AU: I own nothing of course, cause if I did why would Lucas have been in the last ep? Sorry, I just don't like Lucas as Cuddy's bf. Ick.

Duckling Talk

Chase, Foreman, and Cameron sat tiredly in front of the whiteboard looking for the answer to their latest case. They barely looked up when the door to the room opened and slammed shut, assuming that their boss was making an entrance.

"Where's House?" Wilson questioned, barely managing to contain his anger. The team looked up but no one bothered to answer. Looking positively furious at their lack of response, Wilson continued. "He didn't come home last night! If that bastard went to his apartment and took vicodin . . ." He shook his head too angry to continue.

Cameron didn't say anything, but she knew where her boss had been last night. He had sat here in his office the whole time. Cameron also knew why. He had been in too much pain to move. He just couldn't will himself to stand up. So she had sat and talked to him, though he had told her to go away. She stayed the whole night, and she said not a word to anyone about it, because she knew House didn't want anyone to know. Right now, staying quiet was the only way she knew how to show him she cared.

"That ass!! I can't believe him, the reason that I'm letting him live with me and destroy my home is so he could stay away from the damn vicodin!!" Wilson continued his rant.

"Shut the hell up," Chase interrupted angrily. "House had stayed away from the stuff for months now, why the hell do you have to assume that if he's gone for one night that he went back to guzzle narcotics! Give the man some credit! And get out of here, we're really not in the mood for this," Chase said Wilson. He had not stood up for House because he pitied him, but in fact, because he respected him. Not pitying him like the rest of these idiots was about all Chase could do right now to show House he cared. The team turned back to the whiteboard, but Wilson was not done.

"What the hell do you know about it? House is a self-destructive fool, sometimes I think he wants the pain." Wilson said, just wanting to have someone to yell at since he didn't know where House was.

Foreman stood, walked over to Wilson. He didn't pause, just swung at him landing a punch squarely in his face. How the hell could Wilson say that Foreman thought, Foreman wondered, he had seen the pain House was in, to say he wanted that, was just fuckin idiotic. Wilson was being an idiot and House hated idiots, so Foreman had taken care of it for him. It was his twisted attempt at showing House he cared.

Wilson stormed off moments before House hobbled in apparently having just been hiding out in his office. He pretended he hadn't heard the exchange that had just occurred, though it was obvious he had.

"So what have my ducklings been doing? Wait let me answer that . . .nothing? As usual? And you wombat . . ." House continued his rant sarcastically berating each of his team members, and for a second a smile lit across his face, and his eyes brightened, looking the closest thing to happy the they had seen in awhile. House was thanking his team in the only way he knew how . . . and they understood.