Chapter Five

Emmett went to his lab earlier than necessary the next morning so he could tidy things up a little before he let Althea see it. It wasn't that he had a problem with her being there, but there were some things from the future that he didn't want her to see. He'd already told her things he shouldn't have. He rounded up all the crucial things and locked them in the safe. Then he had his conference call which took about an hour. As that call ended, House called him.

"What's the skuttlebutt?"

"What's the…what?"

"How's it going over there? Get any yet?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Just wondering. I know you're not exactly a fast mover so I was wondering if you were going to make a move before the apocalypse."

"What I do or don't do is no longer your concern, House."

"Break her heart, I'll break your face."

"I should be saying that to you. You're the one who dismissed her once you got your new chippy."

House laughed. "You still use that word? And for your information, Cameron is a doctor, and a damn good one."

"And you replaced Althea with her. Well, you know what they say. One man's trash is another man's treasure."

"Watch yourself, Brown."

"Why? It's true, isn't it? You let her go, and now she's here. With me."

"She always liked you more than me. I knew that."

"You went after her out of spite just because you could. You knew I was in love with her."

"She was pretty easily swayed. That's not on me. If you wanted her you should have put in more effort."

"I didn't have a chance even if I had fought for her. Her dear old daddy wouldn't have agreed to it."

There was silence for a minute. "You're going to take her back there, aren't you?"

"I'm still on the fence. We're going to have to do some research and find out if it's safe."

"Yeah. Good luck with that. There's not a lot of information on her family. They don't exactly have a dynasty like the Tudors."

"I know but I have a friend at Harvard who's a historian. If anyone can find stuff out, he can. Anyway, I gotta go get something to eat. I'm starving."

"Good luck, Emmett."

Emmett ended the call, locked up the lab and went to his place to grab some breakfast. He wondered if Althea was still sleeping and if she was going to come to the lab but when he didn't see her all morning, he became curious. She seemed so eager to see it the night before. Shrugging it off, he returned to the lab. He spotted Althea standing on the deck outside of her bedroom, but when she saw him, she quickly went back inside and slammed the door behind her.

"What the…" he said as he fished in his pocket for the key to the front door and went inside.

"Althea?" he called to her from the foyer. When there was no answer, he slowly made his way up the stairs. "Althea?"

He stood outside her bedroom door and knocked.

"Go away, Emmett!"

"Why?"

"I don't want to talk to you," she sniffled through the door.

"Why not?"

"I heard your conversation with House this morning."

Emmett scratched his head. How was that possible? The door was locked and bolted.

"What? How?"

"I came down to see you and the side window was open. I could hear you, Emmett. Every damn word."

He tried the doorknob and slowly opened the door. Althea sat on her bed, wiping away the tears as they rolled down her face and it broke his heart to know that he was the cause. He didn't know how to deal with crying females but the one thing he did know was to get them to stop crying. And fast.

He stood in front of her bed, at a loss for words. "Althea, you can't make assumptions based on a one sided conversation."

"I know what I heard."

"What exactly did you hear?"

"One man's trash is another man's treasure."

Emmett was confused. "And? What else?"

"That was enough," she sobbed.

He sighed and sat down next to her on the bed. "You misunderstood. It's just a saying. Did you think I was calling you trash?"
She nodded and relief flooded over him. "Well I wasn't. It's just an expression. What I meant is that House tossed you aside like garbage when he got his new girlfriend. And now you're here. With me. You are the treasure."

"Did you mean what you said next?"

"What did I say next?"

She spoke so softly he almost had to strain to hear her. "That you were in love with me."

"Yes, that part is true."

She sniffed again and glanced over at him. "Are you still?"

Without hesitation, he nodded. "Yes, Althea. That hasn't changed."

They sat in silence for the next several minutes while she composed herself. "I've never had anyone tell me they loved me before."

"Neither have I," he said as he gently rubbed her back and she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. He chuckled a little as she took him by surprise. Then she started playfully peppering his face with kisses as she climbed onto his lap.

"Althea what…"

She stopped for a minute and placed her hands on his face. "Oh, Emmett. I'm sorry. I'm not usually emotional like this."

He playfully tapped the end of her nose. "You shouldn't have been eavesdropping, Princess," he chastised.

"I know, and I'm sorry about that, too. Let me make it up to you."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well…I'm here…and you're here…" she said as she ran her fingers through his thick mane of white hair. She was still sitting on his lap and his hands were still rubbing her back.

"And?"

She didn't say much else as she began to place kisses across his throat and along his neck until he caught her face in his hands and kissed her full on the mouth.

Althea gasped and melted against him, kissing him back as her fingers buried in his hair. He fell back against the mattress and she lay on top of him, her lips never leaving his, even for a second. It felt so good he couldn't stop. His hands slid down her back and under her shirt, caressing her soft skin.

