Took a bit longer than the last two, but can't be helped. Since temperatures have dropped, I can sleep much better.
Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that appeared in the show.
"Who are you?" Penny asked when a man in a suit entered the hospital room where they waited for the doctor so Leonard could leave.
"That's something you need to learn." Leonard looked at her poignantly before turning to the man. "Deputy director Abbate."
"Good morning." Abbate nodded in greeting and pulled one of the chairs to the bed to sit down with a sigh. "You must be our newest... agent."
"I am." Penny nodded.
"Do you know why I'm here?"
"Not really." Leonard said. "I have told Agent Greene about case Q, but he only left about an hour ago, so unless time has stopped, he couldn't have gotten back to Sacramento yet, much less called the DC office or you flying over here."
"What about the time difference?" Penny asked, but realized what she said when both men looked at her. "Wait, I'm an idiot. Forget I said this."
"I was on my way to the Governor's mansion when I got a routed call from the EDHR..."
"The what?" Penny was confused.
"Executive director for human resources." Leonard translated.
"Anyway, the Sacramento field office called him about case Q and because the standing order is that either me or the director have to deal with one of those and since the director is indisposed at the moment, the call was directed to me." Abbate said. "So, why did I get that call?"
"How much do you know?" Leonard asked.
"Only that two FBI agents were attacked and that those two agents aren't agents at all but killers from an organization that the FBI has a long-standing cooperation agreement with." Abbate replied.
"I take offense at the word killers." Leonard said. "We don't run around killing people. We just do the dirty work of those that can't or won't."
"Who did you kill?"
"It was her job." Leonard tilted his head to Penny.
"Well?" Abbate looked at her.
"The leader of the religious cult a few miles north of here." Penny shrugged.
"He's dead?" Abbate sat up straight. "Is it confirmed?"
"I'm ninety percent sure." Penny told him. "But we don't think his main bodyguard, who used to be one of ours, would have attacked us if their so-called prophet wasn't dead."
"Also, I'm pretty sure that the Sacramento field office is getting a warrant to raid the compound as we speak, so the confirmation will come soon." Leonard added.
"You still didn't tell me why I got that call in the first place." Abbate said. "Normally, you seem to keep your business to yourselves."
"And we would have but the owner of the cabins we were staying at noticed the fight and came in when it was done." Leonard told him. "She saw at least one of the bodies."
"I see." Abbate nodded and got up again. "You know, when I got the briefing about your existence, I was appalled. I couldn't fathom why the bureau would tolerate this arrangement."
"The bureaus was pretty satisfied with this arrangement when our organization hunted Russian spies for you." Leonard argued. "You also shouldn't forget that even governments, ours included, use our services from time to time. Through intermediaries of course, but they do. There are certain jobs that no private person would or could ever post."
"I know that I can't do anything about this cooperation but that doesn't mean I have to like it." Abbate huffed.
"And I appreciate your candor." Leonard nodded. "Rest assured, we will do our best so you or the director will never get this kind of call again."
"I hope so." Abbate nodded. "I will go to the Sacramento field office and straighten this out."
"Thank you." Penny got up as well and offered her hand, which Abbate took after a bit of hesitation.
"And as much as it pains me to admit this, I'm glad this man is dead, if it's confirmed." Abbate added.
"Given everything the guy seems to have done, why hasn't he been arrested already?" Penny asked.
"Because whenever we try, we get hundreds of witness statements from their members that none of the accusations are true." Abbate shrugged. "That's the unfortunate nature of cults. They cannot or dare not go against their leader for fear of reprisals."
"Added to that, when the cult leader is perceived to control the way into paradise, they defend him even more." Leonard added.
"Correct." Abbate nodded and turned to leave. "I have to go. Try to keep your promise never to call on case Q again."
"We'll try our best." Leonard said and as Abbate left, a doctor came in.
"You are Agent Breslau und Riley?" the doctor asked, Leonard nodding. "My name is Doctor Menendez."
"I guess, Doctor Cortez' shift has ended." Leonard chuckled.
"It did." Menendez nodded. "Who was that?"
"Just someone else from the FBI." Leonard kept the man's identity a secret.
"How are you feeling?" Menendez asked?
