This took a while. Had two weeks of vacation and decided to go on a little hiking trip with a couple of friends. Here's a tip. Never go hiking with brand new hiking shoes. The blisters are torture -.-
Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that appeared in the show.
Penny watched mesmerized as Leonard worked. She had seen him get dressed for a mission, she had seen him in violent action twice but never doing what he calls the theoretical stuff. Leonard had procured a large stack of documents from somewhere and was going through them one by one, in a speed that was amazing to behold.
What was even more crazy was the fact that he was eating Chinese food out of boxes while doing it, using chopsticks to dig into meat, rice and noodles without ever looking at them and never dropping even a single grain of rice as he put them into his mouth. His focus was so serious that not even Sheldon dared to make a comment about any possible spillage of food onto he floor.
"So, Leonard, have you decided yet what method you will use?" Bernadette asked.
"I lean towards poison, mimicking a gas leak." Leonard told her. "But something doesn't feel right."
"What?" Howard asked.
"I don't know, call it gut feeling." Leonard sighed. "These guys are doing illegal things, that's for sure. The video feed I installed shows people getting dragged into the warehouse and not coming back out, which indicates that they were killed in there. Also, plenty of drugs are moved."
"So, what's the issue?" Penny asked. "They're bad people."
"They are but it doesn't make sense." Leonard sighed. "According to what the priest said, there are fifteen members in that gang, plus the leader."
"So?" Raj wondered.
"According to these police reports, that gang's drug trade runs all over downtown and even into adjacent neighborhoods, South Central, East Side, West Side, Hollywood, Pasadena and even Beverly Hills to some extent." Leonard explained. "Even if a small gang like that were able to pull of that trade, they would never be able to keep it. There are dozens of other, larger gangs in those areas that would have pushed them back a long time ago."
"So, you think the priest lied?" Amy asked.
"No, I saw no deception in his body language when he talked about that." Leonard shook his head. "However, his information about the gang might have been a bit outdated. Then again, the surveillance has so far not shown that the gang has a larger size than what he told us."
"He said that another member of the gang was a member of his congregation and told him those things." Penny interjected.
"And I think that's what he lied about." Leonard said. "I thought it was shame that he was revealing those information, but now I believe that this gang member doesn't exist."
"Because he is the gang member?" Penny asked. "I mean, you said that you saw the snake tattoo on his arm."
"Precisely." Leonard nodded. "He used to be in the gang and was either ousted or left, but that would leave him out of any new developments."
"Are you thinking of abandoning the contract?" Howard wanted to know.
"No." Leonard shook his head again. "Even though Sheldon took it, I'm gonna finish it. This guy is a real bad guy and deserves what's coming to him. However, I'm gonna need more information and of course, his cause of death can't be linked to a deliberate killing."
"Couldn't you reveal his location to other gangs and let them do it?" Raj suggested.
"I thought of that and decided against it." Leonard said. "For one, it could endanger civilians and two, it doesn't assure that this guy dies. He could flee."
"True." Raj conceded.
"So, poison?" Bernadette asked excitedly.
"Why are you always so excited when you get to poison someone?" Penny asked, taken aback by her favor.
"My dad was a cop and I've seen what crime can do and unless you were almost raped, you can't imagine what it feels like." Bernadette huffed.
"Actually, I do know what it feels like to be almost raped." Penny said quietly. "Leonard saved me from it."
"As he did me." Bernadette smiled weakly. "And that thought and it happening to other girls is what makes me excited to make bad people disappear for good."
"I'm leaning towards natural gas leak." Leonard interjected, to avoid the topic to go further. "The blueprints show that they don't have gas lines going into that warehouse, so I will need a gas bottle."
"How will you make it appear that they bought the bottle?" Raj asked.
"Raj, I need an old, used gas barbecue grill." Leonard told him. "And an empty, used gas bottle, old as well."
"I'll spread my feelers." Raj nodded.
"Bernie, I need a poison that gets airborne quickly and mimics suffocation by natural gas." Leonard addressed her. "And some paralytics to prevent him from leaving. And they can't show up in a tox screen."
"No problem, already have an idea." Bernadette grinned and wrote something on a notepad, presumable ingredients.
"Howard, my gear is still in Vermont, so I need a bodyglove and some other stuff."
"Rent or buy?" Howard asked.
"I'll buy the bodyglove, all the other gear I'll only use for this mission, except it's something I don't have yet." Leonard told him.
