As a street clock was striking nine, a car slid to a standstill near the Holiday Inn. Leonard and Penny got out and called Howard to take over at the wheels. He joined them. "Stick around," Leonard said. "If you see any cops, move off, but keep circling. We may need you in a hurry."

"Rather you than me," Howard said as he drove off. Penny and Leonard walked quickly down the street to the targeted house entrance. It wasn't much of a place from the outside. Penny looked around. The coast was clear and picked the lock. They walked into a lobby, it was dark inside, and the only light beamed in from a street light reflected by a window.

Penny turned to Leonard and said "Whatever happens we stick together. I mean it, Leonard."

"I promise." Leonard nodded.

Penny took out her gun and crossed to the opposite door. She turned the handle and pressed. The door opened. She looked into the darkness and listened, heard nothing. She slowly entered the room. Leonard behind her who found and turned on the light switch. He looked around. The large sitting room was empty and tidy. Clothes were arranged neatly in a washing basket. He recognized a cubic t-shirt that Sheldon used to wear hanging over a chair back. When they were satisfied no one was in the room, and there was nowhere for anyone to hide, they searched the room. Leonard and Penny opened drawers but found nothing of interest. Leonard wondered where the occupants had gone. They left the room, shutting the door behind them."Let's check the other rooms upstairs," Leonard said.

At the next landing, was a passage and two rooms on opposite sides. Penny was watching the stairs. Leonard went ahead upstairs, his gun is drawn, he crossed to the first room and tried the door handle. The door was locked. Penny climbed halfway up the stairs and looked up the passage at him. He put his ear against the door panel. Leonard heard the sound of a window being pushed open. "Hey, you in there," he yelled. "Open up! You are surrounded." Penny sprinted up the stairs, pushed Leonard out of the way and kicked the door open. They rushed in and noticed an opened window and just caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure climbing onto the upper roof and darted into the darkness. They paused to figure out what to do. "Penny we should check out the other room, let the others deal with whoever that was." Leonard put out an alert to Howard and the backup team on his phone to look out for a man on the roof.

"Hell no, I'm not letting Sheldon escape." Are you coming.?" Penny asked impatiently. "We need to go now." She pushed.

Leonard was in two minds, his instinct told him, that might not be Sheldon, and to check the other room. He couldn't believe Sheldon will be that brave to climb up a roof. Then again Leonard hasn't seen him in years and could have acquired new skills, just like he wasn't taken any chances that Sheldon would not be armed and dangerous. But what if he was wrong and Penny was right. They would lose the opportunity of capturing Sheldon. He also didn't want Penny to go after him alone. He wanted to protect her. Leonard decided Penny was more important to him.

They climbed out the window and followed in pursuit. The moon, hidden behind a cloud, made just enough light for them to see where they were going and see the figure in the darkness. They got to the top and ran to the edge of the roof, spotting the figure in the distance. They paused for a moment, trying to decide which way they should go. "We'd better split up, you go left, and I'll go right. See you in a bit." Leonard said.

"No Leonard, we need to stick together," she said worriedly. But he was gone before she finished her sentence. Leonard lowered himself onto another roof.

Penny cursed Leonard under her breath and moved off across the roof. There was a sudden movement, and Penny turned in time to see the shadowy figure appearing on the upper roof and darted back into the darkness, firing several shots in Leonard's direction. Penny suddenly went for her gun. She was surprisingly quick and instinctively blindly fired a few rounds at the figure in a panic to protect Leonard. The noise from both guns was deafening. She didn't know why she panicked; they were supposed to play it cool. She was usually professional in this kind of situations. It was not like her to fire at will randomly. Has she lost her mind she thought?

"Leonard are you okay?" The panic in her voice evident. The silence was killing her inside; she didn't know if he was hurt or dead. "LEONARD." she barked.

"I'm okay," he shouted back after a few minutes. The shooter had missed as Leonard was crouching in the shadows screened by a row of chimney stacks. A relieved Penny paused to take in a deep breath. The thought of Leonard been hurt was the reason she fired wildly. Penny was so relieved he was okay, at the same time, Penny was mad at him for putting himself in danger. Maybe he was right, she cared about him, and the thought of losing him would be too much to endure.

