A/N: So sorry for the delay. I don't like leaving things unfinished, but Untouched was calling for my attention and I had to listen. SO anyway, here we go. I hope this is worth the wait :)

Parts of this chapter were taken from one of my favorite scenes in "In the Line of Fire" starring Clint Eastwood, so don't sue me. I don't own any of it, I just wanted to use the scene in my story :D

Thank you to PurplemintPatty for being my Beta and helping me finish this story so I can finally mark it as "Complete"

Chapter Thirteen

House rolled over in bed and checked the time on the clock radio. It was still only 4 a.m. He'd been tossing and turning most of the night and he knew that Gaby hadn't been sleeping well either.

"Gaby? You awake?" he whispered in the dark.

"Mhm, yeah. Why are you?"

"Probably for the same reasons you are. Big day tomorrow. Or rather, today."

She rolled onto her side to face him but it was still too dark to see much. She could just barely make out his figure under the covers. "Are you scared?"

"Not really. Because I know you have my back."

"Always. Just like I know you'd have mine if the roles were reversed."

"Right. So why let it get to you? And who knows if anything will even happen."

"Something will happen. I can feel it. Lucas isn't the type to give up easily.

"Either way, he's not getting what he wants."

"Over my dead body," Gaby muttered.

House chuckled softly and rested his hand on her hip. "And what a hot body it is. I'd rather have it alive, though."

"Would you, now?" she replied as she inched a little closer to him. His lips found hers in the dark and the kiss was incredibly hot, causing him to pull her even closer and roll them over so he was on top.

"I would," he said before kissing her again. His hands slid down her naked body and up underneath the sheet so he could play with her breasts as his mouth devoured her neck. He figured if he couldn't make her feel better, he could at least provide a very pleasant distraction.

"Mmm very nice," she sighed as she rolled her head back to give him better access to her neck. Her foot slid up his calf to wrap around his hip and he pulled it a little higher so he could slide into her warmth.

"Oh God..." she gasped at the very pleasant surprise invasion.

"Feel better yet?" he asked as he smiled down at her.

"Oh God yes. Sooo much better." Her eyes fluttered closed as he began to move slowly at first, setting the pace.

"Open your eyes," he told her as he moved a little faster. "I like looking into your eyes when I'm making love to you."

She smiled up at him. "I like the way you said that."

He chuckled and kissed her as their passion increased, driving each other closer and closer.

"Greg!" she cried out as he took her to the edge of the abyss and over it. Her legs wrapped tightly around him to keep him closer and deeper as he followed. Her nails had scraped the back of his shoulders but he didn't care. All he could see and feel was her wrapped around him like a vice and that was his undoing. He collapsed on her, buried his face between her shoulder and neck and slowly collected himself. He couldn't understand why she was the only one who'd been able to make him completely come undone. The last week had been very emotional and overwhelming for him and part of it didn't make sense.

He had been in love with Stacy, but she'd never elicited those feelings in him before. So why Gaby? He didn't know but he had a feeling part of it was knowing that he had the need to want to protect her.

"Greg? What're you thinking about? You're quiet."

"Mhm?" he murmured as he slowly rolled off of her and pulled the sheet over them. "Nothing. Get some sleep, okay? I need you in top form."

"Yes, doctor," she grinned and rolled over onto her other side. It didn't' take long for him to hear her slow, deep breathing to know that she'd fallen asleep, and he soon followed.

XXX

A knock on the hotel room door woke them up and House grumbled as Gaby got out of bed to answer it. Yolanda entered carrying a tray of coffee and a bag of bagels for all of them and the aroma carried all the way to the bedroom.

"Are y'all ready for the big day?" she asked them as she added sugar to her coffee.

"With any luck it won't be too exciting," House said as he bit into a bagel slathered with cream cheese.

"Yeah we can hope. It's a large conference center though, so he could literally hide anywhere and we won't see him until it's too late. However, we do have officers covering every entrance so if he comes in, he'll be stopped."

"Unless he's already in the building," House pointed out.

"In which case he won't get out without someone seeing him."

House finished his bagel and downed the rest of his coffee. "I'll be ready in twenty."

The three of them were quiet on the drive to the conference center and when they arrived, House was shown to a lounge with the other speakers.

