-=Epilogue: Terminus=-

He didn't know how much time had passed, if any.

He didn't know where he was, if anywhere.

He didn't know why he still felt like he was alive.

The Advisor had undeniably killed him, snapped his spinal cord at the top of his neck. But somehow, he was still alive. To a degree, at least: He couldn't move, he couldn't see anything, the entire universe was silent. He couldn't smell anything, he couldn't taste anything and he didn't know if he was standing up, or lying down, or upside down. It was like he was in zero gravity, but he wasn't moving and nothing was holding him.

He felt like a soul in a lifeless corpse.

And then suddenly the impenetrable darkness was compromised, and a bright rectangle of light appeared to his left.

A single silhouetted figure stepped in the way of this light from somewhere beyond it, as if it were a gateway opened in nothingness. The rectangle of light slowly became thinner as if it were coming from somewhere beyond a closing doorway, until it was gone completely.

The umbrageous man had also disappeared entirely, now one with the darkness. However, unlike the darkness that surrounded the two of them he was not silent. "Dr. Freeman."

Gordon's body wouldn't allow him to make any kind of response, but then again the Gman seemed aware of this fact so he continued. "It has been... approximately six hours since your passing. During that time, White Forest has been successfully defended and, primarily due to your gallant sacrifice, Alyx, Barney and your twin were able to avoid their death."

Again, Gordon couldn't show his relief through any physical means, but he assumed the Gman knew what he'd be feeling and that was why he'd told him.

The Gman continued from wherever he was. "You have obviously realised that your actions are limited to the minimum of sensory perception," he explained, "and therefore you have no way of communicating with me. I apologise for not being able to save you, but again I am certain this sacrifice was intentional and for good reason.

"Since you cannot ask, I once again must guess at the questions you wish me to answer, beginning with the most evident one: How are you hearing me? Well, the simple answer to that is that your conscious self has been... severed from your body, however it is still within it. Think of it as a tenant still occupying a house after his contract of residence has been terminated."

Gordon wondered how the Gman came up with such strange analogies.

"Thus, the reason you cannot walk, talk or really do anything beyond minimal sight and hearing is because you are dead. However, I made a request that I be allowed to talk with you one last time before you passed on for eternity."

Gordon assumed the Fissionist Faction had been involved with this request, though he wondered if all this really was as easy as formally asking a council of divine guardians if you could have a chat with a dead person for a few minutes.

"Unlike you, Dr. Freeman, I haven't got forever to talk," the Gman continued his monologue, "and consequently brevity is obligatory."

For someone who has to be brief, Gordon thought to himself, he's using pretty big words.

"I have decided to extend my residency on the planet Earth for an indefinite amount of time," he explained, "and I intend on departing only when I am required for something of critical importance. Besides, I believe I am deserving of a rest just as much as you are."

Gordon tried to smile, but his mouth felt dead. Then again, it was.

The Gman sighed deeply. "Dr. Freeman... again, I trust your sacrifice was intentional and I can see potential motivations, most of which concern the relationship you had with Ms. Vance and Mr. Calhoun. Since, in essence, you were a foreigner to them their minds were inadvertently biased toward unconsciously alienating you. This, while not evident to them, was easily recognised by you: You are not their Dr. Gordon Freeman."

Gordon agreed entirely, and wished once more that he could talk to the Gman for one last time.

"But to me, Dr. Freeman, you are the Gordon Freeman. You are the exact man I offered to employ as the saviour of the human race, while oblivious to the ulterior factors that did, as you successfully argued back in Northern Sweden, define who you are and what you did.

"I remember telling you that you made the right choice when you stepped into that portal, twenty years ago. And do you know something? I believe that I too made the right choice in selecting you, Dr. Freeman." He paused momentarily, "Well, I should leave you to finally get your hard-earned rest, Dr. Freeman. So, I have one last thing to say on behalf of myself, the Fissionist Faction and, most importantly, the human race for whom you defended, destroyed and avenged during your short time on the Combine ruled Earth: Thank you, and..." he paused again, but longer and more... meaningfully, or at least more so to Gordon, "goodbye."

The rectangle of white light appeared once more, illuminating the Gman's silhouette as he walked through it, before it disappeared for all eternity.

