A Close Encounter

Nobody made a move. They didn't want to make the minefield set off an explosion that would kill everyone within a mile radiance of the village the Paladins were protecting.

"Hunk, you need to calm down and stop hyperventilating." Shiro calmly told his friend, the poor mechanic was having a heart attack because of how close he was to hitting the ground. Thankfully, the leader caught him in time so he was now wrapped in his arms.

Hunk gripped Shiro harder than he probably meant to, "Sorry Shiro. But as you can see in our situation: WE'RE LITERALLY ON TOP OF ACTIVE ALIEN BOMBS."

Keith was still as a statue. His arms were up like he was under arrest and he had a young alien child clinging to his right leg for some sort of protection. The Red Paladin felt horrible for not being able to hold him in his arms, but if he made one wrong move he could set them all on a one way ticket to the afterlife.

"Hunk, you need to think positive thoughts or else you'll make ME start panicking. And compared to OUR situation, I think you have it easy." Lance replied to his best friend with a low voice.

Lance and Pidge were holding each other like they were lovers. Pidge had almost tripped and fell so Lance caught her in his arms, now his hands were wrapped around her waist tightly and her body pressed against his. For her part, Pidge had her arms wrapped around his shoulders and her face was buried into his chest. She didn't want to admit it to everyone else, but she was absolutely terrified in their situation.

"Can anyone contact the Princess?" Pidge managed to ask as she slowly lifted her head away from Lance's chest to look at her teammates.

Keith's left hand reached towards his communication transmitter on the side of his helmet slowly and pressed the call button, "Allura this is Keith. We're in a port or die situation right now and we need your help."

"We're trying to get you out of there Keith, but we're being attacked by the enemy with rapid fire. Allura is doing her best to keep the shields stable but it won't last for long." Coran replied with panic in his voice, "I'll see what I can do, but you got to hold on a little longer until I can reach the portal controls."

Pidge gave a long sigh and leaned her head back onto Lance's broad chest. Surprisingly enough, he was warmer than she expected him to be. He had the distinct smell of the sea, which was strange considering they haven't been on Earth for practically months now.

"It's OK Pidge, we'll make it out of here alive." Shiro reassured the Green Paladin with a gentle voice. "You just need to focus on keeping your balance."

Lance slightly tightened his grip on Pidge's small waist, "Don't worry about that Shiro. I got her covered in that department."

"My hero." Pidge teased as she looked up and grinned at him, "Though seriously: thanks for not letting me drop to my untimely death."

Lance chuckled as lightly as he could and gave her a friendly squeeze, "You're welcome partner."

Minutes seemed to fly by as everyone stood like statues, for the most part things were silent but the alien child was sobbing for its mother who was watching with horror in the distance as her child was in danger with a bunch of strangers they barely knew.

"Guys it's been a while since we last heard from Coran. I think I should call him back." Keith declared as he reached to press the button again.

Shiro almost made him fall to the ground with his response, "If you call him now you might cause him to lose his focus when he really needs it! Wait for them to port us back up."

"What am I gonna do..." Whimpered the child, he clung to Keith's leg tighter now. "I want my mommy."

Keith wanted to hug him so badly now, but he couldn't move anymore. Not after Shiro told him not to.

"Lance, do you really think we're gonna get out of here alive if Allura doesn't port us up soon?" Pidge whispered silently so only the Blue Paladin could hear her.

She could feel him tense a little as he gripped her waist a little tighter. "I'm not sure Pidge, I don't really wanna think about it."

"If we get out of this, I think I might kiss you out of pure joy." Pidge teased as she laughed a little to let go of some of the tension building.

Even though Lance didn't respond to her declaration, she could feel his heart racing a little faster in his chest as she pressed her ear against it. The thought of her actually making him nervous made Pidge feel a little warm inside that she couldn't describe or explain.

"Alright everyone! We've finally broken away from the fight and we're locking on you now!" Coran exclaimed in everyone's helmets.

Lance gave a cry of joy as everyone else shared in his enthusiasm. They were going to make it. They were going to be able to fight another day. Even the small alien child was celebrating as tamely as he could without making a lot of movement.

"I'm so happy I could scream, which I think I might do right now! AH-" Hunk began to yell, but Shiro gave him the dad look and he stopped dead.

The port came swiftly and without missing a beat, the team and the small child were back onboard the Castleship. Allura was sitting down, absolutely drained from her intense concentration and fighting off the attackers. Coran welcomed the team back with a sigh of relief, "I'm glad none of you are dead."

"So are we." Shiro proclaimed as he released his grip on Hunk and the two gave each other a high five.

Keith picked up the child and gave it the hug he was unable to give before, the child squeezed back just as tightly and everyone was smiling at the moment before them.

"So, now that we're safe on the ship, I think you can release me from your loving embrace Lance." Pidge commented as she gave a cough of slight embarrassment.

Lance hadn't realized they were still tightly bound together thanks to their close encounter with death. So he quickly released his hands from around her waist and Pidge unwrapped her arms from around his shoulders.

"Sorry. I guess I got so comfortable in that position that I didn't realize we could move apart now." Lance admitted as he scratched the back of his head with a flustered expression on his face.

Pidge giggled, it wasn't like Lance to be so flustered over a tight embrace like that. But silently she admitted to herself that even she began to get a little comfortable in that position as well.

"I'm glad everyone is alright." Allura proclaimed as she slowly stood back up, "Sorry we weren't able to help you out sooner but things got chaotic."

Keith shrugged his shoulders, "It's OK, we understand that now. I think we're all just glad to be alive and breathing."

"Yeah and I think we bonded a little as a team while in that situation. It's like we could really feel what the other person was thinking at the time." Shiro said as he stretched out his arms.

Coran walked up to the middle of the floor and clapped his hands. "I'm glad everyone is alright, but now it's time to get you all washed up and in new clothes."

"I'll drop this little guy back off with his mother and then we'll rest for the night before confronting the chief." Allura announced, taking the small child from Keith's arms and holding him gently in her own.

Hunk was out the door faster than you could say hot water. Shiro was next followed by Keith and Coran, Allura placed the small child on her hip and she ported herself down to the child's mother. Now it was just the Blue and Green Paladins in the room. Looking at each other like there was nobody else on the entire ship.

"Did you really mean what you said back down there on top of the minefield? Or were you just joking?" Lance asked with a low whisper. He was blushing slightly and his voice probably cracked, but he didn't care.

Pidge shuffled her feet from side to side. "I mean, it was in the heat of the moment and I didn't actually think you'd remember that to be honest."

"So you didn't mean it."

"I didn't say that."

Pidge walked up to Lance and gently grabbed his face, bringing him down to her level, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. It was soft, warm, and made Lance feel like the world was spinning all around him.

"That's for everything you did for me in that situation." Pidge said quickly as she released her hands from his face and walked away quickly. "TELL ANYONE ABOUT THAT AND I'LL END YOU MYSELF!"

Lance smiled after her, "Wouldn't dream of it Pidge."