Chapter 54 - Aftermath - Problems
Penny stopped as soon as she realized Amy was stepping back, she was really worried now as she looked at her friend, she seemed wore out and barely holding it together. So when Amy stopped backing up, Penny tried again. "Amy what is wrong, what happened?" Penny had expected a verbal response, not a response that involved Amy starting to cry. So Penny approached Amy again, and luckily Amy now didn't move, allowing Penny to take her friend into her arms, to let her cry on her shoulder.
With a little difficulty, Penny lead Amy to her couch in the living room and sat her down, Amy still crying on her shoulder the whole time. Penny subsequently just sat with her for several minutes till Amy's crying lightened and finally stopped, then Penny slowly lifted her off her shoulder to talk to her again, "Amy what is wrong." However, again she got no verbal response, as her friend just stared at her.
It felt like a long time, but was only a minute, as Penny became more and more uncomfortable with Amy's staring at her. Amy was staring right into her eyes and Penny swore she was trying to see her soul, it was not something Penny was use too, so it wasn't long before she knew it had to stop. "Amy tell me what is wrong!" Penny almost shouted.
Amy jumped then looked away, looking at her hands for a couple moments before looking back at Penny again, this time not staring. "It is true what he told me, isn't it?"
Penny looked back at her friend, not knowing exactly what she meant, but fearing the worse, a cold shiver going up her spine. She wanted Leonard there so much now, she didn't know what to say or do with her friend, she really needed her husband. Penny knew she wasn't ready to provide any kind of response so she just acted confused, "I don't understand what you mean."
Amy again stared at Penny, and then slowly nodded, "Its true, I can't believe it, but it is true." Amy put her head in her hands and started crying again.
Penny scooted closer and patted her friend on the back. "Amy what did he tell you?"
Amy turned and looked at Penny, tears still coming from her eyes, "That you, Leonard and him traveled in time."
Penny stared at her friend in shock, not knowing how to respond, now feeling weak as she fell back against the couch, suddenly helpless to do anything. She now wished Leonard was there even more than before, thinking her scientist husband would know what to do. She tried to think of something to say but failed. "Amy…"
Amy was still looking at Penny and it didn't take a genius to understand her friends expression, Amy had her verification. "It is true, isn't Penny? What Sheldon told me is true."
"Amy you need to talk to Leonard." Penny forced out.
Amy shoot her head, "I waited till Leonard left to talk to you Bestie. I don't know what to think anymore, Time Travel? My mind tells me that is impossible, but then it is Sheldon, you and Leonard that did it, and I know it must be true. And if dealing with that isn't bad enough, the man I love comes back changed, really changed, what am I suppose to think?" Amy looked directly at Penny again, her voice now becoming quieter, "I need to know some things Penny, some things Sheldon wouldn't discuss. I need to know why he is so different and if this all will last. You are my friend, please help me understand." tears were now coming down Amy's cheeks again.
Penny slowly nodded, "It's true."
"Penny please tell me what happened, the truth, what made Sheldon change." Amy pleaded.
It was now Penny's turn to confess, "Did he tell you that you both were married in the other timeline?"
Amy nodded, "He said it was the most wonderful time in his life. I asked him if that was true, why did he leave, then he got funny Penny and he started hiding things. Penny if he was happily married to me and he had his Nobel, why would he leave, that is not like him."
Penny was backed into a corner, her friend begging her to tell her what happened. Penny felt she had no choice, Sheldon let the cat out of the bag when he told her about the time travel, she might as well know it all. "Amy he came back to reset time because in the other timeline you died, otherwise I don't think he would have ever left. Leonard and Sheldon were actually fighting about it."
Amy stared at Penny, her mouth agape, she was so stunned. She sat there a couple minutes before she was able to speak again. "I died? How."
Penny was already in too deep now to deny her any information. "It was an accident, you were run over by a car and after it happened, Sheldon seemed to have died with you. Amy, he was like a zombie, he moved, he breathed but he wasn't human anymore, he completely withdrew into himself. Only the goal to reset things to where they were before, made him come back, he was so determined to bring you back and correct the mistake he made, he was ready to die for it." Penny would never tell her the reason for the accident, that would be Sheldon's secret and only his to tell.
