What Happened in the End? Chapter 7.
Title: What Happened in the End? Chapter 7.
Author: orange450
Pairing: House/Stacy
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Although this story takes place in the future, it was originally written in mid-S3, just after the Tritter arc. It contains some earlier canon references, but takes no account of canon from that point on.
Summary: It's a little over four years since House parted from Stacy in her office at PPTH during "Need to Know". Mark has died, and fate (in the form of Wilson) will place House and Stacy back in each other's orbit. Stacy has an adopted daughter, and House has a new puzzle to work on.
Disclaimer: Don't own them. Wish I did.
Notes: The action takes place four years out from the start of S3 (at the end of a mythical S6), and forms part of how I'd like to see the series end. It was written at a simpler time in the House-verse, and may feel somewhat dated after the S4 finale, but who knows what could happen in two years? I'm trying to make the chapters feel like they could be parts of episodes, and to keep the personalities as in-character as possible.
Eternal gratitude to sassydew for encouraging me to write this story 1.5 years ago. And also for explaining how to bring it over to LJ!
Chapter 7. The Rest of that Day and Some of the Next
During the afternoon, the three of them have fun wandering around the exhibited trucks. There are no racing or demo events scheduled, which is good, because Greg realizes that Isabella would have been frightened. Live monster truck rallies are not really for five year olds.
Stacy has to pull out the change of clothes she brought when Isabella trips while climbing up the steps of a viewing platform, and lands in some mud. The coloring book and crayons come out when they sit down at a picnic table for some pizza and stay for a while so that Greg can rest his leg. A box of raisins appears too, and Isabella politely offers some to Greg. True to Stacy’s prediction, Isabella makes frequent pit stops; some on her own, and some suggested by Stacy.
None of this fazes Greg. He'd never tell her, but he’s getting a kick out of watching Stacy with her daughter. Who would’ve thought she’d take this child raising stuff so seriously? And even though he teased her about being an uptight older mother, he can see that she knows what she’s doing.
Isabella falls asleep in the car on the way back to Short Hills, and Stacy and Greg talk quietly.
“You’ve got this motherhood business down, huh?” he comments.
“It’s a lot like being a doctor,” she says. “You prepare in advance, but mostly you learn on the job. I’m lucky. Isabella makes me look good.”
“Yeah, she does.”
He looks at her and smiles. It’s that special smile of his, the one that only a few special people ever get to see. It shoots right through her, and for a few seconds she has trouble catching her breath. His dimple shows, and her heart jumps into the back of her throat. She’s been an atheist for a long time, but her reaction is instinctive. Please Gd, no. Don’t let him do this to me.
She knows him, she knows herself, and she knows it wouldn’t be hard for her to end up back in the same situation she was in four years ago. When she told him then that he was the one and he always would be, she was speaking the truth. That’s never been under her control. What she does in the face of that knowledge is the only thing that is.
She knows he thinks that no one ever changes, but she's changed more than she would have thought possible, four years ago, and she doesn’t see how her life could ever mesh with his. She remembers what he said to her, right before he left her in her office. I’ve been there before. I don’t want to go there again. Well, they both know what that feels like, and neither does she.
She should have said “no” when James asked her if Greg could call. She and Isabella are just settling into a routine after a traumatic time. Why see him if it can only lead to yet another disappointment? And she makes up her mind to avoid him when she goes to the hospital on Monday afternoon to pick up a case file from Lisa.
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She almost succeeds.
She’s been in Lisa’s office, going over the case details, and James has stopped by to say hello. He doesn’t mention Greg at all, so she doesn’t know whether Greg told him about the visit to Short Hills, or their day together over the weekend. They all chat for a while, until Stacy says she has to go. She’s worried that Greg might come barging in to Lisa’s office, as she knows he often does, and she doesn’t want to meet him. James walks her out.
They’re saying goodbye at the lobby doors when Greg appears. He is indeed heading for Lisa’s office, but before Stacy can leave, he sees them and comes over. He assumes that she’s just arriving, but when it becomes clear that she’s actually on her way out, he frowns for a moment. When James turns back to the elevators, Greg continues to walk with her. They move towards the parking lot.
“Half day today?” she jokes. She thinks he’s leaving too.
Greg doesn’t answer. He wants to know why she didn’t come up to his office to say hi, and why she was standing around and talking to Wilson, but he can’t think of any way to ask that won’t sound stupid. Instead, knowing that she’s interested in his Corvette, he points out the parking spot where it had appeared out of nowhere a few years ago, and reminds her of the story of how he got it.
Her eyes light up at the mention of the Corvette.
“Do you ever drive it to work?” she asks. “I’d love to see it.”
“Plenty of back roads near Short Hills,” he says. “If I bring it out to you next weekend, you can take it for a test drive if you want.”
“What’s the matter, you don't trust me with it on the highway?”
She sounds like she’s kidding, and he rolls his eyes at her.
“No really, are you serious?” She’s thrilled at the idea, but can’t believe he’d actually let anyone else behind the wheel.
“Sure, why not? You’re a lawyer, you can take care of any trouble you get into with it.”
Her resolve evaporates. She knows she shouldn’t do it, but she can’t resist a chance to try the Corvette.
She agrees, and he says he’ll call towards the end of the week to set a time.
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He goes back into the hospital, and heads straight for Wilson’s office.
“Couldn’t sell any tickets?” he growls.
Wilson stares at House for a minute or two, mystified. Then his expression changes, as House’s meaning dawns on him.
He sighs. “Don’t make her too crazy, if you can help it, House. She doesn’t need any more trouble right now. She’s had enough.”
House would like to ask Wilson if he knew she was coming, and why he was standing around in the lobby with her, but he knows that such questions will give Wilson too much fodder for speculation. He doesn’t know exactly what he wants himself, but he knows that whatever it is, he doesn’t want Wilson breathing over his shoulder, or snooping around while he’s trying to figure it out.
And he doesn’t want Wilson shoving his own oar in, either.
TBC