[fic] stranger things have happened (maybe not), bbt/fringe, 1600 words, pg
Title: Stranger Things Have Happened (Maybe Not)
Pairing: Sheldon/Penny, Peter/Olivia
Fandom: BBT/Fringe
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1600
For: trippy41, who so generously donated for help_japan. She requested Sheldon/Penny or Peter/Olivia, and because I'm crazy, the got both. Set during a magical fantasy land where everyone on these shows was happy at the same time.
Notes: Thanks to juniperlane for looking over it and laughing in the right spots.
Summary: There are cows. Well, one cow, but still. This is Harvard. She didn’t expect cows.
----
To say that Penny finds conference banquets dull is like saying that Lady Gaga’s a little bit odd, or that Raj is just kind of quiet. There aren’t actually words for how dull she finds them, or how tempted she is to keep knocking back glasses of free champagne until Sheldon has to carry her out over his shoulder. There are only so many times a person can listen to string theory and quantum mechanics and people kissing ass before the urge to strangle someone takes over.
Penny has reached that point. Penny reached that point like two months ago. She tries to comfort herself with the fact that at least this time they got to go somewhere interesting, even if she now seriously questions the sanity of coming to Boston in the middle of February. But the champagne’s fancy and the appetizers are good and none of the other scientists have ogled her too much. Sheldon even promised he’d dance with her later, and she’ll hold him to that if she’s got to forcibly drag him out onto the dance floor. So far, things are looking up.
Then the roof of the building disappears and everything kind of goes to shit.
--
Sheldon can’t stop talking. He keeps saying things like “spatial relativity” and “deferred momentum” and “unilateral consistency,” but he’s got his hand like a vice around her elbow and his voice is strained and anxious.
“Penny,” he says, “Penny, this is bad. This is impossible. This is.” He stops and looks around the room. There are walls that end halfway to where they’re meant to and there’s a strange sort of shimmer over everything. It’s hazy, like she can just see it from the corner of her eye, but Sheldon keeps pulling her focus back when his fingers dig harder into her skin. “Penny, I don’t know what this is.”
She’s trying to think of something reassuring to say (“Don’t worry, there’s an explanation, you can’t possibly know everything!” will probably not do the trick) when a man comes running past her, arms thrown wildly above his head.
“I knew it!” He stops and turns back to her, pumping his hands triumphantly. “I knew it! I knew the electrospectogram wasn’t wrong! I knew something was happening here!” She has no idea who he is (she’s pretty sure he wasn’t at the party) but he’s looking at her with these wild eyes and Penny shrinks back into Sheldon just a little. “I knew it!” he says again, stopping right in front of her.
“The screams were a big giveaway too though, right?” Penny turns and sees another guy, younger this time, come walking up. “Don’t mind him, he’s just easily excitable,” he says to her. “Were you two here when it happened?”
“Yes, we were, and I demand to know what’s going on.” Sheldon’s still got his hand tightly clamped onto her elbow, but he loosens it a little when he speaks. “What’s happening here?”
The younger man rolls his eyes and smiles slightly out the corner of his mouth. “We don’t have that kind of time and trust me, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“I beg your pardon,” Sheldon says, and Penny cringes. The roof of the building might have just disappeared and things around them might be completely ridiculous, but Sheldon’s still Sheldon and there’s no way he’s going to let anyone insult his intelligence. She tries to pull him away, rein him in, but he carries on full speed. “I’ll have you know that I hold multiple post-graduate degrees in physics and am a well respected member of the scientific community. I’m Dr. Sheldon Cooper.” Penny doesn’t have even have to look to know that Sheldon’s got his indignant, “you should know who I am and defer to my better judgment” face on.
“Sheldon, why don’t we just let these people do whatever it is they came here to do?” She finally manages to drag him back a little bit, but then the crazy old guy comes up and grabs them both by the wrists.
“Dr. Sheldon Cooper!” he says. “I’m familiar with your work! You’ve been doing research on multiverse theory out of CalTech.”
Sheldon stands a little straighter and smoothes down the front of his jacket. “Ah. A fan.”
“No,” the older man says. “Your theories are all wrong. But I enjoy watching you come up with new ones. Terribly amusing.” Even though Penny’s stomach is still doing flips because the roof of the building just disappeared, she snorts out a laugh. Sheldon glares at her and then takes off after the old man.
“I guess you’re coming back to the lab with us. I’m Peter. Welcome to the mad house.”
