A/N:This began with this doodle of what GLaDOS's and Chell's daughter would look like: lieju . deviantart art / CaTHY-309546397 (remove spaces). And this grew from that idea.

"CaTHY, I'll tell you a story."

The cyborg looked at her mother (or one of them), interpreting her hand-gestures. Her human mother had insisted they didn't upload that skill to her memory banks so that the girl learned sign language the old fashioned way. GLaDOS had called it ridiculous.

"CaTHY is not old-fashioned, like you. She is an improved version. True, her DNA might be mostly based on you but you might notice the cybernetics? She lacks your limitations."

However, she hadn't included it in any of the language-updates she had downloaded to the mechanical part of CaTHY's (Cybernetic and Technological Humanoid Youngster) brain.

"I know stories," CaTHY insisted. "And if I want more I can always download any I want from the main computer. "

Chell shook her head, smiling; she signed the words "It's not the same. Besides, I want to tell you a bedtime story. Humor me."

"Hm."

"Besides, you won't find this story in the computers."

"Really?" That got her interest. Always ready to learn more, this one.

"Once upon a time, there was a princess." Chell began, but was quickly interrupted.

"How original. I have," her human eye got a faraway look when she accessed her computer-memory, the light in the optic of her headpiece flashing. "146 variations of fairy-tales in my memory that begin with those exact words."

"That's just the beginning of that story."

"Was she just a princess? Isn't that a title, not a job? How old was she?"

"Well, her dad was a king, but she didn't much care about the title. So she didn't use it."

"So what was her name? If she didn't use the title, why are you calling her 'princess'?"

"Why don't you name her? Suggest a name."

"Hypatia." The girl answered.

"Hypatia?"

"Yeah." She looked her mother in the eye, challenging her to disagree with her choice.

Chell smiled, recognizing that expression. It was one she had given GLaDOS countless times.

"Fine, Hypatia it is. She never liked being confined to one place, and so wandered around, looking for adventure. She was quick on her feet, and good at solving riddles and fighting monsters. Once she came of age-"

"What age?"

"18. Her dad wanted her to marry, and while she wasn't too eager, she loved her father, and told him she would marry, but only once she'd find a husband she loved and who could rule the country together with her. But before that happened, an evil dragon attacked the kingdom, scorching the earth, spewing toxic gas everywhere, turning the kingdom to a land of death."

"What did the dragon look like?"

"She had huge bat-like wings, tough skin like white metal, a powerful tail that could destroy mountains with one swipe and sharp claws on her hands and feet."

"How big was she?"

"Bigger than an elephant."

"About the size of Gladdy's main body?"

Chell smiled at CaTHY's nickname for GLaDOS. It had began as a mispronunciation, back when CaTHY's body and her reflexes hadn't fully developed, and despite having the knowledge of language downloaded directly to her brain, she was unable to pronounce things properly. Chell had thought it was cute, and encouraged her using it, and to GLaDOS's chagrin, it had stuck.

"Yes, it was about that size."

"So how could she fly?"

"Magic. Now are you letting me tell the story?"

"Gladdy says that you need to be ready to accept criticism and be glad that people are willing to point out your shortcomings."

"Sounds like her. Anyway, Hypatia took her sword and shield to defend her home alongside her father's army. But one by one, the dragon's magic breath turned the soldiers into stone. Finally it was just Hypatia, and with a mighty strike, she plunged her sword to the dragon's heart, but was wounded herself, and fell down."

CaTHY looked disappointed. "That's it?"

"No, this is merely the beginning. The dragon's magic was powerful, and it fell over the whole kingdom. A great sleep took over the land, and the tiny white imps that were the servants of the dragon came to their mistress, but were unable to wake the sleeping dragon. So they carried princess Hypatia to the highest tower, and sealed her in, and waited. And waited and waited, and slept for a hundred years."

"Like Sleeping Beauty."

