Numbers 13:31-33

A/N: Hello followers, readers and everyone else whose enjoying this story so far. Here to all of you is a sort of early Christmas present from me. To make up for the increasing breaks in my updating of new chapters, here is a longer chapter. (If its to long don't worry the next one will be shorter, besides I'm sure your tell me) By the way I hope you don't think any of the revelations revealed are to fantastical (don't get your hopes to high there not that exciting revelations), I just felt it made sense to add concrete facts to already implied or shown traits.
Still I hope you enjoy reading this, and I manage to keep your interest during the whole chapter. Any way here you are.

Chapter Nine: Trials and Tests

It was a bright day, but the air was still cold. Fumbling with her bags Amy walked down the street, she passed the bright new buildings and continued walking into the older part of town. She did not have to walk too far though before she arrived at her destination. An ancient grey structure that had been an office building some time before the war, but since then had been converted into apartments. As Amy looked up at the cracked brick work, she found herself shivering slightly, but then it was a cold day.

Walking in, Amy was once again welcomed by the insides miserable structure. Between the peeling paint and the decaying wall paper, there was desk were an old man slept, as always there was an almost empty bottle by his side. Amy rolled her eyes before heading towards the elevator, getting in she shut the gate and pressed for her floor. The old mechanism groaned and creaked before finally turning and starting up.

Eventually Amy arrived at her stop, five minutes to climb five floors. Walking out she walked down the bare carpet free wooden floor and past the grimy unwashed walls. The cobwebs hung from the sides, the lights barely worked at all, but Amy had gotten used to the dim light since she got her. She continued to walk along the corridor till she arrived at the furthest door, pulling out her key. She forced the rusty metal in to old lock.

After some fumbling she managed to get the door open and walked into what had become her apartment. The tiny room was at least clean, well it was now. Placing the food down on her bed Amy grabbed the broom and banged the handle against the ceiling a few times, then strolled over to the windowsill. She pulled the large window open towards her and stuck her head out before pulling back. There was a flutter of wings and Sheldon stepped in.

"How was your trip to the shops?"

"Oh fine, I managed to get enough to keep us going for a little while longer."

"Very good, now more importantly how is money situation." Sheldon walked over and took some bread and meat out one of Amy's bag.

"It's pretty much gone on this, we don't have anything left."

Sheldon nodded his head, "it's impressive we've been able to make it last this long,"

Amy sighed, "More importantly how are you feeling?"

"Very well," Sheldon replied taking a bite of his sandwich. "I happy to report I've finally fully recovered, everything is back to a hundred per cent. Meaning we can finally leave."

Amy turned to face her boyfriend, Sheldon admittedly did look much better, his bruises were gone, his scars had faded, his nose was back in its proper shape, but despite this something about him still seemed wrong. Apparently not noticing, Sheldon continued eating. He devoured his meal in moments. Amy was hungry herself, but for the moment she was more interested in watching. Without looking up Sheldon calmly grabbed some more bread and filling. A few moments later he handed Amy a plate of sandwiches.

Amy looked confused, Sheldon smiled, "if I can hear your heart beat," he said, "is it really that surprising I can hear your stomach."

Amy still looked unsure, but took the meal off him. Sitting down on the bed next to him she began eating also. Sheldon having finished got up and walked over to the window, he looked out at the street line. Where exactly they were neither of them knew or had found out, but it still had proved to be good enough for a place to recover.

"So when do you think we should leave?" Amy asked.

Sheldon shrugged, "we can leave as soon as you finish eating."

Amy continued to stare a bit worried, "Are you sure you can manage the flight?"

Sheldon turned back to face her, "I told you, I'm fully recovered now, all my wounds have healed, I can do it."

"Well it's just it is a long way to travel."

"I managed to make the same distance after being beaten to near death,"

"Well yeah, but when a horse throws you off you don't just jump back on."

"Yes you do, that's exactly what you're supposed to do when a horse throws you off."

Sheldon shook his head and then a thought occurred to him. "Amy," he said in a slightly concerned voice, "It's not that you don't want to go back is it?"

Amy stared at Sheldon in confusion. "Of course I do, we have to go back, are friends are back there. And we can't stay her for much longer, it's awful here. I'm just worried you won't be able to make it, Asmodues beat you pretty badly."

"I remember," Sheldon said coldly, "I was just wondering if after what happened last time we were there, you didn't want to go back." He added in a more concerned voice.

Amy shuddered, as the awful memories washed over her. Sheldon stepped closer to her but Amy, calmed herself. "I'm okay," she said, "it's just well…"

"What?" Sheldon asked, "what reason could there possibly be to delay are journey. Are friends are alone and defenceless, we've left them alone for too long, every second we wait, the longer we leave them in danger."

"I know,"

"And now that I've recovered from the wounds I suffered last time, it is important they were return to them as soon as possible, not just for their safety, but for our own. The demons can still find us here in Canada. Until we find them, we cannot continue are plan."

"I know,"

"So what is it? What is the matter?"

"It's just, well as you said, your plan."

"What's wrong with it?"

"Well your plan is basically, we gather everyone, flee America, go to a holy land where the demons cannot go, and live out the rest of our lives there safe from them?"

"Yes?"

"Well, it's just; you're making it sound simple. There are just so many variables that are unaccounted for, how are we going to leave the country? What do we do when we get to the holy land? Which holy land are we going to? How do we know they won't deport us?"

Sheldon paused, "you have to understand," he began, "when I made this plan I was seventeen, so it only originally included me. How we leave the country? Probably by boat, plane is faster, but I don't want to go to high into the air, for obvious reasons. Plus if the demons get on the plane, there is no way out once we take off. What we do when we get there? Move in and apply for citizenship. Which one? Doesn't matter, preferably Israel or Rome, regardless they will all serve are purpose of keeping the demons out. As for your last question, it is unlikely that the countries, considering the present situation will be unhappy to have several geniuses moving in to work for them. And if they do, we just head to one of the other three, if they kick us out, we will explore less legal methods."

"Okay, but it's just…" Amy paused to think how best to phrase what was going through her mind.

