Here's a long chapter to make up for all the short ones.

Chapter 22: Saving the World

"Wilson," a soft voice broke through my tranquil sleep, accompanied by a feminine hand on my shoulder. I refused to acknowledge the voice and instead kept my eyes firmly closed as I tried desperately to drift back to sleep.

"Wilson! We're surrounded and they're about to sacrifice Cuddy!" House yelled in panic, startling me wide-awake. I shot up from my lying position in the back of the police car and inadvertently bumped heads with Cuddy, who had been shaking me when House had interrupted. We both yelped in unison as I quickly drew my hand to the sudden throbbing in my head. Behind her I detected a haughty laugh. Cuddy, who was also tending to her wound, turned on him quickly and for a moment I feared for his life. I wasn't too worried though…after all, my head hurt like hell from his little prank.

House stopped laughing immediately on seeing her glare and feigned innocence as he focused his gaze elsewhere. Cuddy decided now was not the best time to exact revenge…she could wait. My boss turned to me, her eyes brimming with concern, "are you okay?"

"Swell." I replied sarcastically with a slight grimace as I began to massage my temples. "What the hell, House…" I grumbled as I clenched my teeth to ward of the pain.

"Stop snoozing during the apocalypse and maybe I'll cut you some slack." House managed to counter, but it took him considerable effort and his voice lacked its normally lively and critical air. Cuddy stood up and stepped away from the car. I tried to follow promptly, but somehow tripped in my sleepy daze and fell onto the pavement in one swift movement. I lay there for a few seconds before slowly rolling over to face the sky. I had to squint in the blinding sunlight and I was alarmed at how long I must've slept. Two shadowy figures appeared and stared down at me. They blocked out the light, so my eyes could focus. House's eyebrows were raised in amusement, while Cuddy's expression was that of worry. "Aw…our little knight in shining armor is on his way to save the world!" He teased.

"Just help me up." I ignored his ridicule and extended my hand upward. House looked at it like it was infected with a flesh-eating disease, so it was Cuddy who took the initiative to help me up. I gave her a grateful smile before rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

I finally focused on my surroundings and found that we were in the middle of an abandoned parking lot. It was eerily quite for New York, but if I really listened I could vaguely hear distant traffic. Where is everybody? I looked at my watch and found it was 7 in the morning.

My mind suddenly recalled the events of the past two days and I felt myself panic slightly, but I kept it to myself in hopes of not looking like more of a screw-up: first painfully banging heads with my boss and then tripping clumsily on the car door. This day is already off to a bad start…

Then there is the whole 'my best friend loves me thing' that I keep pushing to the back of my mind. One thing at a time…

Speaking of said friend…he looked, if possible, even more exhausted than before. I must've thought this a million times over the last 24 hours, but I meant it every time. He looked like he might collapse at any moment and I had no idea how he was still standing, especially without his cane. I had to give him credit for being so invulnerable, but I guess all those years of being in constant pain have helped him to be fairly strong, but I was still very worried, as was Cuddy.

"You look like crap." I said matter-of-factly as a means of expressing my concern in a way that House would understand. He smiled weakly, but didn't reply. Instead he moved so that he could lean against the car. I knew that this meant his leg was giving him hell and he didn't want me to know…otherwise he would have downed a Vicodin.

I was suddenly overwhelmed by guilt. I've been sleeping peacefully for hours while House is being forced to stay awake. Apparently my contrition showed because House quickly frowned.

"Oh don't get all guilty and caring." He snapped, visibly irritable. "I've stayed awake much longer than this in med school. I'm fine."

"The more you say that, the less convinced I am." I retorted sadly, avoiding his eyes. "How many caffeine pills do you have left?"

"Well you certainly don't need any." He quickly replied. Shit…he's running low… "I. Am. Fine." He reiterated, clearly annoyed. "That goes for you too." He directed at Cuddy. She chose to stay out of it and instead changed the subject.

"There's a huge congregation of people four or five blocks down the street, but everywhere else is practically deserted. We pulled in here seeing as they have a warrant out on our vehicle." She said, mostly to me.

"In other words, the boss lady is making the cripple walk another block to get to this disease place thingy." He said, staring intently at his shoes as if he found them utterly fascinating. Cuddy rolled her eyes, but otherwise ignored him. They'd obviously been arguing this for quite a while and, unsurprisingly, Cuddy had come out victorious.

"So…the whole of New York is at one huge meeting? What are they doing?" I asked curiously. I wasn't sure I really wanted to know.

"Creepy alien stuff I'm sure…probably plotting world domination or something. What does it matter?" House countered quickly. He tapped his foot impatiently. He's going to have a heart attack if he keeps eating those pills like candy…and then mixing them with Vicodin…

"We shouldn't meet any trouble goin-" Cuddy began. House quickly reached over and covered her mouth with his hand.

"Don't jinx us!" He squealed, mocking a child. Cuddy shoved his hand away impatiently.

"Don't forget you have no cane to protect you and I have no morals when it comes to beating up obnoxious cripples." She frowned and House simply smiled at her threat.

"Who has the blood?" I asked suddenly. It felt like it'd been so long since this whole mess had started.

