Welcome to a short circuited fanfic. This story has been rolling in my head for a while, maybe I can shape it in something good. I don't know how long it would be, but I hope you enjoy it enough to keep me going, also I'm no scientist, so nothing related to science here is accurate, I'm guilty of Shenny shipping, just so you know where this is heading to. To those coming from a previous story, welcome back, you have an idea of what to expect, remember the teaser I made a while ago?
Please read and review, I would love to hear any suggestions, critics or ideas you can give me to improve and make this fun. You know what the usual disclaimer is, we're in a fanpage after all, so I'm just adding a new bit to the fandom that is not mine in any way, only the crazy adventures I made up for them XD. Updates about this story will be a bit longer, because I still have to finish the previous one ("Not a secret anymore") and I would like to finish it before diving in this one, I've been already working on the second chapter so no worries, just be patient.
Now, I'll leave you to this crazy idea, depending on what you think (as it was the earlier case) it could be a long story, or else I can make it short (but I'm not really good at making short stories)… I will gladly take any comment and tomatoes you want to throw at me, though I'm not really fond of salads (lie), just be honest I like constructive critic, I learn from it.
1. - Electric wave.
It had been a rainy season, but the weather in California was always warm, so the cloudy sky was just a promise of another stormy night. Inside the apartment 4A, home of a pair of very particular scientists, the usual gang was sharing dinner.
The TV was on, but no one was really paying attention as Amy and Bernadette were explaining to the group and experiment they had developed and wanted to get their friends to agree and take part of it.
"Its already being tested in animals, the drugs that Bernie brought were completely useful, and the brain scans that I preformed prove it harmless.
"It would bring us closer as friends, on a very different level, there'll be not only our friendship and common likes, and it will make us understand a little why we like specific things by connecting our minds for just a few minutes.
The group shared concerned glares, not because it was a completely unsupervised experiment, and the only people that knew how it worked and were involved in it were Amy and Bernadette, and they were also willing to be part of the same experiment, also no body wanted to share their minds freely anyway, and there was certain theoretical physicist with a very singular mind there.
The girls had showed them the results of their experiments on a computer; let them know how it had worked with the monkeys that Amy had got to practice the whole thing, and how the effects of what they were actually proposing to do have just lasted a few minutes. The original intent of said experiment was to help a pair of monkeys of different species to get along, even when their species where known for their lack of sociability with each other. The results were great, as they had managed to create a friendship bond between the animals with the mind sharing experiment. The idea that with a group of people that were already friends, the bonds between them would get stronger after the experiment, had make them wonder what it would make to their group.
But the gang was not sure that was a great idea. And the fact that their two friends had already set a scanner and had a group of pills for each one, was not really helping, it was difficult to find something to say after all the material the girls had showed them. The surprise was that not even Sheldon was making any comments, maybe because he was the only one paying some attention to the show on the TV, although he was frowning as if considering his answer.
"Look Ames, Bernie" said Penny glaring at the pills on the coffee table. "I don't think we need to do this, we've been friends for many years, our friendship is very strong already without doing any of this." Leonard, Raj and Howard relaxed after Penny's words. Leonard was going to say something else to settle the argument when Bernadette spoke.
"We know that" said Bernadette moving to sit next to Howard "it might not even have any visible effect on us, but in the long run, it could help us understand… most of Sheldon's quirks, maybe."
The aforementioned looked at her, and then at their friends.
"Why are we still discussing this? We all know it's not a good idea, and none of us is going to do it, could you please drop it and change the topic of conversation? This movie is not good and I need you to vote so we can see something else."
Amy and Bernadette exchanged a sad look; Amy was about to say something to her boyfriend, but not wanting to had his wife in that mood for the rest of the night Howard said.
"How about this? We choose a movie, and while watching it we let them do the experiment, maybe that way we won't even notice what they're doing, they are only checking brain waves, if as they say there will be no visible effect on us, it'll be over before anyone can complain about it." That made Bernadette brighten a little and Amy smiled gladly at him.
"That could actually work." Said Leonard this time, then he looked at Sheldon. His friend was still frowning, but then turned around to see his friends.
"Fine. But I want to be the last one to partake in this so called experiment. Also know that if this experiment distracts me from the movie, you'll get a strike." He said this time aiming his eyes to the proposing scientists. "Now, what movie should we see? I choose Tron."
That led to a debate between the guys, while Amy and Bernadette set to work, sticking electrodes to Raj and Howard and handing them a pill to start their experiment with them.
Later in the night, while the characters of the movie were talking about programs and users (of course they sere watching Tron), the girls had already made a big part of their experiment, and were now putting the last electrodes to Sheldon, and thunder roared outside and a heavy storm started.
Penny was also the last on the line while proving the experiment, something that she already had cataloged as boring, because it had been more talking that actual … something; nothing interesting had happened while they connected her mind to the others in the room, though with Leonard she had felt something weird, and she had opted to think that was because they had been a couple for a while.
Amy was starting her scanner when it happened, a lightning hit the building and the lights went off. For a moment every one in the room looked outside the window, the lights came back a few seconds later.
