A/N: Just a heads up here: this has nothing to do with my other fic, which I'm definitely still working on. Just so we're all on the same page.

So there I was, trying to get past some writer's block, when I thought up this little idea. It just kinda came out of nowhere, and once I started, I couldn't stop. I wrote it all in a rush when I should've been getting a good night's rest, but that didn't happen. I don't know how good it is, it might be trash, but here goes.

I. The Issue

Cave Johnson was dying.

He knew it, and everyone knew it. People averted their eyes in the hallway, always looking down or away to avoid looking at the dying man. He didn't want their pity. He just wanted them to finish GLaDOS.

Every day, after pretending to eat lunch to appease Caroline, he would wander into the future chamber for the massive AI's computer. He would watch them assemble the parts, connect the cirucuitry, and ignore the fact that their boss was overseeing their every move. Caroline had suggested that he stop watching them, but he couldn't help it. His time was running out, and he wanted to make sure they would get it done. There was no way he was going to die like this. He was going to live forever, dammit, and nothing else compared to accomplishing that. Nothing.

Caroline tried to ignore it.

The constant echoes of coughing in the halls, the tap of his cane on the hard floors, and worst of all, the never ending requests for more pain pills. She was busier than ever, even busier than she'd been when they'd still had astronauts for test subjects instead of astrophysicists.

Every day, Cave spent more time watching progress on GLaDOS than doing actual work, so she'd been forced to take over many vital operations just to make sure the company didn't wither and die, that all the work on GLaDOS be lost due to his neglect. She was running herself ragged, but it was worth it to save him... and to save herself.

She knew it.

She was selfish. Once Cave gave the order for her to be placed in the computer should he die before its completion, her biggest fear was getting trapped in the metal monster for all eternity. She had no plans to live endlessly as a supercomputer, but if Cave wanted that fate, she wasn't about to stop him. Besides, he deserved it. He was a great man, Cave Johnson, and it killed her to see him in such a sorry state. She didn't want to see him die like that as much as she didn't want to be put into GLaDOS.

And so she worked tirelessly for his sake and hers.

But it was hard.

Running a business the size of Aperture was demanding. She had always enjoyed her position previously, working off the clock for the fun of it, but now it was out of necessity. Nights and weekends were spent keeping the company afloat, herding it away from the brink of collapse. The rest of the employees were in the same boat, as Cave had ordered nonstop work on GLaDOS. Nonstop meant nonstop, and the work crew rotated out every ten hours.

At least they got breaks then, Caroline thought, practically falling down the stairs in her haste to get from one side of the facility to the other. Even though there were elevators, with the modern enrichment center still under construction, there were many places that required quite a walk to get to, with no easy shortcuts. She wished she could just use a ASHPD, but they weren't quite handheld... yet.

They were almost done.

He'd given up actually doing his job. Now he watched the progress nonstop, sleeping whenever the tiredness took him, eating only when Caroline wouldn't budge on the issue, his eyes always locked on the machine below from his observation room. The glass window was spotless- he couldn't allow anything to impair his view, and Caroline was the only other person allowed in his den. He now had a personal communication link with her at all times- he could requisition pain pills whenever he wanted.

He watched them tirelessly, never looking away, except when sleep took him. He was often unsure of just how long he slept for- progress never halted, and with most of the structural components finished on GLaDOS he could no longer rely on that to tell him how much time had passed. Now it was down to circuits and programming, and still he watched. He couldn't afford to miss the moment when they looked up at his window and said they were ready for him. He would sooner die.

Caroline often entered the room to find Cave asleep, but this time was different. He didn't respond when she called his name, didn't respond as her voice rose in volume, didn't respond when she shook him, gently at first, then harder as her voice grew shrill. Panic consuming her, she forced herself to overcome the mounting hysteria, get her breath and heartbeat under control as she called the emergency med team. Even still, her panic returned after she made the call when she felt how weak his heartbeat was.

No no no no nononononono...

She shook him harder, screaming at him that she couldn't lose him, that she didn't want the fate he'd damned her to. By the time the med team arrived, her face was blank and lifeless as she sat by his side, gripping his hand tightly in hers. She could barely remember what happened when her mind went numb, but suddenly Cave was blinking, twitching, and Caroline burst into tears.

His eyes, unfocused, surveyed the people who had just saved his life and coldly reminded them that only himself and Caroline were allowed in this room, and they left with haste. His cold, blank stare moved to his window, and he barked at the technicians to get back to work. Yet there was only softness in his gaze when he turned to a still-sobbing Caroline, took the pain pills from her hand, and thanked her as he popped a few into his mouth.

Word of Cave's near death spread at a speed only possible with portals. There was a new look in everyone's eyes around the facility when Caroline passed. The employees looked at her with pity, armed with the knowledge that Cave was on his last legs, and that she would have to take his place. Caroline hated them for giving up on him, for writing him off. She knew many of them wanted him to die, even after all the blood, sweat, and tears he'd poured into the company. The man had poisoned himself trying to save them, for the love of God. He was Cave Johnson, dammit, and she would make sure he got his wish.

