Sequel to: Impetus

Changes come, good and bad.

Penny really should know better by now. Sheldon Cooper is prepared for everything. And yet, she's still surprised, her Wackadoodle would never stop surprising her.

¨Okay Sweetie, I get California. But why Texas and New York?¨

¨Austin actually has a growing acting industry, while of course New York offers several options including a bursting Theater scene.¨

¨Wait, you chose those places while thinking of me?¨

Sheldon gives her a very unamused stare, ¨Of course, you're my best friend.¨ And he shuts up as if that explains everything.

And maybe it did. Penny knew that Sheldon was different, he did not give out his friendship easily and everyone, including her at one point, had taken that friendship for granted.

It's been only a few moments since she hugged him near his door. Sheldon is now at his desk and is making plans, he already has a moving company that does last minute work. He has their landlord on speed dial and after a rather short back and forth they're both free from their leases but without their safety deposit. It stings a little but she's ready to go.

And of course Sheldon has an approved hotel list. The Glenmark, Glendale is booked for a week (for now). Sheldon waves away her protests to pay for her part.

While he's handling all of that she's looking at the folders in front of her. He's leaving this decision to her.

¨Hey Sheldon, is this really okay? For me to decide I mean. What about your work?¨

He looks away from his computer, ¨Penny. I can with full confidence tell you that it doesn't matter where I work from. Caltech will bend over backwards to keep me, but should I wish to, I can close my eyes and select a random country in a map and find an offer to go work in said country in my email.¨ He points to his machine ¨All I need is that machine. And you.¨ He's facing his computer again before she can even react to that statement.

A small flutter of something in her belly and Penny is fighting a smile.

Focusing back on the folders she thinks seriously about each of them. California is big and Sheldon has options for everywhere, but maybe she's not made for California. It's been heartbreaking to see other girls get at least a recurring spot in a sitcom while Penny is left behind with commercials and porn offers.

Austin looks tempting. She didn't know that it was even an option but Sheldon had marked all the TV shows and movies filmed in Texas and she was pleasantly surprised, Transformers, Dallas (of course), Top Chef, Supernatural, Cheaters (so she liked trashy TV, sue her) and more. The city looked wonderful as well.

And New York, well, it was New York. Penny did love doing theater, the few chances she got it was always so exciting. Sheldon's compliments on her theater performance are seared in her brian and heart. She shouldn't make a decision like this based on one compliment Sheldon gave her a couple of years back. And yet.

Taking a deep breath she decides to let go of the fear trying to hold her back. New York sounds like a great place for them to start from scratch.

¨Hey Moonpie, I heard New York has some great Thai restaurants.¨

They spent the rest of the night packing things. The landlord was more than willing to take their furniture and Sheldon is able to haggle a fair price. The next morning while she's running on crappy coffee and DK donuts, Sheldon looks fresh and she hates him a little.

The moving company quickly takes all the boxes to the truck and will take them to storage until they are in their new place. They also take their furniture to the basement for the landlord to sell or use.

And that Sunday afternoon she's taking a nap in a luxury hotel. She's uprooting her entire life and couldn't be looking forward to it more than she already is.

That night, after a shower and some wagyu beef tacos she's in Sheldon's room looking over his shoulders as he writes a long and detailed letter that basically amounts to 'Fuck you all, don't contact us.' She adds that at the bottom and signs it, just to drive the point home.

She had wanted to confront the group. To yell at them but Sheldon refused to participate, he didn't want to waste any time on them. She still wrote several emails. One for Leonard, she poured her anger, her disgust at his actions and asked that if he ever truly loved her, he would leave her alone. She still planned to block him.

Bernadette and Amy basically received the same email. They had both confided on their experiences with bullying, how it had marked them, how they hated themselves and how, now, they were the bullies. They made Penny feel bad for being herself, for not having a masters, for not going to college, for not being smart, for wanting to feel loved. Penny ended the email by wishing them well and that she hoped they could find a type of happiness that didn't involve making someone else miserable.

Howard got a simple message. 'You don't deserve Bernadette. You deserve Leonard.'

Raj was the only one of the group that received an invitation to continue in communication as long as didn't share anything with anyone else from the group. Penny liked Raj, the Raj that was not trying to imitate Howard, the Raj that liked chick flicks, the Raj that had borrowed her copy of the notebook and in exchange had lent Penny his copy of Twilight. She missed that Raj and she hoped he would reply.

