Anything-Can-Happen-August (4/?)
This is long and crazy but I think it’s fun and I hope you like it too. I expect this to be done soon so I can move on to the other plot bunnies that are stalking me right now. I have to say that this pairing has been the most incredible muse I have ever had and I just want to thank Paradox for bringing S/P shippers together here. Jai ho! Comments = Love!
Title: Anything-Can-Happen-August (4/?)
Spoilers: Everything up to and including 2 X 23
Rating: R (just to be safe - since I don’t know where this will go yet)
Word Count: 5,653
Disclaimer: Not mine... although I still wish I had my own Sheldon *sigh*
X-Posted to Paradox here: http://community.livejournal.com/sheldon_penny/459006.html
August 6, 2011
Penny felt the warmth and love of the Cooper household from the first moment she walked into their home. It was not as neat as a pin - really, how could it be with six twenty-something girls running around, and no Sheldon in sight?
The Cooper girls, with the exception of Missy and Maddy, were all in their nightclothes; clearly having their brother return home after a long absence had been reason enough to get out of bed. Now they all surrounded him as he stood in their living room, shooting questions at him left, right and centre. There were plenty of looks thrown her way, usually followed by the sister in question giggling and Sheldon rolling his eyes.
Penny smiled as she leaned against the doorjamb, marvelling at his patience with his sisters. Where were the neuroses and the irritation? Granted, he had been much more normal - well, what passed for normal for Sheldon - in recent years, definitely more so than when she had first moved in next door to him.
Flashes of Sheldon through the years swept before her mind’s eye: his awkwardness, his shy smile, his twitching when he was uncomfortable, his annoyance at something she had said, his funny little breathy laugh, his death glare.
Now she bore witness to a side of Sheldon Cooper that she doubted any of the others in their circle of friends had ever been privy to. This Sheldon was patient as he stood amongst his sisters; they teased him mercilessly but he seemed to take it in his stride, his love and affection for them apparent in every look he directed at them.
It was the essence of Sheldon, she realized abruptly, it was not what he said - it was all the little things he did, it was the look on his face, it was the feeling in his eyes - that showed how much he cared.
And she had been waiting for the words, and they had never come - which was what had eventually led her down the path to Michael. She should have been paying closer attention, Penny thought, mentally slapping herself on the head.
A sudden turn of Sheldon’s head caused their gazes to collide. Penny froze, unblinking as he stared at her. One eyebrow rose as his eyes darted from her over to his closest sister, and then back to her again. A tender smile tugged at one corner of his mouth, and he shrugged slightly.
Translation: “Sorry to leave you alone, Penny, but I haven’t seen my sisters in a long time.”
She smiled back and nodded in understanding. Love swelled in her chest until she almost couldn’t breathe. She had to leave the room or she would dissolve into a puddle right here in the middle of his house. The man really did a number on her emotions. She decided to seek out Mary Cooper in the kitchen.
“Ah, Penny - are you hungry, darling’?” Mary asked as she walked in.
“Starving!”
“I made roast beef for dinner - I was just making sandwiches,” Mary paused her flurry of sandwich-making activity to look suspiciously at Penny. “You’re not one of them crazy Californians who only eat things without faces, are you?”
“I love steak too much for that,” Penny giggled.
“So...” Mary drawled, much too innocently, “you and Sheldon, huh?”
“Me and Sheldon,” Penny agreed awkwardly. “Sheldon and me.”
“I knew he liked you a lot - the boy talks about you non-stop when he calls. At first, it was: she sits in my spot, she touches my food, she comes into my room, she bought me a Christmas present... Then it was: Penny said I shouldn’t do that - it’s not nice, Penny said I did a sweet thing, Penny did this, Penny did that... Then it was Penny and Leonard, and Penny and Steve, and Penny and Michael, and Penny loves Michael, and Penny’s marrying Michael...” Mary looked at her with a frank, hard expression that was met with open-mouthed shock on Penny’s part.
“I had no idea...” she whispered.
“This is Sheldon we’re talking about,” Mary said seriously, “he guards not only his mind but also his heart. He’s soft on you. I would even go so far as to say he... maybe he even...” Mary took a deep breath, “maybe he even loves you. And I want to know,” Sheldon’s mother leaned in closer to Penny from across the kitchen counter that separated them, “What are your intentions towards my son?”
Penny gulped, not looking away from Mary but some part of her aware that Mary still held a carving knife in her hand.
“Sheldon Cooper is my universe,” she murmured, biting her lip. She blinked rapidly as tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t know when it happened but somewhere along the line I fell in love with him, but it never seemed that he felt the same way, you know? He never said anything and then I met Mike and he said all the right things and I - like a fool - bought into it when I should have been listening to Sheldon with my heart and not my ears. And then it was too late.” The tears she was trying to valiantly hold back, slipped onto her cheeks.
Mary put down the knife and came around the kitchen island to put her arms around Penny. “Hush now, it all worked out in the end, I guess.”
“Every day I find a new reason to love him,” she whispered, “and a new reason to whack him upside the head!”
“Now that’s what I needed to hear,” Mary chuckled, a smile evident in her voice and she hugged Penny close and gently stroked her hair. “You just get him, don’t you?”
Penny pulled back and wiped her face with her hands. “It’s crazy, but I think we get each other on levels that no one else ever will.”
“Hallelujah,” Mary grinned at her. “HALLELUJAH! Lord Jesus, it’s a miracle!” She yelled up at the heavens, and Penny laughed. “I was starting to wonder if I’d ever see this day come, and now here it is. I’ve never worried about my girls, but Sheldon... Lord, now I can pass the torch to you and die happy.”
“Consider the torch passed,” Penny told her as the Cooper siblings tumbled into the kitchen wondering what the yelling was about. Sheldon’s curious gaze sought out Penny’s first and he raised his eyebrow questioningly. Penny put her arms around Mary’s shoulders from behind and kissed her on the cheek. “I promise I will always cherish him,” she said softly, for only Mary’s ears. Mary patted her cheek lovingly.
“Welcome to the Cooper clan, Penny.”
***
“Not there!” Seven voices yelled at her just as her rear-end settled into the soft confines of the armchair by the fireplace.
“That’s Daddy’s spot,” Missy explained, as the six other Cooper siblings stared at her. Penny stood up immediately.
“Penny can have Daddy’s spot,” Mary declared loudly, as she walked into the living room carrying a tray of glasses filled with pink lemonade. “I think Daddy would gladly give up his spot for her.” Mary smiled at her. “From now on, that can be Penny’s spot.” Penny grinned at her as Sheldon looked at his mother in surprise. Mary put down the tray and lightly patted his cheek. “You make sure you bring her ‘round more often so she can make use of that spot, you hear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he gave her a cute, crooked smile.
“But I’m going to put the sandwiches on the coffee table, Penny, so find a seat on the couch for now,” Mary called out as she walked back into the kitchen.
Penny grabbed a glass of lemonade from the end table and flopped down on the couch.
“Not there!”
“Now what?”
“That’s my spot!” The delightful love of her life declared with a huff. “How do you always just know?”
“Why don’t you come sit next to me?” Penny teased, grinning up at him.
“Move. Please?”
