Finally, temperatures have dropped and it's raining. Beautiful rain ^^
Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that appeared in the show.
'You found all problems.' Howard's voice spoke into her ears.
"Yeah baby!" she whooped.
"What's going on?" Leonard asked as she took the headset off.
"Found everything again." she grinned happily. "This is so much fun."
"Good." he nodded. "Either you tell Howard to make you an even harder test or we go ahead with creating your fake business so you can get your money."
"I think I let him give me one final test but he can also create the cover business already." she agreed. "I'll take this down to him and then get my weapons and I'll be back to take you to the doctor."
"Sure thing." he nodded and grabbed her handbag, heavy due to the number of coins in it, before walking down the stairs and knocking on Howard's apartment.
"Hey Penny." a grinning Bernadette greeted her.
"Hey Bernie." Penny smiled back. "Is Howard home?"
"Howie! Penny's here!" she yelled into the apartment,
"Give me a minute!" Howard's voice came from the back.
"He's in the bathroom." Bernadette explained and took a step back, allowing Penny to see the other person in the apartment.
"Lillian!" Penny said surprised and stepped into the apartment. "What are you doing here?"
"Young Miss Rostenkowski came to visit me a few days ago and we had a nice talk." Lillian got up and shook Penny's hand. "She agreed to show me her lab setup where she does her magic."
"Lillian gave me a few tips on how to mask some of my more potent poisons." Bernadette said happily. "There are things I never knew about."
"Did she also tell you how she made a lot of those poisons work?" Penny chuckled.
"You mean her having sex with her male targets so their own bodies circulated the poison faster?" Bernadette nodded. "Yes, though that is not something I would do, given that I'm just service in the organization."
"Still something you can do." Lillian said to Penny.
"Yeah, Leonard might have some issues with that." Penny winked. "And I'm through with having sex with strangers."
"Yeah, I can understand that." Lillian nodded, given that she knew about what that can do to a woman, since she was employing a lot of them.
"Hey Penny." an appearing Howard greeted her, the sound of a refilling toilet tank audible.
"I hope you washed your hands." Penny smirked.
"Funny." Howard rolled his eyes. "As if I would waste water for that."
"Ew!" Penny made a face.
"Kidding." Howard winked. "So?"
"Found everything in all the tests." Penny grinned happily. "I think we can go ahead with that cover business. But I'd like it if you could build me one last test and make it really difficult."
"Huh, there aren't that many security issues that can appear in a warehouse." Howard shrugged. "I could build you some other building, like a prison or something else, but I don't know if you would do that."
"Could I?" she wondered.
"If your cover business is physical building security, I would exclude prisons." Lillian interjected. "The only real test for that is to get yourself incarcerated and try to escape."
"That's true." Howard nodded. "I mean, there are issues an outside investigator could find but the best way to find issues in a prison is to be a prisoner trying to escape. And that could get you shot, since the guards can't be told that you're not a real prisoner."
"Alright, I accept that." she nodded. "Well, just create the cover business then."
"And get you your money." Howard chuckled. "Come on, lets get you your weapons."
"Bye Lilly." Penny waved at the buxom woman.
He led her downstairs again, into the same workshop where he had taken the laser measurements of her hands. He opened a weapon case and lifted the lower lid, revealing several guns and a few knifes. Penny gave a whistle at how amazing they looked and took one of the knifes, balancing it on her index finger to see if the balance was correct.
"Damn." she commented when the knife didn't fall from her finger. "That's good."
She repeated it with the three other knifes and then took one of the guns. It felt like it was made for her hand, which, in essence, it had been. The grip was rough, which would prevent slippage if her hand was wet. The barrels had an extender, allowing the installation of a suppressor and she slipped a magazine in and out the same way she had learned with Albert, finding it a smooth experience.
"These are phenomenal." she said to Howard, putting the last gun back into the case again.
"Thanks." he smiled proudly and opened a second case. "And there are the gloves and the other stuff."
"Nice!" she hissed when she saw the tight suits made from the leather-like material.
"You can try them on right here, if you want." he winked at her.
"Yeah, sure." she rolled her eyes. "You know that girls tell each other things, right?"
"I was kidding." Howard chuckled, though she could see the fear in his eyes.
"You should still try them on when you're back upstairs, to see if I need to change something." he said. "You got the money?"
"Yep, right here." she nodded and laid it out, two thousand dollars in cash and a hundred and fourteen golden coins, which she put into eleven stacks of ten each plus the remaining four for easier counting.
"Thank you for your business." Howard chuckled and took the money and coins, putting the latter into a metal case.
"The cash goes right to Bernie?"
"Of course." he laughed. "You think she lets me keep that after...?"
"What did you buy?" Penny rolled her eyes.
