MAIA SAT QUIETLY on the cot in the infirmary. Her legs swung back and forth, and she tinkered with her fingers in a rather impatient manner. All she wanted was for Beck to finish stitching her up so she could go see her brother. About ten minutes after Mark's retrieval, while the crew continued their greetings in the small space of Airlock 2, Beck noticed a steady flow of blood trickling down the side of Maia's face. It had been from Mark and Maia's collision during her journey to retrieve him, but she had been much too excited to pay much attention to it. Even now it was still the last thing on the petite brunette's mind, but of course it was the complete opposite for Beck.

A visible wince appeared on Maia's face as Beck continued his work. He'd been trying to stitch her up for the past hour or so, but Maia was being particularly antsy. She could not remain still whatsoever, and Beck knew why. Maia and Mark were together for the first time in almost two years, so it was no secret at all that Maia wanted to spend time with him, but Beck wanted to make sure she could spend time with him without bleeding all over the place or passing out from an unsuspected concussion.

"That hurts," Maia grumbled under her breath.

"Maybe that's because you keep moving, Maia," Beck retorted. "This was only supposed to be a fifteen minute process, so the numbing medicine I gave you has likely worn off by now. You can only blame yourself for that, so have fun suffering."

Maia couldn't help but grin, despite how much pain she was in. There was no limit to how much she loved the flight surgeon standing in front of her. Now that she had Mark back, she was overwhelmed with such an intense amount of love inside her body she could hardly begin to understand it. The only thing she could understand was that she was happy and whole again. She hadn't felt something so strong since before Mark had disappeared. "Do you know how much I love you?"

A smirk pulled at the corner of Beck's lips at the sound of her words, and he glanced down at her before focusing back on the wound at the top of Maia's head. "You've never given me that specific information, but I think I have a fairly reasonable estimate as to how much you do," he replied.

"Really now?" Maia giggled. "And what would that particular estimation be?"

"Quite a damn lot," Beck chuckled.

Beck finally finished stitching up Maia's wound, and once he had done so he placed his scissors and the needle onto the table at his side. He looked over to Maia, who was looking at him with so much adoration in her green eyes. There was a certain glint in those eyes he hadn't seen in what felt like forever, and there were absolutely no words to describe just how ecstatic he was to finally see it again. The Maia Watney he had fallen in love with so many years ago had finally made a reappearance, and Beck could only hope she was here to stay.

"I would like to think that my love for you stretches far beyond the reach of the cosmos," Maia said to him with glistening green eyes.

"Like I said. . .quite a damn lot."

Maia only smiled and hopped to the floor. "Am I done here?"

Beck hummed in response and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her petite body to his own and pressing his forehead to her own. "I dunno, are you?"

"I would love nothing more than to play these little games with you right now, Christopher Beck, but I have somewhere I need to be," Maia reminded him, though she tightened her grip around him.

"Yet you still haven't attempted to get away from me," Beck teased her.

Maia shook her head and pressed a kiss to his lips before finally pulling away from him. "Seriously, though, is there anything I need to know before I leave you here?"

"Yes," Beck answered her. "If you rip out your stitches, I'm more than okay with letting you suffer. You are the only crew member aside from Martinez I have had to constantly keep an eye on, and quite frankly, I'm getting sick of looking after both of you."

"And the doctor neglects his patients," Maia mused with a quiet laugh.

"What patients?" Beck exclaimed. "I'm off the clock."

Maia rolled her eyes playfully and turned to head out of the room. "Whatever you say, Dr. Beck."

"I'm off the clock!"

Maia laughed but otherwise remained silent. She continued making her way through the Hermes. It took longer to reach her destination given everything that had been destroyed during Mark's retrieval, but she didn't mind it too much, especially once she had finally arrived where it was she had been wanting to be for the last hour.

Mark's bedroom door was slightly ajar, so Maia didn't bother wasting her time knocking.

Mark was laying on his bed watching a movie, Maia assumed, though the sound of his door opening caught his attention. He turned his head to see Maia, and his green eyes brightened immediately. Without a single ounce of hesitation, Mark pushed himself off of the mattress and hurried over to her, wrapping her in a tight hug. Maia was unable to hold back her emotions anymore. She allowed the tears to escape her eyes as she hugged her older brother. The gesture was long overdue, which was part of the reason they remained wrapped in each others arms for a good three minutes before finally pulling away.