“Is this someone else’s spot?” She gestured to the seat next to Sheldon’s, as Mary walked back into the room bearing enough sandwiches to feed a small army.
“Nope, only Daddy and Sheldon had spots,” Moira - at least Penny thought it was Moira - informed her. Penny scooted over, and Sheldon sat down, immediately doing a butt wiggle to settle into his spot better. Penny couldn’t resist - she leaned over and placed a loud, smacking kiss on his cheek.
He blushed bright red and ducked his head as a chorus of giggles ensued.
“Sheldon, sweetie,” Penny started unabashed, “are you gonna be okay with roast beef sandwiches? It’s not your usual scheduled menu, I know, but consider these special circumstances and eat something, all right?”
“On the contrary, Penny,” Sheldon informed her as he helped himself to three sandwiches, “Wednesday night is Roast Beef night in Texas - just not in California. Although, technically, one could argue that it is early Thursday morning, but I decided to let that slide.”
“Wow. Okay.” She looked at the rest of the Cooper family, all of them quietly munching on sandwiches. “You guys still stick to his schedule?”
“It’s easier that way.” This from Marissa.
“He tends to drop by unannounced a lot - like he’s testing us or something.” That was Megan.
“Besides which - we’ve been doing it so long that we’d miss Roast Beef Wednesday if it stopped suddenly now. Hell, I moved out and I still have roast beef on a Wednesday.” Penny was sure the one who spoke last was Margaret. Wait, did Sheldon even have a sister named Margaret? Molly! That was it - Molly. Jeez.
The man had too damn many sisters, she thought with a smirk, a few minutes later as the spirited conversation ebbed and flowed around her. Luckily, they were all adorable and fun and Penny enjoyed every moment of their collective company as she finished her sandwich and stifled a yawn.
“You need to get to bed,” Mary stated flatly.
“I need to shower first. I feel so grungy.”
“I’ll show you where you can shower, Penny,” Maddy offered, and she led the way upstairs. Some of the Cooper girls stayed behind to help Mary clean up while the others followed her up. They had a fairly large home, so each girl had her own room with the master bedroom on one end of the house and Sheldon’s room on the opposite end. According to Maddy, each girl also had a bathroom in her room, so that there was no need to ever fight over it. Apparently, the house had been custom-built for them, which struck Penny as odd. She hadn’t thought that Sheldon’s family had been so well off, but she was distracted from thinking about it further by two bickering sisters, and she quickly - mostly out of habit - stepped in to mediate.
***
Sheldon had just changed into his Texas Wednesday night pyjamas and was combing his hair when Penny walked into his bedroom, and shut the door behind her. She stood there, wrapped in a towel, looking oddly shy.
He had a sudden flashback to the first day she had moved into the apartment next door to theirs; it seemed like a lifetime ago. She had been a stranger then, but now... now she was easily one of the most important people in his life.
His legs moved him towards her without any conscious thought on his part.
“You brought my backpack in here,” she murmured.
“Did I?”
“Mm-hmm,” she smiled coyly up at him. He was vaguely aware that she had him completely in her thrall. She traced little infinity signs across his heart with her finger. “Sheldon?”
“Mmm?”
“What would you do if my towel accidentally... dropped?”
Sheldon gulped, his eyes widening in... hope? Penny chuckled and brushed a string of kisses along the underside of his jaw. He sighed contentedly. Who knew physical interaction with another person could be so delightful? Then again, maybe the other person had to be... Penny.
Only Penny.
Sheldon’s hand was on its way to wrap around her waist when a loud cracking sound startled them both. His arms instinctively pulled her close, and he shielded her body with his as he looked out of the window and into the darkness outside.
“What was that?” Penny asked just as Mary’s voice sounded up the stairs.
“Shelly - get down here!”
“Get dressed, Penny - hurry!” Sheldon left the room but stayed outside while Penny dressed. To her credit, she came out a couple of minutes later dressed in sweat-pants and a t-shirt.
“You waited!” She exclaimed in surprise as they went down the stairs.
“I don’t know what’s going on but I didn’t want to leave you alone.”
“Aww, sweetie,” she said in the exact tone of voice that preceded some sort of physical display of affection. She grasped his forearm and stood on tiptoe, and he obligingly leaned down so she could place a soft kiss on his cheek.
“You can make up for a lifetime of celibacy later, Shelly,” Missy teased as she passed them on the stairs, “we’ve got company.”
“What do you mean?” He asked but then noticed his aunt at the bottom of the stairs. “Oh, when did you get here, Sheriff?”
“Missy didn’t mean me. I passed three black sedans and two black SUVs on my way here. They seemed out of place.” Maggie informed them. “Sound familiar?”
“Yes, that’s them. What was that noise?” Sheldon asked.
“My old pick-up backfired.”
“How did they find us so fast?” Penny mused. “Should we be worried? Because I have to admit, Sheldon - I’m ready to go junior rodeo on them but I’m a little worried.”
“How did they find us?” Sheldon wondered aloud, blinking rapidly as his brain processed all the information at hand. “Good lord, how could I have missed that?
“Missed what?”
“Rental vehicles have GPS tracking devices. Dammit - all they would have needed is the license plate to track us. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!”
“That’s not all, Sheldon,” Maggie informed him. “Just before I got off duty, I got a call from Paulie.”
“Deputy Paul?”
“Or your cousin, Paul,” the sheriff drawled sarcastically. Despite the tension, Penny couldn’t help but choke back a laugh. “He was driving on Nutley Lane...”
“That’s where we hid the Winnebego.”
“Yeah, Shelly - they found your RV. It’s been trashed - sounds to me like they made sure you two won’t be driving it anywhere soon.”
“They trashed it?” Sheldon asked in surprise. “Thank goodness I opted for the insurance plan. But I don’t get why they would do such a thing. Penny?”
“I have no idea - it’s not like they could have been looking for us - maybe they were trying to send us a message? You know - mob style?”
“Well, just in case, I want you two out of here,” Mary said with a look that dared anyone to argue with her. “I’ve already called Jesse and your uncle Eddie - they’re bringing a posse from across the wood out back. The girls will get your stuff.” She yelled upstairs to her daughters.
“I’ve got back-up coming in, too. Paul and a couple of our reserve boys,” Maggie reassured Sheldon.
There was a sudden thundering down the stairs as a gaggle of girls ran down to meet them, two of them bringing Sheldon and Penny’s bags.
“Five vehicles headed this way fast,” Maddy informed them, “no lights neither - we wouldn’t have seen them if you hadn’t told us to keep an eye out, Aunt Maggie.”
“Turn out all the lights in here,” the sheriff ordered, her attitude all business, “and bring out the guns.”
Mary headed to a big wooden cabinet in the back of the living room - it was ornate and quite solid and housed their firearms - and unlocked it. Each girl went up to grab their weapon and related ammunition; only Sheldon held back.
“Missy, Maddy - cover the back. Take their stuff with you - once you see Jesse - Sheldon and Penny leave. Got it? Megan, Marissa, Molly - you’re up top - stay the hell outta sight. Moira - take the right flank and Mary can take the left. I’ll take the front door. Let’s give these bastards a real down home Texan welcome,” she grinned nastily, completely ready for battle, and turned to Sheldon. “Shelly - all those years in Californ-i-a drum the Texan outta you, boy?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Then take your weapon and protect your woman.” Sheldon didn’t need to be told twice.
