Sorry guys for taking so long to update but I have my finals soon and life has been pretty busy. I'm going to try to keep updating this story as fast as I can but just so you know even if it takes me more than a week to update, this story isn't over and it will have a proper ending because I don't write just to write stuff I won't finish. I have every intention to finish this story. :)

This one again is probably full of errors, grammar, syntax, typos or w/e but I can't be arsed to get a beta now and I'm pretty sure you guys are used to my mistakes by now, lol. However for all my mistakes, I'm sorry. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy this chapter (hopefully my chapters are long enough for you to survive the time in between my uploads) and last but not least, don't forget to review and tell me what you think!!

Chapter 11: Destination.

An absent minded Nick went to his front door and opened it. “Hey.” He heard her say, “I brought you… actually I’ve brought you nothing but myself.” She smiled and he smiled back at her.

“I thought you would still be at the station but Dad said he wanted your report by tomorrow.” She said, trying not to look at the huge bruise the young man had on his left cheek, he tried to look away and she noticed her own staring, “Sorry, I just can’t help it… I’m sorry.”

“Your Dad surely doesn’t want you here right now, you know that, right?” He said, scratching his head.

“Of course but he knows I’ll be here anyway.” She smiled at him, “And I want to spend tonight with you.” She admitted, biting her bottom lip.

He sighed and let her in, “Come in.”

She followed after him inside and hugged him from behind, inhaling his scent, “You stink, why don’t you and I go grab a quick shower?”

He patted her arm and chuckled, “Thanks, but if you’re going to stay with me tonight, you’re going to have to stop trying to use your charms on me. I love you but I really have to finish that report or I won’t be able to ask your dad for your hand.”

She closed her eyes and rested her head against his back and agreed with a sigh, “I’m going to lie down on your bed; pretend I’m asleep while I’ll in fact be waiting for you… naked and horny.” She let go of her hold on him and walked passed him.

With his cheeky grin he called after her, shaking his head in disbelief, “I’ll come and ravage you when I’m done with this.”

“The case is over, Nick. You and I deserve our happy time just like they’re both going to get theirs.”

“You know it’s never really over and you’re only saying this because you know that I actually somewhere deep inside me feel for them and that I really hope they work it out.” He sighed.

“I know of your not so secret romantic nature.” She smiled at him, “But I know they’ll work it out, besides Dad has Cole’s confession, thanks to you, my hero!”

“But I need to remember what happened to the anti-hero tonight.” He explained.

“Why does it matter so much to you in the end?” She asked.

“Because this report isn’t just going to be for Norris, or Gale or the judge they might end up seeing in court if they decide to testify. I want it to be for her. She deserves to know how much this man loves her.” He paused, “What he did to her, I even did it to you in the end for Christ’s sake and look at us! You…” his voice trailed off.

“We’re good together.” She smiled at him, understanding perfectly, “You want to give her more than just the statement of a police officer.”

“Just like that man would never just give you a diagnosis.” He said and she nodded.

“I love you.” She said and went to his bedroom. “I love you too.” He said, moving to his kitchen where his laptop was. He sat down on his chair and placed his fingers above the keyboard. He started typing, back in the action with a look back that would mean everything to their story.

-Earlier that night.

“I don’t want you to be him.” She said, “I just need to figure out an escape route.”

“I want to be, I need to be your escape route.” He said while Cuddy was really trying to figure out an escape route that very moment, that guy was a nut job.

She couldn’t have believed her luck when a man broke the front window and came inside, she hoped it was the police, she wanted it to be so simple but she had no idea her savior would be the one man she thought was in jail, the one who had tried to kill her.

Panic rushed through her as he came inside the room with small difficulty and definitely no cane in hand, “Let go of her.” He asked, calmly.

“House…” Her voice broke.

“How did you fucking get out?!” Peter let out, letting her go so fast she fell to the floor.

“I am powerful enough now, thanks to you, Peter.” He explained.

“What?”Cuddy tried, getting up on her feet, “What is he talking about?”

Peter thought about it for a second and said nothing, Cuddy panicked some more and said, “We should call the police.”

“I don’t have a fucking clue so shut up!” He started pacing around and stopped the moment he saw House moving slowly in their direction, “Oh, we have got to get out of here.” He let out, feeling stupid now.

“No kidding!” Cuddy rolled her eyes at him and looked at House again, she was fairly certain she had seen a smirk on his face for about half a second.

