I admit. This is a shameless fix it fic, with a few cool plot twists thrown in. Maybe Shiro will even get a well deserved break.

I do not own Voltron, I just watch it on Netflix.

Enjoy!

More than Machines

Chapter 1: Pre Assembly Maintenance

The whole scene was in shades of red. Bloody light glinted off cruel needles and malicious knives waiting to pierce and slice his flesh. They were doing something to him. He had no idea what it was, he had no idea if it was going to be yet another thing he'd have to learn to live with. They had already taken one arm, what else could they possibly want from him?

Suddenly Haggar was there, her glowing yellow eyes piercing his soul.

"Champion," she said. "Your use of that arm has exceeded our expectations. Think of what you could do with two of them!"

"What?!" he exclaimed. "NO! You can't!"

"What ever gave you the idea that you had a choice?" she asked, eyes narrowing to angry slits.

A rotating, screaming surgical saw descended on his perfectly healthy left shoulder. It bit into his skin and then the muscle and sinew beneath and he could not hold back his scream. The blade carved away more of his flesh, more of what made him Shiro.

The blade hit bone, and his world went white.

Shiro sat up so fast his world spun. It was dark suddenly, and the world made no sense. How was he back in his cell? Why was it so warm? Why was he falling? He hit the ground on his face with his flesh arm folded beneath him relieving some of the force of that impact. His legs were bound by something and he kicked frantically until they came free with a ripping noise.

Shiro pushed himself shakily to his feet and tested the door. It opened. His pulse surged with hope and he stumbled into the unlit hall, breath coming in uneven gasps. He had no idea where he was going, all he knew was that he needed to get away, to hide, to feel safe. His journey took him into a large hangar that he dimly began to recognize. Then he saw the Black Lion and a thrill of shock went through him. What was the Black Lion doing on a Galra war cruiser?

He ran, stumbling, to his lion and she lowered her head to great him, taking him into her mouth. The feeling of safety that washed over him almost drew a harsh sob of relief, but he could not rest yet. There was still the small matter of escaping the warship and getting back to the Castle of Lions. He strode purposefully up to the controls, and sat down, then froze.

Out the front view screen, lights dimmed peacefully for the night, was the largest hangar bay… in the Castle of Lions.

Shiro blinked a few times. Wasn't he just on a Galra warship? He looked down at his hands and noticed something crucial. Lifting his left hand, he turned it back and forth before his eyes, discovering that it was still flesh and bone. He still had both his arms. It had been a dream.

With a deep sigh of relief and aggravation, he let his face fall into the palms of his hands, both flesh and not. It was with a heavy feeling of dread and creeping fear that he finally admitted to himself that the dreams were getting worse, and, oh, let's not leave out the flashbacks, and the moments of frozen mindless panic.

How was he supposed to lead Voltron like this? How could he save Earth from the Galra if he couldn't even save himself?

He couldn't think about this. Not right now. Peeking out from between his fingers, he looked again at the darkened hangar. What now? He didn't really want to go back to his quarters after all that. He already felt silly enough.

Shiro let himself slide out of the chair and under the console with all the flight controls, and just as he was firmly on the floor, he heard a low rumbling purr.

Stay? Rest, sleep, stay?

Shiro glanced around at the inside of his lion in awe, and he reached out a hand to touch the nearby wall.

"Are you inviting me to sleep in here?" he asked.

Another rumbling purr was answer enough.

Shiro gave a quiet brief chuckle, touched by the offer. "I don't know if I'll be able to sleep," he confided.

Black rumbled again and he felt an odd sort of pull. There was nothing physical about it, and he could definitely tell that it was the lion's doing. What did she want? The pull became a little more insistent and he could feel something inside himself start to give, so he took a deep breath and let go. Black's warm presence filled him, mind, heart, and soul, and he gasped. It was like she'd draped a warm blanket around his shoulders.