“She’s from Nebraska, Sheriff - she can protect herself just as well as I can,” he said over his shoulder as he picked up the rifle his father had given him as a boy. The weapon felt strangely foreign and familiar at the same time.
“Well, you did good boy - I guess if she’s not from the south - the midwest’s the next best thing.”
He and his aunt smiled at each other and he was about to return to Penny with the gun when he turned and grabbed his dad’s old rifle too.
“Here,” he said, handing it to Penny along with the ammunition. “You’re still a better shot than I am,” he whispered so his family wouldn’t hear.
“Don’t worry, sweetie,” Penny smirked at him. “I aim on protecting my man.”
Sheldon, who was about to move away, froze and turned to look at her. The look on her face was steely and... hot. He gravitated towards like metal to a magnet, and before he even realized what he was doing, he was kissing her.
“Will you two cut that out?” Maggie yelled. “Jeez - they’ve been kissing non-stop since they got here!”
Sheldon laughed a little at the absurdness of the moment in the midst of this looming threat of Michael and his gang bearing down on them.
It had to be the fact that he was back in Texas - these sort of things only seemed to happen to him when he was home. He grabbed Penny’s hand and they headed to the back of the house to meet Maddy and Missy in the kitchen. They could hear the sheriff shouting something at the gang on her megaphone - identifying herself, then something about the illegalities of what they were doing and the fact that the law was on its way.
Then they all froze as a shot was fired.
Penny, for all her usual bravado, grasped Sheldon’s forearm and looked at him in fright. Suddenly, what started off as a lark to escape a wedding became all too real.
“Oh my God, Sheldon,” she whispered frantically, “I never meant for your family to be involved in this - what if someone gets hurt - I will never forgive myself.”
“Penny, believe it or not - this is actually not the worse situation my family has found themselves in,” Sheldon was quick to reassure her.
And he hadn’t been lying - they all had their own guns and ammo for a reason, he thought with a snarky grin. He may not believe in violence but intimidation - that was another story. People who messed with the Cooper clan learned very quickly to give up and back away slowly. Plus, with six daughters to worry about, his daddy had always had a shotgun by his side - the boys in town had grown up with that knowledge too.
“The women in my family can take care of themselves, Penny.”
“But Sheldon, your sisters - they’re just young girls...”
“They’re Coopers. Marissa and Megan - they’re the other set of twins in the family - they’re both in the Galveston police academy. Molly’s a detective with the Galveston P.D., Moira’s a firefighter, Missy may be a hostess at Fuddrucker’s but that’s just for fun - she’s a private investigator and she’s in the Army reserves. And Maddy’s in training with the Coast Guard. Even mom’s an ex-cop with the County Sheriff’s department.”
“Holy crap.”
“The Coopers are all about girl power.”
“I know this is not the time, but out of curiousity - what did your dad do?”
“He stole cars.”
“What?!”
“He was really good at hotwiring them and disarming alarms you know? He had an uncanny knowledge of mechanics. At least until Mom caught him and threw him in jail. Then they fell in love and he got out and they got married.”
“That’s so romantic,” Penny laughed, and he couldn’t help but smile at her.
“Umm, guys?” Missy called out in a hoarse whisper. “One of those sedans pulled up back here. Some real big guy’s getting out.”
“Uncle Gus!” Sheldon and Penny acknowledged in unison, as they crept towards the window just in time to see three other brawny looking men exit the vehicle. Michael was not among them, Sheldon noted.
The four men stood behind their car, guns - big guns - pointed at the house. There was some sort of discussion and then they slowly started slinking towards the house.
Missy, crouched a couple of feet away, threw a window open and stuck her rifle out.
“That’s far enough,” she yelled through the opening. “Get any closer and I’m well within my rights to start shooting.”
“We’re not looking for trouble - we just want the girl. She’s supposed to marry my nephew and a promise is a promise,” Uncle Gus gruffly yelled as he inched forward.
Sheldon opened up the window near him and poked his trusty Winchester out - its crosshair homed in on Gus.
“Last time I checked, shotgun weddings were outlawed,” he yelled back. “Now get the hell off my land!” He saw Penny shoot him a startled look from out of the corner of his eye.
“You!” Gus accused, and brought his gun up to aim it at Sheldon. “Give us the girl and we’ll leave.”
“I think not - did you even pause to consider the ludicrousness of those words before you uttered them?”
“What?” Gus sounded momentarily confused.
“Sheldon - don’t piss them off more!”
“Penny - I need to confound them so that they don’t notice the rustling in the trees behind them.”
“What rustling?” she asked, trying to look over his shoulder.
“Jesse’s here,” Missy called out quietly, sounding strangely out of breath to Sheldon’s ears.
“We only want to talk, Dr. Cooper,” Uncle Gus switched tactics. “Let’s all put the guns away - and let’s talk. Look... I’m putting my gu...”
“Hey!” Sheldon yelled with such force that Penny fell backwards onto her butt. “Keep your hands where I can see them.”
“All right, all right,” Gus reassured him, bending over to put his gun on the ground. “I’m not armed now - see?”
Sheldon saw all right; he saw the quick move one of Gus’ compatriots made pulling out a semi-automatic rifle. Shots were fired that hit the side of the house. But then a single shot from inside the house hit the shooter in the hand that held the rifle. There was an anguished yell as he dropped his gun as Maddy leaned over to smile and wink at Sheldon.
“I got your back, bro.”
“Thank you, Madeline,” Sheldon commended politely. “Excellent shot.” She beamed at him.
“Nice work, sis,” Missy called out. “Keep an eye on that left side - I think there’s someone coming in from the front.”
“I’m all over it.”
Penny, flat on the kitchen floor with her hands over her head, squeaked in alarm as she looked from one Cooper sibling to the next in wide-eyed horror. Gunfire sounded sporadically, with some of the sounds coming from the front of the house. This had to stop soon, or their beautiful home would soon resemble a sieve.
Sheldon’s sharp vision picked up a hand signal from Jesse - the same one they had used as children. He flashed a similar signal back.
“Missy, Maddy - cover me - I’m heading out.”
“No!” Penny cried, scrambling towards his on all fours. “Sheldon - they’re shooting real bullets that could HIT YOU!!!”
“Penny! This is not a situation I am unfamiliar with,” Sheldon confidently informed her, “just think of it as secret agent laser obstacle... er... shootout... and know that I excel at secret agent laser obstacle anything.” The he pushed her back and crept towards the door.
Nodding at his sisters, Sheldon opened the back door and crept outside.
And another hail of bullets rent through the night.
***
Penny, her heart in her throat, scrambled to her feet and grabbed the old rifle Sheldon had given her. She took his spot by the window and took a deep breath before poking her gun outside. This couldn’t be much different from shooting a paintball gun, could it? She loathed to admit to Sheldon that she had never fired a real weapon in her life. Sure she excelled at Halo and paintball, but this was real. Still - she wasn't kidding when she said she would fire it to protect him.
She peeked out and panicked when she didn’t see Sheldon. Maddy and Missy were completely focused on what they were doing, and where they were shooting, and so her fear was left to simmer inside her as she scanned the darkness of the massive back yard.
