"Wow, what was that smell?" James exclaimed.
From the back, "Sorry dude, riding in the back has my stomach…"
"Not that." Sticking his nose more out the window, "That."
James had wanted to see where Sheldon worked, but they had been cruising around, and were now in part of a campus that none of them had ever been too. Following his nose, James made a sharp right turn and pulled up to the curb. He had seen a sign reading "Kansas City Bar-B-Que." He turned off the engine and asked, "Anyone else hungry?"
They had to walk three blocks to get to the restaurant. Crossing an alley Sheldon stopped. Howard and Raj almost ran into his back, "What the frak dude?"
"Someone's in trouble," was all Sheldon said turning down a dirty alley. James immediately followed leaving three people wondering who this person was that had replaced Sheldon. Sheldon was venturing into an unknown and dirty place.
James came up to Sheldon, but now his head was on a swivel as he now heard what Sheldon's Vulcan hearing had. Slowly he reached down and loosened his big belt buckle. What Sheldon had heard was a young girl's voice and someone calling her derogatory names. Ethnic slurs, Sheldon's brain categorized. Ones that he had hated all his life. The only thing worse were bullies. Sheldon was sure he would find them there too. He was right.
They had rounded the corner into another alley that ran behind the business and it was apparent that they had arrived in the nick of time.
Three white men with shaven heads were leaning over a young, scared black woman. Her shirt was torn and her jeans were dirty from having tried to crawl away. The three were laughing and saying that she looked good down there in the mud, where she belonged.
"That will be quite enough," Sheldon said with his most stern look. "You have hurt that girl and are scaring her. Apologize and leave."
The three were about the same height as Sheldon, but each had him by 30 pounds easily. One looked at his companions and laughed, "I think the party's just begun. What are you going to do about it?" Looking at Sheldon's shirt, "Who do you think you are some kind of super hero with that shirt?"
Penny and the guys had sneaked up to the corner to see what was going on. To say they were surprised would be an understatement. Sheldon, who didn't like confrontation, who hated fighting, was standing up to three big bigots.
"What about you Stoneface?" The big one directed that comment to James. "Both of you should be thanking us for taking out the trash." His two companions chuckled at their little joke.
At the corner, Howard whispered, "I just called the cops; they said they couldn't get here for 20 minutes. They are going to try and contact campus security to get over here."
"20 minutes? Hell, this thing is going to be over in 2 minutes," Penny whispered. "But maybe I can help even the score." And with that Penny walked from around the corner.
James and Sheldon tensed and were waiting for something to happen. As soon as the big guy's eyes went to see who was coming around the corner; was all the distraction they needed. James had whipped his belt off and used the buckle to smack the leader in the face. He then proceeded to do a snapping front kick to the groin, bringing him to his knees.
The other two figured that he was on his own with James and rushed Sheldon to get out. Sheldon seemed almost to let them do that, until the first one came close to him, and then Sheldon spun. Being lanky he got good speed, and caught the first one on the side of his face with his foot sending him to his knees. The second one just decided to try and engulf Sheldon. Sheldon seemed to duck out of the way, but then rose to his full height, sending the last bully flying head over heels and landing on his back with the wind knocked out of him. Penny took two steps, picking up a cinder block and stepped on his chest, "Stay down or I'll drop this on your head."
Sheldon walked up to the bully he had sent to his knees and brought up his hands; open palmed, smashing to each ear, busting his ear drums and sending him face down to the ground.
The leader was also on his knees, but James had pulled the guy's belt off and was using it to secure his hands behind him. He then picked up his belt, wiped off the dirt and grinned as he threaded it back through his pants loops
Seeing that all threats were dealt with, Sheldon went over to the girl who was in a bunch of garbage bags and knelt down to her, "Don't worry, you have nothing to be afraid of now."
She looked at him as he held out his hand. Taking it, she let herself be pulled up. "I'm Sheldon. That is James, and the one holding the cinder block is Penny."
Raj and Howard came from around the corner, "Police are here."
"And those two brave souls are Raj and Howard. I am afraid you will have to speak to the authorities before you can get to a comfortable place and a hot beverage. Are you willing to do that?"
She looked down at her shirt, her dirt covered pants and then at the three men who had made her feel like garbage, "Not a problem."
After the police had questioned them and hauled the three away, the girl, Nicole, turned to Sheldon. "Thank you. That was awfully nice what you did. Most people wouldn't have wanted to get involved."
Sheldon blinked like a computer accessing data, "I am not like most people."
James came up, "You can say that again. Coop hates bullies; especially bigots. We're just glad we could help."
