Teenage Cooper Catalyst

A/N Hi, I've written other fanfiction before but this is my first in the Big Bang Theory fandom. I just recently got OBSESSED with TBBT and I just couldn't get rid of this plot bunny so here it is. Thanks so much for reading. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own TBBT or any of its characters just my OC and the plotline.

Leonard's POV

"Hey Sheldon," I said tossing my keys in the bowl as I entered the apartment. I could see Sheldon, at his desk working on his laptop, turn to me as I entered the apartment.

"Hello Leonard, you need to move out," he said calmly as if he had said 'Hello Leonard we need milk' not 'Leonard Move Out".

"Wait, WHAT? Sheldon, what the hell are you talking about?" I said looking at him as if he had lost his mind.

"I said you have to move out. You really should listen better Leonard it's a fairly straightforward statement," he said before returning to his work.

I tried to think of anything I could have done in the last few days to make Sheldon come to this statement. Did I change the setting on the thermostat? No. Did I talk to him through the bathroom door? No. Did I buy generic ketchup? No. Did I pronounce the "t" in often, take a band aid off in front of him, make fun of trains? No. Did I whistle? Oh crap. But that can't be it. Sheldon was out on his date night with Amy, he couldn't possibly know, could he? And even if he did he's not THAT crazy to kick me out for that, well not anymore. "Hey, uh Sheldon?"

"Yes Leonard?" he said not looking up from his work.

"Why do I need to move?" I asked my lunatic roommate.

Finally Sheldon looked back up from his work giving me his typical look of haughty derision. "You know Leonard you sure ask a lot of questions."

"Well, why don't you try answering some of them, Sheldon?"

"Alright. Well, a week ago my mother called me…"

Flashback

"Oh hello mother, this is a surprise. Our pre-scheduled bi-monthly phone calls are supposed to be on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 3:15 in the afternoon and today is the first Tuesday of the month and it is 4:25 in the preevening."

"Shelly this is not the time for your schedule mumbo jumbo," Mary Cooper stated in her Texan accent, "I have an important matter to discuss with you."

"Alright," said Sheldon, "What would you like to discuss?"

"Well Shelly you know your brother has a slight drinking problem."

"Slight?" Sheldon snorted in derision, "That's like saying I have a slight interest in physics."

"Shelly," Mary said sternly to her son, "Anyways the reason I'm calling is because there has been an incident." Suddenly the other end of the line was quiet, Sheldon had no witty comeback. Despite what some may think Sheldon loved his brother just as much as he loved his mother, his sister, or his meemaw. "Shelly, are you there?" Mary asked breaking through the silence.

Quietly Sheldon finally spoke, "Is George alright?"

"Yes Georgie is just fine, thank The Lord, but due to his drinking problem and his recent reckless behavior the courts have deemed him unfit as a parent."

"Well what is going to happen to Melissa?" Sheldon asked thinking of his 16 year old niece who already lost her mother and is now about to lose her father as well.

"That is why I'm calling Shelly."

"You want me to take care of her?" Sheldon asked in disbelief, "What about you or Missy? I'm sure either of you would do a better job than I would."

"Shelly I wouldn't ask you if I didn't think I could handle it. Besides I don't have a job so I wouldn't have the financial capability to take care of her. Missy and her husband just moved into their house and they have a newborn they need to focus on. You have a good place to live, a financially stable job. I have no doubt you would do a wonderful job looking after your niece."

"Alright. When should I fly out there?"

End Flashback

I listened quietly as Sheldon discussed his conversation with his mother. With a million thoughts running through my head somehow the one that escapes my mouth is, "Wait, you have a niece?"

"Really Leonard," said Sheldon shaking his head in a disapproving manner, "after all I just said THAT'S your question."

"No, no you're right that was a dumb question. So, you're really going to take in your niece?"

"Yes, well if I don't she'll be put under the state's care and end up in some foster home. Besides despite many of you thinking I'm some emotionless robot I care about my family."

At that moment the door opened as Penny entered the apart. "Hey guys, what's going on?" She asked probably noticing that since we started talking Sheldon and I had moved to sit on the stools in the kitchen and Sheldon had made himself a cup of tea. Finally I spoke up and began to relay the whole tale to her. After I told her she was quiet for a moment before speaking, "Wow Sheldon, it's really great that you're taking in your niece."

"Thank you, Penny," Sheldon said before taking another sip of his tea.

"So, Leonard," Penny said turning to the shorter physicist, "Where are you going to go?"

"I don't really know. Maybe stay with Raj for a while until I can find my own place," I said.

"Or maybe…" Penny began slowly, "You could come live with me."

"Really?" I said shocked, "Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"Yes Leonard," she said speaking confidently now, "I am absolutely sure. Leonard Hofstader
I want you to move in with me."

"Ok I guess that settles it. Sheldon's niece can take my old room and I'll move in with you," I said smiling.

4 days later

Melissa's POV

My eyes scanned over the room I grew up in for 16 years one final time. For the past week and a half I've been staying at my Meemaw Mary's house but today Uncle Shelly was picking me up so yesterday we came back to finish packing my things. Knock Knock. "Come in," I said quietly.

"Hey darlin'," Aunt Missy said opening the door, "You almost ready to go? I'm drivin' you and Shelly to the airport in about ten minutes."

"Yeah, I guess," I sighed, sitting on my bed for the last time. Aunt Missy walked over from the door and sat next to me placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Sweetie, you wanna talk about what you're feeling?" she asked gently.

"Not really. I guess I'm just gonna miss being here. I mean I'll be halfway across the country, starting at a new school. I'll have to make new friends. It'll be like I'm living an entirely different life from the one I've been living for the past 16 years."

