Chell slowed to a walk as the core above her suddenly stopped dead in its tracks. She had quickly gotten used to Wheatley's dramatic habits but this had caught her a bit off guard. She hoped nothing was wrong.

The blue opticed core swiveled around and looked down at her with an expression of mild concern. "Are you alright?"

She gave a soft huff of laughter, a ghost of a smile crossing her face as she shook her head.

Was she alright? Wasn't he the one who had stopped dead in his tracks as though he had seen an army of turrets aiming at him? She gave him a dubious look, her grey eyes sparkling with fond amusement as his iris darted around the room.

"Oh, yeah, I know," Wheatley started with a roll of his optic, "You're all big and tough and strong- nothing scares you." He wagged his lower handle at her for emphasis. "But I've been watching you and- I've gotta say- I think I'm getting pretty good at reading you. Because, you know. You can't talk."

Chell gave him a look that seemed to say, 'Can't I?'

"Nope. You can't. Brain damage. Sorry." The british core said hastily. "But, my point is, I think I'm getting pretty good at reading your expressions and all that, and, and you're acting weird. Different." He couldn't help but notice that she glanced away when he tried to look her in the eye.

Wheatley wagged his handle at her again as his voice turned sly. "That's right, lady. Little ole' Wheatley can read you like a book. No, better than a book. More like, like a pamphlet. Or maybe one of those brochure things they used to keep down in the lobby." His optic gave a soft 'plink plink' as he paused to think for a moment before springing back into animation like a hyperactive puppet. "ARG! Distracted, right! But my point is, you are acting different, missy. You're acting like something is wrong. When, in fact, nothing is wrong. To my knowledge, at least."

Chell crossed her arms (as well as she could while still holding the portal gun) as the core cautiously surveyed the room, his iris shrinking and turning a lighter shade of blue. Damaging his confidence (not that she had meant to) was about as easy as kicking over a sandcastle. Wheatley's previous expression of haughty amusement now melted into one of nervous fear.

"Come to think of it though... is something wrong?" The core didn't do a very good job of hiding the fear that was slipping into his voice. "I mean, I'm sure nothing is wrong. I would definetly, probably know if something was wrong. We should be safe back here... but, um, if something is in fact wrong, please tell me."

Wheatley gave her a blank, expectant look as she examined the floor.

Chell wanted to laugh, to give him a gentle pat on the hull and a smile that told him that he was panicking over nothing. She wanted to... but she couldn't.

Wheatley was right. Chell was acting different, and something was wrong. The only problem was that she didn't really know what was wrong. All she knew was that ever since they had left the turret production lines, she had had this terrible... foreboding feeling. Like something terrible was about to happen to one of them.

The test subject had tried to pass it off as paranoia and keep an optimistic façade for Wheatley's sake, but he had somehow found the holes in her disguise and now it was beginning to unravel.

Chell pressed her lips into a thin frown as she looked up at Wheatley.

"Oh no, something really is wrong, isn't it?" She was surprised to hear that he sounded more concerned (for her) than panicked. "What is it? Are you alright?"

Chell did manage a light smile at that. No one had expressed concern for her well being in very long time before she had met Wheatley, and hearing that someone cared about her made something warm blossom in her chest. It helped make some of her fear fade away.

She looked up at him with the same smile and waved his questions away.

'I'm fine.'

"Are you sure? Nothing is wrong?" He gave her a look that she thought was probably supposed to look scrutinizing, but ended up looking more like his shudder had gotten stuck in some strange squinting expression. Wheatley didn't do serious very well.

Chell shook her head again, this time a little more slowly as something in her stomach started to hurt at watching him.

Wheatley would be fine. He was doing a (surprisingly) good job of keeping her safe and away from Her, and they were both okay and they were going to escape together. Period.

Unfortunately, she couldn't even convince herself of that. Much less the core in front of her.

"Aw, c'mon, love. You can tell good ole' Wheatley anything. You can trust me, I promise." He gave her one of those bright, happy, reassuring Wheatley looks that always managed to push through her wall of armor.

Chell sighed and sat her portal gun down on the ground. With both of her hands now free, she returned her attention to the core and began to slowly try and motion to him.

"Um, you?" Wheatley guessed as she pointed to herself. Chell gave a little nod, then pointed down the other end of the corridor they were in. "You... there?

She nodded, pointing back at the same place and shaking her head.

"You don't want to go there? You don't want to go that way?" His optic brightened a bit as she nodded again, then pressed a hand over her heart.

"You don't want to go... because... you... are... choking?" Here Chell's previous concerned and uncomfortable expression transformed into one of amusement. She pressed her lips together in a poor attempt to keep from laughing.

Wheatley was too relieved to notice.

"No? Okay, that's good! Because, being completely honest here: I don't think I could have done anything about that. And that would have been bad."

He didn't understand what she found so funny about that.

"Okay, serious! You don't want to go because... your chest hurts? Oh God, you aren't having one of those, one of those heart attack things, are you?"

Chell shook her head again, this time wearing an expression that was a little more annoyed.

'Why are you trying so hard to kill me off here?'

"No? Stop scaring me lady!" Wheatley rolled his optic around as Chell gave an annoyed huff of laughter. "Alright, one more. Just give me one more guess. You don't want to go because you... have... a.. bad... feeling?" Chell blinked in surprise and gave a little nod. She hadn't really expected him to guess right.

"Oh! I actually got it right! Not-Not that I thought that I couldn't guess what it was, I, I knew what it was all along. I was just, just testing you."

Testing you.

Something about that phrase made the smile fade from Chell's face.

"But, but anyways, you really don't have anything to worry about." Wheatley gave her a look that she thought was supposed to look reassuring."We're perfectly safe back here- the only thing she can touch is the lights, and since I've got my trusty flashlight (which will not kill me), that's not a problem.

"And... we've already disabled the turrets, so those shouldn't bother you. 'Probably don't have to worry... about being shot to death any time soon. So that's, that's good, right?

"All that leaves is escaping!" "Don't worry about that, love! We've got it in the bag! With my hacking, and your, button pushing and, and problem solving skills. She doesn't stand a chance against us! We'll be out of here in no time. Both of us."

Chell gave a hard swallow, forcing a smile and gently cupping the side of Wheatley's hull. The core made a happy little sound and snuggled into her hand like a kitten, oblivious to the heartbroken look on her face. By the time he looked back up it was gone.

He gave her another one of those happy, affectionate Wheatley looks and nuzzled into her palm. "Don't worry so much, love. We can do this. All you have to do is trust me, and we'll be out of here in no time. You can do that, can't you?"

Chell gave the core a fake smile and a little nod. She hoped that she was right.