Pidge sat cross-legged on the hard rocky ground, one elbow resting against her knee, cheek propped against her fist as her other hand traced countless patterns on the rock beside her. She was bored out of her mind. Well, could you blame her? She had been waiting over three hours for her teammates and they still had yet to show up. Contributing to her boredom were Shiro's strict orders to stay put and not wander. She understood why, she truly did, but it was still so boooooring. It would have been bearable if her helmet wasn't dark, then she could have played around with the coding on her wrist held screen. She sighed, her entire body deflating.

'Seriously,' She thought. 'How far away did they land anyway for them to take this long get to me?'

The scuffling of feet and labored breathing brought Pidge out of her thoughts. She quickly spun and stood, facing where she thought the sound had come from.

"Who's there!?" She cried loudly, trying to sound fierce.

"Whoa Pidge. Calm down, it's just us." She heard Shiro's calming tone, urging her to calm down.

"Who's 'us'? Who is with you?" Pidge asked warily. She had never felt so out-of-control in her life not being able to see. She wouldn't calm down till she knew exactly who was around. She wouldn't put it past Shiro to bring back aliens or something.

"Keith and Lance are with me." Shiro responded immediately, sounding much closer. "Don't worry, it's just them.

Pidge visibly relaxed, plopping back down onto the cool lime-stone like stone. The labored breathing sounded much harsher up close, as the person struggled to inhale oxygen. Pidge cringed as she heard a curse and dull thud as if something heavy fell onto the rocks.

"S-sorry Shiro." Pidge heard Keith pant before hearing Shiro reply, "It's alright Keith, You did a good job. It's thanks to you that we made it."

Then she heard a solid clap of armor against armor. Followed by a grunt and a scraping sound as if something heavy was being dragged across the ground.

"What happened?" Pidge questioned. "Did something fall? I heard a curse and a thud. And you reprimand me for my language." She muttered quietly.

"Right." Shiro groaned. "Your helmet is broken." Pidge could imagine Shiro pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation as he let the groan escape his throat.

She heard Shiro sigh again before he continued. "Keith was carrying both Lance and I. And well, he just came down faster than we were quite expecting."

Pidge squinted her eyes, not that it did her any good, she still couldn't see out of her helmet. But it sounded as if Shiro was trying to downplay what had happened.

Pidge frowned as she realized something. "Why was he carrying both of you?"

Pidge heard Shiro sigh again. She could imagine that he was thinking that this girl was too smart for her own good.

"Lance was struggling to stay awake-"

Pidge couldn't help but snicker. "Did he not get enough beauty sleep?"

"Pidge." Shiro snapped, he probably didn't appreciate her poking fun at Lance.

"What?" She couldn't help but reply coyly. Then a deep sigh could be heard with a note of disappointment intertwined.

"Anyway, I was injured during the crash landing and Keith had to help me along."

Pidge groaned, "Shiro! Why didn't you tell us you were injured earlier?"

"It wasn't important at the time, besides what would you have done? Hunk can't use his arms and you can't see."

Pidge growled, frustrated that Shiro was right, there was nothing they could have done. Pidge then realized something.

"Shiro?" She asked, he hummed, indicating that he was listening.

"Is Lance injured? He's not talking, which is highly odd, normally we can't get him to shut up."

Pidge waited in uncomfortable silence as Shiro collected his thoughts.

"I don't know." He sighed.

"What do you mean you don't know. Didn't you ask?"

"No," She heard his defensive tone. "There were other pressing matters."

"Like what?" Pidge nearly screeched, sarcasm biting into Shiro.

"Like keeping Lance awake and GETTING TO YOU!" Pidge cringed as his tone rose with every word. Then she heard him sigh, "I'm sorry I shouldn't have yelled, I'm just getting frustrated. But you're right, that should've been the first thing I checked. His voice faded, the fight draining out of him.

"Now, might be a wonderful time to ask!" Pidge retorted, her words scathing.

