A/N: Well, here we are at the 'proper' end now. This is all I'm writing for this fic, but there may yet be more Shenny from me. I so appreciate all the lovely comments I've received throughout this fic. You have boosted my confidence so much in the new fandom, and I thank you all so much! I hope the Epilogue does not disappoint!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Epilogue - The Shiny Alternative

It was strange to think it was practically a year now since this whole thing started. Of course, even Penny wasn't so dumb that she really believed that was the start of it all. The moment she had met Sheldon Cooper, something changed, something began, and here they were now facing the one year anniversary of their first date. There was no better place to go than the comic book store, and Penny laughed at herself in the full length mirror that evening as the thought crossed her mind. She was so far removed from geekdom when she first moved into this place. Now she was the faithful and beloved girlfriend of the biggest geek she ever met in her whole life, and she could not have been happier.

She adjusted the wig she wore and smiled then. At least she chose the costumes for this years Halloween bash. Two years ago, she had been less than thrilled, forced into a Wonder Woman costume complete with brunette wig. This time around she chose to put on a similar hairpiece, to become Miss Inara Serra, Companion of the Firefly class ship, Serenity.

The look in her eyes when she emerged from her bedroom ready to leave was enough to shoot down any whore jokes Howard might've made. To be honest, she didn't pay them much mind anyway as her eyes drifted to Sheldon and she saw the smile on his lips.

"What do you think?" she asked him, performing a perfect twirl.

"Very authentic," he nodded as he looked her over, "and naturally beautiful, as both you and Inara Serra are wont to be."

"Thank you, sweetie," Penny grinned in response, taking the arm he offered her, and leading their group of happy friends off to the Halloween party.

They were quite a sight to behold, the entire crew of Serenity in pretty well made costumes and the occasional wig and prop for the sake of authenticity. All eyes turned to them when they entered the comic book store a while later, certain they had just lost out on the first prize to this bunch.

Penny was radiant as Inara on Sheldon's arm, and he was a pretty dashing captain Mal his ownself, at least that's how his girlfriend had put it. Maybe they were better suited to Kaylee and Simon in some ways, her being so sunny and happy and him being so smart, but Sheldon absolutely insisted he must be the leader of their group, as always. He was natural Captain material, so he said; nobody dared to argue. That meant Howard and Bernadette got to be the doctor and the mechanic, which kind of suited their height if nothing else, and Bernadette certainly giggled and smiled enough to be sweet little Kaylee. Leonard looked just a little odd in a Hawaiian shirt playing Wash, but Amy was pulling off Zoe, the warrior Amazon, quite well considering. She found her inner 'tude, as Penny put it, and the replica gun strapped to her side didn't look at all out of place somehow.

"Why do I have to be the religious dude with no girlfriend?" Raj complained from the back, mostly hidden from view by the other two people to make up the crew.

Zack might seem like an odd choice, but nobody else Sheldon knew was built right to play Jayne Cobb. Besides, whilst he had an IQ akin to an ape, Zack was a pretty nice guy. He didn't seem at all phased by the fact his ex, Penny, was now dating Sheldon, so it was fine.

Penny and Bernadette had managed to rope in a lonely single girl who worked at the Cheesecake Factory to play River. As luck would have it, Jenny was slim and a natural brunette, and in her blue dress she passed for the little assassin pretty well.

"Now, Raj," Sheldon admonished him as the Indian guy appeared at his side. "You know Book is much more important than just being of a religious bent," he explained. "Besides, you were best suited to the role, given your stature and skin tone, and your country's rich culture," he explained.

"Yeah, besides, you're not the only single character," Penny pointed out to him. "Jayne and River were single too."

"Er, tell that to those two," threw in Howard, jerking a thumb over his shoulder to where Zack and Jenny were really going at it.

"Eeew!" the blonde reacted with shock and distaste. "That's Jayne and River!" she exclaimed, looking decidedly uncomfortable.

"Penny," her boyfriend sighed, shaking his head at her as if she was just so very tiresome. "Although the pairing is not canon, there are a great number of Browncoats that have made many excellent points as to why River and Jayne, or 'Rayne'" he air-quoted, "is a perfectly acceptable pairing," he explained, continuing in a whisper when Stuart called order. "Remind me to show you prettydeadly .net when we get home."

There was a long and rambling speech that everyone could have done without, as Stuart waxed lyrical on the wonder of all the costumes, and the welcome new faces in his store, as well as the returning ones. Nobody really cared about any of that, they only wished to know if they had won the costume competition. There was much toe-tapping, sighing, and watch-checking before the store owner finally got to the point.

"And the winner of this year's Halloween costume competition is... the crew of Serenity!" he declared.

Though groans and sighs emitted from many of the other participants, they were easily drowned out by a nine-person cheer. No-one looked happier than Sheldon that his precious Firefly had been recognised in its greatness amongst those that had not been so inclined to like it before. He looked to Penny and saw her smiling just as brightly as he was, and then suddenly she was hugging him tight, and he was hugging her back, and that warm feeling inside that only ever occurred when he was close to her was ever-present once again.

In the past twelve months, closeness with Penny had become much more agreeable to Sheldon, though he still shied away from physical contact with anyone else. She was just different, special, as unique as any given snowflake or star, as he had once told her, so sincerely that she had cried. Right now, she was just ginning at him, and leaning in for a kiss that he reciprocated, albeit it awkwardly. The only time she still had trouble getting him to show affection was in a crowd of other people, especially those he did not know, but they were working on that.

"We did it!" Penny enthused, still bouncing up and down with everyone else.

"Indeed we did," her boyfriend agreed, "and earlier than I expected" he said, checking his watch. "Now perhaps we can go home and I can show you the website I was talking about," he urged her.

Penny was happy to take his hand and be led to the door, but she did not have the Internet on her mind.

"Sweetie, we can go home," she agreed as he tugged her along, "but I'm not really planning on looking at any websites," she told him, with a look in her eye he still hadn't learnt to read almost a year on.

"Then what was your plan?" he asked, oblivious and confused, with one hand on the door to leave and the other held tight in Penny's own.

"With you dressed up as super-hot badass Captain Mal?" she said, licking her lips as she leaned in incredibly close, enough to send a shiver down Sheldon's spine as she whispered in his ear; "I aim to misbehave."

The End