Hello again, everyone!
I've been reading lots of ChellxWheatley/Chelley/Cheltley, and I've found that it tends to work a lot better when you read Wheatley's lines while imagining his voice really strongly. Or you can just have a eargasm. Stephen Merchant's voice is practically synonymous with that.
I have the most patient boyfriend in the world for putting up with my obsessive Wheatley/Stephen Merchant fangirling. (An imaginary robot and a 37-year-old man. I think. Right? Maybe 36. I can't add, either.) Legit, yo. Unfortunately, school is nowhere near as patient, so I'll be writing a bit less so I don't have to repeat my sophomore year. :D;;
Regardless, I'll do the best I can, and I'll always have at least one chapter a week up. Most likely around three. Hopefully a lot more, for you guys, but I don't know yet. If I'm away too long, you can email me and kick my butt. Really. Go right ahead. Also throw some suggestions in there, too, if you'd like me to do something.
Also, about the Space Core being okay - He was made to think about space constantly, so I assumed he had been built for space and therefore wouldn't be damaged as much as tiny little Wheatley. :L
Also also, I think the field at the end may be just grass. But I'm going to pretend it's wheat. That way, I get to subconciously make you think about Wheatley whenever you hear 'wheat'. Have fun with that from now on.
ONWARDS.
Chell raised an arm above her head to block the midday sun from her eyes. It lit up the field, sending a warm, golden glow through the wheat. Somehow, it hadn't changed, the wheat never dying. It just stayed gold, frozen in time, probably due to the chemicals and who-knows-what-else seeping into the soil from Aperture Science below. She moved through the field, feeling for the GPS in her pocket. Getting lost was not on her list of things to do.
But, why was she even here? Chell wondered what had compelled her to come back. There was nothing waiting here but the field, full of a crop that coincidentally had the name of her old friend. Eventually, she'd even found her way to the old metal shack, but had scurried away as soon as she saw it, a fresh pain in her chest. It hurt to be here. Betrayal after betrayal after betrayal, and she would never forget it. It had taken her months to adjust to Chitose's prescence in her life, a year to trust her. She'd been through so many kinds of therapy, and Chitose was her makeshift psychologist. Physical therapy had been easy. She always bounced back quickly. Mental therapy - seeing if she was still sane - was also easy. The idea of brain damage had been far from the truth, it seemed.
The emotional therapy was the hardest of the three. This was where she had been rarely anything but silent, refusing to admit anything of her past or her pain. Chitose struggled here: she'd tried having Chell paint, write, and exercise regularly, yet no emotion had been revealed, and Chell had stopped talking altogether.
Art was beautiful, but had no depth in her eyes. It wasn't personal and didn't reflect her story, and while she had the patience, she didn't have the interest to learn.
Writing was next, and hadn't worked because Chell was always slightly paranoid that someone would find a way to read her soul through a few simple phrases. [1]
Exercise had little effect; she was already in shape, and the push to exercise more often had sent her into a phase where she was convinced she was overweight.
Soon, however, Chitose had began to use music, and Chell responded immediately. The sounds, harmonies and melodies blending together, had been the perfect contrast to Aperature Science, where everything had been either silence or dischord. She'd loved most genres that she had been exposed to, and eventually allowed herself to listen to something electronic or classical, despite the memories that'd surface. Soon, Chell learned to sing herself, and while her voice wasn't that of a star, she was somewhat above average. Though her voice often cracked on higher notes, she used that to her advantage in emotional songs, and eventually picked up on a light, almost unnoticable vibrato. As usual, she'd adapted using whatever she had, and didn't give up until she got it right. [2]
Chell liked the sound of her voice when she sang. It was different than the sound of speaking, and pleasant - not amazing, or breathtaking, or even worthy of much attention, but it was hers to use as she pleased.
Eventually, however, she found that the songs weren't personal enough, and didn't reflect the way she felt. She tried to write her own, only to realize that she didn't always have the right voice for what she'd written, and that she preferred to listen to someone else sing, anyway.
That was when Meiko was created. An emotional, humanoid, singing companion android. Chell had been happy, then. Truly, honestly happy. She had created something all on her own that was the culmination of all of her experiences and knowledge. The next thing she knew, Kaito had been created, and Miku followed shortly afterwards. Chell's home was no longer an empty building, and the warmth of feeling towards her creations slowly began to swell. Soon, following their predecessors, Rin and Len were created, and finally, Luka.
It was her very own family. An unnamed kind of love circulated between them: While some relationships were obvious, like that of Luka's sister-like personality or Len's idea that Chell was his mother, most of the Vocaloids simply thought of Chell as their Creator, and treated her like a close friend. Slowly, Chell began to forget what had happened to her, and moved towards the future. Yet, somehow, the farther she got from her past, the more she thought about it. It had become such a huge part of her life, and leaving it behind didn't seem right - but what about her family, now? Her past and present were seperated, and she'd built a wall on the line that kept them apart.
But that wall was breaking, if not already reduced to rubble, considering where she was.
It had been two years since Chell's escape. Two years and probably a few months. Her head pounded with a sharp pain, probably due to the bright sunlight in her eyes. Sighing, Chell reached towards her pocket, planning to leave.
