Yet more nights with way too little sleep because of the temperatures. I hate heat -.- Even though my windows face east, when the sun gets really hot, it heats up the floor of my balcony and inside my apartment close to the windows. And at night, it's way too high right now for a proper sleep.
So, enjoy the result of three more nights filled with bouts of insomnia :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that appeared in the show.
"I'm sorry, this isn't a veterinarian hospital." the woman behind the desk said to Penny when she entered the building with the two Malignois at her sides.
"I'm Agent Vanessa Riley." Penny showed her badge and ignored the woman's remark. "I'm looking for my partner, he was brought in here about half an hour ago or thereabouts. Agent Vincent Breslau."
"Ah, yes." the nurse nodded. "However, these two can't be in here."
"What's your name?" Penny asked.
"Vanessa." the woman smiled.
"Really?" Penny raised her eyebrows. "Anyway, Vanessa, what do you know about dogs and specific breeds?"
"Not much, why?"
"These two are Belgian Malignois. They are highly energetic working dogs and quite direct in their reaction to danger." Penny told her. "Moreover, they should never be put into a small space, like a car, for a prolonged amount of time."
"Agent Riley, with all due respect, we have rules about animals here, some patients might be allergic and..."
"Just list them as service dogs." Penny held out two bills with large denominations.
"I see." Vanessa said and took the bills. "Room zero four two."
Penny walked the hallway towards the room, the hospital comparatively empty due to the time of day. She found the room and knocked twice before going in, finding Leonard in bed, his gaze towards the window. After a happy whine from Major, Leonard turned his head and smiled when he saw her.
"Hey." he said and his eyes fell on the dogs. "How did you get them in here?"
"Two Benjamin Franklins greased the wheels." she shrugged.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes full of concern.
"You're the one in the hospital bed and you ask me if I'm okay?" she smirked.
"Have you looked in the mirror?" he chuckled.
"No, why?" she was confused and walked into the small bathroom. "Oh, shit."
"Saw it?" he asked as she returned.
"Fuck." she cursed. "I guess that came from Rico hitting me."
"Pretty much assured." he nodded.
"So, what's the verdict?" she pointed to his shoulder.
"Still waiting for the results of the x-ray." he said.
"Tell me something, why did you let yourself be carted here instead of me bringing you to a hotel and letting the cleaners take care of the bodies?" she wanted to know.
"For one, the owner saw what happened." he replied. "And two, calling the cleaners would have been hard, kinda difficult to explain why there was a special waste disposal vehicle pick something up from our cabin. "
"That makes sense." she accepted. "But won't this cause some trouble?"
"I'm sure it will." he sighed. "The police report alone will be moved up the chain and reach the FBI because in their eyes, two FBI agents have been attacked."
"What do we do then?"
"We deal with it." he shrugged with one shoulder. "There's one thing that will fix it but I'm hesitant to use it unless absolutely necessary."
"What is it?"
"Calling the FBI director." he chuckled and saw her disbelieving face. "I'm not kidding."
"Alright, Agent Breslau, I have..." a doctor said while coming in before stopping when he saw Penny and then the dogs. "Oh, hello."
"Agent Riley." Penny introduced herself. "I'm his partner. Who are you?"
"I'm Doctor Cortez." he introduced himself. "Anyway, I've got the x-rays."
"And?" Leonard asked.
"You got lucky." the doctor told him. "It's a clean dislocation. No additional broken bones, no torn or partially torn ligaments and tendons, and as you can see from the lack of bruising, also no torn blood vessels."
"Then go ahead, pop it back in." Leonard said.
"I only need to get you some local anesthetics." Cortez nodded.
"If you got a letter belt for be to bite on, you can do it right away."
"I know you FBI agents want to appear tough but trust me, take the anesthetic." Cortez shook his head.
"Fine." Leonard rolled his eyes.
The doctor left the room again and for ten minutes, nothing happened. Major in particular knew that something was wrong with his master as he jumped his front legs on the bed, putting his head next to Leonard's hand. He scratched the dog's head and shooed him away when the door opened again and doctor Cortez came in, accompanied by a woman.
"Good morning." the woman said with a french sounding accent. "I'm Doctor Henry."
