WARNING: contains references to domestic violence.

One year later…

In the year that followed Penny's acting career took off in a big way. Upon her return to the states she had several offers of acting jobs, eventually taking a part in a new TV series. From then on her weekly appearances as Dr. Louise Buchanan the outspoken and unconventional ICU resident in a fast paced hospital drama dubbed 'the new ER' made her an overnight sensation and one of America's best known TV actresses.

As for her marriage Penny was grateful that Brett's work frequently took him away from home for extended periods of time. The times he was at home however she lived in constant fear of a beating. The first time he had raised a hand to her had been while they were still on their honeymoon aboard a friend's yacht in the south of France. Without seeking Penny's permission or any prior discussion Brett had arranged for all her belongings to be moved from her apartment in Pasadena to his house in Beverly Hills. Penny had only discovered the plan when she overheard Brett making the arrangements over the phone and had rightfully challenged him. The result of standing up to her controlling husband had been a ferocious slap that had left her cheek red and swollen for days. She had of course forgiven him but only because he had sworn that it would never happen again. Now a year on Penny was to afraid to confide in anyone and had discovered that it was best to endure her husband's violent outbursts without fighting back. As time went by Penny had become adept at disguising her bruises with makeup and clothing and at inventing stories about slipping in the bath tub or accidently walking into a door. Each beating was always followed by apologies and Brett pleading for forgiveness and promises that it would never happen again. That was at least until the next time. For a while after Brett would seemingly become a loving and attentive husband attending to Penny's cuts and bruises and on a number of occasions driving her to the emergency room with carefully rehearsed stories of clumsy accidents. On one occasion an ER nurse had tried to get Penny to admit that her injuries were non-accidental. Penny had flatly refused. She felt so ashamed. By now Brett's apologies sounded like a cracked record and the gifts that he brought to assuage his guilt were tainted with the memory of each beating that had preceded them. On one occasion a few months after they were married while Brett was away filming on location, Penny had taken advantage of his absence to drive to Pasadena to try and make amends with her friends only to find them not at home in the apartment. Driving back she had passed the Cheesecake Factory and has spotted Leonard's car in the parking lot. Disguising herself with sunglasses and a silk head scarf Penny had pulled into the parking lot and headed into the restaurant to be greeted with what had once been the familiar sight of her best friends hanging out together. That night the Cheesecake Factory was hosting a karaoke evening and Howard and Bernadette were on stage singing 'I got you babe' while Leonard, Sheldon and Amy watched from stools at the bar. Before Penny could go in Alex emerged from the bathroom and sat down beside Leonard. Leonard said something to her with a concerned expression and placed his hand on her back. There was no way that Penny could have known at the time, but Alex had just returned from attending her Granma's funeral in Iowa. The karaoke evening had been Leonard's idea to try and cheer her up. At that stage they were still only just friends. Needless to say Penny left without her friends ever knowing that she had been there. Upon his return Brett found out about Penny's trip to Pasadena by going through her mail and discovering the speeding ticket that she had picked up whilst driving back. He had threatened her and forced her into promising that she would never to go back or contact her friends again. As such that was the first and only time Penny ever did.

As for Leonard the year that had passed had undoubtedly been one of the saddest and painful of his entire life. More than one year on after the breakup he was at least starting to feel more like his old self again and although he still thought of Penny on a daily basis, the pain was no longer as raw and slowly he was beginning to enjoy life once again. With Penny so heavily in the public eye it was however difficult if not impossible to omit her completely from his life. It seemed that not one week would go by without her appearing on a TV chat show or on the cover of a magazine or billboard. One evening Leonard and Sheldon had switched on the TV to find her appearing on the Muppet Show alongside Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy. There she was in her white physicians coat holding a stethoscope to a bashful Kermit's chest while Miss Piggy crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air irritated by the attention that Penny was bestowing on her 'Kermie'. Seeing this Leonard couldn't help but raise a smile and a chuckle the sketch was very funny indeed. There was no doubt Penny seemed to be extraordinarily talented in everything she turned her hand to. Things had also moved on with Alex. A week ago on a rare Sheldon free day at work they had shared a kiss in Leonard's car. Finally at last the future didn't seem so grim after all. Little did Leonard know but his life was once again about to be turned upside down….

It was a warm Saturday morning in the fall and Amy and Bernadette had gone out shopping for Halloween costumes at the Glendale Galleria. Amy was in midst of telling Bernadette of her cunning plan to get Sheldon to agree to her choice of couples costume when Bernadette stopped abruptly outside the bookstore.

