Vacation was fun. Granted, after three days, the temperatures dropped to where going for a swim in the Baltic sea became a bit... impossible but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

Also, I was asked in a PM about Carmen, so in case anyone else wonders. I modeled her, both physically and in badass-ery after the Rosa Diaz character on Brooklyn 99, just less taciturn and angry ;)

Enjoy :)

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

You know, I kind of miss the Vermont air." Penny mentioned after they returned to the apartment, both sweating from their run. "It is much cleaner, or at least appears so, then here."

"It's also a lot cooler, especially these days." Leonard agreed as he refilled the water bowls for the dogs who drank greedily, the two canines also exhausted from the run.

"When is my final exam supposed to be?" she wanted to know, feeling anxiety creeping into her being from all the waiting.

"As soon as my dad is ready developing it." he shrugged. "It's out of my hands."

"The waiting is killing me." she huffed. "The sex with you is nice but standing around in your lab half a day is not something I could get used to for long."

"What do you think you'll do once you passed your final exam?" he asked.

"Well, traveling the country and taking out bad guys." she replied. "I would love to work with you on some jobs. I'm sure there are jobs where being a couple would be a good cover."

"That's true." he nodded. "When I pretended to be someone else for that long job during your training, I had to rebuff the advances of one of my female colleagues."

"You what?" she gasped. "Why do I learn of this only now?"

"Because nothing happened." he shrugged. "If I had told you, you might have been too distracted to finish training with my dad."

"True, but still." she harrumphed. "I would have kicked the ass of that bitch."

"But going back to your point, you won't be traveling the country or world all the time, most of your days will be spent at home or in hotels, either doing nothing or preparing for a job." he said. "And the doing nothing part can only be filled with training."

"I get it." she accepted his wisdom. "So, when do we leave?"

"In about an hour." Leonard stated. "Plenty of time to eat breakfast and pack our things."

"I'm really looking forward to it, I never done it before." she giggled. "Who are we going up against?"

"Some bunch of teenagers and college students who think they're good." Leonard chuckled.

"Want me to wear something very sexy to distract them?" she grinned. "I have some stuff that shows so much cleavage that half an inch lower, you'd see my nipples."

"Um, no." he looked at her to see if she was joking or not. "Not to mention that you want to wear some protective clothing. Remember the training courses?"

"I was kidding." she laughed and dropped a kiss onto his lips. "I really do not have the desire to have more bruises on my skin from paint balls."

"Hey, why haven't I seen that outfit you mentioned?" he asked.

"There was never an occasion to wear it." she shrugged. "We rarely go out and here, I don't really need it to get you going."

"That's true." he conceded. "Now get ready and pack some change of clothes, just to be on the safe side."

"You may also want to pack some plastic sheeting, if we get too dirty and can't change there." she added before going back to the bedroom to grab a change of clothes and shower.

Leonard joined her in the shower, which inevitably ended with them having sex but ultimately, both changed into their paintball gear. They went downstairs and got into his car, the dogs making themselves comfortable on the backseats and Leonard drove them to where they had made the date with that student team.

The drive took almost two hours to reach the woody area where the games would be played. They exited the car, the dogs also coming out and stretched, seeing the others already there, sitting at the wooden tables and drinking either soft drinks or some even beer, with two of the students even screaming at each other to psych themselves up for the game.

"Oh my god, we're so gonna smoke them." Penny said as she looked over their body language.

"Oh yeah." Leonard chuckled.

"Doctor Hofstadter." one of the students greeted them. "You made it."

"Daniel." Leonard nodded to the man. "Is everyone here?"

"Yep, we're all here."

"Damn girl, you are one hot babe." another one, who looked like a teenager, said to Penny.

"I know." Penny played with him. "Imagine how I'd look, naked in your bed, and then know what you'll never have. Now run home to mommy and cry."

"Oh shit!" one of the guy's friends laughed. "She's got balls."

"When I pump you full of paint, you'll change your mind fast." the guy retorted.

"That will not happen." Penny laughed. "You would never be able to handle me anyway."

"And he can?" the first guy pointed to Leonard.

"Yes, I can." Leonard nodded, fixing the guy with a glare that quickly made him shut up. "So, teams?"

"How about the young versus the old?" the second teenager who had spoken up suggested.

"You mean me and her against all of you?" Leonard asked.

"Yeah, that might be a bit unfair." the teen agreed.

"What's your name?" Penny asked him.

"Andrew."

"Andrew, we accept." Penny smiled. "Us two against all of you."

