Chapter Text
There was an airport in Las Cruces, not at all a short skip away from work, but it worked well enough for whenever Colette made her way back home. It was several years since she'd last had the pleasure, even then, she knew the road just like the back of her hand. She knew especially now that going south on Route 70, the stretch between there and Alamogordo, always proved to be the worst of the drive. The view of the mountains up north was nothing short of breathtaking, but a nice view in the distance could only do so much for a practically boiling desert road. At night it was a different story entirely.
Once anyone gets over the fear of running out of gas or breaking down in the middle of a lightless desert night, you'd be able to look up and see an unpolluted sky shining brighter than you could ever imagine. It certainly was the case for Colette once where she had to catch a flight at 4 am. Stopping for a moment to take it all in for what she thought was a moment. Only to spend 20 minutes gawking at the sight and expose the airport to the sight of a sleep-deprived woman running madly throughout the airport. She smiled at the thought and yawned, hoping she could show Gina sometime.
A rumbling shook Dylan and sounded loudly within. Gina turned to look at Colette as she opened her eyes wide and got herself back onto the middle of the road. She shot her partner in the passenger seat a lazy smile, getting a much more awkward upward turn of her lips in response.
"Are you okay to drive Colette?"
"I don't know what would possibly make you think otherwise!" Her face nearly started to crease in worry, but the most wonderful sound in the world eased her back down as Gina snorted with a little laugh. "I should be good to keep it up, I just got a little distracted. Again."
"Found a particularly interesting cactus again, did you?" She teased looking back out the window.
"Okay, you gotta admit that last cactus I swerved from was actually pretty neat." It stood tall and proud among the other desert shrubbery, a beautiful pink flower atop it. Thinking back on it, Colette started to drift once again. She straightened herself out and drove a little faster while moving a hand to the center console. "Maybe some tunes can get me focused..."
"Are you sure we can get a signal out here-?" A norteno song played out from speakers all around almost in spite of Gina.
Colette turned the nob and the song radio became station after station of static. She almost made her way back to the Mexican music before she landed on the seemingly only other station they could get. It played just the end of a song by the time they tuned in. Playing the next few notes of the next one just before:
"Sorry to cut your listening short here on 89.5, just wanna make sure everyone is staying safe out there! There've been sightings of some seriously nasty fire out here in southern New Mexico, sending folks due east of white sands in quite the frenzy, especially after reports of some extremely loud BOOM!" Colette's hand retracted from the console as her stomach dropped. "And in case you haven't heard it yet, I'll pass it along. To those in the east and southeast of Albuquerque, an evacuation order had been called due to 'harmful air quality'. Crazy things these days, lemme tell ya... And finally-" Gina turned the dial and the norteno played once again.
They sat in silence for a time until Gina reached and put a hand over Colettes, flipping it over so that she could interlock their fingers.
"What's our plan?" She started to rub circles on her hand with her thumb.
"Las Cruces, stay there for a while."
"I...No. I know that part, I mean after that. After all of everything else, can we just go home? Is that in our cards?" Colette squeezed her hand and scrunched her face together. Gina caught on to how long her eyes stayed closed.
"Sometimes we have really good cards, so I'd think so..." A yawn accentuated the end of her phrase. "It's not a terribly long way to Cali, just a state away by now." She huffed as though she were a sad grizzly bear, "No doubt Dylan can get us there, but going East, I don't know about that one."
"You want to take me home?" Gina asked.
"Well, yeah, I think you've gone far beyond earning that."
"You have as well." She squeezed back. "Maybe we can figure out how to get you home too?" Colette hummed in response, and out of the corner of her eyes Gina could see her head dip for a moment before slinging back up with a chuckle.
"That eager to get rid of me?" Gina laughed this time.
"Not even close."
"Good, because-" She stopped herself as her words slowed to a snail's pace. "I would like to stick by you a while longer. If we're laying low for a little while, why not do it together right?" Her head had never felt so heavy before, the sensation spreading then to her arms and down her back, where her pain dulled now to this hot pressure. "I'd also like to think that second date is also in store sooner rather than later. What do you think?"
