The room was dark and huge, as Flame rushed inside with only a portal gun to defend herself with. It looked half-ruined, as if from an explosion. The most notable thing would be the giant assemblage of robotic parts in the center of the room, designed for the central AI core of the facility.

Off to the side was a little station of Combine technology, attached to bits and pieces. On it, was a little personality core with a blue eye. "Oh, it's you! You came back for me? After I betrayed you and everything? I mean, I did apologize, but you didn't say anything and I was scared you still hated me, but I guess you don't since you came back..."

That's when the Leader turned around, a cold smile on his face, and walked forward towards Flame. "It's good to see you. Although I'd hoped you'd bother to show up with the others." He messed with his tie, straightening it, before looking back to Flame.

"Your friend here said quite a lot about you. A scary mute, brilliantly smart, too clever for your own good, Slightly brain-damaged, all that. And here, we can have a logical talk."

He was alone, there wasn't any kind of hidden weapon on him, and he wasn't in any kind of armor. Just that stupidly nice suit, as per usual. Wheatley's eye widened drastically at the Leader's speech though, and he started jabbering again.

"Er, Um, don't take any of that too personal, I didn't really think that'd get back to you. Especially not the 'scary' part. I... um... may have said that, about you, but it's a complement, really! I didn't mean it to say that you're really terrifying when you're a bit angry, although that's true and why did I say that-"

Flame managed to let out a little laugh, before turning herself back to the Leader, and speaking softly.

"I'm taking him back."

He chuckled softly, that almost soothing voice echoing slightly in the room. "Well you see, I'm not going to do that, because my employers do need that thing quite a bit. Now tell me, where is the girl, the Project Ximous escapee?"

Flame's smile returned, though it had become more tight and intense. "Is that why you want Silver? Just... tell me what I've been missing."

He raised an eyebrow. "You don't know?"

Flame sighed softly. "Explain. Now."

"Aperture Science had a phase of time where they were cloning people for test subjects. Namely, when the human scientists were killed, only a few DNA donors were left, one of whom is rather important to the runaway AI at this place."

Suddenly, it clicked for Flame, and her eyes softly betrayed her surprise. "So Silver... Silver's Caroline. The Caroline who..."

He laughed softly at her surprise. "Yes. And your girl is the only model of your type of cloning, an endeavor I find fascinating, though it's so overly complex. Not to mention, the DNA of the girl who became an incredibly cold, sadistic, powerful entity would also prove useful for a human psychology study."

Flame shook her head, a bit overwhelmed. But after a few seconds, she stopped herself. If, back when she was a test subject, she had stopped to stress over a past she couldn't change, she would have been killed by the turrets, or by the deadly goo due to a missed portal shot, or by any number of ways. She had to focus. "You're not getting her."

"End. Of. Story."

Bronze walked as I sang, until after quite a while when Bronze put his soft hand on my side, motioning for me to quiet down. There was a conversation going on behind some panels, between the man in the suit and the girl who saved me from redemption. Bronze stopped walking, to listen in to their discussion.

"A pity. You could have been rather useful to me."

He cocked his head to the side, considering her as she readied her portal gun, both parties scanning the room, should it come to a fight.

"I thought you were intelligent enough to figure out that I'm in the right here."

Flame didn't respond, merely glaring softly at him. Then, she put a portal on the far side of the room, not leaving eye contact with him. Bronze tightened his grip, readying his weapon for if she needed it. He whispered softly to me, those beautiful eyes piercing my code. "So 'Ternity, if I need to fight, where should yous be?"

I put myself together, just a few simple words in response. "I'm a turret, Bronze. I think I could help you fight him."

Flame whispered something to the Leader, which made him laugh. "Oh how sweet. The human is still trying to talk to me like we're on the same level. Well guess what? My patience is running out."

Flame put the secondary portal under him, dumping him across the room from her, as he stood, floating a few inches above the ground.

Bronze whispered to me, one eye still on the action inside. "Anythin' yous need ta tell me in case we don't make it?"

I dimmed my eye, pulled up my courage, and said what I'd been hiding for so long. "I like you. I really like you... and in a way that turrets aren't supposed to like anything. We can like music, we can like human pain, but this is different. I don't know how to say this..."

Bronze smiled thinly, a strange pain in his beautiful eyes. "Humans call it 'love'."

I looked up, eye brightening. "Love... love! Is... I'm in love? Do you... do you feel the same?"

He closed his eye for a moment, trying to figure out how to phrase this. He spoke very slowly, calmly, with almost no accent, as if he were really thinking through every word.

"I love yous as a dear friend. But it's not the same as what yous feel."

I pause, the world seeming to fade away as my voice softly echoed in the small space. "That's good enough for me."

Bronze softly set me on the other side of the panels, before sneaking through himself. Flame let out a soft shout, a war shout, as Copper and Silver ran out from an unseen hallway into the room, starting to fight the leader. The footsteps of the Combine returned, as everything came together.

As everything in this facility depended on this moment.