"Keep going straight and then take two lefts."
Keith's voice came, quiet and a little amused. "You mean right."
Lance made a noise of indignation as Pidge rolled her eyes at the two's bickering.
"Shut up, Keith! The maps upside down and it's hard to see on the little screen, okay? Whatever, just go straight and then take two rights, Pidge."
She tapped her coms as she continued crawling through the vents, trying to keep her voice from sounding too annoyed. They were doing their best, with the situation given to them. They weren't used to being the ones behind the screen, and besides, she'd made it look so easy.
"Got it."
Being the smallest member of the team was often more annoying than anything but when it came to crawling through vents in a Galra ship to rescue Shiro, she was the only one capable. She was suddenly very glad for her height then, because she didn't often get a chance to be the hero.
She was always the one behind the screen, saving everyone's asses and making sure they knew where to go and didn't get caught, while they got the glory and the awesome fights. It's not like they didn't appreciate her, she knows they do, but it was cool to be the one doing the fighting for once. Especially because she was pretty freaking good at it.
"Okay, I'm at the end of the vent. There are three guards in the hall, I can take them out if you guys disable the camera's and shut off the alarms."
Lance hummed, unsure, before Keith's voice came through the coms. "Uh...how do we do that again?"
Pidge groaned before Hunk stepped in, his sigh quiet through the com link. "I got it."
The green paladin carefully took out her bayard as she watched the camera's shut down in the hall. Taking a deep breath, she activated her weapon, keeping an eye out for the guards as it changed shape in her hand.
She hesitated for just a moment. 'Come on Pidge, you can do this.'
The others noted her pause, and watched their screens for her trackers blip on the map. They were worried, of course, she was the little sister of the team, and none of them wanted her in harm's way, but she was a paladin just like they were and they knew she could do it.
Lance's voice came first, ever the big brother. "You got this, green. Kick their asses."
Hunk found it harder to cover the worry in his tone but his warm voice made Pidge feel better all the same. "Yeah, you know what you're doing. And we're here if you need any help."
Keith wasn't very good at expressing his emotions or comforting other people, but Pidge could hear the smile in his voice. "Go loose, Pidge."
She smiled. Fierce and proud. She could do this.
The guards jumped in fright as she kicked the grate off the vents, and leapt down to the floor, landing in a crouch, and firing her weapon. Her grappling hook shot at the closest guard as he aimed his gun at her, wrapping around his ankles and tearing him across the floor.
The other two guards fired at her, but she was already behind the first she'd tied up, and she smacked the gun from his hand before he could even sit up. Pidge knew she was small, and not very strong, but she knew how to make the best of any situation she was in. So, using the first guard as a human…alien shield, she pushed her way to the other two, and took them out with a few well-placed kicks to their heads.
They dropped to the floor, like rocks as she panted, and an unhappy voice came from behind her, from the first guard where he was still tied up in her grappling hook.
"There will be more coming, the alarms will-" He got a kick in the head too.
Three voices came through the coms, as she took back her bayard and ran down the hall to where Shiro's cell was supposed to be.
"Whaaaat, that was amazing!" Lance's voice was laced with giggles and mostly came out as a squeak, making Pidge smile.
"That was insanely brutal…I'm so proud."
Keith's words came with an urgency to them. "Great job, Shiro should be just down that hall in the last cell."
Finally. It had taken them days to find out where he was being kept, and they had no idea what they'd even been doing to him in that time.
Pidge quickly made her way to the end of the hall, keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of trouble, and finally, there he was. Still in his black paladin armour, looking just as he had when he'd been captured during the last mission, save for the scruff along his jaw. He was doing push ups, face pinched as he focused on his task.
He looked up the sound of footsteps, face immediately splitting into a grin as he saw who it was.
"Pidge!"
The green paladin smiled and tapped at the keypad next to his cell.
"Hey, Space Dad! I'm going to get you out, just hang on." Her fingers flew across the screen as she hacked the security pad, allowing her access to the cell.
Shiro stood and gripped the bars. "Allura and Coran were taken too, they're-"
Pidge nodded, not looking up from her work. "They're okay, we got them from another ship two days ago. They're back at the castle, resting, and they're fine."
He sighed in relief as Pidge finished hacking, but before she could push the release button, a hand found her throat and lifted her into the air.
"Another paladin for our collection." The words were said with a snarl, as the galra soldier looked at Pidge with disgust. Shiro screamed in rage and slammed his fists against the bars of his cell.
"You put her down!"
Pidge kicked her legs at the giant, but it was like kicking a brick wall. The galra squeezed her neck.
"I'll do whatever I want, you puny humans are no match for the galra force."
Pidge could barely hear Shiro yell in response, as she tried to breathe, hands clawing at the fingers around her throat. She couldn't breathe, couldn't escape, couldn't…she needed to be smart about this. Instincts told her to keep pulling at the fingers around her neck, but as she chocked, she fought that instinct and instead reached a hand towards her belt, where she'd hooked her bayard.
