted to be a part of that. Dr. Cuddy pushed boundaries, stretched the limits, took risks and in the end, it made this hospital better. It resulted in higher quality care and improved quality of instruction for our medical students. I don't want to undo her work, I want to improve upon it."

House leaned his head back and looked around. How many times had he sat in this office across from Cuddy giving her a hard time about her administrator skills. he knew her job was difficult and that he made things worse. There were times he remembered how harsh he was with her and wished he hadn't been. The job was very difficult and it took a unique individual to make it work and seem so effortless while doing it. Cuddy had done that. He felt a surge of pride run through him. He would talk to her about that.

"This job is thankless at times. Half the staff will love you, half of them will hate you. You'll always be arguing with the Board because everything they say and do is always right. And you'll have to kiss some donor ass sometimes...no wait...all the time," he said. "I'll deny I ever said this but...you're doing a pretty good job so far. This place will be fine under you."

Stevens had a look of complete surprise on his face. This was the closest Gregory House would ever come to offering a compliment.

"Thanks. Could it be that maybe you're not as much of an ass under that exterior as you'd like everyone to believe," he asked with a smirk.

House rolled his eyes. "Oh geez, are we bonding now? Because I think I just felt my balls shrink."

Stevens let out a laugh and held up his hands. "Okay, okay. You're an annoying pain in the ass with a God complex and you make everyone's lives around here miserable."

House grinned. "Much, much better."

Stevens put his feet up on his desk and twirled his eyeglasses for a moment. "House, I can't figure you out. Everyone knows you hate change and yet here you are quitting a cushy job that pays you a hefty six figures with benefits. You don't have a new job so I'm guessing what you do have waiting for you is far better." He looked at House with a raised eyebrow.

House knew what he was referring to and decided to appease him. "I would have to say you are most definitely right."

Stevens pursed his lips together in thought for a moment, removed his feet from his desk and leaned forward, back in business mode. "Okay," he said. "I'm willing to give you what you want if you give me what I want."

"Which is?"

"Finish up the patients you have, I'll divert any others. Talk to your team, tell them not to worry, nobody is going to lose their job. Close out all your patient files, get your outstanding discharge summaries and dictation done so I can bill insurance. I'm not just losing one doctor here I'm losing an entire department. There's a lot of administrative crap that goes along with this. Just keep me posted on anything I need to know."

"I can do that except...don't turn away the patients. I mean if there's one waiting..."

"There will always be one waiting, House." Stevens sighed.

"And leaving before the contract is up won't be a problem?" House asked. He didn't want a fight with the hospital over a few months.

"Nobody likes it when a contract isn't fufilled and your department brings the hospital a lot of money and prestige but I think that you'll be fine. Worse case, you take terminal leave to the end of your contract, you sure as hell have enough of it. By the way that reminds me, you'll need to meet with Griffin in HR,"he said.

House groaned. He couldn't stand Griffin.

"They need to work out payment for your remaining annual leave which is quite a bit if I recall. You need to discuss extending your health insurance benefits until you find something else."

"Okay." The health insurance was important. He had plenty of money to cover costs but he did want to keep a plan until he found another job. House pushed himself out of the chair and stood in front of the desk.

"So I guess we're done?"

Stevens nodded and House turned to leave.

"Wait, I've got something here that may interest you." He rifled through mail on his desk as House turned around to face him. "This came in the mail while you were gone." He tossed an envelope across the desk.

"What's that?"

"The Journal of Infectious Disease put out a call for papers. Thought you might be interested."

"Doesn't make much sense if I'm leaving."

"House, it doesn't matter whether you're working or not. You should do this. When you write, people read. I know I did."

House looked up."

"You're a great teacher. Write something...," he said encouragingly. He pushed the envelope towards House.

House hesitated and then gave in and retrieved the envelope. It was true, he'd have plenty of spare time so he figured there was no harm in it.

"I might need access to a few old case files."

"We can do that."

"Okay."

House sat across the table at a diner in Princeton talking to Nolan. The psychiatrist had to drive to New York and they decided to meet in Princeton for lunch on his way through so House could catch him up on the recent events.

"So how do you feel about leaving?" Nolan asked. They'd been sitting there talking the better part of an hour while House relayed the events of the past week.

"Strangely it feels right. I spend a few days with them and I feel good then I come home to an empty apartment and empty bed, a job that doesn't interest me much these days, a Dean who bugs me about clinic duty and the benefit of being kind to patients. The only thing I really have here is Wilson. He feeds me."

"So who will feed you when you go?"

"I'll have to convince Wilson to go with me."

"Seriously?"

"Sure. Eventually he'll see that he can't live without me."

