Chapter Text
Without much warning, Dr. Cross and then Dr. Green mere seconds later appeared in a flash of light before Dr. Keller. Though battered, slightly bruised, and in desperate need of a good sleep, he couldn't be more relieved at the sight. He had always been sure his plan was to work, especially with the two women ensuring it so. But he couldn't deny himself the painful worry that plagued his thoughts in the moments when they were displaced and their positions unperceivable. He relaxed in his wheelchair, smiling softly before congratulating them both.
Focused more on catching their breath, Dr. Keller's voice felt faint despite the fact that he was just a little short of a meter away from the both of them. Gina seemed to have a better time catching onto his words as she actually managed to point her head up at him and nod along to his words. Meanwhile, all Colette could really get out of it was the end as she tried to fight off the bile rising in her throat.
"Rest my friends! We did it!" The pride in his eyes beamed out through his voice.
"You don't need to tell me twice..." With that, Colette lowered herself even further and fully rested flat against the metal floor. Closing her eyes and groaning slightly as her body relaxed for the first time in several hours.
Gina allowed herself to laugh a little at the sight. Not that it was a particularly funny one, she told herself. But to see her, Colette who'd powered through nearly everything else before with a smile and a gleeful rush of adrenaline, now splayed out as though the HEV suit were pajamas. To see the older woman finally at whatever peace she could find was amusing. In truth, as another second passed, she couldn't deny it was at least a little funny-looking. Keller must've thought the same as he couldn't help but chuckle either.
Slowly, Gina inched closer to the resting woman, cringing slightly at the sound of her dragging her HEV suit across the floor. She sat beside her, looking down and unable to keep herself from smiling, eyes becoming a little heavy. The green of Colette's eyes met her in an instant lazily scanning her every feature. Once seeing the smile, she cocked an eyebrow upward and opened her mouth.
"What are you smiling at?" The words were like honey in Gina's ears, she laughed again, reaching down to brush a few stray strands of hair from her face.
"Just you..." Colette blinked beneath her as something wet landed square on her cheek. She lifted her head slightly and brought a hand up to wipe it away. Looking back up to Gina, her smile only grew as she began to cry. "For a second you almost made these things look comfortable." It came out softer than a whisper, as though speaking any louder would shatter the woman beneath.
A laugh, not wicked and maniacal as Gina had come to familiarity with instead gentle and deep, came from Colette. For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, despite whatever uncertainties were most definitely there, they felt safe. Near goddam untouchable for there was nothing that could sever this little string of joy between them. Bringing her other hand up she grasped the front of the tan HEV suit and pulled it down. Gina splayed out both hands beside Colette's head to brace herself at the sudden move as their lips clashed together. A lot less soft than their first as Colette moved her hands to hold Gina to her, now more akin to an enveloping blaze that threatened to swallow them whole. Despite the threat, neither one was willing to let the other go lest the universe finally decide to cut their luck short.
"I'll give you two some space..." Dr. Keller cleared his throat and rolled further back to pay attention to some influx of information on a screen. The other scientist in the room, a familiar looking man with dark greying curls and deeply tanned skin, opting to face a wall with his hands in his pockets. Whistling a tune as though he saw nothing.
When they separated, Gina was flushed red, nearly rivaling Colette's own suit. She remembered her human need to breathe and the fact that the two weren't alone. So she settled for sweeping up Colette in her arms and lifting her slightly so that she could hold on to her. Colette took a moment to hug back, the wind somehow being knocked out of her through her suit. They must've stayed like that for several minutes, silent against the buzzing malfunction of the overhead lights and machinery around them.
"We're getting out of here." Spoken like a promise, only for Gina's ears. "We'll get Keller and whoever else we can, get as far away from Black Mesa as possible." Colette moved to sit up, the act separating the two of them so that she could look her in the eyes.
It was everything they'd wanted since the very beginning of it all, to have Black Mesa be just a thought in the back of their minds and take one another away from the horrors they'd witnessed. Through the laughter and the deadly sharp focus, it was clear now more than ever that it had taken its toll on the women. Surrounded by so much death and destruction in the very place they lived and worked, a good part of it coming directly from their hands Their ears still rang from their bullets, and not a single bit of them wasn't numb from the adrenaline or morphine their suits provided, sleep desperately calling to them every time they closed their eyes, covered from head to toe in sweat, several cuts on Colette's face, a large dark bruise on Gina's forehead. An outing, with tickets to the cinema, already paid for, and dinner reservations they were far beyond absent for.
And yet, Gina held nothing but doubt in her eyes upon simply hearing the prospect of finally leaving this hell of theirs.
"Gina...?"
