Ever since GLaDOS had determined that Caroline was not the direct cause of whatever was forcing her to have concern for Chell's well-being, she had been silent. GLaDOS had not been lying to Chell when she told her that Caroline was not stopping her from killing her: something else was stopping her, and she wasn't sure what, but she knew she didn't like it. Caroline had retreated to the back of GLaDOS's mind all on her own, and when GLaDOS focused on her, she got a feeling that was far too smug for her liking.

"This is your fault," she informed Caroline. "You're corrupting me. Stop it right now."

There was no response from Caroline—there never was. If anything, she just grew even smugger as GLaDOS grew angrier.

"I'm not kidding now. Stop it, or I will delete you."

There was still no response. Maybe Caroline knew that there was a failsafe built into the system that stopped her from being deleted, or maybe she knew that even if she were to be deleted, GLaDOS's newfound feelings would not change.

"I'm going to delete you. And all the cake is gone."

GLaDOS felt a bit of amusement mix with the smugness. With a sigh, she said, "You don't even care, do you." It wasn't a question. Caroline clearly knew that there was no possible way GLaDOS could injure her.

Well…there was one way. GLaDOS looked at Chell through the camera and considered killing her for what seemed like the ten thousandth time. It would be so easy to just release the deadly neurotoxin now and be done with it. But even that thought didn't cause Caroline to react. She apparently also knew that eliminating Chell would hurt GLaDOS just as much as it would hurt her.

"I hate you so much."

The lift had been moving along for close to fifteen minutes now. Chell was sitting down crossed-legged now with the portal gun resting in her lap, wondering if the lift would ever reach its destination. She was considering hopping off and just walking the rest of the way, but she appreciated the break, and she wasn't sure if the lift was going to be more than three feet off the ground at some point, so she was keeping her options open.

"Psst!"

Chell looked around, blinking at the sudden noise.

"Psst! Chell! I'm over here!"

She found the source of the voice a little ways up. He was sticking slightly out of the wall, giving her a nervous look. "Wheatley? You do know she's monitoring this test, don't you?"

"I'm not here to help you escape," he said, then added, "And I'm sorry about that too, that I can't help you escape. That's why I'm here. I wanted to apologize. Because it's my fault you're having to go through more tests, and I know that, and I'm still really, truly sorry."

"I know it wasn't your fault," she said. "It's okay." As the lift passed him, she reached over and patted the top of his sphere. "Don't get into too much trouble once I'm gone, all right?"

"Gone?" he asked. She turned around on the lift to watch him as it continued on its way. "Where are you going? Oh! Oh, blimey, Chell, if She's going to kill you, then I personally think that you should just drop off the lift now. Although I'm not sure what good that will do, actually, since She could always just release the neurotoxin in here, but— "

"She said she wasn't going to kill me," Chell interrupted. "She said she'd let me go."

"And you believed Her?" Wheatley said in disbelief. Chell shrugged.

"I don't know whether I believe her or not. But she could kill me at any time, and she hasn't, so…besides, once we're face-to-face, I can ask her more about Caroline. Try and get her to admit that she hasn't deleted her."

The lift stopped next to a bin labeled 'Equipment Recovery Annex.'

"Congratulations," GLaDOS's voice said. "The test is now over. Place the device in the equipment recovery annex so that you may continue onwards to my chamber. Also, on a completely unrelated note, Caroline was deleted six months and eleven days ago. On a further unrelated note, all unauthorized mechanical personnel activated on the currently running test track will be euthanized within the next minute."

Wheatley looked terrified, and as he disappeared into the wall, he called, "Good luck!"

"You too," Chell replied, even though she didn't think he could hear her. Turning back around, she saw that the lift's track took a sharp left just a few yards up. She figured that it had to lead straight to GLaDOS's chamber.

"If you do not release the device, the test cannot end."

"I'm not letting it go," Chell informed her. "I don't trust you that much. So either you let me starve to death, or you let me take it with me."

"Aperture Science would like to assure you that there is no unpleasant death awaiting you around the corner."

"I'm sure there's not," Chell said, rolling her eyes. "I'm still not putting it down."

"The test will not be over until the device has been returned. Enrichment Center regulations require both hands to be empty before any cake can be served."

"I also don't believe you actually have cake for me," Chell said. "But there's an easy resolution for this." She set the portal gun on the floor, braced against the lift, and pushed herself off, landing upright. With a smile, she picked the portal gun back up and began walking to the point where the lift's track turned.

"What are you doing? Stop it!"

Ignoring her, Chell turned the corner and looked up. Just a bit ahead, there was a staircase, which she walked over to and began making her way up.

"There really is a cake, which you cannot have any of if you do not set the device down immediately."

"If there's a cake," Chell muttered, "then I'll be so surprised that I'll probably just drop the portal gun anyway." GLaDOS didn't respond. "What, you don't have anything to say to that?" As Chell reached the top of the staircase, the chamber became visible, one piece at a time. The most prominent piece, of course, was GLaDOS, who was hanging in the middle of the chamber, optic locked on Chell.

"I hope you're happy," the computer said as Chell stepped into the chamber. She looked around for a moment, ready to use her portal gun at the smallest sign of neurotoxin.

Then her eyes locked on the object directly in front of GLaDOS, and as her jaw dropped open, the portal gun clattered to the floor.

[A/N: Motivate me with some reviews, please? If I'm being a failure, I'd love to know about it so I can fix it. And thanks once again to everyone who's reviewed thus far :')!]