A few minutes of silence went by, and when they were sure the shooter was gone, Leonard leaned forward and looked down into the street. People were looking out of their window to see what was going on and some coming out of the various apartment blocks and crowding the streets. Police sirens could now be heard in the distance. Penny joined Leonard; he was relieved she was safe. "Are you hurt?" Leonard asked."

"No, are you?" Penny looked worried.

"I'm okay, come on Penny; we need to get out of here."

"You took the words right out of my mouth." Penny agreed.

Penny grabbed Leonard hand tightly, running to the edge of the roof; they saw a police car pulling up. From it spilled four cops. They were shoving their way through the crowd while looking up at the roof. Penny pulled Leonard into a shadow of darkness and embraced him to avoid being seen, but she just wanted to hug him. "We need to go," Leonard said, puzzled by the long tight hug. Gasping for breath, Leonard and Penny stumbled out onto a flat roof and lowered themselves onto another roof; they took a stiff drop onto the roof of the adjacent building some ten feet below and into the cool night air where Howard was waiting for them.

"So what happened? This place is swarming with cops," Howard said as he drove away.

"What the hell, Leonard what were you playing at. I told you, we are to stick together." Penny snarled.

"I was trying to draw him out," Leonard replied.

You nearly got yourself killed and jeopardize the mission." Penny screamed.

"What! You are kidding me. Right; you were the one who kicked down the door, brandishing a gun and firing indiscriminately on the roof." He angrily shot back.

"I was trying to protect you; we didn't know what we were walking into. Someone had to do something." Penny growled.

"Well least he didn't shoot at you. If it weren't for those chimneys, I would have been a dead man. I told you not to follow him out the window, but you wouldn't listen." Leonard retorted.

"He was escaping you moron." She barked.

"How do we know it was him, we didn't even see his face. And we never got to investigate the other room; he could have been hiding in there." Leonard snapped.

"Well our priority was to bring him in, and at that moment, it looked like it was him, so I followed my instinct. Something you should try." Penny scoffed.

"So, Sheldon did escape then," Howard said and paused to grin.

"Shut up," they both said at the same time. Leaning back in the back seat and crossing their arms. They both stared angrily at Howard.

"Look, Penny; there is nothing we can do now, we've lost him again. All we can do is hope he shows up on our radar again."

"You lost him," Penny mumbled under her breath.

"Guys fighting is not going get us anywhere; we need a new plan to find Sheldon quickly," Howard interjected.

"Howard is right; we are not going to achieve anything if we are not on the same side. We need to work together on this." Leonard tried to calm things down.

"You know what guys, why don't we all go for a drink; it's been a long day. I'll call Bernadette to meet us at an all night bar." Howard said.

"Sure, why not. I need a large glass of wine as tonight has officially become a shambles, yeah I'm looking at you Leonard." Penny hissed.

"So it's all my fault, and you had nothing to do with the operation going wrong." Leonard shot back.

"If you had listened to me, we would not be in this mess, and our number one suspect would not be at large.," Penny said.

Howard sensed the tension and could see it was degenerating into a random blaming game and knew if he didn't step in, this state of confusion between Leonard and Penny could get out of control. "Leonard didn't mean to scare you. He is just clumsy sometimes and trying to impress you." Howard pleaded.

"I don't care." Penny harshly said, angrily, gazing at Leonard.

"I'm not clumsy, and I don't care too," Leonard said sadly.

Penny and Leonard stared out their side of the car window; Penny took in the night view, she thought of how her world had changed since the devastation and her loss. Her heart sank a little. Penny felt terrible; Leonard was just trying to protect her, not that she needed it, but it was sweet, Why was she taking out her frustration on him, it wasn't his fault what happened earlier or why she was hurting. Penny had lost a lot in her life, and Leonard was one person that she didn't want to lose. She was still in grief from the loss she'd experienced. The brave face she put on every day to hide her pain. Leonard had become precious to her. She wipes a tear that was threatening to fall.

"Are you okay," Leonard asked concerned. She wiped her eyes and composed herself. She didn't want him to see the soft side of her. "Yeah, "I'm fine I was just thinking." She turned to face him. She saw that timeless look in his eyes that she has so often seen. She really needed that drink right now.

"Leonard, there is something I need to tell you," Penny said sadly.