"What will you be doing?" Penny asked.
"I'm going to visit Father Malloy again, he needs to come clean about his involvement and what could explain the reach of that gang." Leonard said.
"Should I come with again?"
"No, you stay here and keep watching the feed for something strange."
"You're going now?" Penny looked confused as Leonard got up.
"Yes." Leonard nodded.
"What about your food?" Sheldon asked.
"Finish it or keep it for later." Leonard called from the hallway before the door closed.
"Focused on a job Leonard is something to behold." Penny chuckled.
"Oh yeah." Bernadette nodded.
" Does anyone want his food?" Penny asked around. "Otherwise, I'm taking it with me when I head to the apartment."
"Nah, have it." Raj waved her off. "You should also not forget to walk the dogs, no telling when Leonard will be back."
"Before you leave, I need to know something." Amy spoke up. "Where did you get the information about the target? The person who placed the contract didn't know anything detailed like that."
"When we drove around Downtown, Leonard found a brothel and the madam running it used to be an assassin." Penny explained. "Her name is Madam Lily or Lillian..."
"Mendoza?" Bernadette looked shocked.
"Um... I don't know, I don't think I ever learned her last name."
"Does she look kinda like Bernie, only older?" Howard asked.
"Yes, you know her?"
"I know of her." Howard nodded.
"She's my idol." Bernie grinned. "An unassuming woman using her wits and poisons to kill her targets."
"Well, she used more than that." Penny chuckled. "She used her body too."
"Of course, she could fight too, if needed." Bernadette agreed.
"I don't think there was much fighting involved for a lot of her targets." Penny grinned.
"She must have paralyzed them then." Sheldon stated.
"Kind of, sure." Penny giggled.
"What is Lillian Mendoza doing running a brothel in Los Angeles in the first place?" Amy wondered.
"Her way of retirement, I guess." Penny shrugged. "Leonard mentioned that there may be more, given that a lot of people seem to enjoy the weather in southern California."
"Not him, though." Bernadette sighed. "When Leonard moved to Vermont, I thought that he couldn't have moved further away. Felt a bit insulting in the beginning, I thought he wanted to get away from us."
"Have you ever visited him there?" Penny asked.
"Of course." Howard nodded. "If you like solitude, there's nothing better, except moving into the Canadian wilderness."
"Big house, own gym, huge land, access to a lake, what could be better?" Bernadette smiled.
"I like having people around, though." Raj said. "Leonard doesn't even live in the small town his property is close to. No choice of fun things to do."
"And way too cold and wet." Sheldon added. "How Leonard can enjoy living up there is beyond me. He might as well build himself an igloo in Greenland and have it rain all day."
"It's quite nice up there, actually." Penny shrugged. "Summers are warm but not oppressively hot, fall is cool and wet, I admit, and winters are cold but not bone-chillingly so, at least not every day."
"Well, we might as well get started on the procurement." Howard shrugged.
"What about our game?" Sheldon asked, insulted.
"Bigger issues, Sheldon." Raj sighed in exasperation, also getting up.
"I have to get some supplies as well, I don't have everything in stock." Bernadette said as she got up. "Penny, you wanna help me?"
"Sure." Penny nodded. "Where are we going?"
"But the game?" Sheldon called after them as they all left the apartment.
"Maybe if you hadn't taken the contract, we would be playing the game now." Howard called back before the door closed.
"Sheldon has some strange priorities." Penny pointed out as Sheldon shouted something else they didn't understand.
"His OCD makes it hard for him to change his schedules." Raj pointed out. "I'll head to the landfill, maybe I'll get lucky there."
"Landfill?"
"Safer than buying an old barbecue in a store where it can be traced." Raj pointed out. "Of course, if I don't find anything, I'll have to go to some store."
"How would that be problematic?" Penny wondered.
"If the police investigates and finds the barbecue, they might find out that the gang never used it and then they would wonder what it was doing there." Raj said. "Then, they might go to various stores that sell used grills and try to find the person who bought it."
"But nobody purchases anything from a landfill." Penny realized. "At least not officially."
"Exactly." Raj nodded.
"Bernie, can you also mix something that Leonard can spray on the grill to make it smell as if it was used recently?" Penny asked, making all the others stop moving and look at her. "What?"
"I see now what Leonard saw in you." Bernadette smiled. "That's a great idea."
"Can you do it?" Penny asked.
