(no subject)

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon knows the sound of those rotors. It's doubtful he'll forget it as long as he lives. Those are gunship rotors, at least one, possibly two. So he's understandably skittish as he hedges up to the mine exit and peers out. The all-too-familiar shape of a Strider is lumbering along an elevated roadway in the distance, followed by tiny moving specks that might be Overwatch or might be Elites, and that not-quite-British woman's voice echoes from speakers somewhere out of sight:

"All autonomous units: Accept mandatory sector assimilation. Coordinated constriction underway. Debride and cauterize. Entering phase nine, enhanced compliance. Deploy advisory control and oversight. Submit and be subsumed."

... this can't end well.

Comments

[vance_prime]

"I promised I wouldn't leave you," Alyx whispers. "Remember? That's what kept me going. Knowing you were waiting for me. That I had to keep that promise."

Out of the long blur of time between being struck by the Hunter and waking up in the mine shaft, that fact alone is crystal clear in her memory.

[acts_of_gord]

He remembers; he nods silently. That's not the kind of thing you forget.

"Thank you."

[vance_prime]

"Thank you. I wouldn't have been able to do it, without knowing that."

[acts_of_gord]

There's a long, shuddering breath from him at that. Then he nods, and does his best to sit up straight. "Those were a few hours I never want to repeat," he admits. "I don't think I ever want to see an antlion again..."

It occurs to him, as he looks out at the engine again, that he's lucky he can even see right now.

"Um. Could you do me a favor?" he asks, and sheepishly takes off his glasses. "I don't have anything to clean these with."

[vance_prime]

Alyx just chuckles softly and takes Gordon's glasses, wrapping the bottom hem of her sweatshirt around the lenses in an effort to get the worst of the muck off. (She's going to have to throw this shirt out once she gets to White Forest, she thinks vaguely. The back is stiff with dried blood, and the front is getting covered in antlion guts. That crap does not wash out.)

[acts_of_gord]

"Thanks."

He rubs at his face with both hands for a moment. Eventually, voice muffled somewhat by his fingers, he says, "I should get that tattooed across the back of my hand. Maybe then I won't forget it."

[vance_prime]

Blink. Blink.

"Um. What--? What d'you mean?"

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon's mouth twitches in an approximation of a rueful smile; he's a little too wrung out right now for the full deal. "I keep waiting for the moment you'll wake up and think 'maybe this really is overrated after all', or 'what am I doing, latching onto my first boyfriend this tightly when there might be others-'" He waves a hand; he's not good with words under the best of circumstances, and this is not the best of circumstances. But he's trying, which is... more than usual, anyway.

[vance_prime]

The look on Alyx's face is one of utter bafflement. "What makes you think I'm going to do that?"

[acts_of_gord]

"I'm not good with women." He says it simply, with the same air of acceptance of fact he would give to stating Avogadro's number. "And you've never had anything like this before. You grew up without it even happening in the world around you. It'd be easy for somebody in that situation to say 'what's all the fuss about?' and go back to not even thinking about it. Or to realize 'this is just one data point, and I'm going to need to gather a whole lot more before I decide the full implications of the set'."

[vance_prime]

Alyx lets out a huff of incredulous laughter. "You make it sound like I planned to fall in love with you!"

[acts_of_gord]

"Stupid. I know." He gives another tired almost-smile. "I'm sorry."

[vance_prime]

Alyx rests her both her hands on his shoulders. "Gordon, I love you. All of you, not just the parts I heard about before I met you. And I--" Her voice catches a little. "...I'm just... constantly amazed that you love me back. Out of all the people in the world... you picked me."

[acts_of_gord]

"You treat me like a human being," Gordon says simply. "Not a legend, or a suit and a crowbar, or- whatever. And you're intelligent, and attractive, and scientifically minded, and compassionate, and- I don't know, all kinds of things. Why shouldn't I?"

[vance_prime]

Her smile turns wry. "Do we really need to have the 'you could have women lining up to sleep with you' conversation again?"

[acts_of_gord]

"No, I think I'm good. And you're the only woman I'm interested in sleeping with, anyway." He rubs his face again. "We can hash it out later, though. I believe we've got a base to get to. Can I have my glasses back?"

[vance_prime]

--oh, right. They're still sitting in her lap; she'd forgotten about them completely. She hands them over, looking a little sheepish.

[acts_of_gord]

"Thanks," Gordon says, sliding them back into place. "Now, let's go find that detour. You'll have to point me in the right direction..."