The Flash Shirt Acquisition

"Good evening, Amy. Right on time, as always," Sheldon said as he answered the door of apartment 4A, bag over his shoulder and prepared to go.

"Good evening, Sheldon," Amy replied with a smile. "Happy Date Night."

"And a Happy Date Night to you, too. Shall we be on our way?" he asked, and they set off down the stairs together.

"Our Date Night plans haven't changed since the last time we discussed them, correct?" asked Amy.

"Actually, they have slightly. Before we go to the Cheesecake Factory, I would just like to request that we make a stop at a clothing store," Sheldon said.

"Why?" she asked. As long as she had known Sheldon, he had only gone shopping for new clothes once, and that was when his mother insisted he get fitted for a suit that wasn't plaid.

"One of my Flash shirts has developed a hole in the sleeve. I've had that one for a very long time, so it's understandable. It comes up tomorrow in the shirt rotation. Leonard said I should just wear the shirt with the hole and deal with it, but I don't want to cause myself to get any strange diseases or get caught on a tree branch due to the hole."

"Sure," said Amy. "Is there a particular store that sells the shirts you like?"

"There was a store in Texas that I'd bought my shirts at since I started college, but unfortunately they closed down about two years ago, so we won't be going there. Since I moved to California I've been making do with Target."

Amy nodded. "Target it is then."

They walked down the rest of the stairs of 2311 Los Robles silently. Amy figured that he knew his size well enough now to just pick up shirts off the rack, but she secretly wished he would do a little fashion show in the fitting room.

The closest Target was luckily only about four blocks away from Sheldon and Leonard's apartment. Amy knew Sheldon really liked this Target, too, because it was a two-story establishment with giant elevators.

"Even though Targets on the whole are not very clean establishments, this one makes up for it with the huge elevators. The men's department is on the first floor, but I might just have to ride in the elevator anyway," Sheldon said as they walked inside.

Amy smiled as he ran happily towards the men's t-shirts. She stopped for a moment to browse through some scarves on the end cap, then joined Sheldon as he studiously searched for a new shirt.

"They don't have any Flash ones here," he sulked. "I guess I'll have to get an Iron Man shirt." He held up a black one, looking at it meticulously to find any errors. "It would be nice if it were brown, like the other one, but black will do. I think I'm gonna get this one."

"Okay, then. There isn't anything I need from here, is there anything else you'd like to purchase?" Amy asked him.

Sheldon shook his head. "Let's go ride in the elevator!"

After a quick ride in the giant elevator and an even quicker checkout, they were on their way to the Cheesecake Factory.

"What are you going to do with the other shirt?" asked Amy.

"I don't know yet. Usually I send them back to Texas because my mother was making a quilt out of them, but she finished the quilt with the last shirt I sent her."

"I'd be willing to take it off your hands," Amy said, trying to seem nonchalant.

Sheldon looked at her confusedly. "What on earth would you do with a men's sized medium Flash shirt?"

"I'm sure I'll come up with something," she replied. The possibilities were overwhelming her.

"All right, then. I'll give it to you when we get back from dinner. I suppose you could save it and sell it on Ebay once I win my Nobel Prize."

Amy shook her head. "I'm going to give that shirt a nice, new home in my apartment."

Hopefully someday the rest of his shirts would follow it.


A/N: The Target in Pasadena is one of my favorite Targets. I can't help but put it in TBBT stories as often as possible. And the shirt with the hole is indeed the shirt Sheldon's wearing in the pilot, I haven't seen that one since the 100th episode in Season 5. Hope you enjoyed the story!