"No borders, no borders now, and the truth is key."

Wilson shuffled the recent scans, shaking his head at the results they were showing him and wiling them to give him different results. Looking up, he faced his patient.

"I'm so sorry Hannah." He said, gazing up at both Stacy and her mother. "The cancer is terminal, and there's nothing we can do anymore."

"You said that 6 weeks ago, then you got her into a trial and she's had a great 6 weeks so why should we take your word for it now?"

Hannah reached over and patted her daughter's hand.

"Stacy dear, you're not in court right now." To Wilson she said. "Please Dr Wilson, continue." Wilson gave them a small smile.

"It's completely normal for Stacy to feel this way; it's not easy news to hear."

"Well, I think you're doing it very well Dr Wilson. Stacy tells me you've never been sued, and I can see why. Now, please continue."

"According to your scans, Stacy is correct that the trial bought you some more time but what we hoped for was the tumours to reduce more, but unfortunately that hasn't happened." Hannah nodded.

"I understand Dr Wilson." Turning to Stacy she said "We've tried Stacy, and now it's time to accept what's happening."

"I know that, it's just difficult when it's your own mother."

"I know love, but when it's your time, it's your time." She turned her attention back to Wilson. "What do we do know then?"

"I think it's best if you're transferred to respite care. This is going to get worse, quickly, and you all need to be prepared. I know you've had your latest treatment here…..but you want me to set you up with your care back at home?"

Hannah shook her head firmly.

"No."

"Mom" Stacy said gently. "Don't you think you'd be more comfortable back home?"

"No, you're here and you can't be here and there at the same time."

"I'll take the time off work, that's not a problem."

"Greg needs you here. Plus, I'd like to see him soon, to visit, if he's up to it yet?"

Stacy said nothing and looked down at her hands. Wilson sensed the awkwardness and cleared his throat, needing to get the attention back to him and off of Stacy.

"Hannah is that definitely what you want?" She nodded.

"It is, yes."

"Okay." Wilson said. "I'll get that sorted for you."

"Thank you James."

"Mom, I just need to speak to James for a minute, I'll meet you in the café and I'll get us a coffee."

She gave her mother a wan smile. Once her mother had left the room Stacy felt her walls cave in. Keeping up a cheerful façade attitude after Greg's infarction was hard enough without having to so it with her mother. Wilson reached across the desk and held Stacy's hand in his, knowing that she'd need a few minutes to process this changing situation.

"I wish the news was better Stace, I really do."

After a few moments she composed herself, looking up at him.

"I know James."

"What's important now is that we make her as comfortable as possible, and that she's got love and support around her." He paused. "That goes the same for you by the way, you know you have me, but you need to tell House."

Stacy sighed and rested her chin on her hand, thinking.

"He's too vulnerable at the moment, he's not strong enough. He's still having intense physio, he's frustrated. Plus." She sighed again. "We're not exactly communicating at the moment, not properly anyway. He resents me, and it shows. It's like we're both switched off from what's really going on, just going through the motions."

"Stacy, I know things are difficult but this isn't going to go away, it's only going to get worse. I hate saying this to you, but it's true. You can't deal with all of this on your own, and as difficult as things are right now, he'll want to help. He still loves you; he just…doesn't know how to show it right now. And he's not the only vulnerable one here either. You both need each other, especially after everything you've been through."

Stacy let out a small laugh. "You sound like a couple's therapist." Wilson smirked.

"Well, I've seen enough of those during my time. Look, I'm picking him up after physio so spend the evening with your Mom but…"

"I know, I'll tell him in the afternoon, I have meetings all morning."

"I thought I dreamed so deep, so deeply indeed. Confusion intrudes again. And it won't let me breathe."

Morning came as a relief for House. Despite his tiredness he struggled to sleep properly on the couch. Added to that he knew Stacy had also had a bad night, he had heard her get up several times in the night, clearly unable to rest easily either. She had left him on the sofa and he'd finished both of their beers before trying to get some sleep. It didn't come, not properly anyway, only in short bursts before his brain clicked in and he would start to think about all the possibilities that could happen tomorrow. Eventually around 4 in the morning he finally drifted off into a deep sleep, only to be awoken by Stacy standing in front of him, glaring despite looking exhausted.

"You need to leave."

"What? No coffee, no breakfast? This hotel sucks."

The first time he'd stayed here and come down for breakfast he couldn't believe his eyes. It was exactly like one of those breakfasts you'd see on a soap opera where the kids have a ton of food to choose from but just grab a slice of toast and half a cup of orange juice before running for the bus. As soon as he saw the food, Stacy saw House's eyes widen.

"Jeez that is a lot of food."

"You'll learn." Stacy said smiling as they both sat down.

"Learn what?"

"That southern women love to cook." Hannah said smiling as she poured them both some coffee.

