Notes: Takes place during season two

Over the Edge

"Come on, Pidge! Hustle!" Lance swung impatiently from a low-hanging branch several yards ahead. "We're not going to make it!"

"You're the one who dragged me out here," retorted the girl, carefully stepping over a large tree root. "And Coran said we had five varga before dark. Relax."

"Your Lion is the Guardian Spirit of the Forest," Lance argued. "You should be embracing nature!"

"Her Paladin sure isn't," Pidge muttered. Still though, a smile tugged up her lips as she finally cleared the root system and joined Lance on more solid ground. She'd protest all she wanted, but she was having fun.

They had landed on this odd jungle-desert planet for a bit of rest and supplies restocking. Shiro had told them to "enjoy themselves" while they had the time before the final battle against Zarkon began. Of course, Shiro had not taken his own advice and was going over plans with Slav, Allura and Coran on the ship.

Hunk had wanted to go foraging and after Lance declined – he wanted to see the lake Coran had pointed out upon their landing – Keith had been roped in instead. He then pleaded with Pidge to leave her "geeky tech stuff" and "enjoy nature" with him and she'd relented after several minutes when he promised she could still bring her tablet.

Truthfully, she was touched. Even at the Garrison when she had done her best to shove everyone away, Lance had always included her and in those few moments that she'd let herself get tangled up in his games she hadn't felt the pang of loss that accompanied her daily. Besides, his enthusiasm was infectious.

Lance had kept up a steady stream of chatter for their varga-thus-far of hiking – sharing stories about his siblings, camping trips and rambling on about whatever came to mind – while Pidge quietly soaked it up, even laughing at times.

She was looking down at her tablet, trying to determine based on her mapping software how much further they actually had to travel to get to the lake, when a bright teal flower was shoved under her nose. Pidge looked up, tracing the flower back to a beaming Lance.

"For you," he said, with an over-exaggerated bow and a wink.

"Stop that," she scolded, feeling her cheeks flame.

"Aww, c'mon," he pouted, plucking another flower from a bush and wagging it at her. "Wear it like this," he explained, tucking a bloom behind his ear. "See? Isn't it pretty?"

"I don't do pretty," she said stubbornly. "You can be pretty enough for both of us."

Lance preened, but still held the flower out with an expectant look. She sighed and took the blossom, which was rather beautiful, and tucked it behind her own ear, "Happy?"

"My sisters always collect flowers on walks," Lance said, already walking – nearly skipping – ahead of her. "Hey! If we find enough we should bring a bouquet back for Allura!" His easy grin turned love-struck and Pidge rolled her eyes. Boys.

"I don't think we have much further," she said, catching up to his longer stride.

"Really?"

"Should be just past the treeline up ahead." And indeed the green-trunked trees were thinning a couple hundred yards away, whatever passed as sunlight on this planet filtering into the space.

"Then come on," Lance said, grabbing her wrist and tugging her along, somehow even more bounce in his step. "We haven't a moment to lose!"

Pidge allowed herself to be towed, excited despite her earlier reservations. Coran had warned he had no idea if the water was safe for humans, but she'd brought some test strips and was hoping at the least she and Lance could go wading if it proved harmless.

As they cleared the forest the lake loomed large… several hundred feet below them.

"Dude! Seriously?"

The water was a light turquoise and beckoned invitingly, light playing across its smooth surface and surrounded by all manner of rocks and pebbles in the same hues. Unfortunately, the two Paladins found themselves atop a cliff-face with a steep drop-off that extended for what looked like a couple miles in either direction.

Lance sat down dejectedly, puffs of dust floating up from the impact. "Well, this sucks."

"Maybe we can scale down?" Pidge suggested. She was a pretty good climber and Lance wasn't half-way bad. And he looked so dejected, dark eyes focused on the lake that was so close and still so far, that against her better judgment she was willing to consider such a plan.

She moved closer to the edge, peering down, a few loose chunks or rock crumbling underfoot.

"Careful," Lance cautioned, straightening up from his slump.

"I'm fine," she said, frowning as despite being a rough surface on the underside she wasn't spotting any good crevices for climbing. Darn it. She sat back on her haunches, shooting Lance a look over her shoulder. "Sorry, Lance. It doesn't look—"

Her words were swallowed by a sudden rumble. Brown eyes widened in alarm as the ground beneath her groaned and shook. There was no time to say anything. To even scream. She somehow managed to lock eyes with Lance, his own blue reflecting the same fear.