The moment the light came back the scanner made a weird noise and Penny and Sheldon blanked out with the sudden electric charge striking them. The group moved fast then and started taking off the electrodes from their friends and turning the scanner off. Leonard, Howard and Raj tried to wake their friends, making them react a few moments later.
With a hand to his head Sheldon tried to stand up, everyone was looking at them. Sheldon gave up and sat again at the insistent pain in his head. Penny might have felt as him because suddenly she was asking for silence.
"What the hell just happened?" She asked looking at her friends.
Amy and Bernadette were pale and had tears in their eyes.
"It was the black out…, the power…, I'm sorry Penny, Sheldon, we…" Amy started to cry.
"It was an accident girls." Said Howard trying to calm the group. "It's not your fault. And look at them, they're fine, it could have been any of us."
Every one nodded. But then Sheldon spoke.
"Accident or not, this is unacceptable, Amy and Bernadette you are banished from this apartment for the following week, you could have damage my brain, and I don't need to remind you, mine is one of the greatest of our generation."
"But Sheldon…"
"Please be quiet" said Penny holding her head in her hands. ", I have a terrible headache; just… just go with it, it will help us calm down. I'm sure Sheldon will be in a better mood by that time, and you'll be spared to deal with him. Look at the bright side."
Sheldon was also holding his head, and didn't say a thing to that comment.
"She's right" said Leonard. "; don't feel offended, you know Sheldon." Howard, Amy and Bernadette nod and then make to leave. Taking the still smoking scanner with them
Raj, helped them, leaving Penny, Sheldon and Leonard at the apartment. Leonard went to the first aid kit and gave his friend and girlfriend an aspirin. Sheldon then excused himself and went to his room.
"Come on Penny, I'll go with you to your apartment to see that you're doing fine."
"Thanks Leonard." Said Penny standing up and letting him help her. It didn't take long, once in her apartment, for her to fall asleep.
Ooooo
It was early in the morning when Penny got up, it was unusual in her to be up at this hour, but she wasn't feeling sleepy anymore, so she went to take a quick shower. Once she was already dressed and was about to make some breakfast she heard a knock on the door.
"Coming!" She said and left her glass of milk on her table. She opened the door to find a very worried looking Amy.
"Oh, thank god Penny! I wouldn't know what to do if you hadn't answered the door again."
"Why…? When haven't I answered the door lately?" Said Penny moving so Amy could enter the apartment.
"Sorry, I might need to explain some things first bestie."
"I hope it doesn't take long, I woke up early and I'm trying to take advantage from that to get early to work."
"Penny," Said Amy, her expression going serious, "you are excused from work today."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are. Penny have you checked anything else apart from the clock today?"
"Not yet." Penny looked suspiciously at Amy; her friend was looking at her as if expecting her to explode or something. "Look, if you are worried about what happened yesterday, you shouldn't. I'm feeling fine. There's nothing to be worried about. If anything Sheldon is still going to be angry."
"Penny, listen to me. You were asleep the whole weekend, that's why I called your job and said you were indisposed."
"What are you talking about? It's Saturday Ames."
"Penny, believe me, it's Monday. You spent the whole weekend asleep, it was impossible for me or Bernadette to wake you up."
"Wow" said Penny trying to understand what had happened, just to make sure Amy was right she checked her phone, there were several missing calls, and text messages, for Amy, Bernadette and Leonard "I never thought I would be able to break my own record, once I slept for 22 hours, but this is amazing. Still nothing to worry about, and by the way, thanks for calling my boss."
"My pleasure. But, Penny, the thing is that you weren't the only one sleeping through the weekend. Leonard was the one to call us, he said that he was really worried about you, that you were not answering the door, then he said something about waiting a while because it was still before eleven, whatever that means, but he also said that Sheldon was sleeping as well, he didn't sounded worried because of that, but he did said that it was unusual for him to sleep that long. We don't know why this happened, or if it has any other effect, I'm quite relieved that you were just sleeping and not…That's what worried me in the first place, I'm really terribly sorry about what happened I don't like being banished."
"Don't worry Amy; this week is going to end faster than you think, look how easily I skipped two days. But speaking about those two, have you checked on them already?"
"No, I came here first, Leonard said that he didn't want to invade your privacy by entering here in the morning in case he scared you, so he asked me to come and check on you today, but he also said he was going to call me if there was any change." As if on cue Amy's phone started ringing. "It's him." She said standing up and answering. "Leonard? Yes, she is… Really, have you explained what happened? ... Right, could you please ask if I can…?
No… but…! … Ok, thanks Leonard." Amy turned to look at Penny. "Sheldon woke up. I still can't go into the apartment though." Amy looked really hurt by that. "So, I guess I'll get going, usually you were asleep so I didn't ask for any permission at work, I'll call Bernie maybe she'll come later to see you. Do me a favor and speak with Sheldon, please."
"Don't worry Ames, and thanks for coming, I'll call you and tell you how he is doing later as well" Amy smiled and then went to the door; she wiped her eyes and then said good bye.
Penny stared at the door across the hall, a weird feeling invading her, before walking decided towards it.