"Really?" House said, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't think that rubbed off on her."

"Hey!" Stacy said, "I cook"

"Not like this you don't." House said, reaching for a mixture of bacon, eggs and southern biscuits.

"I always tried to teach her how to cook properly." Hannah said, sitting down with them. "But she wasn't that interested, more involved with her head in a law book.

"I wanted to be a lawyer from the time I was six."

"She took after her father in that way." Despite the fact that he was eating House couldn't miss the flicker of regret and loss that flashed across both of their faces. Stacy hadn't ever said much about her father, and he'd never pushed her, knowing that she'd open up when she was ready. He watched as Stacy reached across the table and squeezed her mother's hand.

"I miss him too."

"I know dear." After a pause Hannah recovered and offered House more biscuits. "You should have seen her the first time I tried to teach her how to make them!" Stacy rolled her eyes. "She got the measurements all wrong, couldn't stir it properly and they came out like little rocks!" Hannah laughed at the memory.

"Mom, I was 6."

"Yet, at 6 years old she could already argue several constiunal points."

House snorted as he finished his mouthful.

"You sound like you'd have been an annoying child."

Stacy smacked him on the arm. "You think all children are annoying, like you weren't being precocious at that age."

"Army brat remember, I had an excuse."

"So your parents moved around a lot?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah, I erm…didn't really have a home, or a family. Not like this anyway."

There was a slight pause.

"Well Greg, you're welcome here anytime." Hannah said with a warm smile.

"Once you meet the extended family you might change your mind" Stacy said, smiling.

"You haven't changed your mind then?"

"Nope." She said, still glaring at him.

"Can I have some coffee first? I slept like crap." He looked up at her face. "And apparently so did you. Did you see another rat?"

"I only see one rat here and he's on my sofa."

"Touché." He said, reaching for his cane and following her into the kitchen. He took a seat at the table as she made the coffee, grateful when she placed the cup down in front of him. "It feels so quiet here." He said. "Without her."

Stacy sat down on the opposite end of the table, clutching her own cup of coffee.

"I know, I still come down here and except her to be here, cooking up a storm." Her tiredness was making her vulnerable, and although he didn't wish to take advantage of it he also knew this was the only way he would get her to talk.

"I miss her." He said sincerely. "Being back here…..it's. I felt like this was my home too. Your family was so kind to me."

"They liked you, for some reason."

"I can't help being awesome."

"I would say you're abrasive and annoying but, each to their own."

House paused for a while, blowing on his coffee until it was ready for him to take a sip.

"You know, sometimes people can easily become confused between what it is they want, and what it is they need."

"Didn't the Rolling Stones say that?"

"In a way, but you need to hear my version of it."

"I already have, on the piano. It was mediocre at best."

House winced. "That's a low blow, but you know exactly what I mean."

"Yes, you think that what I want is for you to leave this house, but what I actually need is to take you upstairs and have a quick climb up Mount Gregory." She said, referencing his earlier words.

"Well, not in those exact words but that's the jist of it."

Stacy shook her head. "You came up all this way to try and sleep with me, even after all you've done."

"As much as I wouldn't turn that down, you know why I'm here; you just don't want to admit it. It's easier for you to treat me as the villain of this piece."

"You are the villain." She said, voice now raised. "You violated my privacy, which you're still doing by the way."

"You let me in."

"You guilted me into letting you in."

"I've guilted you into a lot of things." He said quietly. "And despite what you think, I did mean what I said when we were in the loft. I am sorry for causing you guilt, and resenting you. So that's my honest truth for this morning." He took another sip of coffee. "So now you. What's really bothering you?"

"Something's bothering Stacy." He tells Wilson before taking a bite of his lunch.

"Is it you?" Wilson asked. "It's usually you."

"Haha" he said. "No, this has gone over the normal borderline of it being me. It's something else."

"Well." Wilson said, knowing that he needed to deflect the conversation seeing as he knew exactly what was bothering Stacy and for once it wasn't anything to do with House. "I'm sure she's still trying to process everything that's happened over the last few months."

"No, this is something else, this is something new." House gave Wilson a side eye. "You two have always been as thick as thieves. What is it she's not telling me?"

Wilson tried to keep his face as neutral as possible. "Nothing."

"Don't lie to me; I'm not one of your wives."

"I'm not lying."

"Your pokerface is terrible."

Wilson sighed and threw down his napkin. "If you want to know what's bothering her, just talk to her."

"So something is bothering her?"

"You're infuriating. Be a grown up, talk to your girlfriend and stop bothering me."

The rest of their lunch remained in silence, and now that House knew that something else was bothering Stacy, he knew he wouldn't be able to let this go."

"Sit down, sit down, I'm tired of you. I don't have a reason to defend you, I don't have a reason to be kind. Sit down, I'm tired of this. What will be will be."

