Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Picture this.

You’re around 17, 5’3, sort of chubby (but trying to lose weight), and a junior in high school. You were the quiet child of your classmates, only speaking when spoken to (As that’s what Oklahoma schools always taught you), and were the main point for bullying during your elementary years, especially since you wore glasses. Though, even nowadays, you look back on those insults that the younger kids said to you… and you think to yourself that those were the days when it was tame… Nowadays, you get called slurs. Hell, you’ve been called the F-slur before. It’s why you tend to keep to yourself… Even with your own family. You were the only one who thought like you in a whole family of conservatives.

Transphobic. Homophobic (slightly, but still). And sorta racist, especially towards Mexicans. Those words tended to describe your parents perfectly. Your sister was just annoying. Though she had autism, you were forced to put up with her… Even if she made you want to snap. Your parents treated her like a princess. They treated you like a maid. You often used creative methods to escape the terrible treatment from your parents. They weren’t abusive… Just heavily strict…

You didn’t have that many friends, but you managed to get by in most of your classes. You were smart and got mostly A’s and B’s in your classes. You even made the AB Honor Roll back during your fall semester. You remember your schedule like the back of your hand.

Algebra 2
Theater 3
Advisory (mostly on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday)
Art 2 (mostly drawing)
Lunch (You had one friend you sat with consistently)
Forensic Science
US History
Choir
English 3

You had a constituent schedule. All seemed perfectly fine. However, It seemed like something didn’t feel right. Ever since you got into the video game series, Half-Life, by VALVe, during your sophomore year. You were a massive fan of the games. HL1, Blue Shift, Opposing Force, Decay, HL2, and both of its episodes, and HL: Alyx. It became your escape from your reality for a bit. Gordon seemed to be a comfort character for you. So did Barney and Alyx. Eli was the father figure you wish you had… and the Snark became your favorite creature.

You even started collecting anything Valve related (Mostly Half-life, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, and Portal related), mostly some of the games and other things you find off of Etsy. Pins, patches, plushies, anything. The official stuff was a lot more expensive… Hell, the one TF2 Scout plush that you got off of eBay was around $100.

Though… Something about the games made you feel uneasy. The games felt familiar, specifically Half-life. Not in the sense that you know the games so much or that you’re familiar with them.

They felt like you had been there before. Especially the first game. But you couldn’t have… Right? These were just fictional games… You don’t see aliens roaming around. You never have ever had the fear of just walking home from school one day and a Headcrab or a Bullsquid pouncing on you or a barnacle hanging you from the ceiling or a Vortigaunt shocking you out of nowhere. Plus, Snarks don’t exist, much to your dismay.

However…

Those liminal halls… and the creatures that filled them… they all felt so familiar. You felt like you were in the character’s shoes… Even his name sounded familiar.

Gordon Freeman… His name rang like a silver bell in your head. Even when you started getting into the Metal Gear Solid series later on, you had developed an attachment to the one character that not many fans liked when the second game first came out. Raiden… You saw him almost like an older brother figure…

However, all you do is push aside the feelings and continue with your life.

An average girl at an average school in an average state in an average country in an average world. For the most part. You began to think that somehow, everything was connected… Half-life 2: Episode 2 was released a couple of months after you were born. Half-life 3 was even leaked the day after your 17th birthday. You started feeling like you were being watched at random hours of the night, and you swear you hear the sounds of Houndeyes and see headcrabs in the corner of your eye. Plus, Metal Gear Solid 2s premise seemed to be more rooted in reality than fiction.

You make plenty of documents and store them all away on a 2 Gigabyte USB stick, making sure that no one, not even your boyfriend, sees it. Especially not your family… You would never hear the end of it if they ever found out.

Then paranoia set in. During those nights where you would write in your journal when everything was quiet and everyone was asleep except for you. You felt it. A chill down your spine as if you had that feeling that someone was out there watching you. Is he watching you? Are you truly not alone?

Only… You chalk these up to nothing. They’re just theories after all… They couldn’t possibly be real… This was all just your imagination going wild like it should for a kid your age. You even had this conversation with your dad going to a coffee shop.

The chances that an alien race would come down to earth would be very slim to none. Even if they were traveling at the speed of sound, it would take them more than 100k years to do so. You always had the idea of them using teleportation, but you didn’t consider that. At the time, at least.

That was… Until everything went to hell. The alien race, known as the Combine, had come down, invading Earth. There was a war that had broken out when they first invaded the United States, but it didn’t last long… Only 7 hours. You had prepared for this day for months. You were probably the only one in your family prepared for this. However, that wasn’t your only threat. They ended up teaming up with a group that was thought to have been completely disbanded years ago… The Patriots… Your two favorite timelines have been combined… Half-life and Metal Gear Solid.

Your name is Violet Rose Freeman. That was back then, and you have no time to reflect on what was. You are now one of the main leaders of the Resistance, and it’s your job to rid the Combine from Earth and protect your family.

This is my story on the hell that I experienced…

Chapter Text

It’s been twenty years since the Black Mesa incident, and a couple of days since the Combine took over from another dimension into ours. They’ve completely taken over, enslaving humanity and turning what once was a beautiful, bustling city into a dystopian nightmare. It took only seven hours of fighting for humanity to surrender to the Combine. I never believed that such a thing as this would ever happen. It was only in the games that I would play back at home.

Oh, right. I should introduce myself. My name is Violet Rose. Well… That’s the Aelius I went by for a long time… I don’t like my actual birth name at all. I am 18 years old. I am not a proud citizen of City 17, formerly North Carolina. What had happened was that I had been kidnapped from my home in Texas once the Combine took over and was taken to City 17 by force.

I still remember when I was forced out of my own home. Honestly, I don’t know how I didn’t see it coming, as most of the souls that I had up till that point had disappeared. Raiden… John… Rose… Gordon… Alyx… Joshua… Barney… Anything Half-Life and Metal Gear Solid had disappeared from my life the moment I woke up one morning. I knew something was wrong, but I only pushed it aside for now while still mourning the loss of basically all of my guardian souls.

Aiden, my boyfriend, even texted me saying that Tommy Coolatta, one of his Half-Life souls (in fact, his only Half-Life soul), had also moved on, even asking me if the same thing happened. I, of course, told him that I had lost all of my guardian souls, and they had suddenly moved on as well… Nothing was making any sense… Why would they suddenly just move on like that? We tried all that we could to move on from losing them.

That was until later that day when four Combine soldiers broke in and arrested my parents. They ended up killing my little sister because of her mental disabilities and took me captive. They made me pack my bag and told me where they were taking me. They also said to me that their administrators, 2 men by the name of Wallace Breen and George Sears (Better known by most who worked for the Combine/The Patriots as Solidus Snake) wanted to use me, and lots of other kids my age and younger, as personal workers, using us as slaves and maids. The only reason that they didn’t take my sister, killing her instead, was because she would be too hard to work with, mostly because of her mental health issues.

There were 3 Combine Metrocops that were forced to help me out. However, they secretly told me that they were Resistance members undercover. They packed up a lot of my stuff, telling me that there was a Resistance base where I was going and that they were going to drop off most of my stuff there. They also took my katana, pretending that they were confiscating it.

I had a few things packed in my bag, a metal water bottle, a couple of plushies (Mostly my Scout plush, my Crash Bandicoot plush, as well as a purple bunny plushie… and a little tiger plushie my boyfriend got me)

Once I was forced into the combine’s vehicle, they drove me to the nearest train station and pushed me on a train headed to City 17. On the way there, I mostly stared out the window or did things on my phone… Until I fell asleep on the train. It had been a long while before we reached the end of the line.

But when I woke up, it felt like a good chunk of my memory was missing. Despite being 18, it felt like 20 years had passed. I looked out the window and saw that we had made it to the end of the line. One of the Metro cops in the station asked to see my belongings, making sure I wasn’t bringing anything I shouldn't be bringing. Everything felt so familiar to me once I started walking around the place. It was like I had been here before… I just couldn’t remember where I had seen this place before. It was like I was experiencing Deja Vu… Only, I now had a problem. My phone was completely dead without any way to charge it... I sighed before looking around and then seeing the main capital building of City 17. The Citadel. That building had to have been thousands of feet tall since it even broke through the clouds... I was left in shock and awe... How was something like that built so quickly? Then I remembered... right... Advanced alien race... 

I was left roaming the empty streets and alleyways, searching for shelter, food, clean water, and hiding places. It was quite chilly in the area, but I couldn't wear my favorite purple fleece hoodie that I had brought with me… Citizens in City 17 were forced to wear these ugly-looking uniforms of sorts… and they were made. I felt like I was wearing nothing at all with how thin and cheaply they were made. I felt cold as hell in that dystopian hellscape, feeling like I was wearing nothing but a piece of thin cloth. I felt almost naked walking around with how thin the clothing was. I knew I wasn't alone in having thoughts like that, as while walking around, I noticed so many other women I saw had these looks of uncomfortable feelings on their faces.

I was pretty much alone in City 17. Most of the citizens weren't allowed to even talk to each other, let alone glance at each other. However, I did have one friend during my first week of being what they called A scavenger. His name was Barney Calhoun. He was a Resistance member in disguise, as he wasn’t as violent as the others. He saw me once when I was scavenging for food one late afternoon… He carefully approached me, tapping me on the shoulder. I turned around, saw him, and immediately froze, fearing that I was as good as dead… Then, he said something I never expected to hear.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down there. I’m not going to hurt you!” He said. He took off his mask. “What’s a young lady like you doing out here? Especially at this hour?” he had this very distinctive southern accent in his voice.

I froze for a second, trying to find the right words. Then he stopped me.

“Wait a sec… You were one of those kids that the Combine took from all over the States, weren’t you?”

I nodded again.

“Oh my… Well, I’m sorry you had to be dragged here… But I have to say, if you had any family before you were brought here, they’re most likely long gone by now. You look young too… How old are you?” He asked.

“18…” I said softly.

“Woah.. you are young… Tell ya what… I’ve got a place you can stay. It beats being in a dirty, rat-infested alleyway like this. Come on. I’ll show you!” He took my hand, leading me to a better-looking alleyway with plenty of good hiding spots.

“This is where most Scavengers tend to stay. The Combine doesn’t know about it… This will be a perfect place for you…” He said.

I looked around. He was right…

“Heh. Thank you so much. By the way, I never got your name.” I asked.

“Oh yeah. The name’s Barney Calhoun. What about you?” He asked.

“I’m Violet. Violet Rose.”

“Pleased to meet you, Violet. Now. I’ll let you in on a little something. One of my old friends is coming here to City 17. His name is Gordon Freeman. He’s friendly and amazing with kids. If he finds you, go with him. He’ll probably take you in if you’re nice enough. Now, he is mute, so you might have to deal with that, but it shouldn’t be much of a problem.” He explained. I nodded. “Oh, by the way. Here. So you don’t starve. I’ll be good for a while.” He handed me one of his rations.

“Oh. Thank you.” I said.

“No problem, kiddo. Now, save it wisely. I’m not sure when Gordon is going to get here, so conserve the ration carefully.” He said. I nodded. “Alright. Now, I’ve gotta get back on my shift. You stay safe. Don’t let the Combine get to you.”

I nodded in response. I got myself comfortable, hiding in a small nook in a wall. It had been cleaned out, and I could fit in it perfectly. I took my backpack off and checked the contents inside. A few band-aids, a metal water bottle with fresh water, a couple of plushies, some snacks from home, and a couple of extra jackets.

A couple of hours passed when I heard footsteps approaching. I grabbed a butterfly knife I had found on the ground and prepared myself, only to see it was Barney. He seemed to be holding something. I looked closely at what he was holding and saw it. My katana. I looked at the blue scabbard with the painted dragon and immediately recognized it as the sword I had confiscated from me. I stood up and walked over to him.

“Hey, Rose. So, I was going through the Combine’s confiscated items back at the train station and found this with the initials “V.R” engraved on its case. Is this yours by any chance?” He asked.

“Yes! That’s my sword!” I said, carefully taking it out of his hands. “I’m so glad you managed to find this in one piece!”

“Mind if I ask why you have an actual sword?” Barney asked, a confused look on his face.

“Well, my biological dad had given it to me as a Christmas gift. I mostly used it as decoration. But now, I think I’m gonna need it more than ever.”

“Heh, ain’t that the truth? I mean, it is a nice sword. And to think it’s an actual katana too. I’d take good care of it now, young lady. I’m assuming you know how to care for it, right?”

I nodded. “I have an entire notebook dedicated to caring for a katana!” I said.

“Woah! That sure is impressive, kid! Say, have you even used it before?”

“No, but I know how to hold it as I’ve practiced with prop swords before.”

“Well, then that’ll work!” Barney paused. He seemed to be thinking of something. “Hm… Now that I think about it, this place just isn’t safe for you to be here. Come with me. I’ve got a place you can stay at.”

“Wait… Really?” I asked. He nodded. “Alright then. Lead the way.” I took his hand and followed him to where he was taking me. We decided to make some small talk.

“So… what state are you from?” He asked.

“Texas… Lived there since I was 12.” I said.

“Hm. Alright. Mind if I ask what state you were born in?”

“Oklahoma.”

“Heh, you’ve lived in the South your whole life!” I nodded. “Now, I will say, once we get there, there is someone who said that they know you.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. They said that you two were dating and that you two had gotten separated by the Combine.”

“Oh! I know who you’re talking about! Did you get their name, by any chance?”

“Yeah, he said that his name was “Aiden.” You know him?”

“Yeah! That’s my Boyfriend!”

“Huh. Good for you two! How long have you been dating?”

“Ever since our freshman year of high school. More than 3 years now.”

“Well, it seems like you two have had an amazing relationship!”

“Mhm!”

“You also seem like a nice person, Rose.”

“Heh. yeah… Unless I’m provoked.”

Barney chuckled a bit. He then paused, hearing a sound coming from my bag. He turned to look at me, seeing small movements from my bag.

“You snuck an animal in?” He asked.

“Huh? No, I didn’t.”

I opened my backpack and saw what looked like a large bug in there, snuggled up in one of my extra hoodies.

“What the-?” I asked myself as I looked down at the creature.

“Oh. It’s just a Snark.” Barney said.

“A what?” I asked.

“A Snark. It’s a type of bug-like creature. Don’t worry, ever since the Black Mesa incident, they’ve been friendly to humans. Most humans keep them as pets.” He explained.

“Oh. Well, it is kinda cute.” I said.

“Yeah. I think that one is a female.”

“How can you tell?”

“The coloring on the exoskeleton is a bit lighter on a female than a male. Plus, the eye color.”

“Oh. Interesting. I mean, I’ve never seen one of these things before.”

“Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t seen it before. Most of these little things tend to stay around here anyway as emotional support critters.”

I looked at the Snark carefully. I even got to pet it. “Heh. It is friendly.”

“Yeah! I think she’s developed an attachment to you, Rose. You got a name for her?”

“Hm… How about… Ruby!”

“Ruby?”

“I mean, look at her! Her main color is red, like the gemstone!”

“Heh, you are right about that, kiddo.”

We continued walking around. I kept the Snark in my bag, letting her be snuggled up in my extra hoodie. We eventually got to this underground hidden lab marked with a familiar symbol.

An orange Lambda. Barney led me inside, and we saw two other people. A young woman, maybe around my age, and an older man who looked like a scientist. They both looked over at Barney and me.

“Calhoun! I see you’ve returned! Who’s this young lady?” The older man asked, pushing up his glasses.

“Well, Kleiner, Alyx… This is Violet. I found her roaming around City 17. She was one of the kids who was forced here by the Combine.” Barney explained.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Violet. I’m just glad you managed to get her unharmed.” Kleiner said.

“Say… You look quite young. How old are you?” Alyx asked.

“Oh... I’m 17… My birthday was back in August.” I said.

“Woah. You are young.” Alyx said. “Anyways, I’m glad Barney managed to find you. We found your boyfriend a while back. She said that despite both of you getting on the same train, you two had been separated.”

I nodded. “Do you know where he is?” I asked. Alyx nodded.

“He’s currently sleeping in the resting quarters of the lab. Also, I just now noticed that katana. Is that a real sword?”

I nodded. “Yup! Got it for Christmas last year!”

“Awesome! That is a neat sword! I’m sure it’s going to come in handy when fending off the Combine!” Alyx said. I nodded.

“Say, by any chance, do y’all have a training room? I wanna practice with my katana.” I asked.

“Of course we do! I’ll lead you there.” Alyx said.

Alyx led me to this massive room filled with different things to train my sword on. I felt like I’d be a master with a katana in no time flat! I immediately began working on training, slicing things that were meant to be sliced, of course, and even getting the chance to do fully-fledged training in Virtual Reality. As I was training, I paused a bit to take a small break, only to hear Kleiner and Alyx talking about something in the background. Based on only a few context clues, I figured out that they were talking about some of the things that The Combine has been doing lately. I couldn't hear exactly all they were saying, but I did hear Alyx say something that sent chills down my spine.

"They first went for the ones they deemed criminals, now they're going after almost everyone... There have been more and more raids around the country."

There was another conversation that I had overheard a bit of.

"Of course, the Combine just had to make things harder and reinstate the Patriots."

"I thought the Patriots got taken down back in 2014 after a virus had corrupted the system?"

"That's the thing, Alyx. The Combine somehow obtained a variant of the Patriots' GW system. Just one AI was able to reinstate the others. Now, they practically have control of what remains of the internet as we know it. Now, under the Combine, they have been able to integrate it via the tech in the Citadel. Destroying the Citadel would not only take out the Combine's control, but also the Patriots."

"Didn't they also get hold of a Private Military Company as well?"

"A PMC? Oh, yeah! You're thinking of the Desperado branch! They were originally taken down in 2018, but, like the Patriots, the Combine had discovered old remnants of the company and utilized those remains for their own advantage, working on creating more advanced cybernetic soldiers. I even heard that they were snatching random citizens off the streets and turning them into those robotic monstrosities. Both the Patriots and Desperado branches are now under the control of a new leader. George Sears."

"Sears? That name sounds familiar... Wait. Isn't he dead? I swear I remember hearing about his death in 2009."

"Again... His corpse was found by the Combine. The Desperado branch was able to give him a complete cybernetic body, essentially reviving him."

I was there for a good hour and a half, learning how to take down different types of enemies around City 17 using my sword and even other things, such as explosive barrels and anything I could classify as a weapon.

Little did I know that this training would help me in the future. As I was training, I looked at the blade of my katana, noticing something about my eyes... One of them was now a bright, almost emerald green. Something about me, looking at that differently colored iris felt oddly familiar to me... When the hell did that happen? Did I suddenly develop some mutation without realizing it? I decided to brush that feeling off and continued practicing and training. Something told me in the back of my head that I was going to need it.

Chapter Text

I was in the training room for a good chunk of time, practicing with my weapons, before Aiden, my boyfriend, walked into the room I was in.

“Hey, Vi!” Aiden called for me. I glanced over at him, putting my Katana down for a minute.

“Yeah, Aiden?” I asked.

“Alyx wanted me to come grab you, she said that she’s bringing someone over and she wanted you to meet him,” He explained.

“Oh. Alright. I’ll be there in a second.” I said. He nodded and left the room while I put my katana back in its holder. I walked back to the main part of the lab, only to see that Dr. Kleiner was looking for something. I glanced over, seeing Alyx had returned with someone. I managed to get a good look at how they looked, remembering every little detail.

A man, maybe in his late 20s. He had short brown hair, green eyes, and a goatee. He even wore glasses… he looked to be around 6’2. He looked familiar to me, but I couldn’t remember where I had seen him before. He wore an outfit similar to most of the citizens in City 17… Maybe he was rescued by Alyx, like how Barney had rescued me? Or had he come here in that outfit to blend in with the other citizens? The man also looked extremely confused, almost as if he was in his own little world or as if he had been living under a rock for the past while. He looked at me and I looked at him… We both had that look in our eyes like we both recognized each other… But from where? He didn’t say anything, and neither did I, but we both had that look as we looked at each other.

“I know you… But from where…? How do I know you?”

I glanced over, hearing Kleiner muttering to himself.

“Blast that little- where did she get to? Llamar? Come out of there!” Kleiner muttered.

“Uh-oh. Is everything alright, Dr. Kleiner?” Alyx spoke up.

“Oh, Hello Alyx. Well… Almost alright. Llamar has gotten out of her crate again. If I didn’t know better, I would suspect Barney of trapping and…” He paused, looking at the man that Alyx brought with her. “My goodness, Gordon Freeman! It is you, isn’t it?”

“So that’s his name… Why does it seem so familiar to me?” I thought to myself.

I tilted my head a bit out of confusion. Ruby, my pet Snark, climbed out of my bag and onto my shoulder. She was just as confused and intrigued as I was.

“I found him wandering around outside. A bit of a troublemaker, isn’t he?” Alyx said.

“We owe a great deal to Dr. Freeman, even if trouble does seem to follow in his wake.” Dr. Kleiner said. “I must say, Gordon, you’ve come at a very opportune time. Alyx has just installed the final piece in the resurrected teleporter!”

“Heh. I can’t take any credit for the breakthrough, Doctor.” Alyx said.

“Nonsense, your talents surpass your loveliness.” Dr. Kleiner said.

“Let’s just see if this thing works, okay?” Alyx said.

Just then, before Alyx could finish her sentence, Barney entered the lab suddenly. Even Gordon and I jumped back a bit out of shock. That’s when I noticed that, despite Gordon being mute, we both acted quite similarly to each other. I then put my attention on Barney.

“Well, is he here?” Barney asked. He then glanced at Gordon. “There you are! Man, Gordon, you stirred up the hive!” He then looked at Kleiner. “We can’t keep him here for long, Doc. It’ll jeopardize everything we have worked so hard for.”

“Don’t worry. He’s coming with me.” Alyx said.

“Wait… What about the Kids?” Barney asked.

“They’re coming as well. Besides, I bet you Miss Rose over here might be a bit of help with that sword of hers.” Alyx said. I blushed a bit.

“That’s right, Barney. This is a Red Letter day! We will inaugurate the new teleporter with a double transmission.” Dr. Kleiner said.

“You mean… Is it working? For real this time? Because I still have nightmares about that cat.” Barney said. Alyx and I paused.

“What cat?” Alyx and I asked at the same time. I guess that the others didn’t hear us. That or they were blatantly ignoring us.

“Now, now, there is nothing to be worried about. We’ve made major strides since then. Major strides…” Dr. Kleiner said.

“What cat?” Alyx and I asked again, a bit louder this time. Still no response from Barney or Kleiner. I expected no response from Gordon since he’s mute.

“Doc. Since he is not taking the streets, you might as well get him out of his civvies.” Barney said.

“What? Oh dear, you are right. I almost forgot. Barney, I’ll give you the honor.” Dr. Kleiner said.

I glanced over, seeing Barney fiddle with a keypad to open up a garage-like door. Inside was a strange armor-like suit that the others called the “Hazardous-environment suit” or “HEV suit” for short.

“There we go…!” Barney said. Then, Lamarr, Kleiner's pet headcrab, jumped onto his head, causing him to scream a bit and shove her off of him. “Damn it! Get it off me!”

“Lamarr! There you are!” Dr. Kleiner said.

“I thought you got rid of that thing!” Barney said.

“Certainly not!” Dr. Kleiner said. He then looked at Gordon. Gordon had a look like he seemed on edge. “Never fear, Gordon. She’s de-beaked and completely harmless! The worst she might try to do is couple with your head…”

Both Gordon and I looked at each other and then back at Kleiner. We both had a look of confusion and edge.

“Get that thing away from me!” Barney said.

“Okay… Um… If I may ask… why in Arkenine hell do you have a pet headcrab!?” I asked. “Those things are still quite dangerous and hostile to humans, regardless of whether they’re de-beaked or not!”

“That sounds rich coming from the girl with a pet squeak grenade!” Dr. Kleiner snapped back at me.

Snarks are friendly and harmless creatures to humans by default! Especially the females!” I yelled back. “Only the males have the explosive tendencies!”

“Okay, you two! There’s no need for this fighting!” Alyx said, standing between Kleiner and me. Alyx turned to me, “Don’t worry. I stand on your side about the Snark. She is pretty cute,” I nodded, putting Ruby back into my backpack.

Kleiner sighed, turning back to Llamar.

“Here, my pet, hop up!” he said, patting his head. Llamar then jumped onto a shelf with some crates and old computer parts. Kleiner gasped.

“No! No! Careful, Llamar! Those are quite fragile!” Kleiner exclaimed. Llamar then jumped into the vents, disappearing again. “Oh fie! It’ll be another week before I can coax her out of there!”

“Yeah… Longer if we’re lucky.” Barney said. I’ll admit, even I giggled a little at his statement.

“Barney… You are not an animal person, are you?” Alyx asked.

“I mean… Vi’s Snark is quite cute. Mostly because snarks are friendly to humans… Heck, even my own Chumtoad is quite adorable. but headcrabs… ugh… no thanks…” Barney responded.

“Chumtoad?” I asked in confusion.

“They’re like frogs. Xen frogs. I managed to grab one a few years ago.” He pulled out his phone and showed me a picture. “Take a look!”

I looked at the photo of the Chumtoad he showed me and immediately adored the creature.

“Awwww! It’s adorable!” I exclaimed.

“Yeah, He is! They also get along with Snarks very well. I’m sure he and Ruby would get along well.”

Kleiner looked back at Gordon. “Well, Gordon, go ahead. Slip into your suit now!”

Gordon nodded, stepping into the glass chamber and wearing his HEV suit. It had a slight orange coloring to it. I was thinking to myself how that would protect him against the Combine… Something like what I was wearing would be more likely to blend in than what he was wearing.

“Well, Gordon, I see your HEV suit still fits you like a glove! Well… The glove parts still do. I have made a few modifications, but I will just acquaint you with the essential parts… Now, let’s see…” Dr. Kliener said, picking up a clipboard with a sheet of paper on it. He began to read it.

“The Mark V Hazardous Environment Suit has been redesigned for comfort and utility…” But before Kleiner could continue, a loud siren sounded in the background. I jumped a bit in shock.

“Scheiße!” I yelled out in German. I should also mention that I am Trilingual. I am fluent in German, English, and Japanese. Translated, what I said was… Well, based on context clues and how the word sounds, I think you might know what it is.

“Oh dear!” Kleiner exclaimed.

“Doc, we don’t have time for this!” Barney said. He then looked at Gordon. “At least get that suit juiced up, Gordon.”

“Good idea! There is a charger on the wall. I have modified your suit to draw power from Combine energy outlets, which are plentiful wherever they patrol.” Kleiner explained.

“Meanwhile, let’s get this show on the road,” Alyx said.

Dr. Kleiner went up to the wall, moving a picture frame around. This opened up a retinal scanner, which he used to open up a secret room behind the wall. Gordon and the others went into the room, but I paused, looking at the photo.

It was a group photo. The people in the photo looked like they were scientists of sorts. I looked closely at the people in the photo when I saw a familiar face… Brown hair… Green eyes… glasses… a goatee… It finally clicked.

It was Gordon. Maybe this was a photo that was taken of him and his colleagues. I even saw Dr. Kleiner in the background of the photo, as well as a few other unfamiliar faces. Another man was standing next to Gordon with a smile on his face. He also looked familiar to me… Maybe this was a work photo? Before I could think of another thought, Alyx called my name.

“Vi? Are you coming?” Alyx called out.

“Yeah! I’m coming!” I said, entering the room. Inside the room was a large mass of computers and wires, along with a platform in the middle of the room. I was in awe of what I saw, and so were Gordon and Aiden. Alyx got onto the platform, and the guard rails closed behind her. I was standing on the platform next to Kleiner.

“Gordon, why don’t you position yourself near the panel over there and wait for my word?” Kleiner asked. Gordon nodded, walking up to the panel. Aiden and I just stood next to Kliener, watching what was happening. A man then appeared on a monitor that Barney was standing in front of.

“Issac? Are you there?” the man spoke.

“So Issac is Kleiner’s first name…” I thought to myself.

“Yes, yes, Eli. We had a bit of a hold-up on this end. You will never guess who found his way into our lab this morning.” Kleiner said.

Eli looked in the direction of Gordon. He looked surprised. “That’s not who I think it is, is it?” He asked.

“Indeed, it is! And we intend to send him packing straight away in the company of your lovely daughter.” Kleiner said.

“Are you ready, Dad?” Alyx asked.

“So Alyx and Eli are Daughter and Father…” I thought to myself. “It must be nice… if only I had something like that…”

“We’re all set on this end!” Eli said.

“Then let’s do it!” Alyx exclaimed excitedly.

Kleiner then pushed a few buttons, causing the platform that Alyx was standing on to rise. Aiden and I still watched with awe. We had never seen this type of technology before. Kleiner was mostly talking to himself. Even though I spoke 3 languages fluently, most of what he said made no sense to me. Mostly a bunch of science gibberish. The only words that I managed to understand clearly were “Conditions could not be more ideal.”

“That’s what you said last time…” Barney said.

“Uh… yeah… about that cat…” Alyx tried to say before Kleiner cut her off.

“Initializing in 3… 2… 1…” Kleiner said…. Nothing happened, though. All of us were confused.

“Oh, fiddlesticks… What now!?” Kleiner exclaimed.

I glanced over and saw that one of the plugs had come loose from its socket. Alyx had pointed out what had happened.

“Uh… Doctor… The plug.” Alyx said. Dr. Kleiner looked over at the plug.

“Dear me, you are right. Gordon, would you mind plugging us in?” Kleiner asked. Gordon nodded, plugging the cord back in. Alyx then perked up.

“Are you going to let Gordon throw the switch?” Alyx asked.

Kleiner nodded, looking at Gordon. “Gordon. Go right ahead.” Gordon nodded, throwing the switch and turning the teleporter on.

“Very good… Final sequence commencing… now!” Kleiner said.

“I can’t look…” Barney muttered to himself.

There was a bright flash of light... When I looked back at the teleporter, Alyx had disappeared. I was surprised to see that it worked. So did Aiden.

“Well… Did it work?” Kleiner asked.

“See for yourself,” Eli said from the computer monitor. Alyx popped up behind him.

“Hey, Doc!” Alyx said.

“Thank goodness! My relief is almost palpable.” Kleiner said.

“Fantastic work, Izzy,” Eli said.

“Well, I can’t take all the credit. Dr. Freeman proved an able assistant.” Kleiner said.

“Well, let’s go ahead and bring Gordon through now,” Eli said.

“Right, you are. I’ll speak to you in a few moments.” Kleiner said.

Barney then looked at Gordon, a smile on his face. “Good Job, Gordon. Throwing that switch and all. I can see your MIT education pays off.”

Eventually, everything was set up for the second use of the teleporter. I still watched carefully to make sure that everything was going correctly this time. Though I had a strange feeling that something was off and that something wouldn’t go right this time. I brushed it off, thinking I was just being paranoid.

“Alright, Barney. Your turn.” Kleiner said.

“Heh. Gee, thanks.” Barney said.

“Gordon, as soon as you are in position, we will send you to Eli.

Then, another alarm began to sound. I jumped a bit out of shock again.

“And not a moment too soon. We get him to Eli, then the kids.” Barney said.

Gordon stepped into the teleporter, the guardrails closed, and the platform began to rise. For some reason, that feeling that something bad was going to happen was still in the back of my head. I decided to say something.

“Um... Guys… This might just be a paranoid thought, but… Maybe we shouldn’t teleport Gordon there… Maybe we could try another thing?” I asked.

“We don’t have much time, Miss Rose. This is the only way,” Barney said. I nodded.

“Alright then…” I said.

“Excellent. Initializing… In 3… 2… 1… Barney, if you would be so kind?” Kleiner asked.

Barney nodded. He then glanced up at Gordon. “Good luck out there, Gordon…”

“Yes, indeed. We are ready to project you, Gordon. Best of luck in the future.” Kleiner said. “And bon voyage! Final sequence…”

Then… an alarm began to sound. I felt a chill run down my spine. I had figured something like this would happen.

“What the hell?!” Barney and I said at the same time. Even Gordon looked scared. Suddenly, Llamar jumped out of a vent, breaking a couple of cables connected to the teleporter. I gasped when I saw what had happened.

“What is it?” Kleiner asked.

“It’s your pet, the freakin’ head humper!” Barney said.

“Llamar?! Hedy! No!” Kleiner cried out. Things happened so fast that I couldn’t remember much of what happened.

“Kleiner, are you more worried about the freaking headcrab than Gordon, who is stuck up there?!” Aiden yelled.

All I remember from most of what happened was a sequence of Gordon disappearing and reappearing in the teleporter. The first time he came back, I knew this was not good.

“There he is!” Barney said.

“Is Llamar with him?” Kleiner said.

“Forget about that thing!” Barney, Aiden, and I said in sync.

There were a few more times that this teleporting sequence happened. Kleiner had called Eli again while this was happening. I was just worried as all hell at this point. But then again, why should I be worried about someone I don’t even have an attachment to? Unless… I started to develop one. I snapped out of that thought process for a minute, listening to the conversation.

“What do you mean he’s not there?!” Kleiner said to Eli.

“He didn’t come through,” Eli said in response.

“Then where is he?” Kleiner asked.

“Behind you,” Eli said. Kleiner and I looked at each other and then out the window behind us. He was there. He looked like he had been through hell and back. Kliener shut down the teleporter.

“Gordon! Run! You must get out of here!” Kleiner said. Gordon then seemed to sign something. I couldn’t understand it as I didn’t know Sign Language. I glanced at Aiden since I knew that they knew Sign Language.

“What is he saying?” I asked.

Aiden walked up to the window and looked at what Gordon was signing. “He said, ‘What about the kids? We can't leave them here.’ Don’t worry, Gordon, we will be down there in a minute."

I nodded. I glanced at the window, seeing if I could open it somehow.

“Worth a shot…” I muttered to myself. I attempted to open the window. However, that effort was a futile one at best.

“Damn it… Never mind that, I guess… Got any ideas, Aiden?” I asked.

“Hm… um, I guess I can use my scythe to break the window,” Aiden said as they grabbed their scythe. I paused, looking at the scythe.

“Holy Arkenine… That’s kind of impressive.” I said. Aiden nodded before they put on some earmuffs, probably to muffle the loud noise that would come after they hit the glass with the scythe. I covered my ears a bit once the scythe hit the glass.

Aiden hit the glass with their scythe, shattering it into tiny shards. I eventually opened my eyes and uncovered my ears. Gordon had even stepped back a bit.

“Whoa! You completely shattered that thing!” I said.

“That just shows how strong I am with my scythe,” Aiden said, seeming to be proud of themselves.

“Huh. Okay, remind me not to fuck around and find out with you.” I said. “But let’s not focus on that. C’mon! Let’s get out of here!”

I stepped around the broken shards of glass, which were more like dust at this point, and got outside next to Gordon. We made our way through the area behind the lab until we saw Barney on a ledge on the other side.

“Gordon! Vi! Aiden!” Barney called our names. We all looked at each other and then up at him. We then heard what sounded like alarms in the distance. We looked at the Citadel in the distance. It was honestly the tallest building I’ve ever seen. No human made that building. Barney even made note of it.

“The Citadel is on full alert. I’ve never seen it lit up like that!” Barney said, looking at the massive building in the distance. “Take the old canals out of City 17. They’ll get all of you to Eli’s lab. It’s a dangerous route, but a whole network of Resistance members runs the underground railroad.” He explained.

“Can’t you come with us?’ I said.

“I would come with, Miss Rose, but I’ve got to look after Dr. Kleiner,” Barney said.

“Damn it…” I muttered.

“Oh, and Gordon, before I forget, I believe you dropped this back at Black Mesa,” Barney said, throwing down a Crowbar at us. Gordon caught it. “Good luck out there, you three… You’re gonna need it…”

Gordon looked at the crowbar, then put it to his side. Barney then called for me.

“Oh, and Miss Rose! Here, you might need this for that katana!” He then tossed down a handmade belt with a thing to hold the katana in. I slipped on the belt and put the katana in. I made sure that the sword was to my left, as I was right-handed, and didn’t want to make a mistake if we had to go into battle.

We looked at each other before making our way through a train station. However, I quickly noticed that we were being chased by the Civil Protection. Not only did we have to run, but we had to put our defenses up.

Chapter Text

While Gordon, Aiden, and I were roaming around, trying to figure out where we were meant to go next, I glanced over and paused. I noticed a small child in an alleyway next to where we were walking. He looked young, no older than 5. I hadn’t seen a child while I was here at City 17… I felt upset for the young kid. He had probably lost his parents or entire family because of the Combine. The Combine had even started hunting down and killing children. For what reason? I never figured it out.

“Vi? Why did you stop? Is everything ok?” Aiden asked.

“Um… There’s a child in that alleyway…” I said. “He looks lost…”

“What?! Ok, we need to grab the child and run. we don’t want the Combine to get him.” Aiden said

I nodded. I carefully approached the young child. He looked scared. I kneeled to him, making sure to be soft and gentle. I spoke softly.

“Hi there… Are you okay?” I asked softly. The child looked at me, seeming scared. He looked like he hadn’t eaten much of anything in a while. I felt sorry for him seeing him in this condition.

“He looks hungry… Do we have any extra food on us?” Aiden asked.

“Hm… I might. Let me check my bag,” I said, opening my backpack. I looked in and saw my Snark, Ruby, was asleep wrapped in my hoodie. I also saw that I had a couple of granola bars in my bag.

“Ahah!” I said, grabbing one of the granola bars. I turned around to the child and handed him one. “Here… You look hungry,”

The child took the granola bar, unwrapped it, and took small bites. He seemed so much better than before now that he had something to eat. Now, we just needed to see if he’d talk to us. We did need to get information from him about what happened, after all.

“Alright… Let’s start slowly. My name is Violet. Violet Rose… You are?” I asked, softly.

The small boy looked up at me before he spoke softly.

“I’m… Joshua… are you going to hurt me?” He sounded scared, slightly shaking.

I paused. “Of course not… I couldn’t even think about hurting a child like you…” I spoke softly. He looked up at me, still seeming fearful… But I guess he saw me as a nice person and decided to trust me.

“Okay… I believe you…” He spoke softly.

I glanced around, hearing the alarms from the citadel in the distance. I glanced back at him.

“How about you come with us? It isn’t safe here.” I asked, holding out my hand for him to take. Joshua looked at me and then nodded his head.

“Okay…” He spoke quietly, taking my hand. I carefully picked him up, cradling him in my arms. He was surprisingly lightweight for a child his age. Joshua seemed comfortable in my arms as I carried him. He began to relax and trust me more and more. He had never seen someone being so kind to him before. Most people in City 17 were cruel and mean to him.

Not me. I was going to make sure that this kid got out of there alive.

I walked back over to Gordon and Aiden, still carrying Joshua in my arms. Gordon and Aiden were waiting for me, surprised that Joshua trusted me as much as he did. Even Gordon gave a slight smile to the sight. I nodded at both of them.

“Alright. Let’s go. We should get to Eli’s lab before the Combine gets to us.” I said. Gordon nodded and so did Aiden. We began making our way through the old canal system.

Chapter Text

We wandered around the sewers of City 17 for a bit. I still carried Joshua, now carrying him on my back. We had lost the Civil Protection, for now at least, as we still wandered around. Right now, it was just the four of us. After a while, Joshua’s weight was getting too much for me. Aiden had offered to carry Joshua for a bit and I happily took that offer, giving Joshua to Aiden. As we rounded the corner, we came across another Combine beating… 2 civilians were caught. One of the civilians called out for help.

“Help me! Stop! We didn’t do anything!” A female civilian called out.

The Combine soldiers were beating down on the husband of the woman. Then they paused, looking directly at Gordon and me. I grabbed my katana and Gordon tightened the grip on his crowbar. We immediately lunged at the Civil Protection officers, Gordon killing one with his crowbar and I killed one with my katana. The female citizen looked up at us.

“They will be coming after you four now. You should run… there’s nothing else you can do here.’ She said in a worried voice.

We continued to trek through the sewers while fighting off the Civil Protection. After a while, and passing over some train tracks, we found what looked like a citizen with a Vortigaunt. The creature itself looked familiar as if I had seen the species before… I felt a strange chill down my spine. The feeling of Deja Vu was back again. The citizen looked at us.

“Good god! Those sirens must be for y’all, huh?” He asked, looking at us. I nodded.

“Yeah. We’re trying to get our asses out of here!” I said. I had become the secondary leader of our group.

“Well, good thing you found us. You four are not the first to come through by a…” The man was cut off by the Vortigaunt. It looked right at Gordon and me.

“This is the Freeman and the Rose. The reckoning of the Combine has come…” It said, I paused. I didn’t know those things could speak English. Gordon seemed just as surprised as me. The main thing that caught me off guard was the fact that the last name “Rose” was an alias for me… How did it know my last name? The man continued speaking.

“Look, we are just a lookout for the underground railroad. The main station is right around the corner. They will get you started on the right foot. Meanwhile, let my Vortigaunt friend here give you a little jolt to get you going.” He said. The Vortigaunt then charged up Gordon’s HEV suit, using its electricity ability of sorts. Something about it seemed familiar. The man turned to me.

“And, Miss Rose, if you don’t mind. I could sharpen that blade for you.”

“Oh, go ahead. Just be careful. This is my only weapon.” I said, handing him my katana.

“I’ll be careful. Don’t worry.” He took my katana, carefully cleaning and sharpening it. “I have to say, this is a really neat sword you got, young lady.”

“Thanks,” I said with a slight smile. “I’ve had it for a while now.”

“Really… Was it a family heirloom?” He asked.

“Uh… Yeah. It was.” I said.

He handed it back to me, putting it back into its Saya. (AKA the scabbard.) The man looked at Gordon and me.

“Be careful now. We really can’t afford to get noticed. If Civil Protection finds you down here, it's bad news for the whole railroad. Now, get outta here… and good luck.” He said. We nodded, getting out of the area as quickly as we could.

Gordon, Aiden, Joshua, and I continued through the sewers and slums of City 17. The entire time, I was on edge, keeping my newly sharpened katana out in my hand. As we walked, we heard radios going off and saw a Combine soldier killing a resistance member. I had swooped in… Though it had been far too late. I could feel my trauma resurfacing a bit. It reminded me of trying to save the security guards or the scientists from the zombies back at Black Mesa, but always being too late to save any of them.

I felt cold… Bad cold…

I was sticking by Gordon a lot. I think he could tell I was scared. He kept me close to him, wrapping an arm around my waist, keeping his crowbar gripped tight in his hand… He had a look on his face that showed he was concerned… I started seeing him more like a father figure. After a while, Gordon looked at me, signing something. Aiden translated.

“He’s asking if you’re okay…” Aiden asked.

I glanced at him, his green eyes looking into my blue eyes. He kneeled to my height. I looked down, a small tear dripping down my face. I shook my head.