"I completed my Star Trek dinner plate collection." Howard defended himself. "Was missing only Spock."
"How much?"
"Not as much as you think."
"How much?" Penny repeated.
"It was only two hundred dollars."
"For a single dinner plate that you never eat off of?" Penny laughed. "Oh Howard."
"Just wait until Leonard buys a rare comic book for six figures." he huffed.
"First, Leonard has plenty of money, so there's no issue with that." she told him. "Second, I have my own millions now."
"Already smug." he sighed theatrically as they left the basement workshop, Penny carrying her two cases.
"How long will the creation of my cover business take?" she asked him while riding the elevator.
"I should have that ready by tomorrow." he told her. "It's just creating a paper trail and registering it with the various agencies."
"Could that lead to legal issues?"
"No, it's completely above board." he told her. "The only thing illegal is how you get your money, but since you're paying your taxes on it, the IRS usually wouldn't look twice."
"Good." she nodded. "But tell me, if there ever was an issue with the IRS, how should I proceed?"
"Get a lawyer." he shrugged. "Then, call me and tell me what the IRS's issue is and I'll look if I can fix it. Once again, since you'll be paying your taxes, they can't really charge you with any criminality, so any punishment would be monetary anyway."
"Okay." she nodded.
"Relax." he said as he stepped out of the elevator, holding his hand between the doors so they wouldn't close right away. "I have created six of these cover businesses so far and none has ever had any trouble with the government."
"Alright." she accepted and he took his hand away, allowing the door to close.
"Got everything?" Leonard asked, seeing her with the two cases.
"Yep." she nodded. "The guns and knifes are marvelously made."
"Howard does good work with that." he agreed.
"I still need to try on the bodygloves to see if they fit." she pointed out and carried the stuff into their bedroom.
"Need help trying them on?" he asked.
"Probably, but first, we'll go to the doctor." she said. "Maybe you can lose that sling bag now."
"Here's hoping." he chuckled and followed her out, whistling to get the dogs to follow them.
"Why do you bring them?"
"Because we can take them to the dog park after." he replied. "You can stay outside with them while I'm being examined."
"True." she accepted.
They rode the elevator down and got in the car, Penny again driving. After weaving through traffic, they arrived at the doctor's office, Leonard entering and registering his arrival with the nurse. He sat down in the waiting room, seeing two more people who would probably be called up before him, one with an injured ankle, the other with bandages over his knee.
Finally, after a few minutes of waiting, the patient currently with the doctor came out, on crutches with one of his legs completely in a cast, denoting a severe injury. True to his suspicion, the other two were called up before him, though that went quite quickly and soon enough, he was in the office.
"How do you feel?" the doctor asked.
"Well, small movements don't cause pain anymore." Leonard said. "A lot of the discomfort I feel seems to come from the stiffness."
"Lets see." the doctor nodded and took the sling bag off, freeing Leonard's arm and shoulder. "Tell me if you feel any sharp pains."
"Nothing so far." Leonard shook his head as the doctor moved his arms up and down and in slow circles.
"Okay, looks good." the doctor said. "Since you didn't have any added injuries to bones, tendons or blood vessels, I think we can forgo the cast sling now for the day. You should still refrain from heavy lifting or sharp movements but I think we can begin physical therapy now."
"Great." Leonard sighed in relief.
"However, you should still wear the bagt at night to prevent you from turning in your sleep and putting too much continuous pressure on that shoulder."
"I thought as much." Leonard accepted. "My girlfriend has a broken cheek and she has to wear a mask at night for the same reason."
"You should make an appointment for your first therapy session today, if possible. My brother runs one in this building, it's two floors above us." the doctor told him.
"Nepotism?" Leonard smirked.
"Well, you don't have to choose him, I'm just mentioning it because of convenience." the doctor chuckled. "I don't know how far you have to drive to get here, so there might be other physical therapists closer to your home."
"I'll check when we're done here." Leonard said.
They did a few more movement checks, Leonard able to figure out what kind of movements he could do. Training would be out of the question, no doubt, but he could maybe hold a bag, if it wasn't too heavy. After ten minutes, he left the doctor's office, seeing more people in the waiting room and he checked his phone for physical therapists close to his home. There weren't any closer than this building, so he went outside to tell Penny before heading back in and going up the stairs to the third floor to make an appointment.
"Good morning." the receptionist greeted him.
"Hello." Leonard nodded to her and handed the doctor's document over.
"I see." the woman said and began typing. "How is your schedule?"
"I can do this at any time if necessary." Leonard told her. "My boss is understanding."
"Good." the woman nodded and continued typing when two men appeared from further into the practice, one with bandaged achilles.
