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House wasn’t planning on pissing off Cuddy that particular day,— okay, that was a lie. He hadn’t been planning on pissing her off like this, though.
”So yes, House, I’d love to know why an angry doctor Rowan Chase yelled at me that you attacked him and interfered in his personal business!” The woman continued, clearly exhausted as her hands firmly planted themselves on her hips with an annoyed expression on her face — all in all, the standard ‘meeting with House again’ attitude.
”I was defending this hospital — and its glorious Queen’s — honour.” House hummed with a smile, holding his cane in front of him. It wasn’t a full lie, for once, he was actually defending someone.
~
House doesnt think he’s ever gotten this angry since his leg. He’d been mad before, obviously, half of this hospital’s population was made of off idiots, but right now he was downright furious.
”Get your goddamn hands off my kid.” He yelled, ignoring the pain in his leg as he strides towards the 2 men standing against the wall. Rowan chase was somehow towering over his son despite having only a few inches of height on the boy, holding the younger doctor’s arm so tight his knuckles were turning white, as he used his other hand to make exaggerated gestures — and, judging by the younger Chase’s rapidly bruising cheek, hitting — whilst the boy flinched away.
Both of them seemed suprised at House’s presence, Rowan more annoyed as his son somehow managed to curl into himself even further.
It made House feel sick to see his usually confident — although eager and ass-kissing fellow in such a state, only furthering his determination to punch Rowan all the way back to Australia.
”Doctor House. This is a personal matter between my son and I.” Rowan spoke calmly, too calmly for someone who was just caught abusing his son. Like he knew it wouldn’t change anything.
”As soon as your personal matter began to include assaulting my staff, it became my business too.” House replied coldly, sending a glare Rowan’s way that was enough to make any person in their right mind start begging for forgiveness.
The older Chase scoffed, planting his free hand on his son’s shoulder — which only elicited a quiet, pained whimper from the boy, and a somehow even more infuriated look from House.
”You will let go of Chase, and you will get the hell out of my hospital,— out of this goddamn state, or I will shove my cane so far up your ass that I’ll be able to pull it out through your mouth.” House stated matter of factly, now only standing a mere inches away from the older Doctor’s face.
The man bristled, before looking at, his son. “Robert, tell your boss to leave us alone.” He commanded, reminding House far too much of his own father’s words. He didn’t get a response from his seemingly disassociating son, angering him even further, his face turning an ugly shade of red.
Before the man could strike the younger doctor again, however, House had already broken his nose.
~
“House…” Cuddy sighed, running a hand through her lovely hair. “Fine. I’ll bite. Who were you defending.?” House hummed thoughtfully at that, before shaking his head with a dramatic sigh.
”I’m afraid that’s classified, m’lady.”
Cuddy looked like she desperately needed a drink to get through this conversation, — which, to be fair, wasn’t an unusual expression when dealing with House.
~
House had successfully made the Aussie scum that was infiltrating his hospital leave — which left him with the second, less scummy Aussie. Who was having a strange combination of a panic attack and what House guessed to be a disassociation episode.
”Chase, listen to me. Your father is gone, he’s not here, you’re safe.” He spoke clearly, kneeling down to the young doctor. House had always teased his fellows — especially Chase, about how young and inexperienced they were, but House didn’t like what seeing how small the boy actually was, did to his chest.
Though he pretended to hate everyone — except maybe Wilson, sometimes,— House inexplicably did … care for his little ducklings. Through the years of endless teasing and condensation, the three had grown on him, — kind of like parasites, or a particularly annoying rash.
”Robert, I need you to breathe.” House repeated firmly, holding the boy’s hand with suprising gentleness, trying to keep eye contact. “I’m sorry-“ Chase gasped out, eyes cast down as he tried to hug his knees to his chest. House sighed, shaking his head.
”No, you don’t have to be sorry. I do need you to breathe, though, before the lack of oxygen gets to your brain and I need to hire a new surgeon.” House muttered, taking exaggerated breaths as he waited for Chase to copy him. Eventually it seemed he had gotten through to the boy, and their breathing began to match as the boy’s sobs died down.
”You with me, wombat?” House asked, eyebrow raised as Chase nodded shakily. “Y-yes- I’m sorry for…” he trailed off, seemingly not even know what to apologise for, but still feeling the need to. House wished he’d punched Rowan harder.
”It’s okay, not your fault. Now, do you wanna keep sitting on this dirty floor next to a supply closet that smells like bleach, or do you want to go to my office.?”
~
”Classified? Seriously House.?” Cuddy groaned, falling back in her chair. House shrugged, leaning against her desk. “Boy scout’s honour, y’know? Or well, you wouldn’t know — trust me, you didn’t miss out.” He mused, playing with some random trinket that Cuddy promptly took out of his hands.
”Give me something to work with… There aren’t even any CCTV cameras we can check, it happened in a dead spot!” Cuddy asked frustratedly, her head resting in her hands as House rolled his eyes.
”Seems like a security problem, and not a House problem.”
~
It felt a little awkward, but House couldn’t help but feel a disgusting sliver of endearment at the sight of Chase sitting on his couch, sipping from a glass of water with red-rimmed eyes. It had taken a while to convince the young doctor to even move from his original spot, let alone move him onto something comfortable.
”So, as much as I’m loving the kicked wallaby-baby look, wanna tell me what that was all about.?” He began, crossing his arms with a raised eyebrow — a pose that usually got Chase to tell him everything. This time, however, the boy just looked down into his cup like it held all the answers in life, hunched into himself.
”Oh come on, just tell me. I’m not that big of an asshole that I’ll make fun of you right now.” House huffed, resting his feet on his desk as he threw around his tennis ball. Chase seemed hesitant, before shrugging.
