Testing a hypothesis
Pidge knew she had to move, to get back to her Lion. Her mind was screaming at her to run but her legs were not listening. She was frozen to the spot and she didn't know why, it wasn't the first time she'd come under attack from Galra forces and she knew for a fact that it wouldn't be the last. She could hear the muffled cries of her fellow Paladins yelling at her to move and to run, but she just couldn't.
"PIDGE! WATCH OUT!" Keith called out as a Galra sentry took aim at the Green Paladin. She turned around just in time to see a laser blast heading her way, she closed her eyes and awaited the impact but it never came. Pidge opened her eyes as she heard a loud thud. She looked down to see Lance on the floor, fighting back tears as he clutched his leg, hit by the laser that was meant for Pidge. She dropped to her knees and put his arm around her neck, ready to help carry him back to the Red Lion.
"Why did you do that Lance?" Pidge asked, helping him back to his feet
"We're a team aren't we? Anyway Voltron wouldn't be anywhere without our resident genius" Lance groaned back. Pidge managed to get him safely back to his Lion
"You okay to fly?" She asked as Lance hobbled back in to his Lion
"I'll be fine" He winced.
Back at the Castle of Lions Coran, once he had evaluated Lance's injury and had decided that it was not serious enough to warrant being frozen he dismissed Lance back to his room to rest. Pidge watched Lance limp out of the control room back to his private room, a wave of guilt rushed over her. She felt a hand on her shoulder, she turned around and saw Keith looking at her with a concerned look etched on his face.
"You okay?" Keith asked
"Yeah" Pidge replied in a whisper
"What happened back there?"
"I... I don't know" Pidge's voice began to crack. Keith took notice of this and changed his tone and the subject of the conversation
"Okay, Hunk is in the kitchen and dinner should be done soon, let's go and eat" Keith replied, leaving Pidge to head to the dining area.
Pidge finished her food and quickly began to load up her plate again, this time with bigger portions.
"Woah Pidge, you're acting like you've not eaten in years" Hunk commented jokingly
"This isn't for me, I'm gonna take it too Lance" Pidge replied
"Oh... good idea" Hunk answered, feeling slightly bad about his joke now.
"Let us know how he's feeling" Keith ordered
"I will" Pidge smiled, leaving the dining area with a plate of food for Lance.
Pidge stopped outside of Lance's room, knocking on the door quietly, her not being sure if he was awake or not
"Come in" Lance called out. Pidge opened the door and walked in to find Lance sat up in his bunk, pillows supporting his injured leg.
"You hungry?" She asked, indicating the plate of food
"Starving" Lance answered, beaming brightly as Pidge handed him the plate and a knife and fork. He smiled at her gratefully before he began to greedily shovel food into his mouth. Pidge watched with a slightly amused look on her face.
"Lance?"
"Hmm?"
"Why did you throw yourself in front of that shot like that?" Pidge asked him once again
"Because we're a team and I told you, we can't afford to lose a Paladin"
"Yeah well we could have lost you and if we did we wouldn't be able to form Voltron"
"Yeah you would, Allura would be able to search out a new Paladin for the Red Lion, you're a genius Pidge. To Voltron, to the universe... You're irreplacable" Lance stated. Pidge looked into his eyes and saw that he believed what he was saying, he thought himself expendable. He stared back at her, almost daring her to reply. Pidge looked at Lance and started to question herself on little things she picked up
"Had his shoulders always been so broad?"
"Had he always been this much taller than her?"
"Had he always been so muscular?"
"Had he always been so... Handsome?" That last thought caused Pidge to splutter and blush. She quickly made an excuse to leave. Running out of his room back to her own.
One month later
Pidge and the rest of the Paladins were at their seats in the control room, tracking a Galra fleet when she heard the doors opening and Allura immediately scolding Lance
"Lance for goodness sake, must you always come into the control room right after your shower in nothing but a towel? Can't you at least get dressed again first?"
"Why? Do you like what you see?" Lance asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at her. Allura just rolled her eyes at him, used to his shameless flirting now.
