A/N: Due to requests I have decided a sequel to The Secrecy Spectrum was in order. This picks up exactly where the last story left off… so its very important to read that one first. I'm not yet sure exactly how long this will be. I might do one large story, or structure this as a few side stories. But either way, I have not had enough of Sheldon and Christine.
She said yes and three seconds later Sheldon carried her off to his room. The hurried slam of the door alerted their friends and her father still standing in the living room as to what was probably going on in the back, and none of them wanted to be around to hear it again.
"So, uh, you probably don't want to stick around here." Leonard warned her father. "They tend to get a little… loud."
Her father seemed in another world for a moment, staring off into the space where Christine last stood beside him. "I just never thought I would see the day…" He let out, dazed.
"We didn't either, Mr…" 'What the hell do I call this guy? Mr. Spy sir?' Penny was uncomfortable to say the least, this was the real super daddy spy.
"Oh, you may call me Kevin. I haven't picked out a last name yet."
"Oh, ok. Umm, like I said you probably want to get out of here. Would you like to come across the hall for some coffee or something? I think my wife is probably going to need to down a bottle of wine." Oh God, the sounds coming from the bedroom had already started.
"Yeah, I think that would be a good idea." Kevin hurriedly agreed and followed the rest of the group to 4B.
It was the first time in a month that Bernadette had made it up to the fourth floor, she was getting huge so it was also the first time that she saw the changes Penny and Leonard had made to the apartment. Where there was once a tiny blue sofa now sat a longer deep purple microfiber sleeper with clean lines, two walnut side chairs facing one another on either side of the sofa and a train case that Leonard bought Penny when she had begun to really miss Christine. But now, she was home.
Upon entering, only Bernadette took a seat since her feet were killing her from the walk up. Penny and Leonard went to the kitchen to offer their guests refreshments, all the while everyone watched Christine's father examine the layout of the room, seeming to try to find his 'spot'.
"Kevin? Would you like some wine? Or to take a seat?" Penny offered after no one had moved for a few minutes. His presence was definitely freaking everyone out, and his not sitting wasn't helping… whether that was because they were afraid of him or freaked that he had the same Sheldony aversion to randomly sitting anywhere she couldn't tell you.
"Oh, no thank you to the wine. I never drink. I think I will take this seat here." He pointed to the side chair facing the door and made his way over. "It has the greatest strategic advantage in the event of a sudden break in."
They all froze in their tracks. Was this guy serious? Not being around Christine for many months had certainly made them vulnerable to the shock of such statements, particularly when dropped as casually as saying, 'oh, I like this show too.'
Recovering for the group, Howard introduced them all. He was full of pride when he showed off the pregnant Bernadette and introduced their unborn son as the future Dr. Wolowitz. Raj and Amy hastily shook his hand and retracted like he could snap on them at any moment, as did Penny and Leonard who had just handed him a cup of coffee.
He noticed how weary they seemed of him but he didn't understand why. He and his daughter had just spent seven months in pure battle-riddled hell to keep them safe and had only escaped it a few hours ago. She hadn't even given him time to wash or change before running back here to the physicist. He still had his weapon in his hand for Heaven's sa—oh.
He put it down on the table gently. "Sorry, I forgot I was still holding that. It's been like an extension of my arm for the last three weeks."
"So, you and Christine had a hard time then?" Penny had been so desperately worried over the last several months. She would be doing something as simple as washing dishes and let them slip from her hands and break as she let her mind imagine Christine being shot, Christine being tortured, Christine kicking ass, only to be shot again.
"I really can't tell you how we made it out of this alive. But I never saw Christine more determined in her whole life. She regretted the way she had to leave you, ya know. But she claimed Sheldon would probably try to join her on our quest and she just couldn't do that to him." And he didn't blame her. He hadn't wanted any of this for his wife or children either, and it was purely by mistake that it happened with Christine.
"Ok, I don't want to be insensitive or anything. But what the hell man? Who makes their kid into a super spy?" Raj had been repressing his anger at this for months. Sure, his parents were controlling and over involved in his life but even they didn't fundamentally change him for his entire life like this guy had changed the woman he considered as close as a sister.
"Raj, shhhsh." Bernadette tried to warn him. Don't piss off a guy that can kill you before you could scream, that was her rule to survival.
"No, no. It's alright. It's a valid question." He took a deep calming breath. "It really was an accident that started this off. My wife and son where living with Christine in a safe house I had set for them. I really shouldn't have even let myself have a family, but I'll tell you about that some other time." They all shared a look, there would be another time?
"Anyhow, on one of my bi-weekly visits I was trying to decode a message from another operative in the Miami Times. But, I didn't have the key. My courier had been caught and had to eat the damn thing to keep from my being found out. So, I was doing my best to figure it out on my own but got frustrated and got up to make another pot of coffee while Christine finished her cereal. She was always smart, able to read from her third birthday. But I didn't expect that she would want to help me and had figured it all out before I got back to the table. Here I was, waiting for the drip to finish and she pulls on my pant leg. 'here dada. 20 new war heads in the Ukraine. Daddy, what's a warhead?' she was just too advanced for her own good. I tried to ignore it, but a similar circumstance happened a month later and I needed the info right away. It takes a lot to keep a cold war cold, you understand. It was an emergency so I asked her to do it again and it was just a snap. The next week I was using a key and she told me that 'it makes little strategic sense considering that a key could be found by anyone and she could do it securely.' So she demanded in a toddler's fit that she would do it for daddy."
