A/N: Hello all! Here's the newest chappie! I have safely navigated through my first year in grad school, so I am free to update as often as possible until next August. Everyone yay! Please leave me a review, let me know your thoughts on it! As always, read and enjoy! :D

Eggs cracked sharply against the countertop and Copper poured their delicious contents into the pan. They sizzled, grease popping out and a droplet lightly stung her forearm as she held the spatula, her other hand reaching over to drop the empty shells into her trash bowl. Working with quick, practiced motions, she flipped the eggs over, muttering under her breath when the yoke broke.

"Ruddy bastard, ya are," she groused, adopting a Cockney accent, mostly for the hell of it. Her finger throbbed a bit where she had popped the water blister earlier that morning; damn the man for being right all the time...

There was a loud rapping at her door as she slid the steaming pile of goodness onto a plate.

"Door's open," she yelled and was mildly surprised to see Leonard, Howard and Raj troop through her living room and crowded around the island.

"Hey guys! Care for some breakfast? The pan's still hot, so it's no trouble."

The men looked at one another, then at her plate longingly. She just smiled and shook her head, cracking another batch of eggs.

"Just tell me how you like them. Raj, be a doll and grab some plates out of the cabinet, please? If you want bacon, it's in the middle shelf drawer in the fridge. Leonard, would you mind? Thank you. Howard, what's your pleasure?"

She gestured idly to the quickly cooking eggs in the pan.

"Well, since you asked-"

"Howard," she warned with a scowl, "it's too damned early in the morning."

"Noted. Over easy, please."

Leonard placed the packet of bacon on the counter next to her elbow.

"Here you go, Copper. Do you need any help?"

Copper shook her head as she scooped the eggs onto a plate, shooting a smile at Raj, he ducked his head shyly.

"I'm good, but thank you for offering. Now, Raj? How do you like your eggs?"

Raj leaned over to whisper in Howard's ear.

"Scrambled is fine with him."

"Alrighty, coming up. Ah, that reminds me. Howard, would you like me to fix you some beef sausage to go with your eggs?"

"Why, thank you, Copper, that's very considerate of you. I'd love some," Howard replied with an easy smile, leaning on his elbows as he slid onto a stool.

Copper exchanged a look with Leonard, who was hiding a grin by turning his head and biting his lip. Howard with manners? Brace for the earthquake. She nodded, however, and gestured back towards the fridge as she poked at the yellowed mass. Leonard grabbed the roll of beef out of the drawer and plopped it on the counter next to the bacon.

Leonard also gave her his order and within moments, she had strips of bacon and plump cuts of sausage frying in the pan. Waiting on the meat to brown, she picked up her fork and let out an appreciative murmur as she took a bite of her cooling eggs. She raised a brow at the men gathered in her kitchen.

"Are they satisfactory?"

There were nods all around and she grinned happily. When they were all adequately fed, she stacked their plates in the sink and began to rinse them off before setting them in the racks of the dishwasher.

"So what brings ya'll to my little corner of the world?"

There was a silence behind her and when she glanced over her shoulder, she saw them looking at one another uncertainly. Placing the last fork down, she shut the machine with a foot, ignoring the clanking of flatware and leaning back against the counter. Copper crossed her arms loosely across her flat stomach and tilted her head.

"You do realize that you all possess a rather guilty and conspiratory look about you?"

They all shifted uncomfortably under her pointed scrutiny, none of them meeting her eyes. Finally, Leonard spoke up, one hand rubbing at the back of his neck.

"We just wanted to talk to you about Sheldon."

Copper braced her hands behind her and then hopped, landing with her feet dangling over the edge of the counter. She raised a brow.

"What about Sheldon?"

There was another exchange of looks and Copper felt her patience wearing thin.

"Spit it out, boys."

"Well, he-that is we think that-he might be up to something...concerning you," Howard choked out, his fingers twisting around each other as he stared down at them.

Copper let out a very unladylike snort of laughter.

"What on earth gave you that idea?" she asked dryly and Raj leaned over to whisper to Howard, his arms clasped behind his back.

"Well, the teddy bears of death you left in his room were good indicators that there would be hell to pay," Howard translated and Copper shook her head slowly with a tiny smile.