And then she fell, the cliff tumbling down around her.

"Pidge!" came a scream. And before she could even process that she was falling, that she was going to die, a dark hand shot over the edge and wrapped bruisingly about her wrist, but she had never been so grateful to be in pain.

Lance's panicked face met hers, although there was a steely glint of determination that so, so many overlooked. "I've got you," he panted, throwing his other arm forward and grabbing even more of her arm. "It's okay."

"L-Lance," she whimpered, bits of rock pelting her face, dropping a few inches as Lance was dragged forward. She could see from the underside the fracture racing up the cliff. He was going to fall too. He was going to die. Because of her. "You have to—"

"I'm not letting go," he snapped. More rock crumbled away. "Just hang on. I—"

A final sharp crack split the air. Pidge watched in horror as Lance came careening over the side, hunks of rock falling with him. He was shouting something but she could not hear over the rush of wind and the roar of collapse. And then something sharp and hard collided with the back of her head and she knew no more.

xxx

With a heaving gasp, Lance broke the surface of the lake. Every part of him ached and he could feel the sting of blood trickling down his arm, but none of that mattered. What mattered was his hands were empty and Pidge was nowhere in sight. He'd watched, unable to do anything, as Pidge's head collided with the cliff-side and she'd gone limp in his grasp.

Miraculously they somehow crashed into the lake instead of the unforgiving ground, but between hitting the water and falling, Lance had lost his grip on Pidge's hand. And now she was missing.

"Pidge!" he yelled, making a full turn in the water. "Pidge!"

Dive, you idiot, he scolded himself. She'd obviously gone underwater unconscious. Go!

Taking a deep inhalation he drove back into the opaque water, hands blindly searching for any trace of Pidge as his eyes strained to penetrate the thick gloom. Where was she? Come on, come on! His lungs were burning, but he refused to surface. Not until he found her. She couldn't be… she just couldn't…

There! He felt what could only be Pidge's hair brush his fingertips and mentally apologizing he grabbed and pulled. She crashed into him and wasting no more time he swung one of her arms about his neck and sped towards the surface with all that he had left.

They breached it again, but unlike his harsh inhalation, Pidge remained lifeless, her head lolling. "Oh no, oh no no no," he breathed. "Dios Mío, no. Pidge, don't do this to me."

No response.

Cursing under his breath, Lance struck for the shore, every tick feeling like one too many. Scrambling up the rocky beach he dragged Pidge free of the water, a dark trail of blood following them. He laid her out, stomach clenching as her chest did not rise.

"Okay, okay, I've got this. You're going to be okay Pidge, I promise. Okay?" He leaned over Pidge, who somehow seemed smaller than ever before, and placed the heel of his hand on the center of her chest and placed his other hand over it, mentally going over the steps that had been drilled into him since he was a child.

He pressed down with all his weight, biting back a hiss as whatever injury he'd gained in the fall rebelled at the movement. He told it to shut up and let him concentrate. Thirty compressions. Go. One. Two. Three…

He followed immediately by gently tilting Pidge's head back, guiding her chin with his other hand to open her airway. Still no breath passed between her lips and he cursed again.

Pinching her nose shut he leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers and breathing into her. Her chest didn't rise. He repeated the process, despair growing as there was still no response.

Chest compressions again. Dios mío, he prayed, hands pressing down. Por favor. Please. Please. Please.

Repeat. Breathe. Nothing.

"Pidge, please," he begged. "You can't…"

He tilted her head back again, breathing desperately for the both of them. Come on!

And then her breath hitched and he quickly turned her head to the side as she came to, coughing and expelling the thick water. He hovered at her side, rubbing circles on her back as she quieted, trembling on the rocky ground.

"Pidge?" he whispered, his heart still thumping with a mixture of adrenaline and fear.

"P-present," she moaned. She bolted up right a moment later as recollection came back. "Lance! W-what happ –?"

He cut her off with a fierce hug and she returned it with equal force, tremors rocking the both of them.

"You saved me," she murmured, words muffled into his shoulder.