Penny just shakes her head. “I’m already pretty familiar with the mad house.”
Peter laughs and starts walking in the same direction as Sheldon and the crazy old guy. “You have no idea.”
--
There are cows. Well, one cow, but still. This is Harvard. She didn’t expect cows.
To be fair, she didn’t expect any of this. She and Peter trek across the Quad and then down into the basement of some science building and when they finally throw open the door of the lab, Sheldon and the old guy are standing in front of a chalkboard and talking really fast.
“I suggest,” Peter says, shrugging out of his coat, “we all just stay out of their way.”
“Peter?” Penny turns her head at the voice and sees two women come walking out of an office in the back. One’s blonde, one’s black, and they’re both really pretty. Penny squints her eyes at the old guy and wonders how he surrounded himself with such attractive people. “Oh,” the blonde says, stopping up short. “What happened?”
“Olivia, that is Dr. Sheldon Cooper from Caltech”-Sheldon turns to give the blonde a quick once-over but doesn’t say anything, just turns back to the board and points at something written there-“and this is. Actually I don’t know who this is.”
“I’m Penny,” Penny says. She’s not sure if she should be shaking people’s hands or hiding in the corner, so she just stands there awkwardly and shifts her weight from foot to foot. If there isn’t going to be any more drinking, these shoes are going to have to go. “I’m Sheldon’s girlfriend, we’re here for a conference, it’s all usually really boring, but then the roof went whoosh, and what actually is going on?” By the time she’s finished talking, her voice is kind of high and panicky.
The blonde kind of squints her eyes and nods her head. “Ah. I’m Olivia, from the FBI. That’s Walter Bishop and Astrid Farnsworth and-”
“-And we’re already so sorry,” Astrid finishes. She gives Penny a sympathetic look and then heads toward Sheldon and the old guy.
“You’ll catch on,” Peter says. He walks over to Olivia and puts his hand on the small of her back, leans in close and whispers something in her ear. She nods a couple times and then looks up at him and smiles. Oh, Penny thinks. So that’s going on.
“Apparently, dear, there was a bit of a quantum mechanical mishap with the roof of Ainsley Hall.” Walter leaves Sheldon at the board and walks over to a desk. He grabs a handful of pretzels and turns back to Sheldon. “I figured now would be as good a time as any to educate your friend here. Seize the opportunity to learn more while you can!”
“I beg your pardon,” Sheldon interrupts, “but your equations here don’t make sense. Why would you-” And after that it’s a lot of science that Penny doesn’t even try to follow. She toes off her shoes and hoists herself up on one of the lab tables and kicks her feet back and forth and waits for someone to shout “Aha!” or “Eureka!” or “Tada!”
“Can I ask you a question?” When Penny looks up, Peter’s standing in front of her with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Olivia’s standing behind him but she keeps glancing back over shoulder at Sheldon and Walter. “The roof of Ainsley Hall disappeared. Why aren’t you more freaked out?”
“Oh.” Penny shrugs her shoulder. “Sheldon has, like, binders full of emergency preparedness plans. Schedules and maps for the zombie apocalypse or an alien invasion, stuff like that. I’ve read them. This seems actually less strange.”
“And he’s your boyfriend, you said?” Peter gives her the look she always gets from people who just meet her, the first time they see her with Sheldon. Olivia nudges him discreetly, but Penny just smiles.
“Yeah. We were friends for awhile and then started dating. I know, strange. But it works.”
“Penny!” When she looks over, Sheldon’s rushing toward her. He’s got that nervous excited look on his face, like he’s eaten too much sugar or just beaten a new Wii level or something. “Dr. Bishop and I are going to discuss the practical components of multiverse theory. I think I can be helpful here in determining what caused the upper floor of that building to disappear.” He leans forward and whispers in her ear, “I’d normally be more distrusting of someone who speaks so highly of marijuana, but no time to be picky.” He presses a quick kiss to her cheek and spins around. “Dr. Bishop, can you show me those figures again?”
“Certainly, my boy,” Walter says. He’s got a handful of Red Vines and a wide grin on his face. “We should make hot chocolate. I find it opens up my mind. And it’s quite tasty. Astal, fresh milk from Gene!”
Astrid rolls her eyes and grabs a pail from under the table next to Penny.
“Oh,” Penny says, jumping down. She tucks the end of her dress over her arm and takes the pail from Astrid. “Don’t worry,” she says, looking over her shoulder at Gene. “I’ve got this.”
