Dissociative Identity Quandary
Chapter Three:
“Leonard that’s really weak. For someone with such a high IQ don’t you think you could think of something a bit better?” Penny was saying this but she knew Leonard wouldn’t lie about something like this. She just didn’t want to believe it. Cocky, self-assured, brilliant Sheldon Cooper had such a big problem and she had never even noticed. What kind of friend was she that she didn’t see what was going on?.
“Penny it’s true. Lee is a separate identity from Sheldon” Leonard looked at her sincerely. He started to pace around her small living room. “Penny, Sheldon’s life, while extraordinary, is not something the mental psyche can really handle. Lee is a coping mechanism for Sheldon when life gets to be too much for him”
“Leonard, what brought about Lee? What can Sheldon not handle?” Penny saw Leonard stiffen and saw that she had stepped on an issue. She knew that he didn’t want to betray Sheldon’s confidence but didn’t want to outright lie to her either. “It’s alright if you can’t say. But just what causes the shift?” Leonard visibly relaxed and turned to look at her. Penny knew the Leonard was a good friend even with all the shit Sheldon put them through. The guys and she were lucky to have someone so loyal. Even after they had broken up, they were still good friends. She loved Leonard but it was a different kind of love then he wanted.
“It is caused when a build-up of undesirable experiences happen. It is a combo of the failed Arctic expedition, us fighting so much, Kripkey’s prank on him, and probably the fact that the anniversary of his father’s death is coming up. It probably got to be too much and now Lee is here”
“Wow, I…wow” Who knew that her little whackadoodle was so sensitive? That all the things he seemed he was impervious to were actually a problem.
“Penny, Sheldon doesn’t know about Lee and he can’t know about him. Not yet anyways”
“What! How could he not know? What about the spots in his memory that can’t be explained? Who said that you can’t tell him? He needs to know!” Penny wanted to hold Sheldon and tell him it would be ok. That she would protect him from…well apparently himself. Penny took a step back from those thoughts. ‘Where did that come from?’ she thought but Leonard continued before she could think more on it.
“Lee said we can’t” Leonard told her while trying to look anywhere but at her. “Look, Sheldon is not privy to what Lee does but Lee knows everything about Sheldon. Lee fills in the blanks that Sheldon has with mundane things that he would normally be doing. It’s really easy since Sheldon is so rigid with his life. Lee doesn’t have to get creative with the fill-ins. Lee is there to protect him, sometimes both mentally and physically” Leonard smirked in a self depreciating manner.
“Physically?”
“Well, like you, I believed that Sheldon could handle whatever mental problems he was dealing with. That he should face his bullies and problems, like we all had to, and move on. Well, I was about to tell Sheldon when Lee came out. He decked me but then helped me back up. Lee told me that Sheldon wouldn’t be able to handle knowing that Lee was there. One day he would be ready but until then I needed to back off.”
“But why is Lee here right now? I thought that he was fine when I saw you guys this morning”
“He was but the Board of Directors laid into him about the Kripkey prank incident. Sheldon walked in and Lee walked out. We thought this might happen when the meeting was scheduled on Tuesday. We actually had time to plan for Lee this time. Sometimes Lee just shows up and life gets a bit more exciting for all of us” Leonard was smiling at something he thought. Snickering at a thought, he looked up at Penny with a twinkle in his eye. “One time, we left for drinks and woke up in Mexico. All we had on were sombreros, and boots. Getting back to Pasadena without any pants or money to our name was an venture I’ll never forget. It was hard to get Sheldon to let us keep the sombrero up for awhile. He didn’t get why we looked at it and laughed."
“So Lee is here fairly often?” Penny was starting to see that Lee was going to be interesting that’s for sure. The question, however, brought back the sadness into Leonard’s eyes.
“Often enough unfortunately. Lee has told us that, while he enjoys hanging out with us, all he wants is for Sheldon to not need him” getting up, Leonard started walking to the door. “We’re going out for some drinks and who knows where we will end up. Hopefully somewhere with at least a pair of pants.” Leonard snorted at this thought and as he was walking out, Penny knew that she had to be there.
“Can I come?” Penny didn’t want to be a tag-along but she had to come. Had to see a side of Sheldon, rather Lee, that she never knew could be possible. Grinning at her with something that Penny had never seen in his face before, he shrugged at her.
“Sure but only if you think you can keep up” closing with that, he walked out the door telling her she had five minutes.
Penny smiled and dashed to room. She had to look killer tonight for whatever they got up to. There was no way to be certain but she knew that tonight was going to be one she wouldn’t forget. Thinking about how ‘Lee’ looked made Penny halt for a second, but shake her head to get rid of some images starting to form. The thought of Lee dancing with her made her stomach do little flips. Those smoldering eyes earlier made her want….
‘Get a grip on yourself Penny! It’s still Sheldon in there.’ But all she could think of was the image of Sheldon, Lee rather, grinding up against her tonight. As much as she told herself that it was not what she wanted, she was already thinking of bars they could go to with good dance floors.
