Here There Be Dragons VII
Destination
Tardis, Date Unknown
Sheldon is staring moodily out the Tardis door, barely registering the supernovas and constellations passing him.
The Doctor is silent as well. He mans the controls of the Tardis, but he is secretly watching his silent brooding companion
"Sod it," the Doctor mutters under his breath. If he wanted to travel in silence, he wouldn't have developed the habit of selecting companions. One thing about Sheldon; he was usually as verbose as Rose.
The Doctor sighs. He has to get back to her. He promised. But, there is no way he can return Sheldon in the state he is currently in.
"Is there something on your mind, Dr. Cooper?" The Doctor calls out cheerily.
He blushes, too shy to tell the Doctor that he was using the power of his eidetic memory "for sin,” as his mother would say. Sheldon was not seeing the wonders of the universe before him, but Penny's arching back and parted lips as she moved her body with his. Except it wasn't his, or it was, but in a future that will happen. Lord knows when and Sheldon certainly can't figure out how.
"Doctor," Sheldon speaks so suddenly the Doctor startles. "Do you ever think about Rose?"
"I think about Rose all the time," the Doctor says quickly.
"No, that is not what I meant;” Sheldon turns from the door. “I meant do you ever think about Rose."
The Doctor swallows as he meets Sheldon's gaze.
"Sheldon," The Doctor begins, "Traveling through space and time can be very taxing on humans despite..."
"Why are you not answering my question, Doctor?" His brows rise slightly.
"Because this journey is about you; what you want to see and, frankly, need to see." The Doctor slips on his glasses if only to keep his hands busy.
"I respectfully disagree." Sheldon crosses his arms over his chest. "As I recall, you were far too eager to leave Rose that night. You were in my apartment for less than an hour, before you suddenly proposed that I come with you and Rose stay instead. Now, I am no expert on relationships and neither are my friends, but I have witnessed enough of their tribulations and outright failures to recognize a classic avoidance maneuver when I see one."
The Doctor changes the subject. He squints at the screens in front of him, "Where to next, Dr. Cooper? Back to see Sir Isaac? The Doctor spins a dial, "I know!” The Doctor smiles at him, “Nicola Tesla! He must be some kind of kindred spirit, huh Sheldon?"
"I would prefer," Sheldon's voice is firm, ignoring him, "To go to any point in time in which you answer my question. What exactly is Rose to you and why are you so reluctant to name it?"
The Doctor's shoulders slump. He drums his fingers on the Tardis control panel. “I can’t answer that question, Sheldon.” The Doctor’s says softly.
“Why on Earth not? It is perfectly logical,” Sheldon intones.
“I said I can’t!” The Doctor practically shouts, his eyes opening wide with his anger. Sheldon draws back and the Doctor takes a deep breath. He shouldn’t have yelled. He should have kept his temper in check - something Rose always helped him to do. His fists clench and unclench. If her absence is affecting him this much, he can only imagine how she is faring without him.
~
Pasadena, 2012
Rose takes out her cell that he had fiddled with on their first adventure, and punches in the Tardis number again.
She hesitates, her thumb on “send.”
What really will she accomplish by calling him again? Tell him to come back? She’s done that. Tell him she missed him? Rose has done that too.
Rose considers Penny and her absent friend. Penny is alternatively sad and angry at errant Sheldon. Rose finally can fully empathize. That first adventure, the Doctor brought her home, and she’d been gone a year! What if he is gone that long, or longer?
Rose is a bit tired of being the one who waits.
She takes her thumb off the send button, and instead hits the speed dial number for Mickey. He answers on the first ring, “Hey Mickey.”
“Rose! Rose, your Mum is worried sick! You haven’ called ‘er in months. Or,” Mickey’s voice drops, “me.”
“Mickey,” Rose begins, hesitantly, “you know wha’ I’ve been doin’”
“Yeah, waitin’ on the Doctor, as usual,” Mickey accuses. “When’re you goin’ to get it through your head tha’ he isn’t comin’ back?”
“Mickey…” Rose begins, but she can feel her resolve weakening.
All Mickey replies in a voice full of emotion is, “Rose.”
She puts the phone against her head and sighs. Rose thinks it might just be time to go home.
