Fang leaned against the bars of his cage. His wounds were already healing, and so where the others. Other than the turret incident, GLaDOS hadn't touched them. All she really ever did was stare at the monitors and laugh. Fang liked to listen to the speakers, so that he'd be updated on what was going on. At one point, he heard crying, but he suspected it was the other person. Max was probably the strongest person he knew, and we all know she hates crying and any other emotion. Period. Other than the sound from the monitors, the sound of Gazzy and Iggy playing "Rock, Paper, Scissors" echoed through the vast room. Iggy was blind, but that didn't stop him from winning. Gazzy couldn't falsely claim to win, because Iggy can distinguish the shape of the hand just by the sound it made. Nudge quietly sang to Angel, who attempted to mentally control the A.I. and just so happened to fail miserably.
"Can you even read her mind?" Nudge asked the young girl. "Or anything?"
"No, I can't," whispered Angel, "If I did, I would know why we're here, and all of that."
Nudge sighed and turned to Fang. "I'm hungry," she complained. "And bored."
"Just wait," he said solemnly, "and be grateful that we're not getting hurt or tested or anything."
Nudge moaned and turned away from the boy. Everyone was sleepy, bored, hungry, all the things no one wants to be. Fang knew that. But there was nothing any of them could do. Well, maybe there was… He began to brainstorm. Okay, he thought to himself. Gazzy and Iggy can make bombs. That's good. And… Nudge can use her magnetic skills to break us out of the cages… somehow. Then after that, she'll use her magnetic powers on the homicidal robot dangling from the ceiling, and corrupt it in a different way.
"That could work," smiled Angel earnestly. She shot a quick glance at GLaDOS. "Do we do that now? I'll mentally tell everyone the plan." Angel looked determined to breakaway from her cage. Fang nodded.
"And then we'll go find Max."
They were just about to put their plan into action when they saw an elevator ascending to their level. In it was a man with golden-brown hair with glasses bridged on his nose. He fashioned a clean white suit and a tie, but appeared to be sleeping. Or dead. GLaDOS swiveled to look at the body.
"Oh good," she whistled, "The body's here. I'm just going to wake him up…"
The sound of beeps and buzzes rang throughout the room and soon the man finally jumped back to life.
"AUGH!" He hollered, as soon as his eyelids flew open. "Oh, God, where am I?" he pushed his glasses toward his eyes.
"Welcome back to Aperture Science," GLaDOS tonelessly greeted. "Do you still remember that trade?"
"Oh, that… Well, yes. I do. But what…"
"In case you haven't noticed, I put you back into your human body. You're former one is floating lifelessly in space."
"Oh for God's sake—a human? Did I really, honestly, have to be one of them? Did I really?"
"Well, if you wanted your spherical body shooting toward the Earth at incredible speeds and catching on fire, that could've been arranged."
"Fine, fine, I'll stay a human. But I do need some time to learn how to use this body."
The man stepped out of the elevator and looked at his reflection in the glass. He remembered nothing about having this body. He stroked his chin (if that was what it is) and identified each part of his body.
"You look fantastic," mocked GLaDOS. "Now just go and kill that test subject. "
Fang's eyes grew small. Crap, crap, crap. He thought to himself. No doubt that GLaDOS meant Max. Even though he knew Max could kick the man's butt, the A.I. could do something that could make her death possible. He was about to tell Angel when the bot spoke again.
"There are weapons in your pocket. Make the test subject feel welcome, and then betray her. Understand?"
The man nodded at the A.I., looking directly at her yellow optic. He began to walk quickly toward the door while Angel began sending messages to each member of the flock. Gazzy and Iggy immediately began working on the bomb, grabbing materials that no normal person could use as a deadly explosive. But this device was only a distraction. Nudge slowly began to magnetically bend the bars of her cage. Within seconds, the bomb was finished and ready to go.
"Where should I throw it?" Gazzy whispered anxiously to Fang.
"Anywhere! Just somewhere that'll distract her." He replied.
Soon the plan was delivered perfectly except there were two problems. They couldn't kill GLaDOS with Nudge's magnetism, and the man had already left to carry out his task. They couldn't stop him. They were free from their cages, and already were running down the halls of the facility. They ignored the promise of cake if they stopped, although Nudge gave a second thought about it. But the flock was soon lost in the halls of Aperture, not knowing where their leader could me, and knowing that they aren't able to protect her.
-x-
Wheatley crept down the hidden passages GLaDOS provided him with. Turns out, she put a chip in his brain so that she can communicate with him, and nag him on his mistakes. He came to a glass wall at the end of the path, revealing the two humans being tested. The ledge he was on was two stories high, and he was looking down on a blonde haired woman and someone completely familiar.
Chell.
