Gordon awoke in a haze, green eyes slowly opening as he jumped up from his—bed? He had a bed?

He groaned, putting his… hands to his face, looking around as he realized he wasn’t in Black Mesa, or some Chuck-E-Cheese party, or in a theater reliving hell—no. No, he was… he was home! Finally, home at least. Relief flooded his body as he took in the fact he was finally free! Free of the fear of being shot, free of the pain of having lost a hand, free of the tyrannical nonsense that his companions had given him as he slid out of bed, heading straight for the shower. He wanted to be clean, feeling filthy after swimming around and fighting through all the muck Black Mesa had to offer—that Xen had to offer as well. ”Powerade”—or was it Gatorade?—his ass, he’d seen most of what had been in that mess they called a science facility.

As he finished cleaning up and finally got some coffee after god knows how long, he checked around, finding his… phone. His phone. He idly checked his contacts, looking through them to find his Ex-Wife and… the Science Team? Huh. Weird. He was almost surprised he somehow had their numbers, but he figured… why not? They’d been through hell, at least he could make sure they were okay from afar now. He started dealing with the mess of texts from his Ex yelling at him due to his extended absence and surprisingly large amount of worry—probably only because it would mean his son would’ve been without a father, and she’d be raising Joshua alone.

God, he couldn’t wait to see his boy again. He’d probably never believe him—if he ever told Joshua, that is. He’d probably tell a lie about being lost with a bunch of scientific cowboys out in the desert.