"What do you mean Sheldon was ready to die, too?" Amy asked
Penny looked at her friend then answered her, "He was determined to send himself back from the point this all started, so you would live again….so he told us his previous self was going back either alive or dead."
Amy just stared at Penny trying to process her words, finally nodding and then looking down at her hands. "So Sheldon's plan to reset everything worked."
Penny wasn't sure she really understood so she went on. "Amy Sheldon loves you, he finally realized what love was and knew he felt that way about you, he wanted to spend his life with you, then he lost you. He fixed things because he wanted to save you and if he had to give his life to do that, he was willing. Amy, the whole time he was doing this, he didn't know how you felt now about him, back in this timeline, he didn't find out until after everything was reset and he got back, then we told him. He was just ready to give his life just so you would survive, he really loves you Sweetie, that 10 days with you changed something in him. I don't know if he found out how much he cared for you or how much better his life is with you, that changed him so much. But Sweetie, he wants very badly to be with you, he wants to be the man you deserve, plus you've seen him now, he acts like the other guys with you because he knows he wants that with you. You are the only person he can be like that with and with you it seems right, he loves you and I really believe in my heart, that he wants to be with you forever."
Amy just stared at her for a couple moments. Then they both heard the door being unlocked and opened. "Penny! We need to get out and find Amy. Sheldon has called me a dozen times telling me he told her about everything and after that she left upset…" Leonard stopped when he entered the living room to see the two girls, and for the next few seconds all three of them just stared at each other.
Amy broke the tension, "Can you guys give me a lift back to the apartment?"
"You didn't drive here?" Penny asked incredulously.
Amy only shook her head. "I walked, I had to think."
"Sure Amy, we can take you right over." Leonard told her, then nodded to Penny, who got up to help her friend to the car.
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Amy sat on the couch looking at her two friends and her boyfriend/fiancé. "I still have a hard time believing I am looking at three time travelers."
Leonard nodded, "Technically, now that time has been reset, Sheldon is the only time traveler, his coming back meaning we never left. If it wasn't for the memories, we would never know it happened."
"So it is really not a complete reset, is it." Penny added
"No, since we remember and will probably always remember parts of it and now Amy knows, it was not a perfect reset." Sheldon explained.
"That is why it can't go further than the four of us. We can never tell anyone and we cannot use that machine again." Leonard added. The three others slowly nodding. "I guess you two have a lot to talk about, so I think we will leave." Leonard looked at Penny to see her nod. He then got up and took his wife's hand as then went out the door, leaving Sheldon and Amy alone.
"I'm sorry Amy." Sheldon blurted out, after his friends left.
Amy nodded, as she thought about what Penny said. "Sheldon why do you want to marry me?"
Sheldon swallowed, he wasn't good about expressing feeling, to tell the truth he sucked at it, but he knew this was important. "Amy in the other timeline, I spend the whole time married to you and with you. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but it this timeline, during my whole life, there was something missing and then when I was with you, in that other timeline, it wasn't missing anymore."
Amy nodded, "So I fill a missing place in your life."
Sheldon panicked a little, "No not just that. Amy, I found I like you being close to me, touching me, kissing me and I found I like doing the same with you. I missed you horribly when I wasn't around you and found out I needed you, life just wasn't the same without you anymore. I love you Amy, I've know that even before this all happened, it is just I had a glimpse of how it would be for us to be together and I want that more than anything I have ever wanted."
"What about the Nobel, Sheldon?" Amy asked
Sheldon actually chuckled, surprising Amy, "I can't believe how little it means to me anymore, it is just some award, a moment of glory, it is nothing like the feeling of you in my arms, the touch of your skin or the feeling of your lips against mine. I wouldn't trade those moments with you for a million Nobel's."
Amy sniffed, "Oh Sheldon." She was in his lap a couple of seconds later, making new moments for the both of them to remember.
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The next couple of weeks, the girls saw each other more than the guys and things seemed to settle quickly between Penny and Amy concerning the new secret they both shared. A comfortable routine began to emerge and Amy and Sheldon's wedding became the greatest concern for everyone in the group. Except Penny, who continued working on her own private project at the police headquarters, the inquiry into the anonymous tip, she created. It had become so personal to Penny, a thing she wanted to do for her other self inside her mind, whose memories she still shared. So Penny did a lot of research on Arthur (Art) Langston, and the TV show he produced, especially the young female cast members. She then began to spend some of her free time, for next two weeks, talking to people from his show, telling them she was investigating an anonymous tip on actresses being drugged for sex.