“I’m not okay…” I spoke with a quivering voice. “It’s becoming all too much… All the death… the abandonment… Those damn creatures… It’s all coming back to me… all that happened back at Black Mesa all those years ago…” Tears continued to build in my eyes and stream down my cheeks.

Gordon noticed. He immediately wrapped his arms around me, holding him close to me as I began to cry. I clung to him, my arms around his hips. His left hand was on my back and his right hand gently petting the back of my head. I remembered…

I remembered him… I remembered Black Mesa… The Resonance Cascade… Everything. I remembered that he had rescued me from Black Mesa after what happened.

We held each other like that for a good while, just holding onto each other as I sobbed into his shoulder. He was gentle, softly scratching my back as he comforted me… I guess it was just his paternal instinct. He didn’t say a word and neither did I. After a while, after calming down, we continued.

We continued through the sewers, fighting off Combine soldiers. I was getting a bit tired, but I kept going. We needed to get out of there. As we walked around, we found a Resistance member hiding in a piece of a concrete pipe.

“Hey! Over here!” The member called out to us. “Keep going, friends. That station was raided, but there are still others up ahead. I am going to stay here just in case any others come through. Gotta keep the railway alive.”

It was a long walk, and we even almost got caught by the Combine, but we eventually got to another Resistance station. One of the members approached Gordon and me.

“Hey! You’re Freeman and Rose, aren’t you? We got word that y’all were coming. You four got here at a bad time.” The member said.

We then heard a familiar voice over the radio. It was Alyx.

“Black Mesa East to Station 6, do you read? Dr. Freeman and Violet Rose are on their way downriver. Lend them the airboat and give them, as well as Aiden Calhoun, all the help you can. Repeat, Gordon Freeman and Violet Rose have returned. They must reach Black Mesa East.”

The member then looked at us. “Y’all better get going.”

We went on past the station. Eventually, after fending off both Combine and Headcrabs, we reached a small shelter with the airboat and another Resistance member.

“Hey, Dr. Freeman. Miss Rose. I had been hoping you two would show up. And with the extra company, I see. Anyway, I’ve got the airboat all gassed up and ready to go. It’s going to be tough dodging Civil Protection out there in the open, but drive hard and you all will make it. You’ll find more help at station 7. Just up the river, it’s a red barn. Climb on in and fire it up!”

We all approached the airboat and got in. Gordon was the one driving it. I glanced at Aiden and Joshua. “Everyone ready?” Aiden nodded and so did Joshua. I glanced at Gordon and noticed a smirk on his face. He signed something.

“Um. Aiden? Translate.” I said, pointing to what he signed.

“He said we are about to go fast… wait, Gordon no!” Aiden said as they looked over at Gordon.

But it was already too late. He had started up the airboat and we started zooming on the lake.

Chapter Text

As we were zooming down the river and keeping ourselves from being thrown out of the boat, we eventually came across another citizen on a bridge above us. Gordon stopped the boat. We had gotten supplies from the citizens on the bridge. As we kept driving the boat, Gordon still had that smile on his face. At least he was having fun with this. We had even run over a few Combine soldiers with the airboat. I could even feel the wind blowing in my ponytail as we skimmed across the water. Hell, we even got to take down a Combine Helicopter while we were just driving down the river. It was probably the most adrenaline I had ever felt up to that point.

After a while, we reached a closed floodgate. We saw a building close by and decided to go inside and take a break. We walked inside and looked around for a bit. I glanced over, seeing a monitor with a message from Dr. Breen, or as I call him… “Utter bullshit.” I sighed, tired of hearing it. Gordon seemed just as tired of him as I was. I grabbed my katana and sliced the monitor.

“God, when the hell will he ever shut the fuck up?” I muttered. “If we ever see him, I’ll do what I did to that monitor to him.” I leaned against the wall, taking a sip from the bottle of water I had in my bag. I was just glad to have some water I had gotten from home before getting dragged to City 17. Most water sources were poisoned. “Like, seriously. I get he’s a puppet dictator of sorts, but who the hell does he think he is?”

Even Gordon seemed to agree with me and what I was saying. I sighed a bit. “But I digress… That’s enough ranting about him for now. Is everyone okay after that whole airboat thing?” I asked, looking at Aiden.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just a bit dizzy and overstimulated with everything going on,” they said.

“Yeah… I could understand that. Also, wanna know something I noticed when Gordon was driving the airboat?” I asked.

“Sure, this should be interesting,” Aiden said.

“Oh, it is! He had a smile on his face the whole time!” I said. “It was honestly quite adorable.”

After a while, we continued, opened the floodgate, and passed on further down, speeding on the river on the airboat. We had to run from a literal Combine helicopter as we drove on the river. After eluding the copter, we came across another Resistance outpost with two citizens and a Vortigaunt. The citizens looked at Gordon and me.

“Hey! You’re Freeman and Rose, aren’t you?” One of the citizens asked. We nodded.

“Well! I wouldn’t believe it if I couldn’t see it with my own eyes. Dr. Gordon Freeman and Violet Rose themselves!” Another citizen exclaimed.

“Well, you’re just in time, you four. We’ve got to move out before the Combine picks us off. We’re getting ready to move out.” The first citizen said.

“We have to hurry, too… We have to tear down this camp before the Combine gets here.” The second citizen said. Gordon and I nodded. As we took down the camp, I glanced at Aiden and Joshua. Joshua was fast asleep in Aiden’s arms. I spoke up.

“How are you feeling, Aiden?” I asked, checking up on them.

“Hm? Oh… I’m ok. Just stressed,” they said. It seemed like he was holding back tics.  I knew he suffered from nervous tics because of his autism; hell, even I had the same problems, but I couldn't help but feel bad for him. I decided to give him my water bottle, letting him take a sip of my water. 

“Well, don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll get to Black Mesa East in no time flat. Then, we can take a break there.” I said.

“Yeah, we should get going. I think we are almost there.” Aiden said. I nodded. "Also, thanks for letting me take a sip. I don't think I've had good water in a while..."

"Hey, that's what partners are there for. Gotta look out for each other. Even if the world has gone to shit."

Once we got everything done, we continued. As we were driving around, we soon came across this tunnel in the side of a hill, almost a sort of sewer tunnel of some kind. Gordon signed to me, saying that he wished to explore it and if I would join him, in case something that wasn't friendly was inside. I looked back at Aiden and Joshua before making a decision, silently asking if they would be okay by themselves for a bit. Aiden nodded, a reassuring smile on his face.

"Don't worry. We'll be alright. I'll make sure that Joshie is safe." Aiden reassured.

"Alright... We won't be long. " I said, deciding to follow Gordon into the sewer.

To make sure that I wouldn't have to trudge through the poisoned water, Gordon decided to carry me on his back. He was the one wearing the HEV suit after all. After a bit of wandering around, we soon came across this turn in the tunnel, leading to a small cave, a lone Vortigaunt being its only inhabitant. The Vortigaunt was cooking something on a stick, muttering in its alien language. Upon closer inspection, what it was cooking now resembled that of a Headcrab. I guess the Vortigaunts were natural predators to the Headcrabs... After a bit, the Vortigaunt coughed a bit and then turned to face Gordon and me. Gordon carefully set me down from off his back.

"Our cause seems hopeless." It spoke to us.

"What do you mean?" I asked, a bit confused at the whole sight as a whole, though it was mostly me muttering to myself as it continued to speak to us.

"We remember the Freeman and the Rose. We are coterminous. There is no distance between us. No false veil of time or space may intervene. We see you still in Black Mesa. Clearly we see you in the Nihlianth's chamber..."

"Ugh... Don't remind me of that thing..." I thought to myself, continuing to listen.

"We bear witness to the bright eternity of the Nihlianth's demise. You leap, you fall, we see you flash beyond the barriers. For a brief time, you two joined us. You are one. Between the worlds. Communion of the Vortessence. And that other: a deeper mystery. No deeper than the void itself. We cannot forget those whose cords you cut. Forgiveness is not ours to bestow. Unity of purpose, the shattering of common shackles, a single road we tread. The song we sing and shall sing for eternity. No matter the consequences of this struggle. You two have brought us grief and jubilation beyond measure. We are there still, in observance of your final stroke. While our own lay scattered at your feet, you severed the vortal cord that bound the Nihlianth to life, and to us."

Gordon and I paused for a moment to let this all sink in. Sure, we did slaughter a lot of the Vortigaunts back at Black Mesa, but something about that feeling of working with them now just felt weirdly uncomfortable and awkward, knowing of what happened years ago. We continued to listen to what the Vortigaunt still had to say, though I was starting to get a bit worried about Aiden and Joshua... This whole encounter was taking a lot longer than I expected it would.

"That sharp spur of hope has not dulled to this day. For once, the lesser master lay defeated; we knew the greater must also fall in time. With you two beside us, the talisman of victory. The day of freedom draws nigh. Your bright face obscures your darker mask. We call you sib, although your mind and meaning are a mystery to us. Far distant eyes look out through yours. Something secret steers us both... we shall not name it."

Gordon and I looked at each other, both of us knowing what the Vortigaunt in front of us was referring to... The one bastard entity that had caused all of this torment on both of us since the mid-2000s. We turned back to the Vortigaunt, listening to its rambles.

"We have endured these chafing bonds for eons, yet a single moment of further solitude seems intolerable! How often we have slipped from our yoke, only to find it choking us again. Let this war end in either total victory or our extinction. No further compromise shall we allow. We take our stand beside you two, here, upon this miserable rock. The way ahead is dark for the moment. What seems to you a sacrifice is merely, to us, an oscillation. We do not fear the interval of darkness. We are a tapestry woven of Vortessence. It is the same for you if only you would see it. How many are there in you? Whose hopes and dreams do you encompass? Could you but see the eyes inside your own, the minds inside your mind, you would see how much we share. We are you, Freeman. As well as you, Rose. And you two are us. We have lost all dear to us."

We paused again, taking in more of what was said to us. We were also given supplies by the Vortigaunt, mostly health and med kits for some of the more dangerous paths on our way. We also managed to snag some Combine Rations. They weren't the best, but it would probably be the only thing we would have for a long time. Soon enough, Gordon and I headed back to the boat, where Aiden and Joshua still sat, waiting for us. Joshua got off of Aiden's lap, rushing over to me and hugging my leg as tightly as his little arms could.

"Mama! What took you so long?" He asked, sounding like he had been worried for a long time.

"It's nothing, we just got distracted by something in there... It's best if I explain it as we go." I responded, rubbing the back of my neck. Aiden nodded in understanding as we got back on the boat and started back on our way through the river. As we drove, I explained to Aiden what happened and what the Vortigaunt had said. He seemed just as surprised and confused as I did.

Chapter Text

After a while of driving on the airboat, we passed through a dam and reached a hideout of sorts. I glanced around a bit.

“This must be the place,” I said. “Shall we head inside?”

Gordon and Aiden nodded. We hopped out of the airboat and walked up. We entered a chamber of sorts… However, it was sealed, and alarms went off. I guess we tripped some sort of security system. We then heard a woman’s voice.

“We have something… Well, multiple things. Okay… they’re human.” The woman spoke. The woman then spoke directly to us. “Hello? Take it easy in there. You’re safe now. You will have to forgive the scanning process. We can’t take any chances.”

Multiple machines began to scan us. We stood still for the most part. The voice recognized Gordon and me, speaking up.

“Wait… Dr Freeman? Violet Rose?! Is that you? You made it here this quickly? Well, Eli is going to be amazed, not to mention relieved.” The woman said. The door in front of us opened up, and a woman was standing in front of us. I guessed that she was the one speaking to us.

“I’m Dr. Mossman. Dr. Judith Mossman. I’ve been hearing about you two since the Black Mesa incident.” She spoke to us. “I’ll take you down to Eli right away! He’d never forgive me if I kept you all waiting.”

Something inside me told me that Mossman shouldn’t be trusted. As we walked, I went to Aiden, whispering to them.

“I don’t know if this is just paranoia or not, but I’ve got a strange feeling about Judith…” I whispered.

“How so?” Aiden whispered back.

“I don’t know… I just have this feeling in the back of my head that tells me she’s going to betray us later on…” I said.

“Maybe it is just paranoia…?” Aiden whispered.

“Maybe…” I whispered. Mossman then spoke again.

“We could certainly use the extra help around here. We have covered a lot of ground in the last few months.” Mossman said. I thought about what she said.

“Months? The Combine has only been here for a couple of days… Unless…” I was snapped out of my thoughts.

“Miss Rose, are you okay?” Mossman asked me, looking concerned.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I just blanked out for a minute.” I said.

“Oh. Alright then.” Mossman continued talking as we entered an elevator.

“Oh, listen to me… I sound like a post-doc! I’m just so excited to think that we will finally get the chance to work together.” Mossman said.

“God damn… She is so annoying… Sounds like a teenage freshman girl in high school talking to their crush. Shut up already…” I thought to myself. I glanced at Aiden. He seemed to be thinking the same thing. I blocked out most of the things that she said because I was just fed up with her. The elevator eventually reached the bottom floor. We walked out of the elevator.

“Oh, here is Eli now!” Mossman said. I glanced over, seeing Eli talking with a Vortigaunt.

“Alright… Good. You keep right on it.” Eli spoke. Mossman spoke to him.

“Eli! Look who I found in the airlock!” Mossman spoke up. Eli glanced over at us, a smile appearing on his face. I felt a smile on my face as well. I trusted Eli after all.

“Gordon Freeman and Violet Rose! Let me take a good look at you two! My god, I haven’t seen you two in years! You haven’t changed in one iota. How do you do it? Now… Let’s see… The last time I saw you two, I sent you up for help after the Resonance Cascade. I never thought it would take you this long to get back to me.” He chuckled a bit. “Anyways, welcome to the lab. It’s not Black Mesa, but it serves us well enough.”

“It’s going to be a lot more like Black Mesa with Gordon here to help,” Mossman said.

“I have to say, even I’m impressed with what you’ve got here,” I said.

“Heh. Glad you think that, Vi.” Eli said. “Well, feel free to look around.”

We each walked around for a bit. I was impressed with what they had set up in this place. Eli went back to his business. While looking around, I paused, seeing something in a jar on a desk. I looked closely at it and realized what it was. It was the head of a Combine Cremator. They were just as their name implied, often walking around wearing big trench coats and cremating the remains of dead citizens as well as dead Combine officers. I had seen them walking around the darker sides of City 17 when I had first arrived after getting off the train. I was both fascinated and weirded out by seeing the Cremator's head in a jar... just sitting there on a desk. After a while, Alyx had entered.

“Huh?” I glanced over. “Oh! Hey Alyx!” I said, waving to her.

“Ah! Violet! Gordon! The Vortigaunts said you were here. I cannot believe you made it so quickly on foot.” Alyx said. She then noticed Joshua with Aiden. “Aww… Who’s the kid?”

“Oh. That’s Joshua. We found him while walking around the city.” I explained. “We decided to take him in.”

“Aww. That’s sweet. I guess you and Aiden adopted him?” Alyx said.

“Heh… Well… not officially, but… yeah.” I said. “I’m at least going to wait till I’m 18 to adopt him.”

“Well, I’m sure you two would make perfect parents for him,” Alyx said. She turned back to Gordon. “Still, I can’t believe you made it here so quickly,”

Eli spoke up. “I believe he broke your record, honey.”

“Well, he earned it. I guess you proved you can handle yourself out there.” Alyx said.

“There’s nothing that Gordon can’t handle… With the possible exception of you.” Eli said.

“Dad!” Alyx laughed a bit from embarrassment. I smiled a little, seeing the interaction between the two.

“Eli seems like a good dad…” I thought to myself, a small smile on my face. Mossman was still talking for a while.

Alyx decided to take Gordon, Aiden, Joshua, and me with her, away from the others, for a minute. Alyx opened up a door with a keypad and led us down a hallway.

“So, I see you’ve all met Dr. Mossman. She is one of the main reasons I’ve spent so much time outside. You should hear her drone on about how it should’ve been her down in the Black Mesa test chamber that day.” Alyx said.

“Oh, trust me, we probably have. She just doesn’t know when to stop talking, doesn’t she?” I asked.

“Yeah. She sounds like a girl during their freshman year of high school yapping about the most recent drama going on!” Alyx said.

“I was thinking the same thing!” I said. “Also, with that statement about her wishing that she was the one who was in the test chamber during the… um… The RC… I highly doubt she would like it. And that’s coming from one of the youngest survivors.” Alyx and I laughed a bit at each other’s statements. I guess we both had the same feelings about Mossman. Alyx then pointed down an old hallway.

“That’s the old passage to Ravenholm… We don’t go there anymore.” Alyx said, a twinge of sadness in her voice.

“Mind if I ask why?” I asked.

“I… I’d rather not say.” Alyx said.

“I… I see.” I said.

Alyx led us through another airlock into an area outside. Alyx showed Gordon something called a “Gravity Gun.” To be honest, I didn’t pay that much attention to the conversation. Alyx led us further into the scrapyard.

“Now, let me call D0g. He loves to play fetch.” Alyx said.

“Oh? You have a dog?” I asked, seeming interested.

“Yeah! D0g! Come!” Alyx called. We then heard large, robotic footsteps. Gordon and I glanced over and immediately paused, looking up at the large robot. I paused for a moment before speaking.

“Holy… Arkenine….” I muttered.

“Gordon. Vi. Aiden. This is D0g. My dad built him to protect me when I was a kid. The first model was about yay-high; I’ve been adding onto him ever since.” Alyx explained.

I stood there looking up at D0g. He was huge! He was even bigger than Gordon, and he’s 6’2! I was looking at D0g in awe. Just seeing him and how he was built was impressive to me, having never seen this kind of technology before. Aiden and Gordon seemed just as impressed as I was. Alyx then turned to D0g.

“Okay, D0g, let’s play fetch with Gordon, Vi, and Aiden,” Alyx said. She turned to Gordon. “You will need to use the gravity gun.” She turned back to D0g. “Go ahead, D0g. Throw!”

D0g threw a series of crates as Gordon caught them using the Gravity Gun. Aiden and I were impressed with what we were seeing. It was like he was already a pro at using the Gravity gun despite only having held it recently. Alyx then called out to D0g.

“D0g, go get your ball!”

D0g ran over to a metal crate and pulled out a round glowing object. He threw it to Gordon. Gordon caught it and threw it back to D0g using the Gravity gun. They did this a few more times. Alyx spoke up.

“When I told you that you would be playing Fetch, I didn’t tell you who would be fetching, did I?”

Eventually, they stopped tossing the ball around.

“Alright, Gordon, let’s try something else. Throw something bigger, D0g!” Alyx said. D0g then did something unexpected, having grabbed a fully-fledged dumpster. Alyx gasped. “No, D0g! No boy, put that down!” D0g paused. It seemed like he was frozen. “What is it, D0g?”

Suddenly, an explosion happened in the distance. All of us had heard it. Joshua had woken up in Aiden’s arms.

“dame da . . .” I muttered to myself. What I had said was “oh Shit” in Japanese. (Kanji: だめだ。。。)

“Oh my god… what was that?” Alyx asked. She then gasped. “Scanners! The Combine is sweeping the area! We have to head back to the lab! C’mon, you four!”

We followed Alyx back to the airlock, along with D0g. Joshua was still in Aiden’s arms. He seemed scared, clinging onto them while shivering and clutching his horse plushie. Alyx had contacted Eli over a monitor.

“Dad, It’s Alyx. Are you there?” Alyx asked.

“Alyx… Honey…” We heard Eli’s distorted voice over the monitor.

“What’s going on in there?” Alyx asked, seeming worried.

“Where are you, Alyx?” Eli asked.

“We’re in the scrapyard airlock, stuck in a full cycle,” Alyx explained.

“Are Gordon, Aiden, and Violet with you?” Eli asked.

“They’re right here,” Alyx said.

“Good. I want you five to…” Eli got cut off as the power got cut off.

“Dad?” Alyx asked. The power came back on.

“Take Gordon, Vi, and Aiden out of here. Head for the coast! Do not go through Raven-” The monitor cut off as Eli was speaking.

“Dad? Dad?! Damn it!” Alyx exclaimed. “D0g, open the airlock, get us out of here! Hurry now! Tear it apart if you have to, just get it open!”

D0g tore the door open. Alyx grabbed Gordon’s hand. “Come on, Gordon. Come on!”

Gordon grabbed my hand, and I grabbed Aiden’s. We ran through the tunnels. Gordon kept a tight grip on my hand. As we ran, a pile of rocks collapsed in front of us, separating Gordon, D0g, and me from Alyx, Aiden, and Joshua. Gordon had pulled me close to him before the rubble had hit me. We were both shaking. Alyx faced us through a small gap in the rubble.

“Gordon. Violet. You two need to get out of here. I can’t leave my father.” She faced D0g. “D0g, take them to the Ravenholm Tunnel, then circle and try to meet up with me.”

“Wait… Before we go…” I said. I looked at Aiden, still holding a shivering Joshua. “Aiden… Be careful out there, love. Keep yourself and Joshua safe. Please… Alyx, keep them safe…”

“Don’t worry, V. I’ll keep them both safe. You do the same with Gordon. I know how mentally fragile he can be nowadays.” Alyx spoke. I glanced at Joshua, and he made eye contact with me.

“Hey Joshie… It’s okay, buddy… You’re going to be okay… Just stay with Aiden and Alyx and you’ll be safe…” I spoke softly and gently to him.

“But will you be okay, Mama?” He spoke in a soft and quivering voice. It melted my heart hearing him call me “Mama.”

I nodded. “Mama will be okay… We’ll see you as soon as we can. You stay with Dad and Auntie Alyx… Okay?.” Joshua nodded. I glanced at Gordon, and we followed D0g, holding each other’s hands.

D0g took the lead, leading Gordon and me down the hallway Alyx had pointed out earlier. D0g opened up a tunnel door. Gordon and I looked at each other and then looked ahead of us. We continued alone, just the two of us.

When we got to the end, we both froze. We couldn’t believe what we were seeing. If Black Mesa was hell, this was purgatory.

“Oh, my Arkenine…”

Chapter Text

Ravenholm.

The town that Eli had warned us about. A town infested with headcrabs and zombies… Gordon and I glanced at each other and around the area surrounding us. This wasn’t just an abandoned town…

This was a nightmare.

Gordon clutched his crowbar, and I clutched the handle of my katana. Our free hands held onto each other. I could feel Gordon shaking like a leaf. We continued, fighting our way through the infested hellscape that was Ravenholm. After a short while, we heard a man’s voice.

“For it was said that they had become like those particular demons which dwell in matter, but in which no light may be found.”

We looked at each other and then around the area, but saw nobody. The voice continued.

“For the days of my life have vanished like smoke, and my bones are parched like ash. And let all my impurities be as fuel for the fire until nothing remains but the light alone.”

We looked around and saw a man in the distance. He looked like a priest of sorts; he was carrying around a shotgun. At first, I felt unnerved. Gordon must’ve felt the same way about the man that I did. The man continued speaking.

“May they become like dust before the wind… may the angel of the lord pursue them.” The man eventually left our line of sight. I looked at Gordon. He seemed just as confused as I was.

“Should we follow?” I asked. He nodded.

We continued roaming around Ravenholm, fighting for our lives, protecting each other, and just trying to get out of there as quickly as we could. A couple of times, we had to hide in old houses because Gordon’s anxiety was getting the best of him. I think he was getting flashbacks of the Resonance Cascade back at Black Mesa.

One of those times, he sat down on the floor of an old house that we had just cleared of headcrabs and zombies. He had his knees to his chest, shaking like a leaf. He had set down his crowbar and hugged his knees. I knelt in front of him. He looked at me, his emerald green eyes looking into my sapphire eyes. I gently held his quivering hand. He almost looked like he was about to start crying, tears streaming down his cheeks. I decided to speak softly to him, mostly to avoid hiding our location.

“Hey… It’s okay, Gordon… We’re okay… We’re going to get out of this place alive… I promise…” I spoke softly. He let my hand go and signed something. Two words.

“I’m scared…”

I knew what he had said… Had I learned sign language that quickly? Maybe Aiden taught me before, and I just forgot…? I still spoke softly to him, as if I were talking to a scared child.

“I know… I know you’re scared. But don’t worry. I’m right here and I won’t let anything bad happen to you or me.” I spoke softly.

“Promise?” He signed.

“I promise.”

He then gave me a tight hug, still quivering in my arms. I hugged him back, softly rubbing his back. He took off his glasses and buried his face in my shoulder. I knew how touch-starved he was, so I decided to stay there, holding him close in my arms.

“Think of this like Black Mesa back in New Mexico… When we survived the Resonance Cascade about 20 years ago. We got through it then. We can get through this now.” I spoke softly. I could hear his soft sobs as he cried into my shoulder. It broke my heart to see him this scared, but I knew that he would be safe with me by his side. I softly scratched his back, doing all I could to comfort him at that moment.

“It’s gonna be okay, Gordon. I won’t let anything hurt you.” I could see the dark circles under his eyes. “Maybe once we get out of this mess, we can take a quick rest.”

After a while, he had calmed down, his tears streaming down his face. I carefully wiped his tears with my jacket sleeve. He looked up at me, a soft smile on his face. I smiled back.

“Feel better?” I asked softly. He nodded.

“Alright… Let’s go then. And don’t worry. I’ll protect you… Okay?” I asked. He nodded.

We continued walking around, eventually coming across what looked like a burning yard infested with zombies. We looked around and suddenly noticed a few of the zombies running towards us while they were on fire. Gordon and I were terrified, backing away while holding each other's hands. Just as we thought we were as good as dead, the mysterious man from earlier kicked open a door from the top of the yard and killed the zombies with a shotgun. We were both stunned for a minute. We glanced over at the man, and he spoke again.

“But who is this? Another life to save? I will keep my eye on you two. More than I cannot promise.” He said before walking away, back through the door he kicked down.

We continued fighting through Ravenholm, taking breaks to keep our mental stability intact. I knew that Gordon was just wanting to get out of there. He was still shaking like a leaf. We killed a few of the zombies around the area when we saw the mysterious man again.

“Well done, Brother! Make free use of my traps, but take care not to fall in them yourself.” He then paused, pulling out his shotgun. “Behind you!”

We both dodged out of the way as he shot a zombie behind us. I even heard Gordon squeak out of fright. He spoke to us again. “In Ravenholm, you do well to be vigilant.” He walked off again.

I glanced over, still seeing Gordon on the ground, shaking like a leaf. I felt bad for him. When we entered Ravenholm, I expected myself to be the one shaking and having panic attacks almost every 5 minutes. But no, it was Gordon instead. I kneeled to his level and held his hand.

“Don’t worry. We’re going to get out of this place alive. I promise.” I spoke softly to him. He nodded, seeming to believe me. I helped him up, and he clung to me, still shaking.

As we were fighting through Ravenholm, even having to deal with Toxic Headcrabs, we found a lone Barnacle dangling from the ceiling without any way to get around it. We were both stumped before I looked over, seeing a lone Toxic Headcrab approaching, Gordon grabbed his crowbar, having an idea, and then batted the Headcrab into the Barnacle's tongue. As expected, the Barnacle ate the Headcrab, but then immediately died on the spot. Gordon and I paused, a bit stunned at this sudden revelation. We definitely decided to keep this fact in mind in case we ever needed it again. After more fighting and running and running into the mysterious man, who we later learned called himself “Father Grigori” (I mean, it makes sense since he’s a priest), we felt like we were almost out of the hellscape that was Ravenholm. We just kept running and fighting for our lives. We ran into Father Grigori a few times before we finally found the exit.

“There it is! Come on, Gordon, let’s get the hell out of here!” I said. He nodded.

“Farewell, Brother and sister! I fear I deliver you to a darker place. May the light of lights be with you. Look to your salvation.” Father Grigori said one last time as we left. We rushed into the mines in front of us. Once we were in, Gordon and I sat down against a rock wall.

“We did it… We got out of there.” I said. Gordon suddenly hugged me tightly, still shaking like a leaf. I hugged him back, keeping him close. I heard him start to sob again softly. This time, he was crying out of relief. I sat by his side, letting him sob quietly into my shoulder. He needed comfort at that moment. We just went through a zombie-infested town and nearly died a couple of times, but we made it. We got out of there and to safety.

Chapter Text

After roaming around the mines, we emerged onto what looked like train tracks. We walked around a bit until being stopped by a Combine Sniper nearly shooting us down. Gordon fought off the snipers and we continued running. We eventually came across a full-blown firefight. Gordon and I stepped in, helping the Resistance fight off the Combine. After finishing the Combine in the area, the citizens surveyed the damage caused. Some people were fine… Others had been injured. I almost felt the Black Mesa trauma coming back to me, but Gordon did his best to make sure I would stay calm. He then seemed shocked as he looked at my face.

“Gordon? Is everything okay? You seem worried.” I asked.

“There’s a scar near your left eye…”

I paused, grabbing my phone and opening the front camera. I felt a chill down my spine when I saw the scar that ran down my left eye. Luckily, it wasn’t bleeding, but it did look like a nasty scar… I knew it would probably heal soon. Right now, none of it mattered. We had other matters on our hands.

“Gordon Freeman? Violet Rose? It's incredible that you two made it! We have been getting communications from Alyx. I will see if I can reach her again. Follow me.” A random citizen said to us. We followed him, with me staying close to Gordon. The citizen led us to a door, knocking on it.

“It's Leon, we are all clear. And I have got Gordon Freeman and Violet Rose.” He said. The door opened and another citizen popped open the door.

“Dr. Freeman, Miss Rose, you are kidding? I have been on the line with Alyx.
Her father has been captured.” The other citizen spoke in a worried tone. Both Gordon and I were shocked when we heard what happened. We never thought that something like this would ever happen. Leon then spoke up.

“Over here, Dr. Freeman.” He spoke up. As we followed him, I heard a Vortigaunt say something.

“The Eli Vance is indispensable to the liberation.”

Whatever that could mean… I never really understood what they spoke of most of the time. Leon led us to a monitor, typing on it before Alyx appeared.

“Alyx. it’s Leon, and I have got Gordon Freeman and Violet Rose with me.” Leon spoke.

“Gordon! Violet! You made it through Ravenholm? Thank god!” Alyx spoke with happiness. Then things got serious. “I need your help! They have taken my father! He has been taken to Nova Prospekt. The vortigaunts tracked the ship that made off with him and Judith Mossman. While the trains are still running I am going to hitch a ride. Here is where you two come in. I need you to make your way along the coast until you get to Nova Prospekt. It used to be a high-security prison, it's something much worse than that now. But I think it is still easier to sneak in than to break out.”

Gordon and I looked at each other, knowing what we had to do.

“You want them to take the coast road? They won't last five minutes on
foot. It's antlion spawning season.” Leon spoke up.

“That's why I called you Leon. I was hoping you still had the scout car we
left with you last summer. The one my dad rigged with the tau cannon.” Alyx spoke.

“Yeah good idea, hold on a sec,” Leon spoke, grabbing his radio. “Noriko? Bring the buggy out and put it on the dock right now, Gordon Freeman and Violet Rose will be driving it!”

A voice came back on the radio. “Will do! I just finished mounting an ammo crate on the back.”

“Good timing. Ok, Alyx we are all set.” Leon spoke.

“Thanks, Leon. Gordon, Violet, I have not driven the coast in over a year, but I have no reason to think it's gotten any safer. Meet me in the depot where the trains unload. Take care of yourself and I will see you in Nova Prospekt” Alyx spoke.

“Bye Alyx. Ok doc, before you hit the road you might wanna grab some
med kits, restock on ammo, and maybe check the map to see where you are headed. There is an ammo supply crate on the back of the car if that is any comfort. Stay with the car, make use of the thumpers, and you will stand a fair chance against the antlions. I will radio ahead to let the next base know you two are coming.” Leon said.

Gordon nodded and we went to the dock, where the car was waiting for us. As Gordon and I came out onto the dock, we could see the car waiting for us,
and a large crane with a magnet on it.

“Hello Dr. Freeman and Miss Rose,” A citizen on a crane called out to us. “The car is all ready for you. Hop in and I will lower you down to the beach!” We both got into the car, Gordon being the one diving. “Good, here we go!”

The citizen in the crane began to lower Gordon, me, and the car down to the
Beach. After a couple of issues, we got up and got going. It took a while, but we eventually got to our destination. A resistance outpost.

“Gordon Freeman! Violet Rose! Hurry get in the basement! We are expecting
gunships at any moment. Colonel Cubbage will be glad to see you made it.” A resistance member spoke to us. Gordon and I headed down into the basement of the building where a man was speaking to some other resistance members.

“This steerable rocket launcher is our best bet for taking down a gunship.” the man seemed to be muttering to himself. He then looked over, seeing Gordon and me.

“Ah! Hello, I will be right with you. Now.. where was I? Ah, yes.. Using the laser guide, you can steer your rocket past the gunship defenses and prevent it from shooting down your rocket. This will only anger it at first. But if you can survive long enough to make several direct hits, you will be rewarded with a prize worthy of any mantle piece. Now? Who is going to be the lucky one to carry it into combat?” He then looked over at Gordon.

“Ah yes, Gordon Freeman. I could not have asked for a finer volunteer.” He spoke as he handed Gordon the rocket launcher.

“Colonel Odessa Cubbage at your service.” He spoke.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said with a small bow.

“Likewise with you, Miss Rose. I’ve heard a lot about you and Gordon. Also, that is an interesting sword you have there.” He spoke, pointing out my katana. “Is it genuine?”

“Yes, it is! My biological father got it from an antique shop for Christmas last year.” I explained.

“Wells, that really is sweet.” As he spoke, an alarm suddenly started blaring. I jumped a bit from the shock.

“Gunship!” I heard one of the members yell.

“Damn! Let me just send a warning to the lighthouse point, then I will come right up and lend a hand!” Odessa said.

Gordon looked like he had an idea as he rushed outside, rocket launcher in hand. I rushed outside with him but he paused, looked at me with a worried look, and gave a hand signal to me as if telling me to stay put. I decided to listen to him, sitting against a wall as he went outside to fight off the gunship. I sat there, listening to the horrible sounds of rockets going off and explosions, some of the explosions shaking the basement.

After a while, Gordon came back. I must’ve been trembling because he looked worried when he saw me. He kneeled to my height and put his hand on my shoulder. He gently set aside the rocket launcher, and then hugged me, gently rubbing my back. He knew I was scared. He pulled back and signed to me,

“Are you okay?” He signed to me, still looking concerned.

I nodded. “Yeah… I just hate loud noises…” I explained.

He nodded, seemingly understanding what I was saying. He knew I didn’t like loud noises at all, ever since the Black Mesa incident. He stayed close to me.

“Well, don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’ll be safe.” He signed to me.

“I know you will… and I’m thankful for that,” I spoke.

He smiled softly, hugging me. He was just happy that I was taking this whole situation well. We were just ready to get ourselves out of there and ready to live a somewhat normal life.

“Well, that’s that. I gather you have disposed of that gunship, Dr. Freeman. Your reputation is well deserved. I will have someone open the gate for you two immediately.” Odessa said to us.

We went outside and a resistance member opened the gate for us. Gordon got in the driver’s seat and we drove off.

Chapter Text

As we were driving, I was mostly paying attention to the surroundings we were driving through. I had only just noticed that the oceans surrounding us had been nearly drained... Seems like the Combine were really focused on having us basically rely on only them for supplies and such. I was even more glad to have my water bottle with me, but I knew that I was going to have to ration what was left. After driving for what felt like forever, we got to another Resistance outpost stationed at a lighthouse. A resistance member looked over, seeing both of us.

“Hey! Over here! You two made it! We are picking up radio chatter. They’re looking for your car. Get your car in the garage.” They said We nodded as Gordon drove the car into the garage. We got out of the car, leaving it in the garage, as this was our destination.

The resistance member who called us over walked up to us, speaking to us about the situation.

“Okay, Doc. You two will have to go on foot from here. There is a secret path along the cliffside, but no one is going there until we fight off this attack. Having you here to fight alongside us is going to make a big difference for morale.” they paused, glancing over, “Oh, Crap! Here come the gunships!”

Gordon and I glanced at each other and over at the area, seeing Combine officers swarming the area. Gordon and I looked at each other, knowing what we had to do. He grabbed his firearm, and I grabbed my katana, unsheathing it from the scabbard. Gordon, I, and the other Resistance members in the area started to fight against the Combine. I kept the mental note that The Combine aren't human.

Don’t show mercy to them. No matter how human their screams sound.

After a while, we managed to wipe out the remaining Combine waves. Gordon and I stood there, taking a deep breath as we calmed down from the chaos of all that had just happened. I looked down at the sword in my hands, seeing the blade covered in blood… Though… I felt almost no emotion toward it… I knew I was becoming desensitized to everything going on… But something wasn’t right with me. I felt an odd chill down my spine as I looked at the crimson substance dripping from my blade and the stains on my shirt. Even Gordon noticed the fact that I had randomly paused. He glanced over, seeming concerned. He kneeled to me, signing to me,

“Vi? Are you okay, kiddo?”

I was still silent, trembling as I held the bloody sword in my hand. I dropped it, feeling the weight of all of the trauma and the realization that I’ve killed so many people. People who used to be human. People who used to be like me. I felt like I was near another breakdown. I couldn’t process what was fully going on. I think he knew what he was thinking… He hugged me… and that’s what broke me. I broke down sobbing in his arms, clinging onto him.

He tried everything he could to help me calm down, softly rubbing my back as he tried to comfort me. His paternal instincts had kicked in, wanting to do everything in his power to make sure that I was okay. He knew I was stressed out about the whole Combine situation. I could even hear him trying to shush me as he rubbed my back. It took me a bit, but I eventually calmed down. He carefully let me go, looking at me. He signed to me again.

“Feeling better?” He asked. I nodded. “What caused the breakdown this time?”

I sighed, explaining what caused it. He seemed to be understanding, but at the same time, he seemed concerned.

“Vi… You know you can’t show mercy to those things… They aren’t human anymore. You can’t be soft around them. They won’t show mercy to you…” Gordon explained to me.

“I know… But-” He cut me off.

“No Buts. You’re going to get yourself seriously injured if you keep trying to show mercy to them. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, Kiddo…” He signed more. I was silent and nodded. “I know this is hard for you to hear… But you need to listen to me and do as I say when it comes to the Combine. You’re my daughter, Vi… The last thing I would want is for you to get hurt… or worse…”

“I know… I’m sorry…” I spoke quietly.

“Why are you apologizing?” He asked.

“Because I almost got myself hurt…” I said.

“You don’t need to apologize… It’s okay, my child. You’re still alive and that’s what matters to me… Just be careful.” He signed to me.

“I’ll try to… I’ll try to be more careful,” I said. He nodded, standing up.

“Then it’s settled. Everything is okay now. We fought off the Combine waves. We should continue. We need to get to Alyx.” He signed to me.

“Right… We should..” I spoke quietly. We both put our weapons up. After everything that happened, a Resistance member walked up to us and showed us the way down the path.

“This way, Dr. Freeman. We will take the cliff path before the gunships find us. Right along there.” They spoke. “And watch your step.”

A secret door opened up. Gordon and I started going down on foot to the path along the edge of the cliff. I stayed close to Gordon, not wanting to leave his side or accidentally get separated from him. I felt myself slightly trembling as we walked alongside the edge. As we were walking, I started thinking about Aiden and Joshua. I just hoped that they were both okay. They should’ve been with Alyx… After a while, Gordon and I came across a resistance member and his friend lying injured on a rock in the middle of the sand.

“Hey! You two there! Don’t move! Stay on the rocks! Stepping on the sand makes the antlions crazy!” One of the citizens said, looking up at us. The injured citizen tried to get up.

“Lazlo, don’t move!” The other citizen spoke.

However, it was far too late. The antlions crawled up from the sand and killed the injured citizen. Gordon immediately held onto me, keeping me close to him. He was probably trying to protect me. That’s one more chapter of trauma in my book… I thought to myself.

“Dear God!” The remaining citizen exclaimed. “Poor Lazlo… The finest mind of his generation… Come to such an end.” He looked up at us. “You two go on. There’s nothing else you can do here.”

Gordon and I continued across the beach when we came across a very large antlion. We both grabbed our weapons and killed it. This day was getting more and more stressful as time continued… I just wanted to get out of this mess. As I was thinking about everything that was going on, my thoughts were cut short by a Vortigaunt speaking to Gordon. I don’t exactly remember what it said. The Vortigaunt then pulled something, I assume it was some form of bait, from the antlion we had just killed.

“The Freeman will require these on the road ahead. Gather them now.” It said to Gordon. It led us back into the outpost and gave Gordon some simple training on how to use the bait. After a while, the Vortigaunt opened the gate for us. We got onto the beach, now with the antlions helping us. After a while, we got to Nova Prospekt. Gordon and I looked at each other, ready to raid the place. We had our weapons ready… and carefully entered.

We wandered around, looking around the place. The first room we entered looked like a prison-holding cell area. As we wandered around, we came across a hole in the wall.

And… I don’t remember much of what happened after that. I do remember that we had to fight through Nova Prospekt while Gordon was herding his antlions. It was honestly kind of neat to see him doing that. I could even see a smile on his face when he was herding them.

After a short while, we finally met back up with Alyx, Aiden, and Joshua. I ran up to Aiden, hugging him.

“Aiden! You’re okay!” I exclaimed as I held onto him.

“You are too!” Aiden spoke as well.

Joshua was also holding onto me, his tiny arms wrapped around my waist. “Mama!”

I gave him a soft head pat as we reunited. Unfortunately. Gordon couldn’t control his antlion herd, and they all just kind of wandered off. Alyx spoke up.

“I’m glad you two made it here in one piece. My dad is up there somewhere, in that holding area. It’s gonna take some doing to get him out.” She said, “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

We nodded, following Alyx.

Chapter Text

Gordon, Aiden, Joshua, and I followed Alyx down an elevator. I stayed close to Gordon, a hand on my katana handle just in case I needed to protect anyone on my team. Alyx then spoke to us.

“I’m afraid that I am flying blind here. Now and then, a Vortigaunt gets captured and sends back a little picture of this place. What we do know, is all bad.”

“This place gives me the creeps… I’ve got a horrible feeling about this place.” I said, still gripping my katana handle.

“You and me both, V,” Alyx spoke to me. We continued walking along with Alyx and eventually came to a control room. Looking around, I gasped when I saw a certain person.

It was Eli. We ran to the holding room he was in.

“There he is!” Alyx and I spoke in unison.

“Alyx! Gordon! Violet! Aiden!” Eli spoke up. “Is that you? I can’t believe y’all found me!”

“Dad, are you alright?!” Alyx spoke.

“I’m fine, but you all need to get out of here,” Eli said, seeming worried.

“We’re here to get you out of here, Dad,” Alyx said.

“Never mind me, save yourselves!” Eli exclaimed.

