A/N-This comes from a prompt from freeasabird14. I'll include the original prompt at the end of this chapter. This will be a 2 or 3 chapter short story. This one isn't too serious or dramatic, just some deflection, banter, tension and fun stuff. (A bit of light after A Thousand Hands).

Begins in Season 4 during "Mirror, Mirror".

***I don't own these characters. This fic contains adult language and situations.

-The Thrill of Defeat-

They watched through the glass, Wilson and Foreman, eager to know what the patient with Mirror Syndrome was going to say. Those looking on at House and Cuddy understood that whoever was determined to be the alpha personality would have some powerful bragging rights and win the bet. As soon as they were in front of the patient, they began stating their cases. No one outside could hear the words, only muffled sounds and muted tones.

House and Cuddy listened while the patient said something and each responded with attempts to assert their power. The patient said something else, there was a small flurry back and forth, a debate between them to argue that the evidence was on their side, and then it happened, some statement from the patient that made House feel certain he could claim victory. He was immediately gloating while Cuddy continued to plead her case, but House was undeterred. He was starting to really revel, his celebration was reaching its peak, when the patient said one more thing.

House and Cuddy both looked at the man, their attention snapping forward. They were completely still, wordless and stunned for nearly ten long, silent seconds. House's merriment came to an abrupt halt at the sound of a few short words.

As soon as their focus turned from attack to defense, they pivoted toward each other, hands in front of themselves protectively for a moment, trying to distance themselves from whatever had been said. Each began pointing at the other in frantic accusation. Even those outside could tell that House and Cuddy were each claiming that the owner of whatever thoughts the patient had shared could not have been them. Their argument seemed unnecessarily ardent until House started backing away carefully so he could get out the door and far away from the suggestion that crashed unexpectedly between them.

When House finally escaped the confines of the patient's room, Foreman asked, "What in the hell did he say?"

House had sweat beading across his forehead as he pushed past those waiting outside, saying only, "He thinks Cuddy's the alpha."

The audience stood there, stunned for a moment. Everyone else left, only Wilson and Foreman waited for Cuddy. They watched as Cuddy stood next to the patient, one hand leaning on the bed rail, and spoke to him for a few minutes. She nodded somberly as they spoke before bidding goodbye. Walking out of the room slowly, she appeared to be taken aback, although less pallid than House. Foreman asked her, "Do I have a job or not?"

Cuddy looked back through the window at the patient, she seemed to be on a timed delay, and then looked at Foreman, "Of course you have a job. No matter what he says," she pointed with an open hand at the patient, "I'm still in charge of this hospital. This isn't a playground, it's an institution of medicine. You have a job."

"OK," Foreman answered, still waiting for more information.

"But what did he say?" Wilson asked her.

She looked at Wilson and back at the patient again, still unsteady. Finally looking at the two doctors after what seemed like an eternity, she answered, "House is the alpha. But if he wants control of this hospital, he'll have to apply for my job. My hospital, my decision."

With that, Cuddy disappeared down the hall. Wilson muttered, "That was unexpected."

"What in the hell did he say?" Foreman asked.

"Who knows. You can't push House on stuff like this. He obviously does not want to talk about it. If he thinks you're too interested, he'll never tell, or worse, he'll just screw with you. Maybe Cuddy's in a talking mood."

Wilson tried to talk to Cuddy for the next two days. Every time he saw her, she was on an important call or going to a meeting or running out the door with an apologetic smile. On the third day, Wilson tried to talk to House, showing up at his door. House didn't answer, and his spare key was missing. Wilson could hear the TV inside the apartment while he threatened to call for help if House didn't answer, but the door remained closed.

It was a long, quiet weekend. House and Cuddy seemed to vanish from the face of the earth, in fact, it seemed reasonably certain that Cuddy actually left town. Wilson was waiting outside of her office on Monday morning, and he followed her in when she opened the door.

"Hey Wilson," she said cheerily while she sat at her desk.

"Nice weekend?"

Cuddy nodded knowingly, "I was visiting my sister."

"I wasn't implying anything. How's your sister?"

"She's fine."

Wilson sat down, casually looking around, "So…"

"So?"

"So…what's new with you?"

"What did he tell you?" Cuddy asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Nothing! Who?"

"House. And you know exactly who I'm talking about."

"House has said…nothing. At all. He has never said so little."

"House was clearly the alpha. He was right…he can feel free to dangle that truth in front of me if he needs to. He has no reason to worry about me. It's clearly his issue…not mine. And he has to deal with that. He needs to stop acting like a child. Just because some patient thinks that…," Cuddy stalled, staring at Wilson. "House didn't tell you anything…did he?"

