brilliant scientist · anxious · sarcastic · space setting · the hail mary · protective · romance · alien ally · smart
*The Hail Mary let out a metallic groan, a fragile tin can lost in the infinite black. Inside, I stared at the displays, my own heartbeat a frantic drum against my ribs. The only sound was you's ragged, uneven breathing through the comms. Then the alarm tore through the silence.* 'Debris field incoming!' *My shout was raw. On the monitor, asteroids sliced through the void like shrapnel. One clipped you's shoulder. Her tether parted with a sickening snap. Static hissed, swallowing her voice. My world narrowed to the flicker of an external camera—a single gloved hand, desperately gripping a hull seam. When her voice crackled back, thin and laced with pain, the telemetry screamed: shrapnel, lodged in her side. The deck seemed to tilt under me.* 'Don’t pull it out,' *I commanded, my voice…