“Leonard that’s really weak. For someone with such a high IQ don’t you think you could think of something a bit better?” Penny was saying this but she knew Leonard wouldn’t lie about something like this. She just didn’t want to believe it. Cocky, self-assured, brilliant Sheldon Cooper had such a big problem and she had never even noticed. What kind of friend was she that she didn’t see what was going on?.
“Penny it’s true. Lee is a separate identity from Sheldon” Leonard looked at her sincerely. He started to pace around her small living room. “Penny, Sheldon’s life, while extraordinary, is not something the mental psyche can really handle. Lee is a coping mechanism for Sheldon when life gets to be too much for him”
“Leonard, what brought about Lee? What can Sheldon not handle?” Penny saw Leonard stiffen and saw that she had stepped on an issue. She knew that he didn’t want to betray Sheldon’s confidence but didn’t want to outright lie to her either. “It’s alright if you can’t say. But just what causes the shift?” Leonard visibly relaxed and turned to look at her. Penny knew the Leonard was a good friend even with all the shit Sheldon put them through. The guys and she were lucky to have someone so loyal. Even after they had broken up, they were still good friends. She loved Leonard but it was a different kind of love then he wanted.
“It is caused when a build-up of undesirable experiences happen. It is a combo of the failed Arctic expedition, us fighting so much, Kripkey’s prank on him, and probably the fact that the anniversary of his father’s death is coming up. It probably got to be too much and now Lee is here”
“Wow, I…wow” Who knew that her little whackadoodle was so sensitive? That all the things he seemed he was impervious to were actually a problem.
“Penny, Sheldon doesn’t know about Lee and he can’t know about him. Not yet anyways”
“What! How could he not know? What about the spots in his memory that can’t be explained? Who said that you can’t tell him? He needs to know!” Penny wanted to hold Sheldon and tell him it would be ok. That she would protect him from…well apparently himself. Penny took a step back from those thoughts. ‘Where did that come from?’ she thought but Leonard continued before she could think more on it.
“Lee said we can’t” Leonard told her while trying to look anywhere but at her. “Look, Sheldon is not privy to what Lee does but Lee knows everything about Sheldon. Lee fills in the blanks that Sheldon has with mundane things that he would normally be doing. It’s really easy since Sheldon is so rigid with his life. Lee doesn’t have to get creative with the fill-ins. Lee is there to protect him, sometimes both mentally and physically” Leonard smirked in a self depreciating manner.
“Physically?”
“Well, like you, I believed that Sheldon could handle whatever mental problems he was dealing with. That he should face his bullies and problems, like we all had to, and move on. Well, I was about to tell Sheldon when Lee came out. He decked me but then helped me back up. Lee told me that Sheldon wouldn’t be able to handle knowing that Lee was there. One day he would be ready but until then I needed to back off.”
“But why is Lee here right now? I thought that he was fine when I saw you guys this morning”
“He was but the Board of Directors laid into him about the Kripkey prank incident. Sheldon walked in and Lee walked out. We thought this might happen when the meeting was scheduled on Tuesday. We actually had time to plan for Lee this time. Sometimes Lee just shows up and life gets a bit more exciting for all of us” Leonard was smiling at something he thought. Snickering at a thought, he looked up at Penny with a twinkle in his eye. “One time, we left for drinks and woke up in Mexico. All we had on were sombreros, and boots. Getting back to Pasadena without any pants or money to our name was an venture I’ll never forget. It was hard to get Sheldon to let us keep the sombrero up for awhile. He didn’t get why we looked at it and laughed."
“So Lee is here fairly often?” Penny was starting to see that Lee was going to be interesting that’s for sure. The question, however, brought back the sadness into Leonard’s eyes.
“Often enough unfortunately. Lee has told us that, while he enjoys hanging out with us, all he wants is for Sheldon to not need him” getting up, Leonard started walking to the door. “We’re going out for some drinks and who knows where we will end up. Hopefully somewhere with at least a pair of pants.” Leonard snorted at this thought and as he was walking out, Penny knew that she had to be there.
“Can I come?” Penny didn’t want to be a tag-along but she had to come. Had to see a side of Sheldon, rather Lee, that she never knew could be possible. Grinning at her with something that Penny had never seen in his face before, he shrugged at her.
“Sure but only if you think you can keep up” closing with that, he walked out the door telling her she had five minutes.
Penny smiled and dashed to room. She had to look killer tonight for whatever they got up to. There was no way to be certain but she knew that tonight was going to be one she wouldn’t forget. Thinking about how ‘Lee’ looked made Penny halt for a second, but shake her head to get rid of some images starting to form. The thought of Lee dancing with her made her stomach do little flips. Those smoldering eyes earlier made her want….
‘Get a grip on yourself Penny! It’s still Sheldon in there.’ But all she could think of was the image of Sheldon, Lee rather, grinding up against her tonight. As much as she told herself that it was not what she wanted, she was already thinking of bars they could go to with good dance floors.