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The situation that Gordon Freeman was in at this exact moment of time was thoroughly improbable. There was absolutely nothing that made any kind of sense about the day (week? Month? At this point he wouldn’t be surprised if it’d actually been several years since he had seen any kind of normalcy) that he just had.
And how was he spending his first day back? Why, he was at a fucking Chuck E. Cheese of course.
Now, objectively, there was nothing wrong with that. If it’d just been another day, a completely normal day with his son Joshua, then things would be fine. Joshua might still be a bit young for a restaurant/entertainment center such as this one, but at the very least, he would’ve had a good time.
Instead of that, however, he was brought against his will to this Chuck E. Cheese that he had never been to before to celebrate the birthday of his somewhat strange and eccentric (yet, Gordon had to admit, very kind and helpful) coworker/new friend.
Now, Gordon probably wouldn’t have a problem with attending the birthday party of a new friend like Tommy. That is, if he hadn’t been trapped inside of this goddamn HEV suit for god knows how long, surviving on a diet of entirely soda for an amount of time where one should definitely not just be drinking that stuff.
And… god. That absolutely insane final battle against that goddamn beautifully confusing security guard… he had barely recovered from that. He was exhausted in a way that he had never been before.
But. Maybe none of that mattered now.
The party had ended a while ago, the pizza long since eaten by the Science Team (and Sunkist). Gordon was pretty sure he saw Mr. Coolatta take a slice too. After everyone was thoroughly birthday bashed, somehow Dr. Coomer found the way to access the roof of the Chuck E. Cheese and herded the team (and Sunkist) up the ladder in the back. Probably for the best, Gordon thought. If he was being honest, there was something oddly unsettling about this particular building.
And now, stolen sodas from the kitchen in hand, all that was left to do was sit back on some old beach towels that someone (who? Didn’t matter) got from somewhere (where? Also didn’t matter). It was kind of surreal, watching fluffy clouds drift by, stained pink by the setting sun. The sky behind them was a deep, endless, suffocating blue. It was a strange feeling, living as if nothing had happened after they had probably just saved the entire world.
Gordon lifted his gloved hands to his face, examining them carefully. He still wasn’t sure how his missing one was replaced, but no one seemed to have anything to say about it. He might as well have just never lost it to begin with. He moved each of his fingers, examining each joint. It was incredible. Maybe he’d been losing his mind this whole time and had never lost it to begin with. Maybe all of this was a dream, except for right now which was CLEARLY an after-work trip to Chuck E. Cheese with some work buddies which is totally NORMAL and FINE.
He let out an exhausted chuckle. Oh, how he wished that were true. He knew something else was at play, something far more complex. But it was way too early (late?) in the game to start questioning these things (and Gordon was much too sober).
He relaxed into the roof underneath him, and it finally sank in how tired he was. He felt like if he didn’t keep holding on, he’d disintegrate into dust from the sheer amount of stress that the last week or so had inflicted on him.
But, he held on anyway.
He started to tune back into the world around him, and he heard Tommy, Dr. Coomer and Bubby engaging in an incredibly heated discussion about Super Monkey Ball.
Jeez.
His eyes began to drift shut once again, but then he heard the conversation shift.
“So… About that Benrey fellow,” Bubby muttered in a distant voice.
“What about him?” Dr. Coomer was sitting upright now, looking at Bubby with a focused expression.
Tommy was strangely quiet, although he still appeared to be listening to the conversation.
“I have to admit, I don’t think he’s really gone. I know he’s like… Not here. But I highly doubt that he has been “dealt with” as they say.”
Tommy finally chimed in. “Oh, definitely not. Benrey is super powerful, I don’t really remember how they made him, but it took a long time.”
He ran his fingers through Sunkist’s golden fur before continuing. “I’m not really sure what he is, to be honest.”
Gordon felt his stomach drop into the center of the earth. All of that effort, and it’s possible that Benrey wasn’t even gone? He swallowed thickly, feeling a headache begin to form in the center of his head. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the nipping fear that prickled in his stomach. He pursed his lips and exhaled sharply.
And just then, Gordon heard the last voice that he wanted to hear.
“Hey, what’s up.”
In a deep, monotone voice, Gordon heard from somewhere nearby that he was actually here. He was always here.
Benrey could never fucking be defeated, could he?
Gordon shot up, scrambling to meet Benrey’s eyes, and he did. Benrey was standing a few feet away, hands clasped behind his back. Behind the stoic facial expression that he usually wore, there was a mischievous glimmer in his dark eyes that Gordon had come to definitely DESPISE (and not have a weird sort of fondness for that he kept hidden beneath…absolutely everything). In that moment, the corner of Benrey’s mouth twitched into a smirk.
Gordon sputtered, unsure of what to say. Was there anything to say? He felt a whole host of emotions, from shock to embarrassment to…relief? A whole lot of nonsense, really.
“Dude, I said something, are you gonna say anything back?”
Um.
“Uh… How… how did you get here?”
“I walked. Same as you guys, right?”
“...No?”
Benrey was looking off at the setting sun before looking back to Gordon, seemingly unaware of what he had just said. He simply shrugged and looked back at the sunset.
Gordon decided that it would be kind of unfortunate to miss the first sunset since he escaped Black Mesa, and then of course Xen. He hobbled up onto the ledge that the others were seated on, muscles aching from the week-long journey. But as he gazed up at the golden-blue sky, every ounce of pain vanished instantly.
He didn’t know how long he spent staring at the sky, admiring every golden shimmer and deep purple and soft pink there was in what appeared to be the best sunset that Gordon had ever seen in his life.
It wasn’t until Gordon broke free from his trance to notice something funny and also kind of unnerving.
Benrey was only a few inches from Gordon’s face, his eyes desperately focused on Gordon’s features.
“...Benrey? What are you doing? Y-you ever heard of personal space before?” Gordon hated to admit it, but he could feel his face warming up a bit.
“The view is beautiful, man.”
After a few seconds of confusion, he got what he meant. Gordon shoved Benrey (not very hard, admittedly) back a bit,
“You freaking…!! Goober!!”
Benrey laughed deeply. “‘Goober’? Is that all you got, Gordon…Dumdum?”
“Now THAT is your worst nickname yet, did you even try?” Gordon couldn’t stop giggling at this point, in spite of himself.
“I’m naturally a genius, haven’t you heard? No need to ‘try’, or whatever. Gordon…Cuteman.”
“Are you serious? Wh-where do you- how-” Gordon couldn’t even manage a sentence through his giggling.
As Gordon looked around, he could tell that none of the other members of the Science Team seemed to care whether or not Benrey was back, just that he seemed to be on his best behavior and wasn’t intent on causing any harm to any of them.
Gordon decided to indulge in what he secretly always wished would happen. Maybe they could all be kinda sorta friends after all.