10.

Alyx was extremely comforted to have Gordon back alive and well beside of her. It was dark in the hospital wing; and the only noises she heard were Barney and Gordon's snoring, and the sound of a healing vortigaunt every now and then. She turned over to face Gordon. His injuries weren't too severe... His leg was fractured, but repaired easily by a vortigaunt, and he had multiple lacerations on his abdomen and arms. What he had done in the tower was very admirable; Alyx couldn't imagine what Gordon and Barney had gone through in the top of that Godawful place. In a way, it just made her more attracted to Gordon.

She pulled the blanket back over them. "He's quite slim and built now that I can see him without his HEV suit on," she thought to herself. She lied there beside of him, admiring everything he had done. She let out a small cough from the dust, and realized that he was starting to stir.

"Alyx..."

"Shh... Gordon. Rest. Just go back to sleep. It's fine."

Gordon turned over to face Barney. Alyx ran her fingers through his short, dark brown hair and put her hand on his arm. He muttered something to himself and was back to snoring in no time.

The vortigaunt was back to check on Gordon and Barney. "The Freeman is well," it said as it turned to face Barney. "The Freeman's friend is also well. Healing fine. Watch them Alyx," the vortigaunt spoke to Alyx as he walked out the door. Alyx leaned up and kissed Gordon softly on the forehead, turned over, and fell asleep again under the warm blankets, thankful that she hadn't been hurt and thankful that everyone was okay.

"GOOD morning!"

Griffith Anderson and a couple of vortigaunts burst through the door carrying three trays of breakfast for the trio. Gordon jumped up and Alyx was already awake beside him in a chair. Barney turned over and sat up. "Can't anyone let a man- OH. Breakfast! That's what I'm talking about! I ought to be hurt more often!"

The trays were set in front of them and the three started eating. "Thanks, Griffith!" Alyx told him. She got up and gave him a hug in appreciation before he sat down beside of them. "Why aren't you eating?" Gordon asked.

"I've already eaten," Griffith claimed. "BUT. I do have a couple of surprises for you guys after breakfast."

The four of them sat and chatted for a while as everyone finished up their food. The vortigaunts took the trays away, and the medical vortigaunt asserted that Gordon and Barney were okay to get up and move. With that, Barney got up from his bed and tripped a little before gaining back his footing, and Gordon sat up and stepped off of his bed. Alyx put her arm on his and helped him along up the hallways and through the doors. When they came to the front, Griffith told them to stay and stepped forward to the double doors leading outside. When he opened them, some familiar faces stepped through. Dr. Kleiner walked through, along with Dr. Wallace; but most excitingly of all, DOG came ambling through the door.

"DOG!" Alyx yelled as she ran forward smiling from ear to ear. "I missed you so much! Is everything taken care of?"

DOG nodded repeatedly to Alyx and embraced her tightly as she petted his head.

Dr. Kleiner and Dr. Wallace turned to face Gordon and Barney. "That was truly spectacular, you two! Great show! Our electromagnetic readings were off the charts back at our hold up, even from that far away! We could see the portal flashes from that distance. We knew what you had done! Absolutely marvelous, Barney, and Gordon." Kleiner and Wallace patted the two on the back.

"No, Isaac, we owe you one. That virus you and Wallace made really saved everything. It pushed us close though. Haha. If it weren't for Alyx, we would have had some major trouble. I could handle one advisor, but over three hundred? Please Isaac," Gordon said with a chuckle.

"Gordon, I hate to tell you, but believe it or not, we still need to find the Borealis. Mossman knows more about it. Has she woken up yet?" Wallace said as he turned to Gordon.

"No, not yet. She was full of anesthesia. I'm surprised she wasn't a water balloon when we found her!" Barney interjected in.

Everyone laughed briefly. They decided to sit and have some coffee to pass the time. Vortigaunts were periodically checking on Mossman. They promised to alert the group as soon as she woke up.

Kleiner and Alyx stayed a bit behind with DOG while Gordon, Griffith, Barney, and Wallace went into the Mess Hall. There were some troops in there staying warm, but most of the other troops had gone downstairs to the Community Rooms where the entertainment was. DOG wanted Alyx to toss the ball with him, and they stepped into the Recreation center to practice around. Kleiner followed them and stepped beside Alyx.

"So Alyx, I hear you and Gordon kicked it off not very long ago. You know, that's what Eli wanted for you two. He trusted you and Gordon both. You both are so smart and caring; you deserve one another, especially after what all you guys went through. What do you think of him?"

