(SPOILER ALERT! This story takes place directly after the ending of Portal 2.)

(Author's Notes: Introductory chapter to what is going to be a Chell/android!Wheatley fanfic. Since it is the intro, it's rather long and boring. This is the first time I am attempting a fanfic since all I write are original things, so bear with me... -_-;)

Portal and Portal 2's characters and locations © Valve

Pitch darkness gave way to blinding light. Chell's eyes opened abruptly, and her upper body lurched forward, away from where she lay. She looked as if she had awoken from a dream where she was falling into an endless pit (without her Long Fall Boots), breathing in a harsh way and eyes wild with fear.

Lightheaded from the sudden movement, her vision was clouded. She could only see brown and gray masses against a white background. Her hands were clammy and sweat caused her hair to stick against her neck. The weight of sleepiness pushed down on her head, almost tempting her with another nap.

Instead of giving in, she shook off the feeling, and gradually, with a few blinks, her sleep-filled vision cleared. Her breath began to steady, and her rigid posture loosened as she recovered from the horror of her imagination.

The blobs of scenery became a sterile, but somewhat welcoming environment. A flat-screen television playing the day's news hovered over a sink and gray marble countertop. Cleaning chemicals hung thick in the air, practically burning her nostrils. The soft whir of machinery was close by. From the corner of her eye she could see small blinking lights.

Drowsily, Chell looked down at herself. Some starchy white sheets covered her. She no longer wore an Aperture Laboratories test subject uniform, but instead a blue patterned gown. She had white wrappings around her arms and could feel bandages on her forehead and cheek. The bed she was tucked into was industrial, tasteless in design but obviously was not simply for sleeping. From her movements she felt a small tug at her arm that sent a small pulse of pain through her. A needle was inserted into her vein with a cable leading to a small liquid-filled package at her bedside.

She made the move to tear out the tube, believing it to be an Aperture creation she didn't approve to test for, but another's hand suddenly firmly gripped her wrist mid-movement.

"That's there to help you," a woman's voice was speaking kindly and peacefully to her, a tone that had become foreign to Chell after so many years at the Enrichment Center, "you're very weak and need it."

Chell would've simply pushed the hand away if it weren't for the life-like flesh that covered it. She had yet to meet a robot that masked being a human in more than just intelligence and voice. The hand gently squeezed hers, and then drew back.

Looking to the source of the hand, Chell was even more surprised to see that it really was a human woman in her presence. She was dressed studiously in a blouse, pencil skirt, and shiny new white lab coat.

The woman now went to Chell's side and held her finger in front of her.

"Follow my finger with your eyes only." She moved her finger to Chell's right. As usual, Chell did as she was told. The woman moved her finger in all directions, even forcing Chell to temporarily go cross-eyed.

"Good," the woman concluded her exercise. Chell bewilderedly stared at her as she moved towards the ticking machinery at the bedside.

As she tinkered with the devices, Chell shifted in her seat, looking for the Aperture logo on the breast of the woman's lab coat. The woman glanced over at Chell, giving her an amused expression.

"Never been in such an old facility before, huh? You seem surprised you're not in a Recovery Pod." The woman turned away from the instruments and plucked a manila folder from the bed's footboard. She opened it and examined it curiously. Chell only gave her another confused look. She'd heard of Relaxation Chambers and Vaults but never Recovery Pods. Facility? Did she mean they were in an older part of the Enrichment Center?

"I should probably explain how you ended up in the hospital, shouldn't I? You're probably confused." The other woman looked up from the folder to study the girl who was intently staring back at her.

Again, Chell's stiff defensive pose fled. A hospital was the complete opposite of a place like Aperture, where their experiments could lead to injury and maybe death. Was it possible that the Aperture facility had a hospital ward, and that she was being tended to there?

"Well, a good Samaritan dropped you off here. He said he found you passed out in one of the fields near here." She continued her evaluation of the folder, muttering, "but how you got there in the first place is the question." The woman in the coat put her back to Chell, using her finger to scan through the documents she held.

Remembrance of times not long ago flooded back to Chell. A sudden torrent of blinding rays hit her, but she didn't shield her eyes. Instead she marveled at the endless ocean of golden. Birds cooed from some close place. She glimpsed up at the blue sky and distant fluffy clouds, stepping around a small dirt patch. Even though the area would come off as boring to any other person, Chell could only marvel at the beauty she saw of the simple place. A loud bang disturbed the majestic environment, and she swiftly turned around to be greeted by a rusty shed. Of course Aperture would disguise an entrance like this.

Without notice the shed's thick door swung open and something was about to be ejected from the darkness it held.

"Your papers don't list your identification. Could you tell me what it is, sweetheart? I'm sure you don't want to go by Jane Doe the entire time you're here," the woman casually pulled a pen from her breast pocket and readied it above the open folder as she brought her attention back to Chell.

The old shed melted away. The yellow sea disappeared. She was snapped back into the present.

Not knowing what else to do, Chell blankly stared at the other woman. She kept a straight face, though secretly she was upset the woman had disturbed her finest memory. After a few moments of Chell's tense gray gaze, the woman looked unsettled. Finally Chell realized she was making the woman uncomfortable. Chell quickly started miming "writing" on her hand.

The woman seemed to brighten with Chell's reaction, "You'd rather write? That's fine, here," she offered the folder and pen to Chell, "just your name for now, please."

Chell took the utensils and scribbled her full name in messy handwriting, holding out the papers when she was done. When she received the papers, the woman observed them with an intrigued look.

