Knowing that she was going to see Sheldon that evening, Amy made sure to look over his latest EEG results as soon as possible. She immediately noticed the sudden spike on his graph, and the intensity of the brain waves it showed. Something was clearly going on inside her boyfriend's head at that point, and she couldn't wait to get some kind of insight into what it was. She fed the data into her computer, and then eagerly played back the video to the point when the spike appeared.

This time, he seemed to be muttering something about the origin of Cosmology…must have been that email he sent to Stephen Hawking. Once again, she was so proud of his intelligence, and turned up the sound, trying to catch some more…Ensign? Wasn't that from something Star Wars-Trek? Amy couldn't help smiling and rolling her eyes slightly at that.

'OK, that's probably not going to help career-wise,' she said to herself, 'but it is weird that the activity's so intense just here.'

'Get over here…' What was that, Amy wondered then. What on Earth was he talking about now? There was the same repeated movement she'd seen last time, and his breathing seemed heavy. She stayed watching him, entranced for some time, sure that such wave activity, linked with Cosmology facts and figures, must be indicative of his brain trying to work out his career crisis. She mentioned her findings to Dr Mee later.

'So the subject mentioned this as a possible field of study?' Dr Mee asked. 'It's likely to be a concern, I agree, but I don't think that's all it is.'

'What do you think it is?' Amy asked, intrigued.

'If we take these graphs here as an example,' Dr Mee replied, pulling some data up on his computer, 'these subjects were woken just after such activity, and 80 per cent reported a high level of sexual arousal.'

'What?' Amy blushed suddenly. She knew her results to have come from Sheldon, but as far as the rest of the team was concerned all results were anonymous.

'Yes, it's really very interesting,' Dr Mee continued, oblivious to Amy's reaction. 'The question is: Is the brain seeking an answer to a career issue or a personal one?'

'Yes…' Amy was quiet for a moment. What exactly was Sheldon dreaming about?

'Can I see that last data on this subject, please?' Dr Mee asked. 'Maybe there's a correlation between the two?'

Her mind reeling, Amy brought it up. She couldn't wait to see Sheldon later – what was going on?

By the time she arrived to take Sheldon bowling with her that evening, Amy had changed into her freshly washed and ironed new pink shirt, and he caught the scent of fabric softener mixed with her usual perfume and dandruff shampoo. It was a warm, clean smell that Sheldon loved.

'You've got your shirt on!' he exclaimed, taking in the sight joyfully.

'Of course!' Amy agreed. 'Are you ready?'

Just before they met the UCLA group at the bowling alley, Amy could resist no longer, and asked if Sheldon had been dreaming at all last night.

'Umm…' Suddenly the passing scenery seemed very interesting. 'Yes…I…was considering Cosmology.'

'Oh, OK…That would be an interesting choice,' Amy replied, watching him out of the corner of her eye. 'Anything else? You called someone Ensign…isn't that from Star Wars?'

Despite himself, Sheldon had to correct that. 'No Amy, Ensign is a Federation term, from Star Trek. It's not from the Republic.'

'Can you remember who it was?' she asked, trying to keep her tone light, but had the impression her questioning was touching a nerve.

Again, Sheldon was quiet for a moment. It was unusual. 'Well…er…no, not exactly…' and clearly blushed. His reaction was intriguing, but any further questions were cut off as Amy was greeted by various colleagues, and Sheldon breathed a sigh of relief. It was so hard to keep anything from her.

'Hey, strike!' Amy called excitedly a little later, and Sheldon felt a sudden rush of pride in his girlfriend, who'd been driving mad him already bending over in that skirt. In an attempt to keep his reactions hidden as best he could, Sheldon made for the bar, promising to get Amy a drink. Standing there was a latecomer to the UCLA Combined Sciences team, Dr Sonia Hernandez, a young pharmacologist. She'd been stuck in traffic, and thought a drink would help calm her before joining the others. As she picked up her glass, Sonia noticed the tall young man across from her. Sonia had three brothers, and as such, had grown up with their superhero films and comic books, and grown to appreciate them rather more than most women, and recognised the limited edition Dark Knight shirt Sheldon was wearing. She was impressed, and then let her eyes linger a little longer. Was he here with anyone?