~
Tardis, Date Unknown
Sheldon and the Doctor are pacing one after the other. Sheldon can’t understand the Doctor's reticence at his suggestion. It’s only another scientist, except this one is from his youth.
"Sheldon, we've seen Einstein. We discovered the sisters of the Succubae and documented their attempts at keeping the timeline." The Doctor stops pacing, and Sheldon nearly runs into him. "We've been with Hawking and discovered Doctor Eloisa, the Raxacoricofallapatorian, who will help extend his life to how you know him in your timeline."
"Yes, we did those things because I wanted to meet my inspirations for my work."
"Right, but now you want to go into your own past, you're own experiences with an advisor..."
"Who changed my life, my research, my focus…?”
“Sheldon,” the Doctor begins, “We have been getting close, too close, to your own timeline. The danger is real. Once, I took Rose back to see her father, before he died and she got emotional. She stepped in and saved her father. To say it did not go well is an understatement."
“In the time you’ve known me, have you seen me get overly emotional? I’ll be careful,” Sheldon begins to pace a little again; the Doctor is still unaware how close he came to breaking that rule. "But I need to know why. I need to know her motivations." He stops and looks a little like a lost boy, "I need to know why she was attracted to me."
“Why?”
Sheldon sighs, his lips tight, but he manages, “It is one thing, as you say, to “fancy” Penny, it is quite another to understand why she could possibly...”
“Fancy you?” The Doctor realizes what Sheldon is asking. "Okay Sheldon, right. If that's what you need, then off we go!"
Sheldon smiles, his nose crinkling with the effort, "Thank you.”
The Doctor turns his dials, and wonders at Rose considering Sheldon a replacement companion. Really, the Doctor has been Sheldon’s for almost their whole time together. It actually gives the Doctor a sense of accomplishment and pride, improving Doctor Cooper’s perspective as he has.
Another lever, and a twist of another, and the Tardis has a destination set.
~
Germany, 1996
They make it to back Germany, at a different time and place, and Sheldon instantly knows where he is. He circles around the university, and begins to head to one of the newer buildings at Heidelberg.
"I spent most of my year here," Sheldon reminisces, “After six weeks, my mother left. I was alone so I spent the remainder of my time here, by myself, at the dorm.
The Doctor looks at Sheldon anew, "You were only...?"
"Fifteen. Well, I turned sixteen here."
“Impressive.”
Sheldon shrugs, agrees silently, but says, “It was my first teaching position, after receiving my first doctorate.” They stroll past the lawn filled with students as Sheldon continues, “I was under the advisement of Doctor Jones.”
“And this is who we are here to see?”
“Yes,” Sheldon says, entering the building where he taught for a year. “She was on loan from Oxford when she married here in Germany, and never left.”
The Doctor finds himself walking to keep up with Sheldon, who has turned down a hall and stops abruptly.
Standing in front of them, about to enter the lecture hall, is a familiar, tall, skinny teenager.
~
Hollywood, 2012
Penny is sitting in the same room she sat in the first time around, but the only difference is that instead of forty blondes all vying for the same role, now there are only seven. She tries to remember how to breathe, as one at a time; the potential actresses are called in.
Then it is her turn and as she rises from her seat, she feels disconnected from herself. She isn’t Penny: waitress, friend and community college drop out. Now, she is Joanne, sister of a murder victim who demands and attempts vigilante justice, and is nearly killed herself.
She enters the room, and speaks the dialogue with the casting agent and in front of the director.
Penny finds herself directed to have a seat outside again, hardly remembering how she got back into the waiting room.
It is the director herself who comes out to speak to Penny, whose head spins with the news.
She has the part.
Filming starts in January, and the contract will be forwarded to her agent. Could Penny let her know who to contact and where to send it?
Penny nods, thinking she needs a stand-in agent quick. Her mind quickly goes to Sheldon - of course he’d be perfect with the contract! She feels the quick flash of anger at his continued absence, but pushes it out of her mind and continues down the list of her boys, Leonard, Howard and Raj. Out of them, Howard has the sleaze factor that Hollywood needs. Even a married man, he is still Howard - which is really all she needs to say about him, because Bernadette is a friend. Raj would have to be drunk to speak to the female director and Leonard would probably get too flustered around the attractive woman, Leslie or no Leslie.
So, Howard it is.