"Doctor Heyerdal, this is Leonard Hofstadter, your brother sent him to us." the receptionist told the man.
"Good morning." the doctor shook Leonard's hand and took the document from the reception desk to look it over. "Dislocated shoulder, no added damage to tendons. Should be an easy ride."
"I do hope your optimism holds." Leonard chuckled. "Can you also make me a plan for some training of my own? I have access to a gym."
"I can do that after your first session, so I can see first what we can work with." the doctor told him.
"I have a schedule for you." the receptionist interjected, holding out a piece of paper.
"Three appointments a week, four weeks." Leonard read. "Only four?"
"If we need more, then we add more appointments." the doctor nodded. "And if you really can do some movement training on your own, then one month should be enough."
"Thank you." Leonard said as he folded the schedule and left the practice.
"So?" Penny asked when Leonard came out of the building.
"Four weeks, at least." Leonard told her. "Guess we're staying here for a while longer."
"Wanna get some lunch before we go to the dog park?" Penny suggested. "It's a little early but would save us the cooking."
"Sure, why not." he shrugged. "By the way, what did Howard say about the cover business?"
"He's going to create it, so I should get the first installment of my money soon." she smiled. "Oh, also, Lilly was visiting Bern when I went to Howard."
"Why didn't you tell me, I'd have loved to say hi." Leonard asked.
"Sorry." she shrugged. "But we needed to get to the doctor in time."
"It's okay." he winked.
They got into the car and Penny checked her phone for a restaurant that accepted dogs before driving to the one she found. The usher led them to an outside area at the back where the two canines lied down, their heads always perking up when the waiter came out to bring something and of course, when the food came out. Leonard ordered some raw meat for the two, otherwise, the lunch was uneventful.
He'd see how the physical therapy went. But with the sling off, he at least could go back to work, even though he found it boring but it beat sitting around at home.
"Fuck!" Connor cursed when he got out of the car, stretching his body and hearing his back creak. "Why couldn't we take a plane or helicopter?"
"It was only one day on the road, stop whining." Nancy rolled her eyes, also getting out of the car. "You know how your uncle is when it comes to spending money."
"Easy for you to say, I had another ten hours on the road to pick you up before this trip." Connor groaned and looked at the house. "There?"
"There." Nancy nodded. "You should wait here and led me to the talking."
"No, I want to meet the guy that makes uncle Patrick shell out two million bucks just like that." Connor shook his head.
"If you do, remember not to be threatening in any way." Nancy told him.
"I know, my uncle already told me this." Connor huffed. "Why exactly? Who is this guy?"
Instead of answering, Nancy pointed to the case with the money, Connor understanding and taking the case. Nancy walked to the door, Connor on her heels, and rang the doorbell, waiting patiently for a reply. It took almost thirty seconds, then several bolts were unlocked and the door opened, revealing an overweight, bearded, scruffy-looking man in what looked like his thirties wearing a bathrobe, his eyes darting between him and Nancy and the streets.
"Yes?" the man said, still not opening the door fully.
"Gunther, it's me, Nancy." Nancy gave him a warm smile. "This man is Connor."
"Hello." Connor waved, trying to give the man a smile as well.
"We come on behalf of Patrick." Nancy told him.
"What does he need?" Gunther asked.
"He is looking for someone but the DMV and FBI databases didn't have him." Nancy said, handing him the picture. "It's the old man with the beard."
"Don't you have a better picture?" Gunther wanted to know. "I don't know how much I can do with this."
"I have full faith in your abilities." Nancy said. "Of course, you will get paid."
On her cue, Connor held out the case, opening it up and showing the two million dollars. Gunther whistled and fully opened the door, causing a smell of unwashed clothes, sweat and way too much expired food to waft out of the house.
"As usual." Gunther nodded.
"Half now, the rest upon completion." Nancy nodded and looked around to see if there was anyone around who might see this.
With dexterous hands, Nancy quickly took a million dollars out of the case and put it into a bag Gunther had handed her. Once she was one, she handed the bag back while Connor closed the case, Gunther placing the bag inside his house.
"How long do you think you need?" Connor asked, causing Nancy to look at him sharply.
"First, I have to blow up the picture without losing detail." Gunther replied, luckily unfazed by Connor speaking up. "For that, I have to write an algorithm."
"We tried blowing the picture up." Nancy told him.
"Yes, but the algorithm I'm going to write will allow the computer to fill in the pixels that you lose." Gunther explained.
"Um, isn't such technology already available?" Connor was confused. "They do this all the time when they upscale old TV shows to re-release them for modern televisions, right?"
"Of course." Gunther nodded. "But in order to do that, they have to use powerful computer networks. But in this picture, the entire face of this man isn't visible, which means not only do I have to upscale the picture, the computer also has to fill in the blanks of what's missing of his face."
