Paladins Forever

by LadyWordsmith

After saving all of existence, the Paladins of Voltron moved on with their lives. Growing up, following their paths, while continuing to serve the galaxy. Time passes, relationships form, science advances, but the mission, as it turns out, is never really over. A series of consecutive post-series VLD stories, heavy on the Team Punk, new missions, and a very special rescue.

2. 2: The Course of Love

Chapter 2: The Course of Love...

Hunk and Pidge go on a mission looking for ancient artifacts, and deal with some of the unexpected complexities of the new parameters of their relationship.

---

June 10th, 2328

Katie was rarely nervous about being in the COs office aboard the Atlas, mostly because it was still Shiro's command. She never had a reason to be uneasy around Shiro, of all people. Still, she rarely made a request for a transfer for what she couldn't help but feel were selfish, personal reasons. She had made demands of that nature, but that was a lifetime ago.

Shiro looked at her formal request with an expression of bemusement. Clearly, he would have expected her to just say she was coming on the mission. "Well, of course I would love to have you back on board, Pidge," he said finally, setting the request down on his desk. "You're always an asset. Though I get the feeling this isn't entirely about the mission we're going on."

Another multiple-month stint along the outer territories of the Galactic Coalition, working diplomatic channels and solidifying alliances. It was good work, but not all that different from what the Atlas usually did as the most unique ship in the IGF fleet. "Not entirely," Katie agreed. Her face felt a little warm, and she hoped it didn't show. "I mean, it's important work, and I'd like to see that the advances we're making are going well. You're offering them improvements that are all my tech. I'd hate to have something go wrong at the start. Plus, there's the stop at Olkarion on the way out."

Shiro was smiling. "And there's the fact that I'm stealing our chef back from you."

"A little," Katie admitted, hoping this wasn't about to get awkward, or turn into a lecture on unprofessionalism. "We agreed that for any long missions from here on out, we'd stay together if we could. The work I'm doing right now does not require me to be on Earth. It can just as easily be done on the Atlas, and that will also give me more time to work directly on the improvements we've been discussing. So, workwise, this is an excellent time for me to be on the Atlas. It's not just personal."

Shiro nodded. "I completely understand. Having a successful relationship is difficult under the best of circumstances... With the kind of work we do, it's almost impossible unless you make the effort to stick together. Your parents showed us that. I learned it the hard way. Curtis and I are incredibly fortunate to be able to both be assigned to the Atlas. Besides, the last thing I want to do is stand in the way of a good romance, especially not when it involves two of my closest friends."

A good romance. Katie chuckled. "Thanks, Shiro. I'll have everything onboard by tomorrow morning." They weren't leaving for a couple of days, but she would rather get everything settled in early, and make sure it was the way she liked it before they left the system. "Let me know if there's anything I'm working on that you specifically want me to bring, and I'll have it."

"Sounds good," Shiro said as he nodded in dismissal. "And Pidge…welcome back aboard."

Katie didn't leave the ship immediately. First, she headed down to the kitchens, where she knew Hunk was laying in ingredients and doing inventory for the next few months.

She found him right where she expected him to be, with his chosen crew of chefs for this mission. There were two categories of chefs on the Atlas, those who were primarily there to handle the everyday feeding of the entire crew compliment, and those who had completed Hunk's full and specialized training and were part of his chosen few who helped with diplomatic dinners and food for important negotiations. Not that they didn't all help out with the regular meals as well. There was no snobbery in Hunk's kitchens.

Katie waited in an out of the way corner for Hunk to be done issuing instructions to the crew unloading pallets and crates into the huge refrigeration units. As soon as he had, he spotted her on his own. His face lit up as he hurried over. "What did Shiro say?"

"I'm in!"

Hunk pulled her up in a brief bear hug. "That's awesome. This trip will be so much better with you here."

"You may regret that sentiment when I have you up working on polarity simulations at two in the morning before a breakfast shift."

"The only thing I would regret would be assigning myself the breakfast shift."

The warmth she felt had little to do with his arms. "You are surprisingly good at mushy compliments."

June 24th, 2368

Being back in on the Atlas was like a breath of fresh space vacuum Katie hadn't realized she needed. She had been so mono-focused on her work in the lab at the Garrison that she hadn't even been off-planet much in the past couple of years, except for very short trips. Being on the move again was refreshing and exciting.

Not being separated from Hunk for the upcoming months made it even better. While they both had more specific responsibilities, like lower-ranking officers to supervise, and plenty of work to do, they had every spare moment to spend together if they wished, and that was what they did.

The first two weeks out had been highly enjoyable. Especially since several days had been spent at Olkarion. Katie always loved spending time on the planet that was like her soul's second home, and it was rejuvenating to see the rebuilding, and regrowing, going so well. It was also great to see Chip, thriving in his position supervising the Coalition's ongoing assistance program. He was uniquely well suited to helping planetary tech-wizards regrow their planet. The Olkarians also had no problem appreciating Chip, and treating a synthetic being the same way they would an organic one. She had also delivered to him her latest work on the genetic sequencing upgrade she had promised him. It was an ongoing project she and he had worked on for years, in his hopes to be as indistinguishable from organic humans as possible. To feel the way others did, and react. He certainly had a lot of Holt-family mannerisms.

Then they had been on their way again, heading for the first of the edge systems where they would be hosting three species who were in control of parts of a binary system, and interested in joining the Coalition.

Fortunately, being out in a new part of space also meant the opportunity to explore new planets. Which was how she and Hunk came to find themselves alone on an alien planet, backpacking through a primordial jungle.

"Remind me why I thought this was a great idea again?" Hunk grumbled behind her as they trudged through the greenery towards the mound in the distance that Katie's readings told them was some kind of ancient temple. What had made it intriguing was the fact that despite being way out on the edge of nowhere, there were readings that came up as having a strong amount of Altean alchemical energy. There was no way to know if the building itself was Altean. It appeared to be entirely local stone, and not anything like the Castle of Lions.

Katie looked behind her, and smiled. "You just couldn't let me go alone, and thought this would be a fantastic opportunity to scope out the local plant life for new ingredients. I'm sorry we have to walk in, but that barren plateau was really the only place we could have landed without causing a major disturbance. This is a very delicate ecosystem."

"Yeah, I know." Hunk pulled out a bandana and mopped sweat from his face. "And I definitely don't want to harm anything on this planet. It just would have been nice if we could have been dropped off a little closer. Or if they had waited around for us."

"They'll be back in a couple of days." Katie shrugged, and checked their coordinates. The Atlas had made an additional stop to talk to the Paroliuns, who had requested their presence in a nearby system. They had joined the Coalition during the Atlas' last mission. As it wasn't an issue of major importance, Shiro had indulged Katie and Hunk's excursion. "Just be grateful that we have the opportunity."

"Sure, sure. When are we stopping for lunch?"

"In a couple of hours." Katie led the way down a sloped embankment. "We should keep going before it gets hotter."

"It's going to get hotter?" Hunk sounded horrified.

"Well of course it is. We have several hours until the sun reaches its zenith and it's going to be a long day." Steamy, tropical heat was not her favorite environment either, but at least they had come prepared with plenty of sunscreen, various types of insect repellents from different planets, and plenty of rations in case they did not, in fact, find anything that tested as safe for human consumption on the planet. They also had water, which accounted for the weight of their bags. Particularly Hunk's, as he chivalrously insisted on being the pack mule.

Katie really wanted to get to this temple. Rumors said the ancient alien culture that lived here had built their religion on a combination of natural alchemy and another culture's ancient tech, buried beneath their temple. So even if they did not turn out to be some off-shoot of Alteans, or some that had somehow escaped Lotor's round-up, ten-thousand years ago, the find was likely to be fascinating. It definitely required investigation.

They walked for another two hours before they found a good place to stop for lunch…mostly because they came to a deep ravine that was more than fifteen feet wide.

Once they had eaten, they examined their options. The only apparent way across was a broad, fallen tree trunk covered in vines and moss. Katie estimated it to be roughly two meters in diameter.

"What do you think?" Katie finally asked, seeing no easy way to determine the safety of their only crossing option. The makeshift bridge did not appear to be new-fall, and the pattern of wear across the top implied that some of the local wildlife used it as a regular crossing.

Hunk shrugged. "I think I don't want to walk another several miles hoping we find a way to get across," he replied. "If animals use it as heavily as it looks, there probably isn't a better way across nearby."

"That's what I was thinking. I guess we should take it." Katie wished, regretting they hadn't brought jetpacks. They could have been useful right about now.

"I'll go first."

Katie looked at Hunk, who she knew had never enjoyed heights. Though he had gotten over most of his fears during their time as Paladins. Still, walking over a ravine on an old log was a far cry from having any of their old tech to protect them if they fell. "Sure, but why you?"

"Because if it will hold me, it will hold you." Hunk took off his pack and set it next to Katie on the ground. "If it feels too risky, we'll go the long way. Besides, I have some experience with logs." He did not elaborate.

"All right. Just be careful."

"I'm always careful." Hunk moved forward towards the trunk, then eyed it up and down before scrambling up onto the top. He stood slowly, testing its strength there where it still rested on the ground with several moments of shifting his weight. He appeared to be testing it to feel how soft or pulped it might be inside. If it had dried and hardened to near petrification, it would be unbreakable. If it was a rotten mess as it could be in this jungle, it would be soft and probably crack under his weight. He stomped a few times, and it certainly sounded solid. It barely moved. "It's not having any trouble distributing weight at this end," he commented, slowly moving forward a few steps. Then he paused, and tested again, shifting his weight, then making a few hops.

Slowly, Hunk worked his way out several feet over the ravine, testing and confirming security before taking the next stop. It wiggled a little more as he went, but that was just to be expected.

Katie waited, watching and looking for signs of weakness in the wood. It wasn't really her forte though.

Hunk was only a few steps from the other side when he took another step, and they both heard an audible crack. Hunk froze, and took a step backwards-

-as the far end of the trunk broke, sending it tipping drunkenly down into the ravine with a resounding crash, and the racket of cascading dirt, rocks, and ripping plant growth, splintering wood, and Hunk's startled yell.

"Hunk!" Katie ran towards the ravine, dropping to her knees at the very edge, staring through the billow of dust kicked up by the wood scraping against the clay-and-rock wall on the other side. "Are you alright?" she shouted, as the remaining clatter of pebbles quieted. "Can you hear me?"

Her own voice echoed faintly back at her off the walls. As the debris started to settle, she could see the bottom. The silence that came after was almost more deafening.

"HUNK!"

She had never been more relieved to hear the sound of coughing. It was followed moments later by a more distant, "Still here!"

"Oh, thank Hawking," Katie gasped, starting to breathe again. "Where are you?"

"In a ravine!"

"Okay, stupid question. Are you hurt?"

She heard shifting, a groan, and a few stifled choice curse words.

"No bleeding," he called back, "but I don't like what I can feel of my right leg right now. I'm not sure, but I think it might be broken."

It was Katie's turn for choice words. "Then you can't climb. I'm coming down!" Ignoring his shout of disapproval, she pulled the climbing rope she had tucked in her bag as a "just in case" out, and secured it to a nearby much sturdier looking tree. She tested it first by lowering each of their packs to the ground so she wasn't trying to haul them herself. Then, putting on the harness and attaching the straps, she walked back off the edge of the cliff, trying to stay relaxed as she leaned back, trusting her equipment to hold her. As soon as she was stable, she started walking down the wall.

Within a few minutes she knew that the ravine was, at that point, almost exactly six meters deep, which was far less than it had been further up. Katie was relieved when her feet came to rest on solid ground again.

Hunk was lying on the ground, thankfully not trapped under any of the debris, leaning up against the opposite wall, covered in dust and a few minor scrapes. He smiled at her, but it was definitely pained. As Katie crossed the ravine floor, she saw why. His leg definitely didn't look right.

Not that it stopped her from dropping immediately to her knees and hugging him tightly. "Don't ever scare me like that again!"

Hunk hugged her back. "I promise to do my best never to break a tree again." He winced again as he said it.

"Where does your leg hurt?" Katie released him and turned, trying not to feel queasy at the awkward angle.

"Everywhere," Hunk grumbled, "But I definitely did something to my knee, and possibly my ankle."

She was going to have to take a closer look. Katie tried not to cringe outwardly as she nodded. Now was not the time for panic, or queasiness. Besides, they had both seen worse. She pulled the medical kit she had brought from the Atlas out of her bag.

There wasn't much left of Hunk's pant-leg to have to cut away. Katie tried to be gentle as she looked at the leg, which was swelling rapidly at both the knee and the ankle, confirmed that Hunk was probably right. While Katie was perfectly versed in human anatomy, diagnosing and treating medical issues was not an area where she felt the most confident. Some very careful prodding-and trying not to wince every time Hunk gasped-led her reasonably quickly to a likely conclusion, though she didn't have scans to back it up. "It looks like a proximal tibia fracture here," she pointed at the knee without touching it again. "The cap of the knee doesn't seem to be broken, but the muscles are really wrenched. The ankle looks like it's just a bad sprain, but everything's swelling pretty badly." She fished into the emergency kit. "Nothing has broken skin, and it doesn't feel like anything's terribly splintered, but I can only make an educated guess."

