Keith's shield was too small.

He huddled behind it, hunched to make himself as small as possible. Lasers and shrapnel pelted into the surface, sending ripples through the Altean technology. He winced, the heat from the other shots searing his face.

To his left, Hunk held down the fort with covering fire. He had his head peeked over a crumbling wall, sending yellow blasts into the sentry army beyond their position. Above them, Lance sniped with deadly accuracy, while Shiro and Pidge escorted former Galran work prisoners into the holding bay of the Black Lion a little further behind them.

"We have to fall back!" Lance reported. "There's more still coming! We'll be overwhelmed!"

"We can't go back farther!" Keith retorted. "Shiro and Pidge are still back there! They're not done! We have to hold here!"

"Just a few more ticks!" Pidge said. She sounded winded and tired. They all were, honestly. They'd been fighting since early morning on this planet, and now three moons were starting to reach their peak in the sky speckled with stars. "We've just got one more cell to clear out and we're gone!"

"Good!" Hunk said. "I don't know if bayards have a bullet limit or not, but mine definitely can't hold out for much longer!" Keith had to agree. His sword was getting heavier in his hand, and he couldn't tell whether or not it was from exhaustion or it had been in its physical form for too long.

Could that even happen?

Focus.

Keith tucked and rolled, his shield vanishing in a flash of light. Bullets whizzed past him, sentries falling to the ground as Lance and Hunk covered his escape into a better defensive position. Keith pulled himself up and something pulled in his foot. He hissed, his hand moving to grip his ankle. He'd rolled wrong and twisted it. A dumb mistake.

"This isn't happening, guys!" Lance said. "There are too many of them for us to take down at once. We have to pull back!"

Keith risked a glance over the wall he had ducked behind. Lance had a point, now that Keith had the chance to really observe the battlefield. He hadn't noticed, being trapped behind his shield and slicing through sentries for all he was worth, but for every sentry that went down, another five took its place. This was turning almost impossible far too quickly.

"All right," Shiro said. "Pull back as far as you can. Pidge and I are almost done. Hang in there." Keith - hesitating for only a moment - turned heel and ran. Hunk did the same out of the corner of his eye and he saw Lance sprinting with his rifle in hand from his position on the high ground.

The Lions were in view before Keith finally decided to stop and turn around. They could hold the army here. Everything would work out fine. Or rather, it would have been fine, if one of the sentries hadn't thrown a bomb.

Keith saw it in what felt like slow motion. A smoking heap of metal that was clearly made of explosive materials was tossed towards him. He wasn't going to be able to get his shield up fast enough to block it. By the time he did, it would be too late. Keith took a deep breath, accepting his fate for the second time. He was going to die. Out away from home, away from the Earth that held nothing for him, and on a foreign planet fighting for people that had been enslaved their whole lives.

He'd met death once before. He could do it again.

It was like getting stabbed all over again.

Keith drew in a deep breath that sounded deafening to his own ears, intending for it to be his last. Then, just before he closed his eyes, something even more horrifying than Death's mottled hand greeted him.

A shape. Human, large and armored in white and yellow.

Hunk.

Keith reached out, Hunk's name a breath away. No, he wanted to say. This isn't right.

And the bomb exploded.

Hunk flew backward, slamming into Keith. They practically blasted through the war-stricken air, the force of the bomb enough to make the bayard fly from Keith's hand. His head hit the ground first, taking his entire weight on his neck for a brief painful second. He somersaulted backward, his body shifting so what hit the ground next was his arm (Keith swore he heard something pop).

He rolled arm over arm, across the dirt and rocks. Eventually, though, he stopped, his head pounding and his neck muscles pulled in a way that they shouldn't have been. His sprained ankle pulsated with pain and he let out a quiet groan. For a moment, he lay there with his ears buzzing and hardly able to think over the noise of the comms. The words were loud and incoherent. It was like the blast knocked all of Keith's knowledge of the English language out the window. He let out another choked groan of pain.

Instead of looking around and hurting his already injured neck further, Keith chose to examine himself. His armor was scuffed, a large crack running through the plating on his legs, but nothing seemed broken or injured. He'd be sore and hurt like hell for about a week or two after this, but he was fine.

Thanks to Hunk.

Hunk.

The name sent a surge of adrenaline up through Keith's spine. He let out a quiet gasp. Hunk had taken the full brunt of the blast and Keith couldn't see Hunk in his direct line of sight. Was he okay?