“NO!” Alyx yelled a bit. “We’re not leaving you! I think I can recalibrate the Combine portal to get us out of here.”

“But where will you go?” Eli asked.
“I talked to Dr. Kleiner, his portal was almost working again. If he has managed to repair it, then we will end up there. If he hasn’t… well… We wouldn’t be any worse off.” Alyx explained.

“It’s not worth the risk, Honey! I can’t lose you! Get out while you still can!” Eli exclaimed in worry.

“We’re not leaving here without you, That’s final!” Alyx spoke up.

“We can’t leave without Judith either,” Eli said.

“Don’t worry, Dad. We will find her. For now, I’m going to send you to the teleport room. I’m not saying goodbye, Dad. We will meet you there.” Alyx spoke.

“I know you will, honey,” Eli spoke.

Alyx then used the controls on the control panel to send the pod Eli was in into the teleport room. Alyx then turned back to us.

“Let’s get out of here.” She said, “I am going to head back to the security room. Oh. That reminds me. I have a few things for both of you, Gordon and Vi.”

“Oh? What is it?” I asked.

“Well, first, for both of you. I’ll give you two of these earpieces. They can be used for communication when I’m up in the security room and so no one else can hear you if anything happens.” Alyx explained.

“Oh! I see.” I said as Alyx handed up the small earpieces. We both put them in our ears as Alyx spoke to me directly.

“And Vi. I decided to make you a gift. One that I think you’ll find helpful in combat.”

She then handed me a couple of black fingerless gloves with some sort of components and wires on the back of them.
“What are these?” I asked as I took them and slipped them on.

“Well, since Gordon has the gravity gun, I decided to make you a pair of gloves that work similarly. When you want to use them, just hold out your hands and focus on the item you want to lift.” Alyx explained to me.

“Heh. Cool!” I said. “Where did you get these from?”

“I got them from an old friend of mine some time ago. Well, an old friend of my dad, I should say.” Alyx explained.

“Huh. That’s neat!”

“It is! Now, Aiden, Joshua, you two stay with me. Vi, stay with Gordon.” Alyx spoke.

We nodded. Alyx went back while Gordon and I moved forward. We continued through Nova Prospekt when we heard Alyx’s voice through our earpieces.

“Hey, it worked!” She exclaimed. “Let’s see what I can do to clear the way for you two. Keep an eye out for Mossman. I will get my dad through the prison as far as I can, then I will catch up with y’all.”

As we continued to walk around, we then came across a locked gate. I double-tapped the earpiece and talked to Alyx.

“Um, Alyx. We’ve got a problem. There’s a locked gate in front of us.” I spoke.

“Hang on, I’ll open that up for you,” Alyx spoke through the earpiece.

“Thanks,” I spoke back. The gate opened up and we continued wandering around. Then another locked gate blocked us. I was about to communicate with Alyx again until I heard her voice on the other end.

“Damn! It’s jammed.” She spoke up. “Okay, I have got an idea. Head back to that office.”

Gordon and I did as she suggested, going back to the office area where we once were. We found a vent and decided to crawl inside. It was a bit of a claustrophobic nightmare for someone like me, but I pushed that feeling aside, crawling behind Gordon.

“Now, V. Gordon. Be careful. I am picking up a lot of soldiers up ahead.” Alyx spoke.

After we got through the vent, we came across another gate.

“I will start working on that gate. Hold on.” Alyx spoke to us. The gate opened up and we moved on. Alyx spoke again a bit later. “You are coming up to another control room. It looks like it’s still occupied.”

Gordon and I looked at each other. We knew what this meant. We approached the control room, grabbed our weapons, and cleared out the room. Alyx spoke to us after we cleared the area.

“I guess that there are a bunch more soldiers heading your way. Quickly search the room. There should be some Combine turrets nearby. I can reprogram these turrets to attack the enemy. You set them up to defend the control room. I can’t shut down those fields from here. I am going to have to catch up with you to access them.” Alyx paused for a moment. “I’m picking up a lot of incoming soldiers. Hold the fort until I get there.”

Gordon and I grabbed our weapons and fought off the Combine soldiers who tried to get into the control room we were in. Eventually, we cleared them all out, and Alyx, Aiden, and Joshua dropped from the vent close to us, Aiden still holding Joshua in his arms.

“Sorry, it took so long. I’m glad to see that you two are okay. Let’s see if we can find Mossman. It looks like this station might give me better access.” Alyx spoke. Alyx scrolled through the cameras and found something.

“There she is,” Alyx spoke. Then she paused. “Wait a minute… how did she…?”

I glanced over and I felt my heart drop and my blood suddenly boil with anger.

Mossman was currently talking to Dr. Breen. She was working for the enemy.

“What in Arkenine hell?!” I spoke up as we listened to the conversation. At that point, I had blocked out most of their conversation. I felt like we had just been betrayed.

“She… She isn’t doing what I think she’s doing… Right?” Aiden spoke as he turned to me…

“I think she’s doing damn well what you’re thinking! That bastard betrayed us!” I yelled out, my anger overflowing at this point. “I knew she’d pull this shit on us! Something about her just screamed "Traitor!”

I was furious, and I could tell that the others were as well, Except Joshua. He didn’t know what was going on. Both Aiden and I looked at each other, knowing what we had to do. Once their conversation ended. Aiden set Joshua down, and told him to stay with Gordon and Alyx as “Mama and Dad needed to do something that he didn’t need to be a part of.” Joshua understood him and stayed close to Alyx and Gordon.

I glanced at Aiden, us nodding at each other in unison, and ran off to find Mossman. We couldn’t risk having a traitor on our team.

Chapter Text

It took a bit, but we eventually found her, kicking open the door. However, even with that, Mossman seemed unphased, now talking with Gordon and Alyx as I saw them on the monitor. Alyx was currently furious at the fact that Mossman and Breen were working together. Mossman tried to calm Alyx down, telling her that it was all just a massive misunderstanding.

Aiden and I had a plan to sneak up on Mossman. Aiden was climbing, hiding in the background itself. I just quietly walked up behind Mossman, my katana in hand. I was walking very carefully. She didn’t even notice me. She didn’t even notice either of us. However, Gordon and Alyx noticed me. I could see them on the monitor. As Mossman was talking, Aiden and I looked at each other. I counted down internally, as Aiden and I ambushed her. Aiden knocked out the camera as I put my katana blade on her neck. Mossman was startled.

“Violet! Aiden! What the hell are you two doing?!” She shrieked.

“We know that you’re working with Breen! We know you’re trying to eliminate Alyx and Gordon!” I exclaimed.

“Now, Violet. You should be grateful! Those two wouldn’t be good parents to you at all! I’d be much better as a mother than those two would ever be!” She snapped back.

“Since when?! All you’ve ever been is a manipulative traitor! You’re working for the enemy! Besides, you talk about the Black Mesa incident like it wasn’t just some massive tragedy! I’d rather have Gordon as a dad rather than you any day! You don’t deserve me and I don’t deserve you!” I yelled at her. Though the camera was out, I knew Gordon and Alyx could still hear me. I just hoped that Gordon would be proud of me.

“You don’t deserve Gordon either! That man is an emotional wreck of a human being! He doesn’t deserve a child! One of these days, his trauma is going to make him snap and he’s going to end up hurting you!” Judith spoke. “I wish you could see I’m only trying to protect you, Violet.”
“Oh, for the love of Hakobune and Yoba, SHUT UP!”I snapped. I could feel myself trembling a bit. I hated confrontation. I could feel myself nearly crying. “I hate you… So much. I want to make you suffer, but I don’t have the heart to do so….”

I had fallen to my knees, bitterly laughing. “You would think with all the Combine I’ve killed, that I would be desensitized to all of this… But the moment I try to defend my team from a traitor… I can’t do it… I can’t…”

I couldn’t believe it… I was breaking down in front of the enemy. However… Mossman seemed… pitiful… She seemed worried about me. I had dropped my katana, a small tear dripping down my face as I started to break. She carefully approached me, sitting close to me.

“Violet…? Are you okay?” She asked, softly.

I shook my head, trembling a lot.

“I just want to go home. I can’t take this anymore. It’s like I’m going through the trauma of Black Mesa all over again. I can’t do this… I’m not strong enough for this.” I spoke with a quivering voice.

“Violet… Look at you… You’re still here, right? You still have some emotions in you… You’re still strong. Hell, you almost fought me after the whole Breen thing… You still have some fight in you, Kiddo… I know you don’t want me as a parent and honestly… I take back what I said about Gordon.” She spoke. “Gordon has been an amazing dad to you. You’re lucky when it comes to that. And… I’m sorry about what I said. I wasn’t thinking at that moment… and I know with everything going on… You may not forgive me.”

“Well… I do go by the idea that people deserve second chances… so... I might as well do that here. I can’t stay mad forever…”

“You… You forgive me?” Judith asked.

“Yup… I forgive you. At least now, we kinda have a mutual interest.”

“In what?”

“Stopping Breen from his shitty plans.”

Judith paused. She then smiled. “Heh. You’re damn right, Rose.”

“Oh, Please. It’s Freeman now.” I corrected.

“Right. Freeman. I’m sorry.” She said,

“It’s alright.”

“Speaking of Freeman, you two should get back to Gordon and Alyx. They’re probably worried about you both.”

“What about you?”

“Don’t worry. Besides, About the whole thing with Breen, I’ve been giving him false information the entire time.”

“Oh. Well, at least I know I can trust you again.” I said.

“You do jump to conclusions too quickly.”

“Yeah… I get that from my biological parents.”

“I see. Well, like I said, you two should get going.”

“Alright.” I got up, grabbing my katana off the floor.

“You two stay safe…”

“We will. See ya around.”

Aiden and I headed out, going back to look for Gordon and Alyx. We got back to them and continued walking around Nova Prospekt. Though… another part of me felt like something was still up with Mossman. Something told me she was lying straight to my face and that she wasn’t sorry about what had happened. We then came across a room with three turrets in it.

Alyx spoke up in the earpieces, having stayed behind in the control room with Aiden and Joshua. “Quick, get these set up! I see soldiers coming in from all directions.”

Gordon and I set up the turrets, making sure they were stable and functioning.

“Here they come!” I called out.

It took a while, but eventually, we managed to wipe out the waves of Combine soldiers. Alyx spoke up again.

“Okay, you two. I am going to leave here and catch up with you. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Alright, Be careful,” I said.

After a while, Alyx jumped down from a balcony above us. Gordon, being the worried person he is, immediately ran up and caught her. Aiden and Joshua were right next to me.

“Heh… Thanks, Gordon.” Alyx spoke as he set her down. “Sorry, it took so long, you two. I won’t leave you again. Now, let’s track down Mossman.”

We continued walking the Nova Prospekt, fighting off any Combine soldiers that tried to attack us. We then came to another control room. Alyx sighed.

“Great. Another security Station…” Alyx walked over to the control panel, using some sort of tool to hack into it. I’ll admit, I was impressed with her skills. I even sat next to her and watched. She noticed and smiled. “You wanna watch me hack into this thing?” I nodded. She nodded back and let me sit next to her as she explained how the tool worked. I listened closely, intrigued with what she was doing. After a while, she finished what she was doing and got access to the console.

“Alright, Mossman… where are you…” Alyx muttered to herself as she flipped through the cameras. She eventually found her on the cameras. “Ha! There you are…!”

Alyx then popped in some script commands and sealed off the station that Mossman was in. “There we go... Got you now!” She then looked at us. “Well, Gordon. Vi. Aiden. Joshua. Come on! We don’t want to keep her waiting.

We nodded, following Alyx through the halls. As we ran through the rooms, a few Combine soldiers came out of a field gate. We picked up our pace as we kept running.

“Come on, you guys!” Alyx exclaimed. We then got to a door, Alyx letting us in first. “Let me seal this door. No turning back now.”

I glanced over, seeing Mossman in the next room, seeing her through a window. I gasped and pointed. “There she is!” I exclaimed.

Alyx looked over. “Leave me to the talking. We may need to get her out of there.” Alyx went up to the window, banging on the window. Mossman turned around, startled.

“Hello?” She asked as she turned around. “Oh, thank god, someone is here… Alyx? Gordon? Violet? How did you get in here?”

Even when I heard her voice, something just didn’t sound right about it. Something made it feel like she was trying to lie to save her skin. Alyx confronted her.

“We know all about you and Breen. You have been a spy for the Combine the whole time” Alyx spoke, furious at Mossman.

“What? What are you talking about?” Mossman said, now seeming nervous.

The sealed door behind us began to give way due to all the pressure from the Combine battery.

“Damnit,” Alyx spoke. “Move back, Mossman! We are coming in!” Alyx opened the room and we immediately dove inside. Alyx shut the door behind us.

“Alyx, whatever you think, I assure you that I am working to protect your father,” Judith said.

“Don’t believe her, Alyx. That woman is a liar and a fucking snake.”

“Violet Rose Freeman! Watch your language!” Judith raised her voice at me.

“Oh shut up! You’re not my mother and you never will be!” I yelled back.

“I thought you were giving me a second chance!” Mossman yelled.

“Well, I'll take that all back! I should just leave you here! However, you’re still of some use to the resistance…”

“Yeah! What she said!” Alyx spoke up. “You should be glad that you are still useful to us! We are going to reconfigure this teleporter and get the hell out of here.”

“You see, we are working to the same end. I have already modulated the teleporter to emulate a Xen relay.” Judith explained. Though, hearing the word Xen, Gordon tensed up a bit, now holding my hand. I removed the glove for the hand he was holding, carefully putting it in my bag, not wanting to damage any of the delicate tech.

“That’s my father’s work you stole!” Alyx yelled.

“It’s my work too! And I had to prove to Dr. Breen that your father would be the most valuable member of any research effort going forward from here.” Judith explained, but Alyx wasn’t having it.

“Enough of your bullshit!” Alyx yelled. Both Gordon and I were kind of shocked to hear Alyx swear like that. She was mad. At this point, I wouldn’t disagree with how she felt. We looked over at a monitor and saw Eli. Alyx gasped.

“Look, Gordon! There’s my dad! I’m going to bring him in.” She spoke.

“You found Eli?” Judith asked.

“No thanks to you! Just enter the coordinates for Dr. Kleiner’s lab and let’s get moving!” Alyx spoke.

“But we need access to the teleporter platform and we are locked out,” Judith said.

“I will take care of that,” Alyx said as she worked to get access to the platform. The door to the Teleporter room opened. “C’mon. Let’s get going.”

Chapter Text

We all got into the teleporter room, which contained a teleporter similar to the one we saw back in Kleiner’s lab. However, this one was much taller.

“Oh my God,” Alyx spoke. “And you’ve been working on this thing… for how long?”

“Never… Until now.” Judith spoke. “Though, I did have a fairly good idea of what to expect.

“I bet you did… It looks like it is waiting for us.” Alyx spoke.

“The Combine uses a peculiar pulse-forming network with a very long rise time. It takes quite a while to recharge.” Judith explained.

“So, you’ve warmed it up for us. Good. and Just in time.” Alyx spoke as she looked over, seeing a prison pod. “Dad! Down here! Sorry, we took so long. I hope that it was not too bad for you.”

“Do not worry about me, sweetheart,” Eli spoke to Alyx. He then looked over at Judith. “Judith! I see they set you free!”

“Not exactly…” Alyx muttered to herself.

“Eli!” Judith exclaimed. “I was so worried about you.”

“The coordinates, Dr. Mossman,” Alyx spoke up, reminding Judith. A large bang was heard on the sealed door, causing Gordon and I to jump a bit, Gordon making a small frightened squeak as he held onto me.

“So this is the Combine Portal…” Eli said as he looked at it. “It’s smaller than I imagined.” Eli was moved into the portal.

“Hurry up, Mossman!” Alyx exclaimed, contacting Kleiner over the terminal. “Dr. Kleiner!”

“Yes, Alyx? Where are you?” Kleiner asked.

“We are in Nova Prospekt, and we are running the Xen emulation for the first time. Are you ready?” Alyx asked.

“Ready! Willing! And fully enabled!” Kleiner exclaimed.

“Good. we will send my dad through first, he’s in position for-” Alyx was cut off as the sound of an alarm was heard in the distance. “What was that? Hold on, we’ve gotta bring this down.”

I then noticed Mossman sneaking into the portal and starting it. I nudged Alyx. She gasped.

“No! Stop! What are you doing?!” Alyx exclaimed.

“I’m sorry, Alyx. It’s the only way.” Judith said.

“No! Get back here!” Alyx yelled.

“What’s going on? Alyx? Judith?” Eli asked, sounding confused and scared.

The portal started to rise as Alyx tried to stop them. However, it was far too late as the portal had already been activated.

“Dr, Kleiner, you have to stop them!” Alyx yelled.

“Stop who, my dear?” Kleiner asked.

“Oh my God, What are these coordinates?!” Alyx exclaimed. “Where did she take him!?”

Another large bang was heard at the door. I knew that if we didn’t hurry up, we would be ambushed, and potentially killed. As Gordon was holding my hand, I felt him lightly tremble. He looked like he was close to another breakdown. He was trembling so much and I could see a tear drop down his face. Alyx looked over, seeing Gordon’s current mental state. She became worried.

“Gordon? Are you okay? You look scared…” Alyx spoke as she approached him.

Gordon shook his head. He was really scared. “I’m scared… I don’t want them to break in.” he signed shakily.

This was when I learned that Alyx knew sign language. She nodded, understanding him. “Don’t worry, Gordon. We’ll be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you and neither will Vi. We’re gonna be okay.”

Then. The door broke down. Gordon shrieked, clinging onto Alyx. I felt my adrenaline rush through my bloodstream as I grabbed the handle of my katana. Aiden walked up to my side, grabbing his scythe from the holder on his back. He looked at me and I looked at him. We both knew what we had to do. We needed to cover Gordon and Alyx as they worked to get the portal.

And so we did. Aiden and I went in head first as we slashed at any Combine soldiers that tried to attack us. Blood was strewn all over the walls, the floor and even our clothes. It took a bit but we managed to fight them all off, catching our breath at the end.

“Vi! Aiden! The portal’s ready!” Alyx called out. Gordon was holding Joshua in his arms.

“Great! Let’s get the hell out of here!” I exclaimed, putting my katana away as we rushed to the portal. As we got to the portal, the building began to collapse in on itself. And just as a large piece of cement was about to fall directly on us, we got teleported to Kleiner’s lab.

“Oh my God, we made it!” Alyx spoke up. “But where is Dr. Kleiner?”

Alyx, Gordon, Aiden, and I stepped down from the portal as Alyx walked up to the secret wall, knocking on it.

“Dr. Kleiner, let us out!” Alyx spoke up.
Dr. Kleiner popped in, holding a shotgun as he peered into the room. He gasped seeing us.

“Alyx? Gordon? Violet? Aiden?” He asked, seeing all of us. “My god, how did you get here and when?” He sounded worried.

We all looked at each other, seeming confused.

“What do you mean? What is wrong?” Alyx asked.

“My dear, I had given up hope of ever seeing you again,” Kleiner said.

“I was thinking the same. I think the teleporter exploded just as we made it out.” Alyx spoke.

“Indeed it did. And the repercussions were felt far and wide… but that was over a week ago.” Kleiner explained.

“What do you mean? We were just there a minute ago.” Alyx asked, seeming confused.

“Fascinating…” Kleiner spoke to himself. “We seem to have developed a slow teleport… This suggests an entirely new line of investigation.”

“A week…” I muttered… “So… what have we missed?”

“A great deal, my dear,” Kleiner spoke. “The blow you struck at Nova Prospekt was taken as a signal to start the uprising.”

“What about my father?” Alyx spoke up.

“Well… that is most disturbing,” Kleiner explained. “According to the Vortigaunts, he is a prisoner at the Citadel.”

“We have to get my father out!” Alyx exclaimed.

“Barney has been leading a push with that very aim in mind. And another of your friends arrived several days ago.” Dr. Kleiner opened the door where Gordon initially got his HEV suit from… and standing there…was D0g

“D0g! You made it!” Alyx said happily.

“So there. You see? It’s not all hopeless.” Kleiner said

“I wish I shared your optimism, Doctor,” Alyx said.

“Honestly, you and I both,” I said in response.

Kleiner was typing on a keyboard Barney popped up on the monitor above it.

“Doc. Come in. Are you there?” Barney asked.

“Yes, Barney. And I am no longer alone. Alyx, Violet, Gordon, and Aiden have just arrived.” Kleiner explained.

“Well, that’s good news. I almost gave up on you guys for lost.” Barney said, seeming relieved. “We are going to set up a staging area for an attack on the Citadel.”

“Gordon, Violet, Aiden, and D0g can head your way. I want to get Dr. Kleiner and Joshua somewhere safer.” Alyx spoke as she carefully took Joshua from Gordon’s arms. Joshua clung to Alyx, feeling safe around her.

“I will take all the help I can get.” Barney paused, looking over. “Oh, crap! Incoming!”

He ducked as an artillery shell flew past him. He got back up, looking at the monitor. “Get Going!”

Gordon, Aiden, and I looked at each other and we immediately followed D0g.

Chapter Text

As Gordon, Aiden, and I headed out to the streets, staying close to each other, a Combine Tank drove up. We all froze. Luckily, D0g managed to pick it up and throw it over another building filled with Combine Soldiers... I was honestly surprised and impressed that he was able to lift it and throw it as far as he did.

“Good throw, D0g!” I said. He made a small “Whoop” like noise to me, as if proud of himself. He then pried a barricade open and let us pass through. After we got past it, D0g jumped onto a dropship and it flew off with him.

We continued walking around until we met up with a few Resistance fighters.

“Well, Gordon Freeman, Violet Rose! And about time too!” One said.

“Gordon, Vi. You are here!” Another one spoke up.

“Dr, Freeman. Miss Rose. We are coming with you.” Another one of them spoke.

Honestly, having people know my name felt kind of nice… though… The feeling was a bit overwhelming… I could also tell it was overwhelming Gordon a bit. I never liked the idea of being famous. We continued walking around until we reached a sealed-off area, sealed by twisted metal and concrete. Another Resistance member met up with us.

“Dr. Freeman? Miss Rose? It is you, isn’t it!” They called out to us. “Give me a minute, I’m gonna plant some charges and blow this open.”

After a bit of waiting and holding off the Combine, we got the area blown open.

“Looks nasty in there…! Good thing you have that suit!” The member said to Gordon. I just felt really lucky that I wasn’t in that old school uniform I had like I did back in Black Mesa. I’m just lucky I was more covered than I was before. We made it past the area and opened a locked door, Aiden and I stayed close to him. The Resistance member we ran into earlier called out to us.

“I see you made it through okay. I figured y'all would.”

“Yeah! Thanks for the help!” I called out.

“No, Problem, Miss Rose!” They called out as well.

After a bit more wandering around, killing off Combine and headcrabs, we eventually came across another resistance member through a fence.

“Dr. Freeman? Miss Rose? It’s not safe here anymore. They are shelling the absolute hell out of us!” They spoke to us. “I will send word that you’re coming up ahead. Keep on moving.”

“Thanks for the heads up!” I spoke up.

“You’re welcome!” They said in return

We continued, walking around and keeping ourselves safe. We then came across a room with two turrets. We immediately jumped into action, doing all we could to deactivate them. After we knocked them down, the door blew open and Alyx walked out. I was a bit surprised to see her.

“Gordon! Vi! Aiden! I had a feeling I would find you here.” She said, approaching us. “I’ve got Dr. Kleiner and Joshua in a safe spot. Now, we can join up with Barney. There is a command center downstairs. I am hoping to find important information on generator locations.” She looked at all of us. “Ready?”

“Ready as we’ll ever be!” I said.

“Let’s Go, then!” Alyx said.

We went downstairs and eventually reached the command center. Alyx was the first one to approach it. She typed on it and eventually managed to find a generator location.

“Well, we’re in luck,” Alyx spoke up to us. “There is a generator in the square outside. We are trying to disable as many as we can to loosen the Combine’s grip on the city. It will take me a few minutes to expose the core. Then I will need you to hit it with a burst from the gravity gun and the gloves. In the meantime, watch my back.” she explained. She looked at me. “You got all of that, V?”

“Mhm. I’ve got it.” I said.

“Good. I know how your attention span can be.” She spoke, joking a bit. I smirked a bit.

Gordon, Alyx, Aiden, and I headed outside to the plaza. Alyx started to disable the generator. “This shouldn’t take too long. As soon as it is down, I will open the gate.”

We stood there, fighting off any Combine that tried to attack. I’ll admit when I say that I just became careless and desensitized to killing any of the Combine. Both the blade of my sword and my shirt were covered in blood while we continued fighting. Alyx continued opening the generator until she managed to get the core of it exposed.

“Okay, the core is exposed! Use the gravity gloves and gun, you two!” Alyx called out to Gordon and I. Gordon shot out a burst of energy from the gravity gun and I aimed it perfectly to the core.

“Alright! I’m opening the gate!” Alyx spoke once the core was destroyed.

After Alyx got the gate open, we immediately bolted right through it, Alyx shutting the gate once we got through.

“Okay. Barney should be on the far side of that… canal. Well… There used to be a bridge there.” Alyx paused. “Hm… Let me see if I can scout a new path… Wait for me here.”

Alyx scaled up the building, climbing up a drain pipe. I was impressed with her skills. She looked around the area at the top of the building.

“Hey! It looks like we might be able to get through down there!” She pointed to the new route that we needed to take. “Let’s go through there!”

Alyx was cut off as bullets were suddenly fired at her,

“Ah! No!” She shrieked. “Gordon! Aiden! Violet! Run! Get out of here!”

All of us immediately ran into the sewers, staying close to each other. I checked inside my bag, making sure that Ruby was safe in there. She was safely wrapped up in my hoodies.

“How’s the Snark?” Aiden asked me.

“She’s alright,” I responded.

“Good. I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to her.”

We continued running, eventually getting to the end of it all.

Chapter Text

After getting through the sewers, Gordon, Aiden, and I found another resistance member waiting for us.

“Dr. Freeman! Miss Rose! Barney said you were on your way! We got split up by snipers and he is pinned down in a warehouse up ahead.” They said to us,

“What!?” Aiden and I said in unison.

“Yeah. He’s in trouble. Go ahead! He’s relying on you all!” They said to us, I looked over at Aiden and immediately saw his face. He was furious. He immediately dashed off, Gordon and I following swiftly behind.

As we were running past the snipers, we got to the basement of the warehouse and came across a wounded resistance member.

“Help! Is someone there!? Help! Help me!” They cried out. “We thought it would be safer down here, little did we know the place was infested… The rest of them headed upstairs… They took their chances with the snipers... I guess they’re still up there.”

I saw their wounds and decided that there was only one thing to do. Time to be a hero. I got down on my knees and grabbed a med kit I had taken a while back and decided to use it to help the fallen Resistance member. I was lucky that the wound wasn’t too severe.

They looked up at me with a slight smile.

“Thank you so much, Miss Rose.” They thanked me.

“You’re welcome. I can’t stand to see a member of the same team as me suffer like this.” I said.

“Since when were you so good at first aid?” Aiden asked me.

“I guess I still retain some memories from Black Mesa,” I said. “I remember sometimes I would have to patch Gordon and me up anytime we got injured.”

“Huh. Neat. You seem protective of him.” Aiden noted.

“I mean. He's like a dad to me. The last thing I would want is for him to get hurt.” I explained. I glanced at Gordon and saw that he had gotten hit when we were running from the Combine. I gasped a bit when I saw it. “Gordon… You’re hurt…”

He looked like he was trying to cover the wound. He looked like he didn’t want me to worry about him while also trying not to cry out in pain. I had him sit down against the wall as I patched up his wound. He seemed… almost ashamed of himself.

“Gordon? Are you okay?” I spoke softly.

“Yeah, you know you can talk to us if you need to,” Aiden spoke up as well.

Gordon sat there. Then he sighed, lifting his hands to sign to us.

“I feel… I feel weak for having you two help me… I feel like I should be doing this by myself…” He signed to us.

“Gordon… You’re not weak for having us help you…” I spoke.

“Yeah, in fact, I would say we’re stronger as a trio,” Aiden confirmed.

Gordon still seemed upset. He covered his face with his hands, softly whimpering. He was trembling. I sat next to him, my head resting on his shoulder. As I did, he began to softly sob. He was completely broken. He signed to me.

“I’m so tired…”

“Well, maybe if we can find a resting spot, maybe we can get you to rest up a bit.”

“Not like that, Vi. I’m tired of dealing with the Combine. I’m tired of having to fight for my life to protect you and the others…” He explained. “I just want all of this to stop… I want only just one moment of peace and quiet….” He continued to cry softly into my shoulder. I knew how stressed he felt. I wrapped an arm around him, gently rubbing his back.

“I just wanna go home… I can’t deal with all of this anymore..” He signed shakily. Both Aiden and I hugged him as he cried, doing all that we could to soothe him. We both knew how traumatized he was. We both stayed with him until he calmed down. He was still trembling, even when he calmed down and stopped crying. Both Aiden and I still seemed worried for him. After some time, we got up and continued moving on.

Once we got upstairs, we gasped when we saw what was happening. Aiden seemed really worried and also furious.

It was Barney pinned down by snipers. He looked up, seeing us.

“Over here! Gordon! Vi! Aiden! I can’t move. These snipers have me pinned down.” He explained. He looked at Gordon. “Gordon, lob a couple grenades. That will clear them out.”

Gordon nodded, throwing a couple of grenades at the snipers, blowing them off the stands they were on. Barney got up, dusting himself off. Aiden then gave him a tight hug.

“Dad! You’re okay!” He exclaimed.

“Heh. Of course, I am. You know I don’t go down easily.” He spoke to him.

“Wait. Hold up. Barney is your dad?” I asked.

“Adopted dad, but yes. He adopted me before you arrived in City 17.” He explained.

“Ohhhhhh… I see.” I said.

“Yeah.”

“Right. We should probably get going…” Barney spoke. We nodded.

We got out of the building and stayed close to each other. We then got to a security gate.

“Let me get this gate,” Barney said. “My Civil Protection status still gives me limited clearance,” He paused. “Did y’all just hear a cat?”

“Oops. That was probably me. Sorry. Ticks.” I explained.

“Huh. That was… oddly realistic.” He said.

“Yeah. I grew up with a couple of cats. I know how to meow pretty decently. I only really do it as a nervous tick though.” I explained.

“Alright then. I’ll keep that in mind.” Barney spoke. “That damn thing still haunts me.” Barney opened the gate for us and we continued. We eventually came to a building filled with resistance members.

“There’s a building up ahead,” Barney said. “A bank or a museum or something like that. Whatever the hell it used to be. Now, it’s a nexus for Overwatch in City 17. It is the main source of pain for this part of town, thanks to a huge suppression device that rains down hell from the roof of the place.” He explained as we walked. We then came to a window. He pointed to the building.

“There it is. The Overwatch nexus.” Barney spoke up. “Looks like they are mobilizing big time. You can sort of see the gate from here. I will show you when we get to street level. We have to get into that building to open the gate. Even then, the suppression device will still suppress anyone who tries to come through unless we shut it down.”

As we continued walking around, going into the next room, a camera detected us, and an alarm was set off.

“So much for stealth…” Barney muttered. “We’ve been spotted!”

We just decided to book it out of there until we got to the street.

“There is the gate I was telling you about!” Barney exclaimed. “We have to come back here after we get it open. Well… If we get it open. First, we’ve got to get into the nexus building.”

We continued to fight past the Combine and got into the building. Unfortunately, it seemed like The Combine had already set up for us.
‘
“Uh oh. Turrets!” Barney exclaimed. “Gordon, you have the HEV Suit, you deal with them. Then I will open the door.” He said as he held me and Aiden back to make sure we didn’t get hurt.

Gordon dealt with the turrets and Barney opened the door. We continued running deeper into the building, fighting past the Combine. We eventually got to a room with a lot of lasers.

“Now, with that much security, there must be something good in there. Go for it, Doc. I will wait here with the kids until you shut it down.” Barney said. Gordon nodded going into the room and disabling the lasers in the room.

After a bit of running, and disabling the final generator, we made it to the roof. We continued running around, fighting off the Combine and helping any of the Resistance members we ran into along the way. We then got to the citadel, even having D0g by our side. Barney looked over, seeing D0g running around the place.

“D0g! Here boy! D0g, come back here!” Barney called out. “I think he’s looking for Alyx…”

“Hm… You don’t think… She’s in the Citadel… Is she?” I asked.

“She might. You guys have to go retrieve her.” Barney looked over. “Heh. Well, I’ll be damned. I think he wants you to go through.”

I nodded, looking back at the others. They nodded too, a sense of determination going through all of us in that moment.

“Well then. Let’s go.” I said,

“Oh and by the way, if you see Dr. Breen, tell him I said Fuck You!” Barney exclaimed.

“Will do!” I said in return.

“Wait…” Aiden said. He then ran up to Barney, hugging him. Barney smiled.

“You stay safe in there, kiddo…” Barney spoke softly to him.

“You stay safe too..” Aiden said.

“I will. I promise you. Now, your girlfriend and father-in-law are both waiting for you. I say you don’t keep them waiting.”

“Alright. I’ll see you around.” Aiden ran back to us.

“See you later, kiddo!”

We then headed into the citadel through the underground.

We were so close… yet so far to the end of it.

Chapter Text

We got into the citadel, riding along the prison pod conveyor system to the top of the citadel. I don’t remember much from what happened, but I do remember that Gordon had his gravity gun upgraded, and I got my gravity gloves upgraded as well. Gordon and I felt more powerful.

We continued walking around, now being able to throw around actual Combine soldiers. It took some time, but we eventually made it to the top of the citadel in the prison pods. Unfortunately for Gordon, the guards took away his gravity gun. I was just lucky that they didn’t take my gloves. Once his gravity gun was taken, Mossman walked into the room.

“I will take it from here.” She said, She looked at us. “Don’t struggle… There’s no use. Until you are where he wants you, there is nothing you can do. I am so sorry, you three.”

Mossman led our pods into a room where Eli and Breen were talking. And someone I didn't recognize at first... Then it clicked... Solidus... I don’t remember what either of them said, mostly because I didn’t care about what they said. That was until Eli spoke up.

“What I have seen is also beyond words, Breen... Solidus,” Eli spoke.

“Genocide… Indescribable evil… Good God…” He saw us.

“Well, if it isn’t Gordon Freeman, Aiden Calhoun, and Violet Rose,” Breen said, looking at us.

"Heh. about damn time too! I was starting to think we'd never get to them!" Solidus replied.

The guard who confiscated Gordon’s gravity gun showed it to Breen. “Oh? What’s this? Put it over there.” He pointed to his desk, where the guard set the gravity gun down. “You may have my gratitude, Dr. Freeman. First, you lead me to the doorstep of my oldest friend, then you deliver yourself… as well as your lovely daughter.” I even noticed something… He straight up winked at me. I felt extremely uncomfortable around him. It was almost like he had a thing for me… I just blocked out anything else he said. Then Mossman walked in.

“Dr. Breen… Wallace…” She spoke.

“What is it, Judith?” He asked, looking over at her.

“The bargain we should be making is for their lives so that they can continue their research… and so Violet can be… You know…” She explained. I felt a chill, and my blood boiled when I heard her say that. I was angry and scared.

“Thanks to you, we have everything that we need in that regard. You are more than qualified to finish his research yourself. What neither you nor I can do is convince that rabble in the streets to give up their senseless struggle. Yet, Eli refuses to speak the words that would save them all.” Breen spoke.

“Save them?! For What?!” Eli exclaimed.

“Eli…” Breen said with a hint of slyness in his voice. “If you will not do this for the good of all people, maybe you will do it for one of them.”

Then… all of us were shocked by what we saw.

Alyx. in a prison pod.

“Alyx… Honey…” Eli spoke quietly.

“Dad?” Alyx then saw Gordon and me. “Gordon… Violet… Aiden… No…”

“God Damn you, Breen! Let her and Violet go!” Eli yelled.

“That is all up to you, my friend. Will you let your stubborn short-sightedness doom the entire species? Or will you give your child the chance that her mother never had?” Breen said, even touching Alyx’s cheek.

As she should’ve, she spat directly in his face. “How dare you even mention her!” She yelled at him.

“Alyx, my dear, you have your mother’s eyes… but your father’s stubbornness,” Breen said.

“Touch her again. And I will show you a hell with no end.” I spoke up, my voice becoming darker. I was not screwing around at that moment.

“Heh… Sounds like the little Rose is getting defensive…” Solidus said in a mocking tone.

“Oh, my dear Violet. I don’t think you have a say in this matter.” He spoke to me.

“Call me that again and I swear to Arkenine, Hakobune, Neuvilette, Sunday, and Yoba, I will tear you apart!!” I screeched. "How the hell is he even alive anyway?! I thought he died back in 2009!"

“My, my… Someone’s a bit feisty, I wouldn’t have expected that from someone as young as you. But to answer your question... The Combine simply found a sample of his DNA and made a clone of him, including all of his memories. I ordered his revival, seeing his plans back in 2009. I couldn't help but have him on my side. The man does have his ways of leadership after all... But like I was saying... For a small child, you are quite feisty...”

“You have not seen a bit of it yet… That kid has already wiped out half of your forces with her katana alone.” Alyx spoke.

“Is that so?” Breen questioned, the slyness not leaving his voice. “And do you mean… This katana?” He held up the sword in his hands. I gasped, seeing it.

“How did you-?!” I was shocked.

“The guards took it off you when you weren’t looking. I’m surprised you never noticed.” He said, then placed it on his desk. “I will say, it’s gonna look nice having that in my collection. Well, let’s see how those wits serve you on the far side of a Combine portal.”

“Go ahead, Breen,” Eli spoke up. “If that’s the worst you can do, send us through your portal.”

“Oh, it’s hardly the worst,” Breen said. “But you might find it hard to believe once you get there.”

“It isn’t necessary!” Mossman addressed.

“I agree,” Breen added. “It is a total waste. Fortunately, the Resistance is willing to accept a new leader. And this one has proven to be a fine pawn for those who control him.”

“NO!” Eli and Alyx yelled out. “Don’t listen to him, Gordon!”

“How about it, Dr. Freeman?” Breen asked, still having a sly tone. “Did you realize your contract was open to the highest bidder?”

“Gordon would never make any kind of deal with you!” Alyx shouted.

“I understand if you don’t wish to discuss this in front of your friends… and your daughter… I will send them on their way and then we can talk openly…” Breen spoke to Gordon. I saw how Gordon was acting during this. He seemed terrified.

Then… In a turn of events that I did not even expect. Judith was using the same hacking tool that Alyx used, using it on the console. Breen turned around, looking over at her.

“Judith?!” Breen exclaimed. “What do you think you're doing?!”

“We are doing what I could never do alone,” Judith said. “We are stopping you.”

“Yes!” Alyx exclaimed.

Breen then rushed over to the intercom, calling for his guards. However, Judith interrupted, using the hacking tool on the intercom system. However, the guards began to bang on the door, trying to get inside.

“They know you betrayed them; they will turn on you, Judith,” Breen spoke, his anger rising. “Dr. Mossman, please!”

“I’m sorry, Wallace,” Judith said, “You are all out of time.”

Judith began to use the console; however, Breen tried to stop her. She pushed him away. “Don’t!”

As Judith was freeing Gordon, Breen grabbed the gravity gun off his desk.

“Hurry!” Alyx cried out.

“You fool..” Breen muttered.

“Watch out!” Alyx cried out again. “He’s gonna…”

Breen then fired the gravity gun just as Gordon and I were released. We both fell to the ground, stomach first. It hurt, and it was quite a shock. Alyx and Aiden were released. Alyx looked over at Eli.

“Dad!” Alyx cried.

“Oh, no, no, no... Don’t worry about me, honey…” Eli spoke. Judith turned to Alyx.

“There is no time, Alyx. He’s on his way to the portal.” Judith spoke. She handed Alyx the hacking tool. “Here, you will need this.”

Alyx looked at the tool in her hands. She looked back up at Mossman. “Dr. Mossman… Judith… Please look after my father…”

“I will. Don’t you worry…” Judith promised.

Alyx looked over to Eli. “Dad… I’m not saying goodbye.”

“Never,” Eli said in return.

“I love you, Dad,” Alyx said.

“I love you, too, honey,” Eli said.

Alyx then turned to Gordon, Aiden, and me. “Come on, you three. Let’s go.”

We followed Alyx down to where the elevator was. Alyx turned to Gordon, taking him aside.

“Gordon… We haven’t known each other very long. But I know you didn’t have to do this… I had to rescue my father… But you… Thanks for coming after me.” Alyx spoke softly. I then noticed something. Gordon was smiling softly. Then she paused and listened. “Hey… Listen!” she whispered.

We listened carefully. We heard Breen’s voice. He seemed to be talking to someone.

“It is me you should be concerned about. I can still deliver earth, but not without your help.”

“That is him!” Alyx quietly exclaimed. We still listened closely.

“The portal destination is untenable. Surely you can set the relay destination somewhere else.” He paused. “There’s no way I can survive in that environment. A host body, you say? You must be joking. There’s no way that I can…” I cut him off.

“There he is! Get his ass!” I yelled out.

“Shit! It’s them!” Solidus yelled out.

“Oh, alright dammit! If that is what it takes. Just hurry! They’re right behind me!” Breen worried.

Alyx then used the hacking tool on the forcefield that blocked the room that Breen was in. The forcefield was shut down.

“Oh, shit!” Breen cried out.

Gordon grabbed his gravity gun and rushed over to Breen and Solidus, but before he could catch them, they rushed into the elevator and shut the door before Gordon could get in.

“Dammit! Not again!” Alyx exclaimed. She then saw Gordon with his gravity gun. “Huh… The gravity gun. They don’t have a clue, do they? I wonder where he is going.”

We then looked up and saw something. A metal shield opened up and revealed the top of the citadel.

“Oh my God…!” Alyx exclaimed. “This is the dark fusion reactor. It powers their tunneling entanglement device. We will never have a chance like this again… We have to stop them!”

Alyx ran over to the console, trying to turn it off. I stood next to her, watching her as she attempted to shut everything down, only to have no luck.

“I can’t shut it down… Looks like he has turned control over to the other side…” Alyx spoke. She turned to Gordon and me. “You two will have to go into the core and do what you can. Get into the elevator and I will let you in… and Gordon, do not forget to charge up that suit.”

“What about Aiden?” I asked,

“He’ll stay with me. Don’t worry, V. I’ll keep him safe.” Alyx said.

Gordon and I got into the elevator, and Alyx let us down into the core. We stayed close to each other. Gordon even held my hand as we went down there. After we got there, we saw Dr. Breen and Solidus in the tower in the center, inside a glowing orb of sorts. As we went up to the chamber, Breen seemed to be taunting us.

“It’s Dr. Breen! There he is!” I shouted.

