Reference to: 'The Electric Can Opener Fluctuation'; 'The Comic Book Store Regeneration'; 'The Good Guy Fluctuation'
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I'm sorry you couldn't make Comic Con this year, Sheldon wrote his pixel-pal. The Avengers and Guardians 2 panels were excellent. In fact, there might have been a spoiler let loose as Chris Pratt said—
The door to 4A opened and Penny entered wearing a tank top, capri pants and a big grin.
"Hello Sheldon," she said sweetly as she approached her friend. "So, a little bird told me that you made a little fun for yourself at the convention." The moment she was alone with Leonard she made him spill the beans on what happened with Sheldon. Who knew that a breakup with Amy could have such positive effects?
"Yes, it was exciting," he said as he typed. "We got to see the preview for the new Avengers movie, heard about a possible Flash/Green Lantern team up—"
"I mean you and the robot chick."
"Ah. You mean Tracy—and FYI she was a Borg. Yes, both she and Kim gave me a tour of the town as it were."
"Good for you, Sheldon!" Penny cheered.
Sheldon turned his chair to face his neighbor.
"I'm taking your advice and am expanding my social network." His mouth twitched. "Facebook friend requests keep coming in. It's rather overwhelming."
"But in a good way, right?"
"Suppose one of them is into identity theft? Or is a serial killer? Or a fledgling physicist out to pick my brain and not give me credit?"
"I'm sure they're fine," Penny soothed. "Only don't give them any credit card information or your home address."
"I'm not that vacuous," Sheldon said stiffly as he turned back to his computer. "Contrary to popular opinion I'm a thirty four year old adult not a—" His eyes lit up. "Oh! A note from my friend, Dr. Elizabeth Plimpton."
Immediately Penny's smile froze.
"That's the one who slept with Leonard, right?" she said.
"And Rajesh," said Sheldon as he read. "Hmm. She has a conference next week and was wondering if she could stay here." He raised an eyebrow in thought. "Well, as Leonard and Raj are seemingly happy in their tenuous relationships—"
"Hey!" snapped Penny.
"—Elizabeth should be just fine."
"Well, just to be sure she doesn't decide to play nicely with others I'll keep Leonard over at my place until she's gone," Penny said, her arms folded across her chest.
"Agreed," said Sheldon. "She can sleep in Leonard's room."
"Yeah, I bet she will."
"You don't have to bet. I just told you she will," Sheldon said as he opened a new window and began to type.
Penny rolled her eyes. "Eyah. Listen, I also wanted you to know that while you were away at the Comic book convention Bernadette and I were hanging out with Amy."
"Oh?" Sheldon said in a tone he hoped passed for casual. "How is she doing?"
"Well, you know Amy." Penny paused as she bit her lip. "Listen, you're okay now, right?"
"I'm exceptional," Sheldon replied as he typed.
"Do you miss Amy?"
Sheldon stopped typing and straightened in his seat.
"Sometimes," he said. He glanced at Penny. "I've shared my thoughts with that woman for over four years. From what I understand 'getting over' someone takes time."
"Yeah," Penny said as she thought about Amy. "Listen, sometimes when people break up they can do some crazy things—"
"I assure you I'm not insane. My mother had me tested."
"I know. I mean that—" Penny's phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and blanched when she saw Amy's name. How the hell did she know?! "We'll talk later," she said awkwardly and left.
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Amy leaned back against her couch, mug of tepid water in hand. Her eyes were dry from the strain of reading over so many documents in a short amount of time but she had to be sure of what she was doing before she could act. Unbeknownst to Sheldon, Amy had copied his research from his computer. It was her hope that they could work together on his string theory, becoming the Madame and Monsieur Curie of the physics world. Since she wanted this to be a surprise she met with a few of Sheldon's colleagues in order to get explanations for some of what he was doing but overall she felt she had a grasp of his ideas. In fact, she even had a few of her own.
That's why it was frustrating that Sheldon decided to abandon string theory as all of her dreams of working with him went to the wayside. All of the work she put into getting him to lower his expectations for his career so that they'd become research partners went out the window because Sheldon 'didn't feel it' anymore. After working on string theory for twenty years he realized now that his work was for nothing.
"Why do things always happen to me?" Amy sighed.
Her eyes glanced at her computer screen. In her estimation, her interpretation on M-theory was really promising. The question was what to do with it?
