#gman x reader

[bluecanvasart]

For all of the people of the Half Life fandom awaiting the definite and real Half Life 3 announcement, here's a little Gman WIP!

Happy holidays, and sorry for my inactivity!

[tumfullofblue]

Can you make a fic where gman takes the reader's virginity? But it's like, in a very dubcon but romantic and rough yet soft way

Love ur stuff btw!!!

Awww, thank you so much <3 ngl im weak for dubcon g-man cause you know he can just GET IT.

NSFW under the cut!

Enjoy!

You are here because you agreed. The terms were abstract, but you understood the gravity. Now, the gravity is all that remained. You knew the weight of it, the first, the only time and all the other times that it mattered. And you were giving that fragile first time to him. You didn’t had time to even think about what you were doing. And once he agreed to it… you couldn’t say no. But you never really wanted to.

“Ah. The time has come and s-so did you, then. Come here, my dear.»

The cosmic cadence of his voice was smoother now, the pauses less like malfunctions and more like the slow, deliberate drip of honey. It is a voice that promised an end to all uncertainty, all insecurity. So easy to believe him. So easy to obey. So you did. You approached a man… a concept of your new life. He didn’t touch you at first, but his gaze was, as always, a physical inventory.

“You offered this… vulnerability to me,” he murmured, a long, cool finger tracing the line of your jaw.

“A singular trust. I find I am… possessive of it.”

The word possessive curled in the air, thick and new. There was no going back, not now. You pressed your cheek into his cold, spotted hand. It felt like home.

“You will feel… some discomfort. It is… necessary. The breaking of a… seal. But I will make it… beautiful. For us.”

It felt like he was saying ‘for me’.

He undressed you not with passion, but with devastating ceremony. Each revealed inch of skin was met with a low, considering hum. When you stood bare before him, trying to cover yourself, he stopped it, a flicker of something darker, more dangerous arriving in his eyes before dying again.

“Look at me, my dear,” he commanded softly, and yet again, you found yourself unable to resist his command. He nodded at your hands. You lowered them. His gaze was your entire world. His voice the only thread of sanity in what you were about to give to him. Slowly, as if giving you a show of your own he finally shed his own woolen jacket and tie, draping them over a chair that shimmered with unreality. His pristine white shirt remained, opened at the collar, a slice of pale, hairless chest visible. Your fingers twitched, wanting to touch that sliver of skin, to feel if it was cold, or warm or something else entirely. But with a move of his lips, he forbidden you to do anything. He approached you and his hands, those cool, precise instruments, began a mapping.

“The perfect surrender, isn’t it? A bowstring… awaiting the release. So tight. So… ready. ”

He parted you with his hands, observing. A sharp, soundless intake of breath from him a contrast to your whimper. You’re dry - nerves, anticipation. He made a dismissive sound before opening his mouth just a bit too wide for a human to do. A slick sound, a perfect string of saliva connecting the darkness of his mouth behind pearly white teeth and you. Now you’re wet. A second later, his fingers were back, pushing into you with relentless, clinical pressure. The stretch was sharp, shocking. You cried out in protest, a real tear leaking from your eye, tried to move away from those perfect, long invading sensations, but his other hand curled around your exposed backside, effortlessly pinning you in place. Where you belong.

“Hush now. You asked for this. For me. It will be easier... if you don’t fight.”

The fingers inside you crooked, finding a spot, and rub once, firm and knowing. A bolt of unwanted, exquisite pleasure maked you arch against your will. A traitorous moan mixed with your next humilated sob. He removed his fingers and you heared the rustle of his trousers, the soft groan of leather as he undid his belt. The broad, cool head of him pressed insistently at your entrance, the void in his eyes was spinning slowly, and with every spin you felt yourself trusting that man with more than just your virginity.

If he asked for it, you would give him your life.

A man took a breath he didn’t need and pushed inside your soft body - a slow, devastating invasion that stretched you to a burning, impossible fullness. There was no gentle accommodation. His grip on your hip was iron, holding you still as he sheathed himself to the hilt with one long, final, grinding thrust. Your scream was swallowed by his mouth. He stoped, buried inside you, giving you an enternity to get used to a feeling, to love it, to miss it when---

Almost all the way out.

The drag was exquisite friction. And the thrust back in was harder, deeper, claiming the territory already conquered. A rhythm begins - not frenzied, but purposeful. Deep, rolling drives of his hips that push you up the bed with every impact. The slap of skin, the creak of the bedsprings, your ragged, weeping breaths, his low, guttural grunts - they become the only sounds in the world.

“You are taking me… so well,” he rasped, his controlled facade beginning to fracture. A strand of his perfectly slicked hair falls loose. His eyes were burning stars.

