Penny gets the part

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Penny answered the phone, "Hi Sheila… have you heard anything from the show?"

Sheila was very happy on the other end. "Penny sweetheart, they cancelled the fourth session because they liked who they had from the first three…. Honey… you're in!"

Penny almost dropped the phone. "Really? A real Broadway show? And I'm in it?

Sheila laughed. "Penny… come back to earth. This is just the chorus remember… anyway, they need you to go down to the theater and sign some paperwork.. I'll meet you there."

Penny hung up her phone and jumped straight in the air. "YES! I can't believe it! I knew it was a good idea to come to New York… Oh my god… I better get going." Penny quickly threw on a jacked and her sneakers and ran down to get to the theater. She was going to be on Broadway!

Leonard had just returned from taking Sheldon to the Doctor in order to get the proper inoculations. Even though Sheldon was up to date on all the normal vaccinations, the CDC does suggest the rabies vaccine for travelers involved in outdoor and other activities in remote areas that put them at risk for bat bites (such as adventure travel and caving), or people who will be working with or around bats (such as wildlife professionals and researchers).

Leonard tried to reason with him, "Sheldon... we will be nowhere around any bats, and the sequence is given over a three week time frame".

Sheldon insisted that he needed the shot. "Leonard... A pound of prevention..."

The second of the series of shots would be in about a week. That would leave the third shot for a couple of weeks after that. Knowing full well that they would be back before the third set did nothing to deter Sheldon from starting the regimen. Leonard had decided that that the second shot would be just enough time for them to get set to go back to Cambridge.

Penny went down to the theater as quickly as she could. Unfortunately for her, she hung up the phone before Sheila could tell her that the contract and financial people wouldn't be there until the next day. When she got to the theater, the place was dark except for a few stage hands starting to get things set up. Penny dialed Sheila to find out where everyone was. "Sheila… where is everyone?"

Sheila giggled into the phone. "Remember when I told you that you would need to lose that starry eyed look or New York would eat you up"?

Penny smiled, "Yeah….."

Sheila continued. "Do it NOW! You hung up before I could tell you that we need to meet at 1PM TOMORROW".

Penny sighed. "Geesh… Okay…. I was just so excited. Thanks Sheila… see you then." Penny then went further into the theater to see how things were and to look at how big the theater was. Unfortunately, this was one of the older theaters and wasn't the biggest. Penny made her way on stage and looked out at where the audience would be. She thought to herself, "This sure beats a 99 seat theater above a bowling alley". Penny continued to walk around on the stage when a bright light came on blinding her for a minute. She put up her hand before her eyes and exclaimed "HEY!"

The lights went off but before Penny could readjust to the dim lighting, she heard a familiar voice. "If you are going to be a star…. You will need to work on your lighting and scene changing skills."

Penny looked out into the theater, "Leon?" There was no immediate response, so Penny continued to look around on stage and in the wings off stage.

A short time later, Leon tapped her on the shoulder. "What brings you here?"

Penny suddenly got a big smile on her face, jumped up and gave him a hug. "I'm in the show…. Isn't that great?... My first Broadway show!..."

Leon was taken by complete surprise, at first taking a step back. When he realized it was a hug, he eagerly returned the gesture. "That is so great!"

Howard and Sheldon needed to be brought up to speed on the project. It wasn't hard for Sheldon to identify the unexpected divergent information. It was really quite amazing to watch how quickly he picked up the nuances of Leonard's work. Until now, Leonard was really the only one who could go through the data without taking a great deal of time. Leonard had been training Colin and Nigel, but they were still slower.

Howard, however, wanted to set some protocols that could be used to determine if someone was dealing their information. There was a little known black market for promising research data used to further careers of either new researchers or researchers that had their best days behind them. They were going to devise a background labeling incription of seemingly random points that would actually be paired data. The inscription program would tag information that they would plant and see if the data would show up in claims of other researchers.

The trial data incriptions were set up by Howard and Leonard with Sheldon adding some interesting information. With Sheldon's eidetic memory, he could easily identify when the bogus data was used.

Pence was not at all clear on the methods they were using, but she was extremely grateful for their help in this project. This was the kind of effort that would be looked upon favorably by Dr. Hawking and could really propel her career in academia to a new level. She was so happy with the way things were going, that on this night, she pulled Leonard into a tight hug and gave him a tender kiss on the cheek.

Penny had finally received Leonard's phone message and Penny had been able call to tell Leonard about her show. "Leonard… hi... this is SO exciting! I got the part in the show… I got it… I can't believe it…"

Leonard was extremely happy for Penny because this was just one more thing she could put in her portfolio and one step closer to her dream. "I told you that you were great! You really need to listen to my input more often". Leonard had a grin that he hoped she could imagine.

Penny grinned also. "Okay Hofstadter… you can be my first critic from now on. It's a small part so I don't know where this will lead to… But IT'S ON BROADWAY!"

Leonard continued to tell her how excited he was for her, keeping the fears that this could be the beginning of what he feared most inside.

Penny for her part was excited for Leonard to be working with Dr. Hawking again, but was not excited that he would be working closer than ever to Pence during this snooping around. "Sweetie, it's so great that you get to work more with Hawking… but what is it exactly that Pence has to do with this leak of information stuff?"

Leonard thought the question was a little funny. "Well, she really doesn't have anything to do with the information… she was in on the design of the new lab… why?"

Penny frowned into the phone. "So… why exactly do you have to work with her instead of those other two guys?"

Leonard was picking up some negative vibes from Penny. "Penny, we've been through this… Pence works with Dr. Hawking closely, and he trusts her. We don't know where the leaks are from, so the smaller the circle of people in on it, the better. You have to let this go… I love YOU… trust me… I only want you…"

Penny smiled. "OK… OK… I'm sorry… I do trust you… really I do".

Their call went on with some chatter about their friends and how Sheldon and Howard were working with Leonard. This made Penny feel better because she doubted Pence would try anything if Sheldon were around. Penny also told Leonard that Amy and Bernadette were going to be at some National Biology Foundation thingy, and she would try to get to meet with them. They finished their call with the I love yous that came freely these days.

Pence came in and exclaimed to the three friends. "It looks like Dr. Hawking is secure with the thought that we can set an appropriate snare. It's time to get off to Cambridge".