Penny took a blow to the head and is acting a bit out of character. How long until she's back to normal?
Penny crouched behind the boulder and listened carefully. She had come along because she had nothing better to do. But from the moment she had loaded the gun and slipped on the vest and helmet, it felt good. She frowned. She had only been paint-balling once before, and she never made it out of the shed. Sheldon had shot her before the game even began. So why did this feel so natural?
She heard a twig snap nearby and adjusted her position. Someone was sneaking up on her left. Penny silently slipped around the rock and took aim. Her finger was tight on the trigger when she caught a glimpse of Howard's red dickie. She slowly released the trigger and the breath she was holding.
A sudden burst of fire startled Howard into standing up. Penny didn't stop to think. Instinct took over. Her teammate was in danger. She dashed across the grounds and tackled him into the leaves. She rolled over and fired off two rounds, hitting a blond guy square in the chest. A rustle to the left drew her fire next and she sent a couple of rounds into the dark haired guy. Penny's head snapped to the front as a brunette girl hurried forward, a smile on her face as she charged Penny, gun raised.
Penny flipped up onto her feet and grabbed the girl's gun by the barrel, using the girl's momentum to spin her into Howard. Penny completed the rotation and pressed her gun to the girl's chest and shot her once, point blank.
For several seconds the only sound was everyone's heavy breathing. Slowly Penny lowered the gun's barrel and then shook her head as if dazed. She looked into the shocked faces of Howard, the three people she had taken out of the game, and Sheldon standing beside a tree.
"What the frak was that, Penny?" Howard asked in astonishment.
Penny dropped the paintball gun and looked at Sheldon worriedly. She didn't answer Howard. She didn't have an answer. She turned and sprinted away from the field.
Leonard knocked on her door as soon as the guys got home. When he got no answer, he tried calling her. They could hear the phone ringing in her apartment. Leonard grabbed the spare key from their apartment and unlocked Penny's door. She wasn't in, though. Her phone was sitting on the coffee table beside her laptop. Leonard locked the apartment up again, and headed into 4A to change. Sheldon took a quick shower and changed as well. Then he sat in his spot and listened for Penny to come home.
After a couple of hours, Leonard, feeling neglected, decided to go visit Raj. An hour after that, Sheldon walked to the Indian restaurant down the street for some dinner. When he reached the fourth floor, he noticed he could hear the TV in Penny's place. He hurried to put his dinner in the fridge and then stepped back into the hall.
Penny was curled up under a blanket on her couch when she heard that triple knock she had been dreading. She hunkered down a bit more and glared as Sheldon didn't wait for her to answer, but instead opened the door. The light from the hall cut across her face and made her head pound even more.
He stood in her doorway indecisively. She looked angry at his presence, but she also looked freaked out. "Penny? May I come in?"
She sighed and sat up some. "Yes, Sheldon. You can come in." She turned off the tv and sipped the cup of lukewarm tea she had made earlier.
He stepped inside and closed the door. "Penny, …"
"Sheldon, before you ask, I have no idea what that was this morning. I didn't plan it, it just happened. Maybe I've been watching too many action movies."
He sat down in his chair, looking concerned. "Penny, I believe it would be prudent for you to go back and see a doctor again. I'm worried about you. You aren't acting like your usual self."
"Sheldon, I feel fine. I just have a headache, no nausea, no dizziness," Penny said. "Like I said, I've been watching too many action movies. It's that Jason Statham. He's too damn cute! I can't resist his movies! And Angelina! Have you seen Wanted? I've watched it like 50 times, already! That's all. Just a lot of action movies. Maybe I should pull out Lake House again. Or The Notebook."
Sheldon watched her closely. He had spent 5 years watching Penny, trying to decipher her. He thought he knew her as well as anyone. Something was off, and he was worried.
"Penny, I'd like to try an experiment." He watched her expression blank out instantly and then settle into that analytical expression she had worn that morning. He was having a hard time deciphering her emotions. Even more so today than normal. It was almost as if he were dealing with two separate people.
She looked at him strangely, almost as if she had been waiting for this, he realized. "Okay. What kind of experiment? Explain the parameters of the experiment. What is your hypothesis?"
Sheldon hid his surprise at her terminology and squared his shoulders. "Simple word association. I will say a word, you say the first thing that pops into your head. I am going to try and ascertain your current state of mind."
Penny sat up straight and turned to face him. With a nod she waited for him to begin. Sheldon collected his thoughts and started slow.
Water
Falls
Game
Win
Book
Marker
Wine
Bottle
Shoe
Walk
Work
Money
Movie
Theater
Drive
Determination
Vacation
Beach
Spaghetti
Hot Dog
Game
Halo
(Sheldon began to speak a bit faster, now choosing new words related to each previous answer.)
Friend
Empathy
Hate
War
Pain
Bullet
Brave
Dead
Safe
Home
(Sheldon flung words at her now, scared by the cold expression in her eyes.)
Sun
Danger
Night
Travel
Road
Capture
Trap
Escape
Free
Illusion
Lie
Hide
Disguise
Life
Leonard
Weak
Sheldon
Love
Penny gasped and scrambled away from him. Sheldon looked at her with piercing eyes. Penny shook her head slowly. In a flash, she was gone. Before the door even hit the wall she was out of sight. Sheldon hurried after her, fear unfurling inside him. He reached the sidewalk but she was nowhere in sight. After several minutes he slowly made his way back upstairs.
He paused in the hallway and then squared his shoulders. He walked into Penny's apartment and shut the door. Somewhere, in this apartment, there must be clues to what was happening. If he was going to help her, he needed as much information as possible.
Sheldon opened the door to her closet and stopped. He closed his eyes as an image of Penny floating across his mind. Her eyes when she had said "love" had been soft, warm, and honest. She loved him. Some part of her, deep inside her mind, loved him.
He tried to ignore the hope that was starting to grow in his mind. Penny had never given him even the slightest indication she ever found him attractive. Not true, his memory argued. He recalled the day they met, the way she looked at him beside his white board. He remembered the way she cared for him when he was ill. He remembered the look in her eyes when they bought that suit. No! No, she was with Leonard. She loved Leonard, and he was with Amy. He resolutely pushed the burgeoning hope back down into a tiny ball and began his search.
He had to find a way to help Penny. Something was happening, and he could feel it's significance. It would be big. Bigger, maybe, than any of them were capable of dealing with. And what would become of their group if that was true? What would happen to them all if they couldn't fix this?
Would they lose Penny from their lives? His chest tightened in apprehension. That was unacceptable. He couldn't imagine not having her around. She had become such an important part of their lives. Especially his. She was the one he turned to for help. In his relationship with Amy, in his friendships, and in all those social situations he could never understand, Penny was the one he sought out for advice, enlightenment, and expertise.
Losing Penny was not an option. He searched methodically through every room. With each passing hour he grew more and more agitated. He couldn't find a single thing that could possibly explain the change in Penny.