"But all I'm saying is-"

"Lance, if you say one more word, I will hurt you."

The man sighed, his breath tickling her nose. "Can't you work on this another time?"

"Shiro and Allura want this intel as soon as possible, so no," Katie repeated for the millionth time, swatting randomly at his face. He'd been moving around constantly for half a varga now, and his latest position was lying on the floor with his head in her lap.

Lance pouted, sitting up suddenly and wrapping his arms around her. "Fiiiiiine."

She looked down at him, bemused. "Lance?"

"Si, querida?"

"I can't move my arms."

He groaned loudly and let go, falling back on the hangar floor. There was a low rumble, and Katie couldn't help but snicker.

Lance shot upright again. "See! Look! Green still hates me!"

Katie leaned over and patted his head. "She doesn't hate you, she just thinks you're funny."

He blinked. "Really?"

"Really," Katie confirmed. "And she'd like you even more if you let me get my work done."

Lance made a face like he would groan again, and Katie held up a finger.

"The faster I get my work done, the faster you can have my attention," she told him.

Lance's eyes brightened, and he pushed her back toward her laptop. "Then go! Go ahead and work!"

Katie rolled her eyes, chuckling as she returned to her screen. She worked in silence for several minutes, and she almost thought she'd been successful in taming him. But alas, she soon sensed him shift, and before she knew it, he was playing with her hair.

She opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it. It wasn't like it was too distracting…actually, it was rather calming. Some of the stress in her shoulders began to dissipate, and Katie fell into an easy rhythm decoding the latest encrypted message they'd received.

Several minutes passed by— at some point, Lance started humming a random melody— before she was alerted to the sound of footsteps entering the hangar. The pair looked up in tandem.

Coran waved. "What's cookin', kiddos?"

Katie couldn't help but smile. Coran had taken time to learn Earth terms while they were there, and he was totally convinced that he was now "hip."

"Just finishing the decryption," she responded.

The advisor nodded. "Better hurry! Dinner will be ready in a flash, bro!"

She saw Lance nod out of the corner of her eye. "We'll be there soon. Thanks, Coran."

Coran smiled and turned on his heel, calling out "See you later, alligator!" as he left.

Maybe it was just her imagination, but she swore he mumbled something about "number five and number three getting closer lately."

Hunk let out a frustrated groan. "Lance, we've been searching for her for a whole varga, now. I think we know that the cloaking tech works on her armor."

Lance waved a hand, not stopping in his stride. "Oh we knew that a while ago, but now I'm just mad. I mean, how good can she be at hide and seek?!"

The larger man rolled his eyes. "You do remember that she once single-handedly evaded the Galra and turned the ship against them, right? She probably knows all the best spots on this thing."

Lance frowned, looking back down at his hand held map of the ship. He thought they'd checked almost everywhere, but still, no luck. Then, a light bulb went off. "Maybe she's gone some place only she can go!"

Hunk gave him a dubious look. "Such as…?"

"A really, really small space," Lance continued excitedly. "She's short- she could fit anywhere!"

Eyes widening, Hunk grabbed the device from Lance's hands. "I'll calibrate it to locate areas on the ship less than…say, three cubic feet?"

Lance nodded. "Do it. We're finding her, whether she likes it or not!" He put his hands on his hips, tapping a foot as Hunk messed around with the device. He knew there was a reason Katie had been way too excited to do this— she must have planned her hiding spot a while ago.

He was contemplating how impressive this feat actually was when Hunk gave an "aha!".

"I've got 'em," Hunk told him, showing him the screen. "There's only three places she could be— engine room, the mini pods, and the kitchen. Safe to say she isn't in the last two, because I don't think she'd stick herself in the oven."

Lance nodded, then pointed forward dramatically. "The engine room, it is!"

They walked quickly, though Lance had a little more bounce in his step than Hunk did. Lance silently decided that if she wasn't in the engine room, they'd call it quits. Hunk seemed tired, and he didn't want to wear him out unnecessarily.

The pair arrived at the engine room, and Lance glanced at the screen in Hunk's hand. "So, where do we look exactly?"

Hunk looked up, his nose scrunched. "It says…the control panel?"

Lance sighed. "No way she's in there with all the wires, but might as well check." Sure enough, when they wandered over, there was no Katie to be found. Lance groaned loudly.

"I give up," he grumbled. "Let's head back to the common area. Maybe she's waiting there."