They would wait until Monday night to send these emails, late at night.

Monday morning had Penny show to work and present her resignation. Her supervisor was shocked and requested to know more. So Penny told her the truth, her relationship had failed, it was toxic and she needed to get away. She was leaving for New York. Penny didn't expect to be asked to hang around while her supervisor tried to find her a transfer for the New York branch.

Penny was actually surprised when it was approved and told her supervisor as much.

¨Penny, you are our best sales rep. ZanGen wants to keep you.¨ Huh, you could be great at a job you hated.

The transfer still needed time to go through and she had 2 weeks to get her shit straight before they were expecting her in New York. Penny was left feeling oddly touched.

She also asked that her information be kept private due to her ex-boyfriend, something that they readily agreed to.

She spends the rest of the day looking at the apartments and houses that Sheldon approved of. Penny already knows which place she wants, it's the first on the list so she's hoping this is Sheldon's first choice as well.

A beautiful Town House on 8th street, Brooklyn. A stone throw away from Prospect park. It's huge and definitely more room than they will ever need, but it's perfect. It even has a backyard with a garden and there are white rose bushes everywhere. There's even a room overlooking the garden that she can see Sheldon using as an office. The windows in the bedrooms are huge and she can see herself waking up to a face full of sunshine. This is the one.

Sheldon agrees with her and gives a small smile. It was his first choice as well. He actually has plans to turn one of the five bedrooms into a collectibles room, her Care Bears already factored in his plan.

Sheldon bought them new SIM cards, otherwise he suspects they will spend a large amount of time blocking number after number. They send their emails, block everyone they need to block and go have dinner.

During dinner Sheldon explains that Caltech had been more than happy to buy out the rest of his contract, against every expectation he had, they were happy to let him go. He still made them sign a release form with his lawyer present where Caltech forfeited any rights to his research. Penny could see the hurt in his eyes. She held his hand as they talked of their upcoming move, Penny promised to help him find a new comic book shop and she made him promise that he would help her find new acting classes, she wasn't ready to give up on acting just yet.

Maybe she could get Sheldon to agree to get a cat.

Leonard couldn't believe what he was reading, he was with Raj and Howard playing DnD when suddenly Bernadette bursts into the room and starts yelling at them to check their emails.

Leonard's stomach drops when seeing the email from Sheldon, subject line 'Termination of friendship and roommate agreements.', his heart almost stops when the next email is from Penny, no subject. He opens Penny's email first and quickly reads over it, he then reads it a second time, and then a third.

He can't believe that Penny is ending their relationship because he left her to take care of Sheldon. It was going to take a lot to get her to forgive him. He leaves Howards' house without talking to the others, he needs to stop by the liquor store to get Penny her medicine and try to calm her down from whatever shitfit this is. Maybe Sheldon finally pushed her over the edge and that's why she's acting like a brat.

Leonard doesn't read Sheldon's email. He can wait.

As he's driving to his apartment after getting a couple of bottles he tries calling Penny but his calls go straight to voicemail. And he rolls his eyes because of course Penny has to be dramatic and block him. He was still practicing his best contrite look by the time he set foot on the 4th floor landing. For a moment he hesitates but he knows that talking to Sheldon right now is a bad idea, Leonard will just buy him something shiny and he'll calm down.

Moving towards Penny's apartment he rumples his clothes a little, makes sure his face looks sad and miserable and then knocks. Nothing. He knocks again and he shifts on his feet a little. No answer.

'Of course.' He thinks bitterly.

He'll deal with the consequences later, pulling his copy of the apartment key he plans to open the door, find Penny, apologize, get her to drink half the bottle and then they can have make-up sex and things will be back to normal by morning.

The key doesn't work. He looks confused at it, he is pretty sure this is the right key. He tries again to the same result. Could have Penny changed the locks? She wouldn't do that…and then his mind focuses on who could do something like that. Sheldon.

Leonard would deal with Penny later, he now had a roommate to yell at. He enters 4A already yelling for Sheldon when his breath is suddenly gone. 'We were robbed again' it's his first thought. But no, only Sheldon's things are missing, running to the man's bedroom shows an empty room.