Shiro watched her hand, watched her turn it into her grappling hook, and slammed his fists harder against the bars, trying to do anything to save Pidge some pain.
And it would hurt, it would hurt a lot. She knew that, and she didn't like pain, but she didn't like suffocating either. She fired her grappling hook at the galra soldier that held her, watching him laugh as it attached harmlessly to his chest.
"HA! Is that the best you've got?"
His grip lessened just enough to let her speak, words filled with contempt. "No, but this is."
The cool thing about her grappling hook, was that it could also be used as a taser.
Electricity shot through the soldier, causing every one of his muscles to clench. His hand gripped Pidges throat like a vice, and the electricity that passed through him, also passed through her.
Shiro screamed her name as her whole body became rigid, before falling to the ground, limp as a rag doll, as the soldier dropped her.
The galra was bigger than her, it could withstand a lot more than she could, and when the electrical current stopped, he'd let her go and let out a guttural yell of rage.
"I'll kill you!"
Pidge could barely see, her vision blurry and body floppy like rubber. It was hard to breathe too, her neck feeling sore and crushed where the soldier had squeezed, but she still needed to save Shiro. So, with her shaking, weak limbs, she crawled across the floor, and fired her bayard at the galra again.
She crawled to Shiro's cell as the galra twitched and screamed in pain. Shiro slipped his hands through the bars and helped hold her up, to keep her standing as she tapped the security pad and opened his cell.
Once the door was open, she dropped her bayard and crumpled to the floor, the Galra soldier slumping to his knees in the absence of electricity.
Shiro stood in front of the green paladin, protectively, as he activated his prosthetic arm, lighting it up purple as his face twisted into an expression of pure hate.
"Don't touch a member of my team, ever again." His hand came down on the solider, in a glowing purple arch, and all of a sudden, the galra's head was separate from his body.
Shiro's coms activated once he was out of the cell, and he winced at the sudden onslaught of yelling.
"Shiro?! Are you there?!"
"Pidge, say something!"
"Is she okay?"
The green paladin lay in a heap on the floor, curled on her side and dragging ragged breaths through her damaged throat. Shiro quickly knelt down beside her and tapped his coms.
"Yeah, I'm here. Pidge, can you hear me?"
The girl's eyes cracked open, finding her leaders worried face hovering above her, and she gave him a reassuring smile. She didn't say anything, just lifted a weak hand towards him, fingers curling around his when he took it and held tight.
His voice was strong and sure, in that calm way of his that could always comfort the team no matter what happened. God, she'd missed it.
"Thanks for saving me. You're my hero, Pidge."
The girl blushed a little, before wincing at the pain in her…well, everything. Shiro frowned in concern, and carefully scooped her into his arms, holding her against his chest as he stood.
"Let's get you back to the castle, huh? I think you could use some time in a healing pod. What's the exit strategy, team?"
Pidge felt better there, in his arms, he held her so carefully and she didn't think she'd ever felt safer. How could someone with so many muscles feel so cuddly? Okay, her brain may have been fried.
Keith's voice came as static through her damaged coms, but Shiro raised his eyebrow at his words.
"Man, it's good to hear your voice again. Our exit strategy is coming towards you right now, but it's not really – DON'T EAT THE WHOLE SHIP, HE'S IN THERE!"
Metal twisted around them, screeching so loudly that it seemed to pierce the paladin's brains. Shiro held Pidge closer, doing his best to protect her as part of the ship was torn away, the wall beside them ripping apart to reveal the huge head of the black lion.
Lance's apologetic tone was loud, to be heard over the sounds of the wreckage. "Sorry, she was worried about you and it's not like we can stop her."
Shiro had never been happier to see his Lion, than right then. Alarms blared through the ship as the lion's mouth opened, and she rumbled happily as Shiro walked in, the green paladin still tucked in his arms.
They were home.
….
"You kids had full reign of the castle for almost a week, how is it still standing?" Shiro was laughing, arms crossed over his chest as he watched the young paladins smile.
"Uhh, we're paladins of Voltron, we're responsible." Lance lounged on the step, in front of Pidges healing pod, smirking at Keith who watched him with a small smile.
Hunk looked up from the piece of machinery he was tinkering with. "Yeah, plus Keith wouldn't let Lance throw a party."
Lance threw a furious betrayed look towards his friend as Keith scoffed. "Who would you have even invited."
"I don't know, those mermaids might have liked the pool! But you wouldn't let me find out!"
Shiro laughed and was about to say something, when the healing pod behind him hissed and began to open. The others all stood, eagerly awaiting the release of their friend, as Shiro stood ready to catch her.
She fell from the pod with a sigh, eyes opening to all of their concerned faces as Shiro held her once again.
Her voice was rough but not the strangled mess it had been before. "Hey, guys."
Shiro beamed, pulling her in for a hug as the rest of the team joined in. Hands and arms weaved together until they were all in a group hug, happy to have their little sister back.
Shiro sounded proud. "Welcome back, Pidgeon."