AN: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I am so, so sorry for a long update wait! I barely have an excuse!

Chapter 5 (Early Thunderstorms)

Days passed and soon enough and as predicted, GLaDOS was getting nosy over Wheatley's suspicious actions. He would constantly ask to be put outside everyday and it's usually in the morning or early afternoon. And it was every single day starting from this week! Something was happening, something that she didn't know and it annoyed and bugged her constantly. When someone (such as GLaDOS) is intelligent to know just about everything there is to learn, the worst thing that could happen is when something perplexing happens to them. The questions seemed to always run in her head, questions that would leave her so baffled. What is that idiot doing? He never seemed to go outside this much. Also, what's with all of his nervous jumping and flinching whenever she calls him for his attention? She understands that the moron is a nervous wreck all of the time but this extent was far greater then his usual setting. What is going on in that idiot brain of his that she didn't know? What is it? Just what is it?! It was so unbearable thinking about it, and that moron's actions were wasting valuable time, and that time is used for advancing in science, not thinking about what was going on in that moron's head.

"Er, could you send out the lift please?" Wheatley asked nervously and as polite as he could. This was the fifth time in a row that's he has asked for a lift to the outside this week. She was so half tempted to send out the two testing bots after him, but surprisingly, she decided not to. …Maybe next time because good things, such as revenge, always go to the people who wait. And revenge is always best served cold, so she needs to find the right moment to strike. If she waits, the moron would be begging for forgiveness, of course she wouldn't forgive him at all, but that is what would make it fun. The right moment to strike revenge isn't now though, something inside of her could notice that. So, she reluctantly brought out the lift. GLaDOS didn't say a thing but her yellow optic gave out a warning to him. A warning that practically read, "I don't know what's going on but I'll find out…" Eventually, she will find out and she knows it. And even poor, old Wheatley knows that…

That last glace from GLaDOS absolutely terrified Wheatley. For a second, he thought she knew his secret, about taking care of the lady that was potentially dangerous and can come with a life risk. If you don't know already, it's been about a week since he first put on the medicine and had to put that disgusting bone back in place. Humans were sick, gross creatures, weren't they? And to say the truth, the things that he does to show her that isn't the same, corrupt core that he used to be, were very riskful to his own health. In fact, for the past four or five days visiting the human, he could tell that GLaDOS was getting more and more curious. And that wasn't a good sign. He won't be able to hide her for long and that scared him more than anything in the world. He didn't want to let her down anymore. He wasn't good at coming up with plans with his artificial brain, there's little to no way that he will be able to stop GLaDOS once she finds out. He won't be able to stop her one bit, because Wheatley wasn't good at planning, but he was much worse at just the basics of thinking. That is why he wished over and over again that he wasn't programmed to just be an idiot. He wished he was programmed to be more and something greater and unique.

Wheatley was surprised when he walked outside. The sky was no longer the blue that it had used to be. Instead of the beautiful aqua blue spotted with wool-like areas of white, they were all replaced with a gloomy grey and silver color. (Either that or his optic can no longer see blue colors…Oh, he wished that he could still be completely fixed) Another thing that really troubled him and actually made him jump in startlement, was that the sky was…leaking? Either that or tiny buckets of the sky was falling all at once, but he didn't know what to think. However when he notices that the heavy droplets were safe and didn't do anything that hurt him, a question popped up: was this bad for humans? Did being soaked with water lower a humans survival rates? Oh, no. Don't think about that, just don't think about that. She has to be safe. Being drenched in water wasn't the worst that has happened to her. Wheatley started to panic a little bit, thinking of the worse situations until he met the worst. He ran to the direction of the cliffside without a second thought.

His thoughts were all over the place now. Skipping from one topic to another without a break, like a schizophrenic pinball machine. One side of his thoughts were making this panic attack worse, while the other side of the thoughts were trying to ease him. It's going to be fine… It's all going to be fine right? This is basically what happened in his mind all of the time, except less intense I guess you can say, and usually he overreacts. And with his thoughts racing in his metaphorical head, he didn't feel at all content with what could possibly happen to the lady.

