[A/N: Okay, here goes. With any luck, this is better than the last attempt. –deepbreath- xD]

"Now, I'm pretty sure this is the way out," Wheatley said. After his promise to Chell, she had calmed down, following him out of the infirmary without complaint. But just in case she decided she wanted to hit him again, he was sliding along his management rail backwards, keeping his optic focused on her.

Her only response was a nod, and he noticed she was sweeping the hallway ahead of her with her eyes, keeping a lookout for something. What, he wasn't sure, but since he knew Chell was worried about Her deciding not to let her go, he figured she was looking for something that might kill her. Some of those nasty turrets, maybe.

"...So!" he said after a brief moment of silence. "I was just sort of wondering what you're doing that thing with your eyes for."

She stopped her sweeping to glance up at him, looking somewhat startled, and inclined her head as if to ask what he was talking about. He almost wished she was back in a core again, just so she could talk to him.

"You keep looking for…whatever it is that you're looking for," he told her. "And I promise you that there's nothing ahead of us that can hurt you, if that's what you're worried about."

She nodded and gave him a small smile, but then returned her attention back to sweeping. He sighed. This had all been so much easier when she trusted him. And when she could talk to him, of course; that made things easier too.

As they walked down the corridor, he continued chattering on. It was what he was good at, chattering; that and messing things up. And since she either wouldn't or couldn't talk back to him, he was doing anything he could to fill the silence.

"The lift should be right up here," Wheatley told her at long last. "Just around this corner." Now trusting that she wasn't going to hit him, he spun around as he turned to see what was there.

And sure enough, there was the elevator. If Wheatley had been human, his smile would have spread from ear-to-ear, but there was enough evidence of it in his voice. "There! You see? I told you She was going to let you go! I did, didn't I? I did!" He turned back to face Chell, expecting her face to match his excited joy, but she was instead giving the elevator a suspicious frown. She'd stopped moving towards it and folded her arms across her chest as she stared at it.

"Go on, then!" he encouraged. "See? You can go! I know you don't have brain damage, so you do know what I'm saying." And he knew what he was saying too, even though he didn't really want her to go. He wanted her to be happy, free of Aperture's control, but at the same time he didn't want to be all by himself again. Those countless years between Her shutdown and Her reboot had been the worst countless years of his life. He'd been so happy to have someone to talk to again, and then he'd ruined that, but now he thought he'd fixed it again, and he didn't want to lose it, even if She was going to kill him right after Chell left anyway.

Biting her lip, Chell took a cautious step towards the lift, but Wheatley made a split-second decision and interrupted her. "Chell! Wait."

She turned back towards him, face questioning, and he realized he wasn't even sure what he wanted to say. "I...I just..."

But then Her voice interrupted through an intercom. "No, [Subject Name Here], don't wait. Step into the elevator and get out of my facility."

Chell whirled around, looking for the source of the voice. Her eyes locked on a camera and she glared at it, receiving just an amused chuckle in response. "Do you really think that's going to do any good? I really do want you gone, you know. So just step into the elevator and get it over with."

But Chell just continued glaring at the camera, and Wheatley wasn't sure why. "Chell! Didn't you hear Her? You can go! She really means it this time!"

"And for once, the moron is correct," She said.

"Not a moron," he protested. "But seriously, Chell, please do get out of here. It isn't safe."

And then Chell turned from the camera to him with the glare gone from her face. It was replaced instead with a soft smile. She reached up to pat him on the top of his core, then wrapped both her arms around him in what he knew humans called a hug.

"What are you doing that for?" She asked, sounding genuinely puzzled. Wheatley decided this was the one time in his entire existence that She'd been as unsure of something as him. "Stop it and climb into the elevator. Unless of course you want me to rescind my offer of letting you go."

Chell didn't release her grip, but Wheatley watched her lips tighten as she stared at the camera. After a long moment, She spoke again.

"Fine. If you want me to keep you here, then I will." There was a chuckle. "I'm sure we can do lots more tests together."

Chell shook her head back and forth so quickly Wheatley was concerned she might break something.

"No?" She asked, sounding almost disappointed. "Then get out. I'll give you five seconds to climb into the elevator."

Chell looked panicked, her eyes going from Wheatley to the elevator as She began to count. "One...two...three..."

That was when a crazy idea hit Wheatley, and like everything else in the world, he was sure he was wrong about this as well, but it couldn't hurt to try. Chell's grip on him wasn't loosening, and the last thing he wanted was for her to be trapped here forever because of him. "Wait!"

"Wait?" She asked, pausing her counting. "Wait for what, moron?" The camera turned to focus in on him, and Chell glanced up as well.

"W-well," Wheatley stammered, nervous now that they were both watching him, "well...I just thought that since she's holding onto me, and not letting go, maybe you could let me go with her? Because she's not letting go and all-"

He was cut off by laughter from the intercom. "I don't know why she's holding onto you, moron, but let me assure you that it's not because she wants to take you with her. In case you've forgotten, you tried to kill her. And then when you tried to save her, you wound up hurting her. Why on earth would she want to take you with her?"

Why on earth indeed, Chell wondered, grimacing. Even she herself wasn't sure why, but she did know she wasn't leaving without him. He'd saved her life, so she owed him that much, assuming GLaDOS was actually going to let her go.

"Do you see that?" the AI continued, completely misinterpreting her expression. "Because if you don't, that is what is commonly known among humans as a 'grimace.' It is a facial expression they make when they are disgusted at the very thought of something. Like leaving with you, for example."

Wheatley's optic moved down to look at her, and before she could change her expression, his gaze shifted back to the camera. It was almost as if he didn't want to meet her eyes. "Oh...I see now…but then why won't she let go?"

