Seeing Things

im a great cool

The streets were uncharacteristically empty as Gordon Freeman walked home. His HEV suit seemed extra heavy at that moment, most likely due to the pure exhaustion he felt. He could practically feel the grime on his skin, along with all the dried blood and random other stains and splotches. He wondered how he could've possibly moved around so quickly in Black Mesa.

The party had ended only a little bit ago, with Bubby and Coomer heading out together, and Tommy departing with his dad, leaving Gordon to go home on his own. They'd all promised to keep in touch, maybe meet up again after they'd all settled down. Wearily shuffling into his small apartment, he looked down as his foot hit something. A thick pile of mail fell over in front of him, a few envelopes marked with a bright red font. He nudged the pile to the side, continuing on into the apartment. He wandered almost absent-mindedly into his bedroom, beginning to peel the HEV suit away. Dropping the blood stained suit to the floor, something got caught the corner of his vision. Looking up and out the doorway, his breath caught when he saw a figure peeking around the corner of the hallway. He blinked in disbelief, and the figure turned out to be a coat rack he'd forgotten he had.

"Ok, that-that's just normal and fine. I'm good. It's all good." Gordon muttered to himself, walking out to find his bathroom. Each step he took, the carpet puffed up a small cloud of dust, indicating the fact he'd been gone for so long. Everything else was probably covered in dust too, another problem he would have to deal with. Stepping into the bathroom and flicking the light on, he swore he saw someone behind the shower curtain. He jumped back, instinctively raising his right hand to attack. Blinking, he saw that the bathroom was empty when he opened his eyes again. Walking in again, he caught glimpse of himself in the mirror.

"Wow. I look like actual shit." he said aloud. Leaning closer, Gordon rubbed his finger down his cheek, pulling it away to see the dirt that was caked on. Flicking it into the sink, he turned on the shower. The steam filled the room while he waited for it to heat up. The plan, at its most basic, was to get clean and sleep. For a long time. Maybe a few days.

When's the last time I actually has a full night's sleep? Gordon thought, recalling the few times he actually remembered going to sleep and waking up after. There was the time by the rocket launcher, that weird single storage room after his hand got cut, that one undiscernible area.. It felt too quick, but after a few minutes Gordon was mostly clean. He stepped out and dried himself off quickly, eager to sleep. Throwing on an old t shirt and pajama pants, he nearly collapsed into bed. Sleep was almost instant for the scientist, and he sank into oblivion.

...

Looming above him stood the form of the security guard that pestered him from the start.

"yoo man, stop shooting at me, that means i gotta shoot back." he said, and gunfire rang through the area. Liquid sloshed at their feet, the cavern filled with sound. The Science Team™ shot wildly at him, but nothing seemed to work.

"I don't think he's taking any kind of damage!" Gordon screamed, dodging a skeleton that flew past him.

"hey man." Suddenly, Gordon wasn't in the cavern anymore. His eyes darted around, searching for The Science Team, but there was nothing. It was pitch black for as far as he could see. Well, except for one thing.

Him.

Just as Gordon finally got a clear view of him, he vanished, leaving him alone.

"Where-" he started, but something cut him off. Muddy water was up to his chest, and rising quickly. He tried to scream, but no sound came out. The water was up to his chin now, lapping at his face. He tried to start swimming up, but something was over his head, blocking him in. He tried to go the other way, only to find that walls had closed in on all sides. The water rose over his head and he closed his eyes.

...

His head shot off his pillow, his hand flying to his face to stop the water from entering. Blinking, Gordon realized that it was only a nightmare, and that he was alive and most certainly not drowning. His heart was still pounding when he looked at his alarm clock, which read 3:47 am. He had no clue as to what day it was, or how long he'd slept. He tried to roll back over and go to sleep, but found it difficult to even close his eyes without the image of him flashing across his mind. Gordon decided that sleeping was a lost cause, and went to go do something else. He was still incredibly tired, and probably had no chance of getting any sort of work done, but it was better than laying wide awake in bed.

Picking up the pile of mail by the door, he sat down to shuffle through it. Bills, bills, spam mail, more bills. How long was he even in Black Mesa? There was no way in hell he could go back, if the facility was functional or not. There was no real reason to go anywhere anyway. Black Mesa was going to pay him and the rest of The Science Team a hefty amount to keep their mouths shut about what went down at the place. Keeping his head propped up on his hand, a wave of tiredness overcame him, and Gordon slipped into unconsciousness once again.

A/N:

jhsdahadshas yeah thats the first chapter

i dont expect much attention with this fic, as hlvrai is only like...two months old, but i wanna post it. yeah byeeeee

-prisma