Alyx turned around to look at Kleiner while tossing DOG's ball into the goal at the other end. "I find him so... intriguing, Isaac. He makes everything interesting for me. He's attractive, and has a wonderful personality. I can't stop thinking about him, really." Alyx turned around to pet DOG and threw his ball again. "He was so quiet when we both first met; I honestly didn't really care for him at all... he was so enigmatic... but I think I loosened him up a bit. After dad, well, you know..." Alyx looked across the room at DOG playing with the ball. "I needed someone, Isaac. Gordon has always been there. I have never been happier than when I'm with Gordon. I love him deeply, Isaac."

Isaac nodded in concurrence. "I'm proud of you, Alyx. You've matured into a wonderful young lady. I believe Gordon has also proven himself as a viable young man. He'll take care of you, Alyx." Dr. Kleiner responded. He turned to walk out and Alyx followed him into the Mess Hall.

Gordon, Barney, Wallace, and Griffith were sitting at a small circular table when the two and DOG walked in. They were laughing at a joke that Barney had told (as usual, the clown, Alyx said to herself). Isaac sat down beside Griffith and Alyx moved over close to Gordon and instructed DOG to stay put. The new guests were drinking freshly made coffee and wrapped up within some blankets to keep even warmer in the open hall. As soon as Alyx and Kleiner had joined the quartet of men, there was a soft knock at the door. "Is the Freeman in here with his companions?" spoke the medical vortigaunt from the other side.

"Yes he is," spoke Barney from the inside.

"Mossman has awoken. She requests the presence of the ones who saved her. Everyone follow me."

The ones at the table exchanged looks and everyone got up to walk out with the vortigaunt. The hall was a bit chilly, and they all formed a tight bunch together following the lone vortigaunt. They turned a corner and the vortigaunt stopped and turned around, addressing the whole bunch. "The Mossman is tired. What information you retrieve from her will be as little as none. Do not expect the most, Freeman."

The vortigaunt opened the door to let them all inside. Slowly, everyone shuffled in. The lights were dimmed, and they could still see Mossman was hooked up to drainers. Apparently, the anesthesia was extremely strong, and she had been out for several days. She looked extremely tired and drained. There were sacks under her eyes, and her skin was pale. She appeared deathly at first, but at closer inspection, she showed a dim glow in her face.

"Hi guys. Have a seat," she said. Chairs had been put in there around her bed. Seats were taken and Mossman sat up to face everyone.

"I want to firstly thank everyone here for helping me, for rescuing me, and for getting rid of Breen once and for all. I am certainly glad that you guys believed me, and that you came for me despite the dangers. I know something that you guys need to know; information that could kill millions of people or save them depending on who gets this information. I know what's on the Borealis, and that's why Breen found me and locked me up. I'm lucky he didn't kill me. But he knew he needed me for the information."

They couldn't believe it. They were so close to what they have needed the entire time... it was literally right in front of them. "Go on, Judith. We're listening," Gordon said intently.

I discovered it last year. When I sent you all the blueprints, I had actually seen some information and sheets detailing this experiment, but nothing was concrete yet. Then I overheard Breen before they tranquilized me. He confirmed to the combine that the experiment, codenamed "Cupcake" was a 'go' and that it was still on the Borealis.... But Breen was wrong. It's not on the Borealis anymore."

The crowd was stunned to hear this. The entire time, they've been thinking about finding the Borealis. Has this changed now? "Where is it? Don't tell me this is another needle in a frozen haystack..." Barney said.

"No. I know where it is."

"But what is 'it'"? Barney replied.

"Oh. Right. What Breen wanted on that ship was a weapon. This weapon was something that facilitated time travel and space travel."

"Tell us more," Gordon spoke.

"Bring me the computer," Mossman said as she motioned to a vortigaunt behind her. The vortigaunt brought up a large computer screen with a keypad. She had apparently uploaded information to the interface.

"Take a look at this. Here is the blueprint for it."

Mossman clicked some buttons and a large picture filled the screen along with a description. "This is a long range portal system. It magnifies a superfocused laser by using lenses, mirrors, and computer technology; then the system fires the laser from one of the systems on earth. With computer 3D universe coordinates and an integrated mapping system, it can search out any place in the universe and fire that superfine laser. This causes a portal to appear in the spot where the laser was fired, and it causes one to appear here on earth, from the designated tower that the one who fires chooses. Problem is, it warps the fabric of space-time so much, that gravity here on earth is made stronger in many places, and weakened on others. Do you understand how unstable that could make things?"