Perhaps this could be a good way to lure Sheldon back to her. Amy realized that Sheldon always had another mistress when they were dating. Lady Physics, as she often said with a sneer, got in the way of more date nights than enough. With Amy's luck Sheldon would be so intrigued by her numbers that he'd lock himself away to research. No, luring him with physics was a dangerous idea. But she had to do something with her research. Should she publish it herself? She could but that wouldn't get Sheldon's attention. She needed something that would make him come to her.
Besides, she owed him for sucking face with those man-stealing bitches from Comic Con.
Amy reached for her phone and dialed.
"Hewwow?" said a familiar voice.
"Hello Barry. It's Amy Farrah Fowler. ... Yes, Sheldon's ex-girlfriend. Listen, I have a proposition for you—"
XXX
"It's new comic book night, Leonard," Sheldon said in an annoyed tone, tapping his foot even as he glared out the side window of the car.
"I'm going the speed limit like you want," Leonard replied. "It's not my fault it's taking a while to get there."
"Yes, but we left late because you didn't eat from the higher end of the fibre scale this morning."
"Yeah yeah." Leonard turned onto another street. "So what's the big hurry? Raj and Howard are going to meet us there." Sheldon turned to his roommate.
"As it so happens I'm meeting Tracy and some of her friends," he said.
"Cool," grinned Leonard. It was cool enough that he was seen at the comic book store with Penny. Now to show up and have the guys see him with a hotty like Tracy—complete bonus.
"Tracy said one of her friends is a comic book artist. Independent press, mind you, but still."
"Have I read his stuff?" asked Leonard.
"I doubt it," said Sheldon as he glanced at the side mirror. "And it's a her."
"Ah," Leonard said as he blanched. "A girl? That's rather unusual." He felt his mouth go dry and his hands tightened around the steering wheel.
Please don't be Alice! he mentally begged.
They found a parking spot and after putting coins in the meter Sheldon and Leonard made their way to the comic book store. It didn't have the homey feel of Stuart's old store but there was something to be said about the decor and added pizzazz to the place. Perhaps Stuart's new store would capture a similar ambiance when it opened.
"Please don't be Alice. Please don't be Alice," Leonard continued mumbling to himself as he followed Sheldon into the store.
"There's Tracy," said Sheldon and proceeded over.
Leonard took one look at the woman next to Tracy and immediately went white.
"I forgot something in the car," he said in a strangled voice even as he dashed from the store.
"Hello," Sheldon said to Tracy as he took in her civilian outfit of red knee high boots, jeans and a short red leather jacket.
"Hi there," the blonde woman smiled warmly. "Hey Dragan," she called out. About five feet away a crouched Dragan was looking over the comic books on the bottom shelf.
"Hey Sheldon," he called out as he stood, his six foot five body ominous in its black leather biker jacket, dark jeans and biker boots with multiple buckles down the side. "I love the smell of new comic books in the evening."
"You always say that," said a shorter woman with long brown hair in a soft pony tail wearing a black lace top, Capri pants and a sleeveless jean jacket.
"You know you love it."
The woman shook her head as Dragan laughed before acknowledging Sheldon.
"I'm Alice," she said amiably.
"She's our resident comic book creator," Tracy said.
"Hello," Sheldon nodded. "Are you publishing as a comic book or online?"
"Comic book," Alice said firmly. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'll probably have to go online if I want to widen my readership but I'll never give up the feel of paper."
"An acceptable response," Sheldon nodded.
"Hey Sheldon," said Raj as he came over to the group.
"Rajesh." Sheldon looked around. "Where's Howard?"
"Bernadette cut off his allowance so I'm picking up his comics for him," said Raj. He waved a hello to Tracy. "Nice to see you again." Now it was his turn to look around. "Where's Leonard?"
Immediately Alice dropped her smile.
"He mentioned forgetting something in the car," Sheldon replied.
"Leonard?" Alice asked gruffly. "He wouldn't be a short greasy-haired troll wearing glasses would he?"
"Well to be fair the greasy look isn't from a lack of hygiene than an overabundance of hair gel," said Sheldon.
"Now you guys are familiar," said Alice with a frown. "You were with him at that other comic book store." She turned to Tracy. "Leonard's the asshole I told you about."
"The one who cheated on his girlfriend with you?" Tracy replied crisply.
"Yeah, we made out at his place and at mine," continued Alice.
"March seventh, two thousand and eleven," Sheldon said matter-of-factly. He cocked his head. "So you're the mysterious woman he met up with while Priya was in India."
"Wait, he cheated on my sister?" gasped Raj.
"Yes."
"And you didn't say anything to me?"
