Chapter Text
Wei Wuxian had never thought of outer space as lonely before.
He knew that most people did. He’d heard more than a few coworkers at CNSA wax poetic about that endless abyss, stretching past anything that humanity could comprehend - even some of the people closest to him.
But it wasn’t like that, not to him. Wei Wuxian had only ever seen opportunity; an unexplored frontier, an unknown adventure. He’d been ecstatic to be chosen for the Huoxing mission, to be one of the first people to land on Mars, to take footsteps where no one had walked before. To know that he was breaking new ground, not alone, but surrounded by his crew, laughing and pushing the boundaries of what had been done by humanity, until -
Well. He might start to think of space as lonely now, given that he was completely alone on the surface of Mars and everyone he loved thought he was dead.
—-
Sol 6 had started off the same way Sol 5 had - with Jiang Cheng shaking his arm to drag him out of bed.
“Are you not up yet?? We have shit to do, stop wasting your time lazing around just because you don’t know how to fall asleep at a reasonable hour!” Jiang Cheng griped, unwittingly repeating words his mother had shouted a hundred times, but he also handed Wei Wuxian a hot mug of something that smelled like coffee.
“And how would you know that?? Why, I could have gone to bed at a totally reasonable hour - you just wouldn’t know because you keep the sleep schedule of the old man you pretend to be!” Wei Wuxian responded, ignoring the fact that he’d lost track of time running growth simulations on the Martian soil samples and had fallen asleep about four hours ago.
Wen Qing walked by them holding her own steaming mug. “If you’re going to keep making so much noise in the morning, then I am going to have to start enforcing your bedtime myself.”
Wei Wuxian blanched, visions of waking up with needles in his forehead almost holding back his retort, “Ahhh, Wen Qing is so cruel to me! Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, are you listening to this?? Our own doctor, threatening me!”
“Hn.” Lan Wangji, who had been up shortly after Wei Wuxian went to sleep, was already in the middle of his work for the day. “If Wei Ying does not want to be threatened, Wei Ying should sleep more.”
Wei Wuxian felt the pout form before he could control it. He’d promised himself before the mission that he would be more professional with Lan Zhan. Before they’d left, so many people had unsubtly reminded him that as commander, Lan Wangji would be responsible for not only the success of the Huoxing mission, but also the safety of the crew. To pester him the way Wei Wuxian usually did would undermine his authority in addition to pissing him off. However, that was before they’d spend more than a hundred days living out of each other’s pockets on the ship that had taken them to Mars. The first time he’d tried to call Lan Wangji ‘Commander Lan’ it seemed to make both of them uncomfortable, and eventually he’d fallen back into the teasing that had characterized their relationship from the start.
“Everyone is ganging up on me,” Wei Wuxian muttered, loud enough so they could all hear him complain. “Nie Huaisang, you’re on my side, aren’t you?? I know you’re still in your bunk!”
“Ah, Wei-xiong, I really can’t say for sure - and you know that I haven’t been sleeping well since we landed! Are you really going to hold that against me?” Nie Huaisang’s voice was muffled coming from the top bunk across the room - Wei Wuxian could see him doing work on his laptop anyway, despite the pillows piled behind his head.
Jiang Cheng snorted, but didn’t comment, as he seemed preoccupied trying to give the pre-made breakfast some semblance of flavor. He and Wei Wuxian had spent the first few days experimenting with the spices available, trying to make the food taste better than the packaging it came in. Luckily, Wei Wuxian had decided to make one of his personal items an entire bottle of hot sauce, and he was generous enough to share with Jiang Cheng. He’d offered it to the rest of the team as well, but everyone had declined after a taste test. Lan Zhan hadn’t even bothered to taste it in the first place, but Wei Wuxian knew that the Lans had made the decision to pretend they didn’t have taste buds, so he didn’t push too hard. Besides, the longer he could make the bottle last, the better.
Wei Wuxian heard the seal to the Hab depressurize as he dragged himself out of his bunk, and grimaced as he realized that Jin Zixuan was back. He’d volunteered to take atmospheric measurements every morning, given that his mission duties as a pilot didn’t give him much to do in the month they would be stationed on the surface. Sure, Lan Zhan would have given him the order anyway, but the peacock just had to try to make himself look diligent and humble, probably to send word back to Yanli-jie that he was doing his part.
Jiang Cheng scoffed as well, but kept his back to them, seemingly absorbed in whatever computer reports had come in from the peacock’s readings. Jin Zixuan was frowning as he looked at Lan Zhan.
“Commander Lan, I think we want to get our work done before the afternoon, Mission Control sent the numbers for the storm that’s coming, they think the wind will be pretty strong.”
“Agreed, Commander, we’ve got reports of 115 kilometer per hour winds south of us, we’ll want to bunker down before they hit.” Jiang Cheng noted without looking up from his screen.
Lan Zhan hummed in agreement. “Then we get to work.” He nodded at Wei Wuxian, who’d already started putting on his suit as he chugged the dregs of his coffee, and he put on his helmet before heading out.
—
It was 1100 hours when everything started to go to shit.
They had all started to wrap up their individual tasks when Jin Zixuan announced an update from Mission Control over the comms.
“The storm tracking has updated,” his voice cracked slightly, before continuing. “The storm is hitting wind speeds up to 175 kilometers per hour, and it’s almost here.”
