Author's Note: sorry about the delay for both this and the updated chapter one, my internet's been down but at least I wrote this chapter in the meantime.

Chapter 2: Bad Prospekts

Chell almost winced as her interrogator slapped her across the face, this happened every day, every time she ignored the soldier sat in front of her. Another question asked, another question ignored, that was her tactic. She wouldn't answer their questions but the more she ignored them, the more she was 'punished'. the 'punishment' was more like torture but so far, in the week she had been there, Chell hadn't uttered a word. From what she'd overheard from the other prisoners' conversations, these soldiers had originally been 'Metrocops', humans who had betrayed their own kind and did the Combine's bidding purely so they could live in relative comfort, they were all nasty, sadistic, and cruel. Apparently the soldiers had once been metrocops who had volunteered for service in the Combine's military, a job usually involving killing people for no good reason and torturing any prisoners. In the process of becoming one of their ruthless soldiers, they were erased of all memories and humanity and augmented with machinery to make them more combat effective. Chell hated every last one of them.

Chell ignored the next question, then the one after. Her face was raw from the slapping and her muscles were in constant spasm as she was stabbed time and again with the electric prod they used to 'encourage' their prisoners. The soldier interrogating her gave up and spoke into his microphone "Subject Aperture Delta fails to answer to interrogation. Requesting higher ranking officer to undertake interrogation." This wasn't good. A higher ranking officer meant at best one of the brutal shotgun troopers that upranked this standard one, at worst it would be one of the white armoured elite soldiers, they were brutal, cruel and ruthless, completely devoid of any emotion except hatred and rage. She'd seen these twice before, first when one was commanding the squad that had captured her and second when watching one interrogate a prisoner. The poor woman had been unrecognisable when he'd finished with her and Chell got a nasty feeling she was next on the white soldiers' chopping block. Her worst fears were realised when a figure burst through the door to her cell, simply kicking the door half off its hinges and causing the other prisoners to cower in the farthest corner of their cells. In his hand he held a semicircular blade, serrated and punctuated with a series of tapering spikes. The weapon visibly crackled with electricity and Chell had to fight the urge to retreat like the others. The single red eyepiece in his visor lit up with rage as he saw who he had been called to interrogate. God, he was mad. Not that he believed in god or any other being with ultimate power except his overseers, the Combine Advisors. He strode forwards, blade in hand, an electric whip in the other, he had a pistol, loaded, at his waist, a full set of grenades and a wide assortment of evil looking blades slung on a belt across his torso. He was death itself. Chell, well aware of the danger she was in, but unable to resist, smirked.

Big mistake. The Elite crossed the gap between them in a blur, slashing at her waist with the blade and striking her back with his whip. Chell bit her tongue, barely stopping herself from crying out as electricity rippled across her, her body convulsing as she held back the scream rising in her throat. No! She. Would. Not. Give. Him. The. Satis. Faction. The elite stepped back casually, as if nothing had happened. "Now, I've been told you've been uncooperative with my colleague. He asked for my assistance in the matter. You may think you are strong, but I WILL break you. You may think you can hide your secrets, but I will rip them out of you. You may think you are smart, but after I'm done with you, your brain won't be capable of even that stupid smirk you just did." Chell didn't react. "Stubborn one, are we?" he picked one of the various knives off his belt and stuck it into Chell's thigh, twisting it one way, then the other. Chell still didn't react, she knew that if she did, the consequences would be the same as if she didn't, and she'd be betraying GLaDOS. So she kept silent as he twisted a dial on the handle of the knife, electricity coursed through her, and it was all she could do not to scream as he turned it up to full, then twisted it back to half way. "still not talking? I know you can. I watched the tapes. You talk in your sleep, you know. Something about a Gladys." He said this with the casualness you'd expect from a conversation between friends. Chell was embarrassed about the sleeptalking but she didn't let it show, that was, until the Elite finished, a smug smile on the face under his helmet, with "she your girlfriend? Aw, how sweet" the last portion was said with such a sarcastic and mocking tone that Chell couldn't help but blush. She hadn't wanted to react, but her body obviously had other ideas. "tell me about this 'Gladys' person. She another test subject? A citizen? An android?. He paused and then continued with a smirk in his voice, "A computer, even? Now that would be sad." Chell succeeded in not blushing this time, her cheeks only slightly pinker. This, however, was enough for the elite to notice. He chuckled darkly and leant against the bars of Chell's cell, casually examining another of the blades as he laid on another suggestion, his self-assurance audible even through the voice distortion his helmet gave. "An AI, maybe. Gladys the AI. Or is it GLaDOS?" Chell was blushing as red as a tomato by this point.

