AN: We're almost there...

"So Valentine," Doug said as they sat around in the chamber. "That kid Mikey was looking through the files of the system. He was able to change what the system makes me, uh…crave."

"Does that mean you don't want to test anymore?" Valentine asked. She was sitting on the floor and leaning against one of the four glass walls that contained Charlie.

"Right," Doug said. He sat in the middle of the room so that the wires didn't tug at his skin. "He made it so that I want the company of others now."

Valentine smiled. "That sounds healthy," she said. "And much safer than wanting to put people through lethal testing."

Doug smiled, too. "So what do you want to do once the others get back?"

Valentine raised an eyebrow curiously. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Aren't we just going to find someone else to take over and leave?"

"Well, I had something else in mind," Doug said. "I thought that maybe we could just make this our new home. We could establish a community in here. It could be fun." He was becoming unsettlingly excited about this idea. "You could bring your family in here. It would be a much larger living space, too."

Valentine stared at Doug's almost manic expression. "You mean if we can't find a replacement for you, right?" she asked. "This is just a last resort?"

Doug's smile faded a little. "Uh, yeah," he said. "Of course."

He suddenly sensed the others approaching and his smile grew again. "They're almost here," he said. "And I think they have Nora."


Nora was silent as she was carried by Mikey. She was struggling to absorb her current situation. There were so many humans around her now. Were they all here to get her out? How did Wheatley get his human body back? And what was up with Doug?

A metal claw suddenly reached down and plucked her out of Mikey's grasp who cried out in surprise. She was quickly carried through a dark passage before she was brought into GLaDOS' chamber. She was moving too fast and didn't see who suddenly wrapped their arms around her. She closed her optic as she shivered fearfully.

"I finally found you!"

She quickly looked up and was happy to see Doug smiling down at her, but her gaze soon fell upon the wires that fell down from the system's chassis and connected to his back.

"Doug….Y-You're in charge…?" she stammered quietly. "How? H-How could this have happened?"

Doug's smile slipped from his face. "The system conducted a….forceful connection with me," he said. "I'm okay, though. Don't worry. And I don't have that itch to test. It's been changed to wanting the company of others."

"Really?" she asked. She wasn't convinced that everything was alright, though. "Does it…Does it hurt?"

"Um…" Doug grimaced a little at first but he forced a smile. "No, I'm fine. Seriously, don't worry about me. I'm just so happy to see that you're okay."

"I'm happy to see that you're okay, too," Nora said. "GLaDOS told me that you had left, but I was still worried about you."

"I was being taken care of. Oh! Nora, I'd like you to meet Valentine. She's my, uh, my g-girlfriend."

Nora turned to see Valentine sitting patiently. She got distracted, though, by the smiling boy behind the glass.

"Charlie!" she exclaimed. "I-I'm so sorry that I tried to kill you! I shouldn't have lost my temper like that!" Her voice broke a little. "Please try to forgive me!"

Charlie placed his hand against the glass. "No, do not be sorry," he said. "I killed your body. I am who is sorry."

"Doug, why is he in there?" Nora asked, turning back to her other friend.

"I, uh, looked back at the security tapes," Doug said awkwardly. "After what I saw him do to your body, I felt like I needed to keep him somewhere so I could keep an eye on him."

"Oh. I guess that's understandable."

The others finally showed up and gathered around the center.

"Oh, Charlie!" Wheatley said. "I was so sure that you had died during one of my tests."

"You tried to burn him!" Nora shouted at Wheatley. "You can't just pretend that that didn't happen! What's wrong with you?!"

Wheatley frowned and backed away toward the edge of the group.

"Nora, it's fine," Doug said. "Everything's fine now."

"But you're connected to the system!" Nora cried out. "And why does he have his human body back?! Things are so different now! I don't know what to think anymore!"

"It's okay," Doug said, gently caressing her shell. "We're all here again. All we need is each other."

"Um, Doug?" Mikey asked awkwardly. "Did you find GLaDOS?"

Doug looked up with an anxious expression. "Well, it turns out that Charlie tossed her into the furnace."

Chell's eyes widened at this and even started to tear up.

"But it's fine," Doug continued. The scary smile started to spread across his face again. "I can control the facility. I'll rearrange some of the departments and make this the perfect location for a new community."

There was a tense silence that lasted for a few painful seconds.

"Doug," Amelia said. "We can't stay here. We have our own community to get back to."

"But I can make this one better!" Doug claimed. "I'll make it so that you can view the surface while not having to go out! I can protect you all from the Combine!"

Amelia looked over at Valentine who seemed quite uncomfortable with what her boyfriend was saying. Then she turned to look at the exit just as it was being closed. Doug sealed up any way of escape.

"Please," he said, trying to keep his manic smile. "I've never felt so happy to be in a crowd of people. And the system is staving off my schizophrenia! I-I can be normal now!"

"Doug, stop!" Valentine said as she stood up. "This doesn't make you normal! It's unnatural!"

"Don't you want me to feel normal, Valentine?!" he asked, setting Nora down next to him to that he could stand up. "Don't I deserve this?!"

"Doug, please," Nora whimpered. "I finally want to leave this place with you."

"Why can't any of you understand that this makes me happy?!" Doug shouted.

"Sorry! Sorry for being late!" called a cheery voice.

Everybody turned to see two people suddenly hurrying over seemingly out of the wall. One of them was a copper-skinned man with black hair, and the other was a sweet-looking Korean girl with long brown hair. However, they weren't separate from each other. They seemed to overlap each other and constantly exist in the same place.

"I meant to get here earlier," they said, their voices also overlapping each other. "I got caught up with something, but I'm here now."

"I told you all that Li existed!" Wheatley exclaimed. "Although, I don't remember her also being a scary-looking man."

"Hi, Wheatley!" Li/Lee said, waving. They turned back to Doug with their smiles. "I'm here to help you disconnect from this stupid system."

"I-I don't know what you are," Doug said, "but I don't want to leave!"

Li/Lee reached up and gently placed a hand on Doug's cheek. "Doug, it's time for you all to leave," they said gently. "It's time to go home."

Doug felt all of the muscles in his body relax. He could feel the wires in his arms and wrapped around his spine start to painlessly slip out of his body. As the wires and cables were pulled back up to the chassis, Doug's wounds quickly healed until there was never any trace of ever being attached to the system.

He stared into the two pairs of eyes of the being(s) before him, and asked quietly, "W-What are you?"

Li/Lee brought a finger up to their lips and winked.

"But…Who will take over now?" Doug asked.

"Nobody," they answered happily. "We've made it so that the facility can run on its own. Now everybody leave, and return to the world outside. You all have people waiting for you."

Without any warning at all, Li/Lee disappeared completely.

Valentine rushed over and trapped Doug in a hug. Then she pulled away and slapped him playfully. "Don't ever do that again."

"You mean connect to a computer system and try to hold everyone against their will?" Doug asked with a crooked smile. "I'll try not to anymore."

"Let's get out of here now," Amelia said. "I need fresh air."

"I second that," Nate said.