"Your guesses are usually pretty educated," Hunk quipped, trying not to look distressed.

Katie wasn't buying it though. She pulled out an injection that was both painkiller and antibiotic. "This should keep you from any infection for at least a couple of days, and dull the pain. I'm going to have to splint your leg if we're going to get out of here."

Hunk snorted. "Get out of here? What are you going to do, carry me up that wall?"

"If I have to," she retorted as she gave him the injection, then pulled out the fantastic Altean splints, which were rods that were almost limp as noodles in the package, but could be whipped outward into a pliable but solid shape. "We can't stay here. Even if we don't complete the mission, even a pod can't set down here, and if it rains heavily, we're going to drown."

"If it comes to that, leave me."

"Don't be stupid." She straightened the three rods, then placed them up against Hunk's leg, beginning to wrap them in binding to hold them in place.

Hunk shuddered, and bit back a whimper. "I'm serious. I can't climb like this."

"I'm not leaving you behind," Pidge insisted. "I'm never leaving you. Get used to it, and stop being overly dramatic. We've been through far worse than this."

Hunk fell silent, though he was giving her a bemused look.

Katie focused on finishing the splint quickly and efficiently, to cause him the least pain. If they couldn't go up, they would just have to go along the ravine until they found a shorter climb, one that had better hand holds, or some other way out. Unfortunately, the broken tree had lodged its broken end half way up above their heads, so they were unlikely to be able to use it to crawl their way back out, even to go back the way they had come.

"We're going to have to find another way out of this ravine," Katie announced after a good long look around. "It was getting shallower as we walked this way. If we keep following it south, we might find a better exit."

"How are we going to get to it?" Hunk asked.

"I'll take a look. Keep your communicator on you," Katie ordered. "I'm going to see how far we have to go. If something is close by, then I'll be back soon. I'll check in every ten minutes even if I don't find anything. All right?"

Hunk nodded, though he did not look enthused at being left alone. "I'll...hold down the fort."

Katie bent down long enough to give him a quick kiss. "Just sit tight."

It turned out to be a long, hot walk. An hour in, Katie had checked in with Hunk six times, but had not yet found a way out that she thought she could make and get Hunk out. There had been two or three places where two healthy humans could probably have made a climb of it. Hunk's broken leg made all of them impossible.

She was just about to check in one more time, give up, and turn around, when Katie came around a corner and found an unexpected cave opening, about four feet off the ravine floor, that vanished back into the rocks in a tunnel long enough she could not see the back.

A tunnel from which a light gust of air was flowing, implying that it actually led somewhere with more fresh air. Katie climbed up into the space...and found very quickly that it did not look to be naturally hewn. Rather, it looked smoothed by tools, and she could feel subtle markings in the walls. Brushing away some of the dirt that had accumulated, she saw writing near the entrance. It wasn't in a language she recognized, but she suspected if she could clear enough off and take images, she would be able to run it through a few translation algorithms and come to some understanding, or match it to something else in the Atlas' database.

Katie pulled out her hand-held light and moved further into the darkness, which closed around her quickly, though the ceiling was nearly nine feet tall. The hall was narrow, but barely twenty feet in, it widened into a chamber covered in racks that were covered in dirt and dust, and the remains of what looked to be fabrics, fallen to shreds over intervening eons. There were also pottery jars that had clearly weathered better… and at the far end, very tall, narrow stairs that led upward into more darkness. "A storeroom," she mused aloud. That meant they could probably get out this way. It might even be connected to the ancient city they were looking for.

If nothing else, it was a good place to rest where they wouldn't be drowned if the ravine flash-flooded, and it offered protection from wild animals.

It was time to get Hunk. Katie had just emerged from the cage when the radio crackled to life. "-dge? Are you there?" Hunk sounded frantic.

"I'm here," she immediately responded.

"Oh, thank goodness. You missed your check in. I've been trying to reach you for five minutes."

"Sorry! I think I found a way out. I might even have found our temple. I'm coming back to get you now."

Moving faster, it only took Katie about fourteen minutes to get back to Hunk. She judged the walk to be about a mile, which seemed like quite the distance to haul Hunk, but since she didn't have a choice, she was just going to make do.

He was still waiting for her when she got back, looking wide-eyed and tense, but slightly less pained. "There you are!"

"I told you I'd be back." Katie smiled. "Do anything interesting while I was gone?"

Hunk shook his head. "Just admiring the local flora, and a few things that kind of looked like birds, but shinier. They might have been giant iridescent beetles. They were too high up for a clear look."

Katie shuddered. Giant insects were not on her list of vacation must-sees. "It's a bit of a hike, but if you lean on me, I think we can get there. The cave I found leads to a store room that has stairs going up. If it leads to a building on top of the cliff, it gives us a much easier way out than trying to climb the walls."

"Sounds good to me." Hunk nodded. "If you can get me up."

"How's your leg?" Katie asked as she came over and squatted down, getting her whole body under Hunk's right arm. "Is the painkiller working?"

"If you mean I don't feel like screaming every other second, than yes… but don't count on it lasting." Hunk braced himself. "You're sure you can do this?"

"I'm not giving either one of us a choice." Leaving Hunk behind was not an option.

Hunk stopped arguing and-making use of the wall behind him as an added support, Katie slowly managed to work Hunk up to his feet. It was hard, and she almost dropped him twice, but eventually he was upright, and leaning on her.

"Can you put any weight on it at all?"

Hunk tried, and grimaced. "A little…"

"Good. We've got a bit of a trek ahead of us." Any weight he could take on his own was a little more she didn't have to struggle to move.

Katie had never been a huge fan of heavy, sweaty labor. Still, her years as a Paladin-which had definitely improved her strength and stamina as she learned fighting techniques and employed them as necessary—and an officer in the Garrison had prepared her for schlepping Hunk over a mile, over uneven terrain, through a ravine in the steamy heat. Katie had a vaguely familiar memory of a family vacation to visit some relative who was living in southern Louisiana, and how much she had hated the sweltering humidity.

She did not like it any more now, and it didn't get easier. Hunk was doing what he could, she knew that, and they stayed near the wall so that, should either of them fall, they did not go to the ground and risk hurting Hunk even further.

Katie was not entirely convinced her back and shoulders would be all right when this was over. Hunk seemed to get heavier with each step, and travel was slow. Overhead, clouds gathered, and the ominous pressing feel of an impending thunderstorm was unmistakable.

It took almost two hours to make it the same distance back, with several pauses for them both to rest. Katie was soaked through with sweat-hers and Hunks, which she very much did not want to think about- by the time they reached the entrance. She felt dusty and disgusting, and she ached, with occasional sharp stabs of discomfort, from her head down her back, through her legs.

"This is it," she grunted. "Can you get up there?"

"I'll make it," Hunk grunted, reaching out with his muscular arms, and dragging his own bodyweight up, until he could roll over the ledge. He gasped in pain, but then he was up.

Katie hopped up and joined him. "Are you okay?"

Hunk nodded, though he was panting from the exertion of the afternoon, and still dripping sweat. "I'll live."

As if on cue, a roll of thunder and a crack of violet lightning more severe than anything Katie had ever experienced on earth split the sky, and a sheet of rain fell in a deluge to earth, blocking the view outside the cave.

"Well, that was good timing." Katie almost wanted to step out in it to wash the sweat from her skin, but thought better of it. She pulled out her sample kit from her bag and stuck it out into the deluge instead, then plugged it into her handheld environmental evaluation system.

"What are you doing?" Hunk asked, from where he remained prone on the floor. He had taken his backpack back off and it laid beside him.

"Testing the water to see if it's safe to drink." Or could be made safe, she had the supplies for that too. It only took her invention a minute to come back with the chemical and mineral composition of the liquid falling outside. "And it's… almost exactly like earth water," she declared. "Purer actually. It's basically raining expensive filtered bottled water." She pulled out her canteen and held it out under the waterfall outside, filling it. She took a sip; it was cold and refreshing. Katie drained the entire canteen, and refilled it.

Hunk had pushed himself into an awkward leaning position, but it was enough to drink. He drained the second canteen himself in under a minute. Katie refilled it a third time.

"We should move further in," she said. "While I don't see floodmarks in here, that's a lot of rain. The hallway slopes up a little to the storeroom, so we should go at least that far before we rest." It was getting close to dinner time, so that might be a good place to spend the night.

Katie turned on her handheld light again, and helped haul Hunk back to his feet. Together they limped down the narrow tunnel-barely fitting side by side-to the storage room. "Wait here," she helped situate him so he could lean up against what appeared to be either some kind of sitting stone or small table in the middle of the room, and left him with her light. Leaving her tinted glasses she had worn against the sun's glare-which were wet. Fogged, and unnecessary in the rain and dark- on the small table, she went back for the rest of their supplies.

"Looks like this is home for the night," she said when everything was back in one place. "We should try to set up camp in here and make dinner." Katie couldn't remember the last time she had been this hungry.

"Not the romantic getaway I envisioned," Hunk quipped. "But it's not so bad."

"Nope. It's cozier than some caves we've been in." Katie started by pulling out the two bed rolls, and laying those out, and then looking around for any way to light the room without wasting precious power-cells. It only took a few minutes to find that there were clay bowl-like indents built into the walls near the ceiling at regular intervals. A search of the clay pots found several to be filled with some kind of oil that, on testing, Katie found to be flammable. So, scrambling up some of the shelving-which was thankfully surprisingly sturdy-she filled a couple of the bowls and lit them. The light blossomed across the ceiling, and while it was still dim and diffuse, she and Hunk could now see the entire storage room at once, including the stairs.

"That's better." Katie wiped her hands on the sides of her pant legs for lack of a rag, then reached for Hunk's pack. "Let's see about dinner."

"Great, I'm famished!" Hunk smiled for the first time in hours.

Katie flipped the pack open, rummaging through supplies. The first pack of rations was...empty. So was the second. Katie fought down panic as she started pulling everything out. "Hunk, what happened to the food?"

His smile vanished, and he looked sheepish. "I… might have had a snack while I was waiting for you. I was nervous! And alone… and hungry."

Katie's stomach emitted the growl she that did not come out of her mouth. I'm not going to kill him. I probably should have seen this coming. But it had been, well, at least a solid decade since they had been in any kind of situation where this might have happened. "You ate three days' worth of supplies, Hunk. What's left is not going to last that long. What are we supposed to eat until the Atlas gets back?"

"I'm sorry. Wait, is that really all you packed for three days?"

Katie bit her tongue. "We'll just have to ration the rest. Maybe we can find something local that's safe to eat once the rain stops." The forest was full of plants, but it did not appear to be the right season for fruit. Not that she had seen on her walk. So, they would have to use her equipment to test and analyze roots and herbs.

Until then, they would just have to make due. Katie opened one ration pack-which, being one of the Altean ones, basically meant freeze-dried food goo- and broke the green brick in half. She gave half to Hunk, and devoured her own. It wasn't much of a meal, and she was still hungry after. It did little to ease her muscle pains either, or the headache starting behind her eyes.

"Let me check your injuries." Katie moved back over to Hunk, gently feeling his leg, and unwrapping enough of the covering that was holding the splints in place to look at the knee, and then the ankle. The last thing she needed was his leg going septic in the middle of nowhere. The swelling was going down, though the walk had not helped. The ankle had a lot of bruising. Even with the medicine she had given him earlier, she had concerns. She knew he was still in a great deal of pain, and while it had included antibiotics, she didn't trust that there might not still be infection or other complications without knowing more about the planet's bacteria and virology. "Well, it's improving," she said as she re-bandaged the leg. "But you should definitely not go anywhere tonight. A few hours off of it should help."

"And here I thought we'd go dancing," Hunk quipped. "What do you want to do tonight?"

"Actually, I thought I'd see about recording some data," Pidge admitted. It would give her time to cool down after the disappointment of realizing they were going to be very hungry before this was over. Hunk didn't deserve her temper. "There's some writing on the walls back down near the entrance. I thought I'd try and get some scans and pictures, so we can cross-reference them with the Atlas' database when we get back. If not, I can probably translate them myself."

Hunk looked disappointed. "Oh. That's a good idea."

"We can work on it together when I come back," Katie promised, collecting the supplies she needed out of her own pack, including a head-lamp so she could work with both hands. It would be nice to have something to show for this disaster of a mission.

---

Katie was down the hallway for several hours working on clearing away the layers of dirt, and taking recordings of every minute section of the text and images on the walls. The rain had not stopped, but outside grew dark, and the wall of water outside reflected only her light.

She was about to head back when the ground below her started to shudder, like a dog shaking off a flea, but smaller. Bracing herself against the wall, Katie waited for it to pass. Great, of course the area is seismically active too. Katie willed herself to calm, and listened, but she did not hear the sounds of anything crashing or breaking, or collapsing.

