*Disclaimer: David Shore, please excuse the need to manipulate your characters. They are too damn interesting!*

CHAPTER 1

"What the hell were you thinking?" Cuddy asked, storming into House's office. House looked up from his reading and took off his glasses.

"Just now?" he asked, "Um, well, first I was thinking about this scleroderma article, then I was thinking I was hungry, then I was thinking you look hot when you're pissed off."

"House!" she hissed, "I just got this packet for presenters at the American Teaching Hospitals conference…"

"Wow! That's great, Cuddy! Congratulations! What an honor!" House said enthusiastically, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back in his chair.

"It would be," she conceded, leaning towards him over his desk, "Except that I didn't submit a paper to the conference."

"Yes, you did," House corrected, stealing a glance down her shirt.

"No, I didn't," she countered. "Someone, a person who thinks he gets to go on a free vacation to Vegas if his girlfriend is presenting at a conference, submitted one of my papers for me."

"Sounds like a clever – and ruggedly handsome - fellow," House replied, smirking. Cuddy shot daggers at him with her eyes. "Come on, Cuddy. It'll be fun. You didn't have to do a thing or worry about getting in or not. It's like you won the lottery!"

"Except that I hadn't finished revising that paper," Cuddy replied, "I don't know if my mom is available to take care of Rachel that week," she continued, "And you had no right to do that without asking me" she concluded.

"You're right," he conceded, "It was totally disrespectful of me to think you wrote a great paper and deserved to get accolades for it. It will never happen again."

"Don't do that!" she scolded. "Don't make it seem like I am mad at you for being nice to me. You know you were motivated by the trip." House considered her point.

"Yes, it sounded fun, but I also could have cajoled you into submitting the paper yourself," he explained. "Instead, I saved you two weeks of obsessing about every word of it and I got to surprise you." Cuddy stared at him, thawing a bit. "You wrote a great paper that I knew would get in, Wilson's going to the conference too, so I came up with the plan. I thought you'd be excited."

Cuddy sighed, letting go of her anger a little. "I am excited," she admitted. "It's great that I got accepted, and it's good for the hospital."

"Plus," House added, "You get to go on a vacation with your boy-toy. I did you a favor, Cuddy."

"So I came in here pissed off and now I'm supposed to thank you?" she asked.

"You can stay pissed off," he replied. "Like I said, you look hot when you're pissed off."

"If my mom can't take Rachel, you're staying home and watching her for four days," she warned.

"Yeah," he replied, scoffing at her threat, "Like you'd leave Rachel with me for four days. You'd have a stroke in the airport!" She glared at him. "Face it, woman, I have nothing to lose by your going to a conference in Vegas. So be pissed off, but it's actually pretty bitchin'." Cuddy just stared at him, then turned to walk out. He'd stumped her – she was mad in principle, but actually excited by the outcome. "You're welcome!" he called after her.