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“AH-!”
Felix bent backwards, now standing on his tippy toes as his arms wiggled to keep him in place.
“W-What the hell, man?! Watch where you’re aiming!”
Obviously, the little metrocop did not give a single shit and a half of what Felix was saying, and proceeded to reload his gun. Felix sucked in a breath of air through his teeth and dove to the right, hiding behind a wall.
Right now, lovely Felix Freemind was starting his new reputation as a fugitive to law! This new and exciting promotion so far included trudging through cramped railways, getting shot at by police, doing parkour over broken walkways, getting shot at by police, maneuvering around some nasty ruins to get away from the police, and getting shot at by the police! At first, there were only a couple of those “civil protection officers” on his tail, but he was able to outrun them and get to cover quickly enough. Now, about ten minutes later, he was starting to gain quite the following. Felix wasn’t sure how long he could keep outrunning them, so he pressed on after a moment of catching his breath.
Those god-damned metrocops were on a building about a road’s length away from the ruins of the one Felix stood on, and any chance they got, they would shoot anything and everything they saw move. Their aim was terrible, sure, but Felix knew well and good from his lovely time at Black Mesa that it only took one stray bullet to give you a limp for the rest of your life.
“God! How am I supposed to get around this..?”
Felix wondered aloud, as he usually did.
“If I could get to the ground, I think that’d be a lot easier in terms of running. They probably wouldn’t expect that anyways! They’re all stuck on that rooftop! So I could just book it outta here!”
Felix peaked around the wall, a bullet instantaneously whizzing past his nose. He quickly retreated.
“Alright.. bad idea number fifty in the last hour that I’ve been set loose. Here we go.”
Felix took a deep breath, and without really thinking about how to get to this so-called “ground”, he zoomed to another wall of cover, starting to zig-zag his way across the roof. He came to a sort of clearing, spotting a doorway with some weak looking planks boarding it up.
“No, that won’t do..”
Felix instinctively grabbed the crowbar he had holstered on the suit, casting a quick glance to the direction the cops were in. He was covered, so he went right into cracking those boards in half with his brute masculine strength.
Once the boards were down and out of his way, Felix bolted to the other end of the roof, entering a small alleyway still suspended above ground. The only cover he had was a metal wire fence, so he really picked up the pace, running until he hit a drop-off in the floor.
“Ah, shit!”
He gazed down about ten feet at the train tracks below, feeling the air of several angry bullets trying to ruin his life.
“Shit shit shit, god, uh, okay! No! It’s okay! Just jump! Just jump, you asshole!!”
Felix gritted his teeth, slid with his foot first, and landed on the ground below with a nice loud CRUNCH .
“HOLY GOD! AGH, why did I DO that?!”
Felix felt some tears well up in his eyes as he grabbed a pipe beside him to pull himself up. The HEV suit started to do its thing, fixing whatever godforsaken bone he broke as he took a look around. It looked like he was in a giant train tunnel. Felix looked back and could see the cops trying to aim at him, but they were shit outta luck, and started retreating. With some newfound confidence and some HEV suit sanctioned drugs pumping through his system, he stood up straight and kind of just started to mosey on through, sort of taking a breather from the chaos he just experienced.
“Man, who else could say they’ve escaped the cops this many times? I mean.. who else could say they’ve been teleported twenty years in the future either? Who else can say they could outsmart the U.S goddamn military? I think I’m just special! Too good for this world to get rid of! Not even that flaming barrel can knock me down! WAIT,”
Felix dove forward, sliding into the rocky soil with his face catching most of the fall. He heard a rather loud explosion from behind him, and felt a very distinct wave of heat. That was absolutely mortifying! Actually, it was infuriating! This meant those damn cops were waiting for him down here! God Dammit!!
“You had one job, you idiot!”
A voice shouted from above Felix as he pushed himself up off the ground, feeling every pebble stick to his face.
“It’s not like I can aim with a barrel, Mike! And if you’re so smart, why don’t you just shoot him?”
“No!! No, don’t do that!” Felix started to scramble away, catching himself on the wall as his weak foot tried to trip him again. A loud groan came from behind him.
“God dammit, get back here!”
Felix threw his neck to look behind him as he sprinted, now seeing the frustrated metrocop trying to chase him. The other one- presumably the one who tried to kill him with a flaming barrel- lagged behind, clearly not really into catching Felix. That one in front of him though, whoo-boy was he fast, and.. uh, gaining on Felix rather quickly.