Gathering up all his strength, Keith pushed himself into a sitting position. Continuing to ignore the screaming in his comms, he looked around desperately for any sign of yellow. To his immense relief - and luck - he spotted Hunk, just a little ways away, lying in a heap in the dirt.

Keith practically scrambled to his feet. His head pounded horribly at the motion, the sore muscles in his neck from the way he had landed screaming in protest as he swiveled it around to fix on his injured teammate. He ignored the injuries in favor of limping towards Hunk.

Hunk appeared okay from the back. His armor was covered in a fine layer of dirt, some rocks lodged in the chest plate from behind. But Keith knew that Hunk had taken the bomb from the front, not from behind. He was almost scared of what he would see, but he drew back the apprehension in favor of circling around to check on Hunk.

Keith had a very hard time keeping his lunch from coming up his throat.

Hunk lay on his side, eyes closed. The front of his armor was blown apart, horrible burn marks spread across the length of his chest. Blood was matted in his hair from a head injury, scarlet seeping from underneath his favorite bandanna. The burns themselves were awful, rivulets of crimson liquid seeping into a pool all around Hunk's front.

"Oh shit," he breathed. "Hunk-" He dropped to his knees, rolling Hunk onto his back. Hunk groaned, his eyelids fluttering.

"Keith!"

Keith finally registered the panicked cry of his name in the comms. It was Shiro who was calling him, and Keith did his best to listen through the ringing in his ears and the panic that was starting to make it hard to think.

Keith raised his head. The stars flickered above him as what appeared to be the Lions crushed the sentry army with all that they had in them. All but Blue and Yellow were in the air, protecting their downed comrades. Keith felt a smile twitch at the back of his head as he saw Red, acting of her own accord.

Of course.

Red roared in the back of his head, as if in answer, and Keith winced at the loudness of it. She's so stubborn.

Hunk groaned underneath him. His arm twitched, raising to cover the worst burn; a searing red line that drew a horrible trail of blood and peeled skin across his entire front.

"Keith! Are you and Hunk okay?!"

Keith heard Lance this time and flinched. Lance's best friend was dying in front of him. If Hunk died, it would be Keith's fault. Lance would be left without his one anchor to home, to the Earth he so craved to go back to.

"I-I'm okay," he said. He didn't feel okay, but at least he was in better shape than Hunk. The Yellow Paladin groaned as if reading Keith's thoughts and his arm twitched again to cover the aching burns. "But Hunk he...he took the blast and he's not doing good…"

"Oh Dios mío," he heard Lance breathe. "I-I'm on my way-"

"Lance, we need you in the air," came Shiro's authoritative command. "Keith, can you call Red to you?"

Keith thought he could hardly summon even the smallest of communications between him and his Lion, but he croaked out an 'okay' and tried anyways. He reached out through the link, felt Red answer, but then Hunk coughed and Keith's concentration was broken.

It was so wet and tired that Keith immediately snapped his gaze down to the weakly stirring Paladin next to him. Hunk's warm eyes were blinking open, confusion clear in his expression. His gaze fixed on Keith, and he blinked several times, as if he couldn't really see.

Keith's heart nearly stopped when Hunk mouthed his name. He felt like crying when Hunk smiled. It was weak, without any of the normal Hunk pizzaz, but still held the same warmth. Even while dying, Hunk was insufferably pure.

"Hunk?" He breathed and Hunk blinked as if in answer. "Good. I-I'm going to call Red to us and we'll get out of here. Okay?" Hunk nodded as best he could. Blood seeped into his ears, pooling in his antihelix and dripping sickeningly onto the ground. Keith tried not to think about how Hunk's bandanna would be forever stained, and instead reached back to Red through their bond.

His call was weak, a ghost of what it should have been, but Red reached back. Grasped his quintessence firmly with a roar of her own in answer. Keith winced, watching as Red twisted in midair and shot down towards them.

Hunk had time to look up, to see the blur of Red, before she swallowed them whole. Then they were safe, tucked away in Red's maw. Keith let himself relax as his Lion sent him repeated messages of safe, safe, safe, alive, safe and he turned his gaze back to Hunk.

Hunk's fingers were now gripping at the ruined skin on his chest, whimpering quietly as he tried to crane his neck to see the full extent of the damage. Keith pulled his hand away, propping him up against the metal and pulling Hunk's helmet from his head. He took his own off, tossing it to the side to save himself the trouble of the distracting comms. Keith leaned forward, pressing his own palms to the wound to stem the blood flow. He had vaguely remembered Pidge doing the same to him when he had been stabbed, and while he couldn't recall whether or not it helped, he at least thought it did.

