A/N: Hi! Thanks for clicking on this wonderful little story! This is an idea that has been floating around in my head for a while, and I finally got some time to do it! Hopefully it's something enjoyable, and I appreciate any comments you may have, especially constructive criticism!

Disclaimer: Nope. I don't even wish it so.

Hunk was extremely confused.

A few nights ago, he wanted to experiment a little more in the ship's kitchen after a hard day of training when everyone else decided to sleep. This "food" that Coran kept feeding them was an offense to the culinary arts, and Hunk wanted to take advantage of the fact that they were on a planet full of exotic spices that somehow, everyone else had chosen to ignore.

In the kitchen, he began to get his plates out, chop some things up, the usual; then he heard a noise, which in the vastness of space, was he last thing he expected to hear. It sounded like... the soft hum of the refrigerator (because yes, that's a thing the ship has), the rustling of heavens knew what, followed by a moan of delight. And it was coming from the kitchen. He slowed his pace and silenced his footsteps, expecting to see an intruder, but he saw something that took him completely by surprise.

It was Pidge. Eating. Like she was starving even though they had eaten not too long ago.

So, he did the most intelligent thing to do to a concentrated person who did not want to be seen, and tapped her shoulder from behind her with a hesitant "Pidge?" at which Pidge proceeded to whip her head around, producing a sharp shriek of surprise in the process, ready to attack the intruder interrupting her beautiful moment with the food covering her face and fingers, which then made Hunk release a shriek of his own.

They stared at each other for a while, neither moving, both wide-eyed, until Pidge took one more handful of whatever she was eating and darted past Hunk with a fierce "Don't you dare" echoing behind her.

What... What just happened?

Hunk stood there, rooted to his spot for a while until he decided that the little fireball of a Paladin wasn't coming back, proceeding to make himself the (relatively) late-night snack, shrugging off the incident. But not before looking around first.

That was weird.

Keith was extremely confused.

He had wanted to train early in the morning, expecting everyone to still be asleep (being the absolute salty perfectionist on the brink of workaholism). So he went down to the training center, set up the mode he normally used as a warm-up, and took his place at the center of the mat in the middle of the large room. He was about to say "start simulation" when he heard some quiet, but heavy, panting laced with groaning, coming from elsewhere on the ship. Deciding to dismiss it as Shiro with the same idea as him in the next room, he addressed for the computer to start the simulation.

The familiar gladiator dropped from a hole in the ceiling, and the fight began. Keith, having done this level before, agilely slashed his sword, dodging the drone's attacks as it came at him with its staff swinging in every direction. Once the drone was defeated and was sucked into the ground (how that worked, Keith stopped wondering after the first fifty times), he heard another groan coming from the same place as before. Except louder, and more high-pitched.

That definitely did not sound like Shiro, he thought. So on he went, his curiosity fueling his steps, but his wariness slowing them down.

He certainly didn't expect to see Pidge lying on the center of the mat on her side, clutching her midsection, panting and groaning from pain. Keith immediately sprung into action, hoping she wasn't too badly hurt from the simulator.

The expression of agony she wore did nothing to soothe Keith's panic, eyes screwed shut and teeth clenched tight, so he immediately crouched down to her level and began to remove her hands from her midsection.

Now Pidge, unaware of Keith's presence until that moment, was probably scared half to death when someone unexpectedly began to pull her hands away from her waist. A loud gasp followed by an instinctive kick to whoever was invading her private space were certainly in order to her in that split-second, which were promptly followed by an apology to Keith, who, with reflexes as good as the Red Lion itself, had dodged out of the way.

She attempted to stand, still clutching her midsection, as quickly as the pain would let her. Pidge felt this overwhelming urge to run and hide, when Keith touched her shoulder as she executed her plan. So close.

"Hey, you okay?" Keith asked, concern lining his features.

"Oh! Yeah! I'm-" in incredible pain right now, she thought as something resembling a stab was introduced to her system again. "Fine." she finished, with obvious strain as she forced a smile through her gritted teeth.

Keith was slightly taken aback by Pidge's attitude. She normally shrugged off any help when she was in pain, but she never denied it. Pidge took this opportunity to dash out of the room as fast as possible, into her room, leaving Keith wondering what the quiznak he had just witnessed.

Lance was extremely confused.

Often Pidge isolated herself, but this was on a whole other level. The girl had not come out of her room all day. Not even for training. Sure, this wasn't an uncommon thing, she was always looking for ways to solve problems, but she never skipped training or meals. She would at least come out to say "hi" and let everyone know that she wasn't dead.

