Work is hell right now, given that Christmas is upon us and Germany has implemented some severe lockdown measures and even though I have the piece of paper saying I'm a relevant worker and can be out after curfew to get home (or to work), I'd rather avoid being stopped by the police.

So, despite everything, I wish everyone a happy Christmas or Hannukah or holidays. And since the vaccines are being shipped, there's at least light at the end of the tunnel.

Enjoy :)

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

"How was your run?" Alfred asked when Penny entered the house, Major and Tyson right behind her, shaking the snow from their fur.

"Great." Penny smiled. "It's a lot more fun when I don't have to get up at six in the morning to do it."

"I must say, I was doubtful that you could handle them but you're doing a great job." Alfred said, pointing at the two dogs. "But don't forget to wash them."

"Will do." Penny nodded as she took off the outer layers of her clothing.

She whistled and headed to the master bathroom, which Alfred had allowed her to use ever since she finished her training with him. The dogs rushed past her, waiting for her to arrive and sitting patiently in front of the large shower stall. Unlike other stalls she knew, this one didn't require to step into it, it was rather just a sliding door above a floor grill where the water went into.

She took off her clothes and opened the stall, stepping into the spacious area and waved for both dogs to come in with her. Whereas she often used the full assortment of shower heads, the one above her and the six on the sides, this time she only opened up the top one, grabbing the head and using the hose to move it around.

She knelt down and nodded her head to Tyson, who stepped forward and turned his side to her. Penny ran the shower head along his underside, cleaning his stomach and legs and lifting up every paw to scrub the slush out of his paws. Once she was done with him and suffered the spray of him shaking himself out, she repeated the process with Major before standing back up and cleaning herself.

Once finished, she stepped out of the stall and wrapped a towel around herself before grabbing a second one, a large piece of cloth that she used to scrub the dogs dry. Both canines let her do it and when she was done, she opened the door and let them out, the dogs running into the living room and lying down in front of the fireplace, where Alfred had placed a few logs.

Penny grabbed her sports clothes and walked up the stairs and into her room, where she changed into some more comfortable clothing. Ever since she passed Alfred's test, she spent most of her days doing morning runs and a few combat exercises in the afternoon and continuing to improve her proficiency with the guns to find which one would the most fitting for her. Other than that, she spent her time lounging around the couch, often with the two dogs almost glued to her side, Alfred even having taken pictures from some days. And of course, she had talked long hours to her parents, now that she knew that she was allowed to do that, apologizing to them for not contacting them sooner.

"What the hell?" Penny shouted while watching the news.

"What?" Alfred asked, coming into the room from the kitchen. "What's going on?"

"I think I just saw Leonard on the news." she said, pointing at the TV, where some billionaire businessman in handcuffs was being led into law enforcement vehicles.

"Lets see." Alfred said and grabbed the remote, the picture suddenly reversing.

"What the hell?" Penny repeated, looking at him, surprised. "Is that a recording?"

"It's s smart TV." Alfred chuckled. "Everything watched on it gets recorded and stored for twenty-four hours and unless I save it, it gets overwritten the next day."

"Neat." Penny whistled as Alfred finished reversing to the starting point of the segment.

"And in breaking news, billionaire playboy Kurt Nevan was arrested today after documents were provided to law enforcement that his business empire was built completely on fraud and money laundering schemes." the narrator of the segment said.

"Where is Leonard?" Alfred asked, looking at the picture while the narrator kept talking.

"Um... there!" Penny pointed when the moment came, Alfred pausing the picture. "I mean, he has a bushy beard and his hair has grown out but that's him, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." Alfred laughed. "Oh, my boy, he actually took that contract."

"Didn't he tell you?"

"No, he only told me that he was taking a job that would necessitate him to go radio silent." Alfred explained.

"What about that contract?" Penny wondered.

"This particular contract has been on the list for almost six years now." Alfred told her. "But anyone who ever tried failed because this particular one wasn't asking for that man to be killed but to be ruined, financially and in reputation."

"Why was it so hard?"

"Because this man was always very cautious. New staff was hired only after a deep vetting process and the fake IDs that the people in the organization use never held up." Alfred said. "Leonard must have gotten his hands on a farmed identity."

"What's a farmed identity?"

"It's when someone creates a fake ID for someone at birth. Usually, those identities are babies that died after right after birth. They're still entered into the system as being born and some forgers get their hands on those birth certificates or they create those out of thin air and enter it into the system, which they then use to essentially grow an identity."