Looking relieved, Hunk said, "Sounds like a plan."

The trip back was silent, but as they were walking through the halls, Lance felt like he should give it at least one more try.

"Katie?" he called, hands cupped around his mouth. "Katie, we give up! You can come out now! Come on, Katie!"

There was no response. Lance sighed. At least he tried. He'd probably have to go hunt her down later, because knowing Katie, she was way too determined and would definitely stay hidden for as long as she—

"Since when did you call her Katie?"

Lance blinked. "Huh?"

"Pidge, you called her Katie," Hunk repeated slowly. "When did that start?"

Lance laughed awkwardly. "Oh, you know, it's just her real name, so I figured I should call her that. Pidge was always Matt's nickname for her."

Hunk's nose scrunched up. "Really? It was?"

"Yeah, that's where she got it from," Lance nodded.

"Huh, didn't know that," Hunk mumbled. They were walking along the hallway with their bedrooms, now.

Lance stopped at his door and gave Hunk an apologetic half smile. "Well, at least we know the cloaking tech works, right?"

Hunk snorted. "Yeah, guess so."

"Thanks for searching with me," Lance said, patting his best buddy on the arm. "I know you had other things to do."

"I don't mind," Hunk admitted with a shrug. "It was a nice distraction. I already miss home."

Lance nodded understandingly. "I know what you mean. Anyways," he said, pushing the button for his door to open, "see you later—"

"Took you two long enough!"

The boys jumped, spinning around and shouting—

"Katie?!"

"Pidge?!"

She hopped off the bed, grinning devilishly. "I've been here for over a varga! What was the hold up?"

Lance slapped a hand over his face. "Of course you would hide here! It was so obvious-"

"Which is why it wasn't obvious at all," Katie laughed.

Lance chuckled, stepping into the room and letting the door shut behind him.

Neither of them saw Hunk's confused look as he stood frozen in the hallway.

And certainly neither of them heard Hunk whisper, "Wait…since when did Pidge hang out in Lance's room?"

"Admit it."

"No."

"Katie-"

"I refuse."

"Pidge-"

"Not happening."

"Please-?"

"Nope, not even with that cute expression."

Lance grinned down at her. "Oh, you think I'm cute, hm?"

Katie just rolled her eyes. "No, I think you're the ugliest thing in the world— yes, I think you're cute."

He stepped ahead of her and turned around, walking backwards as he lifted his eyebrows. "Just cute?"

"Don't push your luck, tailor," she shot back, but she knew her smile ruined the effect of her words.

They'd been on patrol for three vargas now, and even though Lance had slowed down to accommodate for her tiny footsteps a long time ago, Katie felt like collapsing. She decided that she wouldn't complain, though. She'd just keep going forward, knowing that eventually they'd get the call from Shiro that they could come in. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for her, she had a very observant boyfriend (oh quiznak, even thinking about that word made her buzz).

Lance had come to a full stop now, and he blocked her path. "Katie, please just listen to me. I know you're exhausted."

She crossed her arms stubbornly. "So what? There's nothing we can do about it."

Her boyfriend held up a finger. "Not true! I can give you a piggy back ride!"

Katie raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," he nodded. "You'll just hop on, and I'll do all the walking for you!"

She gave him a hesitant look, and Lance groaned. He crossed the distance between them and took her hands in his. His ocean blue eyes were gazing into hers, and Katie felt her resolve weakening.

"Por favor, querida," he pleaded. "I can't stand watching you like this. Let me take care of you."

Katie's eyes darted to the ground, and he put a hand under her chin.

"Accepting help doesn't make you weak," Lance said suddenly. Her eyes widened, and he chuckled. "I know you how you think, Katie." He turned around and knelt down. "Hop on!"

Still amazed that he had read her thoughts so easily, Katie walked forward in a daze. She sat down on his back, looping her arms around his neck and hooking her feet onto his hips. He locked his arms around her legs and stood up slowly.

"Ready?" he asked.

Katie nodded sleepily, nuzzling her nose into his neck. She could've sworn she felt him shiver. He shifted his hold on her slightly before he began moving forward. She shut her eyes, the steady rhythm of his footsteps lulling her into a light slumber.

She wasn't sure how long she was out, but Lance's voice woke her up what felt like ages later.

"-decided to come in early. Katie was about to give out," he was saying.

