Identity Crisis


Melinda Warner sometimes hated the military training she had received. Sure, it was what got her the job as a doctor, but it certainly had it's down sides.

Like right now.

She had a secret. A secret she would never tell her co-workers. Rape victims weren't the only people she did autopsies for. Because of her military background, she was called in when someone died in a mysterious way that people with power didn't want to make public. Because of this, she had seen some of the most bizarre, top-secret ways in which a person could die. She was quite possibly the only person who has done an autopsy on somebody whose heart and brain were switched.

Early in that morning, she had gotten the call. Her services were needed. And so, while her co-workers would be given the story that she was at some sort of medical examiner work-conference, she would be shipped out to god knows where to do an autopsy on some poor person who had died in some horrible, mind boggling way.

The god-knows where in this case was the Apeture Science Enrichment Center, a place she was all too familiar with. It wasn't so much a military facility, as it was a private research center who had friends in high places. That's why she was there. She hated it.

She had seen things in there that looked like they should be in a science fiction movie or video game, or something along those lines. She used to ask what happened to her victims, seeing what they went through. They were all human guinea pigs, she found out.

Aperture science used live test subjects. Live. As in humans. They were treated as disposable life-sources, every time one died, they would just get a new test subject. She was called in every time someone died in a new and exciting way.

The scientist working there were actually very open to telling her the gruesome details of their test. It was always horrifying. Now she went in and did her job in silence. In this case, asking why someone's blood turned into gasoline would only lead to somebody telling her how someone's blood turned to gasoline. She didn't want to know.

Every time she was called into the facility, she couldn't help but become appalled at what she saw.

She could only imagine if the prosecutors at Special Victim's Unit got wind of what went on at. Not just the prosecutors. The detectives. If a guy who died by his brain melting and his teeth disintegrating while his skin was glowing wasn't a special victim, she didn't know who was.

She knew for a fact Casey would do anything she could to stop Apeture's cruel treatment of humans. However, she was still disheartened from her experience when she tried to expose a military conspiracy, when she found out the army was giving their soldiers drugs that had a side-effect that made them go on homicidal rampages.

Then, there was their old ADA, Alex. She could just imagine Alex Cabot crucifying the company. Melinda had seen the blonde give the finger to quite a few companies in her day. It would be a worthy fight battle.

But Alex was in Witness Protection now. Alex probably wasn't even her name. For all Melinda knew, Alex was working for a company like this now.

Melinda took in a deep sigh, as she walked away from the body. It almost made her miss rape victims.

"So, you're that lovely body-gal I keep hearing so much about."

Melinda looked up, and felt her heart skip a beat.

Standing in front of her was none other than Cave Johnson, head of Aperture Science. Melinda swallowed, and clenched her fists. This was the man who had authorized such horrible tests.

"Yes," Melinda responded, holding in everything she wanted to yell at him. She had to be civil, no matter how much he deserved to be hit. Cave grabbed her hand, and shook it.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Warner. You're work has really helped science move forward. Who would have thought that we could actually turn blood into gasoline?"

"Yeah," Melinda said, forcing a smile. He really had no regard for human life. All he cared about was science.

"Have you ever considering quitting that dingy job at the morgue and working with us full time? We are currently developing a project that creates robots using human-"

"Actually, Mr. Johnson, I like New York," Melinda interrupted, not wanting to hear the rest of that sentence. The less specifics she knew, the better.

"A true shame," Cave sighed, "But if you ever change your mind, let us know next time you come down here. We're testing a lot of new technologies this month, so that could be quite soon."

Melinda shuttered at the thought.

"Mr. Johnson," a voice called out. Melinda raised an eyebrow. She knew that voice. It couldn't possibly be who she thought it was, could it?

"Mr. Johnson! I got the paper's you wanted."

A woman came running into the room. Tall, brunette, and fair pale skin. However, it was her face that caught Melinda off guard. It was a face that Melinda knew too well. A face of someone she had grown to care about.

The woman had the face of Alex Cabot. A brunette Alex Cabot, but Alex Cabot none the less.

"Caroline!" Cave greeted, "What perfect timing. Caroline, this is that lovely lady who's been doing the autopsies for us. Doctor-"

"You must be Ms. Warner!" the woman greeted. Again, Melinda's hand was grabbed and violently shaken.

Caroline was smiling, but it was forces. Melinda could see the panic in the woman's eyes. The woman's hands were sweaty and cold.

Melinda put the clues together. The woman before her wasn't named Caroline. This was Alex Cabot. No doubt about it. This brunette woman was Alex.

