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After they land, it's mandatory that the crew go through multiple weeks of physical testing and training. Mark didn't exactly love being treated as a lab rat for just over a month. The entire crew was constantly monitored. How their muscles were reacting to the gravity, how much their spines had expanded after being in space for a thousand days, you name it. Mark was just getting pretty sick of taking a small tube for urine samples with him every time he went to the bathroom.
So the day they were finally let out, he was ecstatic. Finally. An actual blue sky with clouds, real grass. You don't appreciate grass until all you see for a year and a half is red dust.
Well, he was ecstatic until he saw the doors. The doors that lead out of the NASA building into the open air. Where he and the rest of the crew would all pile into black SUVs with a small NASA logos stamped on the side and be taken to a hotel for the rest of the day.
"Okay bud, do the honors," Martinez said, clapping a hand on Mark's shoulder and pushing him slightly towards one of the doors.
Mark looked at the door and swallowed thickly. He kept his feet firmly planted as a rush of realization hit him. He was going to go outside for the first time since he was carried out of the small ship the Ares crew had splashed down in. He was going to walk outside. Outside.
Mark stepped away from the door and closed his eyes. His head was starting to hurt, and his stomach began to twist. Outside was where there were deadly winds. A freezing cold atmosphere that chilled you to the bone. An endless god forsaken wasteland.
"Hey. Mark. You ok, man?" Martinez came around from behind Watney to look at him.
Mark looked up at him, his body frozen. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. His breathing started to come out in short bursts and he squeezed his eyes shut again. Martinez was trying to speak to him, but he couldn't hear what he was saying.
Mark opened his eyes and began to look around frantically. Where's my EVA suit? I can't go out like this. He thought as he looked down at his bare hands.
I need to clean off the solar panels. What if Pathfinder broke down?
He felt something on his shoulders that jolted him out of his thoughts. Mark looked up to see that Johanssen was slightly shaking his shoulders with her tiny hands. Chris was right beside her with a worried look on his face, and the rest of the crew a few steps back to give Mark some space.
Keeping one hand on his shoulder, Beth gently placed the other one on the side of Mark's face.
"Mark, look at me. Hey, what's wrong?" She said quietly.
"I-I can't, uh. Fuck," Mark stuttered as he tightly shut his eyes again and tried to regulate his breathing. He felt like he forgot something. Right. Check the pressure in the airlock, idiot.
"Mark, stay with me. Talk to me," Johanssen said, gentle but firm.
Mark opened his eyes and looked around for the pressure indicator on the side of the airlock wall, making eye contact with Chris in doing so.
"The pressure, I need to check the pressure. My EVA suit, I need-" Mark rambled on, until Johanssen stepped back and Chris took her place standing in front of Mark.
"The pressure is fine Mark, we're on Earth you don't need to worry. Breath with me," Chris said slowly, taking Mark's hand and placing it over his chest. Chris took deep breaths and Mark tried to do the same.
He tried to ground himself. Chris said that they were on Earth. Earth has breathable air, reasonable temperatures. But all Mark could see happening when he stepped out that door was himself exploding. Because that's exactly what would have happened for the last year and a half.
After he was able to control his breathing a bit better Mark took his hand off Chris's chest and looked him in the eyes. Chris held his gaze and nodded, encouraging Mark to speak.
Mark took a deep breath. "I just... I don't want to explode," he said quietly, his voice wobbling.
Chris could see that Mark was on the verge of tears. He smiled softly and turned slightly towards the rest of the crew. He motioned them over and turned back to Mark.
"I promise you Mark, you won't explode. How about we do it all together, buddy, it'll be fine," Chris said.
"Yeah, and if you do blow up we all blow up. It's only fair," Martinez said with a smile as Commander Lewis elbowed him hard in the ribs.
Mark let out a chuckle and nodded, wiping his eyes. "You know what, let's go."
"Yes!" Martinez said excitedly, doing a little fist pump. "C'mon bud, can you feel your botany powers tingling yet? There's gunna be a lot of green out there." He said while wrapping an arm around Watney's neck.
Mark laughed, relishing the thought as they walked towards the doors.
Vogel, who was at the front of the group, turned to look at Mark and nodded towards the doors. "Ready, my friend?" he said as he placed his hands on one of the doors.
Mark looked around at the crew, all of them giving encouraging smiles. He grinned and sighed, gesturing towards Lewis, "Give the order, Commander."
Lewis moved to stand across from Vogel and put both hands on the second door. She turned towards the crew, and Mark didn't think he'd seen the Commander this happy since he arrived back on the Hermes. She waited a few moments, and then,
"Let's go!" she yelled.
And with that, the Ares crew stepped out into the light and ready to begin life back on Earth.