Flashback XI

October 2010

"…I don't ever want to feel like I did that day Take me to the place I love, take me all the way I don't ever want to feel like I did that day

Take me to the place I love, take me all the way…,"

Raj sings as Penny knocks on 4B. They don't hear her so she knocks louder, and waits, tapping her foot, arms crossed. She curses the day they ever invented music video games; what was wrong with jumping over mushroom monsters, jumping down pipes, and rescuing a princess from an oversized turtle while shooting fire from your hand because you touched a flower? Or Halo? She also curses the day her husband got into them—thanks to their neighbour and his best friend.

Sheldon, however, is surprisingly good at Guitar Hero, which doesn't really surprise her. While she knew Sheldon was talented with the piano the man can actually shred with the best of them. He showed her and her family as much during the rehearsal dinner—if she wasn't already going to marry him a few days later, she would have right then. The door finally opened and she heard Raj still singing, getting really into it—doing his best Anthony Kiedis impression, and Howard doing his best impression of Chad Smith. She rolled her eyes, as Sheldon stood next to her, his arm wrapped around her shoulder, the two of them watching the other pair.

"I thought you'd be on guitar?"

Sheldon chuckles, "Nope, just watching and I was in the bathroom just now." Penny chuckled, and cleared her throat, "Guys, please."

Howard and Raj stopped, and Howard grinned at her, before turning back to Raj, "Nice going bud, we got an audience!"

Penny rolled her eyes again arms still crossed.

"Penny, come on, we were just finding our sound," Howard cajoled.

"You found it. It's the sound of a cat being run over by a lawn mower," Penny said sarcastically, "Actually, I just came over to retrieve my husband because he promised me something."

Sheldon turned and looked down at his wife, "Really?" "Yep, right now."

Sheldon throws Penny over his shoulder and she yelps and giggles, and he runs out of 4B. He shouts 'later' to the occupants of 4B. When Penny is turned around to face them over his shoulder she quickly waves goodbye with a huge grin on her face.

Howard and Raj are left in Howard's apartment speechless, staring at his open door. "What the frak was that all about?"

Raj chuckles, "I think I have a pretty good idea. Things seem to be going pretty well with your neighbours now."

Howard nods and pauses the game, not realising that they lost a ton of points while watching Penny and Sheldon's departure. "Yeah, I think they just didn't like Leonard, and because we were friends with him if they invited us over they'd feel obligated to invite him too, you know?"

"Yeah, I remember Sheldon's testimony in court. It was really telling how despite only being in the building a couple of weeks Sheldon had a feeling it was Leonard who was responsible for the elevator. Man, I didn't even know you could detect traces of rocket fuel with ultrasounds and other forms of electronic detection. Leonard was right to be freaked."

"Yeah, it was pretty eye-opening, wasn't it?" Howard asked rhetorically, "A stranger we never knew figured out the one secret we'd been hiding for years. Or at least Leonard was. You know, in hindsight I'm glad Leonard went to prison. When Sheldon came back from North Carolina he asked me why I was still friends with Leonard after he basically threatened us, I didn't really have a good answer. I have to say those couple months when we were under that federal gag order were some of the most freeing times I've had since we met Leonard."

Raj went to Howard's fridge and grabbed a Gatorade, "Yeah, same here," he says after opening and taking a sip, "I know that since we met him we really only hung out on the weekends with the guy, but he was incredibly smothering and needy. Always wanted to be included, but never wanted to do anything. Well… aside from watching Babylon 5 all the damn time. I mean it's a decent addition to the sci-fi canon and all, but it's not the best ever."

Howard nodded again. "At least our new friends are cool. They even set you up with a new girlfriend at little Charlotte's birthday. How's that going by the way?"

Raj grins, "Fan-fraking-tastic!" "So… you've slept with her?"

Raj nods rapidly, harking back to his select mute days.

Howard shakes his head slightly, amused, "I find it funny that you dated an accountant named Emily—and how weird it is that the roles were switched this time—I mean you could talk but she couldn't because she was deaf. That must have been surreal for you. And now you're dating a dermatologist named Emily," Howard chuckles, "I guess on the bright side when you come you won't accidentally say the wrong name."

Raj rolls his eyes but also slightly reddened, "Yeah yeah…," Raj then cleared his throat, "What about you, how are things with Bernadette?"

