"I intend to!" Priya yelled.

"And then they'll take the guys from you," Greg said calmly. "They'll end up in a lab somewhere being treated like specimens. Do you realize what has happened here?"

Priya looked at him warily. "What are you talking about?"

Greg leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "Fountain of Youth. What those three did was create a youth serum. Sort of. Pharmaceutical companies have been trying to do that for decades. Private labs would do anything to get their hands on those three boys and find out how it was done. And they wouldn't care what happens to them, either."

The blood drained from Priya's face and she placed a hand over her hammering heart. "Rajesh? Being experimented on? They can't!" She turned to Penny. "We have to stop that!"

"We're trying," Penny assured her. "We've moved them here, to keep them safer. The drug seems to be wearing off, because they are aging pretty fast. Two weeks ago they looked like two year olds. Now they are about 9 or 10. Stephanie, she's a friend and a medical doctor, thinks they should be back to their true ages in five more weeks."

"I've arranged for a leave of absence for the three men, telling everyone they are working on a very important project. I have not taken action against Hofstadter, yet, out of respect for Wolowitz, Koothrappali and Cooper. In fact, Hofstadter has no idea I even know about this."

"We can't let them get away with this!" Priya said angrily.

"And we won't," Missy assured her. "But we think it's only right that we let the guys decide what to do. As soon as they are back to themselves, we have to let them make the decision. My brother has been harmed, too, you know."

Priya struggled to assert her dominance over the group, but one look at the stubbornness in Penny's eyes, and the calm acceptance of Penny's leadership in Seibert's and Missy's expressions made her sigh. "What can I do?" she finally asked.

"Keep quiet about this. Don't tell anyone. Just give us some time, okay?" Penny asked.

Priya nodded hesitantly. "Okay. For now."

Penny knew it was the best she was going to get out of Priya. She nodded and stood up. "Now, we fixed up a bed for you if you want to stay a day or two, and you can meet Stephanie. Maybe spend some time with Raj." She glanced at Greg with a smile. "We're having fried chicken and corn on the cob for dinner if you both are hungry."

Greg smiled regretfully at Penny. "I would love to, but it's my weekend with my daughter and I promised her a musical and dinner out."

Penny nodded understandingly. "Okay. Maybe next time."

"Absolutely," Greg said with a warm smile. Penny walked him to the door while Priya walked to the backdoor to watch her little brother play with his friends on the half-built platform.

She looked at Missy worriedly. "What about his mind?" she asked worriedly. "Rajesh's first love has always been the stars."

Missy smiled softly at the little star gazer fondly. "It still is. We were worried, too, but they seem to still have their love of science. I don't know how much they remember about what happened, but they are still three super smart boys. Shelly is still working on these elaborate math formulas, Howard just built a robot to guard their room, and Raj spent most of last night watching a meteor shower."

"If those idiots lost him even one brain cell," Priya said ominously.

"We'll crush them," Penny said fiercely as she joined them.

"With extreme prejudice," Stephanie said, walking over. Missy introduced Priya to the other woman while Penny watched Sheldon examining every nail carefully before handing it to Zack. Little things like that made her hopeful that Sheldon was still Sheldon. Just smaller.

"I believe I may owe you an apology," Priya said the next morning as she sipped her coffee.

Penny looked at her with blurry eyes as she stumbled to the kitchen table. Oh yeah. Priya was here. 7am was way too early to deal with a lawyer. "mmmm," she said as she slumped in a chair and laid her head on her folded arms.

A moment later a mug of fresh hot coffee appeared by her arm and she grabbed it gratefully. She took two sips, grimaced at the lack of milk or sugar, and sipped some more. Halfway through the drink Penny finally focused on the amused cocoa eyes of their guest. "Morning," she mumbled.

Priya laughed lightly. "Not a morning person?"

"It's a skill I'm relearning," Penny sighed. "I thought when I left the family farm I was done getting up at the crack of dawn. But, Stephanie works afternoons at the hospital, and Missy works mornings for Stephanie's uncle, and that means I have to be bright eyed and bushy tailed before the boys get up and begin their antics."

"What kind of antics?" Priya asked.

"Three days ago Howard poured Jell-O into the pool. How they planned to heat it is anyone's guess, but their intention was a pool sized serving of lime Jell-O and three spoons. Instead they clogged the filtering system, which shorted out. It cost us almost $800 to fix and clean the pool. Last week Sheldon and Raj got to fighting. Every few minutes I would find them rolling on the floor, wrestling and fighting. Turns out, Sheldon had a stash of Jelly Belly root-beer jellybeans, and Raj had eaten them."

Penny paused when the sound of running floated down the hall. "And there's the Yam Incident."

"Yam Incident?" Priya asked curiously.

"Raj and Howard built potato guns. Only we didn't have any potatoes. So, they got even more creative. They used tomatoes, oranges, plums, and lastly, yams. Yams are not round. They have tapered ends. And when shot with enough force, can put a hole through a shed wall."

Priya's eyes widened. "No."

Penny nodded and stood up. She stepped out onto the back veranda and pointed to the small tool shed near the back fence. Priya could only stare, wide-eyed at the large holes forming a smiley face on the side of the shed.

Priya turned to say something but thin arms wrapped around her thighs. She looked down at her tiny brother and felt her heart melt at the genuine affection shining up at her.

"I love you so much, Pri! More than all the stars!" Raj said before taking off to join his friends with their kites.

She swallowed the lump in her throat as she watched the three boys run and play. Penny patted her arm lightly, drawing her attention. "He's never told me he loves me like that," she said softly. Suddenly her eyes widened. "He talked in front of us! Raj has always been unable to talk to any woman outside of our family! How is this possible?"

Penny shook her head. "I don't know. I guess, despite the harm they did, Lamette's drug works."

"Lamette?" Priya asked.

"Leonard, Amy and Bernadette, all combined to one word," Penny turned to the yard. "Breakfast in 30 minutes! I want clean hands and faces, you hooligans!" She headed back into the kitchen with a yawn.

Priya followed and looked around the kitchen. "Can I help? I make wonderful crepes."

Penny smiled widely. "If you can make even halfway decent crepes, you'll be my new best friend."

Priya laughed aloud, and headed toward the fridge to find what she needed. Penny moved to the stove to begin making pancakes.