fic: Seven End of the World drabbles
I wrote all these for the Paradox-o-rama: Fiction #2 Challange @ sheldon_penny . There was an End of the World drabble prompt table. I've never written anything in that genre before, so...this is what came out. Some Most of these were written in a very short period of time. It was a race, ok? But I have gone and tweaked a few.
I can't commit to full-on bleak post-apocalyptic outcome. Is there a such thing as a realistic optimist? 'Cause that would be me. For the most part, my take on these scenarios ranges from "dude, that's so not gonna happen" to "someone else wrote this already and so much better."
Prompt: Famine
Wordcount: 518
Rating: PG
Penny didn't know how they made it work. Ultimately, it was Sheldon that kept everything together. His apocalyptic survival plan actually included a section for famine. The pages of that section were color-coded raw umber.
"Seriously, Sheldon? Who needs seven years' worth of supplies?"
"It was unnecessary to procure the supplies, but rather the potential. Enough seeds to cultivate and produce a crop plentiful enough to sustain a family of five."
Previously, Penny's knowledge of hydroponics involved references on Enterprise (She liked T'Pol and Trip, okay? And maybe she suddenly had a thing for guys with Southern accents.) and a bonus item on The Sims.
Howard made some improvements on Sheldon's original design, and with a good bit of trial-and-error they had the system working pretty well in about a month.
Just in time for desperation to really set in.
Food supplies was scarce, and as a result, the Cheesecake Factory cut it's operating hours significantly, resulting in Penny's hours being abysmal.
When Penny was late on rent and didn't find an eviction notice, she became a little suspicious, but still avoided the landlord until one day he caught her unaware in the stairwell. His cheerful mood didn't fade as he thanked her for the advance of 3 months rent. She must have hit a big payday, he said. They chatted for a bit, Mr. Mendel sounded a little concerned at the end of it. God, Penny hoped he didn't think she started hooking for money. Whatever.
Right after that she bursts into the guys apartment, and for once, Sheldon seems to be expecting her. He looks up from the mess of pipes, wires, and what looks like the guts of something meant to be diabolical, and says, "We'll be needing your apartment."
She stared at him, dumbfounded. Her brain was warring with her emotions, caught between the urge to punch him or hug him. While Penny isn't thrilled about her the idea of her home of the past four years being transformed into a secret greenhouse. She likes food more, and she's not gonna complain about the free rent or have to stress about paying it back like last time.
Finally, a moment of clarity and Penny simply sighs. "I don't have much of a say in this, do I?"
"Well, most of your belongings have already been prepped for long-term storage. I took the liberty of sorting out a few essential items for you to choose to keep." He doesn't look up from his work and Penny just stares at him.
After a few sputtering attempts, she finds her voice. "So help me, Sheldon, if I find six months worth of tampons in there--"
He his head bobs, and then spins to meet her eye. "I hadn't thought of that..."
Sheldon's pretty good at dodging objects suddenly flung at his head, but considering the angle, Penny is still impressed by the extremity of his peripheral vision.
A week later Penny gets her revenge. Sheldon doesn't complain (much) when it's her night to pick a show for the Friday night scifi marathon and she pops in the first disk of season one of Enterprise.
Prompt: Space-Time Continuum
Words: 621
Rating: PG
Penny fingered the edges of the picture. She needed something to do with her hands, to keep them from shaking. This couldn't be real.
"I--I don't understand. Aren't there, like, very serious rules that you're breaking?" She tore her eyes away from the portrait of the smiling girl with big green eyes. Eyes exactly like hers.
"No, the space-time continuum has already been disturbed. "Coming back here was the only option in order to salvage my work, and ultimately save the world."
"But why come here, to see me?"
"You are not currently..." His voice hitched and he looked at down. Then finding his resolve, his blue eyes, met her own. The sadness was apparent even in the dim light of her apartment. "You're not alive in my time, Penny."
Her eyes widened and she fell backwards, finally sinking down on her sofa.
"You were exposed to a genetically engineered toxin shortly after your daughter was conceived. Many people died mere hours after exposure, however, you survived, carrying the child to full term. Despite my vast intelligence, there were still many aspects of biology and the secrets of the human genome that I have yet to understand. As your due date drew near, the you began to display symptoms of infection.
