Chapter 18

Leonard only made it about ten feet from Sheldon before he almost ran directly into Howard, his friend seeming to be on a collision course straight towards him. Leonard stopped before that collision course actually became a physical reality, "Hey Howard."

"Hi Leonard, you have a minute?"

Leonard shrugged, "I was just going to look for Penny." he explained to his friend.

Howard nodded, "Well you should be available then because she is with Bernadette and Amy right now drinking some wine and talking about what ever those three talk about."

Leonard now nodded, "Okay...so what's up."

"Well, you are probably a little surprised to see me and Bernadette here I bet." Howard started off with.

"Yeah, I guess I am." Leonard responded, "But I figured Siebert invited you to get some use of your celebrity status as an astronaut."

"Yes, I did go to space." Howard said smugly, "And Siebert did invite me." but then a little frown came to Howard's face, "However, the real reason I came was to help Raj."

Leonard now frowned, "Why, what is going on with Raj?" It had been over a year ago that Raj slept with Penny, and since they didn't actually engage in intercourse and Penny made sure Leonard knew the whole incident was based on drinking way too much and her missing him, nothing else, Leonard had been able to be friends with Raj again, though he would never trust him the same anymore.

"He needs another funded project to keep his job at Cal Tech and his work visa. The previous projects he was working have ended and he currently has nothing in the future funded to keep him here." Howard explained.

Leonard immediately felt a little bad, he had been so involved with Penny the last couple of months he had neglected his friends and Howard's description of Raj's situation was a complete surprise to him. "I had no idea that was his current situation." Leonard confessed to Howard.

Howard nodded, "Yeah, he had been hoping that maybe he could get tenure but with no funded project to work, why would the tenure board even consider a PhD that wasn't working on something cutting edge and didn't really have a future of staying in the U.S.".

Leonard again nodded, now completely understanding Raj's difficult predicament. "So, what was your plan this evening?"

Howard shrugged, "I was going to try and dazzle the donors with my space station trip, while Raj hit them up for money, while they were still star struck." again Howard's words coming out a little smugly.

Leonard gave a small snort and shook his head slightly, "How has that been working for you?"

Howard now frowned, "Not really well, Raj has yet to secure any funding."

Leonard just thoughtfully nodded, he really did still consider Raj his friend and that made him want to help his friend, which fortunately made a plan come to him, "There is someone we could talk to."

"Really!" Howard exclaimed with excitement.

Leonard nodded, "Let me just tell Penny we are going to talk to someone."

"Okay." Howard quickly responded, then fell in behind Leonard as he made his way to the refreshment table where the girls were talking.

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"So, Penny, you seem pretty upbeat for being at a fundraiser." Bernadette stated while looking at her friend.

Penny shrugged, "Yeah, I guess it isn't so bad, I've had a couple interesting conversations with some of the wives." She was purposely trying to sound nonchalant to her friends and not let on that she was doing her best to help Leonard and that she was actually enjoying working with him to get funds, it made her feel like they were a team and she was really helping him, which made her feel good.

Amy made a humorless snort, "Sheldon said you were here to change a sow's ear into silk purse."

Even though Amy didn't make the comment in a way that implied that she was mocking Leonard, more like she was just casually informing them about something Sheldon had said, Penny couldn't help but feel angry at her friend as her face took on a serious frown. Lately anything derogatory any of the guys said about Leonard pissed her off, especially Sheldon, who seemed to always have something to say that put Leonard down while expounding on his own self-importance. However, she quickly caught herself and using all her acting skill plastered a neutral expression of her face before the girls noticed how upset she really was about Amy's comment. However, her anger and curiosity would not let it go, "So what else did Ichabod have to say when we came in, I can't believe he just said that."

Bernadette looked closer at Penny, something in the way she was acting did not seem right, however Bernadette didn't say a thing and just watched.

