A/N: I swore I would stop writing author notes but I just wanted to apologize one more time for school ruining my life and holding me hostage from updating sooner. And to thank you all so, so much. The reviews you leave and the feedback on twitter, tumblr, and the forum…you all are amazing. I truly hope I am still doing this story justice. Enjoy.

The two women sat still in their wooden chairs. One was tied to hers, with her hands behind her back, and the other sat comfortably with her hands in her lap.

Both of their eyes were wide open.

He swung the golden watch in front of the woman with her hands tied. He conjured all of his concentration until she was completely under his instruction.

The silence stretched on for only a few minutes before the other woman spoke.

"Stop it."

He grimaced at the interruption. "Quiet, don't speak. Not until—"

"I said stop it!" she shrieked, rising from her chair and knocking the golden watch from his hands.

He growled and launched at her, gripping both of his hands around her neck and slamming her up against the opposite wall. "You're lucky she's already under," he spat, using his body to force her further into the wall. "Do you know how much damage you could have done if she was still conscious?"

"Get off of me!" she yelled hoarsely, clawing at his hands with her trimmed fingernails, attempting to pry his fingers from around her neck. "She saw! She saw me!"

"Who?" he demanded, his grip only loosening slightly.

"Amy!"

He blanched and completely let her go as she gasped for breath, folding her body in half. Quickly, he spun around and studied the wide eyes and straight back of the other woman, still under hypnosis. "That's impossible."

"I don't know if she saw me," the woman behind him still struggling for breath said. "But she asked if I was awake."

At this, he whipped his neck forward to look down at her. "She asked what?"

"You heard me. Wake her up," she demanded. "Stop for tonight. I think we're done with the smoke in mirrors. It might be time for a little more action."

Outside, the rain had stopped falling and the silence was a barrier between Amy and Sheldon and the rest of the world. They had fallen into a lull, both heads down and wheels turning. The interaction with the blonde apparition in her bathroom had stunned her, concerned her gravely. She knew what she had seen in Penelope's eyes upstairs in the bathroom. Fear, astonishment, a recognition that maybe the jig was up. She watched Sheldon continue to fiddle with his phone and a worried line furrowed his brow. Finally, he put it away and looked up at her.

"She's still not answering." He sighed then frowned. "Amy, are you okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"You…" He bit his lower lip, going back and forth with himself. "You're seeing Penelope everywhere you go. You must be scared out of your mind."

Without saying anything, Amy trudged over to the lone arm chair in the living room and collapsed into it. "This isn't the first time I've seen stuff. That's what I was trying to tell you earlier." She looked down and heard his feet shuffle towards her then he stopped a few feet away. "Medication helps. But after I met you, I stopped taking it." She reddened immediately, unable to believe she was opening up to him.

"Why did you do that?" he asked, of course.

"I thought that it might hinder my ability to feel anything for you," she admitted, her face still down. She fiddled with the messily wrapped wound on her left hand that had begun to itch. It was healing. "I have never felt this way about anyone before, and it's because the medication makes it hard for me to feel anything."

She was startled by the sudden view of Sheldon on his knees in front of her, his shock of blue eyes level with hers. She leaned back in her chair and felt a jolt of electricity when Sheldon's large hands firmly gripped her thighs.

"Don't ever put yourself in danger for me," he said in a low voice. "I care about you too much. Please continue to take your medication if it means your health."

"Why?" Amy asked, her eyes suddenly welling up with tears. "Why do you care about me?"

Sheldon was stunned into silence, blinking at Amy as though she had just grown another head.

"Seriously," she insisted, swiping at her eyes with her fingers. "I only met you a week ago. Why do you care for me?" Before he could open his mouth to answer, she added in a harsh whisper, "And why do I care for you?"

Sheldon's grip on her thighs loosened but he leaned in closer to her. She watched his hands envelope hers and he waited to speak until she met his eye.

"I am an educated man, therefore there are a lot of things I don't believe in because if the science isn't there to prove it, it's unlikely that it is true." He licked his lips. "But when I saw you in the woods, emerging from the trees and taking a seat amongst strangers, mouthing every word to every Shakespearean play performed that night, something bigger than me, bigger than the both of us, drew me to you. I can't say that I'm sorry, either." He let go of one of her hands to wave his arm in the space over her shoulder, clearly signaling the box in the kitchen with the pictures of their fathers. "And it seems as though we have a history. Perhaps our paths crossed because it was, as others say, simply meant to be."

