Keith was smiling and shaking hands with his crew when they stepped off the simulator, and the sight of it made Katie grin. Keith had expressed quite clearly his excitement (or lack thereof) for working with anyone other than his fellow Paladins, so it was nice to see that everything had worked out just fine. From what the cadets could hear from the observation deck, it sounded like his simulation had gone near perfectly.

She recalled hearing Keith's communication officer mention something about a difficult overhang at one point, and Katie made a mental note of it. Whatever it had been, it must have been rough, because even Keith had gasped in surprise before he whipped the simulator into a hard left.

Katie glanced up at Lance, wondering if he felt as nervous/excited as she did. Most likely excited, given how wide his eyes were and the way he kept bouncing back and forth on his feet.

As for Hunk, he looked about how Katie felt, and she had the feeling she knew why. It was going to be weird going back to their usual stations, seeing as how both of them were so used to being pilots now. Obviously they were competent in their respective roles, but that wasn't the problem. As much as they knew how to work as a team, it was always in their individual lions. What if they didn't know how to work as subordinates anymore?

Katie shook her head to get rid of the thought. There was no reason to think that this would go wrong. Heck, compared to what they'd been through in the past few years, this simulation was a joke.

Keith was walking toward them now, and he gave them a grin. "Good luck with the sim— they got rid of the Kerberos mission, so watch out."

"Oh please," Lance waved a hand, "I'm sure we'll beat your crew's record easy."

Swallowing, Katie wished she could say the same. Instead, she just gave Keith a nervous smile as they filed past, and he gave her an encouraging thumbs up. Iverson was waiting at the entrance of the pod, and Katie couldn't help but admire the new set up for the simulator. Magnetic levitation really did make it feel more real.

"Cadets, you are being sent out on a rescue mission into a hostile environment," Iverson recited just like he did before the other simulations. "Are you prepared to fulfill your duty as members of the Galaxy Garrison?"

"Yes sir!" they said, snapping to a salute.

Iverson nodded, and his smile seemed to say that he expected nothing less. "Good. You may proceed."

The cadets nodded affirmative before they turned on their heels and walked in. It was weird, honestly. The last time she'd been in here was almost five years ago…and she'd failed.

Katie's worried eyes glanced over at Lance as she sat down. He was taking in a deep breath, his eyes closed. For a moment, she considered getting up and giving him a quick kiss, but she knew she couldn't. This wasn't the Castle of Lions, where they were saying their goodbyes before they hurried off to their hangars. No, this was the Galaxy Garrison. She had to be professional.

With that thought in mind, Katie straightened up in her chair and flicked on her comm system. "Communication outlets activated," she called out.

"Systems are ready to go," Hunk informed them.

Lance gave a nod, then turned his head back toward them. "We're gonna do great, team," he said confidently, and Katie and Hunk smiled. They'd faced robeasts, fleets, and insane Galran generals. They could deal with a little simulator.

The screen in front of Lance came to life, and he punched the gear into drive. A thrill ran through Katie as she felt the magnetic levitation lifting them up slowly, steadily. Lance really had improved so much over the years, she thought as her heart swelled with pride.

He must have felt her staring at him, because he glanced back and gave her a wink. Blushing, Katie turned back to her screen and focused on the data that was pouring in. They were in the alpha quadrant, former Galran territory.

"Keith wasn't kidding when they said they updated it," she muttered to herself.

There was a slight rumble of the engines, and Katie nearly groaned out loud. Seriously? They'd just gotten started!

"Hunk-?"

"On it!" Hunk called out as he ran over to the mechanical box.

The familiar sounds of him tinkering around allowed Katie to focus again. They were approaching an unclassified planet, most likely uninhabited. From what the sensors told her, the planet was practically a desert wasteland on the outside. She looked at Lance's screen, and it confirmed the data. But then—

"Are those…volcanoes?" she queried.

"Focus, Pidge," Lance reminded her, and she blinked. Wait, what— why was he calling her Pidge? He'd stopped doing that months ago.

