A/N: Hey guys! MoHo here! Didja miss me? I hope so. This woulda been done like hours ago if Grease hadn't been on TV...'You're the one that I want! Oo-oo-ooh honey~'

-ahem- Anyway, enjoy!

Wheatley stared up at Chell nervously, afraid to speak since it might make her angry. He had been so eager to apologize just moments ago, but now found himself unable to speak. It was clear that Chell was still deciding how to react-heck, in all likelihood she was weighing her options on killing him. Eventually she did speak up, sounding rather mystified.

"It's really you." she said, and Wheatley was unable to tell if she was pleased about that or not. "How did you get back here?" Chell asked. Wheatley was surprised at the sound of her voice: it was quiet, hushed, so very unlike Chell, who he knew was brave and tenacious. He supposed it was a long term effect of the brain damage she had sustained, not to mention the hell that he'd put her through when he was in charge. Wheatley suddenly felt a powerful pang of shame. He had to get his apology out, right this moment, or he might drop dead of self-loathing.

"That's not what's important right now, Chell." he said urgently, the words that had been bouncing around his mind now ready to spill out. "What's really important is why I came here, and why I came here is to tell you that I'm sorry." he said, continuing without skipping a beat. "I'm so sorry, Chell, I was a total monster, and you have no real reason to forgive me for betraying you and every reason to murder me." Was that a smile forming on her face? Maybe not... Wheatley decided, as Chell's face was still that same calm mask. "I swear, I never planned on betraying you, no matter how it might have looked. I really was trying to help when I took over Her body, it just...didn't turn out the way I thought it would..." he glanced back up at Chell, who merely nodded for him to continue. "I don't have any excuse for how I treated you, Chell, but if it makes any difference, that power-mad, murderous part of me, it's gone now. And I never want to go back to that again, because, truth is, you're my best friend, and I couldn't bear to hurt you like that again. I realize that I'm kinda rambling now and off the point, but what I'm trying to say is that I was a..." Wheatley stumbled over the next words a bit, "...a moron and I'm sorry. I'd really, really appreciate it if you'd forgive me, but if not, I totally understand." he finally finished, looking at her expectantly.

Chell stared at him for a moment before abruptly picking him up, and Wheatley was so sure she was going to chuck him over the railing. But then he saw the tears beading at the corners of her eyes. He was surprised when Chell took him in her arms and gave him the best hug she could, what with him being an armless, legless ball. He wished he could return the gesture, more than anything.

"I forgive you." she said quietly, resting her chin on top of him. He felt her tears drip down onto him. "I really, really missed you, Wheatley." Chell admitted. Wheatley was happier than he could ever remember being, so of course he couldn't keep himself from spilling his guts to her.

"Oh, thank god! I thought you might still hate me, I mean you did have every right to since I tried to crush you, shoot you, blow you up-"

"Wheatley, shut up." Chell said, holding him slightly away from her and lightly whacking him. "That doesn't mean I'm not mad at you!" Wheatley shrank back a little, surprised at her sudden change in mood. A small, playful smile stretched across Chell's face, though, as she reached up and wiped away the short tear trail.

"Oh, I get it. You're messing with me, eh?" Wheatley asked hopefully. Chell glared at him, though there was a good natured glint in her eyes.

"I am mad, Wheatley." she insisted firmly. It sounded to him like she was trying to convince herself, more than him. "Wipe that smug look off your face!" she snapped. Wheatley chuckled, and Chell whacked him again.

"Ow! I'm very tender right now...I've been burned to a crisp and shot, among other things..." he whined with a wince. Chell looked apologetic as she stood, holding him tenderly by the handles.

"What exactly happened to you? I still don't know how you even got here." she reminded him, striding quickly down the catwalk. Wheatley was grateful: he'd had enough of the facility to last several lifetimes.