"Great. Again, it was really nice of Sheldon and Penny to invite us to little Charlotte's birthday and the fact that Bernadette went with me means that this might be for good. No girl I've met just goes with the flow like that. The fact that she and Penny struck up a quick friendship makes things easier," Howard smiles.

So you intend on making a real go with your neighbours and Bernadette, not the half-assed attempts we made with Leonard?"

"Of course, in fact, Sheldon invited us to go to the shooting range in Anaheim tomorrow, if you're up for it. He said we could make a day out of it."

Raj chuckles disbelievingly, "You're going to shoot guns with a US Marine? Are you nuts? That's literally his job."

"So? We play paintball," Howard defends as if the two were comparable.

"Okay, sure, whatever you say," Raj chuckles, "This is a man who has the Medal of Honor for killing six enemies, incapacitating a suicide bomber, saving an innocent child, and rescuing an entire platoon by disposing of a homemade bomb in less time than dentists recommend you brush your teeth. Plus, didn't you say he has' Rifle Expert' and 'Pistol Expert' badges?"

"Yeah, but everybody makes mistakes," Howard shrugs. Raj chuckled.

Raj and Emily were over at 4B with Howard and Bernadette preparing to go over to 4A. "Are you sure we can come?" Bernadette asks.

"I don't see why not, he said we can make a day out of it, and in my book that means spending time with people you want to be around and there's nobody I'd rather spend more time around than you," Howard smiles.

"Aww…," Bernadette pecks him on the lips.

"Yeah, 'aww' as in that's aww-fully cheesy," Emily says with a wink.

Howard sighs, "Let's just go before I'm accused of being aww-fully punny." They chuckle and follow him across the hall. Howard knocks.

"Oh good," Sheldon says seeing the additional attendees, "I was just gonna go over and tell you that Penny was coming along too."

"Can Penny shoot?" Howard asks curiously.

Sheldon snickers, "Is the Pope Catholic? She grew up on a farm, she not only can shoot, but she can plough, plant, and harvest—"

"You forgot can rope and castrate any farm animal in less than 30 seconds, honey," Penny says coming up beside him from the hallway, wearing a pink gingham shirt and jeans with her hair in a ponytail.

"Yes…," he leans over toward Howard and Raj and whispers, "Another reason to not piss off my wife."

They walk out the door without another word and once on the stairs, Bernadette asks where Charlotte is.

"My friend Val has her for the day. This way I can spend some time with just Sheldon and not worry about a very cute and smart, but also very demanding two-year-old," Penny laughs.

"I'll say, I've never heard a two-year-old demand her strawberry cake with such clear pronunciation," Bernadette giggles.

"Oh, for that you'll have to thank Sheldon she gets that from his side of the family most definitely."

"I don't understand," Bernadette said slightly confused.

Penny chuckles, "Oh, I thought you knew," Bernadette shakes her head, and Penny nods hers, "yep, Sheldon is a certified genius. Apparently, he and his twin sister were tested for giftedness

when they were two and Sheldon scored somewhere in the high 180s." "187, to be precise," Sheldon called from in front of them having overheard.

"Wow, I didn't know that. Although I suppose that graduation picture I saw at Charlotte's birthday now makes more sense; I just thought that was Sheldon dressing up for Halloween or something." Bernadette remarked.

"Trust me, Bernie, Sheldon is way more talented than what his IQ is." The two women laugh as Bernadette catches Penny's meaning, even Emily chuckles.

They pile into Penny's minivan, which she got by trading in her beloved red hatchback while she was still four months pregnant. It turned out to be a really good idea since it took Howard, Raj, and her to take Val to the hospital when Val's son, Alexander David was due. Then the process was repeated five months later for her. And then after they had the babies there were strollers, car seats, and diaper bags that definitely would not have fit in Penny's old hatchback.

The drive to Anaheim was full of banter back and forth about the upcoming activity, although Howard and Raj admitted they were the only ones in the car to have never shot anything lethal, after finding out that their girlfriends could shoot. Bernadette learned because her dad was with the Los Angeles Police Department for 31 years and just recently retired, and Emily learned because growing up in Chicago, she lived in a working-class part of town which given the city's high crime rate, her dad required her to learn to defend herself with the family's two handguns. But how Penny learned to shoot interested everyone, except Sheldon since he had heard it before. Apparently, in addition to Junior Rodeo, when Penny was 12 her dad signed them up for a rifle skills competition at the county fair. Penny had never shot a rifle before but she didn't want to disappoint her dad so she went along, they ended up winning 2nd place and while Penny was disappointed she told her dad she'd practice and next year they'd take home the blue ribbon. So for the next year, in her spare time, Penny would go out into the fields on weekends and shoot at cans her dad lined up 50, 100 and 150 yards away. The next year they didn't just win, they destroyed the competition. It wasn't even close. This led to questions from Bernadette and Emily such as why, and how? Penny explained because the maximum range for the contest was only 75 yards, with her regularly hitting the 100-yard cans with ease it was simple. And because her dad was former US Army infantry, he could easily hold his own. This led to Raj asking between Sheldon and Penny who was better, which left the couple going back and forth, which amused everyone.