"I've never met anyone like you," Amy whispered as she marveled at the man in front of her. He brought one of her hands up to his face and placed her palm flat on his cheek, then closed his eyes at her touch.

"I want you to trust me, Amy," Sheldon pleaded, his eyes still closed. "I know your life has made it hard for you to trust anyone. But believe in me."

Without warning, Penelope's voice sounded in Amy's mind, so loud and clear that she thought she might be having another hallucination. But it was just a memory.

"He only wants something from you, and it's not what is between your legs, although, he'll get use out of that, too."

Who could Amy trust?

Amy pulled her hand away from Sheldon gently so as not to warrant alarm from him, but he still picked up on her apprehension. Suddenly, his eyes popped open and he looked over his shoulder to peer around the living room.

"Is she…here with us right now?" His dark, defined eyebrows rose high on his forehead as he swept the empty living room with his eyes.

Amy snorted. "This isn't a séance, Sheldon." She sighed and placed her hands on his that were still resting on her thighs, as she looked around, too. "But no, she's not."

Eventually, she stood up and they made their way back to the kitchen where the box that he had brought sat open still in the middle of the discarded photographs of her father and his. Amy swiped at a couple of pictures before studying them closely then turned to address Sheldon who was hovering behind her.

"Was Penelope related to any of the people in these pictures?" she asked.

"No, not that I know of," Sheldon answered. "Penelope was one of the last to join us. Her story is that she moved to California to get away from an abusive ex-boyfriend. She was raised on a farm in Nebraska, and had big dreams of becoming a movie star. But when those dreams failed to materialize in Los Angeles, she jumped in her car and drove as far north as she could, until her car stopped working. And it happened to be here."

"Wow," Amy muttered. "She must have been very lonely."

"She was," Sheldon said with a wispy look in his eye that Amy did not miss. "Until she met Bernadette and Howard. And they brought her to the theater. She observed for one night, then came the next day prepared to perform. She's been a staple in our company ever since. I know you've only seen her perform once, but there were some nights that she was just heartbreaking. Penny belongs on a stage."

Amy nodded her head as the sound of his nickname for Penelope stung her. She dropped the photos in her hand to the table. "Sheldon," she started, placing a light hand on his forearm. His palms were stuffed into his pockets and his head was down, studying his feet. "Did you ever love her?"

"I told you, there is nothing romantic going on between us." He would not look up to meet Amy's eye. "But I was fond of her as a friend. Then…something changed."

"You mentioned that before," Amy encouraged him. "How did she change?" When Sheldon didn't answer and only continued to look down at his feet, she waited him out. "Well?" Still silent, Amy grew frustrated. "Sheldon, if you know something that might explain what is happening…"

"I don't know why you're seeing Penelope in your hallucinations," he said quickly, finally looking up at her face. "But she just became obsessed with…" He looked away again and bit his lower lip.

"She became obsessed with you," Amy supplied and watched as Sheldon nodded in affirmation.

"I tried explaining to her that I was never interested in her that way. She is beautiful, but as I've told you before, I was not impressed by her personality. And though I cared for her as a friend and was captivated nightly by her performances on stage, I could not reciprocate her feelings. And she became dark."

By now, they were both sitting at her kitchen table as Amy nodded for him to continue. She wanted to offer him a beverage as his voice was growing hoarse, but she didn't want to interrupt him. She didn't want to take her eyes off of him.

"She would show up at the Coliseum unannounced and even when I wasn't there. She would take things of mine." He shuddered a little and Amy frowned. "She would always ask me if 'it' was working yet. When I demanded what 'it' was, she would say, 'the love spell'."

It was Amy's turn to shudder.

"Why would you keep her around?" she asked tentatively.

"She is very popular amongst the performers," Sheldon answered quietly. "One of my responsibilities of owning the theater is to keep the peace. There would be too many questions if she disappeared. And she became very hands on with coordinating performances, I didn't want to send her away. Obviously, something wasn't right with her, and like you said, she was very lonely. She had nobody except for us."

