House sat on the bench staring at the playground for about thirty minutes without even moving. The only thought that kept coming to mind was that Marius had a master. It had simply never occurred to him. Everyone he had ever met in BDSM clubs, and yeah he had been to a few, were either a master or a sub. The idea that there might be a hierarchy in Marius' idea of bondage frightened him to the bone but at the same time made it even more attractive to House. Someone was keeping track of what a master was doing, much as he kept track of what his fellows were doing. That made him wonder; what level was Marius in this world? Surely he had to be higher than the 'first level' of master. He was too good, too sure of himself and his subs. His thoughts were interrupted by a hard shove that almost tipped him off the table.

House regained his balance and looked up to see who pushed him. He found himself staring into the angry eyes of a large man in a sweatshirt, with two women holding their children tightly to their bodies.

"Get out of here you pervert!" muscle man shouted, giving House another strong shove that tipped him off the table face down onto the grass.

"Jerk!" House growled out as he tried to get himself upright again.

"Don't think I don't know what you're up to!" the guy said, shoving House to the ground with his foot. "Sitting here casing the park for your next victim, aren't you pervert! You can explain it to the cops!"

House glared up at the guy from the ground, trying to process what was going on. All at once it clicked into place; the park, the playground, the angry mothers with their kids.

"I'm not trolling for a kid. I only came here to think!" House objected loudly, again trying to get up from the ground.

"Stay down, damn you, or I'll beat your ass to a pulp," the other guy growled, pushing him back down with his foot and pinning his arm to the ground.

House cried out as his wrist complained, grabbed his cane and landed a solid hit onto the guy's leg, forcing him to hop away from him cursing. House rolled to the side to try to get up, but was slowed by his leg and before he could get to his feet, the guy had tackled him, pinning him to the ground. House stopped struggling, knowing he had no chance now and hoping that the sirens he heard in the background were coming here before he did get beat into pulp.

Police arrived within a minute but before House could say anything, they had him pinned with a knee on his shoulders, pulling his hands behind him to put cuffs on. House didn't resist at all, as he didn't have any desire to get tasered. Once they had him cuffed they searched him, pulling everything out of his pockets before they got off him and let him take a couple of breaths.

"Come on, stand up. Roll to the side and pull your knees under you," one of the cops said as he pulled on House's arm to help him onto his side.

"I've got a really bad leg, I'll need more help than that," House told the cops. His partner came over and both took hold under his arms and lifted him to his feet, steadied him while they did a quick assessment then helped him to sit on the picnic bench.

The cop's partner went to speak to the mothers and their protector. "I'm Officer Lopez. Do you need an ambulance?" he asked in reference to House's leg.

"No, I don't," House answered. There was no way he was going to be taken to a hospital in handcuffs.

"All right, Mister House," the officer said as he glanced at House's license. "We had a report that someone was watching the kids on the playground for half an hour," Lopez explained. "Tell me the truth, why are you here?"

"I just came here to think. I wasn't watching any kids, I wasn't even paying attention to whether there were any kids here," House asserted glaring over at the parent group before returning his gaze to Lopez.

"You just came here to think," Lopez repeated doubtfully. "Okay, start from the beginning. What happened that made you want to come here to think?"

"I didn't want to come here to think," House ground out. "I was on my motorcycle and just stopped so I wouldn't be distracted riding. So I pulled off into the lot and came to sit on the picnic table."

"And what did you do then?"

"Think! That's all I did was think. That's what I was doing when that goon over there shoved me off the table!" House shouted.

"Calm down," Lopez instructed sternly. "You were on the table thinking, staring at the playground that's full of kids for half an hour until confronted by the parents?" the cop asked incredulously.

House looked sullenly at the playground and realized that it was full of kids, though most were in little groups around their parents at the moment.

"Why are you wearing a leather collar?"

"What?" House asked, not having paid close attention to the cop.

"Why are you wearing a leather collar?" Lopez repeated.

House tried to reach up but of course he was handcuffed. Suddenly he realized what the cop was talking about. He was still wearing his collar as sub. He wasn't about to try to explain this to the officer in light of what they already thought of him. House just shrugged and looked away.