"I appreciate the concern, guys, but I am fully aware of the ramifications of my actions. Besides, might I point out what he did to my hair?" Copper held up on long russet ringlet with an emphasized gesture.

"Yeah, but, see, the thing is, Copper, that-"

"Leonard," she cut him off, "Please get to the point."

There was those expressions again and Copper let out a growl, jumping down from her perch and slowly sauntering around the island. Her eyes were narrowed and there was a mutual shirking back from her approaching presence. She put her hands on her hips, fingers splayed, and curls spilling over her shoulder as she tilted her head again.

"The point?" she prompted and Leonard let out a sigh, adjusting his glasses with a finger.

"We think Sheldon might be hanging out with you in order to build up to one master stroke that takes you down like Gannondorf in a Zelda battle," he got out in one breath.

Copper looked between them a moment, then nodded.

"I suspected as much."

Howard blinked at her.

"You did?"

She nodded again, moving to plop down on her stomach on the couch, legs curling over her back. Her cheek rubbed against the smooth texture of the cushion and she let out a sigh, acutely feeling the tension in her shoulders.

"So, why are you going along with it?"

"Curiousity?" she asked with a muffled voice and a shrug.

Leonard stepped towards her with a furrowed brow, turning to look back at his friends, then back at her.

"So, then-you're going to let him do something potential devestating to you just because you're curious? Copper, that's crazy."

"Give the man a cigar, he just defined science," Copper wise-cracked with a dramatic gesture before flopping her arm back onto the cushions and he shook his head.

"Copper, you're going to get hurt if-"

"Leonard, I'm a grown woman, as your collective leers probably gathered," she shifted to give them a teasing smirk, chuckling to herself when they didn't meet her eyes.

Then her expression softened.

"I'll be alright, guys, quit worrying about it. Whatever that whack-a-doodle has planned, I can handle it, and him. If not, say something nice at my funeral."

Leonard gave her an exasperated look and she grinned at him, pushing herself up and curling her legs to the side. She held up the remote and said,

"Now, who's up for John Wayne?"

Probably realizing that they weren't going to get anywhere with her that morning, they congegrated around her living area. Copper was only half paying attention to the film. She had known that Sheldon had probably been up to something; Lord, she wasn't so naive to think the good doctor had been interested in her for the sake of her company.

Though a part of her, a very tiny part, kind of wished that was the case.

Still, the more she considered it, the angrier she became. More so at herself than at Sheldon, she admitted, but it still stung that she meant little to the man. There wasn't anyone in the man's life that was more important than himself, she knew, but...

What did it matter if she was considered more highly than anyone else? Since when did that matter?

Since she had kissed him yesterday.

The memory brought a tiny flush to her cheeks. It wasn't even that much of a kiss, more like something you gave to the poor fellow who took you to prom as a reward for trying so hard to make a good impression.

And the questions continued to circle in her mind like buzzards pecking away at her until she felt like screaming. Finally, she had enough. Copper leapt to her feet and strode to the door.

"Copper, where are you going?"

She flung open the door and marched out, calling over her shoulder in her thickening accent and with a snarl,

"To get some answers," she turned her attention to the front, the line of her mouth set grimly, "And I'll be damned if its going to end on anything but my terms."

Sheldon paced in his room, exactly fifteen steps in both directions. There was no excuse for the events that had transpired yesterday. He had managed to rein in his reaction in front of Copper and had even managed to fall asleep without any further incident. Upon waking up this morning, however, he found himself highly agitated and unable to focus on anything. He stopped midway through the latest pass and touched slender fingertips to his lips.

As soon as he had gotten home, he had brushed his teeth, twice. It had not been an unpleasant experience, but he couldn't get the feel of her lips against his out of his mind. It was both a thrilling and terrifying sensation, mostly because it was a phenomenon he did not understand. Nothing he had ever read or been told about had prepared him for the impressions that kissing Copper had left. The awareness that had been slowly intensifying had obviously come to a head, but why did he not feel relieved? Cleansed? What did he feel?

Sheldon scowled, clasping his hands behind his back and resuming his pacing. Why were his feelings important? Facts, observations, objectivity; none of those things had anything to do with understanding his emotions and as a man of science, emotions had no place amongst his mental furniture. He turned on his heel, his mind as steadily processing as one foot fell in front of the other.