“Leave me alone, jackass! I didn’t even do anything!”
“You think I care?!” The cop loaded his gun as he ran, speeding up. “I do as I’m ordered! You’re going down you son of a bitch!”
“Yeah, well all your friends said the same damn thing!”
“Good thing we’re not friends!” He cocked his gun, and Felix finally started to panic. That cop was in very good range of him. If he didn’t make it to the end of the tunnel to throw his ass off, the last thing he’d see would be a bullet going through his head. He made one last dead sprint using every single muscle in his legs to get him through the tunnel, and he was almost fucking there! He could touch the corner of the wall! He held a leg out to swing himself to the right, but-
But that gunshot really threw him off, and he tumbled to the ground, skidding across the dirt and gravel. Felix lay beside the train tracks on his stomach, his cheek bleeding, his face covered in grime, and his other foot now throbbing in awful pain. He felt this sort of lurch in his chest like maybe this was the.. uhm, was the end for him.
“Yeah. Try that on for size, dick.”
The metrocop slowed, now standing in front of Felix, probably gazing down at him all smug and shit under his mask. Fuck, this was embarrassing..
Metrocop number two came trotting over, snickering under his breath.
“Nice one, dude. Better than the time you tried to shoot that pigeon.”
“That was your damn fault!”
“Hey, you grew from it. Proud of you.”
Felix tried to push himself up off the ground, but a large and heavy boot flattened him to the ground again.
“Ohhh, no. Where do you think you’re going? You-.. You, uh..”
The cop trailed off.
“What? What? Crybaby? Dumbass? Stupid bitch? Just pick an insult and let me get the hell up!”
Felix tried to force himself up again, but was flattened again with a loud “OOF”. The cop still held his breath.
“.. Uhh, Mike? You good? You havin’ another one of those war flashbacks?”
“No, don’t be stupid.”
“Then what’s up? Radio this in. You know mine exploded, I can’t use it anymore.”
The cop just stood there. After a couple moments, he lifted his foot off of Felix’s back, but didn’t give him any time to make a run for it. He grabbed the rim of the HEV suit, pulling him upwards.
“AH! Shit, shit- dude! You shot me! Stop trying to make me stand!”
“.. There’s no way..”
Felix stopped his whining to stare at the cop. He gulped, steadying himself on his less wounded leg.
After another moment, the metrocop took a breath in. “.. What’s your name?”
“Felix. My name is Felix. Not Gordon, it’s Felix. Felix Fucking Freemind.”
The metrocop just about let go of the HEV suit, but kept a firm grip.
“Don’t fucking lie to me.”
“It is! I am not Gordon! Note my actual beard instead of whatever goatee he’s got going on? That’s me! Note the freckles, yeah? Well, you can barely see them through the dirt probably, thanks to you! See- see my eyes? My hazel eyes? That aren’t green? Felix! Not Gordon!”
After a long pause and an unfeeling glare from the cop’s mask, the metrocop let go of the rim of the suit, but grabbed Felix’s arm. The cop reached up for his mask, but stopped.
“.. You.. You’re sure?”
Felix blinked in disbelief.
“Of- Of course I’m fucking sure, what kind of question is that?!”
The cop took a deep breath, and Felix really thought he was about to get his lights punched out, or maybe a gun to the head, but instead- the metrocop grabbed onto the face of his mask, and pulled it off.
“You haven’t changed a bit.”
Felix’s jaw dropped, and he sort of stumbled backward a bit. The.. the- the cop, the guy, he still held onto his arm, though.
“.. You.. You.”
“Me. Yeah.”
This man looked.. a little old. Felix couldn’t tell if it was maybe just stress or actual age. He had this tan skin, like he’d been out in the sun- and had this brown hair streaked with grey that was sort of thinning on top of his head. It was long and came down to his shoulders, and it didn’t look too terribly thin when he combed it that certain way. He wore an eyepatch over his right eye, had a noticeable nip in his left ear, and several, several scars running across his face. Like he’d been bitten by a really gnarly headcrab at some point.
All Felix could do was sit there and gawk. He had a feeling he knew who this was, but.. he wasn’t quite.. sure.
“.. Uhm..” Felix shuffled. “Hey. Hey, bro.”
“Hey, ‘bro’.”
“.. So, um.. did you miss me, or were you just waiting twenty years to shoot me with a gun?”
