Chapter 10 - Realization
After their car stopped, Sheldon continued to sit in the back seat, unable to move, he absolutely had no idea of what to do, he hadn't planned for anything like this. However this static situation was broken when the Major sitting, in the back seat with him, opened his door and walked around the other side of the car to open Sheldon's door for him. Sheldon then watched him come to attention and give either Sheldon or the other officer a salute, which one it was Sheldon really didn't care. Sheldon was trapped now, he had to get out of the car, so with a sinking feeling that he was not in control anymore, he stepped out of the car.
The fear he felt inside the car was nothing like what he felt out the car, when the real fear took over, what was he suppose to do now? Was he suppose to salute the Major or the other officer, he had no idea what was the proper military social convention for the situation he was in, and now he had wished he never had gotten out of the car in the first place. He was going to have a panic attack, everything was falling apart, he had failed and Sheldon was about to spill everything he knew to these men.
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Amy had been home for over an hour now, but she couldn't sleep, her mind was extremely alert trying to come to grips with everything that had happened today. Laying in bed only made everything worse, so she got up and got dressed, she needed fresh air, maybe fresh air would do something to clarify things for her. So Amy left her apartment building and started walking, and walking, not even knowing where she was going, but thinking about everything as she walked.
How she felt about Sheldon was still dominating her mind, ever since he turned up missing, she admitted something to herself that she probably knew all along, she still loved Sheldon Cooper. He was still her 'sweet baboo' and no matter how she thought she could move on with her life, he would still be the love of her life. Yes she had loved the man she pledged to marry, but when it all came down to it, he wasn't Sheldon, and she probably would never be happy with anyone else.
That was the second part of the problem, she felt responsible for all that happened, she wasn't there for him, when he needed her. She could have comforted him, she could have prevented him from doing this, from going back in time, from changing things. Amy knew Sheldon was not running away, Sheldon went back for a purpose, and Amy knew that purpose was to change things so that things were right. Amy stopped and looked around, things were going to change, she had no doubt about it and she just hoped they changed to a world where her and Sheldon were together.
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Penny laid in bed with Leonard, it was one of those situations where she wanted him to tell her what would happen, even thought she knew she would hate the answer and it would haunt her. They had been so quiet since they locked the room and left the university, and that quietness was driving her crazy, because one of the main reasons they were so quiet was Leonard was really worried. Seeing him so worried was unnerving to Penny, even though she was the tough one in their marriage, he was still her rock, she depended on him and having him like this was scaring her to death. Penny couldn't take this anymore and turned in Leonard's arms to look at him. "Tell me Honey."
"Tell you what?" Leonard knew what she wanted, but was stalling.
"Leonard Leaky Hofstadter, you know exactly what I mean. I am your wife, you promised me you would always be honest with me, so tell me." Penny said with maybe a little too much determination then she actually felt.
Leonard swallowed, "Okay, Howard and I believe that the machine is real and Sheldon traveled in time."
"I know that Sweetie, you were crystal clear that happened." Penny said quietly to him. "Tell me the rest."
Leonard nodded, then leaned over and kissed her quickly. "Sorry, theoretically he could have gone forward or backward in time and if he went backward he could have gone back millions of years, even back to the dinosaurs. Until Howard figures out the software, we won't know."
Penny nodded then leaned over to quickly kiss him, to tell him it was okay and to encourage him to go on. "Okay, what does that mean to us, in this time."
"Going forward in time will not impact us now, maybe in the future, but not now. Going way back in time, could maybe not affect us either, the asteroid event that happened to wipe out the dinosaurs sort of reset everything."
"Okay, but what about the time between the asteroid and now." Penny tried to push him on.
Leonard looked at her for a long moment, "It would change things."
The look on Leonard's face made Penny want to cry, but she willed herself not too. "What would happen? How….how bad Honey?"
Leonard thought for a second, "It is like dropping a stone in a still pond, ripples occur that spread across the whole pond. A change in time is the same way, the farther back the change occurs the bigger the pond. There will be rocks and objects on the pond that will change those ripples, but they eventually cover the whole pond in some way. The resultant effect will depend on large the change he makes is, how far back and even who or what he interacts with to accomplish that change."
"So you mean, people could just disappear out of our lives, just like that?" Penny was now loosing the battle to hold back the tears.
"It is even more than that, depending how far back the change happens, it could change the outcome of wars even the political makeup of the world."
"Oh my God." Penny whispered. "Our lives could be ruined, everybody's lives could be ruined."
Leonard nodded, he hated to say the next thing, but he promised to be honest. "People you know could maybe never be born, we may never be born."
Penny gasped, her one hand going to the side of her husbands face, her second to the small bump on her belly. They were the two most important people to her and the thought of either of them not being born was too much for her to take, as the tears began to flow. "Leonard, I can't go on if I loose you or our baby." she said through her tears.
Leonard put his arms around her and held her close finally telling her the next part, "Penny you wouldn't even know. Not only would someone be gone but in your mind they would have never existed." He held Penny closer as she began to sob, his own grief changing just then to something else. Leonard knew he had to everything in his power to stop Sheldon, everything to make sure Sheldon didn't change this world.
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In another part of town, Howard and Bernadette held each other that night too, Howard not able to get what a horror this was out of his mind. They had talked about this at length, when Leonard got that time machine, went over every detail, going back in time was a stupid idea. Howard rubbed his wife's back, he knew she was awake, she was now understanding it all and she was smarter than him.
"Howie, how long do you think it would take?" Bernadette softly questioned.
"What take? To get Sheldon back?" Howard was confused.
"No, for anything Sheldon did to cause a change now?"
"I don't really have any idea, I don't think it would happen suddenly, because it would have happened already, but I really don't know. Also it would depend how far he went back on how the change really impacted us." Howard answered.
"But if something changed, we really wouldn't know it would we?"
Howard shook his head, "No we wouldn't, as a matter of fact, if it did happen immediately, there might have already been a change that we already accepted as happening. I just don't know."
"OH GOD!" Bernadette then started to cry. All Howard could do was hold her closer.
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Sheldon wasn't going to last more than a few seconds more, as fear gripped him, then something unexpected happened, the other Colonel, took a step towards Sheldon and extended his hand. "Welcome to my unit, Colonel"