”It’s- it’s nothing… I’m fine.” The young doctor mumbled quietly, earning an exasperated groan from House. “Oh yes, the epitome of ‘fine’. Getting your ass kicked by daddy dearest really screams ‘I’m doing great!’.”
Chase winced at that, but didn’t argue. “I… he showed up out of nowhere, so I was trying to avoid him but…” he trailed off, glancing at his wrist, — which was turning an ugly shade of purple under the bandages House had wrapped around it. “Yeah. That didn’t work out, genius. Now why didn’t you tell me, or hell, even Cameron, that Australia’s #1 shitbag was paying you a visit.”
Chase bit his lip, shrugging like he was a teenager getting therapy. Actually, that wasn’t an unfair comparison, but still. Very unhelpful. “Listen. Don’t be embarrassed about your dad beating you, okay? You have plenty of other things to feel ashamed about.” House sighed, rubbing his forehead.
”My dad was a dickhead too, so I promise you I won’t make fun of you for it, — or tell anyone else. Except maybe Wilson, because I don’t want to sleep on the couch — very bad for my leg.” He added the last part as a joke, gauging Chase’s reaction. The boy seemed suprised at the admission, but at least he sat up a little bit straighter.
“It wasn’t as bad when mom was still around —, mostly ‘cause it meant that he wasn’t. But then she died, and me and my sister moved in with him, and… I had to protect her.” Chase admitted softly, fidgeting with his hands. House nodded in understanding, completely unsure of what to do, so he patted Chase on the back.
”Thats… good. It wasn’t your job, though. And if that shitbag ever shows up again, you come to me, and I’ll make him leave.” House added the last part in a threathening tone. He waited for Chase to reply, when… the boy hugged him.
Oh fuck.
”Uhhhh. There there, wombat.” He patted the kid’s back again, hesitantly wrapping his arms around Chase. The younger doctor let out a sob, clinging to House’s shirt like a lifeline.
These were way too much emotions for him — comforting was Wilson’s job. House just made them feel a little less like shit (or more like shit, depended on the situation) afterwards.
Chase didn’t seem too keen of letting go anytime soon, though, so House shifted to the couch, letting the kid cry into his chest.
Nobody could find out about this, his reputation would be ruined.
~
“Fine. Dr Chase senior was having an… argument with Chase junior, and I stepped in, because you know me — I just hate conflict, especially between such an adorable family, and it escalated.” House grumbled, getting a confused look from Cuddy in turn.
“It escalated into you breaking his nose and threatening him.?” She asked exasperatedly, staring at him in disbelief. House shrugged, throwing his hands up in the air.
”Not my fault.”
~
After a while, House decided to shift and poke Chase in the shoulder, finding out that the younger doctor had fallen asleep. Goddammit.
”Stupid youths these days, can’t even stay awake after getting emotionally exhausted and traumatised.” He mumbled to himself, but shifted so that Chase could rest his head on a pillow, before throwing his own lab coat over the kid as a makeshift blanket. Not like he wears it, anyways.
He decided to walk out of the room and lock the door behind him, not wanting any of his other ducklings to interrupt Chase’s much needed rest. He walked into the so called ‘living room’, raising an eyebrow at Cameron’s poorly hidden attempt at investigating. His eyes flicked to foreman, who shrugged nonchalantly, drinking his coffee.
“Dr Rowan Chase passed the office, demanded to see you.” The man spoke, setting down his mug. “I told him to take it to Cuddy, if it was so important. His nose looked nasty.” House had to suppress a proud smile at the words, nodding. “Well, guess I’ll be called in by the wicked witch of the west soon.”
~
”Not my fault- House, we could get sued!” Cuddy yelled, eyes attempting to bore through his soul. House scoffed with disdain, mustering every ounce of politeness in him — which is to say, barely none, before he spoke.
“Well, tell him that if he wants to sue, I’d love to have a conversation with him about the concept of good parenting. Y’know, give some tips, I mean if you’re gonna hit your kid, at least do it privately!” He scoffed mockingly sweet, watching Cuddy’s face go through the 5 stages of grief within a few seconds.
”I… is Robert okay?” She asked softly, eyes now filled with concern. House rolled his eyes at the question, shaking his head. “No, I left him to bleed out in a hallway, because this conversation was so much more important.” He deadpanned, smirking as Cuddy glared at him.
”He’s fine, taking a nap in my office. Plus he’s got 2 bodyguards, paid with the power of friendship.” He sighed dryly, Cuddy shaking her head. “I- fine. I’ll tell Dr Rowan to back off.” She mumbled, earning a whistle from House. “Angry mommy Cuddy? You should let me come with, it’ll be sexy-“ he got cut off by a lighthearted shove as Cuddy stood up.
“Go take care of your kids, Gregory.” She huffed, before walking away. House scoffed defensively, crossing his arms. “They’re not my kids, Wilson’s on the pill.”
Cuddy raised an unimpressed eyebrow, stepping out of the doorway to let Cameron go through. “Uhm, House, foreman broke through your office door.” The younger woman spoke up with embarrassment, earning one of House’s patented ‘oh my god are you serious you fucking idiot’-stares.
”…And why did he decide to cause property damage on this fine afternoon.?” House asked tiredly, watching Cameron bite her lip and shift from foot to foot.
”Chase couldn’t figure out how to unlock the door from the inside, and he was panicking…” she trailed off, looking down at her feet.
”…I’ll make Wilson call someone. Get the 2 other ducklings, we’re going out for icecream or something, it’ll cost me less money than you three burning down my office.” House grumbled, waving Cameron away.
As the girl left, Cuddy smiled at him with a knowing glance.