Pidge woke up feeling like she was dead. Of course, that was an obvious exaggeration but an accurate one nonetheless. Her head was throbbing, the pain coming in pulses as though someone was jamming nails into her brain. The room was blurry as she opened her eyes, nose completely plugged up.
Pidge groaned and rolled over in bed, yanking the covers over her head. The darkness was a nice comfort to her aching head, and she was grateful for the stilled silence of the room. She nuzzled her face in the pillows, longing to go back to sleep, but…
"Rise and shine, sleepyheads!" Coran's voice cried cheerfully over the intercom. "No time for sleeping when there are planets to be liberated!"
Coran's booming voice sent a deep pulse of pain into her head, causing Pidge to release an anguished moan. She heard the footsteps of the others as they ran by her door, each step making Pidge flinch. There was no way she was going to be able to fly her lion today.
Knowing that she would be ushered out of bed anyways, she dragged herself out from under her comforting, yet suffocating blanket and shakily got to her feet. The room immediately started to tilt, sending Pidge lurching forward. She grasped onto the doorframe like it was a lifeline. Her frail hand curled around the doorknob, and she gave the door a weak shove. It slid open, and the blinding light of the castle halls leaked in.
Eventually Pidge managed to stagger to the main helm of the ship, where the other Paladins were starting to wonder where she was. The door slid open upon her entry, revealing her exhausted frame in the center.
"Finally!" Coran exclaimed. "Took you long enough, Number Five!" One of his hands was tucked beneath his armpit while the other curled his moustache.
"S-sorry I'm late," Pidge murmured, her throat burning with each word.
"What, were you going on a leisurely stroll?" He snapped.
"Uh…"
"Hang on a sec, Coran," Shiro piped up, being the first one to notice Pidge's unusual behaviour and stature. His eyebrows were creased with concern.
"Yeesh," Lance cringed, worry clear in his tone. "Pidge, you look awful."
"Great job, Lance. That's just what a girl wants to hear when she's sick." Keith deadpanned.
"What?" Lance pouted, voice cracking. "I was just-"
"Oh no!" Coran cried, tugging on his moustache. "Pidge is sick? What if it's a deadly virus sent by the Galra to kill us all? What if it's contagious?! Oh, we've already been infected! We're going to die!"
"Coran!" Shiro yelled, snapping Coran out of his nervous rant. He'd walked over to Pidge's side and now had a hand on her shoulder. "It's not a deadly virus. It's just a common cold."
Meanwhile, in her own agonizing world, Pidge suddenly felt a tickle rise in her nose. She immediately stiffened. "Uh, guys?" She called. She tried to catch their attention, but they were too busy bickering to notice her distress.
"Guys…"
"A common… cold, you say?" Allura asked curiously. "Fascinating! This is something Earthlings get often?"
"Guys?"
"Oh yeah, all the time," Hunk answered. "There are different degrees of a cold, too. Sometimes you can get mild ones that only lasts for a week or so. You can also get ones that can last for a whole month!"
"A month?" Allura asked.
"Hmm, usually about 30 days, give or take, sooo, about 600 quintents? Yeah, that seems about right."
"600 quintents? That sounds horrible!"
"ACHOOOOO!"
Pidge let loose a monstrous sneeze, boogers and all flying about. The other four paladins leapt back, crying out with equal amounts of surprise and disgust. "Ugh…" She wiped her nose and sniffed, not that it did anything to help.
Shiro brushed back the rats' nest of bangs up, and placed his hand on her forehead. His face melted into a further state of worry. "You're burning up." He announced.
"'M'fine…" Pidge mumbled, but her attempt to reassure the others was all in vain.
"Yeah, sure you are." Hunk placed his hands on his hips.
"Even Lance lies better than you." Keith pointed out.
"I tricked the whole Garrison and you guys into believing I was the opposite gender," Pidge argued. Keith seemed to ponder on this and nodded.
