Hunk: Hey Katie. Wanted to check in on you and see how you're doing. Let me know if you need anything
✓ Read 10:42 AM

They took the bus into town.

Despite its seemingly remote location, the Garrison base wasn't actually too far removed from civilization. An hour-long bus ride and they were in Flagstaff.

Hunk had only ever been to the Holt's house a couple times, but he still had the address saved from when she texted it to him months ago, before he came over for dinner.

And so the day after the news broke about the Kerberos mission failure, Hunk was standing outside the Holt's house, tupperware in hand and Lance in tow.

"I feel like we should have called ahead," Lance commented as they climbed the front steps.

"Katie hasn't been answering any of my texts," Hunk said for what must have been the tenth time since last night. "I'm worried about her."

"Yeah, I know," Lance placated. "But they may not appreciate the surprise visit."

Hunk hesitated, hand already raised to ring the doorbell, before sighing and pressing the button. "Well, we're already here. And I want to check in on her."

They were waiting by the door for nearly a full minute, and Hunk was starting to think that Lance was right and they really shouldn't have come, when the door opened to reveal Colleen Holt standing in the threshold.

She relaxed when she saw who it was, offering him a small smile. "Hi, Hunk," Colleen greeted, opening the door so the two boys could enter.

"Hi, Mrs Holt," Hunk replied, stepping inside. "I'm so sorry."

"Thanks," she said softly, closing the front door behind them. "How have you been?"

He shrugged. "Been better. But I mean, we're here to see you." He offered her the larger of the three covered dishes that the two boys had brought with them. "We made pasta."

"And garlic bread," Lance added, holding up the second. "Garlic bread makes everything better."

Colleen took the spaghetti platter from Hunk gratefully. "Thank you, boys." She set it down on the kitchen counter. "Hunk, who's your friend?"

"Oh, right, this is Lance," Hunk told her. "He's my roommate."

Lance set down the garlic bread by the pasta, leaving him holding only the smallest of the three boxes. He tucked it under his arm, freeing his other hand to shake Colleen's. "Hey."

She clasped his hand tightly. "Thank you both for coming," she told them. "Katie's up in her room. Go see if you can talk to her, alright?"

Hunk saluted, already walking towards the stairs. "That's what we're here for!"

"And stay for dinner, won't you?" She called as they headed up.

"Yes, ma'am!" Lance called back.

Upstairs, Hunk stopped at the first door on the right, painted a pale mint green.

He knocked gently on her door. "Katie?"

From inside, a noncommittal groan.

"It's Hunk," he continued. "Can I come in?"

A pause, and then a weak, "Yeah."

Hunk pushed the door open, slipping inside with Lance at his heels.

She was sitting up on her bed, rubbing at her eyes absently. She wore an oversized green sweatshirt that nearly drowned her—Matt's, if he had to take a guess.

He took one look at her red-rimmed eyes and her disheveled ponytail, and wordlessly held out his arms for a hug.

Katie bit her bottom lip, choking back a strangled sob, as she stood up and collapsed into his arms.

He held her for a long time.

After a few minutes of crying into his shirt, she sniffled. "Sorry for not answering your texts."

"That's okay," he murmured, rubbing her back.

"And for getting your shirt all wet."

"Doesn't matter."

She pulled away, wiping at her eyes. "Thanks for coming."

"'Course," he replied. "What are friends for?"

She paused, catching sight of the other person in the room (namely, Lance, who still stood by the door, awkwardly scuffing the toe of his shoe against the carpet). "Who...?"

"Oh, Katie, this is my roommate," Hunk introduced.

"Hi," Lance said, holding out a hand. "Sucks that we're meeting under such awful circumstances, but it's nice to finally meet you." He offered her a hesitant smile.

She reached out to take his hand. "Yeah. Lance, right? The pilot."

"That's me," he agreed. "Uh, here." He held out the tupperware he was still holding towards her. "Here, we made these for you. Hunk said they were your favorite."

She took the box curiously and pulled of the lid, revealing the pile of peanut butter cookies tucked inside. Her shoulders slumped and her face melted into a smile. "Thanks, guys."

"We know you're going through some hard times right now," Hunk told her. "So if you ever need anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm here if you—"

"I don't think they're dead," Katie said suddenly.

Hunk froze, exchanging confused looks with Lance. "Uh, what do you mean?"

She set the tupperware of cookies down on her desk, starting to pave the length of the room. "I've been thinking," she started, "doing the math, and analyzing the data. And I don't think they died. At least—" here, she fumbled "—at least, not how the Garrison says they did."

Lance frowned, crossing his arms. "How?"

"It doesn't add up," Katie was ranting. "A crash? I mean, they landed weeks ago!"

"Whoa, whoa, back up," Lance said. "How do you know that? Everything about this mission has been classified."