"You...never saw her."
"She is, however immune to the contagion, and antidote is being synthesized using her DNA and your antibodies."
"Sheldon, you have to listen to me."
"I refuse. There must be another way."
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. I've seen our daughter. I know you of all people will be able to make this work. You just have to promise me, when I'm gone--"
Sheldon's head snapped up, his eyes darting to meet hers, unshed tears threatening to fall. It was painful to bear, but she had to get through to him, to make him see. "You will put your ego aside, let Raj, Leonard, and even Howard, help you."
He at her helpless, and then, "How could you possibly know it's a girl?"
"You told me that I told you that you would know the right time to tell me."
It took Penny a few seconds to wrap her mind around that statement. "Oh. Good to know you left some things up to chance."
"While I do not generally subscribe to the belief in events being fated to occur, there is comfort in the inevitability of certain events. It took me some time to realize that your passing was the impetus I needed to finally reach a break through in time travel.
I am not here to change anything, Penny, only to ensure that certain events do take place."
Penny lays awake in bed that night. It's only when she wakes up that she realizes pure exhaustion must have finally taken over. She's only been asleep for a few hours, at most, when a familiar triple knocks rouses her from bed. She opens fling the door open and then turns without so much as a "Hi, Sheldon," heading for the kitchen to prepare the cup of coffee she desperately needs.
She can feel him standing behind her, wonders how he moved so far. She turns, and Sheldon has a look she's never seen before. His lips are on hers, a little awkward, yet careful and sweet. Penny fists her hands in his shirt, on either side of his waist. She kisses leans into him just a bit before pulling away.
She remembers the dream strange dream from last night, the slightly worn but well-cared-for photograph, the dusting of freckles across the little girls knows. Holy crap, she definitely inherited Sheldon's mouth.
Penny can keep a secret for eight years if it means saving the world.
Prompt: Magnetic Poles Shift
Wordcount: 595
Rating: PG-PG-13
Notes: This one is going off the premise that shifts in the magnetic field have an effect on human emotions or their ability to control them.
Curse his Vulcan hearing. Sheldon's exceptional hearing was invaluable as a survival tool. Being an unconfirmed (yet) member of the higher species, homo novus, he supposed some inconveniences were tolerable. The skill had served him well over the years, helping him to hear the advances of a lumbering, troglodyte of an assailant. For all bullies prided themselves in physical strength, most of them lacked just as much, if not more in stealth.
For the past week, he had been plagued with a constant buzzing sound. No one else heard it. His audiologist found no abnormalities.
It was driving the physicist to madness. As the days passed, he found himself less in control of his emotions. At first, he figured it was just mild irritation from the incessant humming.
"Sheldon? Hey." Sheldon vision cleared at the sound of Penny snapping her fingers. She waved her hand in front of his face and then leaned over, bumping her shoulder against his.
"Hmm. Yes?" Sheldon mumbled. His eyes focused on Penny's mouth. She was smiling, but her smile faltered, the brightness dimming.
"You spaced out on me there. I asked if you were feeling ok?"
He felt a slight pressure in the crook of his elbow, and his gaze traveled from Penny's mouth, down her neck, to her collarbone, along the sun-kissed skin of her shoulder (wondered if her skin was as smooth to the touch), and to her hand.
Seemingly of it's own volition, he free hand was moving, trailing up Penny's right arm, brushing a curtain of gold away from her shoulder, fingers tangling in the hair at the base of her neck.
"Shel-do-" her voice died into a low squeak of surprise.
Whatthefrak?! She thought even as her eyes fluttered closed. She inhaled, her hands braced against his chest as he pulled her closer. This was weirder. Weirder yet was that she was maybe, sort of, kissing him back, just enough that she tasted the minty flavor of his breath. (He seriously brushed after dinner, didn't he?) In the back of her mind, she thought that maybe they should stop this before, like, Leonard or someone walked in, but Penny couldn't make herself care. Not enough to make herself push Sheldon away. One of her hands founds it's way up from his chest and around the back of his long neck.
She was jarred to reality Sheldon pulled away.
"Did you hear that?"
"Mmm . . . what?" Penny shook her head. Sheldon stepped from between her legs and it was then that Penny had absolutely no idea how she ended up sitting on the dryer. The were definitely standing by the folding table a minute ago.