"Hello." Leonard said. "Lets get this over with."
"Never seen someone so eager to get a syringe stuck into his body." Cortez chuckled.
"I'd like to have my shoulder back into its socket, thank you very much." Leonard rolled his eyes.
Doctor Henry drew a liquid into a syringe, then sprayed several spots on Leonard's shoulder, front and back, with disinfectant, then wiping it away. She pushed the plunger to get any air out of the needle and began injecting him, a fifth of the syringe's contents into every injection. As doctor Henry put away her stuff, Cortez pricked Leonard's shoulder with his redacted pen to see if the anesthetic started working.
It took three minutes before Leonard couldn't feel anything anymore and Cortez began to feel down the shoulder before grabbing Leonard's upper arm with both hands. Penny forced herself to look and winced when Cortez lifted Leonard's arm to what looked way too high and pushed forward, putting it back into its socket with a snap. When that was done, Cortez grabbed a large sling, wrapping his shoulder into it and putting it around his wrist to hold the arm in place.
"Okay, the shoulder is back in." Cortez said. "For the next two days, no movement of your shoulder and try to limit movement for the ten days. Keep wearing the sling for a week."
"What's the pain level going to be?" Leonard asked.
"Moderate to light, given that you have no additional injuries." Cortez replied. "As long as you rest the shoulder and don't move it too much, you shouldn't feel that much pain at all."
"What's the timeline?" Penny wanted to know.
"Total?" Cortez looked at her and she nodded. "Three to four months before complete recovery, barring any complications."
"So he can't use his arm for four months?" Penny was aghast.
"No, he should be able to resume most activities within two weeks." Cortez corrected and addressed Leonard. "You should avoid heavy lifting and sports that involve shoulder movements for between six and twelve weeks. Once your arm is out of the sling, you can start physical therapy, which should consist of gentle exercises to reduce stiffness and build up your strength again."
"Thanks doc." Leonard said. "Can you put together a file with the needed information, so I can take it home?"
"Sure." Cortez nodded. "Where do you live?"
"We're stationed in DC." Leonard said. "But we can also stay with friends in Los Angeles, depends on what our boss says."
"I'll have it ready by morning." Cortez nodded.
"When can he leave?" Penny asked.
"We're doing another checkup at around ten, and if everything looks well, he can leave." Cortez told her.
"Thank you, doctor." Penny smiled at him.
"If you need anything then, just press..." Cortez began but was interrupted by a knock on the door, a man entering without waiting for a signal. "Who are you?"
"Agent Alexander Greene, FBI, Sacramento field office." the man showed his badge.
"That was quick." Penny commented.
"When two of us are attacked, events tend to move quickly." Greene shrugged. "Can we debrief?"
"Only for a few minutes." Cortez interjected. "He just had his shoulder popped back in, he needs to rest."
"Agent, can you talk?" Greene addressed Penny.
"Sure." Penny nodded and got up.
"Only after I gave her a checkup." Cortez interjected again.
"I'm fine." Penny waved him off.
"Mam, you have severe bruising on your face and I need to make sure that you don't have a microfracture in either your nose or cheek." Cortez told her.
"Do what you must." Penny shrugged.
"Follow me to the x-ray room." Cortez said and led her through the hallways to the correct room where a technician was waiting.
The technician put her head into the contraption and told her to keep as still as possible. He left the room and counted down until he took the x-ray, Penny wondering how much radiation was shot against her head right now. She left the room again, Agent Greene waiting and she joined him, since she had to wait for the results anyway.
"So, what happened out there?" Greene asked.
"How much did Sheriff Boyle told you?" she returned.
"His report said that three men broke into your cabin and you defended yourself successfully." Greene said.
"Then you know as much as we do." Penny shrugged. "We don't know why they came in, Sheriff Boyle assumes that it was because this prophet guy who runs that religious group north of here took a liking to me and wanted to kidnap me for whatever reason."
"And what is whatever?" Greene wanted to know.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Penny told him. "Boyle said, either for rape, marriage or anything in between."
"Agent Riley?" Doctor Cortez interrupted them. "Could you join me please?"
"Sure." Penny nodded and got up, paying no more attention to Agent Greene.