"No, you're right," Keith agreed. "Nobody can lie worse than Lance does."
"Hey!"
"Guys, stop bullying Lance," Shiro said. "Pidge, there's no way you're going to be able to do anything helpful today. You should go to bed and get some rest."
"Would a healing pod help, perhaps?" Allura suggested.
Shiro raised an eyebrow. "I'm… actually not sure."
"Let me check!" Coran said. A screen of a body scanner appeared above his risk, and there was a brief whirring sound as the light read Pidge. A few green dots appeared on the screen, and Coran frowned. "Hm, I'm afraid not. The healing pods are only meant to heal, not cure. They primarily deal with physical wounds, and are unfortunately unable to attack germs. It looks like Number Five will have to recover on her own."
"You heard Coran, Pidge needs rest!" Lance suddenly declared, gripping Pidge's shoulders (unintentionally surprising the small girl) and steering her towards the door. "Off to bed you go!"
"Lance, be careful with her!" Hunk cautioned, rushing after the Blue Paladin.
"I'm sick, not helpless!" Pidge snapped through gritted teeth, swiping their hands away.
Shiro looked over at Keith, who was shaking his head with subtle amusement. "Not going with them?" He asked.
Keith looked after the three and shrugged. "Maybe I should… ya' know, to make sure those two don't harass her."
"Probably a wise choice."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Sleeping more did not improve Pidge's condition. When she woke up, everything was amplified three times as much as it was before. Her head was aching even worse than before, vertigo making it spin violently. She couldn't help but whimper in pain, trying to soothe her head with the soft pillow.
On top of that, her body was radiating waves of heat, beads of sweat forming on her face. Her throat felt like sandpaper, stinging as she swallowed.
"Pidge?" Keith's voice whispered softly, which Pidge was very thankful for. "You okay?"
Pidge groaned, opting out of speaking and instead shaking her head slowly. "… What're y'doin' here?" She slurred out.
Keith smiled sadly. "Looking after you. The others had a mission to do but they didn't want to leave you alone with the Alteans."
Pidge's eyes stayed shut, but her eyebrows narrowed with confusion. "Y' volunteered to watch me insteada goin' on the mission? Doesn' sound like Keith…"
That managed to get a soft chuckle from Keith. "Yeah, I know. Surprised me too."
Pidge hummed, keeping herself curled up under the covers. She couldn't care less that Keith was watching her. In fact, she actually found herself enjoying his company. When she got sick back on Earth, Matt would always stay by her side. Since his disappearance, she'd missed that comforting presence. In a weird way, Keith's presence comforted her in the same manner, even if they hadn't known each other for long.
Keith lifted her hair away and pressed the back of his fingers to her forehead. Pidge had never noticed it before, but his hands were nearly as cold as ice. She relished it and leaned into his cool touch. Keith seemed to recoil a little, but understood what she was trying to do and relaxed. "Pidge, you're burning," He said worriedly.
"Gee, I hadn't noticed."
Keith looked like he couldn't tell if she was kidding or not. She let her eyes open a little, and peered up at him, giving him a small but reassuring smile.
"We need to get your fever down." Pidge let her eyes slide shut once more, and heard the sound of water splashing into a puddle. She guessed he was getting a rag prepared. Sure enough, she felt her bangs being pushed aside once more and the cool, damp rag being pressed on her forehead. She sighed contentedly.
"Thanks. Helps."
"No problem, Small-fry."
"M'not a Small-fry…"
"And what are you going to do about it?" Keith asked.
Pidge grumbled under her breath. "Shuddup."
Keith smirked. "Get some rest, Pidge."
-0-0-0-0-0-
The next time Pidge regained consciousness, the Castle was rumbling violently. Confused, she looked up, wondering where Keith had gone. Her bed was shaking lightly, and she propped herself up on her forearms to try to listen better. She could faintly hear gunfire, and Coran shouting from the helm.
