Wheatley sat in the rickety wooden building and watched GLaDOS sleep (again), wondering when he was going to be able to get any real sleep as well. The human doctor had kindly taken them in and bandaged GLaDOS's face, chastising them for not taking care of themselves. The doctor had given him something called 'vitamins' and her some kind of medicine for her infection. After shouting abuses at the doctor (who had stayed miraculously calm through it all), GLaDOS finally drank the medicinal concoction and promptly fell asleep, staying that way for hours. He liked her much better like this. Hooray for medication.

He could leave her here, he knew. He could go back to Aperture and beg AEGIS for his life. The AI had liked him, and he could be pretty persuasive when he wanted to be, he thought. He could be redownloaded into his core body and go on with his merry life, free of her reign of terror.

But watching GLaDOS slowly fall apart with each passing day was... weird. She was a monster: Tough, maniacal, and vengeful. But she was losing her grip, her emotions more prevalent than before. He would have blamed it on the fact that they were humans now, but in all honesty, he felt totally fine. He couldn't help but feel a bit bad for her, even though logically he knew he had every right not to be.

It was his fault they were in this mess.

But it was her fault too. She had pushed him too far. Called him a moron one too many times. She only had herself to blame.

So why did he feel bad?

He folded his arms and closed his eyes, letting himself relax. Maybe this fleshy human body was making him emotional. That was probably it.

Seeing Chell again had admittedly freaked him out too. She had been on his mind for years while he had drifted through space, wondering about all the things he could have done differently. All the things he had said to her. Had it been him or GLaDOS's chassis that made him act the way he had? Chell never spoke a word to him. Never gave him any indication if she thought of Wheatley as a friend or enemy. It had driven him mad.

And here she was on the surface, speaking to him for the first time. All it had taken was for them to be stuck in human bodies for her to treat him like an actual person. He didn't know how to feel.

Would he have turned on her back then if she had treated him like the friend he wanted her to be?

He heard voices outside the door, the doctor and someone else. He opened his eyes and leaned forward, listening carefully, but struggled to hear anything other than muffled conversation. Man alive, he missed having sensors instead of these useless human ears.

The door opened and he gaped as none other than Chell walked in.

Chell stood at the doorway, keeping her expression level as she looked Wheatley over. After a minute of silence, she finally dropped a bag at his feet.

"Clothes," she said. "Take a shower and put some pants on."

Wheatley stood, his hands fidgeting, "Y-you're not mad?"

Mad. Her eyes narrowed, "Don't jump to conclusions. Dr. Theo will show you where the showers are, so follow him."

"Chell, I just-"

He raised her hand to silence him, "Follow him."

He hung his head meekly, "Sure- Sure thing."

"One question," she said and he stopped in his tracks.

Chell pointed at the woman sleeping on the cot, "Is that her?" She couldn't quite get herself to say the name. It was unspoken.

GLaDOS.

Wheatley's shoulders tensed and he nodded ever so slightly. "Yeah. It's her," he made an odd face Chell couldn't quite read, "I don't know if it's a good idea for you to be here when she wakes up though. Uh... like last time that happened, heh."

"I'll worry about that," she waved him off. He left without another word.

She sighed. Wheatley. How was this even possible? The jabbering British robot had been lost to space, Chell herself letting him go. And now he was back in the body of a human? Bizarre.

She sat down and rubbed her chin in thought. My whole life is bizarre. Don't know why this surprises me.

But the fact that the central core was here too...

GLaDOS.

The one who had tormented Chell. Tested her time and time again. Relentlessly poked and prodded, desperate for a reaction. Desperate for Chell to retaliate. To say something.

Aperture had been torture. Every single second of it.

Even while teaming up with the sadistic AI to take out Wheatley before he blew them all up, Chell fully believed the central core would turn on her again, finally ending Chell's life like she had been threatening to do for so long.

But then GLaDOS had let her go.

A change of heart? The realization that she too had once been a human woman like Chell?

And Now GLaDOS was here, human once more.

Bizarre.

Chell wanted to walk away; ignore the fallen cores forever and move on with her life. But for the past three years, she had struggled to live a normal life like the people around her. She didn't fit in. She had no past and nothing to look forward to in her future. Chell remembered nothing before Aperture, and this too was its own form of torture.

Wheatley and GLaDOS were the closest ties she had to her previous life, and she couldn't let that slip away. She had to know.

But make no mistake, she had no intention of getting close to them. No intention of forgiving either of the AIs for anything they had done.

She would get the information she wanted and then she would leave them behind forever.

GLaDOS stirred and Chell gripped her chair, knuckles turning white in anticipation. She didn't want to talk to this woman, she realized. She didn't want to be anywhere near her. But-

"You- you're talking. You have a voice-"

At the cake booth, GLaDOS had been shocked to see her, her voice heavy with disbelief and something else that Chell almost mistook for relief. Or perhaps it really was fear. Either way, the woman was currently in no condition to do any harm to Chell. It was as if the AI was stuck in a potato again; absolutely harmless. Hopefully.

"You."

Chell looked at the woman dispassionately, relaxing her body language as if GLaDOS's presence made no impact on her.

GLaDOS made an attempt to sit up but seemed to realize it was futile and rolled onto her side instead, her unbandaged, copper-colored eye staring straight at Chell. She narrowed it, "Seeing me like this must give you some kind of sick pleasure."

Chell didn't answer. She waited it out. It was her turn to test the AI.

"You know, if you came to kill me again, this would be the opportune time," GLaDOS chuckled. "Go ahead. You'd be doing me a favor." Even though human, her voice was remarkably similar to the AI's computerized and slightly lyrical voice. There was no mistaking her identity.

"Kind of dramatic for a little burn, isn't it?" Chell couldn't help herself.

GLaDOS reddened and Chell enjoyed seeing the Queen of Petty herself so uncomfortable. She pulled herself up with some visible effort and huffed, "The facial damage doesn't bother me. It's the liquid trash that quack doctor gave me. The idiot drugged me."

"I think that was the point. What are you doing here?" Chell asked.

GLaDOS pulled her knees to her chest, eyeing Chell warily, "Ask the moron. This is all his fault."

"I don't doubt it, but I want to hear it from you."

GLaDOS looked at Chell in surprise. "Now you're feeling chatty. What's in it for you, little test subject?"

Chell leaned forward, "Information. I want you to tell me who I am."

Author's Note: I scored the job I was interviewing for, so I'm celebrating by posting a new chapter! Whoo!