A/N: Thanks to James Birdsong for the review. It's much appreciated :)

Check out my Deviant Art (Sweet-Christabel) for illustrations for this chapter.

2003.
The Assistant's Assistant.

In the ten years that had passed since the events of Bring Your Daughter To Work Day, Chell's curiosity had only grown. If her dad had been nonchalant about it, then perhaps she would have put it behind her and forgotten the whole thing. But he had been secretive, becoming irritable and snappy when she asked questions, and it had just increased her suspicions that there was far more behind it than she knew. The facility-wide evacuation had alarmed everyone, despite the fact that it had later been shrugged off as an unscheduled fire drill. Chell had quickly become convinced that it had had something to do with the top secret project her dad was involved in.

She had had a life since then, but she had never forgotten. Through school, through college, through her first couple of poorly-paid jobs, she had tried to discover what he was working on. It wasn't simply to satisfy her curiosity. Throughout the years, her dad had become more and more involved in his work, to the point that she barely saw him. She now rented her own house that she shared with a college friend, and the family home had spiralled downhill since she had left. Her dad never mowed the grass or cleaned, and his neighbours confirmed what she'd begun to suspect: that he often stayed at work for days at a time. She was worried about him, and he wasn't being forthcoming at all, so she'd gotten herself a job at Aperture.

She was casually interested in science, but she was by no means qualified. To get her foot in the door, she'd landed herself a job as Lazarus Grey's assistant's assistant. It was an unimportant role and only part-time, but she needed to be where her father was, to keep an eye on him if possible. The fact that Lazarus was still CEO had surprised her, as even as a child she had questioned his competence. She doubted she would see him much, though. She reported directly to Marlene, his first assistant.

Chell gazed at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, smoothing down her hair, slipping in a clip to keep it out of her face. Her trouser suit was cheap but relatively well-tailored, and her blouse was crisp and lint-free. First impressions were important, and she wanted to succeed on her first day, however far down the chain of command she was.

"Are you done?" came an impatient voice. "I need a shower!"

Chell gave herself a final glance, then opened the door. Her roommate stood on the other side of it, wearing her pyjamas and an irate expression. Her luminous red hair hung in untamed curls around her porcelain face.

"I'm done," Chell said with a quick smile.

"You took ages!"

"It's my first day, Em. I need to get everything right."

Emma grumbled unintelligibly, shuffling past her into the bathroom.

Chell smiled to herself as she got the door shut in her face. "You're such a morning person!"

"Stop being so perky!" Emma called back.

Laughing, Chell started down the stairs in search of food.

"Goo luk!" Emma shouted around a mouthful of toothbrush.

Chell grinned and thanked her.

She and Emma lived in a tiny house in Ishpeming Township, the closest residential area to Aperture. A vast majority of its citizens were employees, and Chell knew how lucky she was to find a place to live, as properties got snapped up quickly. Their house was in West Ishpeming, an area separate enough from the main town to warrant its own name. Her father's house was not far, in the town itself, although she rarely went back there now she'd moved out, especially since he was often not there.

Despite living in the closest residential area to Aperture, Chell still had a fairly lengthy drive to the laboratories. The place took up a huge amount of space, it was true, but most of it was underground in the salt mine, its surface buildings far out in the middle of the countryside. As she drove, she reflected on everything she knew of her job description so far. She would answer the phone, type up letters, send emails and be generally supportive to Marlene. It wasn't particularly challenging, but she was anxious anyway. First day nerves were to be expected. It didn't help that she didn't particularly want to work there. She was putting her career ideas on hold in order to figure out what was going on with her dad. Even though she didn't yet have a clear idea of what she wanted to do with her life, she did know that it had nothing to do with Aperture Science.

Security let her through the perimeter gate when she showed them Marlene's letter, and she managed to find a parking space, albeit one a long distance from the door. The main parking lot was vast, and full enough to suggest that it was only just big enough. There were others, she knew, for the departments that were further away from main reception, but she didn't know exactly where they were, and they couldn't be seen from the main lot. She wasn't even sure how many entrances Aperture had. It looked bizarre on first glance, a huge parking lot for a relatively small building. If a visitor wasn't aware that 99% of Aperture Laboratories was situated underground, they would be understandably confused by the amount of vehicles parked.

She walked the dry asphalt of the parking lot, winding her way through the cars in the shortest route to the entrance. A smiling young woman greeted her at the reception desk. A quick phone call to Marlene confirmed who she was, and Chell soon found herself signing non-disclosure documents before being issued with her own card key. She took the elevator down, reminiscing about the number of times she'd made the same journey as a child. But for her interview, she hadn't been back in years, not since her dad had deemed her old enough not to need after-school supervision.