She shook her head and pressed the comm line to connect to Garrison control. "The planet appears to be uninhabitable, but the surface is volatile. Will proceed with caution."

Lance gave an approving noise, then said, "Galaxy Garrison flight log six – eighty-nine – eleven, begin descent to unidentified planet for rescue mission."

He guided them down smoothly, and Katie smiled again. She looked up at her screen, waiting for her cue. Usually this was about the time that the distress beacon would come on.

She waited patiently for a few moments, but when thirty ticks had passed, she frowned. What was going on? Was the system malfunctioning? She did a quick check over all of her links, but nothing was out of the ordinary. So why—

A bright red ping came up onto her radar, and her eyes widened.

"Galran ship picked up on the sensors, less than twenty-five kilometers out!" she exclaimed.

"What?!" Hunk screeched.

Instead of echoing the surprise of his crew, Lance stated steadily, "Pidge, can you find me any place to hide?"

She flicked on the SONAR sensor immediately, and within moments, a map of the nearby terrain appeared. "Hide in the canyons!"

"Near the volcanoes?" he asked doubtfully. "Is there anywhere else?"

Katie shook her head. "It's the only place with enough cover."

With that said, Lance switched gears, and soon they were swooping down low. She thought that would do the trick, but the red was pinging closer now, and it had friends.

"Two Galran fighters have been dispatched toward our area," she warned. "You need to fly lower— the volcanoes should hide our heat signature."

"If we go any lower, we'll hit the canyon walls!" Lance argued.

Katie gritted her teeth, then forced herself to remain calm. Getting frustrated at him would solve nothing. "And if we stay up here, we'll get seen. All you have to do is take us into a nose dive, round that corner, and—"

"I'm the pilot here, Pidge. Stick to your station."

His words made her freeze. She felt like she'd been punched in the gut. The corner of her eyes were stinging, and her heart was numb. She sat there, motionless, until Lance gave her a look.

"What's our status on the distress signal?"

Katie didn't say anything. She just watched as the scene unfolded before them.

The Galran fighter jets appeared on screen. Hunk let out a gasp. The Galrans fired. Lance dived down to get out of the way—

They landed with a resounding crash, and the screen went blank.

"Simulation Failed."

Katie unbuckled her seatbelt and stood up, hands on her hips. The numbness was gone, replaced with fury coursing through her veins. "Why didn't you listen to me?!" she shouted.

Lance gave her an irritated look. "Because in case you forgot, I'm the pilot, and you're the communications officer. I decide how we fly."

Her teeth were grinding together now as she bit out, "And in case you forgot, I was a pilot too! I fought in that war too! And just because you're my superior now does not mean that you can ignore my advice!"

His eyes narrowed at her. "I will do what I think is in the best interest of the—"

"Ugh!" she screamed, throwing her comm set down. She turned on her heel and stormed out without a single look back.

Keith was rushing forward on the platform, his eyes wide with concern. "Pidge-"

She pushed past him and kept walking. As she left the room, she heard Keith saying, "Lance, what did you do?"

He didn't know how it had all gone so wrong.

Lance had been nervous, but he'd been hiding it well. Sitting down in that seat again had been terrifying, and all he wanted was to prove that he'd gotten better, that he'd changed, that he wasn't the screw up anymore.

And then it all flew by in a blur, and before he knew it, Katie was walking out.

Keith was in front of him now, looking part furious and part shocked. "Lance, what did you do?"

"I…" he started, blinking in confusion. "I don't know."

Keith gave him an incredulous look. "Are you serious? You completely ignored her advice!"

Hunk was wandering up now, and he gave Lance an awkward look. "Yeah, and you weren't even calling her Katie…what was with that?"

Lance blinked again. He'd done that? Why didn't he realize it?

From the looks on both Keith and Hunk's faces, he knew he'd screwed up. Quiznak, even Iverson looked surprised. That's when Lance noticed it— everyone was staring, whispering.

