"It's as if she deliberately tries to put him down," Penny said to Miranda as the two of them descended the stairs of 2311 North Los Robles. "And it's just him, too! Not his brother or sister! That just creams my corn, you know?"

"I told you she wasn't worthy of being called 'mother,'" Miranda agreed. "Sometimes I think it would be a lot better for Leonard if he wouldn't see or talk with her at all."

Penny bit her lip as they reached the first floor, turning toward Miranda. "We couldn't do that, could we?"

Miranda smiled and shook her head. "No, that wouldn't be right. It just pains me to see what it does to Leonard each time the bitch visits." Her eyes widened a little. "Uh, I probably shouldn't have called her that."

Penny waved her hand as they reached the ground floor. "No, no, it's a perfectly fitting description of her. And I know how it affects Leonard. I held him for a few minutes outside the hotel she's staying in, just to comfort him. And then I suggested I could show him my office to... uh..."

Miranda smirked. "Comfort him some more?"

Penny shrugged, not actually embarrassed. "Well, yeah. I mean, the building was abandoned, and we're trying to be respectful of Sheldon's whacky demands. And I'm not comfortable with having my son hear us... well, you know."

Miranda nodded. "Yeah, I can understand that. I really don't get how Leonard can stand living with Sheldon and that stupid roommate agreement."

Penny looked at Miranda. "I guess you haven't heard yet?"

"Heard what?"

"I handed a copy of the agreement over to a friend of mine who happens to work for the legal department of our company."

Miranda began to giggle. "Leonard finally lawyered up, good for him."

Penny smiled as they sat down on the bottom steps. "Yeah, Sheldon's not at all happy about it." Her features darkened. "And then of course 'mommy dear' offered for Leonard's brother to look at it and take the case if and when it goes to trial. For Sheldon's benefit! I mean, come one!"

Miranda shook her head, then looked back in shock. "Wait, this is an actual legal dispute now?"

Penny nodded. "Yup. Like I said, Sheldon's not happy, while the legal department is having a great laugh at his apparently badly defined clauses. Anyway, Sheldon now barely speaks with Leonard and has suspended their friendship until this thing is all resolved." She turned her head upward at the sound of someone running down, raising her eyebrows when the hulking boyfriend of Miranda stopped at the top of the final set of stairs, obvious relief on his face.

"I thought something had happened," he said, his deep voice still tinged slightly with obvious concern.

Miranda looked apologetically at him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get you worried."

Penny glanced between the two, confused. "I'm guessing there's actually a reason for Frank to be concerned about you?"

Miranda shrugged. "Maybe, I don't know."

Frank sighed. "Baby, you've been getting those creepy notes for two weeks now, sometimes accompanied by photos of you. I wish you weren't too stubborn to insist on going home by yourself."


Leonard took his time to get ready, not caring in the least about how much it was annoying Sheldon. He was surprised Sheldon didn't comment at all, though his facial expression said enough. Leonard knew he'd still had ten minutes before he really should be in the car if he didn't want to be late for work, and he was going to do his best to completely fill that time. Luckily, help came in the form of a text message from his girlfriend.

Leonard took great pleasure in taking his time to read each message and type out a nice response, though his first reply had been to inform Penny of the current situation, to which Penny had sent a string of smiley faces and thumbs up emoticons. Leonard frowned when Penny asked if he knew Miranda was being stalked, replying that he didn't. He ignored Sheldon's audible sigh, sitting down on the couch as he read Penny's messages laying out what she had learned last night.

Leonard made a mental note to ask Frank about this, next time he'd see his neighbor. He didn't for a moment believe he could somehow help either of them, but he agreed with Penny it was awful and that they should offer their support. He shuddered at the thought someone would be stalking Penny; unlike Frank he wasn't exactly intimidating in appearance and therefor unlikely to scare a potential stalker off.

He smiled at Penny's message asking about Sheldon's current state of mind and replied he had never seen the guy so annoyed and yet remain silent. Penny then suggested he had delayed Sheldon long enough and shouldn't risk getting them to work too late. He replied with an agreement, saying he would leave if she would agree on going on another dinner and movie date next Thursday. A smiley face, thumbs up and a couple of kissing lips emoticons was her only response and with a big smile he pocketed his phone, stood up and walked toward the door, grabbing the keys from the bowl. "Let's go Sheldon. We don't want to be late!"


"Sit down," Penny said, gesturing to the seat next to her. She scrutinized his face as Andy sat down. Clearly he was a bit worried, but Penny wasn't angry with him. She had been surprised Andy had not once complained about being grounded, or even tried to explain himself. Of course he had been wrong to use his martial arts training to shut up the teasing, but Penny was still proud of him defending both his friend and his mom.