"You don't know why you're wearing a collar?"

"Of course I know why," House snapped. "If you're going to arrest me, get it over with."

Lopez nodded and pulled House to his feet. "All right, let's go." Lopez led House over to the patrol car, leaning him over the trunk of the car. "Stay there," he instructed as he did a more thorough pat down and then called in for a check of his record. His partner came back to the car.

"Witness statements say that he arrived here about half an hour ago on a motorcycle and took a seat on top of the picnic table facing the playground. He sat there staring at the playground without moving for so long that the father of one of the kids came over to confront him while one of the mothers called the police. The father admits to pushing him twice, tipping him off the table and pinning him down to hold him until we got here. Says that he only pinned his arm down at first until the suspect hit him with his cane, at that point he tackled him to hold until we arrived."

"Is that how it happened?" Lopez asked House who was still leaning uncomfortable over the trunk of the car.

"Yeah. Jerk shoved me off the table and stepped on my wrist to hold me down. I didn't want my wrist to break so I picked up my cane and hit him in the legs with it. I was just trying to get him off me, I only hit him once," House complained, starting to straighten up but Lopez's partner pushed him back down onto the trunk of the car.

The radio crackled; both officers and House listened to the dispatcher's relay of information. "ID comes back as Gregory J House, MD, 221 B Baker St, Princeton NJ. Last year had a citation for driving under the influence of prescription pain killers."

Lopez read House his rights and helped his suspect into the backseat of the car. "What am I being arrested for?" House demanded as he struggled to get into a less painful position.

"Suspicion of loitering with intent," Lopez answered. "Your motorcycle will be towed to impound."

"Loitering with intent, huh?" House said acidly. "Wow, you guys don't have any real criminals to hunt down tonight?"

"Hey! We take all possible threats to a child's safety seriously," Lopez said sharply, glaring at House. "As a doctor you are a mandated reporter. Think about that," he said as he shut the car door.

House let his head drop against the back seat and let out his breath. This was definitely not going to be a good night. Should have stayed with Marius and met his master, he reflected. Not to mention that he wouldn't be available if his fellows called. Cuddy is going to be on the rampage.

After getting the parents to sign witness statements, the police got into the car and drove back to the jail, handing House over to the guards along with his personal effects. After being searched again he was instructed to sit down and wait to be called. Thirty minutes later he heard them call his name and he limped heavily over to the desk. There was a nurse there who asked him if he had any injuries, then asked about his leg. House responded tersely but quietly, knowing from past experience that acting out in any way just prolonged this process unnecessarily. He was given a good dose of over the counter painkillers after she took his vitals as well as drew blood then was handed back to the booking personnel. Fingerprints, another background check, another mug shot and he was in line to see the judge. He made it onto the evening docket and by 8pm he was released with a citation to appear after the blood test showed he was clean of any drugs and an injunction to stay away from areas children would congregate, including the clinic and the pediatric wards of the hospital. Yeah, Cuddy was going to flip.

After collecting his belongings and his cane, he checked his phone. Three calls from the ducklings and one from Wilson. Fabulous. He dialed Wilson first.

"House! Where the hell have you been? Your patient's unstable and you aren't answering you phone? I know you went to a drug counseling session but you could at least have had your phone on vibrate, surely they would understand! I mean, your sponsor knows what you do for a living for god's sake!"

"Wilson! Can it! I've had a long night. Just update me on the patient," he snapped then listened intently as Wilson rattled off the test results, newest symptoms and the crisis he was in right now. "Damn it. All right, start a push of _ and I'll be there as soon as I can catch a cab."

"Cab? What happened to your bike?" Wilson asked, concerned now.

"Long story. I have to pick it up tomorrow." House snapped the phone shut and ran his palm over his face in frustration. He scrolled through his contacts for the number of a cab and few minutes later was on his way to the hospital.

Cuddy was predictably enraged at him being out of contact for so long and since House refused to tell her why, she ranted and raved all the way up the elevator and into the conference room.

"You were gone for almost five hours. That wasn't for a drug counseling session," she said coldly. "Where the hell were you?"

"Jail," House finally retorted bitterly. The team and Wilson looked up with varying degrees of concern and disapproval.

