Hey, guess what? I'm not dead 8D

...I know, I know. A lot of you are wanting to throw bricks and whatnot at me for neglecting my other works. I'm terribly sorry I've been gone for so long; life ate me alive. Good news, though! I'm still around! Ish!

Anyway. This is my first try at a Portal fanfic. I just kinda pulled this out of nowhere so it's probably rough around the edges. Be warned, there are spoilers!

Downfall

By FlikFreak

Summary: Pre-game; Spoilers. It should have been another normal work week for him. But when his co-workers begin to vanish one by one, one scientist decides to take matters into his own hands and investigate. He doesn't like what he finds...

Caroline was not having a good day. With the company going bankrupt and deadlines not nearly being met, she had a lot of work on her plate, and the recent wave of hired employees weren't really making the cut. Not only were they behind schedule, but they had no money, yet Cave Johnson insisted on pushing things further. Once again, he'd left her with plenty of paperwork to take care of. Not that Caroline objected to doing any work, but with so much stress being piled onto the company in general, it wasn't exactly ideal.

A knock on her door gave her a momentary distraction from scribbling down numbers. Tucking a bit of stray hair behind her ear, she sat up straight. "Yes, come in!"

A skinny young man opened the door, but didn't quite step into the office. His entire body, from the blonde hair on top all the way down to his normally-pristine lab boots, was dripping with a thick white liquid. He'd at least taken proper care to clean it off his face, as Caroline could make out the familiar blue eyes peeking out from behind his glasses, but otherwise he was a mess. Not that his tone of voice seemed to convey any problems with it. "Ah, Miss Caroline! Lovely to see you, as usual. Always looking fantastic. I was just...w-well, I can't find any of the other staff and I need to, ah..."

"Is something wrong, Doctor Wheatley?" Caroline interrupted. It was almost a rhetorical question; something had to be up if one of the company's employees showed up at her office door covered in white goop. That, or someone decided to move April Fool's day into August.

The man swallowed nervously. "Well, um. Actually, there's a leak in the conversion gel pipes, and..."

Caroline sighed. Considering the fact that this man was the one reporting the mess, it wasn't difficult to discern whose fault it was that it even happened. She returned her attention to her reports. "I hate doing this to you, Steven, but you know all of our departments have their hands full with the ASHPD project..."

"But-"

"Now, Steven. The Janitorial department is already busy cleaning up a mess in one of the enrichment spheres and you're one of the few free people we have on hand. Go get a mop and clean up that mess before it gets worse."

The young man at the door looked absolutely defeated. "...yes, Miss Caroline." He turned and closed the door.

Caroline leaned back in her chair. She knew better than to believe he had actually left so quickly. Three, two, one...

And there he was again, in her doorway. "Ah...one more thing, Miss Caroline?"

I thought so. "What is it?"

She almost regretted being so harsh. Dr. Wheatley was looking at her with an odd expression, something akin to concern or...perhaps something else. He hesitated, then shook his head. "N-Nothing. Nevermind. It's nothing. Not important at all..." He almost left before he finally cleared his throat. "Ah, how...how's your daughter doing?"

This again. Caroline knew what he was trying to get at and really wished he'd just spit it out already, but she knew she wouldn't have the time for this. She offered a weak smile. "She still hasn't said anything since the incident, but she's doing very well in school."

"I...see," Steven said, a bit more quietly than usual. "That's...good. Very good. Good grades are important. Great thing to have..." He stared at the floor awkwardly, then jabbed his thumb behind him, looking at Caroline apologetically. "I'm...going to go clean up the mess now. Can't leave that there all...right. Sorry." And with that, he slowly closed the door behind him.

Caroline sighed her head and flipped back to her paperwork. She knew that Steven was well-meaning and really meant no harm, but she really didn't have time for personal things at the moment. Her hands were already full without the company in danger of going under. She almost felt sorry for Steven, though. After all, he really was trying.

Almost.

"Janitorial duty again, huh?"

Dr. Wheatley nodded, sighing. "Third time this week."

Nearby, Rick North grinned and picked up his mop. "And it's only Monday. New record?"

"Yeah."

"'least you got me workin' with ya this time. So, little guy, what'd you do this time?"

"I reported a leak in the pipes," Steven replied blandly, repressing an irritated twitch. He knew Rick meant no harm by it, but being prodded at for being so thin still annoyed him a little. Not quite so much as when the others mocked him for being so dim, but still...

Rick laughed. "You kiddin'? Every time you do that, they know you're the one who did it!"

"It was an accident!" Steven whimpered, looking utterly helpless. "One of the screws was loose and I was sure I could fix it..."

"And instead you busted the whole damn thing open."

