Adult-FanFiction.org : Television / Streaming

Collide, or, The Cooper-Ballard Convergence	By : FemmeBono Category: 1 through F > The Big Bang Theory Views: 4469 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Big Bang Theory, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
Cht 9

Even the best fall down sometimes

Even the stars refuse to shine
Whitney was eight weeks into her deployment, working into the home stretch as she viewed it. They had had a successful mission, made a few friends, and a few memories. Her communication with her friends in California was frequent. Sheldon messaged her daily and they had even had a video chat on Classic Video game night. The whole group sat around the computer, interrupting each other, squabbling about who was smarter, whose work was derivative, and why Spider-Man’s webs shoot out his wrists and not from his lower abdomen. Raj insisted his spinnerets should be the same place as a spider’s, which launched a twenty-minute debate on adaptation in evolution.
Listening to all the bantering from the guys and Penny was a welcome entertainment. Sheldon wouldn’t tell her a thing about the trip he was planning, but he did say that he had another surprise for when she got home. Gauging from everyone else’s expressions though, it may be optimistic to say she would love it. When she finally signed off, sighing wistfully at the fact that in just a few more weeks she would be heading back, Whitney still had to chuckle at the chaos that her genius friends had introduced into her life. And she smiled more wistfully as the brightest of them, who held such tenuous order over the group.
She sat out under the stars while her battle buddies smoked, joking about things from back home too. Here the night was blackest and looked so vast. She wondered what Raj saw when he looked up there. Surely he could identify everything he could see with the naked eye. It was his job. Funny part was, Sheldon probably could too, even though it wasn’t his line of work. Since he tried to explain all of life through physics, he treated everything in creation like knowing it all was his job.
Berardi, a regular joe from Jersey, piped up cutting into her thoughts, “hey Ballard, how’s your new boy toy?”
Whitney chuckled gamely and replied, “he’s cooking up something in that big cranium of his. I don’t know what he’s up to though. We’re supposed to take a train trip when we get home, so it might have to do with that.”
“You sure he didn’t say he wanted to show you his train?” Sykes spoke up, setting the group laughing.
“Those train references are your department aren’t they?” Whitney threw back. “Doesn’t your wife call you the ‘Little Engine that Could’?”
“Ohhhh burn!” chorused the guys as they all laughed.
Sykes laughed along with the group before tossing a rejoinder her way. “Hey I am steady rolling down that track as soon as I get home.”
Berardi started to interject when a telltale whistle caught their attention, just as the warning announcement blasted from the intercom overhead.
“Hit the deck!” one of them yelled. The entire group flattened themselves to the ground as a mortar round hissed by not two hundred meters away. It hit their DFAC with an earth shaking boom and as it did, the group scrambled up and started running for a nearby bunker. At a second whistle, Whitney looked up to see what looked like a sparkler flying directly over her head, and she dove again. Another quaking blast and she blacked out.

