A/N: Thank you all for the awesome reviews and whatnot! I hope you all continue to give me feedback, it always makes my day! :D

An added note, this chapter was a witch and a half to write. Frankly, I'm still not entirely satisfied with it, so be on the look out for an edit in the future! Anyway, on with the story!

As always, please read and enjoy!

*knock knock knock*

"Copper!"

*knock knock knock*

"Copper!"

*knock knock knock*

"Copper!"

Hearing her name through the door, she opened it with a pleased smile, her heart leaping to her throat as her eyes traveled up a lanky frame, admiring how the color of his shirt brought out the cobalt in his eyes. Recovering, her smile widened as she tilted her head back to meet his hesitant gaze.

"Hello, Sheldon," she said quietly, pulling the door shut behind her so she could greet him without the prying eyes of parents and nosy actresses.

"Good evening, Copper, you look quite lovely."

She glanced up at him with happily dancing eyes.

"Merci. Vous êtes à la recherche très beau ce soir, ainsi."

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, regarding her with an expression that was a mixture of amusement and curiosity.

"I shall assume that you gave me a similar compliment."

Gently taking the collar of his shirt between her fingertips, she answered him with a crooked smile and a soft kiss, one that he returned. It had yet to stop sending a thrill through her body when he was willing to be physically affectionate with her, though she knew that this moment was to both satisfy her and because he was more nervous about meeting her parents than he may have liked to admit.

"Oui," she replied when they parted and turned her attention to the items he held, "Oh, Mama will love these daisies, they're her favorites! And…cheez-its?"

He looked at her sheepishly, before straightening his shoulders.

"I knew you didn't have any."

Feeling generous, and touched, since he brought her mother such a beautiful gesture, Copper held her tongue and merely nodded silently. Plucking the box from his fingers, she opened the door to her apartment and held it for him. her parents' eyes immediately flew to the open doorway and she fought back the blush in her cheeks, mentally chastising herself for reacting like a teen being picked up for the prom.

"Mama, Daddy," she said, holding her hand out to Sheldon and standing near his elbow, "this is Sheldon. Sheldon, my parents, Dr. Emily and Fred McIntyre."

Sheldon nodded to them courteously, striding into the room confidently, an air of assurance that Copper suspected he did not entirely feel.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both, Copper often speaks of you. Dr. McIntyre, these are for you."

He held out the bouquet to her mother, who took them with a surprised and delighted smile.

"Why thank you, Sheldon, that was very thoughtful."

Sheldon seemed happy with her response, and pleased with himself, Copper was mildly amused to see. She also caught the glare he shot at Penny as she reluctantly removed herself from his spot on her couch.

"Excuse me a moment," the blonde said politely, moving into the kitchen and Sheldon immediately folded his tall frame into the vacated seat. He turned to address her mother.

"Dr. McIntyre, I've read several of the articles you've penned, they're fascinating."

Copper smiled as they began an earnest conversation on the virtues of amphibian research, walking into the kitchen to slid onto a stool next to Penny. She plopped the box on the counter, chewing on her bottom lip as she watched her father give Sheldon a considering look. The physicist, for his part, was too engrossed in his conversation with Dr. McIntyre to notice. Penny leaned over towards her friend.

"So far, so good, right?" she asked in a low voice.

Copper nodded slowly.

"Yes, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Sheldon and my dad haven't started talking yet."

Penny tilted her head inquisitively, her normally flawless brow furrowing.

"And that's what you're really worried about? Those two having a conversation?"

The redhead didn't reply for a moment, hesitant as she groped for an answer.

"Not exactly. It's more like I worry that Dad's beliefs are going to truly test Sheldon's patience."

The blonde shrugged nonchalantly.

"Don't sell him short. He does have a very religious mother. He's held his tongue around her, for the most part, so I think he can handle your dad's, er, unconventional beliefs."

Grey eyes slid over to regard her somewhat amusedly.

"Point one, my dad is not anywhere near on the same religious field as Sheldon's mom. Point two, Sheldon has informed her of his opinion and she manages to completely stonewall him on the matter, rendering his arguements rather ineffective. Point three, she is his mother, there has to be a certain amount of acceptance on his part, despite his claims to Spock-level logic. And point four, she has never truly tried his patience, mainly due to the atypical East Texas upbringing that she gave him. You just don't go against your mother when she tells you something, whether you agree or not."