"Nice to meet you too… Caroline." Melinda said, not blowing her friend's cover. She wanted to grab her friend by the shoulders, and yell at her. Why was she working here? What possibly appealed to her to work in such a place?

"Hopefully, we'll meet again soon." The woman known as "Caroline" said. Melinda sighed.

"Not too soon," Melinda replied. Cave laughed heartily, and he looked at the brunette woman. She forced a laugh, but her mind was focused on other thing.

Melinda couldn't help but worry about her friend. Aperture, in her opinion, was an evil company. She prayed her friend would be alright.


"How was your conference?"

Melinda smiled. Odafin Tutuola was at the door. She turned around, looking into his chocolate eyes.

"Interesting, to say the least."

"Anything exciting happen?"

Melinda smirked.

"I did an autopsy on a guy whose blood had turned into gasoline."

Fin started to laugh hysterically, saying "Right. Good one." If only the detective knew she wasn't kidding. She really wished she was.

She thought back to her morning. She had seen Alex, someone she thought she'd never see again. The witness protection program had made the woman vanish into thin air, yet she magically appeared at Aperture of all places.

"So, I need your advice on something," Melinda said, getting Fin's attention. She honestly didn't' know what to do about Alex working there. "I have this friend. She recently joined a group that does some very...inhumane things. I'm worried about her."

"Please tell me you didn't join the mob," Fin said. Melinda laughed.

"No, no. By friend I really do mean 'friend'. And it isn't a gang or mob, or something like that. It's just..."

A research laboratory that sees the world as it's guinea pig. She wanted to say.

"Is your friend smart?" Fin asked. Melinda nodded. Alex had gone to Harvard Law. She was definitely smarter than the average bear.

"Yes."

"And do you trust her judgment?"

"Yes," Melinda continued. Fin smiled a comforting smile, that made the medical examiner feel a bit more relaxed. A bit.

"Then trust that she'll be fine."

Melinda smiled at his words. She was still nervous. She didn't trust Aperture Science, but he was right. Alex had the best judgment of all of them. She thought with her brain instead of her heart, a rare trait.

She prayed that judgment would be enough to keep her safe.

Melinda couldn't help but wonder, though, how Alex had gotten stuck at a company like Aperture in the first place.


Alex Cabot sighed. She looked around the office. She had gone from Alex Cabot, sex crimes prosecutor, to Caroline Alexander, secretary. At least she got to keep some of her name. Somewhat.

She stood before the door of the man she would be working for. At least it was a high-profile secretary job. She was also glad it wasn't' a law firm. A law firm would be too depressing. At least she could work here without mourning the loss of her career as a prosecutor.

She would be the secretary of Cave Johnson, founder of the Aperture Science Enrichment Center. They were constantly winning Noble Prizes for the work they did, and Cave Johnson was the head honcho. She would be the one handling his paperwork.

"Mr. Johnson, sir?" she said, knocking in the door. There was a mirror on it, and she saw herself. She was a brunette now. Just a week ago, she was blonde. A week ago, she was testifying against the man who shot her. Now she was here. She was starting over a new life. Again.

"Come in, come in," she heard a booming voice say from the other side.

She cautiously opened the door, and saw him sitting there behind his desk. There was pride emanating from his body. It was overwhelming

"Welcome to Aperture Science, little lady," he greeted, as she walked in, "Are you married?"

Great, she thought, she was going to have a sexual harassment suit on her hand. Alex Cabot would have punch him right then. However, she wasn't Alex Cabot. She was Caroline Alexander.

"Yes sir, Mr. Johnson," Alex replied, "I'm married to science."

It was a stupid joke, her alternate way of deflecting the question. A loud laugh came from Johnson, and quickly came over to her and shook her hand. There was a wide grin on his face.

"I have the feeling we'll get along just fine," Johnson said, "Do you want to see our newest project? We're making something we're calling the Portal Gun."

As he led her to give her a tour if the facility, Alex went along, unaware that her new life as Caroline would change her forever.


This was going to be a one-shot for my friend Fayth in the Music, who is obsessed with Portal. She also loves L&O: SVU, so I figured it would be a combination made in heaven.
However, then my friend let me borrow Portal 2, and I love it. I fricking love it, and decided that I'm going to make this a story with chapters and everything. It shall be amazing.
There shall be Felinda galore, as well as plenty of Alex, aka "Caroline" and well as Cave Johnson.
Also, I know the actual time-lines will be off. But hey, all in good sport, right?
Please leave a review! Let me know what you all think.