(A/N) I only have one review to address, so here it is.

Cheese Wagon: Thank you for your suggestion for the title. If there are enough after a few weeks, I'll put up a poll on my profile with the titles and who suggested them. I will try to update once a week, but sometimes life may happen. Also, Chell isn't mute; she just chooses not to speak.

"Hello, and welcome to Vale News Network. I'm Lisa Lavender. A recent break-in at a clothing store has police scratching their heads in confusion. To explain why they have a high interest in such a small crime, here's Tyler McHogany."

(Camera cuts to a man standing outside the store in question.)

"Thank you Lisa. I am currently standing outside J. C. Peppers, where a minor theft occurred late last night. At around 12 o'clock, an unidentified suspect was observed by security cameras wandering around the store."

(Image of man replaced by surveillance footage. The footage shows a young woman wandering among the aisles, removing various articles of clothing from the shelves.)

"The suspect appears to be a woman in her early 20s. As you can see, she had no interest in anything other than clothes, and didn't even attempt to open the cash register. What the police is most interested in, although, is the method used to enter the store in the first place."

(Camera cuts back to reporter)

"There was no evidence of forced entry, such as broken windows, and all entrances and exits are covered with cameras. However, the first she appeared on them was what you just saw. Obviously, this has the police worried.

(Camera cuts once more to a detective with a beard and sunglasses.)

"We at the VPD normally wouldn't have a very high priority on this case, due to the relatively low value of the stolen items. But, the woman was able to enter and leave without a trace. The most likely theory is that this is a semblance of some form. Whatever it is, it's extremely concerning to us.

"Stealing clothing is fairly harmless compared to all the other cases we have going on right now, but if this technique is used to steal from a bank vault, for example, this girl could become as dangerous as Torchwick, if not more so."

(Camera cuts yet again to the reporter, with a freeze-frame of the thief in the top left-hand corner.)

"If you have any information pertaining to this case, please contact the Vale Police Department as soon as possible.

"Back to you, Lisa."

Chell woke up from her makeshift bed made from a pile of folded cardboard boxes. Her current clothing consisting of orange pants and a white shirt with an over jacket the same color as her leggings. Her weapon was stored in a backpack off to her side, which was also white.

Checking her scroll, she found it was still very early in the morning. Not surprising, as she had turned in early last evening after an unsuccessful day of job hunting. Most of them went something like this:

"So, do you have any previous training?"

Chell shook her head no.

"You don't speak much, do you?"

Another shake

"Okay, get out."

Today she was planning to look into some more undesirable jobs. Being a gas station attendant was not something she wanted to do, but if that was all she could get, well… at least she would be able to pay for things she needed. She did not like being a thief, even if the portal gun did make her an excellent one. She just stole what she needed to survive, mostly from food stalls.

Chell was brought out of her thoughts by what sounded like footsteps coming from nearby.

I wait a minute; I know I locked all the doors. Chell grabbed her gun from the backpack and stood up, moving to the nearby breaker box. Opening it, she fumbled around for a few seconds before finding the switch she was looking for. She pulled it, and was blinded temporarily as the lights came on in the abandoned warehouse. She looked out at the aisles of empty shelves, then went to go look for what made the noise.

[Insert song; HL2 OST; Lab Practicum]

Chell approached the corner with her weapon at the ready. She rounded it to find… nothing. The space in front of her was completely bare, aside from a few empty shelving units. I could have sworn it was coming around here, Chell thought as she moved forward.

"Looking for ssomeone?"

Chell most certainly did not let out a shriek of surprise (and don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise) and whirled around to come face to face with the person who snuck up on her.

"My, my, you have quite the voice for someone who hardly ever speakss," the man rasped.

Chell's face reddened, from equal parts anger and embarrassment, as she gave the unknown man the glare normally only reserved for GLaDOS. At least I don't sound like a snake.

The man was tall and skinny, with an unnaturally pale complexion. He was dressed in a blue business suit and carried a briefcase with the same symbol that was on the cases back at the White Fang camp. Where have I seen that before?

The most unnerving thing about him, however, was his eyes. They were a bluish-green, and seemed to glow slightly.

"I ssuppose asking you to put… that," he gestured to the gun which was currently pointed at him, "away would be pointless?" Chell lowered her weapon, but kept it in her hand in case he tried something.

"Thank you. Now, onto business. I… represent a group that is… interested in the recent events that you have been innvolved with.

Chell seemed unfazed, keeping her icy glare fixed on the stranger. Internally though, she was panicking. He knows! I don't know how but, somehow, he knows about Aperture!

"I am ssure you are wondering how I know these tthings. I asssure you, all would become clear if you were to accompany me back to Black Mesa."