"Look Amy, I know a lot of this extreme, but we are dealing in extreme situations, we have to do this. It is the only way that we will ever be safe from the demons. There terrible creatures, there never give up, never tire, never stop. There hound us to the ends of the earth, there is only three places on this entire planet they cannot go, it is only in one of them that we will be safe."

Amy sighed "Sheldon," she said solemnly, "it's not so much that, more it's you."

Sheldon's gaze turned into a stare, "What do you mean? What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing, nothing's wrong."

"Then why did you say the problem was me?"

"I didn't, it's not a problem it's just well…"

"What?"

Amy hesitated; she didn't know what to say.

Sheldon's gaze was now somewhat unsettling; he stared directly at Amy, his eyes an uneasy mix of confusion, curiosity and possibly aggression. "Amy," he said calmly, "If you're worried about hurting my feelings, you needn't bother, I've been called every insult and slur under the sun, I heard every last one of them before I turned fourteen. If there is something you want to say to me, I would appreciate it a great deal if you came out and said it."

Amy sighed, "Okays it's not a problem with you, it's just your outmatched."

Sheldon didn't reply, unsure how to reply to this statement.

"What I mean is, I get your strong and you're powerful, but it's not enough. As you said we are facing extreme circumstances and the truth is I don't think you measure up to them."

"I'm sorry my inabilities disappoint you," Sheldon replied, slightly coldly, "But I'm afraid that I'm all you have."

"I'm not trying to criticise you," Amy said, "I just mean, well what happens if you have to go up against Asmodues again? Or another demon of similar power levels? You could barely hold your own in that fight. The whole time I watched; I was terrified that the demon would kill you right there in front of me. You suffered all that trouble facing Alastor back at the barn and from what you've said there are demons a lot more powerful than him out there. What do we do if you have to face them? Is this going to be a continual cycle of you barely winning or managing to escape, then there is a recovery period for you, where you're partially at deaths door and then if we save you it just starts again? Come on, no ones that lucky. If we carry on like this sooner or later you're going to die."

Sheldon paused, he nodded his head sadly, what Amy had described did appear to be something of a trend and she was right, it was more than likely he would have to face a higher demon again soon, if this pattern carried on it was inevitable following basic probability that he would die. "Okay so what are you suggesting?"

Amy paused, "Well if you're not on par now, couldn't we try making you better?"

"How?"

"Well…Um, let's take your fighting, you rely too much on brute strength, that works out fine when you're facing regular demons who you can toss like ragdolls, but it falls apart when you face beings that are similar in strength. Now if you were more skilled it would limit this problem."

"So you want to teach me to fight?"

"No, I don't know anything about fighting, but my point is maybe you should try training. I mean don't those heroes in your comic books that you love reading about so much, need to train when they receive or discover their powers? You've got a lot of power, it's just you don't know how to handle it that well. If you could learn then it would make this a lot easier for you, heck for all of us."

Sheldon paused as he let the idea simmer in his mind, "okay," he said, "How exactly do we go about this?"

"Well, where both scientists, lets approach this like a science experiment, first observe and record, make note on areas of weakness or that could be potentially improved, then we come up with theories, try different alterations and record the conclusions, what do you say?"

Sheldon paused, "very well," he finally said, "You do make some valid points and I suppose we could stay her for a little while longer." He paused and turned back to the window, "So Amy, tell me, where do we begin?"

Leonard looked up at the clock, 2:37 in the afternoon and Penny still wasn't up. Leonard shuddered before getting to his feet and checking in on his sleeping girlfriend. Penny lay there before him, it pained him to say it, but she looked terrible. Her skin was pale, her hair was damaged and she had terrible bags under her eyes.

The nightmares hadn't gone away and after several nights Penny stopped trying to sleep. Now she would do anything now to stay up as long as she could, sometimes she managed it for days. But eventually she would collapse from exhaustion. Then she would sleep and keep on sleeping until she woke up screaming. But the worst part for Leonard was seeing the look of sheer terror that would come over her when she realised she was about to collapse. Whatever it was in her nightmares, it put the fear of God himself inside of her. What it was like Leonard couldn't even begin to imagine, but he knew one thing, it must feel like hell.

She also no longer ate as often as she should and it was starting to show. Her clothes were starting to look slightly baggy upon her. Penny rarely talked now; normally she would just sit in on area silently. Completely oblivious to whatever was going on around her. Any attempts to communicate were often met with failure. And when she did talk back, it never made any sense.

Any attempt to help her was met with similar results. It seemed there was no answer. They had talked about trying psychological help, but all proposals had been deemed impossible. It was clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that she needed help; a person couldn't survive the pressure she was being put under, it would kill her.

Leonard walked back out of the room and slumped into a chair. His girlfriend was slowly dying in the next room and there was not a thing he could do about it. Where was Sheldon? It had been almost a month now, Leonard had expected him to have some trouble finding them, but why had it taken him this long? Leonard didn't know how much longer he could convince the others to wait. He knew his friend would come back for them, just why was it taking him so long?

Leonard's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Penny screaming. Leonard rose to his feet, he no longer ran, because the results had become predictable. He knew exactly what he would find in the next room and as always it made his heart feel like it was made of lead.

It was getting dark down and the dimly lit streets were mostly deserted. Sheldon and Amy began there decent down these same streets. After a short walk they turned the corner and emerged in front of several garages. "Okay," Amy said, "first thing first, let's examine your physical strength. As we've already established you rely on it a lot, so let's find out how strong you actually are."

She paused and took out a notepad. "Now you managed to carry all of us at once so that means you can at least life something over four hundred pounds, so let's start from there."

"And where exactly are we going get weights over four hundred pounds?"

"That's why where here; can you get some of these Garages open?"

Sheldon nodded, he had fortunately managed to find a substitute for his lock pick during the few weeks they had been here. The first Garage proved to be empty, but the second had exactly what they were after inside. Two motorcycles, one was 2011 Ducati Multistrada 1200, the other was a different, larger model.