Pairing: Sheldon/Penny, Peter/Olivia
Fandom: BBT/Fringe
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1600
For: trippy41, who so generously donated for help_japan. She requested Sheldon/Penny or Peter/Olivia, and because I'm crazy, the got both. Set during a magical fantasy land where everyone on these shows was happy at the same time.
Notes: Thanks to juniperlane for looking over it and laughing in the right spots.
Summary: There are cows. Well, one cow, but still. This is Harvard. She didn’t expect cows.
----
To say that Penny finds conference banquets dull is like saying that Lady Gaga’s a little bit odd, or that Raj is just kind of quiet. There aren’t actually words for how dull she finds them, or how tempted she is to keep knocking back glasses of free champagne until Sheldon has to carry her out over his shoulder. There are only so many times a person can listen to string theory and quantum mechanics and people kissing ass before the urge to strangle someone takes over.
Penny has reached that point. Penny reached that point like two months ago. She tries to comfort herself with the fact that at least this time they got to go somewhere interesting, even if she now seriously questions the sanity of coming to Boston in the middle of February. But the champagne’s fancy and the appetizers are good and none of the other scientists have ogled her too much. Sheldon even promised he’d dance with her later, and she’ll hold him to that if she’s got to forcibly drag him out onto the dance floor. So far, things are looking up.
Then the roof of the building disappears and everything kind of goes to shit.
--
Sheldon can’t stop talking. He keeps saying things like “spatial relativity” and “deferred momentum” and “unilateral consistency,” but he’s got his hand like a vice around her elbow and his voice is strained and anxious.
“Penny,” he says, “Penny, this is bad. This is impossible. This is.” He stops and looks around the room. There are walls that end halfway to where they’re meant to and there’s a strange sort of shimmer over everything. It’s hazy, like she can just see it from the corner of her eye, but Sheldon keeps pulling her focus back when his fingers dig harder into her skin. “Penny, I don’t know what this is.”
She’s trying to think of something reassuring to say (“Don’t worry, there’s an explanation, you can’t possibly know everything!” will probably not do the trick) when a man comes running past her, arms thrown wildly above his head.
“I knew it!” He stops and turns back to her, pumping his hands triumphantly. “I knew it! I knew the electrospectogram wasn’t wrong! I knew something was happening here!” She has no idea who he is (she’s pretty sure he wasn’t at the party) but he’s looking at her with these wild eyes and Penny shrinks back into Sheldon just a little. “I knew it!” he says again, stopping right in front of her.
“The screams were a big giveaway too though, right?” Penny turns and sees another guy, younger this time, come walking up. “Don’t mind him, he’s just easily excitable,” he says to her. “Were you two here when it happened?”
“Yes, we were, and I demand to know what’s going on.” Sheldon’s still got his hand tightly clamped onto her elbow, but he loosens it a little when he speaks. “What’s happening here?”
The younger man rolls his eyes and smiles slightly out the corner of his mouth. “We don’t have that kind of time and trust me, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“I beg your pardon,” Sheldon says, and Penny cringes. The roof of the building might have just disappeared and things around them might be completely ridiculous, but Sheldon’s still Sheldon and there’s no way he’s going to let anyone insult his intelligence. She tries to pull him away, rein him in, but he carries on full speed. “I’ll have you know that I hold multiple post-graduate degrees in physics and am a well respected member of the scientific community. I’m Dr. Sheldon Cooper.” Penny doesn’t have even have to look to know that Sheldon’s got his indignant, “you should know who I am and defer to my better judgment” face on.
“Sheldon, why don’t we just let these people do whatever it is they came here to do?” She finally manages to drag him back a little bit, but then the crazy old guy comes up and grabs them both by the wrists.
“Dr. Sheldon Cooper!” he says. “I’m familiar with your work! You’ve been doing research on multiverse theory out of CalTech.”
Sheldon stands a little straighter and smoothes down the front of his jacket. “Ah. A fan.”
“No,” the older man says. “Your theories are all wrong. But I enjoy watching you come up with new ones. Terribly amusing.” Even though Penny’s stomach is still doing flips because the roof of the building just disappeared, she snorts out a laugh. Sheldon glares at her and then takes off after the old man.
“I guess you’re coming back to the lab with us. I’m Peter. Welcome to the mad house.”
Penny just shakes her head. “I’m already pretty familiar with the mad house.”
