p align="center"Steve the Headcrab/p
p align="center"Chapter 8/p
p align="center" /p
p align="left"Steve sighed. emHere we are. Out of the frying pan, and... Well, back into the same frying pan, I guess/em. It was as if Steve had never left. After recovering from the panic attack of being at the business end of Kleiner's shotgun, Steve had spent the rest of the day resting and watching the human work. However, instead of Kleiner's normal activities, he was stood in front of one of the computer screens, talking to Barney./p
p align="left"Although Steve had previously only passively learned about current events by overhearing conversations at the lab, this time he actually wanted to know what he had missed in the few days he was gone, emespecially/em with the uprising that had since begun. From what he could gather, Gordon Freeman, after surviving the teleporter incident, had gone off to rescue Eli, who was captured by the Combine. They broke into the prison known as Nova Prospekt, and their actions there sparked the beginning of the ongoing uprising against the Combine. However, Gordon and Alyx haven't been heard from since, and Eli was taken to the Citadel./p
p align="left"It struck Steve how intense everything had become since Gordon Freeman's arrival. While he didn't see Gordon as the big hero that humanity said he was, Steve had to admit that he sure got results. Steve wondered if Gordon would ever show up again. Part of him was curious how he would shake things up this time, but Kleiner and Barney were losing hope that he would return./p
p align="left"A loud metallic thud startled Steve out of these thoughts. Kleiner took position at the entrance to the lab with his shotgun, waiting to see what would be on the other side. As it opened, what appeared surprised Steve. It was not Gordon Freeman, or any human, for that matter. It was... What was it? Some kind of robot? Kleiner somehow recognized it, allowing it to enter./p
p align="left""Dog! Now this is quite the surprise! Did you really come all this way from Black Mesa East? What a long trek it must have been!"/p
p align="left"Now, Steve had learned about some of the animals on Earth, but his memory was a bit fuzzy on the details. This, however, was certainly not a dog. The obvious comparisons were that it was not organic, did not have any fur, and was tall and bipedal, towering over Kleiner. Surely the human knew this, right? Regardless, it didn't seem hostile, and they seemed to know each other, so Steve was okay with it staying with them. If nothing else, its hulking stature would surely scare off any intruders. Steve still made sure to keep his distance from the thing just to be safe. This wasn't very hard, as the "dog" seemed content to stay in the storage closet that had previously housed Gordon's HEV suit./p
p align="left"Every now and then, Steve would stare longingly at the wall hiding the entrance to the teleporter room. Kleiner had kept a watchful eye on him ever since he returned, so he doubted that he would get another chance to activate it any time soon. A few days later, Steve was making his rounds wandering through the lab, when he stopped again at the wall. Something felt off. Something felt emvery/em off. He cautiously approached the wall and heard a whirring noise. What was going on in there?/p
p align="left"Kleiner noticed Steve's curiosity and momentarily stopped his work. "Oh, Hedy, whatever are you up to over there?" he called as he began to walk towards Steve. Both of them jumped as the sound became incredibly loud. Steve remembered this sound distinctly: Someone was arriving through the teleporter. Kleiner once again grabbed his shotgun and sidled against the wall (He was very quick to do it; Steve figured Kleiner must have had to do this a lot throughout the past week). Steve hid behind him, as the two waited for the sound to stop. The room became quiet, until Steve could hear muffled voices speaking. Then there was a banging on the wall along with a familiar voice:/p
p align="left""Dr. Kleiner! Let us out!"/p
p align="left"Kleiner slowly opened the door with the shotgun aimed through the gap, then gasped as he recognized the two humans awaiting them. "Alyx? Gordon? My god... how did you get here? And when?"/p