“My perfect… closed loop. Now… opened. For me.”

His thrusts grew deeper, more possessive. The pain has melted. He was everywhere, in every sense, thumb tracing your swollen lips. His other hand slided from your hip, around your front, dipping between your legs where you were connected, finding you swollen from the brutal, mixed signals. The pleasure detonated, a violent coup against the simulated struggled and you shattered with a broken scream, your body clamping around him in fierce, helpless waves. A man growled – a sound older than time itself and he stiffened, his eyes rolling back for a second before they snapped back to yours, blazing with a possessive, terryfin triumph; he poured into you, a claiming that felt less biological and more cosmic and you felt it filling you up.

For a long moment, there was only the sound of his breath - surprisingly ragged - in your ear. He stroked your hair with a tenderness that contradicted everything that just happened. And he began to move again.

“We will… revisit this… variable. Many times, my dear. The study… has only just begun.”

[weevilwizardpuppymancer]

as long as its with you rewrite. chriiiiist this took me forever. pls read and comment thank you <3

[bekaroth-reads]

Gman x Reader

[Things to note: I'm just now getting back into the Half-life series after not playing it for years, so there's mostly likely lore stuff or whatever that's wrong. Also, this is kinda long and not proof read, sorry about that, I guess]

It was a nice day. During everything that was constantly happening good weather was always a blessing that everyone was thankful for. Something else that you were thankful for was the fact that you were in one of the smaller cities. Yes, you were still under the every-watching eye of the Combine, but it wasn’t as pressing as it was in the larger ones. You had actually moved, or rather were moved, to this place, so little that it didn’t even have a name, about fifteen years ago. You had spent much of your childhood and some of your teenage years in City 17, and when it was deemed that you were, “old enough,” to take care of yourself in your later teen years, you were chosen for a project to inhabit a smaller, more rural habitations the Combine had started to move people to.

While your parents were hesitant to let you go, they were somewhat happy to see you got to one of these more peaceful areas. Apparently, you had lived somewhere similar when you were a small child. Though, you had trouble remembering it as it was so long ago. Your parents had found you wandering in some ruins, and took you in. It was odd to see a child around all things considered, but as they were wanting a child for sometime and the Combine officials where they were didn’t seem to mind them having one, they weren’t going to complain.

You were part of the reason that they were moved to a larger city in the first place. It was so there were plenty of Combine approved personnel to keep an eye on you and your life; it was almost like they were expecting something drastic to happen. But, throughout all your life and all of the extensive habit studying, frequent doctors’ appointments, and the other few odd things here and there, you were just a normal person.

Honestly, while you were sad to be separated from your parents, you were more than happy to get a new start at life out here. There most you could complain about was the fact that your work was chosen for you. Most everyone out here were scavengers or sorts. Janitors might be a more fitting term; perhaps something between the two. Your job was to clear out rubble around the area to see if there was anything useful in the debris, or to try to find usable building space for whatever the Combine might want to use it for. At the moment, they were using them from makeshift housing for means of building the populous of the area.

While you and your neighbors most certain ally weren’t told what their plans were, you all figured it was to divide people even more to make control a bit easier. Though knowing the odd ways of the Combine there was no way of knowing for sure.

There wasn’t quite as much work to do today as your group had finished clearing a section of debris, and you were all told to wait for further instructions before moving on to the next step. Seeing as it would still be light for a few more hours, you decided to go for a walk before going back home. There weren’t many level places to walk, at least where you were being watched like a hawk the whole time. You had fun exploring the old buildings and the surrounding areas anyways. Sometimes you could find little bits and bobs and take them home to brighten the place up before the official team went on a search and were told to dispose of most everything.

You had found a building this time that look like used to be a work building of some kind. If you could find the place that used to be the office, you could really score some stuff. The last one that you searched had all sorts of fun things on the desks; your favorite was a little snow globe that had surprisingly not been shattered through the years. The glass was starting to yellow a bit, but the glitter still shone brightly around the little cartoon, alien figure in the middle. If only the people who made it all that time ago knew…

Much to your delight there was an office here. Looked like it was something corporate and cushy, so there was bound to be plenty of frivolities around based on the things some of the older people in your group had told you. As you looked around for anything interesting, your eye caught a picture hanging on the wall. While you thought to take it back with you just as a joke, you decided it would be better suited here as something of a monument to the people that used to work here; who knows if any of them survived.

You did have to admire, even sort of marvel at their out fits. It seemed odd to you that there was really that many different types of clothing. The most anyone had these days were their jumpsuits and maybe a hat or some other accessory made from the scraps around. These people looked like they all had full outfits with some pretty fancy jewelry, watches, and a few more accessories that you weren’t even sure what they were.