He was interrupted by a low but very loud boom. It stopped him in his tracks. What was that? A shotgun? Was someone after him? Did She finally figure out what he was hiding and decide automatic death? Is he dead already? Wait, no, not yet. The thunder frightened him but what was the worse was how the sky looked. The rain drops were getting heavier and here soon it felt like buckets of water that fell from the heavens. Wheatley was fine, he wasn't made out of sugar and he was an Aperture construct, meaning that he was, in fact, water proof as long as the water wasn't toxic. What he was really concerned about was for the human, he knew that they were water proof but he didn't know if it made them freezing or lowered their survival rates at any extent with them being soaked. His running was interrupted yet again once he saw a flash in the sky followed by a deafening crackle and the all familiar boom that he heard a few minutes ago. This caused him to jump and scream out a "Gah". Wow, what was that? This never happened in Aperture. In fact, Aperture was a quiet place and it was never really dark unless you were trying to get out of her line of sight, then everything was pitch black and you heard a lot of mechanical noises and the soft, feminine voices of turrets. Out here it was just like that. It was like he was out of her sight and escaping again. However, it made it all the more terrifying because he didn't know what was going on. Why is it so dark when it is still day? Why is it not as quiet as before, and why aren't those petrifying birds twittering in the sky and flying all over the place? What in the world are those flashes in the sky and the loud noises that followed them? Wheatley was frightened again, but he has to see if the human was alright.

Mere humans were afraid of the unknown. If they didn't understand or study anything, they would be afraid of their own shadows, and that is quite literal. Humans are afraid of things that they don't know about, and as sad as it is, Wheatley has been the same so far. He didn't know what the outside current terrifying state was all about. He wasn't programmed to know really anything about the outside world. Mobile Aperture creations don't get programmed for that information because the scientists believed that they would try to escape out of the curiosity of the real world.

The booms and flashes were starting to get more frequent and before he gave up out of fear of the unknown, he found the forest that she was in. Wheatley decided not to go back now, after all, the rain was dying down a little bit and maybe the storm will die with it.

To his relief, she was still alive. Maybe she wasn't in the greatest condition of her life but her heart was still pumping inside her chest, and that's all that really mattered at the moment. She was drenched in mud and water, for the oak tree she was laying by didn't keep her dry one bit and possibly only made it worse. Her hair was separated in soaked strands and there was so much mud everywhere. The stream right beside her grew two times it size from the rain. She was shivering, for the sun was gone and the drops were actually quite cold.

"Oi! It's me! It's Wheatley, your old pal. You remember me, right? Oh, yeah, yeah, of course you do. Are you alright? Um…You know what? Don't answer that. You're not looking too—well, let's just say you've been much better. Loads better, if I'm correct… And is that shaking normal? It doesn't look comfortable…What should I do? I'm not quite sure how to help you, love." Wheatley greeted. Her silver stormy eyes looked at him. She was still shivering from the lack of warmth. It was then that Wheatley noticed a drier patch of dirt a few yards away that was barely touched by the raindrops from the sky by a thick, dense, tree. Maybe she would be more comfortable there, instead of here. However, he might have to carry her there. Unless if she could crawl her way there without hurting herself, but the easiest and quickest way would be him carrying her. (Let's just hope, if he has to carry her that he doesn't drop her in the process, huh?)

"Lady. I think there might be a drier spot over there, you see it?" He motioned to the thicker tree spot area. "Do you want me to take you there? I think it would make you a little more comfortable than here, what do you think? Yes? Or is it a no? I can't really tell with you, if I'm honest." Wheatley offered to her. The human looked over at the dry spot slowly, sighed and then nodded a reluctant yes. "Alright… I guess that I have to make up for this times you've carried me around, huh lady?" He muttered as he tried to pick her up. "Give me a minute, I don't want to hurt that leg of yours. Is it healing, by any chance? I want to know for sure that the medicine is working. You know what? Maybe this is the wrong time to ask…" He stated quietly as he finally managed to lift her up off the ground without it being insecure or hurting her in the process. She looked taken aback even though she gave him permission to carry her. "Ugh, you're freezing, lady… Also, what do you have in your pockets? Because you are very heavy and I'm not quite sure if you are hiding any kind of bricks anywhere, no offense. I'm not meaning it in an insulting way. You just really heavy right now… and I'm not quite sure if I can hold you like this for very long. Just a warning, I would like to point out there. If I drop you, not my fault…" Wheatley warned but was really taken by surprise when she gripped her arms tighter to him.