"Dad and Matt had a code," she explained. "Dad would send coded transmissions to us, even when he wasn't allowed to." She gestured to a blocky computer-like hunk of technology that sat on her desk. "That's the receiver, right? They've been talking to me since the launch. And they landed weeks ago," she raved. "And Matt's been sending me transmissions since then every few days, giving me updates on what they've been doing. It's all in my notes." She grabbed a burgundy notebook off her desk, flipping it open to a page full of numbers and letters, with the translated messages printed neatly below.

Hunk took the notebook in fascination, flipping through the pages, reading the messages. Lance peered over his shoulder.

Katie was still staring at the receiver that sat on her desk. "Problem is, it's a one-way communications line."

"So you can't send anything to them," Hunk translated.

"Exactly," Katie agreed. "And I know you probably just think I'm crazy and grasping at straws and that denial is just one of the stages of grief, but I swear—"

"No," Hunk interrupted. "No, you're right. This doesn't make sense."

"The pilot, Takashi Shirogane, he's like, my hero," Lance added. "He's broken every flight sim record the Garrison has. There's no way this thing went down due to 'pilot error'." He made air quotes with his fingers during those last two words.

"Not to mention that they weren't even supposed to take off from Kerberos to come back for another two weeks," Katie said, crossing her arms. "And they would have told me if their schedule changed."

Lance slung one arm around Hunk's shoulders and the other around Katie's. "Well, my friends," he drawled, starting to smirk, "I believe we may have just stumbled upon the threads of a government conspiracy. They're covering up something, and whatever it is, it's gotta be big."

"Well, they messed with the wrong family," Katie muttered, clenching her fists. She pulled away from Lance's grasp, walking over to her desk. "I'm not stopping until I get to the bottom of this."

Hunk followed, handing the notebook back to her. "Neither are we."

She opened it up and gazed at the scribbles inside. "I'm really glad you guys actually believe me," she murmured. "I...I don't want to do this alone."

Hunk put a hand on her shoulder. "We got your back, Katie."

"Actually..." She paused, swallowing back a sob. "Would you—can you call me Pidge?" She wiped at her eyes. "It was Matt's old nickname for me, since we were kids. And it'd be nice to still hear it sometimes."

Hunk paused, taken aback, then smiled. "Sure thing, Pidge."

After that, the three of them started spending more time together. Lance and Hunk were quickly becoming fixtures in the Holt household (something which always seemed to brighten things, Colleen said—it was nice to have the house seem full again).

They'd hole up in Pidge's room, or downstairs when Colleen wasn't there, talking about what they knew and what the didn't and where to go from there.

Knowing that the Garrison was covering up something was one thing; finding out what exactly they were covering up was something else entirely.

Katie—Pidge—sat with her arms crossed, one leg jiggling impatiently. "They're hiding something and we need to figure out what."

"First, we need to figure out how much they know," Hunk reasoned. "This could be as new to them as it is to us."

Lance pursed his lips. "Pidge, what did they tell you? I mean, you're the family of the so-called-deceased. They must have told you more than they told the public."

"Not much, if I'm being honest," she grumbled. "Iverson said that they sent probes to Kerberos after they lost contact with the shuttle, and that it looked like a crash. But they wouldn't show us the footage when I asked."

Hunk snapped his fingers. "So there we go. We need to get our hands on that footage."

Lance raised an eyebrow. "What are you suggesting, sneaking into the Garrison and breaking into into Iverson's computer?" He paused. "Actually…."

"No," Hunk said.

Pidge raised her hand. "I like that idea."

"No."

"Can we wear ski masks?" Lance asked.

"Absolutely not."

"Then what's the point?"

"No, Hunk's right, no ski masks," Pidge said. She frowned, crossing her arms. "The problem is getting in," she mused. "Iverson already caught me on the grounds without permission once."

"Pidge, sweetheart," Lance said, raising an eyebrow. "I am the king of sneaking in and out of that place. Leave that to me."

Hunk held up a hand. "I'm saying this right here, right now, on the record," he announced. "I don't like this plan."

"It's my only chance, Hunk," Pidge pleaded. "I need to see this footage!"

Hunk sighed. "I know, and I get that. I just. Worry?"

"Don't stress about this, dude," Pidge assured him, putting a hand on his arm. "I promise, it's not gonna go horribly wrong this time."

Lance: I'm sorry you got caught

Pidge: nah its not your fault, i should have pulled out earlier

Pidge: im just glad he didnt get u guys too

Hunk: What's the verdict? .

Pidge: banned for life

Lance: holy crow are you serious?

Pidge: yeppp

Pidge: he threatened to charge me with treason too

Hunk: (⊙_⊙)

Lance: you little felon

Lance: I am so proud of you

"There's no evidence of a crash on Kerberos at all," Pidge reported.

The three of them had met up in a diner not too far from the Garrison proper—closer than Pidge's house was. It was the day after Pidge's break-in, and they'd all ordered shakes and a large of plate of fries, and settled into the corner booth to hear the story.

Lance frowned, popping a fry into his mouth. "Nothing?"

She shook her head. "Nothing at all. It's like the shuttle just...vanished."

Hunk took a long slow sip of his milkshake. "That's. Really weird."

