Wheatley rattled along his management rail, speeding up as he passed the neurotoxin room. He didn't like being reminded of that room. He didn't like being reminded of a lot of the rooms in Aperture Laboratories. He turned a corner.

The turrets were singing again. No matter the threats, She couldn't get them to stop. He wondered where they had learned that. It wasn't the sort of thing Aperture scientists would have programmed into them. Today it sounded like something German. But how would he know?

He was taking the long way around, but off all the rooms in Aperture that he didn't like being reminded of, the room where all the robots scream at you was the one he really didn't care to remember. He avoided it like water.

He wasn't sure how long he had been stuck in that room, but it hadn't been ten years. In fact, he was fairly sure it hadn't even been ten days. Wheatley may have been an idiot, but even he wasn't completely stupid – he could only assume She had something worse in store for him. Oh yes, She was just leaving him alone for a little while, letting him feel safe and then BAM – something happened. Something terrible, he just knew it.

He just didn't know what it was. And that only made it worse.

What he did know is she had come back, Companion Cube in tow, only a few days after GLaDOS let her out. As though her refusal to relinquish her grip on the Personality Core during the final battle hadn't been enough to set Her off. But where else did she have to go?

Caroline had proved un-deletable – that was why she was allowed back in. The voice awoken in her mind was a constant presence and while it was easy to erase files, personalities could not be simply removed.

He hadn't seen her at all. In fact, one might say he had been, well, he…

Wheatley sighed to himself. He had been avoiding her. She didn't want to see him, he knew it. Who would want to see him? Not her, that's who.

"Aah! No, wah – " the management rail was rattling, but quickly settled. GLaDOS was still fixing pieces of the facility. "Oh, okay. It's okay. Just keep moving. Move along now Wheatley." He zipped along the line, more careful to avoid the parts that were still in disrepair.

Chell stared at the ceiling, arms behind her head, one leg over the other knee. GLaDOS/Caroline more or less left her alone now. No more testing. No more sarcastic commentary.

That was a lie – there was still sarcastic commentary. But not nearly as often.

Chell had never been much of a talker, but she was an excellent listener and found the robots to be excellent company when they weren't trying to kill her. The singing turrets always managed to bring a smile to her face.

All the same – she hadn't seen Wheatley at all. Not since he had been let out of the screaming robot room. She wondered where he had skipped off to.

Chell sat up suddenly – something was making a lot of noise somewhere in the facility. That was rarely a good sign. She sighed and grabbed her Portal gun.

Wheatley hurried along his rail. That had been another near miss there. Got to be more careful. He whizzed around a corner.

"AH! You! – what, I mean, you – "

Chell stared up at him, head angled in a surprised and confused motion. His optic blinked.

"I… er – that is…"

He turned and sped away as fast as he could before he said something stupid again and left Chell standing alone in the hallway.

He zoomed along his management rail, not caring where he ended up so long as he didn't have to see her. He instantly regretted his carelessness when he took stock of where he was.

"A mORon and a brAin damaGEd tEst subject. How adOrAble. I'm suRe you will BE very happy toGetHEr."

"Not a moron." Wheatley mumbled.

"You jUst keep telling yOurSElf that. WhaTeVer makeS you feel beTteR. I don't haVe time TO deAl with all of your idiOCy."

She turned away from Wheatley and gazed at a monitor. Chell was on the screen, watching the singing turrets put on a performance.

"Do you kNow WHY I let you ouT of the SCreaMinG robOt room, you litTle iDioT? Even tHouGH ten yeARs was the least you deSerVED?" She turned her glare back to Wheatley who wanted nothing more than to run, run fast and run far, but he felt frozen to the spot.

"SHE apPealed to CarOLine. She bEggeD her TO get yOu out of tHerE. All wiTHOut sAyinG a worD. CaRoliNe was aPparenTLy eXcellenT at nOn-verBaL comMuNicaTIOn." She swiveled back to the monitor. Caroline was apparently excellent at a lot of things. She hadn't been put in charge for nothing.

"The leAsT you cOulD do is TAlk to heR."

She was lying. She always lied. Not that he didn't deserve whatever she threw at him, but raising his hopes even a little – that was just cruel. He sighed. Chell hated him. It didn't matter that she had saved him – it must have been because eternity in space wasn't enough punishment. Everyone loves revenge, right?

GLaDOS certainly did, that much he was sure of.

The management rail creaked and he winced. "Don't give way, don't give way…" Of course it gave way. Even the management rail knew he deserved to be punished. He screamed.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH –"

- and fell through an orange Portal and tumbled out the blue side into her hands. His optic widened.

"You caught me…"

I should really be upfront here - I haven't actually played Portal 2. My PS3 is broken and the game is a bit too expensive to buy if I can't take it home and crack it open right away. But I've watched other people play and seen plently of videos, so it's not like I writing blind here.

It's been a long time since I've been so invested in a fictional character, but I deeply love Wheatley. He may be my favorite video game character ever. His bumbling good-naturedness makes a wonderfully bittersweet contrast against his insecurities about his intelligence. VALVe is truly wonderful at developing characters :)

- SilverInkblot