Chell visibly reeled back this time. Black Mesa! That's where I've seen that symbol before; it was on one of those slideshows back when I first escaped the testing track! Well, if he thinks I'm going to trade one enrichment center for another, he's got another thing coming! Chell glared back once more, this time in defiance.

The man noticed this look and responded. "Well, I was hoping we could do this the easy way, but it appears you have made up your mind. Very well then... But we will ssee each other again, you can count on that."

At this he turned around and walked towards the door behind him, opening and walking through it. The lights slightly flickered as soon as he closed it behind him.

[End song]

You're not getting away that easily! Chell mentally screamed, rushing to follow him. She reached the door, flinging it open with enough force that the broom inside the storage closet fell down. Wait a minute. Where'd he go?

Chell mused over this conundrum as her eyes explored every nook and cranny of the closet. There was nowhere to hide in it. Several theories popped into Chell's mind, and she decided to pick the simplest one. Frickin semblance, she thought with a sigh.

Suddenly, the sound of engines came from overhead, followed by glass shattering. Whipping around and looking up, she saw a platoon of eight androids of a model she didn't recognize repelling from the now broken windows.

The robots were boxy looking with a single red eye slightly off center on their "faces," and were painted with dark green camo. The weapons they carried had some variety. Three carried SMGs, three more assault rifles, and the other two were equipped with shotguns. All of them carried the same model of sidearm, however. Another thing she noticed was that the assault rifles had a long tube underneath the barrel, and a second trigger in front of the magazine. The SMGs had a similar setup, but the tubes were a quite a bit shorter.

They moved as one to surround Chell as soon as their feet hit the floor, with the sound of safeties disengaging filling the air. Some of them then stepped aside, allowing a very big man carrying a triple-barreled gatling gun move forward. He had dark skin, wore urban camo, and had a large backpack with an ammo belt running from it to his gun. Several grenades of different varieties were strapped to his waist. Zooming in on his dog tags, Chell saw the name "Sgt. Kelly Beigy" imprinted there.

"I've been ordered to take you in alive, if possible," he said in a gruff voice. "If you surrender now, I won't have to harm you. Much."

Chell responded by making an extremely rude gesture. The grunt grinned and spun up his gun.

[Insert song: HL1/HL2 OST; Diabolical Adrenaline Guitar/Lambda Core]

Chell ducked before she was turned to mincemeat, placing a blue portal on the roof of the other side of the warehouse, and an orange directly beneath her. She canceled them the moment she dropped through. The robots were very confused at the sudden disappearance of their target. Kelly realized what happened almost immediately, however.

He pointed at Chell's direction. "Fan out, and converge!" he ordered his squad, which complied immediately.

Chell popped out from the shelf she was taking cover behind to fire her laser at the closest robot until it shut down to vent.

"Warning; extreme temperatures detected! Overclocking cooling systems to compensate!" exclaimed the robot that now had a fist-sized hole in its chest. If Chell were to be looking at the android's backside, she would see the vents located there opening up wide, along with all the other bots doing the same.

Chell attempted to fire off another burst, but this one did less damage. Looks like they can adapt fairly well. I'll have to be more careful. Then Chell heard the whining of an electric motor, followed by a stream of bullets.

Now, Chell had only been the subject of one type of bullet before, so she wasn't exactly the world's expert on getting shot (which was probably a good thing). Even then, she had expected to be taking a lot more damage considering how weak her aura was in comparison to others... and, you know, the fact she was being shot with a freaking gatling gun! But regardless of the damage, or lack thereof, she didn't feel like just taking it. To that end, Chell quickly turned the corner of the shelving unit before the assault cannon could hit her too many times, and took a moment to catch her breath.

"Of course she has aura," she heard Kelly mutter before shouting "Switch to lethal rounds, but shoot to wound!" Well, that answered one question.

Every robot immediately stopped moving and yanked the magazine out of its weapon (aside from the shotgun wielders, who just worked the pump until all shells were extracted). A hatch opened on their outer left thighs and they slid the old mag into the opening. The mags were then pulled down and fresh ones popped back out and were inserted into the weapon of their respective robot, followed by the sound of six guns being cocked simultaneously(again, the shotgun users were the exception, pulling out and inserting shells one at a time). The robots then continued their patrols. As for Kelly, he simply unhooked the ammo belt from his gun and slid it back into his backpack before pulling out and hooking up a fresh belt from a slit directly above where he stored the other. All this took place within seconds.

Chell heard heavy clanking to her right and turned to see the robot she damaged earlier round the corner, weapon primed. She jumped to the side just as the android squeezed the trigger of its assault rifle, the three-round burst just barely missing her legs.