"Pff, with my eyes closed." Bernadette laughed.
"I'll prepare the sowing machine." Howard sighed.
"Sowing machine?" Penny looked confused at him. "What for?"
"Leonard needs a bodyglove, you think I have them lying around?" Howard chuckled. "To be fair, it's not a sowing machine in the way you think. Cameoline doesn't go well with needles."
"Then how?"
"I won't bore you with the details but it involves a pretty specialized, and very olfactory insulting glue."
"Ew." Penny made a face. "And you do that in your apartment?"
"Hell no!" Bernadette said. "He has workshop in the basement, where the stench of his work can get blown into the main shaft and from there out to the roof."
"But won't some of that air go into the apartment regardless?"
"No, that particular shaft runs alongside the elevator and isn't on the blueprints." Howard told her. "That's because by law, the air shafts in apartment buildings have to be inspected regularly."
"But wouldn't these chimney sweepers or whatever they are see the vent?"
"If it was obviously visible, yes." Howard winked.
"I keep being amazed at how thought out this all is." Penny said.
"You haven't even seen everything yet." Howard chuckled. "There are affiliates of our business in establishments you'd never expect them."
"I saw some of it in a clothing store in my home town. Leonard took me there to get some clothes for a mission." Penny said.
"You were on a mission with Leonard already?" Bernadette wondered.
"Remember when Leonard called and you saw me creating a fake FBI identity called Vanessa Riley?" Howard asked his fiance.
"That was you?" Bernadette looked at Penny.
"I was." Penny nodded. "I didn't really do anything though. Leonard did all the talking."
While Howard went into the basement, Penny followed Bernadette and Raj out of the building. Raj got into his car and drove off while Penny joined Bernadette in hers, the small blond driving off and taking a route Penny didn't know to the still unknown to her destination. She wondered what kind of place it would be. Another clothing store? Hardware store? Maybe a drugstore? When Bernadette stopped the car, Penny didn't know if it was a joke or not.
"Is this serious?" she asked as Bernadette got out of the car.
"Yes, why?" Bernadette confirmed as they walked towards the door.
"Well, because... I thought it would be something else."
"Haven't you learned yet that most of our supplies that we buy is hidden in stores nobody would suspect?" Bernadette asked.
"Sure, but come on, a comic book store?" Penny wondered, and followed Bernadette into the store, where several men, all looking like the proverbial nerds and staring at them as if they were ghosts.
"Hey Stuart." Bernadette greeted the guy who stood behind the counter.
"Bernadette." Stuart greeted her back. "Who's your friend?"
"Penny, this is Stuart, the owner of this store. Stuart, this is Penny, Leonard's girlfriend and... protege." Bernadette introduced them.
"I see." Stuart nodded and looked past them. "Guys, stop staring. They're just girls, nothing you haven't seen in movies or drawings."
"What?" Penny turned around, seeing the guys she had first seen slink away.
"We need to use the booth." Bernadette said, pushing a silver coin to him under some cash.
"Alright." Stuart nodded, pulling the coin and money towards him, putting the former into his pockets. "What do you need? Anime? Comics? Cartoon? DC? Marvel? I swear I will turn the hose on you!"
Penny turned around once more and saw the customers again slinking away, Penny feeling quite creeped out by their behavior. She wondered why those guys were behaving like that since she couldn't quite fathom that they had never seen a woman in person. But she chose to keep quiet, not knowing how much they knew.
"Anime." Bernadette chose, receiving a key card.
"All booths are free, you can choose." Stuart said, pointing to the curtain in the back of the store.
"Come on, Penny." Bernadette said and led her to the back area.
"What are those?" she pointed to the three booths.
"The porno booths." Bernadette shrugged.
"I'm sorry, what?" Penny stopped in her tracks. "You got me here to watch anime porn?"
"Yeah, sure, we're watching anime porn." Bernadette rolled her eyes and chuckled as she pushed Penny into the booth and closed the door behind her.
Bernadette then pushed the card into the slot but instead of the screen on the wall showing animated sexual acts, the wall retracted a few inches before moving into the ground, revealing a larger chamber with two more doors, presumably leading to the other two booths. Penny found the system quite ingenious, the three doors making it unnecessary to keep the first booth free and therefore avoid suspicion as to why.
"Whoa." Penny gasped, looking around.