"Right, I'll give you the short version. I was in space, yeah, and then I got pulled to this satellite. I thought it'd kill me for sure, but it didn't! Good luck, eh? Well I was floatin' around it trying to come up with a plan, and I ended up calling this place! And what luck, it's equipped with this tractor beam signaly thing that brought me back, and for the past...eh, let's say four hours, I've been bouncing around here gettin' fried and whatnot." he blabbered. Chell arched her eyebrow interestedly. "What?" Wheatley asked.

"Nothing, it's just...so weird." she shook her head. Wheatley waited for her to continue. "The only reason that I came here was because this morning I got this...this call." Chell shook her head slightly. "I couldn't hear what was being said, but I knew it was your voice on the other line." Wheatley started.

"What?" he asked in disbelief. "How...? I mean, it's possible that my message just got mixed up and happened to be sent to your phone as well, right?" Chell shook her head.

"Maybe, but that just seems too incidental. I dunno, it's kind of like..." she stopped walking and chuckled. "Like someone wanted us to find each other." she said. Wheatley looked up at her, and they both simultaneously burst into laughter. "Hey, Wheatley, since when-" Chell jumped as the floodlights above them suddenly came on. The entire chamber was lit in only a few seconds. Not a good sign... he thought nervously, turning out his flashlight.

"I thought it was strange that you disappeared on me like that, considering that you've never had a lucid thought in your artificial life." GLaDOS' snarky, passive aggressive voice echoed around them. "I can't see you, but your tracking device indicates that you're on one of the catwalks. I can only assume that you're stuck down there. Don't worry, I'm sending Blue and Orange to retrieve you. Then we can commence the killing." Chell looked down at Wheatley questioningly.

"Oh, right," Wheatley added sheepishly as Chell clutched him to her, "I forgot to mention that I only got here by making a deal with Her, that she could kill me if I got the chance to apologize to you." he said matter of factly.

"What!" Chell cried, and Wheatley was touched by the genuine anguish in her voice. "No, I can't let you go...not again!" she said, protectively clinging to the sphere.

Chell couldn't hold onto a single emotion for longer than a few seconds. She seized onto her confusion, finally, and managed to squeeze out a meaningless question about how he got back to Earth. That wasn't what she really wanted to know. She really wanted to know if the sphere before her was the naive, innocent one she had met fresh out of stasis or if that part of him was gone. The words just wouldn't come, they never seemed to.

But of course, Wheatley decided to do the talking for the both of them. Chell listened to his apology, trying to keep a straight face until she decided which of the many emotions she would latch onto. Her lips briefly twitched into a smirk when he offered for her to kill him, but she quickly straightened out. Wheatley seemed to notice it, hesitating for a brief second before jumping back into his apology. Chell internally sighed as Wheatley insisted that betraying her wasn't part of the plan. That wasn't what she wanted to hear, she didn't want to hear excuses... As if he could hear her thoughts, Wheatley immediately assured that he wasn't trying to pawn the blame off himself. It surprised her, but what surprised her even more was what he said next. His best friend?

What a strange thing to hear from a robot. Stranger still was the fact that she felt the exact same way. Chell finally knew: this was her Wheatley once more. Him summoning all his gall and calling himself a moron just sealed the deal. Chell picked him up on a whim, trying to keep the tears from falling, and hugged the little robot.

"I forgive you." she murmured, failing to hold back her tears. She hoped it wouldn't fry his circuits or anything like that. "I really, really missed you, Wheatley." Chell admitted.

Irritatingly, he began to celebrate rather smugly. Chell narrowed her eyes. Did he have any idea the emotional turmoil he'd put her through? And how weak it made her feel to cry over him? Chell lashed out at him, not too hard. She wasn't mad, just embarrassed, unused to opening up. She told him to shut up, for good measure, but couldn't help getting over her brief frustration when he looked up at her. Chell smiled, cleared the tears from her face and sniffed.

