Three weeks after Amy's conversation with Trina, Sheldon placed a stack of flags on the coffeetable while Amy positioned the laptop. He leaned over the back of the couch to rearrange the apartment flag behind him, moving it slightly to the left to center it in the frame while she ogled his behind.

As they got into position, Amy eyed her fiancé who was uncharacteristically nervous, as evidenced by his bouncing knee. She gently lay her hand on it. He lowered his gaze then turned to face her. "I hope this works."

"Me too."

"You know I'm not good with apologies."

"You did great during the rehearsal. I have faith in you."

"What if she decides not to watch?"

"It's a possibility, but I have a feeling she will just to see if you address the issue." She poised her finger over the 'start' button. "And we're live in three, two, one..."

"Hello and welcome to Dr. Sheldon Cooper..."

"...and Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler..."

"...present Dr. Sheldon Cooper's Fun With Flags!"

"Tonight's show is in follow up to our last episode. I would like to inform you all that I have decided not to pursue the petition. It was inappropriate of me to attempt to alter the outcome of the flag design contest. In doing so, I unintentionally hurt the winner and caused a rift between her daughter and my wonderful fiancée."

He glanced at her briefly, a smile small upon his lips, before continuing. "In the interest of retaining anonymity, I will henceforth refer to the winner as 'A'."

He nodded almost imperceptibly at Amy. She plucked the first flag from the pile and unfurled it, revealing the winner's design.

"This is the rightful winning flag which will proudly fly atop Houston City Hall ten months from now. Isn't the color palatte stunning? A, if you are watching this, please know I never had anything against your design. In fact, I deliberated over my choices long after the other judges had already voted. Had I been permitted to do so, I would have chosen both designs. I would also like to add that my choice had nothing to do with gender whatsoever. I knew nothing of the candidates at the time of the vote."

Amy set the flag down. "He really didn't. It wasn't until three weeks ago that we found out A was a woman. Sheldon is a good person. He just has trouble admitting his losses."

"It's true." He leaned forward and shifted the screen so only his face appeared. "A, I believe an apology is in order. I am truly sorry for my behavior. I hope in time you will be able to forgive me. And to your daughter, please give Amy another chance. Even if you can't forgive my actions, she had nothing to do with this."

She squeezed his hand, and he absently toyed with the ring on her finger.

"Before we move on, I would also like to tell A that while I couldn't bring myself to take the video down or remove the incriminating segment, I came up with a solution I'm comfortable with, and I hope you are too. I have added an annotation informing our viewers that I have decided against pursuing a petition."

As the show neared the end, Amy noted there was one flag remaining. In her mind she went over the rehearsal and couldn't recall any additional segments. She glanced from Sheldon to the flag and back again, but his expression was inscrutable.

"I once again would like to apologize to A. I would be happy to send you this flag," he held up Anna's design, "courtesy of Chad at Design-a-flag, as a peace offering."

Amy pointedly looked at the remaining flag. His eyes signaled her to be patient.

"Before we sign off, I have a non-flag-related request for all our viewers. Amy and I are attempting to locate the father she never met. With her mother's permission, I am sharing this photo of her," he shook out the flag and waved it in front of the camera, "taken shortly before she left for Harvard on March 13, 1982. If you recognize this woman from Delta flight 987 and can help identify the man seated next to her in 14C, please contact us via email at s_coopersfunwithflags at gmail dot com. Additionally, if anyone has any ideas on where to begin a search, we would be most grateful. Thank you and goodnight."

"And we're clear!" Amy announced as she pressed the 'off' button. "Sheldon, when did... How...?"

"I called your mom the day after we went to the library. I asked her for any information she had on her flight. Luckily she saved her ticket in a scrapbook, and it was still legible."

"And she was okay with you immortalizing her on that flag?"

"She was hesitant at first, but ultimately she wants to help. I know it's a long shot, but we have to try."

Amy scooted closer to him, resting her head on his chest. "Thank you, Sheldon. I don't know what I'd do without you."

He wrapped her in a tight hug, resting his head on hers. They remained in that position for several minutes before he broke the silence. "Shall we check the comments?"

She set the laptop on her knees, and together they regarded the screen. "We have two comments already!" She exclaimed.

'Great show tonight.'

'Can't wait for the next episode.'

"I suppose we need to give it more time. Would you like a cup of tea while we wait?"

"I would love some. Thanks, Sheldon."

