WARNING: Mentions of torture and panic attacks
They got Shiro first because he was their Champion. He still had ties with them, so the Galra dragged him back over. Princess Allura followed after him as she wanted to be by his side. Coran, ever faithful Coran, was close behind the princess's heels. There was no reason behind it, but Pidge watched, wide-eyed, as the remaining paladins walked out and joined the others with their lions. She was the only one left. For months they tried convincing her to come with them. T give them the Green Lion so they could form Voltron. She was constantly on the run. She hid in caves, asteroid belts, among other places that she swore she'd never tell anyone. For years Pidge managed to avoid the Galra. She heard the other paladins' voices in her helmet from time to time. That meant they were nearby. It had been so long since she had said words of any sort out of fear that they'd hear and come after her.
One day, while she was resting in one of the many caves dotting the planet she now currently resided on, she heard them talking about her. It was just bits and pieces though and very staticky.
"I wonder...Pidge is..." She wasn't too sure who that was.
"Dunno...she's a traitor...gotta find her..." Keith.
"Maybe...stop looking...it's been years...we don't know...could be..." Pidge had no doubt in her mind that voice belonged to Hunk.
"Come on! Focus!" That was either Shiro or Coran. She couldn't discern the difference over the static.
But the former communications officer had to wonder how her name was brought up in conversation. Idle talk? Maybe she was relevant to some mission of theirs? She wasn't interested to find out though.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake and small rocks rained down on Pidge's head. Silently, she cursed. It had to be a Galra ship, what else would it be? After all, they more or less ruled the universe, especially since they now had all the lions except for Pidge's.
She could hear their voices in the distance now, and they were progressively getting closer now. And in only a couple minutes they would come upon her hiding spot and either kill her or try to persuade her to join them. Pidge sighed. She knew she was weaker than the other paladins. But wouldn't it be better to go out fighting? It didn't matter if she used to fight with them. They had joined the Galra and that made them her enemies.
Nodding happily to herself, she boarded the Green Lion. The familiar console lit up brightly, as if it approved of her decision. Pidge sensed that the lion was reluctant to fight its brethren's paladins, but recognized that it had to be done. "It'll be okay," she reassured. It had been so long since she had used her voice. The last time she had heard it was when she shouted at Lance, Keith, and Hunk to not leave. To not leave her behind like her brother and father had.
"Did you hear that?" Keith asked.
"Yeah, but no one can access this channel aside from Allura, Coran, and the...paladins...," Lance trailed off. "Pidge! It has to be!"
"Come on, let's go! She has to be nearby!" Keith called out.
The thuds of the boots grew closer. Closer. And closer. Until finally they stood right in front of the Green Lion, its eyes glowing defiantly.
"Awesome, so, Pidge, do you want to just come peacefully, or do you want to fight it out?" Lance inquired.
The lion before the group roared loudly, causing larger chunks of rock to break off and fall. "Fighting it is," he determined, pulling out his bayard.
It wasn't long before a battered green colored lion was moved onto the Galra ship and a struggling paladin was thrown into jail.
They tortured her, sweet-talked her, and threw her into the arena. Long story short, they traumatized her. It was nearly a month later that they had finally pushed her across the line. And for the first time in awhile, Pidge fell asleep...
...and woke up in her own bed. Her amber eyes stared at the ceiling as she laid there unmoving. Maybe it was a dream, Pidge reasoned. But would a dream be so vivid? Enough so that she could recall nearly every detail? She could hear Lance's indignant shouts as Keith made fun of him for one reason or another. The paladin longed to go out there and join them, but she didn't want to chance it. So, she got up and locked the door that led into her bedroom, and to ensure that even if someone managed to unlock it, she barricaded the door with her closet and bed. She knew she was being paranoid. She also knew that she was being selfish. But she couldn't help it. Pidge didn't want to know that everything she had just went through was reality.
After sitting mindlessly in bed for a few hours, she powered up her laptop, she opened up the castle's camera footage, plugged in her headphones, and sat back and watched.
"...is Pidge?" Princess Allura wondered, pacing back and forth. Everyone (aside from Pidge) had gathered in the lounge and were sitting on the couches talking.
"I haven't seen her all morning," Shiro frowned.
"Perhaps she accidently slept in?" Coran suggested.
Lance shook his head. "Back at the garrison, she was always one of the first cadets up. And even here, she's one of the first to wake up."
"I've seen her awake as early as four o'clock," Keith confirmed absentmindedly.
"So that means something's definitely wrong," Allura said.
"Well, why not check her room?" Hunk asked. "That seems like a good place to start."
Pidge change from camera screen to camera screen as she watched them make their way to her room. What she had seen was normal behavior coming from the team. But she was skeptical. What if they had an elaborate plan to convince to come out of hiding? She stuffed her equipment into her backpack and opened the vent. She could hear their muffled shouts outside her door. It was clear to her, evening without understanding what they were saying, that they wanted her to unlock the door. Then she crawled into the vent, heading towards the kitchen, positive that she'd be able to get in and out before anyone ever realized she was around.
BAM!
Pidge winced as she heard her closet fall down. She sincerely hoped that her clothes didn't have holes or tears in them.
"Pidge! Are you in here?" Lance called.
