I know there was a little bit of a long wait, but patience is a virtue, and as a reward for everyone's patience, here is chapter seven! Thank you all for your reviews/favorites/follows, I appreciate it so much! Once again, a huge thank you to Stargazer2001 for checking over everything, and fixing mistakes! Hopefully you all enjoy chapter seven!

~L.J.

Chapter Seven

There was a knock on the apartment door, which Leonard quickly responded to, opening the door with a smile on his face.

"Hey Leonard," Penny smiled, inviting herself into the guys' apartment.

"Oh, hey Penny, Sheldon's not here. He likes to go to the comic book store before getting his Tuesday night burger." He reminded her, hoping she would still stick around.

"Good, I wanted to talk to you."

Leonard's ears pricked up as he looked at Penny curiously.

"Me? Uh…uh…yeah, okay sure, we can talk, what do you want to talk about?" Leonard stammered hastily, eagerly sitting next to Penny on the leather couch.

"I want to talk about Sheldon."

"Of course you do." Leonard grumbled, rolling his eyes at his own bad luck.

Penny blinked, but shook off the comment.

"Yeah, okay, well, can you tell me what his deal is?"

"His deal?"

"I mean, I think he likes me, but then he just does something, and I just think I'm crazy for even getting that kind of idea. Like, when he asked me to the football game, I thought it was a date, but then he acted like he had just taken his sister with him, instead of…well, a real girl. Then when Rodger slept over, he gave me this look that made me think maybe it bothered him, but the next day he was talking to me like nothing ever happened. Then Monday night, he asked me out on a date." Penny explained, with the aid of rapid hand gestures.

Leonard stared at her intently, though he was hardly listening to what she was saying.

"So, what do you think?" She questioned after a few minutes of silence.

Leonard shrugged.

"Sheldon's a weird guy. I never really know if he likes me either."

"Ugh, Leonard, you know what I mean! Did he just ask me out on the date for some weird experiment, or because he felt bad for me, or do you think he really wants to go out with me?"

"I can't imagine anyone in the world who wouldn't want to go out with you."

Penny felt herself blush as Leonard looked down at his hands nervously.

"Sweetie, we're talking about Sheldon," she reminded him softly.

Leonard threw his hands in his lap, looking up at Penny.

"Why are we talking about Sheldon? He's a pain in the ass most of the time. It's like having an overgrown nine year-old who can win at 3-D chess. Do you even want to go on a date with him?" He questioned, sensing an opportunity to get closer to Penny.

Sure, he felt guilty putting down Sheldon behind his back, but his guilt lessened every time he looked at Penny. She was gorgeous, she was funny, and she was unpredictable. Sheldon wouldn't know what to do with a woman like Penny, if he had her.

"I don't know, but I feel like you're not being fair to him. He's got some good points."

"Oh, yeah? Like what?"

"Well, he dresses nice, he really tries to be sweet, and he's been such an unbelievable friend to me, already. I feel like I've known him forever. Haven't you ever been so comfortable with someone, that you just can't help being yourself, without even worrying if they'll like you for it or not? That's kind of how I feel around Sheldon."

Leonard rolled his eyes.

"That's not comfort, that's just not worrying about his opinion. Trust me. I've stopped caring about all of the strikes he gives me, too."

Penny shook her head, her eyebrows furrowing as she thought about it further.

"No, I think it's more than that. You know what? I think I just made my decision. Thanks Leonard, you really helped me work through all that. Was that some kind of reverse psychology thing you were doing?" She asked with a smile, jumping up from the couch.

Leonard rubbed his temples, not standing up as he spoke to Penny.

"Yeah, that's great, I'm happy to help."

Penny smiled at him before returning to her own apartment.

Once the door to his apartment was shut, Leonard stuffed his face in a pillow, groaning loudly in frustration.

Even when Sheldon was out of the apartment, there was a barrier between Leonard and Penny.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. Sheldon had never posed as a problem to Leonard when it came to women. Conversely, women were so eager to get away from Sheldon that they had no choice but to approach Leonard instead.

Something just wasn't right.


"No way, dude, Batman could beat the Flash in an arm-wrestling match!" Raj argued as he and Sheldon got out of Raj's car, walking towards the apartment building.

Sheldon shook his head, frustrated at Raj's claim.

"Absolutely not, the Flash would have much more capacity to find better leverage. Batman has no physical capabilities that could combat the Flash."

"No, but he has a ton of cool gadgets! He could throw sand in the Flash's eyes, to catch him off-guard."

Sheldon's eyes narrowed.