Penny gives the director Howard’s information, and dances out of the room while pulling her cell out and punching in the Wolowitz’s number.
It’s time to call in a favor.
~
Germany, 1996
They watch as he enters the hall, unaware that he is being watched - especially by an older version of himself. Sheldon knows he can only interact with those who wouldn’t recognize him. He really doesn’t look too much different from when he was here; except for the clear skin and facial hair. He might have gained a few pounds since he was sixteen as well, but not many.
“So you want me to…” The Doctor begins.
“Ascertain why Doctor Constance Jones was so insistent on pursuing me, romantically.”
“Romantically?” The Doctor’s grin is tight, “or sexually?”
“Are they mutually exclusive?”
The Doctor shakes his head, “Fine.” He begins to enter Doctor Jones’s lecture hall, “I’ll let you know what I find out.” The Doctor opens the door, and clearly sees a tall, thin teenage Sheldon, with his older, yet attractive advisor. He looks back at Sheldon, who gives a nod as the Doctor enters, leaving the door ajar so that Sheldon may listen to his line of questioning.
The Doctor smiles his most engaging smile, while bringing out his leather card holder, “Doctor John Smith, from Oxford University.” He snaps the psychic paper holder closed.
“It’s lovely to meet someone from Oxford,” she holds out her hand, “Doctor Constance Jones.” The Doctor shakes it, “And this,” she pulls on Sheldon’s hand, and brings him close enough to her to drape an arm around him, “is Doctor Sheldon Cooper.”
The Doctor knows she expects him to be impressed, so he is, “Doctor Cooper - very impressive in one so young. How old are you?”
“Sixteen.” Sheldon’s Texan twang is soft, but still evident.
Doctor Jones’s arm is still around Sheldon’s shoulder, although he looks uncomfortable with the contact, folding his back in an awkward position. “What brings you to Heidelberg, Doctor Smith?”
“Of course, Oxford University is not the same without your research, Doctor Jones, but there is interest in the young Doctor Cooper there.”
Sheldon extracts himself from his advisor’s embrace, “Really? Oxford University wants me?” His twang is more present when excited, “I am scheduled to return to Texas in a few weeks, but England would allow me to be further away!”
“Sheldon, darling, I thought you wanted to stay here to begin your research.” Doctor Jones is practically pouting. She reaches for his arm, “We discussed this.”
“I know, but I have learned all I can here and it…it’s time for me to begin my research for my next doctorate.” Sheldon says quietly to her.
“Sheldon, why don’t you finish your lecture for your next class, I would like to speak to Doctor Smith alone for a minute.”
Sheldon shrugs, and shuffles his papers on the lectern.
Doctor Jones grabs the Doctor by his elbow, and moves towards the door, “Listen,” she hisses, “I don’t know who exactly you are, but Sheldon’s…Doctor Cooper’s plan is to stay here and begin his research.”
The Doctor jerks his elbow back, “You seem very adamant about that,” the Doctor feels suspicion crawling up his neck, so he, as secretively as he can, pulls out his sonic screwdriver slightly from his jacket and points it her way.
Nothing. Huh, she is human after all. The Doctor is surprised slightly; she is only a lonely woman attaching herself to a teenage boy; albeit with an exceptional mind.
“Sheldon is very special,” her stern demeanor drops a level, “and I don’t think it’s in his best interest to leave.”
“His best interest,” the Doctor catches her eye, “or yours?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” the professor hedges, and looks away.
“Yes you do,” the Doctor accuses, “He’s a sixteen year old boy…”
“With a mind that is beyond any adult I’ve ever known!” Doctor Jones exclaims, “Of course I want him to stay at Heidelberg. The university needs him.”
The Doctor rises, assured of his diagnosis of the situation, “So too do you,” he says softly, and just as quietly, he leaves.
~
Brentwood, 2012
Penny arrives at their small house in Brentwood and rings the doorbell. Inside, she hears:
Howard yelling, “Bernadette! I think someone’s at the door!”
“So answer it! I’m in my lab working, and you don’t want what I have in my petri dish to get loose in California, do you?” Bernadette yells back, as loudly as Bernadette can, that is.
“Fine! But I really wish you wouldn’t bring deadly viruses home from work!” Small footsteps are coming closer to the front door.