“I’m not here to harm you.” He said, looking straight ahead of him. Neither cuddy nor Peter knew whom he was aiming at that very moment.

But he kept moving and Cuddy didn’t feel reassured to say the least, her back against the wall, she was now trapped between a still pacing and thoughtful Peter and the only man that couldn’t possibly get her out of this mess; because you can’t trust the one person you finally know so much about.

“What do you want then?” Pete stopped pacing and eyed him carefully.

“I want you to tell her the truth.” House said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Pete explained and moved directly in front of Cuddy, “Don’t you dare move any closer.”

“I’ll get to her no matter what, I won’t think twice about making you… let’s say: step aside.” House expressed adamant.

“What the hell is going on?” Cuddy let out, “What truth?” She got leery of everything, Pete was frozen and since there wasn’t anyone she could turn to, she took a chance at him, “House?” – Or more like a risk.

“Your ex calls me Patient X.” House let out, smirking at the fact that this little statement had rhymed while moving even closer, a couple of feet away from them now.

“You shut up and stay away, now!” Peter yelled, getting a Colt 45 from behind his waistband in no time, under his jacket. He grabbed a firm hold on Cuddy and whispered to her hear, “Trust me.” and pointed the gun at her. House stopped dead on his tracks and seeing the look of horror on Cuddy’s face, he wasn’t sure whatever move Peter was about to pull would go in his favor. Things just never really go as planned.

“I’ll kill her before you get to her.” Peter let out, “It’ll go faster this way, and you can’t control yourself anyway.”

“I’m in control.” House explained, “Which is something you can’t seem to be able to pull off, jackass.”

House was playing with fire and Cuddy shot him a furious look. This was the man she knew, she couldn’t put all the pieces together but she figured the man in front of her had no intention of doing her any harm, compared to the one who had actually asked her to trust her with a loaded gun pressed against her temple. House couldn’t believe it but she had just given her the bossy glare she only had for him as she had mouthed his name. Sweat had form on his own temples and he was starting to fear the worse.

“So you think I’m about to kill her without having the intention of killing her? It’s a little bit redundant, don’t you think?” Peter mocked House and even though overwhelmed by her own fear, Cuddy realized that comment about her had nothing to do about her. This wasn’t about her, it was between them.

“Did I ever use a gun?” House asked. Peter breathed in and breathed out as he looked down and instantly let his arm relax and hang out, “Failed calculations.” House pushed it and suddenly saw Peter rise his arm one more time to point his Colt –only this time not at Cuddy but at him. “What if I put Patient X to rest then? The world needs more pretty women like her than failed experiments.” Peter groaned through gritted teeth, “The tragic story of a man who tried to redeem himself even though it was never, ever his fault.” He mocked. Cuddy’s eyes went straight to House’s. House let out a sigh and closed never breaking eye contact with the woman Peter had a firm hold on her said, “And don’t you think killing me will have its effect on her as well?” Even Cuddy didn’t know the answer to that, she hadn’t thought about it that way, she thought she was going to die a minute ago. She wanted to live but once her survival had to do with the man who had hurt her to the point where all she wanted was for him to suffer, she didn’t know if she would be strong enough to be aware of his suffering.

Memories of their last encounter echoed,

“It takes a lot of will to stay alive knowing what I’ve done.”

“The only reason it’s still beating is because I need you to forgive me.” He had no desire to live but he would.

“I can’t forgive you.” She had ended the conversation with words that would put his legendary misery above all miseries. It was her punishment for him.

“Well you better choose your answer right, baby.”

“Do you want that man to die for what he did to you?”

She said nothing.

“Answer the question, baby; it’s alright.” Peter kept pushing it.

“He won’t kill you. No matter what, he needs you.” House expressed, never leaving her eyes.

“I can’t-”

“Answer the fucking question now!” Peter got increasingly mad in no time.

“I don’t-“She tried.

“Answer the damn question, Cuddy!” House yelled.

“I don’t know if I need you to live” Cuddy yelled, never looking away from his blue eyes but eventually calmed down and added, “but by saying that I don’t, I’m not… I’m not ready… I don’t forgive you.”

“And what is that feminine talk supposed to answer for?” Peter got impatient, “How will you feel if I pull the trigger and put him down?” He said, talking of House as of an animal.

“He will have won.” Cuddy let out and House’s eyes went wide, those four words meant the world to him, she would always be willing to forgive him, “Don’t shoot him.” She said and House knew he had now fifty percent chance of dying because Cuddy can’t always take over the mind of a mad man – unless it’s him.

