A/N: Hey guys. I know, I know, this chapter is delayed but please forgive me! I had to get a new lappie top. Mine died after years of faithful service. It was quite sad. So I dedicate this Chapter to Maxwell, for his devotion to me! Rest in peace, Max, and please forgive me for spilling Sprite on you and frying your CPU... ._.
A few dull clangs of metal colliding with metal echoed through the Aperture facility. A final thud followed by a quiet 'Ow' announced Wheatley's arrival to GLaDOS.
"Argh! Why do I always land face down? Must be some kind of design flaw..." he grumbled, frantically trying to free his optic. Finally he managed to swivel it up from the floor, getting a quick look around the room. It was pitch dark. Wheatley flicked his flashlight on, and immediately the gesture was reciprocated by the fifty turrets surrounding him, blinking on their red lights.
"Hello." one of them squeaked. Wheatley let out a shout of surprise, quivering with fear. Then two things happened: the turrets began firing, and the Aerial Faith Plate beneath him activated, sending him soaring out of the room. Wheatley sighed with relief at his managing to escape that room just grazed by one bullet, before realizing he was sailing over the dark, seemingly bottomless abyss that existed between the test chambers. She's going to kill me now, isn't she? He thought quite matter-of-factly. That thought had been slipping in and out of his mind for the past few hours, and he was getting used to the idea.
Briefly he recalled his short time in charge of the facility. Wheatley knew that there was, in fact, a bottom to the space...very, very far down. He also knew he eventually would hit that bottom, and that it would be a very quick and painful death for him. Again, he was resigned to dying at the hands of GLaDOS, but he was hoping she would fulfill her end of the deal first. It looked doubtful at this point, what with him flying over a dark pit with little to no chance of surviving.
And that was the point when the Excursion Funnel activate. Puzzled, Wheatley floated along through the asbestos. Why was this happening to him? Why was he being dangled in front of death and then quickly pulled back?
"Ohh, you're toying with me..." he sighed in realization. Of course. GLaDOS couldn't just give him a straightforward answer, kill him or not! She had to keep him guessing, didn't she. "Okay, I see, I see. I get it, really. You're in control of my fate, any you're having a real nice time of that, but if I could just interrupt for a second, I'd like to know if you plan on-" Wheatley felt himself fall once more, until he was in yet another test chamber. I get the feeling that this is going to go on for a long time... he thought as he was juggled out of the room by a panel.
Chell pulled on the long fall boots, her long legs hanging out the passenger side of the truck. She slipped out and shut the door behind her, not bothering to lock it. She doubted anyone would be out there in the abandoned field that hid the horrible nightmare known as Aperture Laboratories. Chell was a little surprised that she remembered the way. She had made it, though, and she was going to get her answers.
Getting used to the weight of the boots strapped to her feet once again, she picked her way through the wheat field. When she left Aperture fourteen months previously, she had noticed several landmarks in the field and surrounding area that she assumed were auxiliary entrances to the labs below. The one disguised in the old shack would lead straight to GLaDOS, and Chell wanted to remain unnoticed for as long as possible. At least until she got her bearings, or had to confront the AI as a last resort.
Chell came across a dilapidated old building that was akin to a bunker. A vividly yellow sign on the door read 'NUCLEAR QUARANTINE. DO NOT ENTER.'
"Yeah, right." Chell muttered, pushing the ugly door open. She broke into a coughing fit as clouds of dust kicked up around her. Eyes streaming, Chell held her nose closed as she looked for anything that might indicate a lift. Finally she pushed against a wall, which fell away like old cardboard. The inside was clinical white, in a familiar way that gave her chills. If Chell had any doubts that she was in the right place, they evaporated like a drop of water hitting a hot burner. Slowly she stepped into the white room, carefully picking her way down the set of stairs that lay at the far end of the room. At the bottom was a glass elevator. Chell froze for a moment, memories rushing back to her in painful waves. She took a deep breath. Easy, Chell. You've come too far to back down now, she told herself as she slipped into the rather tiny elevator.
It took a moment for the worn out machine to recognize her presence. "Wel-wel-welcome tooOOOoo-" the voice of the announcer began, only to be cut out by a buzzer-like sound. That's probably not the best sign... Chell thought. The elevator must have been in disuse for so long it wasn't working properly. This theory was only confirmed when the glass tube rocked back and forth rather violently. Chell propped herself up against the sides until the vibrations stopped. Why did she have to pick this secret entrance, of all the ones peppered around the massive field!
Fortunately the elevator began to slowly chug it's way down the shaft, not making any more attempts to welcome Chell back to the labs. For that she was thankful: maybe it meant that GLaDOS wouldn't pay her any mind. She closed her eyes and waited patiently until the elevator hit the bottom with a rather violent jolt. Hesitantly Chell exited the broken down machine and looked around. She smiled softly as she recognized that she was in the 'behind the scenes' portion of the labs, rather than one of the countless testing areas. Chell recalled her first time sneaking around back here after escaping GLaDOS' first of many attempts to kill her.
"Good times..." she muttered sarcastically to herself, clambering up a catwalk. This was going to be a lot more difficult without the portal gun. But Chell knew she would find her way. She had to.