"I thought I lost you," he returned, bringing a hand up to run through her hair. "I…" A hot, wet substance clung to his palm and he pulled it back, looking over Pidge's head at it. "You're hurt!" he cried, remembering now that she'd hit her head.

"I'm alive," she corrected, not relinquishing her hold on him quite yet. "Lance… if you hadn't… I… Thank you. Thank you."

He didn't use words, just gave her another tight squeeze. But then, "Now let me see your head."

She reluctantly pulled back, but then her eyes widened. "You're hurt too! Lance, you're bleeding!"

At the reminder his arm gave a throb and he glanced at it. Blood had already stained his entire right shirt sleeve, beginning from a point just below his shoulder. "Yup, that's blood all right," he said, keeping his voice cheerful even as it gave another pulse. "Can't be too bad though, yeah?"

"Take off your shirt."

He raised an eyebrow and smirked despite the situation. "Are you always so forward?"

And it spoke to her concern that Pidge didn't even blush like she normally did when he playfully flirted with her. She only looked worried and Lance's smirk moved to a comforting smile. "It's okay, Pidge. Really."

"I'll be the judge."

"You probably have a concussion. You wouldn't be a very good judge."

Pidge's glare narrowed.

Lance managed to painfully shrug out of his shirt. A rock looked to have gouged his arm although Lance honestly couldn't recall when it had happened. It was bleeding sluggishly, but not too bad. Not what it could have been.

"It doesn't look like any debris is still there," Pidge observed, deft fingers prodding gently. "But you really ought to bandage it." She glanced around, as if expecting a roll of gauze to appear. But just rocks, rocks and more rocks were down here with them, the leaves of the jungle environment at the top of the cliff.

With a heavy sigh, Lance grabbed the seam of his shirt and pulled, splitting seams and creating a section of cloth that with the aid of one of the many sharp rocks he set to cutting up.

"Your shirt," Pidge whispered. They all had only their single change of Earth clothes to really remind them of home. And Lance had just destroyed his.

"Ruined anyway," Lance shrugged, regretting the action immediately as his arm throbbed. "'Sides, I've got my jacket back at the castle. Can't believe your glasses didn't fall off though. Lucky."

Pidge gingerly touched the metal rims, beyond grateful they'd stayed intact. She didn't know what she'd do if she lost the link to her brother.

"Wrap this for me?" Lance asked, nodding at his wound. "And then I'm looking at your head."

She knotted a few strips together and bound the injury and Lance returned the favor, a small frown on his features the whole time.

"What is it?" she finally asked, wincing as he tightened the bandage almost uncomfortably about her head. It only exacerbated her new headache, but even she could feel the blood trickling down her neck now and she'd rather it be secure than loose.

"How do we get back up?"

Pidge followed his gaze up the cliff, towering several hundred feet above them. As to her earlier assessment, there didn't appear to be much in the way for handholds and she was even more loathe to try given how unstable it had proven to be.

"Maybe… we can find something to use for rope?"

"How's your rock braiding?" Lance joked. "Seriously though, other than the lake that's all I see down here."

Pidge made to stand to look for herself, but a sharp stab of pain lanced up her leg and she tumbled back to the ground with an oof. Lance was at her side in a flash.

"I think I might have sprained my ankle," she managed between clenched teeth. "Can you…?"

Lance carefully unlaced her boot and tugged it off, joining her wince at the obviously swollen appendage. "Your foot's as big as Hunk's now."

"Gee, thanks." She tried flexing her foot, but stopped immediately. "It's not broken," she concluded. "But I don't think I'm walking anywhere for a while."

"We'll just wait here then," Lance said, standing up and dusting off his pants. "They'll come out to the lake when we don't show up."

Pidge nodded. A very sensible plan. And her head hurt too much to think of anything else.

"In the meantime," Lance continued, "let's get you something for that swelling."

Her brow furrowed. "Where?"

Lance helped her to her feet, bending low for Pidge's height, and looped her arm about his shoulders. "We've got a lake right here," he said. "And we came all this way to see it. Might as well get our feet wet."

"We're already completely wet," she pointed out, her clothing starting to prickle uncomfortably against her as it dried, but she eagerly made her way toward the rocky shore with Lance's help. He lowered her down right on the edge and she stretched her foot out, the water not quite cold but definitely cooler than the surrounding air.