When it ended, she hurried back up the hallway to the storage room.

Hunk was halfway to his feet, half-sitting half-leaning on the low stone table, braced and with a grimace of pain. "Pidge! You're all right."

She nodded. "What are you doing up?"

"I needed a pit stop," he admitted. "I figured I could just use the entrance, but then the earthquake started."

"Here, let me help you… out there!" Katie clarified. "Not with anything else." She was grateful for the dim light.

It took several minutes to help Hunk back down the hallway, wait for him to do his business, leaning awkwardly against a wall, and then return.

The second unpleasant surprise of the night-or maybe fourth-was a horrifying little crunch as she helped Hunk back in place.

Hunk reached back and under himself, and then his eyes widened in horror. "Pidge...I am so sorry."

"What do you-" her words failed her as he pulled out the twisted, bent remains of her tinted glasses. The glass was completely broken out. "They...must have fallen on the ground during the quake. Don't worry. I can always get another pair." At least they weren't Matt's old glasses. If this had happened when they were younger, she might have smacked him. Logically, as long as they were down here in the darkness, she shouldn't need them on the surface either.

"Pidge…"

"No. Don't. It's fine." Katie turned back to her pack, and pulled out a bandana, carefully wrapping the twisted metal in it, and tucking it into a small pocket. The pieces might be useful for something later, and they shouldn't leave anything behind. "We should get some sleep."

She crawled over to her bedroll and wriggled inside. While the Garrison bedrolls definitely had an advantage in comfort over civilian sleeping bags, Katie could still feel the hard stone beneath her. She lay there, awake, pretending to sleep, until the sound of regular, steady breathing told her Hunk had passed out.

June 26th, 2328

The next two days were trying ones. Katie didn't dare try to move Hunk, except for excursions to the front of the cave. The last thing she needed was to do any additional damage to his leg. The rain continued, and when she had stuck a long pole out into the ravine, she found that the water below had risen to a rushing three-foot river. If it kept coming down, it might still flood their sanctuary. But it hadn't yet, and Hunk needed to recuperate. Despite her attempts to treat his injuries, he was starting to look flushed, and despite rationing their food, it ran out by the end of the second day. Hunk was hungry, and hurting, and it made him irritable.

Katie wasn't doing much better. Nerves frayed. She had a constant, pounding headache, and had definitely pulled a muscle somewhere in her back that hurt worse than the rest of her, though all of her muscles ached at this point. Hunk just seemed to get heavier every time she had to help him up or down, though she knew that wasn't the case.

This was not the enjoyable private adventure Katie had originally planned. Focused entirely on survival and on not getting on each other's nerves, there was little in the way of conversation.

Katie kept herself sane by taking exploratory excursions upstairs.

As she had suspected, the storage room was part of a much larger complex. The stairs led to another, smaller storage area, then up another set of the stairs into a series of halls and rooms, all of which were covered in writing like the ones Pidge had seen at the cave entrance. So, she took her light, and explored.

She soon found that the rooms were generally arranged in concentric circles, with the halls bending around to connect them. As she figured out the pattern, she moved inward. Taking images of everything. The most exciting thing Katie noticed, was that the further in she went, the more the writings and images began to resemble Altean….and then, near the center, she found the evidence she had been hoping for. The room in the center was the smallest, but its door was carved in detailed and very recognizable images of Alteans. Even after eons, the chemical traces of the faded paint picked up by Katie's sensors were definitely the right shades for Altean skin.

Katie could have used Hunk's help as she slid the heavy door open, making a loud grating sound that echoed through the empty vastness.

Inside was what appeared to be a tiny storage room, lined with shelves, on which sat a wide variety of items that Katie recognized, and quite a few she didn't. The first, was that many of them were old pieces of Altean tech, which meant they matched parts she had seen in the Castle and the Lions, or were similar. Others, she suspected might be more related to Altean alchemy. To her readings, they appeared to be little more than jars of oils, or rocks like the one that had held the map they had used all those years ago when Allura had gone on her quest to learn more about Altean alchemy.

There was also a stack of Altean recording tablets. Katie's heart leapt. She had hit the motherload! It was definitely the best thing she had seen on this entire misadventure so far.

Unfortunately, there was definitely far too much for her to carry, or even her and Hunk, if they emptied their packs. Katie immediately put the data storage devices into her bag, and all of the smaller items that seemed to be alchemical in nature, then the smaller pieces of tech that did not look familiar. She could come back for more later, or they could plan another mission that let them out right here, if they were smart.

Her good mood vanished as she hurried back down the stairs to show Hunk what she had found, only to hear the sound of rushing water.

"Hunk?" she shouted as she came down the last case at a run.

"Pidge!" Hunk had hauled himself to his feet again and was leaning against the back wall, clutching what remained of their supplies in his bag. On the other side of the room, the water was steadily rising. "I think we've outstayed our welcome."

"How long has it been flooding?" she asked as she dropped her pack up on the landing above, then reached for the one in Hunk's hands. He passed it up, and she tossed it to the top as well. Then she reached for Hunk's arm.

"A while," he said. "I tried to call you on the communicator, but the signal in here is terrible. It was slow at first, then it sped up a lot when it hit the tunnel."

"You're going to have to climb," Katie apologized, as Hunk turned and starting following her up the stairs.

Katie found she wasn't much use in helping him up past the first couple of stairs, so she got out of the way as Hunk winced and gasped his way slowly, crawling up the ladder-like stairs more than walking. Through the narrow hole in the ceiling, to the first landing, where he collapsed, panting, trembling in pain… then he vomited on the stones. "Sorry."

Katie grimaced. "It's okay." She looked back down through the hole. The water had reached the wall and was starting to inch higher. "We shouldn't stop here, just in case. If we make it to the main level, we'll be above the ravine."

"I… need a minute." Hunk still looked green, even in the light from Katie's headlamp.

They didn't have a minute, but Katie bit her tongue. Hunk was doing his best. "I've got you," she promised. While he was taking his minute, she rushed both of the packs up to the top of the second set of stairs. As far apart as the steps were, they were more like a ladder. She crouched down next to Hunk. "Are you ready for one more set?"

"No," he swallowed. "But let's do it."

---

Katie's back was never going to be the same. Crawling up the stairs with Hunk leaning on her for support, as much as he had strained his leg to get himself up again, had nearly crushed her, and she wasn't sure she hadn't bruised ribs too. There hadn't been time to go slow and careful.

They rested at the top of the second stairs for over an hour. Hunk lying prone on the floor, sweating and wet. Pidge had checked his leg again, and she didn't like how the knee looked at all. The swelling was getting worse again, not better. Hunk had developed a low fever, and he had vomited twice more from nausea. Katie did not want to know if any of it had splashed on her back. She just wasn't going to ask. Instead, she gave Hunk the next-and last- emergency dose of medicine, and changed into her last remaining set of dry clothes. In the cool dark, she still shivered.

The rushing water continued to climb as she sat there, stopping halfway up the first set of stairs, which was when the cave was filled. So much for the storage room or getting back out that way.

They sat in silence for a long time, with only the headlamp for light.

Finally, Hunk spoke into the darkness. "So… did you find anything?"

"A bunch of stuff," Katie replied. "Altean tech, and some relics I think are alchemical. I packed as many as I could cram in my bag. We could probably fit more in yours." Especially now that they were out of food. "So, at least we completed that part of the mission."

"That's good." For a long time, Hunk was quiet again. "Any chance you found the exit… or something to eat?"

"Not yet." She had been following the spiraling hallways down and in. It was possible then, that if they followed it outward, they would come to some kind of exterior door. "But I think I know where to look for the way out. I found a room that looked like a pantry, but everything is long gone." Her own insides were clenched in hunger to the point where she had cycled past it to just feeling pain. The dried food goo seemed a fond, distant memory. At least they still had filled canteens. "Do you think you can move?"

There was a grunt, Hunk wiggled, and then collapsed. "No."

"Then we'll sleep here. I know it's safe, and we'll look for the way out in the morning." They would be picked up by the Atlas the day after tomorrow. All they had to do was find a way out and hold out until then.

Their bedding was gone, stolen by the water, so it was a long, hard, uncomfortable night. Katie would have snuggled up against Hunk for warmth, but she didn't want to cause him any more discomfort than he was already feeling. Instead, she used her bag as a pillow, and lay there, staring into the darkness until sleep took her.

June 27th, 2328

The ground shaking again was not her favorite alarm clock. Katie had no idea what time it was when she opened her eyes in complete darkness.

"It's dark!" Hunk yelped, clearly awake but groggy enough to be disoriented. "Why is the ground shaking? Again…"

Katie turned her headlamp back on and looked around. "Relax. This temple has stood for ages. It's got to be pretty earthquake proof to last this long." She picked up Hunk's bag. "I'm going to go grab a few more of the artifacts. When I get back. We'll get out of here."

"All right." Hunk looked unhappy about the prospect of being left alone in the dark. Katie left him with a canteen, her handheld light, and the other bag of artifacts, and part of her equipment.

"Why don't you see what you can make of those while I'm gone?" she suggested.

That seemed to perk him up a little, but he was clearly getting worse. They needed to get out of here.

Knowing the way, it took Katie far less time to walk the path she had marked over the past two days, and select the last items she wanted to take with them. Hopefully, something they found would be worth the trip.

When she returned, Hunk had dragged himself to a sitting position, leaning against the nearest wall, and was looking intently at one of the objects from her bag. He looked relieved to see her. "This is quite a haul," he said. "I can't wait to hook some of these up to the Atlas and see what happens. Can we go now?"

Katie nodded. She was ready to find an exit that wasn't flooded, and food. Oh, she hoped there was food. "Let's get out of here," she agreed.

Slogging the hallway was a slow, painful process. They spiraled out, and Katie discovered that their entrance had been somewhere in the middle of the giant structure. They limped along, with regular breaks, for hours. There was little talking, both of them too focused on moving forward through pain and exhaustion to converse.

There was an added growing tension, as every so often, the whole world shivered again. Whatever was causing the earthquakes, it was getting stronger, not weaker. Neither of them wanted to be caught underground if the place decided it was finally ready to collapse.

Finally, almost miraculously, a dim natural light appeared ahead of them, growing brighter until Katie stumbled out into a large, open area, with a high ceiling, and empty holes that might have once held windows, and blinked in the sudden pain of blinding sunlight.

"Wow." Hunk's gasp made her look again, blinking rapidly until her eyes adjusted.

Above them arched a cathedral draped in vines, and the floor between them and the far wall was strewn with fallen stones and growing trees. Bird-like flying creatures chirped, and on the other side, below the windows, Katie could see what looked like the glow of light through a doorway. Under other circumstances, she would have found it beautiful. In her current state, it was only passingly interesting. "Very nice. Let's get out of here." Katie kept moving, and Hunk hobbled along with her across the large open space. They stumbled twice, and once Katie felt something sharp yank across her back… and throbbing pain radiated down her arms.

Halfway across, the world began to implode… literally. At first, the trees were trembling, then the rocks began to shake, and the ground roared and buckled. Whatever had started small a few days before, was coming to a head.

"Run!" Katie shouted, and they hobbled faster, hurrying towards the door as above them, rocks began to plummet to the earth, bringing long streams of vines down with them. The wildlife fled in screams and chitters.

Panting, a stitch in her side, the weight of Hunk shoving her down, Pidge scrambled for the exit. As it came into view, she realized that the light was only coming through a small portion, and then as they hurried into the tunnel that led outside, she understood why.

The entrance had partially caved in and-given the look of the debris-it had happened a long time ago. There was on sliver of light showing the narrow exit remaining. "We'll have to go one at a time." Katie cursed in her head as she leaned Hunk up against the wall, shoved their packs through separately, and then slid sideways into the crevice, which was several feet long.

Thankfully it was wider than it looked, and Katie had little trouble edging through it. The only tricky part was the uneven part at the end. "It's clear!" She called back through when she reached the other side.

"I'm coming!" Hunk called back, and she heard him grunt as he slid sideways into the tunnel. It was a much tighter fit for Hunk, and he moved much slower, sliding through, dragging his injured leg behind him. "This...is… not my idea of a good time," Hunk whuffed as he squeezed closer.

The shaking worsened.

"Hurry!" Katie called, beginning to fight down panic. Above them, the ceiling cracked sharply.

Hunk reached the last couple of feet. Then he was almost out… and then he wasn't. He stopped dead.

"What's wrong?" Katie demanded.

Hunk scowled, and jerked sideways. "I'm stuck!"

Of all the…. Katie grabbed his hand, and yanked. "We don't have time for this!" Her arm and back screamed in agony as she kept pulling.

"You think I don't know that!" Hunk shouted back over the noise as the roar of collapsing ceiling behind them grew louder. Something large had fallen on the other side.

The ceiling began to drop pieces. They were out of time.