A crunch of the graveled debris put you on alert, and quickly you spun around. There was someone there…or, you thought so. Now that you were looking closely you could see it was just your imagination. Something else that told you that you were still alone was the fact that your imagined voyeur had an outfit like the people in the picture. It must have been a trick of the light, one of those things where if you look at something for too long then you see it’s ghost for a moment once you look away. After looking for a few minutes more and grabbing a few things for yourself and some for your neighbors, you decided not to push your luck any further. It’s not like there were any rules against looking around like this, as long as one stayed in the permitted region. But, it was never a smart idea to give the Civil Protection any opportunity say it was for their own entertainment.

There was something that kept gnawing at the back of your mind that you were in fact being watched. It seemed this feeling was correct as the next thing you knew there was someone standing on a ledge about twenty feet above the hall you were walking down. You took a moment to try to see who it was, but quickly decided to keep moving. It seemed that two things were true: there was a man in the office room with you and he did in fact have one of those office outfits on- a suit you think you had heard them called? In any case, he certainly wasn’t from around here; that meant there was a non-zero chance he was with the Combine somehow. No need to interact with them when you don’t have to.

Whoever that was must have wanted you to see him as there was no effort on his part to hide once he was spotted. In fact, he watched you the entire way through the hall. All you could do was to leave this place as soon as you could and hope that he wasn’t some sort of new look out and that you had seen the last of him. That last hope should be the actual case as you were getting close to where you had entered from and though you weren’t sure exactly how that guy got up where he did, it must have taken at least a bit of time get there.

“Excuse me.”

Against the odds the man you were just pondering walked from a nearby doorway, making you freeze in your tracks. Though he looked like any other person you had seen, there was something about him that seemed like it commanded more authority, almost to an involuntary degree.

“Pardon me,” the man offered, perhaps as another greeting or perhaps because he noticed that he startled you, “but… you see, I … was passing through when, I noticed something… familiar.” There was something odd about the way his words were spoken. It didn’t seem to be a stutter, at least in none of its usual varieties. It almost sounded like he was struggling to breathe with every word he said. Or, like it was difficult for him to even form the words in the first place.

“Familiar?” You question hesitantly.

“Y-es.” He replies expectantly.

“Do I… I mean- have we met?” You asked.

“No.” He responded. “Though that should not have… any bearing on the situation.”

You were starting to think this guy was more than just eccentric.

“So, we’ve never met, but you’re supposed to look familiar?”

“Not…look. It’s more of a …feeling.” Now the man looked confused. He seemed to think there was something that should have been obvious to notice, but you weren’t sensing anything.

“Perhaps… yes. I believe your… well, rather, you- have buried yourself. Though, I cannot say why.”

The man sat down the case in his hand, the handle falling down with a small thump. He then walked closer to you, raised his hands, and placed his thumbs on either side of your head to gently press onto your temples. You were still frozen where you were, though you almost felt curiosity rather than fear.

“Now- let us see what… exactly has you so forgetful.” He hummed more to himself rather than to you a split second before every thing went black in a snap like a light being switched off.

Things were suddenly zipping through your mind and past your darkened eyes faster than you could even hope to process them. Star rushing past, flashes bizarre landscapes wove their way between the spacial feeling of pressurizing weightlessness and the smell of char. Things that seemed so strange, so alien, and yet…

Just as quickly as you had blacked out, you suddenly found yourself back in the abandoned building, the man walking away from you and picking up his case once more.

“It seems like this… is a more, intensive, process than I originally thought. You seemed rather overwhelmed.” He looked back to you, his eyes that were once a striking blue now seemed to have a bight green glow from the irises, making them look almost teal. There was an endearment to his gaze, that you now seemed to understand; at least a bit more anyway. Something about him did seem familiar; it was a sense more so than a memory. Even though you did not know him, nor had you ever, it was like you had been looking for him for centuries.

“You appear to be having…difficulty, remembering. And, regrettably, I do not have any more time- to spare helping you at the moment.” Suddenly, a white light in the shape of doorway rose from the ground. “We shall be in touch again soon.”

And, and with that he walked through and the light closed.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

You managed to stumble your way back to your apartment, the first thing you did was flop down on the old mattress that you had. There were so many things rushing through your mind, but most of them were incomprehensible. You weren’t sure how long you lied there and pondered, but it was long enough that the sun had finished going down. The cool might breeze helped to calm you down and bring you out of you zoned out fog.

