Chapter 2
Penny finally shook herself out of her little world of wonders and saw that James just sat there patiently drinking his tea.
"So did you just find Sheldon online? Facebook or something? I've known him 5 years and haven't seen you once."
"No. But I've always been in touch with Coop since we left Kemper. Usually it was just phone calls, but when the Internet heated up, it was the best way to stay in touch with everyone."
Penny frowned, "If your friends why haven't I heard him say anything about you?"
James looked at her, "Yet I know all about you, Miss Junior Rodeo." The look on Penny's face was priceless. "And before you try and go there, I'm from Missouri and we kicked your asses in football this season. I believe I can hold my own against you." He grinned and she felt some of the steam building release.
"How much about your family do you bring up to your friends?" He had a point she hated to admit it.
"Your related…?"
"By Kemper. It binds you together. You live with someone for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week… you know them. Especially at the ages we were. You can lie about a lot of stuff, but we know how you really are. We have seen your guts. We accept who you are. We become family."
"Aren't you over exaggerating?"
He pierced her with his green eyes. While they weren't a dark green or anything, they had just enough gun metal silver in them to be disorientating, especially when he clipped out his one word response, "No."
Leaning back in his chair, he crossed his arms looking at her. She could tell he was trying to decide something, when suddenly he sat up straighter with both arms resting on the table. "Let me tell you a story: This car pulls up to the front door of the school. A small girl, cute curls, big eyes, gets out. Her parents unload her luggage from the trunk. They tell her, 'You wait here; we're going to park the car.' 2 hours later, still waiting, she realizes that they had dropped her off. A cadet found her sitting on her suitcase in front looking sad and took her and her luggage to the front office. We take care of our own."
Penny's eyes pricked and stung, and had to blink a few times before finding her voice, "I take it you were the one that found her?"
"Nope, that was Coop. Luckily she was in Band like the rest of us. She adopted Coop as her big brother after that. He helped her as best he could. Coop has a big heart."
Penny's mind raced, but then started to think. I can see a young Sheldon coming to a little girl's rescue. Hell, how many times had Sheldon 'saved' me? From driving to the hospital, to loaning money to…
Suddenly the real, older Sheldon was striding up to the table. "Everything ok?" she asked.
Removing his messenger bag he sat down next to James. "It was a small fire. Someone had knocked over a burner in the chemistry lab which activated the indoor sprinkler systems. It was already contained by the time we showed up. Clean up was just beginning when we left. Tomorrow we will have to do an accurate assessment of the damages to our department. Luckily I have my laptop with me. I can recreate the formulas on the board. However, Raj's desk may not recover from the water damage." Sheldon smirked slightly at that.
Raj looked upset.
With eyebrows raised, James said, "Fire? Again?"
Before Sheldon could respond, Penny jumped in, "Fire? Sheldon? Did you set a lab on fire?" Penny may not have a 187 IQ but she can see a lead in to a story better than anyone,
"No."
"Blow something up?" Leonard commented as he sat down next to Penny.
"No. Nothing like…"
"Develop a heat ray?" Howard interjected as Raj whispered in his ear.
That earned both of them a glare from Sheldon.
James looked at Sheldon and mouthed a 'Sorry.' Sheldon acknowledged it with a quick, curt nod. Then both men were back to smiles. If Penny hadn't been looking at the two she would have missed it.
"So Sheldon, what happened with fire all those years ago?" Penny looked first at Sheldon and then at James. "Well?" She exclaimed.
Sheldon knew that she would bug him until he told her. Sighing and clearing his throat, he told them the story of The Fire.
Cadet staff sergeant Sheldon Cooper had been made squad leader of 1st squad, 1st platoon, Band Company at the beginning of his second year at Kemper. He was also 1st trombone in Band, and would soon sign the school's Standard of Honor; welcoming him into the ranks as an 'Old Boy.' Life was good he thought. But for now, he was doing his due diligence as Sergeant of the Guard walking the halls of a barracks for Fire Watch. He shined his flashlight around to see if there was anything to see.
At 2 o'clock in the morning there wasn't anything going. Or more correctly he thought, there better hadn't BE something going on. He knew the rules and regulations better than anyone on campus and could recite them chapter and verse if needed. Everyone should be in bed.
