Timeline:

The Big Bang Theory- Before Season 5 Episode 21, The Hawking Excitation

Artemis Fowl- Just before the events of book 1

Pasadena, California

"Another science convention invitation! When will they ever stop sending me these things?" bemoaned Sheldon in exasperation as he sifted through his stack of mail. Leonard looked up from his own mail. "What's wrong with them? I personally find them quite interesting." Leonard paused, then realised the implications of what he had just said a moment too late.

"Interesting? Well maybe they'd be interesting to people like you, whose sit around all day repeating other people's experiments! For actual scientists like myself, the only pleasure that I can derive from these conventions is that gained from posing seemingly perfectly legitimate and suitable questions to the speakers, thereby leading them into a trap and BAM!, ruining their entire presentation, dignity and reputation with a single punch line. And since I've been doing that in every single convention that I've been invited to- which is to say, innumerable ones-, even that has lost its fun. If anything, the only way that I could possibly derive any joy from attending such an activity would be if I were actually a speaker, in which case I'd have plenty of fun mocking my audience who would have realised just how pathetic their own level of scientific knowledge is, and since I cannot speak in front of groups consisting of more than 36 adults, of which there would definitely be many more given the identity of the speaker, that's ruled out as well. Hence there is absolutely no way that I could derive any pleasure from attending-"

At that point in time, Leonard was ready to do just about anything to get Sheldon to shut up, but then he caught sight of what was in slightly smaller font on the front cover of the invitation pamphlet in Sheldon's hand, which the latter had obviously missed.

"Excluding Stephen Hawking?"

Sheldon paused.

"Well, that, I would say, is an exception, or rather the exception," he backtracked, heading towards the rubbish bin to junk the unwanted piece of paper in his hand. "But that is of course irrelevant in this cause, because the man in question is-" Sheldon cast one last look at the pamphlet, then froze.

"-is going to be speaking at the conference?"

Five minutes later, Sheldon had still not gotten over the shock of the magnitude of the news he had just received. "A lecture, a question-and-answer session from a panel of experts, and a personal autograph meet-and-greet session, all with Stephen Hawking, my only ever intellectual equal in the history of mankind!" he gushed.

Leonard would have responded with his usual look of combined skepticism and annoyedness, if only he hadn't been too upset to do so. "Why did I not get an invitation?" Before he could continue, Sheldon broke out of his extreme excitement to deliver another lecture.

"Leonard, we've been through this before. Like me, Stephen Hawking is a theoretical physicist who does actual, useful research on the very origins and fabric of the universe, as opposed to silly experiments of which the results are all too clear before you've even started. Also, I've proven myself, on many occasions, to be significantly smarter than you to the point where you don't even get what I'm trying to tell you despite my best efforts to dumb it down to your level; so given that Stephen Hawking is as intellectually advanced as me, I really don't see how you could benefit from attending one of his lectures."

This time, the look did come from Leonard. "Oh, for god's sake, Sheldon. I can only say that, for your sake, I'm thankful you wouldn't do that to Stephen Hawking."

Ignoring Leonard, Sheldon sat down on the couch, for once neglecting to sit in his usual spot amidst his flustered state. Noticing it, Leonard's eyes widened. He opened his mouth to point that out to Sheldon, then decided instead that he would take Sheldon's spot on the couch. He walked over, trying to remain inconspicuous, but he needn't have done so given that Sheldon had opened the pamphlet and was engrossed in it.

"The day will open with a presentation by world-famous theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, entitled The Beginning of Time. In this lecture, Professor Hawking will discuss whether time has a beginning and whether it will end, and the close relation this has with the existence of the universe." Sheldon paused, not for breath nor to think about what he had just read, but rather to gape in awe; before barely managing to compose himself to continue reading. "After that, there will be a fifteen minute intermission, before the next event which will take place in the conference hall. There, a panel of experts in the field will hold a discussion on the topic of string theory versus loop quantum gravity, with the audience allowed to pose questions from the floor. Amongst this distinguished of panel of guests is Professor Hawking, Professor Brian Greene, Professor Lee Smolin, as well as a special guest- a-"

Suddenly, Sheldon paused and stared at the pamphlet, then looked up in Leonard's direction. Noticing the abrupt silence, Leonard looked up to see Sheldon staring at him. Leonard immediately thought that Sheldon had realised that a) he wasn't sitting in his spot and b) someone else was occupying his spot, and was trying to decipher how something like that could happen. For a moment he contemplated apologizing and then getting out of Sheldon's spot to avoiding getting his third unwanted lecture of the day, when Sheldon spoke:

"I don't- believe it!"

Oh, god, thought Leonard. Not again. But what Sheldon said next surprised him.

"A twelve-year-old child prodigy is on the panel of experts. A twelve-year-old, going to meet Stephen Hawking? Sitting at the same table, and discussing string theory with Stephen Hawking?"