Amy nodded, understanding slightly but still chilled by Sheldon's visible discomfort. "Have you talked to Howard and Bernadette about her?"

"Yes. But Bernadette is very protective of her. She says she would talk to her, ask her to stop pursuing me, and for awhile it worked. Penelope had truly seemed to see the error of her ways and threw herself into the theater, finally leaving me at peace. Until…"

"Until I showed up," Amy said in a knowing tone.

Sheldon nodded. "She went ballistic. She insisted I tell you to leave. Like I had said, she seemed jealous, and I brushed it off. But now that I think back on it, there might have been an emotion I had not seen at first. She looked almost…scared."

"Scared of me?"

"Yeah," he confirmed.

Amy's heart thumped a little faster as she thought of Penelope's scared face in the bathroom. What would she be scared of me for? she thought helplessly.

They were quiet for a little longer before Amy noticed the burning in her eyes. She also realized the rain had long since quieted and the only sound now was the even breathing from Shakespeare who was huddled on the floor in a furry ball, sleeping heavily, having given up on his Sheldon watch.

"It's getting late," Sheldon said, breaking the silence. "Will you be okay on your own?"

"Of course," Amy answered, giving him a weak smile. But what she really wanted was to grab hold of his shirt and pull him to her, and never let him go.

"You could always come stay with me," he offered, giving her a wink.

She smiled for the first time in what seemed like hours. "No, thank you. I think I should get some rest." She moaned a little when Sheldon's large hands once again landed on her thighs and he squeezed them roughly.

"You can rest at my house."

"I doubt that," Amy said pointedly, motioning to his dangerously roaming fingers. "I'll walk you to the door." When they reached the foyer, Amy watched the very noticeable blush crawl across Sheldon's neck as he peered at the door where not an hour ago they had a very interesting encounter. She felt own pulse quicken and she tried to ignore the fluttering in her stomach. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Of course," he said. "We have to get this place cleaned up for the big party. If you still want to have it here, of course." Amy nodded, confirming that she did.

"Then performances in the evening?" she asked.

"Yes," Sheldon answered with a nod. "Where hopefully Penelope will show her face." They looked at each for a moment, both of their eyes asking each other the question once again of what if she didn't show? but neither one daring to say it aloud. He placed his hand on the door knob before he hesitated and turned around to face Amy again.

"When you hallucinate about Penelope, you said she tells you things." His face was half-hidden by the shadow in her dark foyer.

"Yes," she said slowly.

"Does she ever tell you things…about me?"

Amy's heart palpitated but she did not let it show on her face. She wondered how she should play her cards, and decided that there was still more she needed to figure out on her own before she told Sheldon about Penelope's warnings against him.

"No," she lied. "She doesn't." She didn't miss the small flicker of relief across his face as he turned around to open the door. "Goodnight, Sheldon."

"You have my number now," he reminded her, having programmed it into her cell phone at dinner earlier. "Call me if you need anything at all."

"I will," she said with a smile. "Drive safe."

"See you tomorrow," he said before leaning down and kissing her lips. And then he was gone. She watched his white car disappear over the hill and inhaled sharply as the biting chill brought in by the rain smacked her skin unforgivingly. She closed the door to shut it out and locked up.

Amy went into the kitchen and called Shakespeare to join her upstairs. Before turning out the lights, she walked up to the table and sifted through the array of photos still scattered on the table top. She lifted one Polaroid and studied the trio in the photograph.

A foolish smile on her father, the young Robbie Fowler's Cheshire grin that found its way on the cover of magazines and movie posters for decades was staring right back at her. He had a thick, muscly arm wrapped around Helena Rostenkowski's shoulders while a wiry, tall George Cooper stood on the other side of his girlfriend, his smile not as wide as the other two.

Amy did not know why she felt it important to lie to Sheldon, but something told her that these hallucinations of Penelope were no longer something she could chalk up to her mental illness. There was something so real, very present about the visions. Penelope was trying to tell her something, and although a huge part of her trusted Sheldon, Amy realized she would have to find the truth out on her own. She had a feeling that the tight, possessive grip her father had around Bernadette's mom, a woman that did not belong to him, might hold some answers.

A familiar emblem caught her eye as she lifted the lid of the box—the emblem of Raj's law firm.

