Oh, you knew this had to happen. Also, Shiro's birthday /is/ next week. Or it would be, if it were a leap year.

He's never going to live that down. :-)

While Lance was in the healing pod, Hunk baked cookies non-stop. Even after his friend woke up, and they all were able to see for themselves that he was well on his way to recovery, Hunk kept baking.

He was with Lance all the time when the Blue Paladin was awake, but whenever Lance was asleep - which was pretty often, in the two days after he got out of the healing pod - Hunk mostly just stayed in the kitchen.

The others all came in to the kitchen at one point or another, more to keep him company than to help with the baking.

Mostly, they seemed to just want to be near him, and to make sure he was doing okay.

Hunk didn't feel like he was doing okay. He'd almost lost his best friend to the witch, and he felt that maybe, if he'd been smarter, or faster, he could have helped Lance more.

Allura and Coran both assured him - repeatedly - that with Keith's help, they had been able to completely undo the spell Haggar placed on Lance, and Blue, and that after a few more days of rest, Lance would be back to his normal levels of energy.

Hunk trusted them, and the others.

But Hunk still felt useless and stupid, so he just kept making food for everyone all the same.

It was the only way he felt he could help.

On the second day, when Keith finally came into the kitchen, Hunk dropped the tray he was holding and gave the Red Paladin a huge hug.

"Wh-" Keith started to ask, but Hunk just kept his arms wrapped around Keith, and the Red Paladin seemed to catch on.

"…oh…." he said, and when Keith awkwardly returned the hug, Hunk sniffed and said, in a muffled voice,

"Thanks, man."

Keith patted his back. "Sure, Hunk. Anytime. I'm not - really - very cuddly - but - uh - yeah…I know you are…so…"

Hunk half-laughed and squeezed Keith a little bit tighter. "No, man, I meant - uh - for the rescue-"

"- oh, sure - uh - Hunk -"

"-I mean, you went into the Druid's ship and got my best friend in the whole world out of a totally horrible situation and - and then you helped lift that really creepy spell and -"

"-Hunk-"

"- I just don't know what I would have done if - if - I just - I owe you big time, man! How can I - "

Keith's voice was strained, but there seemed to be an element of laughter to it as well.

" - breathing - would - be nice -"

Hunk yelped and immediately released Keith, who staggered back a step and leaned against the kitchen counter to catch his breath.

"Oh man, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, sometimes I don't - oh, man, Keith, I'm sorry - are you okay -"

But Keith was laughing. "…yeah…Hunk…I'm fine - really, I am."

When Keith looked back at him, Hunk saw that the Red Paladin was completely genuine. The Yellow Paladin sniffed and wiped one hand across his face. "Okay. Okay. But seriously, man, thanks. I - uh - know that - sometimes I'm not the fastest - or - the smartest - but - but if you ever need anything - you - you let me know, okay?"

Keith shrugged, but Hunk could tell it wasn't a 'you could never do anything to help me' shrug. It was a 'okay, no problem,' shrug.

Keith wasn't really big on saying things, most of the time.

Then Hunk went back to baking, and he heard Keith tell him that Lance should be back to normal pretty soon.

"Allura says that Blue's doing better, too," Keith said, and Hunk nodded, concentrating on making sure this latest batch of cookies didn't burn.

"-though there might be - some - fluxes or something - so basically, if anything weird happens around Lance or Blue - it's to be expected. Allura says it won't be dangerous - or anything - just - you know - interesting."

Hunk turned in time to see Keith pick up the container the batter had been in, squinting at the lettering on the label. For a second, Hunk thought Keith didn't want to talk anymore, but then the Red Paladin glanced up at him.

"Hunk…you can read Altean?"

"What? Oh - uh - well - maybe - a little - I figured that we had all this time on our hands…so…"

Keith sat the container back on the countertop, still looking at him.

"…Hunk…you do know that outside of the Alteans…none of us know how to read their language, right?"

Hunk blinked in some confusion. "Well…I mean…I guess none of us are fluent - but - "

Keith shook his head. "No, Hunk, listen. You - a human from Earth - are making an Altean dish from an Altean recipe in an Altean Castle. You're pretty fucking smart."

Hunk shrugged. "Food's just - easy for me, you know? I can just - uh - I can concentrate on how it can - you know - bring us together."

Keith nodded, folded his arms, and leaned his back against a row of cupboards. "Yeah. I think I understand."

Hunk glanced over at him as he went back to mixing and baking the cookies. "You do?"