"So," Penny finally said after Andy had sat there for almost a minute. "We're now halfway through your grounding period. What have you been doing with that time?"

He shrugged. "Not much. Read up on physics a lot."

Penny carefully hid the smile. She always knew when Andy was lying, but he wasn't right now. He probably had read every physics book or paper he could get his hands on. Penny had allowed his laptop to remain in his room, with the strict rule of it only being allowed to be used for homework or studying. Despite Andy's abuse of his martial arts training, she trusted he would do as he was told, and now she was certain he had. "So, care to tell me why you did what you did?"

Once more he shrugged, a slightly uncomfortable expression on his face. "Just... stuff."

Penny almost rolled her eyes. "Yeah, so you told me before. Anyway, I have a date tonight..."

"With Dr. Hofstadter?"

Penny smiled a little, hearing the joy in his voice. "Yes, with Dr. Hofstadter. So, tonight Amber will be here. I've decided to end your punishment."

He turned to her in surprise. "Really?"

Penny nodded, her smile widening. "Yeah. You haven't complained once and followed the rules. Plus, it was the first time you even had to be grounded, so I think I can afford to get you off the hook a bit sooner." Her expression shifted to a warning glare. "But if you ever do something like this again, no matter the circumstances, I'll ground you for a month, without an early release."

Andy nodded. "Sure, but I won't, I promise."

Penny smiled again and pulled Andy into a hug. "I'm sure you will, sweetie. I love you, you know."

"I know," he said. "I love you, too. I'm sorry I disappointed you."

She released him. "It's okay, just don't do it again."


Leonard couldn't help the grin as he turned into the parking lot, hearing Penny's surprised intake of breath. Now that he knew her better, he was far less nervous about taking her on a date. He had decided to do something other than just a dinner and movie date. He had gone through her Facebook profile and seen what kind of things Penny had enjoyed, back in Nebraska before she had gotten pregnant with Andy.

"Oh, Leonard!"

He glanced in her direction briefly, noticing the excitement on her face, and knew he'd made the right decision. Turning his attention back to finding a spot, he immediately noticed someone leaving. He turned on his indicator and waited for the space to be cleared.

"Are we seriously going to have our date here?"

He grinned again. "Yeah. I figured we could do something other than watch a movie and I noticed on your Facebook profile you enjoyed this type of activity when you were younger." He turned into the now vacated parking spot.

"I definitely did! I never thought to look for a place like this here in Pasadena!"

Leonard had barely turned off the ignition when Penny arms came around his neck and she placed a kiss on his cheek.

"You're the best boyfriend ever!"

He lifted his chin slightly, proud of himself for choosing this activity. It wasn't until they were inside getting ready and Penny asked him a seemingly innocent question, that he realized there was a minor flaw with his choice.

"You want me to show you what to do?"

Leonard decided he probably didn't need any help. After all, it wasn't exactly rocket science. "I play a lot of Grand Theft Auto. I think I know how to handle a gat." Just point and click he assured himself as he picked up one of the handguns to gauge the weight and feel of an actual handgun in his hand.

"Wow. You are cute when you get all gangsta."

He grinned, knowing she was teasing him for his attempt to sound thug. Before he knew it, Penny's lips were on his, her tongue seeking entrance. Barely a second later, Leonard was glad the weapon was not yet loaded, as his finger involuntarily squeezed the trigger. "Do you want to go first," Leonard asked, once the kiss ended.

Penny grinned. "Don't mind if do!"

Leonard watched as she loaded her weapon efficiently, disabling the safety and took aim. From that point on he had no idea where to direct his focus. He shifted between the target she was impressively hitting dead center every single time, her face that was both completely focused on the target yet sported the happiest smile he'd ever seen, and her stance. No matter how much he kept telling himself it was to learn how to stand, a big part of it was to admire her profile.

Much too soon to his liking, Penny engaged the safety on the weapon and placed it in front of her and then turned to him, beaming as the target came gliding toward them. Leonard didn't have too look at it to know Penny had hit the mark perfectly with every single shot.


Penny couldn't quite remember when she had had so much fun, and was extremely happy to find she hadn't lost her touch and accuracy. She knew Leonard had asked her to go first so he could observe and learn from her. He must have realized a video game wasn't much of a source to do this correctly.

Noticing he was becoming a bit nervous as he picked up his weapon and eying the ammo warily, she placed her hand on his. "Want me to load it for you, sweetie?"

"Uh, yeah. It's all automatic in the game," he added, still trying to save face.

