The storm that hit had been way above what the HAB and MAV would have been able to handle. Lewis called for an emergency evacuation and everyone instantly went to work, you remembered all the training you had done for this but you never thought it would happen.
Outside the strength of the storm was more than you had expected, sending all of you flying back when Lewis opened the airlock. The next few minutes were the longest and shortest of your life. One second you could hear Mark talking behind you through the comms the next he was gone, hit by the communications dish and sent out of sight. You could barely see your hand in front of your face but you tried desperately to look through the sand in the air to try and find him.
The whole team spread out to find his body, you knew he must have been carried quite far so you did you best to walk as fast as you could against the current of the storm. "Y/L/N, get back to the MAV. Now," Lewis ordered.
"I've got to be close to him," you replied as tears streamed down your face.
"Commander we're tipping, I can only hold on for another minute," you heard Martinez and dread set in your stomach. You were well over a minutes distance from the MAV with how slow the storm made you travel.
"Commander go, I won't make it back in time. You guys need to leave without me," you swallowed.
Numerous yells of protest came from all your crew mates, "I mean it," you said strongly, "I won't make it back, You have less than a minute and all of you shouldn't die for me. Go."
There was silence, everyone knew that you would get left behind and nobody seemed able to stomach it. "Go," you repeated.
Through the comms you could hear Lewis board and reluctantly give permission to launch. Even through the sand storm you could see the light from the launch as it ascended out of the atmosphere. The wind knocked you down to the floor and you took a moment to regain your breathing and forced yourself to stand up against the storm and continue looking for Mark.
His bio monitor had sensed a breach and alerted the team before he went offline, there was no chance he was still alive. But you owed it to him to find his body and not leave it out in the storm.
You looked for close to half an hour before you gave up, it was hard to move against the wind current and there was so much space you were leaving unchecked in your limited visibility. Turning back you began to make your way back to the HAB and let a steady flow of tears fall down your cheeks, Mark was dead and you let your team go without you.
That night back in the HAB you cried yourself to sleep, you had no idea what you would do with Mark's body and you had no way to talk to the crew you had forced to leave you behind. You had doomed yourself to die on Mars.
When Mark woke up he blearily looked over across the Martian desert and saw that the MAV was missing. Of course that meant he was shit out of look but it meant that the crew had gotten to safety, at least you were safe. Back on Earth you had been his best friend, he was always with you and he was so glad when you both got accepted onto the crew. On the journey here he had realised that he had developed feelings for you, even if he never got to see you again at least he knew you were going home and he could look at the pictures of you in the HAB.
Mark made his way in pain back to the HAB and made his way through the airlock. You had been up for a few hours and when you heard the airlock you froze, you were meant to be alone. Unless there was suddenly intelligent life on Mars that could work the airlock then the only other option was, "Mark," you breathed.
You raced through the HAB and arrived at the airlock just as Mark opened the door into the HAB. "Mark?" you asked, dumbfounded, "How are you alive?"
"My blood sealed the breach," Mark explained casually then did a double take when it sunk in that you were here. "Why the hell are you here?" he yelled, wincing when the action pulled at the wound in his side.
"We were looking for you in the storm. I was too far out and the MAV was going to tip so I told them to go," you told him and flashed him a false smile.
"You shouldn't have done that," Mark shook his head, he was supposed to be the only one left here. He got hit and now it was his fault that you got left behind too, you shouldn't have to die on Mars. You had so much more to accomplish.
"It's alright," you shrugged. "That looks pretty nasty," you gestured to the antenna sticking out of his side, "Let's get it all sorted."
You led Mark through the HAB and pulled out the medical equipment and began to clean up his wound. Honestly, you didn't know how you felt about Mark being alive. You had had a crush on the guy for months and you were overwhelmed by how happy you were that he was alive, but now that there was two of you alive the rations would only last half as long and give you less time to figure something out. Mark was kind of a genius though so there was some hope.
A few months later and everything didn't seem to be so bad. You had turned all available floor space in the HAB into a potato farm, you had modified the rover to go further (well, Mark had. You watched), and you even had a plan to go get Pathfinder.
