Boy, it was hot and humid the last few days. Even with the sun not hitting my windows after 10 am, the heat still comes into my apartment. Sleep is hard to come by.
Good thing, when I can't sleep, I usually brainstorm stuff. And this time, I even wrote some stuff down, so the new chapter finished faster than normal.
Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that appeared in the show.
"Why are you making me drive around?" she asked him after passing the third hotel.
"Because you need to learn to spot the organization's facilities on your own." he told her. "We're not going to do every job together."
"I wouldn't say no to that though." she winked at him. "I can think of way worse things than being able to have companionship with the added bonus of sex while waiting for the chance to execute the job."
"That's true." he conceded. "Though you know that won't be happening all the time. And you also need to stand on your own feet if you want to keep the name you will make for yourself with this job. Otherwise, the others in the organization might think that it's actually me doing the jobs and giving you the credit because you're giving me your body to enjoy."
"Jeez. I may be hot and beautiful, but I'm not that hot and beautiful." she smirked but then saw the symbol she was looking for. "Oh, there it is."
"Good." he smiled. "You did memorize all of them, right?"
"I did." she nodded. "It's only a few anyway."
She parked the car and they got out, leaving the dogs inside with the windows opened a bit. They walked inside, feeling the cold air condition on their skin, causing goosebumps for her, given her attire of shorts and a tank top. As they approached the reception desk, the man behind it clearly checked her out, his eyes roaming her body but quickly stopped when he recognized Leonard.
"Good evening, mam and sir." the man said. "How may I help you?"
"Was there a package delivered for Penelope?" Penny asked.
"Who was the sender?" the clerk asked.
"Bernadette Rostenkowski." Penny gave him Bernie's name.
"I'm sorry, there's no package from someone like that?" the man apologized.
"From Poison Ivy to Penelope." Leonard threw in.
"There you go." the man smiled and handed her the package in exchange for the five coins she had on her.
"Poison Ivy? Really?" she gave Leonard a side-eye as they walked away.
"Howard's idea." Leonard shrugged.
"Lets see here." she said after they had gotten back into the car, Penny in the passenger seat this time. "Bottle, syringe and a picture of Bernadette with a note that says 'Call me'."
"Well, at least it's concise." he chuckled.
"Hey Penny." Bernadette's voice came out of the speaker after Penny started the video call.
"So, I'm calling, what's this about?" Penny asked.
"I didn't want to put a written note into the package and this call is encrypted, but there are some things about this poison that you need to know." Bernadette said.
"Alright, hit me."
"So, it turns out that this man is annoyingly healthy, albeit seemingly infertile." Bernadette began. "He may have some mild lung damage because he's a smoker but that wouldn't show in a genetic screening."
"Wait, he's infertile?" Penny was surprised.
"Yes, believe it or not, his genetics say that he's the product of either inbreeding or even incest." Bernadette confirmed. "And it seems to have run in his family for a few generations. Sheldon helped me with the math and according to Wright's equation, he has an inbreeding coefficient of forty-two percent."
"What?" Leonard gasped. "That's insane!"
"Is that a lot?" Penny asked.
"The average population has point one or point two percent or so." Leonard clarified.
"A lot of his genes carry recessive alleles." Bernadette added. "This could explain why he's marrying so many women, even young girls."
"He's trying to procreate." Leonard concluded.
"Would be my guess." Bernadette concurred.
"Okay, enough of this guy's problems." Penny said. "So the poison will do something to his lungs?"
"No." Bernadette got back to the main topic. "The poison is an artificial compound that resembles snake venom. I made it so it reacts with nicotine, which means that after he gets the poison into his body, all he needs is a few cigarettes and the poison will do its work."
"How does it work?" Penny wanted to know. "I mean, what are the symptoms?"
"The poison is neurotoxic. It's actually a botulin toxin..."
"Wait, wait, wait." Leonard interrupted. "Botox?"
"The stuff people put into their faces?" Penny added.