"Oh my God look who it is" she exclaimed pointing through the window at the crowds of people waiting patiently in line. There towards the back of the store seated at a table surrounded by copies of the same book and cardboard cut-out standees of her alter ego Dr. Louise Buchanan was Penny.

"Looks like it's a signing for her book" Amy said staring though the glass at the beautiful blond woman that she had once classed as her best friend.

Bernadette narrowed her eyes and scowled

"Boy would I like to go tell her a thing or two!" she seethed "Look at her she really thinks she's it"

They watched as Penny rose from her seat and smiled sweetly for a photo with an elderly couple that had just purchased a copy of her book.

"No doubt she has security.." Amy mused

Before she could finish her sentence Bernadette was storming towards the entrance of the store.

"Excuse me!" Bernadette ordered barging her way through the crowd clearing a path towards the table.

"Hey lady there's a queue here!" an angry voice called out.

Hearing the commotion Penny looked up her face breaking into a smile.

"Bernadette…Amy oh my God it's so good to see you both.." she beamed

"We're not here for your lousy book Penny" Bernadette said quick to dismiss any notion that they were fans of her work "I'm here to say how could you? How could you do that to Leonard?!"

Penny opened her mouth to speak only to be interrupted by Bernadette who launched into another angry tirade.

"Leonard loved you and you cheated on him….and then you didn't have the decency to tell him to his face…what kinda coward tells there boyfriend that they're sleeping with another man via email!...then returning the locket that he gave you…it broke his heart!" Bernadette yelled with tears glistening in her eyes.

As far as Bernadette was concerned Penny had not only betrayed Leonard but had betrayed them all. For Penny it seemed to make no sense. She hadn't cheated on Leonard, what email was Bernadette referring to? She had never returned the locket it had gone missing….

"Bernadette I…" Penny tried to speak but found that she was too stunned to formulate a coherent sentence

Just then two burly looking security guards entered the store on a mission to apprehend Bernadette and Amy.

"Ok ladies that's enough..You're coming with us!" one said as they dragged the two friends out of the store and back out into the mall. The store manager approached the table to try and restore some calm and order to the situation.

"I'm so sorry about that Mrs Harrison are you ok?" he asked and suggested that she take a break for a few minutes. Penny stood up and leant on the back of the chair to steady herself no longer able to catch her breath or aware of the queuing fans staring intently at her.

"I have to get out of here…" she whispered

With Bernadette's words ringing in her ears Penny grabbed her purse and bolted from the store colliding with and knocking over a cardboard cut-out standee of herself as she went. Consumed in confused and angry thoughts she drove recklessly in her metallic silver Porsche weaving in and out of the lanes of traffic on the freeway with the sound of car horns blaring all around. By now everything was starting to fall into place like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. What Bernadette had said was all down to Brett. It had to be.

Arriving back home Penny parked her car and dashed inside to be greeted by Maria the housekeeper passing through the hall holding a laundry basket. Fumbling inside her purse Penny pulled out a hundred dollar bill and offered it to Maria insisting that she go home for the day. Maria stared wide eyed at the money in her hand concerned that she was being fired for some unbeknownst wrongdoing. It was nothing of the sort, Penny's only motive was to get Maria out of the house so that she could pack up her belongings. This was it she was finally going to leave Brett.

"Are you firing me Mrs Harrison?" she asked noticing that the lady of the house appeared extremely agitated.

"No not at all…" Penny answered "Please Maria just take the money and go home…buy something nice for your kids…"

With a bewildered expression Maria nodded, slipped on her coat and left. As soon as she was alone in the house Penny headed upstairs threw her suitcase on the bed and set about cramming it full with clothes and other personal items.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The sudden and unexpected sound of Brett's voice startled Penny causing her to drop the picture frame she was holding shattering the glass. She hadn't been expecting Brett home until evening.

"What does it look like Brett?" Penny answered sarcastically trying to hide the fact that she was terrified of the man stood watching her from the bedroom doorway.

"It looks to me like you're going somewhere Penelope…so my question would be where are you going?"

Penny snapped the suitcase shut and dragged it off the bed struggling under its heavy weight.

"I'm leaving you Brett…just as soon as I find Alfred I'm out of here! Oh and if I were you I'd check the mail for a letter from my lawyer…I'm filing for divorce!"

Ignoring everything Penny had just said about leaving and filing for divorce Brett opted to focus on Penny's mention of her missing dog.

"Oh yeah Alfred that snarly little mutt that you keep as a pet I wonder where he could be…" Brett said with a tormenting smile. It was no secret that Brett despised Penny's chocolate Labrador who would growl and bark whenever Brett came near and regretted buying him as a wedding gift for Penny.

