The next few one-shots might be about certain anxieties the different members of the space family might feel. It'll be centered around Pidge of course but everyone should remember that even defenders of the universe have insecurities. This one is about Keith and Pidge.

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Chapter 5: A Hairy Situation

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"Take cover!"

Through the chaos Pidge couldn't even pinpoint who screamed those words but she took them to heart and scrambled across tiled floors, taking shelter behind a large pillar. She crouched down low, breathing heavily as shots from the enemy continued to fire around her, creating spider web cracks across the floor to ceiling windows several yards in front of her.

Someone slammed into her and she almost sent a shock of electricity through them before she realized the armor wasn't grey and purple but red and white.

"Keith!"

"Sorry," he huffed, yanking her back behind the enormous column just as a laser splintered the floor right where her head had been. "Didn't realize you were hiding here." Keith hunkered low beside her, his armor looking damaged and frayed, blackened with soot and gunpowder, and Pidge was sure hers was looking the same.

"This isn't good," she said, wincing as the ceiling started to crumble around them, sending up clouds of smoke and pellets of rock and stone. "I don't know how much more damage this building can take."

Keith hunched over close to her, raising his arms as if he was going to embrace her in order to block small pieces of concrete from landing on her head. The other Paladins were shouting in their ears through their helmet, letting them know they made it safely outside.

"They were closer to the doors," Pidge said with a sigh. "At least they made it. If we wanted to make it out the same way we'd have to blast through an army."

"And we have no time to wait," Keith said grudgingly. The floor trembled when a large pipe fell from above. Columns were crumbling and the enemy fire continued- and it wouldn't stop. These were robots shooting at them and they were disposable to the enemy. Pidge briefly thought of Rover. She didn't think they were disposable but-

"Pidge, we have to go," Keith said, standing up.

The green Paladin glanced around the collapsing column, ducking back just as quick when a laser streaked against the edge of her helmet.

"Okay, let's go."

The building rumbled as debris continued to fall. The two Paladins ran, jumping over stone and exposed piping as the enemies continued to shoot at them. Pidge could feel heat radiating from shots that made it too close. They ran towards the glass window as it continued to crack under the stress of the falling building and the bullet holes scattered across its surface. She could see their reflections, jagged lines cutting through their bodies as bits of the window started to fracture- but most of her attention was on the large body of grey and purple closing in on them like a large wave at sea-

"Keep close, Pidge!" she heard Keith shout.

But then there was only a hot, bright light and a sharp pain in her head as she was thrown to the floor.

"Pidge!"

Her helmet flew off, cracked and broken, sizzling from the laser that made contact. Pidge groaned, her sight going fuzzy and the sounds of fighting around her muffling. Not good. She groped for her useless helmet. It did its job. Her head hurt- she hissed. Hurt badly. But she felt no wetness. She wasn't bleeding. But that didn't mean she was out of danger. Just as her fingers wrapped around the cracked metal of her helmet she felt someone yank her to her feet.

"Don't put it on," Keith said, practically dragging her to the glass. "Hold on to me."

She did what she was told almost mechanically. Trust her fellow Paladins. She couldn't think straight right now, the pain was too much-

A shatter-

Free fall-

Her hair whipped through the air briefly before Keith wrapped himself around her, pressing her against his chest, his arms securely cushioning her exposed head. He turned mid-flight and his back made contact with the ground and air rushed out of him-

"Are you okay?" she managed to say, rolling off him.

"Are you?" he asked, struggling to his knees. "Your head-"

"A bit better now," she said, coughing as dust billowed around them. The building continued to crumble. Still she felt that constant pressure- that warmth and intensity-

"Fire," Keith said, as if reading her mind. "We have to go. It'll blow-"

"Yeah," she said, head still spinning. She got up, stumbling before Keith leaned down, throwing her arm over his shoulders as he wrapped his around her waist.

"Let's go."

He took it slow for her but she could feel the urgency. There were smaller explosions behind them sending heat waves as little pieces of flaming wreckage flew past them. Pidge heard Keith talking to someone, surely the other Paladin's, but she found it hard to focus. She couldn't take another hit like that to the head- even in her condition she knew that much.