If he analyzed one way, he could clearly see that everything was going according to plan. They were becoming closer, more friendly. The suspicious glances were gone, for the most part. Copper looked to him for companionship and enjoyed his company, she said so herself. She even tried to teach him how to play her violin only two nights prior. Perhaps things were moving more swiftly than he had anticipated, but what could one expect when a genius put his mind to a task?

Was she a just task?

That thought caused him to pause once again, the little niggling voice that asked the question too irksome to ignore. If he were to be perfectly honest, as was often the case considering he couldn't lie very well, she was developing into another part of his very select, small group of friends. That kiss yesterday certainly placed her higher in that hierarchy than others, he had to admit, whether he really wanted to or not.

Sheldon heard the front door bang open and his frown turned into an irritated scowl. Leonard knew better than that, as did Wolowitz and Koothrapali. There were only two people who would let a door slam into the wall like that and neither were individuals that he cared to see at that moment.

"Sheldon!"

His name cracked through the air like a whip and he cringed. Letting out a breath, he straightened hs shoulders, feeling for all the world like a man being escorted to the gallows. He turned the knob and opened his bedroom door, stepping into the pleasantly cool hallway. Sheldon peered around the corner and spotted Copper in her flash t-shirt and a dark pair of sweatpants,her arms crossed loosely. The pose caused the emblem blazed across her chest to curve tightly over her breasts and Sheldon swallowed. He had the distinct feeling this was going to be a game of wills and she had stacked the deck against him, wearing the Flash so provacatively.

"Sheldon!"

He frowned, stepped around the corner, and into what had the potential to become the equivalents to the trench battle lines of WWI.

"Yes?" he asked calmly, his hands clasped behind his back as he slowly strode into the room.

She didn't say anything for several heartbeats, her grey eyes narrowed and flashing like a summer storm's heat lightning. Sheldon glanced past her shoulder at the still open door, three distinctly wary faces watching from the hallway. He nodded in their direction.

"I see you've brought your minions, Dr. McIntyre. I suppose the most civil way to start this conversation is to begin with, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Copper marched up to him, tilting her head back enough to look him dead in the face. Her intense gaze belied her calm expression and it made Sheldon itch to retreat back to the relative safety of his room. He really wasn't the confrontational sort; he preferred stealth tactics to a head-on, guns blazing methods. The redheaded female may be capable of his type of strategy, but she obviously favored frontal assaults. Her low tone interrupted his musing.

"I want to know what happened yesterday."

He had a feeling she was talking about more than just their trip to the vintage game store. Sheldon glanced past her again, and gestured to his left.

"Shall we discuss this in a more private setting? I fail to see how our business should be theirs as well."

Copper's hands went to her hips, drawing his attention for a fraction of a second to the curve of her waist before his eyes snapped back up to hers. She had her head tilted, her lilting voice soft, yet possessing an undercurrent like steel.

"I highly doubt that it matters whether they hear this conversation or not, Dr. Cooper. I'm comfortable standing right here." She tapped her bare foot lightly against the floor.

He snorted at her.

"You're just being obstinate."

She raised a brow.

"Keen observations as always."

He frowned, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"I can do without your sarcasm this early in the morning, Copper."

She adopted a mock surprised expression.

"Recognizing that tone now, are we?"

Sheldon felt a growl of frustration building in his throat, but he kept silent, stepping around her and towards the open doorway. Gently, he closed the door, then turned to see her regarding him with a look that was a mixture of irritation, uncertainty, and something else that he couldn't quite place. Dismissing it, he shook his head at her, his hand still wrapped around the knob.

"They don't need to hear this conversation, Copper."

He was saying her name a good bit, but it was with the hope that it would sooth her agitation somewhat. It also seemed to be working, at least a little, because he noted that her shoulders relaxed just a tiny bit. He regarded her as silently as she him for a long moment before he spoke again, softly.

"Something has upset you, about yesterday," he stated, the obviousness of his assessment escaping him, "and I suspect that it was more likely that someone upset you, since you seemed perfectly calm when I left you last evening."

Copper came around the coffee table to stand at the end of the couch nearest him, her arms once more loosely across her stomach. He really, really wished she would stop adopting that pose when he needed to be paying more attention to her words than her body language.

"What are you up to, Sheldon?" Something in the way she asked the question set off the 'danger danger' alarm bells in his head. It was almost like she was...pleading for an honest answer. Sheldon wasn't ready to let his guard down, however.

