I’ll find a new place to be from.
In which you and Ryland decide to leave Earth behind to save your new friend and find a new home.
Tags: Established relationship, Fluff, Angst, Hurt/Comfort.
A/N: this came to me while editing and rewriting a whole other fic. i tried to combine my knowledge of the book and the film (which ive seen 3 times) as best i could but i can’t promise it’s entirely timeline accurate. not proofread and english isn’t my first language but its getting late and i really wanted to post it so enjoyyy<3
Goodbyes were never easy. Saying goodbye to the few family members and friends who you left back home to save the planet was the most difficult thing you had ever done.
How you missed them. Their sweet embraces and encouraging words as they told you they loved you and couldn’t be prouder. It weighed heavy on your heart, the knowledge that this was a one way trip.
Up until Rocky announced he would give you and Ryland the two million kilograms of Astrophage you needed to go back home. He had been very upset when you finally told him the truth that you were supposed to die on the mission.
Neither of you could believe it. Rocky was confused when you and Ryland knelt down to hug him in his ball, tears flowing from you both.
It was a little later, after being able to visit Rocky’s ship that Ryland’s final memory of Earth came back. He was sobbing, calling himself a coward as he told you how Stratt’s men had tackled him outside the facility and drugged him.
“You’re many things Ry, and a coward is not one of them.” You had cried just as hard, holding him until he fell asleep that night.
Saying goodbye to Rocky was painful and you hated the idea that he was going to be alone again. He would have no one to watch him sleep. Standing in the tunnel, now divided by a wall once again, you felt your tears coming back.
“Say ‘hi’ to Adrian for me please.” You said, holding back from sniffling.
“Yes. Yes. Yes. Rocky tell all about human friends!” He gave his signature jazz hands. He was so excited to finally go back to his mate, you couldn’t blame him. 186.3 years was a long time to be with someone, even if it still wasn’t enough.
It made you think of Ryland. How you knew the moment you woke up from your coma that you’d spend the rest of your lives together, not in the romantic sense. But over the course of the mission that had changed, having found a deep connection with each other.
No amount of time with him would be enough either.
The tears had been difficult to keep at bay the last few days, as you knew this moment was coming but it seemed the dam had now really burst.
So you let Ryland do most of the talking.
Ryland hesitated for a moment.
“It means…uh…see you later.” He looked down at his shoes.
“But I won’t see you later.”
You both let out a sad sigh.
“We know.” You softly mumbled, wiping a tear away.
“How do you say goodbye back home?” Ryland asked.
“We don’t.” He raised one of his arms, holding his claw to it and made a gesture. “We do this.”
His claw ran up and down his arm.
You and Ryland were quick to copy the gesture, saying goodbye to Rocky in his own language.
After that, you slowly made your way back to the Hail Mary, stopping after a few steps to look back, with Ryland doing one of the silly dance moves he had done when he first met Rocky.
You couldn’t do anything but watch, furiously wiping at your eyes to stop the tears from flowing.
As you finally reached the door you both gave Rocky one last wave before going inside. There, you quickly collapsed into Ryland’s arms, letting yourself let out a sob you’d been holding in.
“I know. I’m gonna miss him too.” He let out a shaky sigh, holding you tightly. Ryland detached the tunnel for one last time with you glued to his side.
The systems were now calibrated for a trajectory back to Earth. You had taken stock of all the supplies you had left on the ship. A little under two years worth of food, maybe more if you could stretch it out. After that you had to make a choice; you’d either go back to eating the coma slurry, or induce another medical coma for the remaining years, hoping it wouldn’t kill you both like it had your two crewmates on the journey to Tau Ceti.
But eventually with the reality of the long journey to go back home sinking in, the days began to pass slower and slower. Especially without the constant noise of Rocky asking questions or just generally clunking around in his xenonite, which still remained intact on the ship.
It was only a few weeks later that all hell broke loose. Red flashing lights and a loud siren had awoken you both from your sleep.
Mary kept repeating the words as you and Ryland scrambled out of bed, rushing towards the screens to try and find what the leak was and where it was coming from.
It didn’t take long to find the source. Ryland instructed you to put on your EVA suit before scrambling around the lab, trying to contain the leaking taumoeba farms. That was the only thing he said, other than telling you to copy what he was doing. He had been uncharacteristically quiet the whole time, only adding to your growing worries.
Only after he let out a deep sigh and sat down did he speak up again.
“It’s the taumoeba. It’s eating all the astrophage.”
