A/N: I have been wanting to write this for the longest time. Please tell me what you guys think. This story is most enjoyable at the 1/2 setting.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Big Bang Theory or Charmed.
How Soon Is Now
Part 1/4
Clow-san
I am the son and the heir.
It starts with a dream. A dream about her late mother. She is eight in the room with the wrought iron bed and pale yellow wallpaper. A well-read copy of the Velveteen Rabbit is open on her lap. It is a Sunday. The mid-morning sunlight drifting between the slants of the shutters. Ma has been sick for a long time now and she wants to hear her read.
"Penelope, come." Her mother says, patting the space beside her on the bed.
She immediately moves to check if Pa or anybody else was nearby and closes the door. When Ma calls her Penelope it only meant one thing. Practice.
When she has settled down, her mother smiles at her and says: "Show me sweetheart."
She grins as she outstretches her arm in the direction of the flower vase and waves her hand. The vase floats from across the room and hovers between her and Ma. It is easier now than before.
Ma smiles and raises her hand. The vase rotates in midair. "Good job, Penny."
Penny wakes, eyes wet with tears, and she is sure something bad will happen.
Three days later the body of a young, blonde woman, the same age as Penny, is found. She is killed with a single stab wound to the heart. Nobody else realizes that doing that effectively stops the flow of magic inside the body and prevents the soul from transferring to its next life.
She curls more against her mother. With her small ear against her chest, she hears Ma's heart rattle with every breath and she knows it will not be long before Ma is gone.
"Sweetie."
She lifts her head to look at her mother's face. "Yes Ma?"
"Are you ready?"
She is not. She loves moving things with her mind and blowing up things with a wave of her hand, but Ma said that binding her powers will protect her from It till she is ready. She trusts Ma so she nods. She takes her hands and pulls the strings that holds the little girl's hair in a ponytail. She murmurs the spell. I take your hands in mine. And with this string I will entwine. Your powers I will bind. From when I am gone until the time is right.
Their joined hands glow for minute before the light seems to consume itself. And it is done.
"Ma?"
"Yes?"
"When will I know if the time is right?"
Ma smiles and for a split second she looks so much healthier. "You will know."
Penny opens her eyes. She takes her arm out from under the covers and focuses on the hair brush on her vanity. She makes a come hither movement with her fingers and for the first time in fifteen years, the object flies from its original position to her hand. Ma is right. She does know.
Ma has always told her that she is special. Even amongst people like them she is special and that when she was born she is chosen. Twice-blessed. The Ultimate Power. She holds on to that when Ma died three days after her ninth birthday and she stops being Penelope, and the only thing to remind her that she is destined for great things is an old leather book with blank yellowed pages.
The Police has cautioned the young women of Pasadena about the serial killer. They are baffled by it. By the single stab wound and by the consistency of the age of the victim. But then again how can the Police catch a supernatural foe. Leonard is worried about her but she just smiles at his suggestion of carpooling and tells him she is fine. She digs in her kung pao chicken and does not notice Sheldon's scrutiny.
The story goes like this. Evil is an entity, an essence. The Source. And once every hundred years it grows too powerful. Yes what they say about men being wicked is true. This translate to stronger demons and a greater susceptibility to evilness. If not stopped it will cause havoc among the human beings or Muggles as the Harry Potter series calls them.
This is where Penny comes in. This time when she opens the leather book it is not empty. And she learns the truth of her destiny. A heavy weight settles in her stomach. Fear. Anticipation. Elation She almost laughs at the irony of a frustrated actress/waitress saving the world.
It is a Thursday when she is first attacked by four demons. At her apartment no less. She has been so busy practicing the more active of her powers that she has not placed protective charms around her home.
They are an ugly lot. Skin molten like leather and eyes yellow. They stink like sewer water. Mid-levels at most.
"Penny Halliwell." The shortest one growls. "By the Source you will-"
He does not finish as he bursts into dust. The three remaining look from the where their comrade was and back to Penny, whose hands are still raised in front of her. She lowers them and cocks her head.
"So, are you just gonna stand there or are we gonna get this show on the road?"
Fireballs flies towards her but she deflects with the flick of her wrist, quickly ending the life of another two but the last one is a challenge. He is agile and twists away from her attacks and is smart enough not to throw any fireballs. She grits her teeth in frustration when she accidentally blows up her television.
"You're going to fucking pay for that!"
She is concentrating too hard on this one that she does not feel another one shimmering behind her until there is an arm across her throat and she is thrown off-balance. The demon in front of her surges forward and for a moment Penny thinks. This is it. I will die like this.
But she does not. The agile demon burst into flames and it is distraction enough for her to maneuver away from the one who is holding her. Soon her apartment is demon free and Sheldon is standing at her apartment door a condescending look on his face.
"Really Penny. For the so called Ultimate Power you are careless."
This is how she finds out that Sheldon Lee Cooper is just like her.
Penny learns that Sheldon's magic came from his Meemaw and that the magic in their family always skips one generation and it is always the second child that possesses it. It passes over George Cooper and his siblings and lands right smack on his fifteen minute older fraternal twin son, that is Sheldon. She is surprised that he can keep a secret this big. She says this much and he laughs one of his asthmatic laughs.
"It's all an act. A bazinga if you will." He says like it is the most obvious thing in the world. "I can keep a secret when it counts."
She raises an eyebrow. "And how about the more nervous ticks than a Lyme research facility?"
"Oh that. That is true. Fortunately nobody asks me outright if I am a Wicca practitioner."
She smiles and is greatly relieved that she is not alone on this.