“Just get the door, Howard!”
“I am!” Howard swings open the door and greets her, “Penny, the actress de jour. How may I assist you?” Howard bows slightly, and gestures for her to come in and she does, although she has a sneaking suspicion Howard is watching her ass as she passes him.
Creepy Hollywood type.
“Penny!” Bernadette is coming up from the basement and opens her arms wide towards Penny, as she takes a hesitant step back.
Bernadette giggles, “Don’t worry, I washed my hands.”
Penny allows herself to be hugged by the smaller woman. She’s been missing her at The Cheesecake Factory, and there were few girls’ nights since Bernadette’s Hen Night. “It’s good to see you too.”
Bernadette leads Penny to the kitchenette table, “Howard, get our guest something to drink,” she chides her husband, “Penny?”
“Oh, just a Diet Coke for me, thanks,” Penny smiles and accepts the glass from Howard.
“We are so excited for you Penny! How wonderful - a role on a real television show!” Bernadette’s voice rises to almost a squeak by the end of her sentence.
“Yeah, the papers were delivered yesterday,” Howard goes to fish through the pile of mail on the counter, “Here they are. So what do I need to do?” He sits beside his wife, across from Penny.
“All you have to do is sign, as my agent.” Penny explains, opening the manila envelope, and her hand shakes a little as her contract slides out.
Her contract. Penny feels slightly giddy.
“Great. And as your agent, what is my cut?”
Penny glares at him.
“I kid, I kid.” Howard has his hands in front of him in a defensive posture. He’s had his nose punched once too often by her not to be wary.
“And you need to pose as my agent any time the studio needs to call.” Penny signs her contract, and then turns it around for Howard to sign.
“Great. Which accent should I use? Farsi? Mandarin? Russian?”
“Just be yourself Howard. You’ll sound like every agent out there.”
Howard scowls while his wife and Penny laugh.
~
Germany, 1996
Sheldon watches and hears the exchange between the Doctor and Doctor Jones. He remembers how she wanted him to stay and how he had initially agreed. He usually was easily influenced by, what he considered, a motherly woman.
What he’s learned along the way, he knows that Constance Jones was, as Penny would say, “hot” for him. He still isn’t sure, or how he, in hindsight, could recognize that.
As he is reflecting upon the scene in front of him, he hears a sound from behind, and he turns and sees Constance’s step-daughter, who was his secret crush while at Heidelberg. Sheldon spent too much of his time reviewing his interactions with her some evenings rather than focusing on his lecture for the following day.
Will she recognize him?
She lets out a deep sigh, as she peers in the door from opposite him.
Sheldon turns slightly, and she looks up to him, and jumps a little. “I am sorry; I didn’t mean to startle you.” He knows she may recognize him, but he asks anyway, “I’m…George. And you are?”
“Ada.”
“And how do you know Doctor Jones?” He doesn’t know exactly why he wants to carry on this conversation with her, except he remembers how he used to not be able to talk to her. Sheldon bites his tongue to keep in the thought, which apparently, he was attracted to blonde, Germanic girls and they used to make him mute like Raj.
“She’s my step mother, but it’s him I wish I could speak with.” She is, for want of a better word, swooning over his teenaged self.
“Really? You like that boy?” Sheldon points a long finger, well, at himself. He’s seen enough different versions of himself, and Penny for that matter, for it not to faze him any longer. A time traveler’s curse, he supposes.
“Yeah…he never notices me though. I’m not smart like my step-mom. I take after my dad. He was on the Olympic swim team for Germany when she met him.”
“I remember…” Sheldon starts, but catches himself.
“You remember what?”
“I mean,” Sheldon tries to course correct, “I remember about your father on the Olympic team.”
“He was memorable. He took the bronze his first Olympics.”
He is instantly sorry for her as he remembers, “When did he pass away?”
“Last year. Constance, well, she’s been attached to Sheldon ever since.” Ada sighs deeply again.
“I am certain Sheldon doesn’t feel the same way,” he says quietly, and realizes he is giving himself away.
Ada focuses her glance from teenaged Sheldon to him, “You look a lot like him, actually.”
“Ah, yes…uh…distant relative.” He smiles slightly and backs away, “pleasure to meet you.”
Sheldon scoots down the hall to wait for the Doctor by the Tardis.
