You can't go that way. Raj groaned in exasperation at the text adventure game version of The Hobbit.

'Guys, can't we just watch the movie instead?' he pleaded, not expecting much success. Friday night was Vintage Video Games Night, not Movie Night. 'I've got a Collector's Edition on Blu-Ray…'

'Oh yeah, cool!' replied Leonard, as he and Howard, both fed up with their cyclical quest, nodded.

'Sheldon?' Howard asked then, indicating the latest instalment in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 'What do you think? Special extended edition?'

'Oh, uh, yeah,' he managed, looking up suddenly from his phone.

'Sheldon, are you texting Amy when she's across the hall?' teased Leonard, a smile on his face. The number of times Sheldon had told him his text marathons to 4B were ridiculous…

Sheldon didn't answer for a moment, but then got himself together sufficiently to sound appropriately condescending. 'As it happens, Leonard, Amy was merely informing me of an excellent book she found on Kindle today and intends to take this weekend. It's a survival guide written by an ex- Navy Seal, and should prove invaluable if an emergency occurs. She's taking the girls through a PowerPoint on edible fungi as we speak.'

Howard grinned. 'You do know that this isn't real wilderness, right? There's a Visitor's Centre, and Condos…it's not like they're being parachuted into Afghanistan!'

'Really Howard,' Sheldon began, 'did your survival training teach you nothing? It's best to be prepared should an emergency come up. There are appropriate procedures to follow and Amy recognises this.'

'OK, whatever. You'll miss her too!' said Leonard, just before Raj agreed, saying 'Oh, and I'm so going to miss Emily! I hope she gets a look at those Condos – I'm fine with staying there sometime!'

'Please. It's two days. I think I can cope,' Sheldon sniffed, clicking his phone to send another message.

'She's not going come back to find any kitties, then?' asked Howard, settling down to watch the movie.

'That has nothing to with it!' Sheldon retorted. 'You may find one night apart constitutes a prolonged absence from your significant other, but I think we are more than capable of coping with such things!'

'OK, OK,' Leonard said, feeling the need to calm these two down. 'Raj, wait a minute. Remember that thing we were talking about at lunch today?'

'Oh yeah!' Raj replied excitedly, pausing the DVD.

'What?' asked Sheldon.

'Well,' Leonard began, 'we were thinking earlier, about all the things we have to celebrate right now. There's my engagement, your new career, Raj finding Emily and Howard not having to worry about his mother so much…and a new Comic Book Store!'

Sheldon nodded. His new career trajectory was certainly something to celebrate, as was a new Comic Book Store.

'So we were thinking,' Leonard continued, 'seeing as it was the Comic Book Store that got us thinking about it, how about we have a DC/Marvel Marathon here this weekend? Movies, games, books…even costumes, although it's too short notice to get new ones…'

He was cut off by Sheldon's enthusiastic reply. 'Yes to all!' That sounded great. He hadn't been looking forward to a weekend on his own without Amy.

'Just so long as I'm not Aquaman this time,' added Raj. 'I think I'll find my Thor costume!'

There was some brief discussion regarding costumes, and a rough schedule of movies and games, and then the guys turned their attention back to The Hobbit, losing themselves in the adventure of Middle Earth. As he was watching however, Sheldon couldn't help but think back to a scene in one of the earlier films in the series, when an Elvish princess gave her human lover a necklace as token of her love that would last long after he was gone. It wasn't her birthday for months, but Sheldon had been thinking of buying Amy a gift to congratulate her on her study, especially as he still felt slightly guilty it had taken Penny to make him think of it before. Maybe something to wear at the Symposium, but to get the right one could take some research…

'Penny, do you think you're sufficiently dressed for the wilderness?' inquired Sheldon the next day, as he and Leonard were by Penny's car, waiting for the other girls to meet up outside the apartment, from which they intended to travel in convoy. Penny looked at him, still crotchety at being up and about at nine in the morning.

'What's the matter with it?' she asked sharply, indicating a brightly coloured little vest top, denim micro shorts and flip flops, beer cooler at her feet.

'Nothing at all,' assured Leonard, who hadn't been able to take his eyes off her since she put them on.