You sat up, not realizing until you were directly in across from the little window on the other side of the room that you had a cold sweat, the breeze cooling it further. Not doing much more to acknowledge it than the involuntary shiver that ran through your system, you walked over to look out at the night sky. Reaching over to the nearby desk, you took your little snow globe and started to fidget with it, stirring up the glitter in all different directions.

Holding up the little semi-sphere to the open window, the glitter blended with the starts and the little alien hovered among them all. Yet, it was still trapped by the yellowed glass.

You sighed, tired from everything, but still lazily swirling the snow globe.

"Did I have a past life or something?" You wondered aloud.

"I wouldn't say-"

You screamed at the voice that suddenly appeared behind you.

Whirling around you saw the man from before, the green flittering from his eyes and leaving only the blue once more. He ducked down quickly, and a moment later stood up with your tricket in hand; you must have dropped it when you were startled.

"My, apologies..." He offered before looking at the thing in his hand. A playful, almost unbelieving smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he turned the contents himself.

"Life is... full of- interesting allegories. Wouldn't you agree?" He mused as he handed the globe back to you.

You didn't have a response. That didn't seem to matter as he seemed to have more to say himself.

"As I was explaining: I wouldn't say that you- had a... past life- as much as I would say, you've had one with a... new beginning."

You felt like you should understand what he was saying; you wanted to understand what he was saying. But, it was odd to think you were anyone but who your immediate memories told you that you were- just an average person trying to live the best life that they could under the iron grip of the Combine...

Wait!

"The Civil Protection! If they heard me yell, then-"

"Do not worry. We are somewhere that... they cannot bother us."

It was then you noticed how still everything was. The wasn't a sound other than one that was familiar to the soft hum from the field of stars you saw earlier, and the breeze had stopped completely.

"Where? Where are we?" You questioned.

He made a face that seemed both amused and forlorn.

"You really have... forgotten- so much."

Before anything else could be said, it seemed like he realized something. No, it was like he was being told something in an unseen earpiece.

"It seems our current time together must come to an end. I must apologize for presuming your- continued visits. However, it has been...

It has been- welcoming, to have like company."

He straightened his shirt collar and then his jacket like he was embarrassed about something; perhaps what he had just said. Then he gained a smug grin.

"And, I cannot very well leave you... to your own devices after- introducing you to your true nature. Might be dangerous, hm?"

The light doorway immerged once more, and you new that meant he had to leave.

"You will come back?" You asked a bit more enthusiastically than you meant to. It seemed you also felt the connection he did, though you weren't even sure you knew what it was.

"Of course. Until we... meet again."

And with that he was gone, leaving you back to the real world, your thoughts, and the soft night breeze.

[drc00l4tt4]

Currently resisting the masculine urge to make some platonic x readers of Half-Life The Gman.

*Keyboard suddenly appears* F u c k

[maxkillertart]

I will never understand people who find G Man sexy in ANY way but. More power to them.

[mask-knife-is-buggys-wife]

G-man X Fem Reader drabble: Proposition

I said if even one person wanted me to do this I would so here you thirsty hoes go. I’ve never actually written on tumblr so don’t be too harsh please I did my best. Want more? I dunno depends how this goes I guess.

*******************************************************************************************

Everything was still the same as it always seemed to be. Yet the room felt like something had shifted. Like when you become aware someone else was in a room you couldn't see, an inherent instinct somehow tipped you off always. But this wasn't quite like that. It was heavy, like something was floating above everything else disrupting and setting off tension. Slight but noticeable enough to make her look over her shoulder confused.

Nothing was there. A room as it always was, boring if anything. Turning away to glance back out the window wondering what the commotion was outside the slight pull at the hair at the back of her neck happened like something had gently brushed it aside.

Snapping around startled she inhaled sharply to look her shoulders jolting. But again nothing was there. The past while she had started wondering if she was going crazy, lately things always felt off like she had forgotten something or a pair of eyes were watching her at random moments. But she knew that was just paranoia and maybe she was just getting antsy of late. But why she wasn't sure as she had no particularly new reason to be and dismissed it easily.

This time it was definitely something though. Fully turning around she stepped back scanning the room certain it was something this time. As she did she saw what she could only explain was the flash of a pair of eyes. Her eyes shot open as her mouth fell open to shriek in fear. The scream left her lips but she stopped immediately as it got caught not actually making a sound as it came out. Real terror set in as she realized she couldn't scream. To answer her terrified confusion a voice suddenly slipped by her ear as if someone had leaned in and walked past her.

"Interesting. Isn't it?"

Before she could respond a man circled around walking in front of her which made her snap back around then jump back in alarm. He spoke as he walked forward not facing her.

"Once you learn no one can hear you, you don't scream. Is validation really so important?"