"Yes. There was a lot of magic like that around back then. And like with Sleeping Beauty, the word about the sleeping princess guarded by a dragon and her army of imps spread, and many adventurers; princes and knights, came from around the world, but were shot by the imps with their bows and arrows, or driven away. And over time, people started avoiding the place, and eventually forgot the princess was more than a fairy-tale. And finally the castle started to be taken over by vegetation.

Then one day, a wandering prince from a faraway country overseas found his way to the castle. By this time the castle walls had crumbled on many places, so he could, mostly by accident, avoid most of the traps and imps.

So he explored the castle, and eventually found the princess in the highest tower. "

"Let me guess, he woke her up with a kiss?" The little cyborg sounded disapproving. "If some guy I never met did that to me I'd bite his nose off."

"Reasonable enough. But this prince had good manners, and instead woke the princess by poking her with a stick."

"How did that break the spell?"

"It was a magic stick. Anyway, the prince woke her up, telling her they'd need to work together to get away. And so they did, making their way through the castle, Hypatia defeating the traps and imps, and the prince providing moral support. Eventually they reached the chamber where the dragon lay in her sleep. And then the prince made a mistake."

"What?"

"He removed the sword form the dragon's heart, and the beast woke."

"Why did he take it?"

"He saw the sword and wanted it. Because he only had the stick."

"It was a magic stick, though." CaTHY noted.

"So the dragon woke up, and she was angry. And with a magic blast she struck down the prince and turned her attention to the princess. And with one swipe of her tail she defeated Hypatia."

"Did the prince die?"

"You'll see."

"So no."

"Hypatia was carried by the imps to the dungeons and was imprisoned there. Later the dragon came down to gloat. Each day she would come down, and mock her and point out her failures and make up new ones, and blame Hypatia for everything bad that had happened, but Hypatia would just stay silent. The dragon would put the princess through dangerous traps and Hypatia would just escape from them, never saying a word. The dragon grew angrier and angrier.

Hypatia didn't care about the insults. She wasn't offended or hurt. And in fact she started to anticipate the daily visits from the dragon. And over time, she saw that the dragon was in pain. She would come to the dungeons, every day, and rest of the time sit in the throne room, alone."

"Why didn't she spend time with other dragons?"

"She was the only dragon."

"How?"

"She hadn't been born a dragon. She had been human first, a queen reigning over her kingdom. But an evil wizard had decided to take over the country, so he cursed the queen and turned her into a dragon that had to destroy everything and cause misery, or be in pain herself."

"Could those bad guys be from Black Mesa? They're jerkfaces."

"Okay, they can be. Not that they are going to come back in this story. But despite his curse, the dragon stayed in the castle, instead of finding new lands to destroy. And she didn't know why. Instead she'd every day go to the dungeon, to mock Hypatia. But after it she felt a bit better, and wasn't even sure why.

And over time, her insults became less harsh, since Hypatia didn't seem to care either way. And instead the dragon started to talk about things, of lands she had seen, what little she could remember about her life as a human… And Hypatia just sat there, listening.

But more the dragon talked about her life as a human, the more she remembered, and it pained her, so she stopped coming. And Hypatia started to miss her.

She still put her through the torture-chambers, though, but she started to get careless, and one day the prince managed to break into one of them, and he let Hypatia out so they could escape."

"Where had he been?"

"He had been hiding in the dungeons. But he needed Hypatia's help to escape, so they trekked through the castle together, running from the imps, the princess protecting the prince. Eventually they reached the chamber where the dragon lay. But the dragon was weak, almost skin and bones. Hypatia was shocked to discover her in such a condition. She stood there, not knowing what to do. But then the prince made his move. He plunged his magic stick to the dragon's breast, where the sword had been. And he took her power."

"How? How did he know how to do that?"

"He knew some magic. Enough for that. "

"Why didn't he do it before?"

"Maybe that's what he tried to do when he first woke the dragon by pulling the sword out. Anyway, the power was strong, and ancient and cursed, so he was overwhelmed by it, and couldn't resist its influence. He used his new magic to take revenge on the dragon, by turning her into a tiny lizard, and opening a huge chasm and throwing her in. But when Hypatia saw this she jumped after her, diving after her ex-captor.