"How?" Penny wondered.

"They create a paper trail for them. School transcripts, vaccination records and so on. Essentially, they are doing everything in regards to raising those children with the only thing missing being the child itself. And a person buying one of those IDs can basically step into that identity."

"Wow, that sounds difficult."

"It is. You more or less have to become a completely different person." Alfred nodded. "And it's also very, very expensive. An ID like that can easily cost millions."

"Wow, I wonder why Leonard took it then, if it's that expensive to fulfill." Penny wondered, prompting Alfred to grab his phone.

"Probably because the contract reward had been upped to fifty million dollars this year." he said after scrolling through something.

"For real?" Penny gasped. "Holy shit! Just how rich is Leonard?"

"He owns a big house, his own gym, a large property at the waterfront of Lac Memphrémagog and he and I co-own an entire forest." Alfred chuckled. "What do you think?"

"Point taken." Penny could only laugh at the name of the lake but inwardly she was dumbfounded at the amounts of money that were thrown around in that world. "Do all jobs have these kinds of rewards?"

"No, only a few." Alfred shook his head. "Most are in five or six-digit range, you see only few contracts going over a million."

"So, most assassins aren't millionaires?"

"No, only those that either do lots of high-value contracts or those that have been in the business a long time and accumulated a lot of money." Alfred shrugged. "In case you ask, yes, that includes me. But that doesn't mean that assassins live like hobos. Most live a comfortable life, if they're not on a mission that is."

"So, you and Leonard did several high-value missions to get all this wealth?"

"No, most of our wealth comes from smart investments of the money we earned." Alfred explained. "And that was only possible because Leonard and I are some of the few assassins that don't hide our money in foreign bank accounts so we can use it to invest it."

"So, this rich dude being arrested, does that mean Leonard will be back soon?" she asked hopeful.

"That's what I'm thinking." Alfred nodded. "And not a day to soon, since our Christmas dinner is in two days. That reminds me, when will you leave for home?"

"Tomorrow." Penny sighed. "I would go with you to your dinner but I don't want to arrive on Christmas Eve at my parents'. I already bought the ticket."

"Well, wait until Leonard gets back, maybe he'll loan you his private jet." Alfred chuckled.

"That would be neat, if only to circumvent the airport security process and be faster, though I'd feel bad about the environmental impact." Penny sighed.

Alfred waved her into the kitchen where their lunch waited. Since the end of his strict training regime, he had cooked some of her favorite foods more often and Penny was sure that if she hadn't kept up some of the training, she would have gained at least ten pounds in weight just from her proclivity to splurge on good food.

After lunch, she took the dogs and went on a long walk over the property, breathing in the cold air. There had been a cold snap the last few days, night temperatures going far below the freezing point and not much higher during the day. The sky was cloudless and the sun was shining, though not providing any warmth but making the snow on the ground blindingly glaring. While she could alleviate that with sunglasses, she wondered how the dogs were able to stand it.

She turned into the forest, moving under the canopy of leafless branches and seeing the colored poles denoting the way. The dogs stayed close to her, occasionally doing their business and sometimes, other people walked past her with their own dogs, with some of those barking at Major and Tyson but both ignoring the other canines, which Penny was thankful for given that they weren't leashed. If one were to attack another dog, Penny also didn't know if she could stop it in time, if at all.

When she returned to the house, the sky was already darkening. Since it was the twenty-first of December, it was the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year so she wasn't surprised that it happened this early. When she was about a hundred feet away from the house, both dog's suddenly perked up, their ears going up before both darted forward, howling in what Penny thought was joy, their tails wagging hard as they ran.

"Hey!" Penny called after them, trying whistling but they both ignored her as they went through the door, which had been, to her surprise, left open a bit.

She walked after them, unable to run due to the snow, entering the house and taking off her shoes and jacket, hearing the dogs howling in joy and their claws hitting the hardwood floor as they ran over it. As she was about to walk into the living room, she heard a familiar laughter and quickly went, seeing the man she had missed for almost three months, now clean shaven and having gotten a hair cut, Alfred sitting on the couch, smiling at the scene.

"Leonard!" she gasped, having not expected him today.

"Hey, honey." he grinned, warming her heart and core with that word as he stood up and walked towards her to kiss her. "It's good to be home."

"When did you arrive?"

"Came home an hour ago." Leonard chuckled. "Imagine my surprise when I heard Cecilia tell me that my dogs were here."