"Mild pain, otherwise, I feel fine."
"Looks good." Menendez said as he tapped over Leonard's shoulder. "I can safely release you but if the pain increases at any point or you see bruising, seek medical help immediately."
"I will." Leonard nodded. "Now, pants."
"Got everything here." Penny chuckled and unpacked the bag she had brought for him, handing him underwear, pants, socks, a shirt and a jacket.
"You need a nurse to help you get dressed?" Menendez asked.
"No, I got her." Leonard tilted his head at Penny.
"Then I will leave you alone." Menendez said and left.
"Will there be any issues regarding insurance?" Penny asked while she helped him get dressed. "Does the FBI pay for this?"
"No, not even if we were actual agents, because this happened while we were on vacation." he chuckled.
"Alright."
"Our cover identities are all insured." he told her. "Howard has set it up in a way that any bill sent to my insurance directly is redirected to me and I pay it from a bank account that will appear as official insurance on any hospital's end. Though in the few cases I had to use regular health services, I usually take the bills myself and tell them that I hand them over to my insurance."
"And that works?"
"As long as they get the money, hospitals usually don't care." he chuckled.
"Cool." she grinned.
"You will have to do the same." Leonard said. "You got an x-ray, right?"
"Yeah." she realized. "Crap. I don't even know the social security number of Vanessa Riley."
"It's on your ID." he told her. "You better write it down on a piece of paper, they might get suspicious that two FBI agents don't have their social security cards with them."
She finished dressing him, hanging the dress shirt and the jacket over his injured shoulder and buttoning both to keep it in place. They headed towards the entrance, the two dogs loyally at their sides and while they waited for their turn, several nurses, ran their hands over the dogs' heads and backs. Leonard gave the nurse his cover social security number and all other information, receiving a thick envelope with what Penny surmised was the bill. She handed over her information and received and envelope herself.
"How much is it?" she asked.
"See for yourself." he chuckled after opening it, showing her the last page.
"Holy shit!" she cursed when she saw the large number and opened her own envelope.
"How much is yours?"
"Wow." she commented on her own. "Five hundred bucks for an x-ray and consultation?"
"Well, at least you don't have to pay three grand for the ambulance ride." he shook his head. "Thank god I have money."
Penny started the engine and began driving back to the cabin. After the short ride, she parked the car in its spot inside the property and got out, wanting to help Leonard but he managed to get our of the car by himself. Letting him rest his shoulder, she packed all their stuff, moving around the police tape and especially the pool of blood on the tiles that was still there from the guy that the dogs had killed.
While she packed, Leonard used a hose to spray the blood with water and off the tiles onto the grass. She didn't envy the person that would have to clean this place proper, the metallic smell of blood present even inside and the living room pretty much destroyed, even with a cracked floor board where Rico had almost stomped on her face.
Thirty minutes later, she was done and placed the luggage into the trunk of the car. After a last sweep to make sure that nothing was left behind, especially anything that could give a hint of what they did for a living, she sat down in the driver's seat and took the slow drive to the main building so they could return the keys.
"Are you alright?" the woman who owned the place asked, seeing them for the first time since the night before.
"Not really." Leonard shook his head. "Dislocation."
"Broken cheek." Penny added hers. "And nothing against you, but we can't really enjoy our vacation anymore."
"Understandable." the woman nodded. "Normally, I'd have asked you now if you enjoyed your stay here but I think that might be a bit superfluous."
"Actually, we quite enjoyed it here." Leonard said. "Except for what happened last night, but that's hardly your fault."
"Also, I'm sorry for whoever has to clean the place." Penny chuckled sadly as Leonard handed the woman the money for the two weeks, waving off her attempt to deduct the remaining days.
"Keep the money." Leonard told her. "Give it to whoever you assign for the cleanup duties."
"Thanks." the woman smiled, despite with a sad undertone.
"Alright, the team is in place?" Hughes asked.
"Yep." Greene nodded, a copy of the warrant in hand. "We have fifty agents ready to go and we'll get more people from local law enforcement."
"Then lets get this show on the road!" Hughes made a waving motion with his arms.
"Not yet." a voice interrupted them.
"Who..." Greene began but Hughes immediately recognized the man.