"Is she okay?" That voice…Shiro?

Katie blinked her eyes open. Sure enough, there was Shiro, and he had that worried look on his face.

His eyes turned to her, and that's when she realized he wasn't looking down at her. Lance was still giving her a piggy back ride.

"Are you okay?" Shiro asked gently.

She sniffed. "I'm fine-"

"She's exhausted," Lance cut in. "I thought I'd take her back to her room."

Shiro gave Lance a curious look, but nodded. "Alright. I'll call in Hunk and Keith."

Lance nodded firmly, then turned to Katie. "Come on, querida, let's get you to bed."

She sighed and tightened her grip on his neck. "Don't sweet talk me when I'm angry," she grumbled.

Chuckling, Lance began walking toward the Castle of Lions, both of them entirely missing Shiro's bewildered expression.

Deep breath in. Slow breath out. Stare down the target. Finger on the trigger. Aim. Focus, and—

"How long are you gonna play target practice?"

Lance jumped at the voice, and he fired. It hit two inches to the left of the bullseye.

"Dang it, Keith, why'd you have to do that?" Lance groaned. "I was going for a personal best!"

The mullet head shrugged. "Don't blame me— Shiro's the one who said your hand to hand needed work."

"Your hand to hand needs work," Lance mocked. "My hand to hand is perfectly fine, thank you very much!"

Keith rolled his eyes, then threw a punch. Lance screeched and jumped back.

"You were saying?" Keith asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lance huffed, but followed after Keith into the main training area. "Bet you couldn't even hit the target if you tried," he muttered.

Keith smirked, turning around and getting into a ready position. "Is that a bet?" he challenged.

Lance grinned. Sometimes it was still fun playing rivals. "You betcha."

His dark haired friend nodded. "Good, because you're not fighting me."

Lance's fighting pose faltered. "Wait, wha-?"

Slam.

He skidded to the ground, holding his side. The Gladiator stood over him, single mechanical eye glowing bright blue. The Gladiator's staff came whipping around, and Lance scrambled back, narrowly avoiding it.

Lance's eyes darted over to where Keith was standing off to the side. "Dude, what the quiznak—!"

"Watch out!"

In slow motion, Lance watched as Katie vaulted over him, her bayard slamming into the Gladiator's face with a resounded crash. The Gladiator fell back, momentarily stunned. Lance vaguely heard Keith calling for it to shut down.

Katie's worried eyes met his. "You okay?"

He blinked, then shook his head. "What are you doing here?" he exclaimed.

She smirked, giving him a hand up. "You thought Keith would throw you into the ring alone?"

Lance glared at the man in question. "Maybe…"

"Her hand to hand needs work as well," Keith called out from the sidelines. "Pidge, throw your bayard to me."

She groaned loudly, but did as she was told. Once Keith caught it, he shouted, "Level three, begin."

Immediately, Lance and Katie were back to back.

"You go high, I'll go low," she instructed him.

He nodded. "Got it." The Gladiator awakened, and Lance grinned, feeling a rush of adrenaline run through him. They got this.

Or so he thought.

The Gladiator whipped around faster than he'd anticipated, and he immediately had to duck. Pidge flipped around and got into her fighting stance, a scowl on her face. Good— now he was behind the Gladiator and she was in front. They could make this work, tag teaming him from both sides.

If only it was that simple. The Gladiator was too smart. He'd aim at Katie, then spin around and get a hit in at Lance. This went on for several minutes, and Lance knew they couldn't beat him— heck, they could hardly play defense, and they couldn't do that forever.

They were gonna lose, he realized.

Screw his bet with Keith, he now had one goal and one goal only: make sure Katie got out without a scratch.

Logically, he knew there wasn't any real danger. Keith wouldn't allow the Gladiator to actually hurt them (not too bad, anyways). But Lance saw that mechanical eye gleam, and a very real surge of fear spread through him. The Gladiator was raising his staff again, and this time, Katie wasn't turned around to see it.

Not. His. Katie.

Lance lunged forward with a yell, blocking the hit and getting thrown to the side.

"Lance!" he heard her yell. Their eyes met, and his widened. The Gladiator was winding up again.

"Katie-!"

It was too late. She was tossed several feet, skidding to a stop and hitting the wall.

"End training sequence!" Keith shouted.

Lance felt like he couldn't breathe. He rushed over to Katie's side, cradling her in his arms.

