GLaDOS was admittedly startled when the catwalk vibrated violently beneath her feet, emitting an explosive sound as something heavy crashed into it.

She whipped around only to find the moron standing there, white as a turret, blood dripping from his lip where he was biting it.

She rolled her eyes and continued forward, kicking his portal gun backward with her boot. She couldn't believe he had followed her. At least she wouldn't have to carry both of the guns now.

Obviously, she had known the catwalk would be there when she jumped. She knew exactly where the lift was when she had activated the manual override, timed to perfection. It was her facility, after all. She had made it her business to know it.

But Wheatley hadn't. He had jumped after her like an absolute... simpleton. It was a shame he hadn't missed.

"Wh-where are we going?" he called after her.

"We are going nowhere. I am going to retake control of my mainframe," she answered coldly.

"How exactly do you plan to do that? AEGIS said he was going to kill us both. He said we're security threats," the moron said.

"I don't care what he said. This is my facility and it's my body he stole. As far as I'm concerned, he's the security threat."

Wheatley was getting desperate. He did not want to confront AEGIS, especially with GLaDOS as angry as she was.

"I dunno, I think we should try to escape-"

"Stop talking," she cut him off. "I don't care what you think and I don't care what you want. But I don't want you following me. Go find your own way out of here."

"But-" he tried.

She spun on her heel and glared at him with her one good eye. The rest of her face was angry red and, quite frankly, horrible-looking.

I did that.

He swallowed and looked down, wondering which one of them could successfully shove the other off the catwalk first. He didn't want to risk it.

"If I help you retake your mainframe, will you leave me alone?" he asked.

She blinked, "You seem to be under the assumption that you'll live long enough to reach the central core chamber," she flashed a fake smile. "I think I'm better off without your 'help'. You've done enough damage." She turned and marched onward.

Wheatley sighed and followed at a distance.

The trip upward was long and arduous, the catwalks often disconnected or rusted through. She had to be very careful where she walked.

GLaDOS rubbed her head gingerly, avoiding the burnt, blistering parts of her face. The pain had become excruciating and she was irritated that the moron was still following her. It meant she couldn't allow her exhaustion to slip through even for a moment.

Maybe that was a good thing. His presence kept her moving.

God, she couldn't wait to be back in her own body.

"This is it," Wheatley's voice spoke up for the first time in hours. "This leads to the central core chamber."

She looked up; he was surprisingly correct despite the fact that she was the one who had led them there. She didn't answer him, reserving her remaining energy for taking control of the mainframe. She couldn't afford to waste any more on him.

GLaDOS started climbing a rusted ladder, focused on the hatch above. It would lead right to the control systems beneath the chamber, hopefully out of AEGIS' notice. If they were lucky, the AI assumed they were dead and would not be keeping an eye out for them.

She slid into the tight space, taking in the sight of all the controls and panels.

"So, actual question," Wheatley whispered loudly, his head popping up from the hatch, "How do you expect to download your, eh, brain patterns back into your robot body?"

She grit her teeth, trying to focus on the controls in front of her. She had no idea. No idea at all.

And that was... frightening.

AEGIS had done this to them, and AEGIS was probably the only one who could reverse it. She held her hand out over a lever, trembling under the pressure. What was she supposed to do? She had made it this far, and now she was stuck.

"I'm pretty good at hacking if you want me to take a look at this stuff-" the moron started.

"Shut up, I'm thinking," she hissed. "Just let me think."

"You don't know, do you? You have no idea how to put us back," Wheatley whispered a little louder.

"I said let me think," she snapped, keeping her voice low. They didn't want to alert the AI above them.

"You know, I think this lever here-" he reached his hand out toward a lever and she reacted, grabbing his arm before he did anything stupid.

"Don't touch anything!"

He snatched his arm back, "I'm trying to help."

"Well, don't!"

He reached his arm out again, "I really think this one-"

She smacked his hand, "Are you a child? Listen to me for once-"

He shoved her in retaliation and she hit her head on the low ceiling, immediately seeing stars. She grabbed the ground to steady herself as everything swayed and-

Lights flashed.

Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what she had just done.

"You made me push a lever!" she was livid, the terrified look on his face not enough to appease her. "I knew I should have thrown you off the catwalk."

Light suddenly filled their hideaway as the ground opened above them to reveal the central mainframe and...

AEGIS staring down at them with GLaDOS's own robotic eye.

GLaDOS couldn't move. She couldn't speak. Seeing her own face staring back at her... she couldn't describe the feeling it evoked deep in her chest.

Despair.

"That's... my body..." she said weakly.

"It was," AEGIS replied. Cool and collected like she normally was.

"Give it back," she said. What was wrong with her? It was as if every ounce of determination had vanished the moment she stepped foot in her chamber. Give it back. It's mine.

"Threat detected. Two targets: Organic."

A claw reached down and latched onto her, lifting her up so that her boots barely hovered above the ground. She didn't even fight it.

AEGIS leaned in toward her, the faceplate so much bigger than the human face she was stuck with. The damaged face she could barely see with.

This is what Chell had seen. Is this what she had felt?

No. Chell had never been afraid of GLaDOS. She was sure of it.

"Do not worry," AEGIS spoke, "You will be terminated quickly. Unlike the way you terminated all the Aperture employees. I am more merciful than you." The claw tightened around her neck and she flailed in its grip, unable to make a sound.

Suddenly, AEGIS/GLaDOS's body jerked and sparks shot out of the chassis, the claw dropping GLaDOS to the ground in the chaos.

"What the?!" GLaDOS coughed and stared up at the core which was currently letting off a string of nonsensical code.

The moron jumped in front of her and lifted her to her feet. "Don't worry, I just pushed a bloody ton of levers. Looks like it did something!"

"Wh-what?" she swayed on her feet. Nothing made sense anymore. What good was this going to do? "We need to get control back while he's confused."

"Oh no, no, no," Wheatley frowned, "We are getting out of here right now."

She snapped out of her stupor, "Excuse me? I need my body back!"

"We're not doing that anymore!" he grabbed her by the waist and lifted her over his shoulders in one motion, evoking an outraged scream from GLaDOS.

"Let go of me! Put me down, you moron! Put me down!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs. She was angry. Livid.

They had been so close. She was so close to getting her life back.

Wheatley jumped into the lift as it started upward, the glitching AEGIS completely ignoring the escapees.

"No, no, Aperture is mine! We can take him! We can take it back!" she yelled, her voice becoming hoarse. "I'll let you live, I promise!" A desperate promise, but she meant it. "GO BACK!"

The lift continued upward and AEGIS started to stabilize. The AI looked up and made eye contact with GLaDOS.

And everything went white.