"If you can't shoot, Howie, I'll teach you," Bernadette finally offered Howard when they reached their destination. He smiled and gave her hand a squeeze.

They walked into the office and requested two lanes. Showed their IDs—Sheldon showed his military ID to receive the military/police discount—then were given lanes 5 and 6. They also rented safety glasses and ear protection and rented two SIG P225s—or at least Howard and Bernadette, and Raj and Emily did. As the group walked down toward their lanes, Howard remarked to Raj that this was the most testosterone-rich thing they'd ever done and Raj had to agree. Because it was still mid-morning, the range was still empty except for two lanes in use down on the end.

As Raj hung up the paper targets, Sheldon and Penny got ready. Bernadette noticed them drop their duffels and each takes out a pair of safety glasses and ear protectors—she nudged Howard and Emily—but what shocked the trio and Raj when he returned from putting up the targets were the seemingly identical silver hard cases that contained Sheldon's Glock 19 and Penny's Glock 17.

They loaded a magazine and then smirked at each other.

"I don't think this is just a friendly weekend activity," Raj said warily.

"Ya think? They look like Mr. and Mrs. Smith." Howard squawks. The two turn back in time to hear Penny and Sheldon's conversation.

"So Lieutenant, great sex last night and this morning and now you want to challenge little ol' me?" Penny asked seductively.

"You know me, sweetheart, besides you got to do it the first time and while I compliment you on your choice, I'm doing the honours this time," Sheldon said with a smirk.

Penny looked into her husband's eyes, then pulled back fanning herself, "Is it just me or is it hot in here?" She then recovered, "Okay so, how are we doing this? First to miss?"

Sheldon nods, "Then most bulls-eyes as a tiebreaker."

"Oh, you are so on, honey. I'm gonna make you regret challenging the only two-time Homecoming Queen in Central High history," Penny gloated.

"Right… well, Your Majesty, shall we get started? After you, Your Highness." Sheldon smirks, as Penny sticks her tongue out at him and turns her nose up at him and takes her place in the next lane.

"Anybody else follow that?" Howard asked. The rest shake their heads.

Sheldon turns to the group and tells them to get behind the ballistics screen. They scurry behind the bulletproof screen and watch.

Penny cocks her gun, takes a solid stance, properly holds her gun with two hands, aims, and unloads her magazine in about 30 seconds. The group are flabbergasted when she turns to Sheldon and says rather saucily, "Your turn, honey."

Sheldon smirks as he takes his position in the fresh lane when he passes Penny the group sees him mouth something to her but with the ear protectors on they can't really make out what he says.

Like Penny, Sheldon cocks his gun, assumes a good stance, grips his trusty Glock 19 with both hands, and fires; finishing off a magazine in less than 30 seconds. He then turns and faces Penny and they simultaneously press the recall button to bring back their target sheets.

They take down their sheets and call the group over.

"Here guys you be the judge, who won?" Penny asks lowering her ear protector to around her neck.

The group look at the sheets and they are remarkably similar. Except Sheldon's dead-centre bulls- eye hole is three times as large as Penny's, there is another on the lower left-hand corner, and another on the upper right. The remaining five scatter the '9' ring. Penny's sheet has three bullets around the bulls-eye and the rest around the '9' ring.

"I think Sheldon wins this one, Penny," Raj tells her nervously, "we can only make out three bulls- eye holes on his sheet too but his biggest one that's dead centre is three times as big."

Penny scowls but walks over and examines her husband's target sheet, "Son of a bitch!" She exclaims then looks at her husband, arms crossed, "The last time you only did it once!"

"Well, I had an extra incentive to lose that time, now I only have your soup."

Penny blushed.

"Wait, so you guys have done this before?" Bernadette asks. Penny and Sheldon nod. "What was that for?"

