Chapter 36 - Demands
Penny continued to hug Leslie, who was now just whimpering, after crying for a good five full minutes. Leonard had moved to a seat at the table, sitting across from Leslie and Penny, a sick expression on his face, he was already accepting the worst. Penny watched him feeling a little numb, and was just barely holding it together herself, after everything that had happened since Friday, it felt like a nightmare, that she couldn't escape from. It seemed like the world was against them and now with this and Leslie, they both felt like they were caught in quicksand with no chance of escape.
Leslie slowly gained her composure. "I'm sorry to come with this to you, I don't want to burden you both with my problems." She looked at both Leonard and Penny with guilt in her eyes. "But I didn't know what else to do." she sniffled again and Penny started to rub her back giving her a little nod to continue. She really didn't know what else to do, Leslie needed help and Leonard needed to help her, even if the man sitting across from her hadn't done anything to her.
Leonard felt terrible, and felt like his world was crashing down on him. "Tell me what you want Leslie, tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it. You are not alone, I promise you, I will be there for you no matter what." He looked at Penny trying to silently tell her he was sorry and got a sad confused nod from her, she knew he was just trying to do his best to help.
Leslie looked at Leonard with a little bit of awe, his compassion for her and her situation way more that she ever expected. "I don't know what to say, thank you Leonard." It actually made her feel good inside and not as scared knowing someone cared for her and promised to help her. "I just don't want anyone to know right now and I will need to take some time for doctors appointments and stuff. So if you could approve my sick leave and keep this all to us right now, I would be very appreciative."
The way Leslie said 'burden you both with my problems' and 'keep this all to us' stuck in Penny's mind, confusing her and she looked at Leslie with a question now on her mind. "Leslie who is the father?"
"I really don't want to say. Could you two please just keep this a secret for now, please?" Leslie's responded as she looked at Penny. Penny's expression seemed strange and suddenly Leslie understood why she looked like that.
"Oh my God, no. Penny, this has nothing to do with Leonard, we have never been anything but work friends for all these years." Leslie then looked at Leonard, "Tell her Leonard." She then quickly looked back at Penny, "Penny, I didn't mean to make it look like Leonard was the father, I am so sorry." Leslie so didn't want to cause more problems between them, because as she understood they had enough problems already.
Penny looked at Leonard who was desperately trying to not look as surprised as her at Leslie's statement. Penny looked back at Leslie stunned but relieved, "I'm sorry, I didn't know what to think when I walked in." Penny then looked back at Leonard, "I'm sorry Leonard, I should have trusted you."
Leonard couldn't blame her for thinking what he thought too. "I'm sorry too Penny, I guess we need to trust more." He hoped she understood that he meant they should trust future him more. Penny nodded and gave him a small smile letting him know she understood.
However, Penny did feel a little bad, about thinking Leslie's pregnancy was caused by her husband Leonard and how Leslie had to reassure her, the man in front of her was right they needed to trust more. She forced herself to shake in off for now and turned her mind back to Leslie, who she knew was single and probably scared right now, "Just remember Sweetie, you are not alone, we are here if you need us, so just let us know if we can help."
Leonard now joined in. "Of course Leslie, just let me know when you need time off and I will personally take care of it. It will be our secret. And Leslie, Penny is right, we are here for you, so you contact us if you need anything, okay."
Leslie couldn't believe how everything had changed in less than thirty minutes, she wasn't alone anymore, people were there for her. "Thank you, thank you so much." A small smile now formed on her face where only grief and concern occupied only a few moments ago.
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Sheldon headed down to the basement shortly after Leslie left and he checked that no one was around to observe him. However, when he got to the room, he never expected to see a very sophisticated lock on the door, engraved with information to contact Leonard for removal. Sheldon was surprised that someone as pedantic as Leonard could react so fast to their current situation and mad that he now kept Sheldon form his machine. Sheldon needed to get rid of Leonard and as he thought of it, he smiled, because he now had leverage to do that. He hurried back to his office, he had to find out where President Siebert's office was.
It was just before 11 AM when Sheldon showed up at President Siebert's office to request a few minutes of his time. "Dr Cooper, you are a bit early for the 1 PM meeting. Is there something wrong."
"Yes President Siebert, I would like not to have Dr Hofstadter at the meeting today." Sheldon demanded.
"I don't understand, just a few weeks ago you were saying Dr Hofstadter was the force that kept you on track and made it possible for you prove your theories." Siebert looked at Cooper confused.
