So this story popped into my head and I'm in the process of writing it down. The story will largely center around Pidge, but will deal with emotions and thoughts of all the Paladins. There will not be pairings in this work. Feel free to read however you would like, but know my intention is only platonic. Also, although a "high school" fic, this will be more serious than comedic. Other than that, enjoy! This is also on AO3
Scientists have always said, the universe is more expansive and vast than any human could ever comprehend. Even if we suddenly gained the ability to go wherever we wanted, we simply would not be able to understand the nature of the universe. It is constantly expanding, destroying and recreating new solar systems, and stars, and planets, so even with all the time in the universe, no human could ever explore it all.
Well, Pidge thought, as she gazed out the window into the vast darkness of space, it may be impossible for a human to explore all of space, but she figured she was getting pretty close. She noted how the stars shined brightly against the void background of the universe, and she felt a strange sense of familiarity. She wondered briefly if they had driven by this corner of the universe, but knew that was impossible. Even if they were in the same general area, it would have changed so much by the time they came back, that it would hardly be considered the same. And besides, with trillions of stars in the universe, it was hard to really tell them apart. They were like snowflakes; up close, Pidge was sure they were all unique, but from far away they all looked the same.
She sighed and looked back at her laptop as it struggled to decode another piece of Garla technology. This was another triangular floating prism that reminded her almost painfully of Rover, whom she had lost in battle. The things could be programmed to take on a new master, and if done right, she would be able to take down other Garla tech when on a mission. It was almost ready, but the empire had beefed up security since the Paladins entered the war, so it was more difficult to crack.
Pidge glanced back out into space and pressed her cheek against the window as she leaned against the wall. It had been so cool to get to explore space and it's amazingness, but the novelty wore off pretty quickly. The awe was replaced with a sense of anxiety, that Pidge had to find her father and brother somewhere in this ever expanding, changing universe. She vaguely remembered the old idiom, "finding a needle in a haystack." But, though the analogy fit the idea of the situation, the gravity of it was laughably off the mark. A needle in a haystack, she could do, but this was more like trying to find a single strand of microscopic bacteria somewhere on earth. Not necessarily impossible, but pretty darn close.
Her laptop dinged suddenly, causing her to jump in surprise. "Oh, you're done!" she mused to her computer as she began typing away, trying to override the program. With a few clacks of her keyboard, she was into the mainframe of the robot and began the tedious, but not difficult task of reworking the coding.
She was about halfway through when Keith approached, though she was so lost in her work she didn't hear him at first. Keith, knowing how absorbed she got in her work, could tell she hadn't heard him, and lingered in the doorway briefly as he tried to figure out a way to let her know he was there without startling her.
Unfortunately, he couldn't come up with anything before Lance came crashing into the room shouting, "Pidge! Team meeting in the, uh… Living room place I guess?" Pidge jumped up and turned around to the two boys as Lance came skidding to a stop about a foot away from Keith.
"Gee, thanks for the heart attack with the message, Lance!" Pidge said, half sarcastically and half angrily. "I'm working with very delicate coding! I could have messed something up!"
Lance paused for a moment, feeling genuinely bad for a split second. "Hey, man I'm sorry," he said honestly and then burst into a wide grin. "But I know you're so super smart that you'd never mess up!" Pidge's ego was inflated enough to wipe away her anger and she blushed lightly and smiled, flattered by the complement. As she turned back to her computer, she didn't see Keith roll his eyes.
"Well, thanks Lance. You're right, it's still good," Pidge said as she saved her work and closed her laptop. She turned back to the two boys. "Alright, I guess let's go? Any idea what the meeting is about?"
"Not sure," Keith replied as they made their way to the room with the large, almost circular couch. "But I thought I heard Allura and Coran talking about some sort of new Garla operation that was just set up on a planet."
"Aww man!" Lance pouted. "I was hoping we were going to take a field trip back to that mall! Or back to the mermaid planet! Or to a planet filled with girls! Oh! Or maybe there's a parade for us! Or-" Tired of his rambling, Keith lightly, though still forcefully, punched Lance in the shoulder.
"What was that for?!" Lance shouted.
"For being stupid, now come on!" Keith retorted. An argument ensued and Pidge noted that, in the time it took to walk down three hallways, the argument transitioned from being hit, to stealing a pillow, to eating the last edible cookie that Hunk made out of the space goo, and then ended with how there was not a being in the universe who would ever go out with either of them for various reasons. She sighed as she took a relaxed seat on the couch next to Hunk. She was sure of one thing: there wasn't anyone else in the entire universe like those two. But, they were her friends, and though she would often complain about how annoying they were, she wouldn't change them for the world.
"Do we have everyone?" Shiro asked as he stood before the four other Paladins and the two Alteans. Allura's mice friends were also off in a corner, so the only somewhat sentient beings on the ship that were not there were the Lions of Voltron, and for good reason, as they probably would not fit in the room.