First thing's first, she thought to herself, turning the lid over in her hands.

She left it on the table and turned the lights out, comforted only by the jingle of Shakespeare's tags as he followed her up the darkened stairs to her bedroom.

"Mr. Koothrappali, you have an Amy Fowler here to see you."

Raj took a long swig from his glass of water, the hangover from last night drying his eyes and throat out every few seconds. He sputtered as the announcement of his guest through the telecom on his phone pierced the silence in his office. Once he could trust himself to speak, he pressed the large green button on the receiver and requested that his secretary send Amy right in.

He crossed the room, heading straight to the mirror hanging above the fireplace to coif his hair a little higher and check for any residue on his face. He was straightening his tie as his door opened. Turning around, Raj saw his secretary lead Amy in. He smiled at the sight of her pale legs peeking out of her navy blue dress and the black leather jacket she donned. Her hair was tied up in a rare pony tail, as he was used to seeing her hair down, and her glasses made her look so young.

"Amy," he said as his heart beat faster. "What a lovely surprise. Please, sit." He motioned to the leather couch in front of his fireplace as he took the arm chair across from her. He longed to sit next to her, but kept reminding himself that she was now spoken for.

"Rajesh," she greeted him, nodding politely. "Oops, I mean, Raj." She winked and he was happy to see that she was not uncomfortable with him after he had come on so strong yesterday.

"What brings you here to my office?"

"A few things, actually," she said shyly. "First though, I'm not interrupting you, am I? If you're busy, I could always come back. I probably should have made an appointment…"

"Not at all, Amy," he assured her with an easy smile. "I might be a partner in this law firm but we aren't exactly up to our ears in cases. This is a small town with a 92% rate of out of court settlements. Please, what can I do for you?"

"Good," she said. "Actually, I was wondering if you were going to come by tomorrow afternoon to set up my place for the party after the evening's performances."

"Yes," he answered with a nod. "I've already arranged for all of the catering. Will you be able to provide furniture? I noticed your place was sparse."

"Oh, sure. There's plenty of tables and chairs just sitting around in other rooms and storage. Sheldon and I were going to get that all out today before performances tonight. Will you be there?"

"I will," he said with a small smile. "I have a nice monologue planned."

"I can't wait to see it," Amy said genuinely, leaning in a bit. "You were fantastic last time."

"Thank you." His eyes lowered slightly and as soon as he caught sight of the dip in her neck line he looked away. She was not coming on to him, but her presence alone made it hard for him to keep his thoughts pure.

Where was a distraction when you needed it?

He rose from his chair and walked over to his desk where the tray with glasses and a pitcher of purified water sat.

"Can I get you some water?" he offered, pouring himself another glass.

"Please," she said. "There's one more thing I came by to ask you."

He poured the beverages and took them over to the couch where he handed Amy hers and waited for her to continue.

"Raj," she began, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "I don't know how to bring this up, so I'm just going to." She took a deep breath and Raj became worried. What was it that she couldn't say?

"Mr. Koothrappali, you have another visitor."

Amy's mouth had moved at the same time his telecom sounded, momentarily confusing him. He signaled with his finger for Amy to hold on then he walked to his desk and pressed the green button.

"I'm busy, Kathy, you know that." His voice had a hint of irritation.

"It's Howard Wolowitz. He says it's an emergency."

Raj exhaled through his nose, unhappy about the interruption with Amy, but he looked up at her in apology. "Give me just a moment." He let go of the button and walked back over to Amy. "You were saying?"

She looked slightly off put and for a moment, Raj thought she may change her mind. But he willed her silently to go on, truly curious in what had her brows furrowed and her face pink. He allowed a hopeful thought to frolic across his mind—could she be here to return his interest?

"In my house, I found a few of my father's things in a box. A box with your law firm's name on it."

Raj started, his face twisted in confusion. This was absolutely not what he thought Amy was here to talk to him about, and yet, he was intrigued. Who was her father and why would he have his law firm's property?

"I'm sorry, I don't believe I understand," he said. "Is your father a client of mine?"

"That's the thing," Amy said quietly. "I don't know. Well, he's dead."

"I'm so sorry," he said quickly, to which Amy merely nodded.

