A/N Thank you so much to Warriorcreed and SRAM for your amazing reviews. I am always stunned by the insights you provide.

SRAM, Penny will be confronted with challenges for the near future but Penny and Leonard will continue to face their attraction to each other.

Warriorcreed, you come up with the greatest ideas. They are often so much better than the actual story. I will say I plan to do something somewhat like you postulated. I hope it won't be too disappointing.

I also want to thank all of you who honor me by reading my story.

I do not own Big Bang Theory or any of the related characters. The Big Bang Theory series was created and owned by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. All rights of Big Bang Theory belong to them. This story is a work of fanfiction and is meant for entertainment only. I am not making profit from this story.

Tomas took one last look before he exited the shelter. It took all of his resolve not to return to his wife and daughter. The Planet had been bombarded for over two weeks and it appeared the invaders were ready to proceed to the next step.

One of the Republic Starships leaving the Sector had given Celara two months warning of the invaders. They offered to enable the Celarian ruling council to escape and establish a government away from the planet but were refused.

There were thoughts of loading merchant ships with women and children but they traveled at slow warp speed and it was feared they would be easy prey for the invaders.

In preparation for the attack, Celarian weapon factories worked around the clock. All single men and women above the age of thirty were ordered to become part of a defense group. All families that had two parents had to choose one of the parents to join as well.

The Celarian Corps of Engineers dug out huge shelters in the frozen ground. Large portions of the population were moved to caves in the mountains.

Tomas had only been with his fellow soldiers for three days when the invasion began. Although they fought valiantly, the end was never in doubt. They were badly outgunned and the invaders quickly took control of the skies.

Once the invaders took control, they inflicted havoc on the population. It soon became apparent they had no desire to replace the Republic. There only mission was to ravage and destroy.

By the time they left, Celara was a disaster. They destroyed electric grids, water plants and heating facilities. They took whatever they considered of value. Thousands of women were raped and thousands of Celarians were tortured.

They left no soldiers behind. Their purpose was not to rule but to destroy. Celarians were left facing the harsh climate of their home planet. It would take years to rebuild.

Tomas and his family were among the fortunate ones who escaped direct harm but faced the same hardships as their fellow citizens.

Ortag's ship was one of the last to join the Fleet. Now that they had more information on the Invaders, their outlook had improved. They felt their ships were far superior.

But just as the fleet was prepared to travel to confront the invaders, the situation became much more complicated when the invader fleet broke into thirty small fleets each containing approximately ten ships. As the Republic pondered how to counter, there came word that the invaders were attacking planets containing sentient life forms that were pre-warp and not members of the Republic.

The Council addressed the issue and to their credit, decided they would do all they could to protect all planets with life. However, Republic planets would have the highest priority and no planets not a member of the Republic would be contacted unless it was apparent they were to be attacked.

They also regretfully decided they could do nothing for planets that lie outside the boundaries of the Republic.

In order to protect the remaining sixty planets of the Republic, the Fleet was divided up under the following formula:

Five ships for each planet in a sector.

As it turned out Earth was in a remote sector with only one Republic planet.

Acceding to his request to lead a fleet to that sector, Captain Ortag contacted Celara to check on Penny's family. He then set out with four other ships.

Meanwhile, back on Earth.

Penny called Tort in the morning and they decided to move forward with their plans, Penny telling him she had decided the best thing she could do to help her cope with what was happening is to get back to the mission.

They had decided that Tort would meet Leonard and Sheldon first so as to have a better chance to take suspicion off him knowing Penny.

Knowing when Sheldon and Leonard returned from work, he hid outside until they opened the outside door. He then ran out, calling out for them to hold the door.

He then entered with them, telling them thanks.

When they entered the elevator, Leonard was angry at himself as he found himself feeling insecure next to the tall handsome stranger.

As Tort hit the second-floor button, he asked, "Do you guys live in the building?"

Sheldon answered, "Yes, on the fourth floor."

As the door opened on the second floor, Tort held it for a moment; "I'm Stephen Johnson, I just moved into 2B."

Leonard answered, "I'm Leonard, this is Sheldon."

"Glad to meet you. Maybe we can get together some time."

Leonard's immediate reaction was to invite him to join them for supper. He was surprised and ashamed to realize he didn't want Johnson to meet Penny.

They all stood there for a few moments when Leonard was shocked to see Penny come up the stairs.

She stopped and looked at them, "So you guys are responsible for holding up the elevator."