"Precisely." Bernadette confirmed. "Though Botox is a brand name. "
"Botulin is a toxin that is produced by a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum and it causes the disease we call botulism." Leonard told her. "But that can be treated with an antitoxin and its fatality rate is less than ten percent, so I don't see its usage to kill someone."
"Yes, can I continue now?" Bernadette asked poignantly.
"Sorry, go on." Leonard apologized.
"So, botulinum works indirectly." Bernadette explained. "It splits the snap protein, whose job it is to release acetylcholine in the synaptic gaps. Without acetylcholine, the neurotransmitters can't attach to the receptors on the post-synapses, so the impulse transfer can't work anymore."
"Can you dumb it down?" Penny pleaded. "Like, a lot."
"Long story short, this toxin causes muscle and nerve paralysis." Bernadette finished.
"How would that kill him?" Penny asked.
"The heart is a muscle." Leonard told her. "Also, if the brain can't tell the lungs to breath, he'll asphyxiate."
"Leonard is correct." Bernadette affirmed. "Once the poison starts working, he'll be dead within minutes from heart failure."
"Cool, great job, Bernadette." Penny grinned.
"Hold on, not finished." Bernadette stopped her from ending the call. "There are a few small issues."
"Which are?"
"For one, the poison needs to enter the bloodstream." Bernadette sighed. "It's the only way for it to work as intended."
"So?" Penny wondered. "He'll eat it, right? So it will be absorbed when he digests it."
"Yeah, that's the problem." Bernadette sighed. "Because the poison is tailored after a snake venom, the stomach acids will neutralize the toxin."
"Couldn't you redo it so that won't happen?" Leonard asked.
"I tried." Bernadette shrugged. "I maybe could if I had another month or two. However, I don't think you could wait that long."
"No, you're right." Penny accepted it. "I might have an idea on how to do it."
"However you do it, be assured that it will only affect him. Even though he doesn't have any medical issues to exploit, I tailored the poison to his genetics." Bernadette told her.
"What are the other issues?" Leonard asked.
"As I said, it's activated by nicotine, however, one cigarette won't be enough." Bernadette continued. "If the cigarette you say he smokes after his special meal is the only one he smokes per week, the poison won't work. Since I don't know what brand he smokes, I'd guess he needs between four and ten cigarettes to get enough nicotine into his body for the poison to start working."
"So, it could take a month or more if he does that?" Penny wanted to know.
No." Bernadette shook her head. "It will stay viable in his body for about two days, after that his body will have metabolized enough of the poison for it to not work anymore, even if he begins chain smoking."
"So, there's hoping he smokes more than one cigarette per day." Penny said. "Thanks Bernie. I'll pay you as soon as we're back."
"Hold on." Leonard interjected before Penny or Bernadette could end the call. "Will the poison show up during an autopsy?"
"Only if they do one within six hours of the poison being activated, I made it so that as soon as it did its job, the poison breaks down into its component parts that hare hidden by the bodies own biology." Bernadette replied. "If he were to die in his sleep, the poison will be completely gone by the time someone tries to wake him up."
"How will you get the poison into his blood without it going into his stomach?" Leonard asked after Bernadette had ended the call.
"Can you look for a camping supply store?"
"Sure." Leonard didn't press her, deciding to trust her.
He drove for about fifteen minutes before finding a store she needed and stopped the car. Penny got out and walked into the store, looking around for the item she needed but couldn't find it.
"May I help you?" the woman working in the store asked.
"Yes, I need a fiberglass rod, do you have them?"
"Of course." the woman nodded and led her to a different isle, where whole boxes were sold. "How many do you need?"
"Just one." Penny smiled. "Need to replace an old one that broke when we erected our tent."
"You sure you don't want a whole box?" the woman asked. "In case the other ones break as well?"
"No, the other ones are still pretty solid." Penny shook her head.
"Alright." the woman shrugged and took a box with a single rod. "That's nineteen ninety-five."
"Keep the change." Penny said and handed her a twenty. "Good bye."
"Happy camping!" the woman called after her.
"Thanks." Penny rolled her eyes and got back into the car.
"What did you get?" Leonard wanted to know and looked at the box. "A tent rod?"