He was content with the results he'd gotten from that line of enquiry. He charged up the knife he'd been examining it and thrust it into her other thigh, twisting it to its highest setting and repeating with the previous one. "Ok, then. WHERE IS YOUR AI GIRLFRIEND?" the question coincided with a slash to her arm with the circular blade. "Tell me where Aperture Laboratories is and I'll stop" Chell's response to that was a weak punch to the eyepiece. He retaliated with a double slash with a 2nd circular blade, one hit to her chest, another to her collarbone. She spat in his eye, knocking him back with a charge. He dodged out of the way and knocked her to the ground, breaking her nose on the cell floor. The last thing she heard before a metal dome was slotted over her head was "I'd say I was sorry you didn't cooperate, but I'm not. I'm going to enjoy this. Have fun with your insanity." He chuckled, no trace of humanity in his voice and then the screws drilled into her skull and she blacked out.

Chell sat in her cell with only her cube and the screams for company. A ring of tiny holes ran along her head, the Combine had used their machine on her. They had drawn out all she knew. She'd known this would happen. Even the ones who'd cooperated had been given the same treatment. She had failed GLaDOS, she'd failed everything and everyone she'd ever cared about. She wished she was back in aperture, she wished GLaDOS was with her, that she could explain, that maybe she'd be forgiven. More than anything she wished she had someone to talk to, hell; even Wheatley would be preferable to the silence she was enduring. Even when she'd been testing, GLaDOS had spoken to her enough to remind her that she wasn't alone. GLaDOS, she sighed, getting a warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest as she thought of the old AI. I miss you, GLaDOS. She was startled by a voice coming from her cube. "Hello? Chell, are you there? I've deactivated the listening devices in your cell so we can talk. Hello? Chell?" Chell grinned and walked over to her cube, all of the previous night's ordeal forgotten at the sound of that one voice. she tried to say 'hello' but all that came out was "hcklhuh" she tried again "heghlo" "Chell!" GLaDOS's voice came out of the cube; she spoke with more than a bit of affection in her voice. "Hi GLaDOS" "why're you in such a good mood?" There was a pause long enough for Chell to think that GLaDOS had lost connection, but then GLaDOS's voice came back out of the speaker, "erm…well…. It's nice…. Y'know...talking to you again….so…hi" Chell smirked at GLaDOS's loss of words; she almost sounded like she was a shy girl asking someone out on a first date, all hesitations and vague language. It was so funny she started to laugh. This, however, annoyed GLaDOS. "What's so funny?" snapped GLaDOS, with more than a bit of embarrassment in her voice, as if she had guessed what Chell was thinking.

"Anyway… how much do you want to get out of here?" "huh" said Chell, confused. "you remember orange and blue? The robots?, well I've fitted them with weapons and armour and I've sent them in to cause a bit of chaos so you can escape" GLaDOS paused to let her friend think, "so…how does that sound?". Chell was speechless, if GLaDOS cared enough to get her out of here, then that friendship between them had been part of her and not part of Caroline. It made her giddy with happiness that GLaDOS was still her friend, and a better one than her old friends. I love GLaDOS, thought Chell and then realised what the little voice in her head had said. The voice was right; her feelings for GLaDOS were more than just friendship. She sat, dazed as she tried to figure out how long she'd felt like that. GLaDOS had gotten worried that something had happened to her so she spoke again "hey, Chell, you OK in there?" Chell came out of her daze and answered quickly "yeah, just fine" "you don't sound fine, are you sure you're OK?" GLaDOS wasn't convinced. "I'm OK, GLaDOS, it's just….wow….i didn't realise you cared enough to do this for me….no one else I've ever known would have done this…..i think you're the best friend I've ever had…so thanks…" Chell trailed off, unsure of how to carry on, GLaDOS seemed as stunned as she was "I...I...thank you, no one's ever said something nice to me before. Ever…."

