Wheatley stared at the face of the one he had betrayed 5 years ago. It wasn't the face he remembered. This one held no sorrow or anger. The lady had forgiven him.
And now they would both die.
GLaDOS, knowing that Chell's life was ending, had pulled Wheatley from orbit, to pour water over hard drives, and make him watch her die in front of him.
But the lady just smiled at him as she fell over in the grass beside him, the last of her energy fading.
"Hello Wheatley."
"Hallo again. I see your voice got fixed."
They both spoke quietley, savoring the feeling of being friends again.
"I missed you."
"Me too. Not that I missed myself I mean. I missed you, I mean. Space isn't fun."
She gave a weak laugh.
"Lady,"
"Chell. That's my name."
"Chell, I have to say this, I'm sorry. I was horrible and monstrous, and I treated you like an animal. I'm sorry. And I am, truly, sorry for what I did. Have been the entire time I was up there."
She reached forward and caressed his casing.
"I forgave you a long time ago. I hadn't willingly let go of you. Even after all that you had done, I still had faith in you, and I wanted to save you. I just didn't have the strength. And I haven't had it since. I have been weak for the past 5 years, I've lost my strength without my friend."
If he had the ability to, he would have cried. She had forgiven him. She hadn't wanted to let go of him.
Chell, by some boost of strength, pulled herself closer to him, and wrapped around that small metal ball, and looked him deep in the eye. She wanted that color of fragmented blue to be the last thing she saw.
He paused, as if considering something. "Chell? What were we? Friends? Partners?"
She thought a moment as well, carefully considering the question. "We were friends, and we were partners. But now, I think, we are on the verge of something new. A shame we won't be able to figure out what that is together."
He bobbed his optic. "Neither of us has the time luv."
"You might."
He looked at her, confused.
"GLaDOS hasn't changed. If she brought you down here in hopes that the last thing you saw before you lose power is me, consumed with hatred for you and refusing to forgive you, than I imagine she will drag you back down there and repair you so you can live forever without me."
His optic shrank. "No! No I can't live with that! Not after we have repaired what I destroyed!" He shook his optic frenzidly. "I can't Chell!"
"I'm afraid you might have to. And I know what I am about to say may be seen as cruel, but Wheatley, please, for me, please, don't end your life because I am not there. I don't know what she may do to you, but in my memory, don't seek your death."
She looked earnestly at him, and saw a person instead of a droid. Someone like her, who was afraid, who needed her.
"I don't know if I can." He whimpered.
"Just imagine what I would do in whatever situation you are in. What would I say? What would I be feeling? What would be my purpose behind what I would do? You know me so well. You nearly bested me many times, and there were sometimes when you did." She stroked his shell again. "Remember that, and remember me."
He looked at her steadily, but his voice was unstable with his simulated emotions. "I will Chell. I promise you that."
"Thank you." She smiled at him, and he brought his optic plate up in his own smile. "We've always been on the verge of something haven't we? The verge of escaping, the verge of dying, the verge of imprisonment forever. Now I wish I could know what this new verge is."
"Me too luv."
She hunched over, and kissed the casing above his optic.
"I'mproud of you Wheatley. Know that."
They looked each other in the eye, then closed their eyes at the same time.