The ground rolled and the air seemed to still for a second before-

The explosion was so loud she heard nothing and they both rocketed to the floor and she felt fire-

"Shit, shit-"

She felt Keiths hands on her body- patting frantically-

"What-"

"Don't move," he said through clenched teeth. A few seconds passed and she could smell smoke and char as the ground burned beside them.

And in the distance she heard roars.

"You're riding with me," Keith said, hauling her up as the rest of the Paladin's arrived. "I don't trust you to drive your lion right now."

"Don't baby me," she managed to lace together.

She thought she saw Keith smile.

"I still smell smoke," Pidge said, coughing violently as she slumped beside the red lions console. She looked up as Keith navigated back to the castleship.

"Yeah," he started grimly. "That's probably our armor. Or your…"

Pidge narrowed her eyes. The way he trailed off-

"My what?"

Keith glanced down at her briefly, hesitating.

"My what, Keith?"

She didn't get it. Was she dying? No way. Where's her helmet anyway? Oh. In her lap. Man, her head was spinning. Coran was going to kill her for damaging the suit.

Her thoughts were a jumbled mess and she tucked her head against her legs, wrapping her arms around her knees, trying to lessen the throbbing pain.

"What a fun mission, huh?" she said sarcastically, voice muffled against her suit.

Keith was silent.

Her head hurt too much to think about it.

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They walked through the castle halls silently and slowly some time after all the Paladins returned and recuperated a bit. Coran saw to her major injuries but everyone was strangely quiet. The boys- her boys were extremely apologetic and though they didn't say anything she could tell they felt guilty for leaving her and Keith inside. There was nothing they could do though, she told them that. There was no other option.

Keith was silent throughout the whole ordeal. He didn't even rise to Lance's bait when the blue Paladin started teasing the two. Keith was a constant presence around her for the next couple of hours, which was strange at first but she understood. She turned the corner and he kept pace with her, which she appreciated. There was a slight tension in his jaw, as if he were clenching his teeth and his movements were stiff. She could tell he was concerned. In his own way.

"Are you going to follow me around all day?" Pidge asked, the corner of her mouth lifting upwards.

"I'm not following you," Keith said, sounding slightly flustered. Pidge smiled some more.

"You were acting weird on the lion."

"Because your head is probably all scrambled," he retorted.

"I got shot," she defended fiercely, feeling guilty immediately afterwards because the look that wracked the red Paladin's face clearly indicated he felt guilty as well. "I'm fine," she added in a lousy attempt to placate him.

"I should take you to a healing pod," Keith said.

"I have to fix my armor." Keith sighed, stopping in his tracks. Pidge stopped a few feet ahead. "What?"

"What if you have a concussion or something?" Keith asked, a strangled look on his face.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "Coran said so."

"You could barely form a coherent sentence!" he said heatedly.

Pidge grumbled, frustrated. "Are you going to fight with me when I'm injured?" she asked slyly.

Keith groaned, irritated. "That's why I'm telling you to go heal."

"Only if you tell me what you were talking about before," she pried. Keith grabbed her roughly by the arm, pulling her through the halls. "Keith!"

He stopped her in front of a shiny door, their aggravated faces staring back at them. Her eyes narrowed to her hair…or what was left of it.

Her fingers moved deftly to caress the charred ends of her brown locks.

"I was afraid you were going to die," Keith admitted softly. "You were shot- when your helmet flew off I thought-" he stopped. They stood together in silence; his eyebrows knit together- a pained expression on his face. "And then the explosion- Pidge, you're lucky the only thing that burned was part of your hair."

She almost didn't hear him. She continued to touch the hardened ends. Then she noticed the distraught look on his face and she cleared her throat.

"You're right," she said, alittle too chipper. "It's only a little bit. Not a big deal, Keith!" She clamped his shoulder comfortingly.

"Pidge-"

"You're right," she repeated. "I'll let Coran know I might take up the healing pod offer. I'll see you around."

With that she left.

It was too blunt and abrupt even for him. He was left feeling worse than before. She tried to console him. Keith felt sick. He felt like he was trying to run miles and miles without covering any distance at all.

"Don't put it on," he had told her. Her helmet was a hazard but he told her not to put it on.

