Egamer25: I do plan to bring them back, though as of now, I don't know in what capacity. I have some story points planned out but they're about L&P ;)

Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that appeared in the show.


"Here are your keys, enjoy your stay." the woman smiled at them as she handed her a set of keys.

"Thank you." Penny smiled back and left the administration hut to return to the car.

"Got them?" Leonard asked.

"Yep, it's cabin four." she nodded, handing him two of the keys. "Two keys each for the gate and the bungalow door, I wonder what the fifth key is for, it's different from the others."

"Maybe there's a basement? And according to the map, the bungalows are spaced apart nicely and have hedges blocking the view from other bungalows, only narrow gates would allow someone to look in." he told her. "But we'll see when we're there.

"It's not far from here." Penny shrugged. "Drive that way a quarter mile, take a right and it's the second on the left."

"Alright." Leonard said and started driving.

He followed the directions and a few minutes later, they arrived at their destination, which was just a hedge with a sign with the number four on it, denoting the entrance. They got out of the car and let the dogs out to stretch their legs before Penny unlocked the narrow door, which was just a chest high wooden board with a handle.

"Look, there seems to be a place for the car." she pointed to the area.

"Are we supposed to drive the car through the hedge?" he wondered and walked closer. "Oh my god."

"What?" she asked when she saw him laugh.

"Either this is by design or they just let the hedge grow over it." he said and held up his hand, Penny understanding and throwing the key chain at him, which he caught. "Yep, that's what the fifth key is for."

"Nice." she nodded appreciatively as he pulled the wider gate open, with a few leaves and small branches falling off. "It's only a single gate, wide enough for our car. Good thing we didn't come in a pickup truck or large SUV."

She held the gate open while he drove the car into the spot before closing the gate and locking it. They unloaded their luggage from the trunk and Penny opened the bungalow, getting met with the stale air that was normal for places like this. She put down her stuff and opened every window, mosquito nets on each preventing insects from entering the place, which she found very considerate.

"Hello?" a voice surprised them.

"Yes?" Leonard eyed the young man that had entered through the gate, holding a large box.

"You forgot this." he held the box out. "It's towels and linens for the bed."

"Oh, thank you." Leonard smiled at the young man and handed him a five dollar bill when he took the box.

"Thank you." the man smiled and left.

"Lets see what we have here." Leonard said and opened the box, upending its contents onto the small couch.

"Damn you and your money." she sighed.

"What?" he looked at her confused.

"I got so used to the high thread count of your linens and towels, these feel like sandpaper." she made a face.

"I think you might not be suited for this line of work." he laughed. "Get over it and help me make the bed."

"Yes dear." she pouted.

"And don't worry, I brought towels from home." he winked as they made the bed

"I love you." she grinned. "I would have loved you even more if you had brought linens."

"And why didn't you think about it?"

"Because they weren't on the list." she countered.

"The list wasn't some fixed thing, it was just the minimum that we need." he chuckled.

"Now you tell me." she rolled her eyes. "Okay, done."

"So, how do you wanna play this?" he asked. "It's your job."

"Given that this guy only goes out on Wednesday to that restaurant and this Saturday to Santa Rosa, we have some time to kill." she said. "I'd say we go out on a walk with the dogs and get our bearings on the town. Maybe even rent some bicycles to get close to the compound."

"Good plan." he smiled. "Wanna go right now?"

"As soon as we have unpacked everything." she nodded. "When we arrived, I saw a nice cafe in town, I'd say we go there and try to get some information on how the townspeople feel about that cult."

For the next half hour, they unpacked their luggage, putting all of their clothes into the available closets and cabinets. It was always surprising for her how many clothes were needed for multiple weeks and she hoped that there was a dry cleaner in town where they could wash their clothes if necessary, especially if they went running every day.

Since the cabins were a good distance away from the town, they decided to go back to the administration building to rent bicycles for their stay. Leonard got the keys for the locks and both took a bike each. The new arrangement was better for the dogs of course, allowing them to trot and run instead of walking slowly and therefore expending their energy better. Three miles later, they arrived at the cafe they had spotted and they sat down at a table outside.

"Good afternoon." a waitress approached them. "You need menus?"