Meanwhile, Wheatley found himself floating up through yet another funnel. Now he was covered with painful scorch marks from a skirmish with a fire-spitting turret, which he assumed was Her way of responding to his complaints, even though She'd yet to speak a word to him. In all honesty, Wheatley was growing rather tired of being tossed around and beaten up. He stared around, bored, at the gratings and bland metal structures. Wheatley flicked his flashlight on and off, attempting to make shadow puppets with bits of metal.
"Oh, look, an alligator!" he said quietly to himself before turning the light to another jagged strip of steel. "Watch out, Mister Frog. It might eat you!" Wheatley said with mock horror. He made quiet sounds in imitation of a frog being devoured until a flicker of movement on a catwalk distracted him. He spun around to squint down at the figure in the darkness, his light not quite reaching it. Soon the shadow stepped into a light and Wheatley gasped. "Chell!" he called in surprise. There she was, standing there in the pool of light, trying to get her bearings. She looked better than she had last time he'd seen her, not quite so pale and without that 'fresh-out-of-stasis' sickliness.
Unfortunately for Wheatley, she didn't seem to hear him. He groaned.
"Chell! Chell!" he shouted again. "Chell! Up here!" Wheatley screamed at the top of his nonexistent lungs, blinking his flashlight on and off rapidly to get her attention. Finally she glanced up at him, most likely by chance rather than due to his effort on his part. Even from such a distance he could see the shock on her face. "Hey hey! I'm so glad I found you, I..." Wheatley was cut off as he was sucked up into a pneumatic diversity vent. Damn! He thought angrily. He was so close to finally apologizing to Chell! Why, why, why couldn't GLaDOS just put a hold on the stupid near-death traps?
Chell couldn't believe what she had just seen. After about an hour of wandering through identical metal walkways she just stumbled across exactly what she was looking for. At least, it looked like Wheatley...she couldn't clearly see or hear the distant object. But judging from the erratic movements and bright blue optic, it was him. Either that, or it's just wishful thinking...she added a little pessimistically. Nonetheless, she took off quickly when she saw the sphere get sucked into a tube. Chell growled as she climbed up a fire escape-like set of stairs. Acting on instinct, she climbed over the railing and jumped into the funnel, cringing at the fact that what she was diving in was pure asbestos. Chell sort of swam through it, propelling herself through it as she had learned to do during her testing.
Soon she reached the vent, though now the opening that Wheatley had disappeared through was shut. Plan A is out, Chell thought, stretching up and pulling herself onto the top of the vent. Time for plan B... she added, dashing down the glass tube as quickly as she could manage. After a few moments of watching out for Wheatley and not watching her feet, she tripped and nearly fell off the tube, barely managing to angle her fall so she was parallel to the vent. Chell paused only for a moment to catch her breath before carefully staggering to her feet and hauling along the tube. At one point the slope changed enough that Chell practically slid down it. Soon enough she overtook Wheatley, who was too busy bemoaning his fate to notice her running above him.
Think, Chell. How can you get him out? She asked herself, panting at the exertion of running so hard. Chell paused, tugging at a loose railing on a catwalk above her. Keeping an eye below her so she would notice if Wheatley passed her again. Luckily she pried the bar off before he could and with a few swings smashed open the glass. Chell knelt by the hole, her wind from the vent making her eyes water. She didn't have to wait long before the sphere came flying toward her waiting hands, and she snatched him out of the tube.
Wheatley let out a startled cry as she retrieved him, his optic shut tightly. Chell took a good look at him for the first time. He looked rather pitiful, burned and dented and scuffed up, quivering fearfully in her hands. There was even a bullet hole on him! She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but couldn't find the words. After a few moments passed in silence, Wheatley timidly opened his eye once again.
"Chell!" he shouted. "Oh, it's you! I thought She'd finally had me! You have no idea what I've been through to get here. I had to find this satellite and I had to call Her, then I thought I was going to burn up in the atmosphere. I came all this way to apologize and all that's happened so far is me getting tossed around and flambeed..." Chell barely listened to his chatter as she stared at him. This was Wheatley. It really was him. Not that his appearance hadn't been enough to convince her, it just didn't kick in until she heard him start talking. Part of her wanted to hug him and cry, and the other wanted to boot him into the darkness. "Can you...can you still not speak?" he asked, searching her face for any kind of answer.
Chell felt a powerful surge of emotions, akin to the effect of someone throwing a bunch of adjectives into a blender and seeing what kind of horrible word smoothie they could make. Relief, pity, just a touch of anger...this seemed like her Wheatley, and yet she still couldn't get over that bitter feeling of betrayal, no matter how much she had missed him. Wheatley seemed to notice this on her face.
"Chell...?" he murmured meekly, sounding nervous. Chell shifted Wheatley into one hand and pulled them both up onto the adjacent catwalk with the other. She sat, legs crossed, and placed Wheatley across from her. He was being uncharacteristically quiet, as if knowing that she needed to collect her thoughts. So for a few moments they sat in silence until Chell was ready to talk...
A/N: You guys forgive me now, even though I now leave you with a cliffhanger? I hope so. Next one will open with Wheat's perspective and I promise it won't take as long as this one. Yay! Leave me a review, loves, so I know you still love me!