"Did we seriously just-" Sheldon shushed her and Penny gave huffed and glared at him. Still, she craned her head. It was actually pretty quiet, like, eerily so. Then she heard it, the faint but unmistakable wail of a siren.
It drew closer, and Penny pulled her knees up and stood turned to the window above. The glass was frosted, but the shape of the red and blue lights was distinctive. Then there were screams and shapes darting back and forth across her view.
Her brow furrowed as she felt Sheldon arm wrap around her waist, and then full on yelped in shock as he snatched her back. Her bare legs stung as they slapped against the linoleum floor, spilled detergent grating against her skin. She heard a deafening boom and a loud crash as glass, wood and drywall reigned down around them. Sheldon's long body curled around her own, shielding her from the chaos.
Prompt: Panic Room
Wordcount: 411
Rating: PG
He had pulled her, literally kicking and screaming, down the stairs leading down int the panic room. For all his awkward angles and limbs, he was pretty strong when he needed to be. Once at the base, with one free arm he press a code into the keypad along the wall, and a heavy lead door slammed shut above them. It was Sheldon who was the stronger one in this instance, able to resolve that they wouldn't be able to save all of their friends. Leonard knew that he wouldn't make it in time, and Penny cried as she listened to him over the intercom, telling Sheldon to take care of her.
She wanted to hate him for being so cold, so-selfish. She cursed him, said terrible things that she couldn't remember, but that his beautiful mind would probably never forget. Deep down, Penny knew that it was the only way at least some of them would have a chance at survival.
At some point, Penny cried herself to sleep. Or passed out. It was all a blur. She woke up to feel cold sensation against her left shoulder-blade and then a sharp stinging sensation. She started, trying to move away, to roll over, but a firm hand on her shoulder kept her still.
"Don't. You've sustained quite a laceration on the flesh covering your left scapula." Despite his warming, Penny rolled over as much as her position would allow, craning her neck to look up at Sheldon. He looked tired. "It's imperative that the wound be cleaned and sutured to prevent infection."
Penny squinted up at him.
"You need stitched," Sheldon said.
Penny nodded numbly and rolled back over, wincing at the pain the movement caused.
She didn't complain about the pain, knew better than to ask Sheldon to waste precious supplies for her temporary comfort.
"Sheldon?" Her voice sounded so small.
"Yes, Penny?"
She opened her mouth, but hesitated on finding the right words. She wanted to tell him that she didn't mean it. She didn't think he was some cold unfeeling robot who would rather save himself than his friends. She closed her eyes, ashamed at her words. A single tear trickled across the bridge of her nose.
"Thank you." It same out slightly choked, almost a whisper. For a few tense seconds she feared he hadn't heard her.
His cool hand rested lightly against her exposed upper arm, patting twice. "There, there."
Prompt: E.M.P.
Wordcount: 596
Notes: A BBT/Dark Angle 'verse AU.
Penny rang the bell and waited to be buzzed up. This was her sixth delivery to this place in less than a month. She brushed her thumb over the name on the parcel. Dr. Sheldon Cooper, Ph.D. She scoffed. You'd think the "Dr." was enough for most people. Sheldon Cooper, she soon found, was far from normal.
Even with the security of the building, he still had at least three locking mechanisms on the door to his apartment. She imagined a deadlock, a chain, and one of those mechanisms that locked the door to the floor.
He'd let her step inside and locked the door behind him while she waited for him to retrieve a package that he wanted her to deliver. It was a kinda creepy, but understandable. One had to take extra precautions after the Pulse, and if this Dr. Cooper character decided to flip out on her, Penny was confident she could hold her own. She vividly remembered the whiteboards covered in equations. He was one of those beautiful mind genius guys, for sure. She sized him up while his back was turned. He was kinda tall, lanky, but not rail thin. He could have some nice muscle tone hidden under all those bright shirts. It was hard to tell.
"Yes?" Dr. Coopers voice finally came over the com. He sounded a little out of breath, like he ran to the com or something.
"Hey, it's Penny. Got another package for ya?"
A beat of silence. Then, "Just leave it in my mailbox."
"Uh-uh, doc. This won't fit and you need to sign for it."
"It's fine." His tone was high and clipped. "Just leave it."