'Excuse me?' she asked then. 'Could I ask where you got that shirt?'

Sheldon turned to her, surprised. Who was she?

'And who are you?' he asked bluntly.

'Oh, excuse me,' Sonia replied. She was making an idiot of herself – something about this man was just too distracting…

'It's my favourite movie,' she explained, slightly breathlessly. 'And that's a limited edition,' she finished, indicating the shirt. Sheldon looked at her, puzzled. Women rarely took an interest in such things. The only one he knew of who ever had was that one he'd met with Raj, but it soon became apparent she wanted to do more with him than to discuss the Green Lantern, and was of no more interest. It didn't even cross his mind that it could be happening again.

'So who are you?'

'Sonia Hernandez,' she said, smiling up at him. 'I'm a pharmacologist at UCLA – we've got a team here tonight.'

'Oh, yes I know,' Sheldon replied. 'I'm here with Amy.' Oh. That briefly stopped Sonia in her tracks, but she didn't know Amy very well, and to be honest, found it hard to believe in this boyfriend she'd heard about. He must just be someone she worked with, Sonia thought, staring at Sheldon.

'So where'd you get it?'

'At a local Comic Book store, but I don't think you'd know it.'

'My brother knows a guy called Stuart who had one, it burnt down though…'

Just at that moment, Amy decided to help Sheldon with the drinks, and it struck her suddenly that Sonia looked far too much like Salma Hayek for comfort. Only one thought flashed through her as she saw her attempting to engage her Sheldon in conversation – Back off, Bitch!

'Oh, thank you, Sheldon, you got my drink!' she said, more loudly than necessary, shooting an unmistakable glare at Sonia. 'This is my boyfriend, Dr Sheldon Lee Cooper,' she continued, to which Sonia bit her lip and hurriedly excused herself.

'Of course I did, Amy,' he replied, wondering why she'd felt the need to practically shout. 'And I'd have brought it sooner if that woman didn't keep talking to me!'

Amy took a quick, shaky breath. Sheldon's obvious indifference to Sonia calmed her, but she resolved to keep an eye on her that evening.

'OK…it's fine,' she managed. 'Just…she was hitting on you…' And she's so much prettier than me, like a Latino Bengal Tiger, Amy thought, unable to resist the comparison with Priya.

'Really?' Sheldon asked, as they sat down. 'Well that was a waste of time.'

Amy glanced back at him and smiled. That was one of the sweetest things she'd ever heard, and looked back again over her shoulder as she was called up to bowl. As she bent over, once again, Sheldon couldn't keep his eyes off her, and was pleased to see that the Combined Sciences were winning already.

Sonia kept her distance for the rest of the evening, but that didn't mean someone else did. While she was bowling, a young English lecturer was watching Amy with interest. She looked good in that skirt, and there were just enough curves on show to make her interesting.

'Hey, good one!' Steve called out just then from a nearby table. 'You ought to be on our team!'

Amy turned to look at him rather blankly. 'Excuse me? I don't think we've been introduced.'

'Sorry,' he continued, getting up and walking over to her. 'Steve Taylor, English department. You read much?' It wasn't much of an opening line, he knew, but it was worth a try. He briefly thought of the man she'd been sitting with most of the evening, but based on their interactions put him down as no more than a friend.

'I fail to see that it has much relevance, but yes. Are you familiar with Chaucer?' Amy replied, still slightly puzzled as to why this opposing team member should be engaging in idle chit-chat.

'I love Chaucer!' Right now he'd love anything. 'And you must be Amy,' he said, indicating the name on her shirt.

'Amy Farrah Fowler,' she corrected, guessing that Sheldon had gone to the bathroom. He'd been doing that rather a lot this evening, and she hoped the bar's chilli dogs weren't to blame.