"Whether we would live near a base or off it after we got married. I told him if I won I get to choose where we live and get a massage every night for a month. If he won then we stayed put," Penny explained to Bernadette and the others listening. Then glared at Sheldon, "You are such a liar, 'Oh, Penny you can take me, it's been years since I shot a pistol'," she mimicked, "I should have known better, you had your 5th pistol recertification badge by then," she hissed, "You lost on purpose!" Walking over and poking him in the chest playfully.

"And so what if I did, Pasadena is much closer to Camp Pendleton than Twentynine Palms, and you can't tell me you didn't enjoy those nightly massages, I certainly did," Sheldon smirked and he saw Penny blush again. That month after they moved into the apartment what began as a nice

after-work massage would invariably morph into nightly love-making sessions that felt like an extension of their honeymoon.

"So… let me see if I understand this, you have done this before, and while I can get that first time; this time the bet is a bowl of soup?" Howard asked trying to make sense of his neighbours' odd foreplay.

"Yes, and it is the best damn bowl of soup I've ever had," Sheldon confirmed.

Howard shrugged, "To each his own, I guess." He then looks over to Bernadette with a roll of his eyes, "They're weird." She giggles.

Sheldon then looks down at Penny hungrily, "I look forward to your soup, dearest."

Penny shakes her head clearing it and to temper down the shiver that ran down her spine. "Okay well, now that that's over with, let's have some fun." She clapped her hand overly chipper than before, everyone saw her deliberate change of subject but decided not to call her out on it. Instead, Emily and Raj took lane 5 and began to alternate shooting, while Bernadette showed Howard proper grip, how to sight, and how to reduce recoil on his shot. Sheldon and Penny meanwhile loaded another magazine and took turns shooting at a human target sheet this time, with Penny mumbling under her breath during her turn—Sheldon is pretty sure his wife is imagining him as the target. But he knows Penny would never hurt him; his wife just hates to lose, but given what he had just won he knows she'll enjoy this loss as much as he enjoyed his.

The group spent the next few hours, tearing through a dozen more target sheets and at least 100 rounds of ammunition, so much so that they had to purchase additional rounds from the pro shop. When they left, the manager thanked them for drumming up additional business on an otherwise slow Sunday and offered them five percent off dues the next time they come. They thanked him and went on their way.

Grabbing a late lunch at a pizza place near Disneyland, the group had just sat down when a voice called out, "Hey, Cooper!"

Sheldon stood and greeted the voice with a smile, "What are you doing here, Anderson?" "My wife and I took our kid to Disneyland finally and he tossed his lunch on the tea cups,"

Anderson said as he walked over and shook Sheldon's hand, "Now he wants pizza but not park

pizza so we came here, I'm glad I got those reentry stubs at the base. Ah, the joys of having a five-

year-old," he smiles.

Sheldon chuckles then introduces the people at his table, "Anderson, this is my wife Penny and our friends from left to right; Bernadette, Howard, Raj and Emily. Everyone, this is First Lieutenant Lewis Anderson, he oversees Echo Company."

They wave and say 'hi'.

"I'm glad I caught you actually, I received word yesterday that there's a new role for us in Afghanistan, did you?"

Sheldon nodded, "Yeah, western Afghanistan mostly. Apparently, the new commander isn't too happy about the current situation that Fox Company put themselves and by extension us in. He's calling in the closers."

Lewis nods, "I guess I'll see you in Farah, then." Sheldon smiles, Lewis then waves goodbye to those at Sheldon's table and returns to his own.

After Anderson left, Howard remarks, "So, is talking cryptically a thing with you or is that a shared trait among all armed service people, because I didn't follow any of that."

Sheldon chuckles, "I apologise, I suppose it's a bit of fear of OpSec compromise and habit. We don't say anything we don't really need to know. Kinda like verbal shorthand."

"So you're leaving for deployment again?" Bernadette asks, Sheldon nods. "How many times would this be?"

"My second to Afghanistan, and fifth deployment overall."

A lull in conversation overtakes the table but is mercifully brief as the pizza and drinks arrive.

While they eat, Emily asks Penny how she deals with Sheldon coming and going. Penny chuckles and tells her, "Not well, if my reaction to him coming home is any indication." She then takes out her phone and shows the table the video that Val took of Sheldon surprising Penny outside of class just before summer. They all laugh, and Bernadette gets a little misty-eyed. Penny notices this and says to the other blonde, "Oh sweetie, this is nothing to get choked up about… this is," and she shows the group the video Val took of Sheldon proposing.