Finally sitting down in his chair Leonard finally decides to read Sheldon's email. He thinks he's going to pass out. His brain focusing on certain parts only 'Immediate dissolution of both friendship and roommate agreements', 'As per the agreement I Dr Sheldon Cooper have paid for 3 months of rent to grant the new leaseholder enough time to find a new roommate should they desire to', 'Due to the dissolution of the friendship agreement I have also sent proof of Leonard Hofdstater, Howard Wolowits and Rajesh Koothrappali's involvement in academic tampering of Dr Sheldon's Cooper Arctic Experiment.' and then finally in what he can hear in Penny's voice, the last line on the email is 'Fuck you all. Don't contact us. - Penny'.

What the hell had just happened?.

His phone rings and looking at the screen shows that it's Howard.

¨Hey Howard.¨

¨No, they're not here.¨

¨Penny changed the locks to her apartment and blocked my number so I haven't been able to talk to her.¨

¨No Howard. I don't know.¨

¨I haven't tried to call Sheldon yet.¨

¨He broke up with Amy? Wow¨

¨Yeah, he went rogue it seems. Haha.¨

¨No Howard, I'm sure he's just angry and bluffing. He'll need us to bail him out after he realizes this tantrum won't work.¨

¨Penny said that to Bernadette? What did Bernadette say?¨

¨Haha, wow, Bernadette has a mouth on her.¨

¨Yeah okay, I'll talk to you later. I'll try knocking on Penny's door again. Maybe learning that Sheldon is missing will get her to open the door.¨

¨Wait what?¨

¨Yeah, I just read it, what about it?¨

¨Oh…¨

¨Yeah I guess, if Penny signed it then she knows Sheldon is gone.¨

¨I get it, I get it. God, Howard. I can't catch a break.¨

¨You too. I'll talk to you later.¨

Leonard is not sure what to do now. According to Howard Penny had also sent emails to Amy and Bernadette calling them bullies. Maybe learning about Sheldon leaving had made Penny drank herself to oblivion and was now sleeping it off. He'll try again tomorrow.

Before standing up Leonard catches the stack of papers left neatly in the middle of the coffee table. He is the new leaseholder and the landlord already approved and signed on it.

It isn't until he's in bed and about to fall asleep that he remembers the last line of Sheldon's email. ' Don't contact us.', not Sheldon, not Penny, but 'Us'.

He is not able to sleep.

The next morning as Leonard is having a cup of coffee he hears the door to 4B open and he almost drops his cup in his haste to go and talk to Penny.

And he does drop it when the open door to 4B shows an empty apartment. The landlord is there to make repairs and re-paint it so it can go up in the listings.

Leonard feels cold. The only heat coming from the coffee still in his belly slowly turning into bile.

Penny is gone.

Penny was happy. No, Penny was bursting at the seams from happiness.

The last week was a whirlwind of activity. By Wednesday Sheldon had confirmed that the Town House was theirs. She had asked how much rent would be and Sheldon had looked at her like she was a child that asked if the tooth fairy was real.

¨Penny, the house was not for rent. It was for sale.¨ And he went back to eating his dumplings.

A familiar fear started sneaking down her spine at this. This was big, this was commitment, she needed to run. So she stomped on the feeling. Sheldon was not trying to trap her. He called it theirs because for him it was that easy, she would talk to him later about it, she could pay for the services so it didn't feel like charity and she was sure that once she explained it to Sheldon, he would agree without issues.

Penny told Sheldon that she would handle everything related to their trip to New York. She already had some counterarguments prepared so she was a bit surprised when he just agreed.

¨I trust you Penny. We won't be able to move into the new place until Friday morning. Our things in storage plus the bulk of our closets are already on their way and it's scheduled that they will arrive on Tuesday afternoon, next week. We have time.¨

And he sounds so much more relaxed, so confident that Penny hadn't realized that she missed this side of Sheldon until it was back. He is certain that his work will get him the Nobel so he feels no pressure to prove himself number one. He knows it, he's just waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.

