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Shephard's gone over his few personal belongings and his bills as best he can. "Look," he says to the Bar, "I'll do my best to get back here with somethin' for my tab next time, but right now I got squat to pay with. Me'n Chell need to get back to base. I make it back here, you can have whatever I picked up between now an' then, all right?"

The Bar doesn't seem to object to that too much, so he heads over to one of the tables to wait for Chell while he goes over his gas mask one more time for maintenance purposes. It can't hurt. He doesn't have to wait long, though; Chell turns up a bit later, similarly ready to go.

They'll be leaving a note this time. Shephard doesn't ever want to hear that Freeman clown's name again, but, hell, he's important to Chell; if it means she doesn't have to worry he's not gonna put up a stink about it.

One note later, it's time to leave.

[Adrian and Chell are heading back to the Valve universe, but the post is open to anyone who wants to tag! Just indicate which one, or both, you're tagging. Tinytags: Adrian Shephard (Half-Life: Opposing Force), Chell Johnson (Portal).]

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Charlie is watching from above, as is his habit lately. (The best place to learn about the Bar is clearly from above.) He spots a man with a gas mask that looks very serious. And very familiar.

A short while later, he sees a face he knows, and calls down. "Chell..."

She tilts her head up at the voice, looking to the rafters until she sees Charlie, and waves at him. "Hi, Charlie."

"Did I catch you in the middle of something?" Her body language seems different than usual.

"Not exactly, but... well, we're leaving to go back to our world soon," she explains, finally.

"Oh." Hard for him not to think for a moment about that world, about just how bad it is there. He jumps down. "That guy over there, he's from there, too, right?"

Chell nods. "This is my partner, Adrian Shepherd," she says, indicating him. "Adrian, this is my friend and sensei, Charlie."

Shephard glances up and tosses off a casual two-fingered salute. "Mornin'," he says. "Nice t'meetcha."

"Same here." He is pretty sure Chell mentioned him. He also wonders how far their partnership goes, but that's not his business. "Things still need taking care of back there, don't they?"

"Damn straight they do," says Shephard, who's feeling marginally less vulgar today. "Got us an industrial plant the size of a city to kick over in the mornin', for starters."

If Charlie's observant enough, he'll notice that they regard each other more or less like siblings; nothing more.

"For starters," Chell agrees. "And then we'll work our way from there, if that's successful... I got thrown back a couple days behind, and the Citadel invasion hasn't happened yet," she explains.

"You wouldn't know how Gordon and Alyx are faring? I haven't seen her...ghost isn't the right word, but it will have to do...in a while, and I was a bit worried." About them, about Chell, about that whole world, really.

"No," Chell replies, shaking her head, "I haven't, not since seeing her ghost. The last I saw of them was... before I went off to pick-up the ninja team, and then... he got me."

"Ran into that myself," says Shephard. "The ghost, I mean. Didn't know it was anyone much until Freeman came up."

That didn't end well.

"Ain't heard from her or anyone else from our world since."

"The whole thing's rotten, isn't it?" Not much he can find to say. Or do. He still wishes he could, but it's not his fight. "I hope you two and everyone else can get one more step to liberation for your world.

"And that you two and Gordon and Alyx can get back her safely."

"It's... our world. Whether it's rotten or not really... doesn't matter at this point, unfortunately," Chell says. "But hopefully, this is a step in the right direction." She really doesn't want to think about what'll happen if it fails.

"That's what they paid me for, back when I got paid." Shephard grins. "Might not be what you'd call easy, but shit, if I wanted easy I'd'a joined the fuckin' Navy. We got us a fight to win, that's all. It's just long as fuckin' hell."

"Let me guess. You were in the Marines?" He fits all the stereotypes.

"Still am," says Shephard, the grin fading. "I might be the only one left alive but that don't mean the Corps is gone. Not as long as there's one of us left to carry on."

"And we're lucky to have you," Chell says softly.

"There is a lot to be said for carrying on traditions." He's hopeful that his own continued after he died. "Though that means if...when you succeed you will be expected to rebuild the Corps." He smirks a bit, knowing he said this just see how Shephard reacts.

"Yup." Shephard's answer is a faint, knowing smile, the sort of thing that looks more at home in the vicinity of a successfully used telescopic sight. "Might take a while, but I plan on getting there."

"It'll take a while, but... it's important." Chell can see that no matter how far along they get, they'll need people to stay vigilant, at least. And from what she's learned from Adrian, the Marines are the people for the job.

"Memory is important. Restoration is important." Chell would know that better than most. "Let's hope you get to do it soon."

"Sooner the better, far as I'm concerned," says Shephard.

"First, though... the Scab."

"The Scab...that's the plant you're taking out." He can see it. No doubt from orbit, it would look like a scab on the face of the dying Earth.

"Used to be Pittsburgh, from what they tell me," says Shephard. "Pretty much just one big damn plant from one end to the other now. Nothin' livin' there now 'cept a minor Overwatch garrison."

"And it's a major foothold for them, since it supplies quite a bit of area," Chell explains.

Edited 2009-01-27 03:52 (UTC)

"Then i wish you both the best of luck." He's not sure what else to say.

But he does give Chell a hug.

"Thank you," she says gratefully, and returns it. "We'll come back."

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