The shelves were packed with flasks and bottles, containing powders and liquids doing who knows what and Penny looked around, wondering what she was doing here, given that she had no idea about chemistry. Bernadette took several bottles as if randomly, pouring some it its contents into empty smaller bottles, using eye droppers and a small scale to get certain amounts.
"This is not what I expected inside a comic book store." Penny mused.
"Good cover, isn't it?" Bernadette smiled. "Who would think you get the ingredients for poisons inside a comic book store."
"So, who's this Stuart then?" Penny asked. "How did he become part of all of this."
"He's what you would have become if you failed but could offer something else to the organization."
"So, Stuart trained to be an assassin?" Penny was shocked.
"Yes, but you have seen him, right?" Bernadette looked at her.
"Yeah, he seems, I don't know, fragile... damaged." Penny shrugged, unsure of how to express it.
"That's because he is... or was." Bernadette nodded. "During his training he got injured, badly."
"So badly that he couldn't finish his training after recuperation?"
"So badly that he couldn't even recuperate properly. He lost his left foot."
"He what?" Penny gasped.
"He got insured so badly that his ankle was like a puzzle of shards." Bernadette explained. "He was operated on and they fixed his ankle but because of the pain, they also gave him large amounts of morphine so he could sleep."
"So, he got addicted?"
"No, one night he woke up and because he was so drugged up that he barely felt anything." Bernadette continued. "So, when he tried walking to the bathroom, he crushed everything in his ankle again. So badly that this time, it wasn't a puzzle anymore, but more like powder. In the end, the had no other choice but to amputate the foot completely. He's wearing a prosthetic now, a very good one. The organization takes care of its own."
"Oh no, that's so sad."
"So, since Stuart is also an artist and comic book aficionado, and his dream was a to open a comic book store sometimes, he offered to use the store as a cover for our activities." Bernadette told her. "The organization agreed and so here we are."
"Leonard told me that his trainer would be taking responsibility if the trainees don't finish their training but stay in the organization."
"Yes, but Stuart has proven himself to be trustworthy, so his supervision, so to speak, has ended."
"Who trained him?" Penny asked.
"I have no idea, he never told us and we don't ask. It's not for us to know." Bernadette shrugged and put the various bottles back on the various shelves. "Done here, we can go."
"So, you brought me here to see what exactly?" Penny wondered.
"To show you that you can get gear and ingredients in places you would never look."
"But how would I know which store was offering services for us?" Penny wanted to know.
"I'll show you on the way out." Bernadette winked and waved her into the booth, where Bernadette pushed a button and the fake wall lifted back up, Penny noticing how thick it was.
"You enjoyed your stay?" Stuart asked as they reemerged into the store, the nerds still there and again staring at them.
"Yes, thank you." Bernadette nodded.
"Are they okay?" Penny pointed to the other men in the room.
"Guys, seriously." Stuart said in exasperation. "Don't worry, they are more afraid of you than you are of them."
"I'm not afraid of them." Penny shrugged and to prove the point and to test something, she turned around and pulled down the zipper of her jacket, revealing her shirt and the hint of her cleavage, leading to one of them faint. "Oh man, he really must have never seen a women in real life."
"Come on, Mike, up you go." Stuart said and poured a glass of water of the guy's face, waking him back up.
"Lets go, Penny." Bernadette pulled her out of the store. "That wasn't very nice."
"Hey, I never expected that that could actually happen." Penny defended herself. "I thought this only happened in movies. I'm not even showing much with the shirt I have on."
"For some, even that is enough." Bernadette pointed out. "Now look."
"Where?"
"See that symbol above the store entrance?"
"Yes." Penny nodded. "It looks similar to those that Leonard gave my parents to put over their door."
"I guess you're talking about the protection marker." Bernadette realized. "Yes, that's based on the same that this is based on."
"So, any store or establishment with connections to our business has these markers above their doors?" Penny asked.
"Above, on the tiles in front of the door, on the door itself or painted on the windows as a piece of art." Bernadette told her.
"Do any stores have those inside?"
"No, because if they did that, no one in our organization would know about it unless walking in. And few people would walk into sex shops just to make sure."
"Really, sex shops too?" Penny didn't quite believe it.
"Yep." Bernadette chuckled. "If you don't want to be seen going into one, avoid Seattle. Also, the symbols differ to show what kind of service the store offers."
"So, this one says that you can get chemical ingredients here?"