“Oh I’ve been waiting way longer than that, Felix.”
“Gordon, for the love of god, I said I was sorry about the broken arm! You knew that was a cheap shot anyways, prick!”
“Hey, hey, um-“ the other cop interjected, holding a hand out. “Sorry to.. interrupt whatever reunion is going on, but Mike? Do you wanna clear any of this up?”
Gordon breathed out through his crooked nose, a little defeated. Like he’d been caught in a lie.
“Dave. Meet my terrible little brother, Felix.”
“We’re twins, actually.”
“And I’m the oldest.”
“Yeah, but we’re twins.”
“And I’m still the oldest.”
“We’re still-“
“Okay, great, I’m clear on that.” Dave held a hand up. “Alright, next question- um, ‘Gordon’? What’s that all about?”
Felix nodded. “Yeah dude, why are you going by ‘Mike’?”
“Okay, okay, I get it, I’m in trouble.” Gordon hooked his mask up to his belt, running a gloved hand through his hair.
“After that freak teleportation in Black Mesa, I kinda just went with the flow, okay? And since I was wanted by the military, god, and everybody, I went by an assumed name. That’s what you do. Honestly, Felix, I’m a little disappointed in you. Never use your real name when you’re wanted! Everybody thinks you’re the old me, so why didn’t you just run with that, dumbass? When all of this is over you could’ve just gone back to being Felix.”
“.. I, um..”
“Yeah.” Gordon scoffed. “There’s a reason you and Eddie didn’t get along. You do not have any street smarts whatsoever. Or booksmarts. You kind of suck.”
“Thanks.”
“Someone needs to put you in your place.” Gordon gave Felix’s chest plate a little bump with his fist. The other metrocop- Dave, presumably- heaved a sigh.
“I’ve gotta admit, Mike. Erm-“
“Mike.”
“.. Yeah, that’s pretty impressive. I didn’t know you were from Black Mesa! And I always thought you were too square to pull off a con that long!”
“What?!”
“Yeah, I mean, you act tough, but you don’t seem like the kind of guy to.. I dunno, do things? Like you’re just there to be mean to me sometimes. You look like you go home and just watch TV. Not like you have some huge double life.”
“What the fuck, man?!”
“Ha-Ha, square. You’re not out killing aliens and beating up the military like me!” Felix smiled smugly, immediately wiping that look off his face when Gordon stared at him with a glare of daggers.
“I took down military helicopters with nuclear weapons and blew up a giant space monster with a rocket engine.”
“.. Twenty years ago.”
“So help me god..”
“You two seem like a great family.” Dave crossed his arms, sort of chuckling. He sort of paused for a second though, glancing around the area.
“.. But, um, we were ordered to bring this guy in dead or alive.”
Gordon grimaced, looking to the ground. Felix sort of gulped, shuffling in place.
“You’re not..- You’re not gonna actually send me away, right?”
“We have to.” Dave shrugged. “Orders.”
“Yeah, b-but I bet I could compensate you handsomely for just letting me go right now!”
“That would make us look incompetent! We literally have you wounded and trapped! Can you imagine what the guys back at base would do to us? The names they’d call us? The pranks they’d pull?”
Felix started to choke up, whipping his head toward his brother. “Gordon! You can’t do this! Tell your buddy we’re not doing this!”
Gordon stood there, glaring at the floor.
“.. We were told that this guy had busted out of Black Mesa with his wits alone, gunning down half the military and killing this giant alien god with the whack of a crowbar.”
He looked up, staring at Felix with an unreadable look.
“Come to find out, it was just you? You’re the one those people in the resistance were making stories about?”
Felix stuttered for a moment, shaking his head in disbelief.
“I-I didn’t kill any gods! That I know of! I-I just made my way out of Black Mesa, barely, and some fancy guy picked me up and brought me to the future!”
“.. Wait,” Gordon fully faced Felix, squinting. “Ignoring the outright insane shit you just said- you didn’t go to Xen? You didn’t kill any alien deities?”
“No! What- Xen? You’re saying nonsense!”
Gordon wiped a hand over his face, groaning.
“.. I think I know what’s going on here. I did such a good job fucking black Mesa up, that when you showed up here like in whatever prophecy those weirdos had made up, everybody assumed you were me. They got it wrong! Ha!”
“Wuh- Nuh uh! I did a good job fucking Black Mesa up too!”
