A/N: I've wanted to do one of these stories for a while, and inspiration finally struck. There will be five chapters, each focusing on a different paladin. Updates will be sporadic. It takes place someplace in the middle of season one.

This chapter ended up more serious than I intended, and longer. The other chapters probably won' t be as long, but that's okay.

Lance had known Hunk long enough to realize when his friend wasn't feeling well. He was surprised when no one noticed when the yellow paladin only poked at his food goo at dinner.

When Hunk was first to leave the table, though, it was enough to raise eyebrows.

"Did I just see what I think I did?" Pidge asked when Hunk had left.

"He didn't even finish," Keith added, pointing to Hunk's half-full plate.

With a series of squeaks, Allura's pet mice scrambled to the top of the table and began munching on the green substance.

Coran huffed. "He just can't appreciate good food." With that, the orange-haired advisor scooped up a huge mouthful.

Lance pushed away from the table. "I'm going to go check on him."

"Want me to come along?" Shiro offered, half-standing.

Lance waved a hand. "Nah. He's probably just tired."

Lance's idea was met with nods and a few small glares in Allura's direction. She had been training them hard for the last few days, since their travels hadn't brought them across any Galra patrols.

Allura cleared her throat self-consciously. "Maybe we should take it easy tomorrow."

"Care to lengthen that offer?" Lance asked with a wide grin.

Allura returned the mischievous look. "Of course. I'm sure Coran could use your help around the Castle."

"Why, yes." Coran perked up. "There is a whole level of rooms that need to be cleaned and dusted."

Lance's face fell. "Well… never mind." He rushed off as the others laughed.

Lance tapped on Hunk's closed door. "Hunk? Buddy, are you alright in there?"

When he got no response, Lance slowly opened the door. It was possible Hunk really had just been tired, and had fallen asleep.

Hunk's room was a slightly messy jumble of blankets and random ingredients he had picked up on their travels. A couple of devices Hunk was tinkering with were laying on a dresser. His yellow paladin armor was in a neat pile at the foot of the bed.

But no Hunk.

Lance stepped back, frowning in thought. He was sure that if Hunk was tired or sick, he would go to his room. Where else-

Lance smacked his forehead. "Of course! Yellow!" He turned away and trotted in the direction of the hanger.

"Oka-ay, I thought he would be here," Lance mused to himself.

Yellow was sitting in her hanger, but the worktable Hunk could sometimes be found stationed at was empty.

Lance was about to leave when he heard a slight noise. He hesitated, eyes narrowing in thought.

"Hello?"

No response, and Lance started to become nervous. He could still distinctly remembered his experiences with the "haunted" Castle. Being trapping in a cryo-pod and almost sucked out into space had that effect.

The noise repeated, and Lance started to back away.

"Lance?"

Lance jumped at the sound of his name. Now the Castle was talking to him?! That was the last straw, and Lance spun around. He was about to take off, then the noise became recognizable.

It was moaning. And the voice, Lance realized, had been Hunk's. Low, and tired-sounding, but still Hunk's.

"Hunk? Was that you?" Lance asked, still wary.

"Over here." The statement was punctuated by a groan.

Lance finally figured out where the sounds were coming from: between Yellow's paws. He crept forward -grabbing a bowl from the worktable as a precaution- and peeked between the large yellow paws.

"Hunk!" Lance exclaimed.

Hunk was pale and sweaty, and slumped against Yellow's paw. He gave Lance a tiny smile, but the act seemed to tire him. Then a grimace crossed his face and he gave a low groan.

Lance shook off his shock and crouched at Hunk's side. "Hey, man. I haven't seen you like this since the simulator back at the Garrison."

"Ugh, I haven't felt… like this since… the Garrison," Hunk said, groaning every few words.

"What's wrong?"

Hunk grimaced, a hand coming up to press against his stomach. "Is it possible… to catch… a stomach bug… in space?"

"I'm not sure. I wonder what sort of net one would use," Lance joked.

Hunk groaned, startling Lance.

"How bad is it?" Lance asked.

"Very… bad," Hunk said slowly, making Lance bite his lip in worry. But then he added, "Bad… joke."