p align="left"Steve peeked his head inside to share Kleiner's amazement at the sight: Alyx Vance and Gordon Freeman, alive and well! Steve and Kleiner were elated, but for very different reasons. For Kleiner, two of his allies had arrived and were safe and sound. For Steve, however, it meant that the teleporter had worked once again. As soon as nobody was looking his way, Steve jumped up to the upper walkway in the now vacant room and examined the console there... only to find it nonfunctional. In a panic, Steve rushed all around the room, fiddling with all the various components, hoping that he could somehow get it to run just one more time. His work slowed as it began to set in that Alyx and Gordon's arrival was a one-way trip. He didn't have much time to wallow in his misery as he was swept up into a hug./p
p align="left""There you are! I was worried sick about you! Can you embelieve/em Alyx wanted me to leave you behind? Come now, Lamarr," Kleiner said, putting Steve on his shoulder./p
p align="left"Alyx entered the room, looking exasperated. "Dr. Kleiner, did you find it yet? We really need to-" She paused, seeing Steve perched upon Kleiner. "...I see that you have. Come on, we don't have much time. Let's get you out of here." The three returned to the main lab, with Gordon and the "dog" notably absent. Kleiner motioned towards a carrier on a nearby table. Steve sighed and jumped off Kleiner, then entered into it. Was it demeaning? Absolutely. But right now, a "safer and swifter voyage" out of City 17 was sounding pretty good to Steve right about now. Alyx began to escort the two out of the lab, and they began their escape./p
p align="left"As much as Steve wanted to try to sleep to pass the time, he wanted to know where they were headed. The plan was to take a train to a place called White Forest. They would be relocating to a research base which served as a base for the Resistance. Satisfied with this answer, Steve was about to tune the humans out, until one word immediately got his attention: strongrocket/strong. They... were working on a rocket there? Steve felt like celebrating with his newfound hope (though he didn't want to slow their pace down by jostling the carrier he was in). This was his best chance of getting home yet! As for how to actually do it, well, he had all the time in the world to make a plan./p
p align="left"Eventually, the trio had reached the train station. Alyx parted with them to catch up with Gordon, then they boarded a train filled with other evacuees. Through his limited view in the carrier, Steve watched the sights of City 17 pass by as they left for White Forest./p
p align="center"Chapter 8/p
p align="center" /p
p align="left"Steve sighed. emHere we are. Out of the frying pan, and... Well, back into the same frying pan, I guess/em. It was as if Steve had never left. After recovering from the panic attack of being at the business end of Kleiner's shotgun, Steve had spent the rest of the day resting and watching the human work. However, instead of Kleiner's normal activities, he was stood in front of one of the computer screens, talking to Barney./p
p align="left"Although Steve had previously only passively learned about current events by overhearing conversations at the lab, this time he actually wanted to know what he had missed in the few days he was gone, emespecially/em with the uprising that had since begun. From what he could gather, Gordon Freeman, after surviving the teleporter incident, had gone off to rescue Eli, who was captured by the Combine. They broke into the prison known as Nova Prospekt, and their actions there sparked the beginning of the ongoing uprising against the Combine. However, Gordon and Alyx haven't been heard from since, and Eli was taken to the Citadel./p
p align="left"It struck Steve how intense everything had become since Gordon Freeman's arrival. While he didn't see Gordon as the big hero that humanity said he was, Steve had to admit that he sure got results. Steve wondered if Gordon would ever show up again. Part of him was curious how he would shake things up this time, but Kleiner and Barney were losing hope that he would return./p
p align="left"A loud metallic thud startled Steve out of these thoughts. Kleiner took position at the entrance to the lab with his shotgun, waiting to see what would be on the other side. As it opened, what appeared surprised Steve. It was not Gordon Freeman, or any human, for that matter. It was... What was it? Some kind of robot? Kleiner somehow recognized it, allowing it to enter./p
p align="left""Dog! Now this is quite the surprise! Did you really come all this way from Black Mesa East? What a long trek it must have been!"/p