"You're crying," Mark said to Maia with a quiet chuckle, though he was having a difficult time trying to hold in his own tears.

Maia wiped her face and looked up at Mark. "I've missed you so much, Marky."

The mere sound of the nickname he despised so much was enough to elicit an emotional reaction from Mark. Several tears fell from his eyes and he pulled Maia back to him, squeezing her as tightly as he could without harming her. "I know you have, kid. I've missed you, too—so much more than you know."

"I'm so sorry I couldn't hold onto you," Maia cried. "I'm so sorry I let you go."

"Don't you dare apologize," Mark scolded her.

There was one thing in the world Mark absolutely hated, and that was seeing his little sister upset. He couldn't stand that she blamed herself for what happened that day on Mars. He couldn't stand that she blamed herself for something that was completely out of her control. Maia's pain was one of the reasons Mark knew he could not die on Mars. He had to get back to her, and that was exactly what he did. The two shared such a strong sibling bond with one another, so Mark was more than aware of just how much he meant to Maia. He was her best friend and her other half, and there was no way in hell Mark was going to leave her without her other half. Sure, she had Beck and she loved Beck more than anything, but Mark knew a life with Beck would mean a lot less to Maia if she didn't have her older brother.

"But—"

"No," Mark pulled away from her. "That wasn't your fault, okay? You did all that you could do."

"It still wasn't enough," Maia sniffed as the tears continued their never-ending journey down her face. "If I had held on just a little bit tighter, you never would've been left alone. We would all be back home right now living our lives as we used to."

Mark tightened his grip on her arms as if to snap some sense into her. "Listen, Little Twatney, it's okay. I'm here now, and that's what matters. I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

Maia nodded and hugged him again. "I'm just so happy to have you back."

"If it weren't for you I wouldn't even be here right now," Mark admitted. "If it weren't for you, I would've died so many months ago."

"What do you mean?"

"You're part of the main reason I fought so hard to get off that planet," Mark scoffed. "I couldn't bring myself to leave you. You're my best friend and the only person who can really put up with all of my shit. I also knew me being gone would make you sad, and you've known for years that seeing you sad is by far one of the things I hate the most in this world."

Maia was almost shocked by this information. She always thought Mark was just too stubborn to die alone on Mars, but that was far from the case. "Really?"

Mark nodded and pulled away from her, heading back over to sit down on his bed. He patted the spot beside him, and Maia closed the door before heading over to side by his side. "I was looking through everyone's tubs the day after the storm. When I got to yours, I found a bunch of pictures, one of them being the one we took the day we were chosen for the Ares 3 mission, and I knew then that I could not let myself die on Mars. I could not let myself leave you without your older brother, and so I worked my ass off to get back to you—to get back home. A lot of shit went wrong during the year and a half I was stranded on Mars, but it all worked out in the end. I'm famous as hell now, too, so that's definitely gotta count for something."

"You truly are a character, Mark Watney," Maia laughed. "But I really am happy to know that I mean that much to you."

"Just know if you tell anyone, I'll deny it," Mark warned her.

"Copy that."

"Now," Mark began as he picked up his laptop. "Do you wanna binge-watch Disney movies with me, or do you wanna go make out with your hot, doctor boyfriend?"

Maia smirked and sat back against the wall. "My hot, doctor boyfriend can wait. I'd much rather sit here and drool over Prince Adam while you criticize me like old times."

"You definitely haven't changed a bit," Mark said with mock disgust in his tone.

"You're damn right I haven't, Twatney."

Mark could only smile at his little sister, and in minutes the two were lost in their Disney movie marathon.

The last year and a half had been one hell of a ride for Maia, but she knew everything was going to be okay. She could feel it. For the first time in a long time, the brunette was feeling outrageously optimistic. She had her brother back, and she had a man in her life who loved her more than she thought was possible. For Maia Watney, life was now nothing less than stellar, and she put everything on her love for the cosmos that it would forever remain that way.