This is the chapter in which Breen gets bitch-slapped. Enjoy. Edit: Apparently my 'question mark plus exclamation mark' things aren't working. Sorry about that.

Malcolm awoke to darkness. He feared blindness, remembering the injection the solider had given him.

The air was artificially 'cold', yet he remained strangely lukewarm. Upon moving, he found himself restrained and unable to move all but his head and feet. About to call for help, like that would do anything, he was suddenly blinded by a blue light directly in front of him. The Overwatch radio sound popped from what seemed next to him, which was strange. The space seemed endless..

At least he wasn't blind.

"..unpunished. Be wise. Be safe. Be aware." came a familiar voice of his uncle. What the hell was going on? Suddenly, the blackness turned into a white light, something moving him out of the dark and into a room.. He found himself in front of a wooden desk, a large view screen and two windows overlooking the city. Dr. Breen was nowhere in sight.

After about 30 minutes of hanging there, muscles aching, he was about to sleep, something to pass the time from this uncomfortable hanging, when he once again heard Breen.

"He's in here?" Breen asked, followed by a garbled 'yes, administrator,' Breen came walking up to his desk, sitting down and looking at some papers, muttering to himself.

Another 10 minutes past, until Breen looked up.

"So. Malcolm. Here we are. The focal point of Earth, of humanity. Of what we could be. Amazing what our benefactors can do, don't you agree?" he said in a charismatic voice like he did in his speeches. Malcolm continued to struggle, hopelessly.

"You killed your own son, you bastard." Malcolm said, hoping to spark some sympathy in the man. Unfortunately, Breen was too far gone.

"Richard? Well, although I appreciate that he escorted me out of Black Mesa, he was simply not fit for our purposes. I'm sure you can understand that."

"What? What the fuck-- so you could make him into a goddamn stalker? You heartless--" he was cut off as Breen pressed a button on his desk, which sent electrical currents through his body. The restraint must be used exclusively for Breen's 'personal' affairs.

Malcolm gasped for air as the shock stopped after three or four seconds, and looked towards his uncle.

"W.. Why the hell did you hand us over? Do you honestly think--" he was once again cut off by Breen's silencing device.

"Malcolm.. I was just in the 'studio,' talking about a woman named Alyx Vance, daughter of my ex-colleague Eli Vance. I'm sure you heard of him, labeling him as some sort of God in your god-forsaken 'stations', scattered throughout the badlands where the creatures our benefactors protect us from lurk. The truth, Malcolm, is he was simply a scientist during Black Mesa. He, and many others, have devoted their near entire lives to a fruitless cause, that would eventually result in their deaths. They resist our benefactors, and risk leaving all of Earth to rot in the mess we created. Why do you think they do it, Malcolm? To-to risk immunity from cancer, from AIDS, from the mere cold, and yet you, and many others resist us. The 'Combine' want only the best for humanity. And you are all oblivious to even the smallest good intention they have--"

"Don't be fucking daft! Why do they resist? Maybe because they killed all the children of Earth and banned us from mating! Maybe, because every day they wake up on the floor, or on a dirty bed, wondering "will I die today, or tomorrow?" while hearing the apartment next door be raided by Civil Protection under false allegations! Maybe, they want freedom, Wallace, ma—"

yet again silenced by Breen's machine. "EVENTUALLY THEY WILL WIN, UNCLE, AND YOU WILL BE.." he shouted through the pain before once again being embraced by darkness.

Breen pressed another button on his desk, and watched Malcolm be carried through a large door in the roof, and sighed. He began to think, think about what Malcolm had said..

Was the Combine right for Earth?