"Ah, everyone's a critic," Lance huffed, nudging Hunk's shoulder.

Hunk chuckled, but broke off with a loud groan. His eyes squeezed shut, and his breathing became labored.

"Hunk? Hunk, look at me," Lance said sternly. He put a hand on Hunk's forehead, quickly pulling it back. "Quiznak, you're hot. When did this start?"

Hunk slowly peeked open his eyes. "This morning?"

Lance huffed, remembering the intense training Allura had put them through that day. "You should have said something. Allura wouldn't have made you train if she knew you were sick."

Hunk gave a dry chuckle. "You sure?"

"Hm, if not, we could have taken Blue and Yellow into space until you felt better. None of the others would have forced you."

Hunk gave a small grin. He opened his mouth to respond, but froze as what little color remained in his face vanished.

Knowing what was about to come, Lance shoved the bowl into Hunk's hands. Hunk's body clenched, then he lost what food goo he had managed to eat at dinner.

Lance crouched silently at his friend's side, rubbing Hunk's back in an attempt at comfort.

When Hunk finally sat back, paler than ever and shaking, Lance gently took the bowl and set it aside.

"We need to get you to the med bay, right away," Lance said in worry.

Hunk groaned and started to lean sideways. Lance quickly inserted his body beside Hunk's, letting his friend lean on his shoulder. Hunk's eyes began to slide shut.

"Hunk? Hunk, don't close your eyes," Lance said, giving Hunk a quick shake. "We need to find out what you have, first." He sighed when Hunk managed to get his eyes open.

"So… tired."

"I know, I know," Lance said in a soothing tone. "It might just be a flu or something. Space flu. Tell you what, if it's something new, we can name it after you." Lance spread his hands out in front of him as if framing a sign. "'Hunk virus.' Sound good?"

Hunk mumbled, his head drooping against Lance's shoulder. He gave a heavy sigh, but Lance was proud to see him keeping his eyes open.

Lance chewed on his lip. It was still possible that Hunk only had a case of the flu, even if it was severe, but he couldn't ignore the fact that there could be illnesses out here that would spell disaster on the human body.

The problem was, there was no way Lance could support a sick Hunk all the way to the med bay and there weren't any intercoms near enough for Lance to use. And Lance wasn't about to leave Hunk alone, not for a second.

"Any chance you could stand?" Lance tried.

Hunk sighed, and Lance sagged in disappointment. Then, a moment later, Hunk pressed his hands against the floor and slowly leaned forward.

"That's it, you got it," Lance encouraged, scrambling to his feet to support Hunk.

It took several minutes, a good deal of groaning, and a lot of strength Lance didn't know he had, but Hunk was finally standing.

The pair stood unsteadily still for a moment, Hunk barely keeping himself upright even with Lance supporting most of his weight.

"This won't work," Lance thought in despair.

Then there was a rattling from behind. Lance turned his head to see Yellow place her head to the ground and open her mouth.

"Good idea! Hunk, do you think you can take ten steps, just ten, to get inside Yellow? She can take us to the others, and they can help you to med bay," Lance urged.

Hunk groaned, but turned and walked on shuffling feet toward Yellow's mouth.

"That's it! Just five more steps. Four more." Their feet touched ramp. "Look, we're inside, just a little farther."

Hunk managed three more steps, then his shaking legs gave out. Lance grunted and tried to ease the fall, but Hunk was still more jolted than Lance wanted. Lance winced sympathetically, and helped Hunk lean against the side of Yellow's jaw. As Yellow's mouth closed and Lance could feel her stand, he settled Hunk as well as he could and gently pulled out of Hunk's grasp.

Hunk groaned. His eyes, which had started to slide shut, jolted open. His expression was clouded and panicked as he reached out to grab Lance's arm.

"It's okay," Lance said in a soothing tone. "I just need to contact the others, and I'll be right back, okay? I promise."

Hunk sighed, face creasing, but he released his grip. Lance stood and sprinted to the cockpit. He pressed the intercom button and the Castle bridge showed up on the screen. Lance was relieved to see Coran, Allura, and Shiro in the bridge, though they were facing away from the screen.