"Okay that one there weights about four hundred and seventy five pounds, can you lift that?" Sheldon walked over and carefully lifted the vehicle up and carried out of the garage to Amy. "Okay now lift it above your head." Sheldon complied he did so with ease. "Okay put it back and try the other one." Sheldon did so, once again he casually picked the thing up and carried it over to Amy, and then he lifted it above his head and held it there.

Amy nodded, "okay let's try moving up. Try lifting them both." Sheldon hesitated, but complied. Placing it back on the ground, he grabbed the previous one and casually placed it next to the other. He then slowly walked around the two contemplating how best to attempt to lift them. Eventually he came to the only solution he could think of. Separating the vehicles enough for him to step in between them, then he kneeled down and wrapped on air underneath the basis of both vehicles, before getting back up to his feet and lifting both of them with him.

This was noticeably more difficult, not due to the extra weight, but instead due difficult balancing both of them on one of his arms. Nether the less he accomplished it and then he carefully placed both of them back down on the floor. Amy nodded, "well that puts the amount you can lift up to at least 1200 pounds if not more. Okay let's see if we can find anything heavier for you to lift."

Sheldon gave Amy a slightly unsure look but agreed this was necessary. They went through several garages, making certain to lock the ones that held nothing useful behind them. They had gone through several empty garages when they came to what they were looking for. A 1991 Buick Century stood in the garage. "Perfect that weighs around 2000 pounds. That seems the closest to next logical step upwards that we have available."

Sheldon paused staring at the car unsurely, walking forward he checked the door and found fortunately found that it was unlocked. Taking of the hand break he pushed the car out, he then walked around it several times trying to figure out how to lift the huge thing. Before finally deciding, carefully putting his hands underneath the right side, before lifting up. The car groaned slightly but rose with him as he lifted, until it was almost on its side.

Crouching slightly Sheldon began to shift under it. Carefully he held his arms out stretched holding the large vehicle above him, as he shifted along. As he went the car began to lower slightly. Then as he got closer to middle, it started to shark slightly, as the left side began slipping back upwards. So that slowly it straightened until the whole thing was off the ground. Then Sheldon stood up, hoisting the vehicle up seven feet into the air, adjusting his hands slightly he held it there.

Amy watched with fascination, awe and shock. It was incredible to watch, it was like something from one of Sheldon's superhero films, no it was exactly like that. Watching him holding it was incredible. She expected him to show some signs of discomfort or something, but there was nothing; he was just holding a two thousand pound car above his head. "How does it feel?" Amy almost murmured.

"It's a bit uncomfortable but apart from that fine."

Amy pretended to scribble something in the note book, but really she was just taking her eyes of Sheldon. Staring at him performing such an act created too many conflicting feelings inside her. Ones that she couldn't deal with right now, right now she had to be professional. This was just like any other experiment, she told herself. It was just like watching how her lab animals reacted to different stimuli.

"Okay, put it away."

Sheldon carefully crouched down and gently as possible put the side of the vehicle back on the ground. He slid out from underneath, laying the car back on the floor, then he gently pushed it back into the garage. He then put the break back on, shut the door and locked the garage. "Okay, now let's try a regular car." Sheldon begrudgingly agreed. The garage was thankfully not very large, but it didn't take them very long to find an average car. Then after that was tried they looked for a larger one and then a heavier one than that. And so on. Regardless of what they found, Sheldon managed to lift it. It began to get harder, but he still managed to pull it off again and again.

With each successful test, Amy began to fill more and more shaky, she didn't understand her feelings and tried her best to supress them. But by the final test they began to spill out. Sheldon put the SUV back on the ground, his shoulders clicked as he laid its tires back on the floor. He straightened up and let a groan, his arms were beginning to ache. He turned to face Amy, "Can we call it a night please?"

"Sure," Amy managed. While Sheldon was putting this final vehicle back in the garage, Amy turned and began walking back. Turning around Sheldon found he was alone, confused he stopped to listen, in the distance he could just make out the sound of a person's footsteps heading back the way they had come. From the time it was now and the time of year, it was unlikely anyone else would be out. So it must be Amy getting a head start back to her room. Sheldon was somewhat confused by this, why would she leave without him? He hesitated slightly, before reassuring himself that there was probably a very good reason. Perhaps she was getting tired and wanted to get to bed, or perhaps the cold was getting to her.

Accepting this Sheldon began to walk back himself, personally he felt…okay, there first day of testing had seemingly gone quite well, how long this would take he had no idea. Truthfully he would rather not do this; he had spent most of his life trying to hide his Nephilim abilities, so showing them off in there full glory made him feel uncomfortable. However Amy was right, quite intentionally he didn't have any great understanding or control over these powers, before now it had been important to keep them hidden. Now the stakes were too high for him to just get by. Like everything in life he must excel. It was the only choice, but that didn't really make him that much happier about doing so.

Leonard sat there in his chair, it was getting late and he wanted to sleep, but truthfully he wasn't sure if he would be able to. Penny sat there before him; the look on her face was nothing short of bone chilling. From where he was at the present Leonard couldn't help but feeling like he was standing onto of a house of cards, the tensions between him and the others had grown and they were still growing even now while they slept in their beds. And if that wasn't enough it wasn't just with him, Howard and Bernadette were no longer on the best terms. These past few weeks Howard had grown noticeably more cynical and irritable, Bernadette in response had gotten harsher with him and more aggressive. Now the two no longer slept together and when they did talk it was basic to say the least.

Leonard knew that he was at least partially responsible for this; the others continued to urge him to leave here, but for the present Leonard had managed to convince them to wait a bit longer. Leonard wasn't sure if it was guilt or just worry he felt, but whatever it was it was still painful. He shook his head; he should try and get some sleep. He turned back to facing Penny; his beautiful girlfriend sat there huddled up in the chair. Right now she looked terrified, it had been a few days since she last slept and truthfully she looked like hell.

She didn't even seem to know he was there; she just clutched the sides of the chair. Calmly Leonard got to his feet and gave her a quick peck on the cheek before going to bed. Penny didn't react; she just continued to sit there motionless. It didn't even occur to her that he had kissed her until several minutes after Leonard left and even this didn't produce much of a reaction. All Penny knew was she couldn't sleep, if she slept then he would come for her and if he came for her they was nothing she could do to stop him.