"We understand." Nancy said. "Take as much time as you need."
"It might take a month or more." Gunther cautioned them. "Where will you be?"
"We're going to stay at a hotel close by." Nancy said and handed Gunther a phone. "Just call us or send a message."
"Okay." Gunther nodded and headed back inside, closing and locking the door again.
"Alright, this guy is weird." Connor commented when they were walking back to the car. "Why is Patrick giving him so much money?"
"Because this guy can find anyone." Nancy explained. "And he has enough information about our operation that he could bring us down with a simple hit of a button."
"You think he'd have time to do that?" Connor wondered. "Patrick would have him killed long before he could do that, right?"
"Connor, are you familiar with the concept of a dead man's switch?" Nancy sighed as they got into a car.
"Of course." Connor nodded.
"This guy has a dozen of them." Nancy said. "We kill him and an hour later, everything about our operation goes to every law enforcement agency on the continent."
"Jesus." Connor cursed. "So, what do we do now?"
"We look for a cheap hotel and wait." Nancy shrugged and searched for such a place on her phone, showing Connor the address.
"Why aren't we just going back to our jobs if this takes a month?" Connor wondered.
"Because we need to be there within minutes when Gunther calls us." Nancy explained and then stayed quiet while Connor drove to the hotel.
"Well, doesn't look too bad from the outside." Connor said when they arrived.
"Good afternoon." the receptionist greeted them.
"We need a room." Nancy said and put down enough money for a week. "We don't know yet for how long, so we will pay weekly."
"A room?" Connor looked at her.
"King or two queens?"
"Two queens." Nancy gave a side glance to Connor before receiving two key cards.
"Why are we sharing a room?" Connor complained when they entered their room, two single beds on each side.
"Because you know that your uncle is not willing to spend any money he doesn't have to." Nancy explained ."You want to explain why we took two rooms when we could have saved money by taking one?"
"Point taken." Connor accepted and put his bag onto the left bed. "I hope this guy really does his work in less than a month, I don't have that many clothes with me."
"There's a laundromat a mile down the road." Nancy pointed into the direction as she unpacked her stuff. "You've never lived in these conditions, I take it?"
"No." Connor shook his head. "You know who my father was."
"Yes, it's our boss' dead brother." Nancy nodded. "That means you grew up coddled and in luxury."
"What are you going at?" Connor wondered. "I've seen your house when I picked you up."
"I have worked my ass off for two decades to get where I am today." Nancy told him. "But I started at the bottom. I sold drugs from my one room apartment but I managed to work my way up. You started at the top. It's time you learned how it is at the bottom."
"Why?" Connor huffed.
"Because I have seen you in action and I have seen you interact with your uncle." Nancy told him.
"You have?"
"Yes." Nancy nodded. "And you know what I saw?"
"Enlighten me." Connor rolled his eyes.
"In a word, arrogance." Nancy surprised him with her evaluation. "When your uncle is not around, you act like you're the guy in charge and as if you're giving the orders. When Patrick is there, you act as if you're untouchable. You are disrespectful and look down on people you think are lesser than you. And you evidently don't even acknowledge those people, since you don't remember me."
"That's..."
"And that's why your uncle put me in charge of this thing." Nancy didn't let him speak. "Because he knew that you would have blown it with Gunther and most likely caused the entire organization to fall apart."
"So then why am I here?" Connor asked, genuinely curious.
"Apart from being my driver?" Nancy smirked. "To learn humility. Learn to follow orders. Tell me, when your uncle told you to do this, did you just do it or did you ask questions?"
"I... yeah, I asked questions." Connor admitted. "Though why would that be a bad thing?"
"It's not when the questions are to clarify orders or to get information on how to do something." Nancy told him. "However, when you ask a question in a way that appears as if you are questioning the intelligence or objective of the one giving the order, that can really grate people. Especially your uncle."
"That I understand." Connor accepted, remembering his uncle's outburst.
"Well, I'm going to take a shower." Nancy said and pulled her sweater off, which in turn lifted her shirt as well.
"Whoa." Connor commented on what he saw.
"What?" Nancy asked.
"Aren't you like, fifty or something?"
"Smooth." Nancy rolled her eyes. "I'm forty-three. What's your point?"
"Well." Connor hesitated and pointed to her stomach. "You look amazing."
"Uh... thanks?" Nancy didn't quite know what to do with that and simply grabbed a change of clothes before heading into the bathroom.
"Well, shit." Connor whispered to himself.
It would have been one thing to be stuck here with a middle-aged woman, but not when that middle-aged woman had the body of someone ten years younger.
This would be a long month.
End of chapter here.
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