Wheatley raised his head at the sound of the door opening behind him. Chell stood in the doorway, holding that same stone-cold look that she did in the facility all those years ago. She waved him inside, not even bothering to look at him.

"You- You're letting me in?"

She nodded.

He couldn't believe it. She wasn't gonna leave him out here after all. Wheatley jumped up and shuffled inside. Once the door was shut behind him, he took a look around the house. It was nice, and certainly more colorful than the facility was.

"Wow, I didn't know you had such a knack for decoration."

"Hi mister!"

A little girl appeared before him, holding out her hand and smiling brightly at Wheatley.

"My name is Hope. What's yours?"

He wasn't quite sure how to respond. What was this little kid doing living with the lady?

I thought she was solitary. Does she actually like company?

Wheatley awkwardly shook Hope's hand, trying his best to imitate her friendly smile.

"Um, hello! I'm uh- the name's Wheatley." he stuttered.

"Er, you know that lady?"

He pointed to Chell, who was finishing up the grocery list on the table.

"Yeah. That's my mom." Hope said. "Her name is Chell. I don't call her by her name though."

"Chell, huh?" Wheatley mumbled.

Hope nodded.

"Yep! She never told me she knew someone named Wheatley. Are you from town?"

Before Wheatley could answer, Chell stepped between them.

"Alright, if you're gonna live here, we need to set a few rules straight."

"Uh, okay. Understood."

"You're sleeping on the couch, because I don't have a spare room."

"Oh I'll sleep on the floor if you want me to."

"Whenever I go somewhere, you're coming with me. I can't trust you here alone."

"Makes sense." Wheatley agreed.

Chell crept closer to him, until she was right in his face.

"And if I catch even the slightest hint of betrayal, you're out of here."

Wheatley nodded. His hands started shaking as Chell's voice grew harsh and threatening.

"Listen carefully. That little girl right there is everything. Harm her in any way, and not only are you out of here forever, but let me tell you something."

Each word became a thin whisper, but he could still hear the entire warning loud and clear.

"You'll be pleading for her to come save you. I'll rip you into so many bits, I'll still be finding them long after you're gone. And I'll make damn sure the process is slow and painful. Am I clear?"

Wheatley never knew true fear until now. She's never seemed so threatening before. It absolutely terrified him.

"I- um- yes... yes ma'am. I do- I understand. I hear you loud and clear. Crystal clear. Don't have to tell me twice."

She glared at him a moment more, then backed off.

"Good. Then we won't have any problems, will we?"

"Yes- er, no! No problems!"

Chell nodded, then disappeared down the hallway. She came back a moment later with a towel in her hands. She tossed it at him.

"Now go take a shower. I don't want you staying here if you smell like that."

"I'm sorry, a what? And I don't smell too- oh. Okay, I see what you mean."

"The bathroom's down that way." Chell said, pointing to a room in the hallway. "I think you can handle the rest."

She walked to the kitchen to wash dishes, leaving him to figure it out on his own.

Ugh, now comes the fun part. he thought to himself. I should've seen it coming.


Chell stood in the kitchen, smiling as she listened to Wheatley screaming and burning himself in the shower with the hot water. She hoped he would boil himself alive.

Let him burn. See if I care.

She finished the dishes just as he had enough with the shower. Wasn't she forgetting something? Oh, right.

Chell rushed into her room, dragged out a large t-shirt and sweatpants, and wadded them up. They weren't hers, and she didn't care about them. He had left them here when he took off and they were just sitting in the back of her dresser, untouched. She didn't mind parting with his clothes. She was more than happy to be rid of them.

She cracked the bathroom door oper ever so slightly, and tossed the clothes on the floor.

"Wear those. Don't put your suit back on."

"I'm sorry, why?"

"Because it's dirty." she scoffed. "Or how about this? Because I said so."

"Alright, whatever you say luv."

Chell frowned.

"Quit calling me that."

"Oh, okay. Just Chell then?"

She didn't like that either, but there really wasn't anything else.

"Whatever. Fine. Get dressed so we can go."

