A/N: This story employs a rather unique connection I have with Gordon Freeman – we're both from Seattle. So I decided to explore this connection a bit. First, he meets his parents (not based on mine) in his house (which is based on mine). Then, he goes on the worst commute into Seattle in recorded history. There is Gordon/Alyx.
Freeman residence, Redmond, Washington
June 8, 2004
"Well, Gordon, I guess this is goodbye." Janet Freeman was crying.
"Don't worry. I'll be home for Thanksgiving," Gordon promised. He was visiting his family one last time before leaving for his new job at Black Mesa.
It was a big moment for Gordon. He had spent nine years in college – from his undergraduate days at MIT, to working with Isaac Kleiner at Innsbruck. Now, he was officially entering the workforce. If someone asked Gordon what he did for a living, Gordon could say "physicist."
"You'll remember to call?" Henry Freeman said.
"Yes, dad."
"I'm proud of you, son. You worked hard to get to where you are. When you visit, you'll tell me all about your work?"
"As much of it as I can. Some of it might be classified."
"Well, anyway, you don't want to miss your taxi."
Gordon embraced both of his parents before walking out the door. He took a moment to admire it. It was made of stained glass and stainless steel. His dad had designed the pattern. It would be months before he ever saw it again.
At least, from his perspective.
Twenty-one years later
"Henry, get the door!" Janet called.
Henry set down his book and went to the door. There were two figures behind the stained glass. He couldn't tell much more, but he could tell that they weren't CPs. So he opened the door.
One of the people was a young woman. She looked African-American, possibly Asian, and wore faded jeans and a jacket over a sweatshirt. There were two holes in the sweatshirt on the chest, as if the woman had been shot. But she seemed fine. There was a gun at her hip.
But then he looked at the other person. There was no question as to who this was. His picture hung in the hallway.
"Gordon?"
"Hello, Dad."
"Henry? Who is it?"
"Janet, get over here! It's Gordon!"
Henry, Janet, and Gordon joined in their first family hug in twenty-one years.
An eternity later, Henry turned his head to notice the young woman standing in the doorway.
"Sorry, who are you?"
"I'm Alyx Vance, Gordon's girlfriend."
Janet broke off the hug.
"Oh! I'm so sorry. Come in, come in." She closed the door behind Alyx.
"Do you want something to eat?"
Alyx and Gordon looked at one another, then shook their hands. "We ate recently."
Janet had a defeated expression on her face.
"Well, come sit down at least." Janet invited everyone into the family room.
"So, Alyx, what do you do? For a living, I mean."
Gordon smiled. "You might say she's my co-worker. We kill Combine."
"You WHAT?"
"We're in the resistance, Mrs. Freeman. Leaders, in fact. You ought to be proud of your son. He started the whole uprising."
"I've been meaning to ask, can you tell us what's going on out there? The City-24 region is pretty isolated, and the Combine restricts information."
"First of all, it's Seattle, or it will be soon. You can call it Seattle-24 if you want," Gordon corrected.
"Second, the gist of it is, the Combine is in a war with the resistance, and they're losing."
"They're losing? How is that possible?" asked Janet.
"Well, they lost their capital at the start of the war."
"The fact that we have Gordon Freeman might have something to do with it," Alyx added. Gordon blushed.
"How could Gordon turn the tide of the war?"
"I don't know why, but let me put it this way. When the going gets tough, everyone gets behind Gordon, because things in front of him tend to die. Combine soldiers, zombies, antlions, it doesn't matter. I've seen Gordon take down a Combine gunship single-handedly, armed only with a laser-guided RPG."
"Well, I also have Alyx at my side. She's gone through a lot of the same things I have, and she doesn't have a hazard suit."
"So, what are you doing here?"
"Well, right now, the focus of the resistance is on taking back North America. We already have Europe and parts of Asia. But the Combine is putting up one hell of a fight."