"Thank you." She cleared her throat and continued. "But, I inherited River Road Manor, if you didn't know. I inherited it from him. And I was curious as to why your law firm's insignia held his belongings. I was hoping you could tell me."

"Well," Raj said, wiping his palms on his knees as he leaned over in his chair. "I couldn't tell you off the top of my head. Maybe if you told me his name, perhaps he was a client before I joined the firm. And I could find out for you."

"His name…" Amy hesitated again. "His name is Robbie Fowler."

It only took a moment before Raj's eyes widened in recognition. Of course.

"Your father is the Robbie Fowler?" As soon as his question came out, he watched Amy fold in on herself, extremely uncomfortable by his scrutiny. He reined it back and apologized. "I'm sorry, Amy. Very rude of me. But I can tell you right off the bat that no one here at Sanford, Michaels and Berry represents a celebrity. Nor have we in the past." He watched Amy relax a little and waited for her to speak.

"Well, you might have represented my grandparents. His parents. They lived here in Evergreen Falls, where he was raised. I'm only asking because, well, there were some important documents inside that I want to know where they came from."

"I'd be happy to take a look at the documents for you," he offered, but stopped short when Amy shook her head vehemently. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."

"No, it's okay," she said quickly. She tucked a few strands of her rogue bangs behind her ear and he sighed internally at the sight. "I would just rather keep it private. Could you find out for me if your firm ever represented a Robert and Clementine Fowler?"

"Of course, I'll work on that this afternoon and will ring you with what I find." He jumped up from the couch and walked over to his desk, asking her to recite her number as he jotted it down on a Post-It.

"Thank you, Raj," Amy said as she rose from her seat. "I'll leave you be now."

"I was just going to step out and have lunch in about a half hour. You're welcome to stay and join me?" Raj knew his tone was hopeful, but he couldn't help it.

"I don't think you should keep Howard waiting any longer," she said with a shake of her head. "Your secretary said it was an emergency."

"It's always an emergency with Howard," Raj scoffed with a wave of his hand. "He probably just wants to know what I'm wearing tonight so we don't come in matching outfits on accident. It happens more often than I'd like to admit."

"Man," Amy laughed. "You guys really are close. Bernadette was right."

He blushed and gave her a smile as she laughed again. "Well, then I'll see you tonight?" he asked.

"Yes, and thank you again for coordinating this party. I couldn't do it; I have no experience in these types of things. I'm only hosting it because Sheldon promised to take the reins on the preparations."

At the sound of his name, Raj recoiled a little, but didn't let the smile fall from his face. "My pleasure, Amy." He led her to his office door and held it open for her as she walked by him. Her fragrance invaded his nostrils and he closed his eyes as he stepped past him.

"Goodbye, Raj."

"Bye, Amy." He watched her walk towards the exit, but not before politely nodding at Howard and giving him a small wave as he looked up from his magazine.

"See you tonight for performances!" he called after her. When she was gone, he stood up from the waiting room chairs and locked eyes on Raj. "Hey, buddy. What was Amy doing here?"

"Oh, just wanted to ask a few questions about her property," Raj fibbed as Howard followed him into his office and closed the door behind them. It wasn't technically a lie, and Amy wasn't his client, but he felt the need to protect her inquiries, especially after he saw her get so uncomfortable revealing her family. He would keep it to himself.

"What about her property?"

Raj spun around and studied his friend. "Nothing, just some questions about the property lines."

"Ah," Howard said. "She didn't say anything else?"

"What do you mean?"

"I just find it weird that she would come all the way over here just for legal advice when she could have looked you up in the phonebook and called instead." Howard's voice took on a slight edge as he hovered next to the grandfather clock Raj kept near the fireplace. He opened the glass door to the clock and stopped the pendulum from swinging by taking the long neck between his fingers and holding it in place.

"What are you talking about?" Raj's friend was mystifying him with his cold demeanor and curiosity. "What was the emergency you came over here for?" He watched as Howard removed his fingers from the pendulum and allowed it to begin swinging again.

A burst of white invaded his vision. And then everything went quiet.

Amy pulled into the driveway of the bungalow at the edge of the cul-de-sac and shut off her engine. The trim of the house was white and the boards were lime green, cheery against the backdrop of the gray sky. No rain had fallen, as promised by the weather officials, so performances were still on according to Sheldon. But Amy had a few errands to run this early afternoon before he went over later.