“Dr. Freeman. Miss Rose. You really should not be out there. At the moment of synapse, as I teleport, this chamber will be bathed in deadly particles that have yet to be named by human science. Perhaps when I have the leisure to do the work myself, I will name one after both of you. That way, you will not be completely forgotten. When the singularity collapses, I will be far away from here, in another universe. You two, on the other hand, will be destroyed in every way possible. And essentially impossible.” He spoke in a sly tone of voice. He was probably smiling the whole time.

Gordon seemed to be trembling a bit, holding my hand tightly.

“Aww. What’s the matter, Gordon?” Solidus said mockingly. “Scared that you and she will die? It’s okay. At least you’ll be in each other's arms when you pass…”

Alyx and Aiden had caught up with us, seeing what was happening. Only, we had another problem.

“What the hell? Oh no, Combine Soldiers… Where did they come from?” Alyx spoke.

“I do not know what you possibly hope to achieve, apart from your annihilation…” Breen mocked.

“Gordon, don’t listen to him!” Alyx spoke.

“I warned you that this was futile,” Breen spoke up.

"Besides, you two aren't seeing the full picture.. You've only seen what's on the surface... What your little narrative wants you to believe. On the surface, Breen and I appear to be nothing but evil men... Men who negotiated Earth to surrender to the Combine during the Seven-Hour War purely for our own selfish reasons, given the fact that we both now live in luxury while you and so many others suffer below us... millions suffer under our watch... While yes, we are both quite egotistical and boastful about our deeds, including our eventual victory over the oh so beloved figures that you two imbeciles have become, our reasons for negotiating with the Combine were to save humanity from its ultimate demise and destruction... You two just refuse to see it, claiming us as the bad guys when we're the ones trying to save you... This whole negotiation was never meant to be out of greed but to ensure the survival of the human race... If Breen and I didn't step up and surrender Earth, well... we wouldn't be having this conversation, now would we? You should be thanking us that you two haven't died a brutal demise yet!" Solidus yelled out.

“He is bluffing, Gordon! Don’t listen to him!” Alyx yelled.

Gordon and I reached the center. This was it. It was now or never. Gordon aimed the Gravity Gun, and I got my gloves ready. Gordon then shot out an energy orb, and I aimed it, making it a bit bigger than usual, aiming it directly into the portal. "Sorry, you old fucking soggy piece of cardboard, I ran out of fucks to give 20 years ago!" I called out.

“Go back, Freeman! You have no idea what you’re doing! You’re putting your kid in danger.” Breen shouted.

"What the hell are you two doing!?" Solidus yelled.

Gordon and I continued to destroy the portal.

“If it means the death of you, then so be it!” I yelled out. "Let's just say, your free trial of life has expired!" Then, with one final hit. We blew up the portal.

“NO!! YOU NEED ME!” Breen and Solidus yelled out.

“Yes!” Alyx celebrated.

“YEAH!!!! Who’s got the high ground now, Dr. Breen?!” I yelled out.

“Yeah! You two did it.” Alyx spoke out.

“No, no, no… We did it.” I said. Alyx smiled a bit. Alyx then looked over at us.
“Come on, you all. We have got to get out of here… Maybe we still have-”

Everything went dark… Silence washed over us… the only thing I remember was the portal exploding… Gordon and I immediately clung to each other when it exploded. We were both out for what felt like hours… I still heard his voice…

“Tell me, Dr. Freeman… Miss Rose… If you even can… You two have destroyed so much… What is it, exactly, that you have created? Can you two name even one thing? I thought not… I have laid the foundation for humanity's survival. And not as we have narrowly defined ourselves, but as something greater than we could've ever imagined. Something we can only begin to glimpse. Look, Gordon, Violet, look at what you two are throwing away. Is it worth it?"

Chapter Text

When Gordon and I finally came to our senses, we found ourselves completely buried in rubble… We were still holding onto each other, our arms wrapped around each other, my head resting on his chest, and his left hand on my head. I could still hear the faint sound of his heartbeat and his breathing. We must’ve been out for a few hours. We then heard a voice from outside the rubble we were under.

“They have to be somewhere around here. We’ve got to be close, just got to be. Any luck over there, D0g?”

It was Alyx. I would recognize her voice from anywhere.

“Aiden? Any luck finding Vi?” She asked.

“No… I can’t find her…” Aiden said, sounding worried.

Then… D0g lifted a piece of debris that was on top of Gordon and me, partially uncovering us. D0g peered in and started working faster to get us out. I was just glad that he was able to find us.

“Dog, I think I found something,” Alyx said. D0g then lifted Gordon and me out of the rubble. “Drop what you're doing and help me over here…” She paused, gasping when she saw us. “Oh my God! Gordon! Violet!” She hugged both of us. Aiden did too.

“I was so worried…” Alyx softly muttered as she held onto us. Gordon paused, taking in the moment of Alyx and Aiden holding both of us. Then… He hugged Alyx back, pressing his face into her shoulder. He was trembling in her arms. I could hear him softly sniffling.

“There, there, Gordon… You and Violet are okay now.” Alyx spoke softly, holding him tightly.

He eventually calmed down, still holding onto Alyx closely. He then let Alyx go. D0g then made a noise and showed us the Gravity Gun and my katana that he managed to salvage from the rubble.

“Hey, the gravity Gun! Violet’s katana! Give it to them, D0g.” Alyx spoke.

Gordon carefully took the Gravity gun from D0g, and I took my katana from him. I was just surprised by how good of a condition that it was still in. D0g seemed happy to see that Gordon was okay, even slightly moving around a bit. Alyx chuckled a bit, noticing.

“There, Gordon. I think D0g’s happy to see you. I can tell.” Alyx smiled a bit. She then turned to face D0g. “Okay, D0g. Go get the monitor set up so I can check in with my dad. He must be worried sick about us.” She turned to Gordon and me. “He was so sure I wouldn’t find you two here.”

I looked over at the now-burning citadel… It shook as D0g bounded up to a higher level of the ruined building.

“The citadel is really coming apart…” I spoke.

“Yeah… it is…” Aiden spoke after me.

“I still don’t know how we got out of there…” Alyx added on. “The last thing I remember is… Breen falling… a huge explosion… and then… I heard Vortigaunts… The next thing I knew, D0g was digging me out of the rubble… It’s all so strange… we should…” She paused, then looked at my arm. “Vi…! You’re bleeding…! Your jacket sleeve is ripped…!

I paused, looking down at my arm. And sure enough, she was right. There was a large, but not deep, cut on my lower arm. It must’ve been caused by a piece of the rubble Gordon and I were trapped under. “Oh… Shit…”

“Here, let me help you… Do you have a med kit in your bag?” Alyx asked.

“Yeah. I got a few while we were fighting off the striders before the collapse of the citadel.” I explained.

“Alright… Then, hold still. I’ll patch you up.” Alyx spoke. She dug around my bag, smiling a bit when she saw my pet Snark. “Hey there, Ruby..”

“She’s still okay?” I asked.

“Mhm… She’s perfectly snug in that blue and dark blue hoodie of yours. I guess it protected her from the rubble.” She spoke with a smile.

"Heh. I figured that she would be. I mean, Snarks are already hella durable as they already are. They're like cockroaches, they'll survive anything." I said, a slight smile also appearing on my face.

I took off my jacket, wrapping it around my waist. I carefully sat down, and Alyx started working on the cut on my arm. The more that I thought about it, I started to see Alyx like an older sister figure. A sister I never had before… One who genuinely cared about me and didn’t go out of their way to make me feel annoyed each day. After a bit, Alyx made sure that the cut was completely patched up.

“There we go. That should be good. Once we get the time to, I’ll patch up that jacket of yours.” Alyx spoke.

“Thanks, Alyx,” I said softly.

“No problem, Violet.” She said as she patted my head.

Then, we heard something in the distance. Eli’s voice on a distorted monitor.

“Alyx, Come in!” He spoke, his voice distorted by the interference on the monitor.

“It’s my dad!” Alyx gasped. She then got up and climbed up to D0g’s position. “We’ve been trying to reach him for hours! Oh, just wait until he hears that we found you! Come on!”

Gordon, Aiden, and I rushed over to the monitor where Alyx was. We heard Eli’s voice but couldn’t see his face.

“Sweetheart, come in!” Eli spoke as he tried to talk with Alyx. Alyx looked at the static-filled monitor.

“Dad? Dad? Are you there?” Alyx asked.

“Alyx? Alyx, come in!” Eli spoke, still trying to reach us.

“Hold on a sec, there’s so much interference.” Alyx looked over to D0g. “D0g, give me a hand with this…”

D0g walked over to the monitor, adjusting the antenna.

“Okay… a little to the right…” Alyx muttered until she could see Eli’s face. “There we go! Hold it there! We got it!” She spoke to her father, “Dad?”

“Alyx?” Eli asked. “Where are you? Please, God, tell me you’re out of the city!”

“Well… not quite yet..” Alyx said. She was cut off by Eli.

“What?!” Eli exclaimed.

“But, listen, Dad. We found them!” Alyx exclaimed.

“You found Gordon and Vi? I don’t believe it…! But listen, you four have to get out of the city. The citadel could blow up at any moment!” Eli explained.

Then, Dr. Kleiner pushed his way into the monitor frame, blocking out Eli.

“There is no question that it will, I’m afraid… Our remote sensors indicate the process is accelerating toward a dark-energy flare.” Kleiner explained.

“Izzy…” Eli muttered. He seemed concerned.

“Anyone left in the vicinity will be subjected to the energetic events whose effects are beyond my powers of speculation.” Kleiner continued to explain.

“Issac, please.” Eli pleaded. Kleiner continued talking.

“The ravages to cellular material are unimaginable.” Then he was cut off by Eli.

“Kleiner! Stop!” Eli exclaimed. He seemed weak as he nearly collapsed.

“Dad?!” Alyx exclaimed, seeming worried about her father. Kleiner helped Eli up.

“Oh dear, Eli. I’m sorry, but… Surely there’s no need for undue alarm? Alyx is well out of harm’s way by now.”

“Um… Well… Actually… We’re still at the citadel…” Alyx explained.

“What?!” Kleiner exclaimed. “Oh, dear… But there really is no time! The core is exceedingly close to collapse. Why, there’s no way to get far enough without first… well… nothing short of a direct intervention in the core could possibly retard the reaction.”

“Izzy…” Eli muttered again.

“You mean… Going in?” Alyx asked.

“Into the core, yes,” Kleiner confirmed. “But it’s far too dangerous to consider. The chamber would be bathed in radiation.”

Alyx then turned to Gordon. “Well… you do have that hazard suit… if we found a way into the citadel, it’s possible we could-” Alyx was then cut off by Eli.

“Alyx, No!” He exclaimed in worry.

“But, dad…” Alyx tried to explain, but Eli cut her off again.

“Izzy, talk some sense into her!” Eli exclaimed to Kleiner.

“I’m sorry, Eli, but I don’t see any other way,” Kleiner explained. “It would help us evacuate more citizens…”

“We can do this, Dad,” Alyx spoke up.

Eli sighed. “Okay, Alyx. Okay… just promise me… promise me that you won’t take a single unnecessary risk.”

Alyx touched the screen. “I promise. I love you.”

“I love you, too, baby. I’ll be praying for you.” Eli said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll see you soon.” Alyx said.

"Wait! Kleiner, I have to ask, is Joshua with you? Is he okay?” I asked.

“Don’t worry, Miss Rose. He’s healthy and alive. He’s currently taking a nap.” Kleiner said.

“Oh, thank Arkenine… Make sure that you two keep a good eye on him. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to him…” I said.

“Don’t worry, Vi. We’ll keep an eye on him.” Eli responded.

“Thank you. We’ll see you around.” I said. D0g let go of the antenna, and the screen turned back to static.

“Yeah. Don’t worry. Let’s see if we can find a way into the citadel from somewhere along the rim.” Alyx suggested.

Alyx looked around and saw that there was a lot of wreckage that blocked our path.

“Hm… D0g? A little help, please?” Alyx called out to D0g. D0g rushed over and raised the obstruction in front of us so that we could pass under it.

“Thanks.” She gently pet D0g and crawled under the wreck. Gordon, Aiden, and I did the same. Alyx looked back at D0g. “Okay, boy. Pack up and meet us on the far side of this ridge.”

As we walked, Alyx looked down at the wide abyss between us and the citadel.
“Whoa…! What a drop…” She then looked at Gordon. “After you, Gordon… Be careful. Violet. Aiden, you stay behind me.”

We tread along the crumbling ledge, Aiden and I holding each other’s hands as we stayed close to Alyx and Gordon. Gordon had gotten rid of some obstacles in our way with his gravity gun. We then got to a flat piece of land that hadn’t collapsed yet. Alyx looked around, confused.

“Why’s D0g taking so long?” She muttered to herself. “D0g… D0g!!” She called out for him. She then looked up and gasped. “Look out!”

An airship on fire blazed through the sky above us before crashing into the ground nearby.

“Oh, my God!” Alyx gasped. “D0g! D0g! D0g, are you alright!?”

D0g then leaped up to the rest of us on a ledge of wreckage. Alyx sighed in relief, seeing that he was okay.

“Oh, thank god!” Alyx exclaimed. “You scared the hell out of me. Now, stay with us and help us find a way over.

Alyx looked around, examining the Citadel. There was a large opening on the other side of the immense rift. She sighed, “I can’t believe we’re trying to get back into that place. This isn’t going to be easy…” She then turned to D0g, “Well, D0g, what do you think? Any ideas?”

Dog then thought for a moment, before grabbing a piece of random scrap junk at the Citadel. Alyx sighed again, turning to him. “Alright, D0g, that’s not too helpful.”

D0g then made a sad-sounding noise. I was honestly surprised that his AI was so advanced that he seemed to feel actual emotions. Alyx continued to look around, surveying the area.

“There has to be a way to get across… but how?” Alyx thought to herself, still looking around. “Hm… what about…” D0g then suddenly randomly perked up. Alyx took notice. “D0g?” D0g then jumped over a pile of rubble and swung across broken girders. “D0g, where are you going? Was it something I said?” Alyx asked.

D0g was now digging through the rubble for something. “Huh? Dog? What are you…?” Alyx sighed, turning over to Gordon. “I think D0g needs a few bolts tightened…”

Then, out of absolutely nowhere, a broken red van came hurtling from the debris pile after Dog threw the thing. Gordon immediately dove after me, pushing me out of the way. The van landed on the ground, and D0g returned to Alyx. I was trembling a bit after a sudden adrenaline rush. Gordon noticed, still holding me close to him. He knew I was still terrified by what had just happened.

“D0g… really… that was a little close. What’s gotten into you, huh?” Alyx looked at D0g and then at the red van in front of us. “How exactly is this supposed to help us?”

D0g then approached the van and ripped the driver's door off. Alyx and I looked at each other. We both knew what D0g was trying to say to us. He wanted us to get into the van, and he’d throw it into the Citadel through an opening in the side of it. Alyx felt a little nervous about what he was suggesting.

“Wait a minute… oh no…” She muttered. “You’re not serious about this, are you?”

D0g then stuck his head through the ripped-off door and nodded. D0g then let go of the door, and Alyx leaned against him.

“Well, you guys, unless you all have a better suggestion… He is a robot. He’s done the math.” Alyx said. She then turned to D0g, lowering her voice. “You did do the math, right?” D0g then shook his head. Alyx sighed and looked at D0g. “I want you to get out of here as fast as you can. Go find Dad. We’ll catch up, don’t worry.”

D0g then suddenly hugged Alyx tightly. He let her go after a moment.

“Alright, alright, I'll miss you too.” Alyx giggled a bit. She then sat in the driver’s seat of the red van. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll see you soon.” She then turned to Gordon, Aiden, and me. “Get in the passenger side, Gordon. Vi, Aiden, you get in the back. Just hold onto each other tightly.”

Gordon hesitated a bit. He seemed a bit uneasy with the whole situation. Alyx spoke under her breath. “Hurry up before I lose my nerve…”

Gordon then got into the passenger seat. Alyx held his hand to keep him calm. D0g then grabbed the vehicle once we were all situated.

“Um… Brace yourself, guys…” Alyx then turned to D0g. “Okay, D0g, let’s do it before I change my-” Alyx was soon cut off by D0g throwing the car into the Citadel. Aiden and I held onto each other tightly. All seemed to be going well… that was until the car had fallen deeper into the citadel. I don’t really remember much, but I do remember being very shaken up after it all happened.

"Holy shit..." I muttered.

“Whew…” Alyx sighed out of relief, “Hey, let’s get out of here before the next ride starts,” she said in a joking manner.

We got out of the van once we decided we were deep enough. We walked around, looking at the damaged area. I looked around, shocked at all the damage that had been caused after the explosion.

“Holy crap…”

Chapter Text

We surveyed the crash site… Multiple fires had broken out… Exposed machinery burst into flames… despite being with the others, I hadn’t felt more alone until that very moment.

“My God, this place is really coming apart..” Alyx spoke, looking around the place.

“No kidding…” I muttered. “I knew the explosion caused some damage, but I wasn’t aware it was this bad…”

We continued walking around the place, moving into a more spacious area, where some of the prison pods passed through.

“This is unbelievable… I had no idea…” Alyx muttered to herself.

Alyx then walked up to the edge and looked over at a broken pod rail.

“Huh… What a drop.” She said, looking down. “We’ve got to find a way down to the core. Huh… I wish we had a map.”

We continued walking through the destroyed remains of the citadel, until we reached a blue forcefield, preventing any further movement. We glanced over, seeing something behind a window. Someone was tolling away on a console. Alyx gasped, keeping her voice low.

“Oh my god…” She muttered. “Stalkers. Well, they shouldn’t bother us if we leave them alone…” She walked over to another console. “I’ll just disable this field… and…”

Alyx tried to disable the field but was flickering on and off… something was overwriting the commands from our side.

“Damn… I can’t get this down.” Alyx spoke. She glanced at the window. “Something’s…. It’s that stalker. He’s holding it from the other side. We don’t have time to look for another way around. How are we going to get through here?”

Alyx scrutinized her surroundings, looking around. On the other side of the room, there were some roller-mines rolling down a tube.

“Rollermines.” Alyx noted. “They could help us out.”

Alyx charged a mechanism with her EMP tool and a forcefield went down. She turned to Gordon.

“Can you find where those rollermines are going? I’ve got an idea how to use one here.” Alyx explained.

Gordon nodded, going to retrieve one of the rollermines. Alyx kept Aiden and I next to her. Gordon then brought one of the rollermines back to us, holding it with the gravity gun. Alyx turned to Gordon, smiling a bit.

“Oh, you found one!” Alyx exclaimed quietly. “Dad taught me how to reset the targeting system on these things. A little extra juice in the right spot and it’s on our side. Just hold it out where I can work on it.”

Gordon brought the rollermine close to Alyx and she used her hacking tool on it. It turned from blue to orange.

“There it is.” Alyx spoke. “It’s a lot more unstable, but it should last long enough to take out the stalkers. Let’s go to it now. It’ll do the rest.”

Gordon then released the rollermine through the forcefield. It then disabled the stalker. Well… it actually blew up, killing the stalker. It also disabled the forcefield.

“Alright, we can get through now.” Alyx looked back at us. “Let’s go.”

We continued exploring the disintegrating Citadel… Corpses… fires… and smoke often covered the halls of the Citadel. I was trying to stay calm despite everything going on. Gordon noticed, holding my hand to keep me calm. Aiden was holding my other hand.

We paused for a bit, seeing some soldiers running past us on an adjacent level. Alyx took note of this. “Ah, soldiers. Looks like they’re too busy trying to get out of here to worry about us.”

We then came across a pile of wreckage in front of us. Gordon decided to use his gravity gun to move it out of our way.

“Good thinking!” Alyx complimented him. I even saw Gordon smiling a bit when she complimented him. That was one of the few times I actually saw Gordon smiling.

As we walked around, an explosion occurred in a narrow corridor and a few electricity bolts flashed briefly.

“Ugh… Well.. that was random…” Alyx noted. “Talk about unstable. I really don’t think we should hang around.”

“No kidding… this place is a death wish…” I said.

“You’re right about that, V.” Alyx responded.

We then encountered a bridge made of what looked like some sort of light. I kept having to remind myself that the Combine had much more advanced technology than we did… I still wasn’t used to it all. A volatile vortex popped up next to the bridge, sucking up both soldiers and debris before suddenly disappearing,

“Holy crap…” Alyx muttered. “We’ve got to cross through that!?”

“Looks like we have no other choice.” Aiden noted.

The vortex continued emerging and vanishing. We needed to be quick if we wanted to make it alive to the other side. Alyx turned to Gordon, who now looked very nervous about the situation. She held his hand and smiled.
“I’ll be right behind you.” She spoke softly. Gordon nodded…

We immediately bolted across the bridge to the other side. After we made it to the other side, we took a moment to catch our breath. I was never a good runner, so I was the one who had to sit back for a bit longer than the others.

“We made it!” Alyx exclaimed.

“Yeah! Just… give me a minute…” I said, catching my breath.

“Are you okay, Vi?” Aiden asked.

“Not a good runner… remember?” I responded.

“Oh yeah, I kind of forgot that.” He muttered.

“Yeah… even in life or death situations, I can not run for shit.” I said.

We continued our journey into a room with a strange transparent tube in the middle. Some other stranger things were traveling through the tube. A few red lights shone in the room from the walls.

“What went on in here..?” Alyx asked as she looked around.

“I have no clue… but I’ve got a bad feeling about this place…” I said.

“You and me both…” Alyx responded.

We jumped over a railing to enter the room, Alyx catching me when I jumped. The more that I thought about it, it was clear we saw each other as sisters of sorts. Alyx always seemed quite protective of me.

“What the hell are those things…?” Alyx asked, looking around the room. She then saw a console against one of the walls in front of the tube. “Maybe this console will have some useful information.”

Alyx got access to the console, typing away on the keyboard. “Let me see if I can pin down a path to the core.”

As Alyx was typing, out of nowhere, Breen suddenly appeared on the screen. Both Alyx and I were surprised to see his face.

“Breen?! But… How…?” Alyx muttered in shock and confusion.

Then… we heard a familiar line.

“I can still deliver Earth, but not without your help. The portal destination is untenable. Surely you can set the relay elsewhere. There’s no way I can survive in that environment.”

“Oh… Thank god… it’s just an old recording.” Alyx said.

“A host body? You must be joking. I can’t possibly.” The recording said. Alyx scoffed a bit. “Oh alright, damn it, if that’s what it takes.”

I blanked out, not paying much attention to what the recording was or was saying. That was until a strange alien creature replaced the face on the recording. It was… unnerving to say the least. Even Alyx and the others noticed.

“What the hell?” Alyx asked, looking at the screen.

Then, below our feet, a strange, squirming, unknown, alien creature slid out into the tube. All of us were confused and a bit unnerved.

“What the hell is that?” Alyx asked.

“I don’t know… But I’ve got a bad feeling about it.” I said.

Suddenly, the creature sent out these weird psychic blasts of sorts, causing all of us to cover our ears and cowered. Alyx winced a bit.

“Let’s get out of here!” She yelled.

Alyx, Gordon, Aiden, and I retreated to a doorway. Then the blasts stopped. Alyx sighed.

“What the hell was that thing?” Alyx asked, shakily. “Whatever it was, it’s gone now. Let’s just get out of here…”

Alyx charged the door lock with her EMP tool and the forcefield faded away. Gordon and I were the first ones to walk into a room where we were both unexpectedly trapped between two forcefields. Alyx looked at us from behind one of the fields.

“Gordon?! Violet?! What’s going on in there!?” Alyx asked.

The gravity gun was torn from Gordon’s hands and the gravity gloves were ripped off of my hands. We both noticed that they were changing somehow. The main change was that the gravity gun now had a blue tint to it instead of its usual orange. Even my gloves had a weird blue tint to them.

“Hey… It’s doing something to the gravity gun… and the gloves…”

Then, all of the fields shut off. Gordon and I grabbed out stuff. I slipped back on the gloves, carefully looking at them to make sure they weren’t damaged. Gordon picked up the now improved gravity gun, taking a look at it in his hands.

“I’d say their security device backfired. It’ll come in handy if it stays that way.” Alyx said.

We continued walking and then came across a broken light bridge. Gordon and I used our gravity tools to fix the bridge.

“Nice thinking, you two.” Alyx complimented us.

However, on the other side of the bridge, soldiers came around and tried to ambush us. We fought through the soldiers while running through the decaying citadel. While we were on a bridge, we saw a dropship rise into view and drift through a narrow passageway.

“Whoa! Did you see that!?” Alyx exclaimed.

The dropship then careened against the walls and crashed. We continued walking around until we came across a closed door. Alyx walked up to the door and hacked into it.

“One second… Got it!” Alyx muttered to herself as she hacked into the door.

We then entered a narrow corridor. Sparks shot from the ceiling and sparkling wires dangled above us. I honestly felt glad that I was as short as I was because Gordon had to duck underneath them, since he was around 6’2. We moved past all of that and got into a room with an elevator.

“Looks like this is the transport elevator to the core…” I spoke as we stared out at the large pad that was the elevator. We all got on the elevator and started our descent into the core.

Well, I say we started our descent when we stepped on the elevator, however, it wouldn’t actually budge when we got on.

“Hm… Why isn’t this moving?” Alyx asked. She sighed, “The power must be out.”

“Great… Now what are we going to do?” I asked.

Gordon then restored the power by using his gravity gun to pick up and insert an energy orb into a receptacle. Then we started going down into the core.

“Huh. good thinking, Gordon.” I said. Gordon nodded a bit in response to me, as if saying “Thanks.”

“Yeah, we must be on the right track.” Alyx said. Then she looked up and saw some falling debris coming straight to us. She gasped. “Look up! Watch out!”

Gordon used his gravity gun and I used my gravity gloves to push away any of the falling debris. Then the elevator suddenly stalled.

“What’s wrong with this lift?” Alyx asked. She looked at Gordon. “Can you get it going again?”

Gordon then slung another energy orb into another receptacle. We continued slinging away more falling debris right until we reached our destination. However, we then saw a couple of metal girders tumbling down to us. There was no way in hell that we would be able to stop those, so we decided to just bolt off of the elevator and onto the platform.

“That was close..” Alyx muttered.

“Yeah… it was… Let’s just get this core stabilized…” I spoke.

Chapter Text

“This could be it…” Alyx spoke as she looked around the area. “Careful… I hear more of ‘em coming.”

We knew what she was talking about. More soldiers were coming in to stop us. But we wouldn’t let that happen… Not on our watch. More soldiers ran into the room, confronting us. Alyx and Aiden rushed over to a computer while Gordon and I fought off the soldiers. Once we managed to get them off of our asses, we walked over to the computer, hearing Alyx speaking to herself.

“I don’t get it… Why are they hanging around here?” Alyx asked herself. “It looks like they were deliberately trying to blow the reactor… but why?”

A panel opened up near Alyx’s computer, revealing the deteriorating reactor.

“Oh my God… It looks pretty far gone. “Alyx noted. “I hope Dr. Kleiner was right about this… Let’s see if I can find a way through the control room.”

Alyx tapped the computer and a door opened. We went through another room and Alyx examined a transparent door. Behind the door is an elevator shaft.

“The elevator’s down in the core entry. Let me see if I can call it back to this level.” Alyx said as she walked over to the computer in the room. “These readings are off the charts… I hope it’s not too late to reengage the containment field…” She then looked over at Gordon. “Good thing you know what you’re doing…” The elevator then arrived. “Well… there’s your elevator. I’ll keep Aiden and Vi with me. It is far too dangerous for them to go down there with you.”

The elevator doors slid open. Gordon stepped onto the lift and the doors closed. Alyx then pressed her hand against the glass.

“Gordon… I wish that there was something else I could do to help… Just… Hurry back… and be careful.” Alyx spoke softly. Gordon nodded as the elevator went down into the core.

As we watched him stabilize the core, I decided to get something off of my mind.

“I noticed that you and Gordon have been becoming very close to each other over these last few days.” I said to Alyx, noticing their growing relationship.

“Yeah… We have.” Alyx responded.

“Are you… by any chance… wanting to date him?” I asked, not even trying to be subtle about it.

Alyx paused, blushing as she became flustered. “Oh… Um… uh… Well, what if I told you that I might be…?”

I paused for a moment, processing what she had just said to me.

“Well, I’ll be honest. I wouldn’t mind if you did. Gordon has been a bit lonely these last couple of… well… decades, ever since the Black Mesa incident… Plus, he’s definitely been getting a lot closer to you during this whole thing. Though, I will say, I’ve been seeing you more like an older sister to me.” I explained.

“Really?” Alyx asked.

“Yeah. I’ve seen myself becoming a lot more protective of you ever since we first met. To me, you’re kind of like the older sister I never had growing up.” I said.

“Well, that’s really sweet of you to say that.” Alyx said. “I’ll admit, I do kind of see you like a little sister now that you say all of that.”

“Heh… Well, I’m glad that you think that way…” I said.

After a few skirmishes, Gordon managed to stabilize the core. He then returned to us in the room that we were in.

“Gordon! You did it! The containment system is back in place!” Alyx exclaimed. “It won’t last forever, but at least we’ve bought a little time. While you were in there, I did some poking around in the control data. They were trying to start a chain reaction, alright… but destroying the citadel is just a side effect.”

Alyx walked into the room with the elevator. She continued explaining everything.

“Since we took out Breen’s reactor, this is the only way they have to send a transmission packet back to wherever they came from. I can’t tell what the packet contains, but it’s important enough that they’re willing to sacrifice the whole Citadel to send it off. We need to get it to my dad and Dr. Kleiner at the outpost right away. I’ve been pulling down a copy, whatever it is, I have a bad feeling it’s bad news for all of us…” She paused, pulling something up on the monitor. “There’s something else… It’s Judith.”

Alyx started playing a video on the monitor. Mossman is standing in a corridor of some sort of base that I couldn’t exactly pinpoint where it might be.

“Take a look.” Alyx said as she played the video for us.

We listened to what Mossman said in the recording…. I wasn’t really paying attention, blanking out halfway through the video… that was until the sound of a large crash happened and the camera shook.

“I’m going to have to cut this short, we may have been spotted.” Judith said in the recording. The camera tipped over and landed on the ground. The camera kept recording the scene around them. Then, a few soldiers broke in… but they seemed to be shooting something off screen. The camera then revealed a strange spider-like creature that had broken through a hole in the base's wall. The transmission then went to static.

“She’s in serious trouble… We need to get this and the transmission packet to my dad. He’ll know what to do with it.” Alyx said as she grabbed what looked like a USB stick of sorts and put it in her vest pocket. “I’ve got it right here… now, let’s get the hell out of here.”

Then, an alarm sounded, causing all of us to jump a bit from the sudden sounds.

“Uh, oh… I think they felt that.” Alyx said. “I’ve secured an exit elevator! Come on!”

All of us followed Alyx and into the elevator. It took us a while of fighting through soldiers before we managed to get onto a train platform. Unfortunately for us, Gordon’s gravity gun and my gloves had lost their previous upgrades.

“Oh well, it was fun while it lasted…” I muttered. Gordon nodded.

After a bit of walking, Alyx entered a room and disabled a forcefield and we got onto the train. Though… When we did, I felt a strange chill down my spine when we stepped onto the train.

“Well, that was a clean getaway… I don’t know what’s in this copy we made, but they are not happy with us having it. You know, all things considered, we’re not doing too…” Alyx paused, looking around at the car we were in. “Oh no… It’s a stalker car… God Damn the Combine… This is what happens to you if you resist… or if you’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time…” She carefully closed the prison pod that the dormant stalker was in and whispered. “God, I hope you don’t remember who you are…”

“This… this is all so… fucked up…” I muttered. “When I said I expected an apocalypse to happen, I never in a million years expected something like this… This… This is hell.”

“You’re right about that, Vi… I.. I’m just sorry that you and Aiden are going through this mess…” Alyx said as she looked at a monitor, seeing where the train was going. Then… there was a screeching noise from outside the train…

“What’s that? What’s going on?” I asked.
Alyx rushed over to check the console and gasped when she saw what was going on/

“Oh my God! We’ve been derailed!” Alyx shouted.

The train was shaking violently. I. for some reason, immediately clung onto Alyx. She held onto me as she called out to Gordon and Aiden.

“Brace yourself!” Alyx called out…

Then… Everything went dark… I could still feel myself clinging onto Alyx, even when I blacked out.

Chapter Text

I woke up to the sound of someone, well… multiple someones, screeching loudly. Once I came to my senses, I realized that Alyx and I were both pinned against the wall and a stalker pod. I felt Alyx slightly trembling as she tried to get us both unstuck.

Gordon and Aiden had both woken up, seeing us stuck. They both got up and got us unstuck. Alyx was still trembling a bit as we got unstuck. We all got out of the damaged train car. Alyx sat against the wall, breathing heavily. I sat next to her, and Gordon did the same.

Alyx rested her head on Gordon’s shoulder and quietly began to sob. She was stressed. I hugged her, and Gordon wrapped an arm around her. She was still trembling, clearly frightened from what had happened, her knees up to her chest. She tried to take deep breaths, but was having a hard time doing so. She kept her face pressed into Gordon’s shoulder as she sobbed. It hurt a bit seeing Alyx this upset. I knew she was definitely stressed about what was going on.

Just then, Ruby popped out from my bag and crawled out onto Alyx’s lap. Alyx looked down at her, smiling a bit. She carefully lifted Ruby into her hands and held the Snark in her hands. I could even see her softly smiling a bit as she held Ruby in her hands. I smiled a bit.

“It seems like she likes you.” I noted. Alyx nodded.

“She’s… she’s very sweet for a Snark.” Alyx muttered.

“Yeah, she is. I didn’t even have to train her to be like that.”

“Well, most female Snarks are friendly to humans by default. That’s just their nature.”

“True… Anyways, are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah… I’ll be fine. What about you? I know that whole thing was stressful.”

“I’ll be alright. I’ve been through worse.”

After a while, we all got up, though Alyx still stayed behind a bit.

“Hold up a sec… I uh… I got to catch my breath…” Alyx slumped against the wall. “Okay… well… this might not be as easy as I thought. We’re in the same boat as the other evacuees now… On foot to a train station… Let’s head for the surface…”

“Are you sure you’re okay to walk?” I asked.

“Yeah… I’ll be okay, Vi.” She said as she stood up. Alyx walked up to another forcefield and disabled it with her EMP tool, letting us walk through. We navigated our way between the derailed train and a tunnel.

Alyx perked up, listening carefully. “Careful… I hear turrets.”

We all had to rush through a tunnel while fighting off headcrabs and zombies. To be honest, it was hell. Trying to go through the tunnel while fighting for our lives was a mess. We entered another part of the tunnel and saw a blinking red light. It was a turret, but luckily for us, it was out of bullets.

“They’ve been here so long, they’re out of bullets.” Alyx muttered.

However, things wouldn’t get better for us. Remember how I said we were having to fight our way through a tunnel? Well, now we had to do that, but now in the dark.

“I can’t see a thing,” Alyx said as she squinted in the dark. “I’m blind as a bat without a flashlight on.”

We continued walking through the corridor until we came to a door. That was electronically locked on the other side.

“We need to get through this door… Damn… It’s got a power lock… How are we going to get this open?” Alyx asked herself as she looked around. “Let’s see if we can find a power box.”

After a bit of walking, we eventually came across a grate covering a vent beside a door. Gordon approached it and took the vent cover off. Alyx smirked, remembering something.

“Hey, an air duct,” Alyx noted. She turned to Gordon. “I’ve heard stories about you and air ducts. Dr. Kleiner said that whenever he locked himself out of his office, you and Barney used to compete to see who could get in fastest without using a key.”

“Heh…! I distinctly remember him doing that once with my dad as well.” I spoke up.

“Really, now?” Alyx asked.

“Yeah, there were a couple of times where dad had locked himself out of his office and, since Gordon and he were close friends, he had him go into the vents and help get into his office. Each time it happened, Dad would come home and explain everything, and it was funny to hear-” I paused… I remembered something that my biological father had said to me one time… I felt a bit insecure, thinking I was talking so much.

“I… I’m sorry, I’m talking too much.” I said, feeling bad. Alyx seemed a bit concerned about me.

“What makes you think you’re talking too much…?” Alyx asked.

“I… I guess I just…” I sighed. “I don’t really want to talk about it…” I still felt uneasy about talking about my traumatic experiences… Even with people like Alyx and Gordon.

“It’s okay… You don’t have to. Maybe once we get out of this mess, we can talk about it once you’re ready.” Alyx spoke softly.

“Yeah… Maybe…” I said.

“You know Gordon and I care about you a lot, right? So does Aiden…”

“I know… I know…” I was caught off guard when Alyx suddenly hugged me.

“You’re like a little sister to me, Vi. I care about you a lot. Ever since we met back at Kleiner’s lab. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you or anyone on this team. We all care about each other, especially you.” Alyx spoke softly. “You can always talk to Gordon and me whenever something is bothering you.”

“I know…Thank you, Alyx…” I spoke softly, still holding onto Alyx tightly, Gordon then unlocked the door from the other side, letting us walk through.

As we were walking, Gordon signed something to Alyx. He seemed concerned.

“Is Vi doing okay?” He signed to Alyx.

“Yeah… she just needed a bit of a pick-me-up,” Alyx said. Gordon nodded in understanding. Alyx looked down at his hands. “Hey, you found a gun.”

Gordon nodded, smiling a bit. He seemed happy that Alyx seemed to be proud of him. We continued into another murky tunnel with more zombies and wrecked cars. As we were walking around, we started hearing noises behind us... Something that sounded like a zombie. Gordon and I quickly turned around, only to see that it was just Alyx making the noises. She laughed a bit after we found out it was her. Gordon and I both relaxed when we found out it was just her goofing off.

"hehe, Gotch'ya!" She spoke with a smile on her face.

Gordon and I both playfully rolled our eyes and continued walking around. The other thing that made this whole thing feel more unsettling was all of the Antlion corpses all over the place.

“Antlions, here?” Alyx noted. “The Combine’s defense field must have collapsed.”

“I mean, that would make sense since it was powered by the Citadel,” I said.

“Yeah.” Aiden agreed with me. “Though we should still be careful around here.”

Our conversation was interrupted by a lot of Antlions and zombies trying to attack us. We immediately jumped into action and fought off the Antlions and Zombies. We continued walking around after that attack and came across what looked like a tunnel opening to another train.

“Looks like we found a troop train.” Alyx noted.

We got on and took a look around the abandoned train. Only there was one thing that caught our attention when we stepped inside. A zombie wearing a Combine uniform.

“What the hell is that?” Aiden asked.

“Hmm… Looks like a Combine Zombie…” I said, carefully inspecting the zombie corpse.

“That’s… That’s like a… ah… a Zombine! Right?” Alyx said jokingly. “Zombine, get it? Heh heh… o-kay…”

“Alyx,” I said, almost deadpan. “I get you’re trying to lighten the mood a bit, but I’ll be honest, that was horrible.”

“Yeah, I know.” Alyx said, looking away.

At the far end of the train, another Combine Zombie (I am not calling them Zombines) stirred.

“Crap! Look out, it's got a grenade!” Alyx yelled out.

The Combine zombie stumbled toward us, and the grenade detonated as it reached the barrier, killing the Combine zombie before it reached us. We decided to exit the troop train and wandered into another dimly lit tunnel that was populated with zombies, barnacles, and combine zombies. We went up a staircase to what looked like an abandoned car park. Gordon was ahead of us and tried to turn a valve wheel to open a gate; however, we were then ambushed by antlions.

“Uh oh, the antlions are coming up here!” Alyx yelled.

Gordon and I solved the antlion problem by using the gravity gun and the gravity gloves to position a wrecked car on top of the antlion hole. We also used scraps of metal and concrete around the area to kill off any remaining antlions in the area.

Gordon then approached the gate and successfully opened it. We headed deeper into the car park, encountering more barnacles and headcrabs. More zombies were waiting for us past a room filled with barnacles. After fighting all of them off, we went up a staircase to another multi-level parking garage. Gordon and I sealed off more antlion burrows, while Alyx and Aiden defended us. Once we killed off any of the remaining antlions, Gordon raised a gate on the top floor of the garage and entered a series of fenced and flooded rooms. Gordon picked me up, carrying me with my legs wrapped around his torso.

Alyx spoke up. “Man.. You’re lucky to have that hazard Suit, Gordon. This water is nasty. Got room for two in there?”

Both Aiden and I looked at each other with a knowing glance and a smirk. We both knew that Gordon and Alyx had a thing for each other. I even saw Gordon blushing a bit. I knew he was a bit flustered. We continued to fight through the halls, fighting off Zombies that lurked in the halls. Gordon found a door leading to higher and drier ground. Gordon set me down once we got up onto dry land.

“Please let there be a way to the surface…” Alyx muttered.

After a while, we reached what looked like elevator doors.

“I don’t believe it! An actual elevator!” Alyx exclaimed. “I would have settled for stairs.”

Alyx activated the elevator. However, luck was not on our side as the power had cut out a few seconds later.

“You have got to be kidding me,” I muttered.

“Don’t worry, Vi. I’ve worked with electricity a time or two,” Alyx reassured. “And I’m pretty sure this sparkling wire must be connected to a power source.”

“I think we’re very lucky to have you as our tech person.” Aiden said.

We started to search the dark room, searching for a power source. Gordon was the one to discover the main power source and fix it, getting the power back up.

“Hey, I hear the elevator. It’s moving again!” Alyx exclaimed. She paused, hearing a few enemies in the distance, approaching us. “And here comes trouble.”

We all had to fight off multiple zombies as we backtracked and approached the elevator. It took a while, but the elevator eventually reached us, and we got on as quickly as we could.

“Oh my god…” Alyx muttered to herself. “I hope it’s still light out…”

“You and me both…” I responded.

Chapter Text

Once the elevator reached its destination, we got off the elevator, Alyx being the first one to hop out. She looked outside, seeing that it was still daylight out.

“Thank god, it’s still day!” Alyx exclaimed. “Let’s get out of here.”

As we tried to find our way out, I heard Dr. Kleiner's voice. It seemed like he managed to hack into the Breencast and broadcast a looping message. We only heard a part of it while we were down there.

“Therefore, I repeat, evacuate City 17 at once, if not sooner! I cannot state this without enough undue emphasis!”

Alyx tugged on a lattice gate that blocked us from our freedom. It was locked. We were stuck down there.

“Oh god no…” Alyx muttered. “No no no… It’s locked. I can’t believe this!”

As we tried to find a way out, we heard two people talking above us. It sounded like a man and a woman.

“Combine defenses used to keep these antlions away…” The man said.

“At least the antlions hate the combine as much as they hate us..” The woman said. Alyx decided to try to get their attention.