The way he spoke was extremely unsettling as his voice almost seemed to float drifting ear to ear and trailed off like it was slow to catch up on its breath. Or rather was savoring every syllable and sucking in air like they were dragging out the experience as long as possible. Her hair stood on edge as the voice pulled around her like a hand sliding along her skin its nails lightly drawing in and trailing the surface.

His voice enraptured her so quickly she forgot to scream instead taking in the strange man's figure. He seemed like just a business man in a suit, a fairly regular and unassuming suit that accentuated his tall thinner form. His appearance was clean and professional with an aged face that to her seemed almost handsome. But the second she glanced to his eyes that pretense immediately disappeared. The room dropped into cold as his face twisted into a smile. One that seemed trusting but carrying strange intent all at once like he knew something she didn't, which he clearly did.

"I know this may be confusing to you so I feel introductions are in order."

Something in the back of her throat told her she was free to speak again immediately the word who almost fell out. But he answered quickly. 

"You see you are special." This stopped her as it didn't make any sense.

"In the way that you are completely unremarkable." That struck and she wanted to be offended but it was actually too sudden and only made things more confusing.

"You aren't a Freeman type. A regular sweet naive young woman. Lovely many would say." The name Freeman immediately stuck out to her enormously and she couldn't retort because it was absolutely true. Nobody on earth was like the man of legend. So then why was this man who she could tell was something....else, even talking to her? He read her mind and started to pace like he was about to explain something of great importance.

"I have been tasked to finding candidates that are able to help me achieve the goals my employers desire."

She didn't like the way he said employers so pointedly like there was something else implied but didn't focus on it wanting to hear more. He walked with purposeful yet lazed steps as he continued.

"Unassuming beauty is something I've found to be very effective in going unnoticed by society as a whole."

To be called a beauty by this man was strange and made the color in her cheeks stir as hearing someone utter beauty directed towards herself in such a strangely intimate sense mixed with the dragging curls of his voice made her heart pick up pace. Despite his seemingly normal appearance the power and authority behind it was undeniably enthralling and attractive in a terrifying but exciting way she was to scared to admit to herself.

"Having beauty and the ability to get whatever you want is surely a skill in and of itself. Isn't it?"

He stopped directly behind her frame, she could feel his body looming over hers. He was considerably taller and wherever he went the rooms atmosphere shifted with him. Frozen not looking back she felt too frightened to move like a mouse in front of a poised snake.

"Such a skill could prove quite useful to my employers endeavors. And quite...amusing."

The way amusing drifted towards her from behind finally made her turn to look at him not liking the uncomfortable implication in it. His face was leaned over her shoulder unexpectedly close making her gasp startled again while cringing away from him. He seemed to enjoy the reaction from the flash in his eyes like he never got to relish in them before.

"Would that be something you could find appealing?"

She had no answer to that and looked away from him finally as she figured that he whatever he was asking of her would have heavy consequences.

"I don't understand..."

Was all she managed. He straightened up and started to come around to face her again. As he did his hand came up and took a gentle hold at the ends of a lock of hair and simply let it fall from his fingers testing her. Too shocked to breathe she only stared able to take his hand in closely for just a moment. He inhaled as he lifted the locks like he was drawing out more air for another tantalizing word.

"I want you."

He sucked in quickly like he was swallowing saliva after a morsel. "And your skills. This deal can prove quite beneficial to you."

Her face finally did turn red fully and on instinct her hand came up to swat his away. When he vanished in an instant she shrieked again. His voice behind her purred into her ear and slipped to the other slowly.

"Please miss. Save it for your work."

Spinning around to face him starting to get tired of this she saw he again wasn't there and panicked. His voice began to circle around like he was purposefully trying to tease her into getting even more flustered.

"So many benefits. A change to the life you have now. All you need do is agree to my terms. And it all..."

His face came directly in front of her so he was speaking mere inches away. "Could be yours."

His expression was soft, turning up his brows in a coy manner almost like he was showing he knew what she really wanted. Chest pounding and sweating she forced herself to look him in the eye and became enraptured once more.

"Why me?"

The chuckle that came from him made her stomach twist and legs almost turn to jelly. He looked at her like he was about to devour her or was at least very keen on trying. Another long drawn breath pulled into him as he stared at her his eyes dropping to her lips before simply saying,

"Because I picked the best candidate. You. I want the best."

Another slow drag of air through his teeth.

"I want you."

With that his hand suddenly took her and brought it up. It was so sudden she didn't even have time to react to how unsettlingly cold his skin was. His fingers were strong and pointed holding her wrist in an exact way. He held it up to the level of her shoulder and cracked a devious grin that promised everything he had whispered to her.