"I'm afraid I don't fully understand your question," he replied hesitantly and she took two steps towards him, her bare feet stark against the wooden floor.

He noted that she had on bright teal toenail polish this morning.

"Yes, you do," she countered quietly, the tranquility of her tone far more unsettling than the anger she had clearly displayed moments before. The changes of her mood was dizzying and her ability to switch gears, metaphorically speaking, of course, almost as swift as his.

"Do I now?" he tried to keep his voice skeptical but she didn't seem to be convinced.

Copper took another step forward, her head tilting again and Sheldon did not like the speculative gleam that had emerged in her grey eyes. It indicated that pieces were clicking into place and it was far too soon for that to happen. Trepidation was rising like bile in his throat and he racked his brain for an appropriate explanation, since, clearly, after what had occured yesterday, there was no possible way that she was going to accept the friendship excuse. Or was she?

Sheldon watched her take another step, not really seeing her as his mind whirled with potential avenues of verbal escape. Her slow drawl brought his attention slamming back to the present.

"You've been trying awful hard to get in my good graces," she said tacitly, "The gifts, cultivating mutual interests, spending time with me. But none of that was just for me, to really become closer to me, was it?"

Sheldon shifted uncomfortably, finding himself no longer able to meet her eyes. That wasn't entirely true anymore, but what would convince her of that? She continued.

"You don't make friends, Sheldon, they come to you," her steps had carried her until she was standing right in front of him again and Sheldon forced himself to meet her gaze evenly, "So for you to seek me out for companionship means that it actually isn't the case at all. You came to me because that was part of some kind of master scheme. Isn't that true?"

The blank expression on her face made his chest tighten in an unpleasant fashion. She was standing just a couple of feet away, yet she was hiding from him.

"I suppose that's accurate, but Copper, I was being honest with you when I said that I've enjoyed spending time with you," he tried to convey his sincerity through his words as thoroughly as he could, but he wasn't certain if she believed him, her expression neutral.

She didn't say anything else for a long moment, holding his gaze with hers silently. He wanted so desperately to run, to make her speak, to make her disappear, to pull her forward and taste the lips that he still could feel pressed against his. The brilliant scientist was torn between wanting to touch and wanting to shirk away, his body and his mind at odds. This physical awareness was new, raw and it intimated him as it attempted to override his more sensible, logical mind. And yet, it intrigued him. The scientific part of his mind was both attracted and repelled by it; he wanted to be rid of it nearly as much as he wanted to experiment with it, to test its limits.

Her body being so close to his was not helping him resist the urge to experiment, that was certain. If he glanced down, he could see the tiniest sliver of flesh peeking out between the hem of her shirt and the band of her sweats and it was maddening. Firmly, he kept his eyes on hers now, both to impart the truth of what he had said and to watch the thoughts that flashed through them like the firing of electrons beneath a microscope.

Sheldon jumped when her hand touched his and, purely out of instinct, he withdrew it from hers and from the knob. Something...almost sad stirred in her features then and he immediately regretted the action, but he couldn't take it back. Instead, he resolved himself as gently raised his hand to tentatively place it on her shoulder.

"I meant what I said," he murmured and she nodded up at him, his thumb brushing over the soft material, though her expressionate grey eyes were unusually guarded. He realized at that moment that whatever trust had been built between them had taken several steps in the other direction; she may believe him, but she wasn't going to be as open with him as she had been.

That fact caused a curious sensation of dejection in him. Not knowing what else to do and wanting to erase the mutual emotion of meloncholy, he swooped down and gently pressed his lips to her cheek, just as quickly retreating. Sheldon felt Copper stiffen, her gaze widening considerably, before what he was starting to recognize as a despondant look returned to her features, heavier than the last. He realized at that moment that she had misread the gesture. She had come to him looking for answers, but the ones that she percieved was obviously not what she had been hoping for.

But what answers had she wished for? Sheldon wished that he knew. He understood human psychology better than most, so he was fairly certain that he could decypher what was going on beneath that mane of curls. The problem, however, was that he simply did not know what to do to change her mind.

So when she silently opened the door and passed the others in the hallway, stepping out and down the staircase, he let her go.

He let her go because he didn't know the words that would have made her stay.