"I'd like to see a pastry menu, if you have one." Penny said. "Otherwise, I'll take a ginger ale."

"Cocoa for me." Leonard added.

"No coffee?" the waitress smiled as she put two pastry menus on the table.

"Frankly, it's too hot for hot beverages." Leonard chuckled.

"Coming right up."

"According to the file, over there is the restaurant that my target visits every Wednesday for that special lunch. Arrives at eleven-thirty, eats this specialty order, leaves the restaurant at twelve-thirty, smokes a cigarette and then drives off. Every single time."

"Wait, you brought the file?" Leonard asked. "What does he eat?"

"Only that particular page. And he eats the Chef's special." she said. "Some weird dish I won't even try to pronounce. It's... ew."

"What?"

"Spun chicken liver wrapped in cotton candy." she read.

"That sounds... nasty." Leonard agreed. "But hey, people put pineapple on pizza, so everything is possible."

"Have you decided?" the waitress interrupted them, putting down their beverages.

"Yes, I take a piece of your strawberry cheesecake." Penny smiled. "A big one."

"I'd like two pieces of poppy seed cake." Leonard ordered.

"Coming right up." the waitress nodded and left them alone again.

"So, what's your plan?" Leonard asked.

"I think we should go to that restaurant on Wednesday to have lunch, after he has left." Penny said. "Then we can order the Chef's special and I can see if it's possible to somehow use it. Maybe even get some information on how it's made."

"That might be hard to do, cooks often keep their special recipes secret for that very reason." Leonard counseled.

"And there you go." the waitress announced the arrival of their pastries.

"Thanks." Penny smiled at her. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." the waitress nodded.

"What, besides enjoying nature, can one do here during a vacation." Penny asked. "I mean, is there something we absolutely have to take in? Or even something we should avoid to not ruin it?"

"It depends on what you like." the waitress shrugged. "People mostly come here to enjoy the peace and quiet. For some more action, they usually go to Santa Rosa or even Sacramento, since it's just a ninety minute drive from here. Otherwise, we do have several wine estates, where you can do tastings and an art gallery with some nice pieces."

"And what should we avoid doing?" Leonard hoped to steer her into the direction Penny wanted to go.

"Getting too drunk on the wine." the waitress chuckled. "And of course, you should stay away from the northern compound."

"I read about that, it's a religious group, right?" Penny feigned ignorance.

"Religious group, my ass." the waitress scoffed. "It's a damn cult that sells weed to whoever buys it. Who knows what kind of evil rituals they perform there. And that damn leader of theirs waltzes into town once a week to go to that restaurant over there and acts like he owns the place. Everybody hates them. I'm pretty liberal but if the rumors are true, they're practicing child labor, polygamy, you name it."

"Really?" Leonard was intrigued. "Then, if you don't mind me asking, why are they still there?"

"They own the property, we can't eject them."

"I mean, why isn't the county or the state doing anything?" Leonard clarified. "If what you say is true, their could be something criminal going on, right?"

"Nobody could ever prove anything. In my opinion, if something isn't done, I'm sure there will be violence at some point." the waitress said. "Well, enough doom and gloom from me, enjoy the cake."

"Thanks." Penny smiled. "Well, that was very illuminating."

"It was." Leonard nodded.


"Enjoy." the chef said as he put down the two plates with several sticks of the chicken liver inside cotton candy.

"Is there something we have to do or not do when eating it?" Penny asked, looking at the specialty in front of her.

"You should eat it whole." the chef told them. "Biting some of it off will just make a mess."

"So, like this?" Leonard asked and put the whole thing in his mouth and pulling it off like a fondue.

"Exactly." the chef nodded.

"What are those?" Penny pointed to the small white granules on the plate.

"That is rock salt, no need to eat that." the chef chuckled.

"So, why did we have to order this a day before?" Leonard wanted to know.

"I have to prepare them at least twelve hours before serving so the liver can soak in the sweetness of the cotton candy." the chef explained. "And since the recipe is a secret, I have started to demand that people who want it order it the day before, so I can stay after hours and prepare a batch, which I then store in the prep fridge."

"So, none of your people know this recipe?"

"Oh no, if they did, it wouldn't be secret anymore." the chef laughed.

