Coran couldn't coax Faune back to sleep, so he had Pidge and Keith hold her down while Pelae kept her head turned away and Coran placed pressure on the wound. "One... Two... Three!" In a swift movement, Coran yanked out the slab of metal and pressed down on the deep wound. Faune wailed, thrashing in the two paladin's hold.

Pelae placed his paw on Faune's cheek and pressed her head into the floor until she calmed down.

The Altean sighed in relief once Faune's stopped moving and peaked under the cloth. He winced and pressed down harder. "It went really deep..."

Pidge looked up at Keith, her eyes wide, then back to Faune. "And we need to get that pod fixed... We need Hunk in here. He can fix it, right?"

Coran nodded. "I'm sure he could... Keith, call Hunk in, and once he's in, go back out with Pelae. Adaoe will lay here with her while Hunk works on the pod."

Keith nodded, petting the smooth fur of Faune's neck. "Hunk, we need you in the hangar."

"What!? We're a little busy out here!"

"I know." Keith sighed. "I know. I'll be coming back out once you're in here. We need you and Adaoe for Faune or she might not make it."

A pause. "I'm clearing a path right now. I'll be in a few ticks."

Keith sighed. "Alright. Pelae, come on."

Pelae's grey eyes widened and her ears flattened further as she looked up at her paladin. She whined and rubbed her cheek over Faune's head. Faune meowed weakly, then whimpered. Pelae brushed her tail over Faune's back and licked her cheek. Faune meowed again and Pelae returned with a pitiful noise.

"Pelae... Go help Cloade and Spirit..." Faune whimpered, looking up at her fellow lion.

"No!" Pelae whined, rubbing their foreheads together. "I'm not leaving until I know you are going to be okay!"

Faune purred. "Adaoe will be with me. Didn't you hear? Adaoe will make sure I'm okay."

Pelae whined softly, pressing close to Faune before getting to her paws and pressing her nose into Faune's fur. "I swear I'll defeat every last Galra out there for you. I won't rest until all of them are rotting pieces of metal pathetically drifting in the abyss."

The green lion purred and nodded, then watched as the red lion angrily rushed to her large mechanic form.

Adaoe came rushing towards her as Pelae and Keith flew out to defend them and curled around her head. "Faune, I'm right here. I'm going to stay right here, okay? Just until Spirit comes. My paladin will get your pod all fixed and working and you'll be okay." Adaoe nuzzled and licked Faune, his tail curled around her front paws.

Hunk climbed into the mechanical green lion and detached the pod. "Alright, hopefully I've got this. Pidge, Adaoe, you just stay right there with Faune and I'll have this fixed in no time. Once she's out, we'll have food goo feast."

Pidge nodded. "Yes. Thank you, Hunk."

Coran peeked under the cloth again and sighed, shoulders slouching. "She's not gushing blood anymore." Pidge whined and dropped onto Faune's rump, relieved. "But I'm going to have to stitch it back together."

Adaoe and Pidge shot up, eyes wide as they looked at Coran. "Is there something you could give her? Something to numb the pain?"

The Altean nodded. "Yes, but I'll have to make it. It'll take me several minutes."

Pidge nodded. "Okay. I'll stay here with Faune. Anything to help her."

Coran nodded, making sure Pidge had good pressure on Faune's wound before rushing to the infirmary.

Hunk glanced over his shoulder. "Pidge, everyone's trying to talk to you." She nodded and reached with her foot to her helmet.

Quickly, she tugged it onto her head and returned pressure to her lion's side. "Hey, sorry. I took off my helmet."

Shiro sighed in relief. "How is she? Spirit needs to know."

Pidge hummed. "She's not gushing blood anymore with this pressure, Coran needs to stitch her up, and Hunk is almost done with her pod.... I hope she'll be okay... She's talking to Adaoe right now, I think, comforting him more than he's comforting her. Adaoe looks like he's going to start crying like Hunk does."

"Hey!" Hunk yelped. Pidge smiled and shrugged as he shot her a look.

"Faune's going to be okay, I'm sure of it." Pidge nodded firmly.

"Thanks, Pidge." Shiro murmured. "Hear that, Spirit? Faune's going to be okay."

Pidge smiled as she heard Spirit's metallic purr through the com. "She'll be okay."

~

"How's it coming, Hunk?" Lance asked, trotting over with Cloade beside him.

Hunk muttered under his breath, furrowing his brows as he studied the pod. "It's more complex than I originally thought and this section was nearly completely damaged, but I should have it fixed at least moderately so she can be healed within an hour. But once she's healed, we should get her out so I can fix it completely and while she's healing we shouldn't be piloting her around."

Lance sighed, carding his fingers through his hair. "So we're down a lion until this is fixed?"

The yellow paladin nodded. "Yeah. For a couple of days, maybe." Hunk sighed, then jumped slightly as something nuzzled his leg. "Oh. Hey, Adaoe. Who's with Faune if you're here?" Hunk reached down and pet between Adaoe's ears.

"Spirit and Pelae took over," Lance told Hunk, petting his own lion. Cloade meowed, rubbing against Lance. "They both went straight for her."

Spirit curled around his little mate, supporting her head on his front leg, his other front leg over her shoulders to keep her down. Faune whined and panted, Coran focused intently on stitching up the wound. Pelae stood beside them, murmuring softly as she buried her nose in Faune's cheek fur. Cloade then joined, standing beside Pelae. He rubbed his cheek against her shoulder, then to Spirit's own cheek.

Shiro knelt beside Pidge, his hand rubbing her back in circles while Pidge stayed nearby, giving Coran room but staying close enough so Faune knew she was there.

The black lion licked Faune's nose then nuzzled her. "Talk to me, Faune... Tell me something."

Faune mewed softly, opening her eyes. "I... I want... Lots of little cubs... Lots... I want to... Run through fields... Climb trees... Swim... Dance in rain..."

Spirit purred. "Like Cloade's paladin?"

"Yes." Faune's tail curled. "Like Lance. I would like to visit Earth with the paladins and see what they love and miss about it... I want to meet Pidge's family."

Spirit hummed. "You will... We'll see the paladin's home. We'll swim, run through fields, climb trees, dance in the rain... Whatever you want." Faune purred then whined and flinched. Spirit pressed his cheek to hers, humming softly and curling his tail around hers to comfort her. "I'm right here, love. I won't leave."