Warning: I do not own Half Life or Portal except for the copies I own. It is owned by the Valve Corporation.

Half Life: A Grim Hope

Chapter 5: A New Dawn

Chell sat in a small chair in the inner bowls of Black Mesa east, she was leaning back into it, the wall bracing the chair behind her. She dipped a spoon in her little bowl of Jello (Or at least something that was gelatinous). She was told it was filled with it was full of vitamins and protein and all that good stuff. Still she was astonished to find something with less flavor then water. She spooned a bit of it and examined it. For no god damn reason there were some tiny black specs smaller then seeds. They truly seemed to have no mass at all. It was like looking dirty old glasses. God how could they call this lunch. Her careful examination was interrupted by a male voice from the other end of the room.

"Having fun there?" Chell looked up at the man, her old friend Skye sat there with a bowl nearly identical to hers. Filled with the same flavorless meal as hers. He had his back to the wall. He kept looking over at her with a smug grin on his face.

She smirked before taking a spoonful into her mouth. She wasn't wearing her orange jumpsuit much at all anymore. She had a nice old army jacket with a badge from the Dutch 5th Army on the side. Her jeans were more tattered in places but were supplemented by bandages. It was hidden by an old rock t-shirt (Some old band from Amsterdam from before the cascade. She had a Bandana in her hair splotched with oil from a recent project. She spoke back to Skye Macalister pointing a spoon at him some Gelatin still in her mouth, "Yesh as a matter of fach I am" she swallowed "What about you?"

Skye smiled in response holding a spoonful of the stuff up like it was some kind rare cuisine only for him "Couldn't be better" he smiled putting the stuff in his mouth, he wore a child like smile as if he had just crushed a sugar cube between his teeth.

Chell stirred the Gelatin in her bowl giving her an excuse to speak once again, she smiled over to her friend "You know, all the cool kids around here are scolding me for hanging out with you" she said feigning a valley girls accent she said bringing the spoon to her mouth.

The Scottish man laughed lifting his head into the air. When he calmed down he looked back at her with a inquisitive look in his eyes "Well then why are you still hanging out with me?" he asked truly curious.

"What? And suffer the horrible fate of hanging out with those idiots, why in the world would I subject myself to that?" she said a raising a chuckle from the both of them. She examined the thin plasma wall that separated the two of them, you could see through it but it still blurred the vision of the man on the other side of it. Skye had been locked up for a week now, four of those days she failed to visit him in his little cell, she was still unconscious from their little adventure through the air above City 17.

Skye saw her looking at the plasma more then him and smiled "Yea they sure figured out this jailing thing huh?" he said tapping his knuckles to the wall, immediately a wall turret retargeted itself at Skye. He calmly and slowly brought back his arm showing he meant no harm. "This is some tuff stuff I threw everything, and the kitchen sink at that thing it didn't even budge

"That's not how that old saying goes, I demand a better one from you" she said with a smile.

"It's not a saying, look" he thumbed over to a corner of the room where an old porcelain sink was sitting against a wall, the pipes that once held the sink were above it, ugly as hell.

"Well… that was a stupid thing to do" she mentioned spooning one of the few remaining bites of the mold that were left.

"Oh don't be so dramatic, the plumbing didn't work at all, not a damn drop" he said annoyed turning the bowl upside down above his mouth to get the last chunk of food left.

To be honest it all seemed like some gdream… wait no, not dream, the other thing, a nightmare. It was a shame she had to see the proof all around her that it was anything but a figment of her imagination. The starving men and women just sitting helpless waiting for their next bowl of thinned out soup. As if it would give them the strength to continue living on to the next day. If this was where the humans were free, she couldn't imagine what it was like in this City 17.

She finished eating her food as a door opened over to the right. It didn't open how normal doors opened, it looked like star trek opening to the right. In walked Alyx Vance, her one and only friend… who wasn't in jail anyways. Behind her were two tuff looking rebel soldiers looked menacing. She was almost sure that the rebels didn't have access to steroids, but states evidence A and B made the case awfully convincing.

Chell looked over at her friend with a slight depression in her look. She knew why the two men were there, they had brought Alyx along to help get her out of there. Alyx looked at her with pleading eyes; it was ridiculous the last few days, the two men having to carry her out to the hall, Chell putting up one hell of a fight for someone of her size. They didn't want her to spread what those men did to Skye, but all the evidence she needed was on Skye's bruised skin.

Alyx looked at her with pleading eyes to Alyx. She avoided eye contact with Skye, for the last 5 years he had become the boogie man of the rebellion. He was a totally different from what she imagined (at least after a firm punch from Chell); he had saved hers and Chell's life. Even though she feared him still, it hurt her to see him so painfully bruised and broken. Still she was there to get Chell out, so she had to focus. "Chell, we need to go now" She said nudging her head back to the door.