Marlene was waiting for her at the bottom. Chell had only met her once, when she'd come in for her interview. She was a pleasant enough woman, but she had a cold edge to her, and she never gave away anything of herself. Chell guessed she was nearing forty, her dark hair cut short in a neat, severe bob, her pale complexion a sure sign of the work hours she put in. Aperture employees rarely saw sunlight during the week.

"Good morning," Marlene greeted her, jumping straight into her introductory speech. "You'll only be doing twenty-five hours a week, so I'm only going to go over what you need to know. It's very unlikely that you'll have to cover me, I'm hardly ever sick."

"What about vacations?" Chell asked.

Marlene looked at her blankly. "What about them?"

Chell felt the pause hang between them and decided to let the subject drop before it got even more awkward. "O...kay. Do I have many duties?"

Marlene began leading her through the sterile, grey corridors, continuing her talk as they went. "Well, certainly not as many as I do!" She laughed, but it had a false ring to it. "I've written you a list. Your predecessor should have done it before he left, but he didn't bother. I'll run through everything today, though."

The morning dragged its heels. Marlene explained every tiny detail of every single duty. For some things it was helpful, but for most it was irritating and unnecessary. Chell was an intelligent young woman, she made the connections and understood what was being asked of her.

By midday she was being shown the file room, getting ready to tear her hair out as Marlene opened drawers to explain the filing system. It was actually one she was already familiar with: the alphabet.

"Every employee has a file here," Marlene was saying. "You'll have one too. They contain performance reviews, necessary medical records, copies of qualifications. Anything we need to keep hold of. Some of the letters are missing off the front of the drawers, though. We used to have one drawer per letter, but that wasn't very effective, since there were whole drawers standing empty. X, for example. X is now in with W, Y and Z."

Chell nodded mechanically, feeling her eyes glaze over.

"Q, we moved into R."

Marlene pulled out the R drawer so Chell could see where the Q divider, with a grand total of two names, was placed at the start of the more populated R. She nodded politely to show her understanding, mentally calculating how long it was until lunch time. As Marlene pushed the drawer back in, Chell caught sight of a file labelled RATTMANN, DOUGLAS.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. Despite the fact that she thought about it often, her memories from Bring Your Daughter To Work Day had grown hazy over time. However, she couldn't remember anything about Doug Rattmann that suggested he would have actually chosen to come back to Aperture. Particularly after what they'd both witnessed on that day, and several weeks before it when the British man had vanished.

But I chose to come back, she reflected inwardly. Granted, that's mostly because of Dad, but still…

Perhaps Aperture had made a newly-qualified Doug an offer he couldn't refuse. Or perhaps he remembered just as well as she did, and wanted to know the truth.

Unwittingly, she let out a soft, thoughtful noise.

"What was that?" Marlene asked her at once.

"Nothing," Chell shot back. "I've got it."

Marlene arched a well-maintained eyebrow. "Are you sure? Because I know that all of this can be overwhelming, and–"

"I'm not overwhelmed," Chell interrupted against her better judgement. "Really. I've got it."

The older woman looked at her with open scepticism. "Well, okay. But I don't want you bugging me with questions all the time, I'll have my own work to do."

"I understand," Chell assured her, smiling diplomatically.

Marlene nodded huffily and continued her tour, while Chell once again turned her thoughts to her forthcoming break.

Chell's first week passed uneventfully, most of her time taken up with learning everything she needed to know. She saw her father on a couple of occasions, but barely had time to speak to him. She knew he wasn't overjoyed at the thought of her being there, and his stern demeanour ensured that she didn't forget, even when they just caught glimpses of each other in the corridors. The second week was much the same as the first, with improvements on the amount of knowledge she retained. In the third week, the internal phone lines went down, causing immediate chaos, and a level of panic that Chell thought disproportionate.

Within five minutes of the problem being reported, a tall, balding man hurtled up to her desk, demanding to see Lazarus Grey. After she'd reminded him that Marlene dealt with Mr. Grey's schedule, he hurried away as quickly as he'd come. Bewildered, Chell wandered to the door through to Marlene's office. The man was practically shouting at her, his hands blocking her paperwork as he leaned over her desk.

"You don't understand!" he was saying. "I need to see him now! If the phones are out then that means the red phone is out too! Ugh, you don't even know what I'm talking about, do you?"