She smiled, "Come on then. The least I can do is buy you dinner."
Sheldon raised his hand, "That is unnecessary."
"Please," Nicole said. Tilting her head, "My family owns a great place. You like bar-b-que?"
Sheldon and James looked at each other then at the rest of their group. Howard shrugged, Raj smiled weakly and gave a 'thumbs up' and Penny was just watching. She would have to use a new white board to start putting down all the things that this Sheldon was; and the list kept getting longer. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it.
She had always known that Sheldon would help his friends. And he thought of himself as some kind of superhero at times. But she had never expected this from Sheldon! Even Kurt would have thought twice going against 3 muggers. He must be like this around James. But why? Which is the real Sheldon? The one she has known for 5 years, or this one? He's even going to a restaurant that he hasn't checked out yet. She shook her head.
Sheldon, seeing her shake her head in what he took for an affirmative turned back to Nicole and nodded once, "Very well. Thank you. Lead on."
The group followed her into a small restaurant, nestled between a used clothing store and a copy shop. They could have found it by just following their noses; the smell of bar-b-que was unmistakably strong and good.
The door dinged as they went inside. A large black woman was behind a counter writing something. When she looked up and saw Nicole her face hardened, "Child, where have you been? You should have been back here 45 minutes ago."
She then took in the group and a smile returned to her face, "Howdy folks, just sit anywhere; be with you shortly. Have to discuss something with my daughter here."
Sheldon, ever the one to butt in when least expected said, "Nicole was set upon by some ruffians who intended to do her harm. We prevented that. It took some time to explain to the local authorities what had happened, so don't be too hard on her. She has had a taxing afternoon."
The woman's expression went blank, as most people when dealing with Sheldon for the first time. James moved in to translate, "Nicole had a run with 3 punks. We stopped them and had to deal with the police. That's why she's late. So go easy."
The large woman moved quickly from around the counter, despite her size, "Junior, get your butt out here. Nicole was attacked!"
A tall black man, even taller and skinnier than Sheldon, came through the kitchen door, "What happened?"
"It was nuthin momma, just some assholes who didn't like the color of my skin. Sheldon and his friends saved me." She said as way of introductions.
The large woman engulfed Nicole in a bear hug, while Junior stuck on his hand to Sheldon, "Son, I appreciate your helping my daughter. She's our youngest. Don't know what the world's coming to these days."
Sheldon eyed the hand, seeing flour and other bits of food on it and then quickly took it in his, "I cannot abide bigotry of any sorts; and to attempt harm to a young woman gets my Texas blood boiling!"
Junior grinned as he shook his hand, "A Texas boy. Might have known. Knew a few guys from the Lone Star state when I was in the Army. All wild bucks, big drinkers; but some of the finest gentlemen I have known."
Sheldon shook his head, "Yes we do seem to have that reputation."
"So who's the rest of your group?"
Sheldon proceeded to introduce everyone. Nicole had finally got her breath back from the hug when she said, "I promised them all a free meal."
"Child, they'll eat free forever for saving you." The woman said. Then turned to everyone, "I'm Helen, her mother. Thank you all for saving her. And I meant what I said; anytime you come in here, your money's no good. You'll eat free. And you'll eat good!"
Turning to Junior, "Now you; get back to the kitchen and get to work; a Pulled Pork and Beef Dinner, plenty of fries and slaw." Junior grinned and headed back to his domain.
"Sit, sit. Sodas over there, so serve yourself. I'll go back and see if I can hurry that man up. Nicole, watch the front." Helen moved off.
Sitting at a large table, Sheldon looked around. For a mid afternoon, the place was empty.
"I would have expected this place to be busier." Sheldon noted.
Nodding, "Yeah, me too." Nicole agreed. "I don't know why; the foods good. But you'll judge that for yourself. I would have thought being near campus would have been a gold mine; Lord knows we pay enough rent for the location."
"What kind of advertising do you do?" Asked James as he sipped his soda.
"Well, not much honestly. After paying a year's rent; getting the equipment and stuff, we didn't have a lot left over. We figured that we could start to really advertise after we'd been open. But it's been 6 months, and… well. You can see. We do ok, but we still aren't doing enough it seems."
Just then, Helen appeared with a platter of beef and pork sandwiches. Junior was right behind with a big bucket of fries and cole slaw. Setting everything down, he went back and got plates and silverware.
Everything smelled and tasted great! After an hour they have devoured everything. In all that time, not a single customer came through the door.
As they sat simply enjoying the smell and each other's company, Penny knew that something was on Sheldon's mind as she could see him do a sweep around the restaurant like a radar dish looking for a target.