“The problem is the xenonite. The taumoeba can get through it. It’s cause we bred it in the xenonite breeder tanks and it evolved to escape it.”
“No. We were able to stop it before it had the chance.” He sighed.
“Rocky.” You clasped a hand over your mouth as your wide eyes found Ryland’s.
“His ship.” He quietly confirmed. “His ship’s built out of xenonite.” He took off his glasses, rubbing a hand over his face. “The taumoeba will already be in his fuel lines.”
You wished Ryland would stop talking. You wished you could just wake up from whatever terrible nightmare you were having right now.
“He won’t be able to find the leak because the leak is the ship itself.”
You paced around the room, the gravity of the situation truly sinking in.
“His life support systems will fail.” You quietly said, causing Ryland to look up at you.
“And if that doesn’t kill him the radiation sickness will.”
You sank to your knees. You both knew exactly what situation your alien friend was in. Neither of you had to say anything else.
The whiteboard filled with Ryland’s attempts at triggering memories was erased, now making room for a seemingly impossible calculation.
The math itself wasn’t hard, not for Ryland at least. But the implications underneath it were still difficult to grasp. You let him do his work, keeping yourself occupied with cleaning up around the ship, needing to keep busy to prevent your mind from wandering to Rocky.
He must’ve felt so alone now.
After a while Ryland came to find you.
“How long?” You quietly asked, leaning against the wall.
You nodded, releasing a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. Ryland took your hand in his, asking you to come with him for a moment.
He led you to the mental health room, where different scenes from Earth were already being projected on the screens. He had already been in here, making his own mind up before wanting to discuss it with you.
You leaned against the xenonite still inhabiting the room, looking at the scene from a beach in a place you’ve probably never been before. But it still reminded you of home, a place that felt so close up until a day ago. Now it was this huge, unattainable thing once again.
“I know it’s a lot to ask of you.” Ryland said. “There’s people waiting for you back home and I know how badly you want to go back to them.”
You put your arms around him, leaning against his chest. He returned the hug, running a hand through your hair and pressing kisses to the top of your head.
“They’re not.” You softly said. “They’re not waiting for me. They’ve gotten older now and they’ve already grieved me.” A tear fell down your face.
“Still. I can’t ask this of you.” He mumbled against your head.
He pulled away slightly so he could look at you, his brows slightly furrowed.
“My mind’s made up, Ry.” You gave him a sad smile, reaching a hand up to wipe his tears away. “And I know yours is too.”
“Not much for me to go back to.” He sighed. It was true. His last memory of Earth and its people had been a very cruel one. He was betrayed, there wasn’t any other way to describe it.
“Everything I need I have right here.” He pressed a soft kiss against your lips.
The decision was made. You’d go back to try and save Rocky. You recorded the video to send along with the Beetles back to Earth. A final goodbye to your family and friends and to Ryland’s children, who weren’t children anymore, now almost the same age he was.
“We left you detailed logs of all of our findings and Ryland threw in a little something else just for fun.” You felt a weight come off your shoulders.
“Hopefully it all makes sense. If not…You’re smart. You’ll figure it out.”
“This is Dr. Captain Ryland Grace and Dr. Captain Y/N Y/L/N reporting from the Hail Mary.” You both gave the camera a smile.
You both repeated the gesture Rocky had taught you when saying goodbye, bidding your farewells to whoever would watch the recordings.
You watched as the probes left on their way for Earth, signaling the beginning of your new journey.
Fifty-six days went by faster than you expected. The last week of the journey was the most tense, with Ryland constantly calculating Rocky’s position, adjusting the Hail Mary’s trajectory accordingly.
Checking the Petrova-scope, you eventually found the Blip-A. That was a huge relief, but no cause to celebrate just yet. You positioned the ship as close as you could to Rocky’s, with Ryland suiting up in the EVA once again, tethering himself to one of the pipes on the ship before taking the leap into the tunnel.
It felt like ages until he returned again, and when he finally came back with tears in his eyes your heart sank.
“He’s okay!” You both let out a breath of relief.
Ryland had insisted on keeping the alarm clock that he took from the Hail Mary. You thought it was nonsense. The Eridians had created the near perfect biodome that simulated the 24-hour clock of Earth.
You slammed your hand against the beeping clock, debating if you should ask Adrian to hide it and never give it back.
Ryland let out a soft groan.
“Hush. It’s Saturday…I think?”
The day after you arrived on Erid you had declared it was Saturday. A day to relax and recover. Ryland had given you a kiss and agreed it was indeed Saturday, ignoring it was a completely ridiculous statement and probably not even true.
