This is a 'flashback' chapter to set up following chapters and explain a bit more about what happened to Penny and Sheldon and the time immediately following her abrupt departure.

Chapter 4
Cooper-Drummond Residence
Pasadena, California

He burst into his home shouting her name. Leonard followed him in, more out of curiosity than anything else but then got concerned when he heard Sheldon's voice saying brokenly over and over, "She's gone. She packed up and she's gone. What am I going to do without her?"

Leonard stared at his friend. He was lying half on and half off his bed (their bed) holding a pillow against his chest and rocking side to side, tears running down his cheeks and sobs racking his thin body.

Penny's side of the walk-in closet was empty. Even the hangars were gone. Every drawer in her dresser was open but empty.

"Sheldon, buddy, c'mon. Let's get you downstairs and get some hot tea into you. I'm sure there's a good explanation for this. Maybe she's – "

"She's gone. She cleaned out our checking account and packed up and left." He looked up at Leonard with red-rimmed eyes and said, "She talked about New York and the stage and how dissatisfied she was with her career's progress…we talked about a sabbatical and we'd go together. That was yesterday. She didn't even wait to hear the news…"

"What news, buddy?" Leonard was scared. Sheldon Cooper had never ever, in all the time he'd known him, shown such depths of emotion. It was like he was being drained of his spirit while Leonard watched, helplessly. Sheldon couldn't answer him. He just pulled himself up onto the bed and curled up in a fetal position and sobbed.

Leonard ran down stairs and stepped out onto the patio and called Howard. He noticed Penny's flip-flops under the rattan settee and the Sunday Times crossword puzzle that was open on Sheldon's side. And a pen. 'Of course he does the Times Crossword in pen,' thought Leonard.

"Howard, Code Red. Penny dumped Sheldon, cleaned out their joint checking account and left him. Yes, I'm sure. I'm at their place and her closet is bare as are her dresser drawers. No, no note and his calls go to voicemail. Can you come over – and bring Bernie? I think a woman might have better luck getting through to him…"

It turned out that Bernadette already knew about Penny's departure. There had been a dramatic scene at the Cheesecake Factory when Penny told the manager 'to shove her job up her ass' because she was going to New York. Bernadette had talked with her in the parking lot and grew so damned angry with her that she could hardly speak. She could see all Penny's stuff in the backseat of the car Sheldon had surprised her with on her birthday.

"You didn't even leave him a note, Penny? You said you were so much in love with him just last week and now – you pull this shit! My God, you are a piece of work, Penelope Drummond. That man loves you more than…more than…more than String Theory! How can you do this to him?" The little blonde's voice grew more and more strident.

"I have a dream and he's just holding me back, suffocating me. I didn't realize it until last night. The sex is awesome but – but I just don't love him like I should. I need to go, Bernie. If you see him…tell him…tell him anything you want. He should have seen this coming. He knows how unhappy I am. Our relationship was going nowhere just like my career. It was so suffocating. Listen, I gotta go. Next time you see me…I'll be famous!"

Cooper-Drummond Residence
Pasadena, California

Bernadette walked downstairs and into the kitchen, dabbing at her eyes with a kleenex. "He's asleep, finally. Poor man. He's devastated and blames himself. Nothing could be further from the truth. Penny broke his heart and cleaned him out and didn't even leave a damned note."

"What did you tell him? The truth would kill him, Bernie. He's not made of steel. He's just a man after all."

Leonard knew first hand about Penny's cruel streak. She'd torn his heart out on several occasions. He knew what Sheldon was going through. He just didn't know if his friend was strong enough to overcome this. Sheldon Cooper never did things halfway and his love for her had consumed his entire being.

Would heartbreak finish him off?

"I told him exactly what Penny told me. That woman lied to him. I won't compound one lie with another."

Bernadette spent the next two days and nights at Sheldon's and Howard was beside himself with jealousy but Leonard, ever the voice of reason, put it to him succinctly and with no punches pulled while eating lunch at work.

"Howard, don't be an ass! Bernie is worried about Sheldon just as we all are. She sleeps in the guest bedroom and if anyone knows your ex-wife, it's you. She's not going to crawl all over him and try to screw him out of his depression. She's just watching out for him. You saw him. Was that husk upstairs in his bedroom Sheldon Cooper?"

"I love her, Leonard. I want us to get back together. My Ma's totally out of my life now and I'm ready to try again. She's the one being obstinate, so if I'm a little bit sensitive, excuse the hell out of me! I'm the one that threw his own mother under the bus for the love of a woman who won't even talk to me about a reconciliation!"

A few days later Sheldon seemed better and was talking about going back to work the next day. Bernadette suggested he take a few more days of vacation to center him self emotionally but he just laughed.

"And do what? Everything about this place reminds me of her. We painted the kitchen and stained the cabinets and put in those new countertops she just had to have. The colors, the furniture, even the smells remind me of her."

He seemed to gather himself up and Bernadette worried that he'd finally snapped and for just a brief moment, she was afraid.

"No. I need my work. I need my science. I am Homo Novus and like Spock, I will purge myself of the burdens of emotions and concentrate on what's important – science."

But he didn't. He sent Bernadette home with a grateful lingering hug and turned and locked the door. He grabbed the first bottle he could lay his hands on and went out onto the patio and got roaring drunk.

New York City

She had quickly found a sublet apartment she felt she could afford and then made the rounds of several entertainment agencies that her old agent had recommended. Penny had a sneaky suspicion that her portfolio, as thin as it was, would end up in some filing cabinet labeled 'Losers – Too Old' right above 'Losers- Too Young'.

She was 28 and the average age of the other 'wannabe-an-actress' girls sitting in the lobby waiting for an interview was closer to 20 and she had never felt so 'old' before.

But Penny loved New York. It was a city that was in a constant state of change and she liked that. Her life back in California had been dictated by her boyfriend's suffocating schedules and needs but here, here in New York, she could breathe!

She checked her cell phone and saw the usual missed calls and texts from her friends back in California but saw one she didn't recognize – and it had a New York City area code! She deleted all the voicemails and unread texts but returned the New York call.

Okay, so it was 'off-Broadway' and the part was minor with only lines in the first and third acts but it was a real role in a real play in New York City! She was finally getting a paycheck for living her dream.

And she'd met a guy who was from Iowa when she'd auditioned for the play and they'd hit it off right away. Kevin was tall with dark hair and flashing blue eyes and they hit it off immediately, practicing their lines and talking about future opportunities. He didn't have a place to stay so…

Penny's cell buzzed and Kevin reached over her sleeping form and answered it.

"Hullo?" He was only half awake and feeling the full effects of a night of drinking and screwing.

"Yes, this is Pasadena General Hospital and I need to speak with Ms. Penny Drummond. She's listed as the emergency contact for Dr. Sheldon Cooper and we must speak with her."

"She's asleep. It's like 4am here and who the fuck calls anyone at 4am? Call back in the morning." He disconnected the call and turned off her cell phone and tossed it on the nightstand. He pulled her into his arms and fell back to sleep.

R&R if you've a mind. Trying to keep posting one every other day.