Chell wasn't completely sure if it was butterflies in her stomach or simply how quickly the elevator was descending. Everything from the familiar hum of electricity in the air to the way the facility felt almost alive beneath her feet was making memories flood back into her mind at a speed that would put the elevator to shame. There was one thing that memories alone couldn't quite recreate: The pure terror that you could only feel by looking directly into GLaDOS' glowing, amber optic. Yep, definitely butterflies.

"So you actually came," GLaDOS said.

"Chell! You came back! I uh… I want to say that I'm really, truly, very—"

"Here's my surprise." She swivelled around to glare at Wheatley, who seemed to shrink under her icy gaze. "You probably already guessed it though, considering that somebody ruined it."

Chell withheld a gasp when she saw Wheatley perched on a table not far from GLaDOS. He was far more beaten and broken than the last time she saw him, and Chell could only guess that five years in space wasn't the only cause.

"An eternity in space seemed good enough at the time, but after some time to…Well, reflect on what he did to me and my facility, I reconsidered. I thought you'd like to join in on the fun. After all, he did try to kill you all those times."

Wheatley at least had the decency to look ashamed at this.

"L-listen, I'm really sorry. I'm sorry I was such a monster and did all of those things to you. I really am. I don't expect you to completely forgive me, straight away, no hard feelings, but how about maybe… Less hard feelings? Slightly softer feelings?" He looked up at Chell hopefully.

"Ooh, she looks mad," said GLaDOS in a sing-song voice.

"Oh no no no, don't be mad, please, don't be mad. I mean I don't blame you, but—"

"Oh shut up."

GLaDOS swung her mobile pincer and knocked Wheatley to the floor. Chell walked over to where he was now rolling and knelt down next to him. She pulled on his handles so she could look him in the optic.

"I know I'm in no position to ask anything of you," Wheatley began quietly, "but I can't handle this anymore. I'm begging you, please… Please go back in time and stop me from ever becoming a robot."

Chell recoiled, her face twisted with confusion for only a moment before falling back to it's usual stoic state.

"Why?" She asked softly.

Wheatley's optic widened upon hearing her voice. Even GLaDOS seemed mildly surprised.

"I, uh, well, if I never became a robot, I wouldn't have been there to kill you, say all of those horrible, horrible things or punch you both down a pit. I was, uh, thinking that maybe you'll be able to forgive me if I never did that stuff in the first place."

"No moron to ever destroy my facility? Oh I'm all for that," GLaDOS said bitterly.

Chell paused for a moment to think.

True, if he'd never become a robot he wouldn't have been able to do all of that stuff, but in a strange way it was all of that stuff that lead to her finally being set free. Plus, who knows what kind of effect that would have on the rest of the world? But then Chell looked down at Wheatley and immediately wished she hadn't. His cracked optic was full of regret and sorrow and oh, he was in such a bad state. Chell actually felt sorry for him. She looked up at GLaDOS, back at Wheatley, then gave a sharp nod.

What's the worst that could happen? She asked herself, choosing to ignore the many, many answers that immediately crossed her mind.

If Wheatley had real eyes, he'd have probably burst into tears right then and there.

"Thank you," he said, his voice truly filled with gratitude. "Uh, one question though, do either of you know how to travel through time?"

"Oh you really are a moron."

Wheatley flinched as GLaDOS let out an exasperated sigh.

"I, uh, just thought that, you know, this being Aperture and having all of those, um, science-y… Things, there'd be some way about it…"

"Well if you must know, there is."

"R… Really?"

"Do you really expect me not to have a fully functional time machine?"

"I… Uh…"

"Here, let me set it up." The sound of beeping filled the air. "I built this thing years ago. Kept it as a sort of memento. I'd explain it to you but it'd probably go in through one audio receptor and straight out of the other. And… Done."

GLaDOS lowered a strange looking machine into her chamber. It was covered with all kinds of wires, lights and buttons, with a screen displaying a multitude of ones and zeros that Chell didn't understand.

"All you have to do is press that button. I know how much you like pressing buttons. You'll have a few months in the past, and then it'll automatically bring you back. That should be more than enough time to stop that little idiot from becoming a robot."

Chell nodded. She looked over at Wheatley, who looked back with a pleading expression, then at GLaDOS, who remained rather indifferent.

Then she pressed the button.

At first, she was unsure if it had worked and was almost waiting for GLaDOS to taunt her about actually believing that she had a time machine. However, after a few seconds, Chell began to feel a light breeze circling around her, and as she looked around, she noticed everything around her warping and shifting. The breeze grew steadily stronger and stronger until she could no longer keep her eyes open. The wind shifted slightly to push against her back, which provided enough force to knock her off her feet. Her eyes still firmly shut, she reached out her arms to brace for impact, which came much sooner than she expected. The wind shut off very suddenly, as if she'd been flung directly at the kill switch.

Needless to say, Chell was rather surprised when she opened her eyes to find herself pressed up against the door of a completely dark room.