He has found Penny again, but is there still a future for them?

Sheldon twitched as something brushed over his cheek. He raised a hand to swat it away groggily. He opened his eyes and looked at the clock on the bedside table. 3:43 am. He groaned and closed his eyes again. He was just slipping back down into REM sleep when he heard a soft giggle.

His heart thudded in his chest and he slowly opened his eyes again. Surely he was dreaming, right? He inched up until he was sitting, and closed his eyes. He turned and made a silent wish before timidly opening his eyes. It had been a week since he brought Penny home, and there had been little change in her condition so far. Warm hazel eyes smiled up at him tenderly. He watched gratefully as Penny weakly lifted an arm to brush her fingers across his cheek again.

"Hey, sweetie."

Slowly he smiled back at her. "Hello, Penny."

She looked at her other arm, nodding slightly to the IV tubes. "Sorry about this," she sighed tiredly.

Sheldon gave her a stern look. "You broke your promise to me, Penelope. You told me you weren't going to be in any danger. I am not happy about this."

Penny shifted and gasped as pain burst from her midsection. Immediately Sheldon scrambled out of the bed and hurried around to her side. He was drawing back the blankets to check on her still tender incisions when Penny grabbed his hand.

"It's okay," she said reassuringly. "It was mostly just surprise. I've been in worse shape."

Sheldon dropped down beside her, unmindful of potential germs on the floor. He laid his head on her shoulder and wept brokenly. "I thought I had lost you," he sobbed. "I doubted you," he admitted, his voice husky with emotion. "I thought you had left me. I thought you had died." He looked up at her, despair and guilt written across his face. "Penny, I was broken without you."

Tears sprang to her eyes as she cupped his jaw. "Sheldon, it's okay. I understand. But I'm here now. We're here. Please, I need you to hold me."

Sheldon stood on wobbly legs and crawled back in on the other side of the bed. He eased his arms around her and buried his face in her neck. Penny wrapped her good arm around his shoulders and held him close.

"I love you, Mein Liebling," he whispered softly.

"I love you too, baby," she whispered back.

That's how Meemaw found them when she got up at 6 to make breakfast.

Penny was transferred back to the hospital for almost a week while they ran tests. She hated being in the hospital, but it had one upside. She was able to get to know Meemaw in a neutral setting. Penny was not afraid of anyone, but Sheldon's grandmother was a force to be reckoned with. She had a way of cutting right to the heart of things and was even more tenacious than Penny was herself. By the time she had her last test, she was fairly certain Meemaw understood her more than anyone else, ever.

They finally declared her fit enough to be unhooked from the IV and released. She was immediately pulled in for a debriefing. She insisted Bernadette accompanied her. Sheldon was miffed about being left out, but reluctantly agreed when Penny pointed out that this was her last day as an agent.

She told them everything she could. About how Wheaton's remarks about Sheldon had made her suspicious. He shouldn't have known she and Sheldon were dating because he wasn't high enough up to have access to her file. That meant he had to have hacked the system. How Rodriguez's login had been changed abruptly and then used to gain access when he was in a debrief. She told them about the confrontation with Wheaton and how Hawthorn and Fultz had been laying in wait. She told them in great detail the beatings she and Rodriguez had received and how they had been shot. She took full blame for that. She should have waited and secured back up first. Her emotions had been churned up after seeing Sheldon and she had rushed in blindly. She lied and said she had no memory of trying to crawl to the highway. That was personal, and had nothing to do with the case. They didn't need to know her only thoughts were of getting to safety so she could see Sheldon again.

When they were satisfied, the suits left. Charlie looked at Bernadette and Penny carefully. He mentally smiled at how even he thought of her as Penny now. She was still one of the best agents he had ever known, but she wasn't Rene Fusch anymore. He sighed and leaned forward. The higher ups had already agreed she could be trusted and a new memory wipe was not necessary, although they would keep close tabs on her, just in case.

"I was going to offer you a position with the agency again," he said calmly.

Penny looked at him curiously. "Was?"