"Deputy director Abbate." Hughes couldn't hide his surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Deputy director." Greene got to his feet, as did the other agents present.
"Agents." Abbate nodded. "Agent Hughes, I need to talk to you."
"Sure, lets go to my office." Hughes nodded and led him to the glass-walled room. "What is it?"
"About forty-five minutes ago, I was on my way to the governor and I got a call with a case Q." Abbate said. "And that's a call I don't want to get because to resolve this, it has to be done by me or the director himself."
"What's a case Q?" Hughes asked, clearly confused.
"You should know, it came from your phone." Abbate said. "Case Q calls have to be made from the phones of the agent in charge of field offices. In this case, it's about two agents that work in a specialized unit under the direct control of the director and me and whose existence is top secret. Two agents that, in a rare case of vacation, were attacked by a cult."
"Fuck!" Hughes cursed and opened the door. "GREENE!"
"Yes, boss?" Greene got up again, surprised by the loud voice.
"GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!"
"What did you do?" Coreen asked him but Greene only winced.
"Yes?" Greene asked after he had stepped foot in his boss' office.
"Did you use my phone to call DC with something called case Q?" Hughes asked, exasperation clearly evident in his voice.
"Um..." Greene hesitated.
"Greene." Hughes shook his head in disappointment. "How did you even do that? You weren't even here yet when he got the call."
"I..." Greene stammered.
"Did you reroute your call through my phone?!" Hughes shouted.
"I had to!" Greene tried to justify himself. "There's something about those two that doesn't sit right with me!"
"What sits right with you is of no concern." Abbate told him, his calm voice worse than Hughes' anger. "They belong to a specialized unit of agents that do missions that you can't even dream of. That's why access to their files is restricted to anyone except me and the director."
"How would I get into that unit?" Greene asked, surprising both with his brazenness.
"You don't." Abbate humored him. "You don't apply for this unit, you get chosen. And no, it's too late for you anyway, you get chosen at a much younger age."
"Greene, shut up." Hughes said before Greene could say another word.
"Agent Hughes, I leave his punishment to you." Abbate told him as he shook his hand. "I need to go, the governor is waiting for me."
"Damn, Greene, I told you to let this go!" Hughes sighed after Abbate had left.
"I'm sorry, boss." Greene apologized. "But something about this didn't sit right with me."
"And I told you to ignore that." Hughes countered. "But using my phone? Causing the fucking deputy director to come here himself?"
"Boss..."
"Listen, you go execute the warrant." Hughes stopped him from talking. "We'll talk about your punishment when you get back."
"Yes, boss." Greene nodded and headed out.
Penny drove the car on their long drive back. Every time she hit a bad spot on the road, Leonard grunted in pain when his shoulder moved and she slowed down in order to make those bumps more bearable for him. Twice during the drive, she stopped so they could let the dogs run and do their business.
Nine hours after starting the drive, they finally arrived at the apartment block in Pasadena. They didn't take their luggage out yet but rather took the dogs on their evening walk, letting them run off the energy and the stiffness they had from the car, with Penny and Leonard doing the same with their legs.
"How's the pain?" she asked.
"Bearable." he said. "The bumps in the road did hurt though."
"Sorry, couldn't be helped."
"Not your fault." he chuckled. "But for next two weeks at least we have to stay here, I can't fly a plane like this."
"Or you could hire pilots." she suggested.
"Nah, lets stay with our friends for a bit more." he said ."Also, you still need to get some of your gear and we have to make sure that you get the payment once we get the official news that he's dead."
"I already messaged Archangel that the contract is fulfilled." Penny said, causing Leonard's head to turn. "What? Was that wrong?"
"If it turns out that he's still alive, then yes, that will have been very wrong." he nodded.
"Oh." was all she could say. "But I'm sure that he's dead, I doubt Rico and the others would have attacked us if he wasn't."
"True, but for any future contracts, never turn it in unless you have absolute proof that your target is dead." he advised. "Or whatever the contract wants you to do."
"Like when you ruined that guy's reputation?" she asked.
"Exactly. That was all over the news, so me reporting it to Archangel was just a formality." he confirmed.