"What made you create this?" Penny wondered.

"Actually, I didn't." the chef admitted. "My brother created it and he left the recipe to me when he died."

"Oh, my condolences." Leonard said, knowing how it feels to lose a sibling.

"Thank you." the chef nodded. "I made my peace with it. Anyway, enjoy the food."

"Thank you." Penny said and turned to Leonard after the chef had left. "How was that piece you ate?"

"Better than I thought." Leonard told her. "The sweetness gives a strange counter to the taste of the liver and the salt gives a weird accentuation."

"There are some salty sweet snacks, right?" she tried to remember if she ever had one before trying the food herself. "This is not bad."

"Yep, but in my opinion, this is not worth its price." he nodded.

"It's very pretentious." she chuckled. "Kind of weird to see this in a small town like this. Normally you see these kinds of specialties in large cities that have a large pool of possible customers, or in restaurants that start with Chez."

They finished the meal, both eating the twelve sticks they each got along with the vegetables that came with the dish. When they paid the bill, Penny wondered if the cult leader really liked this or just ate this once a week to show off his wealth. Once they left, she got herself an ice cream to get the residual salt taste out of her mouth, then they proceeded to head back to their cabin, where the dogs were lazying around outside, both half lying in the pool to get some much needed cooling off.

"We have to leave." she told Leonard. "Otherwise, we might miss it."

"Then lets go." he nodded and whistled, both dogs jumping up and trotting over to them.

Penny used a towel to dry both of their undersides before putting a blanket over the backseat, so any remaining wetness was caught by that instead of the seats. Leonard drove the ten miles to Santa Rosa, parking the car and paying the fee before they walked with the dogs to the address where the leader was supposed to have his monthly medical treatment.

"Damn, it really is just a nondescript building." Penny cursed. "Lets sit down there and wait, they should be here in twenty minutes.

They went to the small cafe Penny had spotted, with her sitting down in a way to allow her to observe the building. She pulled out her phone and prepared to film whoever arrived so she could go with the specialists identity. They both ordered something to drink and some pastries to keep up appearance, with Leonard also getting two bowls with water for the dogs who greedily drank.

"There they are." Leonard pointed out when he saw the convoy of cars approaching.

"This guy is traveling like a president or governor." she shook her head.

The cars stopped and what looked like the security guards stepped out from their vehicles, surrounding the middle car so the leader could step out. Penny had already glimpsed him when he had exited the restaurant a few days ago and even there, his bodyguards were close to him but not too close as to do anything.

The group entered the building and only fifteen minutes later, another car approached. Penny started filming, catching the occupant as he stepped out and was stopped by one of the bodyguards who had stayed outside. A quick ID check later and the man went into the building. The entire process took only thirty minutes until the specialist left again, followed by the cult leader and his entourage.

"Got it?" Leonard asked as the cars left.

"Got it." she nodded and made a call.

"Yes?" Howard's voice came from the speaker.

"Howard, I'm sending you a video. The man you'll see is the specialist. See if you can identify him."

"Will do." Howard confirmed and ended the call after which Penny sent the video and both ordered another round of drinks to pass some more time, but instead of waiting for long, the phone rang two minutes after.

"Howard?" Penny spoke into the phone, surprised at the early call. "Your software is that fast?"

"No need for software, I know who that is." Howard said. "His name is Walter Chang. He is an engineer, specializing in prosthetic limbs and bionics."

"Bionics?" Penny wondered.

"Imagine an artificial hand prosthesis but you can feel things with it, and use it like a normal hand." Howard explained. "But the field isn't that far advanced yet."

"Like Luke Skywalker's hand?" Penny looked at Leonard.

"You've gotten so much hotter right now." Leonard smiled.

"So, my target has an artificial foot." Penny sighed.

"Or hand." Howard added.

"He doesn't look to have any problems using both his hands but he does walk with a slight limp, so my guess is it's either his foot or the leg from the knee down." Penny said.

"I'll go with your assessment since I haven't seen him walk." Howard retorted. "Also, since I have you, there's no outside network access to the cult compound, they must have a closed system."

"Thanks Howard." Penny nodded and hung up the phone. "Well, shit."

"So, what will you do now?" Leonard asked.