As if on cue, Wei Wuxian turned to see the dust cloud rise up over the mountain range to the south of them. 175 kilometers was bad news. The Hab could sustain major winds, but the Mars Ascent Vehicle could only handle up to 150 kilometers per hour before it tipped over, and given that it was the only way to get the crew off the surface of Mars and back on the ship that would take them home - well, they didn’t want it to tip.
Lan Zhan made his decision quickly. “Get on the MAV, now.”
Wei Wuxian’s heart plummeted. They were only six days into their supposedly month long stay on the surface, and they were just going to give up?? “Wait, Lan Zhan, what if we give it a moment - ”
“No. Too dangerous.” Lan Zhan wasted no time moving toward the MAV as the wind picked up around them, sending sand swirling above their heads. Even with the insulated space suit, Wei Wuxian could hear the howling of the storm around them. He sighed, and followed the others.
Too quickly, the visibility dropped to near zero. The storm had dragged sand so far above them that it had blocked out the sun, and the lights on their suits only went so far. By the time Wei Wuxian got close enough to the MAV to see it, everyone else was already up the stairs. With sand and rocks flying around him, he was about to grab hold himself when he saw something rush towards him, and then —
—
Lan Wangji was the first person in the MAV as he got it ready for launch. Flipping the switches next to his seat, he strapped his cremates in first, activating the seal to make sure their seatbelts didn’t release mid-flight. Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan were strapped in, paying close attention to the angle of the MAV to the surface, watching it push further as Nie Huaisang and Wen Qing pushed up the stairs. As they were getting ready to strap themselves down as well, all of them heard Wei Ying grumbling to himself before he let out a sudden grunt of pain, and then - nothing. Lan Wangji’s head snapped up to look at the entrance to the MAV, but Wei Ying was nothing but static in his ears.
“Wei Wuxian, I swear if this is a fucking joke I will break your legs myself!” Jiang Cheng shouted desperately, pulling at the straps to try and free himself. “Wei Wuxian! Wei Wuxian!”
“We’ve lost vitals. I repeat, we have lost all connection to Wei Wuxian’s suit.” Wen Qing pulled up the information on her screen, showing the glowing signs of life for each of the members of the crew - but Wei Wuxian was dark.
Lan Wangji had moved to the entrance to the MAV without even thinking, only for Nie Huaisang to pull him back. “Where are you going, Commander?!”
“We are 12 degrees away from tipping the MAV, if we wait any longer then we won’t be able to get off the surface,” Jin Zixuan choked out, hands shaking as he prepared the controls.
Jiang Cheng shouted, furious, “What are you saying!! We have to find him, he’s hurt, we can grab him and then —”
“He’s already dead!” shouted Wen Qing. There was silence between them, only their shaky breathing coming through the comms, “He’s dead, and if we don’t launch, then we will be too.” She leveled her gaze at Lan Wangji, her eyes bloodshot.
It was like time was moving around him, but Lan Wangji was frozen in the last moment that he’d heard Wei Ying alive. Only his extensive officer training kept him issuing the order.
“We launch.”
They didn’t speak to each other past announcing the status of the MAV as they headed back into the darkness of space.
—
Wei Wuxian woke to an incredibly annoying beeping sound that seemed to project directly into his skull.
Low oxygen remaining. Low oxygen remaining.
His eyes snapped open as his memory flooded back to him. He tried to take a deep breath in panic, but groaned as he felt a sharp pain in his chest. As he pulled himself to his feet, staggering back to the Hab, Wei Wuxian saw his vision start to black out around the edges of his sight. He smashed his hand against the entry lock to the Hab, before dragging himself though the decompression process as fast as it would let him. Finally inside, he pulled his helmet off and took short, quick breaths. He’d made it. Stripping out of his suit, he did a double take as he saw the antenna sticking out of his chest.
It was only Wen Qing’s voice in his head that forced him into a chair, cutting away the remainder of his suit from the open wound. The blood had clotted around the material, sealing it so that the suit didn’t lose oxygen while he was unconscious. A shaky laugh left his mouth unwittingly - the thing that had almost killed him ended up saving his life. He shook out the contents of the extensive first aid kit onto the table, not prepared to pick through it to get what he needed.
Wei Wuxian braced himself before he pulled out the antenna - managing to inject himself with disinfectant before holding gauze directly to the wound. He took a few quick breaths, trying to figure out if it had punctured his lung, but so far the only pain was from the open wound. Lifting up the staple gun, he braced himself again as he quickly lifted the gauze and stapled the wound closed. He’d probably put in more staples than was strictly necessary, but it seemed better to be safe than sorry. He sat there for a moment, breathing in the knowledge that he was actually alive, before picking up some fresh gauze the cover the wound.
—
Wei Wuxian had always liked the daily logs that were required for all crew members on board an Huoxing mission. It felt like an excuse to talk as much as he wanted to someone who would eventually have no choice but to listen. After all, there might be some valuable mission info in there, squeezed between complaining about how loudly Nie Huaisang snored, and wondering why Jiang Cheng spent so much time watching dog videos. Now, as he sat in front of the camera that would record what might be his last words to anyone, all he could manage was a strangled laugh.
“I’m alive, so - surprise!”