Title: The Inner Child 1/8

Summary: A tow-headed child walks into the clinic and House runs into his most interesting case yet.

Warnings: None. Seriously.

Rating: PG

AN: This the first story in a series based in the Universe that I'm laying out in this story. Set in season 1-2

Chapter 1

House didn't want to be in the clinic. He never wanted to be in the clinic. But Cuddy was standing right there glaring at him so he was forced to pick a room.

He glanced across the room at the numbered doors and decided that seven would be his lucky number today. Hmmm. He wondered if he could suddenly become superstitious and couldn't go into rooms with even numbers. He'd still have to do clinic duty but it will make things fun and will surely annoy Cuddy.

He didn't bother grabbing the patient file for clinic room number seven, since he had no plans of reading it any way, and headed over to the room. When he opened the door he discovered that the patient was a tow-headed boy who appeared about eleven or twelve years old.

Damn. Just when he was starting to buy into the whole lucky number thing this had to happen. The kid was just old enough to be really pissy but young enough to come with one or both overbearing and incredibly annoying parental units which land him in the category of the worst kind of patient. However a quick survey of the room produced no adults, so House suspected that mommy dearest was in the bathroom, probably snorting cocaine.

"So what's wrong with you?" He asked tersely as he sat on the small round stool in front of the exam table where the boy had parked himself.

"I think I have a broken clavicle." The boy replied with an accent that quickly garnered his attention.

Hey, an Australian accent. He'd have to think of a way to torment Chase with the boy. Come to think of it, the boy's eyes bore a remarkable resemblance to Chase's. Actually, overall, the boy was a spitting image of Chase. Maybe seven was his new lucky number after all.

"So what's your name?" The question was basic but his curiosity was anything but.

"Robbie."

Ooooookay. Well that certainly upped the ante.

"Your last name?" He continued to ask, barely hiding his anticipation over the child's answer.

The boy winced at that and cast his eyes down before whispering, "Chase."

Holy Beejesus! This kid was Chase's son! Little old though.

"So how old are you?"

"Twelve and half."

Damn. Chase was getting some as a fourteen year old? Holy shit!

"So what makes you think you have a broken clavicle?"

The question had to be asked even though he doesn't really give a flying crap about the answer. The kid was probably wrong anyway, just like most of the morons that come into the clinic claiming to have this or that ailment. Everyone thinks they're a doctor apparently. Especially the sons of doctors.

"It's really painful. I know breaks are hard to detect but it just feels off besides the pain."

Yeah well if it was really painful, which it should be, the kid would be screaming his head off. House highly doubted that Chase-light had a broken bone.

"So where are your parents?" He asked when he finally noticed that it had already been twenty minutes since he entered the room and no parent have yet made an appearance.

"I dunno."

There was a pause and House knew the kid had a question; he just had to wait for him to ask it. He expected it was something like 'do you work with my dad?' or such.

"Is," the boy started to ask before pausing again.

Ah ha!

"This America?" The boy continued.

He knew th-wait what? Was Chase light damaged or something?

"Uh yeah!" He answered; his tone carried his disgust over such a seemingly moronic question.

"Oh okay." The boy replied before looking away, making sure to make little eye contact with him.

Tight lipped little tyke wasn't he? Well an X-ray would give him more time with the boy. Then they could swing by Wilson on the way back. He couldn't resist. This was the juiciest piece of gossip he was ever going to get in his lifetime.

"Okay Robbie lets go." House watched with a critical eye as the boy slid slowly to the floor, not even moving his right side at all. Maybe he was injured in some way, probably a pulled muscle.

They walked through the halls quietly and House was half tempted to make a detour through Diagnostics to see Chase's reaction to Chase-light but then he remembered that Chase was off and had been for two days. He wouldn't be back until tomorrow morning, so maybe House would actually provide a door to door service. Just this once, mind you.

House supposed that for an annoying and whining brat this one wasn't too bad. He just walked along, matching House's pace without making it seem like he was. He stood where House told him to and didn't move for five solid minutes when instructed not to. House was actually rather impressed.

"Damn." House said as he stared at the X-ray he just took. The kid was right.

The fracture wasn't bad and there's not much you can do except to just give him pain relievers. He didn't even need a sling which, House supposed, was a good thing.

