Billy winced as Penny nudged him over, touching the bandages around his chest lightly as she nestled against his shoulder.

"Ow…"

"Oh get over it cupcake." She smirked, though she did rub his aching wounds a little. They sat/lay by each other, stretched out over the huge chair, both thinking the same thing. They were lucky to be able to do this again. They were close, so very close, to never seeing one another in this life time. The thought still frightened Penny… how had she fallen for this man? How, why did she love him? He was a villain, he was evil, he wanted to take over the world and rob banks and cause havoc. But Penny held to the belief that there was good in everyone.

Good in everyone. She was firmly holding onto that now with the thought of Bad Horse. He had gotten blood, sure. But no one had died. Billy survived. Barely, sure, but survived. Their hope was that with how injured Billy had been the ELE would let him off the hook. Billy didn't think they would.

"I embarrassed them. Look at the headlines." He had told Moist while still in the hospital, handcuffed to the side of his bed and tied down to a respirator. "Doctor Horrible Shows True Colors at Shelter Dedication. Or Villain? Hero? Villero? Or my personal favorite ELE Applicant Risks Life; Saves Hundreds. Yeah, I'm sure the League will be thrilled with that one. Moist, we're not safe."

"We are doc! You think they'll come after you now?"

"Yeah, Moist, they will. The Guild won't protect me, I shot down Hammer and I'm still a bad guy. And what better place to take me out than a hospital? I wonder how they're going to do it; bomb the place and kill everyone in it? Slip something into my IV? Just come in and BANG headshot? We have to be careful Moist. You two the most." It had been agreed not to say Penny's name. EVER.

"Doc, you have too much power now. Your blog has had millions of hits just this morning alone! There are fan sites dedicated to you. You're more popular than Twilight, Captain Hammer, and Bush Bashing sites combined! You're the biggest thing since sliced cheese. Your fans would be outraged if the ELE did anything!"

"Like they were outraged when I tore down Hammer? What did his fans do, huh? Became my fans. So what will happen to my fans if I'm killed Moist? They'll go to the person that killed me. Probably Bad Horse, I made him mad enough."

"So what are we going to do?"

"We're going to protect ourselves, that's what. Take down my blog, get Techno to hack into these fan sites and news sites and change dates and times of thing, like my hospital release or my birthday. Make sure your name is nowhere, and that neither is yours or hers. The phones might be tapped, so don't call anyone for any reason, and don't answer the phone. Don't take the first bus that comes your way, no taxies, walk if you have to." The list went on and on. Seems Billy had really thought this out. He was scared, Moist could see it in his eyes. He was so pale, his face tight with pain, and still the most he worried about was Moist's and Penny's safety. He talked about how the League would probably come after them first, or would use them, or would find way to use him to get to them. He was more worried about their apartments than he was the security of the hospital. That warmed Moist to the core.

And when Moist told Penny about it, she started to tear up.

"Whoa! Hey now, Penny, calm down, it's okay. He'll be fine, we'll be fine!" He steered her to the couch, grabbing up a dish-towel (tissues weren't such a good idea for him to grab, the point was to dry her face…) and patting her shoulder. "Everything will work out. I'll talk to my union and see if we can straighten things out with the ELE. There's no word from the League yet, my bet is that they don't want anything from us anymore."

"How… Moist, how? I don't understand."

"How? Um, well, they would take over the cable, or they would send a letter, or call, or-"

"No, Moist, how Billy. How did he get into this mess! How did I get into this mess! How, how did I fall for someone evil?!"

"I've been meaning to ask you that, actually."

"Huh?"

Moist shifted how he was sitting, changing his gaze from her to the window.

"You're sweet Penny. You're so kind, and you like nice people, and you're all about the good in everyone. How did you wind up with a guy like Doc?"

Penny had been giving the same question a lot of thought since the shelter. Billy was evil, how had she fallen in love? Her answer came some nights later. They were watching the news on the television-turned-computer screen when the news story had an image of the hospital Billy was in.

"Our reports have it that the infamous Doctor Horrible, recuperating here in Los Angeles' own Good Samaritan hospital (Yes, this is a real Los Angeles hospital), is to be released to police custody this Friday. Doctors quote that he is 'Stable enough for transport to the prison infirmary.' You can be sure that Channel Seven will be there to cover the event."

"Oh great, just great!" Moist got up and switched the news off, tempted to kick the table. "He's going to prison. That's just great, the ELE will have tons of followers there, ready to strike. And he's not the biggest name out there… well, he is, but not like Bad Horse or Fury Leika; they'll just have him in normal holding. He's got no super powers, he won't need a special cell. He'll probably be crammed in with five other guys, who knows what'll happen to him then?!"

"Moist, just go to bed. We'll figure something out before then, okay!" Penny was crying again. She couldn't bear the thought of Billy in jail either. But Moist was just making her feel so hopeless. It can't be hopeless, there had to be a way out. She stayed at their apartment that night, curled up on the couch, trying to sleep but knowing she wouldn't be able to. Thoughts of Billy behind bars, fighting for his life again; only this time it was a big thug with a sharpened toothbrush. They wouldn't let her sleep.

The door opened, jarring her out of her depressed thoughts. Had they forgotten to lock the door? No, no she had made sure to do up all the locks. And there were a lot of locks. Was it the League? They were going to take out Moist and Penny in their sleep! Oh god, oh god! Penny reached over and turned on the light, catching a glimpse of blond hair and blue eye just before the figure crashed to the floor.