And with that, Gordon went back to sleep.

The funeral was so similar to Eli's. No music, inside what remained of the White Forest bunkers.

Again, I said a few words. Nobody seemed to find this weird except myself, but of course there couldn't possibly be anyone else in existence who knew Gordon better than myself.

We buried his body next to Eli's, in the part of the forest that had fortunately escaped destruction from both fire and an immortal Fissionist throwing helicopters at the ground.

I answered a few unspoken questions: Why was Dr. Freeman such a great man, and how?

These questions... I could not have answered them a week ago. I didn't have the answer back then.

But now, I have pieced everything together with the help of the people around me.

I told them that Dr. Gordon Freeman was a great man because he never fought for himself. He always fought to defend people, to destroy the hated Combine and to avenge people he had been too late to save.

I could tell people wanted to know why he never fought for himself. So I told them: Gordon Freeman was only twenty seven years old when he died.

People had of course known about the Gman, but only a select few actually knew about his stasis. I explained everything the Gman had done for Gordon, and how it was thanks to him that Gordon was able to do what he could.

The Gman had been there to stop the Seven Hour War. But he didn't.

A week ago, I had no idea why he didn't.

But now I know.

He couldn't reveal himself to the world, less the Combine send a force so large that the human race would have been entirely eradicated in their attempts to destroy him.

I hold nothing against him, but rather thank him for everything he's done for me, and for Gordon.

The dark energy the Gman gave me in the Victory Mines... I know where it came from.

My time travelling doppelganger orchestrated the entire thing, just so he would see the woman he loved again.

For some reason, I felt guilty, as if I stole her from him even though it's impossible to steal from yourself.

But I felt like he deserved her more.

He had to watch her die, took the one chance to see her again and I was there to break his heart.

Even though we are the same person, I can't even imagine how it would feel to watch Alyx die.

But because he had changed the past just to see her and Barney again, he decided to sacrifice himself to save them.

And to save me.

The answers I have been given... they are satisfactory. I am no different to the people around me, except that I do not fight for myself.

Dr. Kleiner was right. The Combine do not fear any such material weapon we might threaten them with, but our nature as human beings: We fight with such determination to not only survive, but for our freedom.

Gordon Freeman, The One Free Man.

And now I have not only freed myself from my questions, but the whole of Romania.

Gordon Freeman, One of Many Freed Men.

And now, we must help free our brethren all over the world.

...

Rest in peace, Gordon.

Gordon had not been expecting to wake up, but then again nobody knew what happened when you died even though it was probably the most questioned subject in the history of mankind.

He had been woken up by a voice.

A voice he had never expected to hear again, among many.

"Gordon?"

Gordon realised he could smile, and he did.

Alyx.


So there we have it, people. The end. Today, it's Sunday the 18th of March, and that means its been five weeks since I posted the redone prologue up here.

I started writing the original prologue one Sunday morning not unlike today and I wasn't thinking anything of it. I thought it was pretty good and decided that there needed to be an Episode 3 fic in my insane action-thriller style on the site, so I put it up and now it's turned into this.

There might be a sequel, but don't hold me to it unless I get the majority of my readers requesting it.

Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed, given ideas and heaped extremely generous amounts of praise onto me. You have no idea how great it feels to get compliments. Deremix, thanks again (by my count, this is the twenty billionth thank you) for offering to make a machinima for this. Believe me, it really made my day when I read your offer. ArtisticLemur, thanks for the offer to make the mod, so I guess all that needs to be done is iron out the issues.

So, enjoy the machinima, hope you enjoyed the fic and don't worry, I'll probably keep writing. It's what I do, it's what I do for fun in my spare time - and I used to even do it during class, thus resulting in bad half yearly reports that ended that writing adventure.

You know what, I'm going to do a sequel. Then again, I'm actually considering doing a Full Life Consequences multichapter epic, not like the oneshot rewrite that merely fixed the grammar and contradictions. But of course, Full Life Consequences is one of those taboo things on this site that, when people try to do rewrites or adaptions, usually end in flames. But I really think it'd be worth it, I'd just have to make it in some sort of alternate timeline where the Combine didn't take complete control of Earth and where the Gman doesn't exist.

But whatever. Right, you are dismissed.