Realization
Tardis, Date Unknown
Sheldon is staring moodily out the Tardis door, barely registering the supernovas and constellations passing him.
The Doctor is silent as well. He mans the controls of the Tardis, but he is secretly watching his silent brooding companion
"Sod it," the Doctor mutters under his breath. If he wanted to travel in silence, he wouldn't have developed the habit of selecting companions. One thing about Sheldon; he was usually as verbose as Rose.
The Doctor sighs. He has to get back to her. He promised. But, there is no way he can return Sheldon in the state he is currently in.
"Is there something on your mind, Dr. Cooper?" The Doctor calls out cheerily.
He blushes, too shy to tell the Doctor that he was using the power of his eidetic memory "for sin,” as his mother would say. Sheldon was not seeing the wonders of the universe before him, but Penny's arching back and parted lips as she moved her body with his. Except it wasn't his, or it was, but in a future that will happen. Lord knows when and Sheldon certainly can't figure out how.
"Doctor," Sheldon speaks so suddenly the Doctor startles. "Do you ever think about Rose?"
"I think about Rose all the time," the Doctor says quickly.
"No, that is not what I meant;” Sheldon turns from the door. “I meant do you ever think about Rose."
The Doctor swallows as he meets Sheldon's gaze.
"Sheldon," The Doctor begins, "Traveling through space and time can be very taxing on humans despite..."
"Why are you not answering my question, Doctor?" His brows rise slightly.
"Because this journey is about you; what you want to see and, frankly, need to see." The Doctor slips on his glasses if only to keep his hands busy.
"I respectfully disagree." Sheldon crosses his arms over his chest. "As I recall, you were far too eager to leave Rose that night. You were in my apartment for less than an hour, before you suddenly proposed that I come with you and Rose stay instead. Now, I am no expert on relationships and neither are my friends, but I have witnessed enough of their tribulations and outright failures to recognize a classic avoidance maneuver when I see one."
The Doctor changes the subject. He squints at the screens in front of him, "Where to next, Dr. Cooper? Back to see Sir Isaac? The Doctor spins a dial, "I know!” The Doctor smiles at him, “Nicola Tesla! He must be some kind of kindred spirit, huh Sheldon?"
"I would prefer," Sheldon's voice is firm, ignoring him, "To go to any point in time in which you answer my question. What exactly is Rose to you and why are you so reluctant to name it?"
The Doctor's shoulders slump. He drums his fingers on the Tardis control panel. “I can’t answer that question, Sheldon.” The Doctor’s says softly.
“Why on Earth not? It is perfectly logical,” Sheldon intones.
“I said I can’t!” The Doctor practically shouts, his eyes opening wide with his anger. Sheldon draws back and the Doctor takes a deep breath. He shouldn’t have yelled. He should have kept his temper in check - something Rose always helped him to do. His fists clench and unclench. If her absence is affecting him this much, he can only imagine how she is faring without him.
~
Pasadena, 2012
Rose takes out her cell that he had fiddled with on their first adventure, and punches in the Tardis number again.
She hesitates, her thumb on “send.”
What really will she accomplish by calling him again? Tell him to come back? She’s done that. Tell him she missed him? Rose has done that too.
Rose considers Penny and her absent friend. Penny is alternatively sad and angry at errant Sheldon. Rose finally can fully empathize. That first adventure, the Doctor brought her home, and she’d been gone a year! What if he is gone that long, or longer?
Rose is a bit tired of being the one who waits.
She takes her thumb off the send button, and instead hits the speed dial number for Mickey. He answers on the first ring, “Hey Mickey.”
“Rose! Rose, your Mum is worried sick! You haven’ called ‘er in months. Or,” Mickey’s voice drops, “me.”
“Mickey,” Rose begins, hesitantly, “you know wha’ I’ve been doin’”
“Yeah, waitin’ on the Doctor, as usual,” Mickey accuses. “When’re you goin’ to get it through your head tha’ he isn’t comin’ back?”
“Mickey…” Rose begins, but she can feel her resolve weakening.
All Mickey replies in a voice full of emotion is, “Rose.”
She puts the phone against her head and sighs. Rose thinks it might just be time to go home.