Exiting the barracks, he breathed in the cool autumn night air. The moon was big and bright and you didn't need a flashlight to see where you were going. He could see his breath, and almost wished he had put his blazer jacket on. It was a clear October night and the stars were almost invisible as the moon's radiance seemed to make them shrink. This was one of the things he liked about the Missouri weather that was so different than his own Texas home. It got cool then cold then snow.
But his mind went away from the scientific to the historic; to a Christmas time in Belgium during the middle of the 1940's. He had just finished re-reading a book on the Battle of the Bulge, and he smiled as he imagined himself Patton. Both of us genius's, he thought, and misunderstood.
Something flicked through his mind. A smell. Something that should not have been on the night air, but was. Turning his head to follow the scent he could see the orange yellow glow of a fire. Running back to the Officer of the Day office and flipping the assignment bells on; an immediate signal that something was wrong on campus. He yelled for the two privates of the guard asleep next door to get up. Cadet Howell groggily stumbled through the doorway.
"Phone the fire department, then wake up the battalion commander and inform him there is a fire on Band Hall, second floor." Sheldon grabbed the fire extinguisher in the office and headed out.
"What are you going to do?" the cadet called out.
As he ran, Sheldon tried to figure that out. Logically he should inform his higher chain of command of what was going on. But all he could think about was that the fire was in his platoon's area, and close to his people.
Climbing up the rear of the barracks on the fire escape, he could tell that people were aware of the fire and doing what they could. With his portable fire extinguisher, he battled back some of the fire. It seemed that the fire was in two locations. Sheldon got cadets out who had been trapped by this set of flames. That left just two rooms. He could see one door closed, while the other was open and smoke flowing in.
Looking at the cadets on this side of the fire; they were in underwear, t-shirts and barefoot. Not exactly dressed to battle a fire. At least he had shoes on and was fully clothes; it offered him some protection.
Pointing at Corporal Howard Shehorn ordered, "Get everybody out of here. I'll check to see if anyone's left." Howard nodded and started herding the other boys down the fire escape.
He was coughing from the smoke, but Sheldon didn't care. He ran through the open door and into the room, diving on the floor. He could see the occupants of the room also on the floor, below their desks. "Hank, Larry, come on! Crawl out of here. Stay low. We have to leave, now!"
Shock and surprise battled on their young faces, but Sheldon's orders kicked in. The two small boys headed for the door, low crawling. The fire that he had put out was resurging. They literally had to hop, skip and finally jump to get out.
Holding his cap over his mouth, Sheldon realized it was a poor substitution for any kind of professional equipment but he was already committed. I should be committed for this, no matter what tests momma put me through. One room left to check. In a crouch, he stepped over some places in the floor that were on fire. Coming to the closed door, he first felt it to see if it was hot. Warm, but that was understandable. Carefully gripping the doorknob he opened it slowly watching to make sure the fire didn't suddenly spring up and surprise him.
Staying low, he coughed hard; he knew he couldn't stay much longer. "Anyone in here?" He shouted.
Looking around he saw two beds, blankets on them but no one seemed to be there. Trying to see through the thickening smoke, he tried to yell louder, "Anyone in here?" He was about to sprint out of there when he saw a hand come from around the far side of one of the beds. Sheldon didn't even think. He raced over, grabbed the hand; pulling and dragging the cadet out of the room. When they got to the hallway, the fire was back, but there were cadets on the other side with blankets trying to beat it out. Sheldon pushed/threw his charge and then stumbled out into the night air. Finally taking his first breath of clean air in what seemed liked hours, sent him into a coughing spasm. He sagged down against the railing until someone carefully led him off the fire escape and to an arriving ambulance.
Before anyone could ask anything, The Yellow Rose of Texas ring tone went off on Sheldon's phone.
"Yes Missy? ... What? ….. Of course it will be nice to see you. …. But what…..I'm at the Cheesecake Factory right now with…."
An audible click could be heard as Sheldon looked at his phone, "Why bother?"
Turning to Penny, "It seems my sister is in town for an impromptu visit and will be arriving shortly. Penny, I know this might be inconvenient, but I was wondering if you could see your way to allow Missy to 'crash' with you?"