"Yeah, I met her one day in the forest on my run and then I volunteered to take care of them." Penny shrugged. "Alfred explained to me why he didn't take them when you left."

"I also heard that congratulations are in order." Leonard smiled proudly. "You finished your training."

"I did." Penny giggled. "Now I guess it's time for the next phase."

"Yes." Leonard nodded. "Since it's Christmas soon, we'll do this in the new year." Leonard told her. "Since you will go to your parents', I will send you an airplane ticket for Pasadena once I made the arrangements."

"You could, you know, just give it to me." she smiled.

"Well, I wouldn't want to fly to Pasadena with a layover in Omaha." Leonard made a face.

"Jesus, Leonard." Alfred laughed. "Stop being so dense. She's asking you to accompany her to her parents."

"What?" Leonard looked at his father, then Penny, who nodded. "Then why don't you just say so?"

"I thought you would get the reference." Penny chuckled.

"Penny, one thing you need to learn about my boy, if it comes to anything regarding romance, speaking in riddles will not achieve anything." Alfred threw in. "Be direct and be honest."

"Thanks, dad." Leonard smirked. "But I don't think I should come with you."

"Why not?" Penny wondered.

"Wouldn't it be awkward?" Leonard asked. "I'm the man who took their daughter away to learn how to be a killer."

"My parents like you." Penny argued. "I was on the phone with them every day the past few days and they asked if I could bring you with me when I visit over Christmas."

"I don't know." Leonard hesitated. "Dad, what about our dinner?"

"We can easily have it today." Alfred told him. "Then you and her can fly over tomorrow."

"But... but..." Leonard stammered, feeling a bit overwhelmed. "Did you two plan this?"

"No." Alfred laughed. "We didn't even know you were coming back today."

"Uh hu." Leonard deadpanned.

"Penny, could you give us a minute?" Alfred got up.

"Sure." Penny nodded, even though she wanted to stay to listen, and went upstairs to her room to change.

"Leonard, what's going on?" Alfred asked. "I thought you wanted to be with her."

"I do, it's just... I don't know." Leonard sighed. "When she said I should come with her, all I could see was Jenny's body, riddled with bullets and her dead eyes looking at me while I'm holding her and Caspar's actions make me afraid that it could happen again."

"Son, you have to let go of that memory." Alfred counseled. "You deserve someone in your life who accepts you for what you do and quite frankly, you're not getting any younger and I want grandchildren one day."

"Gee, thanks dad." Leonard chuckled. "Are you okay with Major and Tyson or should I give them to Cecilia again?"

"How about you take your private plane and take them with you." Alfred suggested. "Don't you think it would be unfair to them if you leave them alone again after having been gone for three months?"

"You're right." Leonard nodded. "So, if we want to do this, we need to have our dinner today."

"No problem." Alfred smiled. "PENNY!"

"Yes?" Penny asked, coming down the stairs.

"Get dressed into something presentable, nothing too fancy." Alfred ordered.

"Where are we going?" she asked, turning around to get back upstairs.

"You're coming with us to the Christmas dinner." Alfred told her.

"Um, isn't that kinda your family thing?" she hesitated.

"You're coming." Alfred said and that was it.

Inwardly beaming, she hurried up the stairs to find some clothing that would fit the occasion. With his proclamation, Alfred had more or less incorporated her into their family and she wanted to make a good impression. She put on some pants and a shirt with a sweater before grabbing her jacket and purse and heading back downstairs.

"We'll have to swing by my place so I can change too." Leonard said as she joined him, Alfred still probably changing himself. "So, how was taking care of the dogs?"

"Oh, it's great." Penny smiled, running her hand over Tyson's head. "On my walk earlier, we passed someone who also had a dog and that one barked at them. They didn't even notice it."

"Oh, they noticed it." Leonard chuckled, scratching Tyson's chin. "I just taught them not to react unless I tell them to."

"Neat." Penny grinned. "I was really concerned that they would maul that other dog."

"If they did things like that, they'd have been taken away from me long ago." Leonard shrugged. "Frankly, every dog attack on people that doesn't involve the dog defending puppies or its owner is just the owner doing a bad job."

"Okay, ready?" a returning Alfred asked, now dressed more appropriately.

"I am." Penny nodded. "Unless I'm not dressed properly, though I don't really have much to choose from."

"That's fine." Alfred nodded, "It's dinner, not a black tie event."