They finished the walk, Penny again having to scoop up their poop, and returned to the apartment building. They finally took their luggage out, Penny having to carry more because of Leonard's impairment, and put it all into the elevator, riding that up to the third floor where Penny unlocked the apartment.
Leonard tried to help her unpack but she just shooed him away, telling him to sit down on the couch while she did the work. She quickly too out the clothes, just upending the bags and throwing all onto the bed. She separated the used clothes and the still clean ones and threw the former into the dirty laundry basket for later washing.
"PENNY, COME HERE, QUICK!" Leonard shouted, making her run into the living room.
"What?" she asked, wondering about his urgency.
"Look." he pointed to the TV, the news being on.
'Today, the FBI and local law enforcement executed a search warrant on a religious compound north of Fulton, California to arrest the leader of the cult for attacks on law enforcement." the anchor was saying, with aerial pictures showing the compound, the vast marijuana fields visible in the shot. 'According to our sources, the agents and police officers found scenes of dead bodies, eighty percent of the members apparently having committed suicide after their leader had died. The few people that survived were mostly children. A cause of death of the leader is still unknown. We will keep you updated as the situation develops.'
"Oh no." she gasped and almost fell on the couch, her knees going weak.
"It's not your fault." he told her.
"How can it not be?" she whispered. "I killed their leader."
"And he deserved it." he said. "Again, this is not your fault."
"Like it wasn't your fault when you took out that cartel leader years ago and it caused all those civilians to die in the war for succession afterwards?" she shot back.
"That's different, and you know it!" he said forcefully this time, making her lean back. "You couldn't have known how deep this devotion ran."
"Sorry." she sighed. "I feel responsible for this."
"I know." he nodded and put his healthy arm over her, pulling her against his chest. "But you can't dwell on it. Compartmentalize. Put it away and deal with it piecemeal."
"At least we have confirmation that the guy is dead." she found the silver lining when someone knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Leonard yelled.
"It's Howard and Bernadette." came the reply.
"Come in." Penny said after opening the door.
"Welcome back." Howard waved at them.
"I can see that you saw the news." Bernadette commented when she saw Penny's expression.
"Yeah." Penny nodded, dejected, and went back to the couch, leaning into Leonard's chest again. "But your poison seems to have worked."
"I'm glad." she nodded. "Not about the mass suicides of course." Bernadette added when she saw Penny's shocked look.
"How are you feeling?" Howard asked.
"What do you think?" she sighed. "I'm happy that I fulfilled my first job but this..."
"It's not your fault." Howard told her, mirroring Leonard's assertion.
"Even if it isn't, it's still hard to see and not feel responsible." she retorted.
"Of course, but you couldn't have known this." Howard shrugged. "I don't want to sound indifferent but if someone is brainwashed to such a degree, them surviving could have caused something worse."
"Like what?" Penny was doubtful.
"Well, imagine those people, instead of committing suicide, arming themselves and going on a revenge rampage." Howard suggested.
"That's... actually true." Penny had to admit. "I feel really bad for the children though. The news said that most of the survivors are children, so how many of them lost their parents?"
"Probably too many." Leonard added. "But you can argue, how many of them better off despite that."
"A cult that forces their members to get tattoos to denote that they're servants?" Howard mused. "My guess is that this is actually better, even though it might not look that way."
"So, how did that happen?" Howard pointed to Leonard's shoulder.
"Enrico and two of his men attacked us." Leonard explained. "We fought them off but not before he caused some damage."
"That guy was huge." Penny added.
"She broke his neck." Leonard chuckled. "With her foot, no less."
"Damn, girl." Bernadette grinned.
"Howard, now that you're here." Leonard looked at his friend. "Penny needs a cover to get her money."
"Like you with your consultation job?"
"Exactly." Leonard nodded. "But hers could be physical security. I need you to build her a training course so she can learn how to spot irregularities."
"Does that mean you stay here longer?" Howard smiled.
"Yes, since I can't really fly my plane anyway with this." he pointed to his injured shoulder.
"We also had to call a case Q." Penny added.
"You had to what?" Howard gasped. "Why?"
"Well, we used our FBI covers after the attack, so of course the local sheriff notified the Sacramento field office, who sent an agent." Leonard explained. "And that agent was too curious."