She's looking at plane tickets when a sudden thought crosses her mind. She changes websites and makes some quick math. If they leave tomorrow night then they'll arrive at Penn Station On Monday early afternoon. She hesitates for a long moment, 4 days in a train, from what she is able to gather the wifi is spotty at best, the food looked damn good though. She goes to book two first class tickets on Amtrak and is pleasantly surprised to see there's an option for a private room. It looks like a studio apartment almost, they even give you a couch. Not to mention your own bathroom and shower. Feeling more confident (especially because she can afford it) she books the tickets and starts downloading movies on her laptop.

The next day was a hectic one, Penny woke up early to go and sell her car, Sheldon insisted on going with her until she reminded him that selling the car meant they would have to take the bus or a taxi to get back to the Hotel. He wished her a safe trip and he would handle everything related to checking out meanwhile. Wackadoodle.

Penny feels that she got a good deal on the car and before going back to the Hotel she decides to visit the mall. All of her pajamas felt too much like Leonard's and she wanted to feel like herself again. A Hello Kitty shorts and tank top set, Care Bear lounge pants, and a My Little Pony cami make her feel closer to who she was. And right before leaving the store she sees it, a pink Care Bear onesie-bodysuit, this looks to be more for sexy times than for you to actually sleep in, but it's so cute! It even has bear ears, and a cute bow!. But the cut reminds her of a Playboy bunny suit. But it's really cute. No, she couldn't. It's too much. She doesn't even have someone to show it to, well… there's Sheldon, but no. Penny leaves the store.

A few minutes later she's back in the store.

After they have an early dinner and make a stop to buy snacks, water and other small stuff. Sheldon doesn't understand why they need snacks and is getting cranky and she cracks, she tells him why and Sheldon goes from cranky man to excited boy once he realizes they'll be traveling by train.

Arriving at the station Sheldon took charge and he had them on the platform before she knew it. She's ready to board the train when Sheldon surprises her again with a crushing hug that takes her breath away. Before she can ponder on it he's already moving and she struggles to follow him.

She hadn't been aware but it seems because they're in first class they actually get their own attendant and the meals are free. This train also had something called a quiet room but it was moot because they had their own bedroom. They were warned that even with their own room they should be mindful of other people and wear headphones when watching movies or listening to music.

Penny is kinda disappointed, the pictures online made it seem much bigger than it actually was. But they do get a couch (that becomes a bed), a reading chair, their own bathroom/shower, a pretty cute sink as well as a bunch of towels and linens. Sheldon is super excited about it all and she thinks that this a small price to see him so happy.

The attendant shows them how to unfold the beds and Penny is nicely surprised by the size, she's going to be super comfy there, poor Sheldon will have to shrimp himself to fit but it looks like he doesn't care.

They're informed that the train will make a stop in New Orleans for refueling and checking the breaks, they will have 11 hours to do some sightseeing, shopping, etc. or they could stay in their bedroom but they were warned several times that they need to be back before the 11 hour mark or the train would leave without them.

Once they're alone she sprawls into the couch and Sheldon joins her, still with that little smile on his face.

¨Thank you Penny.¨ He sounds so sincere and so honest. Her heart felt like bursting.

¨You're welcome Sweetie. Now, I don't know about you but I'm too tired to explore the train right now. According to the itinerary the train is not leaving for another 2 hours. Want to join me on the bed and watch a movie? A girl at work recommended me this movie, 'Rio'.¨

Sheldon nodded and yawned, it seems she wasn't the only one feeling the last few days catching up with them here. In this tiny bedroom, she had to admit she felt safe. Even with them staying at a Hotel she had been dreading running into one of the guys/girls. Here, they were finally on their way to a new life.

¨Good, let me go change.¨ It wasn't until she said the words and started rummaging through her bags that she realized there was nowhere to change. She could feel a funny little thing start in her stomach, she refused to acknowledge it as excitement as she looked at her bag and the bodysuit's pink taunted her.

¨Good idea Penny, I'll go change in the bathroom.¨ Sheldon quickly grabbed his bag and went into the bathroom.

Of course, the bathroom could also work as a place to change. She was super conscious of Sheldon, they had literally seen that a relationship between them could work but neither was willing to take that first step. Neither had acknowledged Sheldon's confession in the Bizarro world. Grabbing her new Hello Kitty pajama she quickly changed and feeling a bit chilly adjusted the thermostat of their bedroom until it felt right.

