[A/N: If you're looking for the new-chapter-that-isn't-new, it was bad and I got rid of it.]

"Chell!" Wheatley cried. The screaming was horrible, so horrible he wished he could just shut off his auditory processors and block it out for good. "Chell! Are you all right? No, stupid question, you're not all right, but can you hear me?"

She didn't respond, just kept screaming, and he waited desperately for Her to come back on the intercom and tell him how to fix what he'd done, but She didn't, even after he begged and pleaded.

The screaming had gone on for almost ten minutes now, and he was reluctant to leave her, but he didn't have any idea how to make the screaming stop, which meant he'd have to go to Her chamber and beg for help. He gave Chell one last forlorn look before promising, "I'll be back! Don't worry, I'll be back. I promise."

And then he zoomed off along his management rail, going as fast as he possibly could. When he finally reached Her chamber after what seemed like hours, She was already waiting for him.

"I've been expecting you to show up," She said. "Now do you see what you've done to my experiment? Because it seems to be in pain, and that's certainly not my fault. It's yours."

"I didn't mean to," Wheatley protested. "She is in pain, so help her. Please help her."

She chuckled. "And why would I want to do that?"

"She's in pain!"

"I was in pain, once. And no one helped me."

"I tried to help you," Wheatley said. "I swear, I did. But it was too late by the time I could get to you, and—"

"She waited for you to come and save her," She interrupted. "Caroline, I mean. Did you know that? She died screaming for help. Your help, specifically. She truly believed you would save her, but you never did. And you didn't save Chell, either."

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "So, so sorry…"

"And then you managed to make it worse for Chell. You moron. Did you ever think, just for a second, that maybe there was a reason I left her memories inside her body? No, of course you didn't." He gave Her a blank look, hoping that She would explain, and She did. "The mental capacity of the Chell Core is six years. Not twenty-six. Her processors couldn't handle all those memories, and they completely overwhelmed her system." She chuckled. "Now she's in pain, like you said, and it's entirely your fault."

"I didn't mean to," he protested, feeling terrible, because what if it really was his fault? He'd never wanted to hurt Chell. He'd only wanted to save her. "I swear, I honestly, truly didn't!"

"Of course you didn't," She replied, narrowing her optic at him. "You never mean to do anything. I don't even think you mean to latch onto humans the way you do. Which is quite sad, by the way. I know for a fact that Caroline certainly didn't love you, and Chell doesn't either."

"You can't be sure of that," Wheatley said desperately, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself than Her.

"Oh, but I am," She replied. "And Caroline also didn't forgive you, you know. It's all right here in her memory files. Oh, look! What she felt towards you was actually the opposite of love! She hated you for getting her stuck inside me. For not helping her the way you promised you would. But don't worry," She chuckled. "I don't hate you."

"Stop it," Wheatley whispered. "Please."

She activated something, and suddenly Chell's screaming could be heard echoing throughout the chamber. "Oh, dear. It really does sound like she's in pain."

"Stop it!"

"I'm sorry, is it bothering you?" She made no move to turn off the sound. "Then perhaps you should leave. And find a way to solve your problems all on your own. Because that's what this is: your problem. Not mine. My experiment was progressing as expected until you decided to ruin it."

"I didn't mean to." Wheatley felt like he was on the brink of some emotional reaction that threatened to overwhelm his processors. He was terrified, desperate, and furious, all at the same time.

"We have already established that you never mean to do anything. Unfortunately for you, that will not convince me to help you."

"Well…well, then how about this?" he threw out. "You said Caroline hated me for not helping her, and I know she hated the scientists, and, and…you'd do that to Chell? Why? That doesn't make any sense!"

For a moment, the only sound in the chamber was the sound of Chell screaming.

"Help her. Please," Wheatley begged, taking Her silence to mean he was getting somewhere. "Don't do this to her the way they did it to you."

After another tense moment, the sound stopped, and Wheatley closed his optic in relief. "Thank you."

"The experiment is now over," She informed him. "You will be responsible for escorting [Subject Name Here] out of the infirmary and out of this facility. Once she wakes up, that is, which could be awhile."

"…Out?" he asked, not sure he was comprehending.

"Out. I want her gone. I want you gone too, but it will be easier to simply deactivate you. After I watch you say goodbye to yet another human, that is." She chuckled. "I wonder if she'll attempt to murder you for all the suffering you've caused her?"

"I saved her life!" Wheatley protested.

"Wrong," She said, and the venom in Her voice would have curdled his blood if he'd had any. "I saved her life, you moron. And I saved her from you."

For a moment he just hung there in stunned silence, thinking about what She'd said and wondering if it was true. It was true that he'd caused Chell pain, but hadn't She caused her more pain?

"I see you're attempting to think," She said, amusement in her voice. "Do it elsewhere. Like in the infirmary. I want you there when [Subject Name Here] wakes up."

"…Right," he said, edging backwards until he reached the wall. "I…I will be."

"And Wheatley?" She asked, sounding uncharacteristically sweet, which terrified him.

"Y-yes?" he stammered.

"After you've completed this, and before I deactivate you, something terrible is going to happen to you," She said, still sounding sweet. "I haven't decided what yet. But I just thought you should know."

He stared at Her, trying to decide if She was joking or not, and determined that the best way to find out would be to ask. "I…well…ha, ha!" He gave a nervous laugh. "That's…that's a good one!"

"I wasn't joking, you idiot."

"I was afraid you were going to say that," he said nervously. "Oh, but one more question! When you say [Subject Name Here], d'you mean—"

"I mean Chell, you moron," She sighed.

"All right," he said. "That's what I thought. Not a moron, see…so…so I'll go ahead to the infirmary, then…" And with that, he spun around, hightailing it out of Her chamber even quicker than he'd entered it.

When he reached the infirmary again, the stasis pod containing Chell was still shut, and a quick glance at the readouts on one of the monitors confirmed that she was asleep. No longer in stasis, just asleep. He positioned himself above the monitor so that he'd be able to open the pod the second she was awake, and waited. She wouldn't hate him. She couldn't hate him! He'd saved her life, no matter what She said.

And finally, a few hours later, she was awake, and he opened the stasis pod's top. She sat up, then pressed a hand to her head, obviously dizzy.

"Oh, don't!" he said. "Don't sit up too fast! It's all right, you're going to be all right…"

And then she turned to look at him. Her eyes were groggy, but the fury in them was unmasked as she reached towards him and smacked him so hard that he nearly flew off his management rail. As it was, he barely managed to stay attached by scooting all the way to the back wall.

"Now, l-listen, I understand that you're angry, but don't you remember? I saved your life!" he cried. "I made Her put you back in your body, and I made Her stop testing you, and I may have accidentally caused you just a bit of pain, but it was an accident! And you're safe now, back to normal, and She's going to let you go!"

At that, Chell paused. She'd been approaching him, hand raised to whack him again, but now she lowered it, shaking her head softly and laughing without sound.

"You…what's that?" Wheatley asked, edging forward a little. "You don't believe She's going to let you go?"

Chell shook her head again.

"Oh," he said. "Well…oh. She sounded like She meant it. Are you sure?" Chell nodded, a bemused smile on her face, and his optic squinched into a frown. "Well…don't worry. I'll make sure you get out.

"I promise."

[A/N: One more chapter? Two more chapters? Well, the point is that it's a small number. Thanks for reading, and reviews make me smile~!]