A/N: This is even bigger AU, so to say, because it has Alex meet Sheldon before the Pilot episode, when he was still living with Leonard only and wasn't eveb associated with Howard or Raj.

Like you probably figured, all of there stories take place in a different universe, despite all featuring certain characters, such as Sheldon.

Sheldon gazed out of the window, solemnly observing the dusk that had settled over Pasadena. Hwe was interrupted by Leonard's groan. His roommate leaned back in his chair, frowning at the partially build metal device on the desk.

"Not working?", Sheldon asked.

"Does it look like it's working?", Leobard replied, frustrated.

Sheldon glared at him. "Leonard, you must be aware that, per our Roommate Agreement, you, as an experimental physicist, are obliged to test my hypothesis once a year, if I have any. Don't give up!"

Leonard sighed, getting back to work. "All this complicated or flat out bizarre blue prints... I'm really starting to think you want me to make a death ray."

"Don't be ridiculous! I wouldn't never assign you for something that important!"

Sheldon was still talking when he opened the door. He came face to face with a beautiful young brunette in front of his door.

"Hello", she greeted him.

"Hello", Sheldon replied, awkwardly. His eyes scanned her body, and he paid a special attention to her face, eyes... and wrists.

"Doctor Sheldon Cooper?"

"That's me."

"I read your ad", Alex explained, already stepping into the apartment. "You are looking for an assistant, right?"

"That is correct", Sheldon answered, nodding his head.

"My name is Alex Jensen", Alex exclaimed, expensive her hand out for Sheldon. He shook it, shivering as he observed the piece of jewelry around her wrists carefully. There was a strange glint in her eyes for a moment, but she was soon back to her calm and professional self. "I graduated "summa cum laude" with a concentration in theoretical physics from Stanford University. They offered me a position at Fermilab, but I've been following your work for years and..."

"That's pretty impressive", Sheldon complimented her.

"Thank you", Alex replied, grinning.

"But I am afraid I will be narednih somebody older. More experienced." He stepped aside. "The door."

Suddenly, Alex attention seemed to shift to the project on Leonard's desk. She observed it for some time, then walked over, with Sheldon following after her. "Nice work...", Alex mused, approaching the desk. Leonard looked up at her, a wide smile on her face. "All yours?", Alex asked, standing a mere inch away from him.

"All of it", Leonard exclaimed proudly.

"But it was all based on my blue prints and calculations", Sheldon interjected, walking over to Alex. Their eyes met.

"Interesting...", she mused, crossing her arms over her chest, before taking another look at Leonard. "You have a very good friend, dr. Cooper", she complimented, making Leonard blush.

"Roommate", Sheldon added, giving Alex a piercing look. "And if you have anything else to say, or do... I am pretty sure now will be time."

"Very well", Alex replied calmly, reaching into her purse. "If you ever consider changing your mind... maybe this could be something of a motivation, brain teaser for you", she exclaimed, handing Sheldon a piece of paper.

"This is a fascinating equation", he exclaimed, his hands shaking.

Alex nodded her head, grinning. "All the way down to a fascinating solution", she confirmed before turning away. "See you... maybe", she said in a husky tone, giving Sheldon a wink before heading outside.

Leonard remained staring after her, his cheeks blushed and his eyes wide, while Sheldon was left with looking at that piece of paper in his trembling hands.

"What the hell just happened?", Leonard exclaimed, his jaw slack.

Sheldon flinched, snapping back to attention. "Work!", he ordered in an unusually harsh tone before sitting at one chair in the very corner of the room and pulling his laptop open.

#

Within hours, the dark night settled over the whole time. Leonard went to sleep as early as of ten pm-though, to be fair, with his "project" almost complete. Sheldon sighed upon entering his bedroom, closing the door behind tiredly. He changed into his pajamas, lied in bed and covered himself up, then finally closed his eyes.

Just when he was about to drift off to sleep, he felt a cold... something like a cold chill, rush, brushing against him. Briefly.

His eyes pulled open. He straightened himself up a bit, then looked around. He saw nothing, and felt nothing. He laid back down and closed his eyes.

Soon enough, more cold. Chill. Sheldon shifted in bed, frowning. He thought that those feelings could be due to stress. But, after all those years, he knew better.

He opened his eyes, finding himself face to face with a ghostly, dark creature right on top of him, it's cold form tightening around his neck. He tried to move, to screen, to fight that creature off, but he found himself being like frozen, paralyzed, and he couldn't even make a sound. He desperately struggles against his invisible restraints, chains, but his body remained motionless, his mouth mute. He felt coldness possessing him, his body growing weak, his heart thundering against his chest, his eyesight growing blurry, cold sweat running down his skin.

And then, he heard the door pull open.

And saw a siluette. A blurry image of a young brunette... with a large, shiny item, instrument in her hand.

There was a barely audible, high-pitched sound.

And a gleam of red light, directed at the creature.

Going through it.

That thing screamed, flames appearing at it's sides, spreading through it's very beginning, all over, seemingly... consuming it.

Sheldon watched, still motionless. The sight of his saviour became a little more clear. He recognized that hair, those eyes... that bracelet...

