Work Text:
There were many things Shay liked about being one of the Ambassadors of Voltron. She got to see many planets, and speak with the newly-freed people of other balmeras, and spend time with Hunk when neither of them were busy with their duties. There were downsides too, of course, like missing her family and the balmera she’d grown up on and eating Coran’s cooking, but for the most part she enjoyed her job. Sometimes, though, she wished she had never accepted Princess Allura’s offer. Times like now, when all she could do was watch helplessly as four of the Lions circled the badly listing yellow one, protecting it and its pilot from the new and stronger fighter drones.
“Paladins, retreat!” Allura ordered, strong and confident even when one of the indicators on her screen was blinking its unresponsiveness. “The draxians have charged their weapon, you have a dobosh and a half to clear the target area!”
“Keith, Pidge, go now! Lance, help me with Hunk!” Shiro barked. “Allura, we’re going to need cover fire!”
“On it.” Allura said crisply, hands flying across her screens.
“Yes sir!” three voices responded half a tick later, and Shay held her breath as the black and blue Lions began pushing the yellow one towards the castle. She didn’t exhale until the draxians fired, obliterating the fighters Allura hadn’t destroyed.
A hand touched her elbow and Shay startled, reflexively bringing her arm up and back. It struck a nose, and she spun to see Coran. “Ah, my apologies.” she winced.
“No, no, my bad.” the advisor chuckled. “Looks like that training’s been sinking in.”
Shay felt her face heat, and Coran’s hand came to rest on her shoulder as she looked away. “They’ll be bringing him into Black’s bay. I’ll prep a cryo-pod, you help Shiro get him there.”
Shay nodded, and hurried out of the bridge to the elevator. The ride down to the hangar level had never seemed so long before, and when the doors finally opened she nearly sprinted out. Yellow was sprawled on his side, mouth lolled open, and Shay clambered over massive metal teeth into the internal hallway which lead to the cockpit. Shiro grunted as he rounded the corner that was supposed to be a ladder leading up to the passage between cockpit and speeder bay, and Shay quickly stepped in on Hunk’s other side, pulling his arm over her shoulders with one hand and placing the other under his opposite arm.
“Shay?” Hunk mumbled, and she exhaled heavily as he sagged against her. At least he was awake, and alert enough to know her presence.
“I am here.” she said softly, leaning her head against his briefly. “Coran is preparing a pod.” she said to Shiro, and the Black Paladin nodded once.
“Good.”
“I don’ need one.” Hunk mumbled indignantly.
“You’ve got a concussion, damaged ribs, and possibly internal bleeding.” Shiro said sharply. “You’re going in a pod.”
Shay sucked in a breath between her teeth. If Shiro was distressed enough to be snappish, then Hunk was certainly more injured than he appeared. “Would it be bad for his injuries if I carried him?” she asked. looking to Shiro. “I am strong enough, and it would be faster than this.”
“Since it’s you, he’ll be fine.” Shiro said after a few ticks, slipping out from under Hunk’s arm and letting Shay take his whole weight. “Hurry, I want him in a pod asap.”
“Of course.” Shay nodded, and released Hunk’s hand to sweep his feet out from under him. He yelped, and clung to her as she straightened up. “I have you.” she murmured, willing some of her quintessence into her palms. Not as much as she used to ask the balmera for even its smallest crystals, but enough to soothe Hunk’s pain.
“I keep forgetting how strong you are.” Hunk grinned up at her, his head resting on her shoulder.
“It is nothing.” Shay smiled back as she stepped into the elevator, briefly shifting his weight to one arm so she could select the floor where Medical was located. Hunk hissed as she shifted him back, and Shay quickly looked down at him. “What is wrong?”
“Nothing.” Hunk grinned, but it was a tight painful thing. Shay frowned at him.
“Hunk.”
“I think I hit something wrong, when I was getting tossed around.” he admitted after a few more ticks under Shay’s stern gaze. “Got a little stabbed.”
“Hunk!” Shay held him closer. “You said you didn’t need a pod!”
“Didn’t wanna worry you.” he smiled, still pained but a little more genuine. “Can’t do anything ‘bout it til we reach Medical anyways.”
“Which will be very soon.” Shay said, straightening up and checking the display. It was in Altean characters, but she’d learned the numbers easily enough. At least they used base ten for all their measurements, like any sensible species. “Coran has a pod ready, and a cryo-med suit I’m sure.” she said as the doors whooshed open, letting her out into the hallway.
“There you are!” Coran exclaimed when she stepped into the smaller room adjacent to the one with the cryo-pods. “Here, lay him on the chair, I’ve got a suit ready for as soon as he’s out of his armour.”
“He is hurt.” Shay said as she laid Hunk down, her fingers going to the latches which unsealed his cuirass from the flight suit beneath. “Something got under his armour.”
“And I’m pretty sure it’s still in there.” Hunk grimaced as Shay lifted his torso to let Coran slide the cuirass completely off. There was a puddle of blood in the backplate, that sickly garish red she’d never seen from another species but Hunk’s, and she quickly unzipped his black flight suit to the belt. The back of his ribs were wet, and as soon as Coran had the rest of Hunk’s upper body armour removed Shay was able to peel the dark fabric away and sit Hunk up to get a proper look.
There was a plane of metal as wide as her shortest finger was long embedded in his back, blood oozing out from around it and staining his off-white binder that sickly, sickly red. “It seems to have gone along the outside of your ribs, rather than between them.” she said, pressing gently around the injury. “I can remove it, but you will have to be still.”
“Just yank it out quick.” Hunk said through gritted teeth. Shay dug her fingers into the open wound, pierced the metal with her nails, and pulled. Hunk screamed, and as soon as the metal was free of his body he slumped forward on Coran’s shoulders. The binder was ruined, but Shay wasn’t too worried. The castle fabricators could make another one. She’d have it done to give to her partner as soon as he was out of the pod.
“Think you can dress yourself?” Coran asked, tossing the last of Hunk’s armour into a box and picking up the folded cryo-med suit. Hunk nodded, and Shay busied herself with examining the metal piece. It looked like a chunk of panelling, glossy grey on one side and matte on the other. It had been so near his heart. Just a few inches aside, and she would be down a partner.
“How’s my binder?” he groaned. Shay turned around and picked up the bloodied fabric, tucking it in a pocket of her tunic.
“Nothing you need to be worried about.” she smiled, pulling his arm over her shoulders. “Let us get you to a pod. The sooner you wake, the sooner you can tell me about the draxians.”
“Alright.” Hunk nodded, letting her pick him up again. “You’ll be there to catch me when I wake up, right?”
“Of course.” Shay grinned, nuzzling his cheek. And she would have a new binder waiting with his clothes, fresh from the fabricators.