She set up the laptop and soon Sheldon joined her, they lied side by side on the bed with the laptop between them, and when she was about to ask him to share one headphone each, he had produced a splitter, because of course he had. Sheldon Cooper was ready for everything.

The movie was actually funny but Penny was exhausted and found herself nodding off more and more and turned to Sheldon to tell him that they should go to bed, only to find him slumped dead asleep.

Penny put her laptop away, tried to adjust Sheldon as best as she could, but he still ended up on his side and with his back flush against the wall of the train. Opening the miniscule closet she found a pretty decent sized blanket, but just one. Looking at the man sleeping in the bed Penny recalled the words of another version of her 'You're both cowards and you'll start dating in 5 years expecting the time be right for everyone but yourselves.¨

Very deliberately Penny lied next to Sheldon and covered him with the blanket and before she could reconsider she hugged him and tangled her leg in his. Sheldon was warm, she used the blanket to cover her head and she wasn't sure if the thumping noise was the train or her heart.

Penny fell asleep with a man in her arms and for the first time in a long time did not feel lonely when doing it.

Sheldon felt warm, even with his eidetic memory he can't remember the last time he felt this warm, and safe.

Opening his eyes reveal a mass of messy blonde hair, he frowns a little, this is obviously Penny as indicated by the way the sun played with her hair and the vanilla scent of her shampoo. He could feel her soft breathing somewhere between his neck and chest.

Trying to recall last night revealed that they were watching a movie when Sheldon, finally caught up with exhaustion, fell asleep a few minutes into the animated movie.

He could wake Penny up. He could move himself away. But, there was no schedule to adhere to, this train bedroom would be their home for the next 4 days. He had nowhere to be at.

Sheldon decided to go back to sleep. 'Fascinating.' was his last thought before Penny's warmth and soft breathing lulled him back to sleep.

Neither acknowledged the event. Each pretending that nothing out of the ordinary had happened. They opted to have lunch in the appropriate car instead of in their room and Penny was happy that the food was amazing, not to mention that the coffee was heavenly and they could even make her an Irish coffee which she enjoyed in their bedroom as she read a paperback novel she bought on an impulse. Sheldon was working on his laptop as he drank a cup of tea. And Penny couldn't remember the last time she had been so happy and content.

When it was time for bed, neither said anything but as Sheldon prepared to unfold the upper bunk bed Penny grabbed his wrist. They looked at each other, Penny's eyes begging him to understand.

Sheldon lowered himself on Penny's bed and Penny followed him soon after. They would only use one bed for the rest of their trip.

While Penny was finding the train to be much more tolerable than she expected (even enjoyable). The break they had when reaching New Orleans was a welcome one. She dragged Sheldon to try new food, to go shopping and they even found a pretty tiny but cool comic store. Sheldon bought her the first 3 volumes of Sailor Moon and she was already planning on buying the other 7 when they got settled in New York.

The rest of their trip was peaceful. Well, that is, if you don't count Penny realizing that they found one of Sheldon's new favorite dishes. The man couldn't get enough of Club Sandwiches and had already gathered a list of potential new restaurants close to their new home that had the best reviews.

The trip from Penn Station to their Town House was uneventful. The realtor was waiting for them outside the place and he was all smiles and pleasantries, he kept referring to Penny as Sheldon's wife.

They didn't bother correcting him.

Once the realtor had left and they were left alone Penny made it her mission to explore their new home, it was even better than she expected, and more spacious.

¨Sheldon, where are we going to sleep without beds?¨ She can see him freeze in his inspection of the doors facing the garden.

¨It might have slipped my mind.¨

And that's how they find themselves trying to find a furniture store that is open and fate is on their side as only a couple of blocks away there is a store with fantastic reviews. They walk there using Sheldon's phone as a guide and for a store simply named '#1 Brooklyn furniture' Penny has to admit that it wasn't empty boasting.

They get there with an hour to spare before they close. Sheldon defers all decisions to her and Penny lets her inner shopaholic out to play. The Cappuccino and Chocolate Sofa set basically choses itself, she can see Sheldon's new spot as soon as her eyes land on the couch, the loveseat and chair can be used for when they have visits.

She had almost given up on finding a good Ottoman when an oversized gray Ottoman caught her eye and she had to have it. Same for the coffee table, it's a beautiful walnut color and it has an open storage space which will be perfect to put the laptops or controllers away in a moment plus 4 drawers.

