Chapter Text
Retiring to the countryside at the ripe age of 28 was not Gordon Freeman’s original plan in life. He never thought he would retire, in fact. It wasn’t exactly his choice in the end.
Working for Aperature was a dream come true in his field. Unsurprisingly, it was rather hard to find a job even with a PHD, let alone a job that involved said PHD. He worked there happily for years before there was an incident. He hated that they called it that. An ‘incident’. As if it were some small issue. Gordon lost his fucking hand because the safety measures set in place were faulty. Once he was out of the hospital, Aperature offered him a state of the art prosthetic and a large sum of hush money, but under one condition. He had to retire.
Of course Gordon took it. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew how hard it was for disabled people to find well paying jobs, and his field of work was no different. So yeah, he took Aperature’s dirty money and the prosthetic and moved the fuck away from there.
He found a nice little house a few states over, up in rural northern Nevada, right at the foot of the Rubies. It was much colder than New Mexico, but still had nice warm summers. His house was cozy, two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and it had an amazing view of the mountains so close. No neighbors for miles, and a half an hour drive to reach the nearest grocery store.
The property was much bigger than anything Gordon had previously owned. A huge yard marked by cattle fence at its edges, beyond that was an irrigation stream. Tall wild desert grass and purple iris flowers grew naturally across the expanse of his property. Near the house was a small patch of lawn, but Joshua much preferred the wild area to play in when he was there for his two weeks, chasing grasshoppers and big tiger swallowtail butterflies that loved the tall purple flowers.
It was damn picturesque. And a surprisingly low price too. Maybe it was because of the remote area, but Gordon wasn’t complaining.
It was very different from what Gordon was used to, but he found that it was a welcome change. Whenever Joshua came to visit, they would happily explore the area together. Joshua delighted in the new location, especially since his other parent lived in the city, so this was all so new to the rambunctious eight-year-old.
Taking up hiking in the mountains was originally Joshua’s idea. Gordon was skeptical at first, unsure how much he’d enjoy getting all sweaty in the wilderness, but was happy to indulge his son. For their first hike he drove to a nearby canyon that was a bit of a tourist spot. It had well-maintained hiking trails according to the internet.
It quickly became apparent to Gordon that hiking was the shit . He didn’t think he could enjoy ‘walking but somewhat dangerous’ so much, but with the breathtaking scenery, the clean smells, and Joshua’s adorable exuberance, the man fell in love.
Whenever Josh came to visit, they always returned to the canyon for some easy trails, but on the days that Gordon was alone and bored, he took to exploring the mountain directly behind his little house. The trails there were definitely less trodden, but that was half the fun. Eventually once Gordon felt he was experienced enough, he tried off-trail hiking.
He knew it was dangerous, and he’d even heard stories of people getting lost and never being found in these mountains, but the idea of forging his own path and finding those hidden gems up where few have gone before thrilled Gordon.
He successfully and safely explored the world behind his house for a little over a year.
Then he got lost.
Well, more like stranded.
In Gordon’s defense, the forecast said nothing about rain, let alone a thunderstorm.
He was nearly to the peak of the shorter mountain closest to his house when it started to pour. Walking on slick rocks was a death wish, so he immediately went looking for shelter. Luckily, he quickly found an outcropping of rock he hunkered down under. Just in time, too, because the next moment the sky lit up with a flash of lightning. God, the worst place to be during a thunderstorm was on top of a mountain.
Gordon breathed a sigh of relief. He was fine, he had shelter. He could wait out the storm. If his phone weren’t dead he’d call for help- the mountains behind his house had surprisingly good cell service- but as luck would have it, the thing was dead. That was fine. This wasn’t the first storm he’d had to wait out.
Though it is the first one he’s had to endure with lightning so close...
As if reading his mind, a bolt of white hot electricity struck a mere few yards from where Gordon sat huddled, followed by a deafening roll of thunder.
“Holy- SHIT !” Gordon shrieked, scrambling back and pressing himself as far into his little hidey hole as he could. Which wasn’t much. He was a big guy, after all.
Oh fuck, he probably shouldn’t move, actually. He didn’t know if that strike was close enough to cause a ground current. Well, he wasn’t dead even after shifting positions, so hopefully he was in the clear. At least it wasn’t likely for another strike close by-
Another deafening BOOM shook the earth, and Gordon choked out a curse as the sound of thunder nearly drowned out the distinctive clatter of rock. He frantically scrambled out of his little shelter moments before the whole thing crumbled into a heap of boulders. The man was now exposed to the elements, but at least he wasn’t a goddamn pancake.
“Holy… fuck .” Gordon gasped, chest heaving for breath and adrenaline pumping through his veins.
How many times was he going to brush death today?! He just wanted a nice relaxing hike!
Gordon cast his gaze around for more shelter, but it seemed that the sun was setting because it was much darker than it was before the storm came in. He could hardly see two feet in front of his face, it was raining so hard. The occasional flashes of lighting offered momentary clarity, but they were not comforting in the slightest. Gordon had metal in his backpack. He was a walking lightning rod out here. Not to mention that this area was unfamiliar to him, and with visibility so low he could easily walk right off a cliff.
Despite that, he knew his best option was to find more shelter. He’d have to tread carefully.
Shuffling awkwardly along, feeling for loose rocks with his feet and keeping himself steady with his hiking stick, Gordon carefully made his way forward. He nearly ate shit once or twice, but he soon came to a rock face that somewhat blocked the rain, and he began to walk along it, hoping to find an overhang or even a cave. Something sturdy.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, Gordon saw a figure in the distance, revealed by a flash of lighting.
Startled, the man whipped around and stared into the darkness, unsure if what he saw was real or not.
The next flash illuminated the area where he thought he saw the figure, but there was nothing there.
Breathing a shaky sigh, somehow both disappointed and relieved, Gordon pressed forward.
“Fuckin- losing my mind out here. Gotta get off this damn mountain before I go crazy.” Gordon muttered to himself as he shuffled along the rock face.
Then-
“Yo, you’re not supposed to be here.”
Gordon shrieked and stumbled. His heart dropped as his foot landed on air, and he pitched forward into nothing. He caught a glimpse of a massive shape behind the curtain of rain just before his world went black.