Penny kept her inquiry low keyed, talking in private, to the women who worked in the shows Art produced, getting indications some of them had slept with him under unusual situations. She was beginning to believe that some of Art's encounters could have been linked to drugs, but it was one afternoon on a Saturday at home, when she got the chance to get the real evidence that she needed. One of the women called her, a girl Penny had interviewed previously the week before, and had told her about the symptoms that were displayed when you were drugged. This girl had just woke up with one of the men from a cast party the night before, she didn't remember how she got there and she seemed to be having all the symptoms Penny described. The man she woke up with was no other than Arthur Langston and she was at his house now. Penny knew there would probably be chemicals still in her system and if Art used Rohypnol, like he did in the other timeline, traces of it would remain in the system almost 72 hours after ingestion. Penny would get the evidence she needed to lock him up, so Penny told the girl to wait, she would be there shortly to pick her up. Penny's big first mistake was misleading Leonard and telling him she was just going out to run an errand.
Penny arrived at the house and no one answered, she kept knocking until her hand was sore, finally sticking a credit card in the door to unlock it, thanking her luck that no one had set the deadbolt. Penny had a witness to a violent crime, who was suppose to be at this address waiting for her, therefore Penny had concern for her safety, it justified Penny's entry and as she walked through the door, she drew her police issue Glock 26, 9MM automatic from her purse. The house was deadly quiet, as Penny moved through it and Penny felt that maybe they had both left until she got to the master bedroom. The girl, her name was Stacy, was sprawled out on the floor, blood on her face and either dead or unconscious. Penny sweep the room then the hallway, before going back to the girl to see if she could help.
Penny almost sighed in relief when she felt Stacy's pulse, then looking closer, seeing she had been beaten up, observing her wounds looked worse than they were and were not life threatening. Penny laid her gun down as she got her phone out to call for assistance, she never saw the closet slowly open and the man rush to her, until it was finally too late. Art hit her hard, knocking the wind from her and pushing her back several feet, then before she could recover he punched her, punched her hard.
It took a couple of moments for the stars to clear, but when they did, Penny knew she was in real trouble. The Art that faced her was the same Art from the previous timeline with one exception, this Art was buff and looked like he had worked out all his life. He had her on her back and was sitting on her hips, while one huge hand both of hers trapped above her head, she was trapped and couldn't move. It was then she noticed his second arm and its hand running over her baby bump, her barely hearing him chuckle while he said 'Pregnant."
Penny came alert, as much as she could from being just punched. "I am a police officer, let me go, before you are sorry."
Art snickered, "Sorry for what mommy." he rubbed his hand on her baby bump again, disgusting Penny to her core.
"I have backup coming." She lied.
"No you don't bitch. I overheard you conversation with her." he nodded his head towards Stacy. "You were just coming to pick her up. You're alone."
"They'll know I'm here." Penny tried to scare him.
"On a Saturday, I doubt it." Art then got serious, "You are the bitch who set me up aren't you. They said the cop had short blonde hair." Penny looked up in surprise, making Art laugh. "You don't think people don't talk on the set, hell the actors are like a group of high school kids they talk about everything." Art's smile then faded. "I just didn't expect you to get that bitch to turn me in."
"You're caught now. Let me go and it won't be so hard on you. I'll let them know you saw the error of your ways and cooperated. They will take that into account." Penny tried to reason with him.
Art laughed, "I'm not going to jail bitch. I already had a plan, if this happened. I got cash and a plane ticket to Thailand. I'll be gone before supper."
Penny felt a cold chill down her spine, suspects didn't usually tell a person their plan unless they were sure that person would never repeat it. Penny just stared at him and he just smiled, chuckled and finally laughed at her. He then moved his free hand from her belly to her neck, a sadistic smile still on his face. "They will execute you for killing a cop." She said as she tried to find a way to stop him.
Art chuckled. "Like I said I will be gone before supper. I will think about you then while I'm eating, on the airplane, and you are not able to anymore." he then got serious again, "I have to leave because of you, if it wasn't for you, I would still be enjoying this life, I owe you bitch." Art clamped his large hand harder around Penny's neck and applied pressure, making it more and more difficult for Penny to breathe.