"Suck it in!"

"I am!"

"Try harder!"

"This is as in as I get!"

"Damn it, Hunk!" Pidge pulled with all her might, though it felt like her arm was being torn from its socket. He was pushing she was pulling, and then, with a pop so sudden they both tumbled to the ground, he was out.

Katie felt his weight come down on top of her, but was too busy gasping for air as he rolled off her to grouse at him. She got up, grabbed their heavily laden bags, and scrambled for the exit, Hunk limping along behind her using the wall as a crutch.

They fell out of the exit as the ceiling of the tunnel collapsed behind them.

Outside, the ground was still rumbling and rolling, but there was nothing falling down around their heads.

Katie collapsed on the ground, gasping for air, and Hunk fell beside her. She had nothing left…

Slowly, the shaking faded, and ended, leaving instead an empty silence unnatural for a forest. Katie did not move until the animals and bugs resumed their normal chatter.

Everything hurt, inside and out. Pidge felt her body shaking. They hadn't died… they were alive...barely. But they were lying out in the open, defenseless. It took every ounce of stubbornness in her to come up to a kneeling position, and even that made her gasp in pain. Her left arm hung limp at her side, dislocated. Tears streamed down her eyes from the pain, and she did not try to stop them.

"Pidge… Pidge, it's okay," Hunk's voice came out in little more than a rough whisper. He was lying beside her still, on his back. "We made it."

"Barely," Katie snapped, trying to rub the tears out of her eyes with her right arm's filthy sleeve. She could hardly see anything. There was blood on her arm… a cut. She looked down at Hunk. In pulling him out, they had shredded the middle of his shirt, which had torn away. The skin across his midsection was abraded and torn too, and bleeding in spots. "I need to patch that."

"I'll live," Hunk objected, looking stung, but concerned. "You shouldn't do anything with that arm."

He had a point, but they had to keep moving. Pidge dreaded what she was going to have to do next. Slowly, she brought up her arm, which was starting to go oddly numb, and reached across her body. Her shoulder screamed, and she gasped, but she kept pulling it across.

Then with a sudden pop, the pain lessened, and she felt her shoulder sort of...slip. It still hurt, but she could move it without further agony. Letting out a long breath, Katie reached for her bag, and pulled out the medical supplies. Without another word, she pulled out disinfectant and bandaging. "Pull up your shirt," she ordered. "What's left of it."

Hunk did not object, pulling the shredded part up to just below his chest, as Katie disinfected the scratches across his belly, and then taped large disinfecting bandages across the entire area. Katie ran out of them by the time she finished.

"That's all we have," she said, hoping desperately that she wouldn't need to change bandages. She used the disinfectant on her own cuts, but had nothing left to cover them for the moment. As far as she could tell from the angle of the planet's sun, it was already late afternoon. Sometime tomorrow, their friends would be back. Still, it wouldn't hurt to put out a distress beacon set to Coalition frequencies. Katie stumbled through the process, setting it up on the nearest rock, then gathering enough wood together to attempt to start a fire. Even if they had nothing to eat, it would keep away wildlife.

They just had to make it through one more day.

June 28th, 2328

Except that it wasn't just one more day. Katie spent the rest of the afternoon until it was nearly dark using her equipment to assess the plants around them-and even a few large insects-for food value but, unlike the water, almost everything growing on the planet registered as questionable at best, and poisonous to humans at worst.

She continued the next morning, until she had tested every single possible food-source she could locate within a short walking distance of the now-collapsed temple entrance. The other nearby ancient buildings-smaller, indicative of a village- were devoid of anything useful.

Katie kept searching anyway, and re-searching, all afternoon. Hunk stayed by the beacon in case the Atlas arrived and contacted them. Every time she checked in, there was nothing. They missed the return contact by an hour. Then two. The sun began to go down, and still no word from the Atlas.

Finally, she had to give up. Katie lay flat on her back on the dirt, staring up at the sky, feeling hopeless, and helpless-two emotions she rarely felt, and she found she did not like at all. "That's it. There's nothing."

"There's got to be something we can eat!" Hunk said, sounding desperate. "Can't you look again?"

Work work work. That was all she had done since they arrived. Find a solution, Pidge. Haul your teammate miles and miles through ravines and upstairs and out of collapsing buildings, Pidge. Complete the entire mission on your own, Pidge. Start a fire, Pidge. Create food out of nothing, Pidge. Pain. Hunger. Fear. Stress…Something inside her snapped. "No, I can't!" She sat bolt upright and jumped to her feet. "There's no food, Hunk. Nothing, so deal with it!" Her heart was thumping hard and her mind was racing. They were stuck, alone, in a hostile environment. She was hurting, and itching, and filthy, and injured, and starving, and it just all burst forth in a torrent of words. "We'd have been fine if you hadn't eaten most of our food in the first freaking day! But no, you had to be a glutton and now we haven't eaten in two days, and barely eaten anything in four, and the Atlas is late, so who knows when we'll eat anything? It's not like you're the only person who gets hungry! I'm starving too. I've been hauling your ass around for days; my back feels like a twisted rope ladder. And while we're on the subject would it kill you to have a little self-control? I just… I can't….deal with this anymore. I… Argh!" She threw her hands in the air-immediately regretting it as her injured shoulder tweaked in pain, and stalked off to the other end of the clearing before she dissolved in tears of frustration.

---

Hunk was too shocked and hurt to say a word as Katie exploded in a fury of shouting and tears, then turned and stormed off. They were words he had never expected to hear… not from her anyway. His first urge was to run after her, but he couldn't stand. He was stuck, and thunderstruck. He also had no idea what to say to her; his fevered brain and pain-ridden body made thinking difficult.

His first reaction was indignant anger. It wasn't fair to blame him for a rotting tree, earthquakes, flooding, or a collapsing building! That tree could have collapsed under either one of them. Okay, so he had eaten most of their food… and broken Katie's glasses, failed to rescue their bedrolls from the flood...and been the cause of most of Katie's pulled muscles and dislocated shoulder…

The last dose of medication was wearing off, and he could feel his leg throbbing. Under the bandages across his belly, the scratches itched like crazy, but he didn't dare rub them. His stomach growled.

It had been years since Hunk felt helpless, or afraid. He didn't like it anymore now than he had then, but at least he could keep it in perspective. Katie didn't mean it. She was just as exhausted and hungry as him. Everyone had a breaking point. Once she calmed down, she would be fine.

As it grew dark, Hunk fed the fire from the small pile of wood remaining. They needed to keep it going through the night. While they hadn't seen any predatory animals, he had heard a pack of something howling the night before, and pack hunters weren't usually herbivorous.

Katie returned to the safety of their small circle of light only once it was fully dark. When she did, she lay down without a word, with her back to him and the fire. Then she lay still, and eventually the steady rise and fall of her side told him she was asleep. They had slept in shifts the night before. Apparently, he was taking the early shift tonight.

June 29th, 2328

"-nk? Pidge? Atlas to Paladins. Respond!"

Katie came suddenly awake. "Pal… Shiro!" She rolled over and sprang for the communication system. Beside her, Hunk had passed out leaning against the old tree stump, his head lolled to one side. It was dark, but the fire was still crackling. So much for security. "Atlas, this is Green Lion. Do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Pidge," Shiro's voice came through. "Sorry we're late. The Conference ran long. Were you able to complete the mission?"

Katie bit back the urge to curse Shiro out. He had no idea what they had been through, after all. "We found Altean artifacts! Are you on your way down? Are you getting our coordinates? We're in a clearing that's mostly dirt. You should be able to land without disturbing anything." Delicate ecosystem be damned. She wanted off this rock.

"We'll have a pod down there in half an hour. Are you alright? You sound tired."

He didn't know the half of it. "We ran into a few… challenges," she replied. "I'll tell you all about it when we get home. Holt out." Katie felt immense relief. They were saved! She couldn't wait to take a shower, bathe in anti-itch cream, and eat a real meal. "Hunk, wake up. Shiro's coming!" Katie shook Hunk's shoulder. He groaned, and blinked at her, but he didn't come fully conscious. Katie felt her spirits plummet as she touched his forehead. Hunk was hot to the touch. She had already felt guilty for her outburst the moment she fled; now she just felt like a terrible person. Guilt consumed her. As soon as he was conscious, she vowed to apologize for her outburst.

June 30th, 2328

Only a day had passed since the Atlas had rescued them in the middle of the planet's night cycle. Having spent most of it in an Altean healing pod in the infirmary, Katie felt much better, at least physically. Her back and arm no longer wanted to kill her, though there was some residual stiffness she could work out with stretches.

When she came out of the pod, Hunk had still been inside the one beside hers, and no one seemed to know exactly when he would be ready to come out, though she was assured he was fine. It would just be another day or so.

Katie went back to her quarters, showered, and changed into uniform. She had time to get food from the mess and then Shiro summoned her to his office for a full report. Their sacks full of artifacts were in her lab, but he had looked at all of them, and had some of the Alteans on the ship look them over. There were some initial thoughts and findings for her to look over. Mostly though, his concern was for the two of them.

"That's quite the story," he said when she finished her recounting of events, which she had kept purely professional. "I'm sorry we were late. If we'd had any idea that you were in trouble, I'd have turned the Atlas around immediately."

"It's not your fault," Katie assured him. "We were the ones who thought this would be a fun little adventure. I should have remembered that those never turn out the way we plan them. At least I know I still hate camping."

Shiro chuckled. "Well, at least you learned something then. I'm very excited to see what you find out about the artifacts. That's an incredible haul. We should return them to Altea on our way back."

"Definitely," Katie agreed. As much as she was dying to study them herself, the Alteans would be best able to fully determine the use of everything she had found, and plumb them for the full depths of information available. Coran was going to be ecstatic. "I'll call Coran later and tell him what we found. He can prepare a team for when we get there." It would still be a few weeks, but that was all right.

It would also keep her from worrying quite so much about Hunk until he woke up, and she had a chance to apologize for losing her temper at him on the planet.

July 3rd, 2328

By the time Hunk actually woke up three full days after she did, Katie had run out of ways to keep herself distracted. Every day felt like a knife in her stomach, twisting as if to remind her that he had been that bad off…and she'd yelled at him. As soon as he was awake, she needed to see him.

There was a brief, horrifying moment when she walked into the infirmary to find the pod empty. Katie froze, then turned and strode over to the door of the medical officer's main office. "Where's Hunk?" she demanded.

One of the junior officers was sitting there. Startled, she jumped to her feet, saluting. "He's awake… ma'am. Lieutenant Commander Garrett has been discharged."

"And no one called me?" No, no, she wasn't going to bite the poor girl's head off either. Katie took a deep breath. "Thank you… Ensign." She glanced at the junior officer's rank. Then she turned and left.

If Hunk had been discharged, surely, he would be in his quarters, getting a shower and a change of clothes the same way that she had. So that was where Katie checked first. However, she found the door locked, and the room apparently unoccupied.

When she finally found Hunk, he was in the other place she thought have considered checking first, the mess hall, sitting at a table and working his way contentedly through a tray of food that looked like it held half a buffet line.

"You're kidding me?" The words just slipped out of her mouth.

Hunk looked up at her, and swallowed the bite he had been chewing. "What? I haven't eaten in…almost a solid week. I'm famished."

"Well, I don't think you can make up for it by eating a week's worth of food in one meal." Not that it appeared to be stopping him from trying.

Hunk frowned. "It's nice to see you too," he quipped, instead of responding directly to her comment. "I'm glad you're all right."

Immediately, the guilt came back. This wasn't at all how she had expected this reunion to go. "I'm sorry. I've been really worried about you. I went to the infirmary, and they told me they'd let you out… but no one called me. I've been looking all over."

"Well, I've been right here," Hunk shrugged.
"Would you believe me that this wasn't even the second place I thought to look?" Katie smiled apologetically. "I was hoping to catch you somewhere a little more… private."

Hunk swallowed another bite, and his expression softened. "As soon as there isn't a black hole in my stomach, I'll be more than happy to go anywhere you want," he promised.

"I might be waiting a few quintants," Katie commented.

"It won't take me that long to finish," Hunk promised.

She had no doubt of that. Katie sighed. "Hunk…I'm sorry for going off on you down there. I was in a lot of pain, and hungry, but that's no excuse. You were sick, and injured…and it wasn't fair."

"Apology accepted," Hunk replied as if it were nothing. "I've never been one to hold against anyone anything they said when they were really hungry."

"How very magnanimous of you. I'm not sure I deserve it, though."

"Did you mean it?"

Katie paused. It was really hard not to look away from Hunk's questioning gaze. Obviously, he expected her to say no. Or did he? "Not really. You're not an idiot, and it wasn't all your fault. Most of it wasn't anyone's fault, unless you want to say it's mine for even suggesting the trip in the first place… but in the moment… I can't pretend I didn't feel that way."

For a moment, she thought he was going to say something, but then his expression changed. "Don't worry about it. I went along to help you out, and you ended up carrying me…literally. I really wasn't much help. How's your arm?"