As he busied himself in the kitchen, Amy couldn't help but refresh the screen every few seconds. Five minutes later, only one new comment appeared from a fan asking for information on becoming an association member. She stood and paced from the door to the island.

"You're going to wear a groove in the floor," he joked.

She joined him in the kitchen, where she began twirling a teabag from its string. "What if we never find him?"

"Let's not give up hope yet. Hang on," he said, as the kettle began to boil.

Amy dunked her teabag in the yellow mug, and he poured the boiling water over it. After allowing the bags to steep, they sipped their steaming beverages across the island from each other in companionable silence, each lost in their own thoughts. She set their empty mugs in the sink then checked the messages once more. There was still nothing regarding her father and nothing from Anna.

As a distraction, Sheldon turned on the TV to the one channel they could always agree on - Animal Planet. He stretched his long body along the length of the couch, his head in his spot, then patted the small sliver of space in front of him.

She raised her brows. "There's not enough room for both of us."

He scooched as far back as the couch would allow then patted the cushion again. As she lay alongside him, he pulled her tightly against his body to keep her from rolling off. She stared at the screen but couldn't concentrate, due in part to thoughts about finding her father and partly because of the sensual feel of Sheldon's warm breath on her neck.

As cheetahs chased the gazelles through the African savannah, his breathing slowed, and his arms loosened their grip on her. She gently extricated herself and draped a blanket over her fiancé's sleeping form. She made herself comfortable in the armchair with the laptop, refreshing the screen repeatedly, hoping for a miracle and finding nothing.

She watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest. He looked so peaceful that she debated whether or not to wake him. Consulting her watch, she noted it was only a few minutes after 9 p.m. She decided to let him sleep a bit longer. He deserved it, this selfless man who, even just a few months earlier, would have been too caught up in his own ordeal to even consider helping her or anyone else, for that matter. She wanted to return the favor.

She tiptoed into the bedroom, quietly shut the door, and dialed Trina.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the line croaked out.

"Hi, Trina. It's Amy. I hope I didn't wake you."

"You did. I have an early shift tomorrow."

"Sorry. I'll let you sleep."

"I'm up now. What's so important that you're calling at..." she consulted her alarm clock, "9:14?"

"I was wondering if you or your mother watched our show tonight."

"I didn't. I'm not sure about Mom. She's still pretty angry."

"Well, I really think you should when you have the time."

"I really should go..."

Amy shifted on the bed. "Wait! Please hear me out. Sheldon feels terrible, we both do. He dedicated the show in part to your mom. He apologized in a video that 100s of people could potentially see. That's huge for him. Please just promise you and your mom will watch the show."

"I can't speak for my mom, but I'll check it out after work tomorrow."

"Thanks, Trina."

xxx

Amy scrubbed her hands after handling the last mouse of the morning. She was finally making headway in her research. The mice no longer feared her when she approached their cages. The sound of a familiar triple knock caused her to jump and spill soapy water all over the front of her lab coat. "Come in!"

"Hello," Sheldon greeted her from the laboratory doorway.

She consulted the wall clock as she dabbed at her coat with the brown commercial-grade paper towels the university provided. "Eleven fifty-three; you're seven minutes early. Is everything okay?"

He stepped into the room. "I have some good news."

"Did Anna message us?" She asked as she removed her damp lab coat and dried her hands.

"She did."

"What did she say?"

"She appreciates my apology but said it will take her awhile to truly forgive me."

"At least it's a start. Did she ask you to take down the video again?"

"No. She's okay with the annotation. I don't know what I'd have done if she wasn't. She also promised she wouldn't have me banned from the association."

She wrapped her arms around him. "That's great news!"

"It is, but that's not the best part." He paused dramatically, slowly removing his laptop from his messenger bag.

She cleared a space on her desk, the anticipation building.

"You may want to sit down."

"O...okay..." Amy plunked down on her padded black swivel chair and turned the screen towards her. The Fun With Flags video from the previous night stared back at her.

"Check out the third one from the top."

He watched the multitude of emotions display on her face as she read through the comment, wishing he could decipher them. She placed a hand to her heart and looked up at him. "Sheldon, this could be the breakthrough we're looking for."

"I know."

She reread the comment and grabbed a notepad and pen to jot down the information.

A/N: Thank you all once again for the love you've shown this story. Though this is the final chapter, this is not the end of Shamy's story. Don't miss out on the upcoming sequel 'The Investigative Vacation'.