Of Human Bonding
by HDGenscher
A Long Way To Mars
[reviews]
TITLE: Of Human Bonding [5/5] - A Long Way To Mars
AUTHOR: HD_Genscher
RATING: PG-13
PAIRING: B/W
SPOILERS: none
DISCLAIMER: All characters and places belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, et al.
ARCHIVE: HD's Fan Fiction Archive, http://www.wiffy.de/hdffa/
FEEDBACK: If you liked it, I'll appreciate your feedback. And if you didn't like it, it'll help me a lot if you point out what I did wrong.
DEDICATED TO: all the courageous men and women risking their lives as astronauts. Terra vos respuet et recipit.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: 'Terra nos respuet' ('The Earth spits us back') is from "Shadow Watch" by Tom Clancy and Martin Greenberg.
---
OF HUMAN BONDING
Part 5. A LONG WAY TO MARS
'Who else but a warrior was suited to go to Mars, the planet named after the Roman god of war? And there was no better warrior in the whole world than Buffy Summers, the former Slayer,' her fellow astronaut and lover, Willow Rosenberg thought as she experiencedly checked the displays in the cockpit of her spaceship and wrote down a couple of readings into her personal mission log. Of course, all important parameters of the ship's voyage and internal status were constantly checked and recorded by the ship's twin computers, but Willow enjoyed upholding the old seafarers' tradition of *writing* a log.
As far as 'her ship' was concerned...although she used to talk and think about it that way, the Wizard of Oz wasn't exactly *her* spaceship-- more like NASA's or the American people's spaceship, but she was commanding it and the Mars Mission, risking her life to go to the red planet--and that, Willow thought, gave her enough authority to think of it as *her* ship.
The redhead pressed a button on a panel left of her. "It's one small step for man, but a giant leap for mankind." The famous words that Neil Armstrong had spoken when he set foot on the moon half a century ago filled the spaceship's cockpit.
"Hey, Will, what are you doing?" asked Buffy, who had floated over from the habitation section of the ship. The blonde took hold of one of the many straps that NASA's engineers had placed around everywhere to prevent someone from floating into the instrument panels or equipment bays, and elegantly came to a standstill behind Willow's seat.
"Buffy Summers! You know you're not supposed to sneak up on me like this!" Willow exclaimed and looked at her crewmate sternly.
"Sorry, Commander," Buffy answered, emphasizing Willow's rank. She grinned. "So, what are you doing?" she asked again. "Once more contemplating about what to say when you become the first woman on Mars?"
"Mmmh..." Willow muttered, and continued to chew on her pencil. "I just don't know what would be...appropriate. This isn't just a once-in-a-lifetime thingy, it's a once-in-history thingy," she pointed out. "And the best I've come up with so far is 'Terra nos respuet. Mars, Hellmouth, all ours!'"
"Hmmm... I don't believe that would look well in the history books. A little too exotic, don't you think?" the blonde commented.
"That doesn't sound very supportive," Willow replied with a pout. "But I'm not happy with it either. If it were up to me, I'd say something else." She turned the seat around to face her lover. "Considering the fact that the whole world will be watching this event, I'd like to use the opportunity to tell everyone that I'm in love with the most beautiful, sexy girl astronaut in the world."
"Who's the lucky girl?" Buffy asked teasingly, acting as if she had heard this for the first time.
"It's you, silly."
Both fell silent.
"Would you really do it, even if NASA would condemn you for it?" Buffy then asked.
"I could, you know, encode the message..." Willow paused to think. "Like 'Affectionate bewail lure mule way.'"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's an anagram for 'Buffy et Willow, amiculae aeternae'," Willow explained as she turned her seat to the instrument panel in front of her again and pressed one of the multifunction display's buttons.
Buffy giggled. "Buffy and Willow, girlfriends forever," she translated. "And I can't believe I know Latin... I bet Principal Snyder, may the Goddess have mercy on his soul, wouldn't believe it, either... But it's no wonder, considering the fact that I'm with *Doctor* Willow Danielle Rosenberg, NASA chief astronaut and the first woman to ever set foot on Mars... That's why I love you," Buffy said, suddenly serious. "All of you. Especially that part..." She kissed the redhead's ear and nibbled on her earlobe. "...and that part..." Buffy placed another kiss on the back of Willow's head and inhaled the smell of her hair. "...and also that part..." She then kissed her crewmate's neck, while her hand slid up under her t-shirt and unclasped her spacebra...
("Willow Rosenberg will be wearing a spacebra on Mars. Spacebra, by Victoria's Secret. Available in all lingerie stores around the globe!")
**
Mission Control, Houston, TX -- A quarter of an hour later.
"What's up, Harris?"
Flight Director Roger Petersen knew the expression on his CAPCOM's face all too well. He lazily went over to the console on the other side of the mid aisle of NASA's Mission Control room, where Alexander Lavelle Harris monitored voice communications with the Wizard of Oz.
Petersen reached for his mobile receiver attached to his belt, and switched to the crew channel. The sound of heavy breathing could be heard in his headset, mixed with moaning and something that had to be the sound of kissing...
"They're doing it, sir..." Xander reported.
"Again?" Petersen, for the umpteenth time, wondered what irony of fate had made NASA decide to send two women to Mars, instead of a man and a woman, 'to prevent any counterproductive inter-crew relationships,' only to end up with two lesbian astronauts going at it every few hours.
"Must be the second time in the last twenty-four hundred hours," the CAPCOM added.
"Did you...?" Petersen asked.
"I switched crew communications to the pre-recorded in-flight-check rehearsal sequence 326, sir."
NASA used the latest million-dollar voice synthesizer equipment to create hours of boring--and harmless--crew communications, for those among the millions of TV watchers around the globe who weren't as open-minded about the sexual relationship between two female astronauts as others.
"Very good. Carry on," Petersen said. He switched to 'TV Out' on the receiver at his belt.
"Position 23 on the MCC checklist: IMU on, PFS secured," Willow's voice could he heard through his headset.
"Check. IMU on, PFS secured," Buffy answered...
**
Meanwhile, on their long way to Mars, Buffy and Willow were determined to continue their ongoing investigation to find out what making love in weightlessness was really all about, and 150 million miles away from home, flying at a speed of roughly fifty thousand miles per hour, the Wizard of Oz silently sped through the eternal void towards their destination, the red planet.
THE END