Sol 40, Pt. II
“We haven't exactly talked since you left NASA.”
Darcy considered her reply as she and Venk followed Sanders and the Watneys up the stairs.
“Things got a little crazy,” she said finally.
“No kidding,” Venk replied. “One summer of interning with Dr. Foster and not only do you get to meet an Asgardian, but you’re doing the kind of science we only dreamed about doing.”
“Jealous?” Darcy asked with a grin. She knew better. Venk’s heart and soul was NASA. But she knew he had loved talking wormhole theory and Einstein-Rosen bridges with her before she’d left NASA to get her Masters in Political Science.
Not that I really finished that degree, Darcy thought, still amused. She was six credits - one semester - away from her degree, but what with her work with Jane, and then her position with the Avengers, actually getting around to obtaining her piece of paper had fallen by the wayside.
“Maybe a little,” Venk said. “You’ll have to introduce me to Thor, next time he’s on Earth.”
“Vision, too,” Darcy said, nodding. “You could all discuss the physics of the multiverse until you go blue in the face. Assuming they get back. And, you know, Thanos doesn’t destroy us all.”
“There’s always that,” Venk agreed, with a degree of calm that Darcy decided meant he wasn’t quite as worried about the continued survival of Earth and humanity as he really should be.
Ignorance is bliss, Darcy thought.
“Still,” Venk said, “How does it feel, coming back?”
“During the day, going up to the Director’s floor?” Darcy filled in. Venk nodded. She shrugged. “I never loved this place the way you do, Venk. I’ve got some good memories - the time we stayed up for three nights running on Nerds, Red Bull, and pizza waiting for Ares II to land, for example.Or the time we pranked Henderson by changing all of his computer’s sound settings.” Henderson’s computer had meowed for a solid week until he’d figured out how to fix it.
Venk chuckled. “Good times… good times. And here we are.” He gestured for Darcy to precede him through the glass door into a meeting room adjacent to the door that read ‘Theodore Saunders, Administrator for NASA’.
There were already two people in the room.
“Mindy?” Darcy was halfway around the conference table as the blonde woman looked up from a tablet.
“Darcy?” Mindy Park dropped the tablet and rose, giving Darcy a hug. “I didn't know you were coming! What are you doing here? Are the Avengers going to be at the memorial?”
Darcy's answering expression held only a modicum of humour. “I guess I should be glad the news hasn't leaked,” she said. “I'm here because I’m Mark’s fiancé.” Mindy’s mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. Mitch Henderson, the other person in the room, just looked on. He knew about her and Mark. Had been the only other person at NASA to know they were actually engaged, other than Venkat and the other Ares III crewmembers, in point of fact. “The Avengers have expressed an interest in attending,” Darcy continued, this time addressing her remarks to Saunders as much as Mindy. “They have no interest in stealing anyone's thunder,” Not that we’d need to, because, well, Thor, her brain insisted on snarking, “but if there's anything they can do, tell them ‘where to be, what to do, and where to throw the money’.” Darcy’s lips quirked. “That last bit was a direct quote from Mr. Stark, Sir,” she said, turning to face Sanders squarely.
Sanders chuckled. “That's quite the offer,” he said. “We’ll certainly bear it in mind. But first - does everyone know everyone?”
“Everyone except the lovely young lady,” Caroline said. “Who’s your friend, Darcy?”
Darcy raised an eyebrow at Mindy, silently asking if Mindy wanted to introduce herself.
She did. “I’m Mindy Park, Mrs. Watney,” she said, extending a hand. “I'm one of the people who takes care of the satellites around Mars. And Darcy and I used to work together.” She grinned at Darcy. “Good times.”
“Good times,” Darcy replied, evenings of far too little sleep, far too much Red Bull and so much code that she dreamed about it in the sleep she did get flashing before her eyes.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Caroline said, resuming her charm offensive with a more genuine smile for Mindy. “And enough of this Mrs. Watney business. I’m not decrepit yet. I’m Caroline, and this is Bert.”
