tales of the multifandom

146. the alternate reality paradime - tbbt

summary
what if penny was actually a mechanic with a mechanical engineering doctorate?

relationship
penny x leonard(past)

cast
kaley cuco as penny
jim parsons as sheldon
jonny galecki as leonard

fandom
the big bang theory

( this is totally au )

—

When Penny moved to Pasadena with her boyfriend Kurt, it was to do the Doctorial project at Caltech in the Mechanical Engineering department. After she'd finished the degree which had taken her a little under 4 years, that same summer she decided she'd had enough of Kurt fucking her around and abusing her and with the help of one of her professors at Caltech - a thin, short Jewish man who still lived with his mother - who'd been teaching an engineering class she'd been interested in taking, she dumped his ass and moved into 2311 North Los Robles, apartment 4B. The day she'd moved into said apartment, she met the two Caltech physicists she'd seen in the hall on passing but never interacted with or really noticed and vice versa but knew they were friends of Wolowitz's, the professor that had helped her. She had also changed her get up, swapping the joggers and long jumpers and glasses and pulled up hair to shorts or jeans and tank tops or dresses, flipflops or trainers, hair loose down her shoulders and contacts.

Immediately Leonard takes notice of Penny, and she realises with a start he doesn't think of her as anything more as a ditzy blonde and not an intelligent girl who's trust has been so utterly smashed to pieces. So instead she pretends to have moved out to Pasadena as an aspiring actress, works tuesday and thursday nights at the Cheesecake factory, pretending to go to auditions and fail and the other nights teaching a community college mechanics class. She explains her plan to her parents and siblings and Wolowitz, who go along because they know what happened with Kurt and want her to be happy. But eventually things with Leonard got so bad that one day he just upped and left, leaving Penny to pick up the pieces of Sheldon Cooper who's entire world had fallen apart with just one dumb prank that spanned 4 months in the arctic. And that's what she does, and slowly she finds herself revealing more of the real Penny Marshall. One day she invites Sheldon to a lecture she was giving under the pretence of thinking it was something he might enjoy, and secretly loves the way his eyes widen and he sits up in his chair as a completely different Penny steps into the small mechanics room with glasses on, an oversized sweater that seems to make perfect sense on her, jeans and steel toe cap boots. She had gloves and knee pads on, and her hair was pulled up out the way with a hairband securing her hair out of her face.

"Hello, my name is Doctor Penny Marshall. Today's lecture is focused on combustion engines." Penny grins widely, and her lecture takes off.

After it's over Penny is standing over a small car battery that is completely dead, the parts scattered over her desk as she examines each piece. Sheldon packs up his notepad and pen, and approaches his friend.

"I feel i am confused." Sheldon admitted, frowning softly. "Have you been lying to us these past years for kicks?"

"No. God no." Penny vehemently shakes her head and wipes her face, unaware as she smeared oil down her face, yet Sheldon doesn't mention it because he'd come a long way since Leonard left 9 months ago. "And i promise you i'll explain the entire story. Right now i need to wash my face and hands and pick up dinner."

"Alright." Sheldon relents with a nod. "Thai food at my apartment, say 7pm?"

"Sounds great, Moonpie." Sheldon had long given up on stopping her from calling him that and instead left, beginning the half a mile walk from the community college to their apartments.

"So i was 14 when i moved to Massachusetts to attend MIT." Penny was comfortably changed and cleaned, sitting cross-legged on Sheldon's sofa, and surprisingly he's doing the same, facing her as he picks at his food, seems more invested in her story than his food. "I lived 4 years on campus and got my dual undergrad degree in mechanical engineering and math on a full scholarship. I went on and got Mechanical Engineering as my grad degree and then my masters. When i was 19, i met Kurt and thought i was in love with him. I applied to Caltech when he moved out here, and when i got in i moved in with him. I actually got my Doctorate from Caltech." Penny picked up the thin binder she'd brought over, handing it over to Sheldon who looked at her diplomas. "Anyway, Kurt slept around and used me as a cheap fuck most nights, but as a naïve 19-year-old girl who spent most of her time taking apart engines in her bedroom i didn't let it bother me. He started abusing me 9 weeks into my final year at Caltech." Sheldon looked up at her sharply, and she looked down at her foot sheepishly, no longer hungry. "I continued to let him because i needed a place to sleep, and when i graduated one of the professors helped me out - Wolowitz, actually, got me the apartment. Which is when i met you and Leonard. I asked you guys to get my TV because i was terrified of Kurt, though i didn't know he'd steal your pants. I kinda wanted to be someone else, so i didn't ever correct you." Sheldon watched Penny, noting her reactions before he finally nodded.

"I understand." Her head snapped up, eyes wide.

"You do?"

"I understand what it feels like to want to be someone else." Sheldon said. "The 'me' you see before you isn't the real me, but a personality shaped around the idea of not wanting to be reminded of my childhood. Just like you no longer have your Nebraskan Accent, i no longer have my Texan one."

"I knew you'd understand." Penny said with a smile, because she had always known she could trust Sheldon to believe her.

"Of course i understand." Sheldon nodded. "Thank you for trusting me."

"You're welcome, Moonpie." Penny winked.

"For the love of..."

—

authors note
this has been in my drafts for ages. actually not a fan of this one but i thought i'd upload it for you anyway