Chell was trying really hard not to be disappointed by Dakota. At least Karen wasn't saying "I told you so".
She'd visited here once or twice with her mother, buying apples from a friendly farmer with a roadside stall. The apple trees were still here but the stall was barely visible through the weeds and saplings, and the farmer's house was in poor repair. There clearly hadn't been anyone living here for years.
"This is even worse than the Aperture staff housing," said Chell. "I'm not sure I'll even be able to get inside."
"At Aperture we knew how to show nature who's boss," said Karen, smugly. "Nothing unwanted is going to grow on that land for centuries."
Statements like this made Chell glad she'd decided to move on from the Aperture staff housing, even if it did mean hacking through a lot of overgrown grass with a well sharpened kitchen knife.
Chell sighed and got down to business. Eventually she managed to prune back enough of the greenery around the garage door to get it open, and once she did she just stood and laughed gleefully until Karen came over to see what the fuss was about.
There, half hidden in shadows, it's dusty surface looking grey blue in the sun, was a nice, normal, non Aperture Science truck.
"You'll never get it to run," said Karen.
"Seriously?" said Chell, not looking up from the manual she'd found in the glove compartment after jimmying open the lock. "You really think that between your mind and mine we can't overcome a a few degraded engine parts? What happened to the woman who was going to build her own car from scratch?"
"I just don't want you getting your hopes up unnecessarily."
"Well I don't want you getting me down unnecessarily. So either help me get this truck running, or go away."
Karen was, at heart, an experimental scientist. Within twenty minutes Chell was having to stop her from trying to recharge the battery with an explosion powered by drain cleaner and aluminium foil.
By the the time they got the truck running Chell was entirely sick of apples. She ate something like three just during the time it took to double check the wiring. But the truck had been sitting still a long time, and it took a lot of love and care to get it to the point where she was comfortable even trying the ignition.
And then it sang.
Chell grinned and squeezed Karen's hand.
"Listen to that sound!" cried Karen over the uneven rumbling of the engine. "Isn't it beautiful? Oh I have been so sick of trees and nature, finally some technology."
"Yeah it is pretty beautiful," said Chell. She took a moment to appreciate it, then turned the engine off. "Ok," she said, "we'll let her cool down overnight then change the filters in the morning and check everything again."
Karen looked at her like she'd just suggested they push the truck off a cliff. "But it's running, we should drive it. That's what trucks are for!"
"That attitude is what ended up making your last car explode," said Chell. "And I want this one in good enough shape to get us all the way to Minneapolis."
"Right, Minneapolis," said Karen, deflating.
"Don't be like that," said Chell. "You should be thrilled. We have a full tank of gas, it should only take us a day or so and then we'll be in a real city full of real technology."
"But not until tomorrow," said Karen. "Hooray!"
Though her aching muscles protested, Chell took the unexpected afternoon's break from travelling as an opportunity to practice her self defense. She didn't share Karen's intense pessimism about the humans they might hypothetically meet, but she also wasn't naive enough to think that they would all be friendly.
Karen sat to watch Chell go through her exercises, eating an apple.
"Want to join me?" said Chell, feeling her back muscles unkink from a day spent underneath an oily truck. "Or are you expecting me to take care of all the ruffians and vagabonds for you?"
"Brawn will never be a match for brains and concealed weapons," said Karen.
Chell continued through the familiar routine, the one constant in her life as she'd travelled through various foster homes and cheap student houses. Training had given her something to focus on, and a way to measure her readiness for her eventual return to Aperture. "Care to test that?"
Karen smiled and took another bite of her apple. "Maybe another time," she said.
Step, step, punch, twist. The sun drenched asphalt was a comforting warmth beneath her feet. "So you're just going to sit and watch?"
"Yes."
Chell had warmed up enough from exercise to counteract the chill in the air, and her long sleeve shirt was starting to feel sticky. She pulled it off, getting a little tangled in the sleeves, and finally freed her head and pulled down her undervest to find Karen staring at her. Karen's face had gone very pink.
"Perhaps a lesson would be in order," said Karen, weakly.
Chell was beginning to suspect that Karen's sexuality was one of the many things she was deeply in denial about. Still, she wasn't going to turn down a chance to teach Karen a lesson or two. "You want me to show you some moves?" she grinned.
Karen blinked and then cleared her throat before addressing Chell in a much more self assured voice. "You misunderstand, " she said, carefully removing her jacket and placing it on her backpack before rolling up the sleeves on her shirt. "The lesson is for you."
Chell shifted to a clear patch of dirt by the side of the road and took up a fighting stance. "Go ahea-" she began, before doubling over and covering her mouth. "Did you just throw dust at..ow!" Karen had grabbed a stick and was proceeding to hit Chell with it as hard as she could.
Chell rolled out of the way and held her arms up to protect her head. Her eyes were still watering and she was finding it hard to see. She didn't even bother saying "That's cheating", it's not like they'd actually established formal rules. And Karen was in for a shock if she thought a little dirty fighting was enough to stop Chell from beating the pants off her.
"Seems all your training is no match for a bit of superior technology," said Karen, whacking her on the forearms. "Brains wins again!"
Chell blinked a few more times and the vague red blur shifting around her resolved into the form of Karen, whipping around her branch. She wasn't as mindless in her violence as Chell would have expected, a regular person might be in some danger. Chell stood up and waited for Karen to attack again.
This time, instead of just avoiding the branch Chell moved slightly to the side and slapped down on Karen's arm with her own, taking advantage of the downward momentum to push Karen off balance. Karen had a moment to look at Chell in surprise and then anger before Chell poked her in the eyes.