“Hey, up there!” Alyx called out. “Hello! Can you let us out of here?! Hello?!” She sighed, giving up. “Looks like they can’t hear us, I guess… Can you guys see a way to get this open.”

I looked around the place and noticed something. There was a place on the wall that looked like a valve or a handle of sorts should be. Only… It wasn’t.

“Um… guys. I think I found something. Well, the lack of something…” I called out.

“What do you mean, love?” Aiden asked me.

“Well, it seems like there was supposed to be a valve here… but it’s missing. Maybe that’s what helps open the gate in front of us?” I asked.

“Hm… It could be.” Alyx thought. “We need to find that valve.”

We kept looking around, now looking for the missing valve. Gordon opened another gate, this one leading into a storage closet that was crammed with boxes. He found an unused orange valve in the corner of the closet. I glanced over, seeing him holding it.

“That’s it!” I exclaimed. “Let’s see if that valve still works!”

Gordon placed the valve in the spot on the wall and turned it. The gate to the outside was opening. Once we got the gate open, we rushed outside into a courtyard. Dr. Kliener’s speech was clearly audible to us now.

“Finally, Fresh air…” Alyx said as we walked outside.

“Well, as fresh as it can get…” I said.

“Yeah, you’re right about that…” Alyx responded.

We looked around, seeing the extensive damage that the striders caused to our surroundings. The place looked like hell…

“Oh my Ark…” I muttered.

“The striders really tore the hell out of this place.” Aiden said.

“I’ve never seen something like this before.” I responded. “I knew that this would be hell for all of us… but I never expected any of this.”

“None of us did…” Alyx said. She then glanced up at Dr. Kleiner’s broadcast. “I’ve never been happier to see Dr. Kleiner…”

We decided to get a move on, walking through a neighborhood alley. However, we had another problem on our hands.

Combine scanners.

We managed to knock them all down but we knew what this all meant. The remaining Combine were now on a hunt for us. We continued walking into the street, where we saw a few resistance members fighting off some antlions. Gordon used his Gravity Gun to put a wrecked car on top of the antlion burrow. However, more problems showed up. Combine. They were approaching us rapidly. This whole thing was a mess.

We fought off the combine and continued exploring around the area. Alyx climbed up a structure and through a window. Turns out that the street was barricaded with a high wall at this point and there was no obvious way to get past it from ground level.

“Uh oh…” Alyx muttered. “ They’ve got the street fortified up ahead. You guys run point, okay? I’ll cover you all from up here until you reach the far end. When the coast is clear, I’ll catch up.” She glanced around, surveying the area. “Okay, it looks like I can get that ladder down to you. Let me shoot out the latch. I might be a little rusty with this rifle..”

Alyx then aimed the sniper rifle and managed to successfully shoot the latch to the ladder.

“Hah! Nope, I guess I’m not!” Alyx exclaimed.

Gordon led the way as we climbed up and over the barricade. Alyx helped us out with her rifle. We went through an apartment building and into a different street. However, this whole thing wouldn’t be without trouble.

Combine, zombies, and antlions all tried to gang up on us and slaughter us. We then discovered something known as a Combine Garrison while Alyx covered for us, following us. We at least got a moment of peace.

“Phew… Glad that’s over…” Alyx spoke. She looked up at us. “Are you all okay?”

“Aiden and I both are…” I said.

“Good… What about you, Gordon?” Alyx asked.

Gordon looked up at her and nodded, holding up a thumbs-up.

“Good. c'mon, let’s keep going.” Alyx said.`

Alyx walked over to a console and was about to access it to disable the garrison’s forcefield, but we had more trouble on our hands. There was a loud rumble in the distance, indicating that we were probably about to end up fighting something. The console ended up shocking Alyx a bit.

“Ow!” Alyx winced in pain. “Oh god… looks like the reactor’s back on track for a meltdown… That transmission is going out after all.”

The citadel rumbled again. Alyx returned to the console.

“I’d like to find another way around these buildings, but we really don’t have time…” Alyx said.

“Who knows when the core will fully collapse…” Aiden muttered.

Alyx managed to turn off the forcefield.

“Okay, let’s get in… Come on.” Alyx said as she led the way for us.

We infiltrated a Combine building and attacked the Combine forces inside. We all took a break to catch our breath.

“Whoof… I think we just broke about fifty Combine regulations.” Alyx spoke as she caught her breath.

“Yeah… no kidding… At this point, my kill count must be in the double or even triple digits.” I paused, hearing what sounded like a distant beeping.

Beep. Beep. Beep…

“What’s that beeping sound?” Alyx asked.

Beep… Beep… Then several beeps close together. We then noticed that there were red lights flashing on two doors… Alyx gasped.

“Get away from the doors!” Alyx shouted.

Gordon immediately clung to me, landing on the ground right as the doors blew apart in a contained explosion. Combine rushed out and exchanged fire with Gordon and Alyx. They shot at the Combine, keeping us behind them to protect us. Eventually we made it out to the street. Gordon and I closed up more antlion burrows and fought off a large antlion guard. Alyx helped us fight off more Combine and more of the scanners.

“They’re coming from the rooftops!” Alyx shouted.

After defeating a large portion of the combine and whatever other enemies we had to fight off, we immediately dove into a hole into a damaged building. I noticed that Ruby had climbed out of my bag and was snacking on random insects and grubs. That was how I found out what a Snark diet mostly consisted of. Once she was done, she climbed right back in my bag.

“Heh. seems like she was hungry.” Aiden said as we continued walking.

“Yeah. It definitely seemed so.” I said.

Then we unfortunately came across another dreaded power locked door.

“Oh man, another power lock…” Alyx muttered.

Gordon looked over and found another air vent. He decided to duck into it. Alyx chuckled a bit

“Your vent crawling skills seem to be in high-demand today, Gordon.” Alyx said with a smirk. I even saw Gordon smile a bit. Gordon traveled through the vents while Alyx, Aiden, and I stayed in the room we were in. Ruby had crawled out of my bag and continued snacking on bugs and grub. Alyx even noticed this.

“Heh. She really was hungry.” Alyx said.

“I mean, Snarks tend to go without food for at least a couple days before they need to find food. I guess she really was getting hungry.” I said.

“Yeah. She’s going nuts with those bugs.” Aiden said.

After a while, Gordon managed to unlock and opened the door from the other side. Alyx smirked as Ruby climbed back into my bag.

“There you are. I thought you had forgotten about us.” Alyx spoke to Gordon.

Gordon shook his head, smiling a bit. He signed to us.

“Of course not. I could never forget you all.” Gordon signed to us.

We proceeded deeper into the building where we came across more laser trip mine traps. There were two possible exits to the room. One was blocked by a forcefield and the other was leading up to a staircase. However, There was a problem about to ensue.

Because behind the closed door on the top of the staircase… was a beeping red light.

“Uh oh… here we go again…” Alyx said.

The door was blasted open and a flaming barrel was tossed down the stairs followed by a wave of Combine soldiers. We all fought off the Combine and rushed up the stairs, seeing that there was some supplies and the power outlet for the forcefield. Gordon was the one to shut down the power and we headed outside. However, we were nearly swarmed by Combine soldiers. Gordon was nearly beaten down by them, but I managed to fight my way through them and defend him in the process. Once we managed to get to a clear area, I noticed something.

Gordon was trembling again. He sat against a wall, breathing heavily and trembling. He had bruises and cuts all over him from the previous attacks. He was having another panic attack. Alyx sat next to him, wrapping an arm around him as she tried to comfort him. That’s what broke him as he started to sob into her shoulder. We all looked at each other with a knowing look. We knew he needed us with him. Aiden and Alyx did their best to comfort him while I did my best to patch up his wounds. He still softly sobbed as I patched his wounds. I could tell he was very stressed out at the moment. I knew that all of the years of stress and trauma were coming back to him… and the Combine invasion wasn’t helping him any…

Once I finished patching him up, I put my stuff away and gave him a hug. He hugged me back, still sobbing. He felt oddly cold in my arms, so we all tried our best to help warm him up and calm him down. After what felt like hours, he finally managed to calm down, still trembling a bit.

“Are you feeling okay now, Gordon?” Alyx asked, speaking softly to him. Gordon nodded.

We then saw a male Resistance member waving us over.

“Hey! Over Here!” He called us over. He stood at the entrance of a building. He urged us to follow him inside.

“What are you still doing here?” Alyx asked as we approached. “Everyone should clear out of the city.”

“The Combine’s not making it easy.” The rebel explained. “We’re trying to get enough people to force our way through to the train station. People are meeting up in a safehouse nearby.”

“Could you take us there?” Alyx asked.

“You bet. Let’s go.” The rebel led us, pointing in the right direction. “This way.”

We quickly jogged through a back alleyway and dropped down into a courtyard. We reached a locked door and the rebel knocked on the door.

“Hey, it’s me. Open the door.” He said.

A slot in the door opened and someone spoke to the rebel.

“What’s the password?” A female rebel asked as she looked through the slot.

“I’m not even going to tell you to shut up.” The male rebel said. I heard a light giggle as the female rebel on the other side opened the door for us.

“Come on in.” She said as she let us in.

The door opened to an old apartment building. Dr. Kleiner’s broadcast was still playing on a small television in the room. I wasn’t really paying attention to it until I heard Dr. Kleiner saying that it was recommended for people to… well… procreate…

“Uh… Is Dr. Kleiner really telling everyone to… get busy?” Alyx asked. Gordon managed to snap Alyx out of it. “You’re right. We don’t have to watch TV. We should get going.”

“Oh! Wait! Before you guys leave!” A female rebel walked over with something in her hands. She handed it to me and I saw it was a handmade messenger bag. It was a dark blue with a few symbol patches sewn in. “Miss Rose! I made this just for you. That backpack looks like it’s falling apart… I even made sections for where each of your items go, including a spot for Ruby.”

“Oh… Oh my Ark.. This… This is beautiful!” I carefully took the bag in my hands. “How can I ever repay you?”

“Oh, no need to worry about that. You helping all of us defeat the Combine is payment enough. How about you put your stuff in the pockets? I made sure that there were plenty of places to store things.” The rebel spoke to me.

I got down on my knees and slipped my backpack off onto the floor. I carefully sorted all of my things into each slot in the bag. The rebel was right. My original backpack was quite torn. I even put Ruby in her own slot. That particular section of the bag had a form of clear mesh for Ruby to have a window. Ruby seemed to like the little section for her.

After a while, I managed to get everything settled in my new bag. It felt a lot better to have a new bag. We said our goodbyes and started getting back on track.

We walked up several flights of stairs, my own knees almost giving out on me with how steep they were. However, there was a sudden explosion. A burning pod filled with headcrabs crashed on the stairs. I heard Gordon squeak out of fright again.

“What the hell!?” Alyx exclaimed. “Let’s find another way up.”

Gordon opened the closest door to us and let us in, however, we had to fight through a horde of zombies while running throughout the building. We made it to the top floor after a while of running and fighting. Alyx knocked on the door and saw the slot open. We all saw a familiar pair of eyes. Both Aiden and I knew immediately who it was.

Barney Calhoun.

“Gordon?! Alyx?! Violet!? Aiden?! I don’t believe it!” He exclaimed as he looked at us. “How the hell did you make it out of the citadel?!” He then unlocked the door for us.

“We’re not exactly sure. All I know is the Vortigaunts had something to do with it… But what about you, Barney?”

Before Barney could respond, Aiden had gone up to him and hugged him tightly. It was clear he had missed him.

“Heh. Hey there, kiddo…” Barney spoke softly, holding his son close to him.

Both Aiden and I noticed someone standing next to Barney. Someone that looked almost exactly like him, just female instead.. And a bit younger, probably around mid 20s. Aiden decided to ask.

“Um… Dad? Who’s that?” Aiden asked, pointing at the woman.

“Oh, that’s Aubrey. She’s my sister.” Barney explained. “Aubrey, This is my son, Aiden, and his girlfriend, Violet.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both!” Aubrey said to us.

“It’s nice to meet you, too.” I said.

“I didn’t know you had a sister.” Aiden said.

“Well, now you do!” Barney said. He turned back to Alyx. “But to answer your question, Alyx, I’m doing okay… Just going crazy trying to-”

He was cut short by a rebel. “They found us!”

A scanner was seen outside of a window before a rebel shot it down

“Oh Hell, Gordon! Were you followed again?” Barney asked, letting go of Aiden.

“We stole some information from the Citadel on our way out.” Alyx explained. “I don’t know what it is yet, but it’s important enough that they’ve been hounding us the whole way here.”

“Well, that puts the pressure on…” Barney muttered. “Look, we’ve got to get moving. You guys know about the evacuation trains, right?”

“Yeah, we do.” Alyx said.

“Yeah, well, we’ve been planning to make a push to the train station. Now, it looks like we’re gonna have to cut a path through every chicken-shit metrocop who’s having second thoughts about defending City 17.”

“If Gordon, Violet, Aiden, and I took a separate route, we could draw the Combine away from you. That’d give you a chance to get the trains filled up before we get there.” Alyx explained.

“Really?” Barney asked. “Well, if you say so. Now, come here. Look over here.” Barney said as he led us over to a raised bridge. He lowered it, taking a crowbar out of the crank holding the bridge up, letting the bridge reach the other buildings across the street.

“Okay, across this bridge, over the rooftops, is a safe path to the station.” Barney explained. “You four head that way. I’ll hit the road and round up everyone who’s been waiting. We’ll meet you there.”

“Sounds good.” Alyx said. She then turned to us. “Let’s go.”

Alyx, Aiden, and I walked across the bridge. Gordon was stopped by Barney. Aiden and I decided to stop for a bit, listening to their conversation.

“Hey, Gordon. Before you go, I was getting tired of carrying this around.” Barney said as he handed Gordon the crowbar. “Listen, I don’t have many more of these, so… Try not to lose this one, okay?” He chuckled a bit as Gordon took the crowbar. “Go on across, Gordon, Alyx is waiting for you. You lucky dog, you.”

Gordon signed “Thank you” to him, a soft smile on his face. He then walked up to us and followed us across the bridge.

“See you at the station!” Barney called out.

“Wait!” Aiden said, running back to Barney. He hugged him again.

Barney hugged him back, smiling a bit. “Be safe out there, kiddo…”

“I’ll try to… You be safe as well… Both you and Aubrey.” Aiden spoke softly, slowly letting go of Barney.

“We both will. Now, go on, kiddo.” Barney said.

“Alright. I love you, dad.” Aiden said.

“I love you too, Aiden.” Barney spoke softly.

Aiden then caught back up with us and we made it to the other side of the bridge. We moved through more abandoned and ruined buildings when we heard a noise from the outside.

“It’s a gunship…” Alyx muttered.

And, like usual, the gunship tried to attack us, firing at us.

“Get back!” Alyx exclaimed.

We continued to trek through the abandoned buildings, killing off headcrabs and Combine Zombies along the way. After a bit of wandering and exploring, we then came across a dilapidated hospital

“Hey, a hospital!” Alyx exclaimed. “Keep an eye out for medical supplies!”

However, outside, the gunship kept shooting at us through the windows. More Combine and Zombies waited for us in the hospital corridors. Gordon was the first one to enter the hospital’s wooden attic, where he finally put an end to the gunship.

By shooting it down with an RPG.

“Wow… I mean, holy… That was… Jesus, Gordon, you’re a real terror.” Alyx said in shock.

“That’s not the first time he’s done something like that. Back at Black Mesa, he shot down a military helicopter with an RPG once.” I explained.

“Wow. That’s… That’s impressive.” Alyx paused, looking at the downed gunship. “You think it’s dead?” She looked at Gordon. “Maybe you should whack it with your crowbar just in case.”

Gordon smirked a bit hearing the snarky statement from Alyx. Gordon got ready to exit when we noticed that there was a red beeping light at the door.

“Oh God, not again…” Alyx muttered.

Same thing happens. Combine came through the door. Combine die. We continued walking through the abandoned hospital. However, we then came across a forcefield blocking our path.

“Great… another forcefield.” I muttered.

“Hang on Vi. I’ll deactivate it here in a minute. I just need to sort through this stuff for a minute.” Alyx dug around and ended up finding a shotgun. “So much for medical supplies, I found a shotgun!”

“Heh. Nice. We’re definitely going to need that.” I said.

Alyx walked up to the forcefield, using her EMP tool to hack into the console and disabled the forcefield. The hospital corridors and rooms were completely infested with zombies and Combine. In one of the larger rooms, one probably used for surgery, there was a huge tear in the floor that led to the basement.

“After you…” Alyx spoke to Gordon.

Gordon nodded, leading the way and going in first. However, the floor had caved in and he plunged into a pool of filthy water in the subbasement.

“Oh no! Gordon!” Alyx called out, sounding worried.

“Are you okay?!” I called out to Gordon. He seemed a bit shaken up but looked up at us with a nod and a thumbs up. Alyx and I sighed out of relief. Alyx then paused, hearing another sound.

“Oh, God! More Zombies!” Alyx cried out.

Alyx, Aiden, and I fought off the zombies while Gordon made his way through the sub basement and into the main basement. We then met up with him halfway through. Gordon saw Alyx and hugged her. Alyx hugged him back.

“I’m sorry about leaving you alone down here… We got a bit swamped. I see you did alright without us.” Alyx spoke softly as she hugged him.

We continued walking through a corridor after being reunited. We made our way into another room where the ceiling had given way… we shot down more zombies and headcrabs through the broken windows. Both Alyx and I could sense that more enemies were on the way and that we needed to act quickly.

“Here they come…!” Alyx exclaimed softly. “They’re through the door!”

A door ruptured and more zombies swarmed into the room. We all prepared ourselves, arming ourselves for a fight. Once we got through that mess, we investigated more of the grimy hospital. I couldn’t help but get unnerved from the whole place… It felt like something out of a horror movie.

“What kind of hospital is this?” Alyx muttered as she looked around the room.

“I’m not sure… Though, it feels like something out of Marble Hornets.”

“Marble Hornets? What's that?” Alyx asked.

“Some old internet horror web series from around 2009-2014. I remember watching it a few years ago back during the Covid-19 pandemic.” I explained.

“Wow. Maybe when we get out of this mess, you can show me the series. I have a friend who managed to archive most of the internet before the Combine took over.” Alyx explained.

“No way! That’s awesome!” I said.

“Yeah! It is! Maybe he managed to archive that series!” Alyx exclaimed.

“God, I hope so.” I said. “It was one of my favorite series. I even made plushies of some of the characters back when I still lived with my biological parents.”

“Nice! Maybe they were taken to a Resistance Base somewhere.” Alyx said.

“I hope so.”

Down a corridor, there were a couple of turrets behind a forcefield. There were also zombies hiding in the rooms along the corridor. Gordon and I used the gravity gun and the gloves to unplug the forcefield. After that, we headed down another forcefield and exited the abandoned building.

“Finally!” I exclaimed. “We made it out of that place!”

“Yeah! Come on, the train station should be this way!” Alyx said.

Chapter Text

Gordon opened the door once we got out of the abandoned building and we heard Dr. Kleiner’s broadcast in the distance.

“Yes! The train station!” Alyx exclaimed, pointing over to the station.

However, like always, we had trouble on our asses. A Combine sensor flashed and Dr. Kleiner’s broadcast went down, having been disconnected.

“Oh boy… They’re onto us…” Alyx muttered. “We better find Barney and get moving.”

We stepped outside. There was a parking lot going down a small hill. Barney and Aubrey walked over to us from behind an overturned truck.

“There you all are!” Barney said.

“We were getting worried if you were going to make it in time!” Aubrey said.

“Sorry to keep y’all waiting.” I said.

“Yeah, Combine’s on our tail.” Alyx said. “What’s the plan?”

“We’re sending folks out in groups. Like I said before, if you can keep them safe and provide cover, we might actually stand a chance of reaching the escape trains.” Barney explained to us as we walked down the hill.

“Sounds good.” Alyx said. “Let’s send out the first group.”

“Alright… Here we go.” Barney muttered as he walked inside a nearby building to assemble a group of four. One of the citizens recognized both Gordon and I.

“Well, Gordon Freeman and Violet Rose! And about time too!” They said,

Gordon and Alyx led the evacuees across the parking lot and into the train station. Luckily, we didn’t encounter any resistance. We were able to get plenty of citizens on the train.

“Well, that wasn’t so hard.” Alyx spoke. “We should have brought everyone over at once.”

Alyx then took control of the Emplacement Gun in the train station. She turned to Gordon and I. “Go get another group. I’ll stay here and guard the gate. Vi, you go with him.”

Unfortunately, we had to deal with Combine scanners as we returned for the second group. A dropship released Combine forces that Gordon and I had to deal with. Group after group, we had to keep fighting off these forces. Every single group we rounded up and put on the train, we had to keep fighting off waves of Combine forces.

It felt exhausting… I just wanted all of the waves to stop… all of the bloodshed… and nearly human screams… It was getting to me again… It was… hurting… Not physically… but mentally… I snapped out of it eventually, but this was when I kinda knew that this whole “hero” thing wasn’t going to work out for me. I even heard Barney calling out to the other citizens.

“To the trains, people! We’ll make sure you get there safe and sound!” Barney exclaimed.

Alyx abandoned her mounted gun to join Barney’s group. Gordon, Aiden, and I followed them. Once we gathered in the room just outside of the train, Alyx used her EMP tool to zap the door shut.

“That should keep them off our backs for a while…” Alyx muttered.

“You guys coming?” Barney asked.

“You go on, Barney.” Alyx said. “They’re not after you. Gordon, Vi, Aiden, and I will draw their attention while you and Aubrey get the others away from here. We can grab another train once you’re clear.”

“Okay then…” Barney said. “Don’t take too long about it, yeah?”

“We won’t.” Alyx said reassuringly. “Here. Let’s open up this next track.”

Barney and Aubrey headed onto the train while Alyx, Gordon, Aiden, and I went into an adjacent room.

“Bye, Barney! Good luck!” Alyx called out.

“See ya when I see ya!” Barney said.

“Bye Dad! And stay safe out there!” Aiden called out.

“We will! You and Vi stay safe as well! I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you kids!” Barney spoke.

“We’ll be alright!” Aiden said. “I love you!”

“I love you too, Son! I’ll see you at White Forest!”

The train departed. Aiden and I followed Gordon and Alyx while we went through passages and rooms bordered with chain-link fences. Gordon then turned a crank to open a roll-up door. Alyx crawled into the room first, only to see a strider coming down the train tracks. Luckily for us, Gordon managed to take it down using his RPG.

“Fantastic Job, Gordon! You’re my new hero!” Alyx exclaimed. “Ha… I don’t believe it… I think we’re actually going to make it out of here! Quick, now, let’s get the train moving.”

Alyx, Gordon, Aiden, and I got onto the train. After a while, the train was moving away from the station. We were almost out of there.

“Here we go.” Alyx said. “We did it…”

“Yup… Maybe finally we can rest up after all of this chaos…” I said. “Though, I don’t want to jinx us…”

However, my dumb ass did jinx us… We looked out at the citadel. The train station was in the distance. As they enter a pitch-black tunnel, a Combine ship crashes right behind them. As the train picked up speed, We saw the Citadel was about to melt down. Beams of light traveled to the top of the Citadel and into the distorted sky.

“Oh my God... the transmission is going out.” Alyx said.

There were several bursts of white light. Several pods soar out from the Citadel's location, and Gordon is struck by psychic blasts from two of the pods. Pieces of detritus whip past the train. A shockwave approached us rapidly.

“Oh my God... Gordon!” Alyx cried out… and that was the last thing I heard before blacking out.

Chapter Text

The sounds of creaking metal were what filled my ears when I first woke up. I looked around, finding myself trapped under several fallen pieces of debris. I told myself not to move around so much, if at all. The last thing I wanted to do was accidentally cut myself. I carefully crawled out and found myself nearly tripping since the derailed train was now at an angle. I glanced over, seeing Gordon was okay. He carefully approached me and helped me be stable as we continued walking through the damaged train.

As we walked around, we noticed that the train cars were nearly completely damaged. Seats and luggage were thrown around the place. I was honestly just hoping that Alyx and Aiden were okay. We continued walking, hearing a small flooded part of one of the destroyed train cars. Gordon picked me up and carried me, bridal style over the flooded part. He set me down when it was dry.

As we made it out of the wreckage, we heard a familiar voice.

“Gordon?! Violet!?”

We looked over, seeing it was Alyx and Aiden.

“Alyx! Aiden!” I called out to them. They both approached us.

“Oh, Gordon… Vi… Thank God you two are okay.” Alyx said. She glanced over, seeing Gordon’s gravity gun and my Katana. “Oh! You two might need these!”

“Oh, Holy Arkenine!” I exclaimed, "they managed to survive the crash!” I glanced at Alyx, seeing how worried she looked. “Alyx? Are you okay?”

“Yeah… It’s just… When I couldn’t find you or Gordon… I got…” She paused, sighing. “I know… I know… I shouldn’t have worried…”

“Well, it’s okay. We’re all okay.” I said. “Besides, you know Gordon and I. We don’t go down that easily.”

Alyx nodded, “well, we should keep moving. I’m sure the Combine haven’t forgotten about us.”

“Yeah. I sure as hell wish that they would though…” I said with a slight scoff.

“You and I both, V… You and I both…” Alyx muttered. “Hold on. Is Ruby still okay?”

I carefully opened my bag and saw that Ruby was still in my bag, perfectly alive and well.

“Yeah, she’s okay.” I said.

“Alright. Let’s go then.” Alyx said, leading the way. “I heard Vortigaunts a few minutes ago. Maybe they’re still around…”

“I guess there’s only one way to find out.” I said.

“We’ve still got a long way to go to find my dad… It would be nice to have some extra help.” Alyx said.

We walked around the train wreckage and wandered around what looked like a forest area. I took a deep breath, taking in the nature around us.

“Damn… I almost forgot what the woods were like for a while…” I muttered. “It sure as hell is nice to be out of City 17…”

“Yeah, it is…” Aiden said as well.

As we walked around, we saw the collapsed citadel in the distance, a blue light emanating from it into the sky.

“Oh my God…” Alyx muttered. “The citadel…!”

“It’s… Completely destroyed.” I added on.

“What the hell is happening?” Alyx asked as we approached the edge of what looked like a waterfall to get a closer look at it. She looked at the light coming from it. “What’s that?”

“I’m asking the same questions…” I said.

Suddenly, a wave of blue light and shockwaves came right at us.

“Whoa! Portal Storm!” Alyx exclaimed, holding onto Aiden and I. Gordon also held onto us to keep us all stable. Once the shockwave was over, we then heard a slight creaking sound behind us.

“Look! The bridge!” Alyx exclaimed.

We watched as the bridge behind us where the train had derailed was now completely falling apart, collapsing right in front of our eyes. Alyx sighed, looking at all of us.

“Are you all okay?” She spoke softly, almost in a motherly tone.

“Yeah… Just a bit shaken up.” Aiden said.

Alyx nodded, letting us go and sighing. “It’s like the first days all over again… I hope we don’t get many more…”

“We can only hope…” I muttered.

We continued walking through the wooded area until we came across what looked like a barricaded tunnel. Gordon used his gravity gun to undo the barricades. We walked deeper into it, Gordon using his Gravity gun to clear our path. The place looked nearly abandoned, trash everywhere and graffiti on the walls.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rebels used this place.” Alyx spoke.

“Definitely seems like something that they would use…” I muttered in Response.

We continued exploring around the tunnel, collecting any items we could salvage out of that place. Though, as we continued exploring, we then came across what looked to be a part of the tunnel covered in dead corpses. Zombies and Antlions for the most part. It was oddly unnerving…

“Well, safe haven, it ain't…” Alyx muttered.

“No kidding… something clearly got to this before we did.” Aiden spoke up.

As we kept walking around, we eventually found a couple of Zombies just wandering around the area. I drew my katana and Alyx drew her pistol.

“Zombies…” Alyx muttered. “I’ve got them!”

She then shot at the zombies, killing them almost instantly. Though… I will admit, walking around this place felt almost surreal in a way. I couldn’t really explain how… We continued walking around, killing off zombies, until we eventually made it to the end of the tunnel, right outside.

We then came across what looked to be an outpost of sorts. Gordon entered first, letting the rest of us enter after him. Alyx walked up to the computer in front of us.

“Okay… A communication center. Let’s see if we can get a message out to my dad.” Alyx said. “Doctor Kleiner and my Dad are up north at an old missile base. I hope they’re still using this frequency.” She spoke, typing away at a keyboard. “They’re trying to help launch a… Ah! Here we go!”

Suddenly, and not surprisingly. The computer broke.

“Damn… What now?” Alyx muttered. “Huh… If I were to… Hm… Let me see if I can get it working again.”

Alyx climbed to the top of what looked like a balcony of sorts where there were other sorts of computers and electronics. Alyx looked around for a moment. “What a mess… this could take a while.” Alyx then looked down at Gordon, smiling a bit. “Hey. If you have any blinding insights into how to fix this, go for it.”

Gordon looked around the area, eventually finding a cord unplugged from its socket. He approached it and plugged it back in, turning the computer system on.

“Not sure what you or I did, but it worked.” Alyx spoke. “Now… To check in.” Alyx jumped down from the balcony and walked over to the computer, typing away at the computer. As she started to get a signal, she spoke into the microphone.

“White forest.” Alyx started. “White forest - this is Alyx Vance. Do you read? White Forest, come in. White Forest, are you there?”

After a bit of static interference, Dr. Kleiner's face appeared on the screen in front of us.

“Alyx - My goodness - is that really you?” Kleiner asked.

“Yes, and Gordon, Aiden, and Violet too. We’re okay- We made it out of city Seventeen.” Alyx explained. As Alyx spoke, Eli also popped up on the screen. He looked happy to see Alyx again.

“Alyx!” Eli exclaimed. “Thank God, I can hardly believe it.”

“Don’t worry, Dad, we’re fine.” Alyx reassured. “But something really strange is happening with the Citadel.”

“Oh, yes, we’ve been monitoring the situation.” Kleiner spoke up. “The raw discharge of the melt-down has been focused into a coherent beam of portal energy.”

“It’s the Combine.” Eli exclaimed. “They’re trying to open another gateway.”

“Yes… What you’re seeing is the infancy of a superportal.” Kleiner explained. “If it attains full strength…”

“It’ll be the Seven Hour War, all over again…” Eli muttered. “Except this time, we won’t last seven minutes…”

“My God..” Alyx muttered. She turned to Gordon, who looked just as concerned. “Gordon… What if that was why they were sending so much data from the Citadel?”

“Maybe… It would make sense… So that-” I was cut off short thanks to Dr. Kleiner.

“Data? From the Citadel?” Kleiner asked.

“In the control room.” Alyx explained. “They were feeding huge volumes of data directly into the core destruction sequence.

“Magnusson, did you hear that?” Kleiner asked someone off screen. “I’ll bet it’s the Combine portal code!

“Yes, yes, I’m not deaf.” A man in a blue suit walked into view. I could only assume he was Magnusson.

“I downloaded the whole packet.” Alyx explained. “They’ve been chasing us ever since.”

“Well, of course they have.” Magnusson exclaimed. “You see, Kleiner, it’s the linchpin of all their plans.”

“Well, I can see that, I never said-” Kleiner was cut off.

“Somewhere in that sequence, they would have had to establish a connection with the far side.” Magnusson muttered. He spoke directly to Alyx. “What you have there, young lady, is the specific contact code for the Combine Overworld.”

“Good God..” Eli muttered.

“Now, if I'm right about this - and I have no reason to doubt myself, you are carrying the very code Dr. Mossman had hoped to recover. Now how soon can you all get here?”

“Well, We have to get our bearings, but we definitely can-” Alyx was cut off.

“There is no time to waste!” Magnusson interrupted. “We’ll need to step up the launch schedule. Now as soon as you get here with the signature data, we’ll encode the satellite and get the damn thing into orbit.”

“Get here as quickly as you can, you four.” Eli demanded. However, the signal started failing. “But for God’s sake, be careful.”

“Dad? Dad!” Alyx cried out as the signal failed. “You’re breaking up, come in!”

As Alyx tried to fix the signal, we all heard something frightening in the distance over the monitor. The voice of the Combine Overwatch.

ONGOING SECTOR SWEEP. BIOTICS CONFIRMED, CONTINUE SURFACE SECTOR SWEEP. REMOTE COMPLIANCE. EXTERMINATE. SEEK PASSIVE SIGNATURE IMPRINT. MANDATE SUBLEVEL RESTRICTIONS.

Alyx continued trying to get the signal back up. “Dad - are you there?” Alyx asked. “Dad! Ah, no… They’re still tracking us… we need to keep moving.”

“Yeah. Let’s get our asses out of here and get to where they are.” I said. Alyx nodded, leading the way.

“C’mon. This way.” She spoke as we all followed her.

We stepped outside of the small shack and continued our way, wandering around the woods and into another cave system. There was a lot more trash and debris in this tunnel than there was in the last. As we wandered around, we, of course, had to fight off zombies and headcrabs, which we had no problem with. We soon got to a section of the woods with a few other buildings.

“Doctor Magnusson has an old rocket up at White Forest.” Alyx spoke up as we walked around. “He’s been hoping for the day when he could launch a satellite, to tap into the old array they set up at Black Mesa.”

“Huh… Kind of interesting, if you ask me.” I muttered. Then we all paused, hearing some sort of noise.

“What was that?” Alyx asked, looking around. “Did you hear that?”

“Yeah… I think we all did…” Aiden spoke.

“I’ve got an uneasy feeling about this place… We should be really careful…” I said.

We walked up to a building with rusted metal on the outside, making the exterior look yellow. Alyx then spoke up.

“Shh, quiet! We’re not alone…” She spoke. She approached a locked gate, turning to Gordon, Aiden, and I. “Hey, can you guys figure out a way to get this gate open?”

“We can try… Maybe there’s a control panel inside the building.” I said. We tried to unlock the door, but it was jammed shut. We decided to get on top of a bridge around the area, probably once used as train tracks, and looked around for a place to get into the building. After a bit of climbing, we managed to get inside the building carefully through a hole in the top of the roof.

“Be careful up there!” Alyx warned. “I’ll keep watch out here.”

Though, as we entered the building, I couldn’t help but feel that something was heavily wrong. That something bad was going to happen. I wanted to just shove down the feeling and ignore it, but it was hard to do so.

“Babe? Are you okay? You look nervous.” Aiden noted.

“I… I just can’t help but feel that something isn’t right here… That something is wrong… That… this all feels so familiar…” I explained.

“Hm… Maybe it’s just your Danger Sense screwing up again.” Aiden spoke.

“Maybe… At least, I hope that’s all it is…” I said.

I looked around and noticed that there were blood stains on the floor and on the gate controls, making my paranoia skyrocket at this point. I was getting a really bad feeling. Gordon went up to the gate controls, pushed a button, and opened the gate outside.

“That worked!” Alyx exclaimed outside. Though… I still had those unnerving feelings that something bad was going to happen.

The door was still jammed, so we decided to get out using a hatch on the bottom of the floor. Gordon unlocked the hatch and jumped down first, then I, then Aiden. I could still feel my heart racing… Something was wrong. Something was really, really wrong…

“Guys… There’s something snooping around out here…” Alyx spoke. My Danger Scenes were going haywire at this point…

Then… Just as we got to the exit… It happened.. The worst of the worst happened…

Something suddenly popped out of nowhere and pounced on Alyx, knocking her over. Alyx tried to crawl to us but then…

It stabbed her… All of us were horrified…

“ALYX!!! NO!!” I cried out, but Aiden grabbed me from behind, covering my mouth. I felt like breaking down into tears when I saw what had happened before our eyes… The creature then tossed Alyx aside, stomping down and causing the building we were under to collapse..

We were trapped… And Alyx was injured, possibly dying…

We came to our senses and saw the thing right about Alyx… She sounded like she was in so much pain..

“Help me…” She whispered only to be stomped down by the creature. There were stab wounds on her back, bigger than golf balls…

I felt like my world had just stopped… Like everything was crashing down. Gordon and Aiden were also horrified, Gordon looking the most traumatized. I could see tears streaming down his face as he tried to reach out to her, his hand trembling. Then… I heard him whisper something…

“Alyx… No… Alyx…”

It was very faint and scratchy, but I actually heard Gordon say her name… He sounded so heartbroken… He actually began to sob, clutching my arm as he broke down in tears. I held him close, knowing he was definitely traumatized by all of this.

We saw an Antlion approach Alyx, seemingly thinking she was dead… I was really struggling to get out of the debris that trapped us, but I couldn’t. I thought Alyx would be dead for sure.

Just as soon as it was about to attack her, a green burst of energy caused the thing to explode. When we looked up, we saw that it was Vortigaunt that had killed the thing. It looked around, seeing Alyx lying motionless on the ground. It seemed shocked and a bit concerned. It tried to use its abilities to patch her up, but the wounds were too big.

“The Alyx Vance…” It muttered. “What harm has come?” It glanced up, seeing us trapped in the rubble. “Ah, The Freeman, Calhoun, and the Rose…! I am pleased to see that at least you are unharmed! But the Alyx Vance… Her condition is grave…”

“Oh, please say that you can help her… and help us out…” I said, my voice still choked with tears.

“Of course, Rose…” It said, using its abilities to get us out from under the rubble. We crawled out and Gordon immediately rushed over to Alyx. “Healing her will require more than I alone can conjure. Let me summon my kin…”

It turned its back to us, and made a deep cry of sorts, as if calling out to other Vortigaunts in the area. We heard other noises similar to its calling out in the distance. It then turned to us.

“My kin will meet us at a sheltered location beneath the surface. I will stabilize her if the Freeman, Calhoun, and Rose will provide us with protection.” It said as it picked up Alyx.

I nodded, unsheathing my katana. I took a deep breath and looked up to the sky..

“Oh Hakobune and Yoba… I beg of you… Give us the strength to keep on fighting… For the Ark!” I called out as we all rushed out, heading as fast as we could to where the Vortigaunt said its “kin” were. Aiden and Gordon stayed by my side.

“Let us hurry, Free-Rose. Help awaits us… in the mines!” The Vortigaunt called out. “We must hasten. Her state is delicate.”

As we rushed around the area, I was cutting up zombies and Headcrabs as if they were watermelons. I honestly felt like Raiden from Metal Gear Rising with how quickly and stealthily I was hacking up those zombies.

After all of that chaos, we soon reached a jammed elevator. There was a crowbar jammed into two of the gears. Gordon then grabbed it and the elevator started working, causing us to go down. Quickly. Aiden, Gordon, and I were underground, while the Vortigaunt and Alyx weren’t.

“Press on, Freeman! I will take her to my kin by another path.” It called out to us.

Great. More detours… we continued walking around underground, with me still killing off any headcrab I spotted. We had stopped for a bit and I let Ruby out of my satchel to eat some bugs as a quick little snack.

“Man. That is one hungry Snark.” Aiden pointed out.

“Yeah. She is. Oh well, at least she’s still with us.” I mentioned.

“True.” Aiden said.

Once Ruby was fed, we continued walking around the underground tunnel. We eventually came across a lift and Gordon turned an orange valve to get the thing going. Once all of us were on it, we started heading back upward. We soon got to the second floor, only to end up crashing through the floor. All I can say is that it was definitely a long and exhaustive trip through the mines. And there were a lot of Antlion grubs… A lot of them…

Chapter Text

Soon enough, we reached what looked to be a Resistance outpost, seeing two men arguing with each other. The first man had confused us for antlions.

“Sheckley! We’ve got antlions!” The first man shouted. A second man, I could only assume was “Sheckley” approached the area, then glared at the first man.

“You idiot, that’s Gordon Freeman, Aiden Calhoun, and Violet Rose. The Vortigaunt said they were on their way.” He said. He then turned to Gordon. “Dr. Freeman, Alyx Vance is over here… The Vort’s trying to patch her up.”

Gordon nodded, going down to where Alyx and the Vortigaunts were. Aiden and I followed close behind him. Once we got down there, we saw the Vortigaunt trying to use its abilities on Alyx, trying to heal her.

“Ah… Freeman. Calhoun. Rose… It is well…” It spoke to us. “The Alyx Vance clings to the margins… My kin are still some distance away. For now, we must not be disturbed…” It looked up at me, seeing my kitsune pendant. “Ah… I see you’re one of those “Ark” worshipers..”

I paused, seeming a bit surprised. “How… How did you…?”

“I’ve seen people wear that pendant before… The Rose has a hidden side… I will help you unlock it.” It spoke.

“Ummm…. Okay? But, how exactly?” I asked in confusion.

“Simple… Carefully approach and hold the Alyx Vance’s hand…” It said, I did as instructed… Alyx’s hand felt cold.. “Now… Close your eyes… and relax… Your goddesses will help you unlock your true nature…”

I nodded, closing my eyes and letting my body relax. I almost felt this strange tingling sensation through my body as I could see this strange purple light from under my eyelids… It almost felt like I was floating, feeling what felt like wind blowing through my hair… I could even hear Aiden gasp in shock…

“Join us… as we weave the Freeman and The Rose’s life with hers…” I heard the Vortigaunts say. Gordon had gone off for a bit to defend the base from Antlions. It took a long time, but he eventually got back to where we were and it was taking a long while for us to heal Alyx, and a long while for me to “Unlock my true nature…” Whatever the hell that meant…

It took at least an hour for us to have fully healed Alyx. I still felt like I was floating… Like I was performing some sort of ritual. After we were done, I listened, hearing the Vortigaunts talking… and the sound of Alyx stirring awake.

“We have averted an immeasurable loss…” One of the Vortigaunts said.

“Oh, God…” Alyx muttered. I opened my eyes, seeing that she was waking up. I stood there, feeling like I somehow helped her…

“Lie still…” One of the other Vortigaunts spoke to Alyx. Both Gordon and I were so relieved to see Alyx alive.

“Oh my God… I thought… I thought for sure I was dead…” Alyx muttered looking around.

“Holy Arkenine… Alyx!” I rushed to her, carefully hugging her. Alyx paused before hugging me back…

“Heh… Hey there, Starlight…” Alyx muttered. That was probably the first time Alyx had used that nickname with me. “I’m glad to see you and the others are okay…”

“The Combine hunters caused traumatic injury…” One of the Vortigaunts explained.

“A hunter…” I muttered.

“So that’s what it was…” Alyx spoke…

“We knit shattered bone and restored circulatory integrity. Yet it was the Freeman and the Rose who retrieved your Vortessence.” The Vortigaunt explained.

“Yeah, that’s Gordon and Violet…” Alyx spoke, running her hand through my hair. Alyx then noticed something.. “Whoa… Violet, your pendant…”

“What about it?” I asked.

“It’s…. It’s glowing… In fact… Most of your scars have healed…” Alyx pointed out. I looked around, seeing she was right. I was in utter shock.