'Well Amy,' Steve said, moving a little closer. 'So you like The Canterbury Tales, right?'

'Yes, although they really need to be read in the original Middle English. Modern translations lose something.' It was a line she'd used in the past to end tedious obligatory dates.

Steve's field of study was Ernest Hemingway and F Scott Fitzgerald, but he readily agreed, and asked 'So…Amy…ever been to England?'

Sheldon, in the bathroom, took a final couple of deep breaths. Feeling…calmer…at last, he made his way back out to the lanes. Things were getting really bad when just her smile was causing – problems – especially in public, and he had a feeling the curves under her skirt and shirt would be in some hot, fevered dreams tonight. Keep it together, Cooper, he told himself angrily. You're better than this! It wouldn't be her turn now for a while, Sheldon noticed, looking at the rest of her team up by the lanes, and decided that a couple of mineral waters were just what they needed. However, any thoughts of calming down were gone in a flash of white hot jealously as he caught sight of the way that idiot was looking at his girl.

'Excuse me!' he said, abruptly interrupting Steve.

'Oh, Sheldon this is…' Amy began, before noticing the colour in Sheldon's cheeks and the look in his eye. Did he think this guy was hitting on her? Wasn't he just some dull member of the opposing team?

'I'd like to get my girlfriend a drink,' Sheldon continued, glaring at the smaller man. 'Come on, Amy.'

Amy, glad to leave but still unsure what was happening, pulled Sheldon aside once they got to the bar, and asked, 'Hey, what's going on?'

'You're my girl,' Sheldon managed, looking down at the floor, somewhat embarrassed now.

'Well, I know that,' Amy smiled. A small voice inside her screamed 'On probation!' but she wasn't really listening to it right now.

'Just wanted to make sure he knew it.' Sheldon kicked at something on the carpet.

'What, you think that tedious hippie was hitting on me?' Amy asked, just as incredulously as he had earlier. Sheldon couldn't bring himself to say anything, and just nodded. Amy shook her head, and nearly reached down to take his hand before remembering herself.

'Well, that would be, and I quote, rather a waste of time, don't you think?'

They looked at each other just then, and smiled. 'Hey, Amy…you want a mineral water?' Sheldon asked, and led her over to the bar. Still smiling, Amy followed.

Combined Sciences won in the end, much to Sheldon's and Amy's delight. He felt so proud of her, and kept shooting her little glances all the way home. Amy was just parking up when he confessed he'd spoken to Mike about driving lessons, in a blatant attempt to keep her with him a little longer.

'That's great, Sheldon!' Amy exclaimed. He really deserved a kiss right now.

'Well, I'm not sure about it, but so much else has descended into chaos recently I had nothing left to lose,' Sheldon sighed, but flashed her a quick smile, all the same.

'And you'll be great – c'mon, you excel in everything you do!' Amy reddened then, and so did he. Was that flirting?

'That's true, but like acting, it may take a little while to master the craft,' he admitted. He'd never say such things out loud to anyone but her, and she knew it.

'Well, let me know how you get on…' Sheldon made to get out, but just before he could, Amy stopped him.

'Sheldon, you know, there was something else about your results last night…'

'Really?' He sounded a little nervous.

'Yes…that spike of activity you had last time? You had it again, and in a similar study, 80 per cent of subjects linked it with some form of sexual arousal.' There. She'd said it, and felt herself covered in a whole body blush.

'Umm…really? Well…that may be so, but…' She'd got him flustered now. 'I'm not in the majority for anything, Amy, you know that!' he muttered quickly, banged his head in his hurry to get out, and barely noticed it.

'I know,' Amy replied with a slight smile. 'Just thought you'd like to know. Goodnight Sheldon.'

'Goodnight,' he answered, from the opposite side of the door, breathing hard once again. She looked back at him one last time, flashed the smile that had been causing him so much trouble all evening, and was gone. As Sheldon climbed the stairs to the fourth floor, it struck him that the Vixen had worked her magic that night already…what else did she know about his dreams?