"We're on the case, Dr. Stevens," Marlene soothed. "Bear with me."

She rose to her feet and approached Chell's observation point.

"Chell, where the hell is Bob? I thought he knew to come up here in an emergency."

"I sent him to Image Formatting about twenty minutes ago," Chell reported. "They had a server problem. He's probably still there."

Marlene considered for a moment, one manicured finger pressed against her pursed lips. "Do you know where Image Formatting is?" she asked at last.

Chell mentally called up the layout of the various floors that she'd been continually studying since she started. "Yes, I think so."

"Then you'd better get down there. Now! Run!"

Chell nodded and darted away, neatly weaving her way through the scientists traversing the corridors. The elevator ride was the easiest part of her journey, giving her time to catch her breath. Even when she was on the right floor, the department she needed was a good ten minutes' walk away. She took off as fast as her heeled shoes would allow, idly wondering why Marlene couldn't just send Bob an email. She didn't know what the big emergency was, but she knew better than to walk if she was told to run.

Five minutes later she slowed, pausing to get her breath back before boldly walking through the open office door. It was a small department of five people, all of whom looked up and stared at her. She started to wish she didn't look quite so dishevelled. She'd only been doing what she was told, but it made her feel unprofessional.

"Oh," she said, still a little breathless. "I was hoping Bob was here."

"He left," one of the scientists said gruffly.

"I can see that," she snapped. "Where did he go?"

"I don't know," he said with a shrug. "I'd say call him, but the phones are down."

Chell fought against her instinct to glower. "I know," she said slowly. "That's why I need Bob. Does anyone know where he is?"

Silence floated back at her. Then, with obvious reluctance, a quiet voice from the back of the room said, "Accounts."

Chell turned to smile at the man who seemed to be the only helpful person in the room. Her smile faltered distractedly as she was hit with a sudden wave of familiarity. A face she recognised was looking calmly at her: Doug Rattmann. The recognition wasn't mutual, she could see that immediately. He was studying her with mild curiosity, but not a huge amount of interest. Clearly, he just wanted to get back to his work.

"He mentioned going to Accounts," he clarified, after Chell had stared at him for a long moment.

"How d'you know that?" the man sitting next to him asked, frowning as he reached for his coffee cup.

"I listen," Doug replied acerbically.

The man chuckled, apparently used to his dry, blunt tones.

"Oh," Chell spoke up, finding words at last. "Thanks." She tried to recall just where the Accounts department was, but drew a blank. She was realising more and more that she didn't know her way around as well as she'd thought. "Is it far?" she asked.

"About five or ten minutes." He was looking at her properly now, his gaze steady and appraising, holding a touch more interest but still no recognition.

"Right...in which direction?"

The scientist she'd first spoken to laughed. "Just take her there, Doug, we'll never get our phone lines back up if she gets lost."

With only a trace amount of annoyance, Doug stood up, drained the remnants of his coffee, then made his way to the front of the room.

Chell bit her lip, embarrassed. "I'm new," she muttered. She wondered if she could really still claim that after three weeks.

"You don't say," the scientist chuckled. His I.D. badge read Graham and ranked him as the one in charge. "So, are you the new Dominic?"

She nodded in confirmation. "Yes, I'm Marlene's assistant."

"What's your name?"

Unable to help shooting Doug a sidelong glance, she answered, "Chell."

His answering gaze was wide-eyed and startled, and she gave a tiny shrug, smiling ruefully.

"Nice to meet you," Graham said, apparently not noticing the short exchange. "Go with Doug, he'll take you to Accounts."

"Thank you."

She followed Doug out of the room, trotting to catch up with him in the corridor. When they were a fair distance from the office, he turned to her.

"I…didn't recognise you," he declared.

"That's okay. Why would you?" she said kindly. "We haven't seen each other in ten years." She gave a shrug. "Plus I'm taller than I used to be."

"You recognised me," he stated, sounding mildly annoyed.

"Yes, well, you've not changed that much. You're even wearing the same coat!"

He didn't smile, but his expression softened a touch. There was a hint of uncertainty in it too. Chell wasn't sure what it meant, but the situation was certainly odd. They knew each other, yet were strangers.

"What on Earth possessed you to come back here?" he asked. His tone confirmed that he remembered everything they'd seen as kids as well as she did.

She exhaled, considering what to say. She wondered if she could trust him with her reasons. Her instinct was telling her she could, but the rational part of her was cautious.

"That's...a complicated question," she admitted eventually. "For when I'm not in a rush."