"Let it go Greg."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because it's an anomaly, anomalies bug me."

Stacy shook her head. "What do you want me to say?"

"The truth Stacy." He said, also now raising his voice. "Why you've suddenly decided to leave your husband, your job, your life."

"Because of you! Because you were right!"

"You did these things because you want to be with me."

"Is that what you've been waiting for, to hear that you were right?" She picked up both of their coffee cups and took them over to the sink. House remained silent, knowing that whatever he would say right now would just rile her up further. She crashed the cups into the sink and turned on the tap, scrubbing them angrily. Once she had finished she took a deep breath. "If that rat hadn't been caught at that exact moment what do you think would have happened?"

"I don't know." He said quietly.

She turned around from the sink and crossed her arms. "Yes you do. We both do. You would have kissed me, and I would have let you. But it wouldn't have stopped at a kiss. We would have slept together. Because that's where this is going isn't it? And I'm not going to be able to stop this from happening, because it's what I want too, and admitting that – to myself – to you – it scares me. That I'm willing to throw away my marriage for you – for what?" She threw her arms up in despair. "Sex with you – getting back with you? I have no idea what to do, and I don't know what we do about this. So yes, I'm hiding up here because I have no idea what to do. I just knew I had to get away from you. And then you show up here, which is not helping my thinking process or anything really, you're just making everything worse. I hope you're happy." She rubbed her temples. "I can't deal with this anymore. I barely slept and I've got a splitting headache. I'm going back to bed."

With that she walked out of the kitchen, leaving House on his own in the now quiet room. He got his answer, but it wasn't the one he wanted. That feeling of superioty when he was proved right just didn't come. He would need to walk upstairs to her and try and make things okay, for both of them.

House walked up the stairs slowly, his walker making each step difficult. However he didn't think that would be as hard as the conversation he was about to have with Stacy. As he entered the apartment, he found the atmosphere tense and he knew, just knew that something bad was going to happen. He found Stacy sat down at the kitchen table her head in her hands. She had a look on her face that he hadn't seen since he was hospital. It was a haunted look, a mix of despair, stress and hopelessness all rolled into one. His mind started to turmoil. Yes he wanted Stacy to tell him what was bothering her, but what if he didn't like the answer? She hadn't even seemed to notice that he had come in. Cautiously he walked up to the table.

"Stace?" he said quietly. She looked up him startled.

"Greg! I didn't hear you come in. How was your afternoon with James?"

"It was okay" he said.

"Are you okay?" he asked tentatively. Stacy looked up at him, the haunted look on her face swaying into a look of surprise. He wasn't shocked, it was probably the first time he'd enquired about her wellbeing since his leg. She hid her surprise down, switching back into the role of his carer.

"Did you eat yet? I can make you something?"

"No, I had lunch with Wilson." He manoeuvred his walker and pulled one of the kitchen chairs from the table, so he was opposite to Stacy. "I think we need to talk."

She sighed, and leaned back slightly in her chair.

"I think we've been through everything enough times don't you?"

"No, not that." He said, gesturing to his leg. "It's not about that, it's about you."

"I'm fine." She answered quickly.

"No, Stacy you're not. And it's the leg or the baby." He winced as he said it, a few months had passed and it was still hard to say.

"It's something else. I know you've been talking to Wilson about it because he's been lying to me, and he's being cagey, and for once it's not because he's cheating on his wife. Unless you're both being weird because he's cheating with you." He saw Stacy hesitate and for a moment he felt his stomach drop. "Oh you're not are you?"

Stacy smiled, one of the first he'd seen from her for a long time.

"Greg, I love James but no. Although the truth is…is that I've been seeing him professionally."

House snorted. "He's being sued! No way, although I'm not going to lie, that oddly makes me feel pleased, after all the times I've been sued."

"Greg." She said softly. "Not my profession." She hesitated. "His."

A hundred scenarios flashed through his mind all at once. Stacy sick? Stacy with cancer? Curable? Incurable? His tone quickly turned serious.

"Stacy what on earth is going on?"

"It's not me Greg." She said quickly. "It's my mom."

"Shit." Greg said quietly. "How bad is it?"

"Stage 4" she took a shaky breath. "I….don't think she has long left."

"Damm." He muttered.

"James is talking about hospice care."

"There must be something he can do; there must be some treatments that we can try?"

Stacy shook her head. "It's too far advanced. He got her a clinical trial which bought her some time, but….there's nothing else he can do." Her voice broke at the end of her sentence and she buried her face into her hands. House knew she was on the verge of breaking down but she wouldn't want to do it in front of him. His mind was whirling as soon as she mentioned the clinical trial, he knew from experience that they took several months to undergo, so how long had this been going on? How long had she been struggling with this? Why hadn't she told him? Rationally, he knew that she would have been too scared to tell him, too afraid of hurting him even more. He knew he couldn't delve into that with her right now. She needed him, needed his support, love and compassion. Everything that he normally wasn't especially hadn't been over the last few months. He'd been distant, cold and absent, and suddenly he felt an emotion he rarely felt. Guilt, shame. "Stacy, how long has this been going on?"

