Chapter 13

A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing.

I don't own TBBT

Wednesday proved to be quiet successful for Sheldon. After trying the Yang-Mills and then the Maurer-Cartan equations on his current problem, the structure he was looking for had finally begun to present itself. In a lighthearted mood, his evening went just as well, easily winning at Halo; however, his week ended just as hectically as it began.

Priya was always underfoot and a constant thorn in his side. The bathroom debacle was the last straw and gave the proper evidence to use against her and Leonard to end it once and for all. Sheldon did not, however, foresee being outmaneuvered by Leonard's girlfriend. Watching Leonard bend to the will of Priya would have proven to him that sex truly does make people stupid, if he hadn't already been aware of that fact. And he was loathe to admit, it troubled him that Leonard had no compunction with jeopardizing their friendship, and the sacredness of the roommate agreement, just so that he may engage in coitus.

Arriving home to the sweaty smell of Greek food was nearly all Sheldon could stand. He thought he had been rather patient to this point. Unfortunately, his carefully crafted contract had been dissected and left him with little recourse in the matter. Raj and Leonard then proceeded to ridicule him, and Priya gave them legal backing as they did so. The overwhelming stress and the deliberate attempts to thwart his well-designed schedule, made seeking out Penny Friday evening, a necessity. He desperately disliked Greek food and was typically able to get Penny to do his bidding, so he felt certain she would get him a pizza.

"Oh, I'm sorry, honey, I'm meeting Amy and Bernadette for dinner. But you're welcome to tag along." Penny was truly sympathetic about Sheldon having to deal with the she-beast that was Priya.

"Just Amy, Bernadette, and yourself? Out for a girl's night? Oh, I don't know if I'm up for an evening talking about rainbows, unicorns and menstrual cramps."

"Okay, suit yourself. The three of us will probably be trashing Priya a little."

"Shotgun."

"You have a child?" Cera asked her atypical patient.

"No, but I am here to see you." answered a smug looking Howard Wolowitz. He was trying to keep his cool, but he was thrown off by the sophisticated physician who walked into the office and obviously meant business. Her typical long hair was tied tight at her neck. She was adorned in a dress of dark purple covered with a white lab coat, complete with a stethoscope and a badge verifying her position. This hardly seemed like the laid back woman decked out in a poncho at the comic book store. When she spoke she seemed to be a more solid presence than she had before, not as though she could float away on a breeze.

"You're here to see me? How did you even find me? How did you get a nurse let to you in here? Is something wrong?" her words hard and laced with concern.

"We seem to have a problem. And I needed a way to catch you where I knew we could have a private conversation. Your office here, seemed a safer bet than the hospital in LA. I just wanted to know about, I mean I'm curious, I've noticed you're are oddly familiar with Sheldon." Howard struggled to explain. Howard had watched Cera and Sheldon's interactions at the comic book store a few weeks prior. Well, mostly he was watching her. That was one of his hobbies, observing women. He loved Bernadette, but his skills of observing females was a habit that was hard to break. He was struck by the familiarity Cera had with Sheldon that quickly turn into a discomfort that was usually a product of past association. Observing her behave in such a manner lead him to also watch Sheldon who also displayed…odd behavior…for him.

"Wha-?"

"He's having some kind of…mental break down. And while I am not his biggest fan, I don't want to watch him deteriorate if I can do something about it. He's weird when you're around and worse when you leave. Weirder anyway. The thought of him losing his mind scares the hell out of me. Out of all of us. The timing just lead me to believe you're the cause."

"Me?! I'm, I'm not, doing anything." Cera stammered out wiping her hands that had suddenly become clammy on her skirt.
"His episodes seem to coincide with times that one or more of us has observed you with him. Are you running some game on him? You seem to know him too well for someone that just met him."

"I, I don't-"

"You wouldn't be the first girl to maliciously target one of us."

"WHAT?!" He thought she wanted to hurt Sheldon?

