Penny arrived at the fourth landing and her eyes landed on the door to 4A. From the outside everything looked the same, but on the other side of that door now was a different world from the one she had grown to love for the past couple of years.

Sighing, she moved to her own door.

4A was now home to a very cute gay couple that had moved in as soon as the listing went up. Tom and Kai were super friendly and even lent her some fabric softener when she ran out.

It's funny to think about how fast life can change. One moment Penny has her guys and the next she's all alone.

Sheldon took off in the middle of the day and no one knew where he went. She hoped that he was doing okay.

Penny removed her uniform and started on her bath as well as preparing for bed. No going out for her tonight.

Raj had to go back to India, apparently Sheldon had also emailed Raj's parents. She was still in touch with him over email but he had kept mum -ha!- about how things were going for him. She was sure that his parents were being a pain in the butt.

Penny grabbed a yogurt cup out of her fridge, whenever she had the dinner shift she made sure to eat her fill at work, but she was still feeling a bit hungry.

Howard had punched Leonard twice before storming off from 4A forever. He had also lost his job but the part that truly drove him to violence had been losing his buddy. Howard had threatened Leonard that he would cooperate fully with the investigation from the feds.

Penny chucked the empty cup into the trash and moved towards her bathroom, the tub was almost full and the water looked amazing.

Leonard…poor Leonard. She wasn't sure if he had truly messed up so much or if Sheldon was just that vindictive, but he had it worse than the other two. He lost his job and was arrested on the same day. She went to visit him at jail but all sympathy flew out the window when he asked her to lie to the feds and claim that Sheldon was crazy. She might have decided to give this relationship thing a chance but no way in hell she was lying for him.

Penny sighed and willed her body to relax even more in the hot water.

Leonard's mother had come then and okay, Penny broke up with the guy while he was in custody but man…Beverly was something else, every word that came out of her mouth was a stab to Leonard.

"I should have known that this is all you would amount to." And then Beverly sighed, honest to god disappointment in that sigh.

Penny is glad to have washed her hands of the whole thing. She hoped that Leonard would be okay but she was not going to be part of that circus.

In fact, she wasn't doing so great either.

She hadn't realized how much the guys were a safety blanket. They helped her cover expenses, she ate their food and overall they were a huge support beam under her roof. A support beam that crumbled and threatened to leave her homeless.

Penny had to not only increase her shifts at The Factory but also grind harder in order to get an acting role. It had truly become a life or death situation.

She was alone now.

Sheldon was alone.

He had taken a scorched earth approach and not looked back. And now here he was, on a train going back home. He wasn't sure of where to go, Caltech with egg on their face had begged him to stay, but California was no longer home, it had too many bad memories.

Penny was the one bright spot but she was in a relationship with Leonard and mainstream media was clear on where her loyalties would lie.

Sheldon shook his head and focused on the topic again. Perhaps New York would be an ideal choice…if it weren't for the terrible public transportation. No, not New York.

This topic could wait.

At least he had been able to sleep now, it wasn't on his bed, but in an uncomfortable train seat. It was the best sleep Sheldon had experienced in a long while.

Sheldon had always been a good boy and listened to his mother. But, maybe it was time to listen to his Meemaw instead.

He couldn't wait to see her again.

Medford was still as dusty and hot as Sheldon remembered.

At least his Meemaw had hugged him and made him cookies.

"No Moonpie, New York is not right for you. They won't even let you carry a gun to kill the rats that roam the subway."

"Rats?!"

"Here, let me show you a video."

Suffice to say that New York was no longer an option.

"Dr Cooper. While we thank you for your cooperation in this case. Are you aware that not reporting this can also be considered a crime?"

"I was emotionally manipulated to remain quiet, however, I understand that you might want to press charges. If that were the case then please state it clearly so I can obtain legal counsel."

The two agents shared a look that Sheldon couldn't identify.

"No. Thanks to your thorough report we have a clear understanding of what happened and how your roommate contract was used against you." The agent yawned. "This is just a routine visit. The NSA will handle everything from this moment onward."

Sheldon hadn't been truly worried about this, he still kept in touch with the two agents that originally had come to visit him as a child and he had created a nuclear reactor.

He wasn't above calling them.

"How about Austin?" Meemaw was looking at the papers on the table. Sheldon had printed all of the options he would consider as his new academic home.

"Austin…" Sheldon picked up the piece of paper containing the information for the University.

An average of 230 days of Sunshine. The food selection was more than adequate. No state income tax. All great points in favor.

No public transportation, a car is a must. The temperature. High rent prices. Traffic. All cons.

"You could come and see me on weekends…" Meemaw pretended to be reading something while egging him on.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to go and see the University." Sheldon conceded.

Penny was dancing in her apartment, she had just gotten a part and was celebrating the best way she could without money. Dancing by herself in her apartment.

The last six months had been hell for her, she had almost ended up homeless several times and more often than not gone hungry if she wasn't working the dinner shift.

Which ended up being a blessing in disguise.

Since she was working late shifts it gave her more time to go to morning auditions and finally, finally, after six long months she had landed a part.

Penny stopped dancing and stood in the middle of her apartment. The smile on her face slowly changed as she panted due to the effort.

She was so lonely.

She started crying in earnest soon after. She missed the guys so much. She missed being able to go to 4A and play Halo while eating takeout, she missed bantering with Sheldon, she missed watching chick flicks with Raj and she even missed Howard and Leonard. Before things got complicated.

Raj had come clean to her about what they really did to Sheldon with that electric can opener stunt.

It had been utter betrayal.

Not only of Sheldon but of science, of the University, of ethics, of so many things. No wonder Sheldon had acted the way he had.

Penny grimaced a little, she had tried to comfort Sheldon but it was too little. She had been busy thinking about Leonard and her. She thought things had been fixed…

And now here she was, with no one to celebrate. Ever since Rak got married, or better said, ever since his parents forced him to get married their emailing had all but stopped. Leonard was in a federal prison and she had no idea what had happened to Howard.

She couldn't wait to start filming Dallas. Funny enough, it was filmed in Austin.

Penny needed a change.

Sheldon liked Austin well enough. True, he had been forced to finally get his driver's license, but his new apartment was within walking distance to the University so he was rarely forced to use it.

31st Street Condominiums were his new home and he had taken the time to truly make it one. Little by little he started filling the bookshelves with his new comic books, with old and new figurines, his old DNA model was now joined by a new globe.

He even had found the perfect spot in his new apartment. It only took him 49 hours.

Sheldon liked his new life. He just needed company.

Notes:

Still sick. Pretty sure I'm dying, just very, very, very slowly.