They were standing there on a slippery rock, the waterfall only slightly wetting the rock their booted feet rested on before it plunged over the sheer cliff. Although the sparkling water made them have to squint to be able to see each other properly, Rick thought that it was what Chell called quite a romantic moment. And she did look absolutely gorgeous, but she always did to him. "Is this what you had in mind, us on an adventure in an exotic place?" she asked, having to shout to be heard over the roaring water.

"Yes", he replied, grinning at her, "Exactly. Now all we need is to be hanging by our fingertips on the edge of a cliff".

"Well, there's a cliff here", she pointed out to him, "How about we try to climb down that?"

"Sure", he replied, excited at the prospect of climbing down a cliff with her, "It's a faster and more exciting way back to the campsite". She stepped into the swiftly flowing water first, but it was deeper than she'd thought it would be and she lost her footing. She'd let go of his hand to step off the rock, but he quickly grabbed it again when he saw her slip.

"Careful now, beautiful", Rick warned her as he pulled her back towards him a little.

"I made it through all the tests before, one little waterfall can't hurt me", she laughed at him, and tried to step forward again.

"If you say so", he relented, relaxing his grip on her hand a little so she could get further towards the cliff. But just as he did, she slipped again and this time fell back."Chell!" he cried out, and, stepping forwards, grabbed her just as she hit her head on the rock he still stood on. She groaned and her blue-grey eyes closed almost peacefully.

Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-action and adventure-dunna-dunna-na-dunna-na-playing by our own rules-nanana-hanging by our fingers from a mountain-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun...

She woke up to the pleasant feeling of the sun-warmed canvas of the tent against her cheek. Feeling a bit worse for wear, she opened her eyes slowly and saw the concerned dark green eyes of her boyfriend looking at her. "About time you woke up", he smiled, "I was starting to think that maybe I'd have to cancel our adventure and get back to civilisation so you could get professional help". She only laughed slightly and tried to sit up, but at a dizzy spell laid back down on the uncomfortable tent stretcher-bed. She tried to remember what had caused her to be there at all, and all she could remember was water rushing past her ankles and filling her boots as she fell backwards and hit her head hard on a rock.

"How did I end up here?" she asked, trying to push her hair back and finding that it had fallen out of its plait he asked her to put it in. She felt the slightly coarse material of a bandage and was a little confused.

"When you fell, you hit your head pretty hard on the rock but I caught you so you wouldn't go over the waterfall. It wasn't easy pulling you up but somehow I managed and carried you back here in my arms", he explained, playing his role up as usual.

"I'm not fat", Chell frowned, "Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"I wasn't implying that, sweetheart, just that the rock was slippery and it was hard for my boots to grip while I was pulling you up", he assured her. "Besides", he continued, "I know that you have a beautiful figure, considering I've seen it in all its raw beauty so many times". He smiled and Chell blushed but didn't look away from him.

"Just like you really do have a black belt in bedroom", she laughed slightly, "And medicine too apparently, considering how you fixed me up".

"An adventurer always needs to know how to fix up any injuries, no matter how big or small. Plus it's just bad manners to leave a pretty lady like you injured", he shrugged.

"You're lucky I can handle all of your cheesy comments by now", Chell smiled, and sat up to kiss him. He leaned down and kissed with her, wrapping his arms around her back and gently lying her back down so that she was under him. Normally Rick liked that feeling but he knew that she was too weak to do anything other than kiss. Especially because her kisses normally had more passion.

"I'll get you something to eat", he decided after a while, and she nodded as she gently brushed his fingers along her cheek and kissed her forehead. The bandage on her head had a bit of blood on it, so he decided that he'd have to change it again after she had something to eat. At least she wasn't too pale or anything, so she wasn't losing too much blood. And besides, head wounds did tend to bleed a lot. Still, though, he was worried.

Chell watched as the adventurer stepped out of the tent and continued staring at the door, waiting for him to come back. He knew she wanted him, so why didn't he bring out his black belt in bedroom again? She supposed that he was just waiting for her strength to return, though maybe it had something to do with the fact that she probably smelled bad from not showering for however long she'd been out. Then again, he hadn't minded before when they'd first met while fighting Wheatley. Not even when she'd been all bedraggled after recovering from the booby-trapped stalemate resolution button. In fact, he'd seemed even more attracted to her then. While she was worrying about why he hadn't taken things further with her, she absently dragged her fingers through her dark brown hair that she'd let grow long after leaving Aperture. Though oily, her hair was smooth as though he'd brushed it while she'd been unconscious. The thought made her smile.