This is pointle-
"Hey, lady."
Chell stopped dead in her tracks.
What the hell was that?
She had been sure she heard a voice, somewhere to her right. It was so quiet, though... And, was something burning?
"Hey. Hey, lady. Heyladycomecloser."
Chell gasped in recognition. She knew that voice! Following the scent of smoke, she thrashed wildly through the wheat, looking for the source of the familiarity.
"Ladyyyy! Space! I WAS IN SPACE!"
Chell stopped. Right in front of her was a huge mound of metal and debris, around which was a ring of charred earth, which was what had caused the burning smell. Among the trash heap was a familiar shape -
"SPACE!" The psychotic sphere chimed in, nodding as if it were the secret of all life.
So this was the game Fate wanted to play with her.
Chell stood still, paralyzed for a moment. If that was the Space Core, where was...?
Her eyes shifted to the right, scouring the debris. A circular shape attracted her attention, and she ran towards it immediately, reaching out a hand towards it. It felt familiar, and the shock of it made her eyes blur and her stomach flip.
"W-Wheatley?"
His lens was cracked and empty, and his spherical body was charred and dented. Somehow, the Space Core had avoided much damage, but Wheatley had been through so much beforehand that the reentry into the atmosphere had hurt him beyond was he was capable of withstanding.
Chell picked him up, struggling against the magnet and her own fear. She sat down, looking him over frantically. There had to be a power switch, or a reset button, or-
"Dead. Space-friend died. In space. Space is a good place to die, though."
Chell felt her stomach drop violently.
"...Dead?" She whispered, feeling the weight of the word sink in all too soon.
She'd asked for him back.
Doesn't this fall under 'anything'?
Chell tried to supress the shock that continued to course through her with harsh thoughts.
Well, doesn't it? He was useless, anyw-
"No."
No? This is ridiculous. Stand up and walk away, before you make a fool of yourself.
"No. No, no, no, no, no..."
Attachment issues are common in people who are adopted, but you really need to put him on the ground and go home. Do you think he cares about you? The Companion Cube cares about you. Not this moron. Plus, he hurt you. And he's dead.
Chell shook her head frantically, trying to silence the voice - Her voice - in her head. It had been what kept her going through the pain and stress of testing, but it had followed her out. Now, GLaDOS's voice was what held Chell's emotion captive, reminding her of her weakness every time she neared her breaking point.
However, now it was time to pick up the pieces.
...I can't run away this time.
Chell shook violently as everything crashed over her, and the mental strain finally caught up. Clinging to the shell of what had been her best friend and worst enemy, years of fear, regret, anger, sadness, longing, hatred, and love poured out of her at once, and for the first time, Chell was facing them all. There was no more running; no more bottling it up and hiding it away. She'd been locked up like a lab rat, forced to run tests, again and again and again. She'd been betrayed by GLaDOS, and killed her, and locked up again. Then, he came along.
Wheatley.
She'd trusted him, fallen for his simpleminded, good-natured charm, and he'd shoved that trust back in her face. He'd destroyed the one thing she'd forgotten to guard: her heart. The thought of it made her want to scream. A robot had broken her heart? What was she doing, sobbing like a child and clinging to the very thing she hated with all of her soul?
The part of Chell that brought her here answered her mental question with a wave of regret and emptiness.
Do you really hate him?
Chell realized she wasn't breathing, and suddenly gasped for air. Emotion swept through her veins like fire and ice, changing from anger to longing to sadness to fury in the course of a few seconds.
"I wish..." Chell choked out, "I wish I-..."
Had never met him?
No, that wasn't it. In a way, he had gotten her out of there, eventually.
What did she wish for, then?
Her head pounded violently, and Chell raised her hands to cradle her face, only to discover her soaked cheeks. Numb and spent, she looked at her hands. When was the last time she'd cried? She couldn't remember.
The Space Core blinked at her, whispering to space. Could space hear him? He didn't know. But, wait. What was that? He remembered something about that last part. Space? No. Not space. In space. Space-friend.
He beeped at Chell, before playing back what he remembered.
"I wish I could take it all back. I honestly do. I honestly wish I could take it all back..."
Chell listened, her head aching, as Wheatley's voice filled the air. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed the sound of it. Her hands shook, and she held Wheatley to her chest gently.
"...And, I am genuinely sorry."
The silence that followed afterwards was filled only by her short breaths, taking in what had just happened.
Wheatley had apologized.
He had been Wheatley again. Her Wheatley. The one she'd trusted.
Reality, however, hit her shoulders within a few moments.
Her Wheatley was dead.
[1] This is similar to her fear of speaking.
[2] Caroline is GLaDOS, and GLaDOS is a good singer. I'm stuck on the theory that Caroline is Chell's mother, and therefore, Chell can sing, goddamnit. Also, did anyone see Chell's name on one of the potato battery projects? The Aperature Science Day-Care Center? Why would she need to be in day-care if she wasn't the child of one of the workers?
Anyway. Thank you for reading this far. Review if you'd like, or if you feel I could use some critique. Constructive, please. I'm sensitive. T3T