Amy was use to Penny using the name Ichabod for Sheldon, her liking him to the tall skinny character from the Sleepy Hollow story, Ichabod Crane, along with other names like Giraffe, R2D2, Moon-pie and others, when Sheldon was being disrespectful to her or she was just screwing with him. So, Amy just continued to tell Penny what Sheldon said, "When he saw you walk in, he said something about if you were here to serve drinks."

Penny controlled her emotions; Amy was her friend and the calm monotone way she was telling Penny these things Sheldon told her made it obvious to Penny that she was trying to be accurate and not in any way supporting Sheldon's words. However, it was still hard for Penny to just stand there when she just wanted to right now get Sheldon a drink and shove it in a place where the sun never shined. Her response to the Amy though did not let on to any of those feelings, "Same old Sheldon." she calmly responded and was at least happy that Amy nodded in agreement.

It really helped that only a couple seconds later Leonard and Howard joined them, taking Penny's mind off of Sheldon and the things she wanted to do to him for putting down her and Leonard. "Hey you." she said to her boyfriend with a real smile on her face, a feeling of missing him and being happy he was back with her filling her mind.

"Hey you." Leonard responded, a large smile on his face too as he gazed on his girlfriend, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life, again wondering how he ever got so lucky to be with her.

Howard stopped next to Bernadette, his arm going around her waist in a possessive way that Bernadette liked, she was actually relieved and happy he had come back to join her, because she was still wondering about Penny and how she really felt about what Amy had told her. However, now that the guys were back, the awkward discussion they had just had seemed washed away as Bernadette watched Penny smile happily at Leonard as he smiled back. "So, what have you guys been up to?" she asked Howard.

Howard shrugged, "You know guy talk, mostly about Raj."

"Oh" Bernadette said carefully, not really sure how much about what Howard told her about Raj he told Leonard.

"Raj?" Penny asked as she put her hand on Leonard's arm.

Leonard nodded in confirmation to Howard's comment, "Yeah." he then looked at Howard, "Well you ready to talk to the Throton's now?"

Penny's eyes went a little wide, "You're going back to talk to the Throton's?" when she saw Leonard nod, she continued, "You want me to come along?"

Leonard stopped to think then looked at Howard, "Penny and Mrs. Throton hit it off, so it may be a good idea if she comes along." he then smiled at Penny who smiled back.

"Really, Mrs. Throton, not Mr. Throton, would like to see you again." Howard quickly responded, the sleazy part of his mind taking over before the logical side could stop it.

"HOWARD!" Bernadette quickly admonished him while swatting his arm.

"And here I thought that Bernadette made you so much better than that, then that comes out of your mouth." Penny joined in with her friend to scold Howard.

Leonard just shook his head and chuckled, "Same old Howard." then as almost an afterthought, "Mrs. Throton and Penny have a mutual interest in horses, so they immediately hit it off." which Penny nodded to.

Bernadette looked at Howard then said, "Don't you dare say anything you are thinking about horses, buddy." in a tone that left no doubt he was to keep his mouth shut.

Penny then looked over at Amy, "And nothing about Catharine the Great either." which Amy quickly nodded in agreement.

"Catharine the Great?" Leonard looked with confusion at Penny.

"I'll tell you later, Sweetie." Penny whispered back to him.

So, it was only a few minutes later that Leonard, Penny and Howard walked up to the Throton's, Mr. Throton and his wife smiling at Leonard and Penny as soon as they joined them. Leonard immediately introducing Howard to prevent any awkwardness. "Mr. and Mrs. Throton, I thought you might like to meet my friend and astronaut Howard Wolowitz, who just returned from the International Space Station earlier this year."

"Seriously, you're an astronaut!" Mr. Throton blurted out in awe.

Howard nodded and smiled, "Yep, went up in a Russian Soyuz Rocket, lived and worked on the International Space Station for a while, and then came back down in the Russian capsule."

"Wow, that is amazing." Mr. Throton responded, making Howard feel really good.

"I thought all the Astronauts lived in Texas or Florida?" Mrs. Throton asked out of curiosity.