She shuddered and continued to sit there in silence. She dared not talk for fear of attracting him, who knows where he was when she was awake? He could be anywhere, listening in for her. He was after her; she knew that, why else would he keep following her? Why else would he be after her? Oh why was he after her? Why couldn't he leave her alone? Why? Penny shuddered again. Feeling helpless was a terrible feeling and it was one she was still not used to…did you get used to it? She had no idea, all she knew was she couldn't sleep… Penny let out a yawn… she couldn't sleep… her eye lids were so heavy…she mustn't sleep… if she slept then he would come for her…she must not sleep…she must no… Penny slumped down in her chair.

A few hours later the others were woken by the familiar sound of her screaming.

Amy stood in the clearing and looked down at her phone, she panted for breath, as the walk had tired her out somewhat. But she needed to get to work, in the darkness the screen of her cell was illuminated showing what she needed. She held it up to her ear. "Sheldon are you ready?"

"Yes," came the reply from the other end.

"Then give it another minute and then come to me," Amy set her phone so it was on the stop watch app. She looked up across the skyline; she was still close enough that she could see the light of the town. Truthfully she regretted having to do these tests at night, but it was the only way they could be safe, if they did it during the day someone might see. The more subtle tests they had managed to pull off during the day, but ones like this could only be done under the cover of darkness.

The minute was up, so Amy pressed the button and waited. She was truthfully impressed, the first week of testing had gone quite well, Sheldon was noticeably more tired, but it needed to be done. Logically this was the next step, considering how often he used…

Amy was distracted from her thoughts by the sound of wings flapping, and a soft white light lit up the dark clearing she was standing in. Sheldon stood in front of her; Amy quickly tapped her screen stopping the watch.

"So how long did that take?"

Amy looked down at the screen, "ten seconds," she paused unsure, "Sheldon that was only five miles, you should have been her sooner."

"Well with the short distance, that was as fast as I could go, anything higher and I would risk overshooting."

"Sheldon these are tests to determine your limitations and areas of improvement, it's okay if you overshoot a few times. Now try again and see if you can go any faster."

Sheldon turned round and took off into the air, disappearing into the skyline. Amy let out a yawn, her legs ached from the long walk but there was no alternative, the bus had only taken her so far out of town. But this was the minimum distance they could use to accurately test how fast he could fly. Just then Amy's phone began to ring. Answering Amy heard Sheldon on the other end, confirming he had returned to his starting point.

Amy restarted the count down, and found she had to sit down; her legs ached too much for anything else. Fortunately enough for her the ground was dry. There was another great flapping sound and once again Sheldon stood in front of Amy.

"How was that?"

"Eight Seconds. Not bad, but try again and this time see if you can make seven."

"I'm not sure I can make that,"

"Sheldon if don't try these tests we won't ever know, you're a scientist, are you really unwilling to perform an experiment?"

"I suppose not," Sheldon turned and then disappeared up into the sky again. Soon enough Amy got the call confirming he had returned to his original position. Amy started the timer, and waited. But this time the wait was much longer, over half a minute went by before Amy heard the reassuring sound of huge wings flapping. Looking up at her boyfriend Amy was taken with surprise, she had been getting worried. "What happened?"

"I overshot by several miles and had to fly back,"

"Very well, it was only your first attempt; we have to except a few problems here and there. Can you try again?"

"Amy is this really necessary?"

"Of course, if we don't get an idea of your maximums and minimums how are we supposed to assess what you need to improve on?"

"Very well," Sheldon turned to go.

"Don't worry, you just slipped up slightly, I'm sure it won't happen again, this is you that we're talking about after all." Sheldon disappeared less than ten seconds after Amy finished speaking.

Amy proved to be wrong on her belief; Sheldon did manage to overshoot three more times. But the fourth time he made it, unfortunately he also crashed. Amy forced herself to her feet and moved as fast as she could towards her boyfriend. But before she even got there, Sheldon let out a groan and got back to his feet. He staggered forward for a moment before straightening himself. Amy made it slightly closer before her legs buckled and she fell into her boyfriend.

Sheldon's arms quickly moved and he gracefully caught Amy and helped her straighten up. Holding her steady he helped her back to where she had been sitting before straightening up himself. "Are you okay?" Sheldon asked

"I should be the one asking you that," Amy chuckled.

"I'm fine; I just couldn't slowdown in time to land."

"Well at least that test proved that you can make five miles in seven seconds that gives you roughly an overall safe cursing speed of 42 miles per second, which is roughly 2571 miles per hour." Amy paused, "that's incredible, that's that's incredible."

"I can go faster," Sheldon reminded, "I just can't travel small distances if I do."

Amy nodded, "Indeed, but still having a cursing speed of almost 2571 miles per hour is still beyond impressive."

"Well if you wanted to test my Maximum speed you would need a much larger distance."

"So where wait till later before trying that test."

"So what do we do now?"

"Well, now just repeat this twenty or so more times. That way we can work out an average speed for you."

Sheldon let out a slight sigh, before talking off back towards his starting position. Amy sat there, the ground was cool, but fortunately it wasn't that cold. She typed the results into her phone. And sure enough the two of them continued performing there test. Sheldon continued flying forward and backwards to her. As Amy carried on recording the tests she began once again to start feeling uneasy. Her legs were still feeling no better so she continued to sit there.

Amy contemplated trying to reason the source of her unease, but truthfully her tiredness was getting to her, she was having trouble keeping her eyes open. Looking down at her results she decided that she had enough data to formulate a conclusion. This would be the last test for the night, as soon as Sheldon got back she would tell him. Letting out another yawn, Amy found her eye lids getting very heavy. Maybe she could just rest them for a moment…

Arriving back at the scene, Sheldon found his girlfriend asleep in the clearing. Walking over Sheldon took her phone and entered the final result himself, before turning back to Amy. Sheldon was truthfully quite tired himself. Bending down he picked Amy up in his arms before letting his wings out stretch on last time for the night. Together they gently flew into the air. Gracefully he soared through the sky, feeling the cool air rushing against his face.