"What if-" she let go of Colette- "What if we could do more than the resonance reversal?"
"What do you mean?"
"With just the few of us here we were able to do all that. Just imagine what could manage if we were able to get to Central Command or even the Lambda Complex." Green eyes darted from side to side as she connected the dots.
"Gina you can't be serious." Stern was definitely a part of Colette's tonal arsenal. Primarily something restrained for describing the protocols and requirements to run machinery or whenever the guards tried shooting their shot with her. Never something Gina was on the receiving end of. "Does it seems like either of us can keep going like this?"
"We have to do something, every second that passes people are dying. Our coworkers, colleagues, our friends." She spoke louder now, turning the heads of the other two men in the room. After another second she put her hand over Colette's own. "We can't just run from this."
Colette muttered something under her breath and shook her head with a frustrated hiss. Slowly she lifted herself off the floor and made her way to one of the side storage rooms. Gina lagged behind, the clunks and thunks of her suit louder than ever. She caught her partner standing against the wall with her head facing away from the doorway, away from Gina.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm not having the rest of this conversation in front of them." She answered, still not facing her.
"Don't they deserve to be a part of it too?"
"Last time I checked, we're the only ones with enough protection to reflect a bullet. With enough morphine pumping through us to not even feel it afterwards." She stepped away from the wall and began to pace the small room with languid steps "Do you honestly think they even know how to shoot a gun?"
"I didn't, I learned."
"You really want to risk putting them through any of this?" Gina opened her mouth, anticipating her mind to bring words down, but there was nothing. "It's a fucking miracle that we're even alive right now. You know that. "
"Then we get them out of here, and I'll go." Colette stopped in her tracks and looked at her, almost hurt, before starting to pace once more with her forehead now in her hand.
"I'm not going anywhere without you. "
"Colette, stop-"
"Stop? You have a fucking death wish, how else am I supposed to react?!" She planted herself tall across from Gina, almost challenging the other woman. "There's no doubt all of this can always just get worse. Even if you did make it out, who's to say the government wouldn't hunt you down and destroy everything else that's left? What if you go back out there and there was never a single thing you could do? What then?" Gina's face soured as she shook her head, rising up to face the challenge.
"I don't know. But, what I do know is that this was our whole lives, Colette, Black Mesa has been our home for years." She took pride for a moment that she had made the older woman falter. "You told me that our line of work took bravery. And to me that means we have to stick through it no matter what lies ahead."
They stand face to face, staring one another down. The string of tension between them snapped as Colette bit her lip and turned away. As she turned again, just below the plating under her shoulder blade, Gina saw the metal of the suit warped and burnt somewhat. The thing nearly looked as though it were struck with lightning. Slightly beneath, the black undershirt was visible, even worse, scorched to the point of exposing the burnt flesh underneath and to the side. Horror struck her as she realized she probably couldn't even feel it either. Colette ran her hands through her hair and huffed out, slightly calmer.
"Colette-"
"What about us, Gina?" She grabbed at either of her elbows, hugging tightly. "You're my friend. A good one too. And I could never imagine in a million years that someone as brilliant and beautiful as you would feel the same way as I did, let alone be lucky enough that you liked women too..." Gina softened herself at those words, taking quiet steps closer. "What did any of this mean if you're gone...?"
She hunched over, looking dreadfully hopeless. Gina wanted nothing more than to take her in her arms again and let her know everything was to be okay, to trust in her. In her mind swirled dozens of ways to say it all. However, the hunched position made the injury on the back front and center focus of her vision. From behind she surged forward just then, took ahold of her shoulders, and bent down to eye level with the wound.
"You're hurt." She bent down to the wound and pushed the plates gently, getting a better look at it.
Colette dropped her arms as she gave in to the other woman's gaze. She tried looking over her shoulder only for Gina to gently push back to get her still again. In the silence she let herself calm down.
"Is it bad?" Spite no longer lined her words. Rather, exhaustion took the reins.
"Yes." In truth, bad didn't even begin to cover it. It was deeper than any burn she'd ever seen before. She stepped aside to grab the first aid kit off the wall and shut the door.
"Hospital bad?"
"Can't be larger than the palm of my hand, but it's definitely a third-degree burn." Gina knelt down and started to click and pull apart the metal plates off of her, gently placing them on the floor. "You must've been struck with something as the beam displaced you. It went right through your armor."
"Fucking dammit..." She sighed. Very quickly she realized that a breach, while not making the suit entirely useless, meant there was a pretty debilitating weak spot. Morphine went a long way, but a bullet or another blast making its way through could kill her. Rather than voice that worry, she tried making light of it all. "The sexy robot voice never said anything..." Gina couldn't stop the chuckle, or the ensuing blush for that matter.
