Chell takes a rasping breath as she opens her eyes.
Her vision is dark and blurred but she can barely make out the stars shining faintly above her. The sight is new and otherworldly, and yet some part of Chell knows that the way the little diamonds seem to spin and flicker and swirl together is wrong. Her head hurts as she tries to look away, to focus her attention elsewhere.
In places the dancing stars are blocked by towering shadows. Chell doesn't know what those are, but they're very big and, aside from her vision lapsing back and forth to double, they don't move, so she doesn't concern herself with them.
Something soft and cool itches at Chell's skin, and her fingers twitch as they grasp at these strange new commodities - grass, dirt. The soft summer breeze brings her back to her senses if only for a moment.
She's out. She made it out.
She's free.
Chell's body is wracked by a joy so intense it's almost painful. There's no sound but she's laughing and crying, hysterically. For a brief moment she thinks of how strange she must look: a grown woman dressed in neon orange, sprawled flat on her back in the dirt, crying as she clutches at the grass- which only makes her laugh and cry all the harder. And then, just as suddenly as they appeared, the stars and the grass and the dirt and the summer breeze are gone, replaced by complete darkness.
She's going to die. And she knows it.
Every part of her has been cut, or burned, or broken, or shot. Everything hurts. She's bleeding, badly. It's hard to breathe, and it's getting harder. She can't see. She can't move, and her voice doesn't work: she can't call for help. And, frankly, considering the location, she isn't sure she wants the help of anyone who might hear.
Chell should be furious.
After all this time she's so close to other people, to a little town and a normal life. A house. A job. Maybe even friends or a family. She's fought so hard for so long, she's wanted all of this so badly, and now that the road to it all is literally two yards away, her body is deciding to quit on her.
Chell should be furious.
She isn't.
Despite the fact that she can no longer see them, Chell knows that the dirt and the grass and the sweet summer air still surround her. Of course she wanted more than this: a nice peaceful life on the surface, surrounded by people she cared about- but if she was honest with herself, she'd never expected to make it this far. Dying beneath the stars is infinitely better than dying in a fluorescent test chamber. Dying beneath the stars isn't like giving up at all because Chell won, she's free, she got exactly what she wanted.
-
"What is that?"
The voice is feminine, soft and cautious and concerned, but Chell barely hears it. She doesn't hear the footsteps that follow, either, she doesn't see the way their owner freezes dead in her tracks when she gets close enough to see what's lying in a heap at the end of the road. There's a gasp as she shoves her husband in the direction of their house, and that's when Chell comes back to her senses.
"Get Sam! Get Michael!"
Chell does hear that.
Suddenly she's alert. Her vision and breathing are still a mess. She can hardly see at all but what's there is badly blurred and spinning, and she can barely make out a figure slowly advancing towards her. She can't move: there's no escape.
That's when Chell begins to panic.
As if her breathing wasn't bad enough before, she's practically hyperventilating now. She can't see and she can't move and everything hurts and who is that, what is that, and what do they want, what are they going to do to her?
The figure speaks, it's voice soft and low.
"It's okay."
Chell realizes that they're trying to sound soothing, that they're trying to calm her down, and she doesn't know whether that's a good sign or a bad one. She scowls in their direction nonetheless: if they're a friend they'll forgive her. If they're a foe they'll stay away.
"I'm not going to hurt you, honey. I just want to help. That looks like it hurts."
The sympathetic tone of voice they're using almost makes Chell want to cry. She suddenly feels small and childish, as if she needs to calm down. She realizes she probably does. Emotional stability is something she's sorely lacking at the moment.
The figure pauses in its advance, stooping down on its knees so it's closer to Chell's level. Once again its voice is pleasant and sympathetic. Cautious.
"Is it alright if I come a little closer?"
The grass that made Chell break into tears minutes before is now being raked up by the fistful by her shaking hands. She doesn't know who this person (?) is or what they want, but she is done trusting people- as far as she's concerned no one is getting close to her ever again. She is done getting hurt.
Chell's eyes burn with hatred for the woman she can't see, and in a spike of adrenaline induced fear she swings the fist closest to her in a wide arc.
She regrets it almost immediately: the pain is terrible. If her voice worked she would probably be screaming- but her actions produce the desired effect. Though Chell doesn't hit anything the figure makes a point of stepping back. When she speaks again her voice is softer. Instead of sounding angry she's empathetic.
"That's alright. I understand."
