Chapter 3:

In a blink of an eye, Sheldon had returned to the lab at Caltech; he was back in the present. His decision to come back was to first, assure Leonard that he was indeed fine, and two, to figure out what he needed to do next. Though Leonard had a far simpler mind than Sheldon's, his little buddy often excelled when it came to matters of the heart. Then again, most people excelled more than Sheldon when it came to matters of the heart. For example, he realized that even though he was not the same version of himself from then, he could still sense the look of rage on his friends faces from time to time.

Sheldon looked around the room, but could not see Leonard. "Surely he wouldn't have gone home without me," Sheldon thought. "He's my ride home, regardless of whether I am time travelling."

As if on cue, Leonard came back into the lab. Shock spread upon his face as he took note of his roommate's return.

"You're safe." Leonard said with a huge grin.

Sheldon nodded. "Yes, I am. It seems we have truly solved the issue of time travel."

Leonard took note of his roommate's disposition. Something had to be wrong. He could sense the aura of discontent from the bathroom before he walked back into the lab.

"Sheldon, did something happen?" Leonard asked tentatively.

"Yes, something did. I went back in time to the day when our group first talked about the possibility of time travel and what science would be involved to make it possible. Do you remember that day?"

Leonard looked at him quizzically. "No, when was it?"

"Eight years ago," Sheldon replied, his voice dead pan.

Now Leonard looked at him like he was insane. "No, I don't remember that at all."

Sheldon rolled his eyes at Leonard, but couldn't blame him. Not everyone could have a remarkable brain like him. "Well we did, it was only for a short amount of time, and then the conversation died."

Leonard couldn't help but wonder where this was going. "I'm sure you said something along the lines of how no one would be good enough to actually solve the scientific issues related to time travel."

"I did!" Sheldon exclaimed, "But that's not the point, Leonard. Something about my visit is troubling me." When Leonard didn't reply, Sheldon continued. "I went back in time to assure myself that my ambition was sound and that I shoudn't be upset that I was testing this and putting my own personal wellbeing at risk, without telling Amy. I thought that if I could go back a time when my mind was clear of emotional connection I could look at this objectively."

"And now that you've seen how you were before you learned to be a real boy, you're not quite sure you feel like you can get away with being selfish towards Amy?"

"Exactly! What should I do?" Sheldon asked, grateful that his roommate understood his precarious situation.

Leonard sighed. "I don't know, learn how to be a real boy?"

"Be serious, Leonard. You're the reason why I'm in this situation." Sheldon snapped.

"Well Sheldon, you could do one of two things. The first would be just telling Amy about today. The second thing would be if you want to do this alone, then you could see how your ambition affects Amy—like a beta test. At least then you'll know what to expect when you finally do tell her."

Sheldon gasped. "That's perfect!"

"Wait, what is?" Leonard asked, watching as his roommate scrambled into the time machine.

"I'm going to go back in time and do a beta test." Sheldon answered with excitement evident in his voice. Noticing that his roommate was eyeing him skeptically, Sheldon added "Don't you dare leave me before I get back."

With that, Sheldon disappeared. Leonard looked at the clock: it was past 8 pm. With a sigh, Leonard muttered: "This is going to be a long Saturday night."