-rubs hands together- Okay, new story, and thanks for everyone that read my last story, Revenge in the Clinc. I have been wanting to do this one for a long time, and I have done a lot of research for it, so I'm happy with it. It will be multi-chaptered, and no real romantic shippings will be explored, just friendships. And Chase and Cam will be in it so, yay. The part that needed a lot of research isn't in this chapter, but it's brought up. So if you want to know what happens, keep reading :)

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own House. David Shore, NBC, and Fox does. If I did, you would know because I would be bragging about it :)

Silence

by: Revengent

Lisa Cuddy was angry.

House watched through the glass walls of his office as Cuddy pounded her black high heel shoes into the tile, making click-clack sounds echo through the hall at a determined, brisk pace that was in time with her arms swinging at her side. House had no doubt that he was the causation of her wrath, but he had no idea what it was that he had done to make the hospital administrator look like she could melt diamonds with a single glance of her eyes.

House sighed and sat upright in his chair as Cuddy flung open his office door and stood in the doorway glaring at House as the door slowly shut behind her. Cuddy was breathing deeply, her chest rising and falling with every inhale and exhale and her face was contorted in rage with her eyes narrowed as she started down House. She was also trembling, which House noticed by the shaking papers she held in her hand.

House thought before he spoke, not wanting to prod to Cuddy and make her apparent attitude worse.

"Yes?" asked House, trying to seem oblivious to her obvious wrath.

Cuddy slowly sauntered towards House and stopped in front of his desk. She held up the papers that she was holding in her hand and shook them in the air in front of House.

"What are these?" Cuddy spat.

House shrugged. "I don't know. I can't tell when you shake them around like that."

"What. Are. These?" Cuddy looked down at House as he put his elbows on his desk as he leaned forward to examine the papers in question, this time Cuddy keeping them still.

"They look like prescriptions," House said as he leaned back in his chair. "You needed the big, bad diagnostician to help you figure that out?"

Cuddy smiled. House was reminded of an animal that would act sweet to lure you in for a kill, and House knew that Cuddy was trying to do the same. For what, he still did not know.

"Who do they belong to?" Cuddy asked.

House felt his heart skip a beat when he read the name on the top prescription. "Mine…"

"Yes!"

Cuddy hastily threw the prescriptions at House, some landing on his desk, some in his lap, but most fluttered to the floor. House blankly stared at Cuddy while she stood fuming in front of him.

"That's thirty-seven prescriptions, all made out to you," Cuddy thundered.

"I had a cough."

"They are all Vicodin prescriptions. And that is just the prescriptions from the past two months. Who knows how many you had the month before."

"You were monitoring by usage then," House pointed out. "You give me my drugs now, remember?"

"Apparently I'm not the only one." She reached forward to House's desk and grabbed a prescription and read it. "This one is from Dr. Taub."

"I was in pain. You weren't giving me enough. But then again, you never give me enough of anything," House said nodding towards Cuddy's chest.

Cuddy threw the prescription she was holding back on House's desk and placed her hands on her hips. "I uped your dosage in the beginning when you told me you needed more. Six pills a day is more than a recommended dosage, but still, I gave you more. After that you were taking how many a day? Ten?"

"Sounds about right." House shrugged. "I never was good at math."

"So you went behind my back and went to your fellows and asked them for a hand out. Did you bribe them? Threaten them?" Cuddy asked.

"No, I just asked. Kutner was more than eager to help me, and after I put Thirteen on a guilt trip she caved. Taub stood his ground at first, but after he saw me in pain he pulled out his pad and pen," House explained.

"Yeah, and they gave you multiple prescriptions. You kept going back," Cuddy said as a statement, not a question.

"Well yeah. Chronic pain doesn't go away."

"There are also a few prescriptions from Cameron in there and there's also one from Chase. Did you tell them that I mistreating you too?"

"They know how big of a meanie you can be to me." House flinched back, as if Cuddy as yelled at him.

