When Doug woke up the next day, he was confused about his surroundings at first. There was a faint light struggling to show through heavy drapes in a dark room. Then he noticed Valentine cuddled up next to him on the couch and everything came back to him. He smiled as he watched her sleep, her face slightly resting on the side of his chest. She was so damn cute. There was nowhere that he'd rather be more than right here with her.
Then he suddenly remembered that there was somewhere else that he needed to be. Nora's image flashed into his head, her lower optic raised slightly to express her joy. He thought of the way that she would look at Wheatley so admiringly. But the image of her battered, shuddering case after Wheatley had intentionally knocked her off her rail filled his mind. Her optic opened wide and her pupil shrank in fear as the betrayal of Wheatley hit her.
Am I betraying Nora by staying here as long as I have?
The thought had barely run through his mind before he quickly pushed it away. He had left to get help. That's what he was out here to do; that's why he had been gone for so long. But how much closer was he to having the help he needed to go back into Aperture? He had Wheatley but that was it. He wasn't about to ask Chell to go back with him. Really, he hadn't made much progress at all.
I've been trying to recuperate, he told himself. That's why I still haven't gone back.
As he thought about this and stared up at the ceiling, he noticed it lowering very slowly. He looked around the room and the walls were closing in on him, too. He did his best to ignore it. None of it was real.
I've been eating and getting extensive rest to regain my strength. It's important that I'm not nearly starving to death if I have to take down GLaDOS.
The walls and ceiling continued to close in on him, making his heart beat faster and faster.
"Doug?" Nora's voice suddenly called out. "Doug, where are you? I need you to help me get out! Where are you?!"
Tears formed in his eyes and he squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see the shrinking room.
"I'm scared, Doug!" Nora continued. "I'm so scared! She's going to find me and kill me! I-I don't want to die!"
"No," Doug muttered, covering his face with his arm that wasn't wrapped around Valentine. "Stop it. You're not actually saying these things."
"Doug, I already lost Wheatley! I can't lose you, too!"
This just sounded too real, and it broke Doug's heart. He opened his eyes and the room was back to its normal size. However, he vaguely saw something all over the walls in the dark. He couldn't quite make it out, and he had to squint before he could see it. The word "TRAPPED" was written all over the walls and ceiling in dark red in his handwriting.
"Oh god," he murmured. "I need to get out of here. I shouldn't have stayed so long."
He looked down at Valentine as she continued to snooze on him. His eyes watered again at the thought of leaving her. She would surely hate him for it.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered and kissed her forehead.
Very carefully so as not to wake her, he slipped off of the couch, and lied her down gently in his place. She shifted a little, muttering something in her sleep. Luckily, though, she didn't wake up. Doug's face turned red as he pulled his clothes back on him. Then he crept over to the door and quietly slipped through. He took a few hesitant steps down the hall until he broke out into a sprint. He hurried down the stairs and back to the siblings' apartment. He tried to slow down and open the door calmly, but the echoes of Nora's voice in his mind still haunted him.
"Morning, Doug," Spencer said from the kitchen as he watched the other man scramble around the room. "Uh, what are you doing?"
"I need to go, Spencer," Doug said quickly. "I just need to go. I've been gone for too long."
"Whoa! Come on now," Spencer said, setting down his cup of coffee. "You can't just leave. Did you guys have an argument last night or something?"
"No! That's the problem!" Doug said, grabbing the Cup and searching for his lab coat. "If I stay with her any longer, I won't be able to go back for Nora!"
"She's just a machine!"
Doug spun around and grabbed the front of Spencer's shirt with both hands, fury burning in his eyes. "She's not just a machine," he said in a low, threatening tone. "She's my best friend and is nicer to me than any human being has ever been." Realization suddenly hit him and he stumbled back a little as he let go of Spencer. "Oh my god. I….I'm sorry, Spencer. I don't know why I did that. Just….Tell Valentine that I left because I'm not good enough for her."
Spencer ran a hand through his hair in agitation. "Fine," he said. "I'll tell her. And don't be sorry about grabbing me. Now we're even for me holding a knife to you."
Doug turned back around, scanned the room for his lab coat, and just decided to give up on it. He started for the door but Spencer stopped him.
"Here," he said, pulling something out of the closet. He handed a metal baseball bat to Doug. "You might need it."
"Um….Thanks," Doug said awkwardly. "And thanks for letting me stay here. You've both been very helpful."
"You better leave before Val comes back down here," Spencer said. "It was nice knowing you."
Doug was about to say that he might actually come back, but he couldn't be sure of that. "Nice knowing you, too," Doug said before running out the door.
"So we're leaving now?" the Cup asked as Doug ran back in the direction that he'd come from before in Spencer's truck. "We're leaving without Wheatley or any supplies?"
No time, Doug thought. I have to leave this town now.
He ran until he got to the edge of the first wheat field before he had to stop. He dropped the bat and Cup, and doubled over as he tried to catch his breath. His pulse was pounding in his ears. It was oddly distorted and it seemed to grow louder with every breath he took. He didn't realize that it wasn't his pulse until something collided with his back. The air was knocked from his lungs as he fell to the ground, fear quickly filling every inch of him. Was this the Combine soldiers that the siblings had told him about? Had they come back to reclaim the town?
"Just where the fuck do you think you're going?" a voice yelled in his ear. A female voice.
Doug tried to get out a response but she was still pinning him down, making it hard for him to catch his breath. She decided to get off of him long enough to flip him onto his back. She sat on his waist and pinned down his shoulders. There was so much seething rage in her eyes as she glared down at him. She looked like nothing could have stopped her from catching up with him, and that it had been a futile act on Doug's part to try to leave.
"V-Valentine..." was all that Doug managed to get out.
"Shut up!" she yelled at him, pressing down on his shoulders. She almost looked completely psychotic, and Doug found it very strange that that was attractive to him. "You were trying to leave me! You went running off to Aperture and you didn't even give me a fucking explanation!"
Doug started to wonder if this was even happening at all. Was this just another delusion brought on by his guilt?
"H-How did you catch up to me so quickly?" he asked.
She didn't answer at first, and Doug suddenly noticed that she was trying really hard not to show how out of breath she was. "You'd be surprised what I can do when I want something bad enough," she finally said.
"Val….I need to get—"
"You want to get your friend Nora out of Aperture," she finished curtly. "Right? Well, to ensure that you make it back to town, I'm going to join you."
"No!" Doug said, struggling to climb out from underneath her and stand up. "Absolutely not! You could die in there!"
"So could you!" Valentine shouted, standing up, too.
"What about your daughter?!"
"She has Spencer and my mom to take care of her!"
Doug studied her face, hoping to find a hint of hesitation. He couldn't find any. She was set on going into Aperture with him, no matter the costs.
"This girl is completely insane," the Cup said. "Maybe you should just try to make a run for it."
"Okay," he resigned.
"Okay?"
"I obviously can't stop you from following me there," he said. "Feel free to turn back any time, though."
Valentine smiled smugly about getting her way. "I'm glad you're not going to fight me on this."
"There would be no point."
Doug led her into the wheat field, trying to hide how happy he actually was that she would be going in with him.
