Chapter 7 - Betrayal!

Penny was dancing around her apartment cleaning when the boys came home. Leonard knocked on her door and she flung it open mid-bellow, "...my life would suck without you! Oh hey Leonard, you guys are back!" Then she hugged him and seeing the rest of the boys over his shoulder, ran out to hug them too.

"Raj," she cried, as she flung her arms around him and kissed his cheek, "I missed you guys!" Howard started to open his mouth but at her glare shut it quickly and he too was enveloped in a soft warm hug. Then she turned to Sheldon, "Shut it Moonpie, I'm in a hugging mood and you're next." He took the hug with less flailing than the other guys expected.

"So did you guys keep warm in your Snuggies? I saw them at the store and I thought of the arctic and..." She trailed off at the looks of confusion on the guys faces. "Did you guys hate them?" She whispered sadly, "I guess it was a stupid gift."

Raj saw Leonard edging into the apartment furtively and yanked on Howard's shirt sleeve, pulling him down to whisper furiously in his ear. Howards head shot up and he glared at Leonard, "Leonard, you enjoyed your snuggie didn't you. Don't you want to tell Penny how much you enjoyed it?"

Leonard stopped jerkily, turning slowly, "Uh yeah the snuggies. Shoot I must have forgotten to pack the other three..." Everyone was staring at him now and he was not comfortable in the hot seat. "I hate it when that happens, there's always that one thing you forget and you get that niggling sensation in the back of your mind that you're forgetting something but you can never.. remember it." He trailed off lamely.

Penny stomped forward menacingly, "Are you telling me that you took one for yourself and left everyone else's here? And you didn't bother to tell them that I got them each one too? Did you tell them that I said I would miss them? What the hell Leonard?!" Penny was nearly frothing at the mouth in anger and luckily for Leonard, this was interrupted by Joey stumbling down the stairs.

"What in all the gods names is going on down here? I can hear you up a flight of stairs, through my door and over the music in my room!" She stumbled to a stop to see Penny scowling inches away from Leonard's terrified face, and Howard and Raj staring at her.

"Bonsoir belle mademoiselle," Howard oozed charmingly, taking her hand and admiring her sleep wear, a camisole and boy shorts emblazoned with the Superman logo. She batted away his hand and scowled at him and then the rest of the people in the hallway.

"Someone had better start explaining why I'm awake so early or I'm gonna start knocking heads together." She stated looking around. Raj eeped and took off for the bathroom.

Penny turned, scowling, "This weasel, took the gifts I asked him to hand out since I wouldn't see everyone before they left and he left them here and didn't even tell them I gave them to him!"

Leonard squirmed, "I forgot. I had a lot to pack and a lot going on and it slipped my mind."

"Leonard, they were all in the same bag, how could you have packed one and forgot the rest?" Penny yelled.

Sheldon had slipped away at some point in all the ruckus, and Raj came out of the bathroom to find Sheldon in his spot talking to his mother on the phone.

"The Arctic expedition was a remarkable success, I'm all but certain there's a Nobel Prize in my future. Actually, I shouldn't say that. I'm entirely certain. No, mother, I could not feel your church group praying for my safety. The fact that I'm home safe is not proof that it worked, that logic is Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc. No, I'm not sassing you in Eskimo talk. Mother, I have to go. Yeah, love you. Bye."

He looked up from the phone and saw Raj watching him. "Your nervous bladder strikes again I see."

"Ha ha," Raj said, "Sill hate fighting huh?" They sat in uncomfortable not-silence as Penny raged on in the hall, finally Raj couldn't hold his tongue anymore. "You aren't gonna win the Nobel."

Sheldon looked startled, "Of course I am. I have an IQ of 187 and I've just confirmed string theory."

Raj squirmed uncomfortably, "Actually dude, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you didn't. You were driving us crazy and barring killing you, the only thing we could think of to stop the trauma was um... *mumble mumble* experiment."

"You what my experiment?" Sheldon asked calmly, looking back Raj would think later, 'too calmly'.

"We used the interference caused by the electric can opener to tweak your results. Just to keep you calm. We planned to let you know as soon as it was safe so you could study the data back home."