What the quiznak is going on out there? Pidge pulled back the covers, noting that her fever had dropped dramatically since the last time she woke, and her headache had been reduced to a dull throb. She definitely felt better, but her throat was still sore, and her nose still clogged. But at least she was able to stand without getting a rush of vertigo.
She stepped outside her bedroom door, but as she did the Castle of Lions lurched to the side, causing her to fall to her knees yelping. The castle was under attack, and it didn't seem to be fairing well. Determined, Pidge got to her feet, muscles feeling like Jell-O from lack of physical strength. She ran as fast as she could to the main helm, and burst into the room.
Everything was flashing red, the screens littered with purple markers: the Galra. Pidge could make out the blinking yellow, black, red, and blue lights of the other Paladins. Allura and Coran frozen in a tense stance.
"The Castle cannot take much more of this!" Allura exclaimed, grunting as the Castle took another powerful hit from a standard Galra ship. Pidge nearly fell backwards, but barely held her balance. "Paladins, you need to take out that battle cruiser or we're done for!"
"We can't! There's too many of them, and they've got all of us pinned!" Lance's voice cried desperately from the screen.
"Lance, watch your six!" Hunk screamed in warning. Pidge watched as the Blue Lion barely managed to swerve around and freeze the three drones tailing him.
"Thanks, Hunk!"
"Listen up! I have a plan," Shiro said sternly. "We gather all the drones into one area, and then get them to accidentally crash into each other. Then, once a path is clear, we target the battle cruiser."
"You think they'll fall for that?" Keith asked.
"One way to find out. Let's do it."
Pidge took one look at the wave of Galra forces the others were dealing with, and her breath hitched in her throat. There was no way that plan was going to work. Even if they managed to get the drones to destroy each other, it was still too contested. The clear path would immediately be overwhelmed, and they would all be in trouble.
There was only one thing they could do. They needed Voltron. They needed her.
Fuelled by pure determination alone to save her friends, Pidge silently backed out the door and ran as fast as she could to her lion's hangar. When she reached it, her vision swam, but she shook herself out of the daze and boarded her lion. The room was immediately enveloped with green lighting upon her arrival.
Pidge's shaking hands gripped the controls, but even her lion seemed hesitant about letting her fly, because the controls were jammed. It was almost as if her lion was trying to keep her safe.
"Don't worry, girl, I'll be fine- Oh, no," Pidge attempted to stifle another sneeze, but it was all in vain.
Her lion made a whirring noise, resembling that of a snort.
Pidge sighed, and closed her eyes, connecting with her lion's soul. "Please? I need to do this. They need my help. They need Voltron's help, and they can't do that without me.
"Please, Green. They're the only family I have left."
Sensing her distress and worry, the lion responded and allowed the controls to regain mobility. Pidge opened her eyes and grinned, rubbing green's console. "Thanks, girl. I promise, after this, I'm sleeping for a lifetime. Now let's go kick some Galra butt."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Meanwhile, outside the Castle of Lions, the Paladins were doing everything they could to keep the Castle of Lions alive. Lance grunted as blue took another hit, his lion spinning from the impact. "Particle barrier at 18%!" Coran informed. "A few more ticks and we're done for!"
"Paladins, please!" Allura cried urgently, her face appearing on Lance's screen. Her eyes were wide with terror, beads of sweat appearing on her forehead.
"We've got to defend the Castle!" Keith shouted.
"But we can't do that without Voltron, and we can't even form Voltron right now!" Lance exclaimed. He looked up from the console, and his eyes suddenly went wide with fear as three blasts of lasers came plummeting towards his lion. With no time to react, he let loose a scream, and waited for the blow to hit.
"Lance!" The others cried in his ear.
He waited, and waited, and waited.
But the blow never came.
Confused, Lance warily opened his eyes, and gasped sharply. There, floating directly in front of him, was the green lion. A powerful green beam had been blasted from its gun, and that one blast seemed to be deflecting the three impending beams.
"What was that about not being able to form Voltron?"