Chell was only a few steps away from the bot, so before it could fire off another burst, she responded by delivering a swift kick what would have been its stomach. The robot was knocked off balance and stumbled back slightly. Chell took advantage of this by yanking the pistol off its leg and flipping the small switch she saw on the side.

Please-be-the-safety-please-be-the-safety-please-be-the-safety.

As Chell chanted her internal mantra, she fired into the freshly-melted cavity. Unfortunately for her, she had never used a gun in her life (aside from that of the portal-variety) and therefore didn't take into consideration a little thing called recoil. It was this improper gun usage that caused the pistol to fly out of hand immediately upon the first shot. Chell's face contorted in pain as she tightly griped her aching wrist, several profanities flashing through her mind.

However, the single shot she did get off managed to hit even with the strong recoil, a fact not surprising considering it was fired at point blank. That, combined with the partially melted electronics inside, was just enough to bring it down. The android spat and sputtered, falling backwards with sparks flying out, as the red light in its eye died down.

Chell moved to examine the assault rifle the robot carried. She would have considered taking it had recent events not told her that was a bad idea. However, she did notice a hatch which had popped open on the right leg and the small, green pineapple-like object that rolled out of it. Chell kneeled down and picked it up, but then she heard a slight beeping coming from the robotic corpse.

Taking a guess at what was about to happen, Chell attempted to get away. However, she was too slow and got caught in the ensuing blast, propelling her straight into the wall.

Chell groaned and struggled to get to her feet. Fortunately, her gun was still secured to her forearm, and she could see where the grenade had landed. Unfortunately, there was a trio of robots between her and it. Chell rolled to the side and behind another shelving unit to avoid the incoming fire whilst setting her gun back to portal-mode. She then placed a portal under the grenade and the other one beside her, and caught the device as it fell through.

Chell dropped her portal gun in order to hold the explosive in her dominant hand. Remembering the few FPS games she played in her teens, she pulled the pin and waited roughly two seconds (side note; do not try this at home) before rolling the grenade straight at the three androids. All three turned away from it, and one of them even said "Warning, ex-" but was cut short when the fuse ran out far earlier than it was programmed to expect.

"Useless machines!" cried Kelly, who had turned a corner just in time to witness them get knocked to the ground from the explosion.

Chell grabbed her portal gun and used the gel-mode to get away. "You can't hide forever girly!"

Girly? Is that seriously the best you can come up with? At least the others were creative with their insults.

Chell ran across the aisle until she heard the clanking of metal footsteps. Meanwhile, Kelly was looking for any sign of where his prey had gone. His search ended as a portal opened on the roof once again. "Heh, not this time," he muttered, spinning up his gun, and opening fire as soon as he saw something fall through, landing just a few aisles over. Hefting his cannon, he went to inspect his kill. As he rounded the corner of the lane the body landed in, he was met by…

A collapsed robot that promptly self-destructed in his face.

Did you really think I would try the same trick twice? With thinking like that, you might be able to give Wheatley a run for his money, Chell chastised him mentally.

"Grenade activated!" a robotized voice called out from behind her. Chell heard a clink and looked down to see a small cylinder coming to rest at her feet. Chell glanced at the offending bot before kicking the small bomb back like a ball and looking away.

"Alert!" was all that was said before the flashbang exploded. The robot stumbled from the bright light and announced "Error... recalibrating." It was disabled just long enough for Chell to run up and stab it in the neck, then jumping back before it blew up. Six down, two to go. Then I can take out the big guy.

"Damnit! All units, group up on me!"

Speaking of…

Kelly was pissed. This morning he was put in charge of two B-model squads with a very simple job; bring in a person of interest if the creep couldn't convince her to come with him. What they didn't tell him was that this bitch had teleportation tech, lasers, and had enough agility to rival a huntsman! To hell with his mission! This lady was dead!

"Disregard previous orders," he muttered to his last remaining units. "Shoot to kill." The robots beeped in acknowledgement.

Chell crouched around the corner by them and took a quick peek.

"Target acquired!" shouted one robot prior to squeezing the secondary trigger of the SMG in its hand, and a small grey object with a rounded tip was launched out of the tube. Chell dodged before it hit, but was still hurt by splash damage when the grenade exploded on impact. She retaliated by covering the two robots in repulsion gel and putting a portal underneath one. They were completely oblivious to this action due their programming not accounting for an event even remotely similar, and kept firing until Chell ducked back out of sight.

[End song (if it hasn't already)]

Chell opened the other portal on the wall. What happened next, was like magic.

The android fell from the portal and as soon as it hit the floor, the trace amounts of gravity dust in the gel activated, sending it back up just as high as it fell from and slightly increasing its forward momentum. If the robot was alive- or programed by Aperture- it would have been screaming as loud as it could.

