Third POV

"I let her down and now she's in a pod for a third time!" Lance was going crazy. The rest of the crew had never seen him this upset. Not even Hunk, who has been friends with Lance since he was 5.

"It'll be okay." Hunk walked over toward him. "She'll be ok."

"No it won't! Cause she's going to get out and blame everything on herself. She's gonna think that she has to bottle up her emotions and deal with everything herself because she's been hurt already." He stared directly into Hunk's eyes.

"Lance! Calm down." Shiro was in the corner of the room with his arms crossed. "We don't know the full situation yet and-."

"Shut the fuck up, Shiro!" He growled. "You saw her stuff those pills in her mouth and if wasn't for both me and you, she would be dead now!" He walked up to Shiro and pointed his finger on his chest. "So cut it out with this we don't know the situation bullshit."

"Lance, I understand that you're upset, but if you take your anger out on the rest of us, what good would that do?" Shiro was the calm one in this situation. While Lance was going on a rampage that even scared Keith, Shiro tried his best in calming the Cuban down even though nothing worked.

"I- I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." Lance started to calm down, though his shoulders were still tense.

"It's fine, Lance. You were just worried for Pidge, we understand." Hunk rested his hand on the blue paladin's shoulder. Lance looked back at all of them. Shiro was still serious, Hunk was smiling at him, and Keith just rolled his eyes before smirking.

"What?" Lance's curiosity got the better of him and so he decided to ask the raven haired teen what he found so amusing.

"Man." Keith closes his eyes. "You've fallen hard for her, huh?" A red tint spread across Lance's face. "I mean earlier it was cute and everything, but you truly love her. You're ready to do anything for her and if you could you would take away all the pain she's having, but you can't and it's killing you inside that you can't seem to help her after all your attempts."

"Woah."

"What?" Keith opened one of his eyes.

"How do you know so much about this kind of stuff?"

"I just do! I'm not dense!" Keith flustered. His face was getting red. It seems like Keith was hiding a few secrets of his own.

Lance chuckled at his nervousness.

"PALADINS! TO THE MED BAY!" Allura hollered through the comms.

Lance ran as fast as he could over. Allura said she would call them if she had any updates on Pidge and so far it's been two hours since she's been in there with Coran and Allura and Lance has been dying to know what's up with Pidge.

"What happened?! Is Pidge ok?!" He was trying to catch his breath, but the thought of Pidge dying clouded his mind.

"She pulled through, there was a moment we're Coran and I had thought we lost her, but everything is fine now." Allura walked over to the paladins.

"Oh thank goodness. I just wish I had done something that could've helped her."

"But you did! If it wasn't for you checking up on Pidge when you did, she would be gone by now."

"What do you mean?" Lance cocked his eyebrow.

"Those Altean pulls are very strong and taking more than 5 in one day will definitely lead to death. That's why I only have her 5. I know it's rude to assume, but with the recent events I- I didn't know what to do."

"That seemed like the best option, since she did, well you know. And with Lance removing 2 out of her mouth she only managed to swallow?" Keith mentioned.

"One, but she did have two prior to the accident." Allura looked back at Pidge. "I'm just glad she didn't take all, or I'm afraid she wouldn't be here right now."

"When will she be fully recovered?" Hunk was just as worried as Lance was and he just wanted Pidge to feel better, no matter how many peanut butter cookies he'd have to make.

"It's what you earthlings might call 6 hours."

"Only 6 hours?" Keith questioned. No matter what the injury was, it was never this short of a time period.

"Yes. She didn't have any physical injuries to be healed, we just needed the toxic out."

"Then why be in a pod for 6 hours if she doesn't need it?"

"I'm not saying she doesn't need it. She has minor cuts around her body mostly around her writs. I don't know where she got them from, but I thought a quick trip in the pod would do some good while I try to figure that out. I don't know if it's a creature around the ship, so be alert."

"Cuts?"

"Yes. Like I said they are only minor. They won't cause serious damage since the cuts weren't deep. Only thing it could do is sting a bit."

"Then those aren't from a creature."

"You know what it's from?!"

"Yeah. It's from her." Lance piped in. He didn't feel right about telling Pidge's business, but this was better than her never saying.

"But How is that possible?"

"She used a sharp object. She made the cuts on her skin herself."

"But why?" It's not like Allura understood self harm like the paladins do. She honestly didn't know why Pidge had cut herself.

"It's called self harm. She did it to feel relief from stress or pressure. Any mental pain she was feeling she'd try to overpower it with physical pain. Soon the pain will start to get addicting and may led to death. Though to those who are desperate, it will seem like it helps, but trust me it doesn't, so I do not recommend it." Shiro informed. Though it may not seem like it, but Shiro knew some things about suicide and it's causes.

"Understood. But did you say stress? I understand being in the position of a paladin is pressuring, but if it led to this. Why didn't you guys do the same?"

"Well we take stress differently. Sometimes you could just talk through it, maybe you'd need a friend, or maybe you just need a day to relax and take a break, but Pidge doesn't do that. She builds up her stress and pain and will never try to fix it. She doesn't open up easily either, and though she seems composed and together, she's all over the place with doubt. I mean she hasn't been living a good life. She's been taught at a young age to keep her feelings to herself."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it this way. She's keeping all her emotions in a small bottle. That bottle is very unstable and after all these recent events, some of her emotions are tipping out that bottle. She's trying to keep herself contained, but to no avail."

"Then how do we help her?!" After Allura seemed to grasp what was going on with Pidge, she wouldn't dare let he younger paladin feel alone again.

"For now we should show her that she's loved and welcomed, but at the same time give her time."

"And how will we manage that?" Keith asked. He wasn't very the emotional type.

"We should start with 1 person at a time." Everyone turned to Lance.

"Me?!"

"Though you guys have your problems, she feels most comfortable with you." Hunk patted Lance's back.

"Makes sense." Keith shrugged.

"Then it's settled. Once she leaves the pod, Lance will be there to welcome her." Shiro agreed with Allura before he turned to leave the med bay, with the others following soon after, leaving Lance alone with Pidge.

Lance walked up towards her pod and collapsed to the ground. "I couldn't help you!" He sobbed.

"I'm a terrible excuse of a friend!" He banged his hand on the glass. "But. I promise you Katherine Holt, no matter what happens." He stood up to stare at Pidge. "I will be by your side. I will help you with what you're going through. You are not useless either, so stop saying it! I don't care what that bastard Kenneth told you when you were younger! You aren't a burden! You aren't hated! You aren't a fuck up! Ok, Katie?! I don't care how many times he yelled at you for living! Because to me you are everything! You're my sun, the reason why I get up everyday! And no matter how long it takes for you to see that, I'll be with you through it all!" He chuckled at the end.

"I love you Katherine." He rested his head on the glass. "I'm your goofball and your my genius."

"So wake up, Pidge." He looked back up at her with tears rolling down his face. "For me."