"Just look at her bluster." another student laughed.

"How long for us to get into position?" Leonard asked.

"Fifteen minutes." came the reply. "We have programmed a timer to sound off to denote the beginning of the match."

"Will the dogs come with us?" Penny asked.

"No, we'll put them into the enclosure there with the others." Leonard pointed to the back. "Who's on duty to watch over them?"

"Me." one of the students lifted his hand.

Leonard gave both dogs are treat and then whistled, the two canines running into the enclosure, the student closing the gate to it. Penny petted them one last time and then moved with Leonard into the woods, her love leading her over the rough terrain. He handed her a can of paint and took two fingers worth of it, running it over his face to copy the camouflage design of his clothing. To her surprise, he more and more blended in with the background and she copied his actions, painting her face and letting him help with some of the more intricate details.

After finishing, they waited a few more minutes for the signal to start and once it came, both went into hunting mode, walking in a crouched fashion and keeping close to the trees while at the same time looking for their opponents. Penny could hear some of them talk in the distance but the trees made pinpointing the location difficult until a group of three of them came close enough.

"Seriously?" she asked in a low voice. "With their brightly painted helmets, they could hold a bullhorn and scream 'I'm here'."

"Yeah." he agreed. "You take the one on the left, I'll take the one on the right."

"What about the guy in the middle?" she asked as she kept the left guy in her sights.

"He'll drop into what he perceives as cover and start shooting." Leonard told her. "When he does, you go around and shoot him in the back."

"Is that fair?" she wondered and got a stare from Leonard as a reply. "Right, fight dirty."

"Three, two, one." Leonard counted down and both shot at the same time, their paint balls hitting their intended targets square on the chest plates.

"Dammit!" the left one shouted and sat down, as did the right guy, to show that they were dead while the middle one dropped into cover and began shooting wildly, just as Leonard had predicted.

While the guy emptied his paint ball tank, Penny moved silently past the trees, staying in cover until she was to the side and back of the guy. Before she left the cover of the low hanging foliage, she looked around to see if some of the others were close by and when she saw nobody, she went behind the guy and slowly walked up to him.

"Where are they?" the guy asked his 'dead' friends.

"I can't see anything." the left one replied.

"Because we're good." Penny revealed her presence and put a paint ball into the back of the guy.

"Fuck, that hurt." he complained. "Where the hell did you come from?"

"The woods." Penny grinned, the white of her teeth in sharp contrast to her face paint and retreated back towards the trees.

"Jesus, she just disappeared, how did she do that?" she could hear one of them wonder aloud.

"They don't have a clue." Penny giggled when she rejoined Leonard, though she had to look very hard for him herself.

"Down!" he shout-whispered and she dropped immediately, her head close to the tree.

They didn't move for half a minute and just as Penny wanted to ask why they were playing statues, she heard movement from the side. Two of the students slowly moved along the trees, both clearly pretty good at the game but neither saw the couple that was only twenty feet away. Penny looked to Leonard and pointed with her left index finger to the guy on the right and then to Leonard, who understood and nodded.

She quietly clicked her tongue in a three-count and on zero, both fired their guns, hitting their targets in the sides. The two students groaned in dismay and sat down, both looking around in an attempt to find their attackers.

"Can you see them?" the left one asked.

"No." the other shook his head.

"Good." Leonard said and stood up, one of them giving out a shocked squeal when he suddenly saw him and then Penny, who also got up.

"Fuck, how can you be so good at this?" he almost whined.

"Never underestimate someone because he doesn't look like what you would call a stud." Leonard winked at him and mentioned for Penny to follow him away from them.

"Jesus, they just disappeared, how do they do that?" the other guy gasped.

For the next thirty minutes, Penny and Leonard hunted, picking off their opposition one after the other until only one was left. That one was pretty good, running hard and fast from cover to cover, spoiling several of both Penny and Leonard's shots. The one mistake their last opponent made was blasting his paint gun at full auto when he ran to keep their heads down, which ultimately had him run out of ammo, which let Penny simply walk up to him, recognize him as the guy who had made the babe comment and shoot a paint ball directly at his crotch, only the athletic cup protecting him from a more serious pain.

They repeated the round, the students and teens wanting revenge and that time, they took a more serious approach, sticking together and moving slowly as they searched for Penny and Leonard. However, the two didn't wait for the other team to come to them but went on the hunt, picking them off one by one until they all had more paint on their plates.