"I see," he said with a chuckle. "You like your comfort zone and you're just going to pack it up and take it with you. You don't need that you know. You can do okay in Boston without Wilson."

"What if I don't want to? He's part of my process."

Nolan thought they'd been kidding about Wilson initially but he could tell from the tone of House's voice, he wasn't. "I know he is. I know how important he is to you. You have people that you can count on and connect with and each of them plays a vital role in your life. You need them."

"You think there's something wrong with that?"

"To the contrary. I like that you have a support system you can count on. Most of your life you never had that, you counted on one person, you. That's a pretty big burden for anyone to carry. To have people you trust in times of crisis is critical. I'm simply saying that I think you can do this without Wilson being on the other end waiting for you. I do think you need him and he probably needs you but there's an enormous satisfaction in doing something you think you can't do. You moving to Boston and leaving Wilson behind will hurt but...you can do it. Focus more on what you are moving towards than what you are leaving behind. Can you do that?:

"Yeah."

"Just take it one step at a time, focus on those things within your control."

House sighed and said, "This one step at a time bullshit is a real pain in the ass."

"I know, right? But it works. It's kept me sane all these years. Look, you should be really proud. This is seriously the biggest step you've taken since I've known you. With all the progress you've made I can't say I'm surprised. You didn't bring this up but...what about our visits?"

"Think I can convince you to move to Boston?" He grinned.

"No. How will you want to handle this? I have colleagues in Boston and other cities closer to you, I could make a phone call."

"No," he said.

"You're not giving up therapy are you?" Nolan looked worried.

House shook his head. "I mean no because I'm sticking with you. You see, one of the great things about Cuddy is she's a born problem-solver. You present to her a problem, she goes into administrator mode and finds a solution. Her first thought was my physical and mental well-being," he said shaking his head. "And she brought it to my attention that there are top-notch physical therapists in Cambridge, excellent primary care physicians for me to choose from to take over my health care and...that it's only an hour flight from Boston to Philly."

Nolan chuckled. "Really?"

"Once we started talking about things, she went into full administrator mode. Kept me up half the night talking and looking things up." He added, "Okay maybe we weren't talking the entire time." He grinned.

Nolan laughed. "She certainly is something."

House nodded emphatically. "Hell yeah she is."

After spending another half hour with Nolan catching up on things followed by a grueling hour and a half physical therapy session with Vince, who spent extra time giving him a deep tissue massage, House returned to his office. His limp was worse than usual from the workout but it wasn't in as much pain.

As he sat in his office diagnosing a new case that had been sent over from St. Sebastian, Wilson barged in, his arms flailing wildly.

"House! I'm your best friend, why the hell didn't you tell me you were leaving?"

They could have heard a pin drop as all four of House's fellows turned to him with their mouths open in shock.

House put a hand over his face. "Oh shit."

Taub turned to him. "You're leaving?"

House glared at Wilson and leaned forward with his elbows on the table. "Well now that the Wilson is out of the bag, yeah it's true."

"When were you going to tell us?" Taub asked.

"Well obviously not just yet."

"What does this mean? What about us?" Taub prodded. The others had remained silent.

House grabbed his cane and got up and limped toward his office. "Look at the file, come up with something, I'll be back in a minute." He pointed his cane at Wilson. "You, my office." He limped in there angrily and Wilson followed and closed the door behind him.

"What the hell, House?"

"I wasn't ready to tell you yet," House said in his defense.

"I'm your best friend," Wilson whined.

"Yeah and it would've been all over the hospital in an hour."

"Well, you played that one well because you didn't tell me and it's still all over the hospital."

"How?"

"Stevens' nosy secretary."

"The schoolmarm." House said knowingly. "I never liked her."

"Apparently she never liked you either."

House sat down in his chair. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you first."

Wilson sunk down into the chair across from House. "It's okay," he sighed. "So now what?"

"Now I figure out what to tell my team. I hadn't come up with a plan for them yet.

"I can't believe you're leaving." Wilson looked absolutely dejected.

"Oh shit, you're not going to cry are you?"

"No. It's just the end of an era. Hey, what does Cuddy think? I figure that's what you two were talking about when I got back to her house that night."

"She's all for it."

Wilson continued to sulk.

"You're sulking." House knew Wilson would not take the news well.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Wilson asked, annoyed.

"I don't know, be a little bit happy for me. I mean, this is what you wanted for years. For as long as I've known you all you wanted was for me to be happy...or at least a little less miserable."

Wilson just looked at him, speechless.

"You didn't think we could carry on this thing long distance forever, did you?"

"I guess not," Wilson replied as he scratched his head. "I just...can't believe it. You're really leaving."