"Sheldon has crazy grad students go fangirl over him all the time. And he's not the best at navigating interpersonal matters, so I did some digging." Howard held up a file that had been lying beside him. All the information was safely in his laptop, but it felt he had more leverage with an intimidatingly big file folder. Besides it worked on cop shows.

"Wait this is…Why?"
"It got a lot easier to run a check on you after Penny told us who your folks were. Having a last name helped quite a bit, not that wouldn't have held The Wolowizard off for long. I actually thought I had someone else's information until I actually got here and saw you." Howard flipped open the file and began to read, "You are the daughter of Patrick and Cynthia Tollman who have been married since September 1974."

"I- wait, my parents are still married?" asked a stunned Cera. They had spent so much of her life in an open and on again/off again marriage, she really didn't know. She thought they had split in the eighties, but everything changed when Galen was lost to them.

"According to my research they are. Now, to get the important stuff out of the way first. What was it like to be on board the USS Enterprise? You actually saw Captain Jean Luc Picard in all his glory. Was he as awe inspiring and humbling as I imagine?"

"I was nine…and not really a Trekkie. It was my brothers' thing. Is this some sort of prank?" Cera answered feeling slightly dazed. She wasn't really sure what was happening.

"Anyway, the rest of your information surprised me too. One, I was expecting a foreign national or an overeager physics grad vying for a place amongst Sheldon's research, not a pediatrician. So, Ceridwen Olivia Astrid Tollman. That's a frickin' big name. Born July 3, 1979. You're older than I thought you'd be. Even older than Sheldon." Howard wasn't really trying to make her mad, but he did want information on Sheldon from her. He really didn't think she'd just offer it up, so he was improvising. Really this was for the greater good. Sheldon had lost it. And not in mad scientist way, more of a broken shell of a man who was unpredictable way.

"By nine months! Do I need to have you removed?" Cera stood, hands clinched. She couldn't even fathom what this guy was looking for.

"See, there's the personal info I'm talking about, because Sheldon doesn't do birthdays. Now, just hear me out." Howard flipped through the file folder. "So you were privately tutored and completed a high school level at the age of fourteen and a half and immediately went to Duke as pre-med and then to med school. I was hoping to find your IQ among all this information. This is quite impressive for a woman who knots t-shirts."

"My IQ is nobody's concern, but my own. No, I'm not a genius, but I did have advantages in the form of parents that strongly encouraged education and were willing to pay for it."

"Wow! So you really just worked for it. Hmm, so I really was having a hard time connecting the dots until I noticed you had a Fellowship in Texas, under the name of Olivia Tollman, not far from where Sheldon was living about ten years ago. Before he moved here. Which gave you time and opportunity to have a liaison, which you are now, maliciously leveraging against him. So again, what are you doing to Sheldon?"

"I, I- Please don't, don't make me say it. This doesn't have anything to do with you." Cera said with tears welling in her eyes. She was scared and angry. How dare this man interfere with her family?

"Either prove to me that you are harmless or I talk to Sheldon about it. Is this extortion? You're wanting money aren't you?"

"No, no, don't…I wouldn't do that. If you tell him that, it will ruin everything. I just…I need to talk to him. I'll handle it." Blinking back tears, she wasn't sure if she should be impressed Sheldon's friend was going to such great lengths for him, or just be indignant about Howard's audacity.

"It really doesn't seem like that's happening, now does it?"

"No." Cera answered in a small voice. "I'll talk to you, just not here, not now." Tears now freely flowing from her eyes.

"When? Tonight? Look the guy's falling apart. Glow in the dark fish we can deal with, but him trying to become the next supervillain I don't think any of us could withstand."

"While I hate that, there's nothing I can do." Cera could actually see Sheldon twisting into something dark. He spent so much time suppressing himself and avoiding anything that could be considered frivolous. All his thoughts and motives had seemed to be dominating in nature-and that was years ago. If Howard wanted to help Sheldon through that, could this man also help her? Could she trust him with Merritt?

"You can start by telling me what's going on." Howard replied firmly then soften to add, "Maybe from there we can rectify whatever the situation is."

