House ran a hand on his right cheek. She had kissed him. Just like that. A small press of lips on his cheek. Nothing had been said. She had fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder, waking up when Rachel had needed her. House didn't know what to think about it. She had called him Greg. She kept bringing up Michigan. She had told him about her family. She had kissed his cheek. She had slept with her head on his shoulder. If he didn't know better, he would say that she wanted a relationship with him. But she couldn't want that. Could she? That would be stupid and insane.

He parked his car near his apartment. Wilson was there, waiting for him. "Where were you?" he asked as House walked up to him. "I have been waiting for an hour. And where is your phone?"

House pulled out his phone from his pocket and showed it to Wilson. "It's dead. And you have the key. Didn't need to wait."

"Where were you?" he asked as House unlocked the door.
"At my girlfriend's," he told Wilson. Wilson rolled his eyes. "What? You don't think I can have a girlfriend? That's hurtful, you know."
"Oh! I am so sorry. How is your girlfriend, House? When are you introducing me to her?"
"Probably never."

They smiled at each other. House pulled out scotch and two glasses. They sat on the couch. House stretched his legs, sighing as his right leg protested a little. "Leg bothering you?" Wilson asked.

"It's winter," House pointed out. It was cold and that always affected his pain levels. Unfortunately, he had at least another month of winter.

"Tell me something," Wilson spoke. House looked at him curiously. "What did Cuddy say to you that convinced you to come to the funeral?"

"Why don't you ask her?" He didn't want to think about his father right now.
"I did. She refused to answer for some reason." House smirked at that. "What does she have on you, House?"
"Why do you think I will tell you?" he asked with miniscule smile.
"I am your best friend."

"And you think I will give you ammunition against myself?" Wilson shook his head. House took pity on him. "She didn't say anything. Mom said you'd be there."

Wilson straightened up. "You came to your father's funeral so that we could talk?"

House looked away. He really didn't want to think about his father right now. The kiss however…

"Am I fifth wheeling?" Kutner asked, making himself comfortable on the chair. He was in a bar with Foreman and Thirteen, and Chase and Cameron.

"Yes," Chase said. "You should leave immediately." Everyone chuckled.

"You guys invited me." Kutner shrugged.

"I invited Taub too," Foreman told everyone. "But he was dealing with the repercussions of telling his wife that he cheated on her."

"No," Cameron protested. "He is dealing the repercussions of cheating on his wife. I hope you know the difference, Foreman." He raised his hands in mock surrender and Cameron rolled her eyes.

"What do you think is going on with House?" Thirteen asked. "He has been a little distracted since the funeral."

"What I wanna know is what Cuddy said to him that he went to the funeral," Chase commented. "He didn't even want to meet them when they visited few years back."

"His father died. Whatever it was ended," Foreman offered his own opinion.

"But Thirteen is right. Something is going on there," Kutner shared his own observation. "Like he is running a separate differential."

"But that is a good question," Cameron said. "He was in no mood of going to the funeral. How did Cuddy convince him?"

"Who cares?" Foreman snorted. "She is Cuddy. He trusts her. She trusts him."

"Seriously?" Thirteen asked.

"They do," Chase said. "How many people can tell House that he shouldn't do a procedure? And how many of them will House actually listen to?"

"And how many people can tell Cuddy that they want to do an autopsy on a living person? How many of them will she listen to?" Cameron said, taking a sip of her bear.

"Wait a minute," Kutner spoke. "House did an autopsy on a living person?"

"Yep."

"And Cuddy allowed it?" Thirteen this time.

"Yep."

"Woah!"

"You guys never had Cuddy join in on differentials?" Chase asked.

"Nah!" Foreman answered with a smirk. "She, believe it or not, is not very different from House."

"You mean she does risky procedures?" Kutner asked.

"She once overloaded a pregnant woman's body with corticosteroids so that the baby's lungs would develop faster. The patient was on respirator," Cameron told them. "She almost electrocuted House."

"Cuddy?" Thirteen asked. "Dr. Lisa Cuddy, Dean of Medicine, Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital?"

"Yep."

"That is such a dysfunctional relationship," Thirteen muttered.

"I still think they did it at Michigan," Chase said.

"Michigan?" Kutner asked.

"They knew each other," Cameron answered. "And you are wrong. Both House and Cuddy denied it."

"No," Chase reminded his girlfriend. "They changed the topics."