Howard smiled and nodded, "Most do, but I'm assigned to Cal Tech by NASA to do work on hardware for the space program. I was actually putting some of the new hardware on the Space Station when I was up there. I'm an engineer by trade."

"That is amazing. Can I ask what you are working on now?" Mr. Throton asked, still a little star-struck at talking to a real astronaut.

Leonard now jumped in, "Howard has been collaborating with Dr. Koothrappali, one of our top Astrophysicists at Cal Tech, on a project to develop a meteor detector for the space station and maybe in the future for detecting asteroids heading towards earth."

Howard looked at Leonard, knowing he and Raj never talked about something like that, though he knew he was going to go along with everything Leonard said. "Yes, you can imagine the risk meteors, even very small ones, present to the space station."

Mr. Throton nodded, thinking for a second, then asking. "Who is funding your work?"

Leonard now started talking again. "Well Howard works for NASA so he funded by the Government." Howard looked at Leonard trying understand where he was going, it was like he was saying they didn't need funding, which they did, for Raj. "However, Cal Tech personnel do need to be funded to provide support even to NASA projects."

"So, Cal Tech would need to be funded so their Dr. Koothrappali could help you develop this meteor detector?" Mr. Throton asked, obviously very interested.

Howard smiled, "Yes sir. I expect that with Cal Tech funding the "Throton Meteor Detector" would become a very high priority program."

Mr. Throton's jaw dropped slightly, "The Throton Meteor Detector?"

Howard just nodded, "NASA is very agreeable to naming new equipment for the outside source that developed it and I would expect Cal Tech would lead the program and name it after its funding source."

Karen Throton, now whispered to Penny, "Would you like to get a refreshment while the boys talk about space." She knew her husband was going to fund this project, he was a junkie when it came to anything about space, so having his money being used to develop something for space use, with his name on it, was something he couldn't resist. In addition, ever since they talked to Dr. Hofstadter and Penny, her husband had been saying that maybe they could fund some more of his projects this year, which Karen fully agreed with, her immediately taking a liking to Penny.

Penny smiled, "I think that is a very good idea, Howard can talk about space and him being there for hours."

Karen nodded and smiled back, "My husband can too."

"Dear, Penny and I are going to the refreshment table." Karen almost laughing when all she got from her husband was a nod and an "Okay" before he asked Howard, "Tell me more about living on the space station."

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Penny introduce Karen to Bernadette and Amy soon after her and Karen got a couple drinks, Karen being very impressed at meeting two female PhD's. They spend the next 15 minutes generally talking and giving each other little funny stories about their husbands/boyfriends, that made them all laugh. However, it all ended when Sheldon came by to get Amy and continue his fund-raising effort, the girls watching as Amy excused herself to Sheldon's demands, Karen slightly frowning.

"Is he always like that?" Karen asked, "So arrogant and demanding."

Penny looked at Karen, even though she was a little pissed at Sheldon right now, for putting down her and Leonard, he was still their friend and a member of their group, while Karen was an outsider, so she immediately started to defend Sheldon. "He is extremely smart, genius smart, Leonard says he is up there with the likes of Einstein and other famous scientists, however he has to pay a sort of price for being so smart in that he is completely lost in other things we take for normal."

Bernadette nodded in agreement, "It is like the part of Sheldon's brain that should know he's being mean is getting a wedgie from the rest of Sheldon's brain."

Penny now nodded in agreement to Bernadette's statement, "He just doesn't understand."

Karen thought for a moment then asked, "So you just let him say and do what he wants?"

"God, No. We let him know when he is being an ass and call him out on it." Penny explained.

"Actually, he is a lot better than he was before." Bernadette added.

"Except for maybe tonight, I think he is very nervous." Penny added, too.

"Nervous, really?" Karen asked in surprise.

Both Penny and Bernadette nodded, before Penny spoke, "He has real problems with interfacing with people outside his small group, being at this affair it probably killing him."