"You have been taking more pills than you ever have."

"Maybe. Again, I have never been good at math."

Cuddy sighed. "I trusted you House. Haven't you learned anything? How about before, with the investigation with Tritter?"

House let his hand drop into his lap and returned his face to normal. "Is it such a surprise that I let you down?"

Cuddy looked down at the ground. "No, but I thought that you would try," she whispered.

After a few seconds Cuddy looked back up because House had not said anything.

"Well, is it?" he asked.

"I said no."

"Oh."

House brushed the prescriptions off of his lap onto the floor. Cuddy fidgeted.

"It's because of him, isn't?"

Cuddy met House's eyes. She didn't need to say who him was; it was unspoken between the two of them.

"Oh yes, I'm wallowing in misery," House retorted.

"Knocking back narcotics all day is a good indication that you are." Cuddy walked around House's desk and stood next to his chair and placed a caring hand on his shoulder, her demeanor changing from raging and demanding to soft and sympathetic. House sighed, knowing what was coming. "House, I'm sorry Wilson isn't around anymore, but you have to-,"

House swatted Cuddy's hand away. "I'm fine. I know that you haven't been a real doctor for years, but I think you do know that people can build up a resistance to drugs. Meaning I need more." House picked up his cane and stood up unsteadily.

"Not this much," Cuddy replied, and then paused while she watched House stand. "It's because of Wilson."

"Don't meddle in something you don't understand," House said, towering down at Cuddy.

Cuddy stared with her mouth slightly open as House pushed her aside and began to walk away.

"House, you better be glad that I'm not reporting you…look at me," Cuddy said.

House continued walking.

"House!" Cuddy yelled.

House turned around. "What?"

"I said…" Cuddy's attention was drawn to the other room where Kutner, Taub, Foreman and Thirteen had just walked into the conference room. "Never mind," she muttered as she pushed past House and into the room with the other doctors.

"I know," Cuddy said with her professional command, demanding attention from everyone in the room. House stood next to Cuddy, looking at the fellows who were staring blankly at her.

"You know…what?" Kutner asked. He looked to his side at Foreman, who looked as confused as he did.

Cuddy sighed. "I know that House can annoy you sometimes and forces you to do things that you don't want to do. But I'm asking, no telling, you to not prescribe him any more drugs."

"But-," Taub began.

"Don't be worried about his well being. I give House his medicine and he will have to live on that dosage," Cuddy said with a biting tone, looking over her shoulder at House as she said it. She turned back to the others that were staring agape at her. "Understand?"

"Yes Dr. Cuddy," Thirteen whispered.

"Good. We don't need anyone enabling him." She gave House's team one final smile and then turned to face House. He mocked her grin and did a curtsey, putting his weight on his cane as he put his left leg behind him. Cuddy rolled her eyes and left the room without saying anything else.

"God, I thought she'd never leave." House pointed to his office where paper littered the floor. "Thirteen, go in there and pick up all that paper off the floor."

Thirteen muttered something inaudible to House as she walked past him, however Taub and Kutner laughed at what she had said. Deciding to ignore a possible snide remark from Thirteen, House limped over to the white board and erased what was written on it which included a game of hangman and a rather intricate drawing of Yoda (by Kutner of course).

What did Cuddy know? Assuming he was taking more pills because he missed Wilson, that was the dumbest thing House had ever heard. Well, maybe not the dumbest, but it ranked pretty high on the scale. But…honestly…House was actually still a little bitter that Wilson had treated him in the way he did. How can Wilson say that they were never friends, after all that they had been through together? And Wilson had never thanked House for risking his life to save his stupid girlfriend. Ungrateful son of a bitch.

House slammed the eraser on the edge of the board. He didn't admit it aloud, but the Wilson situation did bother him, but there was nothing House could do to fix it, and knowing that made it even worse.

Somebody grabbed House's shoulder causing him to flinch which hurt his leg. Sighing, House turned around to be face to face with Kutner and Taub.