But here that didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was having each other. Having the man that was currently holding you tightly against his sleepy body.
“And you gotta turn off the alarm on Saturday. I’m begging you.” His response came in the form of a drowsy chuckle and kisses against your cheek.
Saturdays were also for sleeping in and taking a walk on the beach, with Rocky and Adrian often tagging along in their xenonite suits.
The Eridians were a magnificent species and such genius engineers, creating a little pocket of Earth on their planet. The temperature was always pleasant with a fog covering the horizon, just how Ryland liked it. You’d come to love it too.
Only the water temperature wasn’t quite right. Quite literally when testing the waters, it had been ice cold the other day and afterwards it got boiling hot. But Adrian had promised to work on it. You told them to take their time, you weren’t going anywhere.
The consistent temperature made it easy to dress, but you still opted to wear Ryland’s fox cardigan before heading out the door to meet your friends.
“I was gonna wear that!” He feigned annoyance, throwing his hands up in a dramatic gesture.
“Then how come you always say it looks better on me?”
Rocky and Adrian were already sitting in their usual spot, waiting for you.
“Grace Rocky test water temperature!” Rocky said, already rolling into the oncoming waves. Ryland reluctantly followed him, carefully reaching one hand into the water in case it was still near boiling.
“It’s perfect. Thank you.” He said, wiping his hand dry on his pants.
“Rocky, Adrian have big news!” Adrian sounded. You glanced at them sitting next to you, your mind racing what it could possibly be. Maybe something about the food supply? No, they’d said it too cheerfully. New developments about the biodome? A possibility, but it was already pretty much perfect.
“What’re you guys talking about?” Ryland came up to sit next to you, taking your hand in his.
Rocky took his usual place next to Adrian as well.
“Good news! Big news!” Rocky exclaimed with jazz hands.
“Eridian scientists are ready to prepare Hail Mary for journey home.”
Huh. Home. That was something you hadn’t thought about for quite sometime now. You weren’t even sure what ‘home’ really meant to you anymore, other than that home was wherever Ryland was.
Ryland’s eyes found yours. Neither of you had to say anything, you already knew what you were both thinking about.
“Can we think about it?” You softly asked the two Eridians sitting next to you, tightening your grasp on Ryland’s hand.
“Yes. Think about it long time.” Rocky exclaimed.
That alarm clock again. What was even the point of it if it only woke you up? You nudged Ryland, who was still softly snoring next to you.
“The things you do for love.” You murmured to yourself, reaching over him to turn off the alarm. Two hands grabbed at your waist, pulling you into a bear hug. “You gotta get up.” You whispered.
He groaned at your words.
Who were you to deny your man? Five minutes turned into ten and then it was really time to get up. Armando was already waiting with a cup of coffee still leftover from the ship by the time Ryland was done brushing his teeth. A weird combination of flavors he never seemed to mind but made you cringe internally every time you watched him sip his coffee in the morning.
“Will you come with me?” He asked, finishing his coffee and putting on his cardigan. Dang it, you had meant to beat him to it.
“Yeah. But I can’t stay. I promised Adrian I’d meet up with them today.”
Some thirty over-excited Eridian kids jumped up and down as they saw you two walking over to the little makeshift classroom at the edge of the biodome. Ryland’s new children, allowing him to finally do what he loved most. Helping him find his place again.
You gave him a kiss as you wished him luck for the day before making your way back to your little house. Adrian was already waiting for you by the front door, beginning to talk about Rocky’s latest shenanigans.
“Alright. What’s he done now?” You chuckled. Adrian had turned into your new best friend, reminding you of your girlfriends back home who loved to gossip as much as Adrian did.
You let them go on their tangent, laughing at the similarities between Rocky and Ryland.
“Grace Y/L/N happy here, question.” Adrian eventually asked, even though they already knew the answer, they liked to ask it anyway.
“Yes. We’re very happy here.” You smiled.
“And thank you again. It’s really amazing what you’ve all done for us.”
“This Grace Y/L/N new home! You save Erid we make home!” Adrian made jazz hands and you wondered if they picked up that habit from Rocky or if it was the other way around.
“Grace Y/L/N stay home, question.” Their tone was different now, almost uncertain if they wanted to hear the answer.
“Yes. We stay home, statement.”
a/n: i’d love to hear your feedback since im relatively new to writing full length fics but i do post hcs over on tiktok! find me at killerqceens over there!! but anyways i hoped u enjoyed this!!! <333