She could see the woods in the distance but couldn’t make out anything else. How on earth had Sheldon noted any rustling? Good Lord - and where was he? Maddy suddenly swooped down at her from out of nowhere.
“Stay out of sight, Penny,” she muttered. “That blonde hair of yours shines like a beacon in the moonlight.” Penny quelled a scream as Maddy fired her weapon. Missy followed suit and then in a flurry of activity, left her post by the window and joined them. She and Maddy stopped to reload their weapons.
“All right,” Missy told her as Maddy grabbed their backpacks and tossed them to Penny. “We’re going out - the boys have taken care of those guys with Gus, but we think Gus himself managed to sneak around the corner to the front.”
The door opened and the most handsome man Penny had ever seen outside of a movie screen stepped into the kitchen, His eyes zeroed in on Missy.
“Howdy, darlin’,” he drawled. “Miss me?” As Missy grinned up him, Penny realized this had to be Jesse. But she had more important things on her mind.
“Where the hell’s Sheldon?”
“Well, hello beautiful.” Jesse turned his high-wattage smile on her. It had absolutely no effect.
“Back off, Buchannon - she’s mine,” came the no-nonsense voice of the love of her life as he poked his head around the door. He came inside and headed towards the kitchen cabinets. “Do you have my bag? Good - take all the clothes out.”
“What? Why?”
“Penny!”
“All right!” She did as he asked and he came back a few seconds later with a bag of sugar and salt which he proceeded to put into his backpack. She looked at him in surprise but said nothing. He looked at Maddy.
“We still keep the weed-killer in the shed?”
“Yup.”
“Where will you go?” Jesse asked him.
“Do you really expect me to stand here and prognosticate on our potential progress?” He received four blank looks, and huffed with a little shake of his head. “Jesse brought horses. We’ll take them towards the shed and then we’ll head west as best we can.”
“All right - we’ll catch up once we’ve taken care of this little problem here,” Jesse reassured him. “Let’s go now before they come back with reinforcements.”
And with that, the five of them scurried outside and into the woods, where Sheldon’s Uncle Eddie and another two friends of Jesse’s awaited them with two horses. Penny got on her horse in a trice and marvelled at the ease with which Sheldon mounted his. With a few whispered words of caution from Uncle Eddie, they started through the woods, leaving Sheldon’s family behind to deal with her mess.
Penny had never felt so guilty in her entire life.
“Sheldon, I am so sorry I dragged your family into this mess.”
“Penny,” he turned around briefly to look at her, his face in the shadows, but still visible in the scant moonlight. “You’re one of us now. Mom even made it official. Your mess is our mess. That’s just the Cooper way. If you think this is bad - you should have seen the chaos Jesse James brought with him when he moved here.”
Penny could not formulate any words in response to that little speech, and certainly as Sheldon led the way through the dense woods, he wasn’t expecting a response. As far as he was concerned, Penny realized - he had just stated fact.
She was a Cooper in his eyes.
And that was just fine with her.
Their pace through the woods was slow, with Sheldon taking winding lanes that seemed to go in circles. Suddenly, though, she saw the white outline of small house through the trees. Sheldon pulled up his horse and dismounted, and Penny followed suit.
“We’re just stopping for just a little while, Penny,” he said in hushed tones.
“I’m coming with you anyway.”
“Of course - I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he stated matter-of-factly as he held out his hand to her. They walked quietly through the bushes until they approached some sort of shed. Just at that moment, the moon appeared from behind the clouds. It eerily lit up that old white house Penny had seen a few moments earlier. It stood a distance from the shed, and looked like a hurricane had hit it sometime in the past and now it stood on cinder-blocks. The thought of anyone living there gave her the creeps.
Penny looked away as they passed a sign next to the shed; it said: Sheldon’s Shed - Danger: Radiation.
Penny blinked and looked at him enquiringly.
“It’s where I did all my experiments, including building my nuclear reactor and storing my yellowcake uranium, although the government took that away.” He looked disappointed, and Penny could almost picture that little boy when the mean government had stolen his prized possession. What an adorable little whack-a-doodle he must have been, she thought with a smile.
“And what’s that creepy house, Sheldon?”
“That’s our old house - that’s where we grew up.”
“You grew up there?” She asked in horror. “Oh, sweetie!”
“It’s not much is it? We were... poor. My grandfather threw my mom out when she married dad. She lost her job too - the joys of living in a small town. We - Missy and I especially - got picked on a lot for not having... you know, new clothes, or fancy things. I tried to help out with my inventions but it didn’t really make a difference. Then Mom couldn’t really work because of all the kids and then - me. But when I went to Germany and started earning a real salary, things got better.” He took a long look at the little house. “I’m just glad my dad got to enjoy his life before he died. That was important to me.”
“You had the big house built for them didn’t you?” She smiled at him as he nodded, obviously not thinking how incredibly loving and generous his actions had been. She wound her hand around the back of his head and pulled him down for a long, languid kiss. “I love you, Sheldon Cooper. I will love you ‘til the day I die.”
He smiled at her - and she felt like her whole world was in that smile.
“I love you too,” he said as he pressed a soft kiss on her forehead. She grinned up at him, but he appeared deep in thought. Then his eyes focused on hers, clear, intense and indigo in the moonlight. “Penny?” he asked.
“Yes, Sheldon?”
“Will you marry me?”
Penny blinked. It would have required superhuman strength on her part to do anything else in that tiny moment of time. Her breath hitched in her chest, and the hopeful look in his eyes started to slip away.
“Yes, Sheldon.”
He blinked. And then gave his funny little laugh as his face broke into a smile. His arms wrapped around her waist and he actually - bodily lifted her off the ground - as he hugged her close.
And there, in the moonlight outside Sheldon’s Shed, Sheldon Cooper and Penny Sawyer sealed their love for each other with a kiss.
It was excruciatingly difficult to let him go, but she managed. Sheldon asked her to stay outside while he went in and rummaged around. Penny studiously avoiding looking at Sheldon’s old house - it still gave her the creeps, as though it was watching her somehow.
She was just about to tell Sheldon to hurry when she heard a twig snap behind her.
She whirled around in panic.
And screamed.
For standing before her was a wild woman toting a really big gun. She was the scariest thing Penny had ever seen in her life with long, wiry, grey hair that hung loose and obscured most of her face. She had this long, white... something on - that looked like it belonged in another century and essentially made her look like a witch out of a freaky horror flick.
Thankfully, Sheldon was at her side so fast, his gun at the ready, that she hardly had time to take a breath and be relieved.
“Meemaw?” Sheldon squeaked.
“Meemaw?!” Penny repeated in shock. This feral, savage-looking woman couldn’t possibly be Sheldon’s beloved grandmother - could she?
Meemaw brought the gun close to Penny’s face, and Penny - somehow channelling Raj - eeped - and ducked behind Sheldon. Meemaw lowered her gun slightly and grasped Sheldon by his pyjama shirt, yanking him down to her level, and peering at him with rheumy eyes.
“Moonpie?” she rasped. “My nummy nummy?”
