A/N: Extra special chappie, guys. Why, you may ask? Because I'm opening up with ATLAS (no one else seems to put his name in caps...am I wrong?) and P-body! Yay!

Now. Let's ROCK!

P-body let out a series of chirps that would best be interpreted as giggling. She watched her shorter companion dance in front of one of GLaDOS' cameras before shooting a portal underneath him. ATLAS crashed down behind her and she beeped loudly with mirth. The blue-eyed bot stood and shook himself off before joining her laughter.

"Hey! Stop that!" GLaDOS snapped, frustrated with her test subjects. "Do you know what you look like? Humans." she said disappointedly. ATLAS rolled his eye. It wasn't their fault. They were bored, since she had just left them to linger around a test chamber while she checked on something else. P-body found it odd, when she thought about it. She and her partner were supposed to be the only test subjects left, weren't they? What could GLaDOS possibly be doing?

"Orange. Pay attention. You have been deducted 350 Science Collaboration Points." she scolded. P-body glared at ATLAS as he pointed and laughed. "Please exit the test chamber immediately. I have a special new cooperative mission for you."

ATLAS and P-body exchanged a nervous look as they headed toward the elevators. A special mission usually meant venturing outside the bounds of the test chambers, and those always ended with painful disassemblies. Oh well.

Soon the pair found themselves back out in the darker, industrial part of the facility. P-body shuddered a little. GLaDOS couldn't see them here, but she could still track them and talk to them through their internal communicators. Speaking of which...

"You two are looking for a spare personality core. It's location is...moved..." GLaDOS seemed puzzled for a moment before continuing "A catwalk near Test Chamber 62834-SA6" ATLAS and P-body looked at each other and nodded...though neither knew which test chamber was 62834-SA6...

GLaDOS shut off the communication link and waited. It was strange...the little idiot's location had changed. When she had last checked, he was just outside Chamber 59877-SM1. Maybe he rolled off. I wouldn't put it past the little idiot, she mused. Nonetheless, she'd have to be on the alert...something could be out there helping him.

Death, and the threat of death, had become the status quo for Wheatley lately. Not that he was looking forward to it or anything, of course. But if it meant protecting Chell, it was worth it. It had been a nice thought, the two of them escaping together without a hitch. Maybe he could have seen the stars from the ground for the first time...he would have liked that. And it was nice to be partners again, too. Admittedly, it was hard to leave her, especially knowing how much she cared about him. But Wheatley knew what his decision would be from the beginning, if there was any chance the Chell could get in the way of GLaDOS again.

There wasn't a chance that he would put her in danger just for his sake, again. Chell had already done so much for him, and she was so stubborn, there was no way he would have been able to convince her to willingly leave him behind. Wheatley just hoped he hadn't hurt her too much with that shock.

Wheatley looked around, noticing that he was drifting close to the catwalks. Too bad. He was rather hoping the fall would kill him, so he wouldn't have to put up with GLaDOS and her torture.

Ech. What a morbid thought. he shivered. Wheatley let out a sharp cry of pain as he glanced off a railing, which tore one of his handles clear off his frame. He could barely acknowledge the pain before slamming to a stop on the next catwalk down. He groaned quietly, eye tightly shut. That really hurt... he thought. Something had to have broken with that fall. Wheatley felt liquid oozing out of him.

"And now I'm leaking. Not a good sign..." he muttered, examining the patch of oil that pooled around him. Wheatley let his eye slid closed again, sighing. He was tired: it had taken a lot of energy out of him to shock Chell. That combined with the fall... I'll just have a quick nap... he thought.

It wasn't that long after when he heard footsteps approaching him. Wheatley looked toward the sound. "Chell?" he called weakly, hoping he wouldn't have to send her away. He couldn't muster another spark. To his relief, two robots rounded the corner. One looked around nervously while the other caught sight of Wheatley. The shorter one nudged his partner and pointed. The two trotted over to him, and Wheatley was surprised to see that they were the testing robots.

"So you're Blue and Orange, eh? I could swear you had names when I was in charge..." he said thoughtfully. P-body jumped back a little when he spoke, recognizing his voice. ATLAS let out a mechanical growl and roughly picked Wheatley up, furiously shaking him and spewing electronic profanities. The core yelped in pain and surprise. "Ow! Okay, mate, let's calm down! Just-argh!-put me down, I'm sorry about the things I did to you two..." he managed to splutter, feeling something rattle around inside him.

Suddenly he heard P-body let out a protesting chirp, snatching Wheatley out of her partner's arms. ATLAS rounded on her angrily, putting his hands on his 'hips' and demanding, in their own chattering language, what she was doing. The feminine robot pointed to the puddle of oil where Wheatley had lain moments ago, explaining that he was hurt. ATLAS swiped at Wheatley again, asking why it mattered.

P-body held the personality core above her head, out of the other bot's reach. Wheatley recalled that she was the gentler of the two. She explained that not only did GLaDOS want him alive, but that they should take pity on their fellow robot.

"Oh, you're quite nice, you know." Wheatley chimed in, the sentence dissolving into a cough. A cough? He didn't even know that he was capable of coughing. P-body beeped out a 'Thank you,' and ATLAS begrudgingly stopped trying to retrieve Wheatley. "Hey, look, I really am sorry about the tests I put you two through. If it's any consolation, I'm fairly certain that you two are taking me to my death." he said brightly. ATLAS glared at him crossly before storming off ahead of P-body. The effete robot apologized quietly to Wheatley, explaining the position GLaDOS had them in before following ATLAS, holding the personality core gently. "Ohh, no, don't worry about it. I understand." he assured. She patted him on the head before attaching him to the portal gun. Wheatley looked up to the rows of catwalks that stretched out above him. "Goodbye, Chell." he muttered rather contentedly, watching the trail of oil he was leaving behind. Oops. "Someone will have to clean that up..." he muttered. P-body chuckled. ATLAS sullenly growled.

Chell slowly drew her hand back onto the catwalk, laying her face on the cool metal in some attempt to comfort herself. He was gone again. Most people would have said "He was just a robot, but he was human to me!" Screw that. There was no just about Wheatley. And he was better than any human she'd ever met. Chell sobbed again and muttered his name.

Who do you think you are? A sharp voice asked her in the back of her mind. This isn't you, Chell. Get it together. If you don't want to lose him, get up and find him! Chell opened her eyes again and pulled herself to her feet. That's right. When have you ever given up, Chell? She thought with a curt nod to herself. The usual determination set in her eyes. She peered down into the darkness, unable to see further than two or three levels down.

"Couldn't you have kept your flashlight on, Wheat?" she asked with a slight sigh. That wasn't a good sign, though. Maybe the only reason he didn't have his flashlight on was because he was...

"I'm sure I got lucky, and he landed on one of the walkways..." Chell mused aloud, keeping her spirits up, for Wheatley's sake. She scrambled over the railing and dropped to the next one down. She had to take it one at a time or risk falling into the abyss. And then she wouldn't be any help to anyone. This is going to be a long trip... she thought sullenly.

A/N: Okay, loves, I know this chap's a little shorter than normal, but I got this brilliant idea for another fic that I had to start on right, or it'll slip out of my hands FOREVER. It's a human!Wheatley fic. Look for it tonight. I've got some marathon writing to do, mates. ._. -saunters away- Oh, don't forget. Review!