AN: This story will have a merged background, combining the movie and the book. The details of both are mentioned, but not integral to the plot. Consider this a 'Missing Scenes' fic. Apologies for the long delay between fanfics. original Writing/Publishing has taken up much of my writing time.

"There you are." Mindy said to herself quietly as she sat down at her desk again. Mark's Rover hadn't really moved, but it was habit at this point. She rarely left her desk during Mars' day cycle. She'd even gotten her bathroom breaks down to four minutes. Given the amount of caffeine she consumed in a day, that was a sprint record.

Mindy hadn't left the building for more than five hours a week. Watney was on his own schedule, and she was his primary watcher. A role that put her in the room for all the high level meetings; but had, in her mind, no real responsibilities.

"I feel a bit ghoulish." She confessed to Annie Montrose once, as Watney entered the third week of his drive across Mars. "There's nothing for me to do but wait for him to wipe out and roll the thing again."

"Nothing to do?" Annie rolled her eyes. "Mandy, everything those satellites see, you get it first, then you tell Vincent, then he tells me what I'm looking at, and then you tell me again in words that the general public can understand; and then I have to figure out how boil that down enough for a #*&^$ing Tweet; and then I have to talk Teddy through whatever moronic spin the Internet puts on things; so that he, Mitch, and I, can hold back the press with a whip and a chair."

"All that, and you still can't get your head around the fact that her name is 'Mindy', not 'Mandy'." A voice quipped from behind them. Mitch Henderson was coming up with a tray of large espresso; one for each of them.

Mindy sculled her oversized supply of caffeine in three large gulps, already back at her screens. Annie had a pointed conference with Mitch and swept out.

"That woman always walks like she's bringing a hurricane with her." Mindy said quietly to Mitch.

"That she does." Mitch agreed. "But I heard what you said. If you wanna go home for a while…"

"No, I'm good here. I made myself a promise that I'd stay on duty until he was off Mars."

"That's… quite a promise."

"I know." Mindy shook her head. "There's nothing for me to do except watch, but… Two planets, Three Space Agencies, Seven Radio Telescopes across five nations; over three thousand PHD's, 50 Million Miles, and just over 700 potatoes…" Mindy smiled. "Let's just say I love my job, even on the slow nights."

Mitch toasted that with a wry smile. "There's nothing else like it."

Mindy sipped back the last of her coffee. "I was recognized last week."

Mitch laughed. "Really?"

"First time I've been out during the day in months, and I got noticed." Mindy nodded, still a little bit excited by it. "Some fourteen year old girl in a Firefly t-shirt asked for a selfie with me in Walmart. Telling me she was switching to Astronomy; and what classes did I take to get this job?"

"Congratulations." Mitch chuckled.

"It's insane. I haven't done any of the press, I'm not on any of the panel discussions…" Mindy shook her head. "How did this girl even know who I was?"

"We're a Public Access Company. You're on record as being part of the communications between Ares III and Houston. Your name is out there, if anyone cares to read through a thousand hours of transcripts."

"So, whoever my mini-me is, she's likely aiming to have your job… after she gets mine."

"Poor kid." Mitch drawled.

Mindy twitched. She knew there was something going on, or at least there had been. Looking at him now, Mitch seemed… different. His face was lighter, with a glint in his eye, but there was something more stooped to his posture, like he was carrying twice the weight. An odd combination of determination and resignation. "Everything okay?"

Mitch's face changed, and he straightened. "Yup." He turned to go, then looked back at her for a moment, and returned. "I never said I was sorry."

Mindy blinked. "The hours are lousy, but I knew that when I-"

Mitch shook his head. "No, not this. That first meeting, with Teddy. I gave Vincent some grief for bringing you in."

"I was one of the lowest level employees in SatCon, sir." Mindy nodded. "To be honest, I agreed with you. All I did was notice something first."

"Yeah, but I never apologized for saying that like it was less than it was." Mitch said. "This is NASA. A company built around the idea that we could be the first people to do many things. First Is Forever. You think that only applies to astronauts?"

Mindy blinked. "I never thought of it like that."

Mitch nodded. "I never said I was sorry, and… I don't know, I wanted to sort that out while I could."

While he could. Mindy repeated mentally, feeling that sense of secrecy again. What am I missing? And then it hit her. "Mitch…" She asked finally, one of the few times she had used his first name. "That night, when you sent me home? It was the only time in eight months that you insisted I go home and sleep."

"As I recall, you didn't." Mitch pointed out. "You've been on Mars time as long as Watney has. He at least can stop when he's tired."

"That was the night the Ares Crew began the 'Rich Purnell Maneuver'." Mindy said. What she didn't say, was that she hadn't heard of it until after the fact, and given how meticulously they planned every second of the Mission, she should have heard something, if only when relaying it to Mark Watney. Which meant others hadn't known until after the fact either. If Mitch was one of them...