The comm clicked off abruptly. Penny bit her lip, tossed the package from one hand to the other. Something was definitely off. An old lady on a cane struggled to push the door open. Penny was quick and held the door open for the elderly woman, smiling as the woman thanked her. She watched the lady toddle down the stoop and then slipped inside the door, her bicycle in tow.
She hung her head, slumped her shouldered and sighed when she saw the tell-tale yellow caution tape still on the elevator. It had been a long, hot day, this was the last stop on her shift and she so did not feel like taking four flights of stairs just to get a stupid signature. Kripke would be on her case if she didn't and she's still have to come back here. Penny grumbled as she parked her bike in front of the elevator doors and started up the stairs.
Just as she reached the top of the last flight, a young Asian woman came scurrying down, practically running into Penny and not sparing so much as a second glance. "Excuse you," Penny called down after the woman. The woman then turned her head and raised her eyebrow, then she was gone.
Penny rolled her eyes and got her bearings, turned back to the floor ahead. As she came to the top of the steps, she could see that the door to apartment 4A was ajar. She jogged the rest of the way and stopped short in the doorway to as her eyes found Dr. Cooper's still body laying in the middle of the floor.
The package in her hands thudded to the floor. Her feet felt like lead as she forced them to move closer. He coughed and then groaned, and Penny sank to her knees at his side, the breath finally rushing out of her relieved lungs.
Her day just kept getting better.
Prompt: The Perfect Storm
Words: 256
Rating: G
Notes: A little tease of a continuation of All Things Considered. I really need to finish it...
So the decontamination shower wasn't the most ideal place for her morning rituals. Still, after being soaked to the hip in last night's storm, she wasn't going to complain about a little cool water. She was most worried about someone creeping up on her while she was still undressed. She'd been hearing strange noises that made her question whether she and Sheldon were the only ones in the building. He hadn't said one way or another, and it would make sense if there were other people holed up to analyze data.
She made dressed quickly, brushed her teeth with the toothpaste Sheldon had left for her. When she got out into the hallway, she wandered back and forth a bit, not sure of how to get back to Sheldon's office. Eventually, she saw some familiar signage and wound up back at the lab from last night.
Sheldon didn't turn, but acknowledged her presence as Penny walked up to stand behind him at the console.
"Hey. How're your tests going?"
"Unremarkable." Sheldon said. He was learning forward, the index finger of his right hand pressed against his lips. He was in his thinking mode, Penny saw.
She felt something warm brush against her forearm and looked down to see a steaming mug of dark liquid slide into view. She inhaled deep, letting the rich aroma awaken her senses.
"I figured it would make you more amenable to the circumstances." Sheldon turned to meet her eye, a serious expression on his face. "We may be here longer than anticipated."
Prompt: Earth's Magnetic Field Reverses
Wordcount: 326
Rating: G
"Come on, Shel-don," Penny was half whining, half singing his name.
Dr. Sheldon Cooper, Ph.D. huffed, turned around, his lips pursed as he regarded the sunny young woman standing behind him. She was dressed in a tank top and shorts and had what looked to be a folded lawn chair on the floor, her weight balanced against it.
"Come on," she continued. "I want you to come watch with me."
Sheldon just stared at her. "Penny, I hardly see the point. I have observed the aurora borealis phenomenon while in the Arctic. I can remember it quite vividly. Also, I have no desire to subject myself to more lethal solar radiation than necessary."
"I thought you said the radiation it wasn't lethal." Her eyes narrowed at him.
"No, I said that it was risk was negligible. With your hardy Mid-Western stock, I'm sure you'll be fine." Sheldon heard his drawl come through on the last line. He figured the conversation was done and turned back to the Firefly marathon currently running on SyFy.
He waited to hear Penny's retreating feet, and he did, but then the sound of her feet drew closer. He looked up to see her rounding the couch and a moment later she was plopping down beside him with no regard for his cushion, her left leg smashed against his right one.
Sheldon squawked in protest as she reached over him and took two redvines from the packaging in his lap.
He continued to stare at her, but she kept her focus on the screen even as she twirled the red candy between her lips.
Five minutes later, he found himself on the roof of the building, his own lawn chair set next to Penny as they lay back, observing the lights. He didn't tell her how every now and then, he'd think back to the Arctic sky, remembering how an occasional stream would be just the distinctive hue of green, reminding him of her eyes.