"Alright, alright." She heard some scuffling as Shiro scooted over to the blue paladin. Shiro laid a gentle hand on Lance's arm, slightly startling the blue and red paladins. "Hey Lance, buddy, look at me. Don't go to sleep yet. Can you tell me why you're not speaking?"

Lance sluggishly blinked before more one hand up to his throat pulling down his collar to show a jagged wound slit across his throat. It wasn't bleeding but it looked bad, red and puckered. Shiro sucked in a cold breath at the sight. Guilt gnawed at his stomach at the sight, "That happened in the crash?"

Lance nodded slowly, his eyes dimming again. Behind Shiro, Pidge squawked in annoyance, "Could someone please inform me of the situation?"

"Lance's throat was cut in the crash, but I don't really understand how since Lance is really groggy right now."

"Groggy?" Pidge muttered to herself, "Why would he be groggy? That kind of injury shouldn't affect him that way. And he should only be tired after walking to me." Slowly the pieces fell into place.

"Shiro, check his eyes. Are they dilated?" Her voice was calm but devoid of emotion, belaying her concern.

"What, why? He's just tired from translating for Keith's broken speakers."

"Quick! How dilated are his eyes!" Pidge exclaimed, "Shiro, just trust me."

"Only slightly."

"Good," Pidge replied with a sigh of relief. "He probably hit his head and a got a minor concussion. If he went to sleep earlier, he might not have woken up again. But since his eyes are only slightly dilated he can go to sleep and be fine. We just have to wake him up every few hours to make sure his condition doesn't change."

Pidge took in a gulp of air after her long winded explanation. Shiro's voice became slightly muffled, she assumed that he'd turned away to talk to Lance. His next words confirmed her theory.

"You did well, Lance. It's alright, you can to go to sleep now."

Pidge barely caught the last part as Shiro gently whispered, "Sleep well."

The trio waited in silence for the final member. Their impairments made it hard to converse all together and frankly, they were too exhausted to bother. The silence dragged on as it appeared that Hunk was taking his sweet ass time, Pidge hoped that nothing bad had happened to him. Half an hour later they heard heavy breathing as Hunk approached the group.

"Hey…" He greeted, still trying to catch his breath, and flopped his arm in a slight wave.

Shiro and Pidge immediately waved back, though Pidge was slightly off and waved just to the right of him. Keith completely ignored him, which in itself wasn't weird, but Lance's silence bothered Hunk tremendously. Hunk took a closer look at the group, all of them were resting on the ground Pidge sat crossed-legged and Shiro laid with his legs straight out, his arms locked, keeping his torso upright. Keith sat almost curled protectively around Lance, while Lance lay curled in Keith's arms, eyes closed.

"What's wrong with Lance?" Hunk yelped, panic clouding his voice.

"Relax Hunk," Shiro said, his voice calm. "It's alright. He's just sleeping."

Shiro saw Hunk visibly relax, tense shoulders drooping with relief. Before Hunk could ask anymore about the situation Pidge interjected.

"Good, now that you're here. We can get down to business."

"Business?" Hunk asked, brows furrowing in confusion as he sat down with some difficulty. Hey, it isn't easy sitting down with no hands. You try it sometime, see how it goes. He sat down a little hard, bouncing on his butt before settling down, legs crossed and arms hanging limp by his side.

"The business of deciding our next move." Pidge supplied.

Hunk frowned, voicing his concern "Shouldn't we included Lance and Keith in this conversation? I mean they are part of the team."

Shiro replied, "Yes, under normal circumstances we would all participate, but as Lance is currently sleeping and Keith's speakers are broken, that makes things a tad more difficult. Especially since Lance was translating for him."

"Oh, right. Totally forgot about that." Hunk sheepishly said, "Could someone else translate?" '

"Unfortunately I can't see and Shiro doesn't know sign language." Pidge pointed out.

"Couldn't we write back and forth on the ground?" Hunk questioned.

