Sheldon Swifties XXXVII: "A Terminator Scorned…"
Summary: Like my Immortal Beloved bits in my Buffyverse stories, these are fragments and short bits, some longer…Just to fiddle with ideas, possibly forming longer tales later.
Disclaimer: All is Chuck's…
Cal Tech, "The Future of Space Exploration" Conference, 2013…
"Excuse me?...Aren't you…Howard?...Howard Wolowitz?..." hand put out to arm…
"Uh…" Howard, blinking…
Dear God…
"Yeah…It's you…" Beam… "From the California Zephyr…I got off at Santa Fe?...Summer Glau?..."
"Yeah…Uh…"
"And you're the astronaut…I saw you on C-Span…Oh, my God, you actually were up there, huh?..." eager smile…
"Uh…Yeah…"
"Howard?..." Bernadette, politely…Shading into politely grim…
"Uh…Yeah?...Oh, ummn…Right, Bernie…Uh, Summer Glau…Ms. Glau…This is my wife, Bernadette Rosten…"
"Wolowitz…" Bernadette, swift cut-off…
"Yeah…Uh…Ms. Glau is an actress…"
"I've seen her Howard…We watch the same TV shows…"
"Right, right…" nervous smile…
Ms. Glau a bit coolly regarding Bernadette…
"See when Sheldon, Raj, and I went to San Francisco by train a few years back…For the Smoot lecture?... was on the same train…Such a great thing to meet you, really…She was so nice…"
"And you were so…Married?..." Ms. Glau…Shading into politely grim…
"Uh…No, no…Not at the time…Uh…We had a very nice talk…Well, nice for me…I was kinda boring, I think…You know how I bore famous women to death…" desperate tone…
"My God…" Leonard staring… "Is that…?"
"Shut up and get me a beer, pronto…" Raj, smoothing hair desperately… "Unless you want me hanging round your place, a sad and lonely clown intruding on your restored romance as well as a constant reminder to Penelope that my sister still may lurk on the horizon of your libido…"
"Raj?...Your sister doesn't lurk on the horizon of my libido…Don't be silly…"
Wait for it…Raj, eyeing him…
"Does she ever, by any chance, I mean, just off-hand…"
"Once in a while…I think she has regrets, though I can't imagine why…Plus she hates losing and I've done my best to paint your restored relationship with Penny in the most successful colors…"
"What?...Why should you do that?..."
"Why should you not want me to do that?...Given all is hunky-dory between you and our Nebraska beauty rose…Eh?..." shrewd look…
"Everything's fine…I'm just curious…I'm still friends with Prya, you know…"
"Really?...That's so nice…Now if you never want Penny to get wind of this suspicious conversation, get me a beer…Pronto, dude…"
"Can't believe she's talking to Howard, after that last time…You don't suppose seeing him with Bernadette?...I mean, women are so competitive…"
"After you get me my beer, you can go back to the Cheesecake Factory, wait for Penny to end her shift, bring her here, and see if Summer talks to you…I'll just keep her waiting…"
Frown…Shrug…"Look, I'm not suggesting anything wrong…I love Penny…I'm just…Aww, Howard's married and he gets to talk to her again…And I only had thirty seconds last time…"
"So you weren't married then…" Ms. Glau nodded carefully, somewhat less grim smile…
"Oh, no…I hope you don't think I just go round talking to strange women I meet now that I'm married…" Howard, nervous titter…
"You just did…" Bernadette, grimly now…
"Oh, that was me…I just recognized Howard and wanted to say congrats on his space flight to the ISS…" Ms. Glau, apologetically…
"Are you a fan of space flight, for real?..." Howard, calming a bit as Bernadette showed slight relenting signs…
"Oh, yeah…I watch every one I can…And I keep track of the probes on the NASA and European and Russian sites…I'm a real space freak, actually…On the sets I used to bore everyone to death, trying to see if things were as accurate as a sci-fantasy with 'artificial gravity' and all could be…" grin… "Your flight was so awesome…"
"Well, actually…Yeah it was…" Howard, eagerly…
"I can't believe I got to know you a little on that train…I still remember you telling me about how I'd be 'Summer Winter'…"
"Shared memories…How…Nice…" Bernadette, clipped tone…
"God, I figured I'd bored you to death that time…" Howard, genuinely surprised…
"Well…" Ms. Glau, apologetic… "I gotta admit right then I did get a little antsy, sorry…I do get a lot of guys trying to hit on me…But you know…When I got off and I thought about it…I was kinda…Flattered…I think most guys…" shrug, eye roll… "They either try to start something then run, like that Indian guy I was talking to before you …Sorry, he was a friend, wasn't he?..." hastily… "
"Well, Raj has his problems…But a great guy, really…" Howard, noting Bernadette's griming look… "And what do you know, he's right over there…"
"Oh?..Oh, right…" Ms. Glau nodded… "I don't mean anything by what I said…It's just he was all smooth and cute and then, just when things were getting a little serious, he sensed I was interested and…Whoosh…Off he went…Happens all the time…" sigh…
"All the time…" glance at Howard…
"Or then there's the guys who pretend to be sincere and emotive and sensitive…Do you remember that little guy in the glasses who tried to speak to me after you left?..."