"OK, this evening. I'm usually out of here by quarter to six. It takes about twenty minutes to get home." she accepted reluctantly after a beat. Her home seemed like the best place for this. If she was going to do this properly, it was going to be messy.

"I'll see you at six fifteen. I have your address." Howard stated with a smirk. "While we're at it do you have any photos or perhaps film from your time on the Enterprise D?"

Cera glared hard at Howard. "Why don't we test the limits of said peanut allergy?"

Howard had just ended a call with Raj. The guys were enjoying the dissolution of the roommate agreement by indulging in Greek food. While he was a lover of all food Mediterranean, he didn't think this was a good time to screw with Sheldon. He wasn't sure if they just hadn't really noticed or didn't care, but he was going to get to the bottom of it. And that seemed like a far more interesting Friday evening, than eating Greek in front of Sheldon. Getting back to the task at hand Howard looked to the time on his watch.

"Hello?"

"Funny thing Cera, I've been in front of your townhouse for 16 minutes now and you're no where in sight."

"I know, I know Howard, just give me a few minutes. I'm just walking out of the office."

"I'll be waiting." Howard pitched his voice lower.

Cera wasn't sure if he was being sultry or intimidating, but he came off sounding like a creepy cartoon character.

Cera arrived at the beige Mediterranean condo, pulled into her garage, climbed her carpeted stairs to her living room and rounded the corner to her front door. She open the door to let Howard in and ushered him further into her living room. Howard sat in the corner piece of her sectional sofa, located in the center facing the TV, got comfortable and said "Convince me you're not trying to manipulate, extort, or cause other harm to Sheldon."

Cera leaned against the wall facing the sectional where Howard was situated, yet remained silent. After a couple of minutes she drew in a ragged breath. "Please don't tell Sheldon I'm extorting him. I'm not. I don't want or need money. This is too important for something so…petty. I didn't want this to become a legal issue."

"Oh, really?" Howard was slightly confused, but didn't want to relinquish the leverage he seemed to have on her. He needed her to keep talking. If this no-nonsense doctor, slash carefree hippie was this bothered by something, what is it doing to Sheldon?

"No! I mean, I know it's crazy I still... I still care about him, you know. And I don't want to. Man I just want to hate him, but…." she trailed off.

Howard cocked an eyebrow hoping she would continue. She cared about him? But she didn't want legal issues? This was going in a very different direction than he had originally considered.

"Uh, can you just, uh, give me a minute to change?" She then entered a stairwell beside the door he had just come through and ascended the stairs. She sat on her bed and drew several deep breaths. She was so angry that this guy had just barged into her life demanding things and making threats. She wasn't certain he would actually even do anything, but she was giving into him all the same. He was, perhaps, the catalyst she needed to get through to Sheldon. And Howard did have an underlying concern that motivated her, more than the threats. Maybe the most surprising thing was that Sheldon, cold, methodical, logical Sheldon, was reacting to her presence.

Cera pulled her looked wood box of mementos from her night stand as she considered exactly what to tell Howard.

Sheldon was quiet riding back from the bowling alley. The lanes were located on the mainland since there wasn't a bowling alley in Galveston. Cera was terrible at bowling which left Sheldon particularly irritated with her performance. Even after adjusting her stance and grip, she stilled hooked to the left.

"So, you're upset. Is it because I wasn't a challenging enough opponent or because you think I take instructions poorly?" She said trying not to chatter in the January cold. While it wasn't freezing, it the air still demanded a heater in the winter.

"No" was the reply while he continued to stare out the window.

"Is it something else? You can tell me anything you know."

"I have observed a pattern of interaction between yourself and the opposite sex and I have a query. Is there a reason you don't let these men court you?"

"Is this because that guy talked to me in the bowling alley? I endeavor to be sociable and engaging. People find me easy to talk to, that does not mean we should date." When Sheldon didn't respond she added "Well, uh, I guess there are many reasons, but it's not as if I have really made a conscious decision not to date. The most obvious is, I work nearly 90 hours a week. Also, none of the men have interested me, and mostly I don't really need a romantic distraction at this moment."