"But I already emailed everyone at the university that I had confirmed string theory." Sheldon said, shrinking in on himself in shock.

Raj was mightily ashamed of himself and his friends, he bowed his head, "I'm sorry dude, we were going crazy and we couldn't handle you in that environment. It's easier to deal with all your eccentricities when we can go home every night. But cooped up like we were, we couldn't' do it." When he was met with silence, he looked up and found Sheldon gone. "Shit."

Outside in the hallway Leonard was trying to think of a way out of his predicament and latched on the Raj like a lifeline when he opened the door. "Raj, buddy, where have you been?"

Raj bowed his head, "I told him."

'This day just couldn't possibly get worse,' Leonard thought as he realised his lifeline was actually an anchor dragging him further down. He was about the get hit by the karma train and he could see the light heading his way. "What, why would you do that?" Leonard whined.

Howard's head popped up as Raj continued, "We all agreed that we would tell him when we got back, we are back, ergo, I told him. I couldn't keep it in anymore, I feel like shit. We should have told him no when he asked us to go with him. We screwed him over big time. He already told the university that he'd proved string theory. I bet there will be an inquest."

"It was just a prank!" Leonard howled, knowing deep down, but not wanting to admit it, that he was so very royally screwed. He glanced around hoping to see laughter, instead everyone looked angry.

"So let me see if I've got this straight." Penny said, holding up her hand and ticking off her fingers, "You failed to give the guys their presents while rubbing in their faces that I got you one. You knowingly sabotaged a friends very important, and I'm guessing, super expensive experiment." She looked around, "Did I miss anything? Oh no, don't let me forget, you totally sabotaged my date with Stuart."

Leonard was hoping the floor would open and he'd fall through, but it was not to be. He did however thank all his lucky stars when Joey groaned and grabbed Penny's arm and dragged her away saying, "Penny, I don't think there is anymore to say. Don't waste your time on him, he's not worth it."

But then he turned around and saw that Raj and Howard were still glaring at him. "We are leaving," Raj said primly, "I can't believe you man. You said this wasn't gonna be a big deal, but now, seeing how you've screwed pretty much everyone you know over, I just don't know you anymore."

Howard was nodding, "He's right man, this is a big deal. We could lose our jobs. I gotta go home and check on ma." They both looked at him sadly before heading back down the stairs.

Leonard banged his head against the door. 'Why was everyone so against him today. It was just a joke and anyone could forget stuff.' He opened the door and went in, greeted by silence. Oh thank goodness. He crawled into his bed and let the weariness overtake him.

Later that day Penny got a text from Raj saying that he appreciated her thinking of him, even though he didn't get her present. 'Aww,' she thought, 'he really is a sweetie.' She tucked her phone back in her pocket and finished her lunch, while sitting with the other actors she was working with. Since Comic-Con she had had more gigs than in all the time she'd been in L.A. While she was mildly disappointed that she wasn't a big film star, doing voice work for tv and video games wasn't the worst thing she could be doing. At least she got to keep all of her clothes on. In fact no one cared what she looked like. It was daunting and refreshing at the same time.

The assistant to the director came over and told them they had a few more minutes and then they needed to get back to taping, so she hurried to throw out her trash and then wash her hands. She started to get melancholy that she hadn't even got to tell the guys about her new job this morning but it had all gone to hell pretty quickly when they all realised what a buttface Leonard had been being. She tore herself back to the here and now quickly, heading into the booth to record.

Howard and Raj had spent most of the morning discussing how to fix the situation and hopefully keep their jobs, and for Raj, his Visa, since it was dependant on his having a job. They decided to show up first thing in the morning to tell the whole story to Dr Gablehauser in person, hoping that by stepping up and taking responsibility they'd come out the better for it. They tried to talk to Leonard but he wasn't answering his texts. They thought about asking Sheldon but figured they'd messed his life up enough.

Sheldon had retreated to his room, devastated by the dual blows of being betrayed by his friends and the sure knowledge that he would be a laughing stock at the university. He had dithered about using his Sunday pajamas since it was before his standard bedtime, but he knew he needed to rest so settled with using his Saturday pajamas since he could just wash them along with his laundry from the trip and have them ready for Saturday night. Then he lay down and allowed the exhaustion to overtake him.