Across the Universe

Part 1

[All standard disclaimers apply.]

"Gah! My eyes! My eyes!"

Pidge almost fell off Hunk's lap at the sudden outburst behind her. Hunk quickly grabbed her hips, keeping her in place. Pidge made to turn around but Hunk wrapped her in a hug, pressing her to his chest.

"What are you doing here, Lance?" Hunk demanded, glaring at the Paladin of the Red Lion over his girlfriend's shoulder.

Lance stood in the doorway with his arm covering his eyes. "I'm here to tell you two to report to the bridge."

"So why not use the comm or even knock!" Pidge spat.

"We have!"

'Oh, so that's what that buzzing was,' Pidge thought. Hunk must have had a similar realization as he grinned at her. "We've been a bit busy."

She and Hunk had been working on upgrades to the Castle's defenses. An upgrade to the particle barrier had been eluding them for days. Suddenly Hunk had had a brilliant idea of reversing the polarity of the crystal matrix, solving their problem neatly.

Their celebratory kiss had quickly morphed into a heavy make-out session. Pidge was sitting astride Hunk's lap. Their hands had been very, very busy.

"You don't say," Lance said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Look, Pidge, just fix your shirt and then you and Hunk can meet the rest of us on the bridge. I'm going to go bleach my eyes."

Hunk waited for Lance to leave and the doors to close before he dropped his hands back to Pidge's hips. "Well, I'm glad that wasn't awkward."

"Quiznaking drama queen," Pidge grumbled as she struggled to get her shirt back in place. "You would think that he would act like he's seen a boob before."

"He'd better have not seen yours," Hunk growled.

She glanced up. Hunk was glaring at the door with an uncharacteristic murderous look on his face. She cupped his cheek and directed his eyes to hers. "He hasn't."

Gradually his expression cleared. "Yeah?"

"I'm your girl, Hunk." She leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "Always."

"I'm holding you to that," he said before kissing her back. With a sigh, he drew back. "And that's how we got into this situation in the first place."

She gave him a wicked grin. "They've waited this long. Surely they can wait a little longer?"

"Away from me, temptress," he cried as he lifted her off his lap. He stood up and smoothed out his clothes. "Well, how do I look?"

His hair was sticking up in all directions from where she had run her hands through it. She had a feeling that hers was in a similar state. But they were clothed and covered. "Like you've been up to no good."

"It will have to do." He took her hand. "Ready?"

"Sure. Let's go see what Shiro wants."

scene change scene change scene change scene change scene change

Shiro glanced as the doors to the bridge open. "Lance? What took you so long?"

"Next time you can go get the love birds!" Lance ranted. "There are some things that can't be unseen, Shiro!"

"Lance, calm down," Shiro ordered.

"Calm down? You calm down!"

"I can't imagine that it was all that bad," Allura said.

"Yes, it was," Lance cried, whirling to face her. "It was horrible."

"Now you're just over-reacting," she told him.

"Well, you can go with Shiro and retrieve those two next time," he declared. He stalked over to his chair and plopped down. "I'm not doing it again."

Hunk and Pidge entered the bridge. Pidge looked from the pouting Lance to the amused Shiro and Allura to the confused Coran. "Um, what did we miss?"

"Besides Lance's dramatic meltdown?" Allura asked.

"Hey!" Lance protested.

"Not much," she continued.

"All right, enough," Shiro said, bringing their attention to him. "We got some intel from Keith and the Blades of Mamora."

"Another base?" Hunk asked.

"It's a supply hub but if we take it out, we can cripple the Galra's movements in this sector for months."

"But if we go after it, won't we risk giving away our sources?" Pidge asked.

"We've been making enough hit-and-run missions that it will likely look like that to the Galra," Shiro said. "It gives us a chance to see one of these bases for ourselves and get some much needed information."

"We've been in a stalemate for a while now," Allura said. "I think we should take this chance. It could tip the balance in our fight against the Galra."

"Oh, you know that I'm in," Lance said with a grin.

Hunk and Pidge exchanged a glance before she squeezed his hand. "We're in, too," Hunk said.

"Good." Shiro pulled up a star map. "This is where we're heading. And here's the plan."