"Fiberglass." Penny nodded. "I have a crazy idea."
"Here's hoping that it'll work." Leonard chuckled.
Before driving back, Penny made Leonard stop at a clothing store, choosing some nice shirts, a pair of pants and a summer dress that she chose to keep on, though she had to take her bra off for it to work, something Leonard clearly appreciated and using the procured clothing and bags, she hid the rod from any possible prying eyes.
Two and a half hours later, they were back at their cabin. She tried to get a glimpse of the tree house to see if anyone was still in there but the hedges blocked the view. Once inside, she put down her bags before filling the dogs' water bowls so they could drink. When she noticed that Leonard hadn't followed her inside, she went back out and found him sitting in one of the garden chairs, staring at his phone?
"What are you doing now?" she asked quietly.
"Checking the recordings to see if they came in here." he whispered back. "They could have planted a bug or worse, a camera."
"And?" she was worried.
"No." he said after two minutes of fast-forwarding through the footage of the camera directly over the door and the one he apparently had put inside.
"There's a camera inside the cabin too?"
"Yep." he chuckled. "It's set in a way that it can see if anyone came in through any available entry point."
"Did it film our... amorous activities?" she asked.
"No, the angle doesn't see the bedroom." he shook his head. "There's no need to do it, since the bedroom window is too small for someone to climb through as is the bathroom window."
"Well, to be fair, I wouldn't have a problem if it was filmed as long as the recording stayed with us." she grinned and dropped a kiss on his cheeks.
"Good to know." he laughed and got up. "So, lets go walk the dogs properly and then we can have some dinner."
"Good afternoon." Leonard smiled at her from the pool when she exited the cabin, the two dogs swimming around with gusto.
"Afternoon?" Penny asked before yawning. "What time is it?"
"A little after one." he chuckled. "I left you some lunch, it should still be warm, otherwise, just put it in the microwave for a few minutes."
"In a second." she nodded and took off the shirt she had put over her body, revealing her nude body before stepping into the pool and sitting down next to him. "I need to cool my lower parts."
"It wasn't that bad, was it?" he looked at her confused.
"Nope, quite the opposite." she chuckled. "You were right."
"With what?"
"When you told me that you could surprise me" she hummed and leaned back so she was prone in the water. "You really did me good."
"I hope it won't impact you negatively on your mission tonight." he hoped.
"Nah, I'm going to do some yoga after lunch, don't worry." she giggled. "But tell me the truth, where did you learn how to do that?"
"Google." he shrugged. "You can find a lot on there."
"Are there pages that are named 'How to pleasure your woman in every feasible way'?" she smirked.
"Actually, there is." he laughed. "Though I didn't frequent that one."
"Send me the link, I wanna see if there's something I can learn to repay you."
"Are you sure it was okay?" he asked, a bit concerned. "At some point, I was afraid that it would remind you too much of your past."
"What part?" she wondered what he was talking about.
"Well, when I took your legs and..."
"Oh, that." she interrupted. "Nah, I actually enjoyed when you took charge like that. Assertive Leonard is quite sexy."
"Really?"
"Yeah, when you did that business talk before you killed that gang leader, I found that quite hot." she winked at him and playfully splashed him with water.
He splashed her back and before she could do anything, he grabbed her by the side to pull her towards him, his hands tickling her and making her squeal. His hands moved to her breasts, gently squeezing and when she looked up to see his face, he saw an expression that was a large part pure love and smaller, but pronounced, part lust.
Smiling lovingly, she turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him gently but with determination, pushing her tongue into his mouth and playing with his. His hands moved to her hips and then ass, pulling her in until she was straddling him and they kept kissing until her stomach growled loudly enough to make the dogs hear it, both canines' ears perking up at the sound as if there was a wild animal close by.
"I like where this is going but I'm afraid if we do it again, I'm really gonna be too sore to do my mission." she laughed and climbed off of him before leaving the pool to dry off and put her shirt back on. "And I'm hungry now."
"Bon appetit." he said and leaned back again.