"If it helps, I can't either."

"So you guys are going to live together?"

"Yeah, in sin and everything,"he joked.

"And Cuddy's okay with that? Especially with a child?"

"Well, yeah," he said facetiously. "It was her idea."

Wilson seemed surprised. "Wow."

"Come on Wilson, stop worrying. Cuddy and I are fine and Rachel isn't going to be scarred for life."

"I'm not worried," Wilson said.

"Sure you are," House shot back. "You're worried about how I'll handle all this change, whether or not we'll screw it up, what you'll do here without me."

"Seriously, I'm not worried," he said. "You guys are adults, you know what you're doing."

"And what about us?" House asked.

Wilson shrugged. "We'll be fine." He looked at his watch. "I've got patients. Wanna do dinner later, maybe bowling?"

"Mexican."

Wilson stood there, hands on his hips, pondering. "Okay," he said, finally. As he left House's office by way of the conference room, he passed Chase, barely acknowledging him.

"What's with Wilson?" Chase asked on his way in.

"He misses me already."

Chase made himself at home in the chair Wilson previously occupied.

"So," he said.

House eyed him suspiciously. "So?"

"What's going to happen here?" Chase asked.

"Well, I'm not firing anyone. Stevens is going to relocate everyone. He still wants you heading ICU."

"I know," Chase replied. "He isn't keeping the department, is he?"

House shook his head. "Not because he doesn't want to, he feels once I'm gone there won't be any support for it."

"He's probably right."

"It's too bad, we've been at this a long time," House said.

"Yeah, we have." Chase tried not to show his disappointment.

House grabbed his thinking ball and put his feet up on the desk. Leaning back, he said, "So let's discuss your future young padawan."

Three days later, on a rainy and cold Friday afternoon, Cuddy was sitting in her office when Nancy Baker, Chief of Medicine entered her office.

"Hi Nancy," she said standing to greet the older woman.

"No need to get up. It's always a pleasure to see you, Lisa." She took a seat across from Cuddy.

"What brings you here?"

"We'd like to have Dr. House do another guest lecture next week. I've tried calling him several times on his cell phone today but I can't get a hold of him. I wondered if you'll be talking to him soon?" She asked.

"I last talked to him the day before yesterday, I know he's been busy with a few cases. I'm sure I'll talk to him later so I'll ask him to call you." As an afterthought she added, "There's something you should know."

Nancy looked at her curiously.

"House is resigning his position at Princeton-Plainsboro and...he's moving here."

Nancy's eyes lit up. "Really?" She reached across the desk to give Cuddy's hand a firm but gentle squeeze. "You must be so happy."

"I am. We're in a good place and it's taken us so many years to get here. We just decided it was right."

"I am thrilled for you that things are working out. You two have been through so much. And you know," she said genuinely. "Dr. House strikes me as a man who, underneath that gruff exterior, isn't at all as gruff as he seems."

Cuddy blushed. "He really isn't but don't tell him I told you that."

"I won't." Nancy got up and prepared to leave Cuddy's office when she turned around and faced Cuddy again. "Lisa, when exactly is he leaving?"

"As soon as he wrapped things up in the department but that could take days or a couple of weeks. Why?"

Baker gave Cuddy a wide knowing smile. "The hospital may be able to offer him a position that would interest him."

That night, around midnight, a very weary House arrived at his apartment. Between wrapping up months worth of discharge summaries and other paperwork, working on the case that was sent over from Saint Sebastian's, and assisting in the extremely short-staffed emergency room after a nasty multiple car pileup on the interstate, House was beyond exhausted. He hadn't had a good night's sleep in three days and couldn't wait to get into his own bed. Sleeping on the Eames chair in his office had wreaked havoc not just on his leg but his entire body. When he departed the hospital, he'd left explicit instructions for his team not to call him unless it were an emergency. He threw his coat on the couch and limped into the kitchen, turning lights on along the way. He grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and pressed the button on his answering machine. He uncapped and gulped down the cold liquid as he listened to his messages.

"Dr. House, this is Dr. Baker from Massachusetts General. I've been trying to reach you on your cell phone today but had no luck. We'd like you to come back and give another lecture next week. Also, I'd like to talk to you about something else which is very important...something I think would be of great interest to you. Please give me a call as soon as possible. Thank you."

House put down the bottle and took out his phone and sure enough he'd accidentally turned it off.

"Huh," he grunted out loud. "That would explain why nobody's called me." He threw the phone on the counter then turned around and limped out, making his way down the hall towards the bathroom for a hot bath and what he hoped would be twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep. His curiosity about the phone call was definitely piqued but everything would have to wait till morning.