Hey! I know I said I was going to make some fun chapters, but this one just wasn't supposed to be… I tried to find a chance to put something funny, but it just would let me… Any way, it takes me at least four or five chapters to have a real support for the whole story, after this one things are supposed to flow more easily, I hope you can still enjoy the story even when this chapter is a bit more serious than usual, I love your comments, and I love to read all about what you think will happen in future chapters, so please share your ideas with me, sometimes it's surprising to see that someone actually knows what I'm planning!

Things will be more interesting next chapter, I promise, please read and enjoy, I'll be working on the next one as soon as I can!

4. - Procedure

The following day Sheldon devoted himself to keep working on the current problem that Penny and he were facing; he had made a few diagrams regarding the place between dreams that they had visited during the night. He had also tried to understand why their movements were synchronized some times and some others not, trying to find out why the connection was so strong between them.

His own calculations had made him realize that the electric charge that they had received when the light had come back, hadn't been on a dangerous level, the machine itself was wired to resist certain quantity of electricity, if Amy had decided to use any other instrument, maybe one with more capacity Penny and him would be probably dead, or with critical brain damage.

Part of the observations that Leonard, Howard and Raj had made about the experiment itself were also on his white board, so far he had noticed that there was certain level of compatibility required to actually improve the interactions with others. While they had been, at some point, connected to another person in the room, there were several differences in their interactions. For example, Leonard and Raj, had been connected together at some point, and then Howard and Raj, but perhaps because of their longer and closer friendship the changes brought by the experiment had not improved Raj's friendship relationship with Leonard as much as the one with Howard, that could be said also about the relation between Leonard and Howard.

Amy and Bernadette had of course managed to get along in a better way, and he knew for sure that Penny was not going to have any problem to notice the change between the three of them. Until now she hadn't really spent a lot of time with Leonard after the experiment, and he had to admit that he was a bit worried of what could happen. Worried about his own person of course, because although Leonard and Penny had remained being friends since their last failed attempt of a romantic relationship, he knew that Leonard simply couldn't let go of his natural infatuation with the blonde, and now having experienced what Penny's mind was capable of doing he wasn't at all sure if he wanted to know how she felt for Leonard.

It had been very annoying to suddenly feel the urge to kiss someone, why would anybody want to share saliva in that primitive way? Why would anyone want to share saliva at all? He had to admit, in his limited experience, that the texture of other people's lips was not bad at all; Amy's lips were thin and small, she had kissed him once without any add, but eventually she had acquired Penny's habit of wearing lip stick and lip gloss. The latest had been a terrible experience, too slippery, but the lipstick was ok. Right now he wasn't at all sure of what he felt for his girlfriend.

Simple observation had showed him that people in a relationship tended to commit to 'quid pro quo', though he had tried to actually engage in the paradigm, he was now feeling a bit out of place. Amy was an amazing woman, she always tried to make him happy, trying to make his feelings for her grow, but lately he couldn't help but feel guilty. He was trying, really, but the more time he spent with Amy the more he felt he was taking advantage of her. It wasn't fair to have her making sacrifices for him and not managing to feel the same way towards her.

A part of him – a very logical and cold part of him – was aware that Amy was bound to be hurt if things stayed that way, he was fond of her, and because of that it was probably better if he was honest and allowed her to find someone that could give her the love she wanted and deserved. There was also his 'ego', Amy busted it, loved to praise him, but things weren't supposed to be like that. Penny had made him realize that, when Amy had been successful in her work and he had cruelly ignored it.

Come to think about it, Penny was often his voice of reason, not even Leonard managed to make him understand other people the way Penny did, she tried to explaining things to him – in the most simple of ways – and though she always ended mad at him (he really wondered why was that) he managed to understand it in the end. She also like to challenge him, make him mad and sometimes – like at Halo – best him, but it was fun, he actually enjoyed spending time with her, experimenting with her… mostly without her knowing, arguing with her… He and Penny were best friends!