Lance had never been so happy to hear that weakened voice in his life.
"Pidge!" The four Paladins cried.
"What the-" Hunk exclaimed. "Pidge, you should be in bed resting!"
"If I still was, Lance would be dead right now," Pidge deadpanned. "You're welcome, Lance- ACHOOO!"
"Thank you, Pidge," Lance said with an eye roll.
"Now everyone shut up and form Voltron!"
"You all heard Pidge," Shiro commanded. "Let's do it!"
The now five lions converged into formation, each one of them attaching their lions to the correct limbs. After a few seconds, Voltron emerged from the stars. The response from the Galra was immediate, all of them taking aim at the super weapon. Pidge slammed her bayard into its slot, and a large shield effectively blocked the onslaught of attack.
At the same time, Keith summoned his blade, and Voltron soared through the Galra ranks. It dodged and weaved, spinning between the drones and slicing them in two as it flew by. Once there was a clear path, Voltron targeted the battle cruiser. It had been warming up a blast from a cannon, but with a quick simultaneous pull upward of the controls, Voltron easily avoided the attack. It struck, slicing through the middle of the ship.
Pidge grinned, looking back at the explosions behind her. All around the battle cruiser, the drones were starting to retreat. She faced forward again and pumped her fist into the air victoriously. "Woohoo!" The cheer had unfortunately brought on a coughing fit.
"Nice work, team!" Shiro congratulated.
"I hate to admit it, but thanks for coming in clutch, Pidge," Keith said, a soft smile on his face as he appeared on her screen. "We couldn't have done it without you."
Pidge smirked. "Aw… did you guys miss me?" In the heat of the battle, Pidge hadn't noticed that her own body temperature had risen again, and everything started to spin. "Whoa." She paled. "Is my lion doing somersaults?"
"Okay," Shiro said. "Everyone back to the Castle. We need to get Pidge to bed."
"I- I don't think I can fly back," Pidge murmured, her eyes squeezed shut to block out the spinning.
"I think your lion's got your back, Pidge," Lance pointed out. Sure enough, Pidge could feel her lion moving on her own accord. It was at a speed that was still fast but comfortable enough for the sick Paladin inside. Pidge smiled.
Thank you, Green.
A wave of exhaustion and nausea hit her, and everything around her faded into nothingness.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Katie Holt was sick with the flu, and she hated it. The Holts were such worrywarts whenever she was sick- even if it was just a cold. They always insisted she stay in bed, stay home from school, and they would take work off so that they could look after her. It was annoying, that was for sure. She could take care of herself.
She groaned aloud, wrapping the covers of her bed around her and snuggling in, and she had just been drifting off to sleep when there was a soft knock on her door. Her nose flared with annoyance, and her eyes fluttered open. "Come in…"
The door creaked open to reveal Matt. He smiled his dorky smile, and Katie found she couldn't stay annoyed with him for long. She pulled back some of her blanket to see him better and propped herself further up on her pillows.
"How you feeling, Pidge?" Matt asked, resting a hand on her forehead.
"A little better," She said, smiling weakly.
"Your fever has definitely gone down," Her brother beamed. "You're on the mend."
"Good. I'm sick of being sick."
Matt chuckled. "I'm just glad I can take care of you. I want to do it while I can."
Katie's smile melted off her face at the thought of her brother leaving on the Kerberos mission. It was still four months away, but time was flying by faster than she could ever imagine. Even though she was proud of Matt for being able to go into space, she wished he didn't have to leave her behind. "I'm gonna miss this," She admitted.
"Hey, cheer up," Matt sad, rubbing her head. "We've still got time. Besides, not even an infinite number of galaxies is going to keep me away from you. I've got a feeling that even if I somehow can't, somebody will take care of you for me."
Katie giggled. "Matt, that doesn't make sense, and you know it,"
"I know," He said, laughing back. "But that doesn't mean it's not true."
Somehow, Katie could feel it was.