A/N: 'ello, friends! it's Celeste here… wait… wait, could be Japanese…? umm… konnichiwa. hajimemashite! eh… let's stick with English… hehe, let me start off with, thank you for clicking on this fic! I felt like writing a little prequel to Portal and here's the first chapter. :D this is going to be my first posted Portal fic; there are more in the making!

important: alright, so you may have noticed this is a repost. I went through, edited a bit from the wonderful authoress Chloe Kompton's suggestions (thanks a bunch, Chloe!). I don't plan to post, delete, and repost from now on, but I wanted to make sure it was, to quote Cave Johnson here, "good and damn ready before releasing it into the wild." ^_^ I also added a bit more that I was writing for chapter two. :D

I'm definitely going to stick to canon as much as possible, giving myself the restraints of being creative with Valve's already amazing storyline. if there is in fact something that seems a bit off, PM/review and I'll definitely respond. there are going to obviously be things that were not included in the games but they will not contradict with anything canon, and I'm constantly checking the combine over-watch wikia to make sure I'm following it; there is a "timeline" on the older Aperture Science dot com, but it doesn't fit with Portal 2 as much, so that may not be followed exactly… and about that potato project with Chell's name… that… that doesn't exist, haha… and forget about GLaDOS rant of "you're not even a full time employee" even though she could just be lying there to insult her (but those are the only things I'm not adding in… so far…)

WARNINGS: oh! and there will be pairings too! (Chelley, Facosity, Spaceosity, Moranger, Caveoline, etc.) lots of Chelley, hehe. there will also be a bit of swearing and a bit on suggestiveness. also, in later chapters… let me get one thing straight, I am not being mean or anything, but there will be, well, how should I put this, a twist on Rick's… er… preferences… think of him like Captain Jack from Doctor Who… that's a good way to put it! sad thing for Rick is that all his flirting attempts are one sided, haha. Also, I am not adding it to be mean or discriminate anyone and believe me, I've never been a fan of yaoi/yuri fanfiction mostly because it's just… weird to me… and unless it's well explored in an emotional sense, then I don't really like it. (but I can deal with ChellDOS somewhat… oddly enough…) this fic will never go above anything T-rated though, sorry. you are warned on everything… so far.

…but enough of my ranting (which you will hear a lot of, hehe, but my A/N will not be as long next time, so no worries, hopefully, hehe)! I hope you enjoy and please review! :D reviews make me very, very happy!

(pointless) disclaimer: I don't own anything except for a copy of Portal, Portal 2, and the storyline of this fic. do you really think I'd be here writing fanfics if I did own anything important?

Chapter 1

"Chell? Chell, love, wake up?" a quirky and unique British accented man whispered into the ear of a woman who had fallen asleep at her desk. Her head was resting on her crossed arms, which were laying on the desk. His tall, thin frame towered over her. He ran his fingers through his messy ginger hair in slight frustration.

"Chell…" he continued. "It's three in the morning, love. You best be getting back to bed." He shook the black-haired woman's shoulder softly, her untidy ponytail and bangs swishing around slightly.

"Mmmpphh," Chell moaned, shifting to rise. She wiped her eyes and looked up, smiling, at the man. "Oh, thank you, Wheatley. I hadn't realized how late it had gotten."

Wheatley fixed his wire-framed glasses, which had shifted a bit. He watched Chell with piercingly blue eyes as she stood up and stretched. He noticed the dark bags underneath her eyes.

"Ah, but now I have to ask. Why are you still here?" Chell questioned.

"Oh, had some paperwork to do for the biology department. Been having a bit o' trouble with the chickens… apparently one went on some sort of rampage."

"A tiny chicken going on a rampage?" Chell asked with skepticism, quirking an eyebrow.

"Eh, forgot to mention. They fed it a sort of growing hormone. Apparently it grew to reach the ceiling," he continued. His eyes widened at points in his ramblings and his arms flailed in an attempt to emphasize the proportions of the monster chicken.

"Aperture just keeps giving us more and more work," Chell muttered. "Seriously, you work in the Physics department, not Biology!"

"As a secretary to you guys," he responded. "I just compile and read over your paperwork. I'm not a brilliant scientist like you, Chell."

Even though she was extremely tired, she couldn't help the blush forming on her face from his comment, but the dim lighting of the small office, luckily, did not make it too obvious. "Oh, uh… well, thank you, Wheats, but you're smart too. You have to understand what we're writing about. You need to not let what Rick and Fabian keep saying affect you. I think you're smart."

There was always one thing about Chell that Wheatley liked; even a person who everyone called a "moron" would be treated with kindness and respect. He knew he had good ideas, but they were often turned away because they were incomplete or a little silly. Wheatley smiled joyfully at her.