Silence ensued, Gina shifted her weight to sink into the seat and stare back out the window. Their hands stayed intertwined between them just as firm as when it started. Perhaps Colette would've taken the silence as a hint of something bad, but as she stared ahead, dread filled her mind as it seemed the road was only getting longer and longer. Stretching incredibly thin out into the horizon, the town had started coming into view moments ago but it now seemed so impossible.
"Maybe after we settled for a bit, my parents might let us stay in the meantime," Gina started, unaware her words had started to fall on deaf ears as Colette's hand on the wheel loosened. "But, I think I'd really like that, Colette."
Another song began, Colette didn't have the best grasp of Spanish but she could pick out that it was a story of a man who fell in love with a woman who only appeared at night. The voice on the radio lamenting something about how he couldn't have her meet his mother. It was a little silly, but more than that just sounding so sad. Slow low and heavy belts, enough to melt any heart, Colette thought, unable to understand much more of the lyrics.
"Colette?"
"Hmmm?"
"Have you ever driven this far out?"
"Oh, probably dozens of times by now. There's an airport..." A different song, the tempo a bit faster now something easier to dance to.
She thought back to a different time, the first time she'd seen it when this very road was dark and devoid of the guidance of streetlamps. After four delays of her plane, the flight was canceled and at that point, there was no point in leaving as her scheduled leave was thrown entirely off. Colette drove angrily that night just until she stopped and caught a glimpse of the sky above. Almost enough light to where she wouldn't have even needed her car's headlamps.
"It was nighttime, no streetlamps this far, out here you could see the stars. Never got to see them like I did then." She shook her head, feeling it begin to dip as her words slowed. "Have you ever seen them?"
"I don't- didn't" Gina corrected herself "leave Black Mesa very much. It was only ever day when I did."
She imagined sitting beside her with maybe a beer in hand or passing a wine bottle between the both of them, sitting atop Dylan maybe and their heads pointed towards the dark starry firmament of night. "I think you'd love it..." Colette trailed off as the image of Gina under the stars flooded her mind.
Another song played, and then another and another. With every one that came on the little Spanish she knew proved less and less helpful. It went on for a while, to the point where she couldn't even make out instruments for that matter. Just the air of it all encompassing every single part of her. A peaceful song here, another few sad ones there, something sounding hopeful and yearning next. For a moment she could've sworn she heard her own name within the music. Calling to her almost as if all other noise seemed to just go away. A hand came to her shoulder and shook her hard.
She blinked and looked to the passenger seat only to see that the hand was Gina's. The other woman was now upright and leaning her way, her mouth moved and her eyes along with it. Colette was never the best at reading lips, only finding herself stuck now as all she could hear was the music, and not a sound came from Gina. After one last blink, as the world slowed down, she watched as Gina looked back out the windshield and without any warning dove over Colette, taking the wheel in both hands.
The world spun, gravity gaining the power to press either of them to Colette's side of the car. Taking the slightest bit of control over herself again, she managed to look out the front just in time to see the narrowest miss of an oncoming pickup truck as Dylan swerved onto the sand divider between the lanes. Dust and sand flew into the air creating a cloud of it all around the car. Finally, Colette heard something else now, it was nothing but the heightened breathing of Gina in front of her and her own booming heartbeat in her ears. The stars in her head became clear as day in her eyes.
She wondered if Gina wanted to see them too.
Colette woke in nothing but her underwear and fresher bandages, tucked carefully into a large bed. Cold air, or at least cooler than outside, greeted her refreshingly. A welcome sensation as everything else about her felt like she'd been asleep for the last twenty years. Despite how silly it felt, she moved her hand to the top of her head for a moment, pulling down a lock of her hair in front of her eyes. Meeting with her usual brown strands to confirm that it wasn't indeed that long of a coma, if a coma at all, sighing in relief afterward.
Lifting her head, bits and pieces began to flood back to her. Much of it was a blur, but she could at least make out the quaint little motel painted in this horrendous chipping pink paint. The sight was heavenly after however much longer she forced herself to drive for. Signing in as Gina practically held her up, leaning on her the whole time as she led her into their little room. A quaint dwelling for the time that is, somehow managing to fit two beds, a television, and its stand, with a mini-fridge to the side. To the corner of the room a desk, atop it were the plastic bags from the gas station as well as her clothes, she remembers taking them off herself, complaining about how they must have been a biohazard at this point. Then nothing else, not even how the articles had ended up so neatly folded.