"No problem Sheldon. It'll be fun! A girl's night! I love it when Missy comes to town."
"You aren't the only one," Howard replied in that Snidely Whiplash way.
Raj slapped his arm and frowned. "Oww," Howard replied automatically, not really being hurt. "Sorry buddy. I know you wish you could talk to her or any person with ovaries outside your family. You just have to think positive and quit sending out those negative waves."
Since Penny had never really given much attention to the Howard and Raj show, and while Leonard was trying to sit as close to her without climbing into her lap, she noticed a look in Sheldon's eyes. He turned quickly to look at James.
"Ok, what? If I didn't know better I would say you were talking telepathically, but I know that's impossible or Sheldon would have already told us he could do it."
"'Always with the negative waves Moriarty, always with the negative waves!'" The two old friends said in unison and broke out laughing.
The people at the table looked at them as if they had grown extra heads, tapped dancing all the while singing opera in Klingon. It wasn't clear if it was the quotes or Sheldon laughing that stunned them.
James explained, "At Kemper we would have movies on the weekend. There was a TV room, but the senior officers got there before anyone else and lay claim to watch whatever they wanted. So the movies were a great way to relax. You still can't beat the big screen for a good movie. Anyways, the school would ask for input on what to get. Every semester, at least once, we would watch The Green Berets with John Wayne and Kelly's Heroes."
"The best war movie ever," interjected Sheldon.
"Since when have you liked war movies?" Leonard asked incredulously.
"Leonard, I have always liked war movies. Why do you think I play Halo? Or Age of Conan or any of a number of other battle simulators. And if you all would only follow my instructions, we might win more at paintball."
"But in Star Trek you're Spock!"
Because Leonard was more interested in looking at Penny, and Penny was watching Sheldon, she saw it on Sheldon; a different smile. There was a smile that he reserved just for her; his sweet smile she thought. Then there was the Joker smile, which, though slightly creepy, was almost funny. But this one that appeared on his face, that one chilled her. She would say this was his 'super-villain' smile. But in a flash, it was gone.
Sheldon replied, "Yes, but remember the Vulcan's background; they were very warlike before coming to embrace logic. And the Romulans had raised war to almost untold heights. The Roman concept of the god Vulcan, seems to be connected both to the destructive and fertilizing powers of fire. I find the cold harsh logic tempered with that fire somehow, fitting of late." Penny didn't like the tone in Sheldon's voice or where he might be headed. No one seemed to have noticed anything different.
The spell was broken by James continuing. "Anyways, some of us would always attend to watch Kelly's Heroes. We would get popcorn and pop, and watch it as many times as we could; usually that meant 3 times over a weekend. After a while we got so where we could quote the dialogue."
Conversation continued on movies and quotes, and the back story of Sheldon was mostly forgotten. Leonard and the rest were busy arguing over the best lines in science fiction movies. They were surprised at what they heard but since Sheldon made no follow up or comment, figured it wasn't a big deal. They knew he could be helpful and that's how they saw it. Penny's brain worked differently. She knew how bad a fire could be. Living in a rural town you see your fair share of house, barn and field fires. She watched James and Sheldon talking in lower voices about people that the rest knew nothing about.
The sound of "The Bitch is Back" by Elton John, broke through the conversations. Leonard reached for his cell, knowing who it was; Sheldon had programmed the ring tone for Leslie Winkle.
"Hi Leslie," Leonard said, pinching his nose. "Yes, I heard about the fire. We've already been there. But…. Yes, and…"
Sighing.
"There's no need to… We don't need too… Look, it can wait… ok… I said, OK. Be there in a few." He snapped his phone off. "I have to go. Leslie wants to go over everything tonight so we don't waste tomorrow and fall behind."
"Leonard, I am informing you of an overnight guest; Ji…James will be occupying our sofa for a few days. I hope this does not conflict with anything you may have planned?"
Leonard was already rising, "No, the couch is fine. Bye Penny." She nodded and smiled slightly.
As he hit the door, Raj and Howard were deep in discussion, while James and Sheldon also seemed to be having their own discussion. Normally Penny would try and join one of the conversations, but this time she seemed to be observing the one with Sheldon.