Lance, as the one that had probably known Pidge the longest, aside from Hunk, brilliantly deduced that something was up. He was getting worried for his genius little bird-resembling friend. So he decided to go into her room the second she left her room with something resembling a limp (which Lance brushed off as nothing). Another brilliant idea.

Entering the premises, Lance decided he needed to be quick about this. Look for anything that could possibly make her stay in her room. Her laptop wasn't in it. That was the first thing that tipped Lance off. Pidge brought her laptop everywhere she went in case she needed it.

Looking for anything else at least hinting what was going on, Lance moved further into the room, careful not to step on any wires lying on the floor, ominously like snakes, when something unusual caught his eye.

Something red.

Lance, beginning to panic, rushed to the source of the bright color in a garbage can. It was paper. Covered in blood. Pidge's blood.

No... No no no no No! Pidge can't be hurt! Lance thought. He remembered that they checked each other over for injuries after their last mission and he's pretty sure he would have remembered blood seeping through the white, green, and black attire. The amount he saw was in large quantities and he didn't remember seeing any red liquid which wasn't very hard to miss.

He stood there pondering over the matter, his anxiety growing by the second, until he heard steps coming his way. If his panic had died down before, it was tripled when he turned around to see Pidge looking at him darkly with her fists clenched at her sides.

"Lance" she growled in a tone that would have sent shivers down Zarkon's spine. She always did get... upset when people touched her stuff without prior authorization. Despite Lance's teasing of Pidge for her height, he was terrified of her when she turned into the little bullet of anger when people made her mad, which happened mostly over erred mentions of the Kerberos mission, or people touching her stuff.

"Hey, Pidge" he said, trying to hide the fear in his voice. Then he remembered the red he saw and why he was here in the first place. "Hold on, before you do anything," he said with his hands in front of him, "I want to know why there was blood in there" he finished, regaining his confidence as he pointed to the can with all the bloody paper. Pidge's eyes widened.

"Oh. That. No need to worry about it. It's fine. I'm fine." Pidge said reassuringly. Lance didn't buy it.

"But Pidge-"

"Lance, really. It's fine." Pidge said, cutting him off, trying to push him towards the door.

"Pidge, come on, just tell me what's-" he tried as he was pushed towards the exit.

"I said I'm fine!" she shouted as she shut the door to her room, leaving a confuzzled, and alarmed Lance outside.

Someone needs to tell Shiro.

And off he went.

Shiro was extremely confused.

One minute he was in the hangar spending some time with Black, the next he's hearing something resembling his name from elsewhere in the ship, and the one succeeding it, he's being dragged by Lance out of the hangar and towards Pidge's room. He had the feeling he should know what was going on before he let himself be thrown into a dispute between Pidge and Lance.

"Woah, woah, woah. Slow down, Lance! What's going on?" He asked, digging his heels into the ground.

"Something's wrong with Pidge! She won't come out of her room!" Lance said with an anxious tone that Shiro still didn't understand.

"So? She's probably decoding some Galra data from before. Just wait and she'll be out." He said with a gentle smile which did nothing to calm Lance.

"No! She's in her room, and there were papers covered in blood in her trash can. Blood, Shiro!" Shiro's eyes widened and his expression hardened.

"Alright, let's go." was the only thing he said before they were off.

Once at Pidge's door, Lance decided to bail because those eyes had terrified him the last time he was there.

Shiro, much less frantic, but still incredibly worried, knocked on her door and waited for it to slide open, revealing a tired Pidge on the other side.

"Oh. hi Shiro" she said wearily.

"Hi Pidge, can I come in?"

"Sure." She stepped aside, somewhat suspicious (but oblivious to the gaping Lance at the fact that Shiro had been asked to enter the premises). "What's going on?"

"That's what I was hoping you could tell me. We're worried about you. Lance said he saw some blood in here. Are you hurt?" Shiro finished with a look of concern on his face.

"Did he now?" She asked in a somewhat murderous tone. "I am going to kill him when I find him!" Pidge said standing up, rage radiating from her.

"Hold on!" Shiro said, puttig up his hands defensively. "He was just worried about you. Why don't you tell me what's going on?" Shiro said in an attempt to put out the fire. Pidge paused before bursting into tears.

"I know! I don't deserve a friend like him! He's always so cheerful and looking out for all of us. Even in the Garrison!" She wiped at her nose. The only thing Shiro was thinking was I have failed to put out this fire. Pidge continued as her expression changed from watery back to rage.

