Title: Brother, let me be your fortress

Chapter: 4

Rating: K+

Summary: SongFic for Hunk - Brother, let me be your shelter


Brother let me be your fortress

When the night winds are driving on

Be the one to light the way

Bring you home


Shiro - Season 1


Hunk was worried. Hunk was usually worried, but this was different. Shiro had already had two flashbacks in training this week. The bags under his eyes were making him look way older than he was and he had snapped at Pidge yesterday. When Hunk had asked Keith about it he had frowned and said he was trying, but Shiro wouldn't listen to him. He told Hunk he didn't think he was sleeping well, that he'd caught him up walking the halls in the middle of the night. Hunk did not point out that was because Keith walked the halls in the middle of the night as well.

As a matter of fact, none of them slept well. Hunk had asked Coran for something to help him sleep like the second night at the castle. Coran had happily launched into a discussion of human sleep needs, biology, anatomy and any other random health knowledge Hunk had. He had run five or six scans and then provided Hunk with a set of herbal teas he said were safe and should be effective sleep aides for a human.

The tea didn't work on anyone else, but Hunk liked it. It was soothing to hold the warm cup and feel the warmth spread as he sipped the liquid. He liked to have a cup before bed.

Lance was the next easiest problem to solve. All he needed was a hug and a warm body and he would be right back to sleep. Hunk wished he knew how to stop the nightmares that made him wake up screaming or crying, but at least he could offer his hugs and his bed.

Pidge had been a challenge, but they had reached an understanding and she was at least trying to sleep. It wasn't exactly a normal schedule, but according to her this wasn't far from how she had slept at home. Shiro confirmed her father and brother had made comments about her erratic sleep patterns.

Hunk had finally settled on the best way to make sure Keith slept was to make sure he was physically exhausted. It wasn't an easy task, the guy was like an angry energizer bunny, he just kept going and going and chopping things up with his sword. Hunk had found though, that Keith was very willing to help his teammates if asked. So he had enlisted him in helping him move supplies for the kitchen, move supplies for the laundry room, move parts for projects he and Pidge were working, etc. Basically he had him moving heavy boxes from room to room in the castle. One time Hunk hadn't had anything that needed moved so he'd loaded some boxes with rocks and had Keith move them from one closet to another. It was a little underhanded, but it was better than cranky Keith who had stayed up to 4 in the morning smashing training bots and then getting frustrated when he didn't do as well at training the next day.

There was one large problem remaining. A large problem walking down the hall like a zombie at 2 am. Hunk had gotten up about an hour ago and set up the kitchen, waiting. He was hoping to catch Shiro on his rounds and Keith said he usually stopped by the kitchen when he was walking the halls for a drink of water.

He didn't even notice Hunk when he walked in. His eyes were half open and he sort of moved like he didn't need to look to know where he was going. Hunk didn't want to startle him, so he cleared his throat a little. Shiro jumped like he'd screamed at him.

"Oh!" Shiro blinked a few times as he looked at Hunk. "I…um…I didn't see you there."

"Sorry, Shiro, I didn't mean to scare you." Hunk answered apologetically. Scaring the man probably wasn't the way to help him get more sleep. He was really at a loss as to how to help. He didn't figure Shiro was up for a sleep over like Lance, or needed new tech and someone looking after him like Pidge, or needed just more activity like Keith. Shiro's problems were deeper. He had suffered an extreme emotional and physical trauma and Hunk was not a shrink.

"What are you doing up?" Shiro was instantly concerned. He wasn't used to seeing him up. It made Hunk happy and sad to see someone struggling so bad instantly drop his own concerns for worry over Hunk.

"Oh, I usually have some tea before bed and I forgot tonight. I woke up when Lance came in and couldn't get back to sleep." Hunk didn't tell a complete lie, he had skipped his nightly tea and he had waited until after Lance had settled before he left.

"Tea?" Shiro asked, actually looking interested.

"Coran gave it to me. I was having trouble sleeping so he did a bunch of scans and research and stuff and come up with some stuff I could drink." Hunk pulled the wooden box down off of the shelf. "There are like fifteen different herbs in here that I can mix up and make different teas. As it turns out Alteans may have had horrible taste in food, but their teas are wonderful." Hunk measured up a mixture he called 'Lavender Dreams' because it reminded him so strongly of the smell of lavender. It was one of the first he'd used to help himself sleep.

Shiro smiled appreciatively and breathed deeply, his eyes drifted closed.

"Would you like to try something?" Hunk asked secretly pleased at his reaction so far.

"I don't want to use up your supply." Shiro shook his head.

"No, Coran said these are all pretty easy to come up with. There was only one ingredient he said he couldn't get anymore because it used to grow on Altea and I did not take that one. Was there a tea or something you liked back home? I could try to recreate it?" Hunk offered. He remembered the sad look in Coran's eyes as he talked about his home. Having something from home was precious.

"Well, I actually drank a lot of tea back then, but it's been so long." Shiro looked wistful. "Adam always drank coffee, Keith would mix up some kind of crazy protein thing, and I would have a cup of tea."

"Keith lived with you?" Hunk blurted. There was a lot about Shiro he didn't know.

"No, not specifically, but he'd come stay a lot and sometimes would just stop by before class." Shiro was still half smiling, remembering better times Hunk guessed. He must really be tired to just be talking like this.

"What was your favorite tea?" Hunk asked.

"There was this one, it was a Jasmine tea with rose petals." Shiro smiled sadly. "Adam used to laugh at me and say it was a old lady tea, and maybe it was, but it reminded me of drinking tea with my mom sitting outside our home growing up. It always made me happy."

