Work Text:
Title: Good To Be Alive
Author: Lastwaterbender
Fandom: The Martian
Relationship: Johanbeck
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Summary: The first few hours that Mark is back on the Hermes.
I think I finally found my hallelujah
I’ve been waiting for this moment all my life
And it’s good to be alive right about now.
Holy shit.
Hooooly shit, he was still alive.
Yesterday, he was on Mars preparing to launch himself in a convertible space ship and today he survived the journey and was now in the lab of the HERMES. He had been on the ship for almost an hour, Beck pulled him back in as the rest of the crew waited with baited breath. With the hatch closed, and the other door open, four of the crew fit in the airlock and pulled him into six different, but gentle hugs before the smell got to them.
Beck and Vogel helped him out of his EVA suit while Johanssen disappeared to grab supplies for him to shower. He wasn’t entirely sure what happened to Lewis and Martinez after their reunion, but if he had to guess it was navigating the ship back towards earth, thank god. Thank all the gods.
The feel of water, real water and not water made from rocket fuel, was heaven like. He knew that he was being wasteful, but frankly he didn’t care. He could make more if he had too, but a year of Martian soil was deep in the layers of his skin.
He felt like a new human being when he stepped out of the shower. He wasn’t alone in the bathroom, Vogel sat on a chair in the corner reading something on his tablet. “There you are, Watney.” He said with a wolfish grin. “I was beginning to believe we caught a Martian Caveman instead of you.”
“Ha ha, did Martinez tell you to say that?” He asked, but he couldn’t contain his grin. He was just so damn happy to see the German that he couldn’t even pretend to be offended. Vogel looked down and allowed him some privacy to get changed into his old clothes. Clothes, that of course hung limply from his body.
If he thought the shower was heaven, wearing clean clothes was the next step better. Had clothes always felt this way?
When he finished changing, Vogel led the way to the medical lab where he knew that he was going to be poked and prodded by the good doctor to make him feel even better. Maybe he even had some Vicodin that he could take to stop the ache in his ribs.
The lab was as he remembered, immaculately sterile and obviously still intact after they depressurized in order to slow down. Beck had set up the medical cot for him with fresh linen (or at least from what he could tell, he was just happy to sleep in a bed) and had a tray of stuff set next to the bed. He was in the corner pulling something off the shelf when they floated in. “Feel better?” Beck asked with a smile.
Watney nodded and thanked Vogel, who disappeared back up the ladder. “You have no idea.” He said, waddling to the bed and taking a seat.
Beck smirked as he crossed the room and handed him a thermos. Watney looked at it disheartened. “Drink up.” He said lightly. Watney took it, almost sadly. “I’m sorry, once I get your weight up and all of your blood work back on track, we can introduce solid food.”
“You’re killing me, bro.” Watney complained. Beck placed a nasal cannula under his nose and around his ears, running on the assumption that he did break his ribs and the extra oxygen wouldn’t kill him.
The doctor shrugged. “I can’t kill you now. Not after we came all this way back for you.” He said with a small laugh. “I know it sucks, but if you’re not careful, it will make your recovery more difficult. Give me a couple of days, a week at most, and then you can have whatever you want.”
With a groan, he took a sip of the broth that he was offered. It wasn’t a steak or a cheeseburger, and it sure as hell not made from a potato, but it was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted, ever. Beck tried to hide his amusement as he watched him drink from the thermos.
When it was emptied, he sat it on the side table. “Not bad for chicken water.” He said dismissively, but he still couldn’t hide his smile.
“High nutrient broth.” Beck corrected as he motioned for him to give him his arm so that he could place an IV line into his vein, his fingers tapped on the veins. “You are a hundred pounds lighter from when I saw you last, I don’t want to shock your system by allowing you to gorge yourself. That broth has more calories per serving that what you were eating in two days back on Mars and is easy on your stomach.”
Watney tried to roll his eyes, but he was truly grateful for Beck. “Thank you.” He said, emotionally.
“You’ve taken care of yourself for 500 Sols, let me take over for a couple of days.” He said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder for a moment. “I’m going to have a place a PICC line.”
Mark nodded and Beck turned to grab his supplies. He assumed that his veins were crap because he was dehydrated.