Sheldon was caught in the trap he feared, his previous self had been obviously a close colleague of Leonard's, a friend even, so now acting like he was wanting him away would look very suspicious. Sheldon tried to smile at Siebert, "Of course I appreciate Leonard's help, but I need to work on my own now, because although he helped me a lot there were other times he was a hindrance. I think it would be better if our professional work was separate from now on, to the extent that I don't work under him anymore."
Siebert could see that Dr Cooper was lying, the forced creepy smile on his face obviously not real. Also, he was so appreciative, a couple weeks ago, about Leonard's help, so something must have happened, that caused a problem between them. This was a hell of a time to tell him this, 2 hours before talking to the board. "Really, Dr Cooper."
Siebert just stared at Sheldon, making him extremely nervous, he needed to talk his way out of this. "Yes, I think it would better for the everyone if Dr Hofstadter was moved from the Physics department and I really consider it a factor in my continued employment here." That was the leverage Sheldon had, every university wanted Nobel Laureates on their faculty, it made the university seem better than it actually was. Sheldon knew the board would want him to stay, so if they wanted him, they would have to get remove Leonard. Sheldon was confident, the university releasing Leonard, would not only help solve his problem with Leonard wanting them to leave this timeline but would also keep him away from his machine. Sheldon looked at Siebert in what he considered a position of power, because like every other university he knew they would do anything to keep him in their faculty.
Siebert sat back in his chair, wondering what the hell was happening with Dr Cooper. Leonard was being groomed to take over Siebert's job when he retired, so there was no way he was going to be removed from the Physics department, plus Leonard had a Nobel too, so if Siebert had to choose he would choose Hofstadter over Cooper. "I'm sorry you feel that way Dr Cooper. Could I ask when you plan to leave Cal Tech."
Sheldon was stunned and his eyes went wide, he never expected Siebert's response. "You would keep Dr Hofstadter over me, even after my Nobel Prize?" Sheldon was incredulous.
"Just because Dr Hofstadter's Nobel Prize is a couple years older than yours, doesn't make it any less of an asset to this university. Plus unlike you, Dr Hofstadter is the foremost authority on Lasers in the country, the university would never release him willing. His work has huge practical applications and it brings large sums of money into the university. Your work is still all theoretical and will take years of further research to get anything tangible out of it. I would think you would know that Dr Cooper, so it makes me wonder why you are threatening leaving us because of Dr Hofstadter." Siebert continued to stare at Sheldon.
Sheldon stared back at Siebert trying to process his words, 'Leonard had a Nobel Prize and he had it before him, how could that be possible', he couldn't understand. He was getting himself let go instead of Leonard, that would let Leonard have the time machine and leave him in control, that couldn't happen. "I could be persuaded to stay if I just don't have to work under Dr Hofstadter, instead letting me work independently." Sheldon countered, hating every conciliatorily word that left his mouth.
Siebert continued to stare at Cooper for a few moments longer, "I'll let the board know your request Dr Cooper. Is there anything else?"
Sheldon just wanted out of there now, any confidence he had felt coming in was now gone. "No, I'll be back at one." Sheldon stood up and left, he needed to find Amy and have lunch with her, he needed to calm down.
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"Leonard, what is going on between you and Dr Cooper?" Siebert immediately asked as soon as Leonard answered the phone.
'Crap' Leonard thought, Sheldon did something and Leonard hadn't an idea what. "Why sir, did Sheldon say something was the matter?"
"Leonard are you hiding something from me? Cooper came to my office to tell me he was leaving the university unless I removed you from the Physics department." Siebert now wondered what was up with Hofstadter being so evasive.
'Double Crap' Leonard thought, he had no idea what Sheldon said to Siebert, and he needed to say something. "Sir, we had a little falling out recently." It was actually the truth Leonard thought.
"Leonard you should have told me about this, especially now. Was this why you weren't at the party Friday?" Siebert had to get a handle on this before the board meeting with Cooper.
Leonard shook his head, he hated lying like this, he knew lies usually caught up with you, but what could he do. "Yes Sir, I didn't want to cause a scene."
"Well Cooper made the demand that he not work under you and that he be given independence with his research. The board will probably approve that to keep him." Siebert thought for a moment. "Leonard I think you and Cooper together today is not a good idea, so I'll see you after the meeting, so we can talk about this."
"Yes Sir." Leonard then heard the click of the phone as Siebert hung up. 'Crap' Leonard thought, his first day at work and he was ready to just leave the place already. What else could go wrong today, he thought.