Sheldon did it. He had a big break that lead to his Nobel. The Arctic set him back a few years but he finally proved String Theory. After receiving his award, Caltech offered him an opportunity to guest lecture in Germany for a few months which he gladly accepted. Following his tour, Caltech also arranged for him to participate in a 12-month sponsored study at CERN. He immediately accepted. It came at a heavy price. One that would cost him almost everything.

As his wife, Amy was supportive. She has never been to Germany and relished the opportunity to go. Unfortunately, she was only able to stay for a few weeks. She had research commitments that she couldn't get out of and risked losing her funding if she didn't return. Since neither of them knew yet of the CERN project, they figured that a few months apart would not damage their relationship. There were promises of daily skype calls and emails. For a long time, that worked. Then the CERN announcement came.

Amy was willing to put up with a few months but she couldn't handle a year. After several weeks of arguments, they decided to divorce. It wasn't an easy decision. Compounding things was that their friends were taking sides. The guys knew what a once in a lifetime opportunity this was and felt Amy should have been more supportive. The ladies of course felt that Sheldon should have been more supportive of Amy.

In the end, Amy and Sheldon remained friends. They kept in regular contact while he was at CERN. Howard and Bernadette made up. Leonard and Penny was another story.

The divorce fiasco led to them getting a divorce. They tried counseling for a few months but they couldn't get past it. Leonard and Penny were civil during the whole process. They still loved each other but what happened to Sheldon and Amy drove a wedge between them when they each took sides. As soon as the divorce was final, Penny packed up and moved out while Leonard was at work. She told everyone to meet at their place right after work.

When they got there, she bid them all a fond farewell. There were hugs and tears. Not everything was meant to be. She told them that her stuff was being shipped to Nebraska and that she was moving back home. They were welcome to write her and that she would keep in touch. And then she was gone.

Sheldon's time at CERN was rather productive and was offered a rare 12-month extension in which he readily accepted. The time went by quickly. The extension produced several years of results to analyze. At this point, Sheldon needed whiteboards. Missing his friends, he opted to return home to Pasadena. He can do his research anywhere and the weather certainly was more favorable.

Leonard picked up Sheldon from the airport and brought him back to their old apartment. When they got there, Sheldon was greeted with a welcome home party. After about 15 minutes, Sheldon called for everyone's attention.

"Where is Penny?"

"Well buddy, you do know Penny and I got a divorce?"

"Leonard, don't be absurd. I knew your relationship was going to fail but divorce or not, she should be here. Her emails were full of support for what I have accomplished."

"Nebraska, well it not exactly next door to Pasadena."

"Why is Penny in Nebraska? I'm suddenly feeling like there is information that this group is not being forthcoming with.

Amy sat Sheldon down in his spot. "Truth is Sheldon, we don't know where she is. About 6 months ago she started becoming sporadic in her emails and messages. Three months ago, we haven't received a word since. We tried contacting her parents. She had an audition in New York and landed a role. After a few weeks of not hearing from Penny, her parents called me asking if we heard anything from her.

Sheldon was growing pale as Amy continued.

"Penny got a role in some action film. After a few months of training and rehearsals, she never showed up for the first day of filming. After a week of not calling in or showing up, she was fired. She called us a few days later. She was rather drunk and was upset about a lot of things. Before she hung up, she said not to bother. That if Sheldon couldn't help her, no one could. We had the police do a wellness check. She wasn't there. After 48 hours of not hearing from her despite all of our calls, we filled a missing person report. Her parents flew up there to look for her but never found her. Her bank cards were not used and her cell phone been off ever since her call. To answer your question Sheldon, we really don't know where she is."