The next few days were filled with more questioning and protocols as well as some hours in interrogation by different agencies. Finally, after days full of the same questions, doubt rose in Penny that Sheldon would not tell them what he knew. Brennan could feel Penny's frustration and decided to take matters into his own hands. In the middle of the interrogation, Brennan stood up to leave when he suddenly turned around with his revolver in hand, Brennan brandished the weapon in front of his face. Sheldon stood up stepped backward with a terrible grimace on his face, he lost his balance and fell to the ground. Brennan did not hesitate a second and used this moment to grab Sheldon by his tee shirt. "Tell us what we need to know, or you would not like what I have planned for you," Brennan said with anger in his voice. Leonard quickly jumped in before Brennan hurt Sheldon physically. "Brennan, can I talk to you outside for a minute," Leonard asked, trying to defuse the situation. he didn't want Sheldon hurt, even though Sheldon had betrayed Leonard in the past and stole his ideas, he felt sorry and empathy for Sheldon.
Brennan looked at Leonard and then Penny who nodded her approval. "Yeah sure."
Brennan, Leonard, and Penny left the room. They returned ten minutes later after some discussions and agreed to let Leonard handle Sheldon.
"Um, I would like to apologize for my ugly behavior earlier!" Brennan said to Sheldon who nodded his approval.
Leonard took a deep breath and tried a different tactic. "Sheldon you need to tell us what you know, there is a lot of lives at stake, do you want this on your conscience."
For a moment they were in silence, and suddenly he spoke. "Where is Amy, I want to see her," Sheldon said.
Leonard was baffled why he wanted to see Amy but went along. "She is safe, I promise you," Leonard assured him.
"I want to see her now." Sheldon insisted.
"That's not possible right now Sheldon; we just need you to tell us the whereabouts of the time device and who you are working for.?"
"Leonard, I promise you, if you let me see Amy and she is safe, I will tell you all you need to know."
"Sheldon, you need to give us something in return." Leonard tried his luck.
"And you will let me see Amy," Sheldon questioned. He missed Amy; he hasn't been able to stop thinking about her since he was forced to abandoned her and concentrate on his work by Larry.
"I can't promise you anything, but I will do my best." Leonard waited for Sheldon reply.
Sheldon hesitated for a few seconds and then said. "Okay, there is a portal opening in two hours' time. You need to stop it."
"Sheldon if that is true, we would have detected the signature by now." Leonard wasn't sure if Sheldon was telling the truth.
"The updated version does not leak radiation hence cannot be detected. Now can I see Amy?" Sheldon demanded.
Leonard told Sheldon how Amy reached to them when he disappeared and left her alone and how she was scared for his safety and wanted to go home. Leonard also told Sheldon he took her home and Amy is safely back at their world. Sheldon had no reason not to believe Leonard, and with the promise to go back and bring Amy to see him, Sheldon was satisfied. He knew Leonard always kept his word.
Sheldon continued talking. "While working for Larry to fund my project, I configured our original machine which I named Mack 1 by the way, to be able to time travel, but with a limit of just three people going through it at one time, the Mack 1 is not stable. If its capacity is reached, it could potentially create a wormhole that if not controlled could accelerate through time with destructive consequences in the fabric of space. You need to find the Mack 1 and destroy it." Sheldon begged. "It could end or change the time continuum as we know it." Sheldon worriedly said.
"Who has it and what changes have been made?" Leonard asked.
"As you know the Mack 1 was created by you and me to jump from one universe to another. It can now also be used as a time machine." Sheldon said.
"So, you finally completed my project." Leonard couldn't help but be impressed but really wanted to wipe that smug off his face.
"Yes, I did." Sheldon grinned. "I built the updated version using your papers and my maths. I called it the Mack 2 and is 100% safe. When Larry found out, he wanted to keep it for himself, so using the Mack 1, I sent the Mack 2 to myself sometime in the future. Larry wasn't happy, so he kept me prisoner and threaten me until I told him where to find the Mack 2."
"Who is Larry?" Penny asked.
"He is a perilous underworld lord in my world. He traffics people and drugs and is very dangerous." Leonard explained.
"I manage to convince Larry that I could get it back so he wouldn't kill me. I lied, telling Larry that the Mack 2 was back in this world."
"Is it somewhere here then," Leonard asked.
"No, it was just a ploy to bring me here. I knew you were here and would pick up my signal and capture me." Sheldon replied.
"So, it is you who send us the signal we picked up. I thought it was too good to be true as you would not be so careless, now it makes sense." Leonard said.
"Leonard, I was hoping you or Howard would pick up the signal."
"Well, we thought it was another hoax but decided to follow the lead, just in case," Leonard said.
"Thank god you did, or I'll probably be dead by now," Sheldon said.
"About the Mac 2, are you sure it's safe," Leonard asked.
"Yes, I tested it a few times without Larry's knowledge, and there have been no issues or radiation leaks," Sheldon assured him.
"How were you able to exploit the time machine to be stable," Leonard asked.
"The mysterious Dark Matter. I was able to use it to open a tunnel long enough to go in one end and out the other.
"You went back in time in a wormhole," Leonard asked.
"Yes, and to the future. I first used it to rescue Raj from your clutches." Sheldon grinned.
"Wipe that grin off your face before I slap it off. Penny interjected.