"So, the decision to abstain from dating has nothing to do with my presence? You don't consider us to be dating?"

"What? No. I told you I would pay if that's the problem. Besides, couples decide to date, together, beforehand. And we've never discussed anything of the sort. Why would you ask that?"

"According to Missy, Momma and Meemaw, we are displaying some of the markers of a courting couple… And I paid because I am a gentleman."

"No we don't. It's not like we ever hold hands or kiss or anything. It's just because we're of differing genders. If we were the same gender they wouldn't think anything of us."

"So there is a formality and physical contact to the dating ritual?"

"Typically, yes." Cera was surprised he wasn't aware of these things, but then again he didn't watch many show that he would have seen this behavior demonstrated. Scifi shows were not notoriously known for displaying modern human behavior or anything romantic.

"Have you ever participated in any of the dating rituals?

"Have I dated? Not a lot, but yes."

"Did you enjoy it?"

"Some, though I suppose if I really enjoyed it, I wouldn't be single. The last relationship was emotionally...jarring."

"What did you not like about dating?"

"I guess I disliked the…dishonesty of it all."

"Dating couples are duplicitous?"

"Most of it is not intentional, but some is. Occasionally, one or both parties involved are working an agenda to gain something. With that in mind, one or more parties is also trying to protect themselves from getting hurt. Because of that, there a lot of secrets, lies and manipulations."

"Oh, I can understand your desire to abstain from such an interaction."

Cera just nodded and rode the remainder of the trip in silence.

The conversation wasn't given another thought over the next few weeks, by either individual. At the time Cera had begun working in the most emotional section of the Children's hospital yet, the Oncology ward. She was starting to feel the effects of the isolation she had caused herself, not that she missed her family, she didn't. As a result, her only bright spot had become Sheldon and his family. She relished the one day a week she got to hang out with him and sometimes his family, even if it did annoy him that, frequently, her day off fluctuated.

Since there was no Comic Book store in Galveston and Sheldon had grown tired of getting his comics at the local book store, Cera had agreed to drive him to the closet one they could find on her day off.

"This one doesn't have what I need Cera. We need to find another store."

"Sheldon, it's my day off. While I did plan on hanging out with you today, I had not planned on driving all over Texas."

"You do realize that Texas is 268,820 square miles and having only crossed 21 miles you have really only driven less than eight hundred thousandths of one percent of Texas. Which is in no way all."

Conceding that he did have a point and she hadn't planned anything else today except finishing a paper on pediatric end of life care, they drove to another comic book store.

Sheldon quickly began to navigate through the new store. He was pleased by all that this location had to offer, even if it was further from home. Cera was slightly bored, though she did enjoy how excited Sheldon was. She could tell when he had found the book he was looking for, DC Comics No. 753. He hurried over, bursting with energy, speaking rapidly about Harvey Dent. It had been a long time since she had felt so excited about an activity that was purely for pleasure, sometimes she missed it.

"In February of 1935, which was sixty-six years ago, this very month, Wheeler-Nicholson created the first comic book named New Fun. It was the first comic book of completely original material. The New Fun Comics only lasted until October of that year and then was replace by More Fun Comics…" Sheldon explained knowing that his audience wasn't as captivated with subject as he, but she listened dutifully anyway. Despite her amusement with graphic novels being mild at best, she still listened and was able to keep up with plot lines. He only ever saw her read or purchase X-Men except for the occasions she would buy one or two for a child in the hospital.

After they returned to the car he decided to bring up a topic that had left him curious for the last few weeks.

"Olivia, with regard to our conversation from a few weeks prior, pertaining to dating I wondered, did you ever engage in coitus with these men."

Stunned only thing she could was an unintelligent sounding "HUH?"

"I don't know how I could make that question any easier."

"Oh, I, I understood I just...uh…am...shocked." The impact of the question was so jolting, it was all Cera could do to keep her car on the road.