After a light lunch and a little play time with the dogs, the teams changed, with Leonard on one and Penny on the other. That round lasted longer, ending with only Leonard and Penny still 'alive' until Leonard sniped her from atop a tree, hitting her directly on her chest where her heart was, a perfect kill shot if the weapon had been real.

Vowing revenge, the round was repeated, the others knowing at this point that they were just cannon fodder, all of them being picked off one by one until again only Leonard and Penny were left and hunting each other. This time, Penny checked the trees as well, not finding her sweetie and she was determined to put a round in his back or front or sides. She hid in bushes and in mounds of leaves until she finally saw him crouching next to a large fallen bough.

Moving as slow as possible, she slid to a position behind him, making sure that he was still there. Her goal was to reach a small mound from which she could easily shoot at him without him having a direct line to hit her back and she slowly moved behind the area until she couldn't see him anymore. Still crawling, she moved up, reaching the summit and looking over it, still seeing him lie on the ground and watching the area where she had been ten minutes before. Inwardly shouting with glee, she jumped up and took aim.

"I got you now!" she whooped but before she could pull the trigger, she heard a metallic crack and then fell straight down.

"Oh god, harder!" Penny commanded. "You need to go harder!"

"If I go any harder, I might injure you." Leonard grunted, the exertion audible in his voice.

"I don't care!" she almost shouted. "Use the rough side!"

"Penny, you don't have anything on your skin." he said.

"Then why do I still feel it?"

"Because part of its ingredients is chlorine, that can be irritating on your skin." Leonard explained.

"The worst is the aftertaste and I also still smell it."

"Well, you did get some in your mouth and nose." he chuckled.

"Leonard, not funny!" she grumbled. "Now keep scrubbing."

"Yes, dear." he winked and ran the sponge over her back more while she pushed another over the pieces of skin she could reach herself.

"God, I want to get rid of that smell." she complained, took a deep breath through her mouth and pushed her head under water, where she blew out the air through her nose as forceful as possible.

"When we're done here, you should use a vaporizer, take some lavender oil and breath that in." he counseled.

"Shit, why do these things always happen to me." she whined as she scrubbed even more, her skin already feeling as if the outer layer had peeled off.

"You finish your bath, I'll prepare the vaporizer." he grinned, pressing a kiss on her cheek.

"When do we eat?" she called after him.

"Howard and Raj are picking it up right now, so don't take too long." he advised.

"Ugh!" she grumbled and kept scrubbing, her skin already red.

She scrubbed for five more minuted, feeling as if her skin had peeled off but still felt dirty from all the stuff she had gotten on her. The clothes she had worn were already in the trash bin outside, she had seen no reason to keep and try to clean them. Finally, she left the bathtub, Tyson jumping up from his prone position at her movement and he sat down and just watched, making her wonder for a moment if dogs distinguished humans naked or clothed.

She dried herself off and put on a robe, smelling the parts of her body her nose could reach to see if she still smelled of the gunk she had scrubbed off. Hoping that it wasn't too bad, she left the bathroom and walked into the living room, where she found Leonard mixing the liquid for the vaporizer, which he handed to her so she could breath it in.

"That's good." she commented after taking a few breaths. "Still feels yucky."

"Well, it might have been a good experience." he shrugged.

"How so?"

"You might have to do it when you're getting away from the scene of a job or hiding from pursuers."

"Ugh." she huffed. "I might have chosen the wrong profession. Maybe I should retrain as a high-priced escort."

"You certainly have the body and looks for it." he agreed.

"Hey, that was a joke!" she moped. "I didn't go through all of this to quit now."

"And that's why..." Leonard began but was interrupted by a knock on the door. "That should be Howard with the food, you should get dressed."

"Okay." Penny nodded and got up while Leonard opened the door, revealing their lean friend but with a surprise guest.

"Look who I found downstairs." Howard grinned.

"Dad?" Leonard addressed the man, the surprise evident in his voice.

"Alfred!" Penny smiled widely and quickly walked to the man to hug him, the thought of getting dressed momentarily forgotten.

"Hello Penny, hello son." Alfred smiled, hugging Leonard too. "Why are you smelling like bleach?"

"I had a little mishap today." she moped.

"What happened?" Alfred asked.

"We went to paintball today and at the end of the last match and she fell into a septic tank." Leonard chuckled.

"It's not funny." Penny complained. "I climbed onto the damn tank and broke through its top because it was covered with dirt."

"What are you doing here?" Leonard asked, changing the topic. "Why didn't you call ahead?"

"I wanted to surprise you." Alfred replied. "And I wanted to be here when Penny does her final exam."