"Is there a question in there?" Mitch challenged her, with a look that spoke of absolute doom.

Mindy suddenly lost her nerve. "Nah." She looked back to the screen. "Oop. He's moving again."

Vincent Kapoor roused himself sometime during the night and made a coffee run.

"Anything new?"

"Nothing worth waking you up again." Mindy didn't even look away from the screen. "You know you have a surprisingly comfortable couch in your office; as well as a bed in your house."

"Look who's talking." Vincent said as he flopped into the chair behind her. "By the way, I put that paper up. I'm going to need you to co-sign it; given that you did all the work."

Watney's Rover was harder to follow at night; and Mindy had spent several weeks figuring out satellite algorithms to help track movement in other ways. Vincent had seen her work and decided to publish the results.

"I'm glad it helped, but I don't really know what practical use it has." Mindy nodded. "Once we get Mark off Mars, what do we need Telescopes with Night Vision for? Military already has that."

"Practical use? Mindy, Optical Telescopes can only see things in our Solar System when the sun lights them up. It's hard enough tracking objects at a range of a billion miles. Being able to do it in low light? That's a solution to more than just Watney's Solar Charging schedule."

Mindy blinked. "Oh. Right."

Vincent felt a wave of affection for Mindy. She'd been working as hard as anyone else, and failed to notice how much she'd accomplished in comparison. Vincent's father was from India. He knew how easy it was to get lost in a crowd; especially in a company town like NASA. As a Director, Vincent felt his entire job description was to 'find the genius' and in Mission Control, that was a long list.

Teddy had asked Vincent to keep a close eye on the night shift. Mitch kept the day shift running like a well oiled machine, but the nights had become far more valuable as Mark made his journey. Watney slept during the day while his solar panels charged the Rover. Vincent was under orders to make sure those staying on 'Watney Time' were able to handle it.

NASA Techies were diehard geeks, and as such, were well accustomed to pulling all-nighters. But thus far, Mindy was the only one who hadn't swapped a shift even once.

Mindy Park was 'Satellite Communications' and had originally been pressed into service for the Mars Orbital Satellites during Ares III because of her skill at directing the Satellites effectively. All the moving cameras needed direction to cover the most area with the most detail with the least waste. Before Sol 54, this meant she worked at a desk in the Mission Control Room at the Johnson Space Centre; without actually being part of the Mission staff. Since the Mission changed to rescuing Watney, Mindy had volunteered to do a job that NASA would normally assign to three people taking turns. Teddy was fine with that, since she was right on the money with everything she'd done so far; and if he could assign two staffers to other work, it'd be worth the few pennies; given how NASA had already blown through ten years worth of budget to get Mark Watney this far.

"How does this end, Vincent?" Mindy asked, as though reading his mind. "We manage to pull this off, it's going to change the whole nature of space travel. We fail…"

"We fail, we may lose the program entirely." Vincent agreed. "Y'know Mitch and Teddy were talking about that, when Ares started accelerating for a trip back to Mars. Teddy was against the idea. Said that the future of Space Exploration was bigger than just one man."

"Well, he's not wrong." Mindy nodded, eyes still on the screen. "But speaking for myself, if it was me, I'd want to be saved."

"You ever meet Karen Rhodes?"

"From Ares I?" Mindy blinked. "No. Not personally."

"She said that about a dozen people asked her, from her family, to the Commander, to the President. They all had the same question: What if you don't come back?" Vincent shrugged. "They all volunteered. More than that, they had to jump through thirty hoops to get the gig."

"I heard Commander Rhodes on talk radio last week." Mindy sipped her coffee. "That yutz who says we shouldn't be spending so much money. After all, 'Watney knew the risks'."

"Nobody takes guys like that seriously. The agitators are like dogs chasing cars. If we decided not to go back for Watney, they'd rage at us for that, too."

"I know. But I listened to Rhodes eviscerate the guy, on the air, and… I'm glad to know that the world can still find it in them to move mountains, for one man." She gestured. "It's good for us, that we can keep riding the edge, and still care that much. NASA's the only place that takes such insane risks to be the first at something, and simultaneously work around the clock to bring everyone back alive."

The Rover had been close enough to talk to the Ares IV MAV for a while; which meant Mark had two-way communication back for the first time since Pathfinder burned out. Which meant he had been sent the entire 'plan' for making the MAV lighter.

Mark had not taken it well, and Teddy promised to give Mindy a raise for installing a profanity censor on NASA's text comms.

After everyone else had left for the night, Mark had gotten back in touch.

MWatney: Still there?

It wasn't exactly a chatroom, given the time delay. Mindy answered quickly, nonetheless.