"I do." Cuddy answered quickly, pulling the vial from somewhere on her person.

"Do you know which way we need to go?" I asked just to make sure.

"North."

"Are you sure?"

"You better hope so." She replied, annoyed by my insecurity. She turned and headed for the sidewalk and House and I followed. House glanced back anxiously at the abandoned cop car.

"Can't we…?" He pleaded, but Cuddy anticipated his question.

"No," she sighed. He didn't want to walk and with good reason, but they had to get rid of that car somewhere.

"But no one…" He argued, but Cuddy wasn't going to fold.

"No, House. It's not far." She assured him. The streets were empty and the chance of being seen seemed remote, but it wasn't worth the risk.

"Easy for you to say." He sulked. He didn't bother hiding his emotions, knowing no one was around to see and Cuddy was just being a pain.

"I can make Wilson carry you." She offered with a smirk, briefly glancing back at the two doctors.

"Hey, don't drag me into this!" I reacted promptly, my hands raised in my defense.

"Ha, ha." House pretended to laugh. "It's not that bad."

"I thought you loved him." She countered, stressing the loved. He'd fallen into her trap.

"Damn…" House cursed thoroughly annoyed, "must you make this awkward?"

"I actually agree with House." I broke in.

"See, now you two can come together and conspire against me." She smiled devilishly as she continued walking. She wants us together? House and I shared a look before I was compelled to comment.

"I will never understand the female mind."

"It took you three marriages to figure that out?" House questioned with a smirk. Somehow he could turn anything I said into something of an insult.

"Well at least I tried." I shrugged indifferently. I had no interest in discussing my ex-wives. I wonder what they're doing right now…

"Yeah, hence why I like guys." House added. I was still not accustomed to that idea and it seemed to surprise me every time.

"Can we not talk about this?" I asked hopefully. I didn't actually expect him to listen so I was pleasantly surprised that he let the topic go…for now.

"Fine, but we will eventually talk about this." He stressed with a hint of seriousness.

"Yeah." I replied absent-mindedly.

"Soon?" He asked with a purposefully annoying smile.

"Stop pressuring." I ordered lightly. "I have to save the world first!" I joked.

"If anyone's saving the world, it's me and considering your heroic display getting out of the car…I highly doubt you can even qualify." He quipped.

"No." Cuddy interrupted. "Wilson's too nice and you're too lazy. If they make a movie then I'll definitely be the star and you two can be my sidekicks." I laughed a little at this while House frowned indignantly.

Cuddy turned to the left and quietly entered one of the buildings, which I assumed was our destination. The lobby was silent and only our footsteps could be heard on the tile. Cuddy led us to the elevators, pressed the button for the 16th floor, and then we all hurried on. We stood in silence and I soon found myself swaying slightly to the irritating elevator music. Cuddy suddenly spoke up, "I told you we shouldn't meet any trouble."

"Yes…great deduction, but couldn't we bring the car if you knew no one would see us?" House narrowed his eyes at Cuddy.

"Stop complaining. We're here." The 15th floor button lit up above the door. A sudden feeling of foreboding captured my senses and I braced myself. I felt paranoid…and I only realized why two seconds before the doors opened.

"Weren't we going to the 16th floor?" I asked in a panic as the doors opened. A woman and a man stood in front of us. House quickly made a move to close the doors, but the man reached forward and stopped the doors from closing. I instinctively pulled Cuddy toward the corner of the elevator to avoid the imminent fight. House readied himself to throw a punch, when the man suddenly brought his hands forward defensively.

"We're human!" He exclaimed and House lowered his hand to his side after seeing the pleading look in the man's hazel eyes. Actually now that I looked at him properly, he appeared fidgety and nervous, and was definitely human. He was considerably smaller than House and was wearing a lab coat with the name 'Marcel' stitched on the pocket. He was a younger man, probably in his twenties. He had a couple bruises on his pale face, his dark hair was short and messy, and he wore a pair of thin broken glasses. I then turned my attention to the woman. She looked Japanese and seemed around my age, maybe older. Her eyes were a very dark brown so that her pupils could barely be seen. They both looked terrified, but relieved to have met other humans.

"Dr. Marcel? What are you doing here?" Cuddy asked incredulously, pulling in front of me so that she could see him properly.

"Dr. Cuddy! I'm so glad you made it and you must be Dr. House and Dr. Wilson." Marcel said excitedly. He then stepped onto the elevator with the other woman. I shared a look with House who looked just as confused as I was. "I wasn't sure you were going to make it." He turned to us eagerly.

"You were expecting us?" I asked, bemused. He smiled and nodded.

"Yes. Did you bring the blood sample?" He questioned hopefully.

"How the hell did you know we were coming and who are you?" House asked impatiently, refusing to answer his question.

"He's an intern at Princeton Plainsboro," Cuddy answered for him, "but what are you doing here and how do you know about the blood?" She questioned. The elevator opened to the 16th floor before he could answer. Marcel and the Japanese woman stepped off first. We followed them off the elevator and down the hall to one of the offices near the end. Marcel opened the door wide and we were all utterly shocked at who we saw.

Next Chapter: Fold