Title: Pissed Off
Author: LastWaterBender
Fandom: The Martian
Pairing: Johanbeck, of course
Rating: Mature
Summary: Beth Johanssen was frustrated, not only did NASA hide the fact that Mark Watney was alive for two months, but also what gave Chris Beck the right to look so distracting?
Beth Johanssen was frustrated.
Not only being in space, that was frustrating enough as it was, but that they had just added five hundred plus more days to their trip to rescue Mark Watney, not that she was complaining because they had thought that he was dead for nearly two months. She was frustrated, nay down right pissed off that NASA had known that he was alive since SOL 56. How dare they? The entire fucking world knew that Mark Watney was alive and all seven billion had failed to inform them.
That was yesterday.
She was pissed off to the point that she hadn't slept. Chris Beck had taken most of the brunt of her verbal attack on NASA and stopped from dismantling parts of the ship, but her rampage didn't stop there. She angrily stormed the ship until she calmed down enough to sit at her computer and type out a nasty transmission to NASA.
Dear NASA,
WHAT THE FUCK?
Love,
The HERMES Crew
Beth Johanssen
It sat on her screen for a long time, but she ended up deleting it because NASA wouldn't take kindly to her harassment. She could hack into Mission Control and make their lives hell, but as Beck pointed out-they were working on a way to save him. When she exhausted all of her ideas, she took out her frustrations on the punching bag before settling on the treadmill. She ran to the point of exhaustion before their morning debrief and then she loaded up on coffee.
Her frustration had kept her jittery, Beck would say it was the four cups of coffee, she knew that her heartrate was all over the place and as the doctor on the ship he would probably duct tape her to her bed and force her to sleep. She annoyingly tapped her pen against her computer desk until Vogel had practically growled at her. Her computer screen kept telling her that there was nothing that she nor the rest of the crew could do to save Watney from Mars. She hated how much faith she had to put into the people who had kept that he was alive secret for two fucking months.
She didn't understand why anybody else wasn't as angry as she was. She was brimming with excess energy and her concentration was declining. "Got ants in your pants or something, Johanssen?" Asked Beck, sitting across from her.
She looked over from her computer screen and as she suspected, she found him smirking at her. "You would think that I would've noticed when I put them on." She said sarcastically returning to her report before jumping to her feet, bouncing slightly.
He smiled as if she amused him to no end. "Are you okay?" He asked in plain English. His soft interrogation caught the attention of Commander Lewis and Vogel, who looked up from the microscope.
"Yes. Fine." She answered. The others in the room shared a look with each other as she furiously typed away on her keyboard. Beck shrugged and returned to his work, Johanssen aimed a glare at the side of his face. Her frustration today was, in part, his fault. Like 85% his fault. He wore his gray fitting long sleeved t-shirt and some black tight fitting pants that all accented his toned muscles in all the right places. In her current state, all it had taken was eye contact, not even a smile for her body to react.
Six years of hiding her attraction was being unwound in a single day. Fuck NASA. Fuck Chris Beck. Okay, she could take him right here and not even care. But the small voice of reason kept her in check, at least for the moment that she would probably be locked in the brig until they reached earth. Not that HERMES had a brig, they could turn one of the storage closets into one if they wanted. But then again Commander Lewis might just jettison her into outer space. No regrets though.
He was distracting her and wasn't even trying. Her frustration was to the boiling point that her breathing had changed. "Johanssen." Said Commander Lewis from her work station. She visibly jumped, looking around the room to see if she had missed something important. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes!" She snapped before she could control herself. She covered her mouth wide eyed in surprise. Lewis' face dropped like a parent about to discipline a child. Johanssen shook her head apologetically. "I'm fine."
"Maybe you should go let off some steam." Suggested Lewis with raised brows, her tone suggested a warning.
"Yeah before you blow a gasket or something." Added Martinez with his stupid little crooked smile from behind Vogel, clearly out of range of getting punched. She shot him a dangerous glare, silently promising him that she was going to mess him up. She slammed her fingers into the keyboard to lock her computer and stood up before stomping dramatically towards the ladder, taking longer strides as she climbed towards the central line.
"Sheesh, what's her problem?" Asked Martinez, only slightly terrified.
