Work Text:
“Chell! Are you awake yet?”
She rolled over, still in bed. She gazed out the window, basking in the morning sun. The sky was bright blue and unusually cloudless today.
She soon picked up on the smell of eggs and bacon. She sat up and stretched, then hopped out of bed. After a brief detour into the bathroom to brush her teeth, she continued down the hall. The scent of eggs and bacon was stronger now. She could tell it was burnt. But only slightly.
He was getting better. The thought made her smile a little.
She turned a corner and finally reached the kitchen. Wheatley had shut off the stove at around the same time. He glanced back at her and smiled sheepishly.
“Oh, hello! I made breakfast for you. And for me. For us.”
Chell nodded. She sat down at the table. Wheatley joined her almost immediately, two breakfast-filled plates in hand. He set the first one down in front of her then took the seat across from her. Chell looked down at the food. The eggs were fried; charred on the bottom yet runny on the top. The bacon was just barely overcooked, the ends having become blackened. The food on Wheatley’s plate appeared more or less the same. Still not a bad job, all things considered.
Chell suddenly stood up. Wheatley gave her a questioning look.
“What's wrong?”
Chell gestured at the counter.
“Coffee.”
“Oh. Oh!” Wheatley smacked himself on the forehead.
“Blast. I knew I had forgotten something…”
She waved her hand. “It’s okay.”
Chell went to the sink and filled a cup with water before walking over to the coffee maker. She poured it into the reservoir and quickly checked the small basket to see if there was a filter. Thankfully there was, and it seemed like she’d even added some coffee to it yesterday. She closed the basket and turned the device on.
“Say, Chell?”
She looked at him. Wheatley twiddled his fingers.
“I’ve been feeling a bit off today. Do you suppose the townsfolk would be upset if I, ah…decided to take a rain check on the radio broadcast today? Terribly important to relay the news, I know, but–arghhh, look at that! Dreadful headache I just got.” His eyes squeezed shut as he pressed his hand against his head dramatically.
“No no, I simply cannot go into work like this. Would be far too irresponsible. Might even have to miss my meet-up with Garret too. Wonderful bloke–despite our rivalry–but I’d just be a hindrance with this god-awful headache of mine. He and Foxglove can wait, I’m sure.”
Chell crossed her arms. Wheatley opened one eye to peer at her.
“What’s that look for? I’m serious about this. Deadly serious. I have absolutely no reason to lie to you.”
Chell raised an eyebrow. His lips curved into an anxious grin.
“But let’s say I am lying–which I am NOT, may I remind you–and you were probably asking yourself ‘how stupid does he think I am?’ Well, I can assure you that I do not think you are stupid. Instead, I would ask you to consider why I would go through all the trouble to construct such a well-crafted lie–which it still isn’t, of course.”
Chell fought back the urge to smile at his nonsensical tangent, fixing him with a serious expression. She wanted to see where this was going.
“Well, in this completely hypothetical situation, perhaps I am simply saying this because I would like to stay here. With you. Just for today.”
Chell’s stern expression softened. She let out a faint chuckle.
“Why?”
Wheatley gave her a strange look. He rubbed his arm awkwardly.
“Well…um…you don’t…uh…”
“Don’t what?” Chell inquired.
He lowered his head.
“So you…don’t remember?”
She leaned forward, her curiosity piquing.
“Did something happen yesterday?”
Wheatley bit his lip. Chell’s brow creased. She couldn’t understand what was troubling him this much. She reached out and rested her hand on his cheek.
“Talk to me.”
Wheatley sighed.
“There was…an incident last evening. In which you suddenly collapsed. And we were all really worried about you…”
Chell frowned. She passed out? Why couldn't she remember that?
“We hadn’t had any drinks,” Wheatley continued. “So it clearly wasn’t that. You were just fine one second, then fell the next. Romy was in a right panic about it, bless her heart. Basically ordered me to pick you up and get you to the hospital…”
Chell rubbed her temple.
“I was in the hospital?”
“See, no. I was about to get to that. I figured it would be difficult to carry your dead weight all the way there–like the first time I carried you into town, remember that?–so I had an idea. Just call an ambulance! Romy and the others complained about it, but they weren’t the ones that had to lug around a heavy human. N-not that you’re heavy! I just mean that you’re my only frame of reference for human weight at the moment. Haven’t tried lifting the others…in this new, fleshy body. Didn’t even have a body the time that I did lift them all up with Her help…”
“Wheatley.”
“Right, sorry! Getting off track, I know. I ended up not needing to call the ambulance or carry you to the hospital because, well…you woke up by yourself. You were still kind of out of it; you seemed to be under the impression that you were testing. I’ve got to say, for someone who never wants to do that again, you sure seem to dream about it a lot.”
Chell’s cheeks flushed. She’d hoped that she’d finally gotten past those testing nightmares. And Wheatley, seeing her like that again…it was embarrassing enough the first time.
…Still, something about this one was strange. She couldn’t remember a single thing about it, let alone what happened after she woke up. She needed more information.
“What happened after that?”
Wheatley scratched his head. “Drawing a blank on that too? Alright, then. This may come as a shock to you, but the rest of that night was rather uneventful. We decided it was best to put you to bed. Hope your head was screwed on right by morning. If not, ambulance. Or Aaron’s truck, if he happened to not be busy. Told me to keep him posted. Speaking of which, I should give him a call and tell him that you’re doing alright!”