. . . . . . . . . .
Feedback is awesome. :)
I can't commit to full-on bleak post-apocalyptic outcome. Is there a such thing as a realistic optimist? 'Cause that would be me. For the most part, my take on these scenarios ranges from "dude, that's so not gonna happen" to "someone else wrote this already and so much better."
Prompt: Famine
Wordcount: 518
Rating: PG
Penny didn't know how they made it work. Ultimately, it was Sheldon that kept everything together. His apocalyptic survival plan actually included a section for famine. The pages of that section were color-coded raw umber.
"Seriously, Sheldon? Who needs seven years' worth of supplies?"
"It was unnecessary to procure the supplies, but rather the potential. Enough seeds to cultivate and produce a crop plentiful enough to sustain a family of five."
Previously, Penny's knowledge of hydroponics involved references on Enterprise (She liked T'Pol and Trip, okay? And maybe she suddenly had a thing for guys with Southern accents.) and a bonus item on The Sims.
Howard made some improvements on Sheldon's original design, and with a good bit of trial-and-error they had the system working pretty well in about a month.
Just in time for desperation to really set in.
Food supplies was scarce, and as a result, the Cheesecake Factory cut it's operating hours significantly, resulting in Penny's hours being abysmal.
When Penny was late on rent and didn't find an eviction notice, she became a little suspicious, but still avoided the landlord until one day he caught her unaware in the stairwell. His cheerful mood didn't fade as he thanked her for the advance of 3 months rent. She must have hit a big payday, he said. They chatted for a bit, Mr. Mendel sounded a little concerned at the end of it. God, Penny hoped he didn't think she started hooking for money. Whatever.
Right after that she bursts into the guys apartment, and for once, Sheldon seems to be expecting her. He looks up from the mess of pipes, wires, and what looks like the guts of something meant to be diabolical, and says, "We'll be needing your apartment."
She stared at him, dumbfounded. Her brain was warring with her emotions, caught between the urge to punch him or hug him. While Penny isn't thrilled about her the idea of her home of the past four years being transformed into a secret greenhouse. She likes food more, and she's not gonna complain about the free rent or have to stress about paying it back like last time.
Finally, a moment of clarity and Penny simply sighs. "I don't have much of a say in this, do I?"
"Well, most of your belongings have already been prepped for long-term storage. I took the liberty of sorting out a few essential items for you to choose to keep." He doesn't look up from his work and Penny just stares at him.
After a few sputtering attempts, she finds her voice. "So help me, Sheldon, if I find six months worth of tampons in there--"
He his head bobs, and then spins to meet her eye. "I hadn't thought of that..."
Sheldon's pretty good at dodging objects suddenly flung at his head, but considering the angle, Penny is still impressed by the extremity of his peripheral vision.
A week later Penny gets her revenge. Sheldon doesn't complain (much) when it's her night to pick a show for the Friday night scifi marathon and she pops in the first disk of season one of Enterprise.
Prompt: Space-Time Continuum
Words: 621
Rating: PG
Penny fingered the edges of the picture. She needed something to do with her hands, to keep them from shaking. This couldn't be real.
"I--I don't understand. Aren't there, like, very serious rules that you're breaking?" She tore her eyes away from the portrait of the smiling girl with big green eyes. Eyes exactly like hers.
"No, the space-time continuum has already been disturbed. "Coming back here was the only option in order to salvage my work, and ultimately save the world."
"But why come here, to see me?"
"You are not currently..." His voice hitched and he looked at down. Then finding his resolve, his blue eyes, met her own. The sadness was apparent even in the dim light of her apartment. "You're not alive in my time, Penny."
Her eyes widened and she fell backwards, finally sinking down on her sofa.
"You were exposed to a genetically engineered toxin shortly after your daughter was conceived. Many people died mere hours after exposure, however, you survived, carrying the child to full term. Despite my vast intelligence, there were still many aspects of biology and the secrets of the human genome that I have yet to understand. As your due date drew near, the you began to display symptoms of infection.
"You...never saw her."
"She is, however immune to the contagion, and antidote is being synthesized using her DNA and your antibodies."
"Sheldon, you have to listen to me."
