I have to admit, this is the chapter that made me decide to go with the Half-Life 2 timeline. While I had the Half-Life timeline loosely outlined, I actually wrote up this chapter. It amuses me way too much to not post, and unlike the past timeline, it actually has something to do with the dream other than Gordon waking up from the dream.
I apologize for the shortness of the chapters, but I'm more comfortable writing a bunch of short chapters rather than one long one.
Chapter 2: Of Dreams and Lamarr
"And then, I woke up."
Alyx shook her head. "Gordon, you have the strangest dreams. What do you think it meant? I think it means you need to stop sleeping with your crowbar."
Gordon shrugged.
"That's nothing," boasted Barney. "One time, I dreamed that I was president of the United States and my vice president was Lamarr. And together, we fought crime, drank beer and, uh," Barney hesitated.
"What, what?" Alyx asked. "Don't leave us hanging."
"And we had sex."
Gordon arched his eyebrow and leaned back in his chair slightly, away from Barney. After staring at Barney for a few seconds, Alyx burst out laughing uncontrollably and fell out of her chair. She lay on the floor, unable to breathe, tears in her eyes. "You…and…Lamarr…had sex," She managed to gasp out.
"What? Woah! No!" Barney blushed furiously. "That's not what I meant. I didn't mean to each other. To women. Not each other. No. Oh, God no."
"Headcrabs reproduce by making humans zombies." Gordon mused. "Did you dream of being a zombie?"
"NO!" Barney yelled.
"Then she had copulated with you like a human?" Gordon asked.
"No! You aren't listening to me. Lamarr. And. I. Did. Not. Have. Sex. I mean, I didn't really think about what exactly Lamarr was doing, I just knew that she was having doing it with someone. Someone other than me. You know, cause it was a dream. I didn't think about how Lamarr did it. It didn't matter. All I know is that there were these two hot girls. One for me, and one for her. Cause I was president and saved their lives or something."
"I see." Gordon said. He stared over at the far wall, deep in thought. "So, did Lamarr transform someone into a zombie then…"
"I don't know," Barney interrupted. "I. Do. Not. Know. And I don't care. Just pretend I didn't say anything."
"Very well." Gordon sighed. "But it would be interesting to consider the possibilities."
"No. No it wouldn't." Barney glared at Gordon.
Alyx, who had finally recovered enough to stand up on her own, snickered. "Don't worry Barney, I believe you. Not. I am so telling Dr. Kleiner about your improper feelings towards Lamarr."
"No. No. No. No." Barney stood up and placed his hands on Alyx's shoulders. Visibly pale he pleaded, "No, you can't. That's not what I meant and you know it."
Gently prying Barney's hands off of her, Alyx sighed. "Well, alright. I won't tell him. But you owe me."
Barney fell back into his chair and looked over wearily at Gordon before burying his face in his arms on the table. He groaned softly. "Why me?" Came his muffled voice.
Alyx grinned impishly and moved over to poke Barney but stopped mid-action when Gordon spoke.
"Don't you have work to do?"
Alyx gasped. "You're right. I do. Oh no. I forgot. Dr. Kleiner and my dad are going to kill me. Shame on you Gordon, you made me late. As punishment, you have to help me. You too Barney."
Barney looked up at Alyx. "What? What's going on?"
"Help me. In payment I won't tell anyone about the conversation we just had."
"Fine." Barney sighed wearily. "What do we have to do?"