"I'm telling you, it was an accident!"

The reaction only caused Rick to laugh even more. "If you needed a shower that badly, you could've just gone to the rooms in the back. At least ya didn't swallow any of that stuff, though. Can't go around poisoning yourself when you're on the job."

Steven couldn't help but give a nervous chuckle. It was a surprise to most scientists that Rick was even a competent engineer; he spent most of his spare time weight lifting and indulging in various athletic activities, but at work he was an utter genius.

Rick gave Steven an odd look. "'ey, Wheatley. What's with the long face? Didn't get chewed out by the management again, did ya?"

"Actually," Steven replied, his eyes not leaving the floor, "I...I really couldn't find them anywhere. Must've been busy, I suppose, doing other...management-related duties and what have you. I ended up going to Caroline's office. She's the one that...um, Rick?"

He didn't even need to finish his sentence. Rick was giving him the look again. That odd half-lidded look in his eyes, that knowing grin, eyebrows quirked and arms crossed. It always made Wheatley nervous. He took a nervous step back when the brawny man chuckled at him. "Well?" Rick said.

Steven blinked. "Well? ...well what?"

"You tell her yet?

"Tell her what?"

"Don't play dumb. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"I do? Can't say I remember, actually, there's a lot of things I could have-"

"Come on, Wheatley. Everyone knows ya like her."

Steven's face instantly flushed red. "Wha- No I don't! I just think...w-well. I might be kind of-"

"Quit kiddin' yourself!" Rick replied, grinning and pulling Wheatley aside in a gesture that was dangerously similar to what was normally followed up with a noogie. "Just walk on in there and tell 'er! Ladies hate when ya beat around the bush; ya gotta be straightforward!"

"You know I'm no good with this stuff!" Steven cried, flailing and attempting in vain to escape Rick's grip. "Besides, you know what would happen if they caught me acting like that in the workplace! I'd be ruined! Kicked out! Given the boot! Finished!"

And then he really did get a noogie.

"Hey! Heyheyheyeheyhey! Rick, let me go! I just did my hair this morning!"

"Then ya went and dumped a bunch of goop all over it," Rick pointed out, not really loosening his grip on his friend. "I'd say it's a lost cause by now, little guy!"

"Stop calling me that! And let go of me! I still have to clean up!"

Rick ignored him in favor of laughing heartily. Steven still tried to jerk himself out of Rick's hold, but it was nigh impossible. After a few (horribly failed) attempts, however, Rick released his grip and Steven found himself tripping over his feet and sliding a few inches forward right into another mess of conversion gel, giving Rick another excuse to laugh even more. "Anyone can get out of a grip like that!" Rick exclaimed. "You're not even trying!"

"You're just too strong!" Steven protested, standing up and grimacing at the goo stuck to his lab coat.

"And you're too skinny," Rick shot back playfully. "Now c'mon. Get this mess mopped up before someone reports us for horsin' around on the job."

Steven blinked, watching as Rick propped his mop up against the wall and passed him by. "Wait, where're you going? Didn't you just say you were helping me out here? What gives, mate?"

"I'm headin' to the the break room," Rick casually stated. "It's not my lunch break yet but I'm starvin' so I'm gonna get something to tide me over for a bit. You want anything?"

"A slice of cake?" Steven requested, hopeful.

Rick shook his head. "No can do. Cake's on Tuesdays only, remember?"

Steven felt his bubble of hope popping at the reminder. "Oh...well, maybe a donut or something. You know me; I'll eat anything. I'm not picky. 's long as it's edible."

"Will do," Rick replied. "Oh, and Wheatley?"

"What?"

"Life's an adventure, buddy. Don't let it pass you up." And after his usual encouraging hand gestures, Rick rounded the corner and was out of sight.

Now alone, Steven Wheatley stared at the conversion gel covering the floor and sighed. Rick would probably get caught up in a conversation with one of the other coworkers and wouldn't be back for a good while, so he'd probably be doing most of the work himself, again. Ignoring his stomach's protest for food, he shoved his mop forward and focused on scrubbing the floor, all the while reflecting on Rick's words.

That evening, he decided that enough was enough. He'd go see Caroline tomorrow. Bring her a gift, maybe. He'd done enough beating around the bush, enough waiting and being too timid to speak up. Maybe he'd be lucky...

His thoughts were interrupted when Rick came back. "Sorry, break room's a no-go. That new guy spilled a bunch of repulsion gel all over the floor and it's a royal mess..." His voice trailed off. "... Hey. What's with that look?"

Wheatley blinked, shaking his head quickly to clear his mind, and went back to mopping. "Oh, nothing, nothing. Just...thinking. That's all."

Just thinking.

To Be Continued...