In no time at all Sheldon was back at Amy's room. Opening the window he carried her in, letting his wings fold against his back. Carefully he carried her over and gently set Amy down in her bed. Reaching forward Sheldon took the cover and pulled it over his sleeping girlfriend. After softly tucking her in, Sheldon reached forward and took Amy's glasses from her face. He placed them down on the stand by her bed.

Taking a step back Sheldon looked at his sleeping Girlfriend. She looked so peaceful asleep; Sheldon stood there for a few moments, before slowly leaning in and lightly pushed her fringe back to the side. Sheldon straightened up and turned back to the window, walking over he stepped onto the ledge, and calmly closed the window closed behind him. His wings clicked slightly as he folded them out, ignoring it Sheldon causally flew up onto the roof, leaving Amy to her dreams.

It was half past seven, and it was starting to get dark, but in Texan heat it was still baking. Leonard sat there in his chair he was trying to distract himself from his problems in a work of literature he had managed to find, when a slight coughing sound caused him to look up from his book. Bernadette stood before him she had an expression on her face that automatically told Leonard what this conversation was going to be about.

"Do you mind if we talk?"

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?" Leonard half-heartedly asked, already knowing what was coming next.

Bernadette gave him a cold look, "I think you know exactly what we're going to talk about." Bernadette herself didn't look too good, her eyes will still somewhat puffy, and it had been a while since she had washed her hair. And behind her saccharine exterior was a sense of fury, one which Leonard could sense was directly at least partially at him.

"Well how about you start just in case you're wrong."

"Fine, we have to leave."

"We can't leave yet,"

"Leonard it's been almost a month, I think we need to face facts either he can't find us, or he's not coming back."

"He'll come back; we just need to give him more time."

Bernadette let out a hallow laugh, "More time? How much more time do you suggest we offer? Another week? Another month? A year? How much time do we give? Because I don't know if you've noticed yet but recently are time gotten dangerously short."

"We can wait a few more days."

"And what after that? A few more days? Is that how you see it? Just a few more days, followed by a few more days, stretching on for the rest of eternity? Even if the demons don't find us in that time, which I have to note it's pretty much a miracle that they haven't considering how many opportunities we have given them already. We won't make it if we have to stay her a few more days."

"We can wait."

"Leonard look around, does this look like a healthy group to you? Howard's now the epitome of cynicism, your buried in delusions of being saved by your best friend, who a short while you wouldn't have trusted to save you a meal and now you've raised to an almost messiah like status, and Penny's long crossed the brink of insanity. If the demons don't find us, were just going to tear each other to pieces. The stem of are resent is a large part due to are stagnation, we need to leave, the longer we stay her, the longer this resent is going to grow. We've got to go."

Leonard didn't reply, he just sat there, he tried to formulate a counter argument, but nothing came to him, he knew with every ounce of his mind that Bernadette was right. But he also knew they couldn't leave. Sheldon would never be able to find them if they left. He tried in vain to think of something to say, but his mind was blank.

Seeing his strain, Bernadette's aggression lessened slightly, "Leonard," she said in a softer voice, "I understand this is causing you problems, you don't want to do what you consider the equivalent of abandoning your best friend. That is a perfectly reasonable state of mind, but you have to understand how serious all this."

"I do, I do understand?"

"Do you? Do you really? Come with me." Unsure Leonard got to his feet; he followed Bernadette down the corridor into Penny's room. Penny lay there in her bed, a first Leonard thought she was asleep but upon getting closer he realised her eyes were open. Penny was just lying there motionless her eyes staring continually at the celling. Walking over Bernadette stretched out her hand and waved it over Penny's face. She didn't even blink.

"She's getting worse. She's now pretty much comatose." Bernadette shook her head sadly, "it's just like Sheldon said it would happen, the shock of being possessed by a demon has driven her insane, it's just it took a bit longer for it to catch up with her." She looked up, "Leonard she needs help, if she doesn't get it soon, she'll die."

Leonard honestly was speechless, he looked down at Penny, and she truthfully looked like a corpse. She was merely a shadow of the woman she had been. As he looked at her tears began to fall down Leonards cheeks. It was only then Leonard realised how little time Penny had left, up to now he had admitted the outcome, but had never truly accepted it. Now he had no choice. Bernadette was right, she was going to die, this was too much for a person to endure she was going to die.

Still sobbing, Leonard just stood there, slowly Bernadette walked round to his side. "Leonard," she said softly, "I get you've got a lot of emotional grief going on at the moment and this probably does nothing but make it worse. But I think my points been made, we need to leave. I think you now fully understand. She's getting worse, we are all getting worse. We have to go."

Leonard didn't reply, he just continued to stare at Penny. "But…But…but…" he stammered, unable to think of a single thing to say.

Bernadette nodded, "this isn't a request," she said softly but firmly, "this is an ultimatum, were going. If you're not coming with us, you'll be left alone. None of us want that, I can assure you we don't. But we have to go. We're leaving tomorrow." And with that she walked off, leaving Leonard to cry.

A few hours earlier, and well over a thousand miles north, Sheldon and Amy walked into the clearing. "I don't understand why you insisted we took the bus and walked the rest of the way. I could have flown us here in a minute." Sheldon said slightly annoyed.

"We need to work on your stamina," Amy panted, "it might be somewhat enhanced but you still tire too quickly." She collapsed onto the same patch she been on the previous week. "Anyway," she continued, "We need those wings as rested as possible for this test and the walk did us no harm."

Sheldon gave Amy a look, sighing slightly he took of his jacket and shirt, exposing his bare chest to the air. His wings sprouted out from his back, it was an action he had become so used to it, that he didn't even seem to notice until they were fully formed. Stretching them out, they clicked slightly. Getting to her feet, Amy walked forward; she had a bit of trouble steadying herself, but managed to make it without falling over.

"Now," she continued, "we're going work on your ability to fly. We know that you can fly at great speeds, but that's only good for running away. And running won't always be an option. Now before we go any further I have to know can demons fly?"

