Chapter Text
[House is standing in front of a door. House is thinner than usual and has huge bags under his eyes, his hair is scruffy, his beard at least a month in the growth. He reaches for the doorbell but stops, pulling his cane up he knocks on the door with it. He waits for a while tapping the handle of his tourist cane nervously. When he's turning to leave the door opens]
Stacy (understandably confused): House?! I thought you were dead...
House (rolling his eyes): So does the rest of the world. But here I am...
Stacy: What?... What are you doing here? Are you sick? You look terrible...
House: Well, let's cut to the chase. Is Mark home?
Stacy: No. But I bet you knew that already... Why don't you come in?
[Stacy moves aside and House walks in, she notices he's barely limping. She shows him to the living room where he sits down on the couch putting his feet up on the coffee table]
Stacy: Your limp his almost gone. You're high aren't you?
House: Odd enough! Vicodin is harder to come by than methadone when you're officially dead...
Stacy: Figures...
[After a long silence Stacy gets up and leaves the room. She gets back with a beer for House and a cup of tea for herself and places them on the table. House grabs his beer and takes a long gulp. When he finishes Stacy places her hand on his knee.]
Stacy: House... What are you doing here? After all these years why come to me?
House: Just visiting an old friend. [Takes another gulp]
Stacy: We both know that isn't true... We've known each other for so long, you know you can let your guard down when it comes to me. So why don't you tell me what brings you here?
House: You're the only one who wouldn't call the cops as soon as I rang the bell.
Stacy: Why don't you start at the beginning? When you faked your death. Why would you do such a thing. You broke our hearts...
House: Yours and whose?
Stacy: Everyone's at the hospital, your mom's, her husband's, Wilson's...
House (Chuckles): We both know *that* isn't true...
Stacy: Fine... Your mother was heart broken. And Wilson! Probably...
House: Wilson was the reason I did it!
Stacy: How's that?
House: He was dying and I was going back to prison 'cause of a stupid prank and coming out after his expiration date. So... I faked my death. The building was on fire and about to collapse, I left through the back.
Stacy: What about the corpse? The coroner ID'd it as being you.
House: Coroner's are morons! Their incompetence is the reason they work on dead people, no sane Dean of Medicine would let them anywhere near a living human being! It was a junky who was in the building with me and OD'd before the fire started, I switched the dental records.
Stacy: So you erased all you ever were so you could be with Wilson in his last months?
House: Yes... I guess you can put it that way...
Stacy: And how did that turn out?