"Where is he Brett?" Penny cried in desperation "Where's my dog?...where's Alfred?"

By now she knew her husband's cruel and sadistic mind only to well, clearly he was insinuating that Alfred had come to some kind of harm.

"I'm sure you'll find out in time…" Brett answered grabbing hold of Penny's wrist tightly "Let's just say I don't think he'll be snarling at me again…"

"You son of a bitch!" Penny screamed

Managing to tear herself away from her husband's vicelike grip she raced out of the bedroom and down the hall towards the stairs.

"Penelope I'm warning you get back here!"

Brett chased after Penny catching hold of her just before she made the top of the flight of marble stairs that led down to the hall.

"I know everything Brett…" she screamed "I know what you did in Paris….you sent an email to Leonard pretending to be me didn't you?...and my locket you took it from my apartment and mailed it back to him…"

"I did no such thing sweetheart" Brett insisted "You're obviously upset and confused please let's go downstairs and talk about this?..."

Penny was anything but confused. In fact for the first time in a year she was seeing everything with absolute clarity. Their entire relationship had been built on lies and deceit.

"Get off me!" Penny yelled frantically yanking herself away and in doing so stepping backwards.

Penny let out a piercing scream that echoed throughout the house as she fell onto the stairs hitting her head on the first step with unforgiving force knocking herself unconscious. Brett watched in horror as her body rolled over and over finally coming to rest in a broken and crumpled heap in the downstairs hall. For a few seconds he stood and stared down at her believing that in all probability the fall had killed her.

"Oh my God…Oh my God.." he cried to himself as he descended the stairs three at a time stumbling towards the bottom and falling down beside her.

"Penelope sweetheart can you hear me? Penelope please open your eyes honey.." Brett begged crouching down beside his wife.

It didn't take for Brett's calculating mind to figure out that Penny's accident had far reaching implications for him. He hadn't pushed her but given the situation in an ensuing police investigation he was bound to come under suspicion. Clambering to his feet he raced back upstairs to the bedroom closet and fetched a pair of Penny's high heel shoes. Carefully removing her pair of flat shoes he replaced one foot with a high heel and with the other snapped the heel and tossed it up onto the stairs. Now it would appear that her heel had broken causing her to slip and fall. Ironically it was the very pair of shoes that Brett had brought her in Paris after she had broken her heel on the nightclub steps. Taking out his cell phone he dialled 911.

"Please help me…it's my wife she's had an accident…she's fallen down the stairs at our home"

The operator at the other end of the line responded calmly to tell him that paramedics were on their way.

"Is your wife breathing sir?" she then went onto ask

"Barely" Brett answered Penny's breathing was raspy and shallow "Please please hurry" he begged despite everything the thought of losing Penny devastated him.

At that moment Penny's dog Alfred came padding into the hall with his favourite ball in his mouth. Dropping the ball he growled at Brett and then whined at his mistress lying on the floor. Gently he nuzzled her arm hoping to wake her to play ball with him as she did on most days.

"Stay with me sweetheart…please stay with me…" Brett repeated again and again as he waited anxiously for help to arrive.

"Sheldon I have something to tell you….I'm going out tonight on a date"

It was Saturday evening and Leonard was straightening his tie in front of the mirror in the living room while Sheldon neatly folded his t-shirts and placed them into a laundry basket.

"Well I guess if I were either Wolowitz or Koothrappali I would be patting you on the back and congratulating you for finally getting back on the horse…..but as its me you're telling I can't help but wonder why on earth you'd want to put yourself through all that again…"

"Well this time's it gonna be different….Alex is nothing like Penny" Leonard sighed and paused to receive Sheldon's inevitable reaction.

"Oh now you didn't say it was Alex…I'm afraid I can't permit you to date my assistant Leonard" he began setting the laundry basket down and folding his arms across his chest.

"I don't need your permission Sheldon…. its my life and I will date whomever I chose" Leonard responded with rehearsed conviction as he grabbed his keys from the bowl and headed out denying Sheldon any further opportunity to protest.

Feeling so much happier and relaxed than he had in a long time Leonard whistled to himself as he descended the stairs and out into the parking lot. He had just switched on the radio and was about to turn the key in the ignition when a news bulletin caught his attention.

"We are hearing reports that earlier today paramedics were called to the home of Penelope Harrison star of the TV medical drama 'ICU'…we understand that she was taken by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai and although unconfirmed at this stage there are reports that she is in a critical condition… "

In an instant Leonard's plan to drive over to Alex's for their dinner date was abandoned. Starting the engine he threw his car into drive and steered the car out of the parking lot on route to Beverley Hills..