Disclaimer: I don't own VLD!
A/N: This takes place a few days after the end of Season 2! It's also in the same timeline/universe as my Water and Blood story, but this story takes place before that one. You don't necessarily have to read one to understand the other or anything! They work as standalones too.
The Incredibly Improbable [But True] Intergalactic Adventures of Matthew J. Holt, Rebel at Large
In Which a Giant Space Skunk is Rescued From Z-Space
There was something on his chest. It felt like a medium-sized dog was sitting on him without any intention of moving. Shiro stirred into consciousness, but the weight on his ribcage didn't go away. It did, however, shift slightly forward, and he felt small hands press against his chest. "Hey, are you dead?"
His mind flashed back to his days in the druids' experiment chambers on the Galra ship and how he had been strapped down to a table, unable to move. The weight on his chest was different this time, but it still felt like he couldn't move, like he was being restrained. His limbs felt heavy, and his mind was sluggish. Panic shot through the torpid thoughts, urging him to wake up.
"Look, you're breathing. Congrats. What kind of earthling are you, anyways? I hope you're better than the one we have. Can we trade you?"
"Get off me," Shiro mumbled.
"It speaks!" The weight on his chest moved again, and he felt one of those small hands pry one of his eyes open. "Good morning."
Fear made Shiro's heart jump. This was wrong, where was he? Where was his lion? Where was he?
The thing that was sitting on his chest was completely foreign to him, but it looked like a cross between a lemur and an owl, with huge green eyes and four arms. Shaggy grey and green fur and feathery like things covered it, as if it had moss growing on it.
What was going on? Where was his team? Where was Black?
"Are you broken? Your heart is beating really fast."
Shiro sat up, which forced the alien to get off him. It leapt away and landed on a shelf not far enough away, its hand wrapped around a piece of piping. Piping. He was sitting on a metal floor in a small room that was slightly chilly and full of potted plants.
What. Was. Going. On.
"What were you doing in Z-space, anyways?" the alien asked. It sat down on the shelf and kicked its legs back and forth.
"I don't…" What was it talking about? "Where's my team?"
"What team?" the alien asked, blinking its owl-eyes at him. "You were the only one floating around in Z-space, which you still haven't explained. Do you know how hard it is to get there?
Shiro put his head in his hands, trying to focus on the here and now as his mind tried to spin out of control. Calm, stay calm. He had to figure this out and get back to the fight. He had no idea what had happened to the others…
"I have to go." He stood up and stumbled toward the door.
"Where?" the alien asked. It jumped to another shelf and stared at him. "There's nowhere to go."
"Let me out!" Shiro slammed a fist against the door, and it promptly sprang open. He hurried out and found himself in a metal corridor, doors lining the sides. There were paintings on the doors and sayings in alien languages, but he didn't think any of them were the exit. He was having trouble gathering his thoughts, but he was aware of the small alien following out of the room.
"Hey, guys, problem over here," the alien called, and Shiro took that to mean he only had a limited amount of time to get out of there.
"What did you do this time?" a deep voice asked from farther away.
"Ehhh…just help me!"
Shiro tried to get his wobbly legs under control as he wobbled down the corridor, hunting for the exit. If he could just get out of here and take a minute to think, he was sure he would figure out what was going on.
There was a clatter ahead of him. He looked up and realized that there was a level above this one, and it was accessible by a ladder. There was a young woman standing on the next level, and the moment she saw him she yelped, wings flared out from behind her, nearly taking up the whole space. She was a dark deep blue and covered in what looked like silver freckles, and she was staring at him like she had seen a ghost.
All right, so he couldn't get out that way, not with her blocking the way.
There were footsteps behind the woman on the landing and then a tenor voice spoke. "I swear, if that moron let Spock and Bones out of their cage again, I'm going to jettison him with the trash."
That voice. No way. Shiro covered his ears, certain he was hallucinating. What was wrong with him? Maybe this was all a nightmare.
"Era, what's with the wings? You all right?"
The woman's wings folded down, revealing a young man standing to her side, his hand resting on her lower back. Light brown hair fanned out around his shoulders, and light brown eyes the same color as Pidge's gawked at Shiro. All the color drained from his grease-smudged face, and suddenly the woman was supporting him, letting him lean against her.
"Shiro?
Now was a great time to sit down on the floor. Shiro slumped to the ground, landing on his knees, exhaustion and surprise and disbelief hitting him all at once. He sensed someone approaching behind him, and his instincts were to lash out, but he couldn't stop staring at his old roommate and friend.
"Matt, you loser, you killed it," the small alien's voice complained behind him.
"Not another one," the deep voice from earlier said.
Shiro was aware of Matt Holt rushing toward him as he fell back into darkness.
"Shiro!"