Chell turned her gaze back towards Kelly. The look on his face was priceless, and words wouldn't even begin to do it justice. He was so dumbstruck that he almost didn't even think to duck as the flying bot came hurtling towards him. He did though, and the android instead hit the other robot covered in gel, sending it flying as well. Kelly's expression became even more outrageous.

Chell just couldn't help but snicker at the spectacle. Kelly somehow heard her over the bouncing bots, and his face was immediately replaced with blind rage as he took out a grenade, yanked the pin out, and threw it directly at her feet, but not before letting the fuse run down.

Chell didn't even have time to recognize the threat before the grenade exploded, dealing significant damage and throwing Chell away. She struggled to get up, letting out a groan as she got back up, but it all died out the moment she noticed her aura meter.

I'm in the red zone. I have to finish this quick. Chell got up, now completely serious and not tired at all. She picked up her gun from where it landed nearby, and turned to face her opponent.

[Insert song; Portal 2: Songs to Test By; Your Precious Moon]

Chell fired bursts of lasers whilst running for cover, careful to avoid overheating. None of them hit. Kelly grinned maniacally, whilst laying down fire. He only hit a few times before Chell got to behind a shelf. "Stop dodging! Do you have any idea how much these bullets cost?"

Chell decided to oblige him and leapt out of cover, running straight at him. Kelly held down the trigger, only to be met by the clicking of his gun running empty. He stared in disbelief, before looking at the ammo belt that Chell severed with the blasts she "missed." He could have reconnected it, but considering the rate at which the girl was closing, he instead dropped the cannon and pulled out his pistol, only for Chell to smack it away with her own gun, following up with a punch to the side of his waist that did very little.

Kelly shoved Chell away with a kick and brought his gun to bear. "You don't know much hand-to-hand, do you?"

Chell responded with a grin and threw something at his feet. Kelly decided to humor her and looked down. As he gazed at the pin, his expression turned to one of pure horror. He reached for the grenades on his belt while Chell ran as fast as she could, but it was too late.

*KABOOOOM*

The grenade exploded, setting off a chain reaction, detonating the other grenades on the belt, along with all the unused ammo in his backpack. Both Chell and Kelly were knocked backwards.

[End song]

Chell slowly pulled herself off the ground. Her head was spinning, she was covered in cuts and bruises, and the meter in her vision indicated that her aura was completely gone. She pulled herself up and looked around the room.

Kelly was lying on the ground, blood pouring out of his many wounds. He was far worse off than Chell, due in no small part to being at ground zero. Chell walked over to him and knelt down. It only took seconds to confirm his lack of breathing. Chell just stood there, dumbstruck.

[Insert song: Black Mesa Main Theme]

She just killed a man. Yes it was in self-defense and he wasn't a particular good man, but still, she killed him. There was no voice in the sky to blame this time, it was all on her. And the worst part was…

She didn't even feel that bad about it. Shouldn't she feel awful and want to puke? It wasn't like killing a soulless Grimm. He might have had family… children who would never see their father again because of her. And she just ended his life without blinking an eye. And that weighed on her conscious more than killing him ever could.

In the distance, sirens whined, but Chell didn't hear them. She just kept staring ahead with a blank expression on her face. She didn't even react when the doors flew inwards to allow the SWAT team entrance. She had the same face when she was cuffed and read her rights. And when she was taken away.

As the team inspected the wreckage of the warehouse, one member said the thing that was on everyone's mind.

"What the hell happened here?"

(A/N): I was planning on adding some more to the end, but this seemed to be a good ending point. I'll put what I was going to write at the beginning of the next chapter.

I would like to thank Lord Curly for the idea of adding Black Mesa as an antagonist.

The songs were an experiment. I've seen some other authors use it to establish a mood, and I thought I would try the same thing. I might have gone a little overboard though. Tell me what you think of it.

I'm sure everyone who knows anything about Half-Life knows who that unknown man was. Fair warning, his true nature going to be very different in this fic than in the games.

I originally intended Kelly to be a massive TF2 Soldier reference, but decided against it. Then I found out about the Sergeant and decided to make him that. For those of you curious of what Kelly and the robots look like, just google "half-life robot grunt" and "half-life sergeant."

Revision complete on 3/15/18
Changes: Changed some things around in the fight scene.

Further changes complete on 9/13/18
Important changes: -Kelly calls for ammo change far earlier than previously.
-Gave slightly more detail on the robots' functions.
-Removed Kelly's stupid monologue right before death.
-Made Chell far less gun-savvy. I mean seriously; who ever heard of a mute, scientifically-inclined individual pick up a gun and instantly know how to use it well enough to single-handedly take out several armies?