"Better, now, thanks." Katie smiled. What had he been going to say instead? "And my back. I've been doing a lot of stretches and it's all healed up. So, no damage done."

"Oh good," He sighed with relief. "I was a little afraid I'd broken you."

"It takes a lot more than that to break me."

July 6th, 2328

Despite their misadventure, the Atlas was right on schedule to arrive at its next destination on time. Having missed out on nearly a week of preparation, Hunk found himself spending a lot of additional time in the kitchens, preparing, even after hours. He felt bad leaving Katie to do most of the analysis of their new finds alone, as well as some of the other projects, but she had assured him that the ones that needed him could wait.

Not that he had meant for it to get so late tonight, he thought, when he looked up at the clock and realized it was twenty-three hundred hours. Everything seemed to be in order, thankfully, which meant that he would be ready for tomorrow without any concerns.

He was getting ready to leave when his stomach growled at him, reminding him it had been five hours since dinner. Well, a quick nibble wouldn't hurt anything. Instead of leaving, he backtracked briefly to the refrigerator reserved specifically for the purposes of small-snack grabbing by members of the crew.
When he returned to the counter with cheese and a bit of leftover bread to slice up, he was startled to find Shay in the kitchen. "Hey, Shay." He set down his snack and picked up a knife. "What are you doing down here so late? Come to grab a snack too?" That, or maybe she had forgotten something when she got off shift earlier. She had helped him inventory everything a couple of hours ago.

The Balmeran shook her head. "No, I… wanted to talk to you about something."

"Well, go ahead." Hunk nodded as he made quick work of the bread and cheese. "What did you want to talk about?"

Shay looked a little nervous. "You have always encouraged me to be brave and express my feelings."

"Well, yeah. That's usually the best way to do pretty much anything."

"I… have feelings for you. I have for a long time. Ever since we first met, and you rescued my people from the Galra."

Hunk almost dropped the knife in surprise. "Shay, I… wow. That's a long time." A very long time.

"Yes. I should have said something years ago. It would be wrong to continue working together without being completely honest. I was very concerned for your welfare when you were injured on your mission." Shay stepped a little closer. "We've been close for so long that… the possibility of losing you now was very painful." Without warning, she leaned over and kissed him.

For a moment, Hunk's body froze. What the hell was going on here?! Shay… this was Shay… of all beings. They had been working in the kitchen together for years. Sure, they were friends, and he'd had a bit of a crush on her when he was a teenager, but…

Shaking himself, Hunk pulled back sharply. "Shay! Look… I'm flattered…really, but I'm already in love with someone else, and I don't know much about Balmeran relationships—even though I probably should—but on earth, a lot of humans only form romantic attachments with one other person at a time."

Shay did not seem to get the message. "Most, but not all?"

"Well, I mean some do with more than one. Maybe not most… but that requires all of them to consent!"

Shay nodded. "I see. So, we ask."

"No!" Hunk shook his head vigorously, backing up another step and wondering how he had even gotten into this situation. He should have known Shay would not have picked up on all of the nuances of human relationships. "No, Shay. I'm not comfortable with that. Seriously." And even if I was, Katie would murder me for suggesting it. As possessive as she was over her electronics, and people she cared about a whole, he could only imagine her reaction to the suggestion of sharing him romantically with another female of any species. If he were interested, which he wasn't. He knew several polycules with members who were part of the Garrison, and as many cultures as he'd met over the years, he was inclined to let people do whatever worked for them.

Shay looked hurt, and a bit confused. "But we are friends, aren't we?"

"Of course, we're friends, Shay. You're very important to me. But that's not the same thing. And I'm not comfortable with the idea of dating more than one woman at a time. I have enough trouble handling one." And that was with a woman he knew almost better than he knew himself.

"So, you are rejecting my declaration of feelings?"

It sounded so much worse the way Balmerans phrased things sometimes. Hunk sighed. "I appreciate that you feel that way, Shay. I really do, but… yes. I just don't have the same kinds of feelings for you. We can be friends, but that's all."

"I see." Shay looked disappointed, but in typical Shay fashion, she accepted it. "Very well then. My apologies in bothering your evening." With that, she turned abruptly and left.

Hunk watched her go. He felt bad hurting her feelings, but he would have felt much much worse if he had been less clear, or let her think there was a chance. Maybe once… a decade ago. He had always admired her courage, and her kindness. He had been drawn to her innocence and inner strength. But it just wasn't the same thing.

He turned back to his snack, quickly toasting the bread and melting cheese on top. After he devoured it, he washed the knife and returned everything to its proper place before heading out the back kitchen door into the hall that was the shortest route back to his quarters. He hoped the full stomach would counteract the complications of a full mind. Otherwise, he doubted he would be getting much sleep tonight.

---

Katie had known not to expect Hunk tonight. He had plenty of his own work to keep him busy, and they couldn't spend every moment together. She spent the evening back in her lab, focusing on her own projects instead of on the work she was doing for the Garrison. The M.I.C.E. prototypes were coming along great.

She was so lost in her work that before she knew it, it was nearly twenty-three hundred hours. Her dry mouth reminded her that she hadn't had anything to drink since she ran out of coffee a couple of hours earlier. Remembering she had nothing in her quarters except the water in her shower and sink, Katie decided that the kitchen was close enough to the lab for a quick detour on her way back to her quarters for the night.

What she was not at all prepared for was to hear voices coming from the kitchens when she arrived. She recognized Hunk's immediately, which only made sense. He must still be preparing for tomorrow. So probably whoever else was here was helping him. She would have to tease him for being such a grueling taskmaster.

"We've been close for so long that… the possibility of losing you now was very painful."

Katie stopped dead, mid-step just inside the mess hall. That sounded like Shay's voice. Had she said that to Hunk? Creeping closer, she poked her head around the edge of the open buffet line—

-and her heart almost stopped at the sight of Hunk and Shay kissing in the kitchens. Stunned, she staggered backwards out of sight, leaning up against the wall as her heart started pounding in a flurry of confusion, shock, and a pain she had never before experienced. Where she stood, she could still hear them.

"Shay! Look… I'm flattered…really, but I'm already in love with someone else, and I don't know much about Balmeran relationships—even though I probably should—but on earth, a lot of humans only form romantic attachments with one other person at a time."

"Most, but not all?"

"Well, I mean some do with more than one. Maybe not most… but that requires all of them to consent!"

"I see. So, we ask."

"No! No, Shay. I'm not comfortable with that. Seriously."

. "But we are friends, aren't we?"

"Of course, we're friends, Shay. You're very important to me. But that's not the same thing. And I'm not comfortable with the idea of dating more than one woman at a time. I have enough trouble handling one."

Trouble… handling? Somewhere in the pit of her stomach, Katie's shock turned to a trickle of rage and pain. Was she that much of a bother? Had the things she said hurt him more than he had been willing to admit? He said he had forgiven her…that everything was fine, but here he was, practically telling Shay the only reason he couldn't be with her was because he was with Katie. Had he lied about forgiving her? That seemed ridiculous, even for Hunk. But, Shay… Shay was here in the middle of the night making a love confession and kissing Hunk knowing he was already involved with someone else. Katie had liked Shay… now she found herself with the surprising urge to stab her with something.

And Hunk… whatever he was professing… he had kissed her.

Katie fought the urge to storm into the kitchens in a furious rage. Losing her temper right now would not help the situation. Shouting at Hunk would not make this better. She needed to get her emotions under control and her thoughts in order before she said anything if she didn't want to put her foot in her mouth and make matters worse.
So she fled, quietly, back out the dining hall doors without a word, never entering the kitchen.

The corridors in front of her blurred as tears began to fall.

July 7th, 2328

It was a weird night for Hunk. Not that he had expected any less after Shay's entirely unexpected declarations, and having to explain to her that he did not return her feelings the way she wanted him to. He had never been in the position of turning a woman down before. It didn't make him feel good, but honesty had always been his policy.

He did not have the morning breakfast shift, so he slept in a little, and went in at the time he normally met Katie for breakfast in the dining hall.

Ten minutes after he went through the line, his plate was empty, and Katie had not yet materialized. After twenty minutes he started to get concerned. Hunk finished his second plate and went looking for her. When he did not find her in her quarters, Hunk went to her lab instead.

"Here you are!"

Katie, hunched over her station staring intently at a circuit she was soldering, glanced briefly over her shoulder, then right back at her work. "Where else would I be?"

"I thought you were going to join me for breakfast this morning."

"Funny, it looked last night like you made other plans."

There was an odd note in her tone: cold, and kind of guarded.

Hunk stopped two steps shy of her. "What are you talking about?"

"Apparently I'm not the only woman who hangs out with you in the kitchen at night."

His stomach sank. How had she found out about last night already? "That wasn't planned. I wasn't expecting Shay to show up. I was just getting a snack after I finished up today's preparations."

"That's an interesting euphemism for making out with a woman in the kitchen. Am I a snack too?"

A warning alarm started going off in Hunk's head. Katie must have come looking for him last night. She had heard some of what had happened. Probably, given the tension in her shoulders, she had not heard all of it. Or, at least, she had not understood it all.

Shit… "We weren't making out! She just… kissed me."
Katie rolled her eyes. "Oh, I suppose that makes a difference."

"I didn't ask her to!" Hunk objected. "She just showed up and blurted out that she had feelings."

"And kissed you. I know. I saw you two."

He had that much figured out. Obviously she hadn't heard all of it though. Hunk sighed. "Katie… Why didn't you say something?"

"What, and interrupt a private moment? I was trying to get something to drink." She gestured at the work in front of her. "I mean, it did wake me up, so I guess I didn't need a cup of coffee or anything after all."

There was no way she had stayed for the end. Not if she was this upset. "Pidge. I turned her down. If you'd stuck around for two minutes, you'd have heard me do it."

"I left at the part where you two were discussing harems."

"We were not—geez! Do you really think I'd even consider that? And that's not what it's called."

"Well, I didn't ever think you'd kiss someone else while seeing me, so…"

"I told you she initiated it! I broke it off."

"Awfully slowly."

"She took me by surprise."

"Did you like it?"

"Pidge! That's not a fair question."

"Isn't it?" She shook her head. "Sorry. Look. Can we talk about this later?"

"No." Hunk grabbed her shoulders. "I really think we need to talk about this now. It's obviously bothering you."

"Of course, it's bothering me!" Katie spun around, abandoning the console completely, breaking free of his loose grip. Looking at her face, he could see the tracks of dried tears. "Shay's had a crush on you forever. That shouldn't even be a surprise. The fact that she felt comfortable making a move when we've been a couple for months… I don't even know what to say to that. I mean, she had to know. Right?"

"I thought she did!" Hunk had assumed everybody knew, as hard as it was to keep secrets. He'd been entirely open about it. But had he ever actually had a conversation about it? He'd never felt the need to have any special kind of conversation about it with anyone else. "But I told you, I turned her down."

"So she's going to leave you alone? She's going to stop butting in where she has no place?"

"I can't control her," Hunk pointed out. He didn't think Shay was the type to push the issue. She wasn't vindictive or mean. Her in the position of the woman trying to steal a man in a melodrama was ludicrous. It had to have been an honest misunderstanding.

"She works for you," Katie pointed out. "She'll do whatever you tell her to." Then some of the fury seemed to leave her. "I'm… it's been a long night," she admitted. "I was stunned… it had never even occurred to me someone else might be attracted to you."

Well, that stung. "Thanks for that little compliment."

Katie winced. "That's not what I meant! I just… I had no idea I could even feel… jealous or…that's not jealousy… so possessive of another person. I…"

She didn't finish however, as behind them, the machinery started whining loudly.

Katie's eyes widened and she turned around, frantically reaching for the controls. "Damn it! I told you this was a bad time. I've got to stop it before it reaches critical temperature or it—"

She never got the last words out. Something popped, steam vented from three directions, and metal rivets flew everywhere as a casting plate shot up into the air, banging into the ceiling.

Hunk and Katie dove for cover…and the power went out in the room, leaving them with nothing but emergency lights. Hunk was grateful for zoned power on the Atlas, especially in the experimental labs, or they might have blown more than the room.

He was about to ask Katie if she was okay, when he heard her stir, and stand, and a loud furious, tear-laden, "Shit! That's two months of work entirely ruined!"

Hunk stood up as the Atlas rerouted power to the room, and the lights came back on. "Are you alright?"

Katie glared at him, her earlier fumbled apology apparently knocked right out of her head. "No, I'm not. I… I need you to go away. Just…leave me alone for a while." She looked back at the wreckage, which was still steaming. The edges of the metal and parts of the insides were entirely melted.

That sounded like a very bad idea, but he nodded. She wouldn't accept his help until she cooled down. And…he couldn't really blame her for misunderstanding last night's situation. "Sure. I… is there anything I can do to help fix it?"

"No. You've done enough. I can't think straight right now. Just… go."

