Disclaimer: I don't own Half-life 2. No reason to sue :)

Spoilers: minor ones for Half-life 2.

"Human Perfection-a state of being where one is able to shed all desires and corrupt ideals. Where one is evolved from an animalistic nature to a divine self. Even though you are talking to a mere servant of the people, I have seen such angels! I have-"

"I can't take much more of this shit," Joe Browson said, flipping of the t.v. A pretty useless gesture, for they could hear Doctor Breen's voice from the top of the city sixteen plaza from a big screen t.v. He moved to shut the window with a sigh.

"-so bring us Doctor Freeman. Show him the meaning of justice. And I will personally grant you your fondest wish."

Joe paused at that, but only briefly. He slammed down the window, obliterating the rest of Dr. Breen's speech. For his own personal satisfaction, he closed the broken blinds too.

For three months they had lived in this shabby apartment. He had no personal items-paintings, pictures rugs-anything to define who he was. The building, like most on the city block was in a demolished state. Half of the wall was gone. Despite Joe's best attempt to close it with a plastic tarp a bitter chill always seeped into the apartment. His clothes were regulation blue. His hair had not been trimmed for weeks. The kitchen was small and generally unused. The toilet barely worked and you were extremely lucky to have a shower, as Joe did. Even then the water was always freezing. Still, at least you were clean.

A sudden 'click' and Dr. Breen's face came back on. "I am just a servant of the people but-"

Joe sat down on the couch. "Come on, honey. Enough of that for now, okay?"

His wife didn't reply. She rarely spoke a word or looked at him. Her eyes were glazed over. Joe was extremely worried that the war had destroyed her soul and he was only talking to an empty vessel. He loved his wife dearly, but they were drifting apart-"

A sudden explosion made him scrunch back into the sofa. "What the hell-?" That came from this building! Another instant later his very door blew open and a man in black armor entered backwards, firing an assault rifle and swearing. "Sorry about this. My name's Barney Colhoun. This here's Gordon Freeman."

Joe stared at the second occupant that entered. "You..?" he whispered.

"Motherfuckers!" Barney screamed, firing out the window. "Gordon, our perimeter's not going to last and if we have any hope of finding Alyx we-uh oh, everybody duck!"

Joe looked up as a grenade pitched into the room. Everyone scattered to the four corners except his wife, who just sat on the sofa. Fortunately it was too far away to do her any harm. The floor, however, was a different story.

"My floor!" Joe accused. "You blew up my floor! And my t.v!"

"Sorry about that. Not our fault you live so close to the citadel," Barney said. "Anyway Gordon, I'll check the roof. You cover me from the window."

Gordon nodded and Barney was gone. Joe watched him with narrow eyes. So far this man had not spoken a word. This man who was supposed to be the symbol of the resistant. The man who was supposed to inspire thousands had now came in here without permission and destroyed his home. Sure it wasn't much, but dammit it was everything he had...

"...bring us Doctor Freeman. Show him the meaning of justice. And I will personally grant you your fondest wish."

Dr. Freeman's suit was powered with an electric shielding which could stop bullets. His head was a different story.

Joe looked down quickly. He wasn't an evil man. He was just a man who was involved in a war he never asked to be. A man who wanted everything to go back to normal. He picked up a poker which until now had been useless considering their fireplace was broken. 'Yeah, all I wanted was a normal life', Joe thought. 'That's my fond wish. Now I'm going to have it!'

Freeman reacted an instant too late and Joe slammed the poker on his head. A spray of blood flew through the air. Joe wondered if he had killed him. Probably not.

The black suits arrived a few minutes longer, their feet pounding on the stairs. Joe raised his hands, grinning foolishly. "You see? I found him! I want-"

A second later the men clubbed him with their electric sticks and the last thing Joe remembered seeing was his wife's dull grey eyes looking down at him.

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

Joe wasn't sure how long he was out for. When he did open his eyes, he was pushed, kicking and screaming, into a smooth black cylinder. It was too narrow for him to move around and for a moment all he could see was darkness.

For a moment.

Dr. Breen's face flicked on in front of him, smiling. "Congratulations, citizen! You have proven your loyalty and dedication to humanity. You, unlike many, have resisted the taint of corruption. As such, you are one of the select few who will be changed, rebuilt in your own image."

On the screen, next to Breen flickered on a medical image of a creature. It was hairless, drooping on thin legs without any body fat and didn't appear to have any sexual organs of any kind.

"How I wish I could join you," Dr. Breen continued. "But also, I'm just a servant of the people and not a divine being such as yourself. Not...perfected." Dr. Breen smiled. "I'm afraid there will be a level of slight discomfort."

There might have been more. There probably was more. All Joe knew is that as soon as the lasers turned on, he couldn't hear anything past his screams.

THE END.

Author's note: In case you're wondering, these are the same creatures that you find during the citadel level as well as a security screen at Nova Prospect :)