Peter laughs and starts walking in the same direction as Sheldon and the crazy old guy. “You have no idea.”
--
There are cows. Well, one cow, but still. This is Harvard. She didn’t expect cows.
To be fair, she didn’t expect any of this. She and Peter trek across the Quad and then down into the basement of some science building and when they finally throw open the door of the lab, Sheldon and the old guy are standing in front of a chalkboard and talking really fast.
“I suggest,” Peter says, shrugging out of his coat, “we all just stay out of their way.”
“Peter?” Penny turns her head at the voice and sees two women come walking out of an office in the back. One’s blonde, one’s black, and they’re both really pretty. Penny squints her eyes at the old guy and wonders how he surrounded himself with such attractive people. “Oh,” the blonde says, stopping up short. “What happened?”
“Olivia, that is Dr. Sheldon Cooper from Caltech”-Sheldon turns to give the blonde a quick once-over but doesn’t say anything, just turns back to the board and points at something written there-“and this is. Actually I don’t know who this is.”
“I’m Penny,” Penny says. She’s not sure if she should be shaking people’s hands or hiding in the corner, so she just stands there awkwardly and shifts her weight from foot to foot. If there isn’t going to be any more drinking, these shoes are going to have to go. “I’m Sheldon’s girlfriend, we’re here for a conference, it’s all usually really boring, but then the roof went whoosh, and what actually is going on?” By the time she’s finished talking, her voice is kind of high and panicky.
The blonde kind of squints her eyes and nods her head. “Ah. I’m Olivia, from the FBI. That’s Walter Bishop and Astrid Farnsworth and-”
“-And we’re already so sorry,” Astrid finishes. She gives Penny a sympathetic look and then heads toward Sheldon and the old guy.
“You’ll catch on,” Peter says. He walks over to Olivia and puts his hand on the small of her back, leans in close and whispers something in her ear. She nods a couple times and then looks up at him and smiles. Oh, Penny thinks. So that’s going on.
“Apparently, dear, there was a bit of a quantum mechanical mishap with the roof of Ainsley Hall.” Walter leaves Sheldon at the board and walks over to a desk. He grabs a handful of pretzels and turns back to Sheldon. “I figured now would be as good a time as any to educate your friend here. Seize the opportunity to learn more while you can!”
“I beg your pardon,” Sheldon interrupts, “but your equations here don’t make sense. Why would you-” And after that it’s a lot of science that Penny doesn’t even try to follow. She toes off her shoes and hoists herself up on one of the lab tables and kicks her feet back and forth and waits for someone to shout “Aha!” or “Eureka!” or “Tada!”
“Can I ask you a question?” When Penny looks up, Peter’s standing in front of her with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Olivia’s standing behind him but she keeps glancing back over shoulder at Sheldon and Walter. “The roof of Ainsley Hall disappeared. Why aren’t you more freaked out?”
“Oh.” Penny shrugs her shoulder. “Sheldon has, like, binders full of emergency preparedness plans. Schedules and maps for the zombie apocalypse or an alien invasion, stuff like that. I’ve read them. This seems actually less strange.”
“And he’s your boyfriend, you said?” Peter gives her the look she always gets from people who just meet her, the first time they see her with Sheldon. Olivia nudges him discreetly, but Penny just smiles.
“Yeah. We were friends for awhile and then started dating. I know, strange. But it works.”
“Penny!” When she looks over, Sheldon’s rushing toward her. He’s got that nervous excited look on his face, like he’s eaten too much sugar or just beaten a new Wii level or something. “Dr. Bishop and I are going to discuss the practical components of multiverse theory. I think I can be helpful here in determining what caused the upper floor of that building to disappear.” He leans forward and whispers in her ear, “I’d normally be more distrusting of someone who speaks so highly of marijuana, but no time to be picky.” He presses a quick kiss to her cheek and spins around. “Dr. Bishop, can you show me those figures again?”
“Certainly, my boy,” Walter says. He’s got a handful of Red Vines and a wide grin on his face. “We should make hot chocolate. I find it opens up my mind. And it’s quite tasty. Astal, fresh milk from Gene!”
Astrid rolls her eyes and grabs a pail from under the table next to Penny.
“Oh,” Penny says, jumping down. She tucks the end of her dress over her arm and takes the pail from Astrid. “Don’t worry,” she says, looking over her shoulder at Gene. “I’ve got this.”