"No, no, no! Not now, please! Don't be like this!" Allura kicked the podium projecting the holo-screen.

"What's going on?" Keith asked, cradling a hazy Lance.

"It... The castle... Systems were severely damaged in the fight. And now, there's... There's only one working healing pod." Keith paused as the princess's words sunk in.

"So... Does that mean that somebody...?"

"One of them might... It's not... But..." Allura kept trailing off.

"Okay, can someone tell me what the quiznack is going on?" Hunk asked.

"Well, it appears... Only one of the healing pods is functioning properly, so until we fix them, only one person can be healed." Allura bit her lip and turned towards Shiro, who was still in the pod.

"So what'll happen to the one who isn't in the pod?" Keith asked. "Will he die?"

"Why can't we just switch them out? Every hour or so we just rotate them, and if one is close to dying outside of the pod, they get priority." Hunk reasoned, moving his hands about as he talked.

"We can't do that." Coran shook his head. "If we put one in, it'll disrupt the healing process to take him out. He'll remain healed, but the pod will need time to reset itself. It wouldn't be able to retain the healing progress for one paladin while the other is taking his turn."

"What exactly are you saying...?" Keith asked, but he already knew.

"You're going to have to choose. Lance? Or Shiro."

"Are you serious?!" Keith pulled a sweaty palm up to his forehead. "I can't make this choice! Nobody can! I refuse to choose between one of my teammates."

"We can't let Lance die!" Hunk panicked. "But we can't let Shiro die, either, and..."

"So what do we do?"

"You fucking fix the healing pods!" Pidge yelled, tears streaming down her face. "We can't lose anyone. We are not losing anyone! Not today!"

"Pidge, please calm down." Allura begged, wiping her brow. "We can possibly fix the pods, but it will take time. We will need new Rodun crystals, to start." (A/N - I'm making half of this up lmao)

"Don't worry Lance." Keith muttered, holding the unconscious boy closer to him. "We'll save you."

He couldn't help but glance at Shiro.