"Oh. I guess now I feel a little sorry for him." Karen said with a little sadness

"Don't feel too bad for him, he can still be very crazy, when he wants." Bernadette told her with a little chuckle, Penny agreeing with a nod.

The guys showed up about twenty minutes later, Karen Throton's husband having a big smile on his face. "Honey, Howard told me that the next time we are in Houston he will arrange a tour of space center for us."

"It is really not a big deal Frank; NASA would be thrilled to show around the sponsor of a meteor detector for the space station." Howard told him.

"Well, it is a thrill for me, thank you." Frank then shook Howard's hand before looking at his wife. "Come on honey, let's talk to Siebert about funding the meteor detector before someone else takes it."

Karen smiled, "Okay, see you this weekend Penny and nice to meet you Bernadette." the girls giving Karen a quick hug before she followed her husband to find President Siebert.

Howard smiled and looked at Leonard as soon as the Throton's were out of earshot, "That was pretty slick Leonard. A meteor detector, I would have never thought of that."

"Well, I overheard you talk about the dangers of micrometeors on the space station. It is possible to build one, isn't it?" Leonard asked.

"Yeah, it will take a lot of work and it will probably only be able to detect clouds of micrometeorites, but it will still give the station a warning and I think NASA will appreciate it." Howard told him.

Penny and Bernadette just looked at each other, both just listening to Howard and Leonard discussing the subject they had with Frank Throton. Actually, Bernadette had a little idea what it was about, she knew her husband was there to help his friend Raj and since Leonard was Raj's friend too, she expected this meteor detector idea was for the benefit of their friend. Penny on the other hand, didn't really know what was going on and was a little surprised that Leonard had hit Mr. Throton up for more funding when he had told her previously that he wondered if he would even be able to spend all the funding Mr. Throton had generously offered.

"Well, I think I'm going to go find Raj and tell him about the project we have been talking about." Howard said with a chuckle.

Leonard nodded, "Since you got back from the space station." he added.

"Since I got back from the space station." Howard repeated

Bernadette turned to Penny, "Well I'll see you later Penny."

Penny nodded, a little distracted from what was going on, before responding, "Okay, later."

As Howard and Bernadette moved off, Penny then turned to Leonard, "What is this about a meteor detector and what does it have to do with Raj?" She had known Leonard a long time and had listened to him telling her about what he was doing but she never heard of him working on things for space, the only thing she ever remembered him saying about space being that lasers worked better there.

"Mr. Throton is going to fund Raj to support NASA to work on developing a meteor detector and Howard is going help." Leonard explained.

That really didn't tell Penny much more so she asked. "Why?"

"Howard told me that Raj's current programs have ended so he needs a new program and funding to get his visa renewed and stay in the country. The meteor detector and Mr. Throton's funding does that." Leonard explained.

Penny just stared at him for a couple seconds as it all started to sink in, before she replied, "So you, along with Howard's help, got Mr. Throton to fun Raj on this Meteor thingy."

Leonard nodded smiled, happy that he had explained it right to Penny, so she now understood, "Exactly."

Penny nodded then stared at him again, she had known soon after first meeting Leonard that he was a nice guy, but after being around him she had learned he was a loyal friend that cared about his friends and always had their back. It was seeing that in Leonard that allowed her to immediately accept him as a friend, even though her first impression of him told her he wasn't her type. Of course, the feeling of him not being her type didn't really last that long after he became her friend, because suddenly her type had somehow changed and how that happened, she could not explain, but her type changed to definitely include Leonard. It was things, like he had just done for Raj, that had helped to make him her type, and the fact being her friend, her best friend, had made her fall in love with him.

"Penny?" Leonard suddenly said, breaking her away from her thoughts and making her now focus more on the man in front of her.

"Um...Yes." she quickly responded.

"I thought there for a moment I lost you." he came back with.

"Sorry, I just was thinking about what you and Howard did for Raj and how it was good he didn't have to leave Cal Tech." she partially lied.

Leonard smiled and nodded, "Yeah, it definitely wouldn't be the same without Raj around."