Aunt Missy laughed gently. "Sweet pea you're going to live with your Uncle Shelly in California, you're not being put in the witness protection program and given a new identity. You'll still be you just in California instead of Texas. And don't worry about school, you're brilliant, smart as you're Uncle Shelly and you will have great new friends in no time. Now come on time to go."

"Ok," I said smiling now, "I'll be down in a minute." Aunt Missy just patted my shoulder and quietly closed the door. I took one final look at my room. The walls, closet, and drawers were now bare. Most of my stuff was in the suitcases I was taking on the plane but there was one box of things we couldn't fit in the suitcases that they were going to send me once I was in California. Despite the bare walls with my eidetic memory I could picture perfectly where everything once was. I could see my white desk, purple chair, and my pink laptop. I could see the balloon wallpaper I had until the sixth grade when Dad finally took it off and repainted my walls light pink instead of having each wall a different color. I could still see the small holes I used to have in the wall next to my bed where Dad failed miserably to put up a shelf. I could see my collection of stuffed animals I had in my closet with my favorite, a little light brown dog named Fluffy Face who I've had since I could remember, in front of the others. And finally I could see my mother tucking me in when I was five, Fluffy Face in my arms, telling me to sleep tight and not let the bed bugs bite. By now I was at the door glancing back a final time before closing it and walking downstairs where Aunt Missy and Uncle Shelly were waiting at the door talking to Meemaw Mary.

As soon as I walked down the last step Meemaw pulled me into a bear hug, "Oh Melissa, sweet pea I am gonna miss you so much." Then she turned toward Uncle Shelly and also pulled him into a hug as he awkwardly hugged back, "And you Shellybean take good care of your niece."

"Of course Mom," Uncle Sheldon said in his usual, somewhat robotic tone.

The ride to the airport was anything but quiet. Uncle Shelly was going on and on about some ridiculous science fiction movie he's seen probably a thousand times while I tried to drown him out with my thoughts, the hundreds that were floating around my head right now. Finally after the fifteen minute drive that in my mind felt hours long, we arrived at the airport. Uncle Shelly got out and grabbed my bags from the trunk while Aunt Missy got out giving me one last hug. As she did she whispered in my ear, "Melissa, darlin', you will be just fine. I'm sure your Uncle Shelly will take great care of you and you'll make plenty of friends at your new school. Just don't forget to call me and your Meemaw ok? We're going to miss you so much." Then she went over to Uncle Shelly and gave him a hug too while he again awkwardly hugged back and she whispered something into his ear as well before pulling away and getting back in her car.

Uncle Shelly and I quickly made our way through check in and security and before long we were on the plane. The flight was uneventful and gave me another three hours to mull over my thoughts. Next to me Uncle Shelly was reading some physics magazine until he finished it then pulled out some comic books to read.

Finally our plane landed right on time. As we made our way to baggage claim, Uncle Shelly was telling me about his friends Leonard and Penny who were picking us up. Apparently Leonard also worked at Caltech and was an experimental physicist and Penny, Leonard's girlfriend, was an aspiring actress/waitress. Uncle Shelly explained how Leonard used to be his roommate but now he lives across the hall in Penny's apartment.

Once we got my suitcases from baggage claim we walked outside and I followed Uncle Shelly to a car with a blond woman in the driver's seat and a nerdy looking guy with glasses, a hoodie, and a periodic table t-shirt sitting in the passenger's seat. As soon as they saw us they got out of the car and started walking toward us. The blonde was the first to speak. As soon as they approached she said "Hey Sheldon welcome back," then turned to me and said, "Hi you must be Sheldon's niece Melissa. It's so nice to meet you, I'm Penny and this is Leonard," she pointed to the guy in the hoodie.

"Hi nice to meet you," Leonard said holding out his hand which I shook.

"Hi it's very nice to meet y'all," I said politely in my Texas twang, "Uncle Shelly has told me a lot about y'all."

"Well," Leonard said, "Let me grab your bags," as he placed them into the trunk and we all piled into the car.

As I got into the car in the seat behind Penny, I noticed a little light on the dashboard. "Um, Penny? Do you know your check engine light is on?" I asked.

"Oh yeah," she said casually, "That light has been on for like eight years."

"Wouldn't that be even more reason to, you know, check your engine?" I asked now somewhat nervous.

From the front seat Uncle Shelly turned to me, "Don't bother Melissa, I've been fighting that battle since the first time Penny ever drove me anywhere. It's a lost cause."

For the rest of the car ride Penny, Leonard, and Uncle Shelly were all chatting, well mostly Uncle Shelly and Leonard talking about random topics ranging from String Theory to why the fourth Indiana Jones movie was the worst of the franchise with Penny interjecting her thoughts every once and a while. I could tell Penny didn't really know much about the science stuff but Leonard and Uncle Shelly had in the seven years they've known her introduced her to some of the geeky science fiction, although she obviously wasn't as passionate about it as they were. Eventually we turned into the parking lot of an apartment complex.

Leonard and Uncle Shelly grabbed the bags from the trunk and we entered into the lobby. There was a staircase and an elevator with yellow tape and an 'out of order' sign on it. "What happened to the elevator? What's with the yellow tape?" I asked.

"Oh that," Penny turned to me as Leonard and Uncle Shelly had already disappeared up the stairs, "It's a long story that involves Leonard and rocket fuel. I'll tell you another time, let's get you settled into you're new room first," she replied before also disappearing up the stairs.

I stood there for another moment before following behind her. Well, I thought to myself, here begins a new chapter of my life and looks like this chapter will include a lot of walking up and down stairs. I better have some kickass calves by the time I go to college in two and a half years doing this much walking.

Thanks so much for reading, I should have another chapter up soon. And a big thanks to my beta inwhatuniverse without her this story probably wouldn't be half as good. Please review I would love to hear what you guys think.

~SSGIRL