"Let me see," Hunk pulled a couple of the herbs, sniffing and adding portions to a small metal cup. He grabbed the little tea pot. He'd already filled it with water. He pushed a button on the side that warmed the water and added his premeasured cup full of herbs into the top of the pot. It was a very round pot and the spout was at the top, it pumped the tea up through a filter and out the spout at the top like a little tea fountain. The smell of roses soon filled the air.

"I'm not sure how close I got with the jasmine, but I think the roses are pretty good. Do you want alien honey?" Hunk offered a cup full of tea and scooted the little honey pot over to Shiro.

"Yes, thank you." Shiro took a small sip and then added a small amount of honey. "Hunk, this is lovely." He closed his eyes as he sipped. Hunk felt his shoulders relax a little. This was working. Shiro actually liked it.

"I'm glad you like it. I usually make a cup every night before I go to sleep. No one else seems to like it so I end up just drinking it by myself. I was…I mean…If you wanted you could join me?" Hunk stumbled over his words. He wasn't as sure of himself with Shiro as he was with the others. Shiro was their leader, maybe he wouldn't want Hunk's help.

Shiro looked up with a surprised smile, "I would like that Hunk, I can't promise I can make it every night, but I will when I can."

The next several nights in a row, Shiro made it down for tea time in the evening. Hunk was sure enjoying getting to know his leader. He made some little biscuits to have with their tea and they just sat and talked. Hunk learned about Shiro's life before he'd left on the ill-fated mission. He learned about Shiro's parents and grandparents. Hunk had told him about his mom and dad, his uncle, his little niece and nephew and it was all just nice. Hunk always knew that food brought people together. He and Shiro didn't have a lot else in common, but they had this. It made him feel grounded, safe, more comfortable with his team and their leader.

The real problem was he wasn't sure it was really helping Shiro or not. He seemed more relaxed when he left after tea, but Keith had confirmed he was still seeing Shiro walking the halls sometimes in the middle of the night, but maybe not as often? Hunk hoped it was less often anyway.

One night a few weeks later, Keith had just finished moving supplies into the kitchen closet when Shiro arrived.

"All moved Hunk," Keith wiped the sweat from his eyes.

"Thanks, Keith, chili is on the menu for tomorrow! I really appreciate your help!" Hunk smiled at the appreciative look he got. Keith was always so happy when someone went out of their way to do something nice for him. He didn't jump and down and squeal like Lance would have, but the smile was enough to let Hunk know he'd done something good.

Shiro nodded to Keith as he left a little smirk on his face, "Hunk?"

"Yes, Shiro?" Hunk asked as he was starting getting down the tea preparation materials.

"Are those the same boxes he moved to the hall closet yesterday?" Shiro raised one eyebrow and looked at Hunk.

Hunk blushed all the way to his roots, "Um…not all of them. I kind of mix them up and move things from box to box, but some of it really is stuff I need in the kitchen this time…"

"Hunk, why are you having Keith move boxes around the castle?" Shiro's tone was lightly amused.

"Well, he was having trouble sleeping? He just had so much extra energy and he was working out like all night, so I thought if I helped him find something to you know…wear him out…then he could sleep?" Hunk gave Shiro a worried look.

Shiro surprised him and burst out laughing, not a little chuckle, a deep belly laugh that brought tears to his eyes.

"You won't tell him?" Hunk asked with a tentative smile.

"Tell him?" Shiro wiped the tears from his eyes. "No, I was worried that I was going to have to find him something else to do once he got done moving stuff for you. It was working so well to help him sleep, I was worrying about what I'd do when he didn't have it anymore. That was very clever, Hunk." Shiro gave him the approving leader slash dad look.

"Thanks, Shiro." Hunk smiled and fixed Shiro's tea and handed it to him, before fixing his own and sitting down to join him.

"Hunk, I assume you are the one that fixed up the search computer for Pidge?" Shiro asked from the other side of his teacup.

"Well, yeah, Lance helped me retrieve the parts from Rover, but yeah." Hunk smiled proud of that accomplishment.

"And Lance, he's been bunking with you?"

"Oh, well not every night, only when he has a bad dream. He used to do it at the Garrison sometimes too." Hunk was less comfortable as this seemed more personal.

"Does he wake you up, often?" Shiro asked glancing sideways at Hunk.

"Oh I barely even notice, sometimes I give him a hug and sometimes he just crawls in behind me and I don't even remember and just wake up extra warm." Hunk smiled fondly thinking of his best bud curled up behind him like a lonesome puppy.

"So the night you were waiting for me in the kitchen, he accidently woke you?" The tone of Shiro's voice was light and mocking. Hunk knew he'd been found out.

"Oh, well…no…actually, I was…" Hunk floundered.

"Worried about me?" Shiro asked.

"Well, yeah." Hunk admitted. "I knew you weren't sleeping and well, the tea helps me…" He trailed off feeling foolish. Had Shiro just been humoring him this whole time? It was silly to think his tea had helped.

"Me too." Shiro quipped with a quick sip of his tea. "It makes me feel warm." He smiled at Hunk softly.

"Oh, yeah, me too. I like how the mug feels in my hands. Like everything I'm worried about just flows out when the heat flows in." Hunk smiled into his tea. Tonight was a blend of alien chamomile and peppermint.

"Did I tell you yet about the time my Sofu mixed Baba's black tea with his tobacco and accidently tried to smoke it?" Shiro chuckled at the memory of his fathers parents bickering and the smell of burnt tea.

Hunk sipped his tea and closed his eyes. He had helped. He had helped them all.