A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for reading this fic that I'm writing for Chloe, aka bigbangsheldon. She wanted an AU were the guys were badasses and the girls... not so much.

The first chapter is from Penny's point of view (or rather Penelope's) and obviously L/P heavy but all characters will feature equally in this fic and the point of view will change at each chapter.

A round of applause for Natalie, aka bludgertothehead on tumblr, who proof-read this chapter for me, and that's about it!

The Catalan Interlude - Chapter One: The Elevator Factor

"Are you girls sure you don't wanna come?"

Bernadette looked up from her comic book long enough to say, "No, thanks," and Amelia didn't even bother pretending she had any interest at all in answering the question. Penelope tried very hard not to roll her eyes at her friend, but then again, what had she been expecting? If there was one thing she'd learnt from three years as Amelia's roommate, it was that nothing could get her attention like comic books. Not that Penelope didn't like comic books herself, because she sure did; she simply thought, sometimes, that they might be missing out on interesting things when all they were ever doing was living life through ink and paper.

Actually, that was very much what they were doing at the moment. They had arrived in Barcelona three days earlier for a three-week-long vacation that Bernadette had won at her lab's annual Christmas lottery, but they hadn't seen anything of the city besides the airport and their hotel room. Penelope had tried to convince them to go out at least once every two days, and Bernadette had considered it a moment before saying she agreed to an outing once a week, while Amelia had answered that she had no interest in burning under the fiery Spanish sun.

And there they were, both so enraptured by the new adventures of the Avengers that they didn't even want to come downstairs with her so they could simply have breakfast. Penelope sighed. She loved her friends dearly, but sometimes she really wished they were not holding her back from all the exciting things life had to offer and that a part of her longed to discover.

She walked to the elevator, her step both sad and annoyed, and was not looking where she was going when she bumped into someone waiting for the elevator. It was a man who was a good head shorter than her, and yet he exuded a charisma Penelope could never dream of possessing. Blinking rapidly, she apologized profusely.

"I'm really sorry," she said, "I wasn't looking where I was going and I just… feel so stupid, and I hope you'll forgive me for ruining your day. I literally am the stupidest person I know and that's true, Amelia and Bernadette are so much smarter than me and…"

As she rambled, Penelope could feel herself grow hot. Oh, how she hated that. Whenever she was under pressure or feeling very stupid, she would ramble for minutes on end, which made her even more stupid and stressed. It really was the most vicious circle in her life, and Penelope had more than a few of those.

"Anyway, I really am sorry and I…"

"Hey," the man interrupted, "that's okay. We all have bad days."

He smiled at her from behind what Penelope's sister referred to as "hipster glasses", and for some reason, there was something in his eyes and his smile that somehow calmed her a little.

"Thank you," she breathed, and just at that moment, the elevator door opened.

"Please," he said, gesturing towards the elevator.

Smiling nervously, Penelope entered it and he followed just behind.

"It's nice to meet another American here," he said as if continuing a perfectly normal conversation, for which Penelope was grateful. Most people just laughed whenever she would ramble. (Amelia was one of the only people who didn't laugh, but that was because Amelia never laughed at anything. Sometimes Penelope wondered how on Earth they had become friends.)

"Have you seen much of the city yet?" the man asked, and Penelope sighed.

"Unfortunately, no. I came here with friends who aren't that big on going outside."

The man had a look of disbelief on his face.

"Why even come to Barcelona, then?"

"One of us won the trip, so we figured we might as well use it."

He didn't say anything, but Penelope was willing to bet he was silently judging them. She knew she did it. She used the silence to steal a glance in his direction, taking time to really examine his appearance. His brown eyes seemed friendly and amused, and his mouth wasn't set in a firm line like most people's would be, but in a slightly crooked smile. His hair was short and yet long enough to be considered messy, adding to the friendliness of his face, and his clothes were simple yet Penelope knew they were saying a lot about him: a well-worn pair of black jeans she suspected he had owned for a few years already, a red tee shirt where she could read the words "Green Day" and used grey tennis shoes. If there was a word for his style, Penelope believed it would have to be… rock and roll, and maybe that was three words after all.

Penelope suddenly felt like she had to say something. She had no idea where the urge was coming from, but she knew she did, and she found herself rattling her usually brilliant brain. Before she even had the time to come up with anything, though, the elevator stopped on the ground floor and its door opened again.

The man looked at her expectantly, and Penelope hurriedly came out of the elevator. Once again, he followed behind her, and then said "It was nice meeting you. Maybe I'll see you around?"

Penelope simply nodded, for she had suddenly grown disappointed, even though she wasn't sure why. She rode elevators with a certain number of people at Caltech, and she was never unhappy to leave them, but just as she was about to go on with her life without the pretty boy from the elevator, he turned towards her.

"I was going to have breakfast in a café not far from here because there is definitely room for improvement regarding food in this hotel," he said. "Do you want to join me?"