"Guys, mayday, yellow alert!" Lance cried, making his teammates start in surprise and spin around.

"Lance, stop kidding around," Shiro admonished.

Lance shook his head and made himself calm down. "Something's wrong with Hunk."

The others immediately tensed.

"What's wrong?" Allura asked.

Lance glanced behind him when he heard Hunk weakly calling his name. "I'm not sure, but he's sick bad. Yellow's taking us out front, I think. Meet us there!" Without bothering to sign off, Lance rushed off to return to Hunk.

As Lance crouched at Hunk's side, he couldn't hold back a wince. Hunk was as pale as a sheet. His eyelids fluttered, and his breath came in wet-sounding pants. He had been sick again when Lance was gone.

"Hey, man, just hang in there for a few more minutes." Lance glanced up when he felt Yellow settle. "The others are coming now."

The ramp opened up, but Lance didn't turn from Hunk's strained face. He heard a gasp, then Pidge was at his side.

"Hunk, what happened?!" Pidge cried with an edge of panic she rarely let invade her voice.

"We need to get him to a pod," Shiro said from behind Lance.

The rest of the team surrounded Hunk, Coran with some sort of hovering stretcher. With everyone's help, Hunk was quickly moved onto the stretcher. Shiro and Coran shoved it off, with the others close behind.

Several hours later, Lance was huddled in front of the pod holding Hunk. Coran had assured the team that the sickness that had infected Hunk -while quite violent- would cause no permanent harm to the yellow paladin.

Still, he couldn't bring himself to leave the pod. Memories of Hunk's pasty skin and labored breathing haunted him.

Lance heard footsteps, then Shiro sat beside him. The pair sat in silence, watching Hunk's slow, steady breaths.

"Hunk is lucky to have you," Shiro finally said. "If it hadn't been for you, we might not have realized how bad Hunk was so quickly."

Lance shrugged. "We've known each other since we started at the Garrison four years ago. We were teamed up from the start. Crew have to really know each other." The last sentence held a hint of a challenge.

Shiro rubbed the back of his neck. "You're right. I should have noticed something was off."

Lance sighed. "I shouldn't have said that. You've only known him for, what, three weeks? Hunk doesn't like to show when he's feeling off, anyway. The other cadets used to tease him all the time, because he was always getting sick in the simulator."

"He's really improved since then," Shiro observed.

"Yeah. Who would have thought that getting teleported halfway across the galaxy could cure flight sickness," Lance said with a slight chuckle.

"You know… you're the reason Hunk is here," Shiro said.

Lance cocked his head. "How so?"

"Four years is a long time. If Hunk was as bad with flying as you say, why did he stay?"

Lance shrugged. "He always wanted to be a mechanic. The Garrison requires you to be able to ride in the ship before deciding you are qualified to fix it."

"I bet you could have advanced to fighter pilot a long time ago if you had had a different mechanic," Shiro said in an off-hand way.

Lance's eyes widened. "And leave Hunk? Never! If he was stuck with another cadet who could do nothing but be hurtful about his flight sickness, he would never get to be a ship mechanic! No one understands his love of mechanics!"

"Except for you," Shiro said quietly.

Lance opened his mouth, paused, then closed it again. "Yeah, I got it. I felt the same way about being a fighter pilot, but I never was… quite good enough. Hunk helped me, too, explaining things that the teachers never took the time to help me with. Gradually, I got better, then Keith got kicked out, Hunk and I were next in line." Lance looked at the floor. "I… never told Hunk this, but Commander Iverson suggested getting a new mechanic. Said I would have a better chance at rising through the ranks."

"And?"

"I didn't, obviously. Hunk and I had come so far together… that's what being crew members is all about, not the highest grades."

Shiro stood and laid a gentle hand on Lance's shoulder. He repeated softly, "Hunk's lucky to have you."

Shiro walked from the room, leaving Lance to watch over his best friend.

A/N: Next up: Pidge simply needs to sleep, but refuses to. Lance takes drastic measures.