In the apartment next door things for Sheldon were almost the same. He woke up, made his morning vocalizations, and then walked towards the bathroom to take his morning shower, after getting dressed and ready for another Saturday morning watching Doctor Who, he walked into the kitchen and started preparing his breakfast, he heard someone knocking on Penny's door and felt pity for the poor soul that dared awake her before eleven.
He walked towards the coach and sat in his spot, a feeling of concern settling inside him, but he wasn't aware of anything to be worried about, so he turned on the TV, and waited for the show on the TV to end when Leonard rushed to the living room tying his robe.
"Sheldon! You're awake!" He said looking at his roommate with a big smile.
"Of course I am; when have you know me as a sleepwalker Leonard? Now hush, this show is taking precious time from Doctor Who, I should call the BBC broadcaster to fix that." Leonard sighed in frustration.
"There's nothing wrong with the BBC channel Sheldon. Listen, I have something to tell you, and I have the feeling that you are not going to believe me."
"That's still yet to be seen. Tell me."
"There's nothing wrong with the BBC schedule because they don't air Doctor Who on Mondays." Said Leonard tentatively, hopping that his genius roommate would catch the idea.
Sheldon's look was of deep thought, and then he smiled widely at him. "Oh, I see! Aren't you missing the 'Bazinga' there? This must be a joke, today it's Saturday Leonard. I thought you were well past learning the days of the week."
"No, Sheldon," he said taking his mobile phone out of his gown and handing it to Sheldon "today is Monday; you've been asleep since Friday night."
Sheldon took Leonard's phone and checked the date; he then looked for his mobile phone and checked again. He looked quite surprised because of it. "This can't be possible. I've never slept this long before. Dear Lord! I have to go and get dressed for work, and I missed laundry night. Leonard! Why did you allow this to happen?"
"Believe me Sheldon. I did try to wake you up. I even talked to Howard and Raj into trying. None of us was successful. But, there's also Penny. She slept all weekend as well."
"Yes, but that's understandable, that woman likes to sleep until eleven in the morning, it's not really a big surprise to know that she slept all weekend. But this had never happened to me before."
"I'll call Amy. She was worried sick with this, ever since what happened on Friday. She might be at Penny's right now…"
"It was their stupid experiment Leonard. Amy and Bernadette's, the electric wave must have changed something in my brain and that's what caused me to sleep that long, at least it had no further effects, because I feel perfectly fine otherwise."
"Hello Amy? Are you with Penny? Is she awake? ... Sheldon awoke too… Yes I've told him what happened already... come to the apartment? ..." Sheldon shook his head in denial to Amy's request. "Sheldon says you can't. Listen Amy, I'll talk to him and I will keep in touch so you're updated, okay? Bye."
Sheldon stood up and walked towards his bedroom. "Sheldon where are you going?"
"To my room. I cannot go to work with my Saturday's clothes."
"No, Sheldon, sorry, I didn't knew when you were going to wake up, so I called the school and told them that you were not going today."
"What did they say?" Leonard lifted and eyebrow and followed him with his gaze.
"Quoting 'Ok, he can have the whole week free instead, he's been delaying his vacations again. Please tell him'." Sheldon was about to answer to that when he noticed he was already walking towards the door, he grabbed the door knob in the exact moment when a knock came from the other side.
Leonard and Sheldon shared a weird glance; Sheldon opened the door to reveal Penny.
"That was weird" said Leonard, both Sheldon and Penny nodded. Penny entered the apartment and stood next to Sheldon. "Look," said Leonard "I have to get ready for work, none of use were aware of when you two were going to wake up, anyway, you know you can call us if you need us, but I think you should visit a doctor. I hope you don't have any trouble in taking him Penny."
"No, it's fine actually." The awkwardness of the moment was palpable, even though there was nothing weird about the scene. "I'll take him, go to work and we'll call you if we need anything."
"Right" said Leonard, looking at them as if afraid of what would happen if he leaved them alone. He walked backwards towards his room, almost tripping with the step, before turning around and leaving.
Sheldon and Penny looked at each other, an almost static tension forming between them.
"Breakfast…" they said at the same time. Penny covered her mouth.
"I was going to have breakfast. Have you already eaten Penny?" said Sheldon feeling the urge to cover his mouth as well. Penny shook her head, her hands firmly on her mouth but Sheldon poured another glass anyway.
Sheldon moved robotically to the kitchen looking for the orange juice he was going to take with his now 'not perfect' cereal near the couch; he was fully aware that Penny was a few steps behind him, something very weird was going on, and Penny could feel it too. They tried to act uncomfortable until Leonard left, both drinking from their glass of juice the moment he walked out and placing it over the table before facing each other again.
"We should arrange and appointment with the doctor for later" again they said that in unison. "But I doubt any doctor would be able to understand what's going on." Both nodded at their sudden coordinated ideas. Penny lifted her right hand and Sheldon did that as well. Sheldon then showed his tongue in a mock attempt, only to be mirrored by Penny. "This shouldn't be possible."
So… any thoughts about it? Please let me know, hopefully you won't have to buy tomatoes for the first chapter… (Discretely covers a window through where a man selling vegetables can be seen) =D