'What's the matter with it?' repeated Sheldon, cutting him off. 'Have you considered sunburn, insect bites, Poison Ivy…'

'Yeah, yeah, yeah…it's hot, all right?' Penny answered, smoothing some sun cream into her arms for emphasis.

Shortly after, they were joined by Amy. She stepped out of the car, and to Sheldon, made a welcome contrast with Penny. Amy was wearing a big, comfortable UCLA T-shirt, long lightweight hiking shorts and sensible footwear. He knew without asking that she'd covered her fair skin with high factor sun block, and had wisely brought a hat. He felt his eyes drawn to her legs; for all that he told himself he was just checking she'd brought all the survival equipment.

'It's all here, Sheldon,' she confirmed, producing a blue folder. 'Here is an inventory, and here are the medical contact details for myself, Penny, Bernadette and Emily, along with the contact number for the Park Ranger's office at Big Bear, California State Disease Control Board, Forest Fire Watch and a link to the live feed Weather Channel.'

She literally took Sheldon's breath away. His Amy thought of everything.

Next to arrive were Howard and Bernadette. Bundled in the back of her car was a huge red rucksack that looked to be the same size as she was.

'Hi guys!' Howard greeted them. 'OK, I got X-Men Trilogy, Man of Steel, Fantastic Four and The Amazing Spiderman Three Disc Combo!'

'Cool!' exclaimed Leonard, turning to look at the DVDs in Howard's far smaller rucksack. He was interrupted, however, as Sheldon suddenly noticed the time.

'Leonard, do you realise what time it is?' he asked.

'No…just gone nine?'

'It's nine fifteen. What's happened to Rajesh and his ultimate Batman collection, including all the associated games?'

Fortunately, Raj arrived just then with Emily. As he got out of the car, the others were somewhat surprised to see that he was already dressed in his Thor costume.

'Hey guys, sorry I'm late,' he said, walking over. 'Emily wanted to see my costume.'

'Well, it's nice to see you made the effort, but really, nearly twenty minutes late?' asked Sheldon, exasperated. 'You didn't forget the Batman DVDs?'

Having reassured Sheldon that he had them, Raj was then pulled aside by Howard, who asked 'So, did Thor get his hammer out this morning?'

Raj grinned, looking slightly sheepish. 'Dude, I've waited a long time. I take every chance I can get!'

'OK,' Amy announced then. 'So you ladies know where we're going, right?' They nodded. 'Right, so we're ready to go?'

'Oh, I'll miss you, Howie!' said Bernadette, wrapping her arms around him.

'And I'll miss you, Emily. Go and light up the lake with your beauty,' continued Raj, pulling her into a kiss.

The two less openly affectionate couples looked at the two more openly affectionate in some bemusement, and in Sheldon's case, true discomfort.

'Yeah, well…go blast some aliens for me,' said Penny, planting a quick kiss on her fiancé. Hey, they'd said their real goodbye in her room earlier.

'I'll defend the Galaxy for you!' Leonard replied with a smile.

Sheldon turned to Amy. 'So you're sure you can call when you get there?'

'I'm sure. The website assured me the parking lot had coverage.'

'Well call then. And you remember what I told you about shaking your boots in the morning to get rid of scorpions?'

'As it's not the desert, I'm not anticipating scorpions, but I'll be sure to do so just in case.'

'Even so, you're sure you have adequate water supplies?'

'I've followed the suggested protocol on the park's website.'

'And enough gas?'

'Just filled up now.'

'OK, well…call when you get there, and when you can.' They parted with a slightly shy, awkward smile in contrast to the hugs and kisses of their friends, but knew how much they'd miss each other all the same. The girls piled back into their cars then, and pulled away, leaving their men, one in his Thor costume at half past nine in the morning, with a huge stack of DVDs and games. For a minute or so, no-one spoke.

'OK!' announced Sheldon then, breaking the silence. 'We have to change, and then get started on Agents of Shield – I believe we agreed on alphabetical order?'

Once at the campsite, the girls taught Emily how to construct her tent, and busied themselves moving their equipment in, making their nylon homes for the night as comfortable as possible. It was still hot and sunny, and they were glad of the shady shoreline to sit in when they'd finished. The lake hummed with activity, full of families and couples out on the water, in the water, on the beach.

'Wow, this is beautiful!' smiled Emily. 'I have to come back here with Raj!'

