Prompt: Wheatley helps Chell when she has a nightmare.
Heavy breathing woke Wheatley up. He could subconsciously feel Chell shifting around next to him, causing his eyes to flicker open, registering the scene before him.
Chell was sweating, for one thing. The glow of the moonlight made the droplets clear on her face, and her arms were waving about in front of her. There was even a bit of kickback when she "fired" – despite the fact there was nothing there.
She was mute again. Wheatley had forgotten what they had done before to communicate – if they even did at all. She was silent, he did all the talking by himself. Could you have even called those conversations?
"Chell, sweetheart!" He sat up, trying to figure out what he could do to wake her up without scaring her. "Come on, luv, make it through this, here, let's get you out of this nightmare."
Her arms swung away from him, and he briefly considered his options. Singing used to work when Wheatley was there already able to comfort her, but in this case, she was already trapped. So he could scratch singing off the list.
Wrapping her in a hug might make her think she was being dragged away. Covers off, perhaps? The shock factor? Kissing her? Maybe a bit forward.
Finally, he opted to take her arms, taking care to grip the right arm.
"Can you feel my hand, luv? Do you feel that?"
The waving stopped, but her breathing persisted. She was completely still, confused as to what had happened.
"I'm here, if you'd wake up you would know where you are. Nothing is going to hurt you, dear. You're out of There, wake up now, please…! The gun's not real, Chell, can't you feel that?" His hands clutched tighter. "Can you feel my grip?"
Suddenly, she reacted. She took in a deep breath, and her eyes opened, staring up at Wheatley.
They stared at each other in silence, Wheatley's grip loosening as she pushed herself up on the bed.
"…Thank you."
Wheatley hugged her the very next second, feeling her arms wrap around him just as tightly, remembering where she was, how she got there… and who she was happily with.