"Your x-rays shows that you suffered two microfractures in your right cheek and the bruise clearly shows a torn blood vessel. While that will heal normally over time, the fractures need to be protected from any further impacts." Cortez described.
"I don't intend to run into any solid objects." Penny joked.
"Nevertheless, you should wear a mask for at least a week or two." Cortez said and wrote something before handing her the paper. "Take that to a medical supply store, where they can give you a fitting for a mask and then the mask itself. You should wear it whenever you go outside or do anything that could result in a hit to the face, even accidental."
"Great." she huffed. "Thanks, doc."
"You're welcome."
She left the room and found the waiting area empty, Agent Greene having probably left. When she returned to Leonard's room, she found him asleep, his breathing normal and his face relaxed. The two dogs became alert when she came in and lay back down when they realized it was her and she sat down on the chair next to the bed to watch the man she loved sleep. Tyson put his head on her leg and she scratched his head until she fell asleep.
"Morning Alex." one of his team greeted him before putting a coffee cup in front of him. "When did you get in?"
"Hey, Coreen." Greene nodded to his colleague. "At around three."
"Why?" Coreen asked. "Got a call?"
"Yeah." Greene sighed tiredly and handed her the file.
"Holy shit!" Coreen gasped. "The cult attacked two of ours? Could they be that brazen?"
"The local sheriff had a somewhat plausible theory." Greene shrugged. "Check the pictures."
"Who is the blond?" Coreen asked, leafing through the pictures that didn't include the nude ones.
"That's Agent Vanessa Riley." Greene told her. "Her partner and apparently boyfriend is Agent Vincent Breslau. They're on vacation, believe it or not."
"Okay, so we might get a judge to sign off on a warrant now to arrest the prophet." Coreen smiled. "Attacks on a federal agent is pretty severe."
"Yeah, but there's something strange about those two." Greene pointed to the screen. "When you enter their badge numbers you get to their files but I can't access them."
"Why not?"
"No idea, it says that my clearance isn't high enough." Greene said.
"Morning boys, and girls." they were greeted by their boss, the Special Agent in charge of the Sacramento field office.
"Hughes?" Greene called him over. "I have two agent files I can't access due to insufficient clearance. Can you access them?"
"Show me." Hughes became interested and saw the screen. "Who are they?"
"You remember the cult compound north of Fulton, right?" Greene asked him.
"Sure, why?"
"Apparently, some of the cults' members have attacked two of ours that were on vacation in the area."
"Why would they do that?" Hughes wondered. "They know that attacking law enforcement agents will only invite trouble for them."
"There's a lot of signs that they didn't know that they were attacking FBI." Greene told him. "The local sheriff postulates that the leader wanted to kidnap Agent Riley to be his wife or mistress. But again, I can't access the files of either Riley or Breslau."
"Eyes." Hughes ordered, both agents turning their heads so Hughes could enter his access code. "Huh, denied as well for lack of clearance."
"Don't you find that odd?"
"It is." Hughes nodded. "I'm gonna make some calls to people I know in the DC office, maybe they can tell me who these two are."
"What should we do in the meantime?"
"Write a warrant to take to a federal judge." Hughes told him. "It's time to take that cult apart."
"On it." Greene nodded.
Hughes went into his office and closed the door, not wanting to be disturbed by anyone during the call. He pulled out his notepad and riffled through the pages until he found the one he was looking for. Instead of calling the central switchboard of the DC office, he directly called his friend's extension, having to wait for nine rings before the phone was picked up.
"Yes?" came a voice.
"Herb?" Hughes spoke into the phone. "It's Peter, how have you been?"
"Peter!" Herb almost laughed. "How is Sacramento?"
"Way too hot right now." Peter chuckled.
"It's the same in DC, stop whining."
"Listen Herb, I need to ask a favor." Peter got to the point
"Shoot."
"Two of our agents were attacked on their vacation, by the cult that has their compound north of Fulton." Hughes began.
"That's the first I'm hearing about it." Herb got serious.
"They are in the hospital, we learned of it from the local Sheriff reporting the attack to us." Hughes told him. "We're putting together a warrant to get these sons of bitches but that's not the reason why I'm calling."
"Then why?"