House gave Chase-light some painkillers, not as strong as his stuff but after a quick stop to Wilson he'd probably take him to Chase's place so as to not have to deal with a cranky child with a broken bone. He watched as some color came back to the kid's face as he loosened up a bit. House supposed that the kid had been in more pain than he'd thought and his respect for the kid rose another notch. Chase-light was less annoying than most adults he met.

They were slowly walking down the hall when House felt a slight tug on his sleeve. He knew that the momentary peace wouldn't last. Maybe he shouldn't have given the kid painkillers after all, not if it was going to loosen his tongue.

"Can I tell you something?"

House sighed. Damn. It sounded like one of those serious kinds of conversations, like 'my dad doesn't know I exist' not something fun like 'I can burp the whole Australian National Anthem' which House might actually pay money to see. He'd never heard the anthem before and the burping part could only make it more entertaining.

House's leg was hurting him anyway so he directed them over to a set of benches next to a vending machine. "Okay shoot."

Robbie's eyes shifted just a bit and he leaned in. "Promise that you won't think I'm crazy or anything?"

Well this was a little more interesting. He nodded his consent and waited for the boy to continue.

"Swear!"

House held his hand up in the solemn Boy Scout hand position thingy, not that he ever was one, but Junior didn't know that. "I swear."

"I don't remember coming to America."

House raised an eyebrow. What the kid just magically arrived here?

"I went to bed last night in Melbourne Australia, in my bed in my room. And my mom was in her room. But when I woke up I was in an unfamiliar alley, like a dero1."

House winced. It was obvious that the last word was an Australian slang. One which he'd never heard before and didn't have a clue what it meant but he supposed that it wasn't plot salient.

"My shoulder really hurt, so I started to wander around to try and orientate myself. Then I saw a bingle2 and followed the ambo3 back to here. And then I noticed that everyone has been talking funny. Plus I don't even know where I really am or how to reach my parents. I just don't know what happened."

Oh God House started praying that the kid wasn't going to cry. He didn't deal well with snot or tears or any bodily fluid of any kind with the possible exceptions of the kind that involved a lot of fun stuff first.

"Look I promise that I'll help you find your family. I won't abandon you."

House didn't feel bad for promising that, after all he knew where Chase was. And besides the little tyke was starting to really grow on him, like a fungus or something.

"Wilson!" House shouted when he spotted his friend leave his office with a file in his hand, elated at having found his quarry without even trying. The younger doctor, however, had the opposite reaction. Wilson sighed and his shoulders slumped just a bit. House ignored his dramatics and approached him. "Wilson I need a consult."

"House, I actually ha-" Wilson started to say until his eyes landed on Chase-light.

He paused as if shocked that House was actually with a patient. Not only with a patient but holding the kid's hand. Wilson had to wonder if House had a series of mini-strokes and lost feeling in his hand.

"Have patients. What is going on here? " He asked with frank amusement in his voice. "House, are you actually holding that boy's hand?"

House looked down in shock and dropped the hand like it was on fire and he just hadn't felt the heat. A move that would undoubtedly offend any person but he didn't even bother to look contrite.

"Don't be silly! I don't hold hands! I'd rather get lyme disease."

Wilson flicked his eyes briefly to the boy to see how he'd react to House's treatment. He was rather surprised when all the boy did was drop his arm calmly to his side and continued to stand there, face blank, waiting expectantly.

"What's wrong?"

"C'mon," House led them a few feet away, far enough to be out of hearing distance but not so far that House can't watch junior. Not that it matters. House suspects that Robbie would stand there until told to move.

"I think that's Chase's kid."

Wilson's eyes widened in shock and flicked back over to Chase-light.

"There is an uncanny resemblance." Wilson admitted.

"More than that, the kid said his name is Robbie Chase. He has an Aussie accent and he called his collarbone a clavicle."

"Wow. So what are you going to do?"

"Well here's the thing. The kid claims he was asleep in Australia last night and that he woke up here in an alley. Doesn't remember how he got here and there's no indication that he knows his father works here."

"Look, I think you just need to ask him a few more questions, like his parents names, phone numbers to reach them at before jumping to conclusions. C'mon."

Wilson walked up to Robbie and then crouched in front of him. He liked to be on the same level as the young kids; it was less intimidating for them.

"We want to contact your parents. What's your dad's name and phone number? Can you tell us how to contact your mom?"

Robbie squirmed and looked a bit reluctant to give up this information. But he finally spoke up after he seemed to have thought it through.