They fell and fell, for what felt like ages, until they stopped in the dark."

"How did they survive? Did they have Long-Fall Boots?"

"No, but the dragon-turned-lizard had still a small amount of magic, and used it to soften their fall.

And together the two climbed and climbed, Hypatia carrying the lizard and protecting her from birds. At first the lizard talked, throwing mean comments, but half-heartedly, and eventually she fell silent, contemplating her situation. Finally after a long journey they got into the castle."

"What did they eat?"

"They could find underground rivers, and ate fish. They fought their way through the castle-"

"What about the imps?"

"They were working for the prince now. And speaking of him, during the time they had been underground, he had gone completely crazy, and forced by the curse to spread his corruption on the surrounding countryside. Hypatia had to fight him, for his sake as well, as he wasn't in full control anymore. So she and her companion made their way to the throne room.

And there he was, eyes bulging with madness, and crackling with evil power. Then the lizard spoke: 'You cannot win against him with your power. You need to trust me. You think I'll betray you. And on any other day, you'd be right. But now I'm free of the curse. I've heard voices all my dragon life. But now I hear the voice of a conscience, and it's terrifying, because for the first time it's my voice.

I'm being serious, I think there's something really wrong with me.

You like revenge, right? Everybody likes revenge. Well, let's go get some.', The lizard said."

"I have to agree with her." CaTHY nodded. "The prince deserves to have his butt kicked."

"So, the lizard shielded Hypatia with her power, so that she could get close to him, to kick his butt. She took the magic stick and whacked him over the head with it, forcing the power out of him. The power surged out, flooding the room. Hypatia looked at the poor lizard on her arms. She lay lifeless, all of her power spent. It was her only option; Hypatia threw the lizard in the magic, and the energy filled her. A flash of light was the last thing the princess saw before passing out."

"What happened when she woke up? She did wake up, right?"

"She did. And when she woke up she was greeted by the magnificent form of the great dragon, returned to her former glory. She told the princess to leave. 'You know what my days used to be like? I just conquered lands and destroyed lives. Nobody murdered me. Or turned me to a lizard. I had a pretty good life. And then you showed up. You dangerous, mute lunatic. So you know what? You win. Just go.'

And she did. Just to be certain she was really free to go. But once she was free of her power, Hypatia turned, and returned.

'You came back. You really must have brain damage. Only someone like that would-'

But she fell silent when Hypatia placed a kiss on her dragon snout. The dragon called it foolish human bonding behavior, but she didn't object when Hypatia kissed her a second time."

"Did they live their life happily ever after?"

"No. Only silly stories end like that. Real life, and interesting stories end with the knowledge that life continues, with its ups and downs. They had more ups than downs, though. Cured by most of her curse, the dragon let the kingdom return to normal and healed the land with her magic. She still stayed a dragon, though, but since she had been one for so long, she thought of it as her real form anyway. She and Hypatia got married and ruled the kingdom together. They even got a half-human half-dragon daughter with magic."

"What about the prince?"

"He was exiled. But he apologized, so Hypatia forgave him, since he had been under the evil magic's influence. He did his best to avoid the dragon, though, since she wasn't as forgiving."

"Did they go and conquer the evil kingdom of Black Mesa together?"

"Maybe. You might hear a new story some other night."

"It was an okay story. For a fairy-tale. The characterization was weak, though, and the world-building unsubstantial, but it was okay."

"Nice to hear. Now plug in for recharging and set your processor to sleep-mode."

"Mommy? Can you do it?"

Chell tucked her daughter in, and opened the panel on the robotic side of her face to plug the cable hanging from her bedroom wall in. Then she gave two goodnight kisses on CaTHY's forehead: one on the human side of her face and one on the robot part.

"Goodnight" She signed.

"Goodnight", was the sleepy reply, as the little cyborg drifted to sleep.