"That's cheating."

"Batman is a badass. I think he would do it."

Raj suddenly squeaked, upon seeing Penny enter the lobby, just a few feet from where Sheldon was scowling at his mailbox.

"Hey, guys!" She smiled, approaching the two physicists.

Sheldon turned around, tucking his mail into his messenger bag.

"Hello Penny." He said, nodding his head towards her as Raj stared down at his shoes.

"So, Leonard tells me that you always get comic books before eating your Tuesday night burger. Are you guys about to go soon?" She questioned, glancing at Raj before returning her wide grin to Sheldon.

"Yes, I suppose we will be leaving in the next thirty minutes or so, assuming that Wolowitz is not late. Would you care to join us?"

"Sure, are you going to the Cheesecake Factory? I think I should get a look at the menu I'm going to have to learn to memorize. I got the job today. It's so weird. When I talked to the manager he said he didn't even know that they were putting applications in peoples' mailboxes! Did you get one, or am I just crazy?"

Raj squeaked loudly, looking between Sheldon and Penny wildly.

Sheldon cleared his throat, hoping to take attention off of Raj.

"Perhaps the company ran logarithms to determine who their target applicants would be."

"They can do that?"

Sheldon nodded.

"Oh, wow, well, I guess they have me all figured out, then. I'm just coming down to grab my laundry out of the machine. I'll meet you guys in your apartment when it's time to go get some burgers. Bye, Raj." Penny said, smiling at Raj in particular before walking off towards the laundry room.

Once she was out of earshot, Raj turned to Sheldon with a confused expression.

"Why did you put a Cheesecake Factory application in her mailbox?" He questioned, his eyebrows drawing together.

"I don't understand what you're referring to."

"You printed the Cheesecake Factory application during the day, and now Penny suddenly works there? Are you crazy? Were you just trying to find someone to handle your Tuesday burger when you started talking to her? Not cool, dude, not cool."

"Now, you don't know that. All you know is that I printed an application, and Penny received one in the mail."

"Should I tell Howard and Leonard? They could tell Penny on you."

Sheldon shook his head quickly.

"No, do not tell Penny."

"So you are using her for a Tuesday night burger. Sheldon, that's not okay."

"I'm not using her for a Tuesday night burger. That's just a bonus of her working there."

"Then why did you put the application in her mailbox? You hate touching other people's mailboxes."

Sheldon flinched.

"Howard must meet his wife."

Raj opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again, looking puzzled at Sheldon's statement.

Sheldon sighed, starting to walk towards the basement, where no one would overhear him speaking to Raj about the future events that were driving his actions.

Raj followed him, still trying to figure out just what to say.

Once he closed the door to the maintenance room, locking it to be safe, he turned to Raj.

Raj's eyes were wide as he stared at the locked door.

Sheldon was crazy, but surely he wasn't crazy enough to be dangerous, right? Somehow, the thought wasn't comforting him as the lanky physicist approached him.

"I'm not twenty-four, I'm thirty years old. In 2013, I finally had the correct information to build a time machine. The machine created a new universe, where I may relive the past, changing it to accommodate my previous failures. Prior to my departure, Howard married a woman named Bernadette. I was comfortable with her place in the group. In order to re-establish her company, I must find a way to introduce the pair. Bernadette met Howard through Penny, who had worked at the Cheesecake Factory. Therefore, by pushing Penny towards employment at the Cheesecake Factory, I am increasing the odds of pairing Howard and Bernadette once again." Sheldon explained.

Raj gaped at him.

Sheldon had finally gone crazy. Something had set him off, and now he believed that he was from the future. He was spouting all this nonsense about Howard getting married, and time machines. Perhaps Leonard or Penny had replaced his usual attire with the trendy clothes he had been wearing, and it had driven him crazy.

Raj's hands twitched towards his cell phone, hoping that Leonard or Howard would find them, and calm Sheldon down.

Sheldon sighed, sensing that Raj didn't believe him.

"Here is my learning permit, I brought it along with me to serve as proof for anyone who might ask me about my origin."

"When did you take your written test?" Raj questioned, taking the permit from Sheldon.

"2008." Sheldon answered calmly, watching Raj observe the date written on the card.

Raj looked up at Sheldon as he returned the permit.

"Where did you make this?"

"I didn't make this, I received it in 2008, after Leonard refused to take me to the Pottery Barn to return my Star Wars sheets."

"I think we might need to call your mom."

Sheldon groaned. Raj clearly was not going to believe him very easily.