"Did you finish it?" Leonard wanted to know.

"Yes, everything is here." Alfred nodded and produced a binder with what looked like several dozen pages in it.

"So, what am I going to have to do?" Penny asked.

"That's for after dinner." Alfred told her.

"Do we have enough for him too?"

"We don't have enough for anyone, I didn't get anything." Howard said.

"Eh... what?" Leonard looked confused at him. "What will we eat for dinner?"

"Get dressed, I'm taking you out to eat." Alfred proclaimed.

"All eight of us?" Leonard wondered. "Where would we go that has a table big enough?"

"Fast food restaurant?" Penny suggested.

"Young lady, have you ever seen me eating anything that wasn't fresh and cooked properly?" Alfred asked poignantly.

"Um, no." Penny admitted. "I'll get dressed."

She hurried into the bedroom, grabbing underwear and then some clothes she deemed enough for a restaurant, though she had no idea if the summer dress with a jacket over it was overdressing or the opposite. Some earrings and a necklace rounded out her outfit. She chuckled at the idea of someone trying to rob the group, with three trained assassins as part of it.

Upon returning to the living room, she followed the others out, whistling for the dogs to come with them when Alfred said it was okay. They walked downstairs and entered Sheldon's apartment, where he, Amy, Bernadette and Raj were waiting.

"There you are." Sheldon said impatiently but then spotted their lack of bags. "Where's the food?"

"I got something else." Howard smiled and made room for Alfred.

"Hey, everyone." Alfred greeted them.

"Mister Hofstadter." Amy got up and hugged the man, followed by Bernadette and a handshake from Raj.

"Please, call me Alfred." Alfred told them.

"Alfred." Sheldon nodded, his germophobia making him not want to shake their guests hand.

"Call me mister Hofstadter." Alfred said, his face serious.

"Yes, sir." Sheldon nodded, clearly intimidated.

"I'm kidding." Alfred laughed. "Guys, come on, I'm taking you out."

"You're killing us?!" Sheldon gasped.

"What?" Alfred looked at him confused. "No, I'm taking you out to dinner. My treat."

"Nice, where are we going?" Raj asked. "Are we dressed properly enough?"

"Unless you're not wearing sweatpants, you're good." Alfred waved off his concerns.

Despite Alfred's reassurances, the group dispersed into their various apartments, changing their clothes to something less casual and more formal. Raj and Howard exited wearing blazers while Bernadette chose to change into a dress similar to Penny's. Even Amy had changed, though the style hadn't.

They piled into two cars, Alfred getting into the passenger seat next to Leonard, with Penny and Raj having to share the backseat. With Howard following their car, Alfred gave Leonard the directions to reach the place he wanted them to go and once they arrived, Penny let out a whistle when she saw the restaurant.

"I've heard of this place." Penny said. "It's said that a salad here costs more than a full menu in other places."

"Can we even eat here?" Bernadette asked. "Me and Howie tried once after we had dated for a year and they told us that you have to reserve a table and if you want to eat at any time apart from three or four in the afternoon, you have to reserve a table months in advance."

"Relax, I got this." Alfred smiled. "Hopefully."

"Hopefully?" Leonard repeated.

"That depends on if the restaurant has been sold since I was here last." Alfred shrugged and led them inside, stopping in front of a young usher in the usual waiter's uniform, who looked almost disdainful at their attire, which was a far cry from the suits and dresses of the currently eating guests.

"Table for eight." Alfred proclaimed.

"Do you have a reservation?" the usher asked.

"No, but I can see an empty round table for eight with no reserved sign on it." Alfred pointed to the back of the restaurant.

"Sir, we have a strict police of reservation and I can't..."

"Alfred!" a man who was about the same age as Alfred approached them, interrupting the usher and to the group's surprise, the two men embraced. "Great to see you again."

"Carl." Alfred smiled. "You got old."

"Look who's talking." Carl rolled his eyes and then looked at the group. "And who are your friends?"

"This is my son Leonard, his girlfriend Penny and his friends, Rajesh, Howard, Bernadette, Sheldon and Amy." Alfred did the introductions.

"Nice to meet you." Leonard greeted as he shook the man's hand. "How do you and my dad know each other?"

"Oh, he saved my life and introduced me to my wife and not necessarily in that order." Carl laughed. "Table for eight?"

"If you have one available." Alfred nodded.

"Of course, follow me." Carl smiled widely and led them to the table that Alfred had pointed out to the now sputtering usher who didn't quite know what to do as the group filed past him.