"Come on," Foreman objected. "You seriously think Cuddy would do House? He is an asshole."

"Yeah. But he is good on the eyes. And so is Cuddy," Thirteen said.

"Should I be worried?" Foreman asked, looking at his girlfriend.

"Don't change the topic," Chase said. "She agrees with me. Kutner, where are you on this?"

"They have a complicated relationship. Could be."

"That's three to two." Chase banged the table.

"Would you bet on it? Fifty bucks says you are wrong," Foreman offered.

"You're on," Chase agreed.

"And how will you two find out?" Cameron asked.

The two doctors looked at each other. "We'll figure something out," they answered together.

Wilson looked at Amber's photograph in his desk drawer. He still loved her. He wondered if he would ever stop loving her. He shut his drawer. He didn't have any appointment right now. Maybe he could go bother House. He didn't think House had a patient.

Wilson released a deep sigh. He still couldn't believe what he had done. Deep brain simulation. What had he been thinking? He could have killed House. He nearly did kill House. And then he had left, just like that. He had left his friend - his best friend who had risked his life to help his girlfriend. And Wilson had left him. He was ashamed of himself.

Then there was the funeral. His plan had been to drug House to take him to his father's funeral. Thank God, Cuddy had refused. Some part of him rationalized that House had drugged him too. Another part of him wondered exactly how complicated House's relationship was with his father. Even if he had come to the funeral, it had been to talk to Wilson.

If the test of a man is how he treats those he has power over, it was a test my father failed.

What was that supposed to mean? He knew House and his dad had a complicated relationship. Hell, any relationship with House was complicated. But this statement - Wilson didn't know why but it bothered him.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. It was Hadley. He frowned even as he beckoned her in. He couldn't think of a reason Hadley would want to talk to him. "Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. I had a question," she told him. Wilson nodded, gesturing her to continue. "What's the deal with House and Cuddy?"

"What do you mean?"

"They both went to Michigan. She lets him do the most insane procedures. He makes remarks about her that should probably land him with the HR."

"That's an accurate description," Wilson said thoughtfully.

"Were they together in Michigan?"

"No." She raised her eyebrows. "No. They were not. They barely knew each other." And House had a girlfriend back then but Wilson wasn't going to tell Hadley about it. "What prompted this?"

"Just wondering." She shrugged and quickly excused herself. Wilson was suspicious. House's team was quite like him. He left his chair and walked to his friend's office. House was in there, playing his video game seating on his Eames chair.

"Why is Hadley curious about your and Cuddy's relationship?" he asked, entering the office.

House raised his head. "What relationship? The one where she is a tyrant with a giant ass, and I am her pitiful servant."

Wilson shook his head at House's ability to bring up certain parts of Cuddy's anatomy in every conversation. "The relationship you supposedly had with her at Michigan."

House gave a look of mock thoughtfulness. "Really? I am quite sure no one can forget that ass or the twins."

"Can you please grow up?" Wilson retorted. "Why would Hadley asking these questions?"

"Maybe you should ask her," House suggested. "What did you tell her?"

"That you guys barely knew each other then. Don't worry, I didn't talk about your girlfriend."

"Good."

"What was her name anyway?" In all these years, House had never mentioned her name. Not that they had talked a lot about this.

"Why Jimmy boy? You gonna find her for me?"

Wilson rolled his eyes at the childishness. He was sure he wouldn't get any answer from House. He left his friend alone and went back to his office. Had he stopped outside the door and turned to look back, he would have noticed House texting someone.

Wilson's next couple of hours were busy with appointments. He had three appointments. He told his patients about their diagnosis, the treatment plan. Not all three of them were going to survive, he knew that. Wilson sighed. Some days, he hated his job.

Wanting to take his mind off cancer and cancer-related things, Wilson left his office to find Cuddy. He was still curious as to why House's team would be interested in his relationship with Cuddy. And he also hoped to find the name of the mysterious girlfriend.

"Come in," Cuddy said, when he knocked at the door of her office. She looked up at him as he entered. "Wilson. Come on in. Everything okay?"

"Yes. Everything is fine," Wilson said, taking a chair to sit in front of her. "I wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

"For what you said the other day. I needed to hear that." Cuddy gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Cuddy. If you hadn't interfered - I can't believe I was so blind. I almost killed him."