"So," Howard had picked up on how regretful the man seemed. And soon to be a father himself, he could understand the fear and guilt cross the man's face. "she decoded things. How did that lead to this?"
"The problem was that she got into it. She remembered everything. One day I took her to the open market with me and a foreign operative who was in cahoots with us talked over a situation that was rapidly arising on the other side. She heard every word and informed him what she thought was the best route to take, considering what she knew of the situation. I tried to shrug it off as kids say the craziest things but the guy caught on. And then, so did others. And to make it worse, her suggestion was right on and saved a whole hell of a lot of lives."
"By the time she was four I had to change her identity to reflect the child prodigy she was, but not my child. Everyone wanted her in my world; she held secrets and was eager to please. She would have been a perfect spy… she did eventually come close to that, except that she hated what it had done to her."
Everyone had stopped drinking their various alcoholic beverages as he had spoken. This explained so much about Christine. It was more about her than they ever learned before; then again it was safe now, apparently.
"So, is this really the end of it all?" Amy was abundantly hopeful. She had missed Christine with a passion. In fact, her moaning over losing the girl that called her a sister in her fake obituary had almost broken her and Raj up. They were handling it in totally different ways and it wasn't until Sheldon (of all people) told them that Christine would be very mad if they didn't make things work that they eventually went to counseling. Apparently Christine had left a recommendation for one in all of their packets.
"We believe so, yes. There won't be any real threat to any of us now. But the government still wants to contract us both out in extreme cases, though we won't be playing multi-back agent anymore. Its more security and training we will provide."
"Oh thank God." All seven, in unison, followed by Leonard's explanation. "It's just been hell here without her. We tried to move on but we all missed her and then… Sheldon."
"Ah, yes. Tell me about my future son in law, apparently. Is he going to treat my dear Soliloquy right? Or will I have to water board him? Because I'm still not above that." Seven sets of deer in headlights, all pointed at him.
Only Amy seemed to recover. "Well, he used to be a real ass." Everyone turned their gaze to her in an expression of 'please shut the hell up' but she kept going. "But even though he is still demanding and needs someone to care for him with Christine he had softened and grown a lot. And as I think about it, so did Christine in a way. She had finally begun to open up to us all when they began going out… I think from their first friend-date really. But anyhow, Soliloquy?"
Kevin took a little time to adjust to this. Christine had told him a lot about all her friends, her family as she called them. He, of course, was jealous of this. She hardly considered him family anymore and looking on at this odd group he began to see why there's was a difference. "She tells me I always call her that when I am worried. Her mother nicknamed her that when she came down with a cold as an infant. My wife had taught literature and drama when I met her."
"Dad!" Christine came through the door. It had been nearly two hours, apparently they finished as Sheldon trailed behind her, trying to hide that he pinched her bum. "I was looking all over for you."
"I just came here with your friends to give you two privacy." he shifted his gaze to Sheldon. "And you. How am I to know you are good enough for my daughter?" he meant it more in jest, though he admitted he sounded a whole lot of protective at the moment. It was his daughter after all, and this was the first man she dated that wasn't part of some elaborate cover… she even told him he was her first, though apparently that was mutual.
"Well. Let us look at the facts. I have the same highly elevated IQ. I am mostly likely to get a Nobel. I am entirely committed to her and love her dearly. According to my friends I am less maladjusted than I used to be, though I do not entirely understand why they feel I am crazy." Christine cut in with a palm to his chest.
"Oh sweetie, you are crazy. But any good psychologist will tell you we all are, just a little."
Kevin watched this exchange and felt a little sense of loss. His daughter, who he now could finally acknowledge in public again, was certainly grown up and a woman. But this man did seem to make her happy in a way he hadn't imagined. He would do what he could to encourage them and get to know the boy. He had his own problems to work out, but in the meantime he had to help Christine work on getting the family and life she deserved.
"Well, alright. But be warned I will have my eye on you. I expect to meet your family soon Sheldon. And I want grandkids by next Christmas." And with that, he left to his hotel room, trying to figure out a suitable last name.
Looking after her father as he disappeared down the hall Sheldon turned to Christine. "Ah, now I see what you mean about him being like my mother."
"Yeah." Christine looked wistfully at the man who would soon enough be her husband. "I have a feeling life is about to get real complicated again."
"Do you regret saying yes?" He hoped, really hoped that she didn't.
"Of course not! There's nothing on this earth that has made me happier. And, I'm excited to have normal problems again. I suppose I am going to have to explain my long absence to the in laws soon."
"Yes, I believe my mother is quite angry with your leaving. I told her the situation, by the way. I believe she would have had me retested had Leonard not told her it was the truth."
"Oh, great." Just what she feared. She loved Mary, she didn't want this to be difficult. "Maybe, after we spend a little time with our friends, we should go to Texas so I can apologize to her. I'll have to buy clothes first. I only have what I'm wearing."
"No need!" Leonard decided now would be a good time to bring this up, let Christine see just how heartbroken Sheldon was. "Sheldon wasn't ready to give up hope. He kept your apartment and clothes, cleaned it every day. Even did your laundry twice a month."
Christine's face registered real concern, guilt and a hint of how touching that was as she looked at the man she loves. "Sweeite. You did?"
"Of course. And now you should probably shower and change… I'll join you." He added with a little wiggle of his eyebrows, closing the door on his friends in 4B.
Leonard looked around to all his friends who were equally shell shocked. "So, am I imagining this? Or did all of that really just happen!"
"I dunno dude. But either way, I need a whole hell of a lot more wine."
Penny agreed with Raj, and pulled out another round of drinks.