"Oh, Chell…" his voice trailed off happily. His face turned a shade red. Both stared at each other for a few seconds before Wheatley awkwardly broke the silence. "Um, so yeah, off to bed… we better go, uh, off to bed. Uh, but in our own dorms, not together. Uh, no, never together, but uh, to our own dorms, in your own bed. Well, not me with you, but–"

Chell placed a finger on Wheatley's lips to silence him. "Good night, Wheatley."

He nodded, his facing coloring, and she walked away without another word.

No, Chell… I am a moron…

… - ApertureScience - …

Beep… beep… beep… beep. beep. beep. beepbeepbeep... BEEPBEEPBEEP!

"Oh, damn it," Chell muttered as she practically smashed the top of her alarm with a fist. The natural light shone in from the window on the wall to her left.

She stood up and began to go through her morning routine, half aware of what she was doing. Chell was dressed in a white, terry cloth robe embroidered with "Aperture Science" on the breast pocket and black cotton pajama pants. She yawned and twisted around quickly. Crack.

"Oh, this is what I get for sitting at an office chair all day," she grumbled, rubbing her sore back. She slowly meandered out of her bedroom into the bathroom in her employee dorm room. It always amazed Chell that even the dorm rooms, which were built above the underground facility, had a feel of a sterile environment like the test chambers and offices below. Practically everything on the walls in the dorm was bright white. The only other color, except for the Aperture logo which was painted, embroidered, or printed on everything somewhere, was the laminate wood flooring.

Undressing and stepping into the shower, she shuddered at the cold water spraying down at her. A little while later, she stepped out, clean, with a white towel wrapped around her. She brushed her hair and pulled it into a low ponytail. She dressed in a light blue long-sleeved dress shirt and a black skirt. Finishing with a very light layer of makeup, she strolled out of the bathroom and into the small kitchen.

She wandered around the kitchen, grabbing piece of bread and popping it into the toaster, finding a glass and bowl in the cabinet, and carton of orange juice from the refrigerator. She searched for a box of cereal and let it spill out to fill the entire bowl. Pouring herself a glass of juice and munching on the dry cereal, she waited for the toast to finish, sitting on the counter.

Knock, knock. A voice began talking loud enough for Chell to hear through the door. "Chell? You there? Are you getting ready? Because I can come back later, but if you can't hear me because you, in fact, are getting ready, then I will come back later… but, ah, uh, well, I'll wait here for a minute…"

Chell smiled at her friend's voice. She hadn't even bothered walking over to the door yet just so she could hear the cute ramblings from him. His silly personality often caused others to dislike him, but she actually found it quite charming and it always was a little ray of sunshine in the dark halls of Aperture thousands of meters underground where they worked.

When she could hear a faint tapping, she walked over to the door and unlocked it.

"Oh, 'ello, Chell! Morning!" he smiled. "Thought I'd stop by and see if you're ready yet." He looked down to examine her quickly and sniffed at the smell of toast. "Eh, so I guess you almost are. Mind if I come in?"

"Come on in," she nodded and began to walk back towards the kitchen. He followed behind her and sat down on one of the chairs next to the small glass table. He wore a blue pin-stripped shirt and silver tie. His black belt held up the black pants that looked freshly pressed.

Noticing the slightly awkward silence, he spoke up, "You only got three hours of sleep."

"Don't remind me," Chell moaned. She had her back turned to find some jelly in the cabinets above the sink. "Aperture expects us to work these long shifts on few hours of sleep and to be productive? I wish I could complain to Mr. Johnson."

"Or you could become friends with little miss Caroline; she's second in command to him... in more than one way," Wheatley mused, oblivious to the fact he was drinking out of Chell's glass of orange juice.

"Yeah, I bet she'd listen... but, those rumors are still floating around about those two?" she smirked, turning around with a plate of toast and sitting on the chair across from Wheatley. "Eh, it's to be expected when the guy's not married."

"She isn't either." He tilted the glass towards her to emphasize his point.

"That's my orange juice, you know." Chell blankly stared at him with a very serious expression.

Wheatley looked from the glass to Chell and back again before setting it down. Her stern look intimidated him. "Uhh… sorry."

Chell's expression turned to a playful smirk, taking a bite of toast then washing it down with the orange juice. "I'm just kidding, Wheats. Sarcasm is your best friend. "

Wheatley smiled nervously. He sighed when he noticed the time on his silver watch. "It's seven; we better get down to our office." She nodded and they both stood up.

"You've got crumbs on you," Wheatley pointed out.

"Oh, where?" Chell instantly started to wipe the side of her mouth with the tips of her fingers.

"No, on your shirt. Here, I've got it," he said as he began to brush off the dress shirt. Chell quietly gasped a bit before smirking. "Ah, there we go," he finished as he proceeded to look at Chell's face. "What?"