"Uh…I sorta remember such a person…" Howard, nodding…Moving to block Leonard from her view…
"Yeah…Well I could tell a mile away…The 'sensitive' type…Strings you along, then dumps you for a prettier girl with a guaranteed blockbuster movie part…"
"That must be awful…"
"The thing is…" Ms. Glau, earnest look… "You came right up and put it right on the line…Asked me if there was any chance and when I said no…"
"I was a little hard to get rid of…"
"Persistent…But I like that…Up to a sensible point where I don't have to get a restraining order…" smile…
"Had a few of those in my time…"
"I'll bet…Anyway…I just thought and thought about you after I left that train…And kinda wished I'd kept your number…And then…There you are on C-Span…"
"Yeah…There I was…" Ummn… "Happily married and on the ISS…"
"Yeah…" earnest stare… "You must be one incredibly brave guy…And very sweet under the patter…"
"I think we must be going now…Howard has to sign autographs after the lecture…"
"Oh…Right…" he nodded…"Gotta go…Cal Tech has dibs on my signing hand for the next three years…"
"Keep one for me…" Ms. Glau, eagerly…
Bernadette, smouldering…
"She's still talking to Howard…" Leonard stared, offering Raj the retrieved beer… "I can't believe it…"
"I've been monitoring…" Raj nodded… "You know, you remember what Sheldon said on that train trip about how it would make sense to replace actors on sci-fi shows about Terminators with real Terminators…"
"Raj?...Summer Glau is not a Terminator…And for what earthly reason would Skynet want Howard Wolowitz dead?..."
"Maybe in the real world Skynet's motivations are different…" Raj, nodding solemnly… "Maybe Skynet wants to reproduce with a suitable mate like that computer Proteus, that wanted to get it on with Julie Christie in 'Demon Seed'…Maybe to Skynet a little space travelling Jewish engineer is just what the protogenes ordered…"
"What?!...Drink your beer and take your shot…" Leonard sighed…
"I need a mantra, dude… Ah, I got it… 'Our babies will be smart and beautiful'…" grin…
"Shut up…"
"Leonard…"
"Hey, Sheldon…Amy…Enjoying the conference?..."
"They haven't accepted my proposal for building a nuclear-power star cruiser, so why would I?..."
"Right…"
"Leonard…Why is that Terminator lady back?..." Sheldon pointed…
"Sheldon, she's an actress…And she just happens to be interested in space exploration…"
"But she's following us, like on the train to San Francisco…Oh, I knew this would happen one day…Clearly Skynet has found me to be the one indispensable human who must be terminated…"
"Sheldon?..."
"She's here again, isn't she?...And wasting her time talking to Howard Wolowitz…"
"I think she likes him…"
"I rest my case…Amy, defensive protocol delta…"
"Right…" Amy, apprehensive stare at Ms. Glau, still managing to keep Howard at her side as Bernadette began to redden… Amy spreading arms to cover Sheldon…Both slowly backing away, Amy in front, towards the exit…
"Sheldon?...You'd let Amy take the…Whatever?..." Raj stared…
"When we find evidence a Terminator has been sent to kill me, Sheldon will cover me…Right, Moonpie?..."
"In that unlikely event, yes…"
"There…Bernadette's got Howard away…" Leonard sighed as Ms. Glau stared after the retreating Howard…Glum look at Howard…
Turning to intense glare at Bernadette…