REPOST: FIC: Of Human Bonding [5/5] - A Long Way To Mars

[HD Genscher <HD.Genscher@xxxxxx>]

TITLE: Of Human Bonding [5/5] - A Long Way To Mars
AUTHOR: HD_Genscher (hd.genscher@xxxxxx)
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


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Willow: "It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in."
Buffy:  "I kinda love you."
                     'Choices'

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