"Brain damage," GLaDOS replied. "It's probably best if she report back to the infirmary before I let her go."

Chell shook her head.

"No?" GLaDOS asked. "You don't have brain damage? In that case, I would suggest letting go of the moron and entering the lift. Now."

Chell shook her head again. Her greenish-grey eyes were locked on the camera, filled with just as much determination as they were during a test chamber. She just hoped GLaDOS would get the message sooner or later.

"…Oh." And at last, she did. Her voice was filled with disgust. "You do want to take him with you. Well, you can't. I have my own plans for him. Don't make me create plans for you as well."

"I like Chell's plans for me better," Wheatley interjected, sounding hopeful. "I mean, not that I know what they are or anything like that, but yours involve my dying, and I don't think I'd like that—"

"Shut up," GLaDOS snapped. "You deserve to die, no matter what [Subject Name Here] thinks. And speaking of dying, I will give you five more seconds to get into the elevator before the chance is gone for good."

Chell's eyes remained locked on the camera. She'd made her decision, and she was sticking with it, no matter what the cost. One way or another, she would get out of Aperture with Wheatley in hand, even if it meant killing the computer in charge yet again.

"...Five," GLaDOS finished. "You still haven't moved." Chell shook her head, noting that the elevator hadn't moved either, and GLaDOS let out a long, tortured sigh. "I really should just release the deadly neurotoxin now and be done with it, you know."

Chell didn't react, and the AI sighed again. Then there was a small clicking noise as Wheatley fell off his management rail. It caught Chell by surprise, and she lost her grip but picked him right back up off the floor, grasping a handle in each hand as she gave the camera a questioning stare.

"Just get out," GLaDOS snapped by way of answer. "Both of you. Take the metal ball and don't come back. That will be two annoyances gone. I'm sure whatever you have planned for him will be even better than what I had planned anyway."

Chell continued to stare at the camera for a second, then turned and rushed into the elevator, even as Wheatley began to babble about how he hoped her plans for him didn't involve his dying, because dying was bad.

The lift began to move, and at last it reached an open-doored exit. Even Wheatley stopped babbling as he stared at it, but still Chell couldn't help wondering if it was all a trick.

"You have ten seconds to exit the facility before the deadly neurotoxin is released," GLaDOS's voice said through an intercom. Although she was still doubtful, that made Chell rush for the door, still gripping Wheatley with both hands.

Once she was out, she blinked in the bright sunlight as the door slammed shut behind her. It was only then that she was sure it was real. There was no faking the warmth on her skin, the summer breeze on her face…not even Aperture could simulate something like this.

Chell blinked around at the empty wheat field, realizing for the first time that there were no buildings within sight, and she could see for miles. The happy smile she hadn't realized she was wearing dissolved into a frown.

What the hell was she supposed to do next?

"So!" Wheatley said brightly. "Now that we're out, what is it that we do? Humans sleep, right? So you can just—I don't know, you can just make a bed right over there." He nodded towards a part of the wheat field. "And if you need food, maybe this yellowish stuff is edible!"

Chell wasn't listening to him. The realization that she would probably die of starvation or thirst before making it to civilization had hit her hard, and she wasn't sure what to do next.

Then she heard a computerized chuckle, and turned back to stare at the now-open door of the shed.

"From the look on your face, I'd say you've discovered that you are in a predicament," the AI said. "But since you don't seem to have quite figured it out yet, I'll enlighten you:

"There was an apocalypse while you were asleep and I was dead. And guess what? The few pockets of the human race that remain are scattered far and wide across the globe. It would take you weeks, if not months, to reach one, and none of them are exactly in good shape.

"But at Aperture, we have food enough to sustain you. And all you have to do is agree to test…forever." Chell could just hear the smirk in GLaDOS's voice. "Really now, [Subject Name Here], what else are you going to do? You'll die out here on your own."

"Chell?" Wheatley asked, sounding worried. "Is that true? Because I don't want you to die!"

"Yes, moron, it's very true," GLaDOS said. "And if the test subject knows what's good for her, she'll re-enter the Enrichment Center. I'm the only one who can protect her."

You knew all along, Chell realized. You never planned to let me or him go, because YOU KNEW.

And her accusing glare must have said it all, because the AI snapped, "Oh, don't look at me like that." And Chell remembered her saying that, so long ago, when the AI had first decided not to let her go.

But was that why she hadn't let her go in the first place? 'Protection'? Because if it was, GLaDOS had an awful way of enforcing it. First she'd forced Chell into a core, then she'd blown her up over and over again…but then again, GLaDOS had never understood how to deal with humans.

Maybe Chell could help her learn.

She glanced around the wheat field again, still clinging to Wheatley, then looked down at him and gave the camera a pointed glance. A tired sigh came from it.

"Oh, fine. I won't kill the moron, just because I'm feeling generous today. But don't ask for anything else, because you can't have it."

Chell had no intentions of asking for anything, just like she had no intentions of testing 24/7. If she wanted something, like a break, she intended to simply take it, because what other choice did she have? If what GLaDOS said was true, and her own eyes confirmed that it was, she would die if she remained outside of Aperture.

So she made her choice and began walking back towards the shed. Wheatley's optic watched her nervously as he whispered, "I hope you know what you're doing, luv. You could die in there too, couldn't you? Just like you could die out here? You could, couldn't you…well, I won't let that happen." His voice was determined, and she smiled down at him as she walked back into the shed and the door closed behind them.

At least this time through Aperture, she'd have a friend.

[A/N: Okay! Feel free to consider this the end if you'd like. I'm thinking about adding another chapter for clarity's sake, but it'll probably be somewhat depressing, so. xD Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed! You guys are the best ever. :D

EDIT: I lied. One more chapter. No depressy. xD]