It was Cheeseburger night and the gang had just returned from the Cheesecake Factory when someone knocked on the door to 4A. Leonard opened the door to find two guys with closely cropped hair and a girl who looked every bit like Rosario Dawson in Death Proof.
“Hey there,” said one of the guys. “Are you Sheldon Cooper?”
“Ah, no,” Leonard replied nervously, sizing them up. “Sheldon? Some people here to see you.”
He turned and passed Sheldon on the way to the door.
“Who are they?” Sheldon whispered.
“I don’t know but they look like they might be after your lunch money,” Leonard reasoned.
“Sarcasm?”
“Not sure, actually.”
Sheldon stepped to the door and offered a tentative hello.
“Hey,” said the apparent spokesman for the group, a ruddy-faced man in his mid-twenties who looked like he might have been the Corn Queen’s consort. “I’m Sergeant Mitchell, and this is Specialist Davis Specialist Contrera. We’re from Staff Sergeant Ballard’s home unit here in Pasadena.”
The significance of this slowly dawned on Sheldon and he lost what little color he had in his face. Blindly he reached for the door to steady himself and caught the edge of it on the second try.
“We’re supposed to tell you up front not to panic,” Contrera added. “Sergeant Ballard said you probably would.”
“Looks like he’s already there,” smiled Davis. “Look guy, we don’t want to worry you, but she has been injured and is already back stateside. She’s at Walter Reed though, so we need to get some of her stuff to send there for her.”
“Hey man, she’s going to be fine, okay?”Contrera said. “My home girl is a fighter, and she’s just really banged up. Nothing too serious, man, really. I wouldn’t try to steer you wrong.”
“Why didn’t I hear about this?” Sheldon struggled to speak. “I haven’t heard from her for a week!”
“Yeah, well she’s been in transition since then,” Sergeant Mitchell said calmly. “She had to get MEDEVACed to a bigger hospital and then transferred stateside, so she hasn’t exactly been with a phone or her laptop. Since you’re not family, you aren’t on the Red Cross’s call list for next of kin. She did finally get a message out to send us for some of her clothes and said you had a key, and you would need to be told about the situation.”
“As far as I know, she sustained a leg injury and a concussion. That’s it. And she’s already out of the woods as far as the concussion goes, plus she’s already had surgery on the leg. Basically what she’s looking at is getting med boarded out of the Guard and a long road to recovery from her injuries. She’s going to need a lot of help with that, but I’m thinking you’ll be up for it.”
Sheldon, for once, did not know what to say and nodded numbly as Leonard invited them into the apartment while he searched for the key. Finally finding his voice, Sheldon said glumly, “I’m going to make some tea.”
“Hey, that’s alright man,” Davis spoke up, eyeing Sheldon warily. “We’re good.”
“I’m making it for me,” replied Sheldon as he shuffled to the stove. There was a tense ball in his stomach and his ears were ringing. He wanted to do something with his hands, and they barely cooperated as he drew the tea from the cupboard under the kitchen island and started foraging for a cup. Injured, was all he could think. Concussion. Walter Reed. Surgery.
Something clicked inside Sheldon’s brain and he turned, grabbing up the phone and punching a series of numbers. He waited momentarily after the call connected, silently fuming, nostrils flaring as he listened to a brief recorded after-hours message before a beep sounded.
“This is Dr. Sheldon Cooper, 2311 Los Robles, Apartment 4A,” he stated. “I’d like to report a broken elevator in our building and register my displeasure at the fact that it is now 6 years, 4 months, and 5 days since it has stopped working. I am formally requesting that it be fixed; otherwise I may have to report it to the Better Business Bureau, as well as the local housing bureau. Good day.”

Whitney stumped slowly through the door as Sergeant Mitchell held it open. Her mother followed closely behind.
“Well, it looks like they’ll have your elevator fixed soon, Whit,” her mother said, sizing up the construction work that was going on in the lobby. Whitney had inherited her blue eyes and dimply cheeks from her mother, who winked at Sgt. Mitchell before the trio headed upstairs. “You won’t be gimping up the stairs too long.”
Sgt. Mitchell snickered at her mother’s word choice, but wisely said nothing.
“Thanks Mom.”
As they reached the fourth floor landing, Sgt. Mitchell stepped over to 4A and quickly rapped on the door before Whitney could ask why.
No sooner did he do this than a thin woman in her mid-50s answered the door. “Hi there,” she drawled in a friendly twang. “Can I help y’all?” Must be Sheldon’s mother, Whitney thought. Oh lord give me strength, I am not ready for this.

“Yes ma’am,” Sgt. Mitchell nodded. “I’ve brought SSG Ballard back for Sheldon. His friend Leonard called and said that Mr. Cooper was ‘broken’ and probably needed to see her as soon as we could get her back.”
“Well, isn’t that sweet!” Mrs. Cooper said, brightening. “Y’all come on in! And thank you so much for your service to this country. I want you to know I pray for our brave men and women nightly that the Good Lord will watch over all y’all. Shelly?! Your soldier friend’s here! Leave the train cars!”
By the time the words had left her mouth, Sheldon came racing in wearing PJs and a conductor’s cap.
“Whitney!” He wrapped his gangly arms around her and squeezed, nearly knocking her off balance and sending a sharp twinge up her injured leg. She snaked her arms around his waist and held on, suddenly too overcome to care about the witnesses to their awkward display. Peeking through under Sheldon’s arm, she could see Penny tearing up as she reached for Leonard’s hand. Then Sgt Mitchell cleared his throat and she heard an almost reverent “my, my” from Sheldon’s mom.

Whitney pulled back and looked over her shoulder at her own mother, who said nothing, but whose eyes twinkled merrily as she shot a cheeky smile to her daughter. I will not live this down, thought Whitney.

Lyrics from Howie Day's "Collide"
- 8
- 9
- 10
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Collide, or, The Cooper-Ballard Convergence