Contact
I was talking to Princess Kitty1 on Tumblr about that Shiro and Matt picture that got released recently and she told me to just IMAGINE what it might be like if Shiro were able to contact the castle though his helmet and let Matt talk to his sister. This was my response. :D Just a fun, short exercise! Totally unconnected to What Are the Odds?, just way separate thoughts on how finding Matt might go down.
There was as sudden crackling noise by Shiro's head, causing him to flinch involuntarily before he realized it came from the speakers inside his helmet. His breath caught in his throat as an impossible hope swelled up and grabbed his lungs.
"Shiro?" Matt was looking at him, concerned. "What is it?" But all the Paladin could do is raise his hand for him to wait.
"Hello?" he asked, a touch louder than he normally might. "Is anyone there? Team Voltron, can you hear me? Do you copy?"
"...-ro? …ou th..."
A snatch, oh God, a tantalizing snatch of a familiar voice.
"Hello? Yes, I'm here! Guys? Can you hear me?"
"...hear...Yes! There we go! Shiro?! Do you copy?" Coran!
He gasped in relief, his exhale almost sounding like a sob. "Yes, I copy! I hear you loud and, well, mostly clear!" His grin was so wide and honestly happy that Matt couldn't help but smile, too, watching him. He could hear little snatches of the voice on the other end of the communication, like listening to someone else's phone conversation. Suddenly, though, Shiro grabbed him by the arm and brought him closer, so they were facing each other. "Is everyone alright? Is everyone there?"
"We're alright," Allura's voice came through only about half staticky. "We're all here and have been turning the universe upside down trying to find you."
Shiro laughed. "Well, you found me. And not just that. Pidge? You listening?"
"Yeah, I'm here," she sounded happy, if maybe a little confused. Why was Shiro singling her out? She probably would have paid money to see Matt's expression at the exact moment he heard his sister's voice.
"There's someone here who wants to talk to you."
The two former prisoners shared a significant look, laden on a breathless moment in the heartbeat before Matt unstuck his voice and said, "Katie...?"
There was some kind of choked noise that got mostly lost in static, then a sudden confusion of voices clambering on top of each other.
"Is that who I think it is?!" "You broke her!" "She can cry? I didn't know she could cry!" "Your name is KATIE?"