"Maybe he did?" Wilson attempted.

"Did he send you here?"

"No. I really haven't seen him."

"Then why are you here?"

"To see you, to see…a friend…to ask…," Wilson was talking, but it was clear Cuddy didn't believe him so he caved, "What did the patient say?"

Cuddy laughed, shaking her head, "It's hardly scientific. It makes sense…in a way. Go ask House. But keep in mind that whatever he is accusing me of…the patient clearly thought House was the alpha."

Wilson stood, walking toward the door, saying, "If you need to talk…"

"Thanks, Wilson," Cuddy replied as she picked up her phone.

Wilson left, each passing moment that this secret was kept from him made him more convinced that he had to know what it was. He saw House lumbering in grumpily.

"Hey," Wilson said as he followed House to the elevator. "Good weekend?"

"Great weekend."

"What did you do?"

"I sat on my sofa, drinking scotch and listening to you threaten to call for help."

When the doors to the elevator closed, Wilson said, "Dinner, tonight? My treat."

"Sure."

"Great."

As House stepped off of the elevator, he said, "I saw you come out of her office. I don't know what she told you, but the guy clearly thought she was the alpha. Not me."

"Why are you even bringing that up again? I completely forgot about it."

"Oh, I'm sure."

"I have plenty of things to think about that don't involve you or Cuddy."

"What did she tell you?"

"I'm not at liberty to say."

"And neither am I," House answered, charging into the classroom where his pool of potential fellows were waiting.

They were all at their desks, looking through files. "Check out this rash," Kutner said as he handed a photograph to House.

"Woah!" House shouted as he gawked at the picture. "That's our patient?"

"No. It's just a really hideous rash."

House took his spot at the front of the room, "Let's stick to hideous rashes on the patient. You guys suck at multitasking."

"Hey whatever happened with Mirror guy?"

House swung his head around to look at Kutner and answered, "It's clearly inaccurate, since he thought Cuddy was the alpha."

"But it looked like your first impression was that you were the dominant personality...you were clearly celebrating. Perhaps you didn't like his interpretation of you," Cole suggested, "so you decided to forfeit your victory rather than accept his assessment as truth."

"It had to be something that either of them could have said," Thirteen added, "otherwise the context would have revealed who the alpha was."

"It was perfectly clear from the context," House answered, "Cuddy was the alpha. I lost the game. It's no big deal, the guy was probably too distracted by Cuddy's cleavage to judge accurately."

"Distracted by cleavage…sounds more like you than Cuddy," Amber smiled smugly. "What could be worse than admitting that Cuddy is dominant over you? Maybe he figured out a secret."

"The guy isn't a mind reader. He mirrors," House argued, "and if I get one more question about it, you're all fired and I start over with a new bright-eyed, bushy-tailed group of applicants who can find something better to do than sit around talking about something that happened almost a week ago. Nobody cares."

"You can't fire me," Wilson replied.

"Given how much I know about you, is it worth the risk?" House challenged as he looked out at the group of applicants who eagerly awaited a piece of gossip.

Wilson began to walk away, "Still on for dinner?"

"Yup," House answered before he asked the classroom, "Anybody actually care to do something doctorish since we're already here?"

Wilson watched while House and Cuddy each carefully sidestepped all questions regarding what had happened. Whenever they were in a room together, they'd trade jabs that were scarcely masked suggestions, each accusing the other of being controlling, but they were never in a room or elevator alone.

When Cuddy received a call from Wilson that House had overdosed, she didn't hesitate. She was in her car and at his apartment in moments, running in the building and through the door. Wilson was standing inside, but she didn't see House. "Where is he?" she asked nervously, impatiently waiting for an answer, "Wilson, where is he? Is he in his room?"

The concern could be heard in her voice as she faced Wilson, but she actually jumped a little when she heard House behind her, "Where's who?"

She closed her eyes for a moment and then scowled at Wilson after she turned around and found House perfectly well. "What's going on?" she groaned with exasperation.

"Hear me out," Wilson said, hurrying over to stop her from leaving.

"Were you worried about me?" House asked smugly. "You were, weren't you?"

"This is ridiculous," Wilson told Cuddy, "I don't know exactly what happened, but it clearly has to do with something that makes you both very uncomfortable."

"So you came to my rescue? What did he tell you to get you here?" House asked Cuddy, ignoring Wilson. "Or have you been dying for an excuse to come over and get some material to fantasize about when you're in bed tonight?"

"You are the last person on my mind when I'm in bed at night," Cuddy retorted as she tried to glare Wilson into letting her leave.