"Billy!" Penny rocketed away from the couch, landing on her knees next to her boyfriend. She rolled him over, finding him gasping and holding his middle tightly. There was red on his hands.

"Moist! Moist get out here!" She called, working her arm under Billy and hoisting him up, half walking half dragging him to the couch. With a 'huh' and a sniff the henchman wandered out into the living room.

"Penny?"

"Close the door, then get me the first aid kit. It's Billy."

"Doc?!"

"Moist go!"

"Right right."

"Penny?" Her attention was drawn back to the couch at the sound of her name. Ignoring modesty and all rights and wrongs, she undid the hospital gown, tossing the thing aside before working on the bandages.

"It's alright Billy, you'll be okay."

"I love you Penny. They, they were… were going to… to take…"

"I know, I know. Shh, now, it's okay. Relax, it's okay."

"Couldn't, couldn't let them… don't want you hurt… needed to be…"

"Shh, shh." She worked quickly, once Moist offered up the kit she was using the gauze to mop up the blood again. What had he done to himself?! How did he get out of the hospital? Penny didn't understand.

"I always knew they had never made a pair of handcuffs that could hold you Doc." Moist grinned at his friend, making Penny look up. Billy smiled back.

"What?" She didn't stop working as she spoke.

"Heh, well. They had him handcuffed to the bed. Doc's been in handcuffs before. They've never kept him long. I don't think they've ever, or will ever, make a pair of cuffs that he can't slip out of."

"Oh really…" Penny was less than thrilled to hear that.

"Yeah! He's a real Houdini, huh Doc?"

"Moist, get a new towel for me?"

"Uh, sure." Good, distract him. It'd take Moist a little while to mess with the handles of the drawer.

"So you get out of handcuffs, huh? Guess that means you ran away from the hospital, hmm?"

"Had too."

"Oh did you? And pop all your stitches and get infections and worry me half to death?"

"Couldn't, couldn't go to prison. Need to be, be here. With you." He was in a lot of pain. Penny's eyes softened. He escaped the hospital, putting himself in pain, probably killing himself, because he wanted to be here with her.

"I, I always thought." This was going to be hard for her. But she had to say it. Now or never. "I always thought love wasn't real. I was always in trouble, no one loved me, it wasn't real. And then, one day, this sweet, cute, shy man tells me he loves my hair. And I go on a date with him. Next thing I know, he tells me that he loves me. You know how strange that is? He loves me. Not for how pretty I'm supposed to be, not because I make tons of money, which I don't, not for any reason but that I am myself. He loves me for me. And strangely enough, I find myself loving him back. Not because he's a genius, not because he's cute, not because he makes more money than me… again not true, you don't make much more than I do. No, I love him, because he loves me."

His face smiled at her, one hand reaching up and touching her hair lightly.

"And I always thought." He was so quiet now. Was he in that much pain? Had he lost that much blood? Oh god, what if he had?! Don't think that way, listen to him… "That you would never be my girlfriend. Seems we both gave quite a bit to the other, huh?"

Penny chuckled, not quite sure what he meant, but hoping against hope to find out one day. "Shut up you idiot. Rest, okay? You need to get healthy again."

"Penny."

"Shh, it's okay."

"I'm sorry I didn't get to show you the evil me."

"What evil you? You're the kindest, most wonderful man I've ever met. You could never be evil to me. Even if you took over the League."

"I'm a failure."

"NO, you're not."

"I couldn't even SSSSSSSSSSS!" He was cut off, hissing as Penny poured rubbing alcohol over his popped stitches, shutting him up quickly. She didn't want to hear it. Stupid men, always thinking they had to impress a girl by being big and strong and macho… or evil… which would be the case. Billy seemed to get the idea that she didn't want him to talk, because he clammed up and let her work.

"Penny, hun, you're kind of heavy there."

"Huh?" Penny groggily opened her eyes, taking her from the memorydream of how Billy came back to her, blinking as she looked up at him. She had wound up curled up on his chest, shoulder digging into one of his deeper wounds. Sure, he was healing, but they still caused him pain. And it looked like he had been in agony for some time before he worked up the nerve to wake her and ask her to move. His face was very drawn, even as he gave her a sheepish smile.

"Oh! You should have told me sooner!" She shifted, sitting next to him and hugging his arm instead. He took a deep breath, winching and putting a hand to his chest.

"You looked like you were enjoying the nap."

"I'm glad you woke me. It wasn't a nice dream."

"Tell me about it?"

"No."

"If you do it won't come true."

"It already came true, so I'm not going to worry about it."

"…Oh."

She giggled at the long face he pulled, tugging at the brown shirt he had on. She hated seeing him in the stained bandages, so he wore the loosest clothing he had. It got his attention, her tugging, and turned him back to her.

"You know, I'm willing to make an adjustment to our first deal." She whispered, kissing him lovingly.

"Hmm?" He didn't want to break the kiss, slightly sad when she did so to tell him the change.

"Well, you didn't come home quickly, but you came home alive. So, how about we take that nap I was talking about?"

"We just were."

"Not that kind of nap."

"Huh?" Penny sighed. He really was naive, wasn't he? Leaning up, she whispered in his ear exactly what she wanted. His eyes grew to the size of the lightning disk Moist had given him.

"But but! We're, um… I'm um… are you sure? What about Moist?"

"He's spending the night at Bait's."

"But, we're not, you know, and I've never, um."

"So? It's not like you're a traditional kind of man."

"True. Are you sure?"

"Would I have asked if I wasn't sure?"

"True..."

"Billy, I want you to give me the night of my life."

And Billy did just that.