Tyson joined her outside, shaking himself off while Major stayed with Leonard, lying down on the first step of the pool to stay in the water in order to cool off. As she walked inside, Tyson accompanied her, his head always coming up to look at her as if waiting for a command. Inside, she grabbed one of the treats Leonard always bought and held it out high before whistling.
Tyson turned around to get some distance and then ran at her, jumping at the right time to get enough height to grab the treat from her fingers. She ruffled his ears before letting him go, the dog going to his bed to eat the treat. The sounds made Major join her as well and she grabbed a second treat to repeat the exercise, Major also doing the high jump to get his due.
She put the food into the microwave and turned to three minutes, giving her enough time to get dressed properly, which consisted of a thong and her sundress. The microwave dinged its end and she took the food, seeing a nice-looking mix of rice, bison meat and baby carrots. She joined Leonard at the pool to eat, watching him do something that she hadn't seen a lot since she met him.
Just relax.
Leonard had enjoyed pools before but that was more for recovery than relaxation. But on this vacation, Leonard simply let go, even though they still did some training while they were here, which usually just consisted of Tai Chi and Yoga but other than that, they just relaxed.
"You're staring at me." he snapped her out of her reverie.
"Yeah, sorry." she chuckled. "Just thought about the fact that you can actually relax."
"Hey, I can relax." he feigned being offended. "I have relax schedules."
"Sorry, what was I thinking." she played along. "Of course, you're training right now."
"Yeah, I'm a wound up spring waiting to jump."
"You sure you just don't want to jump me again?" she grinned.
"That's what you call it now?"
"Well, that movement you did last night was kinda like jumping."
"Except for the fact that my feet never lost contact with the bed." he chuckled.
"Meh, details." she waved him off. "Felt like you were jumping."
"Well..."
"If you say that you used my ass as a trampoline, I will hurt you." she threatened him with her fork and a grin.
"I would never say that." he winked. "So, care to tell me what you have planned with that tent rod you bought?"
"Later." she replied in almost a whisper. "They might be listening."
"True." he conceded. "Alright, I trust you in this."
Once she finished eating, she took a short nap and after Leonard had awoken her with a cup of tea, she drank it and went to work. She changed out of her sundress and into some more appropriate clothing, then took the fiberglass rod she bought, along with a knife and a mortar and pestle from the spice rack.
She went into the car to make sure she wasn't overheard and began working. She used the knife to carve pieces off of the rod and the pestle to turn those into almost powder. It took hours but when the sun started to go down, she had a small bowl full of tiny fiberglass granules which she put into a bag, carefully closing it.
Even though Leonard had already done it, she took the dogs out for a bonus walk, more to give her cover to walk off the stiffness she felt after sitting in the car for hours than the dogs actually needing it. The canines clearly didn't mind, both running around to mark territory but always coming back to her. When she returned to the cabin, it was almost dark, the sun having disappeared behind the horizon and the sky only remaining partially lit.
With Leonard's help, she put on the bodyglove, the leather-like material tight to her skin. After a last kiss, she put on a mask and the special goggles and after Leonard gave her the go-ahead, she slipped out the kitchen window, which was on the other side of the tree house and crawled towards the hedge.
Using a small hole they made days before, she squeezed through and unlocked the bicycle she had put outside. She rode the three miles into the town, seeing nobody on the trail she was using and put the bike away about half a mile away from the restaurant. Using alleys and backyards as much as she could, she closed in on her goal, moving fast whenever she had to cross a lit area but using the scramblers that Leonard had used in his job.
She arrived at the back door to the restaurant shortly after one in the morning. Using the goggles, she ascertained that there wasn't a camera above the door, but she did notice a sensor. She threw a rock past the door, the light above it turning on and her goggles then also noticed the electronic signature of a camera inside the light fixture.
Cursing to herself, she waited until the light turned off, counting the seconds until it happened. Using more rocks and pebbles around her, she gauged the cone that the motion sensor worked with. After half an hour doing that, the information was bad, showing that the cone was wide in all directions except where the door was, so she did the next best thing.