This was the very first time since waking up on Earth, with only a fuzzy idea that he'd escaped, that he actually felt safe. Relief and peace washed over him in warm waves, and black's low rumbling purr was a reassuring constant. Shiro did not remember lying down, or falling asleep.

Shiro could feel the restraints tightening across his chest, and he knew he was starting to hyperventilate. They had even muzzled him again, and the sharp edge was digging into the bridge of his nose. It hurt! Everything hurt! He could feel every wound he'd ever taken since they'd captured him. Every stab, cut and whip mark, every burn both from heat or acid was on fire. The cut down his chest from where they had... Were they going to cut him open again? What were they going to do to him?

A cylinder full of a bubbling acid green liquid caught his eye to his left. There was already a needle in his arm with a line to that alien substance. He watched the liquid travel slowly down the tube, towards the needle in his arm.

His eyes widened in fear, as his heart tried to beat its way out of his chest. The poison was just about to enter his bloodstream when he heard a ferocious roar. It shook the whole room. The ceiling above him was torn away suddenly, revealing the Black Lion, eyes glowing with golden light.

She reached in with her head and smashed the device next to him. The needle was yanked from his arm, but somehow it didn't hurt.

Shiro cried, tears of relief flowing down his face and stinging the cut.

Black purred and more of the room vanished. She reached for him next, taking the whole exam table into her mouth. She bit down on it and broke it off with a horrific screech of metal, and he was safe, sealed inside her mouth.

Shiro still couldn't move. He was still bound, but black had him and she was carrying him far away from that awful place.

She finally set him down, and Shiro looked around in wonder. They were in a field of stars. Everything seemed to glow with its own inner light.

There was just one small problem, he was still stuck to the table, which was on its side, leaving him hanging from the restraints. Black seemed to consider the problem. She lowered her head onto her front paws, metal but still up in the air, tail waving behind her in annoyance.

Shiro gave her a wry smile underneath the muzzle. "You're too big," he thought gently. "If only you could take the shape of one of our lions back on earth."

He could just imagine her. A night black she lion with flashing gold eyes, proud and fierce.

Her eyes brightened in response, and suddenly her form glowed and shifted like liquid, growing smaller and smaller. Then suddenly, standing before him was the very lion he'd just pictured. He was stunned.

Her intense gaze studied the restraints for a bit, and then she stepped forward and carefully gathered one of the bands in her mouth. He could feel her hot breath on his chest, straight through the prison uniform. She braced her paws and gave an almighty tug. The band gave with a snap, freeing his arms. He took off the muzzle first, destroying it.

"Thank you," Shiro said, reaching out a hand and rubbing the top of her head.

He freed himself the rest of the way, falling from the table. Hitting the ground aggravated all his burning wounds, but black was right there to comfort him. Her whole body vibrated with that deep, thrumming, purr. She stood over him, sheltering his battered body with her four strong legs. The lion surprised him when she lowered her head and nosed his shirt up, exposing bleeding wounds.

"I'm alright," Shiro told her when she gave an angry growl, but she ignored him, and her pink tongue flickered out and gave a gentle lick at a burn on his chest. It was the first wound he'd received in the ring.

Shiro gasped at the unexpected liquid warmth that touched his body. He froze at the sensation, and he couldn't decide whether it hurt or not. Black licked him again, her pink tongue swiping over the wound with a gentle heat.

This should hurt, Shiro thought, and tried to push himself away but, his arms were too weak. In fact, it was a struggle just to keep his eyes open.

Black gave a reassuring purr, switching briefly to lick the cut on the bridge of his nose and cheekbones. The pain was snuffed out. She went back to his stomach and started at the base of the long incision up his chest, replacing pain with warmth with every swipe of her tongue.

Shiro could only lay there and watch as she tended to his every hurt, giving him the loving tenderness he'd craved for so long. Hot tears flooded his eyes as he began to cry, and he finally let loose his grief over what happened to him, but they were also tears of relief. He surrendered and lay there, letting the black lion lick his wounds, and take away the pain.