Chapter 1

Leonard sat on the side of his bed looking out the window. There were a lot of things going on in his mind – his career, his personal life, his friends, his family. He was analyzing his life and trying to figure out what to do next. When Penny slept with him after dumping Zack, he thought that they would be getting back together. He was willing to make some changes so he won't make the same mistakes before but she insisted that what happened was a mistake. He knew she still had feelings for him but she was not brave enough to let them try again. He was hurt and mad for being used.

He told himself that this has to end and now is the best time to begin some changes. He figured that sudden change would not work, it has to be gradual – ease it in so to speak. He thought that if he wanted people to respect him, he had to respect himself first. For people to accept him, he had to accept himself first – flaws and all. He would make a mental checklist of his plan. He would apply his plan to every aspect of his life – professional, personal, physical and emotional. The first on his list would be his roommate.

In the following weeks, he started standing up against Sheldon in their everyday lives especially in their living arrangements. It got so bad that Howard, Raj and even Penny had to intervene to separate the arguing roommates. But Leonard didn't gave in. He knew Sheldon was stubborn and won't give up easily. Leonard took his copy of the Roommate Agreement and found Sheldon's proverbial Kryptonite – Clause 209 which limits their relationship to rent and utilities.

One night when they were having dinner around the coffee table with Howard, Raj and Penny, he informed Sheldon of his decision and gave him the signed copy of Clause 209. Sheldon then offered his friendship to the other three. Nobody accepted. Leonard knew that no one in their right mind would be willing to put up with Sheldon's craziness and eccentricities. It didn't take long for Sheldon to gradually suffer for his obsessive behavior.

It was only a matter of time for Sheldon's work at the university to suffer. He published a paper with several mathematical errors that got him into trouble with President Siebert and Dr. Gablehauser. It didn't help that Barry Kripke openly insulted Sheldon in front of the whole cafeteria for his mistakes. Leonard felt bad for his friend but had to tell himself that Sheldon had to grow and own up for his actions.

Meanwhile, being freed from Sheldon's constant badgering, Leonard became more focused on his work. He was able to publish two papers within three months which was well received by the scientific community. President Siebert and Dr. Gablehauser even swung by the cafeteria to congratulate him on his excellent work.

"Dr. Hofstadter!...Dr. Gablehauser and I just came by here to congratulate you on your latest paper. We cannot overstate how excited we are for your work….rest assured you will have the full support of the university!" President Siebert said as he shook Leonard's hand.

"Thank you sir." was all Leonard could say.

"Isn't it unfair that Leonard's work get the support of the university while my work gets budget cuts!?" Sheldon intervened.

President Siebert smiled and turned to Sheldon. "Dr. Cooper, all you need is a whiteboard and a handful of markers...and unlike Dr. Hofstadter here...your previous miscalculations had us explaining to the grant committee on why we are wasting limited grant money on abstract theories that is far from provable?" he continued. "So I suggest you either support your colleague on his success or shut your trap….your choice!" President Siebert said as he turned around to leave.

Sheldon had no choice but to surrender and sit back down. Everyone was looking at their table as the exchange happened. Leonard returned to eating his lunch and paid no attention to Sheldon. It was a victory for him but it was not in his nature to rub salt on his friend's wounds.

Sheldon tried to blame his friends for his current predicament but neoner of them gave him the satisfaction. Now that Leonard has 'distanced' himself from him, Howard and Raj naturally gravitated towards Leonard. Sheldon still didn't give in. He called Leonard's mother to tell on him. Beverly for her part called her son to make him feel bad about 'abandoning' Sheldon.

"I won't do it mother! I've had enough." Leonard told his mother. "If you want, you can chauffeur him around...I don't care."

Beverly was speechless.

"If you have nothing more to say, I'm hanging up now. Goodbye mother!" Leonard closed his laptop.

That was one checked box off his list, Leonard thought.