"You got the table?" Leonard asked, leading them out of the house.

"Yes, Randall had one free for three." Alfred nodded, getting into the front passenger seat of Leonard's SUV.

Penny got into the back after the dogs had jumped in, accepting that Alfred had a bigger right to sit in front not only because he was Leonard's father but also because it was more comfortable for his legs to have more room. And it gave Penny more opportunity to snuggle with Tyson, who had his head on her left leg. She wondered what kind of restaurant they'd go to that allowed two dogs this size into their establishment. Did they have a back area like the cafe or would it be different?

After a short drive, Leonard stopped at his house and hopped out of his car. Major stood up, ready to get out with him but Leonard snipped his fingers and Major settled back down. Five minutes later, Leonard was back, changed into similar clothes like his dad and started to drive again, this time a longer route.

Since both were living at the furthest edge of the town, it took almost half an hour to get to their destination. The one thing Penny had a hard time getting used to but also cherished was that the town had less than five thousand people living in it, making it a comparatively tranquil place compared to Los Angeles and even Omaha.

Leonard parked the car and exited, Alfred following. Penny also got out and waited for the dogs to jump out. She saw several pedestrians stop in their tracks as they saw the two off-leash canines before apparently recognizing them and continuing their walks. They walked into the restaurant and Penny knew even before seeing the owner that he was Jewish, several depictions of menorahs on the walls and a physical one on every table clearly denoting the culture and religion of the owner.

"Alfred. Leonard." a gray haired man greeted them and hugged Leonard's dad.

"Randall." Alfred greeted back, Leonard also nodding and smiling.

"And who is this beautiful young lady?" Randall smiled at Penny, offering her his hand.

"I'm Penny." she smiled back, shaking his hand.

"She's my girlfriend." Leonard stated, finally voicing himself what Penny already voiced to Cecilia.

"And how are these two?" Randall smiled at the dogs, rubbing both over their heads.

"They're great." Penny grinned.

"You two getting your yearly dinner too?" Randall asked the dogs, who sat down and let their tails hit the floor.

"Yeah, you can give them the usual too, if you have it there." Leonard nodded.

"Luckily, we got he last shipment this morning already." Randall told him. "Usually, you're here on the twenty-third."

"Yes, but these two head to her parents in Nebraska tomorrow to be there for Christmas." Alfred chuckled. "Hence us being here a day early."

"That's nice, meeting the in-laws." Randall grinned.

"Well, I met them before, though this will be the first Christmas." Leonard shrugged as they were led to their table, one at the back of the restaurant where the dogs wouldn't sit in the way of any waiter.

"What would you like to drink?"

"The usual." Alfred told him and Leonard concurred.

"And you, miss?" Randall turned to Penny.

"Um, what is the usual?" she wondered.

"A pot of green tea with the leaves taken out after ten minutes to avoid the tea from becoming way too strong." Leonard explained.

"Oh, I'll take that too." Penny smiled and Randall left. "So, are we eating something special or do we order?"

"I already ordered before we got here." Alfred told her. "We have to, given that they have to prepare the food before though usually, I'd have to order a day before."

"What are we having then?"

"Beijing duck." Leonard winked.

"Um..." Penny was dumbstruck, looking around. "What?"

"I know, it's weird getting a meal that's usually just served in Chinese restaurants in a Jewish restaurant." Alfred laughed. "But Randall does have a Chinese cook and I don't see anything weird in a restaurant serving things outside of the expectations."

"I never had Beijing duck." Penny admitted. "My parents, my dad especially, were never keen on non-American food."

"Then you're in for a treat, young lady." Alfred smiled at her. "This will be far above any type of Chinese food you may have gotten in your past years."

"I can't wait." Penny smiled as a waitress came with a tray, carrying three pots and three cups.

"Enjoy." she smiled at them and left when an Asian man came over to them.

"Alfred, Leonard." the man greeted them with a smile and, to Penny's surprise, a British accent.

"Whoa." Penny was dumbfounded. "Didn't expect that."

"Hello, Shen." Alfred greeted the man.

"This is my girlfriend Penny." Leonard introduced her.

"Nice to meet you." Shen nodded at her. "Excuse me, what didn't you expect?"

"A British accent." Penny chuckled.

"I grew up in Hong Kong." Shen explained. "I'm sorry if I don't fulfill your racial expectations." he added with a heavy Asian accent."

"I'm sorry." Penny gasped, feeling truly bad.