"Exactly." Bernadette nodded. "If you haven't gotten them already, Sheldon will surely give you a list soon, which you will have to memorize."
"That should be doable." Penny said as they got back into Bernadette's car to get back to the apartment. "Oh shit!"
"What?" Bernadette looked at her.
"We left Sheldon with the dogs!" Penny realized.
"Don't worry, Amy's still there too." Bernadette laughed, imagining Sheldon sitting terrified on his couch, hoping the dogs wouldn't approach him.
"Excuse me, sister, is Father Malloy still here?" Leonard asked a nun, a different one than the last time.
"He's in his residence, my son." the woman replied. "Do you need spiritual advice? I can help you with that too."
"In a way." Leonard shrugged. "I have to talk to him. Where is his residence?"
"Behind the church." the nun told him. "But he doesn't like to be disturbed at home."
"Don't worry, I won't bother him for long and he knows me." Leonard said and exited the church, walking around the building until he saw the house with the Father's name on the mailbox.
"Can I help you?" Father Malloy asked when he opened the door before recognizing Leonard. "Oh, it's you."
"Yes, it's me." Leonard nodded.
"Is it done?"
"No, I need to talk to you about some... issues." Leonard said and walked forward, his demeanor making Father Malloy take a few steps back.
"I don't know how much more help I can be." Malloy sighed. "I told you everything I know from the member in my congregation."
"Father, I know that you don't have a gang member in your congregation." Leonard rolled his eyes. "You are the former gang member in this congregation, I have seen your tattoos."
"So, this is what?" Malloy turned around to look at Leonard. "Blackmail?"
"Don't be ridiculous." Leonard waved him off and sat down on one of the man's armchairs, pointing to the other.
"Then what?" Malloy asked as he sat down.
"I found out who the leader of the gang is, his name is Owain." Leonard said. "When you were still in the gang, how many members did it have? And what territory did you operate in?"
"Total? Eighteen." Malloy told him. "And we controlled the northeastern parts of Downtown and a bit of Pasadena. Why?"
"Because from the police reports I've read and the other information I received, the gang now has operations in all of Downtown, Pasadena, even out to Beverly Hills and West Hollywood." Leonard said. "Such a small gang wouldn't be able to have such a large territory."
"What can I tell you? If the gang grew, it was after I left."
"No, the gang is still small." Leonard told him, knowing that from his surveillance. "I want you to tell me everything about the man who leads it. Anything, from the way he operates to his bathroom routine."
"I can't tell you about the last part." Malloy couldn't help but chuckle. "But the man is ruthless. I was the second-in-command when this Owain just came in. He was very soft spoken, so much so that nobody ever caught his name when he said it, hence me thinking that his name was Lane."
"So, how did this man become the leader then?" Leonard asked.
"Somehow, he changed. He became more aggressive, louder, and a lot more violent." Malloy recounted. "Under the old leader, we stayed out of illicit drugs and prostitution and made our money with illegal gambling. But Lane... Owain wanted more. He went against Bill's orders and began dealing in drugs as well."
"Bill?" Leonard interrupted.
"The old leader of our gang." Malloy clarified. "Anyway, when the money began rolling in, more and more of the others followed Owain's lead. Then, one night, Bill suddenly died."
"Killed?"
"Certainly, though it looked like natural causes." Malloy sighed. "Heart failure. But Bill was healthy as someone half his age, he didn't drink, didn't smoke, didn't even allow smoking around him and ate healthy. He had regular medical checkups and never was he diagnosed with any kind of heart disease."
"So you assume that this Owain killed him." Leonard concluded.
"Yes, and in the same night, Bill's enforcer died in a car crash. And my house blew up from what appeared to be a ruptured gas line going underneath it." Malloy nodded. "Since most of the other already followed him anyway, it was easy for him to declare himself leader. I knew that my days were numbered, so I left and became what I am today. Being presumed dead helped to keep them off my back."
"Thank you, Father." Leonard nodded to the man and got up to leave.
When he was behind the wheel and driving on the road back to the apartment, Leonard let out a rare growl of frustration. The visit to Father Malloy hadn't given him any new information that could alleviate his concerns that something about all this was severely wrong with all of this. He decided to keep the surveillance going for at least another week in the hopes of learning something new.
He would still fulfill the contract but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more than met the eye. And he swore to himself to keep Penny as far away as possible when he was going in, just in case.
And, end of chapter here. Again, sorry this took so long.
Review please :)