There was a first-aid kit in Red's cockpit, Keith knew, but Coran had changed his first aid-kit after his Galra heritage had been discovered. The usual antiseptics and medications didn't appear to be working on him, and as such Coran had tailored them to Keith's suddenly very specific needs. Anything Keith had there would not work on Hunk. They might even make it worse, for all Keith knew.

Hunk's eyelids were fluttering. He was giving into the darkness that Keith was all too familiar with, flickering at the edges of his vision. That could not happen. Knowing it would hurt, Keith pressed his hand down on Hunk's wound. He let out a shrill cry, dull eyes fixing onto Keith's.

"Stay awake," he commanded. "I can't have you dying on me. Not...not when we need you as badly as we do." Hunk whimpered in response, blinking furiously. His eyes were strangely shiny, and Keith sincerely hoped Hunk wasn't about to cry. He wasn't sure he would be able to handle it, especially since he was probably the cause of Hunk's tears.

Keith focused on keeping the blood from flowing in between his fingers as Hunk observed him. It was silent in Red's maw, the quiet hum of ancient Altean machinery their only company.

This wasn't fucking fair.

Keith had nothing waiting for him back on Earth. The only person who he'd even be willing to go back to his home planet for was already here with him. And the only way he'd ever want to go back was if anyone else in his rag-tag space family had decided to go home too.

There was nothing for him there. So why did Hunk deem him important enough to save? Important enough to throw his life on the line, when Keith had always been nothing more than a troublemaking orphan?

He wasn't worth anyone's lives. He never had been, and never would be.

This was war. If someone made a mistake, one as crucial as the one Keith had made, then the soldiers had to be ready to throw down the gauntlet, accept the teammate as good as dead and move on.

Damn Hunk and his generous heart.

But Keith didn't mean that. He couldn't not after what Hunk had almost sacrificed to save him. He'd almost given up a normal life. A chance to return to his worried family back on Earth.

"Why?" The words were ripped from Keith's throat before he could stop them. "Why did you save me?" He looked up, only to see Hunk's eyes closed. Even worse, Hunk wassmiling.

Why was he smiling?!

"Hey!" Keith's tone was harsher than he had intended for it to be, but he was scared. "Hey, open your eyes! Stay awake!"

Hunk cracked his eyes open, that same strange smile still perched on his lips. It was lopsided, full of agony, but still radiated Hunk. He opened his mouth as if to answer, to tell Keith why he had almost given up his life for some troublemaking kid from the deserts of Texas, but nothing came out. Instead, he closed his mouth without saying anything, smiling gently at Keith. Like everything was going to be okay.

Only one person had ever smiled at Keith like that, and it had been his father. Just before he had gotten himself killed due to his own sheer stubbornness and natural chivalry.

Keith's eyes were filling with tears before he could stop them. He cursed under his breath, averting his gaze so Hunk could not see, pressing down perhaps too hard on Hunk's wound. Hunk's breath hitched, but he didn't protest or react, save for a twitch in his left thumb.

There was a thud as Red touched down in the hangar. She lowered her jaw, placing it squarely on the ground so her Paladin and his injured teammate wouldn't go tumbling out from inside. Keith glanced at the white and teal lights that suddenly seemed too bright to his pounding headache and stood shakily.

He had to get Hunk into a pod before he died and judging by the way Hunk's eyes had finally slid closed, he didn't have much time.

Keith still had a mission to accomplish.

Hunk's bandanna was indeed stained.

Keith caught Hunk staring at it a few days following the incident. Keith had barely managed to drag Hunk to a pod, his vitals dangerously low by the time Coran was able to start it. Lance was beside himself with worry, sleeping next to his best friend's pod while he healed rather than retiring to his room every night. Hunk had been in there for nearly a week before coming out. It had taken the first day to recuperate, but the next day Hunk was bust at work in the kitchen as usual.

Keith had gone to ask Hunk his status and if anything still hurt (Keith was for sure sore as hell, as he had refused to get in a pod for a few bruises and pulled muscles) when he saw Hunk staring sadly at the orange-turned-scarlet bandanna.

"Hunk?" Keith called out hesitantly. Hunk's gaze snapped to him and he instantly pocketed the bandanna, throwing Keith a smile.

"Hey, Keith," his voice was choked, like he was holding back tears. "What do you need?"