"You must be Dr. House," he heard someone say and turned around to be met with a strikingly beautiful woman.

"I must be. Who're you?"

The woman held out her hand. "Bethany Rowland. Psychiatry. I'm looking forward to hearing you speak this morning. I've read all your articles."

"All seven?" he chuckled as he made his way to the refreshment table and helped himself to his second cup of the day and a Danish.

"It's a wonder you didn't write more."

"No time. People to save and all that."

"Dr. House!" someone else called to him and he smiled at her, ignoring her look of disappointment.

"Excuse me."

Ten minutes later they were all escorted into the conference room and seated at a long table. House was thankfully on the other end from Bethany. Something about her rubbed him the wrong way and he hoped he wouldn't cross paths with her again later. He scanned the crowd and saw Gaby and Yolanda standing at the back of the room beside a doorway.

"Everything's fine, Greg," he heard Gaby through his ear piece.

"Copy that. All entrances secure," another voice said in hushed tones.

He made eye contact with her and she gave him an encouraging nod. She looked especially hot in her power suit, hair done in a long braid down her back and yet the boots she wore would surely kick the crap out of anyone who messed with her. It made him proud.

There were six doctors of various specialties speaking that day, each one spoke for thirty minutes and then there was a question period for thirty. It was all pretty basic and low key. At the end of the day, the conference ended and House made a beeline for Gaby immediately. He was intercepted by Bethany in the crowd and felt something press into his side.

House tried to go for his hidden weapon but Bethany stopped him by pressing hers deeper into House's side.

"Don't bother. Come with me. Don't move or I swear to God I'll pull the trigger," she muttered under her breath.

"Something's wrong," Gaby said to Yolanda.

"Where are we going?" House asked Bethany as she took his arm and steered him out of the room.

"Upstairs. I thought we'd have a nice quiet lunch. Just the three of us."

"Oh crap," Gaby said as she turned the volume up on her ear piece so she could hear better. "Greg don't panic. We've got this. Officers, elevator one. Get in position and stand by."

"Roger that. In position. Give me a clear shot behind the ear and I'll turn her off like a switch."

When they got into the elevator and it started to rise, Bethany shot out the light fixtures overhead, leaving them in darkness. There was glass everywhere and House accidentally cut himself when he jumped back from the falling glass and tripped, using his hand to break his fall, slicing it open.

"Damn it!" House swore as he examined the cut. "I don't suppose you have a cloth or something for this?"

"Sadly no," Bethany said as the elevator continued to rise and then stopped on the tenth floor. "I guess you'll just have to bleed to death."

"Great." House groaned.

The door opened and Lucas stepped inside while Bethany quickly made her escape as the door closed again.

"I'm willing to make a deal, Dr. House," he said, aiming his weapon at House's chest.

"I don't make deals. Just go ahead and shoot," House said.

"Greg, are you speaking to me?" Gaby whispered though the earpiece.

"What the hell are you waiting for?" he said.

"What am I waiting for?" Lucas growled. "For you to get the hell out of Gaby's life. She was mine first."

"Finders keepers. Just shoot."

"It's too dark. They can't see you. If they fire, you'll be hit."

"Just do it."

"Alright, Greg. Officers, stand by. On my signal, take the subject out."

"You want me to shoot you, House? Wow. You must really love her. Well you know what? I love her too."

"That's not love. It's sick. Just shoot damn it."

Lucas pointed the gun at him. "Suit yourself."

"Just one thing," House said. "Aim high."

"What?" Lucas asked, confused at first.

"Aim high," Gaby ordered the officers.

It was then Lucas saw the earpiece. "You son of a bitch."

"Fire," Gaby commanded and shots rang out, breaking the glass of the car. Lucas jumped out of the way but it was too late. He'd already been hit and he collapsed. Blood was dripping from his mouth as he looked up at House.

"I just wanted...her to love me. Like she loved him. I wanted...to show her I...could make her happy."

"That's my job now," House said as he reached up to press the button to go back down. When the doors opened, EMT were standing by to remove Lucas and Gaby rushed over to him, throwing her arms around his neck and clinging for dear life.

"Thank God you're alright," she whispered against his chest as he wrapped one arm around her.

"Sorta. I'm going to need the EMT's too. I cut myself."

