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Gordon blinked, and opened his eyes to an unnatural blue tint engulfing his surroundings. Everybody around him was completely frozen in place, not even blinking. Oh god, not again... He knew this particular event all too well. Any moment now, a tall, dark figure would reveal itself and start speaking to him. Although, there was something off about the way this... entity spoke, that sent chills down Gordon's spine. It sounded awfully forced, as if the creature was reading off an invisible teleprompter that had points he heavily disagreed with... Gordon braced himself for the figure to appear, and tried to put up a front as if he wasn't very intimidated. The figure silently made its way around the corner of a wall behind Gordon, finally making his presence known.
"Hello, Doctor Freeman."
Gordon whipped around, caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the figure, completely tearing down the façade of toughness he had so desperately tried to put up once he got his attention. That old familiar sting, the figure's voice was.
Suddenly, the sound of a step comes from behind Gordon. The figure looks past him, albeit staying completely still. Gordon slowly turned his head around, looking, only to see that nobody has moved. Strange.
Finally, the figure spoke up. "Tommy."
A quiet, sharp inhale came from Tommy, still unmoving.
"Tommy, we. Know, it's you."
Tommy sighed, slouching a little before standing up straight again, turning around and facing the both of them.
Gordon spoke quietly, his breath a little shaky. "Tommy...?"
"Yes, Mister Freeman?"
"H-how are you- why are you able to move? How are you talking to me right now? I thought everybody got frozen in space-time or something!"
Tommy began to fiddle with his fingers, his face scrunching up a little as he looked off to the side out of nervousness. "W-well they are, Mister Freeman..."
"And you're not?"
Tommy shook his head, pursing his lips slightly. Tommy had been acting weird recently, but Gordon never really paid attention to it... But now, he knew something was definitely up.
"...Why not?"
Tommy sighed, his hands falling to his sides as he bit his lip, trying to think.
Gordon suddenly felt a cold presence to his right, causing him shiver a little. G-Man was standing a few feet away from his side. He took it upon himself to explain.
"Tommy is... Well, do you remember, my remark about my, quote unquote, 'progeny' in one of our... Previous, encounters?"
Gordon nodded.
"Hm. I think you are smart enough to... Piece it together, yourself, Doctor Freeman."
Gordon's eyes widened at the revelation. Tommy is... Related to G-Man? He always knew there was something about Tommy that seemed off, in a way similar to G-Man, but he never thought anything of it. God, they even look similar... Gordon gathered himself, and finally spoke.
"Tommy? Are you-"
"Yes, Mister Freeman. I am his- his son."
"Wh-well, I knew something was off with you, but... His son?"
Tommy nodded hesitantly. G-Man spoke up again.
"This is what I, came here, to tell you about, Doctor Freeman. I figured it was... Only a matter of time, before you found out, anyways."
Gordon was only able to nod. He had an expression on his face that was almost unreadable. One thing was for sure, however; he couldn't tell whether to be surprised or not. He felt like he should've known, it was almost like a bright neon sign flashing in his face. Their looks, their idiosyncrasies, sometimes even the way they talked... He knew that something about Tommy was uncanny, but he was never quite able to put his finger on it until now.
"Well..." G-Man broke the silence. "I, suppose, my purpose of coming here has been... Fulfilled." He adjusted his tie, gripped the handle to his suitcase, and turned around. "Goodbye, Tommy. I wish you, and your friends, luck." He walked back towards and around the corner. As he turned out of Gordon's sight, time unfroze.
Gordon let out a relieved, albeit still tense sigh, and turned around to find Tommy staring at him.
"M-Mister Freeman," Tommy spoke. "We ca- uhh, can talk about this later. We should get- get going for now."
Gordon gulped and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, okay... I'm coming..."
The rest of the science team were back to their usual bickering as Gordon and Tommy caught up with them, and it was back to navigating the hell-on-earth known as the Black Mesa Research Facility.