Penny was not having a good day.
She woke up at six (which was weird) and couldn't go back to sleep (definitely weird), the coffee maker was broken since last night, and when she tried to make a cup of strong coffee manually, she accidentally spilled more than a teaspoon on the floor, and spent a good five minutes wiping up the black powder. And she was due for a night shift later. Her hair was a mess, and so was her living room.
The mess they made from an impromptu Girl's Night on her living room normally didn't bother her, but right now it did. Looking around, Penny exhaled and pondered how to fix it, eventually deciding on just throwing everything away. And just as she had picked up the first item-a paper plate with remains of cheesecake-someone knocked.
Knock, knock, knock…
"Penny."
Knock, knock, knock…
"Penny."
Knock, knock, knock…
"Penny."
The said girl groaned as she went to the door.
'It's too early to deal with Whackadoodle!' she thought. 'What the hell could he want?'
"What, Sheldon?" She snapped as she opened the door, aiming her best glare at the tall physicist. He blinked at her once, clearly taken aback.
"Good morning to you too, Penny. Am I to assume from the state of your hair that you have yet to get ready?"
"Huh?!" Penny mentally went through her mind, searching for anything to get ready for, but came up blank. "What for?"
"You didn't know?" He shook his head and let out a small 'tsk'. "I assumed you received my email last night, and expected you to be ready when I come. Unfortunately, my expectations were in vain. As usual." He shook his head again and stepped inside the apartment. "And Leonard didn't tell you?"
He stared at the mess for a moment before turning back to her as she closed the door. "Penny, do you know how many germs manifest inside those leftovers? They're enough to give you-"
"I'm gonna clean that later, Sheldon. Now tell me, what email, what's happening?"
"-and used clothes left out of the hamper within range of leftovers can house all types of bacteria, not to mention the smell is very hard to remove-"
"Sheldon…" She was rapidly losing patience.
"-and really, Penny, I thought Leonard would've told you a little bit about cleaning, you can always see the condition of my apartment-"
"Sheldon, will you just shut up and tell me what the email is about and what the hell's going on?"
Penny felt a rush of satisfaction seeing Sheldon back away from her a bit, but suppressed a smirk. She absently noted that he was dressed up nicely, as if preparing to meet someone, not for a workday.
"As Leonard worked late yesterday and refused to get up from bed today, I wanted you to give me a ride."
Her jaw dropped.
Sheldon's eyebrow twitched.
"And as I will be late for work if we dawdle around in your unkempt apartment, I am willing to give you five minutes to prepare yourself. I will wait outside." He gave a stiff nod and went out the door. Penny groaned.
It was not a good day.
0-0-0-0-0-0
She pulled up in front of the entrance to Caltech, inwardly yelling with joy. Travelling with Sheldon was always a bother, and she had yet to fix her apartment. As predicted, her ear was properly talked off. Sheldon gave her a tight-lipped nod.
"Thank you, Penny. And I hope you take my advice regarding your car and proper management."
She wasn't really listening during his lecture, but she nodded. "Just get out, Sheldon."
As he got out, Penny briefly considered going to a bar, but decided against it on the grounds of being too early. And she still has some wine after Girl's Night.
Speaking of which, Amy worked here now, right?
'Oh screw it.' She thought as she parked the car. Her bestie could use an impromptu visit, working so hard in the last few days. Penny didn't even try to ask about that; she wouldn't really understand, and that's Bernadette's job, really. But there were subtle signs of exhaustion, and they all knew it.
It was after she had taken a few steps past the front desk that she realized that she didn't know where Amy's lab. Huffing in frustration, she went back to the front desk and called the blond girl over.
Penny blinked.
"Bernadette?"
"…Penny?"
"Whoa…what are you doing here? Are you a receptionist now?"
Bernadette looked less than amused. "A colleague asked me to take care of this while he asked out the girl. I owe him a debt, so…" She shrugged. "What are you doing here?"
"Sheldon asked me drive him, and I thought I'd visit Amy. Where's her lab by the way?"
Bernadette pointed to a hallway. "Down the hall, in the Biology department. Turn right and it's the first door on the left." When she turned back, a small smile curled at her lips and looked at someone behind Penny.
"Hey Leonard."
Penny turned on her heel. "Leonard? I thought you weren't going to work today!" He chuckled in response.
"Oh that. Actually, I was just going to pass this report to Gablehauser then I'm going home for the day. I'm not handing these to Sheldon." He lightly waved a sheaf of papers around. "Lemme guess, you're the one who took him."
"Isn't it obvious?" They both laughed for a moment before Leonard finally noticed Bernadette, who was talking to another visitor.
"Why-"
"Favor from a colleague. And actually, I'm here to visit Amy."
"Ah. You want me to go with you? Gablehauser's office is on the way."
"Sure, thanks." Penny took his face into her hands and kissed him lightly. They both smiled at each other as they walked away.
0-0-0-0-0-0
Five hours later, the whole group met at the school cafeteria. Howard and Raj were understandably surprised at the presence of Penny and Bernadette. They ate together, with Sheldon amping up his usual tirade as Kripke drew near.