p align="left"Now, Steve had learned about some of the animals on Earth, but his memory was a bit fuzzy on the details. This, however, was certainly not a dog. The obvious comparisons were that it was not organic, did not have any fur, and was tall and bipedal, towering over Kleiner. Surely the human knew this, right? Regardless, it didn't seem hostile, and they seemed to know each other, so Steve was okay with it staying with them. If nothing else, its hulking stature would surely scare off any intruders. Steve still made sure to keep his distance from the thing just to be safe. This wasn't very hard, as the "dog" seemed content to stay in the storage closet that had previously housed Gordon's HEV suit./p
p align="left"Every now and then, Steve would stare longingly at the wall hiding the entrance to the teleporter room. Kleiner had kept a watchful eye on him ever since he returned, so he doubted that he would get another chance to activate it any time soon. A few days later, Steve was making his rounds wandering through the lab, when he stopped again at the wall. Something felt off. Something felt emvery/em off. He cautiously approached the wall and heard a whirring noise. What was going on in there?/p
p align="left"Kleiner noticed Steve's curiosity and momentarily stopped his work. "Oh, Hedy, whatever are you up to over there?" he called as he began to walk towards Steve. Both of them jumped as the sound became incredibly loud. Steve remembered this sound distinctly: Someone was arriving through the teleporter. Kleiner once again grabbed his shotgun and sidled against the wall (He was very quick to do it; Steve figured Kleiner must have had to do this a lot throughout the past week). Steve hid behind him, as the two waited for the sound to stop. The room became quiet, until Steve could hear muffled voices speaking. Then there was a banging on the wall along with a familiar voice:/p
p align="left""Dr. Kleiner! Let us out!"/p
p align="left"Kleiner slowly opened the door with the shotgun aimed through the gap, then gasped as he recognized the two humans awaiting them. "Alyx? Gordon? My god... how did you get here? And when?"/p
p align="left"Steve peeked his head inside to share Kleiner's amazement at the sight: Alyx Vance and Gordon Freeman, alive and well! Steve and Kleiner were elated, but for very different reasons. For Kleiner, two of his allies had arrived and were safe and sound. For Steve, however, it meant that the teleporter had worked once again. As soon as nobody was looking his way, Steve jumped up to the upper walkway in the now vacant room and examined the console there... only to find it nonfunctional. In a panic, Steve rushed all around the room, fiddling with all the various components, hoping that he could somehow get it to run just one more time. His work slowed as it began to set in that Alyx and Gordon's arrival was a one-way trip. He didn't have much time to wallow in his misery as he was swept up into a hug./p
p align="left""There you are! I was worried sick about you! Can you embelieve/em Alyx wanted me to leave you behind? Come now, Lamarr," Kleiner said, putting Steve on his shoulder./p
p align="left"Alyx entered the room, looking exasperated. "Dr. Kleiner, did you find it yet? We really need to-" She paused, seeing Steve perched upon Kleiner. "...I see that you have. Come on, we don't have much time. Let's get you out of here." The three returned to the main lab, with Gordon and the "dog" notably absent. Kleiner motioned towards a carrier on a nearby table. Steve sighed and jumped off Kleiner, then entered into it. Was it demeaning? Absolutely. But right now, a "safer and swifter voyage" out of City 17 was sounding pretty good to Steve right about now. Alyx began to escort the two out of the lab, and they began their escape./p
p align="left"As much as Steve wanted to try to sleep to pass the time, he wanted to know where they were headed. The plan was to take a train to a place called White Forest. They would be relocating to a research base which served as a base for the Resistance. Satisfied with this answer, Steve was about to tune the humans out, until one word immediately got his attention: strongrocket/strong. They... were working on a rocket there? Steve felt like celebrating with his newfound hope (though he didn't want to slow their pace down by jostling the carrier he was in). This was his best chance of getting home yet! As for how to actually do it, well, he had all the time in the world to make a plan./p
p align="left"Eventually, the trio had reached the train station. Alyx parted with them to catch up with Gordon, then they boarded a train filled with other evacuees. Through his limited view in the carrier, Steve watched the sights of City 17 pass by as they left for White Forest./p