"Jail," she repeated. "That's just great. Your patient's crashing and you're in jail. Do you know how irresponsible that is?" she demanded.

"I didn't do anything wrong!" House roared spinning around to confront her and stumbling up against the table. "Someone thought I was doing something and called the cops."

"And they arrested you for doing nothing?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, they did. Some low level excuse of a charge to take me in."

"Right. You were drunk, weren't you?"

"No! And I wasn't high either! I was just thinking, happened to have stopped in a park with a playground. Parents thought I was a predator. By the way, I can't work in the clinic or with any pediatric patients," he retorted, digging into his backpack and throwing the folded up papers from the court at her.

Cuddy read through them and sighed. Of all the things she thought that House could be capable of, a child predator was not one of them.

"This won't stick. Do you need a lawyer?" she asked putting the papers on the table.

"I'll get my own thanks," he said, stuffing the papers into his backpack. "Can we get back to the patient now? Boss?" he asked sarcastically, barking at Taub to get him a cup of coffee and snatching the folder with the test results in it out of Wilson's head as Cuddy left the conference room without a word.

Marius had hoped that House would come back before Lucius arrived and questioned whether he should have given House the excuse to run from the situation. As the time for Lucius' arrival neared, he had to accept that House was not going to come back.

Lucius arrived at Marius' home at precisely 6pm. Timmy was holding the front door open as Lucius got out of his car, bowing slightly as he entered the home and then taking his coat from him, offering him a robe. Lucius refused the robe and told Timmy to bring him a brandy. "Tell Marius to bring his sub to me at once." Timmy nodded and moved to follow his orders without a word. It was Marius' place to explain to his master the reasons for House's absence.

Marius appeared in the study just after Timmy had delivered Lucius' brandy. He approached his master and stood silently, eyes cast down at the floor, waiting to be acknowledged.

Lucius looked up at his sub and the distinct lack of the newest member of his circle. It was uncharacteristic of Marius to fail the most basic of orders like this. Lucius let him stand there for a long moment before addressing him.

"Marius, explain to me why your sub is not present as I ordered."

"Master, he was here earlier. I explained to him that you expected to meet him tonight. Because I hadn't told him that I had a master and his general skittishness, I gave him the option to leave."

"In direct disobedience of my orders," Lucius said impassively.

"If I push him too hard, he will bolt," Marius tried to explain.

"So you have not been a master to him then? He has so little loyalty to you that he would leave you to face the consequences rather than risk meeting me?"

"I have been master to him. It isn't a lack of loyalty, he still has a great deal of fear trusting anyone not to harm or to abandon him," Marius said.

"Then you have not yet gained his trust?"

Marius hesitated to answer. He felt that House did trust him but he could see how it looked to Master Lucius. To continue to argue the semantics would get them nowhere.

"Not as thoroughly as I can after more time with him, Master," Marius finally responded.

"Come, Marius. Let us think through what you need to feel secure and how we can help your sub to feel the same way."

Marius joined Lucius at the table and Timmy was summoned to come and serve dinner.

"Why do you think your sub, what was his name again?"

"House."

"Why do you think House walked away when you explained this evening and our relationship to him?" Lucius asked as he began to serve the food up onto plates.

"He has a need to process information alone without any influence from anyone," Marius began, accepting his plate from Lucius. "He also has a challenging nature and likes to push the boundaries, although he has never pushed so far as to refuse before. He has, until now, pushed back just hard enough to get a thorough understanding and make his own decision and then go along with what I've asked of him."

"A good master, which you are, must take into account the idiosyncrasies of his sub when working with them and most especially in the beginning when you are beginning to establish dominance. You need to learn the areas in their life that they feel they are out of control that they need you to take out of their hands. I've found that in the beginning it is better to take total control and then return control to them on areas that are not a problem for them to handle. In the case of House, I would not presume to control him in his position as a doctor, as I assume that you have not." Marius nodded that this was the case. "Good, that is proper unless an issue like being drunk or high while practicing or overprescribing comes into play. The more control you take over all other areas of his life in the beginning, the more secure he will be in your ability to be strong enough to control him when he feels out of control. Throughout that process you must never step down from being the master. It confuses the issue and the relationship between master and sub," Lucius elucidated as they ate.