“The Rose has ties to the Border Realm… Most know it as The Ark…” One of the Vortigaunts explained. “It was believed that most believers of the Ark disappeared a long time ago… That was… Until the Rose came along…

“Wait… I think I remember researching that a long time ago… The Cult of the Ark?” Alyx asked.

“Yes… Most members of the cult have since moved on… Some by natural causes… Others not… The Rose is one of the only remaining members of the original group… It seems as though she’s been working on involving others as well, including her significant other.”

“Who, Aiden?” Alyx asked.

“Yes… The two of them both have ties to the Border Realm…”

Alyx looked at the two of us. “So… you two are cult leaders…”

“I… I guess you could put it that way…” I muttered

“Huh… Well, we’ll talk about this later you two… Mostly because I’m curious…” Alyx spoke. We both nodded. At least they weren’t mad at us… “So… How long have I been out?”

“A matter of hours…” A Vortigaunt said.
“Hours?!” Alyx exclaimed. “We’ve got to get moving!”

“A moment longer…” One of the Vortigaunts said

“But…” Alyx muttered. “We have to get to White Forest… It’s Vital.”

“No fear. We will put you on the right road.” The Vortigaunt spoke. “Now, try carefully to rise.”

“Here… let me help you… Go slow…” I spoke, my arms still wrapped around her waist. I helped Alyx stand up, making sure she didn’t fall over.

“Whoa…” Alyx muttered. “I don’t know what you did… but I’ve got a feeling I'm lucky to be here.”

“Come then… I will get you all on the path to White Forest.” The Vortigaunt said, helping us onto the elevator. Alyx glanced over at Gordon.

“Come on, Gordon… Next to me.” She spoke softly. Gordon nodded, standing next to Alyx and wrapping an arm around her. It felt nice to see the two so connected to each other.

We rode the elevator until we reached the top. Gordon walked out first.

“I think I can walk on my own now…” Alyx spoke. “Let me give it a shot.”

“If you need help, I'm right here.” I spoke.

“Heh… Thanks Vi. But I think I’ve got it.” Alyx spoke with a slight smile. She got up, stretching a bit. She sighed a bit. “Yeah… Stiff, but… I think I’m okay.”

“Good! Now, let’s get a move on! We don’t have all day!” I exclaimed.

Alyx nodded and we all started moving through another tunnel system. We then heard something big moving through the caves next to us.

“Whoa.. That was a Guardian.” Alyx noted. “Somebody must have done something to piss it off!”

“Yeah… No kidding…” I muttered.

We continued walking around until we reached the outside…

Chapter Text

We walked outside and still saw the large beam of light coming from the Citadel. As we stood there, we heard the Combine Overwatch voice again, seeing airships and striders in the distance…

ALL AUTONOMOUS UNITS: ACCEPT MANDATORY SECTOR ASSIMILATION. COORDINATED CONSTRICTION UNDERWAY. DEBRIDE AND CAUTERIZE. ENTERING PHASE NINE, ENHANCED COMPLIANCE. DEPLOY ADVISORY CONTROL AND OVERSIGHT. SUBMIT AND BE SUBSUMED.

“Oh my God…” Alyx muttered. “The Combine’s on the move…”

“Yes… and they carry Shu’ulathoi. Advisors, still in incubation pods…” The Vortigaunt spoke to us. “They gather and unite the scattered Combine forces.”

“So that’s what we saw in the Citadel…” Alyx muttered. “They’re sure in a hurry.”

“They move North with great purpose.” The Vortigaunt responded.

“North?” Alyx muttered. Then she gasped. “White Forest! We have to get there ahead of them!”

“I know of human’s with a vehicle, not far from here.” The Vortigaunt spoke. “They will understand our urgent need.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Alyx asked. We followed the Vortigaunt, making sure to keep an eye on our surroundings. However, as we were walking around the forest, we soon realized we had a problem.

Antlions.

“Oh… Antlions… Now I know I’m not in heaven.” Alyx muttered.

I grabbed my katana and chopped up as many antlions as I possibly could. One after another. It was a long and grueling process, leaving us all exhausted. Especially when we had to deal with the Guardian. Long story short, we beat the thing.

Now, at this point, I was starting to feel a bit off. Not like how I was when the Hunter attacked, I'm talking more along the lines of fatigue and sickness. My nose was runny, I was sneezing a whole bunch, and my throat was starting to get sore. This was when I knew…

Allergies. I mean, I was surrounded by woods. In fact, both Aiden and I were starting to feel like shit since we both had allergies to tree pollen, his was worse than mine. Gordon and Alyx noticed and decided to stick with both of us since we were feeling sick.

We continued on our adventure. I was just hoping that we would get to White Forest sooner than later. Alyx was talking with the Vortigaunt, but I had completely blanked out as I was dealing with a pretty bad headache. In fact, I’ll just apologize in advance that a lot of the story will be a lot more spotty and patchy around here as I was not really feeling it.

I was dealing with sickness and sleep deprivation, give me a break.

Anyways, from what I remember next, we were walking through this dark building after getting up on a lift, Gordon of course being the leader of the group. We eventually got out of the building and in front of a Combine control panel. However, the place seemed nearly completely trashed and had dead bodies strewn about.

“Oh God…” Alyx muttered. “The Combine found them, alright…”

“But came to no good end themselves…” The Vortigaunt explained. “Headcrabs have had their way with both parties.”

Alyx looked around the area. Then she noticed something. “Hey, look. Out on that bridge. I think I see the car you were talking about.”

“It appears they attempted an escape, but made it no farther than the abyss…” The Vortigaunt said.

“Well, if they got over there, maybe we can jump it back to this side.” Alyx said.

“We recommend the Freeman for this task…” the Vortigaunt said. Gordon nodded, going down to get the car. I sat down, putting my hand on my head.

“Vi? Are you okay?” Alyx asked.

“Yeah… Headache…” I said.

“Well… Don’t worry. We’ll get to White Forest soon enough. Then you and Aiden can rest up. You two have been through one hell of an adventure.”

“Heh… That’s one way to put it…” I said with a smile. Alyx put her hand on my forehead, feeling my temperature.

“You’re warm…” She muttered. I nodded. “Well, like I said. We’ll be on our way to White Forest in no time… We could have taken a different route if we knew you two were allergic to tree pollen.”

“I know… I just… I didn’t want to bother you or anything… or slow us down.” I muttered.

“Vi… Don’t ever say that. You wouldn’t have bothered us if you had told us. Next time, let us know if something bothers you, okay?” Alyx asked.

“Alright… Thanks Alyx.”

“No Problem, V.”

After what felt like hours, Gordon eventually came back and managed to clear a path for us to get in the car. Alyx, Aiden, and I rushed down to catch up with Gordon.

“Oh my God… Look at this car!” Alyx spoke. “We scored.”

“Yeah we did…” I muttered.

“Oh, that reminds me. Vi, do you know how to drive?” Alyx asked.

“I mean… I did get my learner’s permit before the Combine happened…” I explained.

“Well, maybe once we get to White Forest, maybe I can teach you… If you’re up to it.” Alyx suggested.

“Maybe… I’ll have to see.” I said.

“Anyway… I call Shotgun!” Alyx called out.

All of us got into the car. Gordon was driving, Alyx sat next to him, and Aiden and I sat in the back. Well… We tried to at least. It was a bit cramped since it didn’t have any proper back seats. We drove off, making our way to white Forest. I clung to the back of Alyx’s seat, Aiden doing the same with Gordon’s.

“You two secure back there?” Alyx asked.

“Yup! We’re good!” Aiden responded.

Alyx nodded, going back to looking around the area, still sitting next to Gordon. Both Aiden and I knew that the two had definitely gotten close during this whole thing.

Chapter Text

We continued driving around the wooded area. I’ll admit, it reminded me of all the times I would go out on road trips with my parents before the Combine took over. All seemed well until we came across a few cars blocking our way.

“Should have known it wouldn’t be as easy as just driving down the road.” Alyx spoke. “Looks like we’ll have to take a detour.”

Gordon nodded. He turned off the side of the road, going down a hill very carefully. Aiden and I made sure to keep ourselves clinging onto the back of the seats to keep ourselves from being flung out as we drove over bumps and hills. We even had to drive through water. As we were driving, I noticed an old "Road work ahead" sign on the side of the road. I snickered to myself and slightly nudged Aiden's shoulder. He looked over and I pointed out the sign.

"Road work ahead? Uh, yeah, I sure hope it does." I said, referencing an old meme that we both knew from our False Reality. We both laughed. Gordon looked confused while Alyx had to explain what we were referencing. Guess Vine was a thing in this timeline as well.

As we drove through the trees, Alyx noticed something up ahead.

“Look! A radio tower! If it’s working, we need to send a warning to White Forest.” Alyx said. “They’ve got no idea that the Combine’s heading their way.”

We continued driving through the woods until we reached the source of the radio tower. It seemed to have been an abandoned station.

“Nobody’s home…” Alyx noted. “I wonder how long it’s been deserted.”

“Months if not years by the looks of it.” I spoke.

“Well, let’s just hope they have a transmitter in one of these things…” Alyx muttered. We all wandered around the area, looking for some form of radio transmitter. And we luckily managed to find one.

“Well, there’s the transmitter.” Alyx spoke. She looked around the room. “Hm… No power though… Let’s see if we can get some electricity going.”

We looked around the room, looking to see if we could find any form of power source. It took a long while, as I'm sure we were all blinder than a bat at this point, but we eventually found it. Unfortunately… problems always have to arise… There was a Hunter right outside of the building we were in. We all dove for cover, hiding. We even noticed that Alyx was trembling a bit, still traumatized by what happened earlier. Gordon and I sat next to her, holding both of her hands to comfort her. However… It wasn’t just one.

There were multiple. We decided that we had no choice but to fight these things. At that point, Gordon and I got up. He grabbed his gun and I grabbed my katana. We both rushed out to fight the Hunters. I, once again, felt just like Raiden, even imagining myself in a scene from the game. I basically felt invincible, even blocking their attacks with the blade of my sword. I slashed and swung at them, making sure that they had truly died.

After some time, we had killed off all of the Hunters that were trying to attack us.

“Gordon! Vi! You two killed them! That was awesome!” Alyx exclaimed.

“Heh. I guess I really got in the right mindset.” I said

“Yeah. Now, we should get our warning out and keep moving.” Alyx said.

“Yeah. Let’s.” I said as we entered the building and walked up to the transmitter. “That was probably a scouting party…”

Alyx walked over to the transmitter desk and turned it on, attempting to get a signal to White Forest. Alyx sighed. “The signal’s really weak… Well, let’s give it a try.”

Alyx managed to get a signal. She called out to the other side.

“White Forest, come in. White Forest, do you read? White Forest, do you read?” Alyx asked. Then, someone on the other end answered.

“This is White Forest. Identify yourself.”

“This is-” But before she could speak, the person on the other end recognized her.
“Alyx?”

Then. We heard the voice of Doctor Magnusson.

“Alyx!? Alyx Vance? Where are you? I expected you all hours ago.”

“Well, we had a bit of a set-back.” Alyx said.

“Don’t you understand the gravity of the situation? The survival of Earth depends on the data you carry.”

“Yes, I know! But the Combine, They’re heading your way!” Alyx explained. However, there seemed to have been a mis-communication…

“What’s that? You’re heading our way? Well, I should hope so!”

After a bit of back and forth between the two, the signal had shut down.

“Crap… I wonder if he got any of that.” Alyx said as she turned to us. “Let’s get back on the road.”

We all nodded, following her back to the car. Alyx opened the gate and we all got inside the car.

“Let’s keep going.” Alyx said once she got in the car. “See if we can pick up the road somewhere ahead.”

Once we all got settled, Gordon started up the car and we continued driving through the woods. As we drove, Alyx recognized a mountain peak in front of us.

“Hey, I know that peak! You can see it from White Forest!” Alyx exclaimed. “We’re heading the right way.”

We kept on going, driving through the woods. That was until we came across what looked like a crash site of sorts. Alyx was the one who pointed it out.

“Hey, Look! It’s one of those advisor pods! Back in the Citadel… Those things we saw…” Alyx spoke.

We decided to take note of that as Gordon decided that it would be best for us to keep on driving. Though, a part of me told me that we would run into those bastardus things later on… Soon we paused at another abandoned station, when I suddenly heard this loud ringing in my ears and my vision became blurry.

“Violet?! Are you okay?” Alyx asked, sounding worried.

“There’s… There’s an advisor around here someplace…” I muttered.

“Huh… Right… We should be careful then…” Aiden muttered as well.

As we explored around the abandoned outpost, we soon found out why it was abandoned. There were dead bodies in this place…

“Looks like we weren’t the first ones to find this place….” Alyx muttered. We dropped down into what I could only assume was the basement of this place, wandering around. We then found what seemed to be an advisor pod.

“Looks like we found our advisor.” Alyx spoke. “The Vort said we should kill them before they hatch. Hm…” Alyx looked around and found what could only be described as the things life support… “Ah… life support… What do you think Gordon…? Shall we pull the plug?”

Gordon nodded. Alyx fiddled with the panel a bit before we managed to get into the main power supply of the panel. Gordon grabbed his Gravity gun and ripped out the power orb keeping the thing running.

However, this didn’t cause it to die… In fact, it woke the advisor up… Causing us, somehow, to float close to it. It grabbed a hold of a dead Resistance member and actually.. Stabbed its tongue into the head of the dead Resistance member. All of us were disgusted and horrified. After it did that, it then just floated away, dropping all of us.

Once we got up, we then heard the voice of the Combine Overwatch… I don’t remember what it said this time…

“Uh oh…” Alyx spoke quietly. “Sounds like it's called its friends…”

We then heard something outside of the building.

“Soldiers!” Alyx cried out. I grabbed my katana, waiting for the soldiers to storm the building. We rushed out of the building, killing any soldiers on sight. I basically went back into my “ripper” mindset as we fought off the soldiers. And the Hunters. After we killed off the Combine, we got back in the car, getting out of that area as soon as we could.

Even then, we still had to drive through a lot… of chaos…

Chapter Text

Unfortunately, more problems struck as the engine of the car randomly broke down. However, we were right next to a Resistance outpost.

“Ah, Crap,” Alyx muttered. “We may have to ditch the car!”

Once we parked the car, a Resistance member came out and led us to a safe place for safety.

“Since you brought that chopper in on your tail, you wanna maybe help us take it down?” The member asked.

“Oh, with pleasure,” Alyx said.

At that point, we just grabbed as many weapons as we could and took down the Combine helicopter. After we did that, a few Resistance members approached us, all with smiles on their faces.

“Boy, are we glad to see you guys.” One member said. “That was amazing, the way you threw their mines right back at them.”

“Thanks… but we need to get back on the road… But our engine’s shot to hell.” Alyx said. “I don’t suppose you’ve got any tools for working on cars?”

“Tools?” One member asked. “We’ve got a whole shop over here! Come on! We’ll get you all set up!”

“I don’t suppose you guys have a medbay, right? One of our members isn’t doing so well.” Alyx asked.

“Of course we do! Sure, it's a makeshift one, but it will still do!” One of the members said.

“Great! Maybe you can help her then? She’s been dealing with allergies for a while now.” Alyx said.
“Sure! We can help her out as well!”

“Alright!”

As Alyx and a couple of other resistance members went into the workshop to fix the car, Gordon and Aiden stayed with me in the medbay to check me out and patch me up.

“Definitely seems like you’re dealing with pollen allergies… We do have some medicine that could help soothe it for a while.”

“Really? That’s great! I could definitely use some…” I said.

“Alright.” The resistance member helping me then grabbed a bottle of cold medicine, looking over the ingredients. “You aren’t allergic to any kind of medicine, are you?”

“Only one. Sulfa drugs.”

“Noted. Well, this should make you feel better.” He handed me a small dose of the cold medicine. I took it and downed the dose in only a few seconds. I will admit, I felt like throwing it back

“Feel better?” He asked.

“A little bit.”

“Good. That medicine should last you a few hours. Hopefully, those allergies will clear up soon.” He glanced over and noticed how much my hair had grown. “Hm… The more that I think about it, you might need a bit of a haircut. That ponytail length is going to be hell to deal with, especially with barnacles around… How about I trim it down for you? I used to be a hair stylist before the Combine took over.”

“Sure. That sounds like a good idea to me.” I said, knowing that he was right for suggesting that.

He nodded and grabbed what he needed to do a bit of a trim to my hair. It took a while, but he managed to cut it down a couple of inches shorter. It felt so much lighter and shorter. Plus, it looked so much better.

“There you go! That should do you a lot better.” He said. He even grabbed a hand-held mirror to show me what my shorter ponytail looked like. It actually looked pretty good.

“Huh… I actually like it. That looks really nice.” I said as I looked at myself in the mirror.

“Glad that you like it, Miss Rose! I tried my best with it. Now, how about we head to the workshop?” He asked.

“Sure. Sounds fine to me.” I said, standing up.

We decided to head into the workshop, where we saw them working on the car.

“Heh. You weren’t kidding.” Alyx spoke. “We should be back on the road in no time.”

“Well, that could be a problem…” One of the male Resistance members said. “You hear that autogun going off out there? We normally run supplies with the White Forest base, but a few days ago, the Combine cut off access…”

Alyx heard that and was now thinking about something. “Hm…” She then turned to Gordon. “What do you think, Gordon? Maybe while I'm getting the car fixed up, you can see about clearing up that road block ahead?”

Gordon nodded, rushing out to do the task at hand. One of the resistance members approached me with a thermos of hot tea.

“Here, Miss Rose. This should help with your sickness.” She spoke very softly.

“Thanks. What kind of tea is it?” I asked.

“Black tea. With a bit of coconut and almond bark flavoring.”

“Heh. That’s just like the tea I used to have at home.” I said with a smile. “Thanks.”

“No problem. I want to make sure that you still have some good experiences during this.. Oh, and by the way, you can keep the thermos. I made it just for you.”

“Really? Wow, that's… That's so sweet…”

After some time, Gordon eventually came back after clearing out a pathway for the car. Once we got out on the road, however… Something about everything just… felt wrong… People were looking up to me… and Gordon… It just didn’t feel right, getting all of these gifts and people looking up to me… it… It felt wrong…

The more that I listened to the other Resistance members talk about the Combine and the threats that had taken over our only planet, the more that I felt uncomfortable, a nervous feeling drilled deep into my heart. No one else saw this coming… Gordon and Alyx didn’t see this coming, the entirety of the Resistance never saw this coming… But I did. In fact, this was all planned out… every last bit. Aiden doesn’t remember, but he was there with me when we planned all of this… He was there when this whole story was written.

That False Reality I had been placed in so many years ago, I remember sitting at my desk, in the dark, the middle of the night, writing this exact story, doing so many spells and meditations to break out of that timeline and into a world where I felt like I belonged, even if it meant throwing myself into direct danger… I brought the Combine into play, as well as the Patriots and Desperado. This whole world was brought to life all because of a bit of code and texturing. A few words typed onto a text file… 36 chapters. 223 pages… The more that I thought about it, the weirder I felt. I didn’t deserve to be here. Even with most of the memories that I had about that False Reality wiped from my mind, all of what I had planned still stayed.

I stood there, fidgeting with my jacket around my waist, a weird feeling in my chest. It honestly felt like I was being stared at by everyone around me… Even if I didn't directly kill the people that the Combine targeted, I still felt like I had blood on my hands. There was no explaining the immense guilt that I felt. Sure, I wanted some way to get out of that False Reality, but so many people died, all because of me… I no longer felt like the gifts that I had been given by the Resistance belonged to me… I didn’t deserve to be called a hero. Not after all that I’ve caused. Not after I stole a story and twisted it into this chaos.

I could still hear his voice in the back of my head… Mocking me…

“So, you finally realize what you have done… Do you feel at home yet, Miss Rose? Oh, if only Gordon and Alyx find out about this… I wonder how they’d react knowing that YOU were the reason for the near total annihilation of the human race… You should’ve just stayed with me…”

He didn’t stutter this time… His voice fully focused on me… It always sent a chill down my spine. I glanced around, but he had disappeared just as fast as he appeared. It felt like the wind had been knocked right out of my lungs just by his voice alone.

“Violet?” Alyx asked as she approached me. “Are you okay? Allergies bringing you down again?”

“No… No, it’s not that…” I paused. “It’s just… I don’t feel like I deserve to be looked up to as a hero… I mean... why are we even still here? Just to suffer?”

“Vi… Why on Earth would you say that?” Alyx asked, seeming concerned.

“I mean… What do you want me to say!? I never wanted any of this to happen! This whole alien takeover from the Combine was never supposed to happen! People call me and my father heroes for what we’ve done… No… No, no no no, I am NOT a hero! My father and I aren’t heroes! We’re just normal people!” I yelled, feeling tears threatening to spill out. “I’m only 17, for Ark’s sake! I should be back in high school! Not roaming around abandoned buildings, killing zombies, and dismantling a corrupt dystopian government! I… I shouldn’t even be here! I wasn’t meant to be here! I… I miss my home, Alyx… I just want to go home… I shouldn’t be fighting… I shouldn’t be surviving… I shouldn’t have to be surrounded by death… and bloodshed… and grief…”

“Violet-” Alyx started, but I continued to speak, my voice cracking with sadness.

“I don’t belong here… Like I said, Gordon and I aren’t heroes like everyone else on the Resistance makes us out to be… We’re not heroes… we’re just normal people… we’re only human… We just want normal lives… The incident at Black Mesa 20 years ago shouldn’t have happened. I wasn’t even supposed to be there! I was supposed to be at home or at school…” I paused, sniffling. “But now look at me… Fighting off zombies and aliens… Jacket covered in stitches… ripped jeans… injured leg… Even having this alien bug-thing as a pet! I just want to go back… back to 2004, before any of this mess happened, before Black Mesa happened… The only reason I keep fighting is for a small sliver of a chance of returning to a normal life… “

Alyx and Gordon both decided to hug me, hoping that it would calm me down from my breakdown. I sighed, practically melting in their arms.

“Please… Just let me at least have one normal day… I don’t want to be in this chaos anymore… I just want to be a kid again without worrying about survival… Just one day…” I muttered.

“Don’t worry, Vi… Everything will be okay. Let’s just get to White Forest, and then we’ll see if we can make things better, okay?” Alyx asked. I nodded. “Alright… Now, let’s get on the road. We’re getting close to the main base up in White Forest…”

I nodded, getting into the car, still taking small sips of the tea in the thermos. We soon got on the road as Gordon drove the car. We continued driving around the woods, making our way to White Forest. I will still admit, it still reminded me of all the times my family and I would drive around the state during weekends. Sure, we did have some problematic run-ins with the Combine, but we managed to get through all of it pretty smoothly. However, just as soon as we think we’re close enough to White Forest, of course, there’s gonna be problems…

This time it was a FUCKING STRIDER! WE all prepared ourselves in case we needed to fight this thing… but then something happened that none of us expected. It was D0g! He had shown up and tackled the strider to the ground, beating the everlasting shit out of it! It was honestly an awesome sight to see.

However, once D0g had killed the strider, it fell over, causing D0g to fall over. We thought for sure he had been damaged, but he actually woke up, much to Alyx’s relief. We then started making our way to White Forest, Alyx even daring D0g to a Race.

Chapter Text

After what felt like so long, we finally made it to White Forest. And for once, I felt safe… For once, I felt like I wasn’t constantly having to look over my shoulder. Once we got inside the base, a few Resistance members greeted us.

“Alyx! Dr. Freeman! Miss Rose! Aiden! You made it.” One of them exclaimed as soon as we walked in.

“Heya! Boy, are we glad to be here!” Alyx said.

“Yeah, we heard you all ran into a little trouble out there. Combine’s been trying to head in the front door. I think they learned their lesson.”

We continued walking through the base, making our way to Eli and Doctor Magnusson. The Resistance member who let us in let us know something.

“By the way, there’s a hidden Resistance shelter base not too far from here. It’s where most of the main leaders of the Resistance are sheltered, plus a few other civilians. They also made small rooms for you guys up there as well. Some of them claim to remember you from Black Mesa, Freeman, and Rose.”

“Really? Huh. Well, we’ll keep that in mind.” I said.

“It’s deep in the woods, but you'll know when you see it.”

We continued searching around the base. I glanced around, taking in the surroundings I was now surrounded by. I paused when I noticed a couple in Resistance uniforms sitting on a red couch nearby. A man and a woman. The woman seemed like she was in distress, and the man was consoling her. I had seen this couple a few times during the difficult journey Gordon and I had gone through. Though looking at them, I felt really bad for the couple as they both seemed to be in distress. I honestly just wish that there was something I could've done to help them. We continued walking around the base until we soon found where Eli was. 

“Hey! Gordon! Violet! Aiden! Man, you guys made it!” Eli exclaimed.

“Dad..!” Alyx rushed into the room.

“Alyx!” Eli exclaimed as he held her in a tight embrace. It was heartwarming to see the two so happy to see each other.

“I was so afraid I wouldn’t see you again…” Alyx muttered.

“There, there, sweetheart. We’re together now…” Eli spoke reassuringly. “That’s all that matters.” He turned to look at Gordon, a smile on his face. “And look at you, son! I knew if you guys stayed together, you could get through anything. The same thing goes for your two lovely children.”

I smiled a bit when he said that about Aiden and me.

“Yeah, we make a pretty good team,” Alyx said.

“Well, that’s good. Because… well… Now that the suppression field is down… We all have to do our part…” Eli said. However, we knew what he was trying to say. Aiden and I even gave each other “that look.” You know the one. The one that two close people always seem to make whenever something funny happens?

“Dad!” Alyx exclaimed, playfully nudging him. Aiden and I burst into laughter when we heard that.

“What? Can you blame an old man for wanting grandkids?” Eli laughed along. “Though… I do suppose Violet does count. You two definitely treat her like a daughter.”

“That is true… I’ve actually considered us her adoptive parents…” Alyx said.

“Then it’s official! Violet here is my adoptive granddaughter!” Eli exclaimed. “And I’m proud to have her as such. No matter what.”

“I… I… I’m flattered, honestly… I… All I can really say is… Well, thank you. Thank you all for everything… Mostly for being the family I’ve always wanted… I don't think I've felt this wanted in... well... in years.” I said. Next thing I knew, I was scooped directly into a group hug. It honestly felt amazing to finally be part of a family that I know genuinely wants me, a place where I truly belong.

Eli paused, seeing the scars on Alyx’s back. “Wh… What happened to you?”

“Dad, it’s not what it looks like. I’m fine.” Alyx said.

“Are you sure?” Eli asked. “Shouldn’t we have looked at it?”

“Really. I’m fine.” Alyx said. “Um, where’s Dr. Kleiner? We need to get this data to him right away.”

“Okay… Yes. We should.” Eli said. “He’ll be glad for a chance to get out of the silo.”

We went down to where Dr. Kleiner was. We could hear a heated argument between him and Magnusson. We got down to the rocket silo. I blanked out most of what was going on until we heard an alarm going off. Aiden and I decided to stay with Alyx, Eli, and Kleiner as Gordon was figuring out what was going on. Alyx looked at me, placing her hand on my forehead.

“Feeling any better, Vi?” Alyx asked.

“Much… I’m thinking that this cold might be going away… hopefully.” I said.

“Good. That’s good to hear. Still got tea in your thermos?” Alyx asked. I nodded. “Good. That stuff seems to be doing the trick.”

However, we had a problem. A breach had occurred. Alyx, Aiden, and I scurried around the base, looking for Gordon. Luckily, we did manage to find him safe and sound. After some time, we started heading our way back to Eli and Kleiner. They had been watching the transmission from Mossman and then finding out about something else…

The borealis. A ship made by Aperture Science a long time ago, before it suddenly became lost. As both Aiden and I looked at the boat on screen, something about that ship gave me an uneasy feeling, though… All seemed fine… Until..

“Dad…” Alyx spoke softly. “Prepare for unforeseen consequences…”

Those few words sent a shockwave through the entire room.

“What… What did you say?” Eli muttered, almost fainting.

“Dad!” Alyx exclaimed, catching Eli in her arms. “Okay… It’s okay… Just lean into me… Let’s get you off your feet.” She spoke as she helped Eli sit down on the couch.

“Thank you, baby… I’ll be okay… In a minute or two…” Eli reassured.

“Okay… Do you need anything?” Alyx asked.

“Actually, Alyx, would you mind getting me a cup of tea?” Eli asked. “There’s a hot plate in the old staff room.”

“I’ll be right back,” Alyx said, leaving the room.

“Thank you, baby,” Eli said.

It was silent for a bit before I decided to speak up. “You okay, Eli? I’ve… I’ve never seen you get that worried before…”

“Unforeseen consequences…” Eli muttered. “The last time I heard those words was back at Black Mesa… Gordon had just stepped into the test chamber… You were with your father in the observatory… when He whispered them in my ear… You two both know who I’m talking about… Our mutual friend…”

“Oh.. Yeah… we know… Don’t get me started on that bastard…” I muttered. “I… Just don’t get it… Why us? Why did he have to target us…?”

“I wish I knew the answer myself…” Eli muttered… “I’m just wondering why he decided to target children like you and Aiden… No child should ever have to go through what you two did…”

“And yet, there probably are… and it pains me to say it…” I said.

“It pains both of us, Violet…” Eli said. “When he brought in that crystal, I should’ve… I should’ve aborted that damn test… Maybe then we’d all be living normal lives… but I didn’t… The whole world went to hell that day… and now he’s using my little girl… Putting words in her damn mouth.”

Then… I suddenly felt as if I wasn’t in control of my own body… I knew… One of my alter egos had taken over.

“Doctor Vance… I can reassure you that we’ve been trying everything to keep that bastard away from you and your family.” A British-accented voice came from my mouth, which caused shock and surprise in Eli.

“Wait… Violet has… alternates?” Eli asked.

“That is right… My name is Luna, Luna Kondracki… Though most just call me Shadow.” Shadow spoke. “I work as a messenger of sorts for a Goddess named Hakobune Tenshi… and I can assure you that we’re doing all we can to keep that... entity away from you and the others.”

“I see…” Eli muttered.

“That’s all I wanted to say. I’ll let Vi have control again.” Shadow spoke, letting me have control again, almost causing me to stumble over.

“Wha… What the hell just happened?” I asked.

“Shadow took over,” Aiden said.

“Ah… Right…” I muttered…

Alyx came back into the room with a cup of tea.

“Here you go, Dad,” Alyx said. “Is everything alright?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, honey…” Eli said.

Magnusson entered the room, needing Gordon for a minute. Aiden and I decided to stay with Alyx and Eli, mostly because Gordon suggested it would be better for us. We sat there, waiting for him.

Chapter Text

After what felt like hours, Gordon finally came back into the base after having to fend off some more striders outside the base. Alyx, Aiden, and I rushed back over to him.

“Wow, Gordon. You were amazing out there!” Alyx said. Gordon blushed a bit when she said that to him. “Come on! The launch is in its final stages.” She said, taking his hand and making him follow her. Aiden and I, of course, followed behind them. “The portal’s close to opening, but Dr Magnusson’s sure we’ll be in time to stop it.

As we walked around, Dr. Magnusson popped up to speak with Gordon. I completely blanked out what he said for the most part. We made our way up to the control room.

“Oh, by the way, Gordon, while you were out having fun out there, I found an old helicopter that I was able to get working. It’s packed and ready to go.”

“Though… I’ve got an uneasy feeling about it, Alyx… Maybe it’s best if we don’t go looking for borealis.” I said.

“Oh, come on, Vi. You’re just being paranoi-”

“Alyx, I’ve had that same feeling multiple times and have always been right about something going wrong. I’d rather not have another hunter situation on our hands…” I said. Alyx sighed.

“Alright. I’ll make a deal with you. If something bad happens, like your little danger sense is telling you, we’ll go somewhere else and leave Borealis alone. Deal?” Alyx asked.

“Deal,” I said. Soon enough, we reached the control room.

“We’re back!” Alyx exclaimed.

“At last!” Dr. Kleiner exclaimed.

“Ah, Gordon! That was one hell of a job you did out there, son.”

As they were all talking, I noticed something. Lamar, Kleiner's pet Headcrab that I hadn't seen in a while since I had first arrived at City 17, had climbed into the rocket. I decided to keep quiet about the situation, looking over at Aiden in the corner of my eye. Aiden was looking back at me, the same look on his face. We had both seen what had happened and decided to keep quiet.

"Good riddance if you ask me." I quietly signed to Aiden.

"Yeah. The last thing we need is that thing roaming around." He signed in return.

After some more talk, Kleiner offered Gordon and me to help launch the rocket by just pressing a button on a console. We both nodded and walked over, looking at each other, a proud smile on both of our faces. Kleiner Gordon and I put our hands on the button and pressed it together, launching the rocket. We watched as the rocket launched into the air. I’ll admit, I felt kind of proud at that moment. I even saw Gordon look down and smile at me. Almost like I was… well.. The secondary Freeman, if you will…

Alyx, Eli, Aiden, Gordon, and I decided to go outside. Eli decided to stop Gordon and me for a short moment.

“Gordon. Violet… Hold up a second… The more that I think about that warning from our friend, the more I am convinced it has to do something with Borealis. Don’t be deceived. That ship must never be used. You have got to destroy it. Whatever the cost.” Eli spoke to us.

“Where are you three? You’re going to miss it!” Alyx called out.

“We’ll be right there, Alyx!” Eli called out back to her. “Gordon. Violet. Thanks for everything you two have done. For Alyx and for all of us. I couldn’t be prouder if you two were my own son and daughter. Well, I guess Vi here is technically my granddaughter, so that counts.”

I could feel myself smiling and blushing a bit. I had always seen Eli as a grandfather figure since I met Alyx.

“Now, when you get back, we’ve got a lot to talk about…” Eli said. Gordon and I nodded in response. We stepped outside, grouped as we watched the portal be shut down. All of us celebrated, hugging each other and sounding like a family on New Year's… I couldn't believe it… We had defeated the Combine…

We walked over to the hangar where the helicopter was, but… that uneasy feeling only got stronger… Even Aiden noticed… he felt the same way. We both made sure we had our weapons ready.

“I wish you guys didn’t have to go… If only it weren’t so critical…” Eli muttered.

“It’s okay, Dad. We’ll find Judith and bring her back.” Alyx said.

For some reason… D0g had gone off again… Both Aiden and I knew something wasn’t right. We entered the hangar and looked around… The feeling only grew worse and worse…

As Eli and Alyx spoke, I still had that uneasy feeling… and my thoughts would soon be confirmed. That ringing noise and blurry vision soon returned as all of us were flung across the room.

An advisor.

Aiden and I got up, seeing that it had Gordon and Alyx suspended in the air and Eli in its grip. Alyx sounded mortified. Aiden and I looked at each other, our weapons drawn. We climbed on top of the helicopter… Aiden, let me take the chance.

“Make Rai proud of you…” Aiden muttered. I knew who he was referring to… Someone I saw like an older brother… Raiden… One of the guardian souls I had lost a long time ago...

I stood up. I felt that same form of rage and defensiveness as I did when fighting the hunters. I took a deep breath and gripped my katana handle tightly. I then leaped off the helicopter and lifted my blade, deciding to yell out one little one-liner as I did.

“Hakobune no tame ni!!” (Kanji: 箱舟のために!!) (Translation: For the Ark!!)

I closed my eyes and managed to slice the Advisor in half, my kitsune pendant glowing a bit. I landed gracefully on the ground, my sword pointed outward to my left when I landed. The advisor dropped dead, dropping Alyx, Gordon, and Eli in the process. Everyone in the room looked surprised and relieved.

“Dad! Holy hell, are you okay!?” Alyx cried out as she crawled over to Eli.

“I… I’m alive… I’m alive..” He muttered. He looked up at me as I got up from the ground. “How…?”

“I guess determination really does something to someone,” I said, turning to Alyx. “You believe me now?”

“Yeah… You… You saved my dad…” Alyx got up. She then hugged me tightly… I paused for a bit before hugging her back. “I… don’t know how to say this, but… Thank you… Thank you so much, Violet…”

“You’re welcome, Alyx…” I spoke softly. “Now. How about instead of Borealis, we head to that Resistance shelter that one dude talked about? I managed to snag the coordinates for it.”

“Yeah… That… That sounds like a good idea…” Alyx said.

“Alright. Let’s go then. Gordon? Are you up to driving?” I asked. Gordon nodded. He also signed something to me.

“I’m proud of you, Kiddo… I am so proud of you.”

I smiled when he said that. We all got out of the hangar and walked over to a car. We all got comfortable and started heading off to the Resistance shelter.

Chapter Text

(The following is a transcript from Violet Rose Freeman-Vance. Age: 19. Location: White Forest, North Carolina)

Is… Is this thing on? Oh, it is! Um… hey, whoever is listening to this.. Probably me in the future… Or whoever finds this file… But um… It’s… been almost a year since Gordon, the others, and I have uh… defeated the Combine… It’s… It’s still hard to believe that all of that happened… Um… So.. Things have happened.. a lot of things, actually.

For starters, um, Aiden and I are fully engaged! He is now my fiancé… and I couldn’t be any more happier… Um.. Plus he has fully transitioned and all, and I am so fucking proud of him.. Um… Joshua is now our officially adopted son! He’s been growing up well… We’ve both been making sure that he has a good childhood.

Oh, that reminds me! Um, Gordon and Alyx actually now have a biological kid! A beautiful baby girl named Lily. I guess it makes sense since both of their kids are named after flowers… Um… But yeah… Things have been great here… I’ve seen and met up with many people, some I haven’t seen since the Black Mesa incident almost 21 years ago… I… I still can’t believe I made it this far. I forgot to mention that Aiden and I adopted a dog as well. A beautiful Siberian husky named Snow is the sweetest dog I've ever met. Aiden named him after one of his old dogs.

Also… I actually started changing my appearance a bit. For starters, I actually dyed my hair. I went from brown to dark purple. I still have the white streak going down my bangs, though. I just think it looks neat. I also started chest binding. I just felt uncomfortable with my chest size, and so I thought it would be a good idea to start binding, though I'm thinking of getting a breast reduction surgery... I'll have to ask Gina and Colette. Gordon and Alyx are actually really supportive of the idea since they said that they want me to finally be comfortable with my own looks, so… there’s that. At least they’re way better than my biological parents about the whole idea… I also got my glasses fixed since the lenses were a bit scratched up. Alyx fixed them for me and even upgraded them with a night-vision mode!

Um.. I’ve also gotten a lot of gifts from Resistance members. One of them was actually a plushie of Gordon someone had made for me. It is super soft and is about 10 inches. It looks almost exactly like a plush that I saw in my false reality… It’s really sweet that someone would make something like this for me. It even came with a note. I actually have it with me…

(Violet clears her throat)

Ahem… “Dear Miss Rose/Freeman. I’ve seen what you and Gordon have done and would like to thank you for all that you have done for all of the Resistance. I’ve seen how close you are to Gordon, being his daughter and all, and spent a few hours making this plushie of him. I spent a good amount of time on him for you, in case you ever need to have him by your side at all times. Hope you like the gift, and I hope you and the others stay safe. Thanks for everything. -Aryn.”

Heh… It still brings a smile to my face when I read it… I guess that being the daughter of a legendary hero does have its perks.

Oh, um, I should mention that some old members of the SCP Foundation have also arrived here… Um… Let me think, who was it? Oh, Jack Bright, Dr Sherman, Dr Blu (And his son, SB), Benjamin Kondracki (Yes, Luna's father), and Simon Glass… Oh, Iceberg too! Almost forgot about him. Um… They have been doing well here, mostly working with Eli and Kleiner in our lab department in the shelter… Oh, and Russel. He’s the one that Alyx is close friends with and is the one who archived most of the internet and made the gravity gloves.

Um… There are also some other people here… There’s Rose and her son, John, who is adorable in my opinion. Though Rose did say that her husband, I believe she said his name was Raiden, though he also went by Jack, was actually captured by the Combine and hasn’t been seen since… I think it's safe to say that he was most likely turned into one of the 

There are also some other people who all came in from a town nearby in Tennessee known as Pelican Town. There’s a family of three: Shane, Marnie, and Jas. Marnie is actually their aunt, and Jas is Shane’s goddaughter… They also brought in a couple of chickens with them. One of them had this odd blue pigment to it… I think it could have been caused by some form of odd defect or deformation…

There is also this group of people who are, I believe, my age or a bit older, who also came in from Pelican Town… Their names are Sam, Sebastian, and Abigail, who are actually all in a band and actually made of the empty rooms on the second floor of the base of their recording studio. Alyx and I have even worked with them a couple of times to make songs for an album.

We also had 4 other people come in from another base that was raided by Combine soldiers a while back. And it was quite a shock when I learned who it was that came in. It was the one and only Solid Snake and his partner Otacon (AKA: Hal Emmerich) alongside Otacon’s younger sister, Emma (Who I should mention has this beautiful parrot that she brought with her), and his daughter, Sunny. I should also say that Sunny and Joshua have gotten along really well…

Um… We also had a few other people come into the White Forest base… Um, they claimed to have been from a now-defunct delivery company known as Pony Express. So, there’s Anya, who works in our medical department alongside Colette and Gina. There’s Curly, who is one of our new secondary leaders, and he mostly works with Gordon. There’s Swansea who works in our mechanical department, mostly with Alyx and Otacon. Then there’s Daisuke (Who I should mention has already gotten along really well with Barney), who really doesn’t do much, but he does hang out in our games room quite a bit and in the common area with the others. Same with this other dude that came in, Jimmy. Though we have been warned that he does suffer from a form of Bipolar and that we should be careful and make sure he’s on his meds… but other than that, he seems fine… Though the more that I think about it… He seems oddly familiar to me… Eh, it’s probably nothing… Probably just my mind playing tricks on me…

Oh, and speaking of Curly… I’m thinking that he and Barney are starting to become a thing if you get what I’m saying… They’ve been very close with each other as of late… But don’t tell anyone I said that!

So, there have been some other things. First of all, all of the child workers who were working in the Combine facilities have now been freed, and most of them have already found amazing families! In fact, Gina and Colette adopted a young girl who was one of the child workers, a young 12-year-old Chinese girl. I can't remember her actual name, though I think it was Adaline, but I do remember that they named her Aiko. Unfortunately, she did have some heart complications and had to undergo some surgeries to help her... Though there was a slight issue that, luckily, was able to be fixed quite easily. Apparently, her previous foster parents were anti-vax and decided that their own damn religion was more important than keeping their child healthy. God, I hate parents like that... Also, apparently, she was a relative of Dr. Breen. Maybe it was a good thing Colette and Gina rescued her; they do take care of her a lot, in fact, she seems a lot happier with them.

Also, there was another thing that I just found out the Resistance has been doing for a long time. So, while Gordon and I were doing all of our stuff to save humanity and whatnot, the one Xen creature that we expected to see but didn't was actually the Houndeyes. We saw them all over Black Mesa back in the day. However, after arriving at the base, we soon learned that the Resistance was domesticating Houndeyes to be used as scavengers for supplies as well as attack "dogs" of sorts against the Combine. I was honestly surprised to see that Houndeyes could be domesticated, but, hey, that just gives us better defence against any remaining Combine forces.