She moved back to gather as many rocks as she could find and began throwing them, missing several times. Since she now knew the cone of the sensor, she could easily move around it and gather the rocks she had used again to throw them once more. It took her another twenty minutes but then it finally happened. She threw the rock high and from above, it hit the light fixture, bending it away from her position. Using more rocks and pebbles, she ascertained that the sensor couldn't see the area outside the door anymore.
She approached the door and picked the lock, which was easy compared to what she had to do to get to that point. Her lock picks made short work of the door and before she stepped into the kitchen area of the restaurant, she threw a few more rocks along the ground to look for more motion sensors and camera.. Finding none, she stepped inside and after looking around, she found the prep fridge, locked with a padlock and she rolled her eyes at that before using the lock picks again to open it.
Inside, she found what she was looking for, the dozen sticks with the liver meat surrounded by cotton candy. She used the syringe to pull the poison out of the bottle and injected some into every piece of liver. After packing the remaining poison away, she grabbed the bag with the fiberglass shards, opened it and carefully sprinkled the granules over the food, the cotton candy catching the granules.
After making sure that every piece was prepared, she closed the fridge and put the padlock back on. She went back outside, closed the door and attached a small clip hook with fishing wire to the light fixture. When she was outside the sensor's cone, she pulled at the fixture, bending it back until it was in its original position, upon which she shook the wire, which caused the hook to detach. As it fell, she quickly pulled it back, the light turning on only when the hook was outside the camera cone.
Taking a deep breath, she walked back to the bicycle, hopping back on and riding back to the cabin. When she had returned, she put the bike back to where it was before and squeezed back through the hedge, where she then slowly moved towards the cabin, knocking on the kitchen window, where Leonard opened it from the inside and offered her his hand to climb through.
"So?" he asked in a low voice.
"Mission accomplished." she whispered back. "The food is prepared."
"Any problems?" he asked. "You were gone a while."
"They had a camera outside the backdoor. Took me a while to get past it." she explained. "I left the restaurant and put everything back in place, they shouldn't even know that someone broke in."
"Okay." he nodded.
"Help me get out of this, please." she said.
"Lets go to the bathroom, but leave the lights off." he said and walked towards the room, closing the door when they were inside. "Can you block the window?"
"With what?" she asked and he handed her a black towel. "Okay."
"Just push the hooks into the wall around the window, so no light escapes."
"Done." she proclaimed and took the glasses off, after which Leonard turned the lights on.
"How do you feel?" he asked while began to peel her out of the bodyglove.
"A little wound up." she admitted as the glove went past her covered breasts, with them bouncing up as if they had been pulled by a string. "Almost shaking."
"That's the adrenaline wearing off." he said. "It'll pass."
"I must say, the mission was very exhilarating." she admitted. "Just lucky that nobody apparently had a guard dog in their yard."
"Why?" he wondered.
"To avoid the lit streets, I used backyards and alleys to get to the restaurant." she explained. "Would have been embarrassing if I had failed the mission because a dog jumped me."
"That's true." he chuckled and knelt down to pull the glove past her hips and thighs.
In order to avoid the sounds of a running shower, just in case, she cleaned the talcum and sweat off of her with a wet rag, Leonard helping with the harder to reach areas. As great as the bodyglove was, getting it on and off was truly a hassle. When she felt Leonard's hand rubbing her leg longer than was necessary for cleaning it, she looked down and saw him smile up at her.
"What?" she smiled back.
"I'm proud of you." he said. "Your first job and it's such a high profile one."
"It's not over yet." she cautioned.
"It will, I'm sure your plan works."
"Hey, you know what I didn't get to do?" she just realized.
"What?"
"I didn't have my pre-mission ritual."
"Then what did we do last night?" he was confused.
"That was you fulfilling a promise you made." she pointed out.
"Okay, I won't do it again." he winked.
"Hey, I didn't say that." she laughed. "But you can help me get my adrenaline down."
"How?" he was confused.
"Oh sweetie, how can you be so smart and yet at times so lovingly naive." she laughed and pushed her thong aside before pulling his face between her legs.
They only left the bathroom half an hour later.
Dun dun duuuun. Will Penny's plan work?
Review please :)