"Yeah," Pidge agreed, glaring into her shake. "My family disappeared and they're lying about it. Not just to me and my mom, but to the whole world." She clenched her fists. "I swear, I'm gonna punch Iverson in the face."

"So what now?" Lance asked. "What's the next step?"

Pidge pursed her lips. "I've been working on modifying the receiver," she told them. "At the moment, it's set to the frequency that Dad and Matt used to send me transmissions. But I think if I can rework the coding a bit, and maybe upgrade some of the hardware? I can amplify the signal and start scanning for any transmissions sent from that distance."

"To see if they got on a different frequency?"

Pidge shrugged. "If something happened to them, they might have sent some sort of distress beacon. Or any other sort of message, to the Garrison or not. Or if they're still out there somewhere, they could still be transmitting something." She sighed in exasperation, running a hand through her hair. "Hopefully, I'll be able to pick up any of that."

"Let me know if you need any help there," Hunk offered.

Pidge nodded gratefully. "Thanks, Hunk."

"Yeah, and let us know if there's anything we can do from inside," Lance added. "You may have been banned, but they don't know that we were even involved with that at all."

She shook her head. "I can't ask that of you," she said. "I'm okay putting myself at risk, but I'm not putting your own educations on the line here." She drummed her fingers against the table of their booth. "No. I need to figure out how to get back inside the Garrison."

Pidge: I HAVE EXCITING NEWS

Pidge: my place 6pm

Pidge: there will be pizza

Lance: You had me at pizza

Hunk: I'm intrigued, but also worried. Should I be worried?

Pidge: see u tonight!

The three of them took the pizza upstairs and holed themselves in Pidge's room. Colleen was out late working, and they had the house to themselves.

Pidge spun around in her desk chair, smiling widely. "Guess who got into the Garrison!"

Lance frowned. "I thought you were banned."

"Not to mention too young," Hunk added.

"Katie Holt is," she agreed. She reached for her desk, grabbing a stapled form and holding it out to them. "But Pidge Gunderson isn't!"

Hunk took the papers from her hand, poring over them. "This is a Garrison application."

"Yep!"

"Dude!" Lance exclaimed, wide-eyed. "Did you apply to the Garrison with a fake ID?" He looked up at her, beaming. "How the hell did you do this?"

Pidge winked. "I have my ways."

Hunk was still reading the paperwork in awe. "Pidge Gunderson, age 17…." He paused. "Male?"

Pidge shrugged. "Part of the disguise."

Hunk shook his head in disbelief. "This is incredible."

"I managed to slip in under the radar as a 'gifted orphan'," she explained, leaning back against her desk and folding her arms smugly. "The Garrison has a federally-mandated quota to fill."

"Katherine Pidge Holt," Lance said reverently, "you are a force to be reckoned with."

"And that's not all," she sang, practically buzzing as she pulled up something on her laptop. "Look who got paired together on the same sim team." She pushed the laptop towards them, grinning ear to ear.

Lance took one look at the screen then let out a cheer. "Oh this is gonna be awesome!"

Hunk's jaw had dropped. "But—but how?!" he exclaimed. "You don't get assigned a sim team until your second year!"

"I placed abnormally high on the entrance exam," she replied with another wink. "So they've got me on the fast track."

Lance was cackling. "This is so cool!"

Hunk gave Pidge a sidelong glance. "Have you told your mom?"

Here, Pidge faltered. "Not yet."

He frowned. "You should do that, Pidge."

She let out a prolonged groan, slowly slumping into her desk chair. "I'm afraid of what she's gonna say," she confessed. "I tried telling her about all this a while ago, but she went on about how we should 'let wounds heal' and that 'denial is a stage of grief' and all that." She leaned forward, burying her face in her arms. "I don't know."

"Mmm, Hunk has a point," Lance hazarded. "Probably not best to disappear on her too."

Pidge sighed. "Yeah, you guys are probably right," she mumbled. She took a deep breath, sitting up straight. "But even if she says no, that's not gonna stop me," she decided. "I'm doing this with or without her approval. I can't stop when I'm this close."

Hunk put a comforting hand on her back. "We're in this together," he promised her.

"Yeah," Lance agreed. "We'll be with you every step of the way."

Pidge relaxed, smiling. "Okay," she said. Then, more forcefully, "Okay." She turned to her companions, her eyes sparkling. "Let's go get my family back."

AN:

Finally we get to the pain and hurt/comfort that I love so much
(also featuring Lance, my favorite boy in the universe)

Anything past this would be pretty dang similar to canon, so I'm letting it end here.
Thanks for joining me on this quick little adventure! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :D

For the rest of the week, my Platonic VLD contributions will be in the form of unconnected oneshots, like I did last time (tho one of them is actually a sort-of sequel to one of my earlier fics). I'm super pumped to finish them and get them out here ^_^ I loved season 5 and I'm excited to explore the new content!

See you then!

As always, please feel free to come say hi to me on my Tumblr (this-book-has-been-loved) or the Platonic VLD Discord server (invite code: NHYrCz5)

~Brigit