"How did you get the band?" Raj asks.

"Penny has a friend in the Pep Band, Samantha, she plays the sax, and well my father told me to know when to ask for help, and I definitely needed all the help I could muster to propose to this incredible little lady."

"That's so romantic," Raj coos, wiping away a tear.

Penny purses her lips and slaps her husband's chest playfully, "Hey, I'm not short, I'm five-foot- seven buster!"

"And I'm six-two," Sheldon grinned. Penny narrowed her eyes at him as the group laugh at their banter.

"I've said it once and I'll say it again, you guys are exhausting." Howard smiles as he looks at Bernadette. He hopes to have a relationship like his neighbours and friends have, one day.

After the restaurant, they headed home to drop off the group; Sheldon and Penny tell the group goodbye because they were going down to Camp Pendleton to pick up Charlotte.

Once Sheldon and Penny were gone, Howard turns to Raj and says, "You know I don't know what the hell Leonard was thinking trying to woo Penny when she first moved in. Assuming she was single, she is way too much woman for his fragile little ego to handle. I mean she shoots guns, he has never even touched one; she openly flirts, if she did that with him his brain would probably melt; she is strong and independent—I mean you have to be if you can stomach deployment after deployment and still be as perky as she is—Leonard doesn't need that, he has that in his mom and sister and they don't get along at all. If Leonard ever had a chance with her, I only see it ending in disaster one way or another."

Raj nods, "I agree. Especially with the last two points, Leonard wants an ego boost not an equal— Penny is definitely Sheldon's equal. Besides Leonard never had a good track record with girls anyway, his longest relationship was with Joyce Kim and she was the one that landed him in prison. If he ever got with Penny, I think any slight to his masculinity and he would've turned on her like that," he snapped his fingers for emphasis, "Would probably cheat on her, and make her feel guilty for being herself. He made a lot of enemies among the female Caltech staff and faculty with his holier-than-thou routine while at the same time trying to still sleep with them. Supposedly that's why Mandy Chow bailed on him mid-date."

Bernadette and Emily were confused listening to their boyfriends talk, "Who are you guys talking about?" Bernadette spoke for the two of them.

"Oh, sorry," Howard blushed, "Leonard, Leonard Hofstadter, he was our former friend and associate at Caltech before he was indicted for stealing and destroying government property among other charges. He's now serving 26 years in federal prison for that. He was also the tenant in 4B before I moved in."

"Oh, I read about him. CNN ran a story about his trial and conviction," Emily added making a disgusted face, "He looked like a creep even in the photo they took of him for the story."

"Yeah… truth be told, I'm glad he's behind bars now," Raj said after a while.

Flashback

Ramadi, July 2006

"Watch the balconies!" Sheldon yelled then shot his rifle toward the balconies of Ramadi General Hospital downing several insurgents from hides five-six stories up. "Suppression fire on the hospital! Company A advance!"

As several members of Company A took off for the entrance of RGH, members of Company B fired ahead, while Sheldon and several other Marines continued to lay down suppression fire. Once he heard over the radio, "Company A breaching," Sheldon yelled to those under his command, "Strat retreat Alpha!"

Which was a strategic retreat to the safe zone while watching for enemy fire and retreating behind barriers for cover. As unit leader, Sheldon oversaw the retreat while helping provide cover fire for retreating Marines. He mentally counted off who was left and who was in transit and was under threat and dealt with the threats appropriately and accordingly. After several minutes, his mental counter told him they were one short.

"Who's missing?" Sheldon yelled over the gunfire. Then just as he asked it, out of the corner of his eye he saw a Marine on the ground writhing in pain. A red mist momentarily descended on him, he hadn't lost a friend since Perez's IED explosion, and he sure as hell wasn't going to start now. He took three deep breaths, then ran toward the injured Marine, shooting and ducking his way to the man. He took out one enemy insurgent from a nearby rooftop opposite the hospital and dove under the sandbag barrier stacked five bags high with his back to the barrier. He loaded another clip and then aimed across the barrier toward the hospital balcony, his M16 wasn't ideal but it would take too long to switch to his M40 and line up his shots. He hit two more from the second and third- story balconies who had a clear view of them. Once the threats were taken care of, he finally checked on the injured Marine—it was Fred Monroe.