"I apologize if you find this topic too distasteful for mixed company, though I see no need for it, it's a basic bodily function."

"The topic is...fine. I, uh, no. I haven't had sex with anyone I've dated, or well, anyone for that matter." As a physician, Cera had found herself having much stranger conversations. She just usually wasn't the subject and she wasn't expecting it from Sheldon.

"May I ask, Why not?"

Feeling defensive her voice rose, "Well have you?"

"I admit I am curious about the act and I...I nearly gave in to...my urges, while I was in Germany, but alas, I did not." Sheldon confessed seeming almost...embarrassed.

"Really? What happened? No...You don't have to tell me, never mind." She wondered how his mysophobia tolerated such an act, or was that what stopped him.

"I believe I posed the question to you first."

"I, uh, don't have a specific reason, really. Though, sex seems like something that shouldn't be done lightly. I've had a few serious relationships and come quiet close. I just...never wanted it to be something that was...lost in a...flurry of emotions and, or hormones. Both of those are notoriously unreliable decision making tools. There really ought to be some forethought and possibly even some planning. For every time I delayed the act, I was very quickly assured that I made a good decision as that partner proved to be a poor match."

Sheldon took time to finally come to a conclusion regarding her statement, "I agree. We plan for all other bodily functions. Supplies are kept for illnesses, staying clean, treating injuries. We keep toilet paper and have a schedule for the bathroom so we can prevent accidents."

After a beat Sheldon added. "It was four and one half months after I met you and your brother Braden. Tanja, she was a grad student at Heidelberg, she encouraged me to…experiment with her. She, herself, was not a virgin and offered me access to her lab to further my current research." Sheldon took a heaving breath, "I was able to tolerate open mouth kissing before I began to get uncomfortable. When she crawled in my lap, my skin began to crawl. Though she assured me, she had showered that morning, it just didn't see adequate. When she put her tongue in my mouth I gagged. That just seem far too...invasive and unsanitary."

Sheldon shuddered at the memory. He hated that his hormone driven hind-brain had overridden his good sense that day. It had taken an immense amount of antibacterial wash in a scalding, prolonged shower, twice, to feel clean again. For days he gargled with Listerine each time he recalled the incident in attempt to remove the sensation and the germs he was certain came with it.

"Yea, a good kiss can be that way." Cera gave a soft smile at the statement, but felt honored that Sheldon would share such a personal event with her.

"You are familiar with the act? Invasive and unsanitary is a desired result?"

Cera continued smiling and looked over and said "Hmm, I'm very familiar with kissing…Invasive is kind of the object of any sort of intimacy. As for unsanitary, no. Was that you first kiss Sheldon?" teasing tone to her voice.

"Of course not. I was a sixteen year old male. My first kiss was seventeen months prior, at the age of fifteen. I was kissed by one of Missy's friends, Jenny. I found that kiss even more distasteful, since Jenny tasted of beer and cigarettes."

"Then why did you kiss her?"

"Apparently, I was a topic of a dare in a game."

"Well that's not good. You have to desire a kiss for it to be pleasurable."

"I did." Sheldon said in a candid tone.

"You did? What?" Cera was slightly confused.

"Want to be kissed. Not by Jenny, per say. Nor did I care for the orchestration surrounding the event, but I had been curious about osculation since the onset of puberty. Biologically speaking of course. Unfortunately, I seem to suffer a weakness similar to every other adolescent male, in that hormones could cloud my typically sound judgement."

"Huh." Cera didn't know what to say to that, and the conversation was shifted back to Harvey Dent, by Sheldon. This had been a very informative afternoon. She had thought Sheldon was too consumed by universal mysteries to bother with simple human biology. Apparently she had misread him.

As surreal as the situation had seemed to Cera, Howard may struggle even more with Sheldon's…interactions with her. Clearly Sheldon was even more reserved and tightly wound than he had been a decade before. She decided to take the box down with her, using the contents as confirmation of the interesting narrative she would tell him. Though really, Merritt would be confirmation enough.