The boys were arguing again, and really, the only thing difference of Thai night and this was the location and the Shamy's attitude when it comes to Kripke. The boys were snickering, and Penny made a mental note to ask Amy about that.
It struck her that this was the first time that they had all eaten inside the cafeteria of Caltech, as Amy and Bernadette both worked at UCLA and she was just an actress. And former waitress. She chuckled at that last thought.
Leonard brushed the pad of his index finger across her knuckles. "Something funny?"
"Not really. This is the first time we've all eaten here together, right?"
"Yes." He brushed it again with a firmer caress. A weird tingling sensation started where he touched, and Penny looked down at her hand, inches away from Leonard's. In the lighting of the cafeteria, she wasn't really sure, but she swore the skin on her hand just warped a bit. She flexed it and stared again, but nothing seemed to have happened.
"Amy?" Sheldon's voice sounded odd.
Penny looked up. He was staring at her girlfriend with an unreadable expression, and while not unusual, it was tinged with something else she could identify as a mixture of suspicion and concern.
"Sheldon? Is there something wrong?" Amy frowned.
The conversation at the other end of the table slowly died as they too, noticed Sheldon's tone. Penny stared at Amy…
And suddenly, for a brief moment, she was falling, falling, and there was no time to scream as her butt hit metal and she yelled out in shock and pain, barely registering the other reactions of her friends. The pale gray walls were replaced by well lit steel walls, and her eyes blinked at the sudden change in scenery.
Despite the pain in her butt, Penny tried to stand. As she gripped the nearest metal rod for support, she found that her senses were a bit skewered, with her vision sometimes blurring and her friend's groans echoing in her ears like they were in a cave or something. It took a moment to clear, but she finally stood up straight. Her friends were up as well, although Sheldon was looking around with wide eyes. As if on cue, his friends followed suit.
Penny could not stop her mouth from hanging open. Really, the room was huge. It was steel covered, every inch of the walls. They were in the middle of a glowing blue circle on the ground, though the light was fading away fast. There was something above her, something like a machine, but Penny's head hurt already.
Where are they?
"Hello?" Howard called out. The sound just echoed along to the end, where a single door stood. Penny did not have to be an engineer to know that the door was also made of solid metal. Hundreds of tubes snaked in and out of the floor, but most of them led to the edge of the no-longer glowing blue circle.
Penny followed one of the thicker tubes to a side of the wall where a glass pane was. She saw one of those before; a mirror which you can see the other side but for that other side, the glass will act as a mirror. A one-way mirror.
Someone was watching them. She could feel it. By the way that Leonard, Amy, Bernadette, and Raj stared at the glass pane, she figured they knew too. Sheldon and Howard, however, were having the time of their lives.
"The design of this is amazing!" Howard gushed, checking out the tubes at the edge of the circle. Sheldon looked around, running around like an excited four-year-old, looking at random stuff. Penny could almost see the gears in his head turning.
"Who are you?"
Everyone jumped. The voice was from the large speakers at the walls, and Penny gaped.
"Shouldn't we be the ones asking that? Aren't you the ones who kidnapped us?" Amy asked aloud as Howard and Sheldon went back from their sightseeing, clearly nervous.
There was a long silence.
And the door at the other end of the room opened.
Penny expected to see a large group of men to knock them out and take them away, or something equally dramatic, but she was not expecting to see a tall, lanky, Amy-lookalike holding out a long metal rod like a baseball player. She closed the door with a loud bang.
As she crossed the room slowly, Penny noted her black hair, tied back in a neat ponytail, and her plain sky blue shirt paired with tattered jeans. Her features got clearer as she moved closer, and Penny realized she only looked like Amy from afar. Her green eyes shifted warily from one person to another, reminding her of another particular person.
And judging by Amy's sharp gasp, she knew exactly who.
The girl stopped just a little before the circle, and lowered her metal rod slowly, as if unsure of what to do.
"Again, I ask. Who are you?"
0-0-0-0-0-0
"I hate you."
She looked amused. "You don't mean that."
"Oh yes I do."
"Really?"
"…Hmm?" Another voice filtered out of the kitchen.
"I did tell you that Amy's gonna whack Leonard. And with a throw pillow too! Now pay up." The brunette grinned.
The blonde huffed and reached inside her pants pocket, pulling out her pink Hello Kitty wallet. In the doorway to the kitchen, another brunette watched, eating a blueberry pie.
"I thought you learned your lesson on betting against my sister?"
"Clearly not." Said sister chuckled lightly and accepted the bills, folding them and putting in her jacket's pocket. She was puzzled, however, when her hand felt cold air inside the pocket. Her gaze shifted from the pouting face of her best friend to her jacket, and let out a shocked gasp.
"Uh, Az?"
A/N: Heeey. Newbie here. (Or not.) Is it good? Bad? Are there any inconsistencies apart from their OOC-ness, if any? Let me know. Chapter 2 in the works.