Gaby stepped back to see his bloodied hand and signaled for a paramedic. "Get him taken care of. I'll handle the rest, get everyone out of here."

"This is pretty deep, sir. It's going to need stitches."

"Whatever. Just get it done so I can get out of here."

"We'll need to take you to the hospital. We don't have the supplies..."

"I'll drive him," Yolanda volunteered. "Come on."

"I'll meet you there!" Gaby called to them from the crowd as she tried to get control of the situation. "The accomplice is on the tenth floor. I want her downtown."

"Yes, ma'am," the officers said and ran off to do her bidding.

House tried to stay awake on the drive to the hospital but was finding it increasingly difficult.

"Hey," Yolanda shouted, giving him a shove. "No sleeping. We're almost there."

"You said that ten minutes ago," he groaned as he continued to hold the now bloody gauze to the cut and kept it elevated as much as he could.

"Five minutes. I gotta say, Dr. House. What you did took some brass ones. I doubt anyone else in your position would have done that."

"I wasn't just going to roll over. Nor was I expecting him to agree to shoot me that easily, either."

"Oh bullshit," she laughed. "Of course you were."

"No, I thought he'd go after Gaby, not me. I didn't anticipate Bethany. That was unexpected."

"Well it all worked out. Sort of. He's not going to bother her anymore."

"Kinda hard when you're dead. What do you think she's going to do now?"

"Who?"

"Gaby."

"I don't know, but whatever she does, she'll be awesome at it."

"True."

House eventually passed out just as Yolanda pulled up into the ER parking lot. She went around to his side of the car and slapped his face. "Yo! Wake up. We're here."

He gave his head a shake to clear it. "Huh?"

"You. ER. Go get stitched up before Gaby gets here. Then she can take you back to the hotel and you can do...whatever."

"Best suggestion I've heard all day. That and "fire."

Gaby arrived thirty minutes later and House was resting on an exam table with his hand bandaged up.

"How's the hand?" she asked as she gently stroked his face.

"Numb. For now. Get everything taken care of?"

"Yeah. Bethany struck a deal. Slap on the wrist. She'll be on probation for a year and her license to practice will be suspended until further notice."

"So she really was a doctor?"

"Yep. And a long time friend of Lucas's. Which is amusing because that's the first I'd heard of her."

"Some friend."

"She was probably his shrink. So when can I get out of here?" He asked loudly.

"You're free to go now, Dr. House," one of the nurses said with a smile. "And here's your pain medication for the next few days." She gave him a vial and he snorted as he looked at it.

"Vicodin. Lovely. Oh well, let's get out of here. I just want to go back to the hotel and sleep it off."

"I could certainly use a nap myself," Gaby said as they left the building and got into her car. "And some room service."

"Definitely."

XXX

"What's with this traffic? We're running late as it is," House complained.

"Well if someone didn't insist on that round of morning nookie, we wouldn't be late," Gaby reminded him with a cheeky grin.

"My hand was hurting and the Vicodin was only barely taking the edge off. I needed the endorphin rush."

"Which you got. So stop whining. If we miss the flight, we miss the flight. There will be others."

Yolanda pulled up to the departure spot and they made their goodbyes before running inside to check in.

"I'm sorry, that flight has already pushed back from the gate," the clerk told them, while still smiling.

"Okay, then we'll get on the next flight," Gaby said. "When's that one?"

"The next flight to Newark, New Jersey leaves in...three hours."

"Fine. We'll take it."

"Excellent. Here are your boarding passes. They'll be boarding 45 minutes before takeoff."

"Well, since we have some time, let's go eat, I'm starving."

"Of course you are," Gaby laughed as they walked through the terminal.

XXX

"Well, here we are," he said as he dropped his bags on the floor near the door and reached for Gaby.

"Yes, here we are. Finally home," she said as she gently ran her fingers through his hair and smiled at him.

"So what should we do now?" he asked between kisses.

"I could use a nap," she said with a sexy grin.

"Yeah, I'm suddenly feeling a little tired as well. Let's do that. I miss my bed."

"Why do I get the feeling that we're not going to sleep?"

"Because we're not," he leered, tugging her in the direction of his bedroom and then closed the door behind them.

The End