Penny and Sheldon raced down to Penny's car.
"Do you have your passport?" Sheldon asked.
"Of course I do; I take it everywhere with me! I still get asked for ID in some bars." Penny frowned. "Why?"
"Just in case we miss her before she goes through security."
As they reached the bottom of the stairs and reached Penny's car outside, Sheldon sat in the passenger seat.
"Which airport does Amy's flight depart from?" Sheldon asked.
"LAX" Penny replied, "And her flight is going to Tampa Airport."
"I have her flight number on the piece of paper she gave me." Sheldon said as Penny started the engine and drove out onto the roads, heading for Los Angeles Airport as fast as the law allowed.
"Okay, well what is it?" She asked.
"DAL933."
"Okay and when does her plane take off?"
"I thought you would know!" Sheldon looked at Penny, alarmed.
"She just said 'around 9ish' so…Any time from then, I guess, but not an exact time." Penny replied.
"Oh Lord. We have two hours to get there and to find her." Sheldon complained.
"Sheldon, relax. We'll find her!"
"I wish I wasn't me sometimes." Sheldon sighed.
"What do you mean?" Penny asked.
"If I was like a normal man, I could…Well I could give her everything before she left to go on business. It's my fault she left." Sheldon hung his head.
Penny's expression softened and she gave him a quick, sympathetic glance. "Oh sweetie, this wasn't your fault. She would have taken the position anyway. She wanted it so badly."
"I know. I was stupid to try and stop her."
"Sheldon, Amy loves you. You and she are back together now, so it's not like she's going to run off with some other guy. Besides, she'll be too busy." Penny reasoned.
Sheldon nodded.
..
As they finally arrived at the airport, Penny parked in the parking lot and paid for her ticket as Sheldon waited impatiently.
They ran into the airport building and looked around for a screen.
"There!" Penny pointed out, and the two friends ran over to look at it.
"It just says 21:15 right now." Sheldon sighed. "At least she isn't boarding yet,"
"Well, let's go see if she's at a check-in desk yet." Penny suggested, as they searched the hall for the Delta Airlines desks.
They scanned every single one, until they found Amy's flight number taking up two desks.
Searching both lines, they tried to find Amy, but with no luck.
Sheldon suddenly caught sight of a woman with long brown hair and glasses. He jogged over.
"Amy?" He asked.
The woman smiled at him politely and shook her head. "Sorry ma'am." Sheldon muttered, and he turned back to scan the entire hall, his hands on his head.
Penny wandered over to him. "No sign?"
"Nothing." Sheldon answered, sadly. He closed his eyes and covered them with his hands.
"Sheldon Cooper, don't you dare give up!" Penny said to him; "Amy is here somewhere. She must have gone through security and is probably waiting in Departures. I didn't drive you all this way for nothing. And besides, the Sheldon Cooper I know isn't a quitter!"
Sheldon looked at her for a few moments, before he swallowed and slowly nodded.
"You're right…You're absolutely right." He turned on his heel and walked over to the main desk.
"Two tickets for the next flight to Tampa, Florida please." He asked.
The man behind the desk smiled at him as Penny approached and stood next to Sheldon.
"Romantic getaway?" He winked.
"What? With Penny? Lord no!" Sheldon snorted.
Penny dug her elbow into his rib. "Hey! I am helping you to find your girlfriend, and since you're now booking me on a flight to Florida, the least you can do is be polite about me."
"Sorry." Sheldon mumbled.
"That's $470 please, sir. Your flight will be with United Airlines and leaves at 22:00 hours." The man behind the desk said.
"Whoa! Sheldon, wait. That's almost $500, you can't afford that!" Penny protested.
"Yes I can. Do you remember all those unpaid cheques I had in my desk drawer?"
"Uh, yeah…?"
"I paid them in."
Penny's eyes widened in shock. "Oh…Wow, okay then."
Sheldon paid for the tickets and handed Penny hers, and they headed over to the United Airlines desks which just started displaying their flight number.
Within minutes, they had their boarding passes and were going through security.
As they made it through security with no issues, they scanned the Departures lounge.
"Oh God, Sheldon. She could be anywhere!" Penny breathed.
"I know." Sheldon sighed, seating himself on a chair.
Penny sat beside him silently.
At that moment, the loudspeakers chimed, and the announcement echoed through the airport.
"All passengers for flight DAL933, please go to gate 11. Flight DAL933 to gate 11."
Sheldon looked up.
"Come on!" Penny said, taking Sheldon's arm and pulling him up.
"What are you doing? That's not our flight." Sheldon protested, shaking her off.
"Yes, but it is Amy's."
"We're going to meet her at the hotel; there's almost no chance that we will catch her in time here." Sheldon replied.
"What!? We're actually getting on a flight?" Penny looked shocked.
"Yes."
"Sheldon! I may be carrying next to everything in my bag, but I don't have a toothbrush or overnight clothes, or clean underwear or anything!" Penny blurted. "And I bet you don't either!"
"Yes I do; I always have an emergency bag packed." Sheldon patted his satchel.
Now that he thought of it, Penny realised that it wasn't Sheldon's regular satchel.
She sighed. "This is a one-way ticket. How am I supposed to get home?"
"I'll pay for flights back." Sheldon promised, before lowering his voice. "I have over $50,000 that I cashed in from all those unpaid cheques. There were years and years of unpaid cheques in that drawer, and there's over still half left over."
Penny stared at him.
"Okay, well if we are going on this crazy red-eye mission, can I at least buy some overnight things while we're waiting to be called?"
"Fine." Sheldon sighed, getting to his feet.
..
Not long after, Sheldon and Penny's flight number was asked to go to gate 14 ready for boarding.
As they made their way through the airport, Penny looked at Sheldon.
"This is it." He was telling himself. "I'm getting on a…A plane of all things; a confined space that probably houses more germs than I care to imagine…All for a woman. A woman, Penny. What's happened to me?"
Penny smiled. "You're in love, Sheldon. Whether you care to admit it or not, that's what you are."
Sheldon bit his lip. "I know. I have already come to terms with that. I have admitted it to myself."
"Quick question; why exactly are we going after Amy again? Is it to bring her back?" Penny asked, frowning as they arrived at the gate and took a seat.
"No, but if she will hear me out, the choice to return home will be hers." Sheldon answered.
"Hear you out for what?"
"I have to tell her."
"Tell Amy what, Sheldon?" Penny was exasperated now.
"How I…Feel." Sheldon blushed.
Penny stared at Sheldon, looking like she was about to cry. "You're actually going to tell her?"
"I know it's probably too late, but I can't keep the feelings inside any longer, Penny. It's causing emotions and feelings I was never even aware of. I will explode. Consider this as my human half needing to release its feelings."
"You got it, Spock." Penny grinned. "And by the way, this is the most romantic thing you've ever done, and that includes the speech at your two year anniversary – Yes, Amy told me. You're finally growing up, Sheldon! I'm proud of you."
Sheldon smiled and blushed, fiddling with his passport.
Just then, the seat numbers were being called out.
Consulting their boarding passes, the two friends took a deep breath.
"This is us." Sheldon said, as he led Penny to the kiosk and boarded the plane to Tampa.