Finally, that thing was gone, and Sheldon sat up in bed, almost jumping out of it. All that strength, efforts, finally kicked in, once his body was free of those invisible binds. He looked around, breathing heavily, and saw Alex Jensen clearly, his death ray in her hands. She smirked, walking over to him.

"As soon as I set foot in your apartment, I realized what you were doing. A death ray. But a special one. Used to murder demons. Even the most powerful ones. And I knew, when I encountered you, that that would happen. Sooner or later. The way things are... so I manage to kit your apartment key and make the impression in that piece of clay I always carry around with me, because you never know. Luckily, your ray appeared to be pretty much done."

"It is made out of pure iron. The strong light projects an image of a charm, invisible to a naked eye. It is fatal to them. It can kill them quickly, from quite the distance away, more than one in the same time."

"So I made the copy of a key fairly quickly, parked in front of your apartment building this night... and waited. It could have very well gone after me. But it was more likely to go after you. Due to the... techniques you were developing." She smiled. "Congratulations. Works great. Though your cute roommate did much of the... practical work."

"That was a real pain. Though I helped him build some parts. He is an experimental physicist. We both had little experience in building things. I think we should befriend an engineer. Hopefully, the one with the PhD or two."

"Good idea. By the way, I was never really going to become your assistant, of course. I can't, we both know that. I needed an excuse to pay you a visit... take a look at your home... see how you do, who do you hang out with... and, finally, provide you with the knowledge that we both need."

Sheldon stood up, hear rushing up his face. He thought about the way Alex looked at him, the way she looked at Leonard, the way she spoke to the two of them. "Is that why you paid me a visit?", he hissed. "Or you just figured that I could get things done? I wonder do you even recognize me. Do you still stand for... what I do? What we were?"

Alex gulped, feeling an ache in her chest. "You have the ray, and you have the equation", she said dryly, clenching her fists. "I don't have the time to discuss... all this with you, to argue with you. This is something you must decide on your own. Trust, you understand the meaning of that word? Goodbye, Sheldon Lee Cooper. Until the next time... whenever that will be."

They were both lost in that moment, that went on for who knows how long. It was a mixture of emotions, sensations and unspoken yet loud and clear words, a sweet storm they were both happy to get lost in.

But, eventually, they pulled away. Alex did, anyway.

They locked eyes. That final feeling was there. Recognition. Acceptance.

But neither had the courage to say anything.

And Alex left.

#

The bright moolight eluminated the streets of Pasadena. A young man dressed in a will vest just exited the local comic book store, followed by a skinny guy with a curly (and messy) hair.

"That Leonard guy seems cool ", Howard commented."We could pay him a visit sometime. He just got that incredible new videogame!" He frowned. "I've heard some strange things about his roommate... but it can't be that bad, right?"

"I still mantain we should try joining a book club", Raj said. A smirk appeared on his face. "Speaking of books..."

Howard groaned. "Once again, Raj, after the horror that was "Twilight" (and not the horror in a "right" kind of way), I refuse to read any book, story or a science paper that you recommend!", Howard insisted. "Especially not "The Legends of Pasadena"."

"But it's beautiful!", Raj whined. "Man and woman way ahead of their time, who meet back in 15th century and aim to break all the superstitions and show the world that there is a scientific explanation for everything. But that was one thing they were wrong about, because, on their quest, they offended a witch, who cursed them, dooming them to walk the Earth for centuries, basically immortal, and hunt down all the other supernatural creatures. They can't be together, because their presence attracts the evil, which would likely end in harming many innocent people, or even themselves, because, even though they are immortal, demons can't weaken them by stealing parts of their life force. But if they manage to hunt all those monsters down, extinct them, they will get to be together again. Forever!" Raj sighed, a dreamy look in his eyes. "She even still wears the golden bracelet that her love gave her, over half a millennium ago. To make sure he would recognize her, if they were to meet. But every time that happens, instead of re uniting, they must break apart, whenever they get at least little bit close. And don't get me wrong, but some actually believe that that book was inspired by a true story."

"And you still can't figure out why you can't get a date", Howard commented, before continuing on his away.

"You're heartless, dude", Raj protested before following after his friend.

#

Alex sat into her car and sighed before fastening her seat belt. She adjusted her golden bracelet, a sad smile appeared on her face.

"Really, Sheldon?", she whispered to herself. "How could I forget?"

And she drove off into the night.

#

Claire sighed, closing the comic book. Truly intruguing, childlish, even romantic anthology. And aspiring, in a way... but also the kind that leaves you wanting more, needing more.

Claire took one more look at the comic book, then on the date planet on her wall, above the writing desk. With a grin, she put the comic book back in the box and closed it, before putting the box back under the bed, and heading over to the closet.

She finally knew how to finish her latest comic book. She figured it would take her a few days tops.

Giving her just enough time to finally visit planet Earth again.

Luckily, on her planet, those types of trips were pretty common. Their appearence was quite humanoid anyway. Her parents had taken you to Earth a few times, while she was still in middle school. The space ships and fuel were even cheaper now. Ste had one in her garage. They didn't stay long and she heard that it had changed a lot since then, but she looked forward to being there again, at least for a while. Some would often bring souvenirs from those travels, and occasionally sell them, which could explain how she had obtained that comic book.

If that comic book was to go by, it was a fascinating planet to live, even if those stories were just a product of fiction.