Chell was surprised about this, even though she knew that it was unlikely GLaDOS had had any friends, she had thought, well hoped, that GLaDOS had at least had some friends. "Wow, GLaDOS, that wasn't even the nicest thing I could think of…. You've really never had anyone compliment you? No one should ever be that surprised that someone was nice to them" GLaDOS was still glowing from the compliment and she was glad that Chell valued their friendship; she had even called her 'best friend'. GLaDOS realised how much she missed the former test subject, she had to tell her.

"And... Chell…" GLaDOS petered out, still unsure if she wanted to say this. Chell, however, decided for her, "Yeah?" Chell was intrigued as to what GLaDOS would say. "I've really missed you", said GLaDOS, and Chell could almost swear her voice had caught when she'd said that. Chell smiled again and replied with a happy "I missed you too, you sentimental old lump of metal" if GLaDOS had been there, she would have patted the supercomputer's casing. GLaDOS had decided that she wanted to change the topic over to Chell's escape. She'd continue the conversation later, with Chell back with her in aperture, after all, there's only so much you can say via telephone. Some things needed to be told face to face, and GLaDOS's feelings for her were one such thing. "so onto the plan, you'll need more than what you've got to escape, so it's a good thing I put a miniature portal generator inside your cube, I can pass stuff through to you"

"Twist each of the hearts on your cube in the direction they turn, 3 turn clockwise, 3 anticlockwise"

Chell, a champion puzzlebreaker, quickly got her cube open, the top had detached so Chell removed it, inside was a miniature, square portal frame from the single portal tests she had been so good at. The portal opened and a brand new aperture jumpsuit came out, it was sleeker than her old one and was a metallic blue colour. On the front was her name, Chell and the aperture symbol. It was a much better fit and Chell wondered how GLaDOS had guessed her size. She got the feeling that GLaDOS had made it with her in mind. After the jumpsuit came a more complex version of her long fall boots, these were black, with an aperture logo in the same blue as the jumpsuit. A set of braces for her wrists came through, they were white, like fingerless gloves but with a piece on her wrist as well and a metal band like her heel springs that spanned from the glove part to the wrist piece. The final object to come through was the thing she'd longed for ever since leaving aperture, well that and GLaDOS. It was a portal gun, but unlike the ones she was used to, it was longer and slotted over her lower arm, clipping to the wrist braces and giving her much greater accuracy, it encased most of her arm and was a sleeker design, and it even had a sight on top, this had a symbol for a portal on it, it would light up if she could portal onto a surface, it also glowed the colour of the last placed portal.. The final change was a button where her thumb rested, which closed both portals in an instant. Chell was now ready, except one more things had come through the now-closed portal, a headset-helmet that looked both functional and a little bit mad. She put it on and found she could hear GLaDOS muttering something about someone 'not caring in that way' Chell ignored it and spoke. "so, when do I start?" she said, with a grin. She replaced the top on the cube and found that it clipped easily to the back of her jumpsuit.