"Very well, I will prove it to you over the course of the week. In the meantime, please do not mention this to Leonard, Howard, or Penny. This is a very sensitive matter."

Raj nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off of Sheldon.

Sheldon glanced down at his watch, and sighed.

"Good Lord, now I'm off my schedule. We are three minutes and forty-seven seconds late to meet everyone in the apartment for departure. We may never avoid the dinner crowd now." He muttered, exiting the room to return to his apartment.

Raj walked behind him, his eyebrows still pulled together in confusion.


"You know, you didn't have to pay for my dinner again, Sheldon." Penny commented as she drove Sheldon and herself back to the apartment building after dinner.

Leonard had driven Raj and Howard, while Sheldon had insisted on going with Penny, stating that it would be unsafe to allow her to drive alone.

"I am aware that I didn't have to." Sheldon reminded her.

He was all out of excuses to pay for Penny's meals. He couldn't inform her that he had millions of dollars in his bank account, and he had been informed that speaking of someone's lack of finances was rude.

"Well, it was very sweet of you, so thank you."

"You're very welcome."

"So, about that date you were asking me about the other night," Penny started, throwing a sideways glance at Sheldon before returning her eyes to the road.

Sheldon's ears pricked up as he looked at her curiously.

"I think I would like to go with you."

Sheldon nodded, the corners of his mouth twitching into a slight smile.

"Very well. What would you like to do?"

Penny smiled to herself.

"I think it's the social convention for the guy to decide, Shelly."

He nodded again.

"Alright, I believe I can come up with something."

"I'm sure you can."

Sheldon stared straight ahead, trying to process just what constituted as a date. Amy Farrah Fowler had insisted on "couples singing night", but Sheldon knew better than to suggest this. He had heard Penny sing before. Amy had also insisted on attending a dinner out every so often, but Penny already ate with Sheldon almost every evening.

Leonard had taken Penny to dinner as well, but that hardly seemed different from any other evening. They had also attended movies, which seemed like a poor date environment. A dark room full of strangers was hardly a place to enjoy.

He would simply have to do some research.

"Are you okay, sweetie? It looks like steam is about to come out of your ears." Penny giggled, breaking Sheldon's concentration.

He looked at her blankly.

"While the human body is 75% water, it is physically impossible for steam to exit any of the natural extremities. Leonard was once convinced that he saw steam radiating off of Wolowitz one cold evening when we were traveling through Maryland, to visit the Smithsonian museums in D.C., but I still refuse to believe him." He responded calmly.

Penny nodded, still smiling.

"Thank you for that very informative story."

"You're very welcome." Sheldon allowed, not sensing Penny's sarcasm.

Penny rolled her eyes as her smile grew bigger.

A few minutes later, they were out of the car and walking up the stairs towards their apartments.

"So, when do you want to go on our little date? I was talking to my new manager about my schedule, and I think I'm free Saturday night." Penny said, smiling at Sheldon.

Sheldon shook his head vigorously.

"Saturday night is laundry night. What about Saturday afternoon?" He countered.

Penny raised her eyebrows at him.

She had never been on a date during the day before.

"Um, sure, I think Saturday afternoon is okay for me. So, what are we going to be doing? Painting the town red? Discovering how the Earth works?" She questioned, grinning at him widely.

Sheldon stared back at her blankly.

"I believe it is illegal to paint buildings in Pasadena without the proper permits. I also know how the Earth functions, to an extent. I would like to prove string theory. However, I do not believe dates generally consist of academic pursuits. It is my understanding that they consist primarily of small talk and frivolous jokes."

Penny laughed, shaking her head.

"I was kidding, sweetie."

"Ah."

They reached their apartments before Sheldon could answer Penny's initial question about the details of the date, much to Sheldon's relief. He was still unsure of what one did on a date. This would require some extensive research.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks again for dinner, sweetie."

Sheldon nodded.

"Goodnight, Penny."

"Night,"


"Alright, Sheldon, why did you send a memo through the astrology department just to get me to come here? You have a phone, you could text me." Raj complained, walking into Sheldon's office that Friday afternoon.

Sheldon raised his eyebrows, but didn't argue.

"Would you please shut the door?" He instructed, getting out of his desk chair, and grabbing a few pages off of his printer.

Raj obliged, looking at him curiously.

"Do you recall our conversation on Tuesday afternoon, regarding my point of origin?"

Raj groaned.

"You still think you're from the future?"

"I never said that, I simply said I belonged to a different universe. Moving on, I understand that you do not entirely believe me?"

"I thought you were over this."