“Yes, Meemaw, it’s me,” Sheldon reassured her. “I brought Penny to meet you,” he said as he enveloped her in a big hug and kissed her wrinkly cheek. “Oh,” he added as an after-thought, “and we’re also on the run from some mobsters who want us dead.”
***
Title: Anything-Can-Happen-August (4/?)
Spoilers: Everything up to and including 2 X 23
Rating: R (just to be safe - since I don’t know where this will go yet)
Word Count: 5,653
Disclaimer: Not mine... although I still wish I had my own Sheldon *sigh*
X-Posted to Paradox here: http://community.livejournal.com/sheldon_penny/459006.html
August 6, 2011
Penny felt the warmth and love of the Cooper household from the first moment she walked into their home. It was not as neat as a pin - really, how could it be with six twenty-something girls running around, and no Sheldon in sight?
The Cooper girls, with the exception of Missy and Maddy, were all in their nightclothes; clearly having their brother return home after a long absence had been reason enough to get out of bed. Now they all surrounded him as he stood in their living room, shooting questions at him left, right and centre. There were plenty of looks thrown her way, usually followed by the sister in question giggling and Sheldon rolling his eyes.
Penny smiled as she leaned against the doorjamb, marvelling at his patience with his sisters. Where were the neuroses and the irritation? Granted, he had been much more normal - well, what passed for normal for Sheldon - in recent years, definitely more so than when she had first moved in next door to him.
Flashes of Sheldon through the years swept before her mind’s eye: his awkwardness, his shy smile, his twitching when he was uncomfortable, his annoyance at something she had said, his funny little breathy laugh, his death glare.
Now she bore witness to a side of Sheldon Cooper that she doubted any of the others in their circle of friends had ever been privy to. This Sheldon was patient as he stood amongst his sisters; they teased him mercilessly but he seemed to take it in his stride, his love and affection for them apparent in every look he directed at them.
It was the essence of Sheldon, she realized abruptly, it was not what he said - it was all the little things he did, it was the look on his face, it was the feeling in his eyes - that showed how much he cared.
And she had been waiting for the words, and they had never come - which was what had eventually led her down the path to Michael. She should have been paying closer attention, Penny thought, mentally slapping herself on the head.
A sudden turn of Sheldon’s head caused their gazes to collide. Penny froze, unblinking as he stared at her. One eyebrow rose as his eyes darted from her over to his closest sister, and then back to her again. A tender smile tugged at one corner of his mouth, and he shrugged slightly.
Translation: “Sorry to leave you alone, Penny, but I haven’t seen my sisters in a long time.”
She smiled back and nodded in understanding. Love swelled in her chest until she almost couldn’t breathe. She had to leave the room or she would dissolve into a puddle right here in the middle of his house. The man really did a number on her emotions. She decided to seek out Mary Cooper in the kitchen.
“Ah, Penny - are you hungry, darling’?” Mary asked as she walked in.
“Starving!”
“I made roast beef for dinner - I was just making sandwiches,” Mary paused her flurry of sandwich-making activity to look suspiciously at Penny. “You’re not one of them crazy Californians who only eat things without faces, are you?”
“I love steak too much for that,” Penny giggled.
“So...” Mary drawled, much too innocently, “you and Sheldon, huh?”
“Me and Sheldon,” Penny agreed awkwardly. “Sheldon and me.”
“I knew he liked you a lot - the boy talks about you non-stop when he calls. At first, it was: she sits in my spot, she touches my food, she comes into my room, she bought me a Christmas present... Then it was: Penny said I shouldn’t do that - it’s not nice, Penny said I did a sweet thing, Penny did this, Penny did that... Then it was Penny and Leonard, and Penny and Steve, and Penny and Michael, and Penny loves Michael, and Penny’s marrying Michael...” Mary looked at her with a frank, hard expression that was met with open-mouthed shock on Penny’s part.
“I had no idea...” she whispered.
“This is Sheldon we’re talking about,” Mary said seriously, “he guards not only his mind but also his heart. He’s soft on you. I would even go so far as to say he... maybe he even...” Mary took a deep breath, “maybe he even loves you. And I want to know,” Sheldon’s mother leaned in closer to Penny from across the kitchen counter that separated them, “What are your intentions towards my son?”
Penny gulped, not looking away from Mary but some part of her aware that Mary still held a carving knife in her hand.
“Sheldon Cooper is my universe,” she murmured, biting her lip. She blinked rapidly as tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t know when it happened but somewhere along the line I fell in love with him, but it never seemed that he felt the same way, you know? He never said anything and then I met Mike and he said all the right things and I - like a fool - bought into it when I should have been listening to Sheldon with my heart and not my ears. And then it was too late.” The tears she was trying to valiantly hold back, slipped onto her cheeks.
Mary put down the knife and came around the kitchen island to put her arms around Penny. “Hush now, it all worked out in the end, I guess.”
“Every day I find a new reason to love him,” she whispered, “and a new reason to whack him upside the head!”
“Now that’s what I needed to hear,” Mary chuckled, a smile evident in her voice and she hugged Penny close and gently stroked her hair. “You just get him, don’t you?”
Penny pulled back and wiped her face with her hands. “It’s crazy, but I think we get each other on levels that no one else ever will.”
“Hallelujah,” Mary grinned at her. “HALLELUJAH! Lord Jesus, it’s a miracle!” She yelled up at the heavens, and Penny laughed. “I was starting to wonder if I’d ever see this day come, and now here it is. I’ve never worried about my girls, but Sheldon... Lord, now I can pass the torch to you and die happy.”
“Consider the torch passed,” Penny told her as the Cooper siblings tumbled into the kitchen wondering what the yelling was about. Sheldon’s curious gaze sought out Penny’s first and he raised his eyebrow questioningly. Penny put her arms around Mary’s shoulders from behind and kissed her on the cheek. “I promise I will always cherish him,” she said softly, for only Mary’s ears. Mary patted her cheek lovingly.
“Welcome to the Cooper clan, Penny.”
***
“Not there!” Seven voices yelled at her just as her rear-end settled into the soft confines of the armchair by the fireplace.
“That’s Daddy’s spot,” Missy explained, as the six other Cooper siblings stared at her. Penny stood up immediately.
“Penny can have Daddy’s spot,” Mary declared loudly, as she walked into the living room carrying a tray of glasses filled with pink lemonade. “I think Daddy would gladly give up his spot for her.” Mary smiled at her. “From now on, that can be Penny’s spot.” Penny grinned at her as Sheldon looked at his mother in surprise. Mary put down the tray and lightly patted his cheek. “You make sure you bring her ‘round more often so she can make use of that spot, you hear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he gave her a cute, crooked smile.
“But I’m going to put the sandwiches on the coffee table, Penny, so find a seat on the couch for now,” Mary called out as she walked back into the kitchen.
Penny grabbed a glass of lemonade from the end table and flopped down on the couch.
“Not there!”
“Now what?”
“That’s my spot!” The delightful love of her life declared with a huff. “How do you always just know?”
“Why don’t you come sit next to me?” Penny teased, grinning up at him.
“Move. Please?”
“Is this someone else’s spot?” She gestured to the seat next to Sheldon’s, as Mary walked back into the room bearing enough sandwiches to feed a small army.