Lance kicked off his own shoes and joined her, somehow managing to look completely relaxed even with a blood-stained shirt wrapped about his arm and a peppering of bruises already forming on his torso.

"It's a weird texture, isn't it?" Lance noted, wriggling his toes. "Sort of feels like orange juice. You think it's safe to drink?"

"Considering we've both already been doused in it I don't think drinking it can be much worse," Pidge said. "Can't say for sure though without my test strips. Which should be… well, wherever we landed, I guess."

"Then I don't think we're finding them," Lance said, shooting a look at where they'd come down. The drop off and the supplies had no doubt met a watery end. His stomach grumbled sadly. He'd packed some of Hunk's weird but delicious sandwiches in there too.

Pidge hummed a response and hunched forward, closing her eyes. The sun felt nice on her back and the water pleasant on her feet. She could fall asleep right here. She just might. She was suddenly just so tired.

She felt a shadow fall over her and she squinted up, Lance's face nearly next to hers, looking more than a little worried. "You don't look so good."

"Headache," she managed, eyes already slipping closed again.

"Stay awake," Lance ordered, giving her a shake. She growled at him as she did when he disturbed her during a project, but unlike then he didn't retreat. "You have a head injury, Pidge. They say you shouldn't sleep."

"Who're 'they' anyway?" she muttered.

"Pidge, come on." And he sounded anxious now so she forced her eyes open. "There you go." He shot her a smile. "See, that wasn't so hard. You've just gotta make it a couple more varga. Okay?"

"All right," she agreed, fighting back the yawn. "Keep me entertained then. Tell me a story."

"Well aren't you demanding." But Lance was smiling again and that fact alone was enough to make her feel better. And without anymore prompting, he launched into another story about his siblings – this one involving their failed attempt to surf with skateboards.

He was just beginning another tale when a loud sounding grunt interrupted him.

"Uh, was that your stomach?" Lance asked.

She shook her head. "Not me."

Lance gulped. "Lake monster?"

As one they turned to the watery expanse, but not a ripple disturbed it. However, a couple hundred yards away there was something approaching from around the curve.

"Is that a warthog?" Lance shielded his eyes against the glare. It certainly looked like one, if warthogs came in near pitch-black, yellow eyes and tusks lined with sharp barbs.

"It does not look friendly," Pidge said. The warthog turned to face them and its mouth opened, revealing a row of glinting teeth. "Definitely not friendly."

"Think it'll ignore us?" Lance pitched his voice low. They were defenseless here. No weapons, no shield and no good escape path. And Pidge definitely wasn't up for running.

The warthog grunted again then charged, head lowered and tusks extended.

"Quiznak!" Lance yelled, leaping to his feet. They still had distance between them, but the creature was closing it fast and they had nowhere to go. He cast his eyes about for something, anything, to defend with. They lighted on the rocks littering the ground.

"Pidge, get back," he ordered as she painfully scrambled to standing. He flashed her a cocky grin that couldn't quite cover the fear in his eyes. "I've got this."

Pidge cursed under her breath. She hated this. She wasn't some damsel in distress, damnit. But in this situation she may as well be thanks to her ankle. Quiznak.

Lance hefted a rock chunk in his hand. "All right you cerdo, come and get it," he hollered as the warthog closed in. He launched the rock with all the precision of his sharpshooting and it smashed into the creature's face. Lance bit back the cry as his injury flared at the action, but grinned. Direct hit!

The warthog let out a bellow of pain and came to a halt. But when it looked back at them Lance swore there was murder in its eyes. It pawed the ground and hurtled towards them, no worse for the wear.

"Water! Get in the water!" Lance shouted, already sloshing into it as he scooped up another rock and fired it with the same accuracy, although another than a momentary pause it didn't seem to have any effect.

"Already ahead of you," Pidge called, having waded in as soon as Lance had said to get back. The creature didn't appear to have webbing and she would bet it was a land animal primarily. It shouldn't follow.

But follow it did, the shallows not slowing it in the slightest. It would be on them in seconds.