It took her awhile to find Penelope's home as she didn't want to ask Sheldon outright for it, being that he might try to insist on coming with her. She didn't even ask Bernadette or Howard, the obvious people who would know the information. Instead, Amy engaged Raj's secretary in gossip before asking to be let in to his office.

"Mr. Koothrappali never has any female visitors," the older woman named Kathleen had begun. "Are you his girlfriend? I've been trying to tell him to go out and date ever since he overcame his horrible fear of speaking to women. It held him back from becoming a partner, you know. The others were tired of him only taking male clients. But he was cured out of nowhere and he's such a cutie, I thought he wouldn't have any trouble finding a girl."

"No," Amy said politely after the woman finally took a break from rambling on. "I'm not his girlfriend."

"Oh, you'd be perfect for him. The only other woman who comes in here is real snooty, a blonde bombshell, but you can tell she's a pain in the ass. Might be a gold digger."

Amy's ear perked up. "Penelope?"

"Yeah, that's her name," Kathleen confirmed with a roll of her eyes. "She always comes in here in a huff, demanding to speak to Rajesh. She never stays for more than a few minutes, but Mr. Koothrappali looks so exhausted after she goes. I was thinking maybe they were having a good time in there, but he never looked happy afterward."

"Oh," Amy tried to keep her talking. "Does she come by often?"

"Not since about a week ago." Kathleen held her hand up and signaled her to wait while she took a phone call. It was over in a few seconds and she returned her attention. "So did you need me to buzz you in to see him or did you just want to leave a message?"

"I'd like to see him, please," Amy requested. "And do you happen to know where I can find Penelope? I'm new to town and I'm not sure how to get in touch with her. I met her at the store one day and she helped me with a problem I had been having so I wanted to thank her in person."

"Oh, this town is so small honey, I know where everybody is," Kathleen snorted. "She works at the Charming Flower shop just up the street. Don't know if she is on the clock today, but if she's not, they can tell you where to find her." With that, Kathleen buzzed Raj and announced her presence.

When Amy left Raj after Howard had come by to see him, she headed straight for the flower shop where of course, Penelope had not been to work in the last few days. She played the part of concerned friend and offered to go check up on her.

"What street is she on again? It's been awhile since I've been by," she went on to Penelope's boss.

"Right on Orange Grove. Six blocks west," he told her.

"The first house on the left, right?" she lied through her teeth.

"Nah, the only house with any color," he corrected Amy. "It's at the dead-end, remember?"

Amy nodded. "Of course."

Now she was climbing out of her car, quite the con-artist. She slammed the door shut behind her and climbed up the porch steps to the front door of what she hoped really was Penelope's house. It looked so quaint, so humble, the complete opposite of everything she knew of Penelope.

Straightening her dress, Amy raised her fist and began to knock. After three rounds of knocking and slumming it on the wraparound porch for almost 30 minutes, Amy gave up and trudged back to her car. Penelope had not been to work and she wasn't home.

As she drove away, Amy knew she would have to suggest to Sheldon that if Penelope did not show up tonight for performances, maybe it might be time to call the police.

Sheldon arrived later that afternoon with a smile and a dozen roses.

"Sheldon!" Amy gasped, taking the flowers from him as he offered them to her with an outstretched arm. "They're beautiful."

Instead of replying, he took her in his arms and kissed her so deeply she had to arch her back as he bent her over. After a few minutes of heavily making out, Amy finally regained control and pulled away. She put the roses on the kitchen counter and searched for a vase in some of her unpacked boxes as Sheldon tinkered with the photos on the table from last night. He started to place them back in the box and they moved around in comfortable silence as Amy found the vase and began to fill it with water. She studied Sheldon's back and wondered if she should tell him about her visit to Penelope's house or wait until tonight to see if she showed up to the theater.

"I wish our fathers had remained friends," he said suddenly, his back still turned to her. Amy shut off the faucet and walked over to him, placing a hand on his back. He spoke again. "Then maybe it wouldn't have taken us so long to find each other. Maybe I could have…helped you."