"Do you need a drink menu or do you know what you want?" Carl asked, handing out the food menus.

"I'd like to peruse." Alfred said and Carl put more menus on the table, these listing the various drinks the restaurant offered.

"Jeez, Penny wasn't kidding about the prices." Raj commented when he looked into the menu.

"But the food is said to amazing." Bernadette added. "I always wanted to come here."

"Good evening, my name is Jerome, and I will be your waiter for tonight." a young black man in the standard uniform introduced himself after three minutes of them perusing. "Have you chosen something to drink?"

"I'll take a ginger ale for starters." Penny ordered.

"Same here." Leonard nodded.

"Water for me." Bernadette said, and Howard concurred.

The others ordered drinks they liked and Jerome left, giving them a few more minutes to choose the food. Penny had a hard time deciding, the food she wanted almost insultingly expensive but when Alfred reiterated his statement that he was inviting them, she relented and chose the food, the various menu items having numbers in front of them to make it less likely for waiters to get something wrong.

"You have chosen?" Jerome asked after Alfred waved him over.

"Yes, we have." Alfred nodded.

"I'll take number fourteen as a starter, thirty-three as the main course." Alfred told him. "I'll choose dessert later, if I want some."

"Number nine and forty-one." Leonard said.

"Number eight and forty-four." Penny ordered when it was her turn, followed by the rest of the gang, even Sheldon ordering a starter and main, though Penny couldn't decide if he did that because he wanted it or because he was intimidated by Alfred.

"Do you want a special drink for your menus?" Jerome asked after noting down the orders.

"We take three bottles each of the Château d'Yquem and the Château Lafite Rothchild." Alfred told him, which caused even Jerome's eyes to momentarily widen in shock before he left.

"Um, Alfred, the Rothchild is eleven hundred dollars per bottle." Penny mentioned.

"And the d'Yquem is three hundred fifty." Alfred shrugged. "Your point?"

"Um... I don't really have one, except it's too much."

"Remember what I gave your dad for Christmas?" Alfred laughed.

"Honey, don't argue with him." Leonard chuckled.

"You're very generous, Alfred." Bernadette said.

"What's the point of having money if you don't spend it?" Alfred shrugged again. "Now enough of talking about how much it costs, enjoy the evening."

"Yes, sir." Sheldon nodded.

It took fifteen minutes for the starters to arrive, some soups and some salads and the gang began eating. Penny hummed at the phenomenal taste of her leek and onion soup and Bernadette and Amy gushing about how good their salads were. When they were done, Jerome quickly removed the empty plates, replacing them with a single basket of bread and placing the wine glasses on the table for the expensive wine they would be drinking later.

The main food came half an hour later. Just as Bernadette had predicted, the food was amazing, the meat juicy and the fish perfectly cooked. Even Sheldon dug in, enjoying a meal that wasn't the standard on this particular day of the week, but still Penny couldn't decide if he truly enjoyed it or just ate to not make Alfred mad.

As if he was a sommelier, the wine was perfect to the food. Everyone except Sheldon partook in the drink, toasting to this or that and it was only when the last bottle was almost empty and the food was gone that Penny realized that they had taken two cars to get here. When she voiced her concern, Alfred waved her off and she trusted his judgment but still wondered how they were going to get home, since walking the distance would be a bit too far.

True to his word, Alfred took the bill. Penny managed to take a peek and her eyes almost popped out at the large sum, which was mostly due to the bottles of red wine they drank. After adding a generous tip for Jerome, Alfred led them outside where a van was waiting for them with three people standing next to it.

"Who are they?" Penny asked.

"Our ride and two extra drivers to get your cars home." Alfred told them. "I hope I can sleep in your extra room?"

"Of course." Penny nodded and got into the van, sitting down in the middle row.

One of the drivers got into the van while the others took the keys to the other cars and got behind the wheels of those. The drive was quiet and relatively short, the amount of traffic having gone down during the late hours of the day. After arriving at their block, Alfred paid the three men, though Penny couldn't see how much, and together, they walked up the stairs, everybody saying their good nights as they entered their respective apartments until the three arrived at theirs.

"Do I get the binder now?" Penny asked.

"No, you'll get that tomorrow." Alfred shook his head. "If you started working on it now, you'd probably work through the night."

"Alright." Penny accepted.

But still, she fidgeted a lot during the night, not knowing anything making her more nervous than she thought.

I'll stop the chapter here. Penny's final exam is almost here ^^

Review please :)