It was late in the afternoon of the next day before House got his answer and he spent most of the intervening time annoying his team and avoiding his clinic hours. He was making a brief swing by his office when he found the message written in Cameron's distinctive swirling handwriting asking him to go and see Cuddy as soon as possible. He grimaced as he screwed the note up and tossed it into the bin; he had a bad feeling about this.

When he limped into Cuddy's office that feeling only grew. Both Cuddy and Stacy were there and both had copies of his proposal and neither looked overly happy.

"Oh goody, this looks promising," he said sourly as he sat down on the sofa.

Cuddy sighed as she placed the proposal on her desk and placed her hands on top of it.

"I'm sorry, House, but the answer is no," she said firmly. "You haven't got a shred of real proof that this could work and from what I could see, the risk of making things worse is much higher than the possibility of it actually working."

"And the possible liability the hospital could face is astronomical," Stacy added.

"He's already said he had no intention of suing if it went wrong," House said with a scowl. "It was his damn idea in the first place."

"He might not sue but what about his family?" Stacy replied. "After all, they're the ones who will be left with the responsibility of caring for him if this goes wrong. And if it really does go badly wrong he might just change his mind as well."

"House, you told me yourself that this was more in the line of an experiment than an actual treatment," Cuddy said patiently. "So forward the idea and Mr O'Connell's name on to whoever's doing research into FOP and let them trial it. They've got the budget and the resources to establish and monitor this sort of thing and they've got the background to be able to determine if it's even feasible in the first place."

"Abandoning O'Connell to his fate," House said flatly. "You have no idea if they'd even be willing to try the idea. And if they did it'll be years before they'll be ready to try human trials. O'Connell will have frozen solid and died by then."

"I'm sorry, House," Cuddy said firmly. "But I'm not willing to allow Mr O'Connell or the hospital to take such a risk with a procedure that has no evidentiary support. If you'd been able to find even one article giving some hope then I might have allowed it but it's just too dangerous. I sympathise with the young man but understandably he's not thinking properly." She paused. "House, surely you knew the decision I was going to make? You're not stupid."

House grimaced and sighed. "I know," he admitted reluctantly. "But the idea is reasonably sound, theoretically."

"Then let the researchers find out if it's more than a theory," Cuddy said. "Do you want me to speak to Mr O'Connell?"

House shook his head as he got to his feet. "No, I'll do it. He said he'd abide by my decision."

He limped out of the office, leaving two relieved but slightly suspicious women behind him.

"He's not going to go off and do it anyway, is he?" Stacy asked with a small frown.

"I don't think so," Cuddy replied. "Wilson told me that House didn't think the idea was feasible but it is his job to fight for his patients. Something which occasionally makes me want to strangle him even as I admire him for his tenacity."

"I've just never seen him give in so easily before," Stacy observed. "It makes me suspicious."

Cuddy laughed. "Normally I'd feel the same but Wilson's been keeping me informed about this one. I think he's been a bit worried that House was going to do something unethical."

Stacy hesitated then said tentatively, "How long have you…known about them?"

Cuddy gave her a startled look. "Uh, a while. I didn't know that you knew."

"I found out by accident," Stacy said, looking a little uncomfortable.

"You don't have a problem with it, do you?" Cuddy said with a hint of warning in her voice. "Because the relationship has been good for both of them in my opinion."

"No, of course not," Stacy said hurriedly. "It was just…a shock to find out. I never knew Greg was…was interested in men."

"Well, it's not the sort of thing you tell your girlfriend," Cuddy observed with a small smile.

Stacy returned the smile a little weakly. "That's what Greg said."

House grumbled half-heartedly under his breath as he made his way over to the lifts. He'd had a suspicion that he was going to get knocked back by Cuddy and while there was a part of him that was sorely tempted to try the treatment anyway, he wasn't quite willing to put his career on the line for something he didn't think was going to work anyway. If he'd genuinely thought it would work, he probably would have and damn the consequences but even he had his limits. Now he just had to tell O'Connell.

When he got to the young man's room, Aaron took one look at his face and slumped down in the bed as best as he could.

"You're not going to do it, are you?"

House scowled. "The risks are too great for something that probably wouldn't work anyway. Dr Cuddy looked over my proposal but she said no."

"Can't you do it anyway?" Aaron pleaded.

House wrapped both hands around the head of his cane and leaned on it. "If I thought there was a possibility that it would work, I'd do it. But there is nothing anywhere that suggests it would be the slightest bit effective."

"I'll go somewhere else." Aaron raised his chin defiantly.

House snorted. "I'm the only person likely to even hear you out on this idea. What makes you think you'll have any success anywhere else?"

Aaron looked like he wanted to object but then he subsided with a miserable look on his face.

