I am soooo excited about the episode it's unreal, and (aside from plenty of Huddy smut ideas) this would leave me alone, so thought I'd put it on here. Not exactly Huddy, but kind of...I think.

"No, I want to hear about the sad hero again." a 3 year old Rachel Cuddy whined to her mum as they lay on her bed. 'She loves that story.' she thought, remembering back to when she made up taht story after a particularly tricky day at the hospital. She took a deep breath and exhaled, removing those thoughts from her head with the air from her lungs she began her tale:

"Once upon a time, in Princetonia there was a man, a man of greatness, a man with great courage and brains. He was a saviour, he healed people, the people that everyone else gave up on he saved, brought them back from the very brink of death. He was great, he was invincible...but then there was a tragic accident and he could no longer run, a wicked witch turned him into a monster.
The previously great healer became a monster, a broken man. He was a shell of his former self, he hid himself away from those around him, not seeing anyone, not talking to anyone, ashamed of what he had become. He continued to save people, but he was shunned for his strange methods and seeming uncaring attitude. To him names no longer mattered, what you did didn't matter, he saved them all. But when he lost one he lost a little bit more of himself, and nonody saw it.
He hid behind his mean streak, hid away from all those who cared for him, but the fair madein saw his suffering, and his suffereing became hers too. She was in love with him, she was in love with the Beast. She could never say though because she was not allowed to be with such a man. He was not in her 'plan', he was too self destructive to make her happy, or so everyone said. She didn't believe that, if she could make him even marginally happier then she knew that she would be happy. He was a hero, and he deserved to be thanked. She knew that although he said he didn't care that he cared more deeply than anyone she knew, that he didn't just care about the puzzle, he cared about the life he was saving, it was just easier for him to say he didn't care. Then nobody would pity him, he was too horrible to pity. And he needed it that way in order to cope, in order to stay sane.
She loved him from afar, too afraid to get her heart broken. Too afraid that he would hate her. Those around them saw it, saw that she didn't see him as a monster. Saw that it didn't matter to her that he couldn't run, that she didn't care that he was broken, that she knew that that was who he was. But he never could see it. And he remained a sad hero. Alone and afraid no matter how hard he tried to hide it."

Cuddy looked down at Rachel who was almost asleep. "Who is he mummy? Is he happy now?" She asked softly.

"Yes, he's happy now." Cuddy replied, kissing her daughter's forehead. It wasn't the truth, but a 3 year old didn't need to know the harsh truth of life: not everyone ends up with a happy ending.

-----

A few days later, PPTH.

Rachel Cuddy ran from the nurses' desk the second her mum's office door shut. She was following the flames on the tip of a cane ahead of her.
"House." She called out to him.
He turned around and looked down at the wee girl, smiling slightly at her following him.
"What'd you want kid?" He asked, looking down at her smiling at him.
"Up." She said, holding her wee arms towards him.
He shook his head, "I can't." He said and even a three year old could detect the sadness in his voice.
"Please, Uncle House." She begged with puppy dog eyes and a pout.
He grimaced knowing that he could never refuse her when she pouted like that. He knew his thigh was going to scream in protest, so popped a vicodin before bending down and picking her up as quick as he could. She put her wee arms around his neck as he balanced her on his left hip, cane in the other hand as he held her up.
"Giddeee-up horsey!" Rachel chanted with a grin.
"I'm not going to run." He said down to her, noting that she had a definite 'Cuddy' things about her. She was definately Cuddy's kid, eventhough it wasn't by blood.
"Why not?" She asked with a frown.
"Cause I can't." He muttered quietly before looking away as he began moving towards Cuddy's office to take her back. In looking away he didn't notice the widening of Rachel's eyes as he said that.