Trope Fics, Part One
This week's challenge was TV Tropes again! :)
Trope: Morality
Due to the Dead:
He hadn’t observed the proper funeral rites, because she hadn’t died a proper death.
They had been the only two left, hiding somewhere in the desert in a ramshackle hut. He’d been working on a way to take them back in time and avert the disaster all together and she had been working on keeping them alive: those hunting skills had finally come in handy.
Neither had believed that the sickness could be dormant for so long, but then she had begun to have symptoms, and they had both come to understand that time was short.
She’d faded fast, but had made sure that he was amply provided for before she was entirely bed ridden. He’d not given up on his work, but he’d never left her side either.
“Sheldon, sweetie, you should stay away from me. You’re gonna get sick too.”
“Penny, if you’re sick then it is already far too late for me. We can only hope that I am able to finish my work before either of us succumbs.”
She’d looked at him with haunted eyes.
“You’re gonna make it. I know you are.”
He would hold her close and assure her that he would make sure that she did too.
Neither of them believed the words he said at those moments.
She tied on a Tuesday afternoon, just after four o’clock.
She clung to him until the last breath left her body, and when it was over he kissed her forehead and closed her eyes.
He’d begun coughing before he had finished digging her grave.
There was no coffin, no fancy marker, just a shroud made from his old windbreaker and a makeshift wooden cross. She’d asked him to make it, and he’d respected her wishes.
He hadn’t bothered to mark her name or put her dates on it. It wouldn’t matter soon. He’d either finish the time machine and fix everything or he’d die. It was very simple, really.
By the time the device was finished, he was not long for this life.
As consciousness began to fade, he used the last ounce of his strength to slam his hand down on the button.
. . .
Sheldon woke up in his own bed and went to knock on Penny’s door.
They had work to do.
Blood is Thicker than Water:
“Well, of course it is, but I don’t see what that has to do with our discussion.”
“It has everything to do with it, Sheldon!” Penny hissed.
“She’s right. We are ka-tet. We are family. In putting Jake in danger like that, you’ve forgotten the face of your father.”
There was a sharp, collective intake of breath at Roland’s pronouncement.
“Really, everyone, I’m alright. Sheldon knew what he was doing. The mutants almost had me before. Of course I was the perfect bait,” Jake reasoned.
Sheldon was looking very ashamed of himself.
“No Jake. Roland is right. In this case at least, the ka-tet takes precedence over victory. We’re not taking on the King just yet; these were just a bunch of pesky lower forms.”
Sheldon stood and looked Roland in the eye.
“I have forgotten the face of my father. Next time, I will shoot with my heart, and not with my hand.”
Roland nodded solemnly.
. . .
And the next time, he did.
Mordred had nearly finished them all.
If Roland had been killed, the line of Arthur of Eld would have been at an end at the Tower would have fallen.
Sheldon threw himself into the line of attack and used his enemy’s strength against him.
The demon offspring had fallen before the fury of Sheldon’s determination.
And if Penny had been waiting just around the corner with her trusty bat to finish the job, well…six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Turn the Other Cheek:
For the most part, Sheldon took the betrayal in stride.
Sure, his former best friend had destroyed many years’ worth of work, and his dream, and some of his credibility.
Sure, he was no longer certain that his work had any meaning beyond the meanderings of his own convoluted mind.
Sure, his new best friend was dating that former best friend, despite the ill-advised nature of the entire affair.
But he was Sheldon Lee Cooper.
He could cope.
Confidence would return, and he was more than sure that his mind and pride would recover, as would his work.
Besides, his mother had always taught him that it was proper to turn the other cheek.
While he had never subscribed to her religion, he did rather admire some of the finer points. There was no sense in degrading himself to such a childish level like retaliation anyway. Time would do the work for him, he believed.
Most of the time, he was just fine.
But…every once in a while, he would have to go to Penny’s for just a few hours.
This time, they were watching “Made of Honor.” Neither of them was paying much attention.
Penny had recently broken things off with Leonard. It hadn’t ended well, but she was still hoping that they could be friends. She was thinking about how she would broach the subject with him.
Sheldon was trying to think through a particularly troublesome problem. He had hit a block three days before and hadn’t been able to move past it.
He finally huffed in defeat and put his head in his hands. To his utter horror and shame, there were tears stinging his eyes.
“Sweetie?”
Penny put a hand on his shoulder, sliding a little closer to him on the couch.
He looked up and met her eyes.
Penny felt her heart wrench. Poor guy.
She finally decided to ask the question that had been on the tip of her tongue for months. She was already pretty sure of the answer, but she really needed to hear it from him.
“Sheldon, has all of this ‘getting stuck’ business been because of what they did to you at the North Pole?”
Finally. Acknowledgement. He felt the tears start to fall in earnest.
“Yes.”
Penny put her arms around his neck and kissed each tear away as it fell down his cheek.
“I’m so sorry.”