Shiro looked like a natural leader, Pidge noted as he launched into a brief analysis of their last mission. He was strong, effective, and direct. He rarely got angry with his team, and constantly pushed each of them to reach their full potential. It was amazing, she thought, that Shiro had suddenly been launched into the role of team leader. She wondered if he was like that when on missions with her father and brother. Perhaps her father saw leadership in him. But she knew that, regardless of who Shiro was before they found the Lions, he was the best leader for the team. Everyone else was young and inexperienced, and Allura and Coran had so many other issues to deal with. So, when it came to corralling the Paladins, Shiro was the best for the job.
"... and Pidge, how's the programing going?" Shiro asked as Pidge snapped back to reality.
"Oh, good," she said with a smile and a thumbs up. "I should have it up and running by today. Rover 2.0 will be good to go in no time!"
"Good, so we're on the right track." Shiro said and glanced over at Allura who was standing. "We'll need all the help we can get. Allura has a mission for us."
Allura nodded. "We have received word that the Galra are setting up base on another planet." she said. Pausing, she turned her focus internally and used her power to bring up a room-sized map of the universe. She pointed to what seemed like a random blip on the map. "This is where we are. And this…" she traced her finger along the map and pointed to another random blip. "Is where we believe the Galra are. They are just beginning to infiltrate that area of the universe, so we'll need to take them down completely. It's a corner of space that the Galra do not have a hold on yet and we would like to keep it that way."
Shiro nodded. "This isn't going to be an easy mission. Who knows how many troops they'll have there by the time we get to them? And the last thing we want is to allow them the opportunity to call Zarkon and the rest of the Galra Empire. So we'll need to be quiet, but effective."
"Yes, we'll likely be there a while," Allura continued. "We have to be very careful and deliberate. This is a rather… primitive planet from what I've heard. Not much technology and its inhabitants tend to get confused very easily."
"So, you're saying we get to go all under cover?" Lance asked, sitting up straighter with excitement. "This will be so cool! We can all have code names, like on TV!"
"Can we not be like on TV?" Hunk asked worriedly. "They usually get caught, it's like a plot device!"
"That's not true!" Lance retorted. "On Code Agent Ralph they never get caught and they always get the bad guys!"
"Alright, enough of that," Shiro sighed, holding up his hand. "Yes, we'll likely be under cover, no it won't be like on TV and no, we won't get caught. Forget about movies, alright guys? We need to focus, this is important."
The Paladins nodded, though Hunk didn't look less worried nor did Lance seem less excited. Pidge and Keith were rather indifferent and just wanted to get a few steps closer to defeating Zarkon for good.
"Yes, very important," Allura reiterated. "Now go and make sure you're ready. I'll be sending us through a wormhole in one dobash."
The team stood to leave, and Pidge went back to reprogramming the rover. She wondered for a moment what kind of planet they would be going to, but figured it didn't matter. There were so many planets in the universe and they had already been to so many, that it was hard to keep track of them all. The important thing was getting there, doing what needed to be done, and hopefully getting closer to winning this war.
"And then I can find my family," Pidge murmured to herself. She paused and pulled out that old picture of her with her brother. It was tattered now, and bent and smudged, but she kept it with her so she would never forget what she was fighting for. Keith was right, everyone had families, but hers was important to her and she would stop at nothing to make sure they were safe.
She glanced up at the window and looked back at her reflection. She barely recognized the girl from the picture. She was so different, so changed. Her hair was short and poofy now that she didn't straighten it everyday. Her contacts were swapped out for glasses, and her dress for the oversized sweatshirt and shorts. But that girl with the pretty dress and the long hair was Pidge, and the girl with the short hair and casual clothes was also Pidge. Well, the girl with the dress was Katie, but Katie was Pidge.
"Man, it's like going through middle school all over again!" Pidge said to herself. "Trying to figure out who I am, when I thought I already had it down." She sighed and put her picture away so she could return to her program. As she worked, she wondered briefly if she missed her old life. Of course, she missed her father and brother, but she had also grown so much over the past year. Of course, when she was Katie Holt, she loved technology and programming, but she had other interests too. She was also severely missing just being a kid.
"Paladins, please report to the main control deck," Allura's voice came booming over the intercom, breaking Pidge of her thoughts. "We are preparing to make the jump."
Sighing, Pidge stood and saved her work. "Still not done. Damn." she whispered as she put the computer into sleep mode and hurried to the deck with the rest of her friends.
Within minutes, everyone was seated and ready to go as Allura spent some of her energy to open a wormhole which would take them to the solar system of the planet they were going to.
"All systems are go!" Coran shouted over to his princess and Allura nodded, a blue light shining around her. The wormhole opened in front of them and in the blink of an eye, they were in a new spot in space.
Pidge looked around and frowned. This looked so familiar. She furrowed her brows because she couldn't shake the feeling that she knew exactly where they were, which was weird, since she knew that was nearly impossible.
It seemed that the other Paladins noticed something was strange as well, because Lance stood and looked over at Allura. "Hey, Allura?" he asked. "What was that planet called that we're going to?"
The princess thought for a moment as she leaned against her control board. "Oh, I know this," she mused. "It's, uh… Oh! Right, we're at a planet called 'Earth.'"