"Ahh! That's cheating!" she cried, her shout being cut short as Chell swept her feet from under her and she landed heavily on her back.
Chell gave a short bark of triumph as she twisted Karen into a headlock, and then let out a happy breath. Her whole body felt alive and tingling, and the pain in her arms and head was more than made up for by the euphoria of success.
"Do you yield?" said Chell, giving Karen's windpipe a squeeze.
"Never!" choked Karen.
"So, yes?"
Karen glared at her. "...yes."
Chell let Karen go, slowly. She half expected her to attack again, but instead she just looked up at Chell.
"You are an amazing woman," said Karen. "And a worthy foe."
"Thanks," said Chell. "You're a pretty worthy foe yourself."
Karen laughed ruefully. "But now my head hurts. I should have stuck to watching, much safer."
"Aww, do you want me to kiss it better?" said Chell.
Karen sat up on her knees to face Chell. "Yes," she said. "I do." She closed her eyes expectantly.
Well, she walked into that one. Chell carefully placed her hands on either aide of Karen's face and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.
Karen opened her eyes and gave a small, grateful smile. She then carefully took Chell's hand and lifted her forearm, leaving a small gentle kiss on each of the places where her branch had broken the skin.
"I'm sorry," said Karen. "You've been so kind, you saved me in so many ways, and all I do is hurt you."
"Geeze, Karen," said Chell. "That's..." She looked away. "It's no big deal." She rubbed her arms. "Let's not do that again, though. I think we've spent enough time trying to kill each other."
"Good idea, " said Karen. "Let's keep our violence saved up for alien sympathisers and crazed looters."
"Deal," said Chell, taking Karen's hand again and shaking it.
Karen looked at their two hands and then looked up at Chell. The moment stretched out in silence. Karen's cheeks were flushed from exercise, and she was still breathing a little heavily. There was a thin smudge of Chell's blood next to her mouth, and dust in her hair. She was beautiful.
"Fuck it," said Chell. And then she leaned across and kissed her.
Karen made a sound of surprise, but before Chell could even stop to make sure she wasn't horribly offended she'd leaned forward and was kissing back. She made a soft sound and opened her mouth and Chell licked her bottom lip. She tasted of apples. Chell ran her fingers through Karen's hair. It felt as soft and smooth as it looked.
Karen wrapped her arms around Chell, one hand twined around her neck and the other pushing up Chell's shirt to attack the back of her bra. Karen finished exploring Chell's mouth thoroughly with her tongue and then broke off from the kiss, leaving a line of kisses along Chell's neck and nibbling at her ear. As Chell's bra gave way Karen slipped her hand underneath it and cupped Chell's breast with her hand. Chell stifled a gasp, and her estimate of Karen's (or at least Caroline's) past experiences went up.
"I didn't think nice girls...did this sort of thing," said Chell breathlessly. This had escalated a little more quickly than she was prepared for.
Escape! said a voice in her head. Hell no thought Chell silently. This was weird and a little scary, but also amazing. She could feel desire curdling in her belly and her whole body sang with delight.
"Has anyone told you you talk too much?" muttered Karen. It was unreasonable and arrogant and undeniably hot. "Ok," said Chell and pushed her down into the dirt. There was something very satisfying about having Karen trapped beneath her.
"Ow," said Karen.
"Sorry," said Chell, remembering that Karen's head was already sore. "Do you..." Karen used both hands to pull Chell into another kiss. Chell groaned and put a hand on Karen's hips, feeling them buck and shift beneath her. Karen pulled Chell's hand up onto her breast and then started to unbutton her fly.
Escape escape escape!
Chell sat up onto her knees and grabbed Karen's hands, holding them tightly.
"Jesus, Karen, slow down for a second," she said, trying to catch her breath. Karen stopped and looked up at her in surprise. Her breath was coming fast and her hair was flowing around her like a halo covered in dust. Chell really felt like kissing her again. She bit the inside of her lip to resist the temptation.
"What's wrong?" asked Karen. "You kissed me, and I thought..."
"I kissed you because I wanted to kiss you," said Chell, letting Karen's hands go. They dropped limply to the ground. "Normally there's a bit of a break before that and...whatever you were planning on doing in my pants." Not that she had a lot of experience with that part, she'd been a bit busy training to infiltrate Aperture as a teenager to have had time for a serious girlfriend. But she understood the theory.
Karen went still and looked Chell in the eyes seriously. She put a hand over her mouth. "Sometimes I forget how young you are," she said.
"That's got nothing to do with it." said Chell. "I'm twenty not twelve. And you act younger than me half the time anyway."
Karen frowned in that "I know better than you young lady" way she had and shook her head. "Please, let me go. This is wrong." Chell could feel the chance of them making out again any time soon slipping away. Why did everything with Karen have to be such a drama?
"This is wrong?" said Chell, climbing off Karen and standing next to her. "Really? This is where you draw the line? Kissing a consenting adult?"
Karen stood up and dusted herself off. "It won't stop with kissing, we both know that. And it would be taking advantage. I'm so much older than you, subjectively." Karen looked into the distance, sadly.
Chell groaned. She should have known this would all go horribly wrong somehow.
Karen put her hand gently on Chell's cheek. "It's better this way. I care about what we have too much to ruin it with some meaningless physical act."
"I don't!" said Chell.
"Ah, you poor sweet innocent child," said Karen, completely ignoring Chell's words, not to mention her own behaviour from five minutes ago. She patted Chell's cheek once more and then pulled away. "I'll go set up the sleeping bags in the house."
And then she picked up her pack and jacket and walked away.
Chell kicked a tree and then swore before limping off to follow her. It was going to be a long drive tomorrow.