Chell didn't even have to say anything when Wheatley realized what he had unintentionally done. "Oh, I've done it again! I'm so sorry! Oh, what've done? Gah, uh, I didn't mean to do that for any reason except for brush the crumbs off, honest!" His sincere expression of innocence mixed with the quickly spoken words prompted a chuckle from the woman.

"Let's just go," she rolled her eyes, laughing a little. She grabbed his hand before he could protest any more and began to promenade swiftly out of the room.

… - ApertureScience - …

Wheatley, who in the meantime had been released from Chell's grip on his hand, walked with Chell through the halls of the dorms to elevators which would then take them down to their office. He was a bit nervous to walk directly next to her, so he settled for walking a few feet in front. They soon made their way down a much larger hallway. To the right, the wall was entirely made of windows. Chell sighed inwardly when she heard the voice of the office flirt coming up from behind her.

"Well, hiya, pretty lady… makin' your way down to the office?" the tall, burly man strode up to Chell with purpose. Wheatley looked around with irritated expression, but they all continued walking.

Chell stared at Rick blankly. "No, I'm going in the elevator just so I can ride down and back up to my dorm again," she said with fake enthusiasm.

"Well, that seems a little redun–"

Wheatley turned around for a moment to cut him off. "Of course it is. It's called sarcasm."

Rick coughed loudly. "I didn't know you were part of the conversation, moron. Why don't you skip on ahead and leave me with the pretty lady here?" The muscular man gently wrapped his arm around Chell's shoulder. They continued walking down the large hallway, the section of elevators and rushing workers and scientists coming into view.

"Wheatley and I were doing just fine, Rick," she tried to shove him off but Rick held firmly. Wheatley still walked a few feet ahead, intently listening on the conversation and slightly afraid to do anything.

"I'd have to ask why the pretty lady–"

"Chell," she cut in.

"So we're on a first name basis now? Alright, if you insist, gorgeous," he winked. "Why don't you come along with me later and I can show you how I got all those black belts hanging on my wall in my dorm."

"No, thank you very much for the offer, but I'd rather not," she answered firmly.

"Oh, alrighty, then, miss. The offer is still open whenever you need… anything. But I would have to ask why such an intelligent woman would be doing hanging around with the likes of him," Rick motioned towards Wheatley.

Wheatley's indignation was starting manifest outwardly. He could not take it anymore. Swiftly turning around, he glared at the man and darted over to the two.

"I don't think Chell is too fond of you treating her like it," he said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, and how do you know that?" Rick asked indifferently.

"Uh, well…" Wheatley muttered before forming an argument in his mind, his voice becoming stronger. "Uh, she just doesn't, and if you had one bit of common sense, then you'd just leave."

"Oh, really?" Rick's eyes narrowed, stopping both himself and Chell in their tracks. "Do you notice how no one stops to listen to you, Merchant? Ever. No one cares what you have to say. Does little miss angel here care to be with you? No, she–"

"Actually, I do," Chell finally managed to release herself from the man's arm. She frowned at Rick's attempts at corralling her again. "I would like it if you would leave me and my dear friend Wheatley alone. We all work on the same floor and, if you didn't know–and honestly I must think you do–I'm one of the supervisors, so I don't suggest you piss me off."

Rick looked back and forth between the two irked coworkers in front of him. He breathed in before speaking. "Alright, if you insist, angel." Rick started walking off ahead of them. He turned around and winked. "See you later, gorgeous."

Wheatley gagged and Chell rolled her eyes. They continued walking and started to hear the buzz of conversation from people surrounding the elevators.

"Ah, no worries, Wheats. Just ignore whatever he says," Chell smiled sympathetically. "And thank you."

"Thanks for what?" Wheatley asked obliviously before realizing what she meant. "Oh, oh, right! Yes. Yes, you are very welcome, Chell."

"Well, let's go," Chell nodded in the direction of the elevators before gliding towards the elevators. "We're going to be late and I will not tolerate tardiness as your supervisor!"

Wheatley laughed and tried to break the light atmosphere of awkwardness. "Yes, off to another day of paperwork! Wahoo!"

Though neither Wheatley or Rick would ever dare say they agreed on something, and though it was for different reasons, the same one thought ran through their mind. Damn, she's stubborn.

A/N: so I hope you enjoyed the revision! remember to review! I'll reply to all of them, even anonymous ones! there's a sneaky bit of foreshadowing in this chapter. did ya catch it? :D

I am also working on another fic for Vocaloid that I'm trying to focus on, so this fic's updates will be a little slow (once or twice a week), but if you are interested in Vocaloids or even just a story filled with fluffiness, sadness, love, and confusion, go check out my other fic "Hello, Again." you don't have to know much about Vocaloid to understand it~! XD I just updated today too! :D also, my dear friend Misty who I share this account with posted her first posted fanfiction as a Mario/Sonic crossover, so go check that out and make her happy, too, eh? ^_^

thanks for reading, please review, and until next time…

TTFN, my friends!

-Celeste