"Michelle? Is that right?" She looked up, a small smile on her rosy lips. Chell shook her head, and held out her hands again, signaling she wanted the papers back. Though puzzled, the woman gave them back. Chell underlined the "ch" in her name, and then wrote "Chell" next to it. She returned the papers, and the woman resumed analyzing Chell's name.

"So it's a hard 'ch' in your name? And you go by Chell? Is that better?" Chell slightly nodded, a friendly smile gracing her lips. The woman beamed back,

"Nice to meet you, Chell. I'm Dr. Marilyn Anders. I've been taking care of you since you came here."

And now it registered in Chell that she wasn't in Aperture anymore. The last time she had awoken in a strange place, she had been in the Aperture facility again, so she had assumed this situation would be the same. All of these thoughts crowding up in her head have distracted her from recalling everything that happened the last time she was awake.

She finally remembered GLaDOS's goodbye, the turrets' song, and seeing the light for the first time since her adolescence. GLaDOS even let the Companion Cube out too. The Cube was the thing that was about to pop out of the shack. Where was it by the way?

Chell quickly forgot about Dr. Anders and began a seated, panicked search around her bed for her faithful friend, the Companion Cube. The doctor was again perplexed by Chell's actions.

"Is something wrong?" Dr. Anders seemed genuinely concerned for her patient's sanity. Still avoiding speaking, Chell used her hands to "draw" a square shape. Her doctor nodded, understanding thus far. Chell then made a heart with her hands, in the middle of where her imaginary square was. Dr. Anders understood right away.

"Your belongings are in the emergency room's storage area still. I'll be right back...Please don't mess with your IV or get out of bed."

As the doctor exited, Chell flashed an annoyed look at the IV tube. Being anchored down was not something she enjoyed. But though she was as stubborn as a mule, that didn't mean she didn't have obedience and patience. She settled back on her pillows and contemplated her life. She realized that eventually she'd have to tell Dr. Anders her unbelievable backstory.

How did her mess begin, Chell thought. She didn't even know what year it was, so she couldn't determine how many centuries have passed since she last breathed in fresh air. Only fragments of memories remained of the day she "killed" GLaDOS and stepped outside for the first time since she was about eight or nine years old. The last time she was actually immersed in society was when she was still in elementary school. That was before the fatal "Bring Your Daughter to Work" day at her father's workplace, Aperture Laboratories.

Though it was GLaDOS's fault she was imprisoned in the lab for so long, her latest experiences with the robot had somewhat changed her hateful opinion of the destructive queen of Aperture. Chell contemplated the only reason she and GLaDOS had "bonding" time was because the bot was desperate to get out of her "POTaDOS" body, and was simply using the human test subject as a tool. Even though the life form continued to take jabs at Chell's self-esteem while they were partnered up, Chell noticed some changes in actions and words directed at her. In the end, GLaDOS did something very out of character and spared her. In the end, she survived, and her "best friend", according to GLaDOS but Chell wasn't sure if this was the fluent sarcasm GLaDOS spoke or not; let her leave the building she had called home for many years. Speaking of best friends...

Wheatley.

That core had become a great and trusted companion of Chell's, even if he did all the talking and she never uttered a sound.

That core who betrayed her for the lust of power.

Perhaps she and POTaDOS had bonded because of their newfound mutual hatred for Wheatley. Silly and different as he was, Chell had gotten attached to the core just as she had become attached to the Companion Cube from her first adventure. Unfortunately, history repeated itself and just like she lost the Cube, she lost Wheatley. In the darkest part of her heart Chell possessed intense hatred for him but somehow she still had remorse for being unable to save him while they were in space.

After all, he only acted like a moron when he took over the facility.

Chell was so occupied with her thoughts that she didn't notice when Dr. Anders walked back, holding the Companion Cube in her arms. With every memory Chell's expression had shifted from joy, to anger, indifference, and back again, so she was unaware that the doctor had witnessed her odd meditation session.

"Is this what you wanted?" The doctor looked flustered, struggling to hold up the Cube. Her voice forced Chell to snap out of her daydreams. Quickly Chell turned to her doctor and eagerly held out her hands, welcoming the Cube with a grin. Relieved, Dr. Anders dropped the heavy Cube into Chell's arms. Her patient cradled the Companion Cube like a mother would hold their newborn.

The doctor went through the room's open doorway and grabbed a large, clear plastic bag from a trolley in the connecting hallway. It was labeled "patient's items" and "Jane Doe #1498" and contained Chell's ratty Aperture uniform and her Long Fall Boots. She placed the bag under Chell's bed.

Chell bent over the Cube and pressed her cheek against one of its surfaces. The Cube was scarred from the fire that Chell had reluctantly thrown it in, but it too had survived GLaDOS's wrath. Judging only by the icy surface it was hard to tell the Cube had once been alone in a fiery hell.

Then Chell's mind wandered back to Wheatley, the other Aperture creation she had left behind. He was drifting out in space with only a fellow corrupted core as company. The Space Core was probably driving him insane, but he already knew what insanity was like. It would be the same as his takeover of the facility; only he has control over no one and nothing. Chell was amused at the thought of his helplessness. But yet she worried about the blue core and regrets being unable to grab him in time. Watching the core be sucked into the black ocean of stars was heart wrenching after all of the trials they went through together.

Why was she so concerned about him?

(End Notes: Oh my gosh I didn't think I'd write THIS much! It's like I'm writing a novel! Thank you for reading! Please feel free to drop some advice or let me know if something sounds weird to you. -u-)