"I just wanted a chance to do something more than look like a demented Greek frieze."

House snorted again, this time with amusement. "Now there's a hell of a mental image."

Aaron's lips twitched into a tiny smile. "All I need is the tunic and maybe an urn or something. I could make a great piece of artwork." He paused. "Are you sure you won't try it?"

"The risks are too high." House shook his head. "Trust me; you do not want to end up with chronic pain or cancer. Live with one, seen too much of the other."

Aaron looked startled and his gaze flickered to House's leg and the cane. "Yeah, I guess," he said slowly, sounding slightly unconvinced.

House turned and headed for the door. "I'll be forwarding my proposal and your name onto whoever's doing the current research into FOP," he said over his shoulder. "They might be willing to look into the idea."

"That probably won't help me," Aaron said mulishly. "It takes years of research before they get to human trials. I'll probably have moved into demented Greek frieze territory by then."

House stopped and looked back at him. "You're probably right. Might help others though."

"Leave a legacy, you mean?" Aaron said derisively. "Whoopee."

"Better than dying for nothing," House said as he limped out of the room, not seeing the set expression on Aaron's face.

Personally he tended to agree with O'Connell. Leaving a legacy or being responsible for the health of others was all well and good but if it didn't do anything for you then there was just something lacking from the whole idea.

He limped along the corridor and saw that his ducklings were gathered in their conference room, standing around the whiteboard and looking slightly confused. He pushed the door open and limped in, inwardly amused to see the three doctors jump.

"You know I don't like those looks on your faces," he said before turning slightly mocking. "Makes you look all old and ugly. What going on? You haven't killed Miss Murray, have you?"

"Er, no, she's responding well to treatment now," Cameron said, still looking confused.

"But she claims that she doesn't take vitamin supplements," Foreman added.

House rolled his eyes. "And you believed her? How long have you people been working for me? Don't stand around here staring at the whiteboard like it's the fount of all knowledge. Go to her house and find out the truth."

"She still lives at home," Cameron objected.

"So what?" House replied. "Mom and Dad are here, sitting next to her bed. They won't know. Go on."

He flapped his hands at them in a shooing gestured and they rolled their eyes at each other before trooping out of the room. He watched them leave then stumped into his office and collapsed in his armchair and closed his eyes. After several minutes he heard the door to the corridor open and close and someone sat down on the footstool. He briefly opened one eye and acknowledged Wilson before closing it again.

"What did she say?"

House snorted. "No."

"Have you told O'Connell?"

House opened his eyes and gave his lover a withering look. "No, I thought I'd hide in here and let him get his hopes up so that I could dash them from an even greater height."

"He didn't take it well then?" Wilson asked calmly.

House grimaced. "Actually he took it better than I thought he would. He's disappointed though."

"I'm actually a little surprised you're not going to do it anyway," Wilson said slyly.

House grinned at him. "I thought about it and if I actually thought it might work, I'd do it."

"You see, this is why Cuddy wants to string you up on a regular basis," Wilson said dryly.

"And here I thought it was because she wanted hot, kinky sex," House said with a leer.

"No, that's what I want. She's just irritated with you."

House laughed and gave Wilson a speculative look. "Hot, kinky sex, huh? Sounds good to me."

Wilson blushed. "I'll think of something then."

House had just opened his mouth to answer when his beeper suddenly went off. He frowned and had a look then grabbed his cane and scrambled to his feet.

"House? What's wrong?" Wilson said with alarm as House hurried for the door.

"O'Connell's done something stupid," House barked as he broke into the shambling mockery of a run that he could manage when it was really necessary.

Wilson could nothing more than follow and when they got to O'Connell's room he saw what House meant. The young man lay sprawled awkwardly on the bed, his head off the side of the bed and his sightless eyes staring at them through the glass wall. A single syringe lay half in one hand and the nurses were staring him grim-faced and thin-lipped. House barged into the room and grabbed the nearest nurse by the arm.

"Shut the goddamned blinds," he snarled at her as he limped heavily over to the bed. He snatched up the syringe and had a good look at it.

"It's empty," the oldest of the nurses said, her face white and hints of sorrow and anger in her eyes. "It looks like he injected air into his IV. He was already dead when Sandra found him."

House's face twitched and he threw the syringe on the bed. He started at O'Connell, his expression getting bleaker by the second. Wilson took one look at his face then quickly and quietly ushered the nurses out of the room, issuing instructions to them as he did so. Once they were gone, he closed the door and walked back over to House, hesitating for a moment before gently placing a hand on House's back.

"He was telling jokes," House said tightly.

"Good ones?" Wilson asked gently.

"He said he was going to turn into a demented Greek frieze." House was still staring at O'Connell.