Penny held up her hands in a show of surrender.

"Alright, alright, I get the idea, I do!" her green eyes glittered with a teasing humor, "The real question is, how are you going to handle it?"

Copper let out a breath, crossing her arms over her stomach as she swung one long leg over the other.

"To be completely honest, I don't know yet. It's going to depend entirely on how Sheldon does, I reckon."

Penny smiled impishly at her.

"You reckon? Your Carolina roots are showing, dear."

She laughed and Copper's lips twitched as she tried to fight back her grin. Then, she sobered.

"Perhaps. Still, I hope Sheldon's tolerance can hold, at least until my parents leave for the hotel. I can deal with his venting afterwards."

Penny gave her a considering glance.

"Even if what he has to say about your dad is unflattering?"

Copper shrugged, grey eyes cutting over towards her friend sharply.

"And how often am I proudly recounting my father's words?" she asked with a crooked smile, making Penny giggle softly.

"Ah, shall we delve once again into the agate story?"

Copper shuddered in a show of mock horror.

"Spare me! I had to experience that, don't you know."

Their banter was interrupted when Emily glanced their way with curious eyes.

"Now what was you girls so tickled?"

The two younger women exchanged looks before turning their gazes back towards the living room.

"Just girl talk, as they say, mother dearest," Copper replied, grey irises dancing as her mother raised a slender eyebrow.

"Quite a subdued tone for a young lady who had such difficulties accepting the defined gender roles in her wilder days. Oh, who was that woman you read religiously that summer? You remember, Fred, she was...eleven or twelve, I think, and she hefted that book around under her arms spouting passages like ink from a pen?"

Her father nodded, leaning back in the large armchair that sat just to the left of his wife.

"Mary Wollenstonecraft and her A Vindication of the Rights of Women."

"Yes, that was it," Emily replied, her fingers curled in an elegant gesture as she turned her attention back towards her daughter, "Now what was it you just loved to say?"

"Taught from their infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison," Copper replied quietly, her voice and features soft with remembrance.

Penny stared at her, her lips slightly parted.

"Oh, Smokey, that's...that's beautiful! And so sad," she murmured and Copper nodded.

"And true, even in this day and age," she responded, subdued as she allowed her thoughts to briefly before she mentally shook herself and gave her friend a smile, "And also something to think about the next time you agree to take one of those ridiculous commercial jobs."

Penny nodded, her features set in a distant expression and Copper was pleased that something so simple could inspire such deep consideration in the beautiful blonde. Noting that Sheldon had been silent for some time, she turned to glance at him and felt her lips curve into a small smile. He was watching her intently, fingers splayed against the dark fabric of his slacks.

There was something warm in his gaze, fondness perhaps? Affection? She wasn't certain, but it brought another flush to her cheeks and she quickly glanced down, letting her curls fall forward to hide her features, if only for a moment. Regaining some semblance of composure, Copper lifted her head with a bright grin.

"How would you all like it if I played a song?"

Her father leaned forward with an eager smile.

"Would you, love? It's been too long since I heard you!"

With a happy laugh, she rose and went to her desk where her violin case rested. Her fingertips caressed the case lovingly before she opened it with a snap. Lifting the beloved instrument and turning to face her audience, she tilted her head, using her free hand to sweep away her mane of curls.

"Now, what is your listening pleasure?"

Fred shook his head at her.

"You know what I would like to hear. Emily, do you have anything in particular you'd like our little Beethoven to play?"

Copper frowned, moving towards him and cuffing his shin with the toe of her shoe.

"Dad, that was cute when I was thirteen, but it's stale at this age," she grumbled as he rubbed at his afflicted limb.

Emily laughed softly and shook her head.

"That would be fine, darling," identical eyes met, "Anything you play is wonderful to me."

"A mother's prejudice," Copper observed dryly, though her expression took any potential sting out of her words.

Lifting bow to string, Copper closed her eyes and gently moved her arm, ductile strands of music lifting into the air. It was an old song, something her father claimed his Irish ancestors had played around their campfires centuries ago. Doubtful as she was, Copper still enjoyed the melody. It kindled a longing to see a country that had been romanticized often and yet still rarely failed to steal one's breath away.

The tempo increased and she her movements quickened, then slowed again, rising and falling, a reflection of the dichotomy that man had immortalized in myth and story for ages. Perhaps that was the secret, what had drawn her father, and eventually Copper, to the music. Perhaps that was even the secret to music itself.