At night you shared a bunk purely to conserve power lost on heating so it could be used on stuff like the water reclaimer, each night your heart beat out of your chest as you snuggled into Mark's side and he wrapped his arms around you to keep you close.
Tomorrow Mark would go get Pathfinder whilst you stayed and took care of equipment checks and whatnot at the HAB. You closed your eyes and focussed on the sound of his heartbeat in his chest. The journey would last over a month and so many things could go wrong and you wouldn't even know, for all you knew this would be the last night you spent with Mark.
"You better be careful out there," you whispered warningly.
"I will," Mark promised.
"I mean it," you said seriously, opening your eyes and tilting your head up to look at his face which was only a few inches away, "We've made it this far. You can't do anything stupid or reckless."
"Okay," Mark whispered quietly, looking deep into your eyes.
The rest of the world faded away and in that moment all you could see was Mark, you could feel his heart racing beneath your fingertips and you were sure he could hear yours beating just as fast. Your breath caught in your throat as Mark tentatively leaned forward and brushed his lips against yours. When he received no resistance he kissed you firmly, you let your eyes slip close as you kissed him back and leaned into him.
After a minute you pulled away for air panting, Mark rested your foreheads together, "I've wanted to do that for months," he admitted with a small laugh.
Your face pulled into a wide grin, "Me too."
Mark made the journey to Pathfinder safely there and back and you got back in contact with NASA. Due to the relay time neither of you had been outside at the same when they took pictures of the signs you had made. This meant NASA thought Mark was still dead and it was just you alive still until they linked up the Rover. It had been sort of hilarious when NASA questioned why you were typing 'we' and you told them Mark was alive and they flooded you with a whole bunch of questions.
All that aside you and Mark made it. Thankfully when the airlock blew both of you had been in space suits and yours had not been punctured, living with Mark in the Rover for the journey to Ares IIII had been both hell in the small living conditions but also meant a lot of cuddling to get comfy in the tiny space.
The rescue had been emotional as anything. You had been panicked out of your mind when Mark passed out from the serious g, you had fared a bit better than him due to your smaller size but you were still scared out of your mind.
ON board again the team apologised for leaving you both behind, you and Mark brushed it off and told them it was the right thing to do. You had been put on bed rest for the first few weeks, Marks bed had been next to yours so after half a night alone he crawled in next to you. So Beck was the first one to know about your relationship.
By default next in line was Beth, she had nodded with a smile and said she would keep your secret.
Vogel found out next when he walked in on you making out in the lab, he walked out whilst muttering in German. You had no idea what he had said but you were thankful he hadn't gone to tell Lewis, at least you didn't think he had considering you and Mark hadn't been thrown out of the airlock.
Martinez was next to know when he overheard you talking to Beth and Beck about it. He had not been so quiet and promptly yelled out, "Y/N and Watney! How am I the last to know about this."
Commander Lewis heard this from across the room.
That talk had been awkward as all hell but she let it slide, saying that after leaving you behind on Mars the two of you deserved a little bit of comfort from each other. You and Mark knew not to push those boundaries and kept your relationship behind closed doors.
Back on Earth everything slowed down and it felt almost surreal. You and Mark were able to live out an ordinary life without having to fear that your house would implode on you. Both of you kept working for NASA, Mark taught recruits in the classroom whilst you led them through all the physical aspects of it.
You moved in together and had been living together for a few years now, you were at home finishing up cooking dinner when you heard Mark come home. "I'm in the kitchen," you yelled.
You heard him walk through but his footsteps stopped and you didn't feel his arms wrap around your waist from behind like you were used to. "Mark?" you turned around and stopped short when you saw him down on one knee and holding out a ring box.
"Y/N, you are my best friend in the whole world," Mark started.
"Oh my god," you breathed.
"I would never had been able to survive on Mars without you and I know I couldn't even now. I love you so much, so would you make me the happiest person in the world and marry me?"
"Yes, yes, a million times yes," you grinned and flung yourself at him and kissing him hard. You smiled into the kiss and pulled back so he could slip the ring onto your finger then kissed him again as happy tears streamed down your cheeks and his.