"True-dat." Penny responded with a smile, making Leonard smile a little larger, as he took a step closer to her.

"I love it when you get all gangster." he told her with a twinkle in his eye before he leaned in for a quick kiss.

"Mmm." Penny hummed softly after Leonard pulled away, she now wanted to leave the fund-raiser and take her sexy scientist home, "Is there anyone else you need to schmooze here?"

Leonard got a deep in thought look on his face, a look Penny was used to seeing on him when he was seriously thinking. "I really don't know. I've got all the funding I need for my projects, Raj seems good, and Howard is a NASA employee on loan to the university so he doesn't need donor funding."

Penny smiled, "I notice you didn't mention Sheldon."

Leonard frowned, "Well according to Sheldon, people should be throwing their money at him to fund the theories he is working on because they are the only worthwhile work that is being done in the Physics world right now." he then smiled a wicked grin, "So who am I to question his genius."

Penny giggled, "Besides he has Amy to save his ass."

Leonard nodded, "He doesn't even realize how lucky he is to have her." he then sighed, "Let's go over and talk to President Siebert to see if we are done for the night." to that Penny just nodded.

"There is my scientist of the evening." Siebert exclaimed as Leonard and Penny walked up to him, a little surprised at his enthusiasm.

Siebert continued on before Leonard and Penny could say a word, "I just had a talk with Mr. Throton, and he has decided to donate some more money to Dr. Koothrappali's research, which he told me you and Wolowitz explained to him." Then he moved a little closer to them and in a conspiratorial tone asked, "What is this project concerning a meteor detector?"

"Ah...it is something Raj and Howard have been discussing and looking at since Howard came back from the space station." Leonard quickly explained, trying to stay on the script he and Howard discussed.

"Yes, they have been talking about it a lot everytime we see them." Penny quickly added, getting a quick thank-you look from Leonard.

Siebert nodded; he also gave them "you are up to something" look. "Okay, well it seems Throton is more than happy to fund this project, so when you see Dr. Koothrappali tell him I expect his project proposal to cross my desk for approval in the next two weeks." then as an afterthought, "Also, you might want to give Gablehauser a heads up on this project." he added with a smile and a wink.

Leonard smiled and nodded, "Will do, Sir."

Leonard's face then went neutral as he now knew he needed to ask the question they had originally come to Siebert about, "Umm, President Siebert, are there any other donors you were expecting me to see tonight?"

"Well..." Siebert started to look around.

Penny decided to step in. "President Siebert, Leonard is being nice but the truth is this is my time of the month and I have been having cramps so Leonard was asking if we could go so, I can rest."

Siebert seemed a little surprised but quickly recovered, "No of course, I completely understand, you both have done very well at this fund-raiser tonight and by all means Dr. Hofstadter take this lovely lady home to rest." he said with smile, then added. "And Penny, we hope to see you again at our affairs."

Penny gave Siebert a 1000-watt smile, "And I hope to be at future Cal Tech affairs."

The three of them then said their good-byes, and Leonard and Penny quickly made their way to the exit, before anyone could stop them. "I didn't know you felt bad, I would have gotten us out of their sooner." Leonard told her on the way to their car.

Penny smiled, "I feel find, I just thought your President was going to keep us there all night to get as much money as he could, so I sort of lied."

Leonard gave her a small smile and nodded, "Yeah, you are probably right." he then looked at her, "You are really devious, do I need to be worried?"

Penny gave him a very self-confident smirk, "Maybe."

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The whole drive home, Penny was having a hard time not staring at Leonard, she had thought he looked so handsome that night, in the suit she helped him pick out, and she was very much in awe of him in how confident and commanding he was when he was in his realm of science. She thought back to the men, really boys, she dated before and thought they wouldn't be more than, as Sheldon would describe it, bumbling baboons if they had been at the fund-raiser tonight, while Leonard had been impressive to both rich and smart people the whole night, not to mention herself who right now was a little in awe of him. However, even with all that, she was also very touched on how loyal and caring he was with his friends, what he and Howard did to help Raj being so considerate and it just confirmed what Penny learned a long time ago about him, Leonard was someone you could trust and would always have your back. These characteristics not only made him a great friend to have but made him the kind of guy a girl could settle down with and be happy with, it was only icing on the cake that he was good in bed and regularly rocked her world.