Then she reacted to seeing Tort, "Hi, I'm Penny."

Tort looked her over, "I'm Stephen, I just moved into 2B."

He then apologized for holding up the elevator.

Penny smiled, "That's okay."

When Tort moved to leave, Penny turned to Leonard, "Why don't we ask Stephen to join us for supper?"

She felt a little sad when she saw the look on Leonard's face. He recovered though, "Maybe Stephen has other plans."

"No, I'd love to join you."

Sheldon spoke up, "Tonight is Pizza night. What do you prefer?"

"Whatever you are having is fine."

Leonard spoke up, "It will be a while before it gets here."

"That's alright. It will give me time to clean up."

Leonard nodded, "We are in 4A."

"Great, I'll see you guys there."

Tort left and Penny got on the elevator and rode with them to the fourth floor.

When they got there, she turned to Leonard, "I am going to change. Just get me my usual."

Leonard looked longingly after her. Sheldon couldn't resist, "Our new neighbor is quite a handsome man. And tall."

Leonard gave him a glare and then went in to order the pizza.

An hour later, everyone, including Howard and Raj had found a seat, been fortified with a beverage, and were digging in.

Tort had expressed his admiration at what the men all did for a living. He smiled when Penny revealed her job.

Then Howard asked, "How about you, Stephen, what do you do for a living?"

Leonard was disgusted with himself when he found himself hoping he was a janitor.

He was stunned along with the others when Tort told them he was a Private Detective.

Raj spoke first, "Wow. That is amazing." He paused, "Like James Bond."

Howard shook his head, "He's not a spy. He's more like Magnum P.I."

After the meeting at the gas station, Tort had felt he should research who that was.

He smiled, "I am afraid it is not that exciting." He hesitated, "I lot of it is being on the phone or a computer. It also involves a lot of travel."

Howard broke in, "Are you working on a case now?"

"I am but it has nothing to do with any of you or where I am living."

He went on, "I have an office downtown."

Howard interrupted again, "Do you meet a lot of beautiful women?"

Tort laughed, "You have been watching too much television."

Then, going along with what he and Penny had decided, that he would show interest in her, looked over at her, "It looks like it's you scientists who meet the beautiful women."

Penny managed to blush and then sighed internally when she saw the look on Leonard's face. She gathered herself, she had a mission to do.

Just then Raj spoke up, "I am sorry to change the subject, but I just remembered something."

He turned to look at Penny, "While you were in Vegas, we saw a guy hanging around your apartment."

Tort and Penny managed to not look at each other.

Raj continued, "He said he was lost, but I thought he was someone I see a lot at the Cheesecake Factory."

He turned to Leonard, "Sheldon and Howard didn't recognize him, but they sit on the other side of the table. I thought maybe you or Penny would remember him."

He went on, "He's the guy that always wears that white shirt and always has a Bud Light."

He turned to Penny, "You and he seem to know each other."

Penny was struggling not to get excited, "I think I know who you mean. He is just a regular, I just know his name is James and he's a good tipper."

Leonard spoke up, "Yeah, I know who you mean. I wonder why he lied."

He turned to Penny, "Do you think he was looking for you?"

Penny decided they needed to settle this down. She needed to talk to Tort about what this could mean. She knew it could have nothing to do with Fomac, but this is the first lead they had to explore, "I never got any vibe he was interested in me. Maybe it was just a coincidence and he was embarrassed."

Sheldon spoke up, "As you know, I am not a big believer in coincidences. I would tend to believe he was looking for you."

Penny smiled, "Well, the next time he comes to the restaurant, I will ask him."

She realized that she had not seen him since she returned from Vegas.

Fomac was torn. He wanted to keep observing Penny but was worried about his encounter by her apartment. Maybe it was time to get as far from her as possible. But even as he thought that, he realized that he enjoyed the feeling of being right under her nose.

He had to quit being paranoid. He was sure that she had assumed he was dead. Why would they ever expect him to change his appearance?

For all they knew he was just an agent who disappeared. It wasn't like that was an isolated occurrence. It had been ten years, they had given up looking for Zonder Fomac long ago. No one would ever look for him on a pre-warp planet.

He made himself believe it would be just as dangerous to suddenly change his routine and not show up at the Cheesecake Factory.

After she assumed the guys were asleep, Penny made her way down to Tort's apartment.

"Well, Tort, what do you think?"

"I think this is the best lead we have had. We know that he had your key. I agree with Sheldon. It all just seems to much of a coincidence."