Sheldon let out an annoyed grunt, but proceeded to hand Raj the stack of papers.

"I believe this information will help establish your trust."

"What's all of this?"

"This page is an accurate bracket for this year's football season. This page is full of knowledge you have not yet disclosed about yourself, but I have previously learned. This page is full of knowledge that Howard and Leonard have not yet disclosed about themselves. You can either learn these things through time, or ask them yourself. This page shows the election information for 2009. Finally, this page begins a full non-disclosure agreement."

Raj eyed Sheldon wearily, unsure of how to respond to his behavior.

If anyone was going to discover how to make time travel work, it would be Sheldon Cooper. He was acting very sure of himself, and was handing Raj information that would certainly prove whether or not Sheldon was telling the truth.

Still, if Sheldon had told Howard or Leonard the same thing, they would have immediately called Mary Cooper. They would have never let it get as far as it seemed to have gotten in his mind.

"Please, take a look at the information before you make any more assumptions." Sheldon implored.

Raj obliged, flipping through the information that Sheldon thought he had.

He immediately sat down in one of the armchairs in front of Sheldon's desk.

"How did you know that I always wanted to be a party planner? I mean, I'm so good at it, but Howard made me promise to never talk about it."

"You spoke of it after planning a Halloween party at Stuart's comic book store."

"I never threw a party at the comic book store."

"Yes you did. You simply haven't experienced it yet."

Raj rolled his eyes at Sheldon, but continued down the list.

"What do you mean I can speak to women when I consume alcohol? You know I can't talk to girls!"

Sheldon shook his head, his eyebrows raising as he prepared to argue.

"That's incorrect. Actually, when I left the universe that was based in 2013, you could speak to women freely. Your relationship termination with a woman named Lucy seemed to cause it. Prior to said termination, you resorted to consuming ethyl alcohol in order to speak to women. Your behavior was frequently unacceptable when you did so." He explained.

"How are you making all of this up so easily?" Raj questioned in frustration.

Sheldon had never been good at lying. That was one of the only good things about him.

"I'm not making any of this up. If you would like, I will escort you to the nearest distributor of alcohol."

"Fine, but you're paying for the drinks."

Sheldon shrugged, grabbing his windbreaker as he followed Raj out of his office.


"So he just started to talk to women, just like that? Why do you think drinking helps him?" Penny questioned after Sheldon informed her of Raj's progress.

Sheldon nodded, not looking up from the MapQuest that he had printed prior to their departure.

It was Saturday afternoon, the day of their scheduled date. Sheldon had been secretive about where they were going all week, and had even insisted on reading the directions to Penny while she drove them. Granted, it was partially for his own safety; he was aware of how multitasking contributed to car accidents.

"I believe in this particular instance, it was a placebo effect. Ultimately, I believe it lowers his coherence and inhibitions, to the point where his brain is not processing his pattern shyness." He mumbled, knowing that Penny would not understand his explanation.

Penny nodded, pretending to know exactly what Sheldon was rambling about.

"Are we almost there, yet? I feel like we've been driving forever." She complained, trying to look for landmarks that would give away where they were.

Sheldon glanced out the passenger's window, and nodded.

"Turn right here, and we will arrive at our destination."

Penny did as she was instructed, pulling into an unfamiliar parking lot.

"Can you tell me where we are yet?" She questioned as they got out of the car.

Sheldon shrugged.

"I could have told you when I originally made the plans, I simply opted to withhold the information."

She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling.

"Will you please tell me where the hell we are?"

"Certainly. We're at the rodeo."

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry, which part of that sentence confused you?"

"We're at the rodeo?"

"Yes. Is this not okay? Are you unhappy with my selection?"

Sheldon frowned, searching Penny's face for some indication of the answer.

Penny shook her head vigorously.

"No, no, this is...this is really great, actually. I just don't understand why you brought me here. Don't you hate all of this stuff?" She questioned, looking up at him curiously.

"I believe the purpose of a date is to become better acquainted with one another. Assuming that is the case, I heard you discussing your history as a junior rodeo champion with Howard, in the context of a threat, and thought it would be appropriate to take you to the rodeo. I...um...I assumed that two people in the paradigm we are in would share important aspects of their lives with one another. I thought I would start by learning about things that were important to you." Sheldon explained, feeling his cheeks turn slightly red as Penny stared up at him.

She couldn't help but smile at his explanation.

"Wow, Sheldon, that's so sweet."

"I thought next time, we could go to the train museum. I could teach you about trains."

Penny grinned up at him.

"I would love that."