I honestly like it here… This place feels like a second home to me. The place feels nice, and the people here are very caring for each other. I honestly just can't wait until we manage to fix everything and live normal lives again… It’s just nice that we actually have a place to stay instead of us fighting for our lives every second of every day…

Oh! Um, got to go! Joshua wants to play Crash Bandicoot with me. Besides, I’ve rambled on enough. Bye!

(End Recording)

Chapter Text

I was wandering around the woods close to the Resistance shelter, trying to get some fresh air and take my mind off all the chaos that the Combine Takeover was. This had been the first real peace I had felt in years. Don't worry, I had told Gordon and Alyx before I went out that I was going to be outside the base for a bit, mostly just checking the area for any remaining Combine. As I was walking around, I paused, seeing someone in the distance. At first, I thought it was a Combine soldier. They also looked no older than their early 40s. I carefully approached them, making sure to be careful not to startle them. Being the daughter of the main resistance leader, I always felt the need to help those around me. Upon closer inspection, the figure definitely looked masculine, and it definitely looked like a cyborg. I climbed up into a nearby tree, carefully watching the figure from afar. It sure as hell now looked like a man, looking closer at him.

The man continued to look around the snowy forest, seemingly searching for something. His gaze would turn to the tree where I was hiding, and he'd look directly at me. He seemed to have noticed my presence. In most cases, I would've already grabbed my katana and tried to fight whatever was in front of me. This time, I decided not to. Something about this figure felt familiar to me. He stood there for a moment before he began walking towards the tree where I was hiding. As he walked closer and closer, the sound of his footsteps crunching into the grass and leaves, I could now hear him breathing quite loudly. It was like he was hyperventilating and gasping for air. Something was clearly wrong. He looked like he had just run a marathon. I still sat on the branch I had climbed up to. I was oddly calm, but also a bit concerned.

Eventually, the man arrived at the foot of the tree, looking up at it. His gaze landed on me, his icy blue eye nearly piercing through me, the other was covered by a makeshift eyepatch, and he finally spoke up, his voice sounding quite shaky and nervous, but also kind of gruff.

"Y-You should be more careful, little one... It's dangerous to be out here, y-you know."

"So should you. You okay, by the way? You look hurt." I responded, looking down at him from the branch.

He paused, looking at me, and he looked surprised that I was concerned about him. The man let out a nervous chuckle before he spoke again.

"I-I'm fine... it's n-nothing you should be w-worried about..."

As he continued to talk, the man's leg buckled a bit as he clutched his side. He was most certainly not fine. I sighed, climbing down from the tree and landing on the ground below me, next to him. This man was clearly stubborn.

"An injury like that in this weather isn't going to end up well. Especially with all of those cybernetics. C'mon. We're not too far from a Resistance shelter. I'll lead the way. By the way, my name is Violet. Violet Freeman." I spoke calmly.

The man watched as I climbed down from the tree and walked towards him. He seemed a bit surprised that such a young girl like me was able to climb so effortlessly. As I spoke, his eyes widened a bit, and a look of confusion and surprise spread across his face.

"F-- Freeman...? Wait... are... are you Gordon Freeman's daughter...?” He asked with a shaky voice. I nodded.

"Yup. The one and only." I said with a slight bow.

The man's eyes widened even further in surprise, his surprise only growing. He stared at me for a moment before he spoke up again.

"Y-- You're... you're his? I... I never expected to... to meet you like this... but... b-but that doesn't matter right now. Can I... can you actually lead me to a Resistance base? My... my body's getting... too tired..." He spoke, his shaky voice becoming weak.

"Sure. If you need to lean on me, I don't mind." I spoke, offering to let him use me as stability. He clearly wasn't fit for walking by himself at the moment. I didn't think to ask what had caused the injury. I was too focused on getting him safely to base. Besides, I already had an idea of what happened to him. He had to have been an escapee from the Combine.

The man nodded at my offer and hesitantly put his arm over my shoulder, leaning against me for support. His body was surprisingly heavy, probably because of all of the cybernetic enhancements, and his breathing was becoming more and more labored as the two of us walked. The man was silent for a moment as we were walking, and let out a pained grunt with each step he took. I supported him, helping him to the Resistance Base. I paused a bit, remembering something.

"By the way, I never got your name. Seems only fair I get yours after I told you mine."

The man was a bit too tired from walking to respond at first, but eventually he did manage to speak up, though his voice sounded almost like a whisper.

"I... My name... my name's... Raiden."

I nodded in understanding, still walking to the base. Something about his name even felt familiar to me.... Raiden... Where had I heard that name before? Why does someone that I just met seem to feel so familiar to me?? After a while of walking through White Forest, I got him to the infirmary, helping him onto one of the beds. Gina, Colette, and Anya weren't there, probably with Gordon and Alyx on a field mission at that moment. Luckily for both Raiden and me, Colette and Gina had taught me a few things when it comes to being a medic for the Resistance. Those two are like aunts to me after all. Raiden seemed to be thankful for my support during the walk to the infirmary; he was almost totally dependent on me for support, since he was so worn out and tired. As he lay down on the bed, he let out a small sigh of relief. However, because of his injuries and his exhaustion, he ended up falling unconscious. I worked on his injuries as he was unconscious. I even managed to fix up his cybernetics and performed a blood transfusion, having used a blood bag with his blood type. I was lucky that we still had some artificial blood in stock. I was very skilled at working with injuries and such, and I had learned how to fix cybernetics because of Alyx having to fix up Aiden's mechanical arm a few times since we arrived at White Forest.

After a while, I sat at a desk, working on making sure his medical records were on file. Though as I was reading, I paused... The file was already there, though, it had been under Philanthropy. We had gotten their documents and files ever since they teamed up with the Resistance, much like The Patriots teaming up with The Combine. Something about reading about Raiden's early childhood, according to the file, seemed familiar to me. Even seeing childhood photos of him made me feel a sense of Deja Vu. Something about that snow white hair and those icy blue eyes made her feel like she had met him before. I continued reading his files, and something did feel familiar. His background. He had been born in Africa (Liberia specifically) in November of 1983, under the name "Jack." Unfortunately, in late 1989/Early 1990, he had been kidnapped by George Sears/Solidus Snake and raised in a child soldier camp after his biological parents were murdered by Solidus. The same Solidus that had been revived by the Combine and killed again in the Citadel explosion. I had an older cousin who had the same name, and an aunt and uncle with the same names as Raiden's parents. My cousin had also disappeared when he was around 6 years old, and when I was around 3. I had a distinct memory of what my cousin looked like, and he looked just like how Raiden looked when he was younger. There was no way that this was just a coincidence.

Raiden was still unconscious, his body was resting, but it was very obvious that he had been through hell physically. His cybernetic body was scarred and beaten. He was still breathing deeply, a clear sign that while his wounds had been treated, he was still in a lot of pain and exhaustion. His body suddenly trembled slightly as a nightmare seemed to plague his mind, while still keeping him unconscious. Raiden's body and his face became more visibly distressed, clearly experiencing some sort of nightmare. He let out a few pained whimpers and small whispers before suddenly... he sat up, his eyes snapping open. I snapped out of my thoughts and looked over at him. His breathing was heavy, and he had a look of fear and horror in his eyes. He looked around the room frantically, as if he was trying to get his bearings and understand where he was. He looked down at his arms, seemingly surprised to see that his wounds had been treated. He touched his side where the main point of injury was... but the pain that was once there was no longer present. He turned his head around, eyes landing on me, before he spoke.

"W-What… what happened...? The last thing I remember was... w-was passing out in the woods... did you… bring me here..?"

I turned around in the chair I was in, turning my attention to Raiden. I stood up from the desk and made my way over to the bed he was on, sitting down on a stool at the bedside.

"Yes, you passed out in the woods while I was walking you to the base. You were badly injured, so I brought you to the infirmary and treated you. Did you have a nightmare? You were whimpering and mumbling in your sleep."

Raiden listened to my explanation, his breathing starting to return to normal. He nodded at my question, a look of exhaustion spreading across his face.

"I... I did have a nightmare... it was a memory... a memory of events from my childhood."

He paused for a moment, trying to calm himself down, but it was obvious that the memory was still fresh in his mind…

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, calmly and softly.

Raiden took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. The memory that he had dreamed of was clearly still fresh in his mind…

"I... I was remembering... m-my childhood, back... back before I became a cyborg..."

He paused again, the memory of Solidus and the child soldier camp flashing across his mind. I was worried about him. He had clearly gone through a lot in his life before being brought here. I sat there, quietly listening to him as he spoke. Raiden's expression shifted from exhaustion to distress as his mind continued to recall his childhood. The memory of the child soldier camp was painful…

"I was remembering my time at the... child soldier camp… It was a hell of a place... full of suffering..." He closed his eyes, memories of the camp and the other child soldiers playing in his mind. I was still silent, my hand now holding his as I listened. A reminder that someone was there, listening, and willing to help. The feeling of my soft hand in his helped to soothe him slightly. He took another deep breath, slowly exhaling before speaking again.

"The things we were forced to do... the things we were forced to see... things that no child should ever have to go through…" The memory of the pain and suffering that he endured in the camp was a heavy weight on his mind, but the memory shifted to something else. Something more pleasant. His expression softened, but a sense of confusion spread across his face. The pain of the child soldier camp memories started to fade, and instead, an old memory took its place.

"I... I also remembered... an old memory... one that... isn't from the camp..."

"Oh?" I asked quietly.

His brow furrowed slightly as the memory played out in his mind, the details slowly becoming more clear…

"I... I remember a winter day, back when... when I was younger, before all the pain and suffering..." He paused as the memory began to take hold of his mind, and the pain of the child soldier camp seemed to fade away completely. Raiden's face became relaxed, and a small smile spread across it as the memory continued to take hold. The pain and trauma felt distant for the moment, replaced by nostalgic happiness… "I... I remember playing in the snow with a girl... a girl around my age… we were just kids, playing and laughing, throwing snowballs at each other and enjoying the snowy weather... it was a time of genuine happiness..."

"Oh? Do... do you remember her name?" I asked, my head resting on my arms as I leaned against the bedframe.

Raiden nodded, the smile on his face growing slightly as he recalled the old memory. The happiness and nostalgia of the memory were evident. "Y-Yes... I do remember… her name was... was Violet… just like yours…"

I paused. I knew this wasn't a coincidence. Something inside me told me that what I was hearing couldn't be a coincidence.

"Do... you remember what she looked like?"

Raiden nodded again, his mind's eye showing him a mental image of the girl from his childhood. He spoke, his voice becoming slightly shaky. "I… I do…she looked… looked a lot like you… She… she had the same hair color, just without the white streak, and the same eyes as you… Well, except the heterochromia... both of her eyes were more of a grayish blue..."

"Well... My heterochromia was more or less a byproduct of the Resonance Cascade back at Black Mesa... hard to believe that was 20 years ago already... but anyways... what was she like?" I asked, still curious about the girl he was talking about.

Raiden took a moment to think, the mental image of the girl from the memory becoming clearer in his mind. "She… she was a happy girl. She had a cheerful disposition and always seemed to enjoy a good laugh…" He paused for a moment, trying to recall any other details from the memory. "Oh… and she had a stuffed rabbit toy… she really liked that toy…"

"Huh. Do you remember what the plush looked like?" I asked.

Raiden closed his eyes, his mind now focusing solely on recollecting the details of the plush toy. "Hmm… the plush was a light purple, kind of a lavender shade, and it was a toy version of a bunny... the ears were floppy and long, and they were slightly bent out on the sides... it even had a little dark purple bow tied around its neck… The plush itself also had a lavender scent to it."

I kinda chuckled to myself, remembering something from my own past. "Heh. Funny. I used to have a similar plush growing up... my mom actually made it for me after I was born."

Raiden seemed surprised by the coincidence. It was quite unexpected to meet someone who had a similar plush to the one from his childhood memory. "Really…? You had a similar plush as a kid? That’s... that’s a small world… What a coincidence..."

"Yeah... in fact, now that I think about it... I actually had a cousin who looked almost exactly like you... same snowy white hair and icy blue eyes."

Raiden’s eyes widened in surprise when I spoke of my cousin. "Wait… you had a cousin who looked like me...? With the same hair and eye colors...?"

"Yeah. His name was Jack. He was about 3 years older than I. I even distinctly remember asking my mom why his hair was so white, and she had to explain to me he was albino. Rarely anyone in our family was albino, so it was weird to me." I explained, remembering things from my childhood, with a gentle smile on my face.

Raiden's eyes widened even further. The details that I gave, combined with the old memory he had, were far too much of a coincidence to just ignore… "Wait, y-you’re serious...? Y-You had a cousin named... named Jack... with the same hair and eyes as me...?" I nodded. Raiden seemed to be in shock. It was almost as if he was coming to a realization. To a truth that he somehow already knew but just couldn't remember.

"Oh my god... oh my god... your... your mother... what was her name...?"

"Suzuki Hoshino." I responded. It seemed like we were both reaching the same conclusion. We both needed more information, though.

Raiden’s eyes widened even further, and he spoke in a whisper. "S-Suzuki...Hoshino...?" He shook his head, trying to process everything... "That... that name... that’s... That's my aunt's name..." Raiden’s eyes filled with a mix of disbelief and awe as he tried to make sense of everything. He spoke again, his voice shaking a bit. "In fact… I knew a family back in my childhood… when I still lived in Liberia… their last name… their last name was Hoshino... My parents moved to America to be closer to them after my aunt announced she was pregnant with a child... a daughter... She and my uncle had been trying for years to get a child... even if she was an only child... My parents moved closer to them so that I and their daughter would be able to play together... so she wouldn't be alone."

"Huh... My mom actually had a brother who moved to Liberia with his wife during the early 80s. He and his wife moved closer to my parents for the same reason." I spoke.

Raiden’s eyes widened even further, and he felt his heart pound in his chest. He was starting to make connections, starting to realize the truth that had been hidden from him for so long. "Wait… w-what was your mom’s brother’s name...?"

"Reizo. Reizo Hoshino. They were both born in Japan under Āku no karuto (The Cult of The Ark) in the mid-50s. The cult had gone on since the Edo period but was disbanded by the Japanese Government in the 70s due to inhumane practices, and most of the members actually went to prison. All except for my mother and her brother. They actually completely fled the country when they were in their twenties and moved to America, where they became American citizens. Then, in the late 80s, they had me. Of course, being their only child, I was destined to be the new leader of the cult when I became an adult. They even gave me my mom's amethyst kitsune pendant."

Raiden gasped as I spoke the name. He could feel his heart pounding even harder, everything starting to make even more sense... "R-Reizo?! Did... did... did he and his wife name their child… did they name their child… Jack?"

"Yeah! Jack Hoshino!" I exclaimed.

Raiden felt like he could barely breathe as the puzzle pieces fell into place. His eyes were wide, and his mind was racing. "Oh my… oh my god... that… that can’t be a coincidence… can’t be... y-you said he had the same hair… the same eyes...?"

"Are... you thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked, now holding both of his hands in mine.

Raiden nodded frantically. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, his mind in a state of disbelief and shock... "I... I think I am... and if it's true... if it's really true..."

I suddenly stood up, hugging him tightly, my head resting on his shoulder. "It's.... It's you... And here I thought I'd never see you again..."

Jack was taken aback by the sudden tight hug, but the feeling was welcome. He hugged me back just as tightly, his body shaking with emotion. "I... I can't believe it... I can't believe it's you... After all these years..." His voice was choked with emotion, and he couldn't stop the tears from streaming down his face. Despite being mostly mechanical and cybernetic, he still had a human heart and a childlike innocence. He held me tightly, the feeling of my warmth and the familiar scent of me bringing back so many memories that he had almost forgotten.

"I... I thought I would never see you again... that I would never hear your voice or feel your touch... but here you are..." He let out a small choked sob, his emotions overwhelming him as he held onto me. Holding him reminded me of when we were both young children again. He buried his face into my neck, holding me even tighter, unable and unwilling to let go, not that I wanted to. "I... I never forgot you... all these years, I always remembered you... The memories we shared..." He took a deep, shaky breath, trying to compose himself. But the tears just kept flowing. He held me even closer, his robotic arms wrapping around me tightly. He could feel my heartbeat, my soft breath against his skin... feeling me in his arms was unreal, like a dream come true...

"I... I missed you… I missed you so, so much…" He softly whimpered.

"I missed you too..." I quietly responded.

He held me firmly, his body shaking slightly as he continued to speak, his voice still choked with emotion. "I... I thought I lost you... that I'd never see you again… but now... now you're here..." He closed his eyes, almost unable to believe that I was really there, in his arms. I honestly couldn't believe it either. It felt so good to be back in his arms again. He pulled back slightly from the hug, so he could look into my eyes. His eyes were still watery, and his emotions were still running high, but seeing my face and familiar eyes made his heart skip a beat. "I... I always dreamed about this... about seeing you again, holding you again... it seemed like it was just a pipe dream, but... here you are, in my arms…"

I smiled, reaching up and carefully wiping the tears from his face. "Hey... I'm not going to disappear anymore... I promise, I'm here to stay..." I placed my hand on his cheek, the feeling of my soft touch soothing his troubled mind and body. "Though, it is still kinda weird seeing you now as a cyborg and all."

He let out a small laugh, the sound still shaky from his emotions. My touch brought him some comfort, and he leaned his face into my hand, taking in the feeling of my touch. "I... I know it's a bit strange... but I'm still the same person on the inside, you know. The same person you knew when we were little..." He smiled, his heart warm with the feeling of having me back in his life.

"Yeah..." I spoke softly, my head still resting on his shoulder. "It's so nice to see you again... I still remember the first time you ever held me."

He nodded, his arms wrapping around my waist, holding me close. "Yeah... I remember that day clearly too... You were crying and scared because you had fallen off my bed while we were playing and hurt yourself. I... I couldn’t stand to see you in tears, so I just... picked you up and held you close to my chest..." He took a shallow breath, his mind going back to that memory. The feeling of holding me in his arms for the first time, my small body shaking with sobs. "And then... You just stopped crying... and you looked up at me with those teary eyes... and you just smiled... it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen..."

"I remember just clinging to you like a koala. I believe my first word was actually your name." I spoke, remembering the event he was talking about.

He laughed a little, his arm pulling me slightly closer. "Yeah... you absolutely refused to let go of me. I remember trying to put you down, but you just kept clinging onto me, your tiny arms wrapped around my neck and your legs around my waist...." He shook his head with a smile on his face, the memory playing in his mind... "And I remember when our parents finally managed to get you to let go of me, you started crying again. Guess you just really liked being carried around."

"Well, you were the only cousin that I had. In fact, I was an only child growing up. You were the closest thing to a sibling I had. Hell... I... When I was placed into a False Reality, it's a long story that I'd rather not get into right now, there would be times that I... I actually really missed you... I would sometimes cry for minutes on end... it was just that feeling that I knew you were out there somewhere and that... that I couldn't be there with you... That we were both so far away from each other... Split apart between time and space..." I explained, my voice softening again.

Jack could feel his heart ache at my words, his grip on my waist tightening. "I... I missed you too... I missed you so much... Being in the child soldier camp, being forced to fight in wars... it was a living hell... but sometimes, just sometimes, I would think about you. About our memories together... and it was the only thing that helped me keep going..." He closed his eyes, the pain of his past resurfacing.

We were both quiet for a bit until I spoke up. "... Remember that crochet fox plushie you had? The one my aunt, your mom, made for you?"

He nodded, his mind recalling the memory. "Yeah... I remember it... I loved that toy... I carried it everywhere... I'd hold it at night when I was scared... it always made me feel at ease."

"... hang on. I'll be right back." I got up from the stool. "I need to go get something." Jack nodded in understanding, and I ran out of the medical wing over to my room. I searched my walk-in closet, eventually finding the fox plush I had been talking about on one of the shelves. I rushed back over, holding the fox in my hand. "I found this in my bed when I first arrived here. One of the Resistance members said that they found it in the woods... I recognized it almost immediately."

He stared at the plushie, his eyes going wide. "I-... I can't believe it... You still have it..." He reached out, carefully taking the fox plushie from me, his hands shaking. It was a little worn and dirty, but it was still the same plushie that his mother had made all those years ago. He cradled the plushie in his robotic arm, the memories of holding it flooding his mind. The feeling of the soft fabric against his skin. "I... I thought this got lost... I thought it was gone forever..." He hugged the plushie close, a smile crossing his face. It was like a piece of his past had been returned to him. "You... you kept it all this time? Why?"

"It was the only part of you I had left... up until now." I spoke with a gentle smile.

Jack smiled again, his heart full of emotion... gratitude, joy, and a hint of sadness over all the years they had lost. He held the plushie tightly, feeling comforted by its familiar presence again. "Thank you... Thank you so much... for keeping it all this time... I never thought I'd see this again..."

"You’re welcome... Oh. That reminds me. I also kept... this."

I spoke, holding up my old childhood bunny plushie. I had originally kept it in my satchel since I first found it back in City 17 in a random alleyway. Somehow, the plush was in near-perfect condition. I just needed to wash it a bit. "Remember this?"

He looked at the bunny plushie, his eyes widening. Suddenly, the memory of the two of them playing together with their stuffed toys returned to him in full force. "Oh my god... I remember that... I remember us playing together, our stuffed toys battling each other... it was so much fun..."

"Yeah. It was..." I spoke softly, a smile on my face.

"We used to play together all the time... we'd spend hours pretending our toys could talk and go on amazing adventures..." He chuckled softly, reminiscing on those better times. "We were like two little generals leading a stuffed army into battle."

I laughed softly, looking down at the plushie in my hands. "Yeah. We always came up with the craziest stories."

"Yeah! I remember that!" I spoke, laughing a bit as I remembered the games that we used to play back when we were children.

Jack smiled at the memory, chuckling softly. "Yeah... we spent an entire day pretending to go through a huge castle, fighting monsters and rescuing the princess... those were the good old days...." He looked at the fox plushie in his arm, his finger gently running across the fabric of the toy. It was as if touching them brought back the feeling of their childhood innocence and joy... "It's funny to think about how much we used to play... We were so carefree back then... we didn't have a worry in the world."

"Yeah.... now look at us..." I muttered, looking off to the side, at a mirror on the wall. "Hardened... Broken and beaten by war... loss... tragedy... Trauma... and so much death and bloodshed."

He sighed softly, his gaze dropping to the floor, the weight of the years and all they'd been through suddenly heavy on his shoulders. When he spoke, his voice was soft and heavy with emotion. "Yeah... life's thrown us some pretty heavy punches since those days, you know...?"

"Yeah... It sure as hell has... But hey, at least we're back together again." I looked back at him, making eye contact with him.

Jack smiled softly, his eyes meeting mine. "Yeah, you're right... even after all these years, after all the bullshit both of us have been through... we're back together. That's what matters."

I nodded, deciding to hug him again. I honestly just felt touch-starved from not seeing him for so many years. He hugged me back, his robotic arms holding me tight.

"I’m never letting you go again, you know that, right?" He asked quietly.

I nodded in response. "Of course, you won't. I won't either. Not after what we both went through."

Jack nodded, resting his chin on the top of my head. The feeling of me in his arms again was a comfort he thought he’d never experience. He held me close, never wanting to let go. "I promised myself that if I ever saw you again, I’d never let anything come between us. I couldn't bear the thought of losing you again. You mean everything to me... You always have." He said, his voice soft and filled with affection.

"I can say the same with you. Even though we're cousins, I always saw you like a brother." I spoke quietly, my head resting on his shoulder.

He nodded, his eyes closing as he held me close. "Yeah... we may be cousins, but you were always more than that to me... you’ve always been the closest thing I’ve had to a sibling... a true family member..."

I nodded. Then I paused, remembering something important.

"Oh. That reminds me. We found a couple of people a couple of weeks ago. A young woman and a teenage boy. The woman said that they had recently escaped one of the cities but lost someone along the way, her husband. She described someone who looked like you, even with the same name, Jack. The woman's name was Rosemary."

Jack listened intently, his brow furrowing as he tried to process the information. "A woman named Rosemary, her husband’s name was Jack...? Wait, what did the young woman look like?"

I explained to him what Rosemary and the kid with her looked like. His eyes seemed to widen as I described them to him. "...Wait a minute. Please tell me that the young woman had dark hair and eyes."

I nodded. "Yeah. Short black hair and brown eyes. She looked to be around her late 30s. The kid looked to be around 16."

Jack’s eyes widened even further as he processed the description. His heart felt like it was about to beat out of his chest. "Oh god. Oh god...." He took a deep, shaky breath, his body trembling. I could tell what he was thinking. There was no way, no way that what he was thinking could be true. He looked at me, a mix of fear and shock on his face. "Please... please tell me that this woman wasn't... wasn't..." He couldn’t even finish the sentence. The implication of what could be true was too much to bear.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, my voice laced with concern and worry.

He took a deep breath, his voice shaking as he spoke. "You... y-you said that this woman, this Rosemary... she said she lost her husband, and that he... he looked like me?"

"Mhm." I nodded.

Jack's gaze dropped to the floor, his mind racing, his heart pounding. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Did... did this woman... did she happen to tell you her husband's last name...?"

"Yeah. It was Sears." I explained.

At those words, I could see the color drain from Jack's face. His heart skipped a beat, and he felt like the breath had been stolen from his lungs. His mouth went dry, and he felt like the world was spinning around him. His breathing became shallow, and his mind refused to accept what he was being told. He couldn't believe it. It was... it was impossible... but no... it all made sense. Every single piece of the puzzle fits together too perfectly to disregard. He took a deep, shaky breath, trying to calm himself down, and he spoke, his voice unsteady. "How... how old was the boy...?"

"He looked to be around 16." I said.

He closed his eyes, his fists clenching tightly as he fought to stay calm. It couldn't be. There was no way what he was thinking was true. It had to be a coincidence. It had to be a sick joke. But no, it all made sense. "How... how did the boy... did he look like... did he look like me...? Or..."

"Mhm. Even had snow white hair." I said.

Jack's heart skipped another beat. The realization was hitting him harder and harder by the second. The pieces were all there, and he couldn't ignore them anymore. He tried to stay calm, but his voice was shaky and his heart was in his chest. "His... his eyes... did they... Did his eyes... did they l-look like..." He tried to ask, but it was like he was losing control of his very voice. The world was closing in around him, and the words refused to leave his mouth. I could see him trembling.

"They were the same icy blue." I said, now speaking softer. I was trying to get him to calm down.

He took a deep, shaky breath, his heart rate increasing even more. He felt like he was going to pass out, but he couldn't. He forced himself to stay conscious, to stay focused. His voice was almost a whisper as he spoke, his words barely audible. "His... name...?"

"John." I said.

He felt like he was about to collapse onto the floor. His heart rate was skyrocketing. The world was spinning around him, and he could barely stay upright. The pieces all fell into place, and he couldn't reject the truth any longer. "John.... John Sears..." He let out a shaky breath, his hands trembling from the overwhelming emotions coursing through his body. He looked at me, his eyes wide and his face pale. His voice was quiet and shaking, barely above a whisper. "V-Violet... I-I have a... I need to..."

"Go on." I said, leaning against a wall.

He slowly opened his eyes, looking at me, his expression a mix of shock and fear. "I... I... I need to talk to her... I need to talk to this... this 'Rosemary'... and this... 'John'... please..."

"I can bring you to them if you want me to." I suggested.

"P-Please..." He replied, his voice barely a whisper. "Take me to them... I need to see them."

I nodded, carefully taking his hand and helping him out of bed. Raiden let me help him to his feet, his body still shaking from the shock and disbelief. He felt like he was walking on air, like his legs would collapse beneath him at any moment. But he stayed on his feet, stumbling alongside me as I led him through the base. We walked through the base, walking over to the room that Rose and John were staying in. I lifted my hand to the door, knocking on it.

"Rose? John? It's Vi. There's someone here who wants to see you." I called out.

There was a moment of silence, but after a few seconds, the sound of footsteps came from the other side of the door... and then, it slowly creaked open... Rosemary slowly opened the door, her face showing confusion and surprise at this sudden visit... but that expression faded quickly, her expression replaced by one of pure shock. She covered her mouth with a trembling hand, her eyes wide, staring at the man standing outside her room...

"O-Oh my god..."

I stepped off to the side, not wanting to intrude on their moment. Jack stared back at Rosemary, the sight of her bringing a rush of painful emotions. His voice was shaking as he spoke, his whole body trembling from the force of his own pounding heartbeat. "R-Rose..."

At the sound of that name, Rose's knees buckled in, the shock to her system sending her to the ground. She didn't cry, but the tears that welled up in her eyes were clear. She stared up at him with a mixture of disbelief and hope, her voice shaking as she spoke... "J-Jack...?"

The second he heard that name, his eyes watered up, emotion washing over him in a powerful wave. He felt like he couldn't breathe, like his heart was tearing apart in his chest... "I-It's me..." He could barely say the words, tears streaming down his face. The sheer force of emotion was overwhelming him, and seeing her there, safe and sound after all this time... it was like a miracle to him. "It's me, sweetheart..."

Rose got back to her feet, moving closer to him. The urge to embrace him overtook her, and she didn't resist, slowly closing the gap between them. She didn't care about who was there; she just wanted to hug him.

Jack, his own desire taking over, wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. He could feel her heartbeat against his chest, her body heat warming him and bringing him a comfort he'd thought he'd lost forever. He held her tightly, never wanting to let her go again. The emotions washed over him, the tears streaming down his face as he took a shaky breath. "Oh god... Rose... I missed you so, so much..."

Rose hugged him back just as tightly, her arms wrapped around him, her face buried in his chest. It was like she was afraid this wasn't real, that any moment this could all be taken away. But the feeling of his arms around her and the sound of his heartbeat convinced her that this was indeed real, and that he was here, after so long... "Jack... I missed you so much..."

Jack buried his head into her shoulder, nuzzling his nose into her neck. He could feel the scent of her hair, the same as he remembered, and he took a shaky breath, taking in the familiar smell. "I... I never thought I'd see you again... I thought... I thought you..."

Rose tightened her grip on him, her voice shaky as she let out a sob. "...I thought I'd never see you again either... Every night since we were separated... I'd cry, begging for someone to wake me up from this nightmare we were stuck in... I didn't want to believe it... I didn't want to believe you were dead. And I was forced to give up hope.... I spent so long trying to raise our son, thinking I'd never get my husband back..."

Her words hit Jack like a punch to the gut, and he could only hold her tighter. "I never stopped thinking about you for a minute. Every day, I kept searching, hoping and praying that I'd find you again. I had almost given up hope... but now, I'm back... I'm here..."

Rose took a shaky breath, trying to calm herself down. Her face was still buried in his chest, the sound of his heartbeat still bringing her comfort. She had so much that she wanted to say, so much that she wanted to ask. But one thing topped the rest. "Jack... why.. Why were you taken from me...? Why did I have to spend so long thinking you were dead... or worse...?"

Jack winced at the question, the memories from the past resurfacing with painful intensity. The past twenty-five years played in his mind, all the pain and suffering he endured while believing she and John were killed running through his mind in an instant.

"From the injuries I found him with, he seemed to have been a victim of the Combine. I'm just saying he's lucky he escaped." I spoke, leaning against a wall. "By the way, where's John? I'm sure he'd like to see his dad again."

At the mention of his son, Jack finally looked up, remembering that his son was only in the other room, waiting. "R-Right..." He slowly let go of Rose, his arm reluctantly letting go of her. He had a new purpose now. "I... I need to see him..."

Rose nodded, her expression sad to see him pull away, but understanding of why. "He's in there." She pointed to the bedroom, tears still falling down her cheeks, and a slight smile on her face.

Jack nodded, taking a shaking breath. He was nervous, scared of what his son would think once he saw him again. Would John even recognize him at all? Would he even want to talk to him after so long...? He carefully walked into the room, the sight that greeted him taking his breath away. The boy sitting on the bed looked just like him, with the same snow white hair. As he cautiously approached the bed, his legs felt like they could give out from under him. This was the boy who was the combination of him and the woman that he loved so much. "H-Hey... hey son..."

John looked up from the book he was reading, his eyes widening when he realized who was in front of him. Recognition and confusion flashed across his features as he sat there, stunned and silent. Jack stood there, his heart in his chest, as he waited for his son to say something. The seconds felt like hours, and the silence was nearly deafening to him. He had so much he wanted to say, and yet was scared to say it at the same time. His hand reached out, wanting to touch him, but he was hesitant to do so.

John spoke, his voice a mixture of uncertainty and a hint of disbelief. "I-is... is that really...?"

Jack nodded, his words coming out shaky, a small quiver in his voice as he held back emotions. "Yeah... It's really me..."

John's eyes widened even further, his words shaky as the reality of the situation set in and the disbelief faded away, replaced by a mixture of awe and uncertainty. "Y-You're really here...? You're... you're really my..."

Jack swallowed hard, the emotional whirlwind he was going through threatening to overtake him. He nodded again, his hand reaching forward and slowly resting on top of his son's head, the physical contact confirming that this was all real and not some dream. "Yeah... I'm really here... and yeah, I'm... I'm really your dad..."

John's eyes filled with tears as reality finally set in for him. All these years, he thought his father was dead, gone forever. But now, here he was, standing in front of him, and even if he was a cybernetic superhuman, he was... his father. There was no mistaking it. He threw his arms around Jack's waist, burying his face into his chest. He was fighting back the emotions, trying to remain strong, but it was a battle his young mind couldn't win. His body shook with quiet sobs, his hands gripping and pulling at Jack's jacket. Jack quickly wrapped his arms around his son, holding him close to his chest and placing a hand on the back of his head, running his fingers through the boy's snow white hair. "Shhh... It's okay... I'm here... I'm here now..."

I stood off to the side, a soft smile on my face. I felt a warmth in my heart. I was just happy Jack was back home with his family. Jack kept his son in his arms, letting him cry out his emotions as he held on tight. He could only imagine the hell his boy had to go through to be here... to get to this point. He kept his hand in his son's hair, his fingers gently running through the soft white strands. He took a shaky breath, looking over at me. I looked back at him, my smile still present as the last few tears fell from my eyes. I could see the relief and love in his eyes, and it was a sight to behold. He smiled at me, his eyes holding all the gratitude in the world for me. He knew that he wouldn't be here, wouldn't be able to hold his son again if it wasn't for me. He nodded slightly at me before focusing back on his sobbing son, slowly stroking his head and making soft hushing sounds.

I stood there for a bit before feeling a bit awkward. I honestly felt like I was intruding a bit just by standing there. I decided that it would probably be for the best to leave them by themselves for now, turning around on my heels. Jack noticed me getting ready to leave, raising an eyebrow curiously. Though he kept an arm around his son, the other arm extended away from him. A gesture for me to stop. I paused, turning to look back at him over my shoulder. "Hm?"

Jack looked at me, silently gesturing for me to come closer, though he didn't let go of his son. I was silent, walking over to him. He wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close, his son still in his other arm. He looked down at both me and John, a small smile crossing his face. Rose joined, hugging Jack from the other side. John, still sobbing softly, was caught between both adults, being held closely by his father, and supported by his mother. He looked up from his father's chest, his eyes red from crying, and his nose running a bit. He looked at me, a small amount of recognition in his watery eyes. Jack looked down at his son, running his hand through his son's hair. He smiled softly, his mind feeling at peace, even for just a moment.

"John, I have someone I'd like you to meet...." He spoke quietly.

John, looking confused, tilted his head. His curiosity was piqued, despite his tears. "Who is it...?"

Jack smiled at his son's curiosity. He carefully let go of him, moving over to me and pulling me to his side. "This is Violet." He continued, his eyes glancing back over at his son, whose teary gaze was now on me. "She was a big reason I was able to get here.... she was able to tell me where you and your mom were."

"In fact... Your father and I are actually family. Cousins, to be specific." I explained, rubbing the back of my neck a bit.

John's eyes widened in surprise, the news striking him with shock. "W-Wait... for real?"

"Yup!" I spoke with a smile.

John was silent for a few moments, a look of disbelief appearing on his face. "B-But... but you guys look so different."

I laughed a bit before explaining. "Heh. Well, first of all, he's albino. In fact, he was, up until now, the only one in our family who was albino. Guess that carried over with you."

John looked at Jack, tilting his head, now noticing the white hair, ice blue eyes, and white complexion. "What does that mean exactly?"

Jack answered for me. "Albino is a condition in which your body doesn't have enough melanin, causing a lack of color on your hair, skin, and yes, your eyes. In short, you're pale as hell."

John nodded in understanding. "Oh.... that kinda makes sense." He looked back at me, still trying to connect the dots.

I gave him a little shrug, giving him a small smile. "In short, yes. It's safe to say we're family."

The boy nodded, still trying to understand exactly how his father might have had a cousin who didn't look like him in the slightest. "Huh... I never knew that was even possible."

"I mean, not every family member is going to look alike. That's just how genes work. Sure, you can have a family member who looks similar to someone else, but there's always gonna be differences. Well, unless you're identical twins or something." I explained.

John nodded, accepting the explanation. His tears had finally settled, and he was now just confused. "Yeah... I guess that's true..." John nodded again to himself, running his hand through his own white hair, his mind still thinking about the topic. His curiosity was piqued, and he let out another question. "So, you knew my father when he was a kid, right?"

"Yup. We're actually 3 years apart in age." I said.

John's eyes widened again. "Really? So you were basically like childhood friends with my dad?"

"Yup! He's like an older brother to me." I spoke with a slight smile as I looked up at Jack.

"I see..." He thought for a moment, clearly struggling to figure out how that made any sense. "Wait. How old are you?"

"Well.... That's a long story. I may not look it, but I'm actually the same age as your mother. I'm actually 38. I just look 18 because of a little thing known as stasis." I explained, knowing that the whole thing would sound insane to him.

John's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. It was unbelievable to him. His father's cousin being 38 years old, but looking 18, and being in some kind of stasis? It sounded like something from the movies to him. "What the-? S-Stasis?!"

"Yeah... basically I got frozen in time by some intergalactic time and space bureaucrat in a suit for about.... 20 years." I explained further, trying to put it in a way he would at least sort of understand.

John's mind was blown. Time travel, intergalactic politics, time loops, everything sounded impossible to him. But it was all so intriguing. "Wait.... so you were frozen in time? Like, you were stuck the way you are for 20 years? Like, you don't look any older?"

"Yup. Again, long story." I said.

John nodded again, his mind still processing the insane information. "Whoa... uh... wow..." He looked back at his father, then at me, shaking his head. "You both have had some weird experiences..."

Jack nodded, chuckling a bit. "Heh, you haven't heard the half of it, son."

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure I could be here for hours if I tried to explain all of the stuff that happened to me." I said jokingly.

John nodded, agreeing with Violet. He could only imagine all the things his father and I had been through over the years. "Yeah, I bet. It sounds like you both went through a whole lot."

"That's one way to put it..." I muttered, looking slightly to the side. Jack and I had been through a lot... ever since we were both children. It's hard to believe that we actually managed to get back together after so many years.

John was quiet for a bit, thinking about what I had just said. It sounded like a serious understatement. He could only wonder what I had seen in my time. Jack could see the curiosity in his son's eyes, and he knew that at some point, he was going to want to know more. It wasn't like he could keep his silence on everything that he's been through any longer. He let out a sigh, ruffling his son's hair. "I'll tell you everything, eventually. Just not right now."

John nodded, his curiosity not lessened, but his understanding that his father would need some time to get things organized before he would be able to talk about the past. He ran his hand through his white hair, a sigh escaping his lips. "Okay..."

Jack smiled at his son's understanding. He was impressed by how mature he was. "You're a good kid, you know that?"

"I... thank you, dad..." John said, a bit of emotion in his voice. It was a feeling of pride, a feeling of accomplishment. A feeling of gratitude that his father was actually here, and not just some memory.

"You're welcome, son..." Jack said, gently ruffling his hair. His own emotions were on overdrive, but he managed to stay composed. He had so much to tell his son, so much to explain.

John just stood there, soaking in this moment. This moment he had been waiting for so long. A moment he had dreamed of, night after night, that he'd wake up to find his father there, telling him that he didn't die, that he was still here. And now it had come true. Time seemed to stop, just for a few moments. Nothing else in the world mattered anymore, only this moment, only this family reunion. For a few brief seconds, there was no more pain, no more hardship, just peace and happiness. This family was whole again.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Jack spoke up, his eyes looking down at his son, his voice gentle but filled with a father's love. "You know... I..." He swallowed, his throat dry. His voice was shaking, and he could feel tears coming to his eyes. He took a deep breath, trying to keep his emotions in check. "I'm really glad that... I was finally able to come back to you."

John looked up at his father, his own eyes watery as well, but his expression was one of love and relief. After so many years of believing that he would never see his father again, here he was, right in front of him. "I'm... I'm glad too, Dad... I'm happy you're here..."

I still stood off to the side, once again feeling awkward. I mostly kept to herself, fidgeting with the cuffs of my gloves to make myself feel less awkward for just kinda standing there. I was never one for reunions like this, especially with things getting all sappy. After a few moments longer, Jack looked over to me, noticing me awkwardly fidgeting, causing him to smile.

"You okay over there?" He asked, tilting his head a bit.

"Hm?" I paused, glancing up. "Oh, yeah. I'm alright. I just kinda feel a little awkward for... just kinda standing here during this whole family moment."

Jack chuckled, gesturing for her to come over to them. "Relax, you're not interrupting anything. You're part of the moment as well, you know. Get over here."

I nodded with a gentle smile on my face, walking back over to him. "Sorry. Guess it's just the fact that I haven't really been part of anything like this in... well..  years. Well, up until I met back up with Gordon after breaking out of stasis and whatnot."

Jack gave a small understanding nod as I made my way over to him, standing next to him. "Well, even if it's been years since you've had a moment like this, you're still part of this family. It wouldn't feel right without you here." He smiled as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close and into his side. "You're like a little sister to me, and you always will be."

John nodded, a small grin on his face. "Yeah, you're one of us."

Rose nodded in agreement. "Just wouldn't be right not to include you."

"Heh. Thanks, guys..." I spoke, tucking a bit of my hair behind my ear before looking back up at the other 3, a soft smile on my face.

We spent the rest of the day just talking and getting caught up with each other's lives. It was honestly nice to talk to Jack again after so many years. Aiden eventually came in and joined the conversation, getting to tell some of the stories he had to share when it came to what he went through.

Chapter Text

One night, after playing a bit more of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, I decided it was a good time to go to bed and get some rest for the next morning. After getting dressed, brushing my teeth, and putting my things away, I turned off the lights and climbed into bed. Gordon and Alyx soon came in to check on me and kissed me goodnight. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep, wrapped in a warm blanket beside my boyfriend.