"I refuse. There must be another way."
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. I've seen our daughter. I know you of all people will be able to make this work. You just have to promise me, when I'm gone--"
Sheldon's head snapped up, his eyes darting to meet hers, unshed tears threatening to fall. It was painful to bear, but she had to get through to him, to make him see. "You will put your ego aside, let Raj, Leonard, and even Howard, help you."
He at her helpless, and then, "How could you possibly know it's a girl?"
"You told me that I told you that you would know the right time to tell me."
It took Penny a few seconds to wrap her mind around that statement. "Oh. Good to know you left some things up to chance."
"While I do not generally subscribe to the belief in events being fated to occur, there is comfort in the inevitability of certain events. It took me some time to realize that your passing was the impetus I needed to finally reach a break through in time travel.
I am not here to change anything, Penny, only to ensure that certain events do take place."
Penny lays awake in bed that night. It's only when she wakes up that she realizes pure exhaustion must have finally taken over. She's only been asleep for a few hours, at most, when a familiar triple knocks rouses her from bed. She opens fling the door open and then turns without so much as a "Hi, Sheldon," heading for the kitchen to prepare the cup of coffee she desperately needs.
She can feel him standing behind her, wonders how he moved so far. She turns, and Sheldon has a look she's never seen before. His lips are on hers, a little awkward, yet careful and sweet. Penny fists her hands in his shirt, on either side of his waist. She kisses leans into him just a bit before pulling away.
She remembers the dream strange dream from last night, the slightly worn but well-cared-for photograph, the dusting of freckles across the little girls knows. Holy crap, she definitely inherited Sheldon's mouth.
Penny can keep a secret for eight years if it means saving the world.
Prompt: Magnetic Poles Shift
Wordcount: 595
Rating: PG-PG-13
Notes: This one is going off the premise that shifts in the magnetic field have an effect on human emotions or their ability to control them.
Curse his Vulcan hearing. Sheldon's exceptional hearing was invaluable as a survival tool. Being an unconfirmed (yet) member of the higher species, homo novus, he supposed some inconveniences were tolerable. The skill had served him well over the years, helping him to hear the advances of a lumbering, troglodyte of an assailant. For all bullies prided themselves in physical strength, most of them lacked just as much, if not more in stealth.
For the past week, he had been plagued with a constant buzzing sound. No one else heard it. His audiologist found no abnormalities.
It was driving the physicist to madness. As the days passed, he found himself less in control of his emotions. At first, he figured it was just mild irritation from the incessant humming.
"Sheldon? Hey." Sheldon vision cleared at the sound of Penny snapping her fingers. She waved her hand in front of his face and then leaned over, bumping her shoulder against his.
"Hmm. Yes?" Sheldon mumbled. His eyes focused on Penny's mouth. She was smiling, but her smile faltered, the brightness dimming.
"You spaced out on me there. I asked if you were feeling ok?"
He felt a slight pressure in the crook of his elbow, and his gaze traveled from Penny's mouth, down her neck, to her collarbone, along the sun-kissed skin of her shoulder (wondered if her skin was as smooth to the touch), and to her hand.
Seemingly of it's own volition, he free hand was moving, trailing up Penny's right arm, brushing a curtain of gold away from her shoulder, fingers tangling in the hair at the base of her neck.
"Shel-do-" her voice died into a low squeak of surprise.
Whatthefrak?! She thought even as her eyes fluttered closed. She inhaled, her hands braced against his chest as he pulled her closer. This was weirder. Weirder yet was that she was maybe, sort of, kissing him back, just enough that she tasted the minty flavor of his breath. (He seriously brushed after dinner, didn't he?) In the back of her mind, she thought that maybe they should stop this before, like, Leonard or someone walked in, but Penny couldn't make herself care. Not enough to make herself push Sheldon away. One of her hands founds it's way up from his chest and around the back of his long neck.
She was jarred to reality Sheldon pulled away.
"Did you hear that?"
"Mmm . . . what?" Penny shook her head. Sheldon stepped from between her legs and it was then that Penny had absolutely no idea how she ended up sitting on the dryer. The were definitely standing by the folding table a minute ago.
