CHAPTER

Penny, it turned out, was very good at cards. She beat Raj immediately, since he couldn't call his cards with her in the room, and Wolowitz fell as soon as she took off her coat, the blouse underneath was modest enough but his imagination apparently, couldn't be controlled, and he lost his hand very soon after.

Which left Leonard, Penny and Sheldon.

Another round, and Leonard was out.

"You're cheating." Sheldon declared.

"Am not." Penny replied, calmly laying down a card. "My father always said that when it comes to cards I've got a horsehoe..." She paused. "Never mind."

"There is no such thing as luck." Sheldon frowned at the cards in his hand.

"Then I guess I must be smarter than a three year old then." Penny said sweetly.

"More devious perhaps." He replied, choosing a card.

She trumped him, he was out. They stared at each other.

"I'm not a liar, and I don't cheat."

"You're an actress, by that very definition, you do both."

"So do you."

He shrugged and stood up, reaching for his hat. "I'm incapable of lying, I twitch."

Penny tsk'd. "You must have gotten into a lot of trouble as a kid then."

He sighed. "You have no idea. If only I'd been able to deny that the explosives belonged to me."

Leonard was silent most of the way home. He didn't mind being beat, by Sheldon, or by Penny, but there seemed to be some kind of vibe between them. Like they knew something, and he didn't. They fought without getting mad, they were in agreement the next minute, and yet so far as he could tell, Sheldon knew no more about Penny than he himself did.

And Sheldon was so bad with people it was a bit perplexing.

The flat was just as they'd left it, and Penny immediately opened the cot and spread a blanket on it, preparing to go to sleep.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather have my bed?" He offered again, but she shook her head and insisted she would be fine.

Sheldon had gone straight to his room and shut the door, stating it was past his bedtime.

It wasn't until he came out of the bathroom that Leonard saw the package on the kitchen counter.

"Sheldon?" He yelled. "Did you order something?"

Sheldon stalked out of his room in housecoat and slippers, plaid pyjamas showing and a frown on his face. "I'm trying to SLEEP Leonard."

Leonard pointed, and Sheldon went very still.

"Penny?" Sheldon asked. "Did you order something?"

"No." She mumbled from the cot, already half asleep.

Sheldon opened the package, sighed. Grabbed the scissors out of a drawer and snipped something. "Amateurs." He muttered, before going to the window, opening it, and chucking the whole package out of it.

"What was it!" Leonard stared, aghast.

"A poorly made bomb." Sheldon shook his head. "People have no imagination these days!"

Leonard went pale. "A bomb? You thew a BOMB out the window?"

"Well I deactivated it first. Perhaps I should have kept it and searched for fingerprints but.."

There was a small boom from outside. "I wasn't sure if there wasn't a back up trigger nor how much time I had to find it." He finished, calmly heading back to his room.

Penny was blinking at them from her cot. "You threw a bomb out the window?"

"Yes." Sheldon paused at his door, looking back at her.

She yawned. "Good skills Sherlock."

"Cooper." He reminded her, then shut the door.

Leonard turned and went to his room silently. A bomb. Sure. What was next? The end of the world? Assassinated in their sleep? Poisoned in their coffee?

In the living room, Penny let out a soft snore.