"There are five cities in North America that the Combine occupied instead of destroying. New York-18, Minneapolis-23, Seattle-24, Havana-25, and Mexico-26. Of those, New York and Havana are ours, Minneapolis has heavy fighting, and reports say that Mexico City is on the verge of rebellion anyway. The Combine is planning to make a last stand here, in Seattle-24."
"The problem for us is that it isn't easy to get into Seattle. The Cascades are infested with antlions, and are virtually impassable. The only way across is I-90, and the Combine not only controls that pass, but could destroy it at will. And air transport is out of the question."
"Then how the hell did you get here?" Henry asked.
"We have a teleporter. But the Combine has an anti-teleporter field set up that covers the entire Puget Sound region. It was difficult for us to even get two people through. The field is generated by the dark energy reactor at the University of Washington."
Henry thought. "UW is Combine headquarters around here."
"So, our plan is to get to Seattle-24, infiltrate UW, then shut down the field. Once that's done, we can teleport an army into here."
"Oh."
There was an awkward silence.
"So, how long have you and Alyx been going out?"
"Good question. I'm not sure if we've ever had an actual date," Alyx chuckled.
"We had dinner in New York-18."
"Right. The thing is, we really don't have time for 'dating'. I can tell you that ever since the Citadel, we've never been apart for long. We fight together, work together, live together…"
Janet giggled.
"What is it?"
"It sounds like you two have skipped dating and are already married."
"We've talked about marriage. The difficulty is in finding time for a ceremony. We could have a simple ceremony soon, but we'd like to have a proper wedding. We might have one after we take Seattle-24."
"Really?"
"This is one of the last Combine strongholds. Once Seattle falls, they'll be down to their Pacific Islands. And even those are seeing fighting. Last I heard, there's been sporadic action in Tokyo-5. If we can take North America, we can take back Earth."
Several minutes later, Henry asked Alyx if they could talk to Gordon alone. She left the room.
Henry addressed his son. "Gordon, I can clearly tell that you and Alyx love each other. But what the hell are you thinking? You knew her when she was a child – you're twenty years older than her! She's way too young for you!"
"Dad, I understand what you're thinking. But while our birthdates were separated by twenty-four years, we're really only four years apart."
"Explain to me how that's possible."
"After Black Mesa, I encountered this… person. He wears a suit and carries a briefcase, no matter where he is. I don't think he's human. He put me into stasis for twenty years, then dropped me into City 17 several months ago."
"While I was in stasis, I did not age. To me, it's been barely a year since we last met. Physically, mentally, I am 27. Have you wondered why I look the same now as I did when you last saw me?"
Henry and Janet had dumbfounded looks on their faces. Janet got up.
"Alyx? You can come back."
Alyx came back in.
"Gordon, we'd better get going. I assume you know how to get to the university?"
"Sure. 520's a few minutes away, and we can take it across Lake Washington, all the way to UW."
"That might be a problem," Henry commented.
"Why?"
"Well, you see, Microsoft is now a Combine facility. They make heavy use of 520. As such, the floating bridge is a favorite target for resistance saboteurs. It's currently out."
"Dammit, that leaves I-90."
"And for that matter, where are you going to get a car?" Janet asked.
"I was thinking of taking yours."
"We don't have a car, Gordon. The Combine heavily restricts transportation. We use public transport now." Her eyes lit up suddenly. "However, there's the Combine motor pool at Microsoft. I would normally advise against trying to break in, but if you two can get into UW, Microsoft should be fairly easy."
"To Microsoft, then," Gordon said.
"How close is Microsoft?" Alyx asked.
"Not too far. It's a bit of a walk, but nothing we can't handle. I know the way."
"Well then, let's get going."
They did a family hug again, only this time, Alyx was included.
"It was very nice to meet you," Janet said.
"We'll come by as soon as we can," Gordon promised. Then he and Alyx walked out the door.
"Have fun storming the castle!" Henry called out as they left.