Thanks Partner

No matter how hard Pidge tried to calm herself down, her heart couldn't stop racing in her chest. They just had the worst firefight yet and now one of their own was injured. Hunk had taken a shot to the leg and was currently being treated by Coran and Allura while Keith went off to vent his anger and frustration.

"Breathe Pidge...breathe..." The young Paladin whispered to herself as she tried to stop shaking. "You're alright...you survived the fight! But Hunk..."

Lance walked into the room with a sullen face. His hands were covered in blood from holding Hunk's leg down as Coran had to make a few stitches before putting him in the infirmary pod. Pidge could tell he didn't feel good and didn't blame him, considering Hunk was his best friend.

"How is he?" Pidge finally asked after a long moment of silence between them, she walked up to her teammate and gently placed her hand on his shoulder.

Lance didn't even try to give a reassuring smile, "It was bad...I don't know how much he'll heal in that pod. Maybe he'll make a full recovery and the stitches will go away after he comes out. But I don't know if he'll be able to walk the same way again."

"He's tough. I'm sure he'll make it out of this with a full recovery." Pidge stated with a soft voice, "He's the strongest one of our team, if anyone can make it through this he can."

Shiro walked into the room and the two Paladins turned their heads to see their leader with a face full of guilt and anger. He didn't need to say anything for them to guess that he probably blamed himself for Hunk's injury. But seeing the pain in Shiro's face made Pidge's heart ache, she didn't like seeing someone she cared about look so sad.

"How're you holding up?" Lance asked his leader, walking up to him with Pidge at his side. "Did you check in with Keith?"

The Black Paladin gave a deep sigh, "Keith will be alright. He just needs to blow off some steam, because right now if he gets into his lion he'll be out for blood."

"And I don't blame him! THEY HURT HUNK!" Lance couldn't help but yell in frustration, "MY BEST FRIEND COULD BE CRIPPLED FOR LIFE FOR ALL WE KNOW."

Pidge wrapped herself around Lance's arm and held him back from walking out the door, "You need to calm down!"

"Pidge's right, you need to reel in your emotions and think clearly. If you charge into battle with a bloodlust, you're gonna get yourself killed. You wanna go home right?" Shiro said as he walked up to Lance and placed his robotic arm on his shoulder. Looking him straight in the eye like a father talking to his young son.

Lance breathed heavily and Pidge could feel him beginning to shake. But he refused to show his sadness in front of them, "So what do we do now?"

"The lions need to recharge and be upgraded before we fly into another firefight. Hunk is out of commission until further notice and that means we'll have to be on our guard here while he recovers. Until Coran and the Princess say he can fly again, we'll stay here and recover from our fight." Shiro stated as he lifted his hand off Lance's shoulder.

Pidge released herself from Lance's arm and proceeded to hug Shiro, while their leader was focused on THEIR feelings, he didn't realize that he needed to be comforted as well.

"It's not your fault Shiro. Hunk wouldn't want you to be beating yourself up like this. It was the Galra who shot him, not you." Pidge whispered softly so only he could hear her, Lance was feeling guilty for not hugging him too but he still needed to wash himself off.

Shiro returned her hug with a tender squeeze, "Thanks Pidge."

After their tender moment, everyone went their separate ways for a little while. Lance went to the washroom to get himself cleaned from the blood, Shiro went to make adjustments to his Black Lion, Keith was still out venting and Pidge was making her own modifications to the Green Lion while also thinking about Hunk being treated by Allura and Coran.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Asked a soft voice from behind, making Pidge squeak from surprise as she turned around to see Lance looking at her with concern.

Putting down her tools, Pidge looked at him with a confused stare. "What do you mean?"

"You look worse than I do and that's saying something." Lance stated honestly, "If you're worried about Hunk , I totally get it. But if you're also worried because of other reasons then by all means talk my ear off."