"Ground's too hard." Pidge replied, rapping her knuckle on the stone for emphasis.

"Okay." Hunk sighed. "What do we need to talk about?"

"Tonight's accommodations sounds like a good place to start." Pidge said, a shiver coursing through her body from a cold breeze whipping across the desert like climate.

"Yes." Shiro agreed. "With the sun going down, so does the temperature."

Silence fell over the trio as each member thought about the best location.

"How about the forest?" Hunk suggested. "The climate is warmer and we can use the trees for shelter."

Pidge nodded and Shiro replied. "That's a great idea, Hunk."

"Though, I do have to put it out there. The trek isn't easy, we basically have to go up a rough-cut staircase that is carved into the cliffside and the steps are huge. I should know, I had to climb down them to get to you guys. And since I couldn't use my arms, it took even longer. That's why I was so late getting to you guys. That's why it took so long for me to get to you guys." Hunk rambled, his voice raising with panic.

Shiro held up a hand, effectively quieting Hunk. "It's alright, Hunk. It's not anything we can't handle.

"And," Pidge interjected, her unseeing gaze falling about where Hunk's stomach and chest were. "Anything beats staying in the canyon where the freezing wind has free rein to try and finish us off."

Hunk nodded reassured by their words. Then he thought about their various injuries.

"Okay...How are we going to do this?" Hunk questioned, eyebrows pinched in a frown. A silence slowly encased the group as each member thought about the best way to move the team to the forest. Pidge spoke up after a time.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but to sum everything up, Shiro can't use his legs, Hunk's arms are useless, Lance is unconscious, Keith can't hear, and I'm blind? So here's my proposal, Shiro you piggyback on Hunk since he's the strongest,"

The yellow paladin blushed with pride, before asking a question, his voice trembling slightly. "What about you, Keith and Lance?"

"I wwwaaasss getting to that." Pidge drawled, elongating her words, her tone annoyed at the interruption.

"Keith would continue to carry Lance and I would hold onto Keith's suit, and before you interrupt me again," Pidge huffed as she heard Hunk draw a breath. "Keith can guide me at the staircase just fine since he can see and talk."

Pidge grinned as she heard Hunk sigh, knowing that she had won.

"Now that that's settled." Shiro stated. "Let's get going."

Both his teammates nodded their agreement. He dragged himself over to Hunk, clamoring onto his broad back. Once his arms were securely wrapped around Hunk's shoulders, the yellow paladin leaned forward to balance the extra weight and struggled up onto his feet. Shiro helped by giving Hunk a push off the ground, using his prosthetic to carry the brunt of the weight, letting Hunk get to his feet.

The duo strode over to Pidge. Shiro used one hand to grab Pidge's hand, the other still wrapped around Hunk's shoulders, Hunk quietly describing the layout of the stone in front of them. They guided Pidge over to where Keith was still cradling a sleeping Lance to his chest. Lance laid curled in Keith's arms, his head nestled against Keith's armored chest, soft breathing filling the air. Shiro placed Pidge's hand on Keith's shoulder, then he pointed at Keith then jabbed a thumb at himself and Hunk as if to say follow me. Keith nodded, hoping he understood what Shiro gestured.

"Alright Hunk. Lead the way." Shiro directed, and off the duo went heading the way that Hunk had come from previously. Keith slowly made his way to his feet, being careful not to jostle Lance and wake him up. He felt Pidge's hand slid from his shoulder to his waist, fingers hooking around his belt.

He sighed in relief, now he didn't have to worry about her wandering off.

He quickly followed the hufflepuffen paladins, he internally snorted at his description which sound like a Lance thing to say. The team went at a steady pace for about an hour before the stone staircase creeped into view. Keith huffed, he could feel drops of sweat trickling down the side of his face and the crusted burgers crack as he sniffled, still clinging to the underside of his nose and upper lip. Unfortunately for the paladins another hour went by as they walked across the bronze and ocean blue striped canyon floor before they stood in front of the crude stone staircase.