"Are you ignoring us on purpose?" Taub asked.

"No. That doesn't sound like me at all," House said. Kutner crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"What did she mean all of us? I thought I was the only one that gave you Vicodin," Kutner said.

"I did too," Taub said, staring at Kutner. Foreman snorted, still not having anything to say in the matter. "House?"

"What? Are you upset that you're not my only secret dealer?" House snapped.

Thirteen came back into the room with the paper gathered in her hands. "These are prescriptions. There's over thirty-," she began but House cut her off.

"Thirty-seven to be exact. Cuddy counted them for me. She also slapped me on the wrist. I asked for her to slap me somewhere else but she was shy."

"There are ones from all of us," Thirteen continued, flipping through the small pieces of paper. "…Except Foreman. There are also ones from Chase, Cameron and Cuddy too…" She let her voice trail off and looked up at House with a mixture of hurt and anger. "You've been using us."

"Surprise," said Foreman. Taub looked back at Foreman, but Kutner took a step closer to House, pinning him against the white board.

"That's not right," Kutner said. "You took advantage of our sympathy."

House looked down at the younger doctor who was staring at him with a bewildered gaze. "I never asked for your sympathy. I just wanted some drugs." House brought up his cane and pushed it against Kutner's chest. Kutner complied and stepped back and let House limp past him. "And stop acting like I betrayed you."

Thirteen grabbed House's arm as he limped past her. "Kutner has a right to feel that way. Stop taking out your problems on us, because I don't want to take the fall for your actions."

"Oh my God. Stop making this bigger than it is." House yanked his arm free from Thirteen's grasp and looked over at Foreman who was sitting down at the table observing the argument between House and his subordinates. "Foreman doesn't bother me about it. Learn from him."

"I just know that you won't change. You say it all the time: People don't change. Drug addicts will still be drug addicts," Foreman said in a blasé tone.

Taub rang his hands together as if he was contemplating what to say. "Chase told me what happened before we were hired," Taub said.

House looked to his side at Taub. "Stop mumbling. I can't hear you."

"I didn't mumble," Taub said curiously. Everyone was quiet for a few seconds, staring at House. Taub cleared his throat and spoke again. "I found out from Chase what happened a couple years ago."

"What? Did he tell you I harassed him? Because he so asked for it."

"Chase told me about that detective you pissed off and how he uncovered your addiction and arrested you-,"

"Yeah, that's Chase's fantasy. Him visiting me in a jail cell for late night roll in the sack," House quipped.

"Chase also told me that you tried to detox but you didn't go through with it."

"Chase is such a tattle-tale."

"You have a problem House. You need to fix it because it's only getting worse." Taub bit his lip, afraid of how House would react to his words. So far, House had kept his rough exterior that is laced with sarcasm, but Taub could see that House's mind was reeling behind those blue eyes. Daring to take the conversation further, Taub continued, "You almost lost your license, and you almost caused Wilson to lose his too because you were too stubborn to-"

Taub was silenced by a blow to his face by House's open palm. Taub brought his own hand to his face staring in House in shock. House was seething as he glared at Taub with an icy gaze and gripped his cane tightly, his other hand still in the air next to Taub's face.

Kutner and Thirteen went to either of Taub's sides while Foreman had jumped up and stood next to House in case House decided to physically assault his employee again. The five stood in silence with all of their attention focused on House.

"House," Foreman said.

Taub dropped his hand to his side and his surprised expression morphed into one of bitter understanding. "No wonder Wilson hates you."

House lunged towards Taub, but Foreman held House back by his arms. Taub took a hesitant step back, intimidated by House. Despite his best struggles, House could not free himself from Foreman with his arms restrained and a useless leg, so House stopped struggling. House shrugged out of Foreman's grip and straightened his jacket glaring at his fellows who all had looks of amazement.

"Here," Foreman said, offering House his cane which fallen to the ground forgotten when House had tried to attack Taub. House continued to stare at the others.