Crap. It was her! It was her completely! With her long fall boots and everything.
There she is. GLaDOS said to him. Now kill her. Do whatever it takes.
"Are you bloody mad!" Wheatley whispered loudly. "I can't hurt her again! Not after what I've done. She'd never forgive me. Not that she had forgiven me last time. Or heard me apologize. But I am not hurting her again. Never."
Oh, that's fine. Guess I'll just have to send you back. But not back to space. Just simply to a place of halos and wings. Or maybe a place of fires and pain. Which one would you like?
Wheatley gulped. He knew GLaDOS could kill him right on the spot. She knows just about everything about slaughter. If he truly valued his life, he would just follow along and go kill Chell. But he had missed her and wanted her to like him. A horrible wave of emotions ran through his body, making his blood pump faster. He felt the warmth of it flow down from his shoulders to his , every part of his body was rejuvenated, and it felt horrible. His hand began to twitch nervously as he stood there confused and afraid. He focused his gaze on the dark-skinned woman as she sat nervously on the floor, drumming her fingers. Wheatley ignored the fact that blood was poured all over the place and that every time the woman tapped the floor, her fingers would get bloodier and bloodier each moment.
Maybe I should kill her, he told himself. I suppose the guilt could wear off in a couple of days or so… But then he spotted the other test subject, glaring angrily around the room with clenched fists. He worried that if the eradicated Chell, the other test subject would be after him. Wheatley peered at her for a while longer and soon noticed the wings sprouting from her back. That's awfully different, he cupped his mouth in awe. It'd be awfully great to see those wings in action…
That's not the point. The point is that I try to murder her again, or that I die in her place. The stress was overwhelming. Without being able to decide, GLaDOS forced him to head down over there and iron it out as he went. She revealed a narrow stairway down to where the two women stood helplessly. With every step, a bead of sweat would drip off Wheatley's chin. He ignored the odd feeling and focused on what he would say to them. Would the woman he betrayed open up easily to him? He thought about all times he tried to get rid of her, resulting with him swelling up with guilt. Nope, he thought as he dried his forehead with his sleeve, I am not going to get rid of guilt so easily. But still he headed down the stairs, knowing that he'd regret everything in the end. As he reached the end of the flight of stairs, GLaDOS silently moved a panel, expecting him to walk on through. Instead, Wheatley hid away from sight, hesitating to see her again. Not that it was a bad thing. If he hadn't done what he did, he would've ran straight to her.
GLaDOS sighed as she watched the pale man hide from her test subjects. He promised to do his side of the trade, but he was unsurprisingly hesitating. She impatiently nudged him forward with a panel being slightly more forceful than needed. "Look who's here," She grumbled. "It's Wheatley, all dressed up in flesh and blood." Wheatley stood there motionlessly, feeling like a moron (as if he hadn't been told so before). Max frowned at him suspiciously as she slowly folded her wings. Wheatley scratched the back of his head as he blushed madly.
"Er…" he stammered, "I know this is awkward for you…" he glimpsed at Chell. "But I've been waiting forever to apologize to you." The girl looked intently at the man. Her eyes grew wide as she stared speechlessly (can't talk anyway, can she?). Max edged closer to Chell, hoping that she would learn more from the mute. "Okay," Wheatley stuttered again, "I know, I know. You must hate me for what I've done. But at least you know that I'm sorry and guilty for what I've done. I'm sorry I tried to…hurt you so many times. I'm sorry I blamed you for things you've never done. I'm sorry for treating you like I did." His head dropped in humiliation as tears began to well up in his eyes. Max soon to realize that this man was dangerous, no matter how innocent he looked. Her instincts kicked in as she remembered that she couldn't trust anyone. She tightened her fists as she waited for the man to speak again. Chell on the other hand, began to walk in his direction. Soon the walk turned into a jog, and the jog turned into a sprint. She tackled him in an embrace, letting him know that she had missed him. Wheatley just sat there with a shocked expression on his face. Was this how humans showed affection? Whatever it was, he liked it. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist and felt the warmth of her affection. Max dropped her guard slightly as she realized how much trust Chell put into him. Max grew a bond with her throughout all of the time they've spent testing and working together. She relaxed and let her fists uncurl.
Chell rose from her embrace with Wheatley and helped him up. As soon as he regained his composure, she smacked across the face with the back of her hand.
"Aaaagh!" He cried out in pain. "Wh-what was that for?" Chell pointed a finger at him accusingly. The sternness on her face expressed the fact that she was still angry for what he'd done, and that she was not yet able to forgive him. Wheatley winced as he massaged his cheek. "Anyways," he said, pulling himself together. "We need to get you out of here."
AN: HAHA. This is the longest chapter so far. Aaand I think I'm getting slightly better at writing. But yeah.