Sheldon shuddered at Penny's angry expression.
"So that was you. I knew Raj didn't just disappear into thin air. Brennan added.
"Did you use it to help Raj meet his late wife in the past?" Leonard enquired.
"No, for some reason he changed his mind," Sheldon said as he regains his composure.
Leonard was glad that he got through to Raj who took his advice, deciding not to tamper with the timeline.
"I decided to destroy the Mack 1 as it wasn't powered by dark matter and prone to collapse."
"Where is the Mack 2 now?" Penny asked.
"All will be revealed as soon as you get me out of here Leonard. I got all the info you need on Larry and will give you the Mack 2 in exchange for my freedom." Sheldon tried to bargain.
"Sheldon, I don't think I can do that. There are a lot of people that want a piece of you."
"Exactly, that's why I need you to help get me out of here." Sheldon suddenly became remorseful. "Sorry, I caused so much trouble I had no idea what Larry's plan was until it was too late. I'm willing to make amends to fix all that we have damaged. When I realized what their real intentions were, it was too late; I couldn't go along with it."
"How did you end up in the farmhouse?" Penny asked.
"We were on our way to pick up the Mack 2; I told Larry that it was in storage outside of town. I was hoping you guys will intercept us before we left town. Sheldon said.
"We were delayed by the storm, all we could do was track you," Leonard said.
"I was afraid my signal wasn't picked up and convinced I was going to be killed. Lucky for me the weather was bad, and we needed to shelter from the thunderstorm, we couldn't find a motel, and the storm was getting worse, so Hector decided to break into a barn and ride out the storm. How long are you going to hold me here?" Sheldon asked.
"We are working on your extradition, that's all I can give you right now, but if you cooperate, Penny is willing to do a deal," Leonard said.
"So this portal, where is it opening and where is the location?" Penny asked
"I do not have that information. Sheldon replied.
"Do you know the coordinates?" Leonard asked.
Leonard gave Sheldon a device that was taken from Sheldon when he was captured and after a few minutes of typing into the handheld device, gave it back to Leonard who looked at the coordinates and nodded to Penny
"Brennan you know what to do," Penny said. Brennan nodded and took the device and left the room.
"Get men to the coordinates, arrest anyone that comes through the portal and shoot to kill if they try to escape," Brennan barked orders.
A dozen men jumped into jeeps with backup from the National Guard headed in the direction of the portal coordinates; they surrounded it as some men emerged, a gunfight ensued. There were casualties on both sides, but they manage to keep the portal under control, they also detained some of Larry's men, but Larry was one of the few who escaped into the portal leaving the Mack 1 behind. Now they were having problems closing the entrance; suddenly there was a loud bang which was heard for miles as a rod of light flashed upwards from the Mack 1, forming a mushroom cloud in the sky.
"What was that sound?" Penny jumped.
"It has started," Sheldon said looking down at his feet.
"What has started?" Leonard asked.
"They have used the Mack 1 to open a portal to travel in time; I asked them not to use the Mack 1 as it has not been properly tested for time travel. It looks like they have triggered an opening, creating a wormhole that cannot be stopped from expanding. it needs to be contained." Sheldon informed them.
"What a wormhole.?" Penny asked.
"A wormhole is a phenomenon that can be visualized as a tunnel with two ends, each opening into different points in space-time. If it is not stable, It could collapse and crush whatever is inside them at any time. It will only work for time travel if the mouth can be open long enough to allow something to travel through it." Leonard said.
"You lost me at the first sentence," Penny said, zoning out.
"We need to get to the location and stop it from expanding before it too late. Now that Hector is dead, Larry will want to make his escape," Sheldon said.
Knowing that the power to manipulate time was in the hands of an evil gangster like Larry terrified Leonard to no ends. Leonard quietly asked, "How long have we got?"
"I'm not sure; my last computer simulation indicated that the Mack 1 was only 50% safe to use for time travel and could destroy the continent of North America if there is a breach and not contained in time." Sheldon sadly said.
"What could cause this breach? Penny asked.
Sheldon thought about the question and answered honestly. "Too little plutonium or too much will cause the wormhole to disintegrate or expand on an extraordinary rate. It has to be the right amount. I asked for extra time to carry out more tests on the Mack 1 but was overruled."
"Is this the reason why you want it destroyed," Penny asked.
"Yes, It is not safe, Larry wants power and will stop at nothing to get it, even if it means destroying universes. He just kept pressuring me, when is it going to be ready, when is it going to be ready. He has a hidden agenda" Sheldon groaned.
"So what are you saying, Sheldon?" Penny was beginning to panic.
"If you don't stop it, the wormhole could spread all over the world. Believe me; I'm telling the truth, I wasn't working alone, they were other rogue scientists who have now taken over my work and do not understand the maths. Only God knows what changes they may have made."
Leonard and Penny rushed outside after another loud bang. They looked up to see a massive hole in the sky with lots of flashes of lighting above the entrance.
Leonard made a quick calculation in his head. "Oh my God, I estimate that at this rate the whole of North America will be wiped out in 2 days," Leonard said.
"What can we do to stop it from spreading or shutting it down?" Penny asked, panic in her voice as she held on tightly to Leonard.
"I don't know Penny, I don't know," Leonard said sadly, pulling her as close as possible to him in a protective hug.