He nodded. "But I can see it in you. You'd turn me down. This guy, Cooper, he's worth it?"

Penny smiled brightly, her eyes lighting up. "He is."

Charlie picked up her file and closed it before placing it in a desk drawer. "How would you feel about a consulting job? No field work. Strictly office. Give your opinion on the files of potential recruits, review reports from operations. That sort of thing."

Penny stood slowly, her body still weak. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm just a waitress and part time college student." She moved to the door, Bernadette by her side. She was pleased by the nod of respect she got from Alicia on her way out.

Mary went back to Galveston a couple of days later. She claimed her church needed her. Sheldon didn't need her, and as much as she was coming to like Penny, she felt like an intruder. Meemaw stayed another week. She was fascinated by the young woman who had won her Moon Pie's heart. She still didn't know all the details of what had happened but she knew enough to make a few educated guesses. Plus she had grown rather fond of the silent Indian boy and the tiny couple across the hall. And she enjoyed swapping recipes with Edna Wolowitz.

The day she left, she pulled Sheldon aside and handed him a small box. "My father gave this to my mother the day he asked her to marry him. I have waited thirty one years to pass it along. Now, you see that you do it proper, Moon Pie. I'm looking forward to having you two come see me this Christmas. And bring those friends of yours, too." She walked to the door where Raj was waiting with her suitcases. "Let's go, young man. I'm not getting any younger."

Penny was sitting in bed when Sheldon walked into the bedroom that night. He opened the closet and paused. With a frown he looked back at Penny. "My pajamas are missing."

She nodded and swept back the blanket. Sheldon's body went rigid as his eyes raked over her bare body. "You're not going to need them," she said huskily.

Sheldon slowly approached the bed, need and worry warring within him. "Penny, are you sure? I know you still ache."

She rose up onto her knees and held out a hand. "The only ache I have is for you, Sheldon. Please, I need you."

He moved onto the bed and drew her into his arms. "One thing, first," he said. He reached into his pocket and held up the box. He opened it and watched her closely. Penny's eyes widened at the simple gold band with the trio of small oval diamonds on top. "I want to marry you," he said tenderly. "I want to make you my wife, Penny. I love you. Will you marry me?"

Penny looked into his eyes and smiled. "I love you, too. My life is with you, Sheldon. Of course I'll marry you."

The moment the ring was on her finger, his lips were on hers.

Epilogue

Sheldon looked at Penny with surprise as she handed him a small beribboned box and settled into this lap. "Happy Saturnalia," she whispered in his ear, knowing how much his family's constant cheery "Merry Christ-mas" greetings were grating on his nerves.

"Penny we have already exchanged gifts," he said indicating the DVD set of Sherlock Holmes starring Ronald Howard she had presented to him and expansion pack for AoC he had given her. They had agreed to keep their gifts within a monetary limit so they could focus much of their incomes toward their upcoming wedding and honeymoon.

"Just open it, sweetie. I promise it didn't cost me anything," she said with a smile. "And it's really for both of us."

Sheldon's curiosity was piqued and he untied the ribbon carefully. He lifted the top off the box and looked at the set of gold bands inside. Etched into the top of the rings was "gra anois agus go deo". Penny picked one up and showed him the translation inside.

"These were my grandparents," she said softly. "They loved each other so much. Nana passed away first. The next year, when Pop-pop got sick, he gave them to me. He told me that someday I'd find someone I loved as much as he loved my Nana, and when I did, it would be a now and forever kind of thing. I want us to wear these, Sheldon. Because you are The Guy. My now and forever guy."

Sheldon took the ring from Penny's hand and set it with the other one in the box. He placed it on the table in front of them and pulled her down for a heated kiss.

Meemaw watched fondly from the kitchen doorway. She looked at the picture on the wall beside her with a smile. Sheldon and Penny put her in mind of her and Clarence. They truly loved each other. A love that had been tested and had withstood the fire. It wasn't always going to be roses and rainbows. They were both too strong willed and opinionated for that. But it would also never be boring.