"But I have taken control outside of medicine," Marius responded, unsure about where his master was going with this.

"I believe you but I feel you have not portrayed yourself as strongly as you should have. Laying down a line in the sand and allowing them the choice to cross it or walk away is always a good way to start. But once he makes his decision and step over that line, decisions are no longer his to make. You, the master, make the decisions and he, the sub, obeys and follows that decision. If he does not, you have an obligation to discover if there were mitigating circumstances beyond his control that prevented him from obeying, or whether he needs reassurance that you are able to control him in a constructive way and is testing you by disobeying."

"True," Marius agreed, "I've seen that proven true over and over again."

"Now, apply that to your relationship to House and extrapolate whether you have followed the foundation of this basic tenet," Lucius said, encouraging Marius to step outside the emotion and look at the master/sub relationship as objectively as possible.

"I first offered him the idea of my being his anchor and him providing me with companionship at the pub. He was resistant and disbelieving but heard me out. I didn't see him or hear from him for two weeks until he called in crisis, desperately in need of someone to care for him and offer support after a severely stressful event, both physically and emotionally for him. I brought him here and took care of him, kept him here for the day under Timmy's watch. He searched through everything as I had known he would and gave him permission to do. In the process he discovered the toys and the leather collars. I told him there were terms and conditions to it that he might not be ready to accept and explained the basics of how we live. The next day he was far more stable and he returned to work and his own home."

"I had someone at the hospital keep watch over him and picked him up again after a particularly difficult week and again provided care for him. At that point I ordered him to come back for the weekend. He called me a couple of times that week and came for the weekend easily. I laid down the decision for him then and left him to decide whether to continue or to walk away with no hard feelings and no regret. He took some time alone to think about it but he agreed."

"How did you begin with him?"

"Very slowly. He has a great aversion to being touched and deep shame and revulsion about his leg injury. At first I only had him sit with me naked and did not touch him. I worked with him over a month's time with touching him and allowing him to duplicate everything action that I did to him. I took things very slowly but he responded well each time right up to and including this last time where I introduce restraints and sexual intimacy."

Lucius nodded, seeing no fault anywhere along the process at all. "I agree with your actions completely. Let us come to today. What was different about this time?"

"This time he had a patient. I had told him I would never interfere with his work but when I called I told him I needed him to get away and come to the house. He was reluctant but agreed to leave it to his team to take care of the patient and come over."

"Ah," Lucius said, sitting back and taking a deep breath. "That instance blurred the line between control areas for him. Still he did as you said, he got away and came to the house. What happened then?"

"I told him about having a master myself and that I should have told him about you before he agreed to become my sub. His greatest concern was that I was breaking the bond between us or that you would force me to do so. I reassured him that you would do no such thing nor would I."

"So, when you admitted that you should have been up front with him so that he fully understood the lifestyle he was choosing to enter, that is the loophole you gave him to leave?"

"Loophole? I thought it was reasonable," Marius answered with a confused frown. "Since it was my failing, it was I who should face the consequences."

"Yes, loophole, Marius. You felt guilty and you used him to give you a reason to seek the punishment you felt you deserved. That is manipulation, Marius. The decision whether you deserve punishment is mine to make, not yours. The only acceptable reason to allow him the option to leave was the patient that he was currently treating as that was part of the basis of your contract with him."

Marius slumped in his seat, now clearly seeing what his master was saying. "I never even considered that part of it."

"Why?"

"I was afraid that he would run," Marius admitted.

"You were afraid that he would no longer want to be your sub once he knew about me, is that not true?"

"Yes. That's true. I need you but…I need him. With you gone, I felt that I had no anchor, no equal. House is an equal in mind and I think even in similar need."

"Do you love him?"

Marius looked up startled and floundering for something to say in response.

"Answer me, Marius," Lucius said firmly. "Do you love him?"

After another moment's hesitation, Marius nodded and closed his eyes as he realized the truth and was able to admit it.