Lewis and Beck shared a look, both of them unsure what exactly she was so pissed off about. "She's angry that NASA didn't tell us that Watney was alive." Said Vogel in the silence, gaining the looks from his crewmates. "The entire world knew about Watney."
"That makes sense." Martinez commented with a frown. "What do we do?"
Lewis sighed and sat her pen down. "We give her some time to cool down and send Beck to soften her up." She said and didn't miss the flush on his cheeks as she turned back towards her work.
/
An hour later, Johanssen stepped out of the cool shower and slid on her underwear. The run on the treadmill had helped her cool down a little bit, or at least she thought. She would have gone for another half hour, followed by a session with the punching bag, if she didn't have to go back and apologize to the crew and catch up on the work that she had fallen behind on.
She crossed the small locker room towards the chair that held her wadded up clothes. She held her pants and shirt in her hand when she heard beck call into the shower room.
"Beth? Are you in here?" His voice came closer and she looked up as he stepped into the room. He stopped dead when he saw her, and she watched his eyes fall quickly to take he all in. Right away, Johanssen knew that her session on the treadmill wasn't nearly long enough, though she couldn't imagine how long she'd need for her body to be too tired to react to the look Beck was currently giving her.
"What Beck? She asked, she intended to sound pissed but her voice rebelled and delivered something heavier. Huskier.
Beck took one more look at the dark blue silk against her pale skin and then forced his eyes to hers. "I came to check on you." He said, his breathing shallow as she raised her eyebrows at him. They locked eyes, she knew the look that crossed his face. He aimed it at her a lot these days. Desire. She was surprised when she shivered in response. Beck took half a step towards her, his chest was only a few inches from hers and close enough for her to feel the heat radiating. She stood her ground.
"Are you okay?" He asked again, dropping and smoothing out his voice. He did that a lot these days, too. The voice usually accompanied the look and he threw them at her when he was trying to shake her up. If it were any other time, she'd respond in kind, they'd tease each other while pretending that it was all a joke. But today, she was wound so tight that she was about to burst at the seams and teasing wasn't going to cut it.
She took a deep breath and made her choice. "Come here." She ordered softly, grabbing his wrist and led him back to the shower stall.
He shut the door and lock it behind him, then faced her with his chest brushing hers. Johanssen's small hand still wrapped tightly around his wrist as they looked at each other quietly, their breathing coming out even more shallow. Her heart was beating so hard that it almost hurt, and it only got worse when he gave her half a smile. Damn him and that smile that nearly killed her.
"What can I do for you?" Beck asked. It would've sounded polite if he hadn't growled it. She could feel the tension in him, could hear how his voice got tighter and felt him pressing her into the wall. It gave her the courage she needed and she gripped his wrist even tighter.
"Do you mind helping me out?" She asked. When he nodded, she felt compelled to add. "If you've got a moment."
Christopher Beck wouldn't leave now if the HERMES was about to get hit by a meteor. "Of course."
Taking the direct approach, Johanssen held his darkening gaze as she led his hand up her bare thigh and between her legs to press over her. Her own fingers weren't even touching her, but she knew that she was hot and wet.
She waited a moment, half expecting him to pull away and politely decline this enormous leap in their relationship, but then he took a shuddering breath and sighed her name, his fingers began to move over the silk. A strong, thrilled stab ran through her and she sighed in pleasure, dropping her head back against the wall.
His mouth came down on to her neck to kiss, suck and nibble on her skin as she pushed her hips into his hand, forcibly held his head to her neck. With her other hand, she grabbed a fist full of his shirt at his waist, the man wasn't going anywhere until she said so.
Quickly tiring of touching her without touching her, Beck slid his hand under the waistband of her pants and dragged his fingers between her soaking folds, over and over until finally he slid them inside of her. Her eyes shut as she concentrated on the ridiculously perfect feeling, and she took a deep breath, drawing in the fresh yet musky smell of him that never failed to make her stomach flip.
His fingers hit a spot inside her just s his thumb pressed against the bundle of nerves she was dying for him to touch. She barely held herself back from screaming, instead letting out a whimper that sounded foreign to her ears.
"Yes! Chris, right there." She cried.
More than happy to take direction, Beck contorted is wrist to stroke her like that over and over. Her fists got tighter around his clothes and her nails pressed into his skin as she half panted, half cried against his ear. Without question, he would do this every day for the rest of his life if she asked.
