Blue

Chapter 1

Lance frowned as he looked at the bottle. This could not be happening. Absolutely could not be happening. Granted, Lance knew this was going to happen at some point. They had been in space for nearly a year. He didn't expect his meager supply of pills that had been in his jacket when they left to last this long. Lance was on his last pill.

Lance was an omega. 

He frowned and gulped down the last pill. This was going to be interesting. Lance hid the bottle in the back of his drawers before seeking out Hunk. Hunk and Pidge were the only ones who knew about Lance's second gender. He found the beta in the kitchen.

"Hunk?" Lance called quietly. Hunk turned around and smiled at Lance.

"Hey buddy!" he called. He rushed over and scooped Lance into a hug. Lance took a deep breath of his scent. Hunk had the faint smell of cinnamon mixed with grass. It was a strange combination but strangely comforting. "What's up?" he asked after pulling away from Lance.

"I..." Lance fumbled trying to find the right words. "I....I um..."

Hunk frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I'm out of suppressants." Lance all but whispered. Hunk's frown deepened.

"Oh," Hunk pondered this for a while. "What do you want to do? I really don't think you should try to find a substitute. You've been on the suppressants for too long. Why don't you just tell the team?"

"I don't want them to treat me differently." Lance replied immediately. Which was true. Omegas were seen as delicate and fragile creatures. Everyone automatically assumed they couldn't fend for themselves. They needed an alpha to care for them. Lance didn't want that. What if they took away blue from him?

"Lance you know the team wouldn't do that," Hunk says, rubbing the Cuban boys shoulders softly. "We won't care that your an omega. It's okay."

"I just...don't think I can do it," Lance said. Hunk opened his mouth to protest but Lance stopped him. "Yet. I don't think I can do it yet. But I will. Just not right now."

Hunk nodded. "So what are you going to do when you go into heat?" Hunk questioned.

Lance froze. He knew he needed to do something about that. "I don't really know. Ride it out, I suppose."

"Alone?" Hunk frowned. Lance could smell the hesitation and worry radiating off of Hunk's scent glands. "Lance you know that's dangerous. You could get heat sick. Plus, you've been on those suppressants for so long that your heat is going to be way worse than usual. And it will probably be here soon too." 

Lance nodded sadly. "I know that, I just....."

"Maybe if you told Keith...." Hunk mused. Lance hit his arm gently. 

"Absolutely not!" Lance cried. "Mullet head'll just make fun of me! Besides, I don't need him. I don't want him." 

"Lance that's a lie and we both know it." Hunk said softly. Lance glared at him. "Alright, I'll leave it be. But I'm warning you, I'm not very good at keeping secrets." Lance sighed gratefully. 

"Thanks Hunk."

"Anytime."

=============

It's been almost a week since he ran out of suppressants. Lance's omega instincts are beginning  to return. Lance's heightened senses have returned and he can smell the omega scent, his omega scent, coming back. Lance frowned. He also felt the urge to cuddle with everyone. 

Granted, his urge to cuddle with his pack never went away. He often found himself snuggled between Hunk and Pidge when he felt lonely. And often, Pidge would let him rest his head in her lap while she worked. 

But now, lance wants to cuddle with everyone. He wants a big cuddle pile. 

When Lance walked into the dining hall he found himself holding onto Hunk and Pidge and moving to grab Keith when he stopped himself. Hunk and Pidge knew exactly what was happening and frowned when they saw Lance fight his instincts. They knew that it would hurt him if he continued to fight them. 

"Stop it Lance," Pidge hissed under her breath, hoping that they wouldn't hear her. But Shiro, being a prime alpha with heightened hearing heard it and snapped his head up. 

"Lance, leave Pidge alone." he scolded gently. Pidge shook her head. Lance knew what Pidge was talking about the second she said it, but he couldn't stop it. What if they rejected him? 

"Sorry Pidge," he mumbled. He then gave a slight shake of his head to let Pidge know that he wasn't going to stop. She frowned. Shiro seemed content with the apology and went back to talking with Allura. 

Lance sat down at the table and clenched his hands together to fight the urge to hold someone's, anyone's, hand. Hunk looked at him and offered his hand under the table. Lance took it gratefully. 

Everything was going fine during breakfast until Keith walked in. He froze in the middle of the door and took a huge sniff. He then looked around very confused. Lance's heart started to race. He couldn't smell it right? Keith walked into the room and continued smelling. 

"Do you guys smell that?" Keith asked. 

Shiro took a sniff and looked at Keith in awe. "Yeah, I do. What is that? It smells....sweet?"

Lance stood up, surprising the alphas. "I need to go.....train. Um...bye." he said before dashing out of the room as quickly as he could. Pidge and Hunk shared a knowing glance. 

"That was...weird." Keith said before sitting down in the seat Lance was sitting in. Keith's eyes widened and he sniffed the chair. "The smell was coming from Lance? What did he eat?"

"One of those fruits!" Hunk cried. The team stared at him. Crap. Hunk was never a good liar. "You know? The ones that we got from...a planet? They were really good."

"Can I have one?" Keith asked. 

"NO!" Hunk cried. Keith looked shocked. "I mean...there's no more. Yeah there's no more. Sorry Keith. Maybe next time?" Hunk cringed as his lie seemed even less believable than before. Surprisingly the paladins let it go and continued to eat their breakfast. Hunk let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in. 

What had he agreed to?