Someone sliding down the ladder made him look up. Commander Lewis slid down gracefully, a tired smile on her face. “How you feeling, Watney?” She asked, sitting on the edge of his bed.
“I seriously cannot complain right now.” He answered, pushing himself deeper into the softest pillow in the universe. “I just drank some chicken water, Chris is about to put a PICC line in and then I can get some good drugs.”
She nodded and patted his thigh. “I just finished talking with everybody back at NASA, they are glad to see you back on board.” She reported. “They will want you to do a video to send back to earth as soon as your feeling up to it.” He nodded, it was the least he could do.
“Did you talk with my parents?” He asked.
It was her turn to nod. “Yeah, just briefly.” She answered. “I told them that you will call them after you’ve gotten some sleep.”
“Thanks, Commander.” He said, he owed her his life. She was his rock during this ordeal and had to shoulder the burden that he was dead, alive on a desolate planet, mutiny against NASA’s orders and to today, rescuing him. “For everything.”
She wasn’t able to respond, Beck returned with his supplies and snapped on a pair of gloves. “Do you want me to leave?” She asked him and he shook his head.
Lewis was enough of a distraction as she explained what the next part of their plans was, to allow Beck to insert the line through his vein at the crease of his elbow and to his heart without much pain. The commander spoke lightly and not of the time he spent on Mars, they would have to report it eventually, she wanted to convey that this was real. They were real.
Some five minutes later, Beck announced that he was done. “I’m going to start you on some antibiotics and vitamins, until I run your blood work and come up with a better game plan.” He said attaching the bags of medicine to the inserted line. “I’m also giving you something for the pain and to help you sleep.”
“You’re my hero.” Watney said, sliding down in the bed to get comfortable and accidently bumping the commander with his leg. “Oops, sorry Commander.”
She got up and chuckled. “I get it, if you want me to leave you just have to say so.” She teased and before he could defend himself she spoke again. “I’ve got some more work to do, sleep tight Mark.”
“Good night, Commander.” He wished her.
Lewis waved and looked to the doctor. “When you’re finished here, we’ll debrief. Two hours long enough?” She asked and he nodded his head. She excused herself up the ladder, leaving both men alone again.
Beck got up from his doctor rolly chair and reached for another needle with the standard blood collection containers. He walked around the bed for his other arm to draw blood, he was gentle as he inserted the needle and Mark started to feel drowsy, the medication was the good stuff. “Is there any surprises I should know about? You weren’t impregnated by an alien, right?” Beck asked as he filled two vials with blood.
“Other than the exposure to radiation, malnutrition and dehydrated, I don’t think so.” He said.
The doctor nodded. “I’m going to do a full examination tomorrow, after you’ve gotten some real sleep.” He explained as he sat the vials down near his microscope.
“Hallelujah.” Mark sighed, he could feel himself drift off to sleep. What he didn’t know, was that Beck fought for that, NASA wanted full diagnostics and prognosis on him within the first twelve hours on board and Beck said no. Reading over his daily progress report on Mars, the unpacking and packing of the solar panels and waiting for them to charge, and the four hours of driving for 55 Sols, the poor man was exhausted. Didn’t help being launched into space, Beck told them that he would report sometime in the next 48 hours as long as he was stable.
Mark was stable and in better spirits than Beck thought he’d be.
But he was careful not to rule out PTSD and other psychological issues that he might have developed being on a desolate planet by himself on. For now he was worried about his weight, the broken bones and any other things that he could find in his blood.
Beck shook his head with a smile as he started to work on his blood work.
/
He heard an extra voice that pulled him from his slumber.
It took a moment for him to convince his eyes to open and another moment for his eyes to focus on the two figures in the room. Beck had dimmed the lights, save for his working table and Johanssen had arrived, speaking in whispers.
He was standing, leaning against the counter as he sat an empty plate behind him. How sweet, she brought him dinner. He looked down at her as if she was the only one in the universe. “The med team asked for preliminary results and Lewis about flipped.” Beth whispered, Watney couldn’t see her face but could see her push her hair behind her ear, a habit that manifested when she was nervous. What was she nervous about?
Beck inhaled sharply. “I’ve told them. . .”
She placed a hand on his chest to still him. “I know, Lewis took care of it.”