The infirmary was most likely in as deep shit as the rest of black mesa by this point. The only option would be whatever civilian hospital they could get her to. Meanwhile, Gina tried stretching the fabric to examine it better, but it wasn't enough. She elected to continue removing the plates.
"Probably because your voice module has been blasted to bits." She tossed aside the singed teched-out plate in particular. Then freezing, "you think the voice is sexy?"
"Maybe..." Gina hummed, imagining her blush didn't get any worse, and went on. Colette silently listened to the sound of mesh being stretched and metal softly hitting the floor. She joined her, starting to take the plates off her arms and front of her torso. "I'm sorry, by the way. I-... It was harsh."
"I just thought perhaps you would still come with me. I know I said I would, but I don't think I could've done any of this without you..." Colette winced at the hurt in her voice, Only to be caught completely off guard soon after. "It might be best if you take off your undershirt."
"Well...! Mighty forward of you Dr. Cross, especially after just one date? Or are you getting jealous over the robot voice?"
"No, just hush."
Despite the teasing, she crosses her arms and slowly lifts the shirt up, and over her head. Only a sports bra left on her chest. Gina has seen her shirtless, several times at the least. At the pool, the moments when they would equip their HEV Suits alongside one another, a sight that gave her butterflies each and every time. But with the burn and the red swelling surrounding it, not to mention the other bruises especially on her arms, she couldn't help but think it was a similar case for her underneath the tan armor. Shaking off the feeling as best she could, takes out the antibacterial cream and some cotton balls.
"You tell me if this stings alright?" With cream on cotton, apprehension slows her hands.
"With the morphine, it's a-" she applies it and yet Colette goes on as though nothing happened- "surprise I feel anything... So are you gonna do it or...-"
"Already done. Time for the gauze." With a silent intense focus, she placed the padding, holding it down as she reached for the medical wrap. Hoping and praying the entire time that all this wouldn't just make it worse.
"Thank you, for this."
"I couldn't leave you with a gaping wound on your back," she pressed the wrap over the gauze and continued to move the roll around her entire waist. Her armored gloves lightly grazed over the soft skin on Colette's round belly.
"So, you still plan on staying behind?" Gina paused for a moment. "I still don't get it, and ultimately I hope you don't."
She continued wordlessly, being a little more careful to avoid touching her bare skin any more than necessary. Eventually, she cut the wrap and she was finished and stood to look at her work. Definitely not the prettiest thing, but leagues beyond better than nothing. No doubt the area would never quite heal properly and leave a sizeable scar on her back seeing it would be a while before she could even think about getting proper treatment.
"I would still like that second-first date to happen..." Colette's voice caved in on itself. "So, if you're gonna stay I need you to promise me you're coming back out in one piece."
No response came. Instead, a pair of lips pressed to the back of her neck. The sensation managed to still send a cold hard shiver down Colette's entire spine. She would've leaned back into her if it weren't for how cold she knew it would feel to rest upon metal.
"I won't do it." She spoke barely above a whisper, her lips never leaving Colette's skin. "Without you, I don't think I could." Finally, she turned to face her, wet streaks apparent upon her cheeks.
"Are you sure?"
"It stung, but you have made a compelling argument." She took hold of one of her hands, wishing she could feel it now that they were bare. Meanwhile the other of Colette's hands went to cup her own face. Gina settled into the hand.
"It's because I'm shirtless isn't it?"
"You're impossible Colette."
"Just a tad..."
She traced Gina's jaw until her fingers went to hold her chin, pulled her in, and closed her eyes. With a squeeze of her hand, Gina closed the distance between them and sighed into the kiss. Her own free hand found its way to Colette's hip and pulled them even closer together. To say it felt like anything less than magic would be insane. Perhaps there was some joke to be made about lesbians kissing in a closet, but all Colette wanted to do was savor the sinking feeling of such soft lips. Gina was the one to pull away now.
"I have something to admit." Colette raised her brow and smirked. The word "intrigued" may as well be written on her forehead.
"Go on..."
"The HEV suit voice module," she tapped the rim of the collar of her armor, "is based on samples provided by none other than yours truly."
"And you never told me?! Oh my god...!" Incredulous wasn't enough to describe Colette at this point. "It all makes sense now." Gina rolled her eyes grinning.
"Oh please, you weren't even able to recognize that it was even me."
"Your sexiness shone through, it's all so clear now-"
"Just kiss me before I change my mind on leaving with you."
"On it, doc..."
And so she did, absolutely reveling in the fact that it wouldn't be the last time.