"Cadet," Iverson called, and Lance snapped to attention.

"Yes sir," he gulped.

Iverson stared him down, and for the first time in forever, Lance felt like he did all those years ago. "You may be the pilot, but a good pilot listens to his crew. You understand?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good," Iverson nodded, then gave him a meaningful look. "Now you go apologize to her before she decides to get wise and leave you."

Lance's heart dropped, but he maintained his salute. He walked out of the observation deck, fully aware that Keith and Hunk weren't following after him.

Quiznak, what had he done?

He trudged back to his dorm, letting the door shut behind him with a hollow thud. He could still hear her shouting at him, could still see the tears starting to fall from her eyes as she turned and left.

He sunk down on his bed, his eyes drifting over to the picture of her on his nightstand. His heart ached and tears flooded his eyes.

Quiznak, what had he done.

He couldn't believe he'd spoken to her like that. What did she think of him now? Probably that he'd never really changed. He was still the brash, cocky teenager she'd met five years ago. He hadn't improved at all. He was still the screw up, only now he'd hurt the woman he loved.

Katie's distressed face flashed through his mind again, and he squeezed his eyes shut. There was no way she could love him now, not after that. He'd belittled her, made her lower than him. That wasn't how things were supposed to be, he knew that. Things were supposed to be equal. They were teammates, partners, not superior and inferior.

But that's how he'd treated her.

A quiet sob came out of his throat, and he curled in on himself. He should've never come back here. He should've figured something else out. He should've put Katie first. He should've been more considerate. He should've, he should've, he should've.

There were so many things he wanted to change, but he knew that now, he had to make things right.

Lance shot up from the bed, his heart racing as he hurriedly wiped his tears away and scrambled around his room. Where had he put it? It had to be— there!

He pulled out the book and held it to his chest, freezing in place. Should he give her time? If he was upset, he couldn't imagine how she must felt.

No, he decided. He'd fix this right now. He couldn't let their relationship get damaged. He had to save this.

Lance burst out of his room, nearly running into Keith and Hunk in the process.

Hunk had his mouth open. "Lance, we-"

"Can't talk now!" he called back. "I've gotta go find her!"

"Go get her!" Keith shouted, and Lance tossed a thumbs up.

He ran the entire way, darting in and out of the crowds of students as he made his way to the other side of campus to the girls' dorms. When he arrived at the door, he practically screeched to a stop. And that's when he noticed it.

The door was still cracked open. And his Katie never did that.

His heart twisted, and he swallowed. Lance raised a hand and knocked.

"Katie?" he whispered softly. "Katie, it's me."

There was no response.

Lance sighed, his eyes trailing toward the ground. "Katie, I know I messed up, and I'm sorry. Please, can I-" he choked, his throat stinging. "Please, can I just-"

"Come in."

It was so quiet, so defeated sounding, that he almost didn't hear it. But he obeyed, opening the door slowly and shutting it behind him. When he turned around, his heart broke.

She was lying on her bed curled up in a blanket, tissues scattered all around her. He dropped the book and rushed over immediately, sitting down next to her and reaching out—

Katie retracted her hands, crossing them tightly in her lap. Lance felt tears in his eyes, and he didn't know what to say. She didn't even want him touching her. That's how much he'd upset her.

He took in a shaky breath, staring down at the floor and wringing his hands together.

"Querida, I-"

"Do you know how much that hurt?"

His head snapped up at the sound of her hoarse voice. She was staring at him, her eyes burning dimly with residual anger.

"That's all anyone used to tell me— to stay in my place," she continued, her lip quivering. "And hearing it from you, I just- it hurt," she hiccuped, tears surfacing. "It hurt so much because I felt like I wasn't valued, like you didn't care what I thought, like you completely forgot about all we've been through. You dismissed me."

Lance's heart was hurting so much, and he still didn't know what to say.