"Join me and I'll make sure you attain all you desire."

Despite her hesitation she didn't pull away unable to hide her draw to the man and was not exactly upset to be touched. Not able to refuse she looked to him feeling like she was being pulled into a new life she didn't know she wanted. Her turn now to breathe heavily she sighed out her answer as he almost drew closer to her his grip on her wrist slightly tightening encouraging her to continue.

"Yes..."

With that his grip on her tightened for just a moment like he was confirming what she had just said. Jerking her arm towards himself she stumbled slightly and fell into his chest as he looked down at her with excited ravenous eyes. She gasped feeling the contact is frame on hers and braced for it feeling like she was about to melt. Just before she could fully come against him he vanished leaving her to catch herself loudly gasping in shock.

A low chuckle drifted from where he had been and slowly faded from the room leaving one last breath in her ear.

"I'll be in touch for your first assignment."

[headcrabs-the-forbidden-hat]

A Deal With The Devil |G-Man/Gender-Neutral!Reader|

pairing: g-man (half life) x gender-neutral!reader 

(I tried to keep it gender-neutral, but you might get the occasional female pronouns; what can I say? I don’t edit my shit)

words: 2,661

warnings: unedited, mild cursing

summary: [y/n], after not having a good day, encounters a strange non-human man, but they aren’t as afraid as they are annoyed with him.

notes: wanted to jump into the g-man x reader bandwagon, and this idea has been plauging me since. enjoy!

During the nights when they can't sleep, [y/n] sits out on the rooftops and stares at the star-splattered sky. For every star their eyes isolate in the navy sky, they give it a name. Sometimes they give the stars names like Glados and Wheatley. Other times, the names the stars get are words, some unique like ethereal or onism. Most of the time, however, the names are just words depending on their mood.

And what a shitty mood they're in tonight.

Their eyes land on one star near the center of the sky. It's smaller than the surrounding stars, thus giving itself the name Inferior.

Bang!

Jumping in surprise, their eyes snap to the dark streets below. They see nothing—probably was an animal, they think in an attempt to calm their pounding heart—but they move away from the edge just in case. After having a terrible day, adding yet another incident with the Combine is not high on their "most wanted in life" list right now.

Their eyes move back to the white glowing dots in the sky, eyes searching until they stop on another star. This one is dim compared to the others; Unremarkable is the first word to come to mind. Pleased with the name, your eyes search the sky again. The mysterious banging forgotten—

Crash!

Okay, sounds like someone's breaking into a window. [y/n], despite her caution, moves to the edge of the rooftop. The breaking glass sounds close, but what if it's just an echo? Swallowing the rising fear in their throat, they back away from the edge. They make sure to grab their pistol as another "just in case" moment. Just in case someone breaks into shelter while they sleep.

The day was bad enough already, comes the thought, this might as well happen.

Just as they are about to climb down through the hole in the roof, a flash of blue catches their eye. They freeze, heart lurching to their throat. Then they turn around, eyes darting from each dark corner on the roof. Is someone here? they want to ask, which is stupid all on its own.

They stand there, frozen, as they continue to scour their rooftop and the other rooftops. Did Combine wear blue? No, they didn’t—they don’t have a stylish bone in their bodies. And all the commotion from earlier meant human, or a zombie, was doing something. 

But headcrab zombies aren’t blue, and they aren’t fast. And what would a human want with this place, anyway, in Combine Central?

They turn and stare down into the hole, and there it is again—the flash of blue. Well, not a flash, but they can see the blue. They squint their eyes, noticing half the outline of a shoulder with a pale hand holding . . . a briefcase?

Something about the sight seems . . . wrong. Why? 

They aim the pistol down, close enough to scare the person away if they pulled the trigger. “Who’s down there?” They ask, voice echoing throughout the abandoned building. 

They hear a faint moan from a zombie in the building over, but no response from the person. “Get out of there before I shoot you,” they warn. Still no response.

Then the person moved further into the darkness, shoulder and briefcase disappearing. 

[y/n] curses and inches closer to the edge. They knock back the hammer and stare into the gaping, black void of the crumbling building. Not seeing anything, not even a dark silhouette, they inch closer. The wood creaks, breaking the tense silence like a jackhammer against concrete. [y/n] holds their breath, praying the flooring keeps.

It breaks beneath their weight.

With a scream stuck in their throat, they can’t even think to brace for impact. The wind whips at their face and their eyes water at the intensity. They curl themselves into a fetal position and move their arms to cover their face. Nothing but darkness as they fall down, down . . . down . . . down.