Keith wasn't looking directly at him when he spoke, but Hunk could tell the Red Paladin was really trying to focus on what he was saying. "It's - uh - it's something you can do that - that - that feels - natural. It's not from a science fiction movie."

Hunk laughed at that. He couldn't stop himself.

"Yeah - sometimes it feels like we're in one, doesn't it?"

Keith stretched. "Amen to that."

Hunk saw that Keith was half-smiling again. He did that a lot more than he used to. Hunk offered his friend a cookie even as he said, without thinking,

"I guess - it's even stranger - for you, I mean…"

But Keith didn't seem insulted, and he didn't pull away. He just accepted the cookie and shrugged.

"What, you mean me being half-alien? Or being related to the real-life version of Baba Yaga?"

Hunk shuddered. "Oh, dude, I - "

But Keith shrugged again. "Hunk, it's fine. Really. I just - uh - "

Keith looked down at the floor and didn't look directly at Hunk when he said it, but Hunk heard the honesty in Keith's voice when he spoke again.

"- I'm - just - really glad that - uh - you guys are my family - instead of her."

Hunk thought that maybe it was time for another hug, but instead, he refrained and just patted Keith's shoulder reassuringly.

"Of course we are," he said, and when Keith looked up at him, Hunk saw the relief in his friend's eyes, so Hunk nodded and patted Keith's shoulder again. "Of course we're your family, Keith."

A little head poked in around the doorway, and Beyris scampered into the kitchen.

"I heard 'family'!" she said, running over to stand beside them. "And, I smelled cookies!"

Both the Red and Yellow Paladins grinned down at her, and Keith offered her the cookie he was holding.

"I'm on the way to training deck," he explained to Hunk. "Shouldn't eat right before I start - but hey, save me some, okay?"

As Keith turned to leave, he reached out a hand and flipped Beyris' braid over her head so that her hair fell into her eyes. She giggled and flipped it back into place. He did it again, and she did too.

After a few more times, Hunk had to smile as he saw Keith throw one hand up in the air in an exaggerated 'fine I give up' gesture, and Beyris hopped up and down in victorious glee as Keith left the room.

"Don't get injured!" she called after him, and just as he turned the corner, Keith shot back an insulted look that made Hunk laugh for the first time in three days.

"Since when does everyone just assume I'm going to get - " Keith muttered to himself, but then he heard a mouse squeak reprovingly by his head, and he glanced up to see Platt waving an admonishing paw down at him from a grate.

"Oh, like I try to!" Keith shot back at the mouse, who squeaked in a regal, 'mmmm-hhhmmmm' manner and disappeared back into the vents. Keith kept muttering to himself as he headed down the corridors, heedless of who might hear him.

"-frickin' mice - frickin' red shirt syndrome - I'm not even doing anything stupid half the time - okay - some of the - most - of the - oh, shit."

Keith stopped walking and slammed a hand into his forehead.

"I am a fucking red shirt."

He realized he was still talking out loud to himself and looked around.

"I really hope nobody heard that."

A very interested voice came on over the monitors near him, and Keith jumped in place at the sound of Pidge's voice.

"Heard what?"

"Damn it, Pidge! What are you, GLaDOS?!"

Pidge sniffed haughtily. "As if. I actually have a sense of humor."

Keith rolled his eyes, but he was smiling as he did so. He started down the hall again. Shiro had said he would train with Keith today, and Keith didn't want to be late.

"You know, it's strange, to actually have someone understand what I'm referencing - usually people just look at me like I'm crazy - "

Pidge's voice was fond, if still a little irritating because of her tone of absolute glee.

"Aw, Keith, don't delude yourself. You are crazy - but you're our kind of crazy - so at least you're in good company. Anyway, it's not like it's a bad thing to be crazy. It makes life way more fun."

The Red Paladin snorted, but he wasn't annoyed.

Hunk had said they were his family.

Maybe this was what family did.

A thought came into his mind as he came into view of the training deck.

"Pidge - are your dad and brother out of the healing pods yet?"

He heard the excitement in Katie's voice when she answered.

"Oh, yeah, they'll be waking up any minute now! I'm just passing the time till they do by bugging you - "

"Mmm-hmm." Keith said. "Right. Well, glad I could be of assistance, GLaDOS."

Pidge's tone was genuinely annoyed now. "I told you, I'm not GLaDOS."

"Wheatley, then?"

"Pssssh, as if, Pyro. You're going to have to do better."