Penny continues to pick random furniture pieces that will fit their home when they get to the Bedroom section. She is suddenly very conscious of Sheldon. They should get two beds. Because they're sleeping together, but not sleeping together. Penny is not sure what they're doing but they haven't really discussed it yet. The train was one thing, but this is a big decision and she's sure Sheldon will talk about Lumbar support and how he needs his own roo-

¨Please make sure to pick a queen bed so we can have enough room.¨ Sheldon is looking very intently at a nightstand and she can't see his face, but she's pretty sure his ears are never that red on their own.

¨Okay.¨ Her voice comes out as a whisper.

She chooses a Platform Ireland Queen Bed that has a small bookcase in the headboard as well as several drawers. It comes in a beautiful Espresso color and it's quite tall that she thinks she'll need a stool to get in their bed.

Their. Bed. 'Holy Crap on a cracker'. This should feel weird, this should feel wrong. Instead it feels like the most normal thing in the world.

Sheldon pays for it but she's already done the math and knows how much she has to give him. She'll pay for half of everything, even if she has to force the money down his pants…she takes a moment to enjoy the mental image.

They sleep on the floor that first night in their new home.

Sheldon didn't tell Penny, after he sent out his email containing proof of the sabotage done to his experiment, Caltech had been sending him emails almost daily, asking for him to return. Sheldon deletes all of them and instead clicks on the email from Columbia University.

Penny decides to get a car. She's with Sheldon on this one, the subway sucks balls.

Her Care Bear onesie-bodysuit finally makes an appearance when they celebrate their first month living in New York. Sheldon approves. She's not wearing it for long tho.

Penny's first big break comes in the form of a music video. Her new agent insists that she listens to the proposal but Penny is not sure. She's received those offers back in Pasadena and it always involved getting her in the skimpiest clothes they could legally get away with and have her and 6 other women gyrate and grind. But she listens to the proposal and she's hooked.

She's not playing a hot blond, she's playing a mom running away with her daughter. Then she's asked to appear in another music video, this time she's a daughter mourning her father while fantasizing about running away with her boyfriend.

She then gets a role as a supporting actress in a small theater play. She's still working her regular ZanGen job but Penny starts believing that she can make it as an actress again.

She can't wait to get home to her Wackadoodle.

Howard is not sure how they are all still employed but he thanks his lucky stars. Sheldon left a year ago but not before throwing a live grenade behind him as a parting gift.

Since the Arctic incident Howard had been earning accolades on his own merits and that was what saved him from the worst of it. JPL had vouched for him and his work.

His buddy Raj had made a name for himself but was told in no uncertain terms that he should not apply for tenure any time soon.

Leonard was probably the one that was hit the hardest, his role as leading experimental physicist was given to Leslie Winkle and he was reduced to assistant and told to not make waves or his ass was grass.

Howard looked at Leonard eating lunch across from him and had to admit that he was concerned for him, truly concerned. Leonard had decided to move out from 4A as the rent would be too expensive to pay on his new salary…but for some moronic reason he decided that it was a great idea to move to 4B instead. Even for Howard this was a creepy thing to do.

Penny, their beautiful corn goddess had up and left them but Leonard was struggling to let the idea of her go. When Howard confronted him about moving to 4B Leonard had claimed that it was due to his new salary, that he didn't have to pay movers which sounded perfectly logical. But Howard didn't miss the way he would stare wistfully at the stairs, as if Penny would come prancing up the stairs and into her old apartment any day now. It's been a full year and Howard is starting to get concerned that they might need to stage a friendly intervention for Leonard.

And it's not like Leonard isn't trying to date, but-

¨Woxanne?¨ They hear Kripke and all three of them turn to him, but he's looking at one of the TVs that litter the cafeteria. It takes a moment for Howard to understand what he's seeing, a music video.

Penny looks good, she no longer has that air of defeat around her, she's playing the character of a woman in love and Howard is already cringing before turning to Leonard, afraid of his reaction. But the man is lost, he has a goofy smile on his face and Howard doesn't want to know what goes through his mind at that moment. He shares a look with Raj and his buddy catches the meaning immediately.

And then the credits are rolling, 'Girlfriend - Penelope Cooper.'