He thought for a moment, "Does this guy use a credit card at the restaurant?"

"No, he always pays cash." She hesitated, "I always wondered about that."

"You never heard anything but James?"

"No. What should I do if he shows up?"

Tort sat back and thought, "You should take a picture and send it to this Raj guy to see if that is the man he saw. Then call me and I'll pose as a customer and try to follow him when he leaves."

Penny nodded, "Should I mention what Raj told me?"

"I don't think so. He may wonder why you are not bringing it up but there could be lots of reasons you would avoid confronting him. He may even think Raj didn't tell you."

"I guess you're right." She paused, "What if he doesn't show up?"

"We will just have to see if anyone at the restaurant knows anything about him." He sighed, "We'll be back close to square one."

A week later Penny was stunned when she saw James sitting at his normal table. She quickly took a picture with her phone and sent it to Raj at work. He replied that it was indeed the man he had seen.

Penny then called Tort and smilingly went to wait on him.

Fomac was a little surprised when Penny didn't mention anything about him being outside her apartment. But then he figured either she wasn't sure it was him or she didn't want to rock the boat. After all, he was a regular customer and an excellent tipper.

Penny wanted to try to find out his last name but couldn't figure out a way to do so without raising his suspicions.

Just as she delivered his food, she saw Tort enter and take a seat.

Tort sat where he was facing James. If this was Fomac, they had done an excellent job. He looked nothing like the man he was looking for.

Then James got up, apparently to relieve himself. It was all Tort could do from crying out. When he had spent time on Darvin 7, he had noticed that the men walked in a certain way. He could never pin down exactly what set them apart but just realized it was different.

Now James was walking the same way! He knew the evidence was all circumstantial but he realized he firmly believed this was Zonder Fomac.

When Fomac got up to leave, Tort quickly paid his check and followed him out. He was surprised but gratified when it appeared Fomac was going to walk to wherever he was going.

He followed him carefully for two blocks and saw him enter an apartment building. It had a security door preventing Tort from following him further. But looking at the names on the eight apartments, there was one James Parker.

Deciding that was all he could do for the time being, he returned to his car and drove home.

When Penny got off work and had returned home, she immediately called Tort. They agreed to meet in his apartment later that night.

Penny waited until ten o'clock to get her mail and head up to Tort's apartment.

Leonard was exhausted as he entered the lobby. It had been a long day but a successful one.

He saw Penny entering the elevator and called out for her to hold the door but she didn't hear him. Not wanting to wait for the elevator to go up four flights and return, he started up the stairs.

He had just reached the second-floor landing when he saw Penny going into 2B.

He stood there stunned for a moment. Then, saddened, he continued up the stairs. But then he had to smile ruefully, who could blame her. The guy was gorgeous and had a cool occupation.

He smirked to himself, if he was gay he would be attracted to him too.

Fighting the despair that tried to overcome him, he reached his apartment.

Tort and Penny spent over three hours discussing what they should do now. Assuming they had found Fomac and they both believed they had, what should they do about it?

Under normal circumstances they would only have to keep track of him for six weeks until a Republic Ship would arrive in answer to their call.

But now, with the war, it could be a long time or maybe never until a ship would arrive. They couldn't turn him over to the police or keep him captive all that time.

It was tempting to think of killing him if they could establish for sure he was Fomac but he deserved a trial. Besides, the Republic had long discarded the Death Penalty.

It was then that an idea came to Penny. At first she dismissed it but as crazy as it seemed, decided to run it by Tort.

"What if I went to him and told him that I knew he was Randall Smith. That he was in no danger of reprisal from the Council. After all, he did alert them that Earth was close to discovering Warp travel. That I just wanted to know that he was alive. Then, I can tell him about the invasion. After all, his home planet is in danger too. He should know. Maybe this would keep him in contact with me. He doesn't need to know anything about you."

Tort pondered what she was saying. He felt it could be a dangerous thing to do. How would Fomac react knowing he had been found?

Also, they couldn't be completely positive this was Fomac.

Penny watched him as he continued to think about what she had said.

Finally, he smiled, "It's crazy and it's dangerous, but I think it is the right thing to do. He should know about his home planet."

He sighed, "I think we should go ahead. I hate to not deal with him being a murderer, but I see no good way to handle that now." He paused, "At least this gives us a chance to keep an eye on him."

He looked into her eyes, "But be sure to take your gun with you."