((Hi everyone! This will be a collection of short stories/ one-shots about our favourite Paladins being injured/ill. Why? Because I enjoy writing pain, probably haha! Anyway, enjoy!))
Chapter One: Slippery Situation
Katie - or 'Pidge' as she preferred to be known - stepped into the shower room wrapped in her pale green towel. Since 'coming out' to the rest of the team (well, just Lance really, everyone else had already guessed she was a girl) the other paladins had scheduled their bathing times so that they didn't clash with her own. Nothing had been said aloud, of course, the boys had just been considerate enough to let her have even just this small portion of the day to herself. And she wasn't complaining; the shower area consisted of a long, narrow space with circular spouts on the walls, ceiling and floor that soaked the user thoroughly enough to clean even the smallest crevice. What the room lacked, however, was any form of privacy. There were no separate compartments or curtains to draw, which wasn't a problem for the four male paladins but became somewhat of an issue when all five needed to clean up. Hence the schedule change.
Dropping her towel in the doorway, Pidge took off her glasses and folded them neatly next to it where they wouldn't get wet and stepped into the centre of the room. Warm, steaming water automatically sprayed out of the spouts and sprinklers, immediately soothing her aching joints and muscles. Piloting a giant metal cat wasn't exactly the most comfortable job in the world and it didn't help that her short limbs had to stretch to their capacity when performing certain manoeuvres. She sighed contently and closed her eyes, letting the warmth and steam surround and calm her. A panel opened up to her left and she took the bar of blue soap it provided, thankful that it didn't smell like some of the other Altaen toiletries. Why anyone would want to have the distinct aroma of a beetle was beyond her.
Almost ten minutes had passed when Pidge's shower was interrupted by a pulsing blue light and screeching alarm. The sudden onslaught of sound startled her and she dropped the soap bar clumsily, watching as it slid out of sight into the steam. Before she could retrieve it, however, a holographic screen shimmered into view in front of her and she gasped aloud, automatically covering her chest with her thin arms. On the screen was Shiro, well Shiro's back. He knew his female team-mate was currently in the shower and didn't want to accidentally see everything she had, even if it was only through a screen.
"Um, Pidge?" the black paladin cleared his throat awkwardly and Pidge watched as his shoulders twitched, "You there? I can't tell..."
"I'm here," she dropped her arms so that they were folded at her hips, "What's up?"
"We're about to do some battle simulations in the training room, thought you'd like to join." Shiro scratched the back of his head with his Galra arm, obviously uncomfortable talking to Pidge knowing she was naked.
"Be right there!"
With a swipe of her hand, the hologram dissipated and Pidge blindly made her way back to where her towel and glasses were. Unfortunately, the green paladin had forgotten all about the soap, only recalling it when her foot connected with it and she skidded like a drunken ice skater across the room. She impacted fast and hard and felt the breath whoosh out of her chest as her right side made contact with the wall, her wrist taking the brunt of the collision. Sensation shot through her hand and up her arm to her elbow like a lightning bolt of pain and she cursed loudly, annoyed at herself for forgetting about the damn soap. Always one to look on the bright side of things, Pidge sighed and whispered to herself,
"At least no one was around to see me fall on my butt."
It took a little longer than usual for Pidge to pull on her armour, her wrist had turned a lovely shade of purple and seemed to be swelling a little, she could feel the pressure of it against the underside of her gauntlet, causing her stomach to roll slightly. Hoping stupidly that ignoring the problem would make it go away, she jogged to the training room, hair still damp, and joined her team-mates and friends in the middle of the huge space.
"Okay," Shiro started, "Now that we're all here, let's begin. We're going to practice our one-on-one combat skills, no weapons allowed."
"Oh, come on!" Lance moaned, "When are we ever gonna fight without our bayards?!"
"You never know what the battle will bring. We have to be ready for every eventuality." Shiro was in full leader-mode and continued in his gentle yet authoritative tone, "What if you get captured by Galra and have to fight your way out without a weapon? What if someone stole your bayard or – more likely than not Lance – you lost it?"
"Ugh, fine!" Lance couldn't argue with the logic.
"And what about you?" Keith was pointing at Shiro's Galra arm, "Don't you have an advantage?"