That was probably it, the thing that with the 'extra' charge had linked their minds, their friendship. Leonard was a good friend, but that had taken time, they had been sharing an apartment for more than ten years! Penny on the other hand, had been his friend almost from the very first weeks they had know each other, it had happened so naturally that he couldn't tell when she had gone from being just a friend to being his best female friend.

… Now he really needed to spent time with Leonard and Penny, to try to find out if there had been some kind of improvement in his relationship with the 'experimental physicist' in comparison with Penny.

"What do you mean Sheldon is in trouble? Has he hacked again any governmental program? Is he trying to purchase uranium again?" asked Howard a bit skeptical at Leonard's worried argument.

"Is not that… Well, I don't know, he's been acting strange ever since he woke up from that long weekend…" said Leonard trying to convince his friend while Howard tried to untangle some wires of a machine. "I think he might have been affected in a different way than us with that experiment. He's always dramatic about everything and this time he's been so quiet, it's… unlike him"

"Yeah, a quiet Sheldon is really something unusual, he hasn't been talking much either when we're in group, not even his annoying remarks whenever he wants to be the 'know it all' in the room." Said Raj nodding with his arms crossed in front of him.

"Yeah…" said Howard looking up and leaving the tangle of wires in the table in front of him "… now that you mention it, last night he didn't say much, he also kept glancing towards Penny every now and then…"

"Did you see his face when she went to the bathroom? It was hilarious, it's as if they were thinking about the same thing but Penny moved first… of course Mr. 'Schedule for everything' couldn't go if it wasn't 'time to'…" chuckled Raj looking at the ceiling and shaking his head.

"Don't you think that is some kind of… secondary effect? He and Penny are really good friends after all…" asked Leonard considering it for a moment.

"Nah" answered Howard "synchronization would probably mean they share a deeper mind connection and that's just… Look, if Penny were supposed to have a closer connection with someone, that would be you Leonard, you two were a couple, I'm sure you share more things in common with her than Sheldon."

"He's right" said Raj

"I know, but…" Leonard sighed "Ever since we met her… that day, you should've seen it. It was as if they already knew each other, there was this instant communication… and for Penny's standard that's a lot because no one has ever been able to understand Sheldon on the first day of knowing him… I mean it was obvious that Penny couldn't really understand what he was saying, but Sheldon seemed to be unconsciously making it easy for her… I don't remember all about that day, but maybe if I hadn't been there…" he waved his hands in the air, trying to make them understand where that would have led to.

"I don't think so, when we first met Penny, Sheldon's social skills were even worse than now, it would've taken years for them to pass over the acquaintance-friend line, not to mention that at this moment in time they would be struggling to even call each other 'best friend', it's just nonsense Leonard, whatever it its that Sheldon is working on, if it really means trouble, we will end up helping him with it in no time… don't worry!" said Howard not giving importance to the subject.

Leonard sighed again; well maybe Howard was right, Penny and Sheldon had proved to be really good friends with time, but during all that time nothing had ever happened between them, he had however succeeded at dating Penny, and Sheldon was with Amy…

"That really didn't answer my question, we shouldn't be discussing the 'what ifs' of their relationship, I was talking about the true connection between them, the way they both interact so easily with the other, maybe they were affected by the experiment in a different way, remember that they received a much powerful charge than us… don't you think that could…"

"Leonard! Stop it. Listen to you, you're dramatizing almost as much as Sheldon, calm down, even if they are suffering a secondary effect it will wear off." Said Howard reassuring him, with his wide 'you are kidding' smile, he wasn't in the mood to start panicking about what could happen if Sheldon and Penny were actually suffering from such effect after an innocent and harmless experiment.

"We can start checking on him now and then; find out what he's really up to. I mean it's not the first time that he keeps something from us, this time we're just noticing before suffering the 'after effects' of his crazy experiments" said Raj.

Howard and Leonard looked at him, the engineer's expression turning worried now, it was true that Sheldon tend to experiment on them, sometimes with awful results for them, if he was planning to experiment on them again…

"Yeah, that's something we can actually do and worry about. So if it calms you down Leonard, we can try to find out what he's planning to do with us this time."