His face began to regain its stoic expression, and she hurriedly sent him a smile.

"Another time?" she added, hoping her words came across in the friendly, encouraging way that she meant them.

"Sure," he said, and Chell couldn't decipher if he was serious or simply giving her a diplomatic answer.

Pushing her doubt aside, she asked, "What made you decide to come back here?"

"That's complicated too," Doug shot back. After an awkward pause, he went on, "Besides, it's not fair of you to ask without answering first."

"Okay, you have a point," Chell conceded, shrugging. "I really would like to talk about this, but if I don't get Bob fixing the phones, Marlene will have my head on a spike. And I kind of like it where it is."

"Understandable," he said dryly.

"I thought so."

"I'm sure as hell not running, though. Bob will get there when he gets there."

She huffed, but said nothing. She was still grateful that he was guiding her. What a turnaround, she thought, amused.

Doug gave a soft chuckle. Chell sensed it was at her expense, but she was too keen to get a smile out of him to mind.

"What?" she demanded.

"I was trying to see if the old you is still in there, and she just made herself known. You still find me annoying."

Chell glanced at him, observing the benevolent smirk that signified his own amusement.

"You say that like it has nothing to do with you," she commented calmly, refusing to be ruffled.

He laughed again, a more open and genuine sound than before, and she grinned.

"Touché," he said.

She sobered, adding thoughtfully, "She's still in here. If I'd never been her, I wouldn't be here now."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll explain another time, but...I was young when I was here before, but I still noticed things. Things that happened around here that caught my interest."

He met her gaze, but she wasn't sure what he was thinking. His mismatched eyes and his indifferent expression gave nothing away. Despite recognising him, Chell knew the older Doug would take some getting used to. Although he'd seemed old from her ten-year-old perspective, now that they'd met again she could appreciate just how much of a child he'd been himself. As an adult he was a little paler, he had shadows beneath his eyes that hadn't been there before. His dark hair was shorter and tidier, his posture a little less hunched, and he wasn't quite as thin. The angles of his face had sharpened over the years as he lost the childish roundedness, and held only a bare trace of the arrogance they once had shown. His nose was still a little on the large side, but he no longer looked awkward in his own skin, not only due to his being older, but because he was more confident too. He'd grown more comfortable with himself, although not as much as she would have expected. Even in the short time she'd been with him, Chell could see how he'd replaced his teenage awkwardness with blunt, dry wit and a general aura of obstinacy, but there was a different kind of uneasiness about him that she couldn't figure out.

Doug's gaze shifted, darting along the corridor ahead and the space behind. He was suddenly edgy, quite unlike the boy she remembered.

"We definitely need to talk about this," he said, his voice low. "But not here. I'll...let you know. Okay?"

Puzzled, she nodded. "Okay."

"I need to get back," he went on. "Keep going straight. Accounts is the third door on the left."

Chell glanced down the corridor ahead. "Right. Thanks for your help."

"Guess we're square now," Doug added with a hesitant smile.

"I guess so," she agreed. "About time."

He nodded, letting out a brief chuckle. "See you around."

"Sure."

She watched him walk back the way they'd come for a moment, then continued on her way, the wounded phone lines now pushed to the back of her thoughts.

It was almost a whole week before she heard from Doug again. She was beginning to wonder if he'd really meant what he'd said, hopeful that other things had simply prevented him from contacting her rather than him deciding that he didn't want to talk after all. But then she received an instant message through the company's intranet, saying simply: 'What time do you finish work? - D.R.'

Chell smiled to herself in relief, glad that maybe she had an ally after all. Quickly, she typed back: 'At 3pm. - C.'

She continued composing the email she was working on. Five minutes later, she received: 'Meet you in the parking lot. - D.R.'

She wrote back a confirmation, then returned to her work. The afternoon passed at a reasonable rate, and by ten minutes past three, she was outside. Doug was already there, leaning against a car several rows away, his pensive expression looking a little at odds with the smart black suit he wore. Aperture expected all its employees to look smart, even when the scientists hid the majority of their outfits under their lab coats. A few years previously, Black Mesa had launched an office wear policy, so Lazarus Grey had immediately done the same, not wanting to be outdone by Aperture's main rival on any point, even the most trivial.

Doug straightened up as she approached, greeting her with a small, hesitant smile. She smiled back warmly, trying put him at ease. She didn't recall that it had been difficult to do when he was a teenager, but people changed.