“I’ll do it. I’m sure he’d appreciate hearing it from me directly.” Chell took a step towards the phone hanging on the wall, only for Wheatley to block her path.
“Nope, I made him a promise. I’ve got to keep it. You understand, right?”
Chell pursed her lips. She nodded, albeit reluctantly.
“Brilliant! Go ahead and enjoy your breakfast, then. I worked real hard on it!”
Chell gave him a warm smile. He had a point; it would be a shame to let the eggs and bacon go cold. She picked up her cup of newly brewed coffee and returned to the table.
“Let me know how it tastes.” he gave her a thumbs-up before turning around to slowly dial on the number pad.
“Bloody fingers…” She overheard him mutter under his breath. “How do humans put up with this…”
Chell stifled a laugh as she bit into a piece of bacon. Her nose scrunched up. Yep. Definitely burnt. She tore off the other black end of the meat and tossed it onto her plate before taking another bite.
“Aaannnd…there we go.” Wheatley seemed to have finished dialing. He waited patiently for Aaron to pick up on the other end.
Chell moved on to the eggs. They were good…barring the charred bottom. She scraped off as much as she could.
“Yes, Aaron?” Wheatley ran a hand through his messy blonde hair.
“It’s Wheatley. Yes, Chell just woke up. She’s doing fine. Right as rain. No need to worry.”
Chell continued to chew on her eggs, periodically taking a sip of her coffee and listening in to the conversation. She could barely make out Aaron’s voice, but it was there.
“No, I’m afraid she doesn’t remember much from last night. The bump on her head must’ve caused it. She did have a concussion not too long ago…yes, from that. Sorry, mate. I did tell her to hold onto something…”
Chell shut her eyes, ruminating on that statement. She never blamed him for that head injury. Not after he selflessly saved the entire town. It was just bad luck that she hurt herself in a similar way last night, she decided. She’d get past it, just like she always did.
“Moron.”
Chell dropped her fork. Her blood ran cold.
“I give you one. Simple. Task. And you STILL can’t do it right.”
She tried to open her eyes, but found that she couldn’t. She was paralyzed by fear.
“I said I was sorry!” She heard Wheatley protest. “I just…want her to be comfortable.”
What? What was he talking about? Chell tried to say his name. Nothing came out. What was happening…?
“Do you know what I will do to you if something happens to her?”
“Err…refresh my memory, won’t you?”
“YOU DIE. I will kill you, and I will ENJOY IT.”
Chell took deep breaths. This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t real. She was far away. They were safe. Nothing would hurt them again. Nothing.
“...Right. Good talk. We’ll see you around.”
Chell’s eyes snapped open at the sound of the phone being placed back on its hook. Wheatley turned around to face her.
“So! How was…your…”
His lighthearted expression quickly shifted into one of deep concern.
“Hey…you alright, Chell?”
She blinked. “What?”
“You’re shaking.”
Chell looked down at her hands. Sure enough, they were trembling. She clenched them tightly before glancing back up at him.
“I’m fine.”
“You sure? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Chell took one final sip of her coffee, then stood up. She passed by him and dumped the rest into the sink. She felt Wheatley’s hand lightly touch her shoulder.
“Chell? I…um…”
She looked at him from the corner of her eye. His shoulders dropped as a defeated look passed across his face. He masked it with a friendly smile.
“Never mind. How about a board game? Those are considered relaxing, right? Unless, of course, you’d prefer something else…”
Chell shook her head.
“No, that’s fine. How about chess?”
“W-well, isn’t chess a bit more…mentally taxing? You sure you’re feeling up to it?”
“I’m sure.”
Wheatley raised his hands.
“You’re the boss. I’ll go and get the board, then.”
“Thanks.”
She watched Wheatley leave the kitchen. Once he was completely out of sight, she opened her hands up again. She took a few shuddering breaths as she wrapped her arms around herself for a moment. Beads of sweat trickled down her face.
She was on the surface. She was finally free from that place and Her. She had a home. Friends. The sky. Fresh air. Food. Plant life.
And Him, of course.
There was a time when she believed she would never see Wheatley again. Let alone forgive him for all the horrible things he did to her. But he somehow managed to completely redeem himself. At least in her eyes.
GLaDOS actively dismissed his capacity to change as an error. A fluke. Just another string of corruption from a worthless personality core. It amused Chell, just how wrong she was. All of the robots there, despite how broken they were…they were more than their programming. The proof could even be found within GLaDOS herself, if she ever bothered to look more deeply.
It was her loss, really. Both she and Wheatley were free now, and there was nothing she could do about it.
…And yet…
Chell’s mind was still shackled to that place. The plain, sterile walls. The machinery whirring and buzzing with artificial life. The testing. And that damned golden optic, searing through her very being.
She couldn’t live like this.
She wondered if Wheatley felt the same way.
He was about to tell her something, just then. But he stopped himself. Why? What could he possibly need to hide from her? They were on the same page with everything…weren’t they?
Chell released herself. She swallowed hard, pressing her hands into her legs. If he wasn’t going to tell her anything, she was going to figure it out for herself.
Maybe then, she would finally have some peace of mind.