Penny climbed up the last few steps that led her finally to her apartment, she was having an awful headache and the only thing she wanted right now was to lie down on her couch, take off her shoes and probably have a drink.

She wondered where her good mood had gone. It had been a quiet morning, at least that night she hadn't found herself suddenly sharing a dream with Sheldon – since he hadn't answered to her text the other night she wondered if it had been an actual dream – but she supposed that had something to do with the fact that they were both tired.

Still, work had been driving her crazy; she hadn't been able to stop all day, going from one place to another, do this, do that, all day long! The weather right now was unpredictable, and it had affected her as well, the day had gone from being in what seemed a strong heat wave to a windy-cloudy evening that promised another storm.

She entered her apartment and kicked off her shoes, dropping her bag next to the door and walking towards the kitchen in search for something to drink. And then she felt it…

Sheldon's mind tangling itself around her, the feeling made her shiver. It felt as if something warm crawled up her body, from her ankles, over her legs and then all the way up her spine and then inside her head, she shouldn't enjoy it as much as she did.

Just like that she forgot about her drink and returned to get her cel from her bag.

Where R U? - Penny

Sheldon's answer was quick.

In Leonard's car. We'll arrive in a couple of minutes. - Dr. Sheldon Cooper

Penny looked at her phone, they were still a bit far from the building then… should she be able to sense his mind from that far? She started typing that question when another message came in.

No, we shouldn't. The range is growing. And no, I don't think those are good news either. - Dr. Sheldon Cooper

When she read it, Sheldon's voice had been talking in her mind, it took her about 2 seconds to realize that it had in fact been his voice.

"Oh my god! Sheldon we're communicating through long distances now… what are we going to do?" She asked in her mind, feeling panic.

"Calm down Penny. I'm already working on this, we will solve it. I promise." Said Sheldon's voice in her head, and though she couldn't see his face she could sense his own fear through their minds.

She then turned around and hurried towards her room, her head was still throbbing with pain, but there were important matters to attend before anything else. She changed her clothes to something more comfortable and went to grab a pair of aspirins.

Sheldon and Leonard arrived a moment later; she could feel Sheldon's proximity, Penny took a deep breath and opened the door to her apartment the moment the two scientists climbed the last step. There was silence for a moment, while Leonard smiled and nodded in her direction she and Sheldon looked at each other, their face serious.

Leonard reached for his key inside his pocket and opened the door to their apartment, looking back at his friends when no one followed him. "Aren't you coming in?" he asked warily. Penny and Sheldon – both at the same time – turned their heads to see him. Leonard gulped, feeling suddenly as if interrupting something important. It was then when he started to feel terrified of what could happen next

In tandem they walked towards the door and entered, leaving Leonard out when he moved to let them in. The experimental physicist watched worried how his friends walked towards the couch in perfect sync, they sat down and turned around again to see him, it was creepy, like some sci-fi movie of aliens or clones...

A little less convinced about it he walked in the apartment again and went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

"Would you like something to drink?" he asked fearing an answer. When there was no reply he leaned against the kitchen table drinking casually from his bottle. The silence was stretching and becoming uncomfortable now.

"Leonard" said Sheldon, not really to his comfort "I need to talk with you." Trying to act as if nothing was wrong right now Leonard walked towards the living room and sat on his chair.

"What is it Sheldon?" he asked.

"I have a request to make"

Well that didn't sound so difficult, maybe he really needed help and he had already asked Penny to do it. "What is it?"

"I've been pondering the girl's experiment, the other day you told me about what you had noticed while interacting with the others and since Penny and I weren't able to 'learn' anything about that experience I was wondering if you would mind a little experimentation" there it was, Sheldon Cooper once again wanted to experiment with them.

"What kind of experiments? Let me tell you Sheldon that if your experiments put us in danger somehow I…"

"Relax" said Penny waving a hand resting it importance. "Sheldon only wants us" she pointed at the three of them "to spend some time together"

Sheldon nodded but said nothing, Penny looked at him and Sheldon reacted once again. Really if things kept going the way they were he would have to call Howard and Raj to apply some of the weirdest rules in the roommate agreement.