Chell looked at them with some defiance "Oh really? Do they need to use the room?" she asked smugly "What to tell me what for" the two lug heads looked at each other annoyed this was the 3rd day in a row she was stopping them.

Skye spoke up "Chell just go this time" Everyone looked to him rather surprised at him, stopping the one person attempting to stop his unavoidable beating "I appreciate it really, but it's enough that you come here every day to keep me company. It's ok really"

Chell looked at him with a sad look; Skye was like her link to the past, the small bit of familiar land in a strange world. She took his words to heart and nodded, it was a futile in the end it just made her feel good to do something. She got up and passed Chell, frustrated with how Skye had been treated "Lets go" she said moving past the mounds of meat claiming to be human. Alyx was close behind, but before the door once again slid shut she heard Skye's voice.

"So what should we talk about today hm? The last 3 years I don't remember or the first two years I still don't remember" with that little question the door slid shut. She looked over at Chell who seemed to look as if she was trying to keep himself calm. Alyx walked up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder "Chell…"

Chell looked back at her friend, "…Lets head back to the room ok?" Alyx nodded without questioning her. They walked through the walls mostly in silence. As they past any humans they seemed to sneer at Chell, they thought she should be locked up along with the Scottish demon. Only with Alyx's word was she trusted inside the base; still some spied on her, they weren't very good but I guess it's the thought that counts right? After using the elevator, going down several corridors and then up a flight of stairs they arrived at their little abode. For the time being Alyx had suggested that Chell live in her flat. Most of the time up to 6 people lived in a small area, little better then a cloths closet. Alyx had gotten a bigger one just above her father's lab. Most thought it was special privilege but really she used the room to meet with engineers to see what they can make to combat the combine. As they walked in Chell ran and turned back to land on her mattress putting her hands behind her head. She sighed into the open space looking into the cement ceiling. Alyx saw her knowing what was going through her head.

"Hey Chell, what was it like before the Cascade?" Alyx had noticed that whenever Chell was depressed in any way talking about the old world usually helped her get out of it... Besides Alyx liked hearing about it. No one would tell her what it was really like back then. Anyone who really knew what it was like at her age thought of her as a child (Well everyone but a creepy guy in Ravenholm). She really liked her fathers and Barney's stories but they tended to leave all the juicy details out. Mr. Kleiner was happy to share all the details of his life but it was rather boring.

Chell sat up looking over at Alyx with a smile slowly appearing on her face. She sat up against the wall "OK sure… what do you want to know?" she said happy to reminisce about happier times.

Alyx thought for a moment, she had learned a remarkable amount about Chell in such a short amount of time she liked hearing about her time at aperture, especially about Skye, he was crazy… well crazy in a fun way, not in the terrifying way she had previously known him. She also loved hearing about her crush, Rhys, whenever Alyx asked if she liked him, she would always deny it, it was hilarious "Well you just finished telling me that cafeteria incident… so what happened after that? Weren't you supposed to be out of there soon? Your contract was almost up" she said resting on her bed that was only slightly more elevated then Chell's.

"Well let me think…"

Chell was going down the halls arms full with blueprints. She was sweating in a near panic, Skye was walking with her down the halls. To her surprise it was pretty easy to get on friendly terms with the crazy bastard "Why the hell am I doing this again?" she said to her currently kilt wearing friend.

He looked at her with a small reassuring smile "Cause you want to keep working here and this interview could do it" he stated simply.

"Why in the world would I want to work in this hell hole? Hours suck, work sucks worse" she said bitterly

Skye looked over at her a raised brow. Then he smiled devilishly "Well… Maybe you looooove Rhys and if you leave, you may never see him again!"

At this point Alyx broke out laughing, to Chell's discomfort. Chell started blushing deeply muttering to herself "I knew I should have left that out"

Alyx smiled at her stopping her laughter in check "Ya and then?" she said with a smile on her face deciding to not point out the blush on her face knowing she would end the story.

What Chell Tells Alyx

Skye was laughing a broad laugh keeping his head up he avoided Chell's blood thirsty gaze. She punched him in the arm. Hard. It ended his laughter quickly "Ow… that hurt…" he said sulking a bit.

What Actually Happened

Chell blushed deeply looking to the ground not meeting Skye's gaze, she bit her lip a bit. Skye looked at her face, which was hidden at the moment by her black locks. Then she suddenly stopped. Skye looked back at her then heard her sniffle a bit "Oh… Chell I… I'm…" he said desperately trying to find words, he meant it as a joke not to actually worry her.