"I have no idea." she admitted. "Yet."

Somewhat dejected, Penny got back into the car, letting Leonard drive them back. As they usually did, they grabbed their bicycles and ran them for a few miles, allowing the dogs to run along, though not as fast as they could but the distance made up for the lack of speed. After returning, Penny immersed herself into the files again, trying to find out another way of getting to her target, since the medical treatment he got didn't give her any ideas on what to do with it.


"I still don't understand what you are trying to achieve." Leonard said, sitting in the driver's seat, the car mostly hidden from view from the restaurant.

"I spent the past three days studying his file." Penny explained. "Since his medical condition isn't something I can use, I'm thinking about a different approach."

"I hope you don't plan a direct attack on him when he's leaving the restaurant, you know he has bodyguards, right?" he worried.

"No, I want to get his DNA." Penny smiled.

"What for?"

"I remember Bernadette mentioning that she got a DNA sequencer from the money you gave her when she made you something for a job." Penny said. "And that she can tailor poisons."

"Yes?"

"I need his DNA, so Bernadette can tailor a poison directly for my target." Penny told him. "It says in the file that he always got a taster with him to eat. Since I want to avoid collateral damage, or even him not eating when his taster drops dead, I need something that only affects him."

"I'm so proud of you." Leonard smiled. "But how would you get his DNA? I doubt they leave his plates unwashed long enough for you get them. And since he's eating something that doesn't require cutlery, getting his saliva from those is impossible as well. And I doubt we could hire a gang of hitmen to attack the guy and his bodyguards."

"Well, the solution came when I read the file again." she winked and got out of the car, just as the leader came out of the restaurant and stopped to smoke his cigarette, his bodyguards placing themselves into their usual positions.

"What is it?" Leonard asked, looking at the page she had opened.

"He seems to have a type." she grinned and took her pants and shirt off, revealing tight running shorts and a sports bra, showing off her curves most advantageously. "And you don't send out a group of men to do a woman's job."

She took a water bottle and used her hand to put water on her face and upper chest to make it appear as if she was sweating, then grabbed her phone and put air pods into her ears before she started running. She took the corner and saw her target blowing out smoke. She made a showing of looking at her phone and running her fingers over the screen as if she was browsing music and when she was close enough, she tweaked her direction, ran past the bodyguard in her way and bumped into the leader, screaming in pretend shock as they both went down.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" she yelled in a high-pitched voice, trying to convey a sense of shock while she noticed the bodyguards coming in and grabbing her.

"Step away, mam!" the one holding her said, roughly pulling her away.

"Rico, it's okay." the leader said after he got a look at her, Penny noticing his widening eyes at her appearance. "It was an accident. Are you okay, mam?"

"I think so." Penny said, patting herself down as if looking for injuries. "Are you? Do I need to call my insurance?"

"No, I'm fine." the man smiled.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, it's okay." he kept smiling but lost the smile when he noticed his bodyguard still holding Penny. "Rico!"

"Sorry boss." Rico nodded and let go, Penny realizing that he still had her restrained up to that point. "You be on your way, young lady."

"Thank you for understanding." Penny smiled sweetly and turned around to start running again, making sure that she was shaking her hips a bit more to make her ass bounce.

When she turned the next corner, she noticed a vibration of her phone. She was surprised at seeing a rather urgently worded message from Leonard, telling her to keep running back to their cabin, since he had driven off. Wondering why he was making her do an unplanned three mile jog, she shook her head and this time really began listening to music.

Since she wasn't in a hurry, it took her almost forty minutes to reach the cabin, with sweat pouring out of her when she arrived. She took a deep breath and began stretching against the garden table on the grass, the two dogs looking strange at their human master contorting her limbs. As she looked around, she noticed a car driving off but thought nothing of it but then realized that she hadn't seen Leonard since she arrived, even though their car was here.

"Leonard?" she called.

"Inside." came the reply and she walked towards the door.

"Care to explain why I had to run back here?" she asked when she entered and noticed him staring at the TV, which seemed to show a camera that was installed on the outside of the cabin. "Where is the camera?"

"I put them there when we arrived." he explained and switched channels, showing more camera feeds.