Sheldon shrugged, "some can, some are probably better flyers than me, but the majority of them lost their wings when they were cast out of heaven. They sort of burned off in the fall."

"That's very good, that gives you another advantage."

"I don't follow,"

"Well you can fly and they can't, if you could utilise that more often in combat then it would give you a greater advantage against your opponents."

"I have used it."

"Indeed, but not yet to its full potential. Still this is no fault of your own, after all before this you've only went flying twice in your whole life. It's not your fault that your air skills are limited, thus it's our task now to work on them. Now so far you've only utilised flight for going in a long straight line, in one direction or other. Let's see if you can hover."

Sheldon paused unsure; Amy gave him a reassuring look to go forward. Sighing Sheldon shot up into the air, he twisted slightly in mid-air, and then came plummeting straight down back onto the ground. Amy rushed forward as fast as she could; Sheldon was already getting to his feet. "I'm okay,"

"Well it was only your first attempt, this time try going up a bit lower and see how you do."

Sheldon nodded, and once again rose up into the air, this time slower. But once again he fell. Once again he got back to his feet in defeat. "Don't worry, I'm sure your get it soon." But this time Amy was wrong, the two of them continued to practice for over half an hour. But they never managed anything. In the end they had to give up, Sheldon was beginning to bruise. Letting out a groan, he slummed onto the ground. He had hit his head at least in at least one sixth of those falls and now he had a bad headache. Sensing this Amy moved in closer and sat beside him.

"Sorry about that, I felt sure you would be able to do it."

Sheldon shrugged, "maybe my wings aren't positioned right for me to be able to hover,"

"So they can break the laws of Biology and physics, but not the laws of aerodynamics?"

Sheldon shook his head, before wishing that he hadn't. "I've told you, no laws are broken by my wings or indeed any part of me, they just operate on an alternative principal, one which is too complicated for any of us to understand."

"It's still hard to get used to hearing you admit there are things you don't understand."

"I don't see why, you know there are many things I don't understand. Most social conventions for example, I've researched there roots, read sociologists and psychologists reports, and yet many concepts still baffle me."

"Okay, do you feel better now?"

"Yes," Sheldon replied getting back to his feet.

"Okay, now let's try working on your agility, if you can't hover, can you change direction quickly while in flight?"

Sheldon nodded, he once again outstretched his wings, before gently flapping them a few times. Content that he was fine, he once again took off. He shot straight up into the air. Amy watched her fingers crossed, she really didn't want to watch him fall again. But this time he didn't. He went shooting up like a rocket, but as he did, he managed to alter the angle of his increase. It was comparatively slow to how fast he was traveling, but he managed it. Looping around in the air, he came shooting down, before causally landing on his feet before Amy. His wings out stretched, illuminating his bare chest and body.

Amy couldn't help but stare, a dazed expression on her face. It wasn't till Sheldon called her name three times that she snapped back. Blushing slightly Amy turned her head to the side in embarrassment. "That was good," she quickly stammered, "but it took too long, try seeing if you can do it again only this time faster."

Sheldon sighed slightly, before complying. Once again he took off, but this time he did fall. And this time he fell from higher up. This time he fell faster. This time he hit the ground head first. Letting out a groan he just laid there. Amy rushed over, but Sheldon was already getting up as she got to him. Turning to face her, Amy couldn't help gasp in horror. His face was bloody, his jaw was clearly broken and his two front teeth were missing.

There was silence between the two of them for a few moments, and then the blood started running back into his face. Pushing his jaw, Sheldon clicked it back into place and then held it there for a moment before letting go. There was a noticeable snapping sound as he performed the action, but aside from that he seemed fine. As Amy watched, two more teeth began to sprout out of the top of Sheldon's gums. Slowly they stretched down till they took the place of the original two. From Sheldon's face it was clear none it wasn't a pleasant experience.

Amy stared in surprised until it was all done. Although she had expected it to happen, she knew that she would never get used to him being able to heal himself like that. Looking at Sheldon, Amy felt her worry slowly changing into another emotion, one which she could not truthfully distinguish. "Okay, if you're done re-growing, try it again and this time, try not to fall." Sheldon looked at his girlfriend in a cross between surprise and slight annoyance. Groaning he turned and once again took off into the air.

Back in both Texas and the present, Howard emerged from behind the door where he had been standing. He had overheard Leonard and Bernadette's entire conversation and what he had heard had accomplished nothing but make him angry. How dare she call him cynical? He was simply the only one of them who had accepted the truth. The simple truth was they were doomed.

That jerk Sheldon had abandoned them. How could Leonard even consider holding onto such a ridiculous idea for hope? He must have gone insane, it was the only answer. Howard was even willing to bet that Sheldon had dropped Amy somewhere above the Atlantic to lighten his load. After all why wouldn't he? All Sheldon cared about was Sheldon; to him everyone else was just another servant put on this planet to fulfil whatever bazar or unreasonable command he had cooked up today. And now they needed him, he had abandoned them. It was clear as the nose on Howards head. They were on their own.

But it was Bernadette that really made him angry, what made her think she could tell him what to do? She was always like this, acting like she was smarter than him, stronger than him, better than him, more important than him. He was her husband, not her inferior for crying out loud. Furiously, Howard tossed his mug against the wall. As he watched it shatter, he began to wonder, how he could feel so angry against the person he loved with all his heart.

Shaking his head he solemnly sunk onto his bed, why hadn't he taken Mammon's deal when he had had chance? Now he had nothing and all because he had been stupid enough to hold any loyalty to Sheldon Cooper. Sheldon, he was the cause of all this, it was his fault. Why had he had to get to know them? He knew that the demons would eventually come after him. And he had negligently placed them in the firing line. That snivelling, condescending, ugly, arrogant, pompous son of a bitch, Howard clutched the side of his bed in fury. Why had he even considered him his friend? What had he ever done for him?

Howard laid down upon his bed. He was going to die. And it was all the fault of that insane nut job, slash unnatural freak no abomination that should have had a bolt in his head instantly after birth, Sheldon Cooper.