"That muddies the waters but is not insurmountable, Marius, you know this," Lucius said, reaching over and putting his hand on Marius' arm in comfort and reassurance. "I freely acknowledge my part in this; I did not provide you with enough support and control for you to feel cared for and supported. I will not make this mistake again, Marius, I give you my word. My decision is that I will not administer punishment."

Marius looked surprised and slightly disappointed at that decision. Lucius noticed this and chuckled.

"Yes, I know you well, Marius. You desired the punishment to purge yourself of the guilt and fear you felt and still feel. Not yet, my beauty. Not yet. There is a third to consider who has equal need to purge emotions and we will wait for him."

"I don't think he will come back tonight," Marius said.

"No matter. My business is complete, my responsibility and focus is now solely with you and your subs needs. I will remain here in the house with you. House will call and return, he made that clear when he made sure that the master/sub bond would remain."

House's patient finally stabilized around midnight and he retreated into his office to sit and think about the events of the entire evening. Unfortunately Wilson, who had stayed, followed him.

"House, what the hell happened?" Wilson asked. "I know you like to go to the park to think, but you said you'd be at a drug counseling session. Are you even in counseling at all?"

"No, I'm not and Marius isn't my drug sponsor," House snapped angrily. "Happy now?"

"No," Wilson said, angry at having been lied to about this. "What the hell, House, you've been seeing him and going to his house … wait a minute. Are you seeing him, seeing him?"

"Did you develop an echo all of a sudden?"

"House!"

"Yes, all right? Yes, I'm seeing him, seeing him."

"What about the collar? He's your dominant isn't he? What kind of a twisted relationship are you involved in?" Wilson asked incredulously.

"It's not twisted! Have I gotten worse since I've been with him?" House demanded.

"Well, no," Wilson admitted.

"Then butt out. You told me that with Sam, I'm telling you that with Marius."

"Okay, okay, fair enough. So, you were going to see him then? What happened that landed you in jail?"

"He dropped some information on me that shook me up, I went off to think about it, that was all. I was actually thinking about going back and talking more with him when all this happened. Can we save any more interrogation for another day? Please," House asked with exhaustion and frustration clear in his voice.

"Okay, you're right, it's been a long day. Get some sleep," Wilson said, leaving the office and heading for home himself.

House picked up his cell phone and dialed Marius but the voice that answered wasn't his master.

"Uh…" he stumbled glancing at his cell phone to be sure he'd dialed the right number. "Is Marius there?"

"Yes but he is deeply asleep. Is this House?"

"Yeah. Master Lucius, I presume?"

"Correct. Shall I wake Marius?"

"No, no, let him sleep. I just…well I wanted him to know… both of you to know, that I was about to come back to the house. Really I was," he insisted.

"I believe you," Lucius said reassuringly. "How is your patient?"

"Stable," House answered tiredly. "We finally found out what was wrong and started her on the right treatment."

"I'm pleased to hear that. You sound exhausted. Come to Marius' house and get some rest. Sidney will be waiting for you. We will save explanations for now."

"I uh, well… my motorcycle got impounded and I used up the cash that I had getting a cab here."

"Then I will come and pick you up. Which door will you be at?"

"Um…the visitor and clinic door," House answered.

"I'm leaving right now and will be there in 20 minutes."

"I'll be waiting at the door," House responded and ended the call. Standing up he went to the conference room and told the ducklings to go home, then shut off his office lights and headed down to the doors. Once there, he reached inside his backpack, feeling for and wrapping his hands around the leather collar. After a moment he made his decision and put it on.

Right on time, a jaguar pulled up to the doors and House climbed into the car. As it pulled away he looked over at Lucius. He was tall, broad shouldered with close cropped dark hair and icy blue eyes and exuded power and confidence. House fumbled for something to say as he pulled away from the curb.

"No explanations tonight," Lucius reminded him. "You need care and rest in a place of safety just as Marius did. I will see to it that you get it just as he would do so. You are safe in my hands, House. I will help strengthen the bond between you and Marius."

House nodded, too tired to do anything but accept Lucius at his word and nodded off on the short ride back to Marius' place. Lucius woke him and helped him out of the jaguar and inside where he handed House over to Sidney's capable hands. After a light massage and a soak in the hot tub, Sidney lifted House into the bed next to Marius and left both men to sleep.