When Rick walked back in through the tent flaps carrying a small bundle of forest berries and edible roots, Chell was still smiling. "You brushed my hair", she said quietly, smiling, and he nodded.

"Every single day", Rick grinned, "My angel has to look as good as she can depending on the circumstances".

"Thanks", Chell said to him, and took the forest food from him gratefully. He'd also brewed her a tea from some leaves he'd found somewhere in the forest, which made her feel better to her relief. It tasted a little bit odd, though. But it was better than anything the test subjects had been fed at Aperture, that was for sure.

"I'd join you in eating but I already ate earlier this morning", Rick informed her, sitting on his own stretcher-bed.

"That's okay", Chell nodded, sitting up a little easier after a few sips of the strange-tasting tea, "How long have I been out?"

"Just a few weeks, maybe a month", Rick replied, shrugging, "I'm not sure".

"A month?" Chell gaped, "Was it really that long? I must've hit my head pretty hard, then".

"You did", Rick confirmed, "And it bled quite a bit. I would've kept you awake so you wouldn't have concussion but you were already out when you hit your head and I couldn't wake you no matter what I tried".

"At least you tried", Chell sighed, "And I'm still alive and awake now so it can't be that bad".

"Hey, you can survive multiple gunshots to the head, it'd take more than hitting your head on a rock to kill you", Rick laughed slightly.

"I guess so", Chell laughed too, and finished off her forest meal with the rest of her tea. It wasn't much, but she guessed that it was because she hadn't eaten anything in so long and he didn't want to make her sick.

"Feeling better now you've had something to eat?" he asked, and she nodded, able to sit up properly cross-legged on the bed facing him. She was dressed in different clothes, just a singlet top and very small brown shorts, but it was comfortable and she didn't mind being naked around him. "I changed your clothes so you wouldn't be all wet and get even sicker", he explained, seeing her noticing her change of clothes, "I hope you don't mind".

"Just as long as you didn't do anything else with me while I was between clothes", Chell replied, smiling knowingly at him, and he laughed.

"You taught me to behave better than that", he assured her, taking her hand and kissing it gently, "Before I might have, but I just undressed you, dried you, and put you in new clothes. Also I bandaged your head so you wouldn't bleed all over the place".

"You've gone from the guy who would get slapped by many women to the guy who is tolerable, save for the occasional cheesy pick-up line", Chell pointed out, "All thanks to me, right?"

"Right", Rick nodded, "And I only use those cheesy pick-up lines around you anyway".

"You wouldn't be Rick without them", Chell smiled, and leaned across the space between the two beds to kiss him gently on the lips. It was just a sweet kiss but all the same it made Rick happier than anything else and for a moment he was reminded of the fact that they hadn't been intimate for about a month. But then the moment was gone as she pulled away from him and he was left with a feeling of deep intensity and lust that before had only been satisfied by adventure. But now he had her and she was just perfect to him in every way.

"I love you", he said to her, something he didn't say too often, and she could hear the sincerity in his voice.

"I love you too, Rick", she smiled, and the doubts from before about her appearance suddenly vanished from her mind because she knew- he loved her no matter how she looked, even if she had been unconscious for many weeks. He always looked perfect to her too, whether he was cleaned up with his hair combed back for an evening out or in his khaki adventure clothes like he was now, with messy hat-hair and some dirt smudged on his face.

"You've probably been expecting this for a while now, but I was thinking that maybe we could find a place to live here in the forest and build a house, live together away from everything, go adventuring whenever we want, maybe have a few kids", Rick said quickly, unsure of how she would react to his proposal.

"I think that's a good idea", she nodded with a smile, "I've built up plenty of endurance from all those tests and we do okay out here in the forest. Aside from the occasional small injury, that is. Maybe we could even live not so far in the wild but a little bit away from civilisation, just to be safe". He agreed to her addition, nodding and smiling at the fact that he would finally have his dream since meeting her- living with Chell and going on adventures with her, living life on the edge.

"Maybe we should get you better first though before we start our life out here together", Rick suggested, which Chell obviously agreed with.

"Yeah, I agree", Chell smiled, "We can't just go building something and then suddenly have to stop because I was too weak. It shouldn't take me too long to recover, though. I'm strong".

"That you are", Rick grinned a little deviously, and quickly planted a kiss on her lips. Chell was slightly shocked but just laughed and kissed him back, allowing him to push her down on the bed again. Having him on top of her just felt so right, just one of many things they both agreed on. She wanted to be intimate with him again, so badly that she forgot for a moment that she was really too weak to be doing something that used up so much energy…