That night Alyx climbed into her bed and Barney took the floor. Alyx tossed Barney down some blankets and pillows and he made a make-shift bed on the floor and slept obediently on it, making Alyx feel much safer. She appreciated having Barney around more than words could express. Though feeling a little bit better, sleep still mockingly eluded the young woman, so she instead began thinking about her past.
Barney mumbled faintly and indistinctively in his sleep. She remembered being a small child, maybe 8 or 9 years old. Before Barney joined the civil protection of City 17, there was a cluster of survivors and Vortigaunts living in houses tucked in the woods- much like the houses her and Gordon found on the road to White Forest. She lived in one of these houses with Barney, her father, Dr. Kleiner, and some other survivors. She was playing with D0g too far outside of their house at the time when she was attacked by an Antlion. D0g, being quite small at the time, was quickly taken down by the Antlion, which stabbed its claws into D0g's wiring. Alyx shrieked and tried to run back towards her house, but tripped over a large rock covered by bushy greenery. The Antlion caught up to her and raised its front legs menacingly. Just before it was about to strike down onto Alyx's chest, Barney shot the creature with a shotgun, blasting it into a million pieces.
Alyx was crying and shaking profusely, so Barney had to carry her all the way back to their house. Barney even went back into the woods to fetch D0g, which was repaired by Eli. That night, Alyx eavesdropped on a conversation between Barney and Eli. Eli was begging Barney to join the "civil protection" at the time, but Barney didn't seem to want to. Eventually Eli reminded Barney that if they stayed in the forest, away from the protection of the combine-controlled cities, they all- including Alyx- would be in constant danger of alien attack. Because of this, Barney finally reluctantly agreed. He joined the Civil Protection of City 17 and hid Eli, Alyx, and Dr. Kleiner in abandoned buildings within the city limits. This kept them safe, established Black Mesa East, and made it easier for the rebels to acquire supplies. Most importantly, they were sheltered by the thumpers that the Combine installed all around the city that kept the aliens away.
Though the concept eluded her at the time, she quickly grew to realize the sacrifice Barney had made to keep her, her father, Dr. Kleiner, and all the other rebels safe. Barney had to do unspeakable, cruel, dehumanizing things to innocent people in order to maintain his status as a CP, which grew increasingly valuable in order to get information about the combine, keep citizens safe, and hide people who would have been killed otherwise.
Barney protected Alyx during the Black Mesa Incident, and continued to do so for close to 20 years. To Alyx, if that wasn't the epitome of a protective older brother, she didn't know what was. She appreciated Barney more than she could describe, which made her feel increasingly bad that she lashed out at him the way she did. The next day, she snuck out of her room while Barney slept and fetched an especially large helping of food and made her way back to her room. When she opened the door, Barney sat up instinctively and looked up at her.
"Where'd you go?" Barney asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes.
"To get you food," Alyx replied with a faint smile, "I wanted to apologize for what I said last night. It wasn't your fault, and there wasn't anything you could have done. If anything, it might have risked you getting killed as well, and that would…I wouldn't be able to handle THAT."
"Hey!" Barney said, standing up. He took the tray of food from her and set it on a desk next to them, "I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. Don't think about stuff like that, okay? You haven't been able to shake me after THIS long, so I'm here to stay."
Alyx smiled and hugged him, "I'm gonna hold you to that. You're my family, Barney. And I can't stand another loss, so you can't go anywhere."
Barney nodded and hugged her back. He finished his food gratefully before a Vortigaunt came in and told Alyx and Barney that a funeral service for her father would take place at noon.
Alyx looked down at her feet, still unable and unwilling to accept her father was gone. She considered not going to the service, but knew that her father deserved it. Eli lost so much and sacrificed a lot to keep Alyx safe- even until the bitter end when he went up against a Combine Advisor that was attacking them. She knew that she had to go and say goodbye to her father, but more importantly she wanted to promise him that they would fulfill his wishes and destroy the Borealis and take down the Combine once and for all.