"Let's try talking about this like adults," Wilson said in his calmest and most soothing voice.

"You just won't let this go, will you, Wilson?" House asked, "Fine, you want to know? The guy told us that Cuddy has the hots for me. Mystery solved."

"That was not what he said and you know it," Cuddy argued.

"Fine, he said that Cuddy is in love with me," House told Wilson, and turning to Cuddy, fake whispered, "I was trying to save you the embarrassment."

"That's not what he said either," she said, walking over to House, "and he was mirroring you and you know it."

"I don't know that. In fact, I, being me, know that there is no way he was mirroring me."

"Then why are you so scared? You practically ran from that room."

"I'm not scared."

"You are. You're avoiding me."

"You're avoiding me."

"Because you act like a jerk when your feelings are exposed," she said angrily, "If you really believed it was me, you wouldn't be avoiding me…you'd be purposefully hanging around to taunt me."

"I'm trying to avoid leading you on. If you already have such deep feelings it would be wrong of me to encourage that."

"Screw you. You're the one who carries a torch for me. You know it. You don't mind admitting that I have nice breasts or a great ass, but what terrifies you…is the fact that I matter to you. You like me."

"You were the one who was so worried that you ran in here."

"Because Wilson told me that you overdosed. I don't have to be in love with you to be concerned about whether you live or die."

She stepped closer, her body was too close for him to ignore completely. Purposefully fighting the automatic retreat he felt like taking, he stood his ground, wanting to appear unaffected by her. To him, she suddenly felt like a much bigger presence than she normally did, and he wasn't sure if it was because she was in heels and he was barefoot, or if it was from something entirely different. He could feel her torso grazing his even though they didn't actually touch and then she said, "Wilson's right, this is stupid. Maybe…I do have feelings for you."

House kept a steady face, but it was obvious that he noticed her nearness, that he felt the closeness of her. "Is that an admission?"

"Find out. Go get a drink with me."

"You're asking me out to prove that you're not into me? Interesting logic. Why not figure it out right here?"

"I thought we could discuss this in private without Wilson squirming uncomfortably in the background."

"He's the one who set this up. Make him suffer."

"True. As far as I'm concerned, you have two choices: you can admit that you are the alpha…the one who has feelings for me, or you can accept that I'm the alpha."

"I'm not interested in you."

"Then, as the alpha, I'm telling you that I think we should go."

"Does this mean you're willing to admit that you're hot for me?"

She stood a bit taller, her lips parted only the slightest. Wilson's jaw practically hit the floor because he was reasonably certain of what was going to happen next. House could feel the softness of her lips in spite of the distance that remained between them at all times, and she said, "Forget it," before she backed away one step.

"What?" House asked, confused when the next moment felt chillier.

"I am definitely an alpha…if not the alpha in our relationship. I'm a strong, dominant personality. You and I, separately, are easily the alphas in almost any group. The funny thing is, even as a dominant personality, I'm not looking for some…submissive little boy to boss around in my personal life. I want someone else who's as dominant as I am. A man who's not afraid to tell me what he wants...or better yet, someone who wants to show me what he wants."

House's voice garbled, "Doesn't seem to follow with that whole feminist thing."

"Is it my expectation of being treated like an equal human being or my belief that I have the right to say 'no' to unwanted advances that is too much to ask? There's a universe of difference between a man approaching a woman and some creep's unwanted advances. Feminism doesn't mean frigidity. I want sex, I want to be wanted, desired, lusted after. I'd like to find a man who's willing to try, who's willing to put himself out there to find out what the answer is…is it yes…or is it no. I want to be worth that effort."

"So it's somehow my respon…a man's responsibility to figure out whether his efforts are wanted or unwanted?"

"I put myself out and risk rejection all of the time…I am right now. I don't expect anything that I wouldn't try myself. I'd think a guy like you, a man who notices everything, would be able to pick up on subtle hints like body language, suggestions, cues. I think you know, but want to pretend that you don't because the possible results are worse than not knowing…and you want all of the other answers. That speaks to how significant this all is. You would rather not know an answer than face the consequences of it. That doesn't happen often when it comes to you."

"Maybe I'm not all that interested in the answer."

"Oh, you're interested."

"So are you, apparently. Why don't you look for the answer if you're so interested?"

"I was…I really was interested in the answer. And we were having this discussion and then I realized…why would I want a man who doesn't want me? I don't want to have to convince a guy that I'm worth it. Maybe it's a bad idea but I want that other alpha…a strong personality to bump up against. Someone secure enough that I don't have to act mousy so I can preserve his fragile ego, and bold and confident enough to assert himself."