MPark: Always.

MWatney: I'm going over the notes from NASA, making sure I didn't miss anything. But in the meantime, I need one more favor. I wrote a few letters. If I don't make it, deliver them for me? I know I wrote to my crew back when it looked like I was going to starve, but that was months ago; and with the long trip; I have a few other things to say. Mindy, they're encoded. Go to my locker, check my personal effects. You'll find a photo of me and my folks. There's a date written on the back. That number is the cypher. It's not anything bad or Top Secret; I just wanted to keep the things I say in these letters personal and confidential; and NASA may respect that, but anyone with a Dish can pick up what we say to each other. So, I need someone to decode them on your end and keep them in a drawer. Just in case.

MPark: Sure, Mark. But you know the plan is going to work. Haven't you seen this movie?

MWatney: LOL.

And that should have been it. A short response to acknowledge that he'd received her answer; and they leave it for another night.

And yet, Mindy responded.

MPark: You did not just type that. Who 'Lol's' anymore?

She didn't expect an answer. Half an hour later, she got one.

MWatney: I'll have you know that 'LOL' is a very popular buzzword on Mars. You see, the Pirate King of Mars just used it in an official interplanetary communication; and then declared it "Mars-Wide 'LOL' Day". You are, of course, deeply honored to be part of such an auspicious date in Martian History. :-D

MPark: Truly Honored. And may I say, Pirate-King Blondebeard; how awed I am at your use of 'auspicious' and emoji in the same sentence. I'll get these letters decoded. You realize I'll have to read them?

MWatney: I trust you, Guardian Angel.

A few hours later, Mindy decided she could leave her station long enough for Ramen.

The Night Shift was known as 'The Gremlins' to most of the day crew. Mindy had to admit, the nickname fit.

When she'd made her way to the staff break room, there were three of them, gathered around a small TV. Late Night television had as much to say about Watney as the morning shows did. But the late night shows weren't held back by the daytime production code. As a result, there was plenty of gossip and nasty slurs mixed in.

'The Wild Side' was just barely this side of Jerry Springer. It stayed in the 2AM timeslot, and got most of its viewers online thanks to clickbait and dirty pictures. It was cable-syndicated revenge porn.

And with all the interest in Watney, they had made special effort to find anyone from his life willing to gossip.

NASA hadn't called them on it, mostly because they didn't care. But now that they were two days from the end of this road, and the bastards were still taking aim at Mark Watney, Mindy cared very much. She and Annie had watched some of it, back when the 'BringHimHome' movement had taken over the world. It was, without exception, a pack of lies, made up scandal, and pure sensationalism, with the tiniest veneer of fact.

Which is why Mindy didn't much like the fact that the Night Shift was always watching when she went to the break room.

"So, Rosa… Is it fair to say you were Watney's final Conquest before he left for Mars?"

Mark's Ex-Girlfriends had avoided the cameras. There wasn't a lot for them to add, and most people could tell the difference between learning about someone and listening to gossip. Rosa was the exception. She was selling every tid-bit she could. She'd practically given them his measurements.

"Well, it was how we celebrated his selection for the mission. The morning after, he had to go into quarantine for the launch." Rosa smirked at the camera. "We celebrated a lot. Even by our standards. Astronauts are like that, given that they know they'll never see you again; and it'll be three or four years until their next chance."

"So you don't believe all those rumors about the 'Zero G' Club?"

"Well, I'm amazed they all wasted the opportunity; but Astronauts are pretty tightly wound that way. I should know. I've dated at least one from every Ares Mission. I'm practically a NASA tradition at this point."

"Did Watney know that?"

"I believe Lewis told him, after the fact."

"So, given how long Mark's been alone on Mars; should we expect to see you two together again?"

"Haha. That I can't say yet, but I promise to tell you all the best bits if we celebrate some more when he gets ba-"

Mindy strode to the television and changed the channel without a word. There was a chorus of outrage and she turned to stare down the whole room. "I think we can find something more productive to do with our time, don't you?"

"Like what? The die is cast, Mindy. He launches in two days. Whatever's going to happen, it's kind of late for us to add anything."

Mindy gave him a steely look. "Chang, in two days, succeed or fail, this goes down. If it works, it'll be the finest hour in the history of NASA's failures since Apollo 13 made splashdown. If it fails, it'll be the end of the Mars missions for another generation. Either way, we'll all be writing our book." She gestured at the TV. "Just like that…" She swallowed the first thing that came to mind. "...That…" She swallowed the second thing too. "That woman. When I write mine, I plan to spend some time talking about the dedication of NASA's Night Crew, and Backup Staff. I can either talk about how we were trying, right to the last, to be ready for anything… or I can talk about the geeks who never see daylight, drooling over made-up details of Mark Watney's sex life on cable gossip shows the night before he died. Your call."