He ran his fingers through his hair, he was upset, that’s why she was nervous. “Was she mad that I missed the debrief? I don’t have much . . .” Watney concluded that Beck had lost track of time and missed the debriefing, and suddenly he felt bad. Doctor Christopher Beck was Mr. Punctual.
What Beth did next startled Watney, he was sure that he was having a mild heart attack. She stood on her tip toes and captured his lips with her own. His arms snaked around her waist and pulled her closer.
How long had this been going on?
Seriously though. Was his letter to Beck the catalyst to break the ice with Johanssen? He told him to wait until they got back to earth! OOOOOOO Commander Lewis was going to kill them.
Unless she already knew?
It must have been going on for a while, because the kiss seemed familiar, like it’s happened before. Damn it, he was out of the loop and nobody told him this juicy piece of information. He had about a thousand bets out there that depended on when their relationship started.
“. . . She knows. She asked me to bring you some dinner and then take you to bed.” She said, her fingers tracing lazy patterns on his chest, his hands still tightly around his waist.
“Take me to bed?” He asked with a raised brow and a flirty crooked smile.
Beth held up her hands. “Her words, not mine.” She answered, pressing another kiss to his lips. “Are you about finished?”
He nodded. “I just need to change his IV and then I’m done for the night.” He said, giving her another peck, this time a little longer. “Go on, I will catch up.”
It was her turn to nod, she left his arms and headed towards the ladder. “You have ten minutes, Christopher.” She said in a teasing tone. Watney had to hold back a snort, he didn’t want to give away that he was awake. “If I have to come back. . .”
He smiled at her. “I promise, I just have to change his IV.” He promised and the look on her face showed she didn’t believe him, but climbed up the ladder anyway.
Mark didn’t even bother to pretend to be asleep when Chris approached the bed with a new bag of medicine. “Holy shit, dude!” He said, wide eyed.
The smug bastard just smirked. “You’re supposed to be asleep.” He said as he snapped on some gloves. “I gave you enough sedative to knock out a horse.”
“How long has THAT been happening?” Watney asked, forcing himself to sit up. The doctor handed him the bottle of water that was on the bedside table for him to drink. “And does Commander Lewis know? What about NASA? They can’t be too pleased with this. . .”
Beck rolled his eyes as he changed the IV and started the new one. “That has been happening for a while and yes Commander Lewis knows about it, she’s the one who approved us to share a room. . .”
He nearly choked on the water he was drinking. “Wait????” He asked hoarsely when he was finally able to breathe.
“Yours and Martinez’s rooms are having heat issues, so Martinez is in my room and I’m in Beth’s room.”
“With Beth?”
Beck nodded. “Did Commander Lewis get abducted by aliens while I was gone?” Watney asked, completely and utterly confused.
The doctor ignored him as he quickly took his vitals and recorded them on the tablet. “You should get some rest, we’ll talk about it in the morning.”
Watney looked at the clock on the wall, he only had four minutes to get to bed. “We have a whole mess of things to talk about, Beck!” He growled as the doctor, turned the lights off and started to climb the ladder. “Wait! Just tell me one thing.”
Beck stopped and looked down at him. “What?”
“Did my email help?” He asked sincerely and Beck raised an eyebrow. “The one that told you to tell her how you feel and that you should wait until you get back to earth?”
“Oh that email.” He tossed his head back and laughed. “You were a few months too late, but thanks for your kind words of confidence.” He answered before climbing the rest of the ladder and out of sight.
Mark leaned back with a smug smile on his face, his right arm behind his head as his thoughts ran through his head. The son of a bitch got the girl and he couldn’t be happier, he had been rooting for them since before they took off for space and thought about them constantly while in the HAB. He was back on Hermes with his best friends in the entire universe, he was better off than he thought he would be (he would deal with the broth thing for a while) and Beck and Johanssen were together. Tomorrow, he would be able to speak with his parents and grill the good doctor for details of his relationship with computer nerd. He was also going to give her crap too, but she hit hard and he needed to build some muscle mass first, but it’d be worth it.
“I think I found my hallelujah.” He said breathlessly as he started his decent back into slumber with the sounds of the ship and the help of a sleeping aid to keep any nightmares he might have at bay.