After that the blurred figure goes quiet and the two of them sit in silence. Chell stares back up at the stars for a long time, half hypnotized by the swirling copper patterns they imprint on her vision until her face becomes wet. It starts slowly but it becomes faster and doesn't stop, tears roll down her face and her breathing is chopped and hitched with miserable sobs and it's pathetic, she's pathetic and whatever this is she can't stop it.
Help me. Someone please help me.
Before Chell knew what had happened there was a hand in her's. The woman gently shushed her as she traced a thumb across the back of her hand.
"You're going to be okay. You're safe now. No one's going to hurt you here." Chell inhaled shakily, blinking back tears as she squeezed the woman's hand. The contact was certainly surprising but it wasn't altogether unpleasant. And at this close, if she really wanted to hurt her she would have done it already.
"You have to try and calm down, alright sweetheart? Just breathe. Hold on for a little bit longer. You're such a brave girl. You can do it."
The minutes stretched on for what felt like hours until two beams of light cut through the darkness. Nearby two car doors slam shut, and Chell begins to panic again.
"Here comes help." She squeezes the woman's hand, hard. "Easy."
Hurried footsteps approach in the darkness, and momentarily they're joined by two new faces that Chell can't see.
"Are you alright, Eliza?"
The first voice is feminine with an accent that Chell doesn't recognize. She can't see very well but the blur that appears to be the woman speaking appears looks short and stout.
Eliza. Is that the name of the woman who's holding her hand? There's a voice at Chell's side as she speaks.
"I'm fine. She's bleeding."
"Jesus…" A new voice breathes, "What happened to-"
Chell's vision is almost completely dark now, but she sees this figure- this stranger- towering over her, too close, and coming for her and this has happened before she knows this from somewhere and she is not letting it happen again- she is never going Back-
Whoever he is, her feet connect with his stomach, and she sends him flying.
His companion shrieks.
"Michael!"
Chell realizes rather quickly that (much like before) she shouldn't have done that. Her entire body arches in mind numbing pain at the stupidity of what she's just done. Something is very wrong: something is burned, or dislocated, or broken, and whatever it is, she's just made it so much worse. Her voice still doesn't work but some sort of strangled cry emerges from her throat as her entire body arches in mind numbing pain at the stupidity of what she's just done.
Needless to say, she hardly notices the man she knocked over waving up at them from where he landed. The woman who screamed his name when he fell must have asked him something, because when he spoke he sounded as though he were answering a question.
"I'm good. Winded." His voice now comes from several feet away, somewhere on the ground. For some reason the woman holding Chell's hand chuckles quietly. "I just- need a minute." The man on the ground wheezes. "Is she okay?"
Chell is decidedly not okay. She's now blindly kicking and clawing and fighting and trying very hard to get away from this new woman, who is far too close and is poking and prodding and prying right where everything hurts. But this second lady is much tougher than she looks, and for all her fighting Chell is hurting herself far more than anyone else: every move she makes feels as though she's being stabbed, whatever she injured by knocking that man over is still screaming at her, and she's starting to lose what little energy she has left.
"Settle down,dear." The short woman scolds as she carefully pries Chell's hands away. "Something's wrong with her…. and she's lost a lot of…"
Chell can't tell if the woman is speaking quietly so she doesn't hear or if her hearing is the next thing leaving her.
A whistle sounds from a few feet away. She hears that.
"All that and she still managed to break some ribs." The man on the ground coughs as he hauls himself to his feet, half heartedly clutching his side. Chell can hear the smile in his voice. "She's a fighter. I like her already."
Chell decides very quickly that she does not like him. His coming closer and restraining her (ever so gently. He doesn't want to hurt her further) so his companion can more easily poke and prod her does not help. She makes this as clear as possible through aid of her knees in what Chell hopes are his now broken ribs, but he too is stronger than he looks, and he doesn't let go.
Chell's breath hitches at the sharp pinch in her arm. The man restraining her finally lets her go, seemingly concerned.
"Hey. Easy kid."
"Sorry sweetheart." Eliza squeezes her hand, hard. "It'll be okay."
"We'll fix you up good as new."
"We've got you. You're gonna be just fine."
Michael. His name was Michael.
Chell barely makes out a pair of green eyes before the world goes dark.
AN: This request is very near and dear to my heart. Not only because it's a very important part of Chell's backstory in Pieces, but because it was a request from my Pieces Beta, the_pie_is_a_lie! I hope you enjoyed it! ^^