They finally arrived back at the apartment, Penny wondering why the trip home seemed to take longer than the original trip to the fund-raiser, but still happy they were finally there. So, they no sooner got out of Leonard's SUV and locked it than Penny grabbed Leonard's hand and pulled him along behind her as she rushed to the apartment doors, then once through, up the stairs to their apartment. Leonard who was not used to be pulled along by Penny like this, suddenly stopped on the first flight of stairs and waited as Penny came to a stop to look back at him.

"Penny why the hurry?" he asked, a little confused at her mad rush home.

Penny just looked at him, then bit her lip, before putting on one of sexiest faces he had ever seen on her. What happened next made his jaw drop, she reached up and slipped the strap of her dress off her shoulder, very slowly, then slipped the bra strap under it down too, pulling them both down a little further and exposing the top half of her breast. If that wasn't enough to get Leonard's heart going her next softly spoken words did the trick, "I want you honey...now."

Leonard was convinced if he didn't get her home quickly, she might undress right there is the stairwell, so he now hurried up the stairs with her in tow. It was actually fortunate that they lived on the 3td floor now because Leonard only had to rush up one more flight of stairs before they reached their apartment, so he wasn't a wheezy mess when they rushed through their door, locking it behind them, and attacked each other with all the passion that had been building in Penny all night and had been ignited in Leonard by Penny's explicit declaration on the stairs. It seemed to take only moments, after their lips met, that Penny had Leonard's tie and shirt undone while she inserted her hands under his t-shirt to rub on his chest, while Leonard had at the same time unzipped her dress and unhooked her bra to rub his hands on her bare back which her made her emit little moans that only turned him on more.

Then never made it to the bedroom, the couch being the closet object around them where their very intense love making began, it was also very quick. Penny having been wound up like a stretched guitar string, since their leaving the fund-raiser, so the intensity of their first joining snapped that string almost immediately sending her over the edge before Leonard even got close to reaching his climax. It was also amazing that, after that first round, Leonard could pick her up and still stay in place in her, adrenalin being a very strong drug, while he carried her to the bedroom where they resumed where they left off. Their second go round having both Penny and Leonard now climbing the mountain to bliss and both of them eventually finishing at the same time.

Leonard supported himself over Penny for several minutes after, his little last spasms causing little spasms in Penny as they both slowly returned back to normal. They gave each other little kisses as they both came off their high and it wasn't till Leonard became fully flaccid that one of them finally spoke. "We're going to have mess if we don't go to the bathroom now." Penny said with a little giggle.

Leonard nodded and gave her a tissue from the box on the night stand, before agreeing with her, "Yeah, you're right."

Leonard then moved off of Penny, who got out of bed, reaching back to get Leonard's hand to pull him in the bathroom with her. She knew that Leonard adored her and that he thought she was beautiful so she sort of enjoyed walking around naked in front of him because she knew he enjoyed seeing her like that, and she did like to make him happy. He stayed with her as they both used the bathroom and then stood behind her, with his arms around her, while she wiped off her makeup before they then both got in the shower to wash the sex off of them. They ended up both taking turns washing each other and eventually that lead to shower sex, this time them both taking it slow, their love for each other now dominating instead of the act itself.

Penny found herself a little wobbly after they left the shower, after reaching her third peak, and so Leonard helped dry her and helped into bed, where she moved herself halfway on him, her head on his heart. She was happy, warm, secure and content, and as soon as Leonard started to rub her back, extremely comfortable, so it was only a few moments later she succumbed to her fatigue and fell asleep. Leonard was happy and content, too, so as soon as he heard the cute little soft snores from Penny, he completely relaxed and joined her in sleep.