Chapter Text
It wasn't easy navigating the barren wasteland of what might have been called Michigan at some point. The food was hard to come by and scavenging for supplies could only get you so far. But she was confident in her abilities and natural tenacity. If she could survive Aperture and Her- there was no way she wouldn't survive the world outside. Before he showed up, rather- before he came back, she had been doing well. She found ways to feed herself and stay sheltered in the abandoned city a few miles away from the shed she had come out of when GLaDOS ejected her from the facility.
She had been rummaging through a dilapidated bookstore by the house she claimed for herself the day he came back. She was trying to find gardening books so that maybe one day she could eat real vegetables and not cans of dubiously "non-perishable" beans and peaches. Her stock was beginning to run low anyway. But a strange noise distracted her from her search- the abandoned city was silent for the most part, so the loud whistling sound coming from above was hard to miss. She set her stack of books down to peek her head outside. There was a streak of gray smoke marring the mostly clear blue sky overhead, following a mass that seemed to be falling from space. It was burning- glowing a bright red that could only signify heated metal.
Metal. Falling from space. Relatively close to where she was and where she came from. Statistically- there was no way this object was what she was thinking it was. Even if it was exactly that- there was no reason why she should have wanted to see if it was, being that she couldn't stop herself from thinking it was him.
She stepped outside and she tried her best to follow it.
***
"Hello? Is anyone there? I could use some help. Hello? Please- if you can hear me I would greatly appreciate a response. Where in the bloody hell am I? I can't move on my own and I can't see from where I am. Please let there be someone... anyone..." He was panicked, his round metal casing was twitching madly. He looked pathetic. He had landed 'face' down with his optic planted into the charred earth of the crater he created on impact. She shuffled closer with a small crunch as her boot moved over the dirt.
"What was that? Hello?" He called out again. She gently placed a hand on the round metal of his hull to make him aware of her presence.
"Gah! Is- is that a hand? Oh thank heavens- could you please help me? I haven't any arms or legs and like I said- I can't move. Would you pick me up?"
She took hold of his top handle and roughly jerked him out of the ground. Then she turned him around to face her.
His bright blue optic had been cracked before, thanks to GLaDOS- but now It was completely shattered. Without the backlighting it was dull and pieces of the glass fell to the ground as he blinked frantically, most likely trying to regain his vision.
"I can't see- Am I broken? Please tell me." He was quieter now, sounding dejected at the realization that it wasn't his position that had kept him from seeing. She sighed- and then spoke.
"Your optic is shattered."
"Oh god. Oh no...." He began to panic once more as she moved her hands to grip against his casing in order to get a better look at the core. She gently patted his hull in part sympathy and part pity. She didn't know what to expect when she thought she would see him again, and the reality of the situation was completely different from anything she could have imagined. She would have never imagined herself feeling bad for him.
"Shhhh... Calm down. The rest looks fine. I might be able to fix it, I.m not sure how but I bet it can be done."
"How would you... are you familiar with Aper-" She flinched, cutting him off before he could finish the word,
"Don't say that word, Wheatley."
"Man alive! Is that you?! Lady? You can talk?! Please tell me it's you! I have so much to say to you- if it really is you that is." His casing jerked with what could have only been perceived as excitement and she couldn't help but allow the faintest of grins to form on her lips.
"Yes. It's me and yes I can talk. But if it weren't for your optic I wouldn't be. Before you say anything, let's get you home and dust you off. And I'll take a closer look at you."
The trek to her house was awkward and long, and the core tried his best to wait until she got him home to talk- like she had asked him to- but it proved to be impossible for him.
"So... um... I just, I just wanted to say that I am sorry. Truly, I am. I was a monster back there. While I was stuck up there in space it was all I could think about. The only thing I've wanted since I last saw you was just to say sorry. Because I am." She could feel the emotive gesturing of his casing against her arms as she carried him and patted above his optic again in reassurance.
"I forgive you. I forgave you a long time ago. You are not innocent by any means but you are forgiven." It was true. For years she had been angry for how he treated her and what he did. She was almost as angry at him as she was GLaDOS. But after time on her own, she realized that she couldn't hold a grudge against the product of poorly thought out programming and scientific innovation that went horribly wrong. None of the constructs in the facility were inherently evil or bad- as both were characteristics that could only describe their makers. Humans. The humans that created them chose to program the AIs the way they did and it was obviously a mistake that they all paid greatly for. With no one to blame and no one to be angry with, she just simply stopped being angry. She began to put her energy to better use. Repairing her house and making it her home, tinkering with any electronics she could find and trying to make them work, reading anything she could get her hands on- she kept herself busy and distracted.
Healing was a process and she looked forward to her reunion with the core being a part of growing away from Aperture.