Lance sucked in a breath and turned to face the rampaging animal, squaring his shoulders. It wasn't that big, he told himself. Like, big dog-sized. Really, really big dog-sized. And all he had to do was immobilize it, force its head underwater and keep it there till it stopped moving. Piece of cake.

He'd do it though. Somehow. It would tear Pidge to shreds in seconds if he didn't stop it and he could not let that happen. He'd never forgive himself if anything else happened to her.

"Lance!" screamed Pidge, heart seizing as she realized what he meant to do. "Stop!"

Her words were lost to the creature's roar and Lance's battle cry as the two crashed together.

Lance's quick reflexes kept him from being skewered by the tusks, but it wasn't so easy to just sidestep since that would put Pidge in harm's way. So before he could think too much about the consequences, he wrapped both hands tight about one of the barbed tusks and yanked, swinging the warthog's head around to him.

He cried out as the spikes bit into his skin, but gamely hung on, trying to use his height to force the creature down.

The warthog was having none of it. With a powerful shake of its head it uprooted Lance from the ground and swung him in front of the creature instead where a second tusk was angling towards the boy without mercy.

Lance wasn't sure how he moved in time. But he freed up his left hand and managed to intercept the second tusk, now clutching both as the warthog used its sheer bulk to push him back. His feet slipped on the loose rock and he went down with a splash.

He was flat on his back now, the warthog's rancid breath heating his face as it snapped its jaws just inches from his face while he struggled to keep it at bay. Already though his arms were trembling and hot blood was weeping from his hands, which only seemed to excite the beast more.

Pidge was yelling something in the background, but Lance couldn't hear her over the pounding of his own heart and the warthog's enraged snarls. He tried kicking at it from its underside, but that only made it madder. What did he do? What did he do?

The warthog tossed its head again and this time Lance wasn't able to hang on. He yelped as he was tossed a few feet away, back towards shore, and the warthog charged its prey once more.

And this time he wasn't fast enough.

Time seemed to freeze in that moment. Lance, half-risen on his knees and mouth open in a silent scream. The warthog, left tusk impaled through Lance's stomach. And Pidge, mere feet away holding one of her boots.

"LANCE!" shrieked Pidge, as time terrifyingly started again.

Lance made a terrible choking noise as the warthog pressed its advantage, tusk exiting out his back now, while blood-slicked hands desperately, weakly, tried to push back.

And then Pidge was there, boot raised high. Screaming out her rage and terror, Pidge slammed it with all her might on the warthog's head, who was being kept immobilized by the human skewered on its tusk and unable to face the newest threat.

It crashed into the water with a squeal and Pidge bludgeoned it again and again, the heel splattering red, until the creature stopped making any noise.

"P-Pidge," Lance gasped, voice loud in the sudden quiet.

"Hang on, hang on," she cried, dropping her boot and hobbling to him, ankle screaming at the abuse. "How do I…? What do I…"

"'s okay," Lance whispered, eyes closed. "'s fine."

"It is not!"

And she was proven more than right as the all-too-familiar sounding grunt echoed from further down the lake. She looked up, stomach dropping in horror. Five more warthogs. They were still aways out, but it wouldn't be long once they picked up the blood scent.

They couldn't fight them all.

"We have to go, we have to go now," she babbled. "There's more, Lance. We have to go!"

Lance blinked exhausted eyes at her. "How?"

He was impaled. She had a twisted ankle. They weren't going to be moving fast. How were they supposed to outrun a bloodthirsty herd?

Pidge answered by pulling her shirt over her head.

"What the hell?" Lance exclaimed, averting his eyes and the pain and fatigue replaced for the moment by shock.

"I've got a cami on, moron," came the response over the sound of ripping fabric. "And you need bandages. A lot of them."

He risked a glance. Pidge spoke the truth; an athletic black bra covering her chest.

"We need to… to get you off the tusk," Pidge said, voice shaking at the task in front of them. She'd never been squeamish, but…

"Oh goodie, I love pain." Lance tried to smile, but it came out a grimace She appreciated it though. "On three? You pull, I push?"

She nodded, eyes narrowed in determination as she looped her arms underneath Lance's armpits and he braced them on the tusk. "One… two… and three!"