One night while watching TV, the power of the building went out. Penny went over and was relieved that their apartment was also out of power. She said that her utility bill payment was delayed. Sheldon then used this 'emergency' as precedence to restore the original roommate agreement. It didn't work and Leonard just went to his room to sleep. Before he dozed off, the power was restored and the building manager, Donald went to their apartment looking for Sheldon.

"Hi Leonard...is Sheldon home?" Donald asked.

Leonard yelled to call Sheldon in his room. "Sheldon, the building manager is looking for you!"

Sheldon came out from his room visibly worried.

"What's going on Donald?" Leonard asked.

"Why don't you ask your roommate?" Donald pointing at Sheldon.

"Oh my god what did you do?" Leonard turned asking Sheldon.

Sheldon didn't answered and just looked at Leonard like a sick puppy.

"Let me help you Leonard….Sheldon here went to the basement and pulled the main power switch killing the power to the whole building…" Donald continued. "We caught it on camera."

As Donald was talking, their upstairs neighbor Sandy came down and heard the conversation. She immediately confronted Sheldon.

"You're the one who killed the power!?...Did you know that my son has a bad case of asthma and needs his ventilator at night!?…" Sandy yelled at him. "My son could have died! What is wrong with you!"

Leonard looked at Sheldon visibly shocked for his actions.

"I'm pressing charges…" Sandy said then turned to Donald. "Donald, you said you caught him on camera?"

"Yes." Donald nodded.

Sandy turned to Sheldon. "You're lucky my husband is on night duty tonight or else he'll beat the crap out of you!" Sandy yelled at Sheldon and walked away.

"Sheldon you should march yourself up there and apologize right now!" Leonard told Sheldon.

"Uh...that might be bad idea…" Donald cut Leonard off. "Well I'm going now Leonard...see you around…" Donald tapped him on the shoulder then walked away.

Leonard closed the door and went straight to his bedroom. He didn't pay any attention to Sheldon.

The next day, the police came along to talk to Sheldon. Sheldon was in tears and apologized for his actions. Sandy was adamant to press charges for endangering his son. It was at this moment that Leonard decided to help his friend.

"Sandy I know you are mad at Sheldon right now and you have every right to be…but I can assure you this will never happen again." Leonard tried to reason with her but Sandy's mind was made up. She will file a formal complaint against Sheldon.

As a last resort, Leonard called Sheldon's mother Mary, telling her what happened and the trouble her son is in right now. Mary came as soon as possible and tried to talk to Sandy in forgiving Sheldon and taking back the charges against him. Leonard came with them to introduce Mary to Sandy.

Leonard knocked on Sandy's apartment and a few moments later, she opened her door.

"Hi Sandy...I hope we're not disturbing you or anything but Sheldon's mother Mary is here and we were wondering if you have a few minutes to talk?" he said.

"You know what Leonard, you're a pretty good guy so ok, I'll listen." Sandy said as she invited them in. "Please have a seat."

As soon as Sheldon entered the apartment, his obsessive behavior kicked in as he cannot decide where to sit.

"Is something wrong?" Sandy asked Leonard confused with Sheldon's behavior.

"Nothing is wrong Sandy." he smiled at her. He turned to Sheldon. "Sheldon sit down!" he yelled at him. Sheldon was shocked and complied.

"Please excuse my son….he is one of God's special people….by the way I'm Mary...Shelly's mother." Mary said as she extended her hand to Sandy. Sandy shook Mary's hand in return.

"Thank you for letting us in….Leonard here told me everything that happened and I just want to apologize for my son's behavior….I promise it will never happen again...right Shelly?" Mary looked at Sheldon.

"Yes. Please accept my apologies. I promise it won't happen again." Sheldon said hanging his head low.

"Another reason for us being here is to ask if you would be so kind enough to drop the charges against Shelly here….I understand you're upset and you have every right to be." Mary said with a hopeful look.

"My husband was so mad about what happened. I was the one who stopped him from beating up your son….you're a mother so I know you'd understand." Sandy said.

"I completely understand and there is no excuse for Shelly's behavior...I came as soon as Leonard called and gave Shelly a talking to before we came here." Mary answered her.