"Yes. It could destroy and disrupt the very center of the earth... but how accurate is it?" Alyx asked.

"Alarmingly, it's deathly accurate. Within millimeters, Alyx."

"That's frightening," Gordon interjected.

"Yes, it is. This makes universal travel a breeze. And if any other place gets a hold of this, aliens or who knows what could make their way onto earth. They never thought of these consequences."

Mossman shook her head. Everyone who was listening just sat there stunned. What an atrocious weapon that was... It was hard for them to even imagine if Breen had gotten a hold of it. All they knew was that hey had to find it. Even without Breen, there could still be a Combine uprising. And who was that man that had communicated with Gordon on so many occasions? Was he wanting this, too?

"Judith, do you know where it is exactly?" Griffith asked.

"I do. It's close. Very close, actually. You see, Aperture Science labs hadn't thought about how they were going to transport the Borealis safely. They loaded it on a boat, sent out some helicopters, and sent it into the Arctic. Not a good idea. The Borealis crashed a little ways off of this island, believe it or not. That's why it scared me; Breen was so close... he didn't know it was that close. Aperture Science went to try to retrieve the weapon, and never found it. They automatically assumed Breen had it. But he didn't. It was buried in the ice. I hacked into their systems and found the GPS tracker on it. It's in that ice."

This was a shocking revelation to them all. Mouths were open, Barney was on the edge of his seat, Griffith was pacing...

"It's simple. We MUST destroy it."

Gordon spoke these words with a great deal of gumption. He took a guess that he wasn't the only person who thought this. Griffith agreed loudly, and so did Barney. Alyx was thinking of her father and what he would have wanted. He would have used the technology... but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that if they used it, it would start most of this over again, and THEY would then be the tyrants who possessed such a strong armament.

"I agree," Alyx finally conceded.

"So do I, Judith. It's certainly what's best for the world and the universe as a whole. As certified doctors of science, I certainly believe that it's the best thing," doctors Kleiner and Wallace were in agreement as well.

"It's settled then," Gordon spoke. "Can we take care of this as soon as tomorrow?"

"It's certainly possible." Judith confirmed.

"Everyone, lets get a good night's rest. This is a task for tomorrow for sure. We'll decide how we'll handle it and it's disposal tomorrow. Off to bed with you!" Gordon was trying to perk everyone up after handling something as treacherous as they had just handled.

"Just like you, Gordon," Alyx said as she turned to walk out the door.

"Thank you, Judith," everyone said in unison.

"Goodnight," she spoke as they all walked out the door.

Some went left, some went right, but they were all going to bed. Slumbering was probably what they needed to clear their minds for tomorrow.

Griffith and Barney were going to room together, and, of course, Alyx and Gordon were going to share a room, if not a bed.

"Gordon, will you be ready for tomorrow?" Alyx asked Gordon as she sat on his cot.

"We'll see, Alyx. There is no way to know for sure what we'll encounter. I'll be there, for sure. Will you be there, Alyx? Will you be by my side?"

"Of course, Gordon. I wouldn't leave you for anything. I belong by your side, and it's by your side I'll stay."

Gordon was thrilled to hear this news. There was something he had been tossing around in his mind for quite some time. He didn't know how to say it. He didn't know how to ask. He had no idea where to start. Should I just come out with it? He would think to himself...

"Alyx, when this is all over, and we have a chance to rebuild again, what are your plans?"

Alyx turned to face him as he sat on the cot.

"Gordon, I have no idea. There's so many things to do, I... I hadn't really thought about it..."

"Alyx, would you start over... with me? Start a new life by my side, help people make new lives... start new lives of our own... together... Alyx, I've been thinking for a long time... Will you let me have you forever?"

He grabbed Alyx's hands in his own as he saw her eyes fill with tears. She didn't even see it coming.

"Gordon, I... Oh Gordon, of course I will! I would be so happy to be your bride... I can't think of anyone else I would rather--"

She couldn't speak anymore, for Gordon had leaned in and was kissing her rather intently. Their emotions were full of love, of care, of hope for a new beginning... Alyx ran her fingers through Gordon's hair as Gordon held her close.

Tomorrow was another day for them. As they closed this one, they didn't even care about what it held, or what would happen... all they knew was that something would happen, but also that no matter what, they would be together, and that they would last through any of it.

Across the hall, Barney and Griffith were sleeping soundly, as were the rest of the base.