The Railroad Recalibration (2/9)
by phantagrae

Rating: G
Disclaimer: The characters and universe of this story do not belong
to me. I just like to play with them. 
Feedback: Yes, please. phantagrae@earthlink.net

Summary: My idea of how Sheldon's train journey might
have gone.  A million thanks to my super beta, FoxPhile!


Chapter Two

At the train station, Sheldon paused on the platform to take a
picture of the California Zephyr, gleaming in the sunshine, then
boarded the train, allowing the sleeping car attendant to show him
to the little "roomette" he had reserved for this leg of the journey.
He arranged with the attendant to have his meals delivered to his
room, allowing himself the most privacy possible on the train, then
took great delight in arranging his things around the tiny room. He
had a beautiful window through which to watch the passing
scenery, a comfortable seat which would convert into a bed, and
most importantly, his own private toilet.

There was a shared shower outside his room, but he figured he
could forego a shower until he got to Denver. He had no desire to
share a shower with total strangers. Sharing a shower with Leonard
involved enough compromise. As he settled in his seat and waited
for the train to set off, he contemplated the idea of having his
apartment back home entirely to himself. Living room, kitchen,
bathroom - all to himself.

Without Leonard in the bathroom, he wouldn't have to worry about
making sure that Leonard stood the proper distance from the sink
or toilet, squeegeed the shower when he was done, and cleaned
toothpaste and shaving cream residue out of the sink. Not having to
share the bathroom was by itself almost worth being all alone in the
apartment.

Without Leonard, he could turn the second bedroom into a home
office and spread his whiteboards out and not have to worry about
them getting in the way in the living room. He could put his desk in
there, with his laptop, and maybe even a second television. And he
could expand his comic book collection, as well.

In the living room, he could still have his friends over for dinner,
movies or video games, but have the added luxury of sending them
all home at the end of the evening. And if he and Amy chose to
have date night at his apartment, he wouldn't have to worry about
Leonard or Penny getting underfoot. He and Amy could drink tea
in the kitchen in peace.

He would have the whole kitchen to himself! Only the cereals that
he liked, the refrigerator stocked with only the food that he liked.
He wouldn't have half the space taken up with Leonard's lactose-
free milk and cheese and other foods that only Leonard liked to
eat.

He could have it all to himself. All alone. Everyone would go home
at the end of the night and he'd be alone in his Fortress of Solitude.
If he didn't want to invite anyone over, he could order the food that
only he liked without having to take anyone else's tastes into
account.

It was definitely an option to consider.

But he'd never lived alone.

While he was in college and graduate school, he was too young to
be on his own. His mother had driven him to campus every day and
had even temporarily moved out to California with him while he
worked on his graduate degrees. When he turned eighteen and was
legally able to live on his own, his mother had helped him find a
roommate. Of course, his roommate arrangements were repeatedly
unsuccessful until he'd met Leonard. With Leonard he had found
not only a roommate, but ultimately a real friend.

And now Leonard was going to leave him.

Just as he arrived at that thought, the train lurched and began to
move forward. The excitement of a new train journey pushed all
other thoughts from his head for a moment.

He spent the morning looking out at the passing scenery, letting it
calm his mind and body, and alternatively making notes in a
document he had decided to call "Sheldon's Odyssey", chronicling
his journey and the various notable sites and cities along the way.
He drew on the information in the travel brochures he had picked
up at the train station as well as his own observations. It was a
simple way to occupy one part of his mind while he could feel
another part still churning away over the dilemmas that had driven
him from his home.

He eventually ordered lunch and relished the quiet and privacy of
his room. Would it really be such a bad thing to live alone?

The only thing that gave him pause was the idea of night time. While
he enjoyed solitude, when he wanted it, he had become used to
Leonard being there, even when Leonard spent the night across the
hall with Penny. It was ridiculous to imagine that Sheldon could not
function on his own, that he needed Leonard to be there.

Still, Sheldon did sleep better when he knew Leonard was on the
other side of the wall.

Though Sheldon had grown up with an older brother and a twin
sister, he'd never been particularly close to either of his siblings.
They had never understood him and he'd had a difficult relationship
with each of them in turn. He was convinced that if it hadn't been
for his mother, his brother George, Jr., would have sold him to a
passing circus caravan. And Missy was always playing tricks on
him.

Going to college when he was eleven, no longer having to endure
the foolishness of other children, had been a blessing. He had
learned to function in isolation, even though his mother drove him to
and from campus every day. He had loved their long commute each
day, and he had loved being allowed to tell her all about everything
he had learned, even though he was sure she didn't understand him
at all.

He was used to isolation. But being alone was quite another matter.
One that he didn't want to think about any more today.

He finished his lunch and set out for the Lounge Car to stretch his
legs and get a different view of the passing scenery. He came
across a man sitting alone at a pair of chairs in the somewhat
crowded car.

"Excuse me," Sheldon began. "Would you mind if I joined you?
There aren't any other empty seats."

"Sure," the middle-aged man replied, looking up from his magazine.
"Go ahead."

Sheldon looked out the window for a moment, then turned to his
fellow passenger.

"Have you ever travelled by train before?"

The man looked up at him briefly before returning again to his
article. "No."

"I love trains," Sheldon said, feeling joy rising up in him again for the
first time in days. Words came out of his mouth in a rush.

"This train, the California Zephyr, was named for the original
passenger train route operated by the Chicago, Burlington and
Quincy Railroad, Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, and
Western Pacific Railroad. It was inaugurated on March 19th, 1949,
with five vista dome cars and four sleeping cars."

The other man was now staring at him, his head tilted to one side.

Sheldon returned his gaze, breathless in being able to begin to share
the train knowledge that had been building up in his mind since he'd
purchased his tickets.