Hunk left. The best thing he could do now, as much as his insides screamed otherwise, was give Katie the space she needed to cool off, decompress, and figure out how to salvage what she could of the mess. She wouldn't be in any headspace to talk about last night until then, and by then he was sure she would have calmed down and gotten back to her usual, rational self.

---

Katie spent the rest of the day cleaning up the lab, trying to salvage what she could of the project, and the others that had been knocked all about by exploding debris. Still, all she managed mostly was some clean up, and diagnostics to make sure the intact machinery wasn't irreparably damaged. The last thing she wanted to do was start entirely over.

She fussed and fumed the entire time, mostly because she was mad at herself. She had been distracted at a critical moment…and she had lost her temper with Hunk… again. Why did this keep happening lately?

And why did Shay have to stick her big nose into Katie's personal life? She had always assumed that Shay's crush on Hunk had been obvious, and that after years of working together, Shay had just gotten over it, or decided that she was never going to make a move in that direction. It wasn't like Hunk hadn't been single for most of the past decade. Despite a few dates, he hadn't had anyone serious any more than Katie had. So, why now?

Why did the whole thing have to bring out the parts of Katie she hated most about herself? Jealousy…that had been a new and unpleasant realization. She had never been jealous of another woman before. Or maybe, it wasn't so much that… jealousy implied that Shay had something she wanted. What she really felt was… fear? Maybe it was fear; that Hunk would realize he preferred somebody meek, and sweet, and sensitive, and eager to please… like Shay. All the things Katie was not.

Which was stupid, because he had never wanted her to be any of those things in all the years that they had been the best of friends.

That didn't mean he might not rethink this whole relationship and decide he wanted to go back to just being friends. Could she even handle that? In her heart, Katie wasn't sure she could. Not if it meant seeing him look at someone else…

Fear, jealousy, betrayal… the last was not really fair, but she still felt it. She needed time to work through it all before she could have a reasonable conversation with Hunk. She didn't want to lose it… again. But then, she hadn't wanted it to happen this time either. He had surprised her before she was ready. Relationship emotions were unfairly complicated.

By the time the lab was back in semi-functioning order, Katie realized that it was well past lunch, and nearly time for dinner. Despite the fact that she really wasn't hungry at all, she knew that she still needed to eat. Reluctantly, she headed down to the dining hall, getting in on the early tail of the dinner shift. As she stood in line, she tried to avoid making eye contact with anyone in the kitchens, even as she glanced in every so often. Hunk did not appear to be on dinner duty… but Shay was, much to Katie's displeasure. Shay, who probably still had no idea Katie had overheard her and Hunk the night before.

Katie avoided making eye contact with the Balmeran as she reached for a salad. Shay was right there, refilling the salads, which made it hard. She couldn't tell if Shay was upset or not. Sometimes it was hard to read her expressions. Katie thought she had managed not to let her emotions show, but she wasn't entirely certain, as she walked away and found a table in a far corner of the room. She pulled out her data tablet, and planted herself in a position that made her look purposefully very absorbed in it while she ate.

Katie finished dinner without really tasting much of anything. As soon as she was finished, she paused only long enough to fill an entire thermos with coffee, then headed back to her lab. There was still plenty to be done, and she was still feeling irrational. Best not to deal with anyone in her current state of mind.

It would be nice to have someone to talk to, but she couldn't think of anyone who would be particularly helpful. She didn't want to talk to Romelle about this, or Ina, and definitely not Nadia. Nadia would almost certainly have plenty of advice, but Katie would have had to listen to her gasp in delight at the drama of it all… and Katie didn't want to be gossip fodder.

She just wanted everything to go back to being comfortable.

Katie just had no idea how to make that happen. Or, apparently, how to focus on her work and fume at the same time anymore. After another hour of attempting to work on the lab, she gave up. The overpowering urge to hit something suggested that maybe a trip to the ship's gym might help her blow off steam. There were punching bags if nothing else.

Maybe she could imagine Shay's face on it…

---

Hunk could not remember the last time he had spent a day in so much emotional agony. Sure, their last trip had been dismal, but at least the injuries had been mostly physical. He had thought everything had patched itself up when they got home and he had accepted Katie's apology. He had meant what he had said. How could he hold anyone accountable for things said in the heat of the moment when they were hurting, and starving? An empty stomach could make anyone insane.

The expression on Katie's face, and her tearful demand that he just leave her alone, stung like nothing else ever had. He was used to her turning to him for comfort… not shoving him away. He could not imagine why she wouldn't have believed him that it was fine, but obviously everything had not been okay, or she would never have reacted so strongly to what was a fairly simple misunderstanding.

One he ought to have been able to have avoided. He had frozen when Shay kissed him, instead of immediately disengaging. He hadn't, he realized, even said Katie's name during the entire exchange. In retrospect, it had probably sounded much worse from outside his head.

Hunk spent most of the day avoiding Shay in the kitchen. At least for anything outside of giving orders. It wasn't very professional, and it was definitely cold, but he wasn't entirely sure how to smooth everything over with either of them, or if Shay was even really upset. She was such a sensitive soul, he couldn't imagine she wasn't, but that didn't mean he needed to bring it up again. That wouldn't help anyone.

Mostly he spent the day worrying about Katie. He didn't see her at breakfast, or at lunch, and then he was too busy to even check the dining hall again. He couldn't hunt her down that evening, because he had that night's diplomatic dinner to over-see, and getting that cooked while still feeding the entire compliment of the Atlas was a multi-chef job. The big work was his work. Tucked out of sight in the back kitchens, he stood over hot stoves and pots, working away and barking orders as his hand-picked team prepared what would be a truly spectacular meal.

Not that he got to do more than taste a bit of anything to make sure it was perfect. Which it was. But his heart wasn't in it.

By the end of what should have been an exciting night, Hunk felt drained. He had put on his best act of course, smiling and announcing the courses, and explaining the special meanings and origins of each dish. Shiro had obviously been pleased.

Hunk remained, as he always did, in his kitchens until they were scrubbed spotless and everyone had completed their tasks. Then he thanked his team, and dismissed them. No one working the banquet that night would have to work the breakfast shift. It was one of his rules.

That included him. Concerned, Hunk decided it was time to go find Katie.

Except that…he couldn't. Or at least, he wasn't sure where to look when she wasn't in her quarters, or even her lab. It looked much better than it had that morning, so it was clear she had spent the majority of her day in there. But the experimental engine she had been working on was still a destroyed wreck.

He would just have to try again tomorrow.

July 8th, 2328

The next day didn't go much better. Katie dragged herself through the day, subsisting mostly on coffee and having turned off any incoming communications to her devices that weren't summons from superior officers or emergency notifications. Not that she anticipated any of either today. Shiro and the others were swept up in diplomacy. She wouldn't be needed until they were ready to talk tech.

She avoided the dining hall as much as possible, ducking in and out only long enough to grab easy to-go foods. If she worked straight through, she might have everything back in order before Shiro needed her in the next couple of days. The last thing she wanted to show anyone was the disaster in her lab.

Katie didn't see Hunk either. He seemed to have vanished. Of course, that probably meant he was back in the kitchens preparing for another night of important food. She felt guilty at the hint of relief she felt that she wouldn't have to face him… not yet. She continued to pointedly ignore Shay. At least if Shay was out on the lines serving food, she also wasn't with Hunk.

Not that she could avoid eating completely. It was late in the evening when Katie gave in to the grumbling in her stomach, and decided to head to the kitchens and grab a snack. At this hour, they ought to be deserted. Even Hunk's cleanup crews were normally done by now. She was almost done putting together a sandwich when she heard footsteps behind her.

"You are not approved to be in the mess after regular crew hours."

Katie's back went up. "Maybe you're looking at the wrong list." She turned, facing Shay.

The Balmeran looked irritated. That, at least, Katie could read. "You are not a member of the kitchen staff."

"There's no rule against making a sandwich at off hours as long as I'm not using reserved ingredients for any of the scheduled meals." Katie knew exactly what was and was not on that list, and where to find the detailed manifest and the meal plans. Hunk had always kept them in the same place, where anyone working in the kitchen could locate them. She finished putting mustard on her sandwich. "Besides, I'm done. I'll be out of the kitchen as soon as I put everything away." She pointedly ignored Shay as she put the mustard away, along with the bread, meat, lettuce, and tomatoes, leaving not a crumb. "See, no mess." She shrugged.

Shay was still standing between her and the doorway.

For a moment, Katie waited for her to move. "Did I forget something? I have work to get back to."

Shay moved then, but insisted on doing a detailed inspection of the area, before she nodded, looking dissatisfied. "Everything appears to be in order. Do not make a habit out of taking advantage of your friends."

Pidge almost choked. "Excuse me?"

"Just because you were colleagues before doesn't mean you get to assume special privileges."

"Why you presumptuous tart!" Pidge resisted the urge to throw a perfectly good sandwich in Shay's face. "I've never used my relationship with Hunk for anything! We're a team! If anyone ever used Hunk, it's you. Getting a position with the Coalition as a chef with no functional cooking experience what so ever. You're lucky he was nice enough to train you! Because that's what he is, nice, and dependable, and loyal, and wonderful, and if you ever touch him again, I will make you very very sorry." Then, before she could say anything that might get her in even bigger trouble, Katie turned on her heel and left the kitchen as quickly as she could manage.

Special privileges? Did Shay really think Katie was using Hunk? For something as stupid as a sandwich? There was no rule against anyone on board getting a meal in off hours if they were on duty during the regular meal times. Not everyone felt comfortable doing that, but any kitchen of Hunk's had always felt friendly to her, and she really did think of it as Hunk's kitchen. She hadn't ever really thought of any of the other cooks claiming any emotional ownership of the space.

Never before had she felt unwelcome.

She went back to work, but her appetite was gone, and the sandwich held little taste.

July 9th, 2328

Finally, things were starting to come together. With the lab cleaned up, and some ideas on how to make everything even better, Katie found it easier to focus on her work. She also found focusing on her work easier than anything else. So, she was entirely enraptured in her current project, re-programming the experimental engine basic controls. She didn't realize anyone had come into the lab until she heard Hunk's voice.

"Pidge, I need to talk to you."

"Give me a minute here." Katie completed several commands, then turned away from the console. Hunk looked serious, but that was to be expected. Maybe now they could patch things up. "All right. Talk."

"Did you shout at Shay last night?"

Katie's stomach twisted. That was what he was here to talk to her about? "We had a disagreement, yes," she replied cautiously. "I missed dinner, so I made a sandwich. I only used approved ingredients and checked the manifest and menu as usual. She tried to kick me out of the kitchen."

"So, you threatened her over a sandwich."

"Is that what she told you?" Katie barked, feeling her voice crack with emotion. "And you believed her?" Did he really think she would… okay so she had made threats, at the end.

"I didn't say I believe anything," Hunk pointed out. "I'm just trying to figure out what happened. If you didn't notice, half of lunch was burned."

Katie hadn't noticed. She had skipped lunch…again. "Well as was made very clear to me last night, nothing that happens in that kitchen has anything to do with me. Because obviously I'm just using my relationship to get into the kitchen after hours. Did Shay tell you she accused me of using you? Of being with you just to get special benefits? She made me wait while she inspected the area to make sure I'd cleaned everything up like some kind of invader. So yes, I lost my temper. I'm sorry about that, but I don't like having my integrity questioned!" And there she was, her voice was rising again… and her eyes were stinging. Katie refused to wipe them. "If you came in here to tell me Shay is upset because I refused to be trampled on and told falsely my own motivations for being in a relationship by someone who wants you for herself, then you should at least know everything your colleague, the tactless rock called me."

Hunk looked startled. "Now that's just rude."

"Shay was rude! What you don't believe me? Why would I lie, Hunk?"

"I didn't say I didn't believe you."

"Then why do you look and sound so skeptical? What, you didn't think Shay could be mean to people?"

"It's just so… out of character…" Hunk faltered, and Katie felt stung.

"For her, but not for me, right? Oh no, Katie's the sarcastic one, the temperamental one… the one who lied to everyone about her identity out of necessity, in order to save her family. So, clearly, I'm the one crying to you to gain your sympathy. I'm the mean one. I'm the jealous one trying to steal someone else's beloved best friend! Is that it?" Damn it…this was not fair! And she was losing it again… I am really not good at this.

Hunk's mouth opened, but no words came out. He had clearly been caught entirely off guard.

In seconds, she felt sorry she'd said anything, but she'd have given anything… really, anything, to hear him defending her, and all of her anger popped like a balloon. "Look… I don't want to make you choose between me and your friends but… Shay is not my friend, not now anyway, and she made it pretty clear that she doesn't like me either, so… I'm, just going to stay out of the kitchen. I know where I'm not welcome, and I don't want to be blamed by the rest of the crew for bad food."

Finally, Hunk objected to something she said. "You know you're always welcome in the kitchen. You've always been welcome."