"Querida?" he whispered. "Katie, please, say something."

Her eyes blinked open, and he held his breath. "You-" she coughed. "Your eyes are pretty."

Lance let out a strangled laugh, his eyes wandering over her body for any injuries. "Yeah, something's definitely wrong with you."

She gave him a half smile, and that's when he noticed it. Her lips.

Well, it wasn't like he hadn't seen them before, but now they just seemed so…close. They were parted, her breath passing through them quickly as she tried to regulate her breathing. They were a pretty shade of pink, too. Since when had that been a thing?

Before Lance knew it, he felt a tugging sensation pulling him toward her. So close…maybe if he just went in a few more inches—

"She okay?"

And just like that, the spell was broken.

Lance snapped up, nodding quickly. "Yeah, yeah, just checking her, uh," Keith raised an eyebrow. "…breathing," Lance finished lamely.

Thankfully, Keith didn't seem too suspicious. "We better get her to the pods just in case," he told him.

Nodding, Lance stood up to his full height, keeping Katie in his arms. He began walking toward the infirmary, not catching the way Keith stared after them, smiling softly.

"Lance!" she giggled, swatting him away. "Someone could walk in," she reminded him in a whisper.

Lance hummed, continuing to nuzzle his nose into her neck as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. "And what would be so bad about that?"

Katie pried him off gently and gave him an admonishing look. "You know as well as I do that we can't tell them until everything is over," she reminded him. "You said it yourself— it would endanger us both, and—"

"I know, I know," he whined, gathering her into his arms again. "But I'm getting tired of it."

Katie sighed, still smiling as she ran a hand up and down Lance's back. "Me too," she admitted. "But it'll be worth it."

Lance released her, smiling brightly. "Well, of course! You're worth the entire universe to me," he told her, leaning forward and kissing her on her forehead.

She giggled, returning to her task of mixing up this whatever-it-was in a bowl. It was her night to help Hunk with kitchen duty, and while he had stepped out for a moment, Lance had snuck in, immediately showering her with affection.

He'd been acting that way a lot lately. It wasn't unwanted— it was welcomed, even, especially since it often gave Katie opportunities to show her ever-growing affection in return. But it had started rather suddenly after their sparring session with the Gladiator last week, and she wasn't sure what to think.

Then again, she considered as she felt Lance's arms snaking around her waist again, what was there to think about? This relationship was all about feeling, and right now, she felt happy— if not a bit rebellious, sneaking around and stealing romantic moments with her secret boyfriend.

But, she thought with a smirk, it was still fun to play games with him.

She let out a dramatic groan, wriggling out of Lance's grasp and hopping up onto the counter. "There!" she exclaimed. "Now you can't reach me!"

He leaned forward, playfully raising a eyebrow. "Oh? Can't I?"

Katie opened her mouth to respond, but something suddenly occurred to her. Sitting up here, she was on Lance's eye level. More importantly, his lips were right in front of hers.

She'd noticed them in passing before, but…now, so close, they looked so…soft. And nice. And they were the shade of her favorite kind of flower growing up— a dusty rose. She blinked, wondering why it felt like they were opposite polarities, being pulled desperately toward each other.

She started to lean in, curiosity filling her, but then, there were footsteps.

Their eyes widened at the same time.

"Hide!" she whispered.

Lance looked around frantically, searching for a place, but it was too late. The door swished open, and in walked Allura, her hands full with some sort of alien vegetable.

"Oh hello!" she greeted. "Hunk said you'd be here, Pidge. You'll need these for the next step in the recipe— I can't believe I forgot to tell you earlier!"

Katie nodded, her head still in a foggy daze. "Yes, yeah, thank you! I was about to ask for those," she lied quickly.

Allura nodded understandingly, then turned to where Lance was standing, frozen. "Coran wanted to see you on the bridge, Lance. Something about cleaning the pods, again," she told him.

He cleared his throat. "Ah, yes, well, tell him I'll be there very soon."

Allura nodded, and with that, she walked away. Katie sighed with relief, telling herself that she was just paranoid for thinking she saw a twinkle in the princess' eyes.

"We're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna di-!"

"LANCE, SHUT UP! We're gonna be fine—"

The sound of a rocket firing off filled the air, and the two watched with horrified eyes as it sailed toward its target, exploding before them.