'It is, isn't it?' Bernadette agreed. 'I can't believe those guys would rather sit indoors watching movies on a day like this!'

'As long as I don't have to, I'm cool!' Penny replied. 'OK, who's for a nice cold beer?'

'Bestie, do you really think alcohol is suitable in the heat?' Amy asked. She'd been busy building up a fire at the centre of their camp.

'Aw, c'mon Ames! We'll be fine – we're in the shade here, right?'

Amy looked over at her. She worried for her friend's possible dehydration, but Penny had a way of persuading her every time.

'Well, OK. Just one,' she conceded, glad she'd brought all that water.

At the same time, currently sitting around the TV in 4A was The Flash, Thor, a short Batman and a bespectacled Green Lantern. They'd decided to move on to the genesis of Batman, and Leonard and Sheldon had collected together a few 1960s original series episodes to begin with.

'I don't know what I prefer,' Leonard said, as he put the first one on. 'On one hand, the comedy in these episodes is more in keeping with the general perception of comic books, but on the other, the modern Dark Knight is more like the 1930s comic original…'

'I know,' Sheldon agreed. 'It's so hard to pick just one genre.'

'Hey, as long as the ladies are good, I don't care what the 'genre' is,' grinned Howard. 'I wish Bernie hadn't made me throw out that Halle Berry poster.'

'Oh yeah, the Halle Berry poster!' Raj remembered with a smile. 'That was great!'

'Excuse me, it was not!' Sheldon interrupted. 'Do you know how long it took for me to get to sleep under that when I stayed that night?'

'Took me a while some nights too!' Howard replied with a smile.

'It's not even as though she was much good as Catwoman,' Sheldon continued. 'There was much better.'

'OK, so who was the best?' asked Leonard. Howard turned to Sheldon in surprise – he hadn't told him?

'Well it's obvious,' Sheldon said, shifting slightly uncomfortably. 'As you'll see watching the original series, Julie Newmar's interpretation was clearly the best.'

'Oh yeah…so it's her character interpretation you like?' asked Leonard, a little smile on his face.

'Obviously,' Sheldon replied, sounding slightly touchy. 'Why else?'

'Well, I think she's got great bazoomas in that suit,' stated Raj, staring at the screen, 'and look at that ass, dude!'

At that, Sheldon stood up suddenly and snapped the DVD out. 'OK, if we want to stay on schedule, I suggest we move on to the first of the 90s revival movies!'

'What? We were watching that!' Howard protested. 'Just 'cause she's your 'favourite'…'

'And if you could watch it without allowing yourself to fixate on her physical appearance rather than the story as a whole, we could continue,' Sheldon countered.

He smartly clipped the DVD back into its box and stalked off with it, back to his room. The guys looked at each other.

'Please tell me he's gonna sleep with Amy soon,' muttered Howard, and the others couldn't help but agree. A couple of minutes later, Sheldon reappeared and put on the first Michael Keaton Dark Knight movie as if nothing had happened, and told himself that it hadn't. Being teased about Julie Newmar brought back too many embarrassing memories…

Galveston, 1995

'Hey, why're we watching these stupid re-runs?' Missy asked, annoyed at missing Melrose Place.

'They are not stupid,' Sheldon replied. He hadn't taken his eyes off the screen, or to be precise, her.

'Yes, they are! They're like, 30 years old!'

That wouldn't have been too bad, thought Sheldon, looking back as the opening titles for the first movie rolled. It was what came after that was mortifying…

'Hey Sheldon, Mom's got dinner ready…' George Jr called, wandering unannounced into his brother's room. He heard the sudden rustle of bedclothes and the slam of something falling on the floor.

'Get out, George!' Sheldon yelled at him, hastily pulling the covers up to his chin.

George didn't move. He just stood in the doorframe, and Sheldon couldn't help but follow his gaze down to the floor by his bed. George stared at Sheldon's Complete Batman Collector's Edition Guide, and the lady whose picture it had fallen open at.

'Well, well, well,' George said, a sly look on his face. 'So that's why we've been watching all those re-runs…guess you are a real boy, after all…'

Sheldon looked away, face burning. George knew exactly what he'd been doing…

He only snapped himself back to the present when he heard Raj mention going home to fetch Cinnamon.

'That animal is not coming here! Who knows what it licked last?'