The world was a place of opposites, a balancing act that could even be seen in the orbit it took around the sun. Too hot, too cold, too much, too little, too calm, too passionate...a middle path of temperance, moderation, always seemed to be the answer to every problem, to every circumstance. What is it the ultimate truth? Did one exist?

The question floated through her mind as she played, leading her to consider if Sheldon had ever asked it to himself. With an effort, she opened her eyes to look at the man in question. It was with a lurch of her heart that she noted how he silently regarded her, that same puzzling expression back in his eyes.

As she followed the strains of the tune dutifully, almost automatically, she felt something...slide into place somewhere, a notion skittering across her consciousness that this was...right. She closed her eyes again with a frown, letting her hair once again fall forward to hide her expression. What did that mean, right? Meant to be? Mentally, she fought back the scoff that threatened to escape past her lips.

She was starting to sound like her father. Your life was what you made it, the choices leading to the outcome. So...did that mean that she had made a choice? The song ended, but the questions did not. Painting a smile across her features, she took a deep mock bow and carefully stowed away her violin.

"Gorgeous, as always, love," her father commented, clearly content and she leaned down to press a kiss to his cheek fondly.

"I'm glad you thought so, Daddy."

Fred turned to Sheldon, who was still sitting quietly, and somewhat stiffly on the couch. Copper realized, somewhat sheepishly, that he was still uncomfortable and the impending conversation that her father's gesture just heralded wasn't going to make him feel any better. The redhead lowered herself to the arm of the couch, next to her mother, where a silent conversation between the two was taking place.

Her father's voice broke in, jarring her like the straggling notes of a trombone.

"Her aura flares so beautifully when she plays, don't you agree, Sheldon?"

Copper bit back a groan, subtly crossing her arms, one elbow resting on the other arm to pinch the bridge of her nose. Sheldon gave him a puzzled look.

"I'm not sure what you mean, Mr. McIntyre."

Fred made an airy motion towards his daughter, his eyes becoming dreamy and distant.

"Oh, certainly an intelligent young man such as yourself has heard of auras. Copper's becomes so much brighter when she plays her violin, and her energy! It's almost overwhelming. That must be what I felt when we came in, love. You practice in here quite a bit, eh? I can't say I blame you, it's a good room."

Sheldon let out a snort of laughter and she pinched harder, squeezing her eyes shut in a vainglorious attempt to keep the headache building at the back of her skull from worsening.

"Mr. McIntyre, really, in what part of the fanciful universe are you dwelling? Auras, just like any other so-called psychic phenomena, has been thoroughly researched by some of the greatest scientific minds in the last century and no evidence has ever been uncovered to support its existence, other than its status as complete poppycock."

Her father's smile never wavered as his eyes sharpened in an instant and he let out a quiet chuckle.

"Much like that Higgs Bozone Particle Copper tells us you've been chasing after?"

Sheldon froze his mouth silently opening and closing like a dying fish, and Copper held her breath. Oh, that was a vicious blow, she had to give the older man that. It almost made her want to smile. When the physicist didn't respond right away, Fred waved his hand again.

"Like most things in this vast universe of ours, some things are simply unknowable. Frankly, I think it's for the best. What is there for us to aspire towards if all the mysteries were solved? Of course, if scientists simply opened their minds to the existence of the intangible, the unexplainable, then perhaps so many people wouldn't flee to organized religion."

Sheldon seemed to recover his wind at that, cobalt gaze narrowing to slits as his nostrils flared.

"I cannot agree with that assessment. The entire purpose of scientific inquiry is to learn the unknowable, as you put it. And, for your information, the Higgd Bozone Particle, while not visible to the naked eye, can be seen beneath high-powered lenses and is thus, as tangible as the human immune system. Therefore, I find your argument to be, at best, hokum."

He crossed his arms at that, clearly feeling vindicated, not to mention the superior being in the conversation. Knowing him as she did, the knowledge immediately sent a flash of anger bolting through her. Straightening her spine, Copper addressed him, her voice low, but edged as if with serrated steel.

"I hardly think that my dad's belief in that which is unseen qualifies his argument as hokum, Sheldon. There are a great many things in this world that even the greatest scientific minds have been unable to explain or dispute."

He turned to her, his disbelief clear on his face.

"Don't tell me you believe in this crock, Copper."