Leonard leaned over to look at the pamphlet and couldn't believe his eyes either. Grabbing the pamphlet from Sheldon, who again found himself shocked into immobility, Leonard flipped through the page furiously until he came to the section on the speakers' biographies. Locating the correct segment, he read aloud:

"At just the tender age of twelve, he is already one of the most famous people in multiple fields, such as theoretical physics, and also not-so-conventional ones, such as the world of criminal masterminds. Artemis Fowl, an Irish teenager who lives in Dublin, is also a genius, with the highest tested IQ of anyone in Europe of well over 200. He has been invited to this convention to take part in a discussion on string theory and loop quantum gravity, and is expected to pose many interesting questions and raise new points of discussion to his fellow, more well-established and renowned experts."

Leonard stopped and put the pamphlet down, not knowing how to react. Unexpectedly, it was Sheldon who first broke the silence, but it wasn't to express his shock at the existence of such a incredible teenager, nor to rubbish his achievements and belittle them against his own. With a rarely seen cheeky sparkle in his eyes, he said:

"It's going to be fun to pick holes in his arguments."

Leonard was about to point out that Sheldon had just contradicted himself, given his earlier statement that he could no longer derive any joy from doing so, when Sheldon spoke again.

"Leonard?"

"Hmm?'

"You're in my spot."

Two weeks earlier, Dublin, Ireland

Artemis Fowl the Second sat in his study, feeling thoroughly exasperated. His efforts to find his father, kidnapped by the Russian Mafiya, were proving fruitless; the Fowl Family's bank accounts' balances were diminishing rapidly, and his research to prove how string theory was superior to loop quantum gravity had, for the first time in months, failed to come up with concrete evidence to disprove the latter. The last point alone was enough to put him in a bad mood on an ordinary day.

One of the tabs open in his internet browser pulsed gently. A new email.

Listlessly, Artemis switched over to the tab, and read the title of the new email. Invitation to participate in Quantum Mechanics Convention. How coincidental. The boy opened up the mail. It read:

Dear Master Fowl,

It has come to our attention that you have been conducting extensive research on the string theory versus loop quantum gravity argument. We would thus like to invite you to be a guest speaker on a panel of physicists at the 18th International Conference on Theoretical Physics, held in Merida, Mexico. More details on the location, date and time on the conference, as well as the list of guest speakers, which includes Professor Stephen Hawking, will be sent to you at a later date. Please respond as soon and possible, indicating your interest in participating in this conference.

Thank you.

Organising committee of the 18th International Conference on Theoretical Physics, Merida, Mexico

Artemis' eyes widened and he sat up and looked closely at the screen in interest. This was an unusually high honour, even for him. Artemis moved to click the reply button, then hesitated. Would it really be wise for him to spend a precious few days away in Mexico? That would be a considerably lengthy disruption in his other ongoing expenditures. Eventually, though, Artemis decided that it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

A mere ten minutes later, Artemis got a reply email from the organisers. Apparently, they, too, were extremely eager to have such an unusual, or perhaps unusually brilliant, participant in their conference. He opened up the multiple attachments in the mail. Exact address and duration of the conference... tentative schedule for the individual days... transport arrangements... invited speakers and guest lists... Artemis quickly opened, read, saved, and closed each of the documents containing the administrative details, then proceeded to examine the participant lists in details. First he looked through the invited speakers. All of them were famous and fairly decent scientists, no doubt, but no one that was truly outstanding, and certainly no one that could best him. Apart, though, from Stephen Hawking, who was probably the only reason that he had consented to attending the conference in the first place.

Next, he scanned through the list of 'distinguished guests'. If the speakers were already barely impressive, Artemis didn't think that the guests would be even remotely so, and his doubts were confirmed as he read through the various names. He had hardly even heard of any of them, much less their scientific contributions. Then he caught sight of a name on the list- Sheldon Lee Cooper, B.S., M.S., M.A., Ph.D, Sc.D. Artemis raised an eyebrow. Dr Sheldon was possibly the most qualified person in the field of science that he had never heard of. A quick search on Google revealed further astounding statistics: Went to university at the age of eleven, received the Stevenson Award at the age of fourteen and a half (making him the youngest person at the time to do so), got his first Ph.D. at the age of sixteen... an IQ of 187? Nothing compared to his, but still by far the highest that he had ever heard of anyone having. Why is this guy not speaking on the panel of scientists?, thought Artemis. He most certainly has the qualifications to do so, and perhaps even the ability to destroy the arguments of whoever else tries to present an argument against his.

Except, of course, for mine...

Author's notes

Hey guys. This is my very first attempt at writing a fanfic! What I've published above is one part of the first chapter (the next will be from Artemis' point of view), but before I continue I want to know whether it's worth it... so please review and critique! I have a suspicion that I got carried away resulting in a really draggy and lengthy chapter :/

DISCLAIMERS:

I do not own any of the characters mentioned above in the story. Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter are from the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, and Artemis Fowl the Second is from the book series Artemis Fowl.

The name and brief content summary of the lecture, The Beginning of Time, are taken from Stephen Hawking's website.