At the moment, she couldn't remember why she had invested so much energy over the years that they had known each other, into stopping herself from touching him. She adored him, they were made for each other, and they had a pretty good emotional relationship going on. What they were doing now was completely natural, and really fucking good. It seemed insane that they'd denied themselves for so long.
Beck kept working her until she was moaning and sighing with every breath. He rubbed her instinctively, finding the spots and angles that made her shake the most and committing it to memory. They smell of her want was thick in the air and he thought of dropping to his knees to taste it, but then she started begging.
"Please." She whimpered against his chest. "Pleasepleaseahfuckplease please." For someone so little, she had a mouth on her that made him think about teasing her, drawing it out for as long as possible until she was screaming for it, but he couldn't wait to watch her come. With any luck, he would get the chance to tease her another time. For now he increased the pressure between her legs, sliding his fingers through her soaking folds to her nerves and began rubbing it faster and harder.
Johanssen gasped like she had been shocked, her hands grabbed wildly at him as she pushed her hips into his hands as hard as she could. She felt his other hand on her chin, forcibly turning her head and she opened her eyes for just a second to see his face right in front of hers, his eyes watching her intently. His forehead came down to rest against hers, and her eyes slid shut again as an excited ripple ran through her.
"Come on." He encouraged.
"Chris." She moaned again. "Harder, please!"
He pressed against her even harder, ignoring his concern that he had to be hurting her now. But it seemed to be just what she needed. It took just a second for Johanssen's entire body to tense and he instinctively placed a hand over her mouth. A moment later, he heard the muffled scream of his name as the beautiful creature in his hands jolted violently. He kept rubbing her, more gently now, wanting to draw every bit of tension, every cry, every shudder out of her.
Finally her body relaxed and he moved his hands from her mouth. She sucked in the breaths she had forgone in the last minute and smiled at the warm, gooey feeling that had started to spread through her limbs. That was the feeling that she had been looking for when she had hit the gym. Sated and pleasantly numb.
Somehow, Beck managed to make himself remove his hand from her pants, even when he knocked her still sensitive skin and drew another jolt and a breathy "Oh!" from her. He closed his hands around her hips, pulling his head back slightly and waited.
Once she'd calmed down enough to function, she opened her eyes and met his gaze before a huge smile spread across her face. Beck let out the breath he'd been holding and gave her his biggest one in response.
"Thanks." She said casually as if he had brought her coffee, then laughed at how ridiculous it had sounded.
He laughed, his smile awakening the butterflies in her stomach. "No problem." He said with a shrug. "Feel better?"
She had forgotten what had brought this situation together in the first place. "Much." She said, smiling at him affectionately and then stood on her toes to press her lips to his. The kiss was simple, lasting only a second or two, but it served its purpose as a conclusion. They would be fine together.
He shrugged and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm free pretty much anytime." He told her, gently teasing her.
She gave him a quick kiss and uncurled her fists from around his shirt. "Thank you."
Beck reached for the door and opened it a crack so he could check that the coast was clear. When he found that the shower room was empty, he turned to look back at her. She was leaning against the wall, breathing hard, face flushed, her eyes dark and hair tussled. She looked like she would drop to the floor at any moment.
He shook his head in awe, committing the look to memory. "You look so beautiful right now." He said softly.
A breathy chuckle escaped her lips before a smirk rested on her face. "Believe me, Chris. You look better." It was his sexiness that got them into this situation in the first place.
The compliment made his face light up brighter than the sun. "Hurry and get changed, so we can head back up."
She waved him off lazily. "Go on without me, I won't be long."
He shook his head. "If I return without you, Commander Lewis will come down next and I don't think she'd try to cheer you up the same way I did." He said with a cocky smile, he was the reason she looked like her insides had turned to mush.
She couldn't bother glaring at him, he was teasing her again in a way that brought butterflies into her stomach. "You should move then, because I cannot be held responsible for I want to do to you."
He beamed even brighter and chuckled before stepping out of the shower doorway. "As much as I would rather be doing that, I think if we're down her too much longer she'll send Martinez down her to search for us."
"Oh fuck." She said pushing herself up away from the wall. "I'm coming."
He watched her in amusement as she put her clothes on again, burning her image into his memory. He also had to mentally tell himself to get it under control. She was beautiful and he looked forward to exploring their relationship further.