"I assumed that Leonard was just jabbering like he usually does," shrugged Sheldon. "Besides, you know that I tune out anything involving your sister."
"So how do you know this Leonard guy?" asked Tracy pointedly.
"He's my roommate."
Alice rolled her eyes even as she walked away.
"Maybe this wasn't a good idea meeting you after all," said Tracy.
"Did I do something to offend you?" asked Sheldon, unsure of what was going on.
"Alice really liked Leonard and he was just screwing around with her," Tracy explained. "And you hang out with Leonard so it's kind of awkward."
"Why? I'm not asking for you to 'hang out' with Leonard. You're my friends not his," Sheldon said excitedly.
Tracy took a good look at Sheldon's distress.
"Look, I'll text you later and we'll talk," she said with a little smile and left to go find Alice.
"You tell Leonard that I want to talk to him," growled Raj before leaving in a huff.
Stunned at what had just transpired, Sheldon quietly got his new comic books and proceeded to pay for them before leaving the store. He arrived at the car to find Leonard inside all scrunched down in the driver's seat wearing sunglasses. Sheldon got in and put on his seatbelt.
"I didn't get your comic books," he said evenly.
"That's okay," Leonard replied. "I'll get them tomorrow."
"Tracy's friend is Alice."
"I know. I saw her and left."
"I see." Pause. "I don't think I want to play Halo tonight."
Leonard turned on the engine and pulled out of the parking spot.
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Diana1941: I have to say that I'm really impressed with The Flash tv show. It's really captured the feel of the comic book.
Yes, it is enjoyable.
Diana1941: I'm really looking forward to a possible Green Lantern/Flash team up. Anything has to be better than that Ryan Reynolds fiasco.
Beyond abysmal.
Diana1941: Hey Sheldor, you're kind of monosyllabic tonight. Is there something wrong?
I'm mulling over something that happened last evening. I went to new comic book night to meet Tracy and her friends and it turns out that Alice had a previous altercation with my roommate, Leonard.
Diana1941: Altercation like he hit her car in a parking lot or altercation like calling 911?
While his girlfriend was in India he proceeded to have an affair with Alice. It should be noted that she didn't know that he had a girlfriend.
Diana1941: Well that's pretty scummy.
Regardless, Tracy has decided that her knowing me is 'awkward' and might possibly be a mistake because Leonard's my roommate. She texted me tonight and said that she wanted to talk to me in person. I said that I had a guest in town this upcoming week and so we scheduled for later.
I'm not sure what to do or what to expect.
Diana1941: Well, either she's going to say goodbye and good luck to you or else she's going to set out some ground rules for you.
Such as what?
Diana1941: Maybe they don't want to deal with Leonard at all, which includes you not bringing him up.
But he's my best friend and roommate. How am I not supposed to bring him up?
Diana1941: Look, just because he's your friend doesn't mean that he can't be a douche to other people. That he hasn't done anything bad to you doesn't mean that what he does to others is okay.
Diana1941: Sorry, didn't mean to lecture you about your friend.
Actually, he did betray me.
Diana1941: What happened?
I was awarded a research grant to the Arctic so I invited Raj, Howard and Leonard to come with me. The goal was to detect slow moving monopoles. By the end of our expedition I thought I was successful. I had informed the university that I had found the monopoles. My Nobel Prize was assured.
It turned out, however, that Leonard had discovered that a short in the electric can opener triggered my detector and so was faking monopoles so as to 'keep me happy'.
Diana1941: That's terrible!
It was beyond humiliating. I resigned my position and returned to Texas only to find life there to be intolerable. Thus I returned to the university where I was ridiculed for months. My reputation most certainly took a hit. To this day I wonder what opportunities I might have missed with having this blight on my record.
Diana1941: Just a question here: if Leonard did something this asshole-ish why are you still friends with him much less living with him?
Because he's my friend.
Diana1941: And...?
My social network revolves around Leonard. Now that Amy is gone he's all I have left. If I removed him from my life that would mean the end of all my other friends, too.
I don't want to be alone.
Diana1941: You won't be. Look at the friends you made at Comic Con. Heck, you met me. I like you.
I'm about to lose Tracy so she doesn't count.
Diana1941: Don't be such a pessimist. Just tell her the situation and if she's a smart cookie she'll figure out a way to make things right.
Diana1941: Don't sell yourself short, Sheldor.
My name is Sheldon.
Diana1941: I'm Martha. :)
Nice to formally meet you, Martha. :)
Diana1941: So. Arrow. What do you think's going to happen in the finale?
Well, given that Oliver is currently—