"But he's so intrusive and annoying! Who does he think he is?! If I say I'm fine, he should believe me!" She shouted and Shiro simply cocked his head. Wasn't she just... But Pidge had yet to finish.

"But he's always protecting and always has my back! Why am I mad at him?! He's just looking out for me!" Tears were beginning to show up in her eyes and Shiro had almost caught up to the latest mood when she continued to sob harder into his shoulder.

"Aw man! It's just the p-pressure of everything! I'm not even cut out to be a Paladin! Allura definitely made a m-mistake, why do I even try?!" Pidge choked out between her sobs before standing up and shouting "I'm going to fail at life!" and fell back into her bed where Shiro was just trying to process what was happening. Oh, but Pidge wasn't done yet.

"I'm sorry Shiro! You sh-shouldn't have to put up with this! I'm s-sorry!" She sobbed even harder than before, throwing her arms around Shiro, and crying into his armor, ragged breaths coming in and out.

For an unknown period (A/N: pun not intended) of time, Shiro just sat there without the slightest clue on what to do about the stressful situation he was currently in. Until he looked down and noticed that Pidge had fallen asleep. Never had he been more thankful for her constant all-nighters. He slowly dislodged himself from Pidge's arms, and walked out as carefully as he could, obviously needing backup for the situation.

I have attempted to put out this fire with gasoline. He thought as he walked out of the room, more confused than when he entered.

"Alright, so we can admit there's something going on with Pidge, right?" Hunk asked during dinner, to which Pidge had failed to show up. A chorus of confused yesses came from the other three Paladins. Coran and Allura stared blankly at them.

"What's wrong with Pidge?" Allura finally asked and the Paladins shred a knowing look.

"Well, the other night I caught her eating. Like, a lot." Hunk offered.

"And yesterday she was lying in the training deck clutching her stomach looking like she was in extreme pain." Keith added.

"And today I saw blood in the trash can in her room!" Lance added a little more frantically than the rest.

"Not to mention the bipolar panic attack-murderous rage-meltdown she had a few hours ago before falling asleep. How can we help her? Is she stressed?" Shiro asked.

"Is she that tired?" This was Hunk.

"Is she... Dying?" This was Lance who looked on the verge of tears.

"No, she's not dying, idiot!" This was Keith. After that, all the Paladins began to throw and thwart theories on how to "fix" Pidge and what was wrong with her. They were all interrupted suddenly by the burst of laughter from the two Alteans at the head of the table. The Paladins simply stared at them in awe and confusion, awaiting the end of their amusement.

"Care to explain?" Keith raised an eyebrow at them.

"Explain?" Allura said, remains of laughter bubbling in her throat. "Four of the Paladins chosen to protect the universe can't figure this one out?" Allura asked teasingly. When she was met with silence, she sighed. The defenders of the universe, everybody.

"Worry not, I will go talk to her." And with that, Allura stood up from the table and left Coran to deal with the Paladins.

Allura was not confused at all. If anything, she was exactly what Pidge needed. She knew what every month was like. As a princess, she had learned to hide it when she was young and had had her mother to help her through it, but Pidge... The poor thing didn't know where to start!

As she walked up to the closed door, she knocked. The response was something along the lines of "It's okay. I'm fine." in a weary and tired voice.

"It's Allura," and that was all she needed to say for Pidge to drag herself out of bed and open the door to reveal someone who truly understood. Pidge was so tired, but having Allura there to simply hold her and stroke her hair during her next wave of hormones and tears, and then tuck her in lovingly was something she didn't know she needed. So the girls sat there, in Pidge's room, surrounded by wires and cables, for a while. Both of them comforted simply by having the other one there.

Meanwhile, Coran was left to explain what Shark Week was to the remaining Paladins, and he had to admit that they were quite mature. Shiro had taken it well with a simple moment of realization followed by a terrific face-palm. The other Paladins apparently hadn't paid much attention in their Health classes back on Earth. Needless to say, Coran was much more amused than he should have been while educating Lance, Hunk, and Keith. On the bright side, no one ever questioned Pidge's strength, endurance, or habits again.

It was even better when a few weeks later, Hunk was in the kitchen and found Allura stuffing her face with some goo.

Not again. He thought.

A/N: Well that was fun! For the record, some of these may seem a little over the top, but I'm not kidding when I say that I have lived through the more ridiculous scenarios of this story. Hopefully you liked it, and like I said, constructive criticism or any comment you may have is appreciated a whole lot!

-rainbowrider1290