"Nah, I'm just messing with you." Shen laughed, Penny now blushing.

"Shen, that's not nice, she doesn't know your sense of humor." Alfred laughed.

"Mam, do you have any allergies against any of these ingredients?" Shen asked her, handing her a list.

"No, at least not that I know of." Penny replied.

"Good, your first course will be out in a minute." Shen said before leaving them alone.

"How many courses will this meal have?" she asked.

"Four." Leonard answered. "Appetizer, two main courses and dessert."

"Cool." Penny nodded and saw the waitress walk to them, carrying another tray with three bowls.

"Thank you." Alfred said after the bowls were on the table and the waitress left again. "Dig in."

"What is it?" Penny wanted to know, pushing her spoon through the thick mass. "To be honest, it feels as if it's snot."

"It's beef soup." Alfred laughed. "Try it, it's quite tasty."

"Don't mind the consistency of it." Leonard winked at her while eating his soup.

"Oh my." Penny's eyes went wide as soon as she had the first spoonful in her mouth. "That does taste amazing."

"Told you." Alfred chuckled.

Penny tried and failed to eat the soup slowly to savor it and had it down within five minutes while Alfred and Leonard had more discipline, eating for another five minutes before finishing. Penny had found that the soup included mushrooms and a plethora of other vegetables and spices, the entire thing creating an assault on her taste buds that they surrendered to in the first second. The waitress returned and took the bowls away and while they waited, they talked about everything and nothing, all of them aware that they couldn't talk about they did in their lives.

"Does it usually take that long between courses?" Penny asked after half an hour.

"Yes, they allow the food to settle a bit instead of giving you one course after the other which only ends up with you stuffing yourself." Alfred explained. "But this time, as I explained, they still have to make a lot of it."

True to his words, it took another ten minutes for the second course to arrive, just when she felt hungry again. The second course was thin crepe with vegetables, mainly cabbage in strips but also carrots in strips and pieces of tomato, along with something she couldn't place. She watched Leonard and Alfred taking a crepe each and loading various other food items into it before rolling them together and eating them.

"What is this?" she pointed at the brown things that had the feel of chips, albeit a bit softer.

"It's the skin of the duck." Alfred explained. "They scrape the fat off and then put the pieces into the oven to make them crisp."

"Wow." was the only thing Penny could say before continuing to eat.

They each ate three crepes, the amount of vegetables and duck skin perfectly gauged to be enough for three people. Once Penny was done eating, she leaned back and enjoyed the full stomach and wondered, how she was supposed to eat another main course and a dessert afterwards.

Her answer came in the downtime after the second course. It took an hour after the waitress had removed their plates for the third course to arrive. In the meantime, all had finished their tea and switched to other beverages, Penny to ginger ale, Leonard to juice and Alfred to beer. The waitress brought them their third course and to Penny's surprise, she felt hunger again as the plate full of duck meat cut into round pieces along with plenty of rice was placed in front of them.

Penny filled her plate with rice and meat, pouring a generous amount of gravy on it. Leonard and Alfred were a bit more reserved and left some in the bowl but they didn't have to worry when Shen himself came out and placed a second bowl of rice and another train with gravy on the table, giving Alfred a smile as he did.

They took their time, eating slowly but after forty minutes, the food was gone and the waitress removed them again. Penny was amazed that they had been at the place for almost three hours already but she had to admit that the long times between courses really helped. This time however, the break between courses was only twenty minutes before the waitress brought the desserts, placing a plate of a fried banana and a scoop of vanilla ice cream with almonds and honey poured over them.

Despite the fact that she was kinda full, she dug into the food with gusto, wolfing it down and savoring the sweetness of the combination. Once they were done, the waitress returned to take their plates away and Shen appeared with another tray with three glasses on it filled with a brown-ish liquid.

"On the house." Shen said and placed them in front of them.

"What is it?" Penny asked.

"Plum wine." Leonard said and lifted his glass, Alfred mirroring him.

"To those we lost." Alfred intoned.

"To those that are still here." Leonard continued and both looked at her, though Penny had no idea what she was supposed to say but felt that it was an important moment.

"To the future." was the only thing she could think of and both men smiled and clinked their glasses.

Penny never had plum wine before and she was surprised at how sweet it tasted. They downed it within two minutes and Alfred called for the check, the waitress bringing it quickly and Penny gasped when Alfred handed her three hundred dollars, telling her to keep the change, the woman profusely thanking him for the money.