GLaDOS spoke after a few seconds "ok. The distraction will commence and escaping will begin in 3, 2, 1," A loud bang announced the arrival of Atlas and P-Body, with the Combine distracted, she made it through the prison with ease, bypassing the flimsy turrets the Combine had placed down. It was all going well and she was about to follow GLaDOS's instruction to "turn right and run for the nearest vehicle" when a loud animal noise alerted her that the hangar was not completely deserted, she popped her head round the corner and snapped it back around as the Strider that the Combine had left to guard their vehicles fired a burst of red hot bullets at where her head had been. This wasn't going to be as easy as she'd hoped. Seeing a solution to the problem of getting in, Chell fired a portal in front of her and a 2nd above a walkway. She dived through and the Strider reacted quickly, sending a burst of fire along the walkway behind her. She threw herself to the ground and the shots missed but the Strider once again reacted quickly, firing up a larger gun underneath its belly, the very space around the gun's barrel warping and twisting. The last thought she had before the strider blew the walkway out from under her was 'That gun looks like a dick". When Chell came to a few seconds after, the Strider was towering above her, and suddenly the gun seemed a lot less funny. The Strider charged another shot and Chell dived sideways, firing a portal where she'd been and another behind the monster. The shot hit it but the Strider wasn't dead, it charged at her and she heard GLaDOS scream "No!" as it raised its leg to spear her, but Chell rolled to one side her arm was sliced, reminding her that it would only take one wrong move to die, but she thought she was ok, that was when she noticed the piece of railing sticking out of her stomach, and the slowly spreading blood stain. Grunting with pain as she dodged a 2nd stab, she had an idea; in front of her was the perfect place for a portal. She placed one there, right under the strider, and as it dropped its leg a final time, she rolled again, firing a portal where she'd been a second ago. The Strider's leg went into the first portal and came out the 2nd, stabbing through the strider's stomach and spearing its brain. Chell heaved herself up as the Strider toppled, she was in no state to fly any of the vehicles, but there was a lone Dropship waiting for a passenger. Her headset burst into life and there was panic and guilt in GLaDOS's voice as she exclaimed "Chell! Chell, you're bleeding! You need to get back to Aperture, and fast!" Chell sounded really bad when she replied "I think I noticed". somehow she limped to the Dropship and Chell patted the huge beast's head, leaning on a railing before collapsing into its transport pod, the last thing she remembered before she passed out was GLaDOS telling her she'd be all right…..

Back in her chamber, GLaDOS was beside herself with worry, guilt and rage, she was furious with herself for not helping, for letting Chell get hurt. She had a nasty feeling that Chell might die before she returned. If Chell died she would never forgive herself. All her memories of the girl sped through her mind and she started to sob when she imagined life without her little lunatic.

The elevator came down a few nail-biting hours later, with Chell in it, pasty faced and in a pool of blood, her jumpsuit dyed crimson with the liquid, more pouring out by the second. She staggered forwards towards GLaDOS and collapsed halfway, a stream of blood marking her path. Forcing herself to ignore the pain in her heart, the blood on the floor, the hopelessness of the situation, GLaDOS picked Chell up gently with her claw and lowered her onto the table she'd prepared hours ago. She called in the Medical Android, a recent addition to her robot brethren. She watched Chell's unconscious form as the android sewed up her wounds, bandaging her cuts and replacing the lost blood. God, that was a lot of blood, thought GLaDOS, panicking as she looked around her chamber at the blood that had flooded out of Chell's veins. She'd lost too much, she'd never make it. She spent hours cursing every mistake she'd made and she was too engrossed in her circle of self-loathing to realise that the med bot had finished work. The Med 'bot had to hit her with its scalpel to get her attention. She looked over to the operating table and a badly hurt Chell gave her a weak smile and a thank you before craning her head to kiss GLaDOS's faceplate. If GLaDOS had been human, she'd have blushed until her face looked like a tomato. GLaDOS started to speak "Chell, I…" but noticed she'd passed out again, a contented smile on her face. GLaDOS watched her all night, willing her to wake up so she could tell her how she felt. But Chell didn't stir, and eventually GLaDOS passed out from the stress and exhaustion, her head slumping to rest next to Chell's on the pillow.

Author's Note: Hi again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, not much ChellDOS here but it's leading up to chapter 3, where they open up to each other about their feelings and ChellDOS madness ensues. Also the Combine attack Aperture in search of the Portal Gun. About 50/50 action and ChellDOS in the next one so I guess I'll see you then. Thanks for everything, Zombificus. P.S. this chapter was meant to be in 2 parts like chapter 1 but in the end, there was no easy way to split the chapter, so Bad Prospekts is all you get, story's the same as it would have been, so it's not as if you lost half a chapter. When you review, bear in mind that this is the first bit of fan fiction I've written. Thanks to all the people who reviewed the previous version of chapter 1, I was grinning like a loon when I saw the amount of reviews, so thank you all. I'm writing a small Portal short alongside this, focusing on several alternate versions of Portal 2's end, starring Android Chell, Human Chell, GLaDOS, PotatOS, Whatley and Turrets. also coming up is my version of GLaDOS's awakening, staying truer to the original Portal in terms of GLaDOS's looks and sarcasm.