"Katie-"

"And that's another thing!" she cut him off fiercely. "Why were you calling Pidge? Were you trying to, to distance yourself from me? Because if Katie isn't what you want, then you'd better-"

"Querida, please," he interrupted, his eyes burning with tears that he refused to let drop. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know I was doing that-"

"How could you not know?!" she exclaimed.

"I don't know!" he said, his voice raising, and her eyes widened. "I don't know," he repeated, softer this time. "Please, please forgive me. I know I was stupid. I know I talked down to you, and I just—"

His voice cut off at the hard look in her eyes. No, no, por favor, he couldn't lose her this way. This was their first fight, he couldn't let this be the way it ended. He didn't want to be fighting, he wanted to be with her, laughing and joking and hugging and kissing and striving forward together forever.

So he did the only thing he knew how.

Lance slid off her bed and got down on his knees.

He missed the surprise in her eyes, bowing his head and whispering, "Katie, I don't know what to say. I know I messed up. I know I hurt you. But, please, I-" he stopped, the tears spilling over. "I-I can't lose you."

There was silence. Dreadful silence. His heart was sinking lower and lower by the second, and he knew he was done for. All those years of waiting, all those years of hoping, and these few precious months of finally having her— gone, in just minutes.

But then, he heard movement. She was leaving her bed, crouching down in front of him and cupping his face with her sweet little hands.

"Oh Lance," she murmured. "You could never lose me."

He let out a sob, this time of joy. He wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could, and her hands stroked through his hair.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm still upset with you," she told him. "But I know you didn't mean it."

"I didn't," he nodded into her shoulder.

She released him, looking deep into his eyes. "We're going to fight," she said gently. "We're going to cry and laugh and go through a whole bunch of stuff together. And when the bad stuff happens, it's going to hurt," she explained, and Lance nodded again.

Katie was wiping away his tears now. "But I love you, Lance," she whispered, setting her forehead against his. "And we're going to get through everything we face."

His lip quivered, and before he could regain any sense, he pressed his lips against hers. His heart was still aching, and he was still so worried that he would lose her, and his lips moved against hers desperately in search of the reassurance he so badly needed.

She kissed him back sweetly, and he felt like crying all over again. He broke the kiss and brought his lips up to her forehead.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," he told her almost hysterically as he littered her face with little kisses. "I'm so sorry, Katie, I really am—"

She giggled cutely, swatting at him, "I forgive you, sweetheart, I do!" Then she cupped his face and kissed his nose. "Calm down," she instructed gently.

Lance realized then that his breathing had become erratic. Her honey eyes were staring at him calmly, and she demonstrated a deep breath. He followed her lead, and before long, he felt much better, the imminent terror of a panic attack fading away.

He sighed. "I'm pathetic, aren't I?" he asked as he gathered her in his arms.

She hummed, nuzzling into his chest happily. "Needing one another doesn't make us pathetic," she replied. "It means we love each other and care about each other."

"And I do," he whispered firmly. "I love you so much, Katie."

"And I love you, Lance," she said, pressing a kiss against his cheek. "Now…" she trailed off with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "What did you drop when you walked in?"

Lance blinked, then blushed. He let her go and got up from the ground, wandering over to the door and picking up the fallen book.

"I, uh…" he cleared his throat. "I've been making this," he said, handing it over to her shyly. "It's not the timing I would've chosen, but…"

"Lance," Katie breathed. "Is this-?"

"It's us," he nodded, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I've been saving the pictures for a while now, and I thought that, it, um, well I thought you'd like it."

She sighed happily, flipping through the pages filled with memories. "It's beautiful," she whispered, then looked up at him and pecked his lips. "You're wonderful, Lance."

"Not all the time," he laughed nervously.

"No, but most of the time," she decided. "I shouldn't have shouted at you, today."

Lance shrugged. "I deserved it."

"And do you know what you deserve now?" Katie asked him innocently.

He blinked. "…a hit on the head?"

He had no idea what happened next. All he knew was that she was on his lap kissing him, and he was totally fine with that.