The night was dark and stormy. The thunder rumbling outside was a nice distraction, once in a while lightening would illuminate the room, exposing his face at the end of the bed. Penny was wondering what she saw in him; she tried to think what was attractive about him. She knew he was handsome, funny and kind, but there had to be more. She frowned in frustration as her mind wondered in circles. She watched him sleeping from her side of the bed as he made weird noises, some people might think it's creepy but it only made her smile. Penny was glowing, and her thoughts went back to what she saw in this incredible man. She suddenly hesitated and stopped thinking. She laid up in his bed; That was it. She said to herself. She finally realised it was his intelligence that challenged her in many ways. Smart was the new cool. She knew he was shy and he tried to hide it by pretending to be bold but she could see through him. His shyness implies a fear of social interactions or an inability to function socially with the opposite sex. His personality trait reflected his character, he was thoughtful, caring, conscientiousness and dependant. the extent of his warmth and kindness was a big turn on for Penny. Since meeting Leonard she realized that even though he wasn't her type, she prefers the tall, buff and very good looking guys, but most were dumb as a plank. Leonard may have ruined her for these kinds of guys. Leonard was a breath of fresh air. She wondered if he felt the same way as her, she wasn't smart like him. she quickly dismissed it. Why would a guy like him ever want to be with her. He probably into smart girls like Bernadette and Amy. She shakes those thoughts away. She smiled as she thought how she ended up in his bed. Leonard was on her mind and the thunder did not help as she couldn't sleep. Penny was a bit tipsy from all the wine they consumed at the restaurant which gave her the confidence to follow through and sneaked into his room quietly. She climbed into his bed. He woke up and when he saw her, he looked at her puzzled and asked if she was okay, she just nodded and said she was scared of the thunder. He smiled as he reached out and pulled her onto his chest. Penny felt relaxed. This is where she wanted to be. She looked up at him and stared into his eye, their eyes met as he brought his lips to her forehead. She couldn't remember who initiated it, but it started with a gentle kiss; she remembered how nervous he was, but she didn't want him to stop. He kissed her lips so softly; his lips were sweet. the luscious taste of his lips only left her wanting more. He kissed her neck without biting. He was overly gentle which told Penny he was nervous and maybe restraining himself and afraid of emotional intimacy. But as they got comfortable with each other, it became more playful both teasing each other. It was erotic and romantic at the same time. She remembers him holding her close and at that moment she couldn't hold it any longer; she kissed him back, his grip tightened as she felt his body against hers, the intensity of their kiss increasing as he unbuttoned her top. That night they made love, the most pleasurable sex they ever had until sleep took them.

Penny and Leonard arrived back in Penny's world. Leonard had received a phone call after their night together that the portal was ready. It was awkward at first between them, and they just didn't talk about last night, just making small talk here and there. Leonard finally brought up the subject, Penny suddenly got nervous and dismissed the topic, Leonard was about to protest when they were interrupted by a knock on the door. It was their ride to go back, so the topic was left alone. They arrived back at the warehouse, after been briefed by Howard on the status of the damages and repairs. It wasn't that bad, and all communications were up and running again. Penny made excuses to go see her bosses for debriefing. Howard sensed the awkwardness between them and asked Leonard if everything was okay with him and Penny. Leonard just brushed aside the comment and asked how he and Bernadette were doing. Howard was happy to talk about his relationship, he was dating Bernadette and it was growing stronger everyday. Leonard was happy for him and Bernadette, but the sadness in his eyes gave away that something was bothering him.

"Leonard are you okay," Howard asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine why?" Leonard asked.

"You haven't been your usual self since you got back. Did something happen between you and Penny?" Howard asked.

"No why would you say that. We are fine Howard." Leonard snapped.

"Okay just looking out for you buddy," Howard said sincerely.

"Look, Howard, I'm sorry didn't mean to snap at you, I'm just tired and suffering from the after-effects of the portal." Leonard didn't want to talk about what happened with Penny. He couldn't understand why she was so cold. He was so happy when they spend the night together and thought they could somehow get together, but now he wasn't so sure.

Bernadette found Penny sitting in the makeshift canteen eating a sandwich. She had just returned from briefing her bosses on what she found out in Leonard world; there wasn't that much in the report. Penny asked to be taken off the case for personal reasons, but they wanted her to continue as it was too late to get a replacement.

"Hey, Penny how's it going," Bernadette asked.

"Oh hey," Penny replied without looking at Bernadette who sat down.

"Is something wrong." Bernadette probed. Howard had text her and told her about Leonard. He insisted something might happened between them and Leonard wasn't talking. He wanted her to speak to Penny; maybe she might have better luck.

Penny took a deep breath and after a long pause said. "Can I ask you something."

"Yeah anything," Bernadette said.

"How long have you known Leonard,?" she asked

"Ummm about four years he has been a good friend, and if it weren't for him, I'd be in prison. Why?"

"Leonard told me about that. Have you ever known him to have a girlfriend or a long-term relationship.?"

Bernadette didn't understand why Penny was asking these questions about Leonard. "Penny did something happens between you and Leonard.?"

"No, I mean yes. I don't know." Penny looked away.

"Penny what's going on. I can tell you are upset about something." Bernadette was worried about Penny's state of mind.

Penny took a long pause and said. "I slept with Leonard, and now things are awkward between us. I don't know how to fix it." She said sadly.

