The One True Gord

[smelltheashes]

Eleanor doesn't talk much, as a general rule. That wasn't always the case, but certain events in her life have taught her to play things close to the chest. It's safer that way. Instead of talking, she listens, and watches.

For the last hour and a half, she's been watching the man who claims to be Gordon Freeman as he lies sleeping on a cot in the east barracks. He's pretty well conked out--stirring from some nightmare, but who doesn't have nightmares these days? She could probably get away with slipping off for a quick snack or drink if she felt so inclined.

Eleanor does not, in fact, feel so inclined. Partly it's a matter of pride in whatever job she's called upon to do. But mostly it's... well. As MacIntire said, there have been a number of people in City 08 who claimed to be Gordon Freeman. She's met more than a few of them personally. This one...

Well. She'll just have to keep observing.

Comments

[smelltheashes]

"Anything except the weapons locker."

She trusts she doesn't have to explain that one.

[acts_of_gord]

Of course.

"I don't want to cause a problem," he says after some thought. "Is there somewhere out of the way I can do some work? Anything that needs doing, until the group comes back."

The fewer people see him, the happier he supposes everyone will be.

[smelltheashes]

Eleanor doesn't answer. Instead, she looks at him with a faintly puzzled look, her head canted to one side.



"You're the first 'Gordon Freeman' I've met who wasn't happy about it."

(And that's the longest sentence she's said to him since he arrived.)

[acts_of_gord]

He doesn't talk much to people he's suspicious of or doesn't like. Why should she?

"People make assumptions," he says. "About what I'm going to do, or what I'm supposed to be like. I just want to put things right, that's all. As far as I can."

[smelltheashes]

"And what does that mean to you?"

[acts_of_gord]

"Getting the Combine off our planet," Gordon says. "Getting us self-determination again. Starting to rebuild our ecosphere somehow, staring to make restitution for what Black Mesa let loose..." He shakes his head. "It's vague. Sorry. I'm still working out the details."

[smelltheashes]

"I've heard worse," says Eleanor. "A few years ago a man came through claiming to be your brother, and he was..." She shakes her head, letting out a faint huff of laughter. "He was certifiable, frankly."

[acts_of_gord]

"Huh," says Gordon. "Why would anyone bother pretending to be Jay?"

[smelltheashes]

She shrugs again. "Probably because he didn't look anything like the pictures we have of Gordon Freeman, and because people knew he had a brother. The big college football star, JJ Freeman?"

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon wrinkles his nose. "Jay hated that nickname," he says. "People used to call him that when he was six. Mom let it drop once, in one interview, and the magazines never let it go. He'd never have called himself that."

[smelltheashes]

Eleanor regards him silently for a long moment, then: "What was he like?"

[acts_of_gord]

"Big," Gordon says after some thought. "You know how some people seem to take up more space, draw more of the eye? He was like that. He was big, I mean- he was taller than me, and had shoulders like this-" He indicates a set of shoulders wide enough that Jay could never have fit in the top portion of the HEV suit. "But he drew attention, too. He made people want to see what he was going to do next."

He's aware that, in his situation, this is probably some kind of verification test. Well, fine. These things happen, and this is probably one of the more subtle options available to the rebels here. He can live with that.

"Competitive, too. He was one of those people who couldn't get it through his head that other people didn't want to test themselves against each other as much as he did. He was always like that."

[smelltheashes]

"Well, the guy claiming to be your brother definitely wasn't him, then," says Eleanor. "He was a little taller than you, but he was scrawny."

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon shakes his head. "The closest Jay ever got to scrawny was when he and half the U. Wash. team came down with norovirus," he says. "Food poisoning, transmitted in ice. Couldn't keep anything solid down for a week. Bounced back after that, though."

[smelltheashes]

Eleanor doesn't say anything. She just grimaces.

[acts_of_gord]

"Sorry."

[smelltheashes]

She recovers quickly. "It's all right. What was it like, growing up with that?"

[acts_of_gord]

"Drove me up the wall, at first," Gordon admits with a rueful half-smile. "He used to challenge me to races all the time- or wrestling, or any other kind of physical sport you could do one on one. And he'd yell at me to try harder when he beat me, which was most of the time. It got better as I got older, but every day was a contest, with him around."

[smelltheashes]

"I wouldn't know what that's like," admits Eleanor. "I'm an only child."

[acts_of_gord]

"You missed out," Gordon says. "I don't think I'd even be alive today if Jay hadn't wound up driving us both into competition all the time."

[smelltheashes]

Another faint frown. "What makes you say that?"

[acts_of_gord]

"I was a nerd," Gordon says with a simple shrug. "I'd've been happy staying inside, reading and building things, if it was just me. Jay got me so mad when I was six and he wouldn't leave me alone that I hauled off and punched him. Knocked out two of his teeth in the next five minutes, before Mom came out and pulled us off each other... after that she made us do contests with each other instead of getting anywhere close to fighting. Races, mostly. Stuff at the gym counted too. So I wound up getting out and active a lot of the time, instead of always being at a desk or a workbench."

[smelltheashes]

As Gordon talks, Eleanor's expression changes. Before, there was something in her eyes that was cold, distant, calculating; now... there's a light there that wasn't before. A sincerity.

"He didn't tell anyone about that, you know," she says softly. "Nobody but his wife."

[acts_of_gord]

"I wouldn't either, in his-"

The rest of the sentence catches up with Gordon; he stops and blinks a few times.

"... oh."

[smelltheashes]

"And Mom told me."

She's smiling, now. It's not a big smile, but it's genuine, and her eyes are shining with tears.

"Jay Freeman was my father."

[acts_of_gord]

...


...


...


"Ellie?"

[smelltheashes]

She just nods. She doesn't trust herself to speak right now.

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon never got to meet his baby niece; she was born right around the time he started working at Black Mesa, and he didn't have the wherewithal at the time to fly up to Seattle and see his brother and his new daughter in person. It's been niggling at him ever since, one of who knows how many things-that-never-happened...

She'll understand, he reckons, if he's not really able to get the wwords together right now either. Although he does hold out both hands to her, because... well. Because.

[smelltheashes]

She hesitates, at first; it's been a long time since she's opened up to anyone like this, and even longer since she hugged someone. But this...

Oh, to hell with it. She steps forward into his embrace.

[acts_of_gord]

"I had your picture in my locker at Black Mesa," he manages. "Your dad sent it-"

Under the circumstances, that's a lot of words for him. Small wonder his throat closes up and he just settles for hugging his niece properly.

[smelltheashes]

"He was always talking about you, y'know? His little brother the hero."

[acts_of_gord]

"I did what I could..." Gordon shakes his head and loosens his grip, enough to make talking somewhat easier. "I always wondered what'd happened to him, in the end. And to you."

[smelltheashes]

"He died when I was little. Mom and I were living with Grandma when the Seven Hours War happened..." She's crying in earnest now, but still smiling. "Tell me more about him? Please?"

[acts_of_gord]

"Sure," says Gordon. "Sure. Where do you want me to start?"

He's not crying, himself, but that's because one person alive other than Demeter has ever seen him cry, and she's not here. There's something close to that in his voice, though. It's a wonder he's speaking at all, but for family-

[smelltheashes]

Eleanor can't remember the last time she cried, in private or in public.

Under the circumstances, she thinks she's entitled.

"Anywhere you want."

[acts_of_gord]

"Well," says Gordon, "I remember the day he blew out his knee. None of us realized it at the time, but that was when he decided he was going to become a college football coach instead of just a third-string professional player..."

This could go on for hours, really. Or however long they have until the verification party shows up. Either way.