A lot of thoughts suddenly ran through Penelope's head, but the most prominent was utter surprise. The thing was… Penelope wasn't Amelia, and she was no stranger to men and love – she'd been in love twice and sexually involved with three people – but Penelope still wasn't the kind of woman men like him asked out. And maybe he wasn't asking her out, maybe he was just offering breakfast because he thought it was a shame that she hadn't seen anything of Barcelona yet, maybe he just thought it'd be nicer for him not to eat alone, and Penelope was just imagining things, but still, it was the nicest thing that had happened to her for a while. So, in the end, she smiled and nodded.

ooo

"Après vous, mademoiselle," he said, holding the café door open for her, and Penelope walked in, smiling as she said "Oh, you speak French!"

"I don't. Those are the only three words I know," he replied, and Penelope laughed softly.

"Come on," he added, "I'll show you to my favourite table."

It was a nice table for four, located near the back of the café, and Penelope finally took a look around her, appreciating the Mediterranean style of the establishment.

"This is lovely," she said as she sat down. "Thank you."

He smiled and sat down too, before saying, "You know, I just realised I don't even know your name."

"I'm Penelope," she said.

"It's a nice name."

Penelope smiled. "I know. What's yours?"

"Lenny."

"It's a cool name."

"I know."

She smiled at him over the menu a petite waitress had just brought them (although she had ignored Penelope altogether, her big black eyes never leaving Lenny, annoying Penelope for reasons that totally evaded her), and they were silent for a couple of minutes as they were both perusing the menu. All the while, Penelope couldn't help but be amazed at how at ease she was feeling with Lenny. She never felt at ease with people she didn't know much, especially when they were pretty men who were obviously very confident. She fleetingly wondered what was so different about him, but didn't have much time to ponder the question as their waitress was soon back to take their orders (and stare some more at Lenny).

After they had placed their orders, Lenny looked at Penelope with a smile and said:

"So, Penelope, what can you tell me about yourself?"

Ah, the tricky question. She figured she could either lie and make herself a pretty badass girl or tell the truth and be seen as the hopeless nerd she was. Each position had its lot of pros and cons, after all. If she lied and Lenny knew it, she'd look pretty stupid; if she didn't lie, she'd look pretty stupid. In the end, Penelope went with telling the truth. She had looked stupid already at the elevator door anyway; Lenny probably knew what to expect.

"I'm from Nebraska, but I work as an experimental physicist at Caltech University in Pasadena, California."

"Really?" Lenny exclaimed. "I'm from New Jersey myself, but my band is based in Pasadena and I've lived there for over ten years. It's a small world."

Had she been Amelia, Penelope would probably have noted that the world is anything but small. But she wasn't, so Penelope's smile simply widened and she said "It really is."

Their waitress then came back, bringing with her Penelope and Lenny's breakfasts. She offered an extra smile to Lenny, who smiled back politely, and Penelope started resenting being ignored, but then the waitress was gone, Lenny smiled at her again, and Penelope felt better.

"Bon appétit," she said, and Lenny laughed.

"Do you speak French, or are those the only two words you know?"

"I learnt it a few years ago," Penelope answered. "I had to spend six months in Switzerland for work."

They ate in comfortable silence for a while, until Penelope realised she had no idea what Lenny did for a living.

"What about your work?" she asked, as if their conversation hadn't been interrupted by their waitress or Penelope's French interlude.

Lenny looked at her funnily over his scrambled eggs. "Oh, come on," he said, as if the answer was obvious. Penelope raked her brain for a few seconds, but it really wasn't.

"What?" she said, and Lenny snorted.

"You're not going to pretend you don't know, are you?"

Penelope was at a loss for words. What exactly was she supposed to know? Had she fallen into a parallel universe in which Lenny was President of the United States of America?

"I don't know what you're talking about," Penelope said, and Lenny seemed to realise she was serious because he looked suddenly surprised.

"That would explain why you didn't say anything," he said. "Usually, people ask for an autograph right away."

"An autograph?"

"I'm the lead singer in the biggest selling American band of the year," Lenny answered. "We're on tour around the world at the moment. Barcelona is our last date."

"Oh, wow."

Penelope didn't really know what to say. Truth was, she knew a lot of things regarding physics, and even though she didn't want to admit it, even more about comic books and fantastic novels and video games, but she was at a complete loss regarding a lot of other things. Rock bands were definitely a topic she had never mastered.

"Congratulations, I guess?" she said, and Lenny laughed.

"Likewise. I had never met someone who didn't know me."

That most certainly explained the waitress's fascination with Lenny, then. Penelope didn't know if she should feel better or worse at this new piece of information. If she was going to be competing with every groupie Lenny had, she would never stand a chance and… woah, where had this train of thought come from?

Penelope could suddenly feel herself blushing furiously. Lenny raised an eyebrow, visibly intrigued by her reaction, and Penelope felt even more stupid.

"I… erm, I get red in the face at random moments," she stuttered, and Lenny just smiled sweetly before checking the time.

"Hey, listen," he said. "I have to go now, my band's doing a photoshoot this morning and then it's the soundcheck for tonight's gig."

Penelope nodded. Deep down, she'd known Lenny would eventually have to go back to his interesting life where there was no place for nerdy girls; it still didn't lessen the disappointment.

"Why don't you come and see us?" he asked. "The show's sold out, but I can get you on the guest list. Your friends, too, if they're interested. You'll even be able to get backstage," he added, with a wink, and who was Penelope to reject him?

A/N: See you soon for chapter 2!