"It's about the two agents." Hughes said. "When we enter their badge numbers, we can see their files but whenever we try to access them, our access is denied, even mine."
"Give me their ID numbers?" Herb demanded
"Okay, Agent Breslau's is two two one nine dash five two six and Agent Riley's is two three one seven dash six one six."
"That's weird." Herb hummed after a few seconds. "I can't access them either, my clearance level isn't high enough."
"You're the executive assistant director for human resources, how can you not have access to their files?" Peter was nonplussed.
"Beats me." Herb said. "I'll ask the director next time I see him. Not today though, he'll head to the Capitol soon for a congressional hearing."
"Alright, thanks Herb." Hughes sighed.
"Don't be a stranger, Peter." Herb said. "And give my best to Adalind."
"I will." Peter confirmed and ended the call before returning into the bullpen. "Alexander?"
"Yeah?"
"Not even my contact has access to their files." Hughes told him.
"Then what do we do now?"
"We do our job, get that warrant signed, put a team together and get this so-called prophet into handcuffs." Hughes told him.
"But what about the two agents?" Greene wouldn't let it go.
"They are above our pay grade, so we focus on what we can do."
"I don't like this." Greene said.
"Nobody's asking you to like it." Hughes put his foot down. "Now get on with it."
"Yes, sir." Greene nodded and printed out the warrant to take to a judge.
"Good morning." a voice woke her up from her sleep, her eyes opening to see a nurse smiling at her.
"Ow, my neck." Penny groaned when she tried to lift her head.
"Morning." an equally waking Leonard said.
"I wanted to ask if you wanted something special for breakfast." the nurse asked.
"I can choose?" Leonard wondered.
"We have some choices." the nurse nodded and handed him a list with a few options.
"I'll take the dogs out for their walk and look for a bakery." Penny announced. "Right after I use the bathroom."
She headed into the small room and did her ablutions before washing her mouth with water and using her finger to brush her teeth with the toothpaste that was available in the bathroom. After returning, she gave Leonard a kiss and headed out with the two canines, a lot of nurses squealing when they saw them, running their hands over their fur as Penny walked past.
She took a deep breath once outside, tilting her head left and right to get the stiffness out of her neck before taking out her phone to find a bakery. When she found one, she began walking towards it, letting the dogs roam over the grass so they could do their business. She decided to go to a butcher shop after the bakery, since the dogs couldn't get their usual breakfast right now.
"Good morning." the woman behind the counter greeted her as she entered the bakery.
"Hello." Penny smiled at her and perused what was on offer.
"What will it be?"
"I'll take two bear claws, four donuts and two cinnamon rolls."
She paid for her purchase and left the bakery, taking the dogs' leashes and leading them to the nearest butcher shop. The two canines' ears perked up when they smelled the meat and Penny tied them to a pole outside of it before entering the store. She waited for her turn, trying to find something to buy for the dogs, since she didn't want to feed them cold cuts.
"Good morning, mam." the man behind the counter greeted her.
"Hello, I'm trying to find something to feed my dogs for breakfast, since I can't get their dog food right now." she said. "Any ideas?"
"Well, my go to would be sausages." the man shrugged. "If you wanna spoil them, I have some nice deboned steaks."
"Alright, I'll have two steaks and four of those... what are those thick sausages?" Penny pointed.
"They're called bockwurst or large franks." the man told her and grabbed four of them, weighing them.
Penny paid for them and took the bag before leaving the store. The two dogs certainly smelled the meat, both running their noses over the bag but Penny cleared her throat and both retreated. She took the leashes again and led them away from the store, going to a bench where she could sit down. She pointed to the ground and both dogs sat down, looking at her expectantly.
She began with the sausages, ripping off small pieces and throwing them at the dogs, both catching them out of the air without problems. She continued until the sausages were gone and unrolled the steaks, both dogs perking up again. She held them over the heads of both, waiting if one or both couldn't control themselves but neither jumped up to get to the meat. She gave them a command and dropped the steaks, both dogs again catching them and eating them quickly.
She continued walking them and unfortunately, both did a number two but luckily, Penny had kept the two bags from the butcher so she could scoop up the poop and dispose of it before heading back to the hospital. Even though some nurses and doctors looked at the dogs with questioning looks, she simply ignored them and walked into Leonard's room, seeing him eat the hospital-provided breakfast.
