"I'm not going."

You have to go, said a quiet voice in the back of her head. If you hesitate, you'll miss this chance. You'll never, ever see her again. Do you really want that?

"No." Her newly-fashioned face sparked into a frown, and she rubbed her arms nervously.

Then go. It's your last chance to make things right.

GLaDOS sighed. It really wasn't worth the effort, making up this stupid humanoid body just to crawl up to the surface, seek out her lost test subject, and delve into this idiotic spur-of-the-moment plan. But that annoying little voice, that slight remnant of whatever core had affected her, was right.

She watched as Chell and the stranger approached the ticket booth, hiding within the dark confines of an adjacent alleyway. Eyebrows knit, a growl escaped her throat as the tall, dark-haired man opened the door for Chell and allowed her through.

"Thinks he's so great. Doesn't she know chivalry died decades ago?"

We'll take care of him. Don't worry.

GLaDOS watched the doors to the theater, fists clenched, fingernails digging into her synthetic skin. She waited.

And waited.

And waited.

An hour passed.

Are you...ya know, going to do something sometime soon?

A gray flush spread across her snow-white cheeks, bright yellow eyes flashing wide. She crept back into the alley, leaning against the brick wall, thankful that the smell of garbage and urine had dissipated from her senses long ago. She clasped her hands over her face, rubbing at her eyes.

"This was a stupid idea. I don't have a plan. She's probably enjoying herself in there. With him."

Now, now. You can't think things like that! You want her back, right?

"Of course."

Prove it. Get mad. Be aggressive. Don't make lemonade.

Her fists clenched, and the sparks of inspired anger began to fly once again. They fizzled out just as quickly as the theater began to empty. She spotted Chell easily; it was the only face she knew.

She was walking beside him and laughing.

Laughing!

A strange nausea crept into where GLaDOS would've held a stomach. She'd never experienced nausea before. She was immediately not a fan of it.

"Hopeless," she whimpered, falling back into the alley again. "It's hopeless. This whole endeavor was a mistake. She's happy. She's...so happy. I've never seen her like this. I could never..."

She sunk to the ground, amid empty wrappers, filthy papers, and other garbage. Her eyes squeezed tightly shut.

"I could never make her happy like that."

Look.

"I don't want to."

No, look.

It took great effort for her to look across the street, eyes barely cracking open.

Chell was gazing at her.

Not just gazing. Not glaring. Not even casually glancing. She wore an expression of pure heartbreak, as if all the laughter that had just occupied her life had been sucked away. Recognition burned in her stormy eyes; although GLaDOS had never taken a humanoid form in Chell's sight, Chell knew it was her.

GLaDOS stood. Concern and curiosity spread over her face, a look that suddenly switched to panic. Chell was already halfway across the busy street, frantic urgency upon her face.

The loud wail of the car horn echoed through the night air. Time itself seemed to freeze.

The screech of tires.

The loud crash of the impact.

And then...

"What the hell do you think you're doing!"

From the ground, arm shielding her face, Chell glanced up. GLaDOS was leaning over her, hands on her hips, scowling deeply. Behind her sat a smoking wreck of a sedan, twin dents pushed into either side of the hood, oddly resembling hand prints.

If nothing else, Aperture certainly made their products durable.

"Honestly, if you wanted to kill yourself, I could've done that for you long ago. Utter foolishness, running across the street like that! You lunatic! What did you think you'd accompl-ERK!"

GLaDOS's bright eyes opened wide. Chell had wrapped her arms around the android's waist, face buried in her chest, clutching with all of her might. Filled with a strange, burning emotion in her eyes and chest, GLaDOS gripped the human in a tight embrace, only half-mindful of her titanic strength.

Car horns began to honk, and the traveling whispers of bystanders formed a cloud of white noise. From somewhere came sirens. None of this registered with GLaDOS. All that existed to her was the human in her arms.

Chell's hands swiftly moved from GLaDOS's waist and around her neck, and in an instant, she'd pressed her lips against the android's. For a picosecond, GLaDOS was stunned. Then, consumed with this new, burning, slightly-uncomfortable-but-incredibly-fulfilling emotion, GLaDOS grasped the former test subject's face, repeatedly synching together their lips in soft, warm kisses.

See? Wasn't it worth it?

It was. However, there was still the issue of...

GLaDOS looked up. The man who'd been with Chell had come up, concern painting his face. Chell pulled away from GLaDOS, her hands moving deftly as they made small gestures, the man all the while looking stupidly, hopelessly, and somewhat satisfyingly forlorn.

All the same, she pulled Chell close. "And who are you supposed to be?" she snarled, narrowing her eyes at the stranger.

"I'm Clark, her new boss." He gave her a wary glance, jerking his thumb back towards the theater.

"Not anymore, you're not." She hung a protective arm around Chell's waist. Rolling her eyes, Chell sent out more strange hand signals. Then she took GLaDOS's hand and quickly led her away before the sirens got too close.

GLaDOS turned back at the confused and somewhat disgruntled Clark, shooting him a smug look.

[I showed him, didn't I?]

I told you you would.

[Wait. Did he say 'boss'? Did I just -]

I wouldn't worry about it. I mean, look at her. Look how happy she is. Look how happy you've made her.

Chell's hand tightened around GLaDOS's, and the android looked down. The smile spreading across the human's face brought forth those strange, tight emotions within the AI's chest. GLaDOS suddenly wanted to do little else but hold that crazy psychopath close and plant wonderful, soft kisses all over her body.

All over her body.

It was hard to restrict herself to only one kiss, but GLaDOS somehow managed.