“If we could get this meeting started?” Henderson asked. “I only have so much time today before we’re in contact with Hermes again.”
Darcy’s smile dropped off her face. Trust Henderson to bring the entire room crashing back to Earth. He can be a cheerless bastard.
“Of course.” Sanders looked around, presumably for Annie, who was still absent, then gave an aborted shrug and started into his spiel.
“I assume you’ll have no problems working with Annie, Ms. Lewis?” he asked. “I’ll give you the broad strokes now, but she’s the one with all the details.”
“I have no problem working with Ms. Montrose,” Darcy said. Unless she has one working with me.
Sanders nodded. “In that case, this is what we’d like to do. The ceremony will be at Arlington - Mark’s memorial will be next to the Clark, Brown, and Anderson memorials. Full honors, we’ll brief you later about exactly what you’ll need to do….”
…………………..
“I think that’s all we need from you today,” Annie Montrose said, pushing the lock of blonde hair that had made its way out of her severe hairstyle back behind her ear.
It’s nice to know that even Annie Montrose loosens up after a 12 hour workday, Darcy thought, not wanting to know what her own hair looked like. It had come out of its pins around 4pm, and she’d finally given up trying to wrangle it loose and just slung it in a ponytail. Perhaps not the most fashionable choice. But it was effective. And, at 8pm, having already sent Bert and Caroline to the hotel hours ago while she and Annie worked out details, Darcy really didn’t care what she looked like.
“We still haven’t finished that VIP guest list,” Darcy reminded her colleague.
“We can work on that tomorrow,” Annie sighed. “Invites aren’t going out until next week anyway.”
“All right,” Darcy said grudgingly. “But you should be aware, the biggest problem on that list is General Ross.”
“Senator Ross, now,” Annie reminded her.
“Whatever.” Darcy brushed off the fact that the state of Pennsylvania, in their eminent wisdom, had actually elected the jackass that had screwed over Bruce Banner’s life, that of his daughter, and would continue to do so at the next given opportunity. “Ross is the main problem there.”
“May I ask-“ Annie began, then stopped herself. “Nope, forget I asked. We can get into that tomorrow. I’m guessing if we start talking about Senator Ross’s attendance, we might not get out of here until tomorrow, and I don’t know about you, but I’m beat.”
Darcy, much to her surprise, actually laughed. “That is… entirely fair. Leaving Ross until tomorrow.” She looked at the papers, tablet, cups of coffee and general detritus in front of her. “So - are we done for the day?”
Annie looked at her tab, then back at Darcy. She nodded. “We’ve already managed much more than I thought we would.” Darcy began to gather her papers together in a manageable pile. “Darcy?”
“Yeah?” They’d landed on a first-name basis just after lunch.
“I … I wanted you to know - I thought it’d be awkward, working with you.” Annie looked away, out the window of her office, then back to Darcy. “You know, because of… you were their first choice, for this job, and I honestly didn’t know whether I was big enough to handle that gracefully.” The sentence came out in a rush, as if Annie had to say it fast to get it out at all. “But although I don’t know if anything about this process is fun,” Darcy’s smile was definitely two shades north of crooked. “I’m glad we got the chance to work together.” She held out a hand.
Darcy stared at it for a moment, then a real smile spread over her face. “Thanks,” she said, taking the hand and shaking it firmly. “And it wasn’t exactly less awkward for me, you know,” she said, standing and gathering her things. “Now. Let’s get out of here before we turn into pumpkins.”
“I don’t think orange is exactly my best colour,” Annie joked. “I’ve got to close down the office. Get out - get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Night, Annie.”
“Night!” Annie was already bent over the computer at her desk, looking at something with a concentrated expression.
Darcy wandered down the almost-deserted corridors of the executive floor.
You know I hate to say it, she thought, But you were right, Mark. Under different circumstances, I could definitely see Annie and I being fast friends. Wish you were here to see it.
On the other hand, if you were here, Annie and I would still be cordially disliking each other.
I think I’d rather have you than her.
Just sayin’.
Why’d you have to go to Mars again?