Gordon put a finger to his chin, not listening one bit. “Yeah, yeah.. I mean, they were talking about the ‘one free man’ coming back. They probably just assumed it would be the cool free man.”
“I’m cool! I’m the cool free man!”
“Well, don’t sweat it. You can take credit for all my work, buddy. You can stay wanted for as long as you’d like. See what it’s like to be the cool Freemind.”
“Wait- no, no. I do not want to be in your shoes.”
“Too late.” Gordon smiled dryly.
“So are we turning him in or not?” Dave sighed impatiently, placing his hands on his hips. “There is a right answer, by the way.”
“.. Well, on one hand, orders are orders, and the resistance is fucking stupid.”
“.. A-And on the other?” Felix choked out, already defeated. Gordon gave him a sort of.. look.
“.. On the other.. You’re my brother. And I hate you. But you’re my brother.”
Gordon glanced away, sighing. He thought hard for a moment, and turned back to Felix, notably a little distressed.
“.. Dude.” He mumbled. “Do you promise me you’re not gonna go and get yourself killed?”
Felix sniffed a little, keeping a straight face.
“I promise. I made it through Black Mesa with just a labcoat and a security vest. I can do this, whatever.. this is.”
Gordon’s eyebrows furrowed, and Felix took a step forward.
“I promise.” He repeated quietly.
“.. Well.” Gordon huffed. “You’re working for a lost cause with no chance. But.. if I know anyone who can absolutely fake it until they fucking make it, it’s you.” Gordon poked Felix’s chest plate, smiling a little.
“You might even give them a chance with that dumb luck on your side.”
Dave blinked. “Mike? Seriously?”
“Bah. Who gives a shit? Weren’t you all for the resistance, Dave?”
“Yeah, till you talked me out of it!”
“Meh. Worst comes to worst, I’ll live with Eddie in the tunnels until I die once the combine raises hell over this little twerp and the rest of the resistance.” Gordon let go of Felix’s arm, to which Felix took a step back afterward.
“.. Well.. whatever you say. I’ve got more important things to worry about, I guess . Good luck out there, Felix. You’ll need it.” Dave held a thumbs up, and Felix sort of nodded in response. He turned back to Gordon for a moment, then glanced at the opening in the fence where he planned to escape.
“.. Thank you, Gordon.” Felix managed to say, gulping. “Except for the part where you shot me, I get to throw the next punch now.”
“That is fair. Just no bullets. I’ve aged twenty years and not even that med station stuff can fix me as well as it used to.”
Felix sort of chuckled, then stood, frozen in place. After a moment, he just couldn’t take it, and in a matter of seconds he wrapped Gordon in the biggest hug of his life.
“Felix..” He groaned, holding his arms up and away from his brother.
“Don’t care. We hug once every six years. We’ve got like three more to go to make up lost time.”
Gordon chuckled a little, lowering his arms. Eventually, he wrapped them around Felix loosely, patting his back.
“.. Be safe out there.” He managed to mumble. Felix squeezed him one more time before letting go.
“I’ll be as safe as I can possibly manage in these conditions.”
“And that is good enough.” Gordon nodded, pausing for a moment. He grabbed the side of his belt and pulled something off, handing it to Felix.
“This is totally illegal, but take this. You can talk to me on it if you switch to this channel.” Gordon turned a knob on the device, showing it to Felix. “But I swear to god. If you use this for shits and giggles and not a life-threatening, earth-shattering, you-are-going-to-fucking-explode emergency, I will have your head in a basket of which I will feed to the ichthyosaur in my pool. Are we clear on that?”
“Crystal!” Felix nodded, grabbing the device and clamping it onto the hip of the hev suit.
“Good. Now, get the hell outta here before someone sees us.” Gordon waved him away, starting to walk back to the train tunnel. Felix waved, stepping over to the hole in the fence.
“See you, dude! Thank you! I’ll have a limp until I die now!”
“It’s good for you. You’ll look badass for once.” Gordon waved back, turning around and pacing away. Dave gave a little salute, then started trotting along with Gordon.
Felix peaked around the hole in the fence, noting the broken path and the pool of water below. He looked back, trying to see if he could spot Gordon or Dave, but they were already gone.
Taking a deep breath, he sat on the edge of the crumbled path, getting ready to plunge into the water. Suddenly, though, he heard a beep come from the device on his hip. Through some static, he could hear his brother’s voice.
“Hey.”
Another bleep.
“Knock ‘em all dead.”