Gina no doubt, she thought. Putting a hand firmly down on the bed on either side of her, she pushed and gently rose until she was sitting up. An involuntary hiss came out as this searing pain erupted from her back.
"Son of a bitch!" She breathed low and slow, hoping it would help at all but to no avail. On her right side, she lowered herself back down, partially propped up on her arm.
Colette took one hand and rubbed at her eyes, catching sight of a bedstand to the left of the bed. A lamp, an alarm clock reading 06:27, a plastic cup full of water, and a note. She scooted closer to it, taking the paper in her hand, and smiling at the familiar handwriting.
Sorry for leaving you alone
Went to shop for things we need
Be back asap. Drink water
eat some snacks and please rest
The water somehow tasted stale, a bit metallic, and nowhere near cold. Not at all appetizing but Colette couldn't help but just finish it all without a break. Still, with a dry sensation in her throat, she tried again to get up. Taking it much slower, relying on her legs doing all the heavy lifting rather than her arms, still it wasn't enough to stop the burning. Only through groaning and cursing the whole way up that she manages to stand despite it all. In one hand she held onto the cup and the other reaching to push against a wall for support as she made her way to what could only be the bathroom.
A stench of heavy cleaning chemicals flooded her nose. Adjusting to it nearly made her gag as she propped herself over the sink and turned on the spout. She put a finger under the running water to feel when it got to its coldest, placing the cup underneath the stream. Colette took her time to drink it down before repeating the process again and again. After the last cup, she looked dead-on ahead where a mirror was hung against the tiled wall.
Green eyes were bloodshot, heavy bags underneath, the sweat on the skin making a slightly oily sheen, hair an absolute bird's nest, purple bruises dotting her body below. The skin of her arm stuck to her torso in some places as she moved to take note of some of the worst bruises. Some time ago she was gorgeous, handsome as even Gina had said so herself. The sight before her felt as farthest from it as anything could be. She made a cup with her hand, put it under the water, and washed her face. Colette let her hands linger on either side of her cheeks and closed her eyes, cool water dripping down her face and neck. Another ache burnt across her back, her whole face wincing behind her hands.
A ringing began emanating from the back of her brain. Though the pitch wasn't unbearably high it was of all things heavy, filling her ears as though it were water. Pressure built within the canals and she could feel something pulling her head downward. Snapping her head back up, and taking her hands away, that was when the ringing pulsed in waves bouncing back and forth inside her skull. Breathing through her mouth, gripping the edge of the counter beside the sink as her head spins fast.
Finally, she opens her eyes only to find that it isn't all that different than when they were closed. It's dark, she rubs her eyes hoping to gain some light back, glad to see herself appear in the mirror. The last thing she needed right now was some brain damage from hitting her head on something in a dingy motel bathroom.
Relief only being momentary however as just herself in the reflection became all she could see. As though suspended in some void with naught but a mirror to convey her visage back at herself against a black nothing. Here, her body began to settle, and the pain reduced far beyond the point of detection until she felt as nothing as the world around her. Looking again in the mirror, Colette decided this must be some sort of dream. It was confirmed once she saw another figure alongside her reflection, standing starkly against the black.
Tall, slender, incredibly pale, dressed in a blue suit, a suitcase held firmly in his hand, too far yet to make out his face, and standing perfectly still as if he were made to be the embodiment of a long rectangle. He was familiar in a way that she couldn't quite place. When Colette turned to face him, all she saw was the vast nothing.
"Hello?" There was no echo nor scale to her voice. Boundaries are simply nonexistent to bounce the noise off of. If any of it was real perhaps Gina would have a field day in a place like this, reminiscent of space without the stars.
Colette turned back around getting uneasy staring out where no light reflected. But the mirror no longer held her within.
"Long, time-" The man swallowed, his gaze locked in on her without entirely looking focused at all. "No see Doctor Green." His lips curved upwards into something nearly a smile. It took him a solid several seconds to do so. Then it fell instantly. "It's been such a long time."
"Have we met before?" Why not humor the creepy dream man, it wasn't like she had much better to do, not even finding herself to care she was close to naked before him.