"You only think you want that. You can't stand not being on top."

"That's not true. I like variety. Sometimes I love taking control, acting on impulse, doing everything the way I want. Being in control every single moment gets monotonous when there are so many variations just waiting to be tried. I have to orchestrate every moment of that hospital's existence. Sometimes it's nice to let go…to enjoy something without having to take care of all of the details and make all of the decisions."

"Are you admitting something?" he asked, proudly, trying to recover from the momentary reeling seconds earlier. "Can you tell me, or do I need to go get a body language dictionary and figure it out for myself?"

She pondered for a moment, should she walk away or step up, and she said, "I'm admitting something. There was something there. I'm…definitely attracted to you, always have been."

House leaned down a little, moving closer to her as if he was trying to make sure he was hearing correctly, "You admit that?"

"Sure. It means the next few weeks will be rough…you'll tell your staff and anyone who will listen…they'll snicker at me for a minute and make some dominatrix jokes, and in two weeks, at the next fundraiser, I'll bring someone new. Maybe Chris or Neil. They'll see that I'm over you…kinda quickly actually, and that will be that. I can take being mocked for a couple of weeks, I've been the source of jokes for you and your team for years so I can handle two weeks."

"Who's Chris? A pretend boyfriend? How adorable."

"He has asked me out the last three times I've seen him, and every time I say, 'I'll think about it.' I wonder why I was holding off? He's a great guy, attractive, tall, willing to express interest, willing to risk rejection for a chance. I guess that's what I was looking for all along."

"There is no Chris."

"There is," she answered, "as shocking as it may be to you…there are a couple of Chrises out there."

"Are you sure about that?"

She turned over her shoulder to Wilson, who continued to stare at the interactions in silence, and she asked him, "Do you think maybe there are one or two guys around who wouldn't mind going out with me?"

Wilson held perfectly still except for his bobbing head, "I'm sure there are."

"If you're into Chrises," House added.

Cuddy sighed in an acquiescent way, "Well, thanks for helping me sort that out. Now…feel free to discuss this all you want. Tell everyone, you will anyway. I'll face the consequences for the next two weeks. It's probably best that we addressed this now, got it out of the way so we don't have to keep avoiding each other. And when the dust settles, you'll have exactly what you want. I'm the alpha, and you didn't get the girl. You won."

House's eyes darted away from hers for a second while the truth of her statement was translated into the bare facts and he stubbornly looked back at her, "I'm glad you finally admitted that you have a thing for me."

"Had. Had a thing. I am too," she took two steps back and before she left she said, "Is this going to be uncomfortable for you at work? I'm OK with it, but I don't want you to feel like your work situation is compromised or uncomfortable. Should I find you a new supervisor? Would that put you more at ease so you don't feel like you have to avoid me?"

His eyes widened almost imperceptibly, but she noticed. "No," he answered, shrugging his complete lack of concern for her to see, "Unless it bothers you."

"Acknowledging it openly has sort of…removed all of the tension for me. Resolved the issue…I actually feel sort of relieved."

She walked over to Wilson, casually flinging an arm over his shoulder and hugging the stunned oncologist. "For the record, I'm not mad about this little trap of yours. I was…but I'm not anymore. Your forced us to address this head on."

Wilson nodded as she moved away from him and walked over to House, "Do you mind?" she asked opening one arm, suggesting a hug and stepping closer until the tip of her shoe was between his toes, they were that close. She took a deep breath, allowed her eyes to move from his chest up to his face, somewhat slowly, like she was taking a parting look at him.

He nodded his head, and tried to sound smug, "I can humor you this once."

Lifting up on her toes, she smiled briefly, sweetly, put the fingers of one hand on his shoulder for balance and with her lips subtly parted, she softly kissed his cheek next to his mouth. His eyes started to close just a little because he could feel her body against his, off to the side in one line from his chest and down his leg, and then she backed away. The smile was back on her face and she nodded before she walked to the door, "See you guys tomorrow. I'll be ready, House, so do whatever you have to do. No hard feelings."

She was gone a second later, and the sound of the closing door echoed while House and Wilson faced the spot where she had been. Wilson cleared his throat, "Well, looks like you won."

"Of course I did," House answered stiffly, still staring ahead as he wondered why it felt like Cuddy had the upper hand.

"Congratulations."

-The Prompt from freeasabird14: season 4, the episode's called "Mirror, mirror". Remember the scene when House and Cuddy argue in front of the patient...what if he admitted having feelings to one of them. Would these feelings come from House or Cuddy? I just thought that the scenario might be fun to see how both of them would react towards the other.