Wheatley was onto her. She supposed the time they'd spent working together without her ability to speak, he'd gotten used to reading her expressions. He never quite got the lip-reading down... she recalled with another smile. Chell once more took on a stern expression. "I am mad, Wheatley." she retorted unconvincingly. "Wipe that smug look off your face." Chell said. Not that he really has a face... she thought, giving him another smack.

She felt a little guilty, as she actually seemed to have hurt him. Chell noticed that he was really banged up and asked about it while she backtracked to the exit again. Wheatley explained what happened. She was taken aback, having forgotten about the cryptic message that had sent her on this quest. Wheatley seemed just as confused as she did: clearly he didn't expect Chell to hear that message, it had been headed for the very facility they stood in. She shook her head as Wheatley suggested it may be a mere coincidence.

"Maybe, but that just seems too incidental. I dunno, it's kind of like..." Chell stopped her quick walking for a moment to look at Wheatley and let out an odd laugh. "Like someone wanted us to find each other." She looked expectantly at him for a few seconds before laughing aloud, glad that Wheatley was joining in. It felt like old times...except... When did he start calling me Chell? She wondered.

"Hey, Wheatley, since when-" Chell started to voice her question, only to shut up when the lights turned unexpectedly on. Her eyes went wide as GLaDOS' voice chimed. She was only addressing Wheatley...but had she found out about her presence? GLaDOS couldn't see her back here, she didn't have any cameras, but it was hard to tell with Her...she could have upgraded her system, somehow. Chell braced herself for being involved in the insults and threats, but the AI's voice soon stopped. She looked down at Wheatley, who seemed rather unaffected by GLaDOS. There's something he hasn't told me... she realized.

"Oh, right," he offhandedly began, "I forgot to mention that I only got here by making a deal with Her, that she could kill me if I got the chance to apologize to you."

So that was it. Chell immediately held Wheatley tighter, as if that would help. "No, I can't let you go...not again!" she insisted, not caring that it made her sound vulnerable or weak. She'd only just gotten him back! It wasn't fair. Wheatley stared up at her, looking very somber.

"I really am sorry Chell. I just can't..." the robot sighed. "I can't let you put yourself at risk because of me. Go home, Chell." he said. Chell stared at him in disbelief.

"I'm not just going to let you die, Wheatley!" she shouted angrily. Why was he just rolling over? Why would he do this to her again? Again he sighed, adding a little shake of his optic.

"I know you aren't Chell. I'm sorry." he said quietly. Chell yelped as a jolt of electricity arched from Wheatley to her, and she reflexively let go. Wheatley dropped out of her hands and bounced off the catwalk. Chell gasped and dropped onto her stomach reaching out, too late, to catch him. She stared after his receding shape, squeezing her eyes shut before she heard the quiet clang of him bouncing one of the many other catwalks below. Chell felt the tears seep through her still-shut eyes. All she'd wanted was to know if Wheatley's corruption was planned or unplanned, but now that she knew this really was her Wheatley...it didn't help. In fact, this time, it hurt even worse. Chell lay on her stomach, softly sobbing.

A/N: Oh, was that another cliffhanger? Silly me. XD I hope you didn't actually cry, guys...not really what I was aiming for. I was aiming to make you feeeeel, though. Hehe. Oh, hey, if you guys haven't checked them out yet, I suggest to you the following stories:

Forgiveness by Sorida

Test of Humanity by BaronOBeefDip

Any of CrystalLotus98's human!Wheatley stories (you were the first to sell me on human!Wheatley AU!)

Any of RisuQ-theQuisslent's stories (including some very...interesting smut! High five, Risu!)

There's meh shoutouts. And of course, I wanna thank all of you for reading my story. If I didn't know that you guys were out there loving my story, I don't think I would have gotten this far! I 3 YOU!

...Why is this A/N so long...? -.- Oh, one last thing (I'm rambling more than Wheatley, I must be writing him too much...) you guys should look up "Wheatley's Song" by the Miracle of Sound. Gooood stuff.