Howard is not at all surprised by the sound of Leonard yelling ¨WHAT!¨ but the throwing of his lunch tray to the floor is unexpected and causes everyone, including Howard and Raj, to take a step back.

Leonard looks like he wants to murder someone and you don't need to be a genius to know who that someone is.

Howard shares a grim look with Raj.

Raj has kept it a secret that he's been emailing with Penny since she left. He knows about her weird relationship with Sheldon where they treat each other like husband and wife but neither will actually acknowledge it. Raj is convinced it's an odd form of foreplay for them.

And Raj knows that 'Penelope Cooper' is a stage name, just like ' Marylin Monroe'. Her agent suggested it and to the surprise of everyone Sheldon agreed that it sounded sophisticated and he approved. Raj is pretty sure he knows the actual reason why Sheldon doesn't mind.

Raj knows all of this but he won't say anything. He's not sure what Leonard would do with that information, and that scares him.

He's still hoping he can escape Pasadena next month when Penny debuts as the leading lady in 'Gigi'; he wants to be there on opening night.

After her second music video blew up Penny had to field calls about the whole 'Penelope Cooper' thing, not only from her mom and sister but also from Mrs. Cooper, Missy AND Meemaw.

¨Honestly Sheldon, it would be easier if we just got married.¨

¨I agree.¨

And it had been as easy as that. Penny sometimes was frightened by how easy this entire relationship with Sheldon was. And the idea of 'Penny Cooper' filled her with a sense of joy and excitement while before, the idea of being 'Penny Something' would have made her run for the hills.

Howard invites Leonard and Amy to have dinner. This is mostly so Bernadette can break the news gently to Amy. Raj decided to take a rain check on this whole thing and Howard can't blame him.

Amy takes the news as well as Leonard did.

¨THAT BITCH!¨

He lets Bernadette take care of it, he has his own deranged individual to take care of.

¨Hey man, talk to me.¨ Leonard looks bad, after his episode in the cafeteria he can't blame him. People started whispering, synapses making connections, Leonard was never a shy one, he bragged about Penny to everyone that would listen, and even to those that didn't.

And the last name 'Cooper' was still talked about in Caltech hallways, 1+1=2

¨Why did it have to be him, Howard?¨ Leonard's voice is grounded glass.

Howard wants to be honest, even at his most neurotic Sheldon was always the one that girls flocked to. Instead he says ¨I don't know man, it sucks but it's not like the world is over. You were doing pretty well with that Kate chick right?¨

¨I guess, but she's not-¨ And Leonard shuts up but Howard still hears it ' She's not Penny'.

Howard let out his breath in a violent burst. ¨ Let's get drunk. I think Amy will be happy to join us.¨

The next morning Howard wakes up in his garage with Bernadette in his arms. No sign of Leonard or Amy, at least until they get to their bedroom.

Howard was going to have to burn those sheets.

Penny loves their gigantic bed. Sheldon had requested it because he wanted the extra room but it didn't matter. Even when asleep Penny would find Sheldon and wrap herself around him. He had wisely admitted defeat. Though, their cat loved the extra room to laze around.

¨Hey Moonpie, why haven't you revealed your machine? It's been almost a year and a half.¨ She loved to listen to his heartbeat like this.

¨Ah, it was something that I discussed with that other Sheldon. Giving someone unlimited access to basically raid an unsuspecting universe will only lead to bad and worse outcomes. I will not be another Oppenheimer.¨ His fingers played with her hair. She had noticed that Sheldon loved her hair and teased him about it, only to have him say that her hair was the inspiration he needed to come up with the formula for his machine. Sheldon Cooper got game, who knew.

¨That makes sense, so you're basically trying to get it to do the thing you wanted in the first place, the projector thingy?¨ She felt him nod.

¨Basically. I no longer find myself plagued by thoughts of failure or recognition. Being here in our bed, I find myself satisfied. I know I will succeed but I am in no rush.¨

She squeezed him and gave him a kiss. ¨I believe in you.¨

¨I know.¨ And he pulled her up to give her a smoldering kiss.

Bizarro Penny was wrong. It only took them a 4 day train ride for Penny and Sheldon to stop dancing around each other.

But Penny can't shake the feeling that Bizarro Penny had played her. But with Sheldon in her arms she finds that she doesn't truly care.

fin.