Hey guys!

So sorry that I didn't upload in such a long time... but I was kinda stuck with this as well as with my other more chapter story.

But now I'm finally done with a new chapter. Thanks a lot to LEfan77 for beta reading :D

Enjoy reading!

Chapter 5

She watched in awe as the doctor danced around the control console of the Tardis pressing all kind of buttons, flipping switches and gears and even hitting one part of the console with a hammer.

"This has to be the most complicated vehicle I've ever seen." Cuddy said.

"Shhh… She might hear you… and believe me: you don't wanna fly around the universe with an offended Tardis."

Cuddy's brows went up. "What?"

"She's alive."

"The Tardis?"

"Yeah."

"So she is some kind of alien as well?"

"It's more complicated than that. But all you need to know is that she's got a mind of her own." The doctor was finally done with navigating the Tardis and turned to Cuddy.

"What vehicle doesn't?" She said.

Cuddy looked at him questionably when the Tardis suddenly stopped moving. "Is this her being offended? She stops moving and we are lost somewhere in the universe?"

"Nope this is arrival."

"We are already back home?"

"Well… not quite." The doctor said and indicated for her to go ahead outside.

Cuddy didn't hesitate for long, she went to the door and opened it.

She immediately noticed where they were. In Boston. Directly in front of her old home.

"Oh my God." She whispered.

"You wanted to go to Boston and here we are… It's 1991, I actually wanted the Tardis to got to 1992… but well... close enough."

She almost didn't hear what he was saying since she was already out of the Tardis, checking out the street she had once lived in.

The doctor followed her outside. He wasn't going to let her out of his sight. The chance she'd meddle again was too big.

"I haven't been here for ages." Cuddy said with a big smile on her face. "I totally forgot how much I loved to live here."

As they got closer to the beautiful white house that used to be Cuddy's home music could be heard.

From the garden gate in front of the house they could glimpse into the backyard and saw people dancing, laughing, drinking and eating.

"That's my 23rd birthday." Cuddy whispered.

"Come on." The doctor said and took her hand. "Let's take a closer look."

"What if they see us?"

"We'll make sure they won't."

"So you are telling me she disappeared 10 hours ago and you want me to send out a search party?" The officer was trying hard to suppress a laugh.

"Yes."

"Isn't it possible that she just disappeared because you had some sort of argument?"

"No. She never just disappears… Especially not without her blackberry and her purse."

"Sir, I understand that you are worried but we can't do anything until she is gone for at last 24 hours."

"Listen to me." House's voice was dead serious. "She is the dean of a hospital and she disappeared in the middle of a working day… Her phone and her purse are still in her office. Her assistant has no clue where she is and her car is still in her parking spot. Something is wrong and if you don't fucking start looking for her right now I'm gonna shove this…" He lifted his cane up in the air so the officer could see it. "… up your ass!"

"Are you threatening me, Dr. House? You are aware that I can arrest your for threatening a civil servant on duty, right?"

"He is..." Wilson said who just had come in the door. He shouldn't have let House go ahead while he had parked the car. "I'm sorry officer for whatever he did, but you have to excuse him... we are very worried and it pulls on our nerve strings."

"This still is no reason to threaten me."

"I know... that was wrong. He is sorry." Wilson said and then looked at House. His eyes telling him he should apologize.

House was about to say how "not sorry at all" he was, when he changed his mind... He needed to keep looking for Cuddy, he couldn't do that if he was in jail. So he choked down his pride and gave the officer a short nod. That's all he's gonna get. An "I'm sorry" was out of question.

The officer seemed to accept the nod.

House then turned to Wilson and said: "He won't help us."

"I can't." The officer clarified.

"Then we have to keep looking on our own." Wilson said.

House looked at the officer with a gaze that – could gazes kill – definitely would have killed him. Then he said to Wilson: "Lets get outta here."

"If Mrs. Murphy sees us she'll call the police." Cuddy said as she followed the doctor through the garden of one of her former neighbors.

"Before the police arrive we will already be in the Tardis and in another century."

"Lets hope so." Cuddy had never liked Mrs. Murphy. She was a mean, old lady who had taken away her doll when she had been little. And even though she was over 40 now, she still feared her ... at least in some way.