"Would you like to know more?"

"No," the man replied curtly. He held up his magazine. "I'm trying to
read."

"Oh," Sheldon replied, his voice faltering a little. His mouth worked
silently as he thought through a few possible responses, none of
which seemed likely to induce further conversation. As the man
continued to stare impatiently at him, Sheldon felt the color rising in
his cheeks. He finally pressed his lips together and turned to look
out the window again. He wished his friend and fellow train-
enthusiast Eric was here.

A seat opened up on the other side of the car, a few feet away and
Sheldon made his way to it. A child was kneeling in a nearby seat,
looking out the window as they approached a tunnel. His mother
sat in a seat beside the boy.

"This is Mount Judah," Sheldon began, indicating the terrain
outside. "We're approximately 7000 feet above sea level."

The boy looked at him, but did not reply, then turned to look again
out the window. His mother smiled apologetically at Sheldon, but
did not say anything as the train passed through the tunnel.

Sheldon fidgeted in his seat, but kept silent.

"What's that lake?" the boy suddenly asked him, pointing ahead as
they emerged on the other side.

"Oh, that's Donner Lake," Sheldon enthused. "That's where the
infamous Donner Party became stranded in the winter of 1846.
There were 87 people to begin with, but only 48 survived. Some of
them resorted to cannibalism."

"What's can...can...na...ba...li...sum?" the boy asked.

"They ate each other," Sheldon said simply.

By now the mother was frowning at Sheldon.

"Come on, honey," she said, taking her son by the hand. "Let's go
find your dad and go back to our seats. It's almost time for our
stop."

"Oh," Sheldon persisted. "You're getting off at Truckee? That town
was named after a Paiute chief, Trukizo, father of Chief
Winnemucca..."

"Thanks," she replied curtly, hurrying down toward the end of the
car.

Sheldon sat alone and looked out the window until he saw a sign
marking the California/Nevada state line. Reno would be the next
stop and he didn't know what sort of people might board the train
in that town. He needed to use the restroom and clean up for
dinner, so he made his way back to his room and entertained
himself with making notes in his journal and playing a few video
games.

After dinner, the train pulled into its next stop and Sheldon took
advantage of the strong cell phone reception to place another call to
Amy.

"Hello?" she said, answering after just one ring.

"Amy?" he began. "It's me."

"Where are you?"

"I'm on the train. We just stopped in Winnemucca, Nevada. We'll
be pulling out again in a few minutes, but I'm afraid the cell phone
reception might be spotty later tonight."

"I see," she replied.

"How are you, Amy? How did you spend the day?" He didn't want
to talk about himself just now and he knew she wouldn't want to
hear about the train.

"Oh, um..." She stammered a little. "I just did some housekeeping,
laundry, the usual Saturday stuff."

"Are you doing anything tonight?" He pressed the phone closer to
his ear.

"I'm getting ready right now to go to the movies with Penny,
Bernadette, and Raj's new girlfriend, Emily."

He could hear that she was moving around her apartment. Was she
getting dressed? He both did and did not want to think about that.

"What movie are you going to see? Something fun, like 'Captain
America'?"

"Sheldon, you cannot be serious," she said, the familiar gentle
disdain in her voice with which she always dismissed the kinds of
movies he liked.

He knew exactly the expression on her face.

"What are you seeing then?" he teased. "Some chick flick?"

"We're going to see 'Maleficent'," she said firmly. "It's not a chick
flick!"

"Amy," he said, "it's a child's fairy tale. It's the story of Sleeping
Beauty!"

"It looks like it's going to be a good movie. Besides," she
continued, "we didn't want to see the slasher movie that Emily first
suggested."

Sheldon frowned and nodded, as if Amy could see him.

"What do you think of Emily?" he asked, happy to be having a
seemingly normal conversation.

The train began to move. It was the first time Sheldon was reluctant
to feel a train journey get underway.

"Oh, I think she's fine," Amy continued. "Excuse me a moment,
Sheldon," she said. "I need to put on my lipstick."

Sheldon almost dropped the phone. He swallowed several times
before he could speak.

"Why are you wearing lipstick? You're not going out on a date, are
you?" He sat up straight and his left knee began to bounce.

"Sheldon," she said, audibly smacking her lips together. "A woman
can wear lipstick for other reasons. I like the way it makes my
mouth look."

"Well...okay," he finally said.

The way it made her mouth look...

"I'm going to have to go in a minute, Sheldon," she said, a hint of
reluctance in her voice.

"Yes, me, too," he replied. "The train is underway and I might be
out of range soon."

He looked down at his lap, plucking at imaginary lint.

"Um...well...you girls enjoy yourselves at the movies," he said
quietly, all the energy gone out of him at the thought of having to
end the conversation.

"You take care, Sheldon," Amy answered. "Are you going to be
comfortable, sleeping on the train?"

"Yes," he replied. "I have a roomette...a private room." Ordinarily,
he would have told her all about it, but now he could only picture
her grabbing her jacket and keys, slinging her purse over her
shoulder, standing impatiently at her door, waiting for him to stop
talking.

"Oh, that's good," she said, sounding genuinely happy.

"Well," he continued quietly, "I guess I'll let you go. Say hi to
everyone for me."

"I will," she said simply. "Goodnight, Sheldon. Get some rest."

"Goodnight, Amy," he replied, keeping the phone to his ear until he
was sure she'd ended the call.

The sun was setting outside his window, turning his room into an
oasis of light in the inky darkness. He stared out the window at
nothing until the attendant came to transform his room for the night.

Sheldon set about brushing his teeth and preparing for bed,
purposefully trying not to picture Amy's lips.