Althea's hands slid down his chest and tugged on the hem of his shirt, pulling it up so she could get her hands under it.

When he felt her nails rake over his chest, he groaned and closed his eyes. His hands slid down her back and lower still, causing her to gasp as he gently squeezed her ass and rolled them over so she was on her back. His mouth found hers again as he began unbuttoning her shirt.

"Emmett…yesssss!" she cried out as he lowered his head and began kissing the exposed skin until all the buttons were undone and her shirt had found its way on the floor. Just hearing her call out his name was making him crazy. He wasn't sure how it happened, but his own shirt was on the floor and she wore a black lace bra that left little to the imagination. His only mission was to get that thing off of her and he discovered to his relief that it opened at the front. When he figured it out, and it sprung open, he merely stared at her.

She smiled up at him and nodded, letting him know it was okay to keep going. She took his hand and placed it over one of her breasts.

He kept his hand there and continued to kiss her, which she seemed to enjoy and he was more than content doing just that. However, when her other hand slid down to the bulge in his jeans, he looked surprised.

"If this isn't what you want, we can stop right now," she whispered.

"What if I don't want to stop?"

"Then we won't."

He bent his head and kissed her again softly, content for the moment to just touch her and feel her soft skin. At first he didn't hear the doorbell, but she did.

"Emmett…did you hear that?" she whispered.

"Hear what?" His heart was pounding so loudly in his ears that he couldn't hear anything else.

The doorbell went again and Emmett froze. "Damn… I forgot about a delivery I had coming today." And with that, he grabbed his shirt and quickly headed downstairs, leaving Althea on the bed, breathless and a little frustrated. Five minutes passed and he didn't come back so she grabbed her shirt and put it on before coming downstairs. Emmett was gone and she looked out the window to see him at his place, talking to the mailman.

"I'm going to need a cold shower," she groaned as she flopped onto the nearest couch. What had transpired just then had been intense. Something she never experienced with House. She was more than willing to let things go further.

"Damn that mailman!" she hissed and went back upstairs to take that cold shower she so desperately needed.

XXX

"Don't forget, it's Althea's birthday on Friday," House said when he called a few days later.

"Great Scott! How could I forget such an important date?"

There was silence for a minute. "I hope you're joking."

"Of course I'm joking! I've had it on my calendar for years. Why do you keep checking in on me?"

"Because I don't want to see you screw up a good thing."

"I appreciate the vote of confidence but we're just fine, thanks. Have you spoken to her?"

"A little. I'm reminding you because you might want to..I dunno…spice things up."

Emmett bristled. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"What do you think it means?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking. Has Althea said something to the contrary?"

"That's not for me to say."

"You opened up this…Pandora's box with that snide comment so out with it. Did Althea tell you something?"

"Doctor/patient privilege, pal," House laughed.

"That's bullshit. You lost that privilege when you sent her to me."

"I didn't send her anywhere. She came willingly. And I am still her doctor in that I've been responsible for her birth control."

Emmett froze. "What?"

"What? Someone has to be the responsible one. She's been on the pill since she came out here. And don't worry, she's got a clean bill of health across the board. I had her get a complete physical workup when I brought her out here and I was pleasantly surprised myself. I was half expecting her to have some weird disease or condition."

"Hoping, is more like it. I remember you were all too excited to treat cholera when you were in her time."

"Yeah that was one the coolest things about being there. I got to see and experience things that I'd only read about. Anyway, don't worry. I've refilled her prescription for the next year so you don't need a raincoat."

Emmett felt himself blush at the very idea.

"Emmett? Are you alive over there?"

"Huh? Oh, yes." There was a knock at the door and he checked the security camera. "I gotta go."

"Good luck," House chuckled and ended the call.

Emmett ran his hands through his hair and opened the outer door of his lab to see Althea smiling at him.

"I made lunch. It's ready upstairs. I know you don't like to eat in there."

"Oh, good. Thank you. I'll be up in a few minutes. I'm just…finishing up something."

She cocked her head to one side and stared at him. "Are you alright?"

"What? Yes..of course," he answered all too quickly. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. You seem frazzled. Well, you always seem frazzled but…are you blushing?"

Emmett chuckled nervously. "I was just…talking to House."

She snickered. "Oh, well that explains it. He has the ability to frazzle anyone."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, yes he does. You go on ahead. I'll be right up."

"Okay," she said with a shrug and left. He closed the door behind her and locked it.

What the hell had she and House been talking about? Spice things up? Was she not happy with him? He paced the lab for a few minutes as he pondered the conversation and then remembered that Althea had lunch waiting for him and he didn't want to keep her waiting.