#and thats fine! she doesnt seem withdrawn about it at all to me | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kraviolis · 4 years

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chapter 4 of the hl:a soundtrack coming out got me thinking abt this au i made for hl where the basic gist is “gman learns what the magic of friendship really is” (i wrote a lot abt it in discord and im gonna just c+p it here sjhkdfgksdf)

basically, post-canon au, gman gets his eldritch powers taken away and has to team up with alyx and gordon to find the motherfucker who took em because in the wrong hands they could destroy the universe and gman has to learn how to humble himself. or maybe gman just gets "let go" or takes basically like a forced sabbatical.

i just want gman to get "humbled" by gordon's crowbar and then actually become friends with him and alyx, basically.

also thinking abt like.... the whole situation with "post canon". with 19 year old alyx traveling 5 years into the future and destroying the borealis and eli being alive. just thinking about how interesting it would be if alyx was just suddenly 5 years younger and the last thing she remembered before being put in stasis or whatever was saving eli. and she and gordon can bond over playing catch-up (though her version is far less extreme) and gordon has to build up that friendship again. and she and gordon are still linked thru the vortessence, as it transcends time and space, and thats how gordon was able to get her back, albeit not the alyx he knew.

just really like. imagining an opening that sets up the world building. it's been 4 months since they destroyed the borealis and got alyx back. eli is alive. they're slowly rebuilding the world, starting with opening communications across the world. it's taking a while-- eli, alyx, and kleiner are all working hard to get a bunch of satellites into orbit to be able to contact folks across continents.

they have farms growing and the main base of operations for Black Mesa East have been moved to approx. where austria once was. gordon and alyx are walking the streets that are lively and loud and happy and he's talking about how the world used to be. alyx smells freshly baked bread for the first time in her life and they find themselves in the middle of what used to be a pub and is now... honestly its still a pub. just wasn't in use for a while, but it is now.

dusty bottles have been dragged out and sealed bags of flour and salt and containers of clean water were found in the basement and the woodfire stove is being managed by a vort. they stop for a while and have a drink and talk with other folks. gordon is withdrawn from everyone else bcus he's an introvert and also it's kinda hard to talk to people when everyone keeps staring at you and muttering your name like you're a saint and they're in a church.

barney shows up and gordon smirks as he offers him a beer, making him go "aw man, now i owe you another one." and they chat in their own little world and catch up because barney's been busting his ass trying to set up protections and training for citizens.

but gordon overhears some folks talking about the abandoned lab just outside of the town, untouched by the combine all this time. they also mention hearing strange noises. and gordon meets barney's eyes and barney just. sighs and goes "alright, fine, put those puppy dog eyes away. i'll let eli and isaac know. i assume alyx is comin' with?"

alyx is filled in and the three of them suit up to go check it out.

the entire lab is decrepit and everything is covered in dirt and dust and rust. gordon and alyx go on ahead while barney searches the place more thoroughly, trying to find supplies they might want or search the still-functioning computers.

they keep going into the lab and it just gets deeper and darker and gordon is struggling to chill out because its starting to feel more and more like black mesa down here. alyx hates the dark too and sticks close to him.

but then she finds something, seemingly important, and starts to check it out while gordon walks around and scouts the room. he hears a noise, a clang, and apparently alyx doesnt hear it. he follows the noise into a pitch black hallway offshooting from the room alyx is in.

he hears the noise again, a clanging thud, like a something falling against a metal floor. or something slamming itself against a door.

gordon readies his crowbar. he can see the door it's going to come from, the rusted metal creaking with each thud. it slams again one, twice, and then the door bursts open. gordon immediately sees a humanoid shape in the dark, thinks its a zombie, but realizes it's movements are too calculated to be mindless. its a person, he cant make out any details but that's a person down here-- a person that immediately scrambles back from the door just in time to avoid getting grabbed by a headcrab that lunges out of the room too.

gordon doesn't hesitate to take several steps forward, ready to beat it to death and save them, but he watches the figure quickly stand and slam their heel into the headcrab. he hears the snap of bone and the squish of flesh and sees the headcrab twitch, struggling to move, before they do it again. the greenish yellow blood splatters against the metal floor.

the headcrab doesn't get back up and the figure sniffs, adjusts their clothing in the same mechanical, calculated way that gordon struggles to place. its familiar but not enough for him to recognize just from body language alone.

gordon remembers his flashlight, then, and clicks it on. he sees the mess of a headcrab on the floor, a shoe covered in its blood, and slowly travels up to the figures face. his stomach sinks when he sees the back of his head, his usually perfectly-cut hair out of place and dirty. he adjusts his cuffs, his tie, smooths down his jacket lapels and turns around to look at gordon. his eyes are glowing in the dark of the hallway, pale blue and dreadful.

"ah..." the government man says, his eyes flashing to look gordon up and down. "mr... freeman. you seem to have... caught, me, at a rather... unfortunate, time."

and gordon... is frozen. this is so far out of left field that his isn't entirely sure if it's real.

gordon closes his eyes, shakes his head, and looks back up but the man is still there eyes blank and clinical.

"mr. freeman," he starts again. "you--"

the man is interrupted by another headcrab lunging from the dark. it latches onto the arm he raised and he grunts, wrestling with it for a moment. he slams back against the wall, the thud echoing loudly throughout the hallway. he manages to throw the creature off with a noise of pain, and before it can right itself and lunge again, a gunshot echoes and the headcrab falls limp.

"gordon!" alyx cries, running down the hallway. "why are you just standing-- ...there." she falls quiet when she takes in the other person with them, her brow furrowing and her eyes flickering across him, taking in every inch of detail and every observable weakness-- she does it with every potential threat.

"ah--" the government man winces, leaning heavily against the the wall, holding his arm. he's bleeding, red soaking into his blue suit, and gordon is at a complete loss of words. "ms. vance... what a... pleasure, to see you again."

and both gordon and alyx just stand there, staring, watching the man who has tormented them stand there and bleed red as if.... as if he were nothing but a human being.

"what. the. fuck," alyx hisses.

#krav talks #my writing #hl #half life #hl au #writing #2020 #god i wanna write this so bad #200k gman and gordon and alyx friendship slow burn #barney is there too he's just glaring at gman from the corner #eli is also in the corner but he's perpetually aiming a gun at gmans head and daring him to try something.#(only reason he doesnt kill him is because alyx said not to)

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