Halting in the middle of a dark void, [y/n] stares agape at the dots moving past them. As if they were in a spaceship and turned on hyperdrive, though in slow motion. They uncurled from themselves. Their feet touch invisible ground and they straighten their spine. They spin around in bewilderment. Is this Heaven or what? 

Their eyes move from the passing specs of white and stare straight ahead, unable to wrap their mind around this . . . predicament. If they could even call it such a thing—they could be dead and now wait to face judgement.

Well then.

Then they notice two unmoving specs. They don’t dare step closer, unsure if the scene will vanish before their eyes again. They stare right into the white specs, unaware of them moving closer until a wrinkled face pops out into the light from an invisible light source. 

The bright white eyes dim into a human blue. The creature before them—that’s not human, it’s not human! her panicked thoughts blare—contorts its human face into a smug smile. Without breaking eye contact, [y/n] notices the blue suit the man-creature wears, though his briefcase is missing. They know, without a doubt, this thing was trying to get her attention earlier.

Why was he trying to get me to follow him?  

They raise their hand in an attempt to aim their pistol at them, but they lost the gun. Lost somewhere in this . . . void. Damn, it was my only one, too. 

Too unnerved to feel an ounce of hot embarrassment, [y/n] steadies their voice as they demand, “Who—what are you?”

“There are things far more important matters to discuss than who—or what—I am,” he says in this voice [y/n] can only describe as Twilight Zone-esque. Not too deep, not too light, but in between, with the odd emphasis on an occasional word. 

Though they’d never admit it in her wildest dreams, they found his voice enchanting. And I know I’m dead because of that thought. 

They keep their wary gaze on the man as he makes his way closer in a leisure, almost predatory pace. Holy Hell, he’s a giant. [y/n] cranes their neck to keep the unbreakable eye contact, heart pounding in their chest from the proximity. 

“Please tell me what’s important so I don’t stray from serious matters,” they ask in a mocking, deadpan tone. 

Before they can turn around, the man disappears. They frown, annoyance beginning to overtake their fear. If there’s one thing [y/n] hated more than the Combine, it was when people played cat-and-mouse games, or left them in suspense.

[y/n] does a full spin to catch the sight of his blue suit, but no luck. The moving dots mess with their head, giving them vertigo. They stumble back into something cold and immovable. A wall? But as they spin on their heel, the tall man stares down at them with glowing white eyes.

To show they’re not intimidated with his overall appearance and abilities, [y/n] sizes him up. They cannot stop the inappropriate thoughts springing in their mind. 

God Almighty, human or not, I’d flock to him like flies to honey—and I’m definitely going to Hell for that thought.

“You impress my employers, [y/n] [l/n].” Hearing those odd words, they raise an eyebrow. The man continues. “However, I am not quite as impressed.”

Their eyes narrow. “I didn’t realize I was working for your approval.” 

The man gives them an odd look, one that makes the hairs on their neck and arms stand in a—dare they admit it—a good way. He then claps his hands behind his back and circles around her in his predatory walk. “I’ve observed your behavior through various situations. Compared to others I’ve worked with, you are inferior. Your work is mediocre, and overall, unremarkable.”

“Tell me how you really feel, and please, don’t hold back.”

The man chuckles; [y/n] hates the tiny flutter in their chest as they hear it. “Not to mention your lackluster humor,” he adds to his ever-growing list of their wrongs.

They open their mouth to say their defense, but he turns around. The words falter on their tongue as a more sincere grin graces his wrinkled features. “But what if we could do better?”

All [y/n] manages out is a faint, “We?”

“You see, [y/n], my employers call on me to . . . nudge things from time to time, to get them moving towards a prospective future,” he says, stopping to face them. “And you are one of those things.”

They think his words over, but there’s a small voice in the back of their mind telling them no. They shake their head and say, “Whatever you’re selling, I’m not buying.”

The man smirks as if he expected their response. His reaction irked, if not excited them. “What if I told you I can give you something you never thought you wanted before?”

“Then I’d tell you you’re full of shit,” comes their mindless answer.

He gives them a small, amused smile. Then a sudden white flash blinded [y/n]. Protecting their eyes, they cover their face with their arm and grit their teeth. The blinding light dims, then disappears. They remove their arm from their face, blinking through the black dots clotting their vision.

The man replaced the slow-moving black void with the environment of a small garage. Their eyes move across the workbench, cluttered with various tools and devices they don’t recognize, and to the shelves filled with the other unfamiliar gadgets. 

Then the door of the garage opens, and [y/n]’s eyes snap to the spot. They suck the air through their teeth in a silent gasp as their eyes land on themselves. Well, their future selves. [y/n] takes in their future and decides they don’t like what they see. 