"Did we seriously just-" Sheldon shushed her and Penny gave huffed and glared at him. Still, she craned her head. It was actually pretty quiet, like, eerily so. Then she heard it, the faint but unmistakable wail of a siren.
It drew closer, and Penny pulled her knees up and stood turned to the window above. The glass was frosted, but the shape of the red and blue lights was distinctive. Then there were screams and shapes darting back and forth across her view.
Her brow furrowed as she felt Sheldon arm wrap around her waist, and then full on yelped in shock as he snatched her back. Her bare legs stung as they slapped against the linoleum floor, spilled detergent grating against her skin. She heard a deafening boom and a loud crash as glass, wood and drywall reigned down around them. Sheldon's long body curled around her own, shielding her from the chaos.
Prompt: Panic Room
Wordcount: 411
Rating: PG
He had pulled her, literally kicking and screaming, down the stairs leading down int the panic room. For all his awkward angles and limbs, he was pretty strong when he needed to be. Once at the base, with one free arm he press a code into the keypad along the wall, and a heavy lead door slammed shut above them. It was Sheldon who was the stronger one in this instance, able to resolve that they wouldn't be able to save all of their friends. Leonard knew that he wouldn't make it in time, and Penny cried as she listened to him over the intercom, telling Sheldon to take care of her.
She wanted to hate him for being so cold, so-selfish. She cursed him, said terrible things that she couldn't remember, but that his beautiful mind would probably never forget. Deep down, Penny knew that it was the only way at least some of them would have a chance at survival.
At some point, Penny cried herself to sleep. Or passed out. It was all a blur. She woke up to feel cold sensation against her left shoulder-blade and then a sharp stinging sensation. She started, trying to move away, to roll over, but a firm hand on her shoulder kept her still.
"Don't. You've sustained quite a laceration on the flesh covering your left scapula." Despite his warming, Penny rolled over as much as her position would allow, craning her neck to look up at Sheldon. He looked tired. "It's imperative that the wound be cleaned and sutured to prevent infection."
Penny squinted up at him.
"You need stitched," Sheldon said.
Penny nodded numbly and rolled back over, wincing at the pain the movement caused.
She didn't complain about the pain, knew better than to ask Sheldon to waste precious supplies for her temporary comfort.
"Sheldon?" Her voice sounded so small.
"Yes, Penny?"
She opened her mouth, but hesitated on finding the right words. She wanted to tell him that she didn't mean it. She didn't think he was some cold unfeeling robot who would rather save himself than his friends. She closed her eyes, ashamed at her words. A single tear trickled across the bridge of her nose.
"Thank you." It same out slightly choked, almost a whisper. For a few tense seconds she feared he hadn't heard her.
His cool hand rested lightly against her exposed upper arm, patting twice. "There, there."
Prompt: E.M.P.
Wordcount: 596
Notes: A BBT/Dark Angle 'verse AU.
Penny rang the bell and waited to be buzzed up. This was her sixth delivery to this place in less than a month. She brushed her thumb over the name on the parcel. Dr. Sheldon Cooper, Ph.D. She scoffed. You'd think the "Dr." was enough for most people. Sheldon Cooper, she soon found, was far from normal.
Even with the security of the building, he still had at least three locking mechanisms on the door to his apartment. She imagined a deadlock, a chain, and one of those mechanisms that locked the door to the floor.
He'd let her step inside and locked the door behind him while she waited for him to retrieve a package that he wanted her to deliver. It was a kinda creepy, but understandable. One had to take extra precautions after the Pulse, and if this Dr. Cooper character decided to flip out on her, Penny was confident she could hold her own. She vividly remembered the whiteboards covered in equations. He was one of those beautiful mind genius guys, for sure. She sized him up while his back was turned. He was kinda tall, lanky, but not rail thin. He could have some nice muscle tone hidden under all those bright shirts. It was hard to tell.
"Yes?" Dr. Coopers voice finally came over the com. He sounded a little out of breath, like he ran to the com or something.
"Hey, it's Penny. Got another package for ya?"
A beat of silence. Then, "Just leave it in my mailbox."
"Uh-uh, doc. This won't fit and you need to sign for it."
"It's fine." His tone was high and clipped. "Just leave it."