"Oh my god. You slept with Leonard. How, when?" Bernadette said excitedly

"Shhhhh. Keep your voice down. I don't want everyone knowing." Penny quickly said.

"Sorry I didn't mean to be so loud. Bernadette apologize. I'm happy for you and Leonard."

"There is no me and Leonard. I think I may have mess things up. I think he is avoiding me. we haven't even talked about it or where we stand."

"Leonard is not the type to sleep around, I'm sure he is worried about you and doesn't want to get hurt or hurt you," Bernadette assured her.

"I don't know, maybe he thinks I'm not smart enough, when we got to his world, he was acting most of the time strangely. I think he is keeping something from me." Penny took a deep breath.

"Penny, Leonard is not like that, yes he has always dated smart girls but I think he likes you a lot I can see it when you walk into the room, there is always a big grin on his face."

"Really you think he is into me." Penny hoped.

"Yeah, I think he is. He talks about you all the time. What about you." Bernadette smiled.

"He has a funny way of showing it. What do you mean, what about me,?" Penny asked.

"Are you into him." Bernadette smiled.

Penny took her time to reply. "I like him a lot but how could a relationship work. We are from different worlds, and it would never work." Penny said frustratedly.

Bernadette knew Penny was right "That is a big problem if you have fallen for him. What are you going to do."

"I don't know," Penny said sadly. "Here comes Leonard and Howard. Please keep all this to yourself."

"Sure, sure you can trust me," Bernadette, quickly said.

"Hi girls," Howard said. he sat next to Bernadette.

"Hi" they both replied.

"Hi," Leonard said looking at Penny.

"Hello," Penny said half cheerfully.

Howard kissed Bernadette on the lips. Penny was shocked. "Are you guys dating," Penny asked.

"Yeah, we are, sorry forgot to tell you." Bernadette giggled

"We got close while you guys were away. We are so happy." Howard added.

"Congrats I'm happy for you both," Penny said genuinely.

"Yeah me too. You both deserve to be happy." Leonard added.

Leonard and Penny were both happy for them but also envied them. Both are secretly wishing they could be together.

"What's going on?" Howard asked

Penny folded her arms and leaned back in her chair and said. "Nothing, we were just talking about what our next move will be in capturing the dictator that is Sheldon before he gets too powerful and starts making demands to world leader to surrender to him." Penny joked.

Leonard smiled at Penny's humor and said. "I guess it is up to us time-traveling heroes to stop him." They all laughed.

"So how did Raj escape," Penny asked.

"Well after the attack on the warehouse we had a head count to account for everyone, that's when we found out he was missing," Howard said.

"Even with a guard posted outside the holding block. how did he escape?"

"That the thing there is no sign of any break-in and the door was looked form the outside. It's like he just vanished into thin air." Bernadette interjected.

"I'm pretty sure Sheldon has something to do with this. I think during the attack a portal must have been opened in Raj's cell to allow him to escape. Howard guessed.

Leonard thought about what Howard said. "I think we might be too late; this technology is too advanced just to be a portal. it looks like Sheldon has managed to complete the time machine with some new features."

"You mean like combined both technologies into one. Time jumping and Time travel. This makes sense. We detected a sign of a time traveler about 2 hrs ago. this signature was new and we are not sure if it's an individual or multiple travelers, one thing for sure they are not jumpers. it could also be Sheldon traveling in and out of time..."

Penny rolled her eyes. She was confused with the technology discussion and interrupted Howard. "Do we know who it is?"

"No, this one is unidentifiable, it could be a new traveler or Sheldon has found a way to block his and everyone's identity marks. We can only detect their signatures hours later, that's as much as we can do now. we are working on a new software that could give us the upper hand." Howard replied.

Defeated in the fact that Sheldon might have won and the world as they know it might be in grave danger. They contemplated what their next move should be. Sheldon could now have the potentials to alter people's consciousness and realities. There could be infinite possibilities and dimensions that could be altered and wipe them from existence.

"Bernadette let's go get something to eat," Howard said as they weren't getting anywhere.

"Good idea, I'm starving." She kissed Howard as they left Penny and Leonard alone.

"So how are you doing," Leonard asked after an uncomfortable minute of silence.

"Yeah, good thanks, I was talking to Bernadette about…"

Leonard just zoned out as he stared at Penny. Her eyes gleamed as she spoke. Her cheeks flushed candy pink as she finished talking. After another uncomfortable silence, Leonard cleared his throat. Their eyes met. They realized they both were staring at each other. Just the sight of her made him think a lot about himself. For the first time, Leonard's heart felt like skipping away from his mind and jumped into dreams. He could see nothing but only him with Penny living happily forever. Leonard held her hand and filled the gaps of her fingers with his. He leaned towards her and said. "Penny I know this might be too soon, but do you think we can…."

Bernadette rushed towards Leonard and Penny, followed by Howard. Phone in hand and speaking rapidly., "Sheldon has been located at a farmhouse just outside town,"

"Are you sure," Penny asked. Jumping to her feet.

"There's no doubt it's Sheldon," Howard replied.

"Is he alone?" Leonard asked. "Here give me the phone. he put the phone to his left ear and spoke. "Let's have it."

A\N. For a relationship to work there has to be trust, communication, and compromise. Leonard and Penny need to work on talking about how they feel instead of dwelling on the negatives of why they can't be together.