Also noticing Sheldon, James leaned in, "What's on that computer brain of yours?"
"This place is by and far above the kind of food normally around here for college students to feast on."
"Agreed Coop. It was good."
"It is clean. I checked the Health Department; no strikes that would require them to shut down; in fact they are in the top 5% of the cleanest restaurants in this area. There should be more people in here."
"Excuse me, but do you offer a delivery service?"
"We do. That's where Nicole comes in. But after what happened… I don't know."
"May I offer some advice on how you can increase your business?"
"Do you know anything about advertising and marketing?"
"No but I hold a doctorate in Physics. And if you understand Physics…"
"Anything is possible." Penny said finishing that sentence.
Sheldon was looking around the restaurant at the high ceiling and two large windows, and a slow smile came across his face. Raj and Howard knew that smile. He had reached a conclusion; they were going to see something extraordinary. That could be good or bad. It just depended on if there were going to be any explosions.
While Sheldon was busy concentrating, Penny leaned over to James and asked in a low voice, "How did Sheldon know how to fight like that?"
James blinked like he couldn't believe her, "Don't you know? Sheldon has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do."
"WHAT?"
That brought everyone's attention to Penny as she stammered, "You have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do?"
Sheldon sat there with a relaxed smile, "Yes Penny. I achieved my black belt early on in life."
"But why…? I mean what about the pantsing?"
Sheldon cleared his throat and actually looked a little uncomfortable under Jame's gaze, "You see Penny, I was always taught by mother never to pick on people smaller than I. When I started martial arts, I was also taught that some fights are not worth having and if you can walk without hurting anyone to do it. I know I can seriously hurt someone. That incident was something I choose not to engage in, as I was a bit rusty and thought I might break Kurt's bones."
She still gapped at him. "Penny," and even though he was addressing her, the whole table listened, "think about martial arts. You have to be precise, focused and have good mental discipline." He paused, "I have great mental strength."
And that was all that was said on the matter.
Later that evening at Penny's Apartment
"Missy what do you know about James?"
"What do you mean?" Missy fired back so quickly, she almost dropped her glass of wine.
"I mean; who is he, really? He just pops up one day and Sheldon starts to act different. He calls him 'Coop.' What's that all about?"
"Well it does make sense. Cooper….Coop. When Sheldon is around James, he is different. He almost seems more…. relaxed I guess is the word if that makes any sense."
"Hmmmph" Penny said, pouring a glass of wine. "I've never seen or heard anything about him, and yet they seem like they are best friends."
"Not best friends; family." She looked at Penny with a sly smile, "He only has one best friend."
The comment, aimed at Penny went totally over the pretty blonde's head. "That's what he said, family. But what does it mean?"
Sitting on Penny's sofa with a glass of wine Missy dredged up old memories. "Before, Sheldon left, he was a handful. Unique, you know? Building things, spouting all that science stuff. He was different but he wasn't robotic all the time. He was still a boy. His habits weren't set in stone. After his first year at Kemper, he started doing things by a schedule. But even then, he was still...well the only word I can think of that makes sense is; human. And he actually achieved what I am sure Sheldon would call an 'optimal balance.' He was funny when he wanted to be, but still maintained a solid and organized routine. It was after the fire during that second year..." Missy stopped as she realized she may have given away a secret.
Penny nodded, "I heard the story; Sheldon saved some kids."
Missy looked at her deciding something, "You know Sheldon. He does have a big heart and what he cares for, he cares for deeply. It wasn't kids he saw, they were his family that was in danger. You joke that he can be computer-like: so figure that when he saw the fire, a sub-routine was activated to go to the rescue. It was straight out of the comics he reads. He just didn't realize the cost."
Penny had sat down with her glass of wine when she looked the twin, "Cost?"
Taking her hand in hers, Missy continued, "Pen, you know I think the world of you. And I know Sheldon...likes you. So what I am about to tell you, you cannot let on you know. Especially not to Leonard. After they got back from the Arctic, and Sheldon's paradigm shift episode, he doesn't trust Leonard or Howard and Raj. Sheldon is a private person. But there are some things that you don't know and I feel you do since you are…Shelly's best friend. So you have to promise me that you will not say anything or act differently when you hear what I am going to tell you. Promise?"
Penny was taken back at the intensity that was coming off Missy. She knew that both twins could be passionate about things, but when it had to with secrets; what could have happened? Sheldon thought of her as his best friend, but what did that entail? She slowly nodded.
Sighing and taking a big drink from her wine glass Missy continued the story that had started at the Cheesecake Factory.