"Lance! Put some clothes on man! We don't need your junk in our faces" Hunk yelled at him
"Aw Hunk, I came out to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now"
"Lance... One more meme and I will jump in my lion and crush you here and now" Keith warned him. Pidge couldn't help but look away from her computer and stared over at Lance, jaw dropping as her cheeks began burning red. Allura noticed the fact that Pidge couldn't tear her eyes away from Lance, coupled with Pidge's slightly erratic behaviour over the past month when it came to her fellow Paladin and it didn't take her long to put two and two together. She made a mental note to speak to Pidge at a later time.
After working for a while tracking a Galra fleet, one by one, starting with Hunk the Paladins all left for their rooms, leaving only Pidge and Allura remaining. Allura saw this as her chance to speak to Pidge about what she had noticed earlier in the evening.
"Pidge?"
"Yeah Allura?"
"Do you want to take a quick break and have a milkshake?" Allura asked, Pidge considered the offer before gladly accepting, standing up and following Allura through to the kitchen.
"Thanks" Pidge yawned, not realising how tired she was, taking a sip of her milkshake. Allura sat down opposite the red haired girl
"Pidge, can I talk to you about something?"
"Sure"
"Before I say anything I want to promise you that whatever we talk about here will only stay between us girls" Allura began, placing her hand on top of Pidge's
"O...Kay" Pidge raised an eyebrow
"Over the past month, I've noticed a change in your behaviour around the team and in particular, Lance. Is there something going on between you two we should be aware of?" Allure questioned. Pidge sputtered and choked on her drink as she furiously denied that she and Lance were anything more than friends, no matter how much her mind was telling her she wanted more.
"No, there is nothing going between Lance and I. I'm just slightly confused about my feelings towards him" Pidge admitted, trusting that Allura would be true to her word and this conversation would go no futher than the two of them
"Oh? In what way?"
"Ever since Lance took that shot from the Galra sentry, I've just noticed little things about him, how much taller he is, how much strong he's gotten and just how... And I'll never hear the end of this if he heard me say it... Just how handsome he is. He's just grown up so much and I know he can be a bit of a goofball but he really does have a good heart"
"That he does. Lance is a wonderful Paladin, if only he saw it himself" Allura added, noting the fact that Lance would still question his place on the team at times.
"But I've known him for so long and we're friends, I just don't want to risk that and in turn risk the team just cause things got weird between two members" Pidge countered her own statement.
"Hmm I think I understand" Allura commented
"You do?"
"Yes, and I think as a scientist, you should approach this subject in that way. You have a theory that you have feelings for Lance. Well test your hypothesis somehow"
"How can I do that?"
"I'm sure you'll think of something Pidge"
The next morning at breakfast Pidge shuffled into the dining room only to find Lance, Keith, Hunk, Allura and Coran already seated and eating.
"Morning guys" Pidge yawned
"Morning Pidge" Keith replied, followed by the rest of the team greeting her. She grabbed a bowl, sat down opposite Lance and poured herself some cereal.
"So what's the plan for today?" Hunk asked
"We've been working really hard lately so why don't we take a day off? Unless an emergency comes up, we're free to do whatever we want. Is this okay with you Allura?"
"That sounds fine by me" Allura agreed.
"Sweet! I'm gonna head off back to see our lovely mermaid friends" Lance smirked, causing Pidge to tighten her grip on her spoon. She took a deep and calming breath.
"Lance... Can I speak to you in private please?" She asked
"Sure" Lance and Pidge stood up and walked out of the dining room.
"What's this about Pidge?" Lance asked. Pidge didn't reply. She just threw Lance up against the wall, pressing her lips to his. His eyes widened in shock before instinct took over and he returned the kiss. She pulled away again and turned to walk away
"What... was that about?" Lance questioned breathlessly
"I was testing a hypothesis" Pidge replied before walking off
"HEY PIDGE! WANNA PLAY VIDEO GAMES?" Lance yelled out. Pidge turned around and made her way back to where Lance was stood.
"Sure, sounds good" Pidge smiled, Lance extended his hand out to her. She took it, and allowed herself to be led hand in hand to her and Lance's gaming room. Unbeknownst to the pair, Keith and Hunk watched the whole scene unfold, their jaws dropped open.
"What... Just happened?" Hunk asked
"I... Don't know" Keith answered.