~
Tardis, Date Unknown
Sheldon and the Doctor are pacing one after the other. Sheldon can’t understand the Doctor's reticence at his suggestion. It’s only another scientist, except this one is from his youth.
"Sheldon, we've seen Einstein. We discovered the sisters of the Succubae and documented their attempts at keeping the timeline." The Doctor stops pacing, and Sheldon nearly runs into him. "We've been with Hawking and discovered Doctor Eloisa, the Raxacoricofallapatorian, who will help extend his life to how you know him in your timeline."
"Yes, we did those things because I wanted to meet my inspirations for my work."
"Right, but now you want to go into your own past, you're own experiences with an advisor..."
"Who changed my life, my research, my focus…?”
“Sheldon,” the Doctor begins, “We have been getting close, too close, to your own timeline. The danger is real. Once, I took Rose back to see her father, before he died and she got emotional. She stepped in and saved her father. To say it did not go well is an understatement."
“In the time you’ve known me, have you seen me get overly emotional? I’ll be careful,” Sheldon begins to pace a little again; the Doctor is still unaware how close he came to breaking that rule. "But I need to know why. I need to know her motivations." He stops and looks a little like a lost boy, "I need to know why she was attracted to me."
“Why?”
Sheldon sighs, his lips tight, but he manages, “It is one thing, as you say, to “fancy” Penny, it is quite another to understand why she could possibly...”
“Fancy you?” The Doctor realizes what Sheldon is asking. "Okay Sheldon, right. If that's what you need, then off we go!"
Sheldon smiles, his nose crinkling with the effort, "Thank you.”
The Doctor turns his dials, and wonders at Rose considering Sheldon a replacement companion. Really, the Doctor has been Sheldon’s for almost their whole time together. It actually gives the Doctor a sense of accomplishment and pride, improving Doctor Cooper’s perspective as he has.
Another lever, and a twist of another, and the Tardis has a destination set.
~
Germany, 1996
They make it to back Germany, at a different time and place, and Sheldon instantly knows where he is. He circles around the university, and begins to head to one of the newer buildings at Heidelberg.
"I spent most of my year here," Sheldon reminisces, “After six weeks, my mother left. I was alone so I spent the remainder of my time here, by myself, at the dorm.
The Doctor looks at Sheldon anew, "You were only...?"
"Fifteen. Well, I turned sixteen here."
“Impressive.”
Sheldon shrugs, agrees silently, but says, “It was my first teaching position, after receiving my first doctorate.” They stroll past the lawn filled with students as Sheldon continues, “I was under the advisement of Doctor Jones.”
“And this is who we are here to see?”
“Yes,” Sheldon says, entering the building where he taught for a year. “She was on loan from Oxford when she married here in Germany, and never left.”
The Doctor finds himself walking to keep up with Sheldon, who has turned down a hall and stops abruptly.
Standing in front of them, about to enter the lecture hall, is a familiar, tall, skinny teenager.
~
Hollywood, 2012
Penny is sitting in the same room she sat in the first time around, but the only difference is that instead of forty blondes all vying for the same role, now there are only seven. She tries to remember how to breathe, as one at a time; the potential actresses are called in.
Then it is her turn and as she rises from her seat, she feels disconnected from herself. She isn’t Penny: waitress, friend and community college drop out. Now, she is Joanne, sister of a murder victim who demands and attempts vigilante justice, and is nearly killed herself.
She enters the room, and speaks the dialogue with the casting agent and in front of the director.
Penny finds herself directed to have a seat outside again, hardly remembering how she got back into the waiting room.
It is the director herself who comes out to speak to Penny, whose head spins with the news.
She has the part.
Filming starts in January, and the contract will be forwarded to her agent. Could Penny let her know who to contact and where to send it?
Penny nods, thinking she needs a stand-in agent quick. Her mind quickly goes to Sheldon - of course he’d be perfect with the contract! She feels the quick flash of anger at his continued absence, but pushes it out of her mind and continues down the list of her boys, Leonard, Howard and Raj. Out of them, Howard has the sleaze factor that Hollywood needs. Even a married man, he is still Howard - which is really all she needs to say about him, because Bernadette is a friend. Raj would have to be drunk to speak to the female director and Leonard would probably get too flustered around the attractive woman, Leslie or no Leslie.
So, Howard it is.
