Note:Thanks for the reviews, guys. Just another small thought, not exactly canon however. Also, you all know how G-Man speaks, yes? Well, it's a bit hard to get that to writing, but bear with me, if you will.

Time in a Copter.

How long... how long had he been here...

What was it? Ten, twenty, maybe even thirty? He'd lost count so long ago it didn't even matter. Or maybe a day, possibly just a few hours. After all, his clothes felt just as rough and grimy as the the day he'd gotten out of Black Mesa. His mask, right next to him on the seat felt just as slick and rubbery as it always did. Nothing to indicate that any time had passed, nothing...

No, not just a day, couldn't be, couldn't be! Where did all the scratch marks on the sides of the helicopter come from then? Had they just been done minutes ago? No... he could remember... going to sleep and... doing them every time he woke up. It couldn't just be one day, that was just... impossible! But... the cuts into the side always looked so... fresh, new... like he'd just done them. Just like his clothing...

Adrian Shephard rubbed his hands over his smooth face. It had been years since he had first gotten here, over two decades at least. He hadn't aged in a single day, had he though? No, no way he could have. His face never grew hair anymore, on his chin or scalp. His clothing never seemed to be tight anymore. Sure, he'd done his growing back in his teens, but what were the old jokes about a few soldiers always getting their growth spurts after joining? Something about being in submarines, and getting too tall...

He turned on his side, lying on his cot that usually three men sat in. There wasn't anyone here though, just him. An entire copter, just like the one he'd come to Black Mesa on, and all for him... no one else here...

For twenty years! For twenty damn years! What was he supposed to do here? Just stay here until he died? How? Jumping out of the sides of the copter? He already tried that, nothing happened, like a barrier was there that he couldn't get through. He couldn't starve himself either, since he was never hungry...

No, there was nothing he could do, nothing to get out of this place. It was like Hell here, just like it. No... worse... at least in Hell he'd know what he was there for, and where he actually was. He'd see his other buddys probably too there, all the other marines who didn't make it in Black Mesa. He grinned darkly. Wouldn't be too bad though, they'd probably even kick some demon ass, like they all used to say inbetween fights. "Marines don't die, they just go to Hell and regroup." Yeah, that always got a kick out of him, always...

But here, no one else around, nothing to say why he was here, what he was doing here. Just nothing, no purpose for him at all. And for what? Seeing things at Black Mesa no one else had? The freaking aliens from that border world? It's not like he had been the only one who had seen them? What about the damn guy he'd been sent to Mesa to kill in the first place! Shephard sat up on his seat, staring at the cold metal floorboards of the vehicles. He bunched his hands into fists, and gritted his teeth.

Gordon Freeman. Damn him, damn him and all the stupid scientists at Black Mesa! If it hadn't been for him, if it hadn't been for them messing with things and doing whatever they had done, none of his buddies would have had to show up; he wouldn't have had to show up! None of them would have died, or been injured, or have nightmares about what they saw there... for years...

An endless amount of years for some.

A buzzing sound suddenly made itself heard. Shephard looked up to see what was making it. In twenty years he hadn't heard anything like that, but he couldn't forget the man's damn calling card. No, he couldn't forget that...

And then it appeared. A shining rectangle slid through the darkness, right next to the opening of the helicopter. Adrian covered his eyes with his arms, the light blinding him for a moment. For a second it was relieving, stimulating to see something different, something actually change about this prison. His eyes took over a few minutes to finally adjust enough for him to see. It really had been a long time since he'd gotten here.

But almost immediately he wished he had just stayed blind. A person stepped through the "door", stopping only to straighten his purple tie. He wore a gray two-piece business suit, with black dress shoes. Everything about him just read some sort of corporate executive, with slicked-back black hair, and one of those jaunting faces that intimidated anyone willing to sit down and "discuss" business with him.

'It's him.'

"How long has it... beeen, Colonel Shephard?" The guant man said, taking a few steps in his direction. Shephard nearly jumped out of his seat, launching himself right at him. Only, he suddenly couldn't move. Adrian flashed his eyes towards his lower body. His legs... they wouldn't... budge! What the hell was going on...

"There has be-en... a chaaange inplans. You are no longer... need-ed to be pro-tec-ted." Adrian looked back up as the G-man (That had been what they used to call him at boot camp, right?) continued on. His voice... it was just the same as before. Broken and stretched words in every sentence. Why'd he speak like that? Was english his second language or something? No... couldn't be, he had good grammar, just screwed up the words randomly. Almost like... like he didn't feel comfortable talking.

"If you wish... your time has comeagain." The man smirked, before taking a step to the side. Adrian felt his whole body shiver, like something running down his arms and chest. He could... move again. He stood up tenatively after a few seconds, almost falling down as soon as he did so. Shephard moved his head from the portal, then back to the G-Man, who continued to smile. He outstretched an arm to the "door", keeping his face towards the soldier.

"Of cou-rse, there is a... stipulation to leaving." Adrian looked to the door again. What was this? Redemption? A way to get out of his exile? Was God having fun with him? Was God actually with him right now, standing next to him? It could've easily been, whoever this guy was seemed to be able to anything. And all that crap about a peaceful and loving God... yeah right...

Adrian took a step forward, putting a foot out towards the portal. It had been years since he'd actually walked towards something, instead of just in circles, just pacing. He felt another sensation go through his body, starting in the legs. Purpose... there was actually something to do now... someway to get out. His head started to feel a little clearer, more than it had ever felt. A thought crossed his mind when he was only a couple more steps from the portal.

But what if... what if this was another trick, just leading right back to where he was... or somewhere worse? What if it was into a pit of monsters, or right into the path of an airstrike?

He took another step forward, this time tensing up his arms as well, keeping them still at his sides.

Whatever. It was better than being stuck here. Death was better than this.

Shephard reached the portal, and walked through it. Everything suddenly blacked out. He tried to motion his arms, his legs, but he couldn't feel anything. The G-man's voice made itself heard.

"Ex-cellent Colonel Shephard. You've made the right choice."