A/N Thanks to everyone for their reviews. I know I am a broken record, but I just always want to let you know how much I appreciate them. I am still borrowing these wonderful characters.

This chapter is a little shorter than usual, but kind of moves the characters forward.

Kurt had found his way to the indicated bar and found Rachel waiting for him at a table. He was both gratified and he had to admit a little disappointed at the way she was dressed. He reminded himself, this is not a date. She is just someone trying to help me. As far as I know, she is married and has kids.

As he sat down, she smiled, "Hi, Kurt, see you found the place."

"Hi, Rachel." Looks around, "Didn't even realize this was here, looks like a nice place.""

"Yeah, it lives up to its name. Is kind of a neighborhood bar. Usually the same people patronage it."

"Can I get us something to drink?"

"They really have a good draft beer here, how about if we split a pitcher?"

"Sounds good to me."

After Rachel had ordered the Pitcher and they had each poured themselves a glass, Rachel broke the silence, "Could I ask you a question? You don't need to answer if you don't want to."

"Fire away."

"How did you get involved with Leonard and Sheldon? Don't get me wrong, they seem to be good guys, but not exactly someone I would expect you to know."

Kurt told her how they had come to his apartment, how he had later helped Leonard. He smiled, "You are right though, I would have never imagined being such good friends with Leonard."

"So, you once were with Penny. She and Leonard seem awfully close."

Kurt smiled, "Yeah, they really are great together. I sensed something between them the first time they were together."

Pausing, Kurt went on, "How about you Rachel, how did you get to be a detective?"

"My Dad was a cop. I grew up not wanting to be anything else."

She smiled, "But you didn't come here to have me question you. You wanted my help."

She went on, "Your situation is different from mine, but maybe I can still help. In some ways, mine was harder to reconcile and I had a big concern that you don't have. On the other hand, I was a cop and had some training. I knew it could be part of the job."

"We got a call about a broken lock at a store. When we got there, there were three of them coming out. At least it was a clear situation, the kid fired first. But when I saw how young he was…"

"It took me a while to get over it. I did get counseling and that helped. But then I realized I had another situation I had to face. What would happen the next time? Would I be able to react as easily? What if it wasn't so clear? Would I hesitate?"

She took a sip, "And then there was the fact I wasn't the only one involved. My partner wondered too. Would I have his back when the time came?"

She smiled sadly, "The real problem is, neither of us will know until it happens."

She hesitated and continued, "Then we have what happened to you. What made you decide to ask for my help. How has it gone?"

"I have had this terrible nightmare several times since the shooting. Then, sometimes during the day something will remind me of what happened but I can usually get by that by just thinking of Penny. But I still just feel so guilty sometimes. I wonder if I could somehow have done something different."

Rachel smiled sadly, "I know what you mean. I often still feel the same myself. But you are doing the right thing, thinking about Penny. I also think of someone I love and remind myself that if I hadn't acted, I would have been taken away from him. For me it is my son Jacob."

Kurt sighed to himself, so she was married. Then he chided himself for being sad about it. She was just here to help.

Rachel had gone on, "As for the nightmares, I think you should consult a therapist. There are some things you can do to ease them. Sometimes even medication helps." She reached in her purse, taking out a card, "This is the name and number of the woman who helped me. She helps out with the police but has a private practice. I would highly recommend her."

Kurt took the card and thanked her. They finished off the pitcher in silence. Then Rachel turned to him, "I hope I have helped a little. I wish I could do more. But I should get home, I need to drive to Los Angeles tomorrow to pick up my son. It's my turn to have him for six months. I have really missed him."

Kurt again was a little ashamed that he was glad she was divorced.

"That must be tough. I am sorry about your marriage."

"Thanks. Rob could never get comfortable with me being a cop. The long hours, the waiting up, wondering if I was all right. He wanted me to quit, but being a cop is what I always wanted to be."

She sighed, "Well, I better get going. Take care of yourself, Kurt. Just believe it will get better with time."

"Thanks for coming, Rachel, I really appreciate you taking time to help. I do feel better about everything."

Rachel nodded and got up to leave. Just as she said goodbye, Kurt blurted out, "Could we maybe get together again some time, just to talk some more."

Rachel looked surprised, then smiled, "I suppose we could do that." Then she said, "Where did you want to do that?"

Kurt said to himself, what the hell, "I was thinking maybe at a restaurant. After the meal, maybe we could see a movie or something."

Rachel smiled, "Some people might call that a date."

"I suppose they could." Paused, "Would that be okay with you?"

"It would be fine. Why don't you give me a call and see what we can work out?"

"Okay. Goodnight, Rachel, and thanks again."

"Goodnight, Kurt."

Penny had been with Leonard constantly for two weeks. He had been almost embarrassed but thrilled by how she had pampered him even after he assured her his shoulder felt much better. For her part, Penny could only think of what he meant to her. She knew a lot of it was gratitude. After all he had saved her from jail in addition to saving her life, but she also felt she loved him deeply.

But now Leonard knew he needed to get back to work. The new cases growing out of the publicity they had received were overwhelming Sheldon and Kurt. So reluctantly Leonard and Penny agreed she needed to move back to her apartment. She knew she also needed to start to return to normalcy, to settle in and find a job.

So after making love several times during the night, Penny moved back to her apartment and Leonard set off for work.

Penny was gratified that she was able to return to work at the Cheesecake Factory. She was comfortable there and had established some friendships.

Leonard found himself working long into the night as they tried to keep up with the caseload. They started to take on many more types of cases, including hunting down fathers who didn't pay child support and missing persons. Although they were gratified to find out that much of that work could be done by telephone or searching the internet, it also included travel. That part of it was given to Kurt. It was becoming apparent however that they either needed to start turning down cases or make some changes.

They had come to rely on Howard for a lot of help with computer related issues and finally decided to ask him if he wanted to leave his hideaway to come and work full time. To the gratification of his mother, he agreed. Everyone had to smile when Debbie would bring food to the office and be sure to see that Kurt was included.

It was also apparent their current office was no longer adequate. So they moved into a suite containing four offices and a reception area. They even hired a receptionist. Penny was a little nervous about that but relaxed when they hired a married woman in her forties with two kids.

As for Rachel and Kurt, they started to date, but although Kurt wanted it to become more serious, Rachel wanted it to stay as it was. Kurt also did see the therapist who helped him greatly with his nightmares. He still occasionally had them but they were much less intense. It had also helped that he was dating Rachel and being able to lose himself in his work.

After a time, Penny would stay over at Leonard's about four days a week and they would do something special together every weekend. But they both knew they wanted it to be more. Penny felt she had moved past her being concerned that her feelings for Leonard were due to him helping her. She knew she loved him and wanted to be with him. As for Leonard, he had always known he felt that way about her.

It was five months since Cheryl had been killed. Leonard felt it was time to ask Penny to move in with him. Kurt had been thrilled when Rachel asked if he wanted to come to dinner at her house and meet her son.

Bernadette would occasionally stop by the office on business and everyone was surprised when she wasn't completely repelled by Howard's interest in her.

Mrs. Annie Taylor looked up as someone came through the door. She stared at the young woman. She could see she was pretty but was dressed as dowdy as an old lady. "May I help you?"

"My name is Doctor Amy Farrah Fowler and I find myself in need of a detective."