Meanwhile up in Canada, it had started to rain. The heavy water washed down upon the roof. Shivering Sheldon scurried in closer to the wall and further underneath the little cover he had. He huddled up there, the cold water washing down around him. He had been lucky up to now, the rain had kept off for the last few weeks, but now it was pouring down by the bucket full.

Sheldon sighed, this was only to be expected, the rainfall in this part of Canada was particularly high at this time of year. He had been lucky to get so many dry nights. Normally he had had only the cold to worry about. Still what choice did he have? Huddling up, he decided to try and see if he could get some sleep, when a loud banging grabbed his attention, Amy wanted him. Sheldon got to his feet, and walked over to the roof edge. He calmly took off his shirt and let his wings expand out before calmly stepping off the roof.

Amy was of course waiting for him in front of the window. Sheldon stepped through the window, once inside he shook his wings, letting the water fall of onto the floor, before folding them back into his body. Amy looked at him shock, "you're soaked to the skin."

"I was aware of that,"

"Here," Amy grabbed a blanket and rushing over wrapped it around her boyfriend. Sheldon calmly walked over to a chair and sat down. Amy couldn't stop staring at her wet boyfriend. "Sheldon," she said overcome with worry, "you can't go back out into that rain, your catch pneumonia or hypothermia, or any other many of conditions."

"I've got no choice." Sheldon replied sadly.

Amy's stares of worry turned to exasperation. "What do you mean you have no choice? Why do you even need to sleep on the roof anyway?"

Sheldon shook his head, but once again, sadly. "We've talked about this. It's the same reason we took the top and least inhabitable floor of this building. If the demons find us, then I can see them coming, giving us amble warning and time to fly away to safety. We can't risk being caught unprepared again, as you said no one is that lucky. If were not ready, then we could die and I'm not willing to let that happen to either of us."

"Come on Sheldon," Amy said kindly, "it's raining biblically out there, surely you can risk one night inside?"

Sheldon hesitated, it was much warmer inside. "I really shouldn't, it's too risky to risk even one night."

"You managed to make so far with no sign of them, and even if they do still come tonight. You'll hear them coming and get us out of her in plenty of time. Give yours self-one good night's sleep, after all you've been through don't you deserve that?"

Amy could tell that Sheldon was nearly convinced; she could see him thinking it over in his mind. She paused waiting for him to come to a conclusion, eventually he spoke. "Okay, one night only."

Amy smiled. "Only one night."

Sheldon looked around the small room. "I'll sleep on the floor."

Amy contemplated arguing, but realising she was lucky to convince him to share a room, she held her tongue. Besides there was only one small single bed and Sheldon was a lot larger than she was. It probably was for the best he slept on the floor. Still now he was hear there was something else she had to say, however she hesitated in saying it. "Sheldon," she finally said.

Her boyfriend looked up, "yes?"

"I'm sorry I got harsh with you earlier today, I don't why I did it."

"It's okay, you're under a lot of stress, being a bit more irritable is understandable."

Before Amy could reply, there was a loud knocking at the door. Startled Amy walked over towards it. Sheldon quickly walked over and stood against the wall behind where the door opened. No one knew about him, it was just Amy that was renting the apartment. Slowly Amy opened the door. Standing there was the old man who owned the place, he was leaning slightly, his eyes were bloodshot and he stank of alcohol.

"Your late," he snarled, his voice was horse and slurred.

"I'm sorry?"

"The Rent, its late. You think you stay in luxury for free? I want my money." The angry walked forward towards her, forcing his way into the room. His posture was aggressive.

Amy backed away, the old man was snarling, he was tall and had dirty grey hair and had an equally dirty beard. His clothes were old and he hadn't changed them once since Amy arrived. He was also wide and stout, with a large stomach. "Um well the thing is…" Amy hesitated, what did she say?

"No excuses," the man snarled, "Either give me my money or I will throw you on the street." Still advancing, Amy found that he was pushing her back towards the window. As he advanced he shook slightly to the side, he was clearly drunk.

Amy shuddered trying to think of something to say. But at that point he grabbed her by the collar and pulled her in close. "I want my money." He snarled. Amy stared deep into his dark bloodshot eyes. "And I want it now"

"Get your filthy hands off her." Sheldon shouted.

The man spun round to fast, he also fell over from the strain. To Amy's horror Sheldon had emerged from his hiding spot.

"Who are the hell are you?" the man spat.

"It doesn't matter; I won't let you lay a hand on Amy."

Amy backed away, watching the two men staring off at each other. The man had crossed the distance and they were now mere inches from each other. Of the two Sheldon was taller, but he was thin and not particularly physically imposing. The other man had no idea of the danger he was in. Sheldon's eyes were burning red hot fury.

"Look here, stretch. She owes me money, I let her say in my luxurious accommodation and I expect to be paid."

Sheldon stared at him in anger, "you call this luxurious accommodation, and this tip is not even fit for a animal to live in."

"Don't you talk that way about my property, or I'll belt you one."

Sheldon didn't even respond to the threat. "You have no right to grab her like that."

"I have every right I want, Stretch. I want my money."

Amy rushed forward; she had to calm this situation down. It was too dangerous to leave it alone. "I'll pay you as soon as I can, I just need more time."

"More Time," the man screamed, "your already one day over, I'm not holding any freeloaders, now pay up, bitch."

Sheldon's eyes were literally burning white hot at this point, in a cold voice he said, "Don't you dare talk to her like that."

"I'll talk any…any…any way I like," and with that the man pushed Sheldon back; he staggered slightly in performing this act. Sheldon stumbled backwards about an inch or two, but took it quite well considering.

"Now, there is no need to get aggressive," Amy said timidly, "I'm sure we can resolve this without any problems."

"You shouldn't even have to pay this crook, the rates here are extortionate."

"Watch your mouth, you ugly little blighter, I'll have you the most reason rates in this part of town."

"In which case I pray for mercy upon the people who live here. As it appears the area is owned by criminals."

The man's face had turned an even darker shade of red. "Why you overstretched big mouthed git, who the hell are you coming in here and telling me what I can and can't do in my own place of business, I should…I should… I should break your thin arm clean in two." The man slowly lunged forward at Sheldon. Sheldon causally stepped back avoiding him.