"It's okay, Leonard. Here, let me show you." She clicked the safety back on, which she hadn't noticed Leonard had disengaged. "Always make sure the safety's on, until you're actually ready to shoot," she said. "Make sure there's no blockage," she added as she showed him how. "Insert the bullets," she said as she did so, deliberately slower than she'd loaded her own weapon.

She then placed the weapon in his hand. "Keep your finger away from the trigger," she warned him, moving to stand behind him. "Place your feet at shoulder width," she added, seeing he had his feet right next to each other. "And move your right foot back a few inches." She allowed herself a second to admire his cute tushy, before focusing on continuing her tutoring.

"Okay, put your index finger of your right hand against the gun's frame, above the trigger." Stepping forward she slightly adjusted his fingers and thumb, then nodded in satisfaction. "Good, now add your left hand, wrapping your fingers around the fingers of your right hand, and place your left thumb right next to your right thumb." She nodded again when Leonard had the correct grip. "Perfect! Now practice taking aim."

Again Penny leaned against his back, placing her hands on his elbows. "Not so rigid, Leonard. A slight bend at the elbows is much better and less tiring." Penny did her best to ignore the heat she felt rising, just by touching his arms. This was hardly the place to get that kind of excited. Instead she moved to stand next to him, grabbed her weapon, assuring the safety was still on and assumed the stance. "Watch, Leonard." She demonstrated how to properly position the arms, nodding when she glanced at him and see him perfectly copy her stance.

"What about recoil," he asked.

"That's why you use both hands," Penny answered, putting her handgun down again. She stood right next to him. "You push forward with your right arm and pull back with your left. It gives you good stability." She smiled. "Ready to try?"

"I think so," he said.

"Right, take off the safety," she said, nodding when Leonard did so without trouble. "Finger off the trigger," she warned him when she saw him move his finger in that direction. "Now take aim, and only when you're ready, you move your finger on the trigger and squeeze it gently." Penny took one step away from him and watched as Leonard slightly shifted his aim before his finger went toward the trigger and he fired off a round.

With more than a little pride Penny saw Leonard had hit very close to the bulls-eye, her pride growing when Leonard's second shot was even closer.


Leonard drove back toward Penny's home, glad he'd managed pulling off a perfect date. Penny had been an amazing tutor, something the people at the shooting range had also noticed and complimented her on. After a few rounds with the handguns they had a go at a rifle. Leonard was glad his aim had improved, though Penny could've been a sharp shooter as far as he knew. His girlfriend hadn't missed the bulls-eye even once, not even after a staff member had asked her if she wanted to try at a longer range.

"This was so much fun!"

Leonard grinned at the obvious joy in her voice, and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it was definitely more fun than I thought it would be."

"Leonard, you don't have to stuff you don't like just to please me."

He glanced at her. "What? No, that's not what I'm saying! I expected to have some fun, just not as much as I did. Of course, it helped I had a hot tutor, very hands-on type," he finished with a big grin. He was only a little bit kidding, but Penny's tutoring had been a very big part of his enjoyment of the activity. Not to mention the pride he felt when the staff commented she could've gotten the high score if she hadn't occasionally slowed down to help him.

"Well, I do like to have my hands on you," Penny replied. "You know, you looked really hot firing that rifle," Penny said, not a trace of insincerity or mocking in her voice.

Leonard glanced at her. "Really?"

"Uh-huh," Penny confirmed. "I got really turned on and I think that staffer noticed it, too."

"Huh." Leonard focused on the road again, contemplating Penny's words.

"Don't be so surprised," Penny said, her hand landing on his upper leg. "You're already an amazing guy to begin with, but when you do stuff like that that, you know, show off your muscles, and by the way, can I say 'thank you' for wearing this t-shirt? Anyway, it's really hot."

Leonard glanced down at himself, not quite understanding what Penny thought was so special about this shirt. It wasn't exactly a good one, in fact it was just a tad to tight on him. "This shirt?"

"Yeah, it's nice and tight, shows off what you got under there," Penny confirmed.

What he had under his shirt? Leonard wasn't exactly sure what she was seeing, but it was something nobody else, including him, had ever seen. Nonetheless, he filed this information away, knowing he had a few more shirt he rarely wore because they were so tight. "So, how's Andy dealing with being grounded?"

Penny chuckled. "Fine, even better know that I've let him off the hook early."

"You ended it already?"

Penny shrugged. "Sure. It was the first time I even had to punish him like that, and he didn't complain once. And his heart was in the right place when he did what he did, even if it was wrong. I'm sure he learned his lesson."


AN: Something must be wrong with me; this chapter didn't end with Leonard having put his foot in his mouth, or anything else that could be seen as a minor bump in their relationship. Don't worry, more is to come, I'm sure this was just a fluke :D