"My mum's number is 03-745-8221. Sorry I don't know the exchange. Her name is Aderlen. But she never answers the phone; she's usually too full4."

Wilson had no idea what 'full' was but didn't interrupt to ask what Robbie had meant.

"Dad's hard to get in touch with." Robbie said apologetically before brightening a bit at a thought. "But you're doctors! You might get through. His name is Dr. Rowan Chase. He's in Sydney. His number at the hospital is 02-678-0234, but I don't know his extension, sorry." Robbie said, again looking contrite.

Wilson on the other hand was taking this information about as well as to be expected. He sat down right there in the middle of the floor. Better that than to fall down.

"Dr. Wilson? Are you okay? You seem a might pale."

Wilson only nodded; he didn't have enough air to spare verbalizing anything. House on the other hand didn't appear shocked at all.

"So, Robbie, can you tell me what the date is?"

"Sure," Robbie seemed truly puzzled by this inane question. "June 12, 1993. Why?"

"Oh no reason." House mumbled. "C'mon, we're gonna go for a drive."

House and Robbie shuffled off toward the elevator doors but stopped when they noticed that Wilson had remained sitting on the floor.

"Wilson get your ass moving; you're driving!" House shouted before continuing to walk towards the elevators.

Wilson scrambled off the floor and hurriedly followed them out.

The trip there took ten minutes but Robbie had already started to drift off. Poor kid was tuckered out. The small parental part of House, that he would never admit too and when asked about it claimed he'd carefully squashed it with the hatred of small whiney things, loathed to wake Robbie but he also couldn't leave him in the car. So he nudged the blonde boy until he was roused from his sleep.

Robbie was surprisingly less than cranky. House himself would've bitten someone's ear off for waking him up but Robbie just took it.

They headed up to Chase's apartment and House pulled out a key, inserted it into the lock and opened the door.

"You have keys to Chase's place?" Wilson asked incredulously.

House grunted. "I took the keys from each of them and got them copied then put them back. Just in case of emergency you know." House smirked and Wilson just rolled his eyes.

When they opened the door they found that the apartment was a wreck. Papers were strewn about, furniture was turned over. Chase clearly wasn't there and something bad had definitely gone down.

Wilson searched the upstairs while House rummaged through the cupboards. Grabbing one of those chocolate Samoas Girl Scout cookies, he shuffled out into the living room to find Robbie crouched over some papers. He looked...distressed.

"What is it?" House hobbled over and looked down at the papers too. Some were old newspapers. One was a printed article that Chase himself had written and there were other assorted documents as well.

Robbie looked up tears filling his eyes, but not falling. "Something is horribly wrong, isn't there? Something that you're not telling me?"

House stared again into those wide blue-green eyes. Damn kid probably practiced that look in the mirror because no one came across cuteness skills like that without practice.

"I don't know. But I promise to tell you when I know for sure."

Robbie seemed to accept that and wandered over to the window to look out, seemingly not interested in the rest of the apartment.

"Wilson! You found anything?"

Wilson lumbered down the stairs. "Sorry. All I've found out is that something happened here, but I have no clues as to what."

House grunted. He knew now that the answers weren't going to be here. But it wasn't like he didn't suspect that already. "C'mon we're going back to the hospital."

The ride back to the hospital was the same as the ride to Chase's apartment but this time House ordered Wilson to pick Robbie up so that he could continue to sleep. Wilson laid Robbie out on House's couch and covered him with a blanket that was often around the place for when House slept in his office. Robbie mumbled a bit under his breath and curled up tight around the blanket. Wilson thought that it had to be the most adorable thing he'd ever seen.

House limped over with a swab and took a sample from the inside of Robbie's mouth. The motion was so smooth Robbie didn't even flinch. But just as he was finished putting away the swab to be tested later Cuddy walked inside.

"House! You hav-"she started to say until House shushed her.

"I'm sorry did you just shush —" she started to say again and this time Wilson and House shushed her together as they watched Robbie stir on the couch.

Finally catching on, Cuddy followed their gazes to the couch and spotted Robbie. "Who's that?"

House looked up and smirked. "He says his name is Robbie Chase. He has an Aussie accent and he knows that a collarbone is a clavicle."

"So what? You think he's Chase's son or something?"

"No." House smirked. Oh how he liked the shock value of it. "I think he is Chase."