Amy's hands immediately went to Sheldon's face and she touched his cheeks tenderly. "There's nothing you could have done to prevent my illness, Sheldon."

"I thought about what you said," he said softly. "How you stopped taking your medication so that you could feel for me. Do you think that now you're taking it again, you could just wake up one day and not feel anything anymore?"

"No," Amy answered immediately, and meant it. "What I feel for you is a force stronger than anything I've ever experienced before." She grew bold and let one of her hands travel down his face, and then to his chest where she rubbed him through his shirt. With her other hand, her injured hand that was not wrapped today, she lightly raked her nails over the scruff of his neck, causing him to hiss in pleasure and close his eyes.

"Do you think you would ever stop having feelings for me?" She meant it as a teasing question, but a part of her truly wanted to know.

In response, Sheldon dropped the photos in his hands and immediately clutched her hips through her dress, pulling her close to his body. He dipped his neck and assaulted her lips with his, his tongue probing every crevice of her mouth with an animalistic need. She moaned a little against his lips as he let one of hands travel down past her waist and firmly grip her rear.

"Never," he finally answered when he pulled away. They stared at each other for a few more moments before Amy regained her normal breathing and pulled herself from Sheldon's tight grip. "Come on. Let's get a head start on this place before performances tonight."

Sheldon pawed at her, bringing her close to his body again. He pouted. "We can skip performances."

"No, we can't," she insisted. "And you know why." He immediately released her and closed his eyes, realization of Penelope's inability to answer his phone calls for the last two days coming back to him.

"Right," he said in a defeated tone.

They found more tables and couches covered in white sheets pushed up against the walls in the rooms downstairs and brought them out to the living room, setting up to make the lower level of the house more hospitable for tomorrow's party. When they were done, Amy was exhausted and in need of a shower before they went to the theater. Sheldon had since left with the promise to return soon after he was through showering and dressing as well.

After Amy laid out a forest green dress with a dangerously low neck line and long sleeves to shield her from the cold, she realized she had not had a hallucination of Penelope all day. Perhaps the medication was finally kicking in. But the last time she thought that, Penelope had popped up in her kitchen. She truly hoped that the woman joined them tonight in the woods. Amy would rather have a hateful Penelope throwing disconcerting glances her way instead of a Penelope in danger.

A knock sounded on her door and she kissed Shakespeare's furry head before heading down the stairs and pulling her front door open.

Sheldon was wearing a black, button down dress shirt (rolled up to the sleeves, of course, despite the cold) and charcoal gray slacks with his always shiny black shoes. He smiled down at her in her green dress and held out his arm to her, insisting on escorting her to the car. She giggled and took his arm, allowing herself for one moment to forget about her perplexing day at Raj's office first then Penelope's house, and focusing solely on the man in front of her.

"Vixen," he growled playfully as they walked down her porch steps and into the clear night.

They were one of the last to arrive in the forest, as the atmosphere was already extremely festive.

Amy had thankfully grabbed her thick pea coat to cover her body and wondered how Sheldon could remain so warm even in the cold air as they joined hands and walked towards the crowd hovering near the bon fires lit around the stage. She gulped and started to pull her fingers away from him when she felt him tighten his grip.

"What if the others see?" she asked, looking up at him through her contacts.

"I want them to," he said firmly. His smile allowed her to relax a little and they continued on, hand-in-hand. Amy scanned the crowd for a familiar face, and saw only the backs of Howard and Bernadette as they huddled in a crowd closer to the stage. No sign of Raj or Penelope.

Sheldon and Amy were greeted by Leonard and Priya who were holding hands as well. She exchanged niceties with Raj's sister as Sheldon and Leonard chatted.

"So," Priya said, eyeing Amy scandalously. "You and Sheldon, huh?"

Blushing deeply, Amy nodded carefully. "Yeah." She looked over at Sheldon who was watching her even though others had come to join him and Leonard. He offered her a wink and she nearly melted into a puddle onto the forest floor.

"That's good to hear," Priya insisted with a flip of her ebony hair over her shoulders. "But I know someone who might not appreciate the news."

Amy gulped, sure she was speaking of Penelope, and was about to say something when Priya spoke once more. "And here she is now."

Amy's blood ran cold as a deep, velvety voice purred in her ear.

"I heard you were looking for me."