"Not that long." She said, her voice slightly muffled by her hands. Careful not to jar his leg he shuffled his chair next to hers. Gently he moved her hands away from her face and held them in his, aware that that was the most physical affection they had shared in weeks.

"What do you need me to do?"

"There's nothing you can do." She said softly. "I don't even know what I should do….just….just be here for me, and my Mom. I know everything is difficult right now."

"That doesn't matter right now. I'm going to try to do my best." He kissed her hand gently. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Sit down, I'm tired of this. I don't wanna live this way, get away get out of my eyes. I don't wanna hear you say, that this is gonna be the last time. And we know it'll escalate, and we know that is true."

House knew that he couldn't go anywhere, not after that revelation from Stacy. Even though she told him to leave, he knew her well enough to know that was a bad idea. She wasn't being 'normal' Stacy, she was being irrational and the last time this happened she left him, her job, Princeton and he didn't see her for 5 years. Despite everything he wanted her to be happy, not just for himself but for her too. Pushing himself from the table with his cane he fetched a glass off of the side and filled it with water. Moving up the stairs he made a quick stop into the bathroom to grab some aspirin from the cabinet before knocking softly on the bedroom where Stacy slept.

"Go away." She said sullenly. He ignored her and walked in anyway. She was lying on the bed facing away from him. He eased himself onto the empty side of the bed whilst pressing the glass of water into her hand with the aspirin.

"For your headache." He explained. She sat up, looking grateful.

"Thanks."

He watched as she swallowed the pills down and she gave him back the empty glass. Flopping back down onto the bed she stared up at the ceiling.

"God this is all such a mess." She said, more to herself than to Greg. He perched himself onto the bed so he could reach her.

"Stace." He said softly. "It doesn't have to be." She rolled back onto her side, away from him.

"But it is. I don't know what to do for the best." She said softly. He carefully leaned his cane against the head of the bed and eased himself so he was lying next to her.

"What is it that you think you need."

"A stable life."

"Which you can never have with me." He felt her shake her head.

"Mark is stable, he's safe."

"Then why aren't you with him, living your happy stable life?"

"Because…because it's not that, not anymore."

"It won't be forever."

"It was with you." Her voice cracked on the last word, and he could tell she was trying to stifle tears. "I just know that I can't go through this again. That's why I'm here. I can't stay and have him resent me, I already lost you to this."

"Yet I'm here. Mark and I are completely different, he may see things differently in a few months."

"And he might not!"

The frustration was evident in her voice.

"That's the problem, my mind just keeps going around in the same circles."

"Mark will be safe and stable again, he just needs time."

"Maybe. But that safe and steady option isn't here right now. And you are." She turned around to face him. "You just asked me what I need; now ask me what I want." He looked into her eyes and saw they were dark with desire. "You came here, you knew where to find me because you understand me, better than he does, even after all these years." He moved his arm so it was around her waist and drummed his fingers on her hip.

"So what is it you what?"

"You. I want you. I always have."

Slightly hesitant at first she moved into him and he tightened his grip on her waist as he captured his lips with hers. He caressed her top lip with his and she parted her lips, feeling as if she could be consumed by him. Suddenly though she felt him pull away.

"You didn't even want me to be here yesterday."

"I changed my mind. Accept the victory." At her words it was like a spark had been lit between the two of them, and they kissed hungrily, all the pent up tension finally being released and dissipating. She slid her arms up his chest, pulling his t-shirt off at the same time; he broke contact with her lips as he did the same and fumbled slightly with the hooks of her bra. She would have laughed if her desire to be with him wasn't so strong. He placed light kisses down her neck, hearing her moan slightly. He pulled back to look at her, face flushed with arousal, nipples hard, her eyes wanton.

"I missed you" he said breathily.

"Me too." She said, feeling how much he'd missed her evident in his sweatpants. She couldn't wait for him to begin to touch her, where she needed the release the most, but just as he slid his hands down in between her legs, the doorbell rang.

"Dammit!" she shouted out of sexual frustration. Looking up Greg she realised he looked concerned.

"Stacy who knows you're here?"

Her face dropped. "Mark knows. Lisa…shit." She sat up and pulled her top back on, not bothering with her bra.

"Stay here." She said to him throwing him his t-shirt. The doorbell rang again, whoever it was eager to be answered. As Stacy rushed downstairs to answer it he felt a massive sense of trepidation. If it was Mark then all his progress with Stacy would be lost, and he would never get that back again.

Lyrics in bold are from the wonderful song "Live This Way" by Keir.