Amy tried to push herself between the two of them, "Now there is no need for violence."

"Shut up!" the man snarled. Suddenly he spun round and slapped Amy round the face with the back of his hand. The force of the blow was so hard it sent her flying backwards into the wall. Bouncing back, Amy collapsed onto the floor, her eyes spinning.

Sheldon let out a great roar; in the blink of an eye he grabbed the man with both hands and hoisted him into the air. The man barely had time to react. Filled with rage and anger, Sheldon threw him backwards with all his might. The man went shooting through the air…straight out the open window.

"Noooo," Amy screamed.

Snapping to his senses, Sheldon ran at the window, his wings unfolding as he dived straight out after the man. Amy ran over, but then Sheldon rose up, holding the man over his shoulder. Walking in he gently slumped him down on the floor, he was unconscious. "The force and shock of my blow must have knocked him out cold," Sheldon panted. He was not tired but clearly shaken.

The man just laid there shocked. Amy stared at Sheldon in shock; she couldn't believe that he almost killed a man…over her. Sheldon held his hands over the man's chest as he looked down; his expression was one of the most serious. "I've shatter two of his ribs," he finally said. Amy found she could think of a single thing to say. He just stood there in shock. Walking over to the side, Sheldon slit his hand and as the blood trickled out he placed it on the man's chest. "Multus Deus Placeo mitto minister Raphael, ut sano hic innocens vir."

The man shook violently, before taking several deep breaths, he then collapsed back again. Looking at him, Amy found he actually looked a lot better, his complexion was clear, the bags under his eyes were gone and he even seemed a bit thinner.

Amy looked down at the unconscious man, "What are we going to do now?"

Sheldon didn't reply, looking up Amy saw him staring blankly at the wall. "Sheldon? Sheldon? Sheldon!"

Sheldon snapped his gaze back to her, "yes?" he asked seeming confused or at least distracted.

"What are we going to do?"

"Um, he's drunk a lot, and is unconscious, I'll carry him back down and leave him at his desk. When he wakes up, he'll assume he just dreamed it all, if he remembers." And with that Sheldon lifted him up over his shoulder and carried him out of the room. Amy just stood there still in shock. She found herself able to do nothing but think about the events that had just transpired in this room. Walking over she collapsed onto her bed. Sheldon had almost killed a person, to protect her. She knew she felt shocked, but truthfully she didn't know which type of shock it was.

Leonard was still standing over Penny, he had stopped crying by now, but looking down at her, he still felt rotten. As much as he hated to admit, Leonard knew that Bernadette was right. Penny was dying. He had realised that while ago, but it was only now he truly believed it. She looked like corpse already and it was only a manner of time. She needed help. Leonard knew that, but Leonard also knew he couldn't abandon Sheldon, he just couldn't, not his best friend. He owed Sheldon far more than that. But if he chose one, it would hurt the other. There seemed to be no answer. What was he going to do? Looking at the clock, Leonard realised that he only had a few hours left to make a choice. Bernadette had made it clear they were leaving tomorrow; Leonard had run out of time. There was going to be no more extensions, no more chances, it was tomorrow. He had no more time.

Leonard paused; he had to do something but what? What? And then it occurred to him, he had promised himself he would put that idea out of his mind, but now he had no other choices left. It was risky and it was dangerous, but what else could he do? Leaning in Leonard kissed Penny on the forehead, "For you, Penny, always for you." He said his eyes watering. Penny didn't respond she just continued to lay there in front of him. With that Leonard turned and walked out of the room. Walking up to the door, Leonard opened it, carefully avoiding the rock salt lines and walked out into the night. For Penny, he would do it.

Amy looked up from her bed, it had been ages now, where was Sheldon? Starting to get worried she got to her feet and walking into the elevator took it down. Getting to the bottom, she found the man asleep at his desk, but no sign of Sheldon. Where was he? Now truly worried, Amy walked back into the elevator. He wouldn't be on any of the other floors and he wouldn't leave her, so where was he? And then a nasty idea occurred to her.

Amy hammered the buttons; the slow elevator spluttered and began to climb back up. Eventually Amy arrived on the top floor. As soon as the gap between the doors was wide enough, Amy squeezed out and breaking into an almost run, shot towards the stairs. She emerged on to the roof; the rain was still falling heavily. But sitting on the edge was Sheldon.

Unsure what to do, Amy slowly walked up to him. He didn't seem to notice her, not even after she sat down next to him. He was just staring down, his eyes were almost blank. "Sheldon?" Amy asked softly.

Sheldon looked up to face her, it might have just been the rain, but Amy swore that Sheldon's eyes were watering. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I almost killed a person in a fit of rage." Sheldon replied slowly. "I almost did it in cold blood."

"It wasn't like that." Amy quickly replied.

"Wasn't it?" Sheldon asked softly, "What was it like?"

Amy was a loss for words, so instead she decided to change tactics. "It doesn't matter you saved him. No one got home. Come on lets go back inside and get some rest, it will all seem better in the morning."

Sheldon shook his head, "I'm not going," he said softly.

"But Sheldon, the rain, you already agreed."

"I changed my mind,"

"But Sheldon…"

"I'm sorry Amy but my mind is made up, now you should probably go in yourself, your catch your death of cold out here."

Amy tried to say something else, but Sheldon just hung his head again. Amy tried saying other things, but he just ignored her. He continued to sit there staring down. It was clear there conversation was over. Reluctantly Amy turned and left. She paused to look back at her boyfriend sitting there in the rain. Before slowly walking inside, leaving Sheldon out in the rain.

Okay there it is, I hope I managed to keep you awake through all that. I hope you enjoyed it.

I would just like to say, I was a bit sad when I only got two reviews for my last chapter, not that I didn't enjoy reading those two of course. I really like hearing what you think of my writing, the writing its self is a lot of fun, but reading your opinions of my work, well its just great. So could you please give this chapter a few more reviews. Thank you.

Oh and to all of you out there Merry Christmas (even if your reading this in July).