Katie shrugged. "Apparently not everyone feels that way. It's not just your space anymore, even if you are in charge. And, it doesn't feel that way anymore. I thought coming on this mission was a good idea. It would give us time together, time to reconnect… but I'm beginning to think it was a mistake." All she had done the past couple of weeks was make him miserable, and she was miserable.

Hunk's mouth fell open. "What! No. Pidge… I want you here. This whole thing, it's a misunderstanding. There's nothing between me and Shay. There never has been. We're just friends."

"Well given the way she treated me last night, I'm not convinced she sees it that way. If she gets in my way again, or casts aspersions on my character, I won't hold back."

"I'll make sure it doesn't happen again," Hunk promised.

"Thank you."

A long, awkward silence fell between them. Katie didn't ask how he intended to make that happen. It probably meant a difficult conversation she was better off not being part of. But Hunk said he'd take care of it, so he would.

Never before had there been this kind of silent wall between them. They'd laughed, and argued about programming methods, and comforted each other. And now here they were… feet apart, with no idea what to say. She just wished Hunk would say something… anything.

"You know I can't actually control the people who work for me, right?"

Anything but that. Katie bit her lip, and clenched her fists, and tried very hard not to lose it again. "Actually, you can. Make it a quiznacking order if you have to."

"I can't order someone to feel something."

"Hunk, I don't care how she feels. Okay? I don't trust her anymore."

Hunk sighed. "Do you trust me?"

She nodded. "Yes, of course I do. I believe you that she kissed you without your permission. I believe you that you told her no and turned her down."

"Do you trust me to continue to turn her down if she doesn't stop?"

Katie didn't mean to hesitate, but she did, and she knew she had just a moment too long when Hunk's scowl deepened. "I do!" she blurted out, even though it felt late, even to her. "I'm just… this is a lot to process and I have no experience or frame of reference for how I'm supposed to handle what I'm feeling right now. I just need some time to figure me out."

That seemed to be the right thing to say. At least for the moment. Hunk nodded. "Hey, I get it. I'm not used to having more than one person interested in me at the same time. It's unpleasantly more complicated and less desirable than fiction makes it out to be."

"Is it… okay that I'm relieved that you're not enjoying this?"

That time, he cracked a small smile. "Yeah. I know I'd be jealous as heck and ready to punch any guy who made a move on you now. I mean, if there was anything left of him after you beat him to a pulp." He held out his arms tentatively, and Katie fell into them, hugging him tightly.

"Yeah. I'd bust his head in. But it's nice to know you would too."

Hunk hugged her close, and then she felt his lips on top of her head. "I promise, I'll take care of this," he spoke softly. "And I don't want you feeling unwelcome anywhere, especially not in the kitchen. It belongs to everyone on the Atlas, and you have every right to be there. Just, please stop skipping meals to avoid me, okay? You're going to waste away to nothing."

"That seems unlikely."

"There's barely anything on you now. How about we go to the kitchen and I'll make you something?"

"What did you have in mind?" Katie looked up at him.

"Anything you want that we have ingredients for. Just name it."

---

Whatever she wanted, Hunk discovered, turned into spicy seafood fajitas, and peanut butter cookies. In the better half of valor, Hunk pulled out a bottle of sweet, red wine.

"Wine and peanut butter cookies?" Katie looked at him curiously.

"Doesn't everything go with peanut butter cookies?" Hunk asked as he collected two glasses as well. "Your place, or mine?"

Katie didn't hesitate. "Yours. Mine is… not ready for company."

Hunk grimaced. "Mine isn't really either but…it's probably still less cluttered." Katie had never been good at keeping her personal space tidy.

Not that his room was in great shape, but it was cleaner. He hoped she didn't notice the remains of snack wrappers he had forgotten to pick up from the past few days. The table was clear though. He set everything out, and they ate, and drank… and before he knew it the bottle was empty.

After the past few days, he couldn't say he was surprised. Though his first realization it was gone was that he was feeling a little tipsy himself…and realized that Katie was a bit flush in the face. The mood in the room was finally relaxed as they chatted. When Katie started babbling about her new ideas and how fixing up her work was going, Hunk let her run without interruption, interjecting only where she asked him. He avoided any topic that might angle towards the past few days.

Eventually they moved to his bed, leaning back while they chatted. It was much more comfortable than the military chairs, and Katie leaning against him again was a balm his sore heart desperately needed.

He was not prepared when, during a natural pause in the conversation, Katie turned and planted one on him…. A deep, heated kiss that set him off from head to toes. She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her body against him without any hesitation. He did not resist. After three days of being on non-speaking terms or fighting, he craved her presence. Her absence had been physically and spiritually painful. Hunk returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around her slim frame as they snuggled down deeper onto the bed.

Hunk was even less prepared for the feeling of her hand slipping under the collar of his shirt… popping open the top button. Then her small, warm fingers were pressed against the skin of his collar and upper pectoral. A shiver of pleasure shot through him, and Katie chuckled slightly without breaking the kiss. Her hand slid a little further down onto his chest, eliciting further reactions. Another button came open. It was only at the third he realized she was undoing them on purpose.

His eyes opened, and he broke the kiss long enough to meet her eyes. "Pidge… what are you doing?"

"I want to see more of you," she replied firmly. "I want to feel more of you." Her hand moved again. "You…are… mine… and I've never even seen you without a shirt."

Oh geez… "I think… maybe you've had a little too much wine." It was a little late to object that she had certainly seen him in swim trunks at some point—hadn't she?—and she had bandaged his stomach not that long ago. That was clearly not the way she meant it. He went to gently shift her off of him, but found himself thwarted as she shoved back.

"I am not that drunk," she objected. "I know exactly what I'm doing. You love me, don't you?"

"Well, of course I do. But—"

"No no no no. No buts." She shook her head, the forelock of her bangs falling into her eyes. "I want that shirt off, mister, right here, right now." She pressed down against him. "Unless you're going to tell me you don't want to."

Ohhhh how he wanted to say yes, but there was no way she was in the right frame of mind. Three hours ago, they'd been fighting, and now she wanted to strip him? "Can I ask exactly where you were thinking of taking this little strip show?" he asked, deciding it was better to get a clear answer before making assumptions. She could, in fact, merely be suggesting they make out with a little less clothing.

"Where-ever it goes," Katie gave a nonchalant shrug, and grinned at him. "I figured we could just… experiment." She kissed him again, passionately, fervently, and it took all of Hunk's willpower to pull away once more.

"Pidge…Katie… I can't let you do this." His whole body screamed objections to his mind's better judgment. She was so close, right there on top of him, her shirt untucked, and he could feel the supple skin of her back against his fingers. He closed one hand on her wrist, and removed her hand from his shirt, which had fallen half open. "A few hours ago, we weren't even speaking civilly, and now you want… well nowhere this is going is a good idea."

Katie looked stunned, and hurt, and confused. "You don't want me?"

"I didn't say that!" Hunk objected, as he seemed to be doing often of late. "I'm saying that this is not the way it should happen. I love you, I do, and right now, I'm afraid if we start anything, it won't stop… and I'm not really prepared for this."

"Prepared?" Pidge's head cocked slightly sideways, even as she sat back on her heels, which straightened her up some, and brought her away from his chest. Only then did Hunk realize that her shirt had, at some point while making out, come almost completely open… and he could see the pale skin of her torso, and the fabric of her bra.

He willed himself firmly to remain in control. "I don't have any protection stashed away for a rainy day…like some guys." He'd never come this close to needing it.

To his surprise, Katie snorted, crossing her arms under her breasts. "I can't get pregnant, genius. Like every sensible menstruating female on this ship, I've been on a biochemical cycle regulator since I was seventeen. Have you ever tried being female in space? It is really inconvenient. Trust me."

Hunk chose to take that last question as rhetorical. "I… did not know that."

"Now you do." She shifted her weight on her legs. "So…any further objections to playing around and just… seeing where things go?"

Quiznak…. Where did she learn to do that? "I'm not… entirely opposed," he admitted. "Just… confused. Why now? I already know you're the most incredible woman in the universe. You don't have to prove anything to me."

He watched her face flush a brilliant shade of pink. "Would it help if I just admitted that I think you're incredibly attractive and I just really want to know what you look like without clothes… and I've been dying to find out for months…. But I've sort of wondered for oooh… most of a decade."

That was not a confession he had been expecting. "Really?"

Katie shrugged. "Lance and Keith seemed to walk around half-naked every time they wanted to use the pool on the Castle of Lions. Shiro had a thing for skin-tight sleeveless stuff even before he had a mechanical arm. But you…. You're always in at least two layers, and usually really baggy ones. I mean, outside of our Paladin uniforms, and even the Coalition uniforms aren't exactly fitted."

There was something incredibly adorable, and flattering, about her embarrassment. "So, you've been, what, fantasizing about me shirtless?" He couldn't help smiling.

"Well…not until recently. But I've wondered… but it would have been incredibly awkward to just ask you to strip before now, you know?"

"Agreed." If she had ever just asked, he'd probably have gotten incredibly flustered. Especially when they were teens. Heck, he was flustered now. Though it was sort of flattering to know she'd wondered. He had never really spent much time wondering what women thought of him. Usually if they had an opinion, they voiced it, and they weren't always kind. "Awkward but… flattering. So, if I take off my shirt, you'll be happy?"

"It's a start." Katie twitched. "I can't promise to behave myself."

"I'll take my chances." He smiled. Even if she couldn't, he could. "But you're going to have to get off me so I can sit up."

Katie moved with extreme reluctance, though Hunk noticed she made no attempt to tuck in or rebutton her own shirt, and he was almost certain that was a calculated move on her part. Katie calculated everything. This was the woman who had kept files of the strengths and weaknesses of her own teammates, and even had a backup plan for Shiro's Galra arm going rogue.

He did not think seduction techniques had been part of those lists…

Hunk sat up, and tried not to feel self-conscious as he finished removing the undermost shirt of his uniform. Comfortable as he generally was with himself, this was new territory. Sure, Katie had always been perfectly happy to accept him as he was, but that was when they had just been friends. What if she was disappointed? He stood, and turned away as he removed his shirt and draped it over the chair by his desk, where it went over the jacket he had shed much earlier as soon as he had gotten off duty. It still seemed like a weird request. She'd seen a good chunk of him just tending to his wounds on the planet. Well, no one said drunk Katie had to make sense. Taking a calming breath, he turned around. "Happy?"

Katie's eyes had gone wide and round, her arms limp at her sides as she stared at him with an expression he couldn't quite read.

Hunk refused to fidget, but he felt himself turning warm under her gaze. "Well, are you going to say something? I feel like a side of beef here."

Katie shook her head slightly, a bit of a smile quirking up one side of her mouth. "Grade A filet mignon maybe. I mean… I always knew you had a lot of muscle, but… wow."

In that moment, he was certain he could never love anyone as much as he loved her. "So, you're not disappointed?"

"Absolutely not" she scoffed, moving closer. "I will admit, I had no idea looking at a man with no shirt could be this attractive."

Her tone was almost the same one she used when evaluating new data, and Hunk couldn't help smiling. He didn't stop her as she reached up and touched him again, moving in close. His body tensed as she leaned against him, and hugged him. Her open shirt did nothing to block the soft, electric warmth of skin on skin. They kissed again, and he felt himself wanting to give in to her wishes, even though the tiny voice of common sense that lived in the back of his head was still grumbling.

Finally, he reached a mental compromise. He smiled gently as the kiss broke. "Katie… you are, without a doubt, the most amazing person I've ever known. And part of me wants, more than anything, to just do what you want, so, here's my suggestion."

"I'm listening." Pidge looked intrigued.

Hunk took her hands in his. "It's been an incredibly long and…emotional…couple of days. You and I are going to curl up, like this, and cuddle…and probably fall asleep. And, in the morning, when we're both sober, if you still want this… ask me again."

Katie nodded. "I'm good with that."

July 10th, 2328

Nadia Rizavi could hardly contain her excitement as she collected her breakfast and joined her fellow MFE pilots and other friends at the table. "You'll never guess what I just saw."

"What?" Veronica looked up from her breakfast.

"Pidge and Hunk came out of Hunk's quarters this morning… together."

This pronouncement was not meant with the shock or reaction she had anticipated. In fact, almost no one seemed surprised or impressed.

Veronica shrugged. "So what?"

Nadia shook her head in disbelief. "So… they've been actively avoiding each other and not talking for three days! Then I heard that Pidge and Shay had an argument of some kind. I couldn't get the major details, but I'd bet anything it was about Hunk."

"What makes you think that?" Ina asked, finally showing some curiosity.

"Are you kidding? This has all the earmarks of a steamy love triangle!" Why was no one here more invested?

"With… Hunk." Veronica arched one eyebrow before sipping her coffee.

"Okay, so it's not romance novel material. But I'm telling you, there was definitely trouble in paradise."

Kinkade put down his bowl. "Fine. So why are you using the past tense? Maybe they just talked things out, like rational adults."

