Doug answered the door the very next day. "Uncle Johnson, what are you doing here?" He smiled, but it soon fell when he saw the look of seriousness on his face.

Cave looked him dead in the eye. "We need to talk." The men sat in the living room, and Doug felt something inside him begin to panic."Breanna came to talk to me yesterday."

"Sh- she went back there?" Doug was in shock. Had she not just said she never wanted to step foot in Aperture ever again?

Cave nodded. "There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna say it. We... We need to put Breanna back in the prototype."

"What?" Doug flew to his feet. "No! You can't! I- I won't let you!"

"Doug, listen to me-"

"No, I- I'm not going to lose her again! You can't take her away from me!" Doug leaned his back against the wall, hands clutching his hair, his breaths short and uneven.

Cave put his hands on Doug's shoulders and shook him a little. "Doug! This is our only option if we want to keep her alive!"

Doug lowered his hands from his head, but his eyes still reflected his terror. "Wh- what do you mean?"

"I'm dying, Daddy." Breanna had slipped into the room without anyone noticing. "It's just like the last time. Only faster. Please, Daddy, you have to understand. I'm okay with dying, but I don't want to leave you." Her face was wet with tears, her dripping mascara darkening the circles beneath her eyes even more.

It will never work...

She just wants to get away from you...

Doug did everything he could silence the taunting. "Breanna..." He took a few steps toward her. A few more. Finally, he embraced her. "Breanna, min kärlek..." They stood there for a long time, both trembling, though for different reasons. "She won't allow it. She loves to see people die, there will be no exception here."

"Not to worry." Stated Cave, proudly. "Caroline already approved it."

"Who approved what?" West's voice came from behind them. "Am I interrupting something?" He asked innocently enough.

Breanna turned toward him. "A little." She asked her father and uncle to excuse her for a moment while she and West spoke in the other room. "We have to make this quick."

His response wasn't what she'd anticipated. When his lips connected with hers, it took a moment or two to realize what exactly was happening. When she did come to her senses, she pushed him away rather roughly. "I... I'm sorry." She could tell his words were sincere.

"West Anderson, how many times do I have to say it?" Perhaps her frustration was uncalled for, but she was going through a lot. She had an excuse. "This idea of 'us' you have is never going to work! No matter what you do, no matter how much we want it-"

She stopped when she caught her mistake. "You said 'we'." West pointed out. "'No matter how much we want it'."

There was a long silence. She was caught. "Well, you got what you wanted. To an extent, at least."

"Breanna..." He looked into her shockingly blue eyes, seeing a secret he could not quite make out. "You've been through a lot. And I want to help."

"Oh?" She asked. "And how do you plan to do that?"

Carefully, he took her hand. "You're shaking." He observed. "We're legal adults now. We can run away. Go somewhere far away. What do you think?"

She looked at his face, that face that somehow she trusted, then to her hand, caressed in his. "It's what I've always dreamed of... To go somewhere no one knows who I am... With you..."

"Then what are we waiting for?" His expression was unforgettable. "We'll leave tonight. We don't have to tell anyone. It'll be us against the world. Leave this place behind, no looking back." He smiled kindly at her. "And I'll keep you safe. I'll keep you safe for the rest of our lives."

Was he serious? He couldn't be. No, he was. He was more serious than he ever had been before. Breanna slowly withdrew her hand. "I... I can't... I wouldn't survive more than four months. And my father... Please, try to understand."

It appeared as if his whole reason to live had been shattered. "I don't. I don't understand."

"Maybe you should go." She whispered.

He walked away a few steps, but turned once more. "Breanna..."

"Goodbye, West."

"Doug, calm down." Cave was just short of having to hold him up the following day, when they returned to the place Doug's nightmares had become reality.

Breanna took his hand, doing everything she could to help. "Daddy, it's okay. Just try to relax."

It was easier said than done. Everything that had happened here, all the memories, all the death, it was too much for him to handle. It was times like this that made him feel like he really was crazy. "D- don't make me go in there." He pleaded when they finally arrived at the oh-so-familiar chamber doors.

"You have to." Cave told him. "Caroline asked for you specifically."

"N- not Caroline. Not her. G- GLaDOS. She wants to kill me. She will this time, I know she will!" Cave and Breanna struggled to keep him from bolting in the other direction.

"Oh, stop your whining and come in." The voice from the speaker was annoyed, almost bored. "I'm getting really sick of you. Every time I think you're finally gone for good, you manage to find some reason to come back." The broken man watched the doors open, his eyes locked on the chassis he'd helped design as he was led inside. "How have you been, Rat?"

All he could do was stare as images of the past flashed before his eyes. His co workers dying one by one, the robotic body that housed his daughter's soul being crushed before his very eyes, and so many more.

The yellow optic seemingly seeing completely into his thoughts, the computerized voice which had threatened him so many times before. "I- I- I-" I can't take this... It's too much... I need... I need... Before he could even finish his thought, his legs gave out from under him as he was overtaken by unconsciousness.

When his eyes fluttered open, he looked around the den by habit, searching for anything suspicious. He scratched his beard as he sat up, and was reaching for his paint brushes when he froze suddenly. Wait. The den, the beard, the brushes... He stood quickly and looked down at himself. Sure enough, he was dressed in an old, white button-down shirt and a tattered lab coat. And there were voices he was sure no one else could hear.

"N- no... Th- this isn't right... I- I was just outside less than an hour ago..." He spoke to himself, his thin fingers feeling the walls to make sure they were real.

"You were, were you?" The familiar, though not exactly friendly voice responded. Doug stopped everything to listen.

"Wh- where is she?" He demanded. "Wh- where's B- Breanna?"

There was a lengthy beat of silence before GLaDOS responded. "Who's Breanna?"