Chell shut the door and walked off to gather everything. She went through the mental checklist, as usual.

Keys, wallet, list. What else?

"Hope!" she called.

"Right here mom!"

"You ready to go hun?"

"What about Wheatley?" she asked.

"Don't worry, I didn't forget about him. Here, take the list and go get in the truck. I'll be out there soon."

Chell handed the list to Hope, and she skipped out to the blue truck in the driveway.

"Get out here, moron! I don't have all day!"

"Hey! I'm trying as fast as I can, lady!"

There was a moment of silence, then some shuffling in the bathroom before he added "And I'm not a moron!"

Chell rolled her eyes and continued to wait for him. He emerged from the hallway with his shirt on backwards, but he somehow managed to figure the rest of his clothes out.

"Come on, let's get going before traffic gets bad."

Wheatley followed Chell out to the truck, and stopped at the door. She climbed in and looked back at him.

"What? You've never seen a normal door before?"

"No it's not that, it's just- high up."

Chell facepalmed.

"Just get in the truck!"

"Okay! No need to shout!"

He battled with the door before finally winning, and climbed in. Hope put her seatbelt on, and watched Wheatley struggle to do the same.

"It's just a seatbelt, it's not that hard!" she laughed. "Here."

She reached across and tucked the metal piece into its slot with a light click.

"Wow, brilliant. Must be a safety measure of some sort. Rather genius, don't you think?"

"Whatever you need to tell yourself." Chell sighed.

She turned the key and the engine roared to life, scaring Wheatley out of his mind. Chell couldn't help but grin as she watched him panic at the sound.

"Bloody- what's that? Does it have to be that loud?"

"That's the engine." Hope explained. "It makes cars move. Have you ever seen an engine before?"

"I'm sorry, did you say it moves?"

"How else are we supposed to get to the store?"

The truck slowly backed out of the driveway. Wheatley clutched the arm of his seat tightly.

"Oh, how fast is this gonna go? I'm warning you, I can't- I don't handle speed well."

Chell smirked as an idea popped into her head.

Don't handle speed well? She thought. Oh that's no problem. I think you'll learn to like it just fine.

She pressed the gas, and the engine growled loudly. The truck pulled forward, quickly picking up speed on the beaten road.

"AGH! Why are we going so bloody fast? Luv- please! agghhh, I can't watch this!"

Wheatley shouted and begged Chell to slow down, but she ignored him. She sped down this road all the time, so nobody had a problem with it. Plus, she was enjoying his fear too much to slow down.

Of course, she had to obey the speed limit once they got closer to town. She let up on the gas and the engine slowly became quieter. Wheatley finally opened his eyes, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, don't- don't do that! Please just, never do that again."

"It's my truck." Chell pointed out. "I can't promise you anything."

The truck pulled to a stop in the parking lot of a rather busy looking plaza. Within the plaza were several shops, a few restaurants, and one large main building.

"Okay, this is just an in and out trip. No fooling around. We've wasted enough time this morning."

"Copy that, boss." Wheatley said with a mock salute.

Chell grabbed Hope's hand and lead her across the small, beaten parking lot. Wheatley trailed nervously behind, spotting a few other people coming in and out of the main building. Some of them carried only one or two bags while others pushed large sqeaky carts, which looked quite heavy with all those random items in them.

What was strange to him was that nobody even batted an eye at all this. Everyone was just milling about, looking almost bored.

Humans are a strange sight indeed. he thought to himself. How could she actually enjoy living near so many?

Wheatley may have thought Chell herself was strange back in the facility, but now there were so many odd things he discovered about her, it was impossible to keep count. She could actually speak, she could raise a bloody child, she actually managed to survive the dreadful walk from the facility, and even more. On top of all that, she'd managed to make a solid life for herself in all that time he was gone. Not that she really needed him for any of it, but Wheatley couldn't help but be a little upset he missed out on it. Chell had a life out here and he wasn't a part of it in any way. Back when they only knew each other, it seemed as if they could never be separated, so seeing her so we'll off without him made him feel even more guilty.

Well, gee. Maybe if you didn't betray her you wouldn't have missed out. he lectured himself.