"How many are there?" she wondered.

"Eleven in total." he told her and nodded before shutting off the TV.

"And why?"

"Precaution." he said.

"Now answer my question please." she demanded.

"Remember when I told you that when other assassins tried this job, one of them was never heard from again and from then on, several turned up dead?" he asked.

"Yeah, so?"

"I recognized one of his bodyguards." Leonard said and showed her a picture, Penny seeing a younger version of the one guard the guy had called Rico. "That's Enrico Fabian."

"Who is that?"

"He is the assassin that was never heard from again." Leonard explained. "So, apparently he either got a good offer or he got turned by the cult leader into being a believer. Now it makes sense that the assassination attempts afterwards failed so often with the death of the assassin."

"Well, shit." Penny sighed.

"But you're new, so he couldn't have recognized you as one." he continued. "Though they had you followed until you arrived here. I wouldn't be surprised if we're going to be watched for the remainder of our stay."

"So we'll have to be on our guard." she nodded. "Will they recognize you?"

"I doubt it." Leonard said. "When he disappeared, I was still lower on the tier list and also, I usually kept to myself. I only know Enrico's face from pictures, I've never met him."

"Okay." Penny was relieved.

"So, what exactly did you achieve by running into him?" Leonard wanted to know.

"This." she smiled proudly, showing him a small evidence bag that had several hairs in it.

"You got his DNA?" Leonard gasped. "Nice job!"

"Yeah." she smiled. "What do I do with it?"

"Are you asking me because you don't know or because you need confirmation that your plan is right?" he looked at her poignantly.

"The latter." she chuckled.

"You already know what you do, go with it." he winked.

"Hey Bernadette." Penny greeted their friend after her video call was accepted.

"Penny, how's the vacation?" Bernadette asked.

"It's fine, lots of green here." Penny said. "Listen, I need your services."

"Alright." Bernadette got serious.

"I got my hands on the DNA of the target." Penny started. "Can you build a poison that only affect him but nobody else?"

"That depends on his DNA showing some deficiencies I can use." Bernadette told her. "If so, I can harness that genetic sequence onto a poisonous agent. I could even put the sequence onto a common cold virus, all you'd have to do is spray it into his proximity and he gets a lethal cold while anyone around him just gets the regular one."

"Except someone shares his deficiency." Leonard added.

"So, a direct poison would be better." Penny nodded.

"How did you get his DNA?" Bernadette wanted to know.

"Lets just say I got my hands on some of his hair." she chuckled.

"You need to send it to me, then I can get to work." Bernadette said. "What other attributes does the poison need to have?"

"I plan to put it into a specialty dish, chicken liver wrapped into cotton candy." Penny told her.

"That sounds vile." Bernadette made a face. "So the poison needs to be either tasteless or taste sweet, colorless, otherwise it could change the color of the food, doesn't need to be soluble."

"The food is also stored in a prep fridge overnight." Penny added. "I plan to apply it when it sits there."

"So the poison needs to stay viable in both hot and cold." Bernadette made another note. "Of course it should be odorless as well."

"How long will it take?" Penny asked.

"A few days at least." Bernadette replied. "The genetic sequencing alone can take a day, then I have to tailor the poison to him, get the ingredients and mix it."

"Well, he eats there every Wednesday, so I would need it either by Tuesday at the latest. Or the Tuesday after that." Penny said.

"Six days should be enough." Bernadette nodded. "Assuming I get the hair today."

"We can bring it to you, it's not that far a drive." Penny shrugged and looked at Leonard.

"Sure." Leonard nodded. "Gives me the change to tell Antoine about Enrico."

"We'll be in Pasadena in about two hours then." Penny said.

"Alright, I'll still be at work by then but I can start the sequencing after I get home." Bernadette confirmed and ended the call.

"We could stay home until then, right?" Penny asked Leonard.

"Yeah, but it would be very suspicious." he said. "Better to bring the hair to Bernie, have dinner with the group and return. Afterwards, we can spend a week of vacation here and do what vacationers do."

"Alright." Penny accepted his wisdom.


Chapter ends here. Hammered the final part down quickly because my vacation started today and I let myself get roped into a hiking trip -.- My knees will surely kill me.

Review please :)