"Good….can I get you guys anything...coffee? Water?" Sandy offered.

"Thank you Sandy but you don't have to bother." Mary smiled at her.

Sandy sighed and leaned back on her chair. "Well I guess there's no point in dragging this out any longer and you seem like a god-fearing person Mary." Sandy said.

"Oh yes. I actually work at our church back in Texas." Mary said.

"Really?….Ok Mary….since you were nice enough to come all the way here from Texas...we'll drop the charges against your son." Sandy stood up and shook Mary's hand.

"Thank you Sandy. God bless you and I'll be praying for your son." Mary said shaking Sandy's hand.

"Thank you Sandy." Leonard said as he shook Sandy's Hand. "Sheldon….aren't you gonna say anything to Sandy?"

"Thank you. I promise it will never happen again." He said looking down.

"You're welcome." Sandy said as she went with them to the door.

The three of them went back to the apartment. Sheldon sat on his spot and began to cry. Mary immediately went to his side to comfort him.

"I'm so sorry mommy!" Sheldon said as he put his face down on his hands.

"Awww Shelly….it's alright...mommy's here now…." she said as she rubbed Sheldon's back to calm him down.

"She's right buddy….everything's ok now….Sandy's gonna take back the charges against you…" Leonard said as he sat down on the chair.

"Thank you Leonard…you're my best friend and I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused." He sadly said.

"Don't worry about it buddy." Leonard assured him.

"I know!...why don't I cook you boys some fried chicken and spaghetti with hotdogs huh!?" Mary said.

"Sounds good!" Leonard exclaimed.

"Ok! You boys relax and I'll take care of everything." Mary stood up and went to the kitchen to cook for them.

Leonard put his hand on Sheldon's shoulder. "Are you alright buddy?"

"I'm better now. Thank you Leonard….you really are a good friend." Sheldon looked at him.

"No problem buddy…now you sit there while I make you some tea." Leonard said.

Unfortunately the incident was brought to the attention of the university administration. The university president immediately called Sheldon to get his side of the story. Leonard was also called being his closest friend and roommate. Before coming in, Leonard told Sheldon to offer no explanation as this will just complicate his present situation. Sheldon agreed. President Siebert, Dr. Gablehauser was there including Janine Davis of the Human Resources.

After being questioned, Sheldon offered no explanation as Leonard told him to do.

Janine Davis spoke first. "Dr. Cooper as an employee of the university, your actions inside and most importantly outside the university reflects upon the university itself. How do you think our Board of Directors and Grant Committee would react if they find out that one of our employees is charged with reckless endangerment of a child?" she continued. "It is just fortunate that the mother of the child decided to drop the charges against you, otherwise you would be packing up your stuff right at this very moment." she said to Sheldon who just sat there without saying anything.

"Dr. Cooper, do you understand that if that nice lady didn't dropped the charges against you, the whole reputation of the university would be under question….the press would then put out articles saying that our scientists are reckless and unstable!" President Siebert said. "It's not only your head whose on the line here….everyone in this room is."

Sheldon didn't say anything.

Leonard decided to speak. "Even me?"

President Siebert looked at him but didn't say anything.

Sheldon decided to speak. "Sir I realized my mistake and I promise it will not happen again." he said in a low voice.

"Very well." Janine Davis said. "As a way to move forward, President Siebert, Dr. Gablehauser and I have come to a decision. You will be under the direct supervision of Dr. Hofstadter until such a time we will see fit." Janine said.

Sheldon tried to protest but was met by the Siebert's and Gablehauser's stares.

"Is it really necessary Mrs. Davis? Does this mean if he screws up outside of work, I get punished too?" Leonard protested.

"No Dr. Hofstadter...it is just to teach a lesson to Dr. Cooper." Mrs. Davis said then turned to Sheldon. "Dr. Cooper, you will report to Dr. Hofstadter, he will be your supervisor until further notice. Now if there's nothing else?…." Mrs Davis asked the men in the room. No one replied. Leonard stood up and left the room leaving Sheldon behind.