"He promised to keep digging after he found out that he had no clearance to look at our files." Penny added. "Then he or his boss called Washington and believe it or not, the deputy director himself showed up."
"Wait, he was there?" Bernadette didn't quite believe that. "In person?"
"He was on his way to Sacramento anyway." Leonard nodded. "And because the director had to do hearings on Capitol Hill, it fell to the deputy to clear this up."
"How would he do that anyway?" Howard wondered.
"Probably giving them hell about clearance." Leonard chuckled. "I'm pretty sure we won't be hearing from that agent anymore."
"We'll probably have to be careful with future jobs, so we don't run into that guy again." Penny chuckled. "Might be hard to explain why we are suddenly someone else."
"Just use the undercover excuse." Howard said. "He couldn't call HQ anyway to corroborate your story."
"That's true." Penny conceded.
"Are you doing something tonight?" Bernadette asked.
"No, I'll head to bed early." Leonard shook his head. "We can have dinner but I won't stay up for game night or anything tonight."
"I'll do laundry after dinner." Penny said. "Except the stuff that got blood on it."
"You can wash your face." Howard quipped.
"What?" Penny was confused.
"Howie!" Bernadette hissed.
"He's talking about the bruise on your face." Leonard rolled his eyes. "Howard, you know that this blood is under her skin."
"I know, I'm sorry." Howard huffed. "Can't even make a joke."
"People can, but apparently you can't." Penny retorted with a smile.
"Ouch, that hurt." Howard grabbed his chest over his heart.
"We're going to order dinner, any preference?"
"Just the usual Friday order." Leonard shrugged. "I don't have the energy to argue with Sheldon about it."
"Alright." Howard nodded.
"You know what, screw it." Leonard stopped him. "Call Yin Sho and order me a number fourteen."
"What's that?" Penny wanted to know.
"Yin Sho is the owner of a sushi restaurant." Howard told her. "Number fourteen is a two-person plate with forty pieces of sushi, large and small, that Leonard eats alone."
"Hey, it tastes great and you can actually eat a lot of that." Leonard chuckled.
"You got a menu for that?" Penny asked.
"Here." Leonard handed her his phone, the website already open.
"Cool." she grinned and perused the offers while Howard and Bernadette waited. "I'll take number three twice, number four and number six once. And two number nines."
"Got it." Howard noted it down and he left with Bernadette.
"One thing." she spoke up. "How do I get the money for the contract? I don't have an account for that."
"Oh, that's right." he realized. "We should go to the hotel tomorrow and create you one."
"The organization gives bank accounts?" she was surprised.
"No, it's essentially holding accounts that keep the money safe until you can transfer it." he said. "My account currently has forty-nine million dollars in it."
"HOLY SHIT!" she shrieked. "Where did you get all that money?"
"I did two large contracts while you were training." he told her. "Before I visited you for the first time, I was in Colombia, taking out the leader of a rebel cell. That netted me five million dollars. And then of course the one where I had to become a different person, that was fifty million. And so far, I have paid myself six million dollars through my cover ID since then."
"So, you don't really have accept any jobs." she said. "Like, ever again."
"True." he chuckled. "But I do enjoy parts of my job. But the money affords me to be more picky."
"With the job I just finished, me as well." she said. "Plus the money you gave me, unless you want me to pay it back."
"Nah, it's a gift." he waved her off, making her laugh. "What's so funny?"
"I was just thinking, given what my life was before you found me, earning five million from one client would have made me the greatest prostitute in history of mankind."
"Well, with your looks and knowing how you feel when having sex with you, I'd second that motion." he laughed. "Though I have no way to compare."
"You would have to sleep with a lot of hookers to get that." she grinned.
"True, I should start doing that tomorrow." he nodded.
"Hey!" she slapped his uninjured arm. "Not funny."
"Love you." he grinned and whistled, causing the dogs to stand up and come over to them.
They exited the apartment and went upstairs, joining Sheldon, Amy and Raj, who welcomed them back and ignored Sheldon's whining about the presence of the dogs. As the evening went on, Penny thought about what she could do with the money she was getting. A shopping spree was something she really wanted to do but the first thing in the morning would be getting the mask she had to wear.
Ending the chapter here. Gotta go to work now.
Review please :)