The comm clicked off abruptly. Penny bit her lip, tossed the package from one hand to the other. Something was definitely off. An old lady on a cane struggled to push the door open. Penny was quick and held the door open for the elderly woman, smiling as the woman thanked her. She watched the lady toddle down the stoop and then slipped inside the door, her bicycle in tow.
She hung her head, slumped her shouldered and sighed when she saw the tell-tale yellow caution tape still on the elevator. It had been a long, hot day, this was the last stop on her shift and she so did not feel like taking four flights of stairs just to get a stupid signature. Kripke would be on her case if she didn't and she's still have to come back here. Penny grumbled as she parked her bike in front of the elevator doors and started up the stairs.
Just as she reached the top of the last flight, a young Asian woman came scurrying down, practically running into Penny and not sparing so much as a second glance. "Excuse you," Penny called down after the woman. The woman then turned her head and raised her eyebrow, then she was gone.
Penny rolled her eyes and got her bearings, turned back to the floor ahead. As she came to the top of the steps, she could see that the door to apartment 4A was ajar. She jogged the rest of the way and stopped short in the doorway to as her eyes found Dr. Cooper's still body laying in the middle of the floor.
The package in her hands thudded to the floor. Her feet felt like lead as she forced them to move closer. He coughed and then groaned, and Penny sank to her knees at his side, the breath finally rushing out of her relieved lungs.
Her day just kept getting better.
Prompt: The Perfect Storm
Words: 256
Rating: G
Notes: A little tease of a continuation of All Things Considered. I really need to finish it...
So the decontamination shower wasn't the most ideal place for her morning rituals. Still, after being soaked to the hip in last night's storm, she wasn't going to complain about a little cool water. She was most worried about someone creeping up on her while she was still undressed. She'd been hearing strange noises that made her question whether she and Sheldon were the only ones in the building. He hadn't said one way or another, and it would make sense if there were other people holed up to analyze data.
She made dressed quickly, brushed her teeth with the toothpaste Sheldon had left for her. When she got out into the hallway, she wandered back and forth a bit, not sure of how to get back to Sheldon's office. Eventually, she saw some familiar signage and wound up back at the lab from last night.
Sheldon didn't turn, but acknowledged her presence as Penny walked up to stand behind him at the console.
"Hey. How're your tests going?"
"Unremarkable." Sheldon said. He was learning forward, the index finger of his right hand pressed against his lips. He was in his thinking mode, Penny saw.
She felt something warm brush against her forearm and looked down to see a steaming mug of dark liquid slide into view. She inhaled deep, letting the rich aroma awaken her senses.
"I figured it would make you more amenable to the circumstances." Sheldon turned to meet her eye, a serious expression on his face. "We may be here longer than anticipated."
Prompt: Earth's Magnetic Field Reverses
Wordcount: 326
Rating: G
"Come on, Shel-don," Penny was half whining, half singing his name.
Dr. Sheldon Cooper, Ph.D. huffed, turned around, his lips pursed as he regarded the sunny young woman standing behind him. She was dressed in a tank top and shorts and had what looked to be a folded lawn chair on the floor, her weight balanced against it.
"Come on," she continued. "I want you to come watch with me."
Sheldon just stared at her. "Penny, I hardly see the point. I have observed the aurora borealis phenomenon while in the Arctic. I can remember it quite vividly. Also, I have no desire to subject myself to more lethal solar radiation than necessary."
"I thought you said the radiation it wasn't lethal." Her eyes narrowed at him.
"No, I said that it was risk was negligible. With your hardy Mid-Western stock, I'm sure you'll be fine." Sheldon heard his drawl come through on the last line. He figured the conversation was done and turned back to the Firefly marathon currently running on SyFy.
He waited to hear Penny's retreating feet, and he did, but then the sound of her feet drew closer. He looked up to see her rounding the couch and a moment later she was plopping down beside him with no regard for his cushion, her left leg smashed against his right one.
Sheldon squawked in protest as she reached over him and took two redvines from the packaging in his lap.
He continued to stare at her, but she kept her focus on the screen even as she twirled the red candy between her lips.
Five minutes later, he found himself on the roof of the building, his own lawn chair set next to Penny as they lay back, observing the lights. He didn't tell her how every now and then, he'd think back to the Arctic sky, remembering how an occasional stream would be just the distinctive hue of green, reminding him of her eyes.
. . . . . . . . . .
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