However, I wasn’t expecting the dream I was about to have. At least, I think it was a dream. It felt so strange and almost real. I woke up in a strange void with a floor covered in an inch of water. Everything was silent as I stood there, confused and a little unsettled. I thought I was completely alone...

Until I heard HIS voice...

"You've done very well, Miss Freeman."

I jumped back, my eyes wide with surprise, glancing around. My blood ran cold when he spoke.

"You!! What the hell do you want from me this time!?" I shouted, anger in my voice.

The G-Man, looking amused by my reaction, chuckled slightly, his hands behind his back, standing straight as always. "Now... is that any way to speak to an old friend?" He started walking toward me, his footsteps echoing through the void.

"Old friend, my ass! You’re the reason my life has been nothing but a living hell! You’re the one who has tormented Gordon and me for years! What the hell makes you think I'd just welcome you with open arms?!" I yelled again, clearly fed up.

The G-Man chuckled again, a smirk forming on his face. He took a few more steps forward, his footsteps still echoing as he approached me. "Tormented? Oh my, I would hardly say I've 'tormented' you, Miss Freeman. I've simply been... orchestrating things from the shadows, making sure everything played out in the most... beneficial way possible." As I listened to him, I noticed something—he wasn't stammering or stuttering at all. His speech was... unnaturally clear...

"You put me in a False Reality where I nearly took my own life multiple times because of the trauma I had to go through before I broke myself out! You put me in a reality where my life was on the line constantly because of the shit that went down!" I was quiet for a bit before sighing, my arms crossed. "... what do you want?"

The G-Man let out another laugh before he reached a hand out and rested it on my shoulder. His cold touch sent a shiver down my spine. "My, my... I almost forgot how easily you get riled up. As for what I want... I simply want to make you an offer. One that I'm sure you'll find... quite hard to refuse."

"... I'm listening," I muttered quietly.

The G-Man's smirk grew wider as he leaned in closer to me, towering over me as his eyes met mine. "You've been through quite a lot, haven't you? Between the horrors of Xen, the Combine invasion, and everything in between..." His smirk turned into a wicked smile as he continued. "What if I could give you a way to escape all of that? To be free from the horrors of this world?"

"... how so?" I stood there, a bit skeptical.

The G-Man walked around me, his hand still on my shoulder. "The multiverse is... vast. Infinite possibilities, infinite realities. I have the power to take you to a reality where none of this horror ever happened. No Xen. No Combine. No... me." He let out another chuckle as he stood in front of me again. "You'd have a normal life. No fighting, no near-death experiences, no constant suffering."

I thought about what he was saying, silent for a bit. I knew I couldn't trust him. I knew that what he was offering was too good to be true. I then sighed, uncrossing my arms and letting them fall to my side. "Fine. What do I have to do?"

A satisfied smile appeared on the G-Man's face as he looked down at me. "Oh, it's simple. All I need you to do is trust me. All you need to do is take my hand." He held out his hand to me, inviting me to take it.

I looked down at his hand, hesitating a bit. Sure, what he was proposing was nice... but I was already all too aware of the tricks that he played... I knew that this was all a trap. A trap into becoming his plaything all over again. But before I could make a decision, I was suddenly grabbed and pulled backward by an unknown person. I fell backward onto my behind, a bit dazed. I glanced over and saw who had pulled me behind. I paused when she saw the familiar figure.

It was one of my alternates. It was Luna Kondraki, better known by others as Shadow. She was around the same height as me, being about 5'5 herself. She wore a black hoodie and torn dark denim jeans. She also wore a black face mask that covered her lower face. Her bangs covered her left eye, her right an inky black. She also wore fingerless fabric gloves, her nails covered in a coat of black polish. Her hair was a dark chocolate brown, going down her back in a braid.

"You’re not doing anything to her this time..." Shadow spoke in a voice laced with a British accent.

The G-Man's eyes narrowed as he saw Shadow appear and pull me away from him. He was clearly taken aback by her sudden arrival, but he quickly composed himself. "And who are you to interfere with my dealings?" He asked, his voice calm yet stern. His gaze shifted to Shadow as he studied her carefully, sizing her up, an action I knew was going to lead to a mistake.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Luna Kondraki. Most just call me Shadow. Who are you to be doing this in the first place?! You have done nothing for any of us but be nothing but a nuisance! You have only caused pain and suffering for both Violet and those she's close to!" Shadow lashed out, getting animated as she stepped closer.

The G-Man laughed dryly, his smirk returning to his face. "Ah, the hero trying to protect the damsel in distress. How... cliché." He put a hand on his hip, looking at Shadow with an amused expression. "You think you can stop me? You're just one person. You're no match for someone like me."

Shadow paused, a slight smirk appearing under her mask. "Heh. I never said I was alone."

As she said that, I glanced over, seeing three more figures, all figures I recognized.

On the left was a young woman in a blue dress, a halo above her head. Her name was Sōru Tenshi (Soul Angel in Japanese). She was my more kinder alternate, taking a lot to get mad. However, she was far from happy seeing the G-man back at his antics. She wore a blue and white, flowy dress with long sleeves, white tights, and blue high heels. Her light blue hair was long and wavy, going down her back like ocean waves on the horizon. Her icy eyes stared at the G-man, a threatening aura radiating off of her. She held a large staff in her hands, her sharp nails painted a light blue.

In the middle was my more defensive alternate. Her name was Eliza Forest, a young Scottish adult who was taking no shit from the vigilante in front of her. She had a more punk look to her appearance. Short black hair with red highlights, thick eyelashes, red lipstick, a red cropped leather jacket, black shirt, black ripped jeans held up by a black and silver belt with a chain dangling off of it, and black combat boots with red laces. Her hands were covered by black leather biker gloves, and her nails were painted blood red. Her crimson eyes glared at the G-man, her black Converse clicking as she walked alongside the others.

On the right was a more interesting case. His name was Gordon since he was an alternate version of Gordon Freeman, but most just referred to him as Freemind, given the fact that he always spoke his mind, and because he was from the Freeman's Mind timeline. He was a lot like Eliza, being sassy, blunt, and rude, but also protective, especially of his host. He also wore a similar outfit to Eliza, having a sort of punk style. He wore a black leather jacket, a white shirt, black jeans, a belt with a chain hanging from it, and black boots. His hair was dyed a dark red, and a black eyepatch covering his left eye. He still had the same emerald green eyes as any other Freeman.

The three stopped alongside Shadow. Sōru spoke up first.

"You have a lot of nerve showing your face around here..." She spoke, her Japanese accent being very prominent.

The G-Man looked at the three new arrivals and chuckled dryly. He was clearly outnumbered, but he didn't seem too fazed by it. He smirked at them and spoke in his usual monotone voice. "Ah, it seems like the cavalry has arrived. How... heartwarming." He then looked back at me, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Is this really all you have, my dear? A gaggle of alternates, all desperate to protect you?"

"You clearly haven't seen what we're capable of, then," Eliza spoke in a thick Scottish accent, sipping her alcohol from her flask. "We're the main reasons she's even survived this long."

The G-Man chuckled dryly again, his smirk widening. He clearly wasn't taking them too seriously. "Oh, I'm well aware of what you're all capable of. But none of you can stop me. I am something beyond your comprehension." He took a step towards them, his eyes narrowing as he looked at each of them. "You may think you're protecting her, but in the end, it's all futile. She's destined to be under my control."

"Not under our watch," Freemind spoke, his glare intensifying. "I've known you long enough to know what you're trying to do to her... I've seen what you've done to her, both back at Black Mesa, her false reality, and now. The others and I will not hesitate to tear you apart in a heartbeat for what you've done to her."

The G-Man chuckled again, finding the threat more amusing than menacing. "Oh, you think you can tear me apart? You're delusional. Do you really think you can stand up to me? You're all just insects to me. Nothing but pawns in a game far beyond your understanding." He took another step forward, getting closer to them. "But by all means, try and stop me. I'd love to see how that goes for you."

Freemind and the others stood their ground, not backing down from the G-Man’s threats. "You may be all-powerful and all-knowing or whatever. But you're not infallible. You've made mistakes. And we're not gonna let you get away with it this time." Sōru, Eliza, and Shadow all nodded in agreement, a silent determination shared among them.

The G-Man's smirk faltered slightly as he looked at them. He could see that they were serious about stopping him, and it was starting to get a bit annoying. "Mistakes? Oh, I don't make mistakes. Everything I do is calculated. And all of you are nothing but pawns in my grand scheme. You may think you can stop me, but you're wrong." He took another step forward, now close enough to where he could easily grab them if he wanted to. "You've already lost."

Freemind and the others braced themselves for a fight, still unwilling to back down. "You can keep believing that if it makes you feel better, but we're not gonna let you win this time."

Eliza growled, her accent still present as she spoke. "We'll do whatever it takes to protect Violet."

Freemind yelled out. "You have done nothing but put Violet and Gordon through trauma and hell for years! I would know what they went through because I went through the same thing! I've done everything I can to keep them all safe, especially Violet. And I won't let anyone get in our way…! INCLUDING YOU!!"

The G-Man's smirk vanished entirely as he heard Freemind's words. He seemed a bit taken aback at the sudden outburst from him. "Oh, you think you know what they've been through, do you? You think you can protect them from me, when I've controlled their lives and destinies for years?" He clenched his fists, his eyes narrowing. "You may think you're the hero of this story, but you're nothing but a pawn, just like all the others. And you will not stop me from achieving my goals."

"Okay, you listen up here, you Scholastic Book Fair bendy pencil! You claim so much that you were just trying to help her... Have you even seen what you've done to her!? She nearly killed herself 12 times over 5 years, all because of you! You tormented her, using her as nothing but your puppet! You made her feel weak, useless, and unlovable, all for your own damn sadistic pleasure...! You broke her down so that you could claim you were the one who put her back together again, like the narcissistic fucker you are! You stole her from her family and tormented her for years! Only God knows what you did to Gordon at that time! I think it's high time that we take back control." Eliza growled.

The G-Man's expression darkened as he listened to Eliza's words. He could see that she was filled with anger and hatred towards him, and it wasn't entirely unjustified. "Oh, I've done nothing but help her, you say? She's still alive, isn't she?" He said this in a cold, almost condescending tone. "And as for her family, they're better off without her. They couldn't protect her. They couldn't keep her safe from me. I've done what they couldn't do." He stepped closer to Eliza, his gaze piercing through her. "And as for Gordon, well, he's a special case. He's a pawn like all the others, meant to follow my orders and do my bidding. But he's always been a bit... rebellious, hasn't he? He never quite learned his place." He chuckled dryly as he spoke.

Freemind clenched his fists as the G-Man spoke of Gordon as a pawn. "He's not just a pawn... He's a human being, with his own thoughts, feelings, and desires." He growled, "And you treat him like he's nothing but a tool for you to use as you please."

The G-Man rolled his eyes at Freemind's words. "Oh, please. A human being? That's giving him too much credit. He's just a pawn, a tool for me to use and discard as I see fit. And I've used him well." He smirked as he looked at Freemind. "He's completed every mission and task I've given him. He's obedient enough, even if he does have those pesky little thoughts and feelings you mentioned." He then turned his attention to me, a sudden chill going down my spine. "As for her... she's always been a bit more stubborn than her father. Always resisting, always fighting back." He sighed, his expression softening slightly. "But she's also the most valuable pawn of all. She's stronger than her father, and she has so much... potential." He took a step towards me, his eyes studying me closely. "She's special... and I have big plans for her. Plans that none of you could ever understand."

Freemind growled and took a step forward, his anger clearly building. "You're not touching her again. I won't let you."

"None of us will. We've watched her suffer because of you for far too long." Shadow spoke, grabbing her butterfly knife out of thin air.

"You’re not doing anything to her. Not this time." Eliza growled again.

"You are not taking away a child of the Ark like her. By Arkenine, Hakobune, Yoba, and Neuvilette, we will strike you down..." Sōru spoke up, her hand now clutching her staff.

The G-Man laughed again, amused by their determined words. "Oh, really? You think you can stop me? You're nothing but a group of misguided heroes, trying to protect someone who doesn't even need your protection." He smirked, his eyes narrowing as he looked at them. "But it's cute, really, seeing you all so defiant and determined. It's almost endearing." His expression then turned serious as he spoke again. "But let's be clear on one thing... You can try all you want, but you won't be able to stop me. I've planned everything out, and all of you are just pawns in my game." He stepped closer, his voice lowering to a dangerous whisper. "You will fail. And I will have my victory." His expression changed again, his smirk returning. "And as for Miss Freeman... she will be mine. She's the key to everything, and I will have her one way or another. So you can try to stop me all you want, but it's a lost cause." He turned towards me, his gaze cold and calculating. "And as for you, my dear... do you really think they can protect you forever? You're powerless against me. I could take you at any moment, and you would be helpless to resist."

I froze in fear, terrified of what was going to happen had the G-man had gotten his way. However, just as he was about to get to me, Eliza ran up, a scythe in her hands.

"Alakazam! Alakazane! I'm sending your bitch ass off of this mortal plane!!"

Eliza then swung her scythe at the G-man, hitting him directly. The G-Man staggered back, stunned by the hit from the scythe. He looked at Eliza with a mix of surprise and annoyance.

"You... You little..." He growled, his eyes narrowing as he raised his hand, a strange blue energy beginning to form around it. "You'll pay for that..." He growled as he began to charge up an energy blast.

Sōru ran up, charging up a counterattack with her staff. She then dove in front of Eliza, using her spell to counter his attack. "カウンタ!" ("Counter!") The blue orb of energy clashed with Sōru's spell, the two energies exploding on impact.

"Impressive..." The G-Man's eye twitched as he pushed against the spell, trying to overpower it.

Sōru kept her strength up, only upping the spell, overpowering his own. Her eyes were now actually glowing, her halo brighter. "You have no chance against a child of the Ark!"

The G-Man grunted angrily, clearly surprised at the power of Sōru's spell.

"You... You're stronger than I thought." He pushed harder against the spell, but it was clear that he was starting to struggle.

Freemind noticed that the G-Man was struggling, and he decided to join the fight. "You're gonna have to do better than that, pal." He growled, running up to the G-Man and unleashing a barrage of punches. 

The G-Man stumbled back, his concentration faltering as he tried to dodge Freemind's punches. "Gah! Damn it..." He growled, his guard now lowered.

Eliza ran up, grabbing her scythe, and swung at The G-Man again, getting a really good hit at him. The G-Man cried out in pain as Eliza's scythe made direct contact with him, leaving a deep wound in his side. He stumbled back, clutching his wound and wincing in pain. All of the other alternates stepped back as Sōru approached, her staff in hand. She looked pissed. She then took a deep breath, keeping her staff straight in front of her. She then spoke in Japanese. A sort of prayer as she closed her eyes.

"アルケニン、ハコブネ天使、ヨバ、ヌーヴィレットの力によって、お前たちを虚空の最も暗い穴に追放する！" ("By the powers of Arkenine, Hakobune Tenshi, Yoba, and Neuvilette, I banish you to the darkest pits of the void!")

Sōru then slammed down her staff, sending out a large energy beam directly at the G-man from the bottom of her staff's handle. The G-Man's eyes widened in fear as he saw the energy beam approaching him. He tried to block it with his own power, but the force of the spell was too strong.

"No...!" He let out an angry yell as the energy hit him, enveloping him in a blue and white light. "You... You won't get away with this...! I'll be back...!" Suddenly, the G-Man's figure started to distort, turning into a glitching, almost static-like mess. "This is... not over..." He said in a low, distorted voice, his figure turning into a bunch of digital pixels before disappearing entirely.

Everyone stood there for a few moments after the G-Man vanished, panting and worn out from the fight. Then, Freemind spoke up. "Is... is he really gone?"

"Seems like it. We can only hope so." Shadow spoke.

"Something tells me the twins are definitely going to have 'fun' with him," Eliza muttered, taking another swig of alcohol from her flask.

Freemind nodded in agreement, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah... We can only hope. But for now, at least we know he's out of commission..." He looked over at me, his expression softening a bit. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... I'm alright. I... I just can't thank you guys enough for protecting me like that." I said, standing up from the ground.

Freemind smiled, and the others nodded in agreement. "You don't have to thank us, Violet. We're family, and we look after one another. There's nothing to thank."

Eliza chimed in. "Plus, it's nice to get payback on that scumbag after all the crap he's put you through..."

"Heh. Yeah, it is. I was just surprised to see you guys manage to kick his ass like that! Plus, I've never seen Sōru that mad before." I laughed a bit, mostly out of surprise.

Freemind chuckled, a smirk appearing on his face. "Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen her that angry before either. It was a bit terrifying, but it was also kind of badass."

Eliza nodded, a grin on her face. "Yeah, she was in full-on badass mode. I think she left the poor guy shaking in his designer shoes."

I laughed a little when I heard Eliza say that. She was always one for snarky remarks like that. "I mean, you also did a hell of a lot to take him down."

Eliza chuckled as well, noticing my laugh. "Don't underestimate the power of a pissed off Scottish woman with a scythe and a flask of booze. It's a lethal combination."

"I mean, touché. What even is in that flask anyway?" I asked, my head tilting a bit as I crossed my arms.

Eliza chuckled again, taking a swig from the flask before answering. "Whiskey, mostly. But I've also got some vodka and some other stuff mixed in for good measure."

"Makes sense." I mostly said to myself.

Eliza nodded, taking another swig from the flask. "Yeah, it's a good way to unwind after a fight. Keeps the nerves steady." She then held out the flask to me. "Want a swig?"

"Nah. I don't drink. Besides, 18 years old, remember?" I declined.

Eliza chuckled, pulling the flask back. "Right, right. I forgot you're still a minor... Well, not exactly a minor anymore, but you're still technically a kid. Can't be getting you drunk now, can we?"

"Besides. You've seen my reactions to even just a small amount of Sake and Beer back in the False Reality. You know my feelings for alcohol." I responded, my voice laced with a hint of sass.

Eliza laughed, nodding her head in agreement. "Oh, yeah. You really can't handle your alcohol. It's kind of adorable, actually." She said with a smirk. "I remember you absolutely hating that stuff."

I rolled my eyes, sighing a bit. "Oh, shut up."

Eliza chuckled again, taking another small swig from her flask. "Oh, come on, you know it's true. You're a total lightweight when it comes to alcohol."

I rolled my eyes again, shaking my head a bit. "Whatever. So... what do we do now? How do we get out of here?"

Freemind scratched his chin, thinking for a moment. "Well, since the G-Man's gone for now, we should be safe to get out of here." He looked around, examining their surroundings. "But the question is, how do we get out of here? This is a dream, after all."

"Huh. That is true...  this is my subconscious mind... In a way." I spoke, thinking of a way out.

Freemind nodded, crossing his arms as he looked around. "Yeah, which means we're technically in your dream right now. I mean, it's how we were able to rescue you. G-man tried hijacking your subconsciousness, so we had to get involved and intervene." He looked back at me, a curious expression on his face. "Have you never tried to wake up from a dream before?"

"Not intentionally, I don't think so."

Freemind nodded, thinking for a moment. "Hm... well, there are a few ways to wake yourself up from a dream. One way is to find something in the dream that's not right or makes no sense, and focus on it. That can help you become aware that you're dreaming, and you can use that awareness to wake yourself up."

All of us were quiet for a bit until Eliza spoke up. "I got an idea!"

I paused, glancing up at her. "What? What's your ide-" I was then immediately cut off by a swift slap to the face which, not surprisingly, woke me up. I sat up in my bed, looking around the room.

It was dark, except for the lights from my PC tower and Aiden's. Ruby had also woken up, her one eye glowing a sort of radioactive green in the darkness. Aiden also woke up, tiredly speaking to me.

"Babe? Are you okay?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah. Just had a really weird dream of sorts. I'm pretty sure I saw my alternates beat the shit out of the G-Man." I explained.

Aiden laughed a bit when he heard my explanation. "Heh. Nice. It was about damn time that bastard got his ass kicked."

"Yeah. It was. Pretty sure Sōru banished him to the void or something." I spoke, looking off to the side before looking back at him.

"Nice. Never thought she had it in her."

"Yeah. Neither did I."

We soon managed to fall back asleep and slept pretty well the rest of the night. For once, we actually felt at peace.

Chapter Text

It was a very simple day in White Forest. I was walking around the main Resistance base, making sure everything was going well, when I noticed a new person in the base. A young woman by the looks of it. I decided to go talk to her, wanting to make sure if she was okay.

The new girl looked up at me, hearing me approach. "Oh. Hi." she sounded shy.

"Hi. I don't believe I've met you around here before." I said, looking down at her on the bench.

The newcomer seemed pretty nervous. She fidgeted with her fingers for a moment before replying. "Yeah, I just joined not too long ago." She said quietly.

"I kinda figured as such. The name's Violet. Violet Freeman." I said, holding out my hand for her to shake. She took my hand and shook it.

The girl looked a bit embarrassed at her own shyness, but introduced herself anyway. "I'm- I'm Sophie. Sophie Walten. Nice to meet you, Miss Freeman."

"Likewise. So, mind if I ask how you got here?" I asked.

"I kind of got...evacuated from City 17 recently. I'm still kind of new to all this." Sophie shifted on her feet, looking uncomfortable for a moment. She also looked really tired, like she hasn't slept in days.

"Huh. Well, I can promise you that you are safe here with the rest of us. White Forest is one of the only safe spaces in the world ever since the Combine took over..." I said.

"I don't think anywhere's safe really. The Combine can just appear whenever they want...it's so scary...and I'm so tired..." Sophie put a hand to her forehead and looked like she was about to collapse.

I paused, seeming concerned. "You okay?”
"I just... I just feel a little dizzy that's all..." Sophie took a few steps forward only for her knees to buckle. She would have collapsed if I hadn't caught her.

"Whoa!" I carefully caught her. "That was close... You sure you're okay? I can help you to the infirmary if you need me to."

"I..I think that would be nice..." Sophie tried to stand up, but her legs still felt shaky. It looked like she could collapse at any moment and definitely needed some medical attention.

I nodded, carefully helping Sophie to the infirmary. We soon got there, looking around for Colette Green and Gina Cross, the two Ex Black Mesa employees who now worked as nurses in the Resistance. Both Colette and Gina looked up as we entered

"Ah, Violet. Who's this?" Colette asked.

"She does not look too good. What happened?" Gina also asked.

"This is Sophie. One of the people who recently escaped city 17. She nearly passed out just a couple of minutes ago." I explained.

"I see. Please, have a seat on that bed over there, Sophie." Colette pointed to an empty bed, and Sophie sat down, still wobbling a bit. She still looked very tired and out of it, and there were dark circles under her eyes.

I stood back, watching to make sure that Sophie was okay. That was until someone else came in. A young woman with orange hair and a striped sweater. I assumed that she was probably Sophie's girlfriend, Jenny Letterson.

Jenny had indeed come in, she was panting like she had ran all the way to this base. She saw Sophie and her expression immediately changed from panicked worry to sheer relief

"Sophie! There you are!" Jenny rushed over to her and gave her a hug.

Sophie hugged her back just as tightly, smiling softly. "I-I'm sorry if I worried you, Jenny..."

"Oh whatever, I'm just glad you're okay!" Jenny said with a smile.

Jenny stepped away a bit so Colette and Gina could check on Sophie. The two nurses started giving her a medical check up, doing things like checking her heartbeat, her weight, and seeing if she had any injuries. I still stayed behind to make sure everything was okay, even helping Gina and Colette when they needed it, usually grabbing supplies for them.

Sophie was mostly just being questioned by them. They were asking stuff like, 'Are you hurt anywhere?', 'How much sleep have you been getting?', and 'Have been eating properly?'. Sophie's answers were mostly just that she didn't have a lot of injuries, she got minimal sleep, and barely ate anything. Jenny sat on the bed while all this was going on, occasionally taking Sophie's hand to reassure her. Both Jenna and Sophie seemed exhausted. Eventually, Colette and Gina finished their checkup.

"So, based on our observations, Sophie should be totally fine. She just has a mild case of malnutrition combined with sleep deprivation." Colette explained.

"Figured as such. We've had reports from some of the other bases around the world that there are some cases very similar to Sophie's. It's no surprise with what the Combine has done..." I spoke.

Jenny wrapped an arm around Sophie's shoulders comfortingly, to try and reassure her. "But you should be fine now, yeah? After you get some actual sleep and food, that is…”

"Yeah...I'll be fine...it's just…” Sophie yawned, the weight of how tired she was finally hitting her. "I'm so...so tired…”

"I'm not surprised. You look like you haven't slept in days." Gina said.

"You should go get some rest, young lady." Colette suggested.

"How about Jenny and I help you to your room?" I asked.

Jenny nodded, clearly also still worried for her girlfriend. Sophie stood up shakily, leaning on Jenny for support.

"That would be nice..." Sophie muttered.

I helped her up from the other side, helping her to their bedroom. Sophie leaned on both of us, still feeling disoriented and out of it. Once they got to the room, she sat heavily onto her bed, looking like she wanted to pass out

"You sure you'll be okay?" Jenny asked.

"Yeah...I think so..." Sophie responded tiredly. The second Sophie said that, she promptly passed out on the bed. Jenny looked concerned for a second, before realizing that Sophie just fell asleep. She sighed in relief and smiled. It was good that Sophie was actually getting some rest now, instead of being kept up by the memories of all the horrors that City 17 had witnessed.

"You think you'll both be alright here?" I asked, leaning on their doorframe.

"Yeah, she's sound asleep now. She should probably stay that way for a long while." Jenny gently brushed Sophie's hair out of her face, looking lovingly at her girlfriend as she slept.

"Alright. Well, if you need me or any other member, you know where to find us. We all want to make this place feel like a second home to y'all.” I said.

Jenny nodded, she still seemed a little worried, but she knew how to handle things. "Of course. Take care of yourself, alright?"

"You do the same." I nodded as she walked off, going to my room for the night. I was honestly glad that those two were safe here.

Chapter Text

It was a late night in the base, somewhere around midnight from what I remember. I was up that night, playing games on my computer when I heard some weird noises coming from Gordon and Alyx’s room, which was the room that was right in front of mine. I paused my game, taking out my wireless earbuds for a second as I listened. I paused when I realized what it was I was hearing.

It was someone sobbing…

I got up from my desk and carefully approached the bedroom. I peeked into the bedroom and saw Gordon sitting up on his bed, his head in his hands and his glasses pushed up. He was softly sobbing…

"Gordon? Are you okay? What happened?" I spoke softly, sitting next to him. "Nightmare? Overstimulated? Bad memories? Do I need to get Alyx or Barney?"

Gordon nodded, indicating it was indeed a mix of a nightmare and some bad memories. He grabbed a pillow from his bed and hugged it tightly, trying to calm himself down. He was trembling like a leaf.

I decided to give him a hug. I knew he went through so much back at Black Mesa... From headcrabs trying to latch onto him, to the Vortigaunts shocking him, to his coworkers turning into zombies, his coworkers and friends dying... Even recently, having to deal with the Combine taking over earth... She knew he had dealt with a lot of stress... from dealing with Breen and the G-man to so much more… I knew he suffered from depression, PTSD, and even Survivor's guilt... He lived while so many of his friends and co-workers died... Hell, I knew he even managed to survive radiation poisoning from the radioactive materials exposed to him back at Black Mesa… I knew he was much stronger than he thought…

He hugged me back, gripping the pillow tightly. He buried his face into it, silently sobbing. He had suppressed all those thoughts as best as he could, but they always found a way to come back.. He tried to take deep breaths to calm himself down, though they were shaky and uneven. His entire body trembled as the stress of everything overtook him. I gently rubbed his back, holding him close to me as I comforted him.

His grip on the pillow was so tight that his knuckles turned white. His body trembled even more as the memories continued to replay in his head. He couldn't stop thinking about all the traumatic events that had happened. He tried to keep himself from completely breaking down, but it was proving to be more difficult than usual. As he sobbed quietly, he buried his face deeper into the pillow, trying to shield himself from the world. I still held him close. I softly shushed him, not wanting to strain his already damaged vocal cords.

Gordon slowly began to calm down as I continued to comfort him. He still trembled slightly, but his sobs had lessened to a quiet whimper. His grip on me loosened a little, but he still held me close, drawing comfort from my presence. He took shaky breaths, trying to steady his breathing. Once he could speak, he mumbled something against my shoulder, his voice hoarse and choked. I listened closely to what he said.

He lifted his head up just enough to speak into my ear. His voice was barely above a whisper, still shaky and hoarse. "I-I..I c-can't get them o-out... o-out of my h-head..."

"What do you mean?" I asked softly.

His grip on her tightened again, as the memories flashed through his mind once more. His breathing grew shaky again, as he struggled to form words. "H-..the memories.." He whispered. "E-everything that h-happened at Black Mesa.. I-it won't go a-away.."

"It's okay, Gordon... we're safe here. I promise everything is going to be okay. Besides, we defeated the Combine. None of them can hurt us. Besides, if they tried to, they'd have to get through the rest of the Resistance to do so." I spoke, reassuringly.

Gordon nodded faintly, trying to focus on the present instead of the past. He took another shaky breath, trying to calm himself down. He knew I was right, but the memories still haunted him. The trauma of everything that had happened was still heavy in his mind, and it seemed as if it would never go away completely. He hugged me tighter, drawing comfort from my presence.

"Besides. You're my father, Gordon. Blood related or not. I'll fight anyone who dares hurt you." I spoke softly.

Gordon smiled weakly at my words, touched by the bond that had formed between us. He squeezed me tighter, giving me a grateful nod. He knew I cared deeply for him, and my words were reassuring. The memories still haunted him, but having me by his side made the burden easier to bear. He leaned forward to give me a gentle headbutt, expressing his love and gratitude. Even though he couldn’t speak, he hoped me would understand the message behind the simple gesture.

I smiled a bit, giggling slightly at the gesture. "That's the one good thing to come out of Black Mesa all those years ago... We now have each other. We survived that, and we survived this. We have each other..."

Gordon nodded in agreement, a faint smile on his lips. He knew I was right. Despite all the pain and trauma they had endured at Black Mesa, there was still good to be found. Having me by his side, being able to call me his daughter, it meant everything to him. We had survived hell together. And together, we could face anything that came our way. He leaned his head against mine, silently but gratefully expressing his love and appreciation for me.

"Now. How about we play a game to help take your mind off things? I was thinking I could dust of the PS2, and we could play some Crash Team Racing?" I asked.
Gordon's eyes lit up slightly, the mention of one of his favorite games a welcome distraction from his thoughts. He nodded eagerly, giving me a small smile. It was nice to have something lighthearted to take his mind off things, even for just a little while. He patted me on the back gently in acknowledgement, silently agreeing to the plan. Playing some Crash Team Racing with me sounded like a good way to unwind and take his mind off his bad memories.

I helped him out of his bed and to my room, booting up the PS2 I had in my room and booting up CTR. I played as Coco, while Gordon played as Crash. We played a few rounds before Gordon ended up falling asleep halfway through one of the rounds. I let him stay with me that night. Even Aiden was okay with him staying with us that night.

At least it was a calm night now.

Chapter Text

It was a chilly afternoon in White Forest that day. I was in my room, playing games on my computer. All seemed well until I realized something was wrong. Someone was missing. I thought about everyone that I had seen in the base that day and remembered that I hadn’t seen Alyx in the base all day. Gordon had told me earlier that she had gone out into the woods for a small break, but it had been hours and she hadn’t returned back.

I decided to turn off my games, grab my jacket, put it on, and head out into the trees of White Forest to go look for her. What was she even doing out here at this hour, let alone in this kind of weather, especially by herself. Ever since the Hunter incident, she has always gone outside with someone else. It wasn’t like her to just wander off by herself. It was quite chilly. Not exactly cold enough for snow, but still really cold out. I could feel the cold breeze blowing through my hair.

I kept walking until I saw her in the distance. She was sitting on a dock, overlooking the lake that was our only source of clean water, ever since the Combine had contaminated every other water supply in the country. I paused, noticing how she seemed lost in thought, staring off into the distance. I was both confused and concerned. Why was she sitting all alone? Why was she staring off into space? Was she okay? I carefully approached her, deciding to sit next to her.

She didn’t even acknowledge me… It’s like she didn’t even know I was there. It made my concern even worse. She even had dark circles under her eyes… Had she not been sleeping? What was even causing this?

“Alyx? Are you okay?” I asked, speaking softly as I sat next to her.

She was silent for a bit until she spoke.

“Yeah… I’m just… Thinking.” She responded, sounding tired.

“If I may ask, about what?” I asked.

“Just… about all that has happened lately…” She said, still staring into the water. “The Combine… and just everything else that has happened to all of us… Especially to you. And Aiden… You two are just children going through all of this. You two should be back in school… Not fighting for your lives every single day…”

I was silent as I thought about what she had just said. She was right. I was only 17. I was still a kid… Aiden was a year younger than me… and yet we already had a (Adopted) kid and basically became leaders for the Resistance. We’ve done things that no kids our age have done, or should ever do. I was thinking about it all too…

“True… It is a lot to take in and think about… That this is our lives now… But, hey, at least we have each other… and the other members as well.” I said. “This whole thing may be a mess, but it’s a mess that we’re all into together.”

Alyx nodded slightly, understanding what I was saying to her. She still stared off into the distance. “Yeah, I guess… I still just wish that none of this ever happened in the first place… The combine… Or, hell, even the Black Mesa Resonance Cascade incident… You didn’t deserve to go through any of that…” She said, now looking down.

“Well, I do too… Unfortunately, life sometimes just isn’t fair… I’ve known that for a long time… Hell, I wasn’t even supposed to be at Black Mesa when the incident happened… I guess I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time… But dad insisted that I go with him, saying that he had gotten permission from the administration at the time and that he wanted me to see what they were working on… and now look at where we are…” I explained.

“In a post-apocalyptic hellscape…” Alyx muttered.

“Yup… But like I said… We’re alive at least… and we have each other to keep ourselves sane.” I said. “Besides… We shut down the portal a while back. There’s no way in hell that the Combine are ever going to come back. Even if they do, we’ve got the means to protect ourselves and each other. We’re going to be fine, Alyx. I promise.”

“You… You promise?” Alyx asked, actually looking at me this time.

I nodded with a slight smile on my face. “I promise.”

I then pulled her into a hug, keeping her close to me as I rested my head on her shoulder. She hugged me back, also resting her head on my shoulder. She was slightly shivering, I assumed because of the overwhelming emotions and because of the cold.

“Thank you, Vi… So much… I don’t know what I would do without you…” She spoke softly as she held onto me.

“You’re welcome, Alyx. Now, how about we get back to the base?” I asked. “You’re shivering a lot…”

“Yeah.. That would be nice.” She muttered, still shivering in my arms. “It’s freezing out here.”

“Alright. Need help walking?” I asked.

Alyx shook her head. “No thanks, I can walk by myself.”

I nodded in understanding and started walking alongside her as we went back to the base. Though, I decided to chat with her a bit.

"Also... Um... Alyx?" I asked, looking up at her.

"Yeah, Vi?" She asked in response.

"You know how I said that I had a learner's permit?" I asked.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"I... I actually lied. I don't have a permit... I couldn't actually get one before the Combine invasion happened..."

"Oh. Well, that's alright. We probably don't even need them anymore anyways. The only ID that we really need is our Resistance IDs."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess that makes since."

"Hell, most remaining governments accept Resistance IDs as official Identification."

"Huh... That's actually really interesting."

It took us a while but we eventually got back to the base. Once we got inside, we both went into the living room/common area and sat on the couch, both of us snuggled up in a blanket. It felt so much better to be in a warm environment and wrapped up in a blanket next to each other.

Gordon had actually walked into the room, seeing us snuggled up. He smiled a bit, sat next to Alyx, and cuddled her as well, joining in with our little cuddle pile. I saw Alyx smiling a bit, leaning into his touch. At least she was feeling better now.

It didn’t take long for all of us to fall asleep on the couch.

Chapter Text

I was in the games room this time around, playing Crash Bandicoot on the PlayStation that we got, just to pass time and take my mind off of things. I was by myself at the time when one of the other Resistance members, Daisuke, had walked in and saw me. Daisuke was a very friendly and extroverted person and mostly got along well with everyone in the base.

“Oh, hey, Miss Freeman!” He said as he approached me. “What are you playing?”

“Crash Bandicoot 1.” I spoke, not taking my eyes off of the Tv screen.

“Huh. Neat.” Daisuke said, sitting next to me. “Say, I’ve noticed something strange.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You and Jimmy look oddly similar to each other. I mean, same dark brown hair, same facial shape. You two look almost alike.” Daisuke noted.

“Huh… That is a bit odd.” I said.

“Yeah, it is. Are you sure you two aren’t related or something?” Daisuke asked.

“No. I think it’s just a coincidence.” I said, still playing my game. That was until Jimmy walked into the room.

“What are you two talking about in here?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, just the idea that you and Vi look a bit similar.” Daisuke said, looking up at him.

“Me and Vi? Similar? Yeah, right.” Jimmy muttered.

“It’s true though! You two even have the same dark brown hair and even similar facial shapes!” Daisuke pointed out.

I paused my game as Jimmy and I looked at each other. Daisuke was right. We did have some similarities to each other. The more that we looked at each other, the more we started feeling like we recognized each other from somewhere.

“Wait a minute… You look oddly familiar to me…” Jimmy muttered as he looked at me. “Wait here.”

He wandered off to his room for a bit. He then came back with what looked like a large photo binder in his hands. He opened it, flipping through the pages in front of Daisuke and I. He then paused on one photo in particular.

It was an old polaroid photo of himself, another man (Who also looked oddly familiar to me), and… Me?! But how? I was shocked and confused as he pulled out the photo.

“Wait… That’s…. That’s me…” I muttered.

I looked closer and saw that there was writing on the back of it.

“Leon, his daughter (Violet Rose), and I. 12/5/2002.”

That photo was taken two years before the infamous Black Mesa incident had taken place… However, the name Leon was familiar to me.

“You probably don’t remember, since it was so long ago, but Leon was your dad… I was his brother.” Jimmy explained as he looked at the photo. “Two years after this photo was taken… You and your father disappeared… I had heard that there was an accident at the research facility he worked at… He died… you completely disappeared… I was so distraught… I thought that I would never get to see you again…”

He glanced over at me, a soft smile on his face. “And now look where we are. 20 years later… We’re back, face to face with each other… and you look like you haven’t aged a day…”

“Wait… You two really are related!?” Daisuke seemed very shocked.

“Well, yeah. She’s my adopted niece.” Jimmy explained.

“Ohhhhhh... That makes a lot of sense now.” Daisuke muttered. “I guess I should leave you two alone for now.”

“That would be appreciated, Daisuke.” Jimmy muttered.

“Alright!” Daisuke said as he got up and left the room, leaving Jimmy and I alone for a bit.

Jimmy turned around and looked at me, a soft smile on his face. I think we were both glad to see each other after so many years. He even pulled me into a tight hug. I hugged him back, my head resting on his shoulder.

“I’m so glad to see you again… Where the hell were you?” He asked.

“It’s a long story… you might not even believe me…” I said.

“Vi, I’ve seen a lot of shit these last few months, I think I’ll believe you no matter how insane it is.” He said.

I nodded in understanding and sighed. I started explaining what had happened in the last 20 years… The Resonance Cascade, the G-man, the whole False Reality thing, and everything in between. Jimmy was quiet as he listened to what I said. He seemed to be confused but also understanding as he listened to me explaining what I had gone through.

“Jeez… That’s a lot… well… I do have to ask, is Gordon a good father figure to you?” He asked.

“Yeah! He is! He’s so sweet and soft… He and Alyx are good parents to me.” I said.

Jimmy smiled a bit. “Well, that’s good to hear. You’re still my niece after all. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.”

I smiled a bit when he said that. At least I could say I was with a good family after dealing with the mess of the world post Combine apocalypse. I felt safe around those within the base. They all felt like family to me in a way. I was just glad that I had someone from my biological family with me.

“I’m just so glad that you’re safe…” Jimmy muttered. “You’ve been through so much… I’m just sorry that I couldn’t be there for you…”

“Don’t be. I mean, we’re right here in front of each other.” I said.

“True… and I’m glad we are. So.. Is there anything else you need to talk to me about?” He asked.

“Well… I have a boyfriend now.” I explained.

“Oh! So that’s who I see you with in the halls sometimes…” He said. “Well, congrats on that!”

I smiled a bit more when he said that. We mostly sat in that room, just chatting with each other and catching up with each other's lives.

Chapter Text

(The following text was found written in Violet’s journal, detailing an experience with a new soul that was given to her.)

Night 1 10:30pm:

I keep feeling this strange presence in my room at night. Aiden says that he feels it too. He says it always disappears whenever he tries to look at it… The presence seems oddly comforting, almost familial in a way. Aiden says that he can always feel it soothing him to sleep, sometimes rubbing his back whenever he struggles to fall asleep. I’ve felt the same presence and it has done the same for me… I can also sometimes hear humming… almost like a lullaby. It’s oddly comforting to hear it at night… But it does scare me a little bit to know that there is a presence in the room that isn’t any of the other souls that we’ve been caring for… Not even any of the alternates can figure out who it is, but based on voice alone, or… based on the tone of the humming we’ve been hearing, it sounds like a woman. Whoever it is, I just hope that they warm up to us soon. It would be nice to get to know them, especially considering that they seem to be really nice to us.

Night 2, 12am:

I felt it again. I just woke up from a really strange dream and I felt the presence again. Still, oddly cold yet oddly warm and comforting. None of the other souls nor the alternates can figure out who it is, though it is a woman. She also seems to be humming a lullaby of sorts… Think “Bonnie’s Lullaby” from the Five Nights at Freddy’s series as that is what it sounds like the most. Neither Aiden or I have ever heard the woman speak any actual words, only that familiar tune she hums. Maybe she’s mute? We aren’t completely sure. The other souls haven’t really seen the woman either… Maybe she’s trying to stay hidden from all of us?

Night 3:

It happened. We got a name and an appearance. She showed up in one of my dreams tonight. I can describe her appearance perfectly. Brown Hair, Green eyes, caucasian, pale skin, thin frame, black cropped tank top, black elbow-length latex gloves, black short shorts, dark ripped leggings, and dark green combat boots. We didn’t get her actual name, but we did get a nickname (or a preferred name of sorts). We now refer to her, based on what she told us (Or signed to us because she was using sign language) as Quiet… She told both Aiden and I that she was given to us as a sort of guardian angel. She was assigned by the Ark to protect us. I’m honestly glad that Hakobune and Yoba are still thinking about our safety, plus, Aiden and I really like having Quiet around. I might try and convince Alyx to help make her a plush vessel for her. It would be nice for Quiet to have a physical form. I’ll see if I can sketch out a design for Alyx to use if she does decide to make a plush form.