“Nope, only Daddy and Sheldon had spots,” Moira - at least Penny thought it was Moira - informed her. Penny scooted over, and Sheldon sat down, immediately doing a butt wiggle to settle into his spot better. Penny couldn’t resist - she leaned over and placed a loud, smacking kiss on his cheek.
He blushed bright red and ducked his head as a chorus of giggles ensued.
“Sheldon, sweetie,” Penny started unabashed, “are you gonna be okay with roast beef sandwiches? It’s not your usual scheduled menu, I know, but consider these special circumstances and eat something, all right?”
“On the contrary, Penny,” Sheldon informed her as he helped himself to three sandwiches, “Wednesday night is Roast Beef night in Texas - just not in California. Although, technically, one could argue that it is early Thursday morning, but I decided to let that slide.”
“Wow. Okay.” She looked at the rest of the Cooper family, all of them quietly munching on sandwiches. “You guys still stick to his schedule?”
“It’s easier that way.” This from Marissa.
“He tends to drop by unannounced a lot - like he’s testing us or something.” That was Megan.
“Besides which - we’ve been doing it so long that we’d miss Roast Beef Wednesday if it stopped suddenly now. Hell, I moved out and I still have roast beef on a Wednesday.” Penny was sure the one who spoke last was Margaret. Wait, did Sheldon even have a sister named Margaret? Molly! That was it - Molly. Jeez.
The man had too damn many sisters, she thought with a smirk, a few minutes later as the spirited conversation ebbed and flowed around her. Luckily, they were all adorable and fun and Penny enjoyed every moment of their collective company as she finished her sandwich and stifled a yawn.
“You need to get to bed,” Mary stated flatly.
“I need to shower first. I feel so grungy.”
“I’ll show you where you can shower, Penny,” Maddy offered, and she led the way upstairs. Some of the Cooper girls stayed behind to help Mary clean up while the others followed her up. They had a fairly large home, so each girl had her own room with the master bedroom on one end of the house and Sheldon’s room on the opposite end. According to Maddy, each girl also had a bathroom in her room, so that there was no need to ever fight over it. Apparently, the house had been custom-built for them, which struck Penny as odd. She hadn’t thought that Sheldon’s family had been so well off, but she was distracted from thinking about it further by two bickering sisters, and she quickly - mostly out of habit - stepped in to mediate.
***
Sheldon had just changed into his Texas Wednesday night pyjamas and was combing his hair when Penny walked into his bedroom, and shut the door behind her. She stood there, wrapped in a towel, looking oddly shy.
He had a sudden flashback to the first day she had moved into the apartment next door to theirs; it seemed like a lifetime ago. She had been a stranger then, but now... now she was easily one of the most important people in his life.
His legs moved him towards her without any conscious thought on his part.
“You brought my backpack in here,” she murmured.
“Did I?”
“Mm-hmm,” she smiled coyly up at him. He was vaguely aware that she had him completely in her thrall. She traced little infinity signs across his heart with her finger. “Sheldon?”
“Mmm?”
“What would you do if my towel accidentally... dropped?”
Sheldon gulped, his eyes widening in... hope? Penny chuckled and brushed a string of kisses along the underside of his jaw. He sighed contentedly. Who knew physical interaction with another person could be so delightful? Then again, maybe the other person had to be... Penny.
Only Penny.
Sheldon’s hand was on its way to wrap around her waist when a loud cracking sound startled them both. His arms instinctively pulled her close, and he shielded her body with his as he looked out of the window and into the darkness outside.
“What was that?” Penny asked just as Mary’s voice sounded up the stairs.
“Shelly - get down here!”
“Get dressed, Penny - hurry!” Sheldon left the room but stayed outside while Penny dressed. To her credit, she came out a couple of minutes later dressed in sweat-pants and a t-shirt.
“You waited!” She exclaimed in surprise as they went down the stairs.
“I don’t know what’s going on but I didn’t want to leave you alone.”
“Aww, sweetie,” she said in the exact tone of voice that preceded some sort of physical display of affection. She grasped his forearm and stood on tiptoe, and he obligingly leaned down so she could place a soft kiss on his cheek.
“You can make up for a lifetime of celibacy later, Shelly,” Missy teased as she passed them on the stairs, “we’ve got company.”
“What do you mean?” He asked but then noticed his aunt at the bottom of the stairs. “Oh, when did you get here, Sheriff?”
“Missy didn’t mean me. I passed three black sedans and two black SUVs on my way here. They seemed out of place.” Maggie informed them. “Sound familiar?”
“Yes, that’s them. What was that noise?” Sheldon asked.
“My old pick-up backfired.”
“How did they find us so fast?” Penny mused. “Should we be worried? Because I have to admit, Sheldon - I’m ready to go junior rodeo on them but I’m a little worried.”
“How did they find us?” Sheldon wondered aloud, blinking rapidly as his brain processed all the information at hand. “Good lord, how could I have missed that?
“Missed what?”
“Rental vehicles have GPS tracking devices. Dammit - all they would have needed is the license plate to track us. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!”
“That’s not all, Sheldon,” Maggie informed him. “Just before I got off duty, I got a call from Paulie.”
“Deputy Paul?”
“Or your cousin, Paul,” the sheriff drawled sarcastically. Despite the tension, Penny couldn’t help but choke back a laugh. “He was driving on Nutley Lane...”
“That’s where we hid the Winnebego.”
“Yeah, Shelly - they found your RV. It’s been trashed - sounds to me like they made sure you two won’t be driving it anywhere soon.”
“They trashed it?” Sheldon asked in surprise. “Thank goodness I opted for the insurance plan. But I don’t get why they would do such a thing. Penny?”
“I have no idea - it’s not like they could have been looking for us - maybe they were trying to send us a message? You know - mob style?”
“Well, just in case, I want you two out of here,” Mary said with a look that dared anyone to argue with her. “I’ve already called Jesse and your uncle Eddie - they’re bringing a posse from across the wood out back. The girls will get your stuff.” She yelled upstairs to her daughters.
“I’ve got back-up coming in, too. Paul and a couple of our reserve boys,” Maggie reassured Sheldon.
There was a sudden thundering down the stairs as a gaggle of girls ran down to meet them, two of them bringing Sheldon and Penny’s bags.
“Five vehicles headed this way fast,” Maddy informed them, “no lights neither - we wouldn’t have seen them if you hadn’t told us to keep an eye out, Aunt Maggie.”
“Turn out all the lights in here,” the sheriff ordered, her attitude all business, “and bring out the guns.”
Mary headed to a big wooden cabinet in the back of the living room - it was ornate and quite solid and housed their firearms - and unlocked it. Each girl went up to grab their weapon and related ammunition; only Sheldon held back.
“Missy, Maddy - cover the back. Take their stuff with you - once you see Jesse - Sheldon and Penny leave. Got it? Megan, Marissa, Molly - you’re up top - stay the hell outta sight. Moira - take the right flank and Mary can take the left. I’ll take the front door. Let’s give these bastards a real down home Texan welcome,” she grinned nastily, completely ready for battle, and turned to Sheldon. “Shelly - all those years in Californ-i-a drum the Texan outta you, boy?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Then take your weapon and protect your woman.” Sheldon didn’t need to be told twice.