Nadia scoffed. "Talk. Heh. Maybe. But Pidge is in yesterday's uniform."

Ina eyed her. "How can you tell?"

"It was wrinkled."

Veronica sighed. "I should point out that, given the number of all-nighters Pidge pulls in the lab, that's really not a sign of anything specific."

"They were smiling."

"Again, they could have just talked things out."

"Not with those smiles."

"If you saw them coming out this morning, where are they?"

"I'm not sure," Nadia admitted. "They should have been right behind me."

There was a general shaking of heads, rolling of eyes, and people returning to their food. Frustrated by their lack of interest, Nadia went back to her meal.

It was several minutes later when the two Paladins in question entered the room, and went through the breakfast line, chatting amiably.

Nadia nodded in their direction. "See!"

"See what?" Veronica asked. "They're acting completely normal."

"Exactly!"

Veronica shook her head. "You, my friend, need more of a social life."

"Veronica, I'm telling you something momentous happened last night."

"And… if it did, it's their business. If they want us to know, they'll say something. Just be glad they're back on speaking terms."

"True. I mean, we already suffered through one disastrous meal this week. I'd hate to think what would happen to the food if they actually broke up."

"That isn't what I meant." Veronica scowled.

Nadia smiled. "I was kidding!"

---

Katie did not envy Hunk having to have a difficult talk with Shay, but after last night—and this morning—she was no longer worried about the outcome, or any conflicting loyalties. Maybe to other men it might not have meant much, but she knew without a doubt that Hunk would never have acquiesced to her desires if he hadn't felt the same, and if he didn't really love her. Intimacy was not a casual thing to be tossed around, not to either of them. Up until recently, it had never been anything Pidge was much concerned with. There were far more interesting and important things to think about. But… apparently, even she was not immune to the allure of the right partner. Given how comfortable they had always been around each other, it had been far easier to express the thoughts in her mind on the matter than she had anticipated.

Okay, so half a bottle of wine had not hurt the issue. Still, Hunk had been nothing but considerate, patient, and…in the end, when she hadn't changed her mind… willing. While biological experimentation was not her scientific pursuit of choice, it might be far more intriguing a pursuit during her personal time.

She could now also see why other women might be attracted to Hunk, and yet simultaneously wondered why more weren't. Or maybe she could, since Keith and Lance—and even Shiro—seemed to be more the types others went for. Or even her brother Matt, when girls talked about looks. So, maybe her tastes were atypical.

Katie was more than okay with atypical. It wasn't like she'd ever been normal in any other way either, so why should her romantic tastes be any different? She had thought she knew everything about Hunk. It was nice to realize there was still more about both of them to learn together.

Even if it was making her terribly distracted today. Her thoughts kept wandering back to waking up that morning, and being pleasantly diverted until they were almost late to breakfast.

Katie would have been perfectly happy to skip breakfast entirely, but they did both have to report to their duties.

Katie was glad that she had hit a point where part of the new program was compiling, and that left her mind free to work on simpler aspects of the redesign, where if she wandered for a few seconds at a time, nothing was going to crash or explode.

That did not exempt her from getting caught day-dreaming however.

"Hey, Holt."

Katie blinked, and turned to find Nadia Rizavi standing beside her, holding a data chip, and smirking. "You needed something?"

"No, not really. I was just bringing you the readouts on the latest system's check on the MFEs, like you wanted."

"Oh, great. Thanks." She took the data chip from the pilot. Rizavi grinned, and then stood there just long enough Katie knew something was up. Knowing Nadia, she could guess what. "Something else you wanted to say?"

"Can I ask a personal question?"

"As long as I reserve the right to tell you to buzz off if I don't feel like answering it."

"Oh of course, of course. I was just going to say, it looks like whatever was up with you and Hunk seems to have been patched up, and since we're friends and all, I just wanted to say I'm glad you're doing okay… if that is, in fact, the case. I mean, things look better, but I didn't want to just assume…so…"

Well-meaning nosy, naturally. "Well, I appreciate your friendly concern. Yes, we're fine. That all?"

"Yeah, that was all." It was obvious from her dying-to-know-more expression that that was not all, but there were some lines even Rizavi wouldn't cross without invitation. "Glad to hear it. Let me know if you need anything: more MFE data, coffee, someone to spill your guts to, you know, the usual! Ciao." And then she was gone.

Katie shook her head, but smiled as she got back to work. It was nice to know people cared.

---

"So, how did it go?" Katie asked later as she and Hunk lounged on his bed—dressed this time, for now at least—snacking on leftover peanut butter cookies from the night before.

"It wasn't easy, but it turned out okay," Hunk admitted with a slight shrug. "I just made it very clear to Shay that we're friends, but that I'm not interested in more, and if she pushes, or if she treats you differently because we're a couple, then we won't be friends anymore."

"Wow. You'd do that for me?"

"No real friend of mine would treat you badly." Around her shoulders, his arm gave her a surprisingly gentle squeeze. "Not if they care about me, or know me at all. You are the most important person in my life."

"Even more than your mom?" She asked, teasing lightly.

"Even more than my mom and her amazing banana cake."

"Wow. Now I feel really special." She twisted slightly, so she could fully see his face.

"You should. I could never be this happy with anyone else. Something the last few days have made very clear to me. I love you, and I never want a life without you in it."

Talk about heart-melting. Katie reached up, one hand touching the firm line of his jaw. "When I saw Shay kiss you the other night… it felt like someone was ripping out my soul. I didn't think anything could hurt worse than when my father and Matt were taken… or when we lost Allura. I almost feel guilty, but that moment, even the possibility that I might lose you … that I might have to go back to just being your friend, or watch you with somebody else… I couldn't stand it. I've never felt so awful in my life and for once, I had no idea how to react, or even what to say. But, I know you would never purposefully hurt me, and I never ever want to hurt you."

One of Hunk's huge hands engulfed hers. "Don't worry. I'll never leave you. We're two halves of the same coin…we're Team Punk. Together, we're unbeatable." His eyes were bright with emotion. "I never want anything to come between us."

Neither did she. So, why were they wasting time with this whole dating thing anyway? After this morning, she wasn't even sure that was the right word. What he was saying though… "You know… it sounds pretty permanent when you say it that way, doesn't it?"

She saw the realization hit Hunk's face too. For a moment, he looked startled, then he smiled. "Yeah, it does. Maybe we should do something about that."

Katie was so surprised she couldn't help blurting out the first thing that came into her mind. "Is that supposed to be a proposal?"

"Well, I would call it a statement of fact," Hunk grinned, "But I suppose it would be more appropriate to ask, even if we did both just say we felt the same way."

Katie felt light-headed, and a bit foolish, as she pushed herself up enough that she wasn't just lying against him. "Which would be valid evidence that we are in agreement that a permanent arrangement would be… nice. I mean, it would be a formality really, wouldn't it?" A convention, but one that would demonstration their devotion to each other, to the life they would lead together… a lifetime of living their dreams, and supporting each other, and working on their projects in their spare time, all the things they wanted to do, and already did, but at the end of the day, no more separate, lonely rooms. No more being separated for months at a time. What was more natural?

"A formality that lets everyone celebrate with us, and eat cake." Hunk squeezed her hand. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Team Punk forever?" Katie smiled back. "Of course, it is. Besides, now that I've seen what I get to snuggle with for the rest of my life, how could I possibly resist?"

She got the pleasure of watching Hunk blush, well as much as he did. "Given I woke up this morning next to the prettiest woman I know, I feel the same way." He leaned in and for several long, enjoyable seconds, Katie just enjoyed the pleasure of kissing her favorite person in the whole world. When their lips parted, she grinned mischievously. "How should we celebrate?"

It was sometime later, as she lay sated and content in his arms, his chest and stomach warm against her back, that her thoughts turned to what this meant in the immediate future. "You know, we'll have to have an Earth wedding. If we don't, both of our mothers will kill us."

"Which would definitely be undesirable," Hunk agreed. "Have you ever even thought about weddings?"

Katie chuckled. It was a fair question. For as long as they had known each other, and as much as they had talked about just about everything under the sun, weddings had never been on her list of topics of interest. "Not a bit," she admitted. "There were always more important and interesting things to work on and…I was never really worried about dating, and before Voltron, all the boys I knew my age were bullies and jerks, or just immature, so no, it wasn't something I ever daydreamed about. What about you?"

"Nothing concrete," Hunk replied. "I mean, I've thought about food I'd make to cater weddings."

"Of course, you have."

Hunk grinned unabashedly. "Well, a successful reception and the union of two families has to have the right food."

Not that Katie foresaw any problem with the families. Their parents had met and talked several times during the months after Voltron liberated Earth from the Galra, and in the years since at various gatherings. Katie really liked Hunk's parents, especially his mom. "I like food, but as long as we don't serve peanuts, I'm good with pretty much anything."

"I can guarantee that where will be no peanuts at any wedding we are involved in. Especially not ours." Hunk kissed her neck. "Though I admit, a peanut butter cake might be tasty."

"Now that, I could go for. If no one we're inviting is allergic to peanut butter."

"Not in my family."

"Or mine. So, that sounds good." It occurred to her that there was a lot involved in planning a wedding, and she didn't really know the half of it. "This is going to be a lot of work, isn't it?"

"Only as much as you want it to be. All that matters is that someone licensed to perform weddings recognized by Earth is there to declare it done, and some witnesses. The rest is just icing."

"Someone recognized as having the authority to officiate weddings…. Like a ship's captain?" Katie asked, a crazy idea coming into her head.

Fortunately, Hunk's mind followed her, as usual. "You want to ask Shiro to officiate?"

"Can you think of anyone else who would say nicer things about us?"

"No, not really. Okay, so we ask Shiro. Anything else you want?"

"Not to have to get bogged down planning a wedding," Katie admitted. "Honestly, as long as we can show up, get married, and have a nice party with our friends and families, that's all I want. I'm almost willing to tell our moms to plan it. Except that I'm terrified of what my mother would make me wear."

Hunk laughed. "Well, if we want to save time and sanity, we could let them do most of the planning. Just tell them our absolute must-haves and let it go from there. Maybe we can convince them both to let my sister pick your dress instead. She's got great taste, but she's not into really frilly stuff either."

"That could be okay. But we'd still have to figure out where to have it. I don't suppose we could get away with doing it on the Atlas?"

"If I can make a suggestion, I might know a beautiful spot on Earth that's got great views, nice weather, and is remote enough that the entire planet won't want to butt in, but everyone would have a good time, and no one will expect us to be exceedingly formal."

"Well, that sounds nice," Katie had to agree. "What did you have in mind?"

"One of my Dad's cousins owns a resort on a little island off American Samoa."

Katie rolled over, so she could stare at him. "Your family owns a tropical resort and you never told me?"

"It never came up," Hunk shrugged. "Besides, when we met, you hated the outdoors."

"Tropical resorts aren't real outdoors. They're the outdoors with air-conditioned villas, and shade umbrellas, and staff who bring you stuff."

Hunk looked amused. "So, resort?"

"Yes, resort. See if your cousin's place is available. Even my mom can't object to a romantic tropical destination wedding." Even if it would really be Hunk's dad's cousin's place.

"I'll get on that after we've told our parents. Which reminds me, when do we want to do this? They're going to want some kind of timeline."

"We'll be back on Earth in a couple of months. The Atlas will be in dock for a month for re-supply and maintenance." Waiting seemed sort of silly. "How fast can they put something together?"

"If we tell Mom she's getting another daughter in a month? Probably a week. She's amazing at putting together family get-togethers on short notice, especially for celebrations, and she already thinks you're amazing."

"Really?" Hunk's Mom had always been nice to her, but she hadn't felt particularly amazing.

"You're important to me. That's all it takes for Mom to like people. The fact that I love you, well, she's probably already thinking of you as part of the family."

That was nice to know. Katie already knew her family was fond of Hunk. Of course, her father had been the first one to tease them, years ago, when she'd never given it any thought, by pointing out how much she and Hunk were like her parents. He was, possibly, the only man she could have seriously dated without her choice of boyfriend getting the third degree from Matt, Dad, and Mom. Mom would have been the hard sell anyway. "Well, you know my family already pretty much considers you part of it. I mean, Mom won't give her favorite yeast to just anyone." Or let them call her by her first name.

"I knew Colleen liked me." Hunk relaxed deeper into the bed. "I'm sure as long as we give them some clear parameters, everything will be fine, and we won't have to stress out about this."

"Nope. My mom can do it." Katie quipped as she readjusted, so she could snuggle closer under the blankets. "And yours can make her chill out."

"My mom is amazing, but I'm not sure about working miracles." Hunk chuckled before speaking the off command for the lights.

Katie smiled as she closed her eyes. "Sure, she can. She raised you, didn't she?"

"Are you insulting me, or complimenting my mom?"

"I'm saying she raised someone as wonderful as you. It's a double-compliment. Now, can we get some sleep?"

In the darkness, she felt a last quick kiss on her forehead. "Night, beautiful."