Lance crashed into her and they both went down in the shallows, Lance moaning softly. Pidge wasted not a second, pressing a wad of her shirt to his front and wrapping the strips around his torso. "Hands," she said tersely as Lance just sat there. He raised them to her, lips a thin line. Once those were done she retrieved his shoes and forced them onto his feet. Her own boots were long gone.

"T-this isn't good," Lance said faintly. The bandages on his stomach were already turning red and he was looking somewhat pale underneath his dark complexion.

"Come on," she said instead, carefully rising to her feet and trying to bear her weight on her injured foot. "Come on," she repeated, sharper, as Lance continued to sit. "Lance! I… I can't do this without you. Please."

That got him moving. He struggled to standing, listing sideways and would have fallen if Pidge hadn't steadied him. He frowned as he looked down, noting her bare toes and the very rocky, sharp ground that surrounded the lake.

"Get on," he said after a tick, dropping unceremoniously down to one knee.

Her eyes widened. "Lance—"

"You can't walk," he pointed out. She wanted to say that he looked one second from falling over himself, but knew he was more than aware. "And we have to hurry. Get on."

"Okay," she agreed quietly. She clambered on, wrapping her feet tight about his middle and trying as best she could to put pressure on his wound. Already she could feel dampness on her leg.

And they were off.

Lance went the opposite direction along the cliff from the warthogs, keeping a relatively quick clip all things considered. They had by her estimates about two miles down here before they could reach an embankment to get back to the jungle and then about three back to the ship.

She alternated between resting her aching head on Lance's shoulder and glancing behind to check on the warthogs. They were still following, but weren't charging. She'd take it.

By the time they reached the slope the sun was near gone and Lance's breath was coming in harsh gasps. He collapsed as he cleared the top, Pidge sliding off immediately and kneeling next to him.

"I c-can't," he panted, and Pidge was alarmed to see blood flecking his teeth.

"We're almost there. You can do it."

He gave her a tired smile. "Three miles in the jungle, Pidge. That's not close."

"You aren't giving up!" Tears gathered in her eyes. "You're the most determined person I know, Lance. So please… please don't give up…"

"Okay," he murmured. "I'll try."

She wasn't sure how it happened. They stumbled and tripped and crashed through the underbrush. She fell and he fell but they forced each other to keep moving. He found the strength to carry her again when she couldn't make another step and she kept her head to guide them through the terrain back to safety.

But the trees eventually thinned to reveal a fully lit castle-ship. Lance stumbled forward, his legs giving out and sending both crashing to the ground with groans.

"We did it," he whispered, barely audible over the sound of footsteps and the panicked voice of Coran as they were spotted.

She smiled back, eyes already closed. "We did."

xxx

When Lance emerged from the cryo-pod, Pidge was waiting, clothed in her own cryo-suit

"Bout time, sleeping beauty," she grinned, "I've been out for three varga already."

"You try getting impaled by a warthog monster," Lance fired back good-naturedly before his face sobered. And before Pidge realized what was happening, he was pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm glad you're okay," he whispered.

"You too," she murmured, wrapping her own arms about him.

"Some nature trip, huh?" he asked after a few moments. "I can see why you don't like them."

She snorted. "Never again. Nature can bite me."

Lance deflated in front of her.

"But…" She met his eyes. "I really did have fun. Minus all the fighting-for-our-life parts."

He immediately brightened. "Really?"

"Really."

"Then—"

"No."

"You have to give it a second chance!"

"Nope."

"Pidge!"

She smirked then. "Fine. On one condition."

"Name it."

"I want another flower. I lost mine in the lake."

Lance's smile could have rivaled the sun. And in that instant Pidge knew she would join Lance in whatever adventures he planned, nature-based or not.

Because she had had fun. And in a universe as dark as theirs could be, that was something she would never take for granted.

Author's Notes:

Hey y'all! This is my yearly one-shot for the Geek Kon fanfiction contest. I normally take this opportunity to explore a new fandom, but I am so nuts for Voltron I couldn't resist. Lance and Pidge are my favorite characters and it was fun getting a chance to let them have an adventure of their own. And despite the drama and near-death, it was nice to write something a little more light-hearted after As Color Fades Away. If you love Langst and whump do take a look at that one #selfpromotionforthewin

I hope you enjoyed it! I'd love to hear your comments if you have a tick to spare. Thanks for reading!