And there it was, the proverbial gauntlet, the line drawn in the sand. She started to rise from her seated position on the arm of the couch, but her mother's hand on her arm held her still. Instead, she exhaled a breath and blinked slowly.

"Dante, I believe, said it best when he penned, Therefore the sight that is granted to your world penetrates within the Eternal Justice as the eye into the sea; for though from the shore it sees the bottom, in the open sea it does not, and yet the bottom is there but the depth conceals it. Not everything can be seen, not even at once or by the most powerful microscope devised by man. And how many of your great minds have fully come to understand even that portion of the world, much less the universe?"

She bit out the question like a bullet, piercing and cold in its presentation. He half-turned towards her, his features set like stone.

"Even the most brilliant of minds needs more than just an individual genius. There is the financial aspect, manpower, and more than a single man's drive to explore the last frontiers of Earth."

"And you have to resort to paraphrasing Star Trek to make that point?" she shot back with a scornful glance and he shook his head.

"You're sidestepping the point, Copper," he countered, then muttered obstinately, "And I can't believe you would adhere to that nonsensical, illogical garbage."

It was like all the air in the room had been vacuumed out. Both Penny and Emily were exchanging quiet glances, their features reflecting concern. Her father, for his part, seemed oblivious or uncaring, already standing and admiring his daughter's collection of figurines once more. Every emotion, every sensation simply drained from her, leaving Copper feeling bereft and cold.

All the degrees that she had earned, every honor that had been listed next to her name...none of the accomplishments that were attributed to her brightness could have brought her up from that single, devastating opinion he had uttered.

Copper wrapped her fingers around her mother's wrist and moved her hand from her arm. Reaching her feet, Copper gestured to Sheldon.

"Sheldon...a word, if you please."

His eyes snapped up to hers coldly, but he obeyed, standing with a minute inclination of his head to Emily. Copper's steps were steady and heavy against the hardwood floor and she resisted the urge to throw open her front door. She spun on her heel as soon as she reached the middle of the landing, in time to see Sheldon pulling the door closed behind him. He moved past her towards the stairwell, but paused when he didn't hear her following him.

"Copper? Isn't this a rather public place to have any sort of discussion?"

She stared at him, eyes like slate.

"There isn't going to be a discussion, Sheldon," she said quietly, mentally startled, and unsettled, by the lack of emotion she was experiencing. There was nothing, just a cold, hollow sensation at the core of her being.

He looked at her, as if he was bewildered by her words, but then understanding dawned on his features. He placed a palm against the corner of the wall to his left, the other hand resting limply at his side.

"I seem to have crossed some sort of line," he observed after a lengthy pause.

Copper lifted her shoulder in a careless shrug, unwilling to hide the numb, emptiness that had come over her. No kidding, she thought dully. In an instant, he had managed to convey his disdain for that which had shaped her, made her what she was. And he couldn't see that?

"Yes," she said simply, the single word carrying more weight than one may have thought possible.

He looked as if he was hesitating then, the confidence that he had always exuded fading when she didn't elaborate any further. He lowered his hand and shoved both of them in his pockets, coming down a step towards her, but she was unmoved.

"I will admit that I am at a loss as to how to handle this situation, Copper," he admitted slowly, his gaze on the shoddy carpet, quiet a moment before continuing in the face of her silence, "and I find myself wishing that you would explain to me what I've done so that I may find some manner of appeasing you."

If anything, his words only made her feel colder, the chill creeping over her intensifying. She knew this, she knew going into this that it was the most likely outcome. He couldn't see past himself and his ideas, his desires, merely wanting to satisfy her socially implied wish of a measly apology so that he would no longer be in trouble. What had she really expected? Something genuine? She growled under her breath, resisting the urge to gnash her teeth. This was always how it would be; one-sided, the effort exerted only in the name of self gratification. The homo novus had discovered an all too human need within himself and she, as the one who had awakened it, had become the most likely candidate to fulfill it. God, how had she not seen this? Or had she and simply ignored it?

The memories of their shared time together, the heat in his eyes when he had looked at her...she could trust none of it. Copper exhaled heavily through her nose. It just wasn't worth struggling anymore.

Frustrated with herself and with him, Copper took the three steps in the other direction, to her door.

"There isn't anything to explain, Sheldon," she said, her back to him and her hand on the knob, "It's pointless."

Perhaps he agreed, because he didn't even make a single sound of protest when the barrier closed between them.