Chapter 28

Penny was sitting cross-legged on her floor looking up at the bulletin board she had propped up on her couch. It was her "Alters Board" and helped her keep all of her facts straight. There were the names and personality types of all the alters listed on the board. There were blurry pictures of the alters that had been taken on phones by Leonard, Penny, Missy, or one of the few people that knew what Penny was looking for. Paul, James, and Johnny were crossed out with big red Xs.

Sighing explosively, she flopped down onto her floor, staring up at her ceiling as if it held the answer to her problems. Problems meaning plural. Along with trying to figure out the solution to the alter problem, she was having a hard time making rent. Along with financial problems, she still had not been called back from any of her auditions. She had been really hopeful about a warrior-princess supporting role that she tried out for. However, the directors hadn't called after two weeks so Penny wasn't holding her breath.

'Guess I can look forward to another year of workin' the Cheesecake Factory. Woo.' Penny thought as she closed her eyes. Her peace was short lived.

"Penny! Are you there? Penny?" Leonard yelled through her door. Scrambling to her feet, Penny yanked open the door to see a frazzled looking Leonard, glasses askew and what looked like a bruise blooming across his jaw. "Penny! There were two guys that jumped me and Sheldon. Sheldon freaked out and an alter took his place. I think it was Patrick cause when he finished beating up the guys, he took my keys from me and took off in my car." Leonard got all of this out in one breath, before falling against the doorframe, heaving lungful after lungful of air.

"What? We have to find him! Who know what he is doing in Sheldon's body!" Penny exclaimed as she darted back into her apartment for her purse and keys. Dashing out the door, Penny locked her door and quickly made for the stairs. Motioning for Leonard to get in the car, Penny revved up her Jeep.

"Do you know any of Patrick's places that he likes to go?" Penny asked as she turned down Euclid.

"I've found him at that dirty sports bar on the outskirts of town. "Dirty Harry's" I think is what its called."

"Got it." Penny punched the gas and they zoomed off towards the edge of town.

Dirty Harry's was a nasty bar that didn't really fit in with the Californian lifestyle. It was almost saloon like in nature, with one fuzzy tv in the corner playing some sort of manly sport. Penny's face twisted in disgust when the smell of sweat, BO, booze, and urine assaulted her all at once upon her arrival. Leonard and her looked horribly out of place. Patrick playing pool in the back, however, did not. He was downing a Miller and chatting up a scantily clad waitress. Said waitress was eyeing Patrick up like he was tall glass of water in the Sahara desert. Penny's frown intensified as she swiftly made her way across the room, avoiding wandering hands and inappropriate pickup lines. 'Is anyone more original then to call me Barbie?' she fumed.

Patrick's hand was creeping down the giggling waitresses back and was steadily making his way to her ass.

"Patrick! What the hell are you doing?" Penny exclaimed upon her arrival of the pool table. Both Patrick and the waitress turned towards her. The waitress with a look of alarm. Patrick with a look of exasperation and amusement.

"Who are you?" the waitress asked around her popping gum.

"I'm his girlfriend, girly! Back off!" Penny sneered at the girl, causing the waitress to immediately back off. Muttering apologies, the waitress scurried off to actually do her job.

Patrick glared at Penny before turning back to his game of pool.

"Well thanks, Penny. Now, Imma gonna have to find some relief somewhere else."

"You don't know where that 'relief' has been! You could give Sheldon something that he wouldn't be able to give back!"

Patrick snorted at the comment in amusement. "Penny, what are ya doing here? This is no place for ya to be." Patrick's brows screwed down in confusion as he shook his head.

'Sheldon is somewhere in there!' Penny thought with delight. Patrick was notorious for not caring about anyone, not even the body he inhabited. Penny knew that Sheldon was closer to being aware then he has ever been.

"Why are you grinnin' like a fool? Makes you look stupider then you normally do." Patrick snickered at his own joke and went back to racking up the billiards.

'Still a douche' Penny thought as she motioned Leonard over to the pool table. Leonard was almost hugging the walls in his fear to not draw attention to himself. He finally made it to the table, trembling but looking quite determined to be here.

"Patrick" Penny started "Let's go. You've had your fun. Let's leave, pick up a pack of beer on the way home and watch a game."

"Nope. I'm gonna finish this game of pool. Even with how long I've been away, these pansies here still know not to play against me."

Penny really didn't want to stay in this nasty bar all night, getting leers from wannabe cowboys and dirty bikers.

"I'll play you." Leonard piped up.

Penny whirled around in surprise. Leonard didn't seem like the kind of guy that could play pool. Penny was probably better than him.