"Just...wanted to make sure you were okay," Keith stepped into the kitchen. His gaze darted to Hunk's pocket, a strange lump the only indication that Hunk's bandanna was inside.

"Oh, I'm fine," Hunk waved his hand dismissively. He picked up the Altean version of a whisk (it looked like a strange mix between a broom and an Earth whisk, but did the job ten times faster than the ones back home) and began to stir, with almost too much vigor.

Keith, not one to beat around the bush, decided to jump right into what was clearly bothering Hunk. "We can get you a new one, you know."

Hunk paused. "What?"

"Your bandanna," Keith nodded to Hunk's pocket. "We can get you a new one. Maybe you and Lance can convince Coran and Allura and we'll take another visit to the Space Mall."

Hunk smiled ruefully. "Am I that easy to read?"

"I saw you looking at it."

Hunk sighed. He put the whisk down and reached into his pocket again, withdrawing the ruined bandanna. He pursed his lips, brushing his thumb against the fabric.

"It's not that easy," he said softly. "This was a gift from my dad, Keith. I can't just...throw it away. You know?"

"Oh," Keith winced, mentally berating himself or being so tactless. "I...didn't know."

"It's fine," Hunk said. "I wouldn't expect you to. I just...wish it wasn't scarred by almost dying, if you get what I mean." Keith nodded. He stepped around the corner to stand next to Hunk, who was now brushing against one of the red stains with his fingers.

"I...was meaning to ask you about that," he said quietly. "I know I asked you in Red...but I think you were delirious with pain and-"

"You asked me why I saved you," Hunk said without skipping a beat. Keith blinked at him, impressed. He had hardly remembered anything he had said after being stabbed, and the entire experience was just a blur. Hunk being able to remember what Keith had said in the spur of the moment, overcome by emotions was both endearing and embarrassing at the same time. It said a lot about Hunk's naturally caring personality.

"Yeah," Keith said. "I-I just-"

"I did it because I care about you, Keith."

"H-Huh?" Keith blinked in surprise. Shiro was the only person who had ever said anything even remotely close to what Hunk had just said. It took years for Shiro to even be able to say that, but Hunk had said it in a matter of months since they had met. Or perhaps it really had been years and being in space had messed up Keith's construction of time.

Hunk smiled. "I care about you. Just like I care about Lance, Pidge, and Shiro. Allura and Coran, too. You're all my family and I would do anything to keep you safe."

"But…" Keith tried to protest. "Your real family. The one back on Earth. You have to stay alive for them, right? You-"

"You said it yourself, Keith," Hunk cut across him. "The team needs me. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but you're right. You guys need me...and I need you. We're a family now. And...even though I miss my mom and my dad, I have you guys. And that's good too. So, I won't let any of you die. Even if it kills me."

"But you can't do that," Keith said, almost desperately. "You can't die! Not when…" he trailed off, unsure of what he was going to say in response. He couldn't very well tell Hunk he couldn't try to protect the team at the expense of his own life if that was what he wanted. Similarly, he couldn't say that they didn't matter when clearly, they meant so much to the Yellow Paladin.

Hunk smiled. "We're family, Keith. This isn't just about the war anymore. I...don't want to see anyone else close to me get hurt. I've seen Shiro, Pidge, and you almost die. If I can stop that by doing it to myself...then that's okay."

"That's not right," Keith pursed his lips. "It hurts us too, you know. Let us protect you too, once in a while. Okay?"

Hunk stared at him, clearly surprised. But it gave way soon enough to a gentle smile that teased his lips. It was warm, and unlike the one he had given Keith while he died in Red's maw, it was alive.

"Okay."

This isn't my proudest chapter, but let me take a minute to say that I absolutely adore the relationship between Hunk and Keith. Especially after season seven! The development there was phenomenal.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Keith's point of view is fun to write from (Hence why I'm writing Sun) and I think he'd be the one to panic the most when it comes to a life-or-death situation where he's faced with a teammate almost dying on him.

Next chapter is the finale - in which Lance's heartbeat goes still and Hunk is faced with the very real possibility of losing his best friend.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

(P.S. All of your continued support is wonderful and I love each and every one of you!)

phantommist13: :OO Thank you so much! Pidge is so hard for me to pin down just right, especially when she's such a firey ball of passion. Thank you for reading! 3

Guest: Lance is coming ;) Don't worry

KatieGunderson: Angst? In my stories? It's more likely than you think.

Rehabilitated Sith: It really should! But we read and write stories like this anyways and take great pleasure in the whumpage. We probably should be :p