The four men crowded around the counter and it's assortment of beakers, test tubes and microscopes. Each one of them wore safety goggles over their eyes, making it hard to see their expressions of intense concentration. Sheldon reached out one hand and gingerly lifted a tube of clear fluid. He carefully measured out 5 mL of the liquid and added it to a glass beaker sitting on a burner.

The liquid inside became cloudy and bubbled slightly. Each man held his breath for a moment, until the fluid settled and became still once more. Leonard drew in a shaky breath and picked up a small petri dish and scooped out a small amount of coarse crystalline powder.

"Careful," Howard whispered warily. "Just ten grains."

"I know," Leonard hissed, using a tweezer to drop the required number of grains into the beaker.

Raj picked up a glass cylinder half full of a greenish fluid, waiting for his turn.

"Whatcha doing?"

All four men jumped as Penny's voice cut through their concentration. They watched in horror as Leonard's hand jerked and a bunch of crystals fell into the beaker. The liquid inside began to smoke and bubble ominously.

"Hit the deck!" Howard screamed, diving behind the couch. Leonard shrieked and threw himself down the hall. Raj seemed frozen in place. Sheldon hurried around the counter and pulled the calendar off the wall. Behind it was a glass fronted box that read IN CASE OF PENNY, BREAK GLASS.

He smashed the glass with a meat tenderizer and pulled out the metal box inside, turned back to the counter and tossed the smoking beaker inside it. He slammed the lid shut, grabbed Penny and Raj by their elbows and pulled them a couple of feet away. There was a muffled explosion from the box a couple of seconds later.

Sheldon turned toward Penny who gave him a sheepish look. "Um, sorry?" she offered hesitantly.

Leonard and Howard slowly rejoined the group. "You have a titanium bomb disposal box?" Howard asked, his voice a mixture of shock and envy.

"With Penny around, I deemed is a necessary precaution," Sheldon said with a sigh. He grabbed some oven mitts, picked up the box and carried it to the closet. Penny followed and opened the door for him. The guys watched with surprise as a sheepish Penny pulled out a large metal drum with hazard stickers all over it. She lifted the lid and Sheldon placed the box inside before resealing the drum.

"Why didn't I know that was there?" demanded Leonard.

"You never asked," Sheldon said calmly.

"How many times have you had to use it?" Howard asked.

Penny blushed a light pink. "Four," she mumbled.

Sheldon sighed and returned to the counter to begin setting up for their experiment again. "Five. You always forget the erupting chicken."

Penny grimaced and headed toward the door. "Fine. Five. I'll go order another box."

"Thank you," Sheldon said. "Use the VISA card this time. You maxed out the Discover card on shoes."

"Whatever," she called back as the door closed.

Leonard shook his head tiredly. "I will never understand your friendship with Penny."

Sheldon sighed softly. "Neither will I."

Raj looked at the inn with trepidation. Lightning lit up the sky for a heartbeat and he jumped, grabbing onto Penny's arm. He desperately tried to tell her with his eyes that he didn't want to go inside, but Penny just patted his arm tiredly.

"Come on, sweetie," she said with a yawn. "It's about to storm and I have no intention of sleeping in a broken down car in an empty garage parking lot." She went inside and walked over to the check in desk. A pale man with dark eyes watched them silently.

"Hi," Penny said, pulling her wallet out of her purse. "Can we get a couple of rooms for the night? Our car broke down and my cell phone is dead."

The man grinned slowly. Raj struggled not to pee himself at the creepy gesture. "We only have one room," the man replied in a deep voice.

Penny sighed and nodded. "Fine." She handed over her credit card and signed the register.

Raj whimpered as the man's black eyes speared him. He grabbed Penny's arm again, but she was too tired to do more than pat his hand again. She turned toward the staircase and began heading up to the second floor. Raj stayed so close that if she stopped suddenly, he probably would have run her over.

They found their room easily and Penny unlocked the door and pushed it open. The creaking sound sent a shiver up his spine. The room was pretty sparse, holding only a dresser, bed and small table with one chair. Penny flopped down on the bed and kicked off her shoes.

"Come on, sweetie," she mumbled. "Get some sleep."

Raj eased onto the other side of the bed and hugged his pillow to his chest. Seconds later, Penny was fast asleep. He stared at her in disbelief. How could she sleep in this horrible place? he wondered.

Soon his eyelids began to droop and he scooted into a more comfortable position. He pulled the blanket over himself and yawned widely. Just as he was about to try and get some sleep he saw a long shadow inching up the wall. He froze as the shadow widened and began to take a more recognizable form. With a scream he shot up in the bed and grabbed Penny tightly.

"Ahh!" Penny jumped up, almost dragging him off the bed. She looked around the room wildly. "What?! What's wrong?"

Raj whimpered and pointed across the room. Penny stared at the shadow with confusion. She turned to Raj with wide eyes. "A shadow? You scared the heck out of me because of the shadow from the tree outside?"

Raj almost gave himself whiplash turning to look out the window. He felt foolish when he saw the tree branch swaying in the wind. He turned back to Penny sheepishly and she shot him a sleepy glare. "Get some sleep, you big ol' scaredy cat."

Penny settled back in the bed and went back to sleep almost immediately. Raj looked at the tree branch again, mentally chastising himself. He laid back down and shifted around to get comfortable. He was just about to close his eyes when he noticed the portrait on the wall.

It seemed to be staring at him. A bit weirded out, he decided to throw something over it so he didn't have to look at it. He stood and walked over to the dresser, hoping to find a pillow case or towel. He froze as the eyes followed him.

Just an illusion, he told himself. A trick of light. He took another step and the eyes blinked. With a loud scream he jumped back into the bed and wrapped himself around Penny tightly.

"WHAT THE FRAK?!"

Penny shoved at Raj, but he only clung tighter with one arm as he pointed to the portrait with the other. Penny kept trying to dislodge the Hindu barnacle as she looked across the room. "It's just a stupid picture! You act like we're going to be murdered in our sleep!"

She shook him off finally and ran a hand through her hair. "Okay, look," she growled. "I'm exhausted. So, this can go one of two ways. You either let me get some sleep, or I swear to god I'll string you up by your toes and hang you from that tree outside. Understand?"

Raj whimpered and nodded. Penny glared at him for another couple of seconds before laying back down and closing her eyes. Raj scooted closer to her and suddenly a fist was under his nose, waving threatening. He wrapped his arms around his knees and pressed his back to the headboard. He tensed even more as the door slowly swung open.

(Morning)

Penny rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sat up in the bed. She looked over at Raj who was almost as pale as Sheldon and stiff as a board from sitting up all night. "You know, I slept great," she said happily. "Maybe we should stay a few more days and get really rested up."

Raj's eyes widened even more and he jumped from the bed. He grabbed Penny's wrist with one hand and her shoes with the other. He raced out of the room, down the stairs and out onto the sidewalk in only a couple of seconds. By the time Penny managed to catch her breath and pull him to a stop, they were three blocks away, almost to the garage where they had left her car.

Penny slipped her shoes back on and shook her head at him with annoyance. "Big old 'fraidy cat," she muttered, leading him on to the garage.

A/N: My youngest absolutely loves Looney Tunes. He has several DVD sets that he watches as often as I'll let him. While watching with him the other day, I was suddenly hit by a very insistent plot bunny. What if the Big Bang characters were in those skits? I chose a few of my favorite and began writing. The first is loosely based on an amalgamation of all the mad scientist sketches. The second is based on Claws For Alarm.