"How is the food?" she asked.
"It's actually not bad." he said. "They didn't have green tea though."
"I got some baked goods, if you like?" she produced the bakery bag.
"Hand them over." he put out his hand.
"What?"
"The cinnamon rolls, hand them over." he ordered again.
"How do you know that I bout cinnamon rolls?"
"I can smell them." he said. "Now hand them over."
"Interesting." she smiled and handed him one of the boxes. "Never knew you liked them so much."
"I love them." he chuckled as he dug into the roll. "I just don't eat them every day, otherwise, it wouldn't be special when I do."
"You want the second one too?"
"Nah, you eat it." he shook his head. "What else did you buy?"
"Two bear claws and four donuts." she replied. "I also fed the dogs, got some meat from a butcher shop."
"Good." he nodded. "Their food is still at the cabin."
"How's the shoulder?" she asked.
"The pain is moderate." he shrugged with his other shoulder. "If it stays like that, I can forgo the painkillers."
"Where do you want to spend your physical rehab?" she asked. "You wanna stay in Los Angeles or head back to Vermont?"
"I think we should stay here for at least a few weeks and then go back." he suggested. "I have some things in my home that will help with recovery but Raj has something that can really help."
"What?"
"He has a hyperbaric chamber."
"I don't know what that is." she chuckled.
"It's a chamber that you get into and you're subjected to increased oxygen levels. Usually it's used to treat carbon monoxide poisoning or gangrene or wounds that won't heal, but it can also be used for recovery." he explained. "One hour in there is like twelve hours recovery outside."
"Cool." she was impressed. "Why would Raj have something like that?"
"He thought that sleeping in it would help his stamina."
"Does it?"
"I know that sleeping in a hypobaric chamber can do that, because it lowers the oxygen levels. It essentially simulates a high altitude environment." Leonard told her. "I know that some athletes use those to sleep in."
"So, if they're so good, why don't you have one?" she quipped.
"Because since I live in Vermont, I hadn't had a larger injury that required the use of such a chamber. And for recovery after my workouts, I have my hot and cold tubs." he said.
"Sheldon will surely be happy since you can continue to work on his stuff." she chuckled.
"As long as you're with me, I'll soldier on." he huffed theatrically.
"Love you." she giggled, giving him a kiss just as the door opened.
"Agent Greene." Leonard greeted the man. "What is it this time?"
"I wanna know who you are." Greene demanded without preamble.
"You got your IDs, check them." Penny rolled her eyes.
"I tried but I couldn't access them. Even my boss doesn't have the clearance." Greene said. "Then he called DC and even his contact, who is high in the FBI hierarchy, couldn't access your files. So, who are you?"
"Listen, when you have your access denied, that should tell you something about who we are." Leonard told him, Penny noticing how his vocal inflection changed to superiority. "There is need to know, and you don't have need to know."
"Are you truly expecting me to believe that?" Greene countered.
"No, I don't." Leonard retorted. "You don't have to believe me. Go back to your office, have your boss call headquarters and tell them you have a case Q."
"Why would I need to go back to my office?" Greene asked.
"Because if the call doesn't come from an FBI office, they will just hang up on you." Leonard chuckled, after which Greene left with a huff.
"What's case Q?" Penny wanted to know.
"Essentially, it's the worst case scenario when someone in law enforcement is too nosy." he explained. "Therefore, we claim a case Q and have them call the DC office. The call will get bumped up to either the director or deputy director and they will put the heat on the cops or agents in question."
"Wow, up that high?"
"Yes, and that's why we want it to be as rare as possible." Leonard nodded. "As much as they accept us being on their list, they don't want to be reminded that we exist and most importantly, what we do."
"Because we're pretty much conducting extrajudicial executions." she accepted. "And I doubt law enforcement likes to be reminded of that."
"Yep." he nodded and looked at the wall clock. "Well, another hour until the doctor does the visitation and we can get out of here."
"Unless there are complications." she winked.
"I don't think there will be any." he pointed to his shoulder.
"Here's hoping." she took his hand and squeezed.
Chapter ends here. Need to get some rest ^^
Review please :)