She worked the GLaDOS technicians harder. Forced them to work twelve hour shifts instead of ten. She skipped meals and relied on vitamins to sustain her. Barely an hour of sleep was her rest at night, and coffee was her lifeblood, her new best friend. She was working herself to death, she knew, but it was a race against the clock and death had already tried to take him once. She wouldn't allow the reaper a second chance at him. She was in a race against death, one she was determined to win, and the prize was Cave's immortality.

She'd show them all. She'd save him. She'd save herself.

Cave wasn't quite sure how time worked anymore.

The men and women below him moved in a blur no matter how hard he tried to focus on them. Even Caroline looked fuzzy when she brought him pain pills. His mind would go blank for hours at a time, it seemed, and he was pretty sure it wasn't because he was sleeping during those instances. He was dying, sure, but his reason for living was still being built, and once it was completed, he'd have no reason to die.

There were only two subjects his mind could focus on now- Caroline and GLaDOS. Caroline for the lifeblood she brought, the pain pills he needed, that he couldn't live without. GLaDOS for his future, for where he'd spend the rest of his life. He wondered if his existence in a supercomputer would be anything like his existence now. He hoped not. He was sure it would be better. He would have control over everything in the facility then, concrete control. They would have to do whatever he said then, no matter what. Forever.

Caroline and GLaDOS. The only things that gave his life meaning anymore.

Sometimes he wished Caroline would join him in his immortality. Cave knew he wasn't perfect- it was why he relied so much and so often on her advice. But every time he'd extended the offer to Caroline, she refused. She would only become an AI as a last result, and Cave respected her too much to force her. No, he would be alone in his eternal life, but if it saved him from death, he didn't care. He refused to die.

Caroline demanded progress reports every three hours from the scientists. She refused to let them procrastinate or deceive her. She would get the truth about how far it had progressed, no matter what.

She knew they hated her- she didn't care. She knew everyone hated her- she still didn't care. Nothing mattered more than saving Cave's life. Nothing. Not their well-being, and certainly not her own.

Nothing.

It's what she told the med team when they found her unconscious at the bottom of a staircase and rushed her to the ICU. Even as they were shoving needles into her and running tests, she screamed at them to make sure progress on GLaDOS was continuing, screamed at them to keep working on the AI. Even half-conscious with the drugs they gave her, she still whispered in her dream-like state commands to save him.

It was her only reason for living anymore.

When she finally fully regained consciousness, feeling slightly disoriented but overall more clear-headed than she had in ages, they told her it was ready. That could only mean one thing. Her face lit up, but they told her not to move until she was fully recovered. It didn't matter. She tore off the sheets and ran to him, leaving the doctors and nurses glad they'd had the foresight to remove her IV and other wires before they gave the news.

Caroline, meanwhile, reached Cave breathless and running on pure adrenaline. His eyes were glazed, but they gained a spark of their old life when she passed on the news. After a sharp cough that ravaged his frail form, he calmly asked her to help him up. Leaning on each other and his sturdy cane, they made their way down to the AI's chamber together.

Now that it was time, Cave was nervous.

He looked up at GLaDOS with amazement and apprehension. That was where he would spend the rest of his life, he thought. He had made it. He had stuck it out.

Still, he couldn't help but treasure what he knew he'd lose as they prepared him for the transfer. He sat in a plain chair, with wires hooked to every inch of his head. Caroline never left his side, and he valued the warmth vibrating from her soft hands as they clenched his cold, frail ones. He didn't want her to leave, even though he knew she'd have to let go once the process actually started. And so he focused his hardest on writing this moment into his memory.

Finally, the technicians announced it was ready, and Caroline's eyes grew wide. He smiled slightly, though a cough overcame him, and she bent down to see eye to eye with him. Their eyes locked, and Cave knew he wanted to tell her something, that he wanted to tell her now.

And yet...

He would have all the time he wanted to tell her after the transfer. She looked confused as he told her not to worry about it, and she nodded, tears filling her eyes. He tried his best to squeeze her hands, and she squeezed right back. He took in her face, knowing he'd probably never see her this close again, and there was another thing he wanted to do... Another cough racked his body, and he knew he was pushing his luck too much. He told her to go, and with a final squeeze she retreated to stand among the spectators. The entire GLaDOS development team was in attendance, and they all watched as he nodded, giving the signal to allow them to start the procedure. He kept his eyes on Caroline as one of the scientists pulled a lever.

Instantly, his head felt like it was going to explode. It was fire, a harsh, electric fire that consumed him, incinerating every rational thought remaining in his head. He fought to keep conscious, but it was impossible. The fire in his mind was overwhelming, and he couldn't win.

Before he lost consciousness, his last thought was of Caroline, an unfocused memory of the warmth of her hand.

Caroline felt lightheaded as he heard Cave scream when the transfer started. It was a tortured scream that came from his soul, and it made her cringe. Many of the scientists looked uncomfortable as well, but none of them looked close to passing out as she was sure she did. Her mind was racing. What if this killed him, and the transfer failed? What if she'd been killing herself for nothing? All those months of torturous work, mistreating the employees to the point of cruelty that she'd never anticipated, running herself ragged on nonexistent energy... what if they were wasted? What if she was still damned after this?

No. She had to believe that he would survive this. He would just be inside the computer. He would be immortal, thanks to her. If not...

If not, it would be her in that chair soon enough.

As Cave's screaming increased, Caroline found her vision growing fuzzy, and without warning, she collapsed on the floor amid the scientists.