“She’s from Nebraska, Sheriff - she can protect herself just as well as I can,” he said over his shoulder as he picked up the rifle his father had given him as a boy. The weapon felt strangely foreign and familiar at the same time.
“Well, you did good boy - I guess if she’s not from the south - the midwest’s the next best thing.”
He and his aunt smiled at each other and he was about to return to Penny with the gun when he turned and grabbed his dad’s old rifle too.
“Here,” he said, handing it to Penny along with the ammunition. “You’re still a better shot than I am,” he whispered so his family wouldn’t hear.
“Don’t worry, sweetie,” Penny smirked at him. “I aim on protecting my man.”
Sheldon, who was about to move away, froze and turned to look at her. The look on her face was steely and... hot. He gravitated towards like metal to a magnet, and before he even realized what he was doing, he was kissing her.
“Will you two cut that out?” Maggie yelled. “Jeez - they’ve been kissing non-stop since they got here!”
Sheldon laughed a little at the absurdness of the moment in the midst of this looming threat of Michael and his gang bearing down on them.
It had to be the fact that he was back in Texas - these sort of things only seemed to happen to him when he was home. He grabbed Penny’s hand and they headed to the back of the house to meet Maddy and Missy in the kitchen. They could hear the sheriff shouting something at the gang on her megaphone - identifying herself, then something about the illegalities of what they were doing and the fact that the law was on its way.
Then they all froze as a shot was fired.
Penny, for all her usual bravado, grasped Sheldon’s forearm and looked at him in fright. Suddenly, what started off as a lark to escape a wedding became all too real.
“Oh my God, Sheldon,” she whispered frantically, “I never meant for your family to be involved in this - what if someone gets hurt - I will never forgive myself.”
“Penny, believe it or not - this is actually not the worse situation my family has found themselves in,” Sheldon was quick to reassure her.
And he hadn’t been lying - they all had their own guns and ammo for a reason, he thought with a snarky grin. He may not believe in violence but intimidation - that was another story. People who messed with the Cooper clan learned very quickly to give up and back away slowly. Plus, with six daughters to worry about, his daddy had always had a shotgun by his side - the boys in town had grown up with that knowledge too.
“The women in my family can take care of themselves, Penny.”
“But Sheldon, your sisters - they’re just young girls...”
“They’re Coopers. Marissa and Megan - they’re the other set of twins in the family - they’re both in the Galveston police academy. Molly’s a detective with the Galveston P.D., Moira’s a firefighter, Missy may be a hostess at Fuddrucker’s but that’s just for fun - she’s a private investigator and she’s in the Army reserves. And Maddy’s in training with the Coast Guard. Even mom’s an ex-cop with the County Sheriff’s department.”
“Holy crap.”
“The Coopers are all about girl power.”
“I know this is not the time, but out of curiousity - what did your dad do?”
“He stole cars.”
“What?!”
“He was really good at hotwiring them and disarming alarms you know? He had an uncanny knowledge of mechanics. At least until Mom caught him and threw him in jail. Then they fell in love and he got out and they got married.”
“That’s so romantic,” Penny laughed, and he couldn’t help but smile at her.
“Umm, guys?” Missy called out in a hoarse whisper. “One of those sedans pulled up back here. Some real big guy’s getting out.”
“Uncle Gus!” Sheldon and Penny acknowledged in unison, as they crept towards the window just in time to see three other brawny looking men exit the vehicle. Michael was not among them, Sheldon noted.
The four men stood behind their car, guns - big guns - pointed at the house. There was some sort of discussion and then they slowly started slinking towards the house.
Missy, crouched a couple of feet away, threw a window open and stuck her rifle out.
“That’s far enough,” she yelled through the opening. “Get any closer and I’m well within my rights to start shooting.”
“We’re not looking for trouble - we just want the girl. She’s supposed to marry my nephew and a promise is a promise,” Uncle Gus gruffly yelled as he inched forward.
Sheldon opened up the window near him and poked his trusty Winchester out - its crosshair homed in on Gus.
“Last time I checked, shotgun weddings were outlawed,” he yelled back. “Now get the hell off my land!” He saw Penny shoot him a startled look from out of the corner of his eye.
“You!” Gus accused, and brought his gun up to aim it at Sheldon. “Give us the girl and we’ll leave.”
“I think not - did you even pause to consider the ludicrousness of those words before you uttered them?”
“What?” Gus sounded momentarily confused.
“Sheldon - don’t piss them off more!”
“Penny - I need to confound them so that they don’t notice the rustling in the trees behind them.”
“What rustling?” she asked, trying to look over his shoulder.
“Jesse’s here,” Missy called out quietly, sounding strangely out of breath to Sheldon’s ears.
“We only want to talk, Dr. Cooper,” Uncle Gus switched tactics. “Let’s all put the guns away - and let’s talk. Look... I’m putting my gu...”
“Hey!” Sheldon yelled with such force that Penny fell backwards onto her butt. “Keep your hands where I can see them.”
“All right, all right,” Gus reassured him, bending over to put his gun on the ground. “I’m not armed now - see?”
Sheldon saw all right; he saw the quick move one of Gus’ compatriots made pulling out a semi-automatic rifle. Shots were fired that hit the side of the house. But then a single shot from inside the house hit the shooter in the hand that held the rifle. There was an anguished yell as he dropped his gun as Maddy leaned over to smile and wink at Sheldon.
“I got your back, bro.”
“Thank you, Madeline,” Sheldon commended politely. “Excellent shot.” She beamed at him.
“Nice work, sis,” Missy called out. “Keep an eye on that left side - I think there’s someone coming in from the front.”
“I’m all over it.”
Penny, flat on the kitchen floor with her hands over her head, squeaked in alarm as she looked from one Cooper sibling to the next in wide-eyed horror. Gunfire sounded sporadically, with some of the sounds coming from the front of the house. This had to stop soon, or their beautiful home would soon resemble a sieve.
Sheldon’s sharp vision picked up a hand signal from Jesse - the same one they had used as children. He flashed a similar signal back.
“Missy, Maddy - cover me - I’m heading out.”
“No!” Penny cried, scrambling towards his on all fours. “Sheldon - they’re shooting real bullets that could HIT YOU!!!”
“Penny! This is not a situation I am unfamiliar with,” Sheldon confidently informed her, “just think of it as secret agent laser obstacle... er... shootout... and know that I excel at secret agent laser obstacle anything.” The he pushed her back and crept towards the door.
Nodding at his sisters, Sheldon opened the back door and crept outside.
And another hail of bullets rent through the night.
***
Penny, her heart in her throat, scrambled to her feet and grabbed the old rifle Sheldon had given her. She took his spot by the window and took a deep breath before poking her gun outside. This couldn’t be much different from shooting a paintball gun, could it? She loathed to admit to Sheldon that she had never fired a real weapon in her life. Sure she excelled at Halo and paintball, but this was real. Still - she wasn't kidding when she said she would fire it to protect him.
She peeked out and panicked when she didn’t see Sheldon. Maddy and Missy were completely focused on what they were doing, and where they were shooting, and so her fear was left to simmer inside her as she scanned the darkness of the massive back yard.
She could see the woods in the distance but couldn’t make out anything else. How on earth had Sheldon noted any rustling? Good Lord - and where was he? Maddy suddenly swooped down at her from out of nowhere.