Guilt is a monster that doesn't go away.

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Pidge sat on her bed later that night, eying herself in a small handheld mirror with an ever-present frown on her face as that days events flashed through her mind. When they returned to the castle everyone treated her normally- well as normally as they do after a tough battle. Before all this she had been considering trying to grow her hair out again. She hadn't made much progress but now it looked like she was back to square one. Pidge swallowed, glaring at her reflection when someone knocked on her door.

She sighed, dropping the mirror onto her pillow as she walked sluggishly to the door, counting on her fingers. "No, Coran, I don't need any more time in the healing pod. No, Hunk, I don't need help fixing my helmet. No, Lance, I have no dirt for you. Keith didn't say or do anything embarrassing. No, Shiro, you don't have to worry- I'm fine. No, Allura, I don't want any hair advice-"

"It's Keith."

Pidge stopped at the door. "Oh."

"And I have hair advice."

Pidge raised an eyebrow, allowing the door to slide open. "Oh?" she asked, arms crossed. Keith stood there, looking distinctly ruffled. "Did you run a marathon?" she asked, snickering in her hands.

"No," he said, making his way inside without waiting for the invite. "I searched the whole castleship looking for you."

"Why didn't you just come to my room?" she asked, closing the door behind her.

"Are you kidding? You sleep everywhere but your room," Keith exaggerated, taking in his surroundings. He nudged aside some device on the ground she must have been tinkering with at some point.

Pidge shrugged. "Okay, you got me there. So, what's up?" Keith turned to face her, holding up scissors. Pidge held up her hands in defiance. "I know I annoyed you today but you really came to kill me?" she asked.

Keith looked confused. "What? No, I'm here to cut your hair."

Pidge touched the burned strands carefully. "Um."

"Why would you think that?" Keith implored, slightly offended.

Pidge just laughed. "You really didn't have to come."

"You're room is a mess," he said, ignoring her statement.

"It's not a mess," she said, affronted "It's organized in a way only I know."

"You have random gears lying around-"

"Organized."

Keith rolled his eyes. "Whatever, come here," he said, taking a seat on her bed.

She sat on the floor in front of him, no questions asked, picking at some wires she had lying around. "So why are you here?" she mumbled.

"To cut your hair," he repeated, taking hold of some of her brown locks so gently she almost didn't notice.

"But why?"

Keith was silent for a while.

"Because you were upset," he stated simply. With a steady snip she watched bits of her charred hair fall around her. "You looked…very upset."

"You looked upset," she said, pouting. Keith snorted. She picked up a strand off the floor, twirling it between two fingers.

They fell into comfortable silence for a while, just the steady snip of the scissors echoing in her room.

"Sometimes I miss my long hair," she finally admitted. Keith said nothing but a slight pause in his trim told her he was listening. "I mean I cut it short for a reason. To figure out what happened to my family, you know?" she sighed. "I could grow it longer but it's just more convenient now, being a Paladin and all. But sometimes…I don't know."

Keith ran a comb through her hair and she briefly wondered when he pulled it out.

"Your hair doesn't define you," he said. "And it looks fine. It was just the ends."

"I know," she muttered. She laughed quietly. "Your hair might be longer than mine."

"Here," Keith said, leaning over her and handing her her discarded mirror.

Pidge glanced at her newly trimmed hair, letting her fingers run against the soft ends.

"Thanks, Keith," she said, angling the mirror so she could see his face. He smiled at her and she knew this was for both of them. All monsters could be slain. "Thank you."

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Pidge spoke again later. "You're sweeping up the hair off my floor you know."

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Authors Note:

What cuties.

I had this written up for a long, long time but never got to looking it over. I need an editor lol. Been busy getting stuff ready for med school (but also just been lazy tbh).

Anyway I had a lot of fun exploring Keith and Pidge's relationship. Big brother Keith. This is all supposed to be strictly platonic fyi lol but I mean interpret it however you want ig

Next might be either Hunk and Pidge or Shiro and Pidge.

I am at a COMPLETE loss for what to do with Lance, Coran, and Allura. What insecurities could Pidge have that I can connect to them? SOS. Help wanted! Willing to pay with praise and gratitude.

-Magma