"I won't be using it, don't worry."
"Hey," Lance was bouncing up and down on the spot, a wide grin on his face, "Maybe we should disarm him! Get it? Get it?!"
A unanimous groan from the other paladins was his answer, along with a couple of eye-rolls for good measure. Pidge would have usually retorted with something witty or clever but her busy mind was too preoccupied with the throbbing ache in her arm. She'd thought that perhaps she'd just strained her wrist but the pain wasn't ebbing and it hurt to even make a fist. Broken. One of the things she hated most about telling the others her true gender was the fact that she was scared they would see her as weaker, less likely to fight or be a valued member of the team. Of course, she knew these thoughts were just paranoid ideas and that the boys would never be so sexist (well, maybe Lance now and then) but she couldn't quite shake them at times like this. She needed to be stronger, faster and smarter than her opponents and something so insignificant as what was between her legs wasn't going to stop her.
"Alright, Lance and Hunk, you two are up first."
Pidge turned her attention back to the room and watched as the two best friends squared up to one another. Hunk had a few inches on Lance's lanky frame but Lance was fast and sneaky, like a really talkative weasel. Shiro placed a small red beanbag in the middle of them and proceeded to explain that the first one to hand it back to him was the winner.
"Easy," Lance smirked, one eyebrow cocked, "Ready, big guy?"
Hunk nodded and cracked his knuckles, "Bring it on!"
"Okay," Shiro inhaled slowly, "Go!"
Lance was first to get his sticky mitts on the beanbag; he skidded across the floor and grabbed it with one hand before scrambling on all fours towards Shiro. Unfortunately, Hunk was faster than he appeared and dive-bombed the blue paladin, squashing him to the ground. Muffled complaints issued from Lance's squished face but he was managing to keep hold of the beanbag, despite his obvious distress and possible internal bleeding.
Hunk pressed harder, pinning Lance even flatter to the floor, yet somehow the smaller boy managed to slither out from beneath him and get to his feet. Confidently, Lance strode towards Shiro, who was only a few feet away now, and held out the beanbag, ready to hand it over triumphantly. That was when Hunk tackled him at the knees, knocking them both back to the ground. More scuffling ensued and finally Hunk got his paws on the beanbag. Without hesitating, he tossed it over to Shiro, who caught it nimbly.
"Hey!" Lance huffed, "That's cheating! You can't throw it, right?!"
Shiro shrugged, "I just said whoever got it back to me was the winner, I didn't say how it had to get back to me. Hunk wins."
After Hunk's victory dance, it was Hunk vs. Keith. That match only lasted a minute or so as Keith flipped Hunk over his shoulder after being almost crushed in a massive bear hug by the yellow paladin. The beanbag was handed from Keith to Shiro swiftly and then it was Shiro's turn to face the hothead.
Pidge had lost interest after the first round, too occupied with the now almost unbearable pain in her wrist. Her armour felt like it was crushing the swollen flesh underneath and even the slightest movement of her right side sent a stabbing sensation down her arm. It was so overwhelming that she was starting to wobble a little on her feet, nausea teasing at her empty stomach and fog clouding her head. She didn't even realise that the battle between Shiro and Keith was over until Shiro nudged her shoulder, jolting her back to reality.
"You okay, Pidge?" he asked, slight worry in his grey eyes.
Briskly plastering what she hoped was a reasonable smile on her face, Pidge nodded, "Yep. Just a little tired from the shower I guess." The lie fell off her tongue like a lead weight and she winced internally, guilty for lying to her friend.
"This'll be over in ten seconds," Lance grinned and nudged Hunk with his elbow.
"I dunno," Hunk replied, "Pidge is pretty swift."
Keith placed the beanbag between the tallest and shortest paladins and waved his arm, signalling them to begin. All of Pidge's energy seemed to be going towards just remaining upright and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Not surprisingly, Shiro already had the beanbag and was heading towards Keith but even in her current state, Pidge Gunderson would not give up without a fight. She swung her leg under Shiro's and knocked him on his back, sending the beanbag skittering across the floor like a hockey puck. Hunk cheered but the sound seemed distant to Pidge, like someone talking through a glass wall. Somehow she was back on her feet, albeit a little wobbly, but Shiro once again had the beanbag. Determined not to be outdone by the boys, yet in more pain than before, Pidge stumbled towards the black paladin and reached for the beanbag in his left hand. That was when Shiro's metal Galra hand clamped down on her wrist, tight enough to squeeze her armour and pinch the swollen joint beneath.
