Chapter Text
Shifting the bag a little higher up on her shoulder, Bobbie sighed. It would be strange to not feel the pull of 1G permanently anymore. She had gotten used to it now. She didn’t feel pull the anymore. It felt normal. It was just another thing that proved that she had maybe stayed too long on Earth. The other thing was that she hated the idea of leaving. It was the right thing to do. She had to go home, be a marine. But the thought of leaving this planet behind, with its ocean and breathable air, it hurt.
And deep down she knew it wasn’t the non-recycled air, or the endless horizons or even the meat that didn’t come from a vat. It was Chrisjen. The goddamn Secretary-General of the UN. The most impossible, stubborn person she had ever met. And that she now didn’t want to leave. It was the one thing that could make her ignore her duty, what she felt for her.
Shit.
She hadn’t planned for any this. Not defecting, not getting mixed up in the whole protomolecule, staying on Earth after it was all over and definitely not falling in love with Chrisjen. But all of it had happened and now here she was, waiting for the dropship to descend so she could leave it all behind, become a proper Martian again, go back to sleeping without a small woman wrapped around her.
Above her the dropship was coming down and she took a deep breath. Time to go. She was back in her uniform. It almost felt like it had months ago when a ship was coming to take her back to Mars, only to have it canceled by Chrisjen. That wasn’t going to happen this time. Hell. Chrisjen was the one who had arranged her transport.
“Sergeant Draper.” Bobbie spun around. There was no mistaking that voice. Chrisjen was there, her guards a respectable distance away. She looked beautiful, standing there in the sunlight, looking every bit the leader of Earth that she was. She was here, she was really here.
Bobbie dropped her bag and almost broke out into a run to close the distance between the two of them. She had resigned herself to not seeing Chrisjen again for a long time, except in messages and newsfeeds, but here she was and it took everything for her to not wrap her in her arms and pick her up. They were out in public after all.
“What are you doing here? I thought this morning was goodbye?” Chrisjen had actually blocked out the time during breakfast, no calls, no crises, just the two of them, taking the time to enjoy each other before saying their goodbyes. It had hurt, even though they had both put on brave faces, not trying to make it any harder than it was. She thought she wouldn’t see her again for a long time, but she was here and she could still touch her.
“It was. I don’t give a fuck.” Bobbie smiled, her heart beating faster. Chrisjen reached up to cup her jaw and, apparently really not giving a fuck about anything including any drones, pulled her down for a kiss. The kind of kiss that made Bobbie’s toes curl and her knees weak. This was it. One last kiss goodbye and this time it felt final, so Bobbie wasn’t willing to let go. She wanted this to last. One last chance to properly memorize the way Chrisjen felt in her arms, how she tasted. She didn’t want it to end.
But it had to, eventually. Bobbie regretted it immediately and kept her eyes closed for a moment longer, resting her forehead against Chrisjen’s. Her own voice sounded foreign to her when she spoke. “I’m going to miss you.”
“Me too.” Bobbie slowly opened her eyes and pulled back. There weren’t any tears. They had agreed that they wouldn’t cry. They would see each other again on the other side of this Ring business, even though no promises about that had been made. No tears. So Bobbie pushed away the pain that she felt, that she knew they were both feeling and stepped back.
“Come visit me on Mars sometime.” She hoped Chrisjen would. She would love to show her home. It wasn’t as impressive as Earth, but she wanted to show Chrisjen Mars the way she had shown her Earth. Chrisjen nodded and straightened her back, the mask of Secretary-General slowly slipping back into place.
“I will.” Bobbie nodded and turned away, walking towards the ship that had now landed, picking up her bag along the way. Time to go back home.