"Hi," she said brightly, tucking windswept strands of hair behind her ear. "Sorry I'm late. I always forget how long it takes to get back up here from the office."

"That's okay," Doug replied levelly. "Do you want to sit in the car? It's warmer, and I have coffee in a Thermos."

"Well, if there's coffee, how can I refuse?"

His smile widened for the first time, and he opened his car door.

Chell walked around to the other side, slipping into the seat and shutting the breeze outside. Doug's car was looking a little worse for wear. Chell was no vehicle enthusiast, but even she could tell that the model was old and could probably have done with being upgraded several years ago. Perhaps it held sentimental value.

Doug poured coffee into the small lid cups from the Thermos, setting them on the dashboard to cool down. The windscreen clouded with two identical patches of condensation, like speech bubbles in a comic book.

"So," said Chell, breaking the awkward silence, "what have you been doing with yourself for the past ten years?"

Unexpectedly, Doug laughed. It was a short, bitter sound. "Mostly working," he commented at length.

"Here?"

"I've been here for four years now."

Chell nodded encouragingly. "What's that like?"

He took a moment to think, staring out the windscreen at the back of the red McLaren parked in the space in front. "More interesting than I'd initially thought, actually. Although… What clearance level are you?"

"Three," she answered, wrinkling her nose. "Pathetic, right?"

"Not at all. But I'm afraid I can't really explain why I find the job interesting."

"I understand," Chell said with a shrug. "I hear that all the time. Security is nuts here. Even Marlene only has a clearance level of seven, and she's Lazarus's assistant. How high does it go, anyway?"

"I'm not sure," Doug replied thoughtfully. "The highest I've seen is twelve."

"Same. Lazarus has a kind of free-rein pass card. I'm pretty sure he only created it to make himself look more important. Pompous ass."

Doug smirked at her casual lack of respect. "That's our boss you're slandering."

Chell turned towards him, poker-faced. "And? He is a pompous ass."

He nodded, conceding the point. "That is true."

A more comfortable silence fell, and Chell reached for her coffee, blowing the surface to cool it further. Doug followed her example. He took a sip and grimaced.

"Ack. That's terrible! Sorry."

Chell glanced at him sceptically. She'd never yet met a coffee she didn't like. But, mindful of his words, she cautiously drank a tiny amount. It wasn't the nicest thing she'd ever tasted, but it wasn't the worst.

"It's okay," she said valiantly.

"No, it's not, you're just being polite."

"Does that really sound like me?"

Doug hesitated, seemingly aware that whatever he said could potentially dig a hole to China.

Taking pity on him, Chell went on, "Is it caffeinated?"

"Of course."

"Then it'll do."

He gave a small, amused huff.

As they continued drinking their mediocre coffee, Chell attempted to turn the conversation towards discovering why Doug had chosen to work at Aperture, but getting answers out of him was tedious. In the end, she told him her own reasons for being there, in the hope that it would prompt him to share more. It didn't make him any more accommodating, but he did confirm that he too wanted to figure out more of what the company was really up to, and he too was concerned that Aperture's eccentricities were hiding something more sinister. That was all Chell really needed to know for the time being. She knew she had an ally, and that was more than enough to boost her spirits.

She told him as much, and he gave a small, pleased smile in return, but she was starting to feel that there was a lot he wasn't telling her, and she couldn't help but wonder why. Still, she didn't want to push him too hard. He was the first person she'd come across that she felt could really become a friend, and she didn't want to jeopardise that before it even got off the ground.

At ten minutes to four, Doug declared that he needed to head back, and they parted ways amicably, promising to tell each other anything they found out. Chell knew that they'd have to bend the security clearance rules for that, but she instructed Doug to tell her only what she needed to know. She didn't want to get him in any unnecessary trouble.

On the drive back to Ishpeming, she mulled over everything she'd learned, thinking of ways to discover more without being fired. She also made herself a silent promise that she'd figure out what was bothering Doug. Perhaps it was simply ten years of maturity, but he didn't seem exactly the same person she'd known. She vowed to find out if there was anything wrong, or whether it was just natural change. She hoped it was the latter, but she was all too aware that her dad was a prime example of how working at Aperture Laboratories could alter a person.

A/N: If you think you recognise the name Lazarus Grey, you're probably right. It crops up in Lab Rat on the test subject list. Marlene is all mine, however. Lucky me.

Ishpeming is a real place, by the way, but I know pretty much nothing about it. I was just searching Google maps for potential Aperture locations, so apologies to anyone who is familiar with it and doesn't recognise the version in this story!