Pidge screamed. Not just a yelp of surprise or shock but an ear-splintering howl of a tortured animal caught in a hunter's snare. The room fell silent. Shiro immediately dropped the beanbag and released his grip on her wrist so fast that Pidge stumbled backwards a little.
"I'm sorry!" Shiro spluttered, "Sometimes I use too much force with this arm, I can't tell! Sorry Pidge!"
Tears pricked Pidge's eyes and she slumped onto the floor in a pile. The others quickly gathered around her and Hunk began to carefully remove the armour on her right hand. She was shivering but sweat dripped down her temples, pain obvious on her puckered face.
"Is it bad?" Shiro asked, nudging his way past Hunk to try and see the damage he thought he'd done, "I'm so sorry, Pidge."
She wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault, wanted him to know it was already broken because of her own clumsy self but it was taking all of her concentration to stay conscious as Hunk gently pulled off the fabric glove covering her hand. Lance hissed through his teeth and Keith's nose scrunched up at the sight of the puffy, purple joint. Pidge's hand was at an odd angle to her arm and the bone at her wrist wasn't visible because of how swollen the flesh around it was. Hunk raised her hand slightly and quickly stopped when Pidge squeaked pathetically, obviously in pain.
"Sorry," Hunk whispered as he placed her hand on his lap, careful not to jar or pull it.
"Why did you grab her so hard?!" Keith had his hand on Pidge's shoulder and was scowling at Shiro, who looked utterly devastated.
"Yeah, Shiro," Lance moved to Pidge's other shoulder, "Don't be so rough! You broke her wrist! She's just a girl you know!"
That was it. Pidge watched as Shiro's jaw worked a couple of times but he had no response. He looked pleadingly at the smallest paladin and was about to say something when she spoke up, pain causing her voice to crack a little.
"It's not Shiro's fault," Pidge saw Keith's mouth open to protest but continued nonetheless, "I broke it myself earlier."
"Why?" Hunk asked as he gently rubbed circles in her hand with his thumb.
"Not on purpose!" she sighed, "I slipped in the shower room and slammed it against the wall."
Shiro visibly relaxed, his shoulders slumped and his head flopped forward. When he looked back up a mixture of relief and confusion marred his scarred face.
"So I didn't do this?"
Pidge shook her head and Shiro sighed loudly.
"Why didn't you say something before we started?"
She shrugged, "I didn't want to seem like the weak link."
"That's stupid," Keith said matter-of-factly, "The weak link is obviously Lance."
"Hey!"
"I'm the only girl on the team and sometimes I just feel… less, you know?" A single tear spilled down Pidge's cheek and Shiro wiped it away with his human hand, a smile now on his face.
"You're more than the rest of us put together. And there are no weak links in this team, you know why?"
She shook her head again.
"Because we're not a chain, we're a hoop. A never ending circle with no ends or beginnings. We work as one, a team. Got it?" Shiro smiled wider now and it was too infectious not to return it.
"Got it," Pidge sniffed and smiled. It soon faded, however, when she was helped to her feet and ushered towards the healing pods.
"Coran will have you fixed up in no time," Hunk said as he gave Pidge a piggyback along the corridor.
All five paladins walked down the palace hallway with a little more spring in their step. The training exercise hadn't gone as planned but it had certainly gone well and Shiro was pleased everything was now out in the open. He was also extremely overjoyed that he hadn't been the one to break Pidge's wrist but would keep that to himself, ever the sensible leader.
"You know," Lance said as he sauntered along the corridor beside Keith, "Shiro's little hoop speech made me remember something."
"Yeah?" Keith asked, only half listening.
"Do you remember that song from that film?"
Keith sighed, "Well that narrows it down."
"It went something like..." Lance took a deep breath and bellowed, "IT'S THE CIRCLE OF LIIIIIIFE!"
That earned him a smack on the back of the head from Shiro's Galra arm.