When she put her last shoe on, she looked up at him. "You good?" He asked.
She nodded and approached him. "Thanks for making me feel better." She said, standing on her toes and pressed another kiss to his lips. Allowing herself to indulge in his taste and the feel of his arms around her.
When she pulled back, she realized how lame it sounded. "That was stupid, don't tell anybody I said that." She said as she stepped out of his arms.
"I won't tell anybody that I liked it." He said playfully as they crossed the gym to the ladder.
/
They arrived back in the bridge, Vogel had moved to his computer and Martinez sat at his table making notes on his tablet. Lewis hadn't left her station, but three pairs of eyes glanced at the ladder when they could hear the two of them slide down the ladder.
Beck went back to his station without another word and Johanssen stopped in front of Commander Lewis before heading back to her own station. "I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier, I was frustrated with NASA and I took it out on you. . ."
Lewis gave her a maternal smile. "It's okay, just don't make a habit of it." She said, glancing at Beck whose face gave away nothing.
"I promise." She answered honestly as she went to sit back at her station. She unlocked her computer and began to type quickly, easily picking up where she had left off.
The five of them went back to working quietly. Eventually Beck got up to consult something with Vogel and Lewis, it was enough of a distraction that Johanssen could hear a psst! sound coming from Martinez. She looked up with a glare, still mad at him from earlier but he pointed to his neck and raised his eyebrows teasingly.
She gave him a confused look and he pointed at her neck, then pointed to his neck before giving her a thumbs up. She looked at her reflection in the shiny chrome that held her computer up and gasped. Beck had marked her.
She quickly put her hood up and glared in his direction before ignoring any faces that Martinez was making at her. She was probably going to smother him with a pillow later.
Her evil plot making stopped when she ran her system diagnostic and as the rested her head on her hand. She watched the numbers fly up on the screen and she allowed her thoughts to wander. Eventually the lack of the sleep, the overall frustration from the day and the exercise, both physical and whatever had happened between her and Beck, had caught up to her. Her eyes grew heavy and she closed her eyes to rest
Lewis looked at her watch. "I think it's time we call it a day." She announced after reading over both Vogel's and Beck's paperwork.
"I cannot agree more." Vogel announced, he was expecting a call from his family later in the evening. He dismissed himself to get showered before he was connected to Germany.
Lewis walked over towards her station, smiling softly at the dozing scientist. She looked over to see Beck glance at her, affection filled his eyes as he watched her doze. She should reprimand him for the look that he was giving the youngest member, she should follow through with her threat, but she found that she couldn't be bothered at the moment. "You'll take care of her?"
Beck struggled to look away, but dragged his eyes to the commander. "Yeah, I'll make sure she gets to bed." He answered softly and Lewis nodded, taking the steps two at a time to the rec room.
Beck returned to shuffling his papers into a pile when he was elbowed by Martinez as he headed towards the stairs. He looked up and Martinez motioned to the dozing woman at her work station. "You really wore her out today." He whispered, poking him teasingly before dodging an elbow to his stomach.
"She wore herself out because she didn't sleep and ran about fifteen miles in about forty five minutes." He answered officially, he had read over her chart for the day.
Martinez rolled his eyes. "If you say so, dude." He patted him on the shoulder. "You should look into the bruise she's got onto her neck, Doctor Beck."
He climbed the ladder cackling like a maniac.
Beck crossed the room and placed a hand on the small of her back. "Beth." He whispered softly and she moaned. "Come on, wake up, Bethy Jo."
It turned into a groan. "Don't call me that." She said sitting up taller and yawning.
"Come on, it's time for you to go to bed." He ordered gently.
She was too tired to argue and allowed him to lead her to the ladder. He led her to her room and allowed her to change, not bothering to turn his gaze as she changed into her pajama and crawled into bed. He sat on the edge of her bed for a moment, he brushed the hair out of her face. Dark circles under her eyes gave way to how exhausted she had become. "Get some sleep, Beth." He said softly.
She yawned. "But I don't want to. . ."
He tugged on a strand of her hair. "If you don't go to sleep, I will shove a sleeping aid down your throat." He said affectionately before leaning down to kiss her softly. "Good night."
"Good night." She whispered as he stood up and shut her light off on the way out the door.