Did you ever notice that the smart or "genius" characters on CBS shows have an awful lot in common, background-wise? I thought it would be a good opportunity to combine my favorite characters from two of my favorite shows with the characters from one of my other favorite shows. Apologies in advance for Raj, but he's not an easy character to write and requires a writer more talented than I am.

The idea for this story has been rattling around in my brain ever since I first noticed those similarities, and I decided it was time to do something about it (post Comic-Con seemed appropriate).

Alas, I do not own any of these characters or the shows they come from. If I did, I'd be profiting, and I'd be living in a much nicer apartment.

Anyway, enjoy this short bit of silliness!

Comic-Con

The guys sat scattered around the coffee table, and each reached forward to take his food and chopsticks.

"So who are these guys again?" Leonard asked, quirking his eyebrows.

Swallowing a mouthful of pork lo mein, Howard responded, "I told you, they're friends of mine from MIT. They both ended up in the DC area after college."

"Why are they coming here?" Sheldon asked testily.

Howard shrugged. "Both of them are really busy because of their jobs, and by the time they got around to buying plane tickets, everything from DC to San Diego was booked up. I told them if they flew here and rented a van, we could all ride together."

"We will be the party car!" Raj said, moving his hands in a 'raise the roof' manner.

Howard shook his head and leaned towards Raj slightly. "Don't do that in front of them. One of them is kind of… how do I put this… timid."

"Why would this bother him?" Raj asked, continuing the motions with his hands.

"I'll put it this way," Howard started, before turning to Sheldon. "Sheldon, how do you feel about what Raj is doing right now?"

"I find it very off-putting," Sheldon replied bluntly before taking a bite of his food.

Howard nodded. "And there you go," he said. "This guy is a lot like Sheldon."

"Ex-cuse me," Sheldon interjected. "Nobody is 'a lot like' me."

"Oh really?" Howard asked. "Let's see: he has an IQ of 187, an eidetic memory, three PhDs and three BAs, and he doesn't like to shake hands." Sheldon sat staring at Howard for a moment with his mouth hanging open. "See? Just like you. Except he's actually nice."

Leonard snorted before asking, "And what about the other guy?"

"He and I were in the Masters program at MIT together," Howard said as Sheldon pursed his lips and silently shook his head. "Before that, he studied at Johns Hopkins. He's also a big gamer and comic book fan."

"So what do these guys do?" Raj asked. "You said they were so busy that they didn't have time to buy plane tickets."

"They're both federal agents," Howard responded. "From what I understand, it took some major arm-twisting for them both to get enough time off to come to Comic-Con."

Sheldon's reaction was, as expected, less than pleasant. "Ahem, there will be no guns at Comic-Con."

"Don't worry, Sheldon," Howard said. "I think they're leaving their weapons at home. In any case, their flight will get in tomorrow morning, and they're going to rent a van and drive straight here to pick us all up, so be ready at 8:30 a.m."

At 8:25 a.m., there was a knock at the door. Leonard picked up his coffee cup and walked over to open it. "Hey guys," he said, letting Howard and Raj in before taking a seat in the armchair at the end of the coffee table.

The two entered and put down their bags of costume pieces and make-up with Leonard's and Sheldon's before sinking down on the couch.

"You're in my spot," Sheldon said as he walked in from the back hallway without looking up from the map he was studying. Howard and Raj looked at each other before shifting over. Sheldon sat down with a small smile and said to them, "I've just mapped out the best route to get from Pasadena to San Diego."

"Don't worry about it, Sheldon," Howard said. "I just heard from my friends, and the van they rented has GPS in it. We don't need a map."

Sheldon remained silent for 30 seconds before shrugging and tossing the map down on the coffee table. "Well, if you want to trust a computer more than my brain…"

"Yes," the other three replied in unison.

There was an awkward silence for a couple of minutes before Sheldon looked at his watch and then at Howard. "It's 8:30, your friends are late", he said, just as a knock came at the door.

Howard smirked as he got up and followed Leonard to the door. "Hey guys," Howard said as the door opened, pounding one of them on the shoulder, "you made it! And right on time, too," he finished, looking back at Sheldon.

Leonard gestured into the living room. After closing the door, he walked around to face their guests. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Dr. Leonard Hofstadter," he said, offering his hand.

The slightly taller and much skinnier one just smiled and waved his hand. The well-built one took Leonard's hand and gave it a hearty shake. "Hey, I'm Tim McGee."

"Dr. Spencer Reid," the skinny one said.

"Glad you guys could make it," Howard said, standing in between them with his hands on their shoulders. Leonard looked down and tried to conceal a laugh at how short Howard was in comparison to the two much taller men.

Sheldon and Raj both stood up and walked over. Raj offered his hand to Tim and introduced himself. "It's very nice to meet you. I'm Dr. Rajesh Koothrappali."

Tim smiled. "Nice to meet you, too."

"You go by Raj, correct?" Spencer asked. "Howard's told us about you."

"And I'm Dr. Sheldon Cooper," Sheldon interjected before anyone could stop him.

Tim and Spencer looked at each other and smiled. Howard had told them about Sheldon, too.

Tim rubbed his hands together. "Well, the van is downstairs. Are we all ready to go?"

"Of course," Sheldon said haughtily. "Howard said to be ready at 8:30, and it is now after 8:30. " He walked over to the pile of luggage and picked his up before heading for the door and opening it. He looked at the others and called out "Shotgun!" before sprinting out the door.

The rest of the guys looked at each other before Howard turned to Spencer and said, "You're the most careful driver here, you better drive. If one of us drives, Sheldon will freak."

Tim shrugged, took out the car keys, and tossed them to Spencer, who caught them, smiled, and said "Sweet!"

Howard, Leonard, and Raj laughed as they picked up their bags and all headed out the door.

The End

And there you go. Like I said, just a short bit of silliness that I hope you enjoyed. Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome (notice that I said constructive criticism).

Au revoir!