Penny gives the director Howard’s information, and dances out of the room while pulling her cell out and punching in the Wolowitz’s number.
It’s time to call in a favor.
~
Germany, 1996
They watch as he enters the hall, unaware that he is being watched - especially by an older version of himself. Sheldon knows he can only interact with those who wouldn’t recognize him. He really doesn’t look too much different from when he was here; except for the clear skin and facial hair. He might have gained a few pounds since he was sixteen as well, but not many.
“So you want me to…” The Doctor begins.
“Ascertain why Doctor Constance Jones was so insistent on pursuing me, romantically.”
“Romantically?” The Doctor’s grin is tight, “or sexually?”
“Are they mutually exclusive?”
The Doctor shakes his head, “Fine.” He begins to enter Doctor Jones’s lecture hall, “I’ll let you know what I find out.” The Doctor opens the door, and clearly sees a tall, thin teenage Sheldon, with his older, yet attractive advisor. He looks back at Sheldon, who gives a nod as the Doctor enters, leaving the door ajar so that Sheldon may listen to his line of questioning.
The Doctor smiles his most engaging smile, while bringing out his leather card holder, “Doctor John Smith, from Oxford University.” He snaps the psychic paper holder closed.
“It’s lovely to meet someone from Oxford,” she holds out her hand, “Doctor Constance Jones.” The Doctor shakes it, “And this,” she pulls on Sheldon’s hand, and brings him close enough to her to drape an arm around him, “is Doctor Sheldon Cooper.”
The Doctor knows she expects him to be impressed, so he is, “Doctor Cooper - very impressive in one so young. How old are you?”
“Sixteen.” Sheldon’s Texan twang is soft, but still evident.
Doctor Jones’s arm is still around Sheldon’s shoulder, although he looks uncomfortable with the contact, folding his back in an awkward position. “What brings you to Heidelberg, Doctor Smith?”
“Of course, Oxford University is not the same without your research, Doctor Jones, but there is interest in the young Doctor Cooper there.”
Sheldon extracts himself from his advisor’s embrace, “Really? Oxford University wants me?” His twang is more present when excited, “I am scheduled to return to Texas in a few weeks, but England would allow me to be further away!”
“Sheldon, darling, I thought you wanted to stay here to begin your research.” Doctor Jones is practically pouting. She reaches for his arm, “We discussed this.”
“I know, but I have learned all I can here and it…it’s time for me to begin my research for my next doctorate.” Sheldon says quietly to her.
“Sheldon, why don’t you finish your lecture for your next class, I would like to speak to Doctor Smith alone for a minute.”
Sheldon shrugs, and shuffles his papers on the lectern.
Doctor Jones grabs the Doctor by his elbow, and moves towards the door, “Listen,” she hisses, “I don’t know who exactly you are, but Sheldon’s…Doctor Cooper’s plan is to stay here and begin his research.”
The Doctor jerks his elbow back, “You seem very adamant about that,” the Doctor feels suspicion crawling up his neck, so he, as secretively as he can, pulls out his sonic screwdriver slightly from his jacket and points it her way.
Nothing. Huh, she is human after all. The Doctor is surprised slightly; she is only a lonely woman attaching herself to a teenage boy; albeit with an exceptional mind.
“Sheldon is very special,” her stern demeanor drops a level, “and I don’t think it’s in his best interest to leave.”
“His best interest,” the Doctor catches her eye, “or yours?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” the professor hedges, and looks away.
“Yes you do,” the Doctor accuses, “He’s a sixteen year old boy…”
“With a mind that is beyond any adult I’ve ever known!” Doctor Jones exclaims, “Of course I want him to stay at Heidelberg. The university needs him.”
The Doctor rises, assured of his diagnosis of the situation, “So too do you,” he says softly, and just as quietly, he leaves.
~
Brentwood, 2012
Penny arrives at their small house in Brentwood and rings the doorbell. Inside, she hears:
Howard yelling, “Bernadette! I think someone’s at the door!”
“So answer it! I’m in my lab working, and you don’t want what I have in my petri dish to get loose in California, do you?” Bernadette yells back, as loudly as Bernadette can, that is.
“Fine! But I really wish you wouldn’t bring deadly viruses home from work!” Small footsteps are coming closer to the front door.
“Just get the door, Howard!”