"Oh, your grip. Very strong, I would imagine… You never dropped me with that same grip. I wish I had that. Although, a little less strength right now would be splendid. You're kind of crushing me here. I won't drop you, or at least I will try not to." He pleaded but she seemed to ignore him. It wasn't because of her insecurity that he will drop her that caused her to hold on so tightly; it was because he was warm. And he was warming her up as we speak without even knowing it, even while heavy rainfall was present and same with the thundering booms and flashes that caused Wheatley to scream and slightly shiver with fear. She still wouldn't let go when he dropped her off at the little dry area, which left poor frightened Wheatley very confused. He didn't really try to push her off yet but he was really curious on her behavior. He even actually found himself strangely yet embarrassingly enjoying it. Is this what humans do often? God, he didn't know what to do. He nervously laughed to get her attention. "Um, lady… I'm not carrying you anymore, just letting you know so you can let go at any time. Uh… What is this?" Wheatley was getting naïve in his thinking now, "Oh! This is a form of...er…affection isn't it? Is this a hug?"

She pulled away right after that, as a way to say, "No Wheatley, that is not a hug". The good news is that she stopped shivering; well she stopped a little bit. The human was still bitter cold and Wheatley didn't tell that he was the opposite. She'll warm up though; after all she has warmed up through all of the nights sleeping here without any shelter or form of heat. She sighed to herself. Wheatley has been trying to help her, and she could tell that he really was trying to show that he was sorry. She knows deep inside of herself that one part wanted to forgive him and the other part doesn't agree. He tried to kill her and even betrayed her trust but she tried to kill him too, (or at least get him out of control of the chassis…) She tried to kill him out of defense, though (of course that was always her motive, she wasn't a murderous coldblooded person, right?) He's trying so hard to prove that he is not the same core he used to be, and that he was the core that she met a long time ago. The friendly core that seemed to be afraid of his own shadow and as bashful as ever, making what he thought was wrong into something that was somewhat right, screwing up a few times, yes, but feeling sorry about it as well. We all make mistakes. Every single one of us, no matter how perfect we think we are. We all mess up somedays. It's not a bad thing either, it just shows that we are human, or closest to any AI could be human. Maybe she should forgive him. She forgave that potato, she could forgive him. Then it's settled, she forgave him, but she'll never put him in charge of anything ever again, that's for sure. And darn right she wouldn't forget about his betrayal too.

He continued to talk, and half of the time, she didn't know what he was talking about but she listened, or tried her best to. She comforted him whenever lightning strikes and the thunder booms right behind it, because he was absolutely new to that. The lady let him know that it was safe and it wasn't going to hurt him from this distance, well, tried her best to explain that without speech. The smell after it rains was completely new to her. However, it was a pleasant smell and it calmed her down by a landslide. Here soon she was almost completely dry despite being a little damp, but she was glad that she wasn't stuck in the rain anymore, grateful even. She was grateful that he came along.

"Oh, the sky stopped leaking didn't it? That was rather strange… Oh wait, no it hasn't stopped yet, hasn't it? Nop, it's leaking just a little." Wheatley uttered to himself. "How's that leg of yours? Is it alright?" He changed the subject. She nodded truthfully. It has improved so much in the past few days and she couldn't wait to get up and walk again. You never know how much you miss something until it's gone. "Brilliant. Um… You know, I never really caught your name, didn't I? After all we've been through, we never really had enough time to uh, introduce. What is your name actually? I would love to know. I don't really know how you would be able to tell me but I just would want to know. Because we're friends, right? Or am I going too far?" He asked. She knew how she would be able to communicate to him. It was simple. All she needed was a stick and she would write in the dirt. She grabbed a stick off the ground, which caused, yet again, a confused Wheatley. This is it, after all the years of avoiding speech, she is going to communicate. After all that time staying quiet and convincing everyone around her that she was mute, she wrote down the letters. She wrote down those five full letters in her penmanship (which Wheatley complimented quietly on) Beginning with a C onto an H, an E and two L's. Chell. "Oh! Brilliant! So you're name is… C-Chell?" Wheatley questioned, and he pronounced it wrong so she nodded a no.

"Oh, okay. So it isn't Chell. So um… is it Chell?" Wheatley asked. She nodded and smiled brightly to him. "Nice to meet you, Chell! Well, we already met a long time ago but you know, it's just a right thing to say when you learn somebody's name. That's very unique name too. It's pretty, but I've never met anyone with a name Chell so, you're the first." Wheatley grinned back happily. Great, he finally knew her name! There's one victory for Wheatley. And he never felt so happy on just a small and very simple accomplishment.

AN: I'm not satisfied on where this stopped and I'm sorry about that…Anyway. I know what I'm going to do next, and that's all that matters, right? And by the way, Wheatley is waterproof, people. Near the end he gets drizzled with water! :D That's my explanation.