"Where are you hit, Monroe?"

Fred winced in pain, "My thigh," he hissed. "Anywhere else?"

"No…"

"Okay, stay with me, Fred, don't close your eyes. Hang on tight, bud." As Sheldon lifted Monroe into a modified fireman's carry so he could still hold his rifle, as soon as Sheldon stood to make a run, Monroe yelled out, "Cooper, on your left!" Sheldon wasn't quick enough to dodge with the added weight of an extra body but was quick enough to turn so that instead of taking a bullet head- on it grazed his shoulder, causing him to stagger, but he managed to shift his weight and Fred's weight to maintain balance. He turned toward the direction of the shot and saw the feet of a crouching enemy behind a parked car; he grabbed a grenade, pulled the pin, and tossed it. It exploded upon impact with the ground causing a loud explosion and just the distraction Sheldon needed. He made a run for it, "You still with me, Fred?" When he heard a faint 'yeah' he smiled to himself. He made it back to the safe zone and had Fred taken to a medic.

"Staff Sergeant, you're bleeding," Reese told him, noticing a damp red patch on his CO's left shoulder.

"It's just a flesh wound, I'll be fine." Sheldon told him, "Monroe is the one who needs the most attention and the hospital isn't captured yet." Sheldon knows that they have a sniper lookout on the building opposite the hospital but one sniper versus dozens is still a huge disadvantage. "Carlisle, take charge of the unit, I'm heading in to clear the balcony," Sheldon told his next in command as he switched to his M40. He then took up a hide behind a merchant stall, again it wasn't ideal because the angle of engagement was heavily compromised but it would have to do. He radioed the sniper team in the building, "Company A safe, Alpha sniper assisting."

He heard back, "Thanks for the assist, Doc. One on the third floor, nine o'clock behind the curtains. One on the fourth floor, centre window; and one on the fifth floor, three o'clock. The wind is four mph, west to southeast."

"Copy that," Sheldon replied as he took to the scope for the third-floor sniper. He found him when the wind blew the curtains slightly exposing his position. This was a pure guesswork shot; he waited until the wind settled the curtain, adjusted for wind and a massive mil lead, took a breath, squeezed off a round, and hoped for the best. When he saw a body drop he took in a breath again, and then began looking for the fourth-floor sniper. This one was harder because of the higher angle but also because this one was behind glass, Sheldon could see the several attempts by friendly snipers to get him through the glass, only resulting in bullet holes through the glass. But maybe that was enough. This shot had to be perfect and also quick because the adrenaline was starting to wear off and now his shoulder was starting to throb. He found the target by a previously hit hole or

series of holes—which maybe couldn't be more than a 50-cent piece, but maybe that was enough, he hoped it would be because his target for this shot wasn't the enemy sniper but the hole. Again he adjusted for wind and a drastic mil lead to the hole, took a breath to calm his breathing, and took a shot. When he saw the enemy drop and the window splatter red, even he was shocked. But he had no time to take in the achievement he went after sniper number three which despite being the highest up was actually the closest to his line of sight and probably the easiest of the three. This one took advantage of the fact that he was so high up as a natural deterrent to be sniped so didn't hide, he simply crouched. The glint from his scope helped Sheldon figure out his position, and for a third time, Sheldon adjusted for wind, mil lead, breathed, and pulled the trigger. The sniper on the fifth floor crumpled. That was when he heard over the radio, "Hospital balcony clear. Damn, that was some amazing shooting, Doc." He radioed that he was pulling back, and given the all- clear to do so. Once Sheldon made it back, Carlisle told him to go see the medic, that he had this.

Sheldon reluctantly went this time—his shoulder was killing him.

As he was being looked over by the medic who wasn't too happy with him for waiting this long to see him because, "You know your shoulder is a freaking mess, right," they got notice that coalition forces had taken the hospital. He then proceeded to tell the medic that there is no nerve damage, no structural damage that it was merely a flesh wound and to clean him and bandage him up so he can return to the frontlines. The medic denied his request, instead had his shoulder cleaned, restitched, and bandaged, and had him sign a temporary medical out-of-commission form. It was for a month. He couldn't believe it, when he performed that emergency extraction on Michael, his friend was back within three weeks; why was he given an extra week? The medic told him it was to check for a range of motion; would he rather lose full rotation of his shoulder or rush it, was how the medic put it. Sheldon reluctantly agreed with the medical doctor, even if he, the science doctor thought he knew his body better.

