Arrival

Despite the generally grim nature of City 17, Barney enjoyed walking through the streets early in the morning. There were no civilians and few cops around, and the grey pre-dawn light did a good job of hiding the worst of the damage and decay. As he drew closer to the central muster point, he began to see other people, dressed as he was in drab denim overalls. Despite the fact that Barney was naturally gregarious, he did not greet the others, and they likewise remained silent, avoiding eye contact. People who had cracked and joined civil protection didn't want anyone to know about it, even their fellow cops. Barney wasn't sure whether it was the threat of violence they feared more, or simply the shame. Either way he was glad of it, as it made his job of infiltration that much easier.

After 15 minutes' walk he reached a sinisterly anonymous building located near the river. Barney went to his locker and put on his black uniform, heavy leather boots, and respirator mask. He noticed the people surrounding him change immediately as they donned their own uniforms. Instead of being vulnerable individuals who had to hide their identities from the people at home, now they were the ones with the power to make the ordinary citizens cringe. He noticed the change in himself as well. He despised himself for it, but it happened all the same.

Normally he relaxed a little when he put the mask on, as it made him indistinguishable from the rest of the cops. Today, however, he remained as tense as ever. Today was the day that could make all the terrible stuff he'd had to do since he joined CP worthwhile. It was vital that he be assigned to patrol the area around the train station. Normally that was his area, which was why the decision had been reached to send Gordon by train, but CP could decide to change the rota without warning, and had done so in the past. But when he reached the bulletin board he was in luck, and he felt a spring in his step as he strode through the iron gates into the centre of City 17, with the (disturbingly sexy, in his opinion) Voice of the Overwatch purring "Patrol, observe, suppress" into his ear as he went.

Barney was excited about seeing Gordon again. The scientist had become one of the most unlikely but also one of the best friends he'd ever had. The day he met Gordon he had been working on a task that took him all morning and spilled over into lunch, which meant that he was too late to eat with his usual buddies from security. He grabbed a sandwich and a coke, and looked out across the dining hall. Gordon Freeman was sitting alone at a table in the corner, toying with a coffee. Barney knew that Freeman was fairly new at Black Mesa, but so far he had attracted no attention from the security personnel (aside from a few comments about the length of his hair), and little was known about him. He was also at least a decade younger than the rest of the scientists working at Black Mesa, and Barney thought he looked rather miserable. He took pity on him and headed over.

"Is this seat taken?"

Freeman made what was surely meant to be a causal gesture at the empty chair opposite, the effect of which was spoiled by the fact that he promptly knocked his coffee cup over. He looked away as though he were looking for a napkin to mop up the spill, but Barney could see the blush gradually spreading from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. Barney was astonished that a man who looked roughly his own age could be so awkward. Still, at least he wasn't a snob like some of the scientists, who wouldn't have been seen dead eating lunch with security. Barney gave him a reassuring smile.

"So you're the new guy, huh?"

"Yeah, I… guess." It wasn't promising, but Barney persisted.

"What were you doing before you got here?"

"Uh, I was doing post-doc work… at Innsbruck, that's in – "

"Austria, sure. I spent a few days there, back when I was working my way round Europe. Boy, those Austrian girls. Talk about ice maidens!"

Freeman grinned at that, and Barney thought it changed his whole demeanor, as he seemed to relax into the conversation. They swapped tales of traveling, and Barney found that Gordon had visited nearly as many countries as he had, although seemingly he had spent most of his time in labs and lecture halls, while Barney had worked in casual industries such as construction, kitchen work and indeed security, staying in one place until he got bored, then moving on. Gordon was amused and astonished at Barney's tales, many of which ended with his being ejected from bars, and occasionally the country.

Compared to Barney, Gordon spoke little, but Barney found out that he had started at MIT when he was 17, the same year his dad had died of a heart attack. Gordon got up and left the table rather abruptly after that, leaving Barney feeling strangely embarrassed.

He bumped into the scientist again a few days later, above ground. Barney was out for a training run with some of his shift. They all overtook Gordon as he struggled along the path. Barney dropped back to keep pace with him. He could tell he was finding the run far easier than Gordon, and he knew that Gordon knew it too. But Gordon kept going, with grim determination on his face. It was a competition, although neither of them would acknowledge it. Eventually though, Barney responded to the catcalls of his workmates, and accelerated away.

Gordon was in the locker room when he returned, filling in a notebook with an orange cover. "Watcha doing?" he asked Gordon affably, and Gordon showed him.

Barney was intrigued by the Black Mesa Hazard Suit Training Guidelines. Anomalous Materials was the department that attracted the most interest from the non-scientists, and was the subject of frequent conspiracy theories and jokes, although Barney always felt the jokes were slightly too forced, as if people were whistling in the dark. Gordon, however, just seemed excited by the prospect of finally working at the top of his field. Barney wondered what it must be like to realise an ambition you'd had ever since you were a child. Or even just to have an ambition for that long. It wasn't something he was familiar with. The idea of opening Calhoun's had only coalesced in his mind a couple of years ago, it was one of the reasons he'd taken the job at Black Mesa: the pay was pretty good, and they provided accomodation, so he could save up even more of his wages, although it never seemed to be enough.

On the other hand, he did have upper body strength, and the numbers Gordon had scribbled down in his training diary were seriously low.

They became training partners. Gordon would update Barney on the latest developments with his nephew Lucas as they ran. Then Barney would give Gordon some friendly abuse for his awful choice of music to work out to, before they spotted for each other while they were lifting weights. Gordon put on some muscle, and proved to be a natural at running. Eventually, they had begun hanging out together. Barney shared stories of driving his van through the New Mexico desert at night; trying to convince Gordon of all the unearthly things he'd seen. Gordon taught Barney about roof- and tunnel-hacking. And there was beer.