Their future self is not . . . okay. Worse off than they are now. Skin as pale as the dead bodies littering the streets, protruding bones to give an ill appearance. And those eyes. There’s something about those eyes that are . . . of kilter, not right. Like someone tried to remake a replica of [y/n] but messed up somewhere in the process, giving a non-human look. 

Much like the man next to them when he disappears in the darkness and his eyes glow.

“I look . . . pretty much the same,” they lie—it seems like the right thing to do, not only for the man but for themselves.

Don’t let him know you see the cracks through this manipulation . . . whatever it is.

They watch the future them head over to the workbench. They pick up a hammer, and without paying attention, hit at their finger. Cursing, they toss the hammer to the corner and then stick their smarting fingers into their mouth in attempt to ease the throbbing pain. 

“And I pretty much act the same,” they add to their ever growing list of faults, frowning.

They turn and face the man. “I thought you were showing me the thing I never thought I wanted.” They say with a scowl, “Well? I’m waiting.”

His smug smile returns as he comments, “An impatient little thing, aren’t you?”

[y/n] snaps their face around so the man doesn’t see the blush creeping up their face.  

They continue watching themselves. Their future self walks away from the workbench with a similar scowl and towards a blank wall. Tilting their head, they watch as their future self flicks their wrist towards the wall. A black, liquid-looking circle appears out of nowhere, widening enough for their future self to fit inside without having to slouch. 

A portal, a goddamn portal!

Without thinking, you run towards your future self. They don’t notice their past self. It’s a vision. Good, comes the strange thought, I can handle all this, but meeting myself is not high on my list. Standing as close as they can get to the portal, they peer inside the yawning circle but see nothing. Their future self passes through them as if they were a ghost—which, technically, they were —and disappears into the portal. A second after, the portal disappears with them.

[y/n] pulls away and stares right at the man, who already watches her with a curious expression. Like a scientist watching an experiment he could not predict yet. They clear any expression they have on their face, knowing it wouldn’t do any good to be an open book when making a deal with the devil. If there is any deal. 

But on a minor note, Hell yeah, I want powers.

“So, you said your employers call you to nudge things to an ideal future. What exactly do I have to do with this future?” They ask, inching closer to the mysterious man.

He doesn’t answer her question. Instead, he holds out his briefcase. “All will be explained in due time, once you take this.”

Something—a small voice in the back of their mind—tells them not to take it. Deal with the devil, remember? Nothing good comes out of that. They stare at the briefcase, biting the inside of their cheek hard enough to taste metallic blood. They reach out to take it, ignoring the leering look of the man looming before them.

But then they stop and drop their hand to their side.

They shake their head as they think of their future self’s appearance. Completely the same, but not quite, erring on the side of a conscious zombie. A puppet for this creature and his “employers”, which all but means masters. [y/n] hates zombies not because they’re flat-out terrifying or annoying to deal with, but because they’re zombies. No free-will, not anymore.

And if there’s one thing [y/n] craves more in the world than anything, it’s free-will and the freedom to do whatever they want with it. Authority and slavery can go fuck itself.

“No,” they tell the man, looking up into his wide eyes, “I’m not taking your briefcase. Take me back home.”

Within a blink of an eye, the briefcase disappears and the man takes [y/n]’s face in his cold hands. He bends his back to get as close to their face as he can. “You’re a fool if you haven’t thought this through,” he says in a low growl. 

Though he lost his calm, collected composure, and his growl was terrifying, [y/n] is more shocked by the tingling feeling in their chest than anything else. They grab a hold of his wrists and in attempt to keep his hands from squishing their head.

“I may be inferior, unremarkable, and mediocre. Even downright lackluster,” they spit out, then grin as they say, “but mama hasn’t raised a fool.” They pull his hands away from their face and demand, “Take me back home. Now.”

The blinding white light flashes with a vengeance. They cover their face with their arm and wait until the light vanishes. 

When they remove their arms, they see they’re back in the building they call a shelter. They turn around and take everything in. Never in their wildest dreams did they think it would be a blessing to be back here, among the rubble and garbage. Then they turn to the area where they’ve made a little makeshift workbench and grins.

They walk over and pick up a small screwdriver fit for electronics. They smack the handle against their palm as they think of their game plan. Make a portal machine, then perfect it into a simple device, like gloves or a gun. Shouldn’t be hard, not with all these aliens and their machines hanging around on Earth.

Before they set down and get to work, they spot a flash of blue in the corner of their eye. They angle their head towards the rooftop and see the man stare down at them. His face is unreadable. They wave to him, and he disappears without a wave bank.

[y/n] smirks. We’ll see who’s a fool, won’t we?