Pidge was surprised to hear Lance offering himself to her like this, while she knew he was a flirt and a self proclaimed gentleman, she never really considered him to be telling the truth. But now looking into his eyes, she saw how honest they were and hearing how sympathetic his voice was helped convinced her that he wasn't joking.

"I'm worried about Hunk, that's the first and biggest concern on my mind right now. But I'm also worried about US." Pidge admitted as she spun herself around in her chair to look at the Blue Paladin.

Lance didn't miss a beat, "You're talking about Keith aren't you."

"Yes and I'm worried about you and Shiro and everyone in our group. That battle was one of the worst experiences of my life and we barely escaped unscathed. Hunk is lucky to be ALIVE right now and I'm afraid that we'll start falling apart..." The Green Paladin admitted as she couldn't bear to finish her sentence.

But she didn't need to. Lance gently grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him, bringing her in for a warm hug that caught her completely off guard. She could smell the natural scent of the ocean on him and how warm his skin was as her face was buried in his neck. She didn't realize it up to this point, but he had very firm arms.

"I know how you're feeling Pidge. Believe me, I think we're all in the same boat emotionally. We just show it in different ways." Lance whispered as he held her, "Keith likes to blow off steam and Shiro is putting everything on him when it's not his fault. And I'm...I'm blaming myself for not reacting sooner. If I had just got there earlier, I would've been able to stop that Galra from attacking Hunk. But I wasn't and now look at him: stuck in a pod to heal for who knows how long."

Pidge snuggled herself deeper into Lance's neck, causing him to smile gently but remained still so she wouldn't punch him. "You should stop beating yourself up too Lance."

"I know, but I can't help it. I should've been there for him and that's something I'm gonna have to live with for a while."

Pidge looked up at him and gently gave a playful headbutt to the chin.

"You know, you remind me of my older brother." Pidge admitted as she parted herself away from Lance's embrace. "I mean of course there're a lot of differences but you remind me of him personality wise."

Lance perked up like a puppy, "Really? That's cool. I'm sure if I met him right now we would become best friends."

"Don't even scare me Lance." Pidge chuckled, giving him a playful punch to the shoulder.

It was nice to be able to laugh and joke around like this, they really needed a moment to lighten the mood and to just act like normal teenagers again instead of heroes of the galaxy. Pidge couldn't help but wonder what their life would've been like if Shiro hadn't landed on Earth and if they stayed at the Garrison together as a team. Would they have figured out that she was a girl then? Or would Lance still be the last to figure it out. The thought of him flipping out after finding out she was the girl was still fresh in her memory and she couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing you need to know."

Shiro walked into Pidge's workshop with a soft smile on his face, "Good news. Hunk will make a full recovery. Coran says that he'll have a few nasty scars on his leg where the stitches were but they should fade away with time."

Lance was so happy to hear that that he jumped up and kissed Pidge on the cheek. Causing the Green Paladin to blush heavily and look away. But she couldn't help but jump up too and hug Shiro out of relief.

"So, is Princess Allura taking care of him right now?" Pidge asked with her arms wrapped around Shiro's waist.

Shiro nodded his head. "Yup. She wants to keep an eye on him while he recovers in case something goes screwy."

"This is the best news I've heard all day, I'm so happy that I could even hug Keith right now. Speaking of which, where is he? Does he know about Hunk yet?" Lance asked as he grabbed Pidge's hand and started dancing with her around in circles.

Shiro smiled, "I'll fill him in when he gets back from his anger management walk."

"You know Lance: thank you." Pidge said giggling, "I feel a hundred times better than I did before talking to you."

Lance blushed slightly, "Any time partner. Any time at all."

Shiro wrapped his arms around both Lance and Pidge as he lead them out of the workshop. "Why don't we go visit Hunk, even though he can't hear us or see us, I'm sure he'd appreciate the company."

"I'm down."

"Me too."

So the three Paladins walked down the hall to the infirmary where their wounded soldier was.