"He is fine, Wilson. He is alive and breathing." She looked like she wanted to say something more but stopped herself. "You are here now," she continued. "That's all that matters." Wilson nodded. "Was there something else?"

"Do you know something about House's ex-girlfriend?"

"You mean the one working in the hospital?"

"No. I mean the one before that. The one at Michigan."

"He was dating someone at Michigan? I didn't even know that. Why? What happened?"

"He won't tell me the name." Cuddy raised her eyebrows at him. Wilson shrugged. "He is being mysterious. And when House is being mysterious, it's interesting."

"Have you considered the fact that the only reason he isn't telling you is because he knows it will bother you?" Wilson squeezed his eyes as he shook his head. Of course. "Go and do some work, Wilson," Cuddy said with a chuckle. Wilson got up and left. Had he turned around he would have noticed Cuddy grinning and texting someone.

Foreman knocked the door to Stacy's office and walked in. "Here are the papers you asked for, Miss Warner," he said, handing the papers to the lawyer.

"Foreman," Stacy greeted him. "Thank you." She smiled a little sadly. Foreman remembered House had clearly instructed to limit their conversations as much as possible.

"Can I get your opinion on something?" Foreman asked. This was Remy's idea. Since Wilson's testimony had been declared inconclusive, it was now Foreman's turn to question Stacy. It was a three-pronged plan with Cameron being the last prong.

"How can I help you?" Stacy asked. She gestured Foreman to take a seat and he did.

"How did you deal with Mark and House's injuries? I mean it's difficult seeing someone you care about in pain. And you had to do it twice." Foreman hated doing this but Remy had been fine with it.

"It wasn't easy," she told him. "At least Mark let me help him." There was something in her expression that Foreman couldn't read.

"But House didn't." She nodded. "Sometimes I wonder what House was like before his infarction." That wasn't a lie. He had wondered it - House before the pain.

Stacy's eyes narrowed a little. "Where are you going with this?" she asked.

"It was just a question," Foreman clarified.

"From Cameron, definitely. You, not a chance. You are forgetting something very important."

"What's that?" he asked curiously.

She leaned in for dramatic effect. "I was with House for five years." Foreman looked away. Of course. "So, whatever curiosity you want to satisfy or whatever answer he sent you for, I am not helping."

"It's just -"

"No. I haven't been here for a month even. I'd rather not get reamed by Cuddy for helping House or his team pull a stunt."

Foreman sighed. It was Cameron's turn now.

Cameron executed her plan on Friday. She fell into step with Cuddy as the other woman left the hospital for the day. "How is Rachel?" Cameron asked. She had bonded a little with Cuddy during her stint as the Acting Dean.

"Rachel is good," Cuddy answered. She pulled out her phone and showed some pictures to Cameron. "She has started to smile and she cuddles when I feed her." Cuddy's voice held so much excitement that Cameron couldn't help but smile. She was happy for her boss. "What about you? How are things with Chase?"

"They are good," Cameron answered. They had stepped out of the hospital now and were in the parking. Taking advantage of the absence of people around them, Cameron whispered, "I found a ring in his drawer."

Cuddy looked at her in surprise. "And is that something you want?" Cameron shrugged with a grin. "I am happy for you then. Congratulations." She patted her arm.

"What about you?" Cameron asked.

"I assure you, no one's planning to propose me." Cameron grinned.

"You know all these years, I have never actually seen you date much," Cameron mentioned.

Cuddy's face broke into a small grin. "I have dated a few people. They turned out to be a little boring though. Or they were intimidated by a very annoying employee of mine."

Cameron grinned. "There must have been someone," she insisted.

"There was one guy long time ago. I was still an undergrad then. He was sweet and caring but things happened, and it didn't work out." She sounded regretful. She shook herself out of these thoughts. "I need to go home," she said. Cameron nodded and watched her boss drive away.

"What did she say?" the others barrelled into the parking lot. Taub had joined the group, siding with Cameron and Foreman and insisting that Cuddy was too smart to have had sex with House.

"She was in a relationship at Michigan," Cameron told them. Chase's face broke out into a grin and Cameron had no regret in bursting the bubble. "She said that the guy was sweet and caring." No one would use those words to describe House.

"That ends it then," Taub declared. "House does not do sweet and caring."

"She was talking about a relationship," Thirteen pointed out. "They didn't have to be in a relationship. All they needed was one night - or one day - of passion."

Cameron shook her head. Children. All of them were children.