“I am!” Howard swings open the door and greets her, “Penny, the actress de jour. How may I assist you?” Howard bows slightly, and gestures for her to come in and she does, although she has a sneaking suspicion Howard is watching her ass as she passes him.
Creepy Hollywood type.
“Penny!” Bernadette is coming up from the basement and opens her arms wide towards Penny, as she takes a hesitant step back.
Bernadette giggles, “Don’t worry, I washed my hands.”
Penny allows herself to be hugged by the smaller woman. She’s been missing her at The Cheesecake Factory, and there were few girls’ nights since Bernadette’s Hen Night. “It’s good to see you too.”
Bernadette leads Penny to the kitchenette table, “Howard, get our guest something to drink,” she chides her husband, “Penny?”
“Oh, just a Diet Coke for me, thanks,” Penny smiles and accepts the glass from Howard.
“We are so excited for you Penny! How wonderful - a role on a real television show!” Bernadette’s voice rises to almost a squeak by the end of her sentence.
“Yeah, the papers were delivered yesterday,” Howard goes to fish through the pile of mail on the counter, “Here they are. So what do I need to do?” He sits beside his wife, across from Penny.
“All you have to do is sign, as my agent.” Penny explains, opening the manila envelope, and her hand shakes a little as her contract slides out.
Her contract. Penny feels slightly giddy.
“Great. And as your agent, what is my cut?”
Penny glares at him.
“I kid, I kid.” Howard has his hands in front of him in a defensive posture. He’s had his nose punched once too often by her not to be wary.
“And you need to pose as my agent any time the studio needs to call.” Penny signs her contract, and then turns it around for Howard to sign.
“Great. Which accent should I use? Farsi? Mandarin? Russian?”
“Just be yourself Howard. You’ll sound like every agent out there.”
Howard scowls while his wife and Penny laugh.
~
Germany, 1996
Sheldon watches and hears the exchange between the Doctor and Doctor Jones. He remembers how she wanted him to stay and how he had initially agreed. He usually was easily influenced by, what he considered, a motherly woman.
What he’s learned along the way, he knows that Constance Jones was, as Penny would say, “hot” for him. He still isn’t sure, or how he, in hindsight, could recognize that.
As he is reflecting upon the scene in front of him, he hears a sound from behind, and he turns and sees Constance’s step-daughter, who was his secret crush while at Heidelberg. Sheldon spent too much of his time reviewing his interactions with her some evenings rather than focusing on his lecture for the following day.
Will she recognize him?
She lets out a deep sigh, as she peers in the door from opposite him.
Sheldon turns slightly, and she looks up to him, and jumps a little. “I am sorry; I didn’t mean to startle you.” He knows she may recognize him, but he asks anyway, “I’m…George. And you are?”
“Ada.”
“And how do you know Doctor Jones?” He doesn’t know exactly why he wants to carry on this conversation with her, except he remembers how he used to not be able to talk to her. Sheldon bites his tongue to keep in the thought, which apparently, he was attracted to blonde, Germanic girls and they used to make him mute like Raj.
“She’s my step mother, but it’s him I wish I could speak with.” She is, for want of a better word, swooning over his teenaged self.
“Really? You like that boy?” Sheldon points a long finger, well, at himself. He’s seen enough different versions of himself, and Penny for that matter, for it not to faze him any longer. A time traveler’s curse, he supposes.
“Yeah…he never notices me though. I’m not smart like my step-mom. I take after my dad. He was on the Olympic swim team for Germany when she met him.”
“I remember…” Sheldon starts, but catches himself.
“You remember what?”
“I mean,” Sheldon tries to course correct, “I remember about your father on the Olympic team.”
“He was memorable. He took the bronze his first Olympics.”
He is instantly sorry for her as he remembers, “When did he pass away?”
“Last year. Constance, well, she’s been attached to Sheldon ever since.” Ada sighs deeply again.
“I am certain Sheldon doesn’t feel the same way,” he says quietly, and realizes he is giving himself away.
Ada focuses her glance from teenaged Sheldon to him, “You look a lot like him, actually.”
“Ah, yes…uh…distant relative.” He smiles slightly and backs away, “pleasure to meet you.”
Sheldon scoots down the hall to wait for the Doctor by the Tardis.
Realization