For the next month, his arm was in a sling which made him look like he was more injured than he felt. The only thing keeping him sane was being able to plan the next steps for the taking of the city and a Skype call from Penny. Although in hindsight, he probably shouldn't have had it while his arm was in the sling because her first words, made him feel extremely guilty.

"Oh my God, Sheldon, what happened? Are you okay? Is it serious? You promised me you wouldn't take any chances! We're getting married, I can't marry a flag-draped coffin!"

"Penny, I'm fine. I assure you, this looks much worse than it is. It was a flesh wound, really. The sling is a precaution."

Penny's face on the video call calmed at that somewhat, but she was still upset. "What do you mean flesh wound? You aren't in a Monty Python sketch, Sheldon, you're in a war zone."

"Calm down, Penny. If you must know, a bullet grazed my shoulder that's all. No damage other than a pretty neat stitching scar."

"You needed stitches?! What the hell?" Penny yelled.

"Penny, I'm fine. Trust me, nothing—and I mean nothing—is going to stop me from coming back and marrying my girl," Sheldon smiled, trying to placate his fiancée.

Penny took a deep breath, closed her eyes, opened them, and then spoke very slowly, "Okay, tell me everything, and I swear to God, Sheldon if you leave out one detail I'm gonna be on the next plane to Iraq and go Junior Rodeo on your ass before the Iraqis try and kill you again," Penny threatened.

Sheldon remembered Wyatt's stories of Penny in Junior Rodeo so he told his fiancée the truth, "All

right, well, we were taking a hospital today, and everything was going to plan until the strategic retreat, at which point I noticed that one person from my unit was missing. I found him writhing in pain behind a sand barrier. Do you remember how devastated I was when that IED killed Perez; well, I wasn't going to let that happen again. So I went after him taking out three on my way to him, the him in question was Fred Monroe. He was hit in the thigh and bleeding heavily. As I lifted him, he called out to me to watch my left, I wasn't fast enough to dodge so I turned to avoid a direct blow and the bullet grazed my shoulder. I then found out who the culprit was and threw a grenade which dispatched the would-be shooter and in the confusion of the grenade explosion I made it to safety with Monroe. Monroe was taken to a medic for immediate medical attention while Reese informed me I was bleeding, I told him it was a flesh wound probably because I was still high on the adrenaline and went back in to aid the sniper unit, clearing the hospital balcony of three enemy snipers with varying difficulty before calling it a day and finally seeking medical attention because by then my shoulder was really beginning to hurt. The medic was not impressed by my waiting to see him at which point I reiterated it was a flesh wound and to clean me, bandage me and send me back in—he refused. Instead, he made me sign a MOC notice lasting a month. As of our Skype call right now, I still have two weeks. But overall, I feel fine. Like I said Penny, nothing is going to stop me from coming back and marrying the most beautiful girl in the world. I will be back as soon as I can."

Penny sat thousands of miles away watching and listening to her fiancé recall saving a squad mate and clearing a hospital of enemy snipers like he was talking about the weather—to Sheldon it was just another day—but to her, she couldn't help but fall in love with him a little bit more. She knows what he does isn't easy and while he doesn't like to talk about it—unless forced—this man is exactly what she wants and needs. Completely selfless and above all, righteous in deed and heart. She had some pretty shitty boyfriends before Sheldon which have since made her wonder what in the hell her younger self saw in them. All they saw in her was a pretty face, and all they saw in themselves was that they were dating the hot cheerleader—and were extremely smug about it. She believes Sheldon when he says nothing will stop him from coming back to her, but that doesn't make it any less nerve-racking that he is in a war zone with danger lurking literally behind every corner or bit of wall. She took another breath, "Okay honey, I believe you, but you need to promise me again, come back to me. I don't care how, just not in a coffin. Please?"

Sheldon chuckled, "I promise you, Penny, you aren't getting rid of me that easily. I will come back to you, I will marry you, and we will eventually have our happily ever after."

Penny giggled, "I don't need happily ever after when I have you. Just you." Sheldon smiled for the first time during their conversation, "Okay."

"I love you, Sheldon." "I love you too, Penny."

"Okay, honey I'll let you go. Get some rest, Sheldon." Penny kisses her index and middle fingers and presses them to the screen to where Sheldon's lips on the video chat are.

Sheldon smiles and reciprocates her gesture, "Until we meet again, Penny."