Peter eyed her carefully and nodded, letting his arm hang out once more, “Sorry Lisa…” he licked his lips, “but he loses.” In a heart beat he let go of his grip on her, aimed his gun back at House’s head and pulled the trigger faster than he had anticipated as her hands had managed to grip his thrust out arm in order to make it aim everywhere but at House. The sound of the gunshot echoed in her brain as well as the sound of a body falling to the ground just as loudly. She hadn’t been able to prevent it; House had taken the shot, “No.” She screamed rushing to his inert body and crashed beside him.

Pete stood there fearless and said, “He died two minutes ago because of your hesitation.” All her medical training was on the verge of disappearing as she saw him there, eyes closed. She rested the palm of her hand against his cheek and brought her lips to his ear, “HOUSE!” She yelled, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” She started crying thinking this was the end, “House, don’t… not, just don’t die, I’ll never forgive you just… don’t die on me like that, House, please…” Her voice trailed off as she got her grip back and put her lips to his in order to apply CPR on him, while working on his shirt at the same time to get a better look at the wound itself.

“Right, so now you’re trying to save him. Forget it, I got him in the heart, he’s dead, you whore.” Peter exclaimed, pacing around the living room to pick up his stuff. Cuddy was about to move her head away from House’s to get a better look at the wound. What she felt under the palm of her hands was harder than House’s torso, how many piece of clothing did he have under that shirt? In no time, she felt his lips move under hers and something grabbed her hand –the one that had been working on his shirt. His eyes were still closed but she felt and heard, “Don’t move.”

Suddenly, one, two, three other windows broke, glass shattering and the breaking of the front door ensued. Men who looked like they were out from a science fiction movie, wearing some sort of military black design that wasn’t military were on their way inside, “Who the fuck are you?” Peter had time to say before three men circled him. The Submachine gun that were aimed straight him, forced him to not make a choice between peeing in his pants while freezing from fear of death –or arrest, or getting his gun back and go straight to hell.

“Step away from the man.” One man commanded Cuddy and took House’s pulse, “He’s dead.” The man nodded to who Cuddy thought was the man’s superior officer of some sort.

“Get him.” The superior commanded and the men circling Peter did as they were told, put a blindfold on Peter’s head and rushed him out of the house in no time. “In the van, now!” The man kept hurrying his team.

“Is there anybody else here?” The other man asked Cuddy. She nodded her head no and he took off his mask the minute he heard the van drive off.

Cuddy frowned and tried, “Who are-“

The man sighed and started yelling in the direction of House, “ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?!” House who had remained eyes closed the whole time, finally opened them and looked at Norris as he tried to sit up, “WHEN WE GAVE YOU THE SAFE WORD HOUSE IT WAS FOR YOU TO USE IT, DAMNIT! YOU ARE NO SUPERMAN!”

House rolled his eyes and said, “Nope, my name’s House, Greg House!” He joked and Cuddy just stood there completely stunned, “Right, don’t you recognize him?” he asked her.

She looked back at Norris and he said, “Sorry, I’m Detective Norris and yes I was the one assigned on your case. You must have a lot of questions.”

A bewildered Cuddy looked back in anger at House and he answered her questions for her, “As you can see, I was wearing a bulletproof vest.” He paused and she shook her head, closing her eyes in the process, “And thanks for the CPR.” He smirked with that boyish grin of his.

The House that was in front of her was indubitably different from the one she had seen behind bars only a couple hours ago and she couldn’t help but wonder about all sorts of things now. What was going on? That was her question.

“Johnson is taking him with the team to his basement and then if he confesses, he’ll take him back to the station.” Norris scratched his head, “We need you to come back to the station with us though. The two of you.” He added, giving House a cane.

-End of report on Operation Payback.

Nick saved his file and shut down his laptop. He was done typing for the night. He walked to his bedroom and took off his shirt halfway into the room before hitting the bed. He crawled into it and went to hug Jenny from behind, “Are you done?” She asked.

“Yep. I went over the Operation and the confession I got from Cole.” He said inhaling her scent.

“Good.” She smiled.

“Good night, Jenny.” He said.

“Come on! I’m naked and all, can’t I-“She tried even though she was just as sleepy as he was.

He shrugged, “I’m not interested in sleeping with you unless you tell me what else happened.”