“Stay out of sight, Penny,” she muttered. “That blonde hair of yours shines like a beacon in the moonlight.” Penny quelled a scream as Maddy fired her weapon. Missy followed suit and then in a flurry of activity, left her post by the window and joined them. She and Maddy stopped to reload their weapons.
“All right,” Missy told her as Maddy grabbed their backpacks and tossed them to Penny. “We’re going out - the boys have taken care of those guys with Gus, but we think Gus himself managed to sneak around the corner to the front.”
The door opened and the most handsome man Penny had ever seen outside of a movie screen stepped into the kitchen, His eyes zeroed in on Missy.
“Howdy, darlin’,” he drawled. “Miss me?” As Missy grinned up him, Penny realized this had to be Jesse. But she had more important things on her mind.
“Where the hell’s Sheldon?”
“Well, hello beautiful.” Jesse turned his high-wattage smile on her. It had absolutely no effect.
“Back off, Buchannon - she’s mine,” came the no-nonsense voice of the love of her life as he poked his head around the door. He came inside and headed towards the kitchen cabinets. “Do you have my bag? Good - take all the clothes out.”
“What? Why?”
“Penny!”
“All right!” She did as he asked and he came back a few seconds later with a bag of sugar and salt which he proceeded to put into his backpack. She looked at him in surprise but said nothing. He looked at Maddy.
“We still keep the weed-killer in the shed?”
“Yup.”
“Where will you go?” Jesse asked him.
“Do you really expect me to stand here and prognosticate on our potential progress?” He received four blank looks, and huffed with a little shake of his head. “Jesse brought horses. We’ll take them towards the shed and then we’ll head west as best we can.”
“All right - we’ll catch up once we’ve taken care of this little problem here,” Jesse reassured him. “Let’s go now before they come back with reinforcements.”
And with that, the five of them scurried outside and into the woods, where Sheldon’s Uncle Eddie and another two friends of Jesse’s awaited them with two horses. Penny got on her horse in a trice and marvelled at the ease with which Sheldon mounted his. With a few whispered words of caution from Uncle Eddie, they started through the woods, leaving Sheldon’s family behind to deal with her mess.
Penny had never felt so guilty in her entire life.
“Sheldon, I am so sorry I dragged your family into this mess.”
“Penny,” he turned around briefly to look at her, his face in the shadows, but still visible in the scant moonlight. “You’re one of us now. Mom even made it official. Your mess is our mess. That’s just the Cooper way. If you think this is bad - you should have seen the chaos Jesse James brought with him when he moved here.”
Penny could not formulate any words in response to that little speech, and certainly as Sheldon led the way through the dense woods, he wasn’t expecting a response. As far as he was concerned, Penny realized - he had just stated fact.
She was a Cooper in his eyes.
And that was just fine with her.
Their pace through the woods was slow, with Sheldon taking winding lanes that seemed to go in circles. Suddenly, though, she saw the white outline of small house through the trees. Sheldon pulled up his horse and dismounted, and Penny followed suit.
“We’re just stopping for just a little while, Penny,” he said in hushed tones.
“I’m coming with you anyway.”
“Of course - I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he stated matter-of-factly as he held out his hand to her. They walked quietly through the bushes until they approached some sort of shed. Just at that moment, the moon appeared from behind the clouds. It eerily lit up that old white house Penny had seen a few moments earlier. It stood a distance from the shed, and looked like a hurricane had hit it sometime in the past and now it stood on cinder-blocks. The thought of anyone living there gave her the creeps.
Penny looked away as they passed a sign next to the shed; it said: Sheldon’s Shed - Danger: Radiation.
Penny blinked and looked at him enquiringly.
“It’s where I did all my experiments, including building my nuclear reactor and storing my yellowcake uranium, although the government took that away.” He looked disappointed, and Penny could almost picture that little boy when the mean government had stolen his prized possession. What an adorable little whack-a-doodle he must have been, she thought with a smile.
“And what’s that creepy house, Sheldon?”
“That’s our old house - that’s where we grew up.”
“You grew up there?” She asked in horror. “Oh, sweetie!”
“It’s not much is it? We were... poor. My grandfather threw my mom out when she married dad. She lost her job too - the joys of living in a small town. We - Missy and I especially - got picked on a lot for not having... you know, new clothes, or fancy things. I tried to help out with my inventions but it didn’t really make a difference. Then Mom couldn’t really work because of all the kids and then - me. But when I went to Germany and started earning a real salary, things got better.” He took a long look at the little house. “I’m just glad my dad got to enjoy his life before he died. That was important to me.”
“You had the big house built for them didn’t you?” She smiled at him as he nodded, obviously not thinking how incredibly loving and generous his actions had been. She wound her hand around the back of his head and pulled him down for a long, languid kiss. “I love you, Sheldon Cooper. I will love you ‘til the day I die.”
He smiled at her - and she felt like her whole world was in that smile.
“I love you too,” he said as he pressed a soft kiss on her forehead. She grinned up at him, but he appeared deep in thought. Then his eyes focused on hers, clear, intense and indigo in the moonlight. “Penny?” he asked.
“Yes, Sheldon?”
“Will you marry me?”
Penny blinked. It would have required superhuman strength on her part to do anything else in that tiny moment of time. Her breath hitched in her chest, and the hopeful look in his eyes started to slip away.
“Yes, Sheldon.”
He blinked. And then gave his funny little laugh as his face broke into a smile. His arms wrapped around her waist and he actually - bodily lifted her off the ground - as he hugged her close.
And there, in the moonlight outside Sheldon’s Shed, Sheldon Cooper and Penny Sawyer sealed their love for each other with a kiss.
It was excruciatingly difficult to let him go, but she managed. Sheldon asked her to stay outside while he went in and rummaged around. Penny studiously avoiding looking at Sheldon’s old house - it still gave her the creeps, as though it was watching her somehow.
She was just about to tell Sheldon to hurry when she heard a twig snap behind her.
She whirled around in panic.
And screamed.
For standing before her was a wild woman toting a really big gun. She was the scariest thing Penny had ever seen in her life with long, wiry, grey hair that hung loose and obscured most of her face. She had this long, white... something on - that looked like it belonged in another century and essentially made her look like a witch out of a freaky horror flick.
Thankfully, Sheldon was at her side so fast, his gun at the ready, that she hardly had time to take a breath and be relieved.
“Meemaw?” Sheldon squeaked.
“Meemaw?!” Penny repeated in shock. This feral, savage-looking woman couldn’t possibly be Sheldon’s beloved grandmother - could she?
Meemaw brought the gun close to Penny’s face, and Penny - somehow channelling Raj - eeped - and ducked behind Sheldon. Meemaw lowered her gun slightly and grasped Sheldon by his pyjama shirt, yanking him down to her level, and peering at him with rheumy eyes.
“Moonpie?” she rasped. “My nummy nummy?”
“Yes, Meemaw, it’s me,” Sheldon reassured her. “I brought Penny to meet you,” he said as he enveloped her in a big hug and kissed her wrinkly cheek. “Oh,” he added as an after-thought, “and we’re also on the run from some mobsters who want us dead.”
***