The doctor found a relatively big hole in the fence so they could both peek through into the garden of Cuddy's former home.

He dropped down on the ground, she sat down next to him. They looked through the hole into the other garden and observed younger Cuddy and her family.

"I can't believe it." She whispered as soon as she caught sight of the exact party she had celebrated almost 20 years ago.

"Is that your Dad you're are dancing with?" The doctor asked after a few seconds.

"Oh my God." Her hand went to her mouth, tears formed in her eyes. "Yes... that's him."

She was overwhelmed. Completely and totally overwhelmed. After more than 10 years she saw her Dad again. Her Dad who she had been so close to. Her Dad who she had missed so much.

Her younger self was laughing about something her Dad had just said and this made the older Cuddy laugh through her tears. "He was always so funny."

The doctor put his hand on her shoulder, she gripped it, looked at him and whispered: "Thank you."

"What a jackass", House said as soon as they sat in Wilson's car.

"You said yourself that they couldn't do anything until she's gone for at least 24 hours. So I really don't get why you threatened that officer."

"She left all her stuff behind… that is a sign that she didn't disappear voluntarily!"

"It obviously isn't… The guy knows what he is doing, House."

"But he doesn't know Cuddy… And there is no way in hell she just needed some time off and disappeared. No way!"

"I know." Wilson said and sighed.

He was getting more and more worried with every passing minute.

Cuddy and the doctor were still in Mrs. Murphy's garden, still observing the party.

Every now and then fresh tears started to roll down Cuddy's cheek. She couldn't describe how thankful she was that she had the chance to see her Dad one more time.

It was far too early for her when the doctor told her that they had to leave. The risk that someone would see them if they stayed too long was too high.

She looked at her Dad and for a moment she thought he was looking straight back at her, smiling at her. She smiled back, even though she knew it wasn't possible that he had seen her. If he had he would have come over and asked them what they were doing.

"We really need to go." The doctor said after Cuddy still wasn't able to tear her eyes away from her father.

"Ok." She said, looked at her Dad one last time, whispered something that sounded and awful lot like "I love you" and then she got up and followed the doctor out of the garden.

"Are you alright?" The doctor asked as they were on the sidewalk, next to the street again.

"yeah…" Cuddy said wiping her cheeks to get rid of her last tears. "I'm just… I'm just so glad that I saw him and at the same time I'm sad because I know that that was the very last time for good."

"The universe is full of possibilities… Nothing is for good."

"Only a few hours ago I'd have said that you were crazy for telling me that."

"And now?"

"Now I know better." She smiled.

He smiled back but then his face suddenly changed into a curious expression.

"What's going on?" Cuddy wanted to know.

"We were obviously not the only ones who spied on your family." The Doctor said and pointed at a young man who was standing at the spot they had earlier been at and looked into the backyard.

Cuddy looked at the man and almost had a heart attack. She blinked a few times, maybe she was just seeing ghosts… But no… She wasn't.

This man in front of her old house looking into the backyard was HIM.

"Oh my God."

"What?!" The Doctor asked.

"This is House." Cuddy was puzzled.

"THE House?!

"Yes…"

"Didn't you say you two had no contact after he left Michigan med school in 1989?"

"We didn't…"

"Lets go on the other side of the street. We don't need him to recognize you."

They crossed the street and continued watching House watching her younger self and her family.

"I can't believe he's here… " Cuddy said.

House bent down and placed a sunflower right in front of the garden gate.

"Oh my God ... House put that flower there!" Cuddy shouted almost too loudly.

"Now I know why we ended up in 1991 instead of 1992."

"Why?"

"Because the universe wanted you to see this."

They kept watching House as he looked one last time into the back yard before he went back to his car and drove off.

"And all this time I thought that flower was from the neighbor kid I used to babysit… he had a total crush on me."

"You were obviously wrong when you said that your night back in med school didn't mean anything to him."

"I would love to run inside the backyard and tell myself what just happened… I was still head over heels in love with him back then."

"Well... That never really changed, did it?"

She smiled and finally admitted. "No… that never really changed."

TBC

yeah... I know... Boston... this is a coincidence. Sending my prayers to everyone involved in the tragedy. So terrible ): Thanks for reading.