She shook her head and used her sleeve to rid her eyes of the tears that had been shed for a moment. "I'm fine… I'm fine" she said with a bit more confidence. She walked past Skye drawing ever closer to the Panel of Research and Development. She waited outside the door with Skye basically giving her encouragement for her meeting. She occasionally told him to shut up so she could hear what was going on inside. The only reason that Rhys wasn't with them giving her encouragement was that he was with the panel now talking about some anomaly that was happening with his programming. She listened closely at one point and could hear him, what sounded like screaming.

"We need to shut it down the program it's learning at a unprecedented pace!"

The voice of a old man who was on the panel sounded condescending "Mr. Galaway your telling me that you believe that you have created the worlds first working sentient AI, and you want us to delete it?".

"What? No what the hell is wrong with you people I have evidence that without any help this AI has gained access to the ventilation system all by itself"

The panel started looked at one another, looking unconvinced "Thankyou mister Galaway, we will be sure to make note of the nicer air conditioning"

"Thankyou… mister Galaway" they said dismissing him.

Chell could hear him approaching the door and she turned to Skye whispering panicly "Quickly talk to me about something" that was when Chell realized that he had been talking to her the entire time. In fact his mouth was open mid-sentence, she chuckled a little "Uh… right… you were saying…"

Skye looked annoyed at her then looked away "No"

"Come on!"

"No!"

"Come on just talk, nothing else"

"No"

"Don't be a jerk for once and help!"

"NO!"

Rhys had snuck up on them and was standing right in front of them "Well glad to see that you two arguing, must mean your not too nervous" he turned towards Chell "You ready to show what you've got lass?" he said with a smile

Chell smiled back at him picking up her blueprints from the chair next to her "You know it" she said confidence soaring since Rhys had entered the room. She stood up and layed a hand on the handle looking back at her friends. Skye was giving her a very animated double thumbs up and a wide smile. Rhys as normal was a bit more reserved but he gave her a smile and a nod as if to push her towards her future. With a smile she entered the room.

The room was surprising, she imagined that it was similar to being in the Supreme Court, if everything was pained white and made with smoothly curved metal. She walked up there was a stand to put up any papers she may need to show. Despite the companies high-tech image they preferred interviews to be similar to that from the 1800's. The men looked bored with her already. Between the nine of them there were seven who could claim to remember the Nazi's as a threat to their personal well being. The man in the center talked dryly she heard he was the Vice President of Aperture "Missis… Legends, you have asked for our time to consider you as a full time employee. Please show us what you describe as a new advancement of potable sentry technology"

The man was kind looking in comparison to the other men. Giving her the benefit of the doubt "Well as all of you… probably not know I work in the Sentry repair department. All the ones that I have encountered were fragile. If these are the same were selling to the government, then it's a mediocre product"

"MS. Legends, our sentries have rated higher in accuracy and sensor technologies then any other, even higher then the Builders League United. Please tell me what makes you think you can improve upon that?" the man was condescending and under whelmed.

"I plan on developing, this" she said posting up a blueprint next to a stylized picture. The picture was of an egg like device. There was a large infrared eye in the middle. Next to that was another picture was a similar one, but the sides seemed to have opened and two machine guns were firing outward from the egg like shell "This is made of a much more durable me…"

A few hours after the story. Over the coarse of the story Chell and Alyx had gotten more food for dinner, it was a small bowl of chili, a rarity apparently. It had a few pieces of meat and some beans, it was the most protein he had all week. At this point they were back in Alyx's flat, both in their respectful beds, Chell wasn't sure if it was really nighttime, being inside the complex did that, but she was tired and that was enough for her. She was lying in her bed looking at the ceiling; she was about to drift off into unconsciousness she heard a voice. "Hey Chell, you awake?" She knew it belonged to Alyx, so she turned her body towards her.

"Yea, sure, what is it"

"Just wanted you to know, I'm going on a basic delivery to Ravenholm, you've seemed bored the last couple of days; you want to come along?" she said with a smile.

Chell thought for a moment, she then smiled over at her and nodded "Yea, yea that sounds great Alyx" she said smiling back and a little bit excited to get out of the damn place.

Alyx felt bad for keeping her in the dark about some things so she thought she put out this "Hey Chell, do you have any questions about the world? I'll try to answer you as best I can"

Chell nodded nothing really coming to mind… Well there was one thing "Hey you know, Skye had been teasing me about something about us making out… do you know anything about that?"

Alyx seemed to immediately blush from shock of the question. She quickly shook her head no and turned around in the bed. Her voice was calm but was at a much higher pitch "I-I don't know, maybe he dreamed it, g-guys you know?"

"Yea…" Chell said nodding convinced since she couldn't see Alyx's blushing face

"G'night"

"Good night"

Chapter 5 End

End to Volume 1

And that is the end to saga one of Half Life: A Grim Hope. Hopefully you enjoyed it. Hope this chapter was better then my last one. Not very exciting but it seems like a good chapter regardless. Bonus points for anyone who caught the TF2 reference. Please Review.