He couldn't be too upset though. At least now he had a chance. That was something he never thought he'd have again. Not in a million years. This time he wasn't about to let himself slip up and do something stupid. No, this time would be different.

The glass doors slid open, sounding a pleasant ding as they strolled through. Three cash registers which sat atop shiny countertops were lined up neatly along a wall, adjacent to the entrance. Only two of them were manned. One, by a smiling young woman, and one by a younger man who appeared to be sleeping on the job.

"Good morning Chell!"

Chell smiled waved in response.

"Good morning miss Rachel!" Hope chirped to the woman.

"Well there's my little bug!"

Rachel leaned over the counter and threw her arms out in a dazzling welcome. Hope skipped over to her, whispered something, then was handed a few pieces of candy from a jar on the counter.

Chell sighed, giving a tired smile and shaking her head at the sight.

Hope hesitated a moment, then leaned back in to whisper something again. She pointed to Wheatley, and Rachel glanced over at him, confused. Hope then returned back to her mother.

"Nice talking to you Rachel, but we gotta get going." Chell explained. "Errands to run, you know how it is."

Rachel nodded in agreement.

"Well I won't keep ya.Take care!"

Wheatley was about to follow Chell when Rachel called him over.

"Oh actually- can I get a quick little word with you sugar?"

Wheatley glanced around, confused. Then he pointed at himself.

Rachel laughed.

"Yes you! C'mon over. Any friend of old Chell is a friend of mine."

He reluctantly shuffled over to the counters. Rachel prodded the younger man at the register beside her, until he woke.

"Aaron, we got a new face here in town."

"Huh? what's- what Rachel?"

She turned to him and frowned.

"You know, if Dave catches you dozing off again he's gonna have your head."

"Ugh, I know." he groaned. "If I didn't have to constantly pull all-nighters for school it'd be different."

"Don't be so down, we've got a new face here." she muttered. "Aaron, this is- uhhh."

"Oh, uh... Wheatley."

Aaron glanced up from the counter.

"Who- oh!"

Upon noticing Wheatley's presence, Aaron stood up and straightened the name tag on his shirt, in attempt to make himself look a bit more presentable and bit less exhausted. He cleared his throat and put on a smile that looked way to enthusiastic (and a little unnerving.)

"Hey there sir. Welcome to West Lake Plaza Grocery Outlet! How can I help today?"

"Uh... hello." Wheatley replied hesitantly. "Thanks for the offer mate, but um, I'm just a visitor actually. I- I'm not really here to do any shopping."

"Alright then sir. Feel free to let me know if you've got any questions."

Wheatley nodded. He turned to go find Chell, but noticed Rachel studying him.

"Say, you're from outta town, aren't ya?"

Oh for god's- how could she know?

"Erm, yes. Yes, actually."

Rachel slapped the counter, causing Wheatley to flinch.

"I knew it! Folks like you don't just appear here outta nowhere. Especially not with that tone in your voice and whatnot."

"Um, I'm sorry, what are you on about?"

"You're one of those Brits, aren't ya?" she asked. "I swear I can see it!"

Wheatley responded before he could even think about it. Partially because he was relieved she didn't know of his actual origins, and partially because he was panicked by all this sudden social interaction.

"Yes actually. Yeah, exactly that. Not sure how you can see it since- well that doesn't matter."

"Must be a big change of pace then, huh sugar? Living in the states."

"Yes, definitely. Very different."

He decided to just play along. One, because he didn't have a better plan, two because he knew Chell would kill him if he told a single soul about that place.

"A bit weird Chell would let someone from outta town stay with her though. Did you know her before?"

"Uh- yes. You could say that. Um... pen pals kind of- we were."

"Well that's sweet. I think it's high time she found herself another someone." Rachel sighed. "Lord knows she needs it."

That last comment struck a bit of curiosity in Wheatley's mind, but he barely had time to dwell on it.

"Well you run along and catch up with her now, okay? I'll see ya around!" Rachel called, waving.

Wheatley awkwardly shuffled away to find Chell.

"Yeah. Er- see you I guess."