"What did the menu actually cost?" Penny asked Leonard quietly as they left the restaurant.

"The meal is a hundred and twenty bucks." he told her. "You have to pay thirty or forty in advance, since they have to prepare it before you come in, just in case you cancel. But dad likes to pay some extra because with a meal like this, you occupy a table for a long time.

"That's true." she admitted. "So, what now? Directly home?"

"No, me and dad have to go somewhere." Leonard shook his head.

"You can come with us if you want." Alfred interjected. "Leonard, I think it's time."

"Okay." Leonard nodded.

"Time for what?" Penny wondered.

"To meet the rest of our family." Leonard said and took her hand.

Penny had no idea what to make of that sentence, having gotten the impression that their family was dead and had been for a long time. Alfred led them to a flower store, giving the woman behind the counter a card and receiving three bouquets if flowers. Leonard also got another bouquet for himself but wouldn't say what for, only taking her hand again.

Her confusion was cleared after five minutes, when they neared the town's cemetery and with some apprehension, she followed them onto these hallowed grounds, seeing the small chapel in the middle of the field of headstones. They took some turns until they reached a row of graves that were lit by electric candles, the special LED bulbs inside even flickering like a candle in the wind.

"Oh god." she whispered when she read the names.

His mother. Two siblings. Six more names of other people. All died on the same day. His siblings in particular had been in their early twenties when it had happened. She could hear Alfred sobbing spasmodically, the telltale shaky inhalation of breath and when she looked, she could see him shed tears. Leonard too had a tear rolling down his face as they placed the flowers on the three graves.

"You gonna be okay, dad?" Leonard asked.

"Yes, you can go to her grave." Alfred nodded and sat down on a bench opposite of the graves, his eyes closed and his head down as if in prayer.

Leonard walked further, Penny following him for the simple reason that she had no idea if she should or not. He arrived at another grave, putting down the flowers and Penny could see that it was a woman named Jenny Flannigan, who had died shortly after her fifteenth birthday.

"Who was she?" Penny asked quietly.

"She was my first love." Leonard sighed. "And she died because she agreed to be my girlfriend."

"What happened?" Penny asked, hoping he would finally tell her.

"When I was fifteen, we were about to have a wake for my uncle Floyd. Suddenly, two men rushed in carrying automatic rifles and they simply started blasting away." Leonard recounted painfully.

"Those scars on your body." Penny realized. "The grouping. You were hit, weren't you?"

"We all were." Leonard nodded. "After they hit me, I fell backwards and hit my head on the radiator behind me and fell unconscious. Dad got away with a few bullets in his right arm and leg because he had been sitting at the head of the table, a bit covered by a protruding piece of wall."

"He killed them?"

"Yes, he shot them both." Leonard nodded. "I woke up with paramedics above me, apparently they had found a pulse. They rushed me to the hospital and I was in the operating room for seventeen hours. They dug twenty-nine bullets out of my body."

"How did you survive that?" Penny gasped, unable to imagine that.

"No idea." he shrugged. "They had to inflate my lungs because they had collapsed, had to repair a nicked pulmonary artery, several other blood vessels, my left thigh muscle was in tatters, my right shoulder blade was in pieces and they told me that I died twice on the table but they had been able to bring me back."

"Jesus!" Penny whispered to herself. "Then what happened?"

"When dad told me that everyone else had died, I cried. I wailed. And I wanted revenge. Dad was able to find out the identity of the two shooters and began working on finding the people responsible." Leonard continued.

"Did he?"

"It took five years to do so." Leonard nodded. "I spent a year and a half recuperating and doing physical therapy and then I made dad train me. And when I was done, me and him went out and punished the ones responsible."

"How?"

"Slowly and painfully." Leonard sighed. "This wasn't a job. It was personal. And it was only dad's clear thinking that they couldn't link it to us because I got passionate and really made them hurt."

"Do I even dare ask?" she wondered.

"You better not." he shook his head and hiccuped with more repressed tears.

Penny could only hug him, and he began crying into her shoulder. She couldn't fathom what he had gone through, not just the physical pain but the mental anguish that came from losing his loved ones. If her family were murdered in front of her, she would probably also move heaven and earth to find the ones responsible and make them rue the day they were born.

And he had given her the knowledge to be able to just do that. Once more she swore to herself that she would never use it for personal issues unless her personal family was involved and the situation called for it.

So, Penny now knows roughly what happened to Leonard's family.

Review please :)