"Sorry… As I was saying, I've been noticing the subtle changes that you mentioned in my interactions with Penny, but I need to compare it with someone else, and since you and I spend a considerable amount of time together I think I could be able to notice more if we spend time doing ordinary things" Okay, so things weren't as weird as he had suspected.

Amy looked at the chart on her screen computer, moving a pen between her fingers so that it was repeatedly bouncing on the table, the results from the experiment were almost everything they had envisioned when they had first talked about the idea, but the important word there was still almost.

While they had actually improved the interactions between one another in the same group there was still the doubt of what had happened with Penny and Sheldon. She couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of her friend. Penny was a very beautiful woman, she wasn't as smart as her, but when it came to social skills Penny was the most talented woman she knew.

It had taken a while for her to really appreciate the kind of person that Penny was, when she had met her it had been really weird to see such an ordinary person interact with them, she had this amazing body and blonde hair, she was like a princess, like the most popular girl in the school and she was actually trying to understand and hang out with the nerds.

At some point she had been caught by the blonde's charm, she was always kind and never judged her, Amy had never had closer friends, and Penny represented her only chance to actually experience some of those 'youth magic moments', she made her feel feminine, challenged her to try new things and be confident about it, if Penny was able to accept her as she was then she was really the perfect woman, Amy tried to let her know that every time she could, because no matter how confident and beautiful her friend was she still could see her struggling on occasion.

But then there was this little thing between her and Sheldon. It had been a surprise to see how dynamic their relationship was, Sheldon wasn't and ordinary man, he was a genius, quirky, terrible at social skills, he wasn't even the most handsome man she had seen, the man just had something… It was easier to understand if you said that he was Penny's complete opposite, you could just write and adjective to describe Penny and Sheldon would have the antonym. After she had first spent time with the full group, she had come to notice without doubt that the blonde and the genius shared a very singular friendship that couldn't be compared with any other member of the group.

Not even Leonard who had been Penny's boyfriend in many occasions was close to ever replace Sheldon with their neighbor. When Sheldon started dating her, Amy couldn't be happier, the most amazing woman in the world was her best friend, and now the most intelligent man was her boyfriend, it was like a match made in heaven! Encouraged always by Penny, she had never felt in danger of loosing Sheldon, at least not until now.

She had been scared at the beginning of the experiment, on one hand it was because this was an unauthorized experiment and if it affected any of their friends she and Bernadette would probably loose more than just their jobs, on the other hand she had been afraid to practice the experiment on Sheldon and Penny, she had almost been tempted to tell Sheldon that if he chose not to participate in the experiment it was ok, but Bernadette had this weird idea and wanted to understand him, and there had been no way to stop her. From the whole group Berny was the only one that had never really wanted to be with Sheldon more time than the strictly necessary, but maybe because Howard and he were good friends she was willing to try.

And now all because of that, things were starting to change, she had never regretted an experiment more than the last one. She had the feeling that what had happened to Sheldon and Penny that night had affected the pair in more ways than one, they had been closer friends before the experiment, this one could have been the last push they needed to change the way they see each other, she needed to know exactly how and the way it was going to change her whole life. The experiment was in authorization process to start testing on animals – a little lie they had told the whole gang to allow them to start - but once they flashed the green light she was going to emulate the accident with a pair of chimps.

As much as she loved and appreciated Penny's friendship and Sheldon's clumsy steps in their relationship, she wasn't going to easily accept it if they suddenly wanted to start dating each other, it would break her heart… She was going to try and do something before that problem ever showed up, she was sure that it was possible to keep things as they were…

Once again I want to remind you that I don't have anything against any character of the original series (you all know the only thing I own from TBBT are the Little tiny weird ideas I use for fanfics, don't you?), nothing at all, so please understand that while it could seem otherwise Amy is a very beloved character to me and things will be ending in a good way for her as well, so please don't be bad with her. Thanks for understanding, until next chapter!