"You?" Patrick laughed hysterically, clutching the side of the table to keep him upright. "I can't play you."

"Why? Scared?" Leonard asked as he strolled over the wall of pool sticks.

Patrick's laughter died immediately. "Scared? Of you? You must be kidding."

"Why don't you put your money where your mouth is?" Leonard asked.

Patrick smirked lazily as he leaned against the table. "Fine. If I win, you have to go pick a fight with the bartender." Leonard and Penny turned to look at the bartender, and blanched. The bartender was easily 250 plus pounds of muscle and over 6ft.

"Fine. You have to go home with Penny and I, no fuss, plus you have let Sheldon back in control when we get back." Leonard stuck out his hand

"You're on!"Racking up the billiards, Patrick's back was turned to the Penny and Leonard.

Penny leaned into Leonard to whisper into his ear. "You don't have to do this! That bartender could kill you!"

Leonard smiled at Penny. Patting her arm, he made his way to the pool table. "Don't worry. I got this."

So game began. Penny's fears were coming to light when she saw how many shots Patrick was making in and Leonard just wasn't. Patrick's smug look was grating on Penny's last nerve. She wanted to shove Leonard out of the way and bash his face in. One of main things stopping her: explaining to Sheldon why his jaw is broken.

"Well, Leonard, if I'd known you were this bad, I would have made a bigger bet." Patrick snorted at his little joke as he lined up a shot. He was fairly drunk so it was no surprise that he missed it entirely. Leonard made his way to the table and whiffed another shot. Penny groaned in dismay and put her face in her hands. 'I can't watch' she thought.

"How about we make it more interesting?" Leonard asked. Penny's head shot up at this. 'Oh God, Leonard is going to die' is all she could think. Patrick smiled lazily at Leonard as he leaned heavily on the pool table.

"Fine. If I win, not only do you have to start a fight with bartender, you have to let me have free-reign on the body for the rest of the weekend. No restrictions. No tricks."

"Deal. However, if I win, you have to assimilate back into Sheldon once and for all. He is no longer tormented by bullies. You are completely useless. I understand if you're scared but…"Patrick's hand shot out and punched the wall next to Leonard's face.

"I'm not scared of anything that you could dish out. Deal." The two men shook hands and the game continued. Patrick swaggered to the table, lined up a shot, and missed again. Penny looked at the table to see what shots Leonard had and it was not much. Actually, no shot that Leonard would actually be able to make. Sighing, she figured that she would have to be taking Leonard to the ER later and stalking Patrick all weekend to make sure he didn't kill Sheldon's body.

Leonard leaned over the table, lined up a shot that Penny could see wouldn't work, and pulled back to make his shot. Penny turned around so she would not have to witness his utter failure at pool. Then came the sound: the sound of a perfectly hit billiard. Spinning around promptly, Penny watched as the ball Leonard hit not only made it in but it had hit three other balls on its way that made their way in as well.

Spluttering, Patrick pointed an accusing finger at Leonard. "What the hell? What was that?"

Leonard smirked as he twirled the pool stick around. "This game is about angles. I am a genius after all." The suave message was hurt after he whacked himself in the head with the pool stick. Rubbing his head, he muttered "Let's finish this."

And finish it he did. With a few well placed shots, Leonard smirked up at Patrick as the last ball fell neatly in the whole. Patrick was blank-faced. 'This can't be good.' Penny thought.

"A deal's a deal, Patrick. When we get home, you have to assimilate with Sheldon. You'll be the worse of the 'problem children' that Sheldon will have to deal with." Leonard said. Penny and Leonard started to put the balls and sticks away when they were cut off by barking laughter. Heads snapping up, they saw Patrick leaning against the wall and laughing hysterically.

"You think I'm the problem child?" This sent him into a fit of laughter again and it was few minutes before he calmed down. "You're in for one hellava ride. I'm sad that I won't witness it, but at least I know that I helped to speed it along. You don't know what you're getting into. Such a dumb bitch." Taking a final swig of his beer, Patrick gave Leonard and Penny a mock salute. "It's been real. Have fun dealing with this shit."

"What shit?" Penny asked but noted the blank expression. Waving her hand in front of his face, Penny yelled "Patrick!"

"Danger! Danger! Penny! What are you doing? Where are we?" Sheldon asked, fear clouding his expression.

Sheldon was back.

*****I'm so sorry about the late update. My motivation to do anything has been dreadfully low. However, I still have a deep love for my stories and I promise that they will not go unfinished. Thank you to everyone that took the time to wait for the next chapter. Y'all are fantastic! Please review and let me know your thoughts. As always my beloved readers, Much Love!****