Keith grinned as he saw Shiro come onto the training deck.

"I'm sure I'll think of something."

While Shiro and Keith were in the training room, Matt and Sam's healing cycle ended. Pidge filled them in on what had happened, and after that, Matt stayed with Katie, and Sam came into the kitchen and started talking to Hunk. He had been looking for the Alteans, but they had needed to finish something on the main bridge first.

As he waited for them, Sam began to talk with Hunk, and Hunk thought that Katie had a pretty cool guy for a dad.

Hunk hadn't really known his own dad, growing up, but he thought that it would have been nice to have one like Sam Holt. He was smart, but also kind, and he treated you like he cared about what you had to say, if you wanted to say anything, and he wouldn't pressure you to say anything if you didn't feel like it, and he didn't seem to mind at all that all the while, Hunk nodded and listened and mixed more cookie batter.

"…I'll be honest…it's going to take some time for me to…adjust to…well…"

Sam sighed and tapped his fingers on the table, seeming to look at something far away and long ago.

Hunk started to scoop out more cookies and put them onto the baking sheet. "Um, Doctor Holt? Could I maybe - say something?"

Sam nodded. "Of course."

Hunk kept working as he spoke. He found the familiar actions helpful in pulling his thoughts together. "…I know that…you knew Keith's parents…and that it must be really, really hard for you to find all this out…like this...but…um…I'm sure that I speak for the team when I say that…we're here for you...and Matt, too."

Sam looked back up at Hunk, and the Yellow Paladin continued. "And - and - Keith's - a pretty cool guy. He doesn't - really say it - out loud - but - uh - I know that he would take a bullet for any member of the team."

Sam half-chuckled at that, but it was fond sound, not a bitter or dismissive one.

"I have to say, that doesn't surprise me. His father was…very much like that, actually."

Hunk looked up at that, interested. "Really?"

Sam nodded. "Oh, yes. Kenneth was - extremely loyal. He was a good friend."

Hunk saw that Sam had really cared for Kenneth, and he thought of something that maybe, just maybe, could help both Sam and Keith.

"Yeah, I bet he was…um…Dr. Holt?"

Sam looked back at him. "Yes, Hunk?"

Hunk swallowed, but he thought this was important, so he went on with his question.

"…do you think - maybe - at some point - you could…I don't know…maybe tell Keith that, too? I don't think he remembers a lot about his parents…and if you'd ever…you know…want to talk to him about them…I'm sure he'd love it."

Sam blinked at that, a bit rapidly. "Yes. Yes, I'm sure I could - do that - at some point - "

Hunk began to stir the batter again, and he used the motion to push a box of tissues towards Sam with one elbow. Sam gave him a grateful look, took one, and wiped his eyes, and then his glasses.

Hunk waited a little bit, and then offered Pidge's dad a cookie, fresh from the oven.

"You're…going to have to tell me if they're any good," he said, and Sam raised an eyebrow inquisitively, but he was smiling, too.

"Oh?"

Hunk nodded. "I've been trying out different baking times, so if that one's too crunchy, I've got a few other kinds you can try, too! It's no problem if you don't like that one - I've made - "

He glanced back at the counter and felt his jaw drop open.

"Oh, wow, uh, I guess I made a lot, huh?"

He heard Sam chuckle, and turned to see Pidge's father was still smiling. He was nibbling on the cookie, but he seemed to find it delicious.

"I'm guessing…somewhere between fifteen batches, eh?"

Hunk scratched at the back of his neck. "Hmm…well…I guess we'll have enough for awhile…too bad there are only eleven of us on this ship now, though. It would have been nice to share it with those other prisoners we rescued -"

Sam shrugged. "Well, it can't be helped."

He reached out and patted Hunk's shoulder reassuringly as he continued. "From what Pidge tells me, by the time you started this baking project, they were all out of their cryo-pods and on their way back to their families. I'm sure they would have appreciated the gesture, but - "

Here Sam Holt took on a humorous air of noble self-sacrifice and made an exaggerated salute.

"One Science Officer, reporting for duty!"

Hunk grinned and returned the over-the-top salute with his spatula.

"Yes, sir! Mission: Help me figure out what to do with these cookies!"

Sam thought for a bit, and then he got a really, really big smile on his face.

"Hunk. I just had a brilliant idea."

Hunk saw where Pidge got her mischievous grin from, and he found himself looking forward to whatever devious plan Sam Holt was concocting.

"Now, listen, I think we'll need to get everyone in on this."