"You wouldn't remember but. Yes, we have made acquaintance ." There was something about his voice, one in part where he struggled to have it leave his throat and another for the fact of his lack of any sort of flow. "Nonetheless I am here to inform you that the terms of our agreement have changed. My employers desired these changes. But there are some terms you still must uphold despite the change."
"No offense but you seem the type of guy I should get in contact with a lawyer before I talk with you any longer." She commented, stepping toward him. Dark black hairs stood on edge atop his head, she was surprised she could even make them out against nothing. "Since this is my dream why don't we have you loosen up a bit, you know?" Colette reached out to pat down his hair, yet her fingertips reached nothing, he was further away than before.
"Where are you, Doctor Green?"
"I'm dreaming on a bathroom floor no doubt. I hope I didn't hit my head on the way down, I have enough bruises..."
"Look again." The surroundings went red, the walls and floors homogenous in color and this fleshy texture. Air entered her body weighing heavier than normal, thicker too, and it was hot. Oddly enough her body felt lighter than it ever had before. "Where are you, Doctor Green?"
She blinked and studied around a bit further, taking a step and not hearing her bare foot squish down on this alien ground. Looking down only to see herself clad once more in the maroon HEV suit. In some weird way, she almost missed it.
Looking back up, Colette spotted something up ahead. At this distance, a heap of tan metal shapes surrounded by these two living extensions protruding from the ground, emitting light at their ends. Taking steps closer it became clearer that this wasn't just some haphazardly thrown-together heap, its shape was deliberate, nearly human. Dark metal in the shape of arms and legs, a dark grey in some places, another HEV suit.
"Gina?" The head was obscured from the angle she approached it, but the suit was undeniably hers. "Gina!" Colette came to a crouch before her, finally seeing her face. Without a helmet her pale face was bare, her hair a mess, eyes wide open, and her mouth slightly agape, some amount of blood had spilled from it. "No, no no no no no..." She turned her over horrified at how limp the body was. Digging her hands under her, one at her head the other at her waist Colette held her up. The body without any resistance felt heavier than anything she'd ever lifted before.
From somewhere behind her. "Just like the first time, you are on the bench, suspended, and Doctor Cross is here. Or was. Whichever way you may put it. You wanted to stop her."
"I did stop her..." Whatever this was couldn't be Gina, Colette decided, still she gently dropped it back to the ground and turned away. Bile rose in her throat. "She's with me now, at the store, but we're sticking together. This isn't real."
"You as an asset are no longer required to be kept under such restrictive bonds Doctor Green. Agreements must be honored, so I put you back where I found you." The body dissipates before her, becoming nothing as though it were never there. "That is all the honor that is allowed afforded to you, but you can lose honor too, don't you agree?"
In her vision walked in two blue pant legs, stiff and perfectly parallel to one another, pristine and without wrinkle. Black rounded leather dress shoes in similar condition save for a single scuff on the tip of his left shoe. Colette can never remember being able to pick up on such minuscule details within a dream. She stood up, looking at the man in his, she wanted to say blue, eyes. She can't remember them being blue before. Maybe a brown, hazel to be stretching it but not this pale blue. Blue like...
He affords himself a single chuckle. "Does the color suit me? I thought you may listen better if I wore it, I hope I wear it well." No doubt they were Gina's eyes.
"Those aren't yours!" Colette gets into his face, hoping the suit and her resolve were enough to knock him down a peg. "This isn't your dream, it's mine! I don't know where this is and I sure as shit don't know who you are either. Now shut the hell up so I can rest with some goddamned peace."
"Denying your purpose will do you no favors in the long run." The man blinks and his eyes change again, this time a brilliant almost glowing teal. Otherwise, he stands unmoved. Colette clenches her fists. "You are attached to Miss Cross. Though my employers refuse to see an appropriate application of her, I can recognize that she may be the very thing required to remind you to work to the best of your ability. You've done well enough so far, make it so that I am not proven wrong Miss Green." He brings a hand up to adjust his tie as if it needed the nudging to make it center. "Such a shame your Hazard suit was damaged. So incredibly useful those things are."
A door of pure white appears behind him. As though his body was programmed with the sole purpose of walking through that doorway, his legs obey mechanically. Once past the threshold it disappears with him inside, and so does the world around her. Until once again she stands alone in the motel bathroom.