It worked. The Gremlins all left the break-room, not looking her in the eye. She heard someone murmur the words 'Guardian Angel' and pretended not to notice.

The 'Guardian Angel' nickname had come from Watney, when Mindy had mentioned via emails that the satellite passes would decrease for a while, and if he was going to do something particularly stupid, it would be more convenient for NASA if he did them while she was watching.

Mark had promised to go outside and wave to 'his guardian angel', and the Gremlins ate it up. The nickname had stuck.

She came back to her desk. Vincent was asleep on a Cot behind the back row of Mission Control terminals. She didn't wake him.

Mark had moved a bit off the edge of the screen while she was away, the orbits doing their thing. She found him again after a few moments. "There you are." She said to herself quietly, and went back to decoding his letters.

"Mindy? You okay?"

Mindy looked up sharply at Annie Montrose, and realized she'd been crying. "Sorry. He, um… Watney had some letters to send. Personal ones. So he had me decode them. I'm the only one who's read them, and…" She wiped a tear aside. "Never mind. I'm good."

Annie would have said something warm and supportive, but such was not her way. "I heard there was some excitement." Annie said as she sat down and got to work. Her shift began early enough to handle the morning shows, so Mindy's last task for the night was to update Annie when she arrived.

Mindy rolled her eyes. "Just a few of the Gremlins pre-ordering one of the tabloid books."

"And you settin' them straight, from what I hear." Annie smirked. "As a Martian Guardian Angel does."

"I never liked that nickname." Mindy commented wryly. "A guardian angel is there to protect their charges. All I can do is watch. It's not like I can actually do anything."

"I can name a few Gremlins that disagree, after last night."

Mindy looked at her. "Can you? Name them, I mean?"

Annie winced. "Um… The one with glasses? The guy who snacks too much? The one wearing the Star Trek T-Shirt?"

"Oh, yes. That narrows it down." Mindy yawned. "I hate that show with a fiery passion, Annie. I've never liked the gossip shows, and that one is the worst of the lot; but I've never hated someone I've never met before."

"You talking about the Moderator, or Rosa?"

Mindy winced. "Is it true, what she said about Mark?"

"No idea, but it wouldn't surprise me. They got the missions funded by making the Astronauts into a showcase. Been that way since the Mercury Seven. Astronauts are celebrities, and that means they have their share of groupies; but groupies become something a lot worse when they start making book deals. It's disgusting." Annie agreed. "I could feel my skin crawling just listening to the questions, let alone the answers."

"I'm sorry you had to keep on top of that sort of thing. You must hate that the subscription's going to show up on NASA's budget this year." Mindy sneered.

"I was already subscribed."

Mindy stared at her.

"I have two ex-husbands. Trust me, I am intimately acquainted with scumbags and internet trolls." Annie said plainly. "Last year, they did that piece on Hollywood Sex Tapes that get leaked deliberately for publicity? It was all I could do to keep watching for the full three hours."

"Sometimes I forget how much you work with the Press." Mindy yawned, checked Mark one last time, and stood up, stretching. "See you tonight."

"You need me to call a car for you?" Annie asked, concerned.

"Nah, I sleep on Vincent's couch more often than not." Mindy shook her head. "I'm acclimated to Mars Time now. Besides, at this time of day, I'm probably a safer driver than anyone who's been sitting in the Motor Pool all night."

"Why are you sleeping in the Centre?" Annie caught her arm.

"Half an hour to get home, half an hour back, four hours to sleep; one hour for everything else. Trust me, I'm better here."

"Mindy, you can take a shift off to sleep. We all have." Annie looked hard at her. "What? What is it?"

Mindy Park sighed and confessed. "I don't actually have a home to go back to right now." She said quietly. "I was spending so much time here, my mom finally noticed I hadn't been home for more than a day in three months; and my Landlord noticed that someone else had moved in…"

"Your rent fell through?"

"My landlord's been itching to get me out of that apartment for half a year. He was locked in by my agreement, but you know how housing prices are, and he could double the rent for the next sucker if he could just find a way to break my lease. Not actually living there was perfect for him. I could fight it, but not without spending a few weeks in small claims court."

Annie let out a little growl of disgust.

Mindy shrugged. "I knew it was a possibility. My mom's packing my things now."

"Which raises the question." Annie put in. "It's none of my business, of course, but it would have been a far simpler matter to just go home at the end of your shift. These guys can work till four in the morning better than most, but they've all swapped shifts here and there to catch up on sleep. Vincent tells me you're the only one taking on extra shifts keeping an eye on him. Can I ask why?"

Mindy dodged the question. "Doesn't really matter anymore. The Rendezvous is in two days. One way or another, I'm not on Mars Time for too much longer."