The words "Game Over" flashed on the screen, and Katie turned around in his lap.

"I'm blaming that entirely on you," she told him.

Lance peered down at her. "Oh yeah? And why's that?"

"You're the one who lead us into the trap to begin with!" she exclaimed. "Of course it's your fault!"

"But you were the one who said to pick up the detonator!" he shot back.

"Because it was important!"

"Says who?"

"Says the game! It only ever shows the blue triangle when you should pick up something, ergo—"

"Ergo, it lied to us," Lance decided, crossing his arms. "And ergo, I don't like fighting about something silly."

Katie blinked at him, then looked down at the ground bashfully. "Sorry, I got a bit carried away there," she murmured.

He smiled, leaning forward and rubbing his nose against hers. "It's okay! Maybe we should play something different."

Her eyes were back up now, looking curious. "Like what?"

"Hmmm," he said, putting a hand to his chin. "Wanna check out that new horror game I picked up?"

Katie froze, and he knew that he'd done something wrong.

"Horror…game?" she squeaked. "Y-Yeah, I mean sure, if you want to, but uh…I just…does it have any spiders in it?"

Lance tilted his head. "Wait, are you afraid of spiders?"

Katie huffed and crossed her arms. "Arachnophobia is an entirely logical fear! They have way too many eyes and legs, plus, with tarantulas, you can't even feel when they're on y—"

Her rambling stopped the second Lance enveloped her in a warm hug. "We don't have to play it, Katie," he soothed. "Let's just watch a movie, okay?"

He felt her sigh with relief more than he heard it. "Okay, thank you."

Lance smiled, ducking down and landing a soft kiss on her nose. "Anything for you."

Katie smiled up at him, snuggling into his chest and turning back to face the screen. "So what do you wanna watch?" she asked, flipping through the movies she'd saved to the ship's archives.

Yawning, Lance tossed his controller aside and wrapped his arms around his girl. "Whatever you want," he hummed.

Thirty minutes into the movie, both of them were out cold. Thankfully, the only person who came by the common area was Matt, and all he did was stop and make sure Lance's hands were in an appropriate position before he nodded and walked away.

Katie couldn't stand it. Not one bit.

They were back on Arus visiting the lovely little Arusians, and they'd invited them back into the Castle of Lions. It was going fine— great, actually. And then Lance happened.

He walked in from his patrol, and Katie could tell that he was trying to subtly look for her in the crowd. She'd been about to wave, when a group of toddler Arusians had swarmed the tall man. He laughed, immediately sitting down and letting them all pile on.

And she couldn't stand it. Her heart was squeezing uncomfortably, and her eyes were watering. She wasn't mad— far from it.

It was just so incredibly…cute!

Katie knew that Lance had siblings, and she knew that he loved them very much. After all, it had taken several hours for him to tell her about his weeks back home, and each time he mentioned one of his siblings, his face just lit up.

So in theory, seeing him interact so joyously with little children shouldn't be that shocking…but something about it just made her heart swell with pride.

Katie sighed, leaning against a column and gazing lovingly at her boyfriend. It was well over a month now, and she still couldn't believe this wasn't an alternate reality. Lance was…quiznak, Lance was everything. She knew that he wasn't perfect, but it sure seemed like it. He was kind and gentle and protective and wonderful. He'd sit with her while she fiddled on her computer for hours, reminding her to take care of herself and helping when he could. He never pressured her, always letting her set the pace, yet also keeping his teasing at the optimal level. His sweet kisses made her heart soar, and she swore his hugs could fix anything.

She smiled. She was head over heels for him, and she knew it.

"It's pretty cute, right?"

Katie jumped and turned. Hunk was at her side, sipping on a cup of something. But then she followed where his eyes were looking, catching view of her boyfriend bopping one of the little Arusian's on its nose.

Sighing dreamily, she said, "Yeah, he's gonna make a good dad one day."

She froze the second the words left her mouth. Did she…did she actually just say that?

"Yeah, he will," Hunk replied casually, but there was a hint of something in his voice. Wait, was he smiling? She opened her mouth, but Hunk held up a hand.

"We all know, Pidge," he told her. "You two are terrible at hiding it. Plus, there are cameras everywhere."

Katie laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head. She'd totally forgotten about that. She turned her attention back to the scene in front of her, melting all over again when Lance picked up an Arusian and swung him around.

Yeah, she'd struck gold with him.