#pidge vs a counterhacker

[seeds-of-the-garden]

Pidge and Lance get stuck in an air vent together and have to unload some big feelings w/ each other.

Brilliant. Nothing resolved in this one, but that’s half the fun for anyone who wants to pick it up. :)

~~~~~

Pidge taps gently on the thin metal of the air vent, the marvel of how structurally sound it is to hold not only her weight, but also that of Lance, crosses her mind only briefly. Finding the bridge without a map has been not been an easy task. The information rests in the back of her mind, compartmentalized along with all the useless trivia she and Lance had quizzed each other on the way here, to relieve nerves.

They've run missions like this so many times before, but being in the middle of a Galra base with only a teammate, a bayard, and her wits still keeps Pidge on edge. Its her and Lance against an entire battle ship full of aliens who would torture and kill them. Commander Bineck more than most - he's the only Galra commander who has managed to counteract her hacking attempts. If Pidge is to get past his firewall, she has to do so from the bridge. And they need his systems down in order to get much needed supplies to the planet below and make contact with the underground government.

Pidge is stressed and annoyed that she doesn't own the hacking fight this time around. That was her thing, she's supposed to take care of it with much more ease than this and from a distance, not risk her life and Lance's like this.

White, black, and blue appears in front of her. Pidge gasps and coughs, not realizing she'd been holding her breath.

"Lance," she hisses softly, "get your foot out of my face."

Metal creaks as he shifts around in the confined space. "I think my leg fell asleep. I need to stretch," he whispers back hurriedly. "Can we get out of here yet?"

Pidge taps the metal again. "I don't think we're even close." Its so disheartening. The team is counting on her. In normal circumstances she would be thrilled to be sharing such a confined space with Lance, relishing in his need to be in her space and her heart jumping when he put his arm around her, warmth tingling up her arms at the simple act. But he's behind her, the two of them tangled in a strange mess on a mission to save the planet.

"No," she snaps. Lance breathes in, about to respond when the familiar clanking of sentries marching sounds off below them. "Be serious, Lance." It hurts her to say. He's so good at being the distraction she needs, but not right now when she knows what Binek has in store for them and the pressure on her to get to the bridge and bypass that ridiculous firewall...

"I'm not a goofball!" Lance insists hotly.

Pidge blinks. What? "I never -- " But she had said it. Not just now, but before. She gapes, the image of their route to the bridge replaced by a multitude of different things she should tell him - chief among them that she appreciates his goofiness typically but she's super stressed right now and can't--

The metal that held the two of them gives way, Pidge hears her own yell blend with Lance's scream as artificial gravity sends her arm to the hard floor.

A light sigh. Before them, ahead of a squad of sentries, is Commander Binek himself.

"You Paladins are much... noisier, than I expected," he remarks calmly, hands tucked professionally behind his back. "Your military training is abysmal. Why you haven't been squashed yet is beyond even my knowledge."