Foreman nudged House with his cane. "House."

Not moving his glare from Taub, House snatched his cane from Foreman's hand.

"You are an idiot," House said speaking to Taub. Taub tried to speak but stuttered instead.

"Stay out of other people's business." House took his bottle of Vicodin out of his pocket and poured some in his palm, and swallowed them. House read the label on the bottle, seeing who had prescribed him that particular bottle. "Thank you…Dr. Kutner."

Kutner didn't know how to react, so he just nodded. Thirteen however became agitated.

"How many did you just take?" Thirteen asked, shoving her hands into her coat.

"Two."

Foreman scoffed. "Yeah, right. More like eight."

"Does it matter?" House put his pills back in his pocket and leaned heavily on his cane.

"Yeah, kinda," Kutner said quietly.

"Listen; there are some rules when you work for me. Rule number one is that you will do what I say. Rule number two is you that you will stay out of my business. Did you hear that Taub?"

Taub nodded his head.

"Rule number three," House continued, "is that you will not question my actions. Rule number four states that on every second Monday of every month you-,"

"House."

"…Fill in for clinic duty. Five says-,"

"House!"

House looked up to see the others looked oddly at him. "What?" he asked.

"You pager. It's going off," Kutner said.

House took his pager off his belt and read who the message was from. Cuddy.

"You didn't hear that?" Foreman asked incredulously.

House hooked his pager back. "Maybe. Or possibly I was ignoring it." House limped past the other doctors. He stopped at the door and looked back at them and said, "You can talk about me when I leave." With one last glare at Taub, House pushed open the door and walked rather fast down the hall.

When House was out of sight, Taub sighed.

"Are you okay?" Foreman asked.

"Yeah." Taub touched his still-red cheek and winced when he touched it. "It's not bad. I'm just more surprised that he actually hit me."

"Get used to it. You have to be careful what you say to House sometimes. The drug thing is a touchy subject with him. And you know that he hasn't been himself lately," Foreman pointed out.

"And he does miss Wilson, even if he is in denial," Kutner muttered.

Foreman nodded. He then tilted his head to the side. "Did you think it was weird that he didn't hear his pager?"

"I think he was ignoring it," Thirteen commented, waving her hand in the air. "He even said so himself."

"I don't think so. Come to think of it, I think he didn't hear some other things we said. Like when he told you to stop mumbling," Foreman said, motioning towards Taub. "And he didn't hear us when he had his back turned towards us when he was at the white board."

"Yeah, and I don't think he heard you, Hadley, when you said that one thing when he told you to go pick up the paper off the ground," Kutner remarked.

The four doctors looked at each other.

"Do you think there's anything to it?" Taub asked.

"All of those times, he could have been ignoring us," Thirteen replied.

"But he may not have been," Kutner said.

"He understood us all the other times."

"He could have been reading our lips," Kutner pointed out. He turned to Foreman for support. "You've known him longer than us. What do you think?"

Foreman sighed. "I honestly don't know. Hearing loss could be a neurological symptom-,"

"Or an ear infection," Thirteen said.

"Or trauma," Taub muttered.

"Where would House have gotten trauma that damaged his hearing?" Thirteen retorted.

"Uh, he was in a bus that crashed and flipped over a few times."

"Three months ago!"

"Shouldn't we just ask him?" Kutner asked, offering the most logical solution. However, Foreman shook his head in disagreement.

"No way, not after what just happened," Foreman said, looking at Taub. "Besides, he won't admit he's sick anyway."

"Then we have to test him without him knowing," Kutner said.

"And…how do we do that?" Thirteen asked.

Kutner shrugged. "I dunno. Something."

Foreman sighed and ran his hand over his head. "Fine, we'll try to think of something. But I don't know…" Foreman let his voice trail off, and the others did encourage him to continue. Probably because they were as confused and clueless as he was.

So, review please? It makes a writer happy :) Thanks.