Wilson blinked. "He…had a vivid imagination. House…"

"Yes, yes," House said with a sneer. "It's not my fault. I did everything that I could. Blah, blah, blah."

With that House shook off Wilson's hand and limped out of the room. Wilson was tempted to follow him but what little he saw of his lover's expression meant that anything he said right now would be decimated with all the subtlety of a chainsaw. He was better off dealing with Cuddy when she arrived and heading House's team off at the pass when they got back from wherever it was they'd gone.

In the end it was a close thing, he'd only just left O'Connell's room when he saw House's duckling walking towards the conference room.

"Foreman! Cameron! Chase!" he called out as he hurried towards them.

They came to a halt and seemed surprised that he'd stopped them

"Now is not the time," he said as he came up to them.

"What?" Foreman said with irritation.

Wilson decided to forestall whatever argument Foreman was planning on.

"Aaron O'Connell's dead," he said bluntly.

"What?" Cameron gasped. "How? He was responding to treatment."

"He was getting better," Chase added.

"He…committed suicide," Wilson said quietly, opening the door to the conference room and hustling them inside. The blinds in House's office were closed tightly. "He somehow got his hands on a syringe and injected air into his IV. It looks like the air bubble lodged in his lungs and he died of a pulmonary embolism."

"I…but…how did he get his hands on a syringe?" Chase demanded.

"That's the question no one can answer right now," Wilson replied grimly. "No one saw him wandering around but then again he may have had this planned if things didn't go how he wanted them."

"Wait. House said no?" Foreman asked with a frown.

"Cuddy refused his proposal," Wilson replied.

"When has that ever stopped him?" Chase said dryly.

"He didn't really think it could work either," Wilson explained. "But he had to make an effort for his patient."

The three doctors looked mildly surprised and their eyes drifted almost as one towards the closed blinds. They knew how House reacted to losing patients in the course of a normal diagnosis; they couldn't imagine the idea that one would commit suicide was going to go down very well.

"What can we do?" Cameron asked.

Wilson sighed. "Keep treating Miss Murray. What did he send you lot off to do?"

"Fiona was insisting that she wasn't taking vitamin supplements and that was really the only explanation for the high levels of the vitamins we found in her system," Cameron said.

"So House sent us off to her home to find out," Foreman added, looking disgruntled.

Wilson smiled "What did you find?"

"Bottles of vitamin supplements in her mother's medicine cabinet," Chase said. "So we went and spoke to her Mum."

Foreman rolled his eyes. "She was worried that her daughter wasn't eating properly so she was crushing the vitamin tablets and mixing them into her daughter's food."

Wilson blinked. "You're kidding?"

"I wish." Foreman snorted derisively. "We thought House might want to yell at her."

A smile flickered over Wilson's face. "I'm sure he would under normal circumstances but right now I'd say probably not. He gave the three of you the case. Handle it."

Foreman seemed to brighten at that idea as did Chase. Cameron just looked a little resigned. The three of them headed for the door and Cameron paused on the threshold.

"You let me know if there's anything I can do to help?" Her voice was a little tentative.

Wilson nodded and watched her leave. He then took a deep breath and ventured into House's office. His lover was lying on the floor behind his desk, staring at the ceiling. Wilson lowered himself to the floor and leaned back against the desk.

"Hey," he said quietly. "Your team found vitamin supplements at Miss Murray's home. Apparently her mother had been crushing them up and slipping them into her daughter's food. They thought you might want to yell at her but I thought Foreman could do it this time."

House grunted and kept staring at the ceiling.

"It wasn't your fault, Greg. I think you would have noticed if O'Connell had been obviously suicidal."

House shot him a hard look the returned to staring at the ceiling. Wilson refrained from sighing and threw in his trump card for breaking House out of this mood.

"Cuddy gave us the rest of the day off. I was thinking life-affirming sex might be on the cards."

That seemed to break through House's mood and there was the barest thread of humour in his eyes when he looked over at Wilson.

"Did she actually say that?"

Wilson hesitated for a moment then smiled wryly. "The day off part, yes. The life-affirming sex bit, no. I don't think she really wants to know the details of our sex life."

"Yes, she does, the naughty little girl," House said lasciviously.

"Alright, how about I don't want her knowing the details of our sex life," Wilson countered.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Possessive," House said, relaxing a bit.

Wilson rolled his eyes and got to his feet, holding out one hand to House.

"Come on. Let's go home. You can tell me in detail how stupid O'Connell was."

"I was actually after the sex," House said, some of his foul mood returning with the reminder as he let Wilson pull him to his feet.

"We can do that too," Wilson said blandly.

House snorted and grabbed his cane and the two of them headed for the door.