She just kept moving.
No one knew where Pidge was.
Everyone was freaking out, some more than others. Ahem, Lance and Hunk. They were all standing around in the green paladin's room. Her bed was made and the only thing out of place was the closet which was now laying doors first on the floor. Thankfully, Hunk had only kicked it down and hadn't used his bayard.
"Alright, everyone! Calm down!" Allura shouted, then in a calmer voice, "I'm sure she's around here somewhere. Unless she's with the Green Lion, there's really no other way for her to leave."
Shiro pointed towards where the vent cover had been loosely secured. "She's somewhere else in the castle and is using the vents to move around." Everyone gathered around. "Lance, you go watch the kitchen, there's a chance she's probably hungry and will go for food. Hunk, I want you to keep an eye over the Green Lion, I don't want her to leave the , you will come with me; we'll patrol the castle, in case she's running around the corridors. Allura and Coran will pilot and protect the ship. We can't be caught off-guard with one of our paladin's missing."
"Sounds like a plan to me!" Lance said.
"Why can't I guard the kitchen?" Hunk complained.
Keith snorted. "Because you'll just eat everything."
"Point taken."
"Everyone know what they need to do?" The black paladin asked.
The group nodded.
"If anyone runs into Pidge make sure you tell the rest of us immediately."
Another nod and then everyone ran out the door heading toward their respective posts.
The green paladin slowly lowered the vent cover that led into the mess hall. Now, all she had to do was go into the kitchen, grab something to eat, then leave. No biggy. Stepping out, she placed the cover back on and headed towards the her destination.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud...
Someone was coming, Pidge realized. She raced into the kitchen, opened up a random cabinet door, carelessly pushed aside a bunch of food so she wouldn't crush it and slipped in. She forced her heavy breathing to calm down. She couldn't be caught now. She had come so far. She wasn't about to let it go to waste. But then the mysterious person began opening and closing the doors.
"There's bound to be something worthwhile eating in here," he muttered. It was Lance. Pidge inwardly cursed. There was no way he wouldn't find her. Might as well hold out until the end... It was so warm in her suit, and being stuffed under a cabinet wasn't helping. But it was pleasant. She didn't sleep well that well last night either.
No! She would not fall asleep right now! It was so nice though, and her position wasn't terribly...uncomfortable... Besides, Lance would never hurt her... This wasn't the Lance she knew, Pidge reminded herself. Immediately, she was wide-awake and was glaring defiantly at the boy as he opened the cabinet door.
"Pidge?" He stared in wonderment. "Hey, man, it's good to see you're alright. What are you doing under there?"
"None of your business," she muttered angrily.
"Hey, hey, no need for the attitude. We're friends, not enemies."
"That's what you want me to believe," Pidge forced her way past Lance, and began rummaging through the refrigerator.
"What do you mean?"
"You're telling me that you don't remember the past three years?"
"Um, sorry, I'm not following." The blue paladin scratched his head.
"Galra empire?" -her hands went in the air as if to say "Seriously?"- "Trying to kill me? Ring any bells?" She asked snarkily. It was still fresh in her mind, as vivid as when she woke up. There's no way it was all fake, right?
"Um, no."
"You're lying to me. You're just saying that so you can get the Green Lion and force me to join the Galra empire!" She was hyperventilating now and she couldn't stop. And just all came pouring out. "There's no way it was just a dream. I remember you all laughing at me as you made fun of me and tortured me! I remember! I remember! You're just trying to get to me! You, Hunk, Keith, Shiro, Coran, and Allura! You are all just pretending to be nice so you can force me to join you guys. That's it isn't it? ISN'T IT?!" Someone tell me it was just a dream, was the silent plea behind it all.
Lance stared at her, his eyes wide in surprise. He didn't know where this was all coming from. He didn't remember anyone joining the enemy, and sure didn't remember himself joining the Galra.
"There's no way it was just a dream," Pidge whispered, collapsing on the floor.
He just stood there dumbfounded.
Her head turned towards him, a crazed look in her amber eyes.
She was scared, Lance realized. She didn't what to believe. On one hand, she thought her dream was actually reality, but on the other hand, she wanted to believe that it was a fake. Just something conjured up by her mind.
Instinctively, he sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, forcing Pidge to rest her head on his shoulder. She didn't resist. Either she didn't process what was happening, or, she did, but didn't care enough to do something about it. Lance decided to go with the former. If she was any other state of mind, she would have immediately pushed him away.
"It's okay," he murmured. "You're safe now. There are no Galra soldiers coming after you, and I sure as heck am not going to kill you. Neither is anyone else on this castle-ship."
"Is it really okay though?"
"I promise." He began gently rocking them back and forth. "It's only a dream. Nothing more. No one here has any plans to switch sides any time soon."
"That's good to hear...," she said in a small voice. A slight blush was beginning to form on her face and she was glad that Lance (or anyone else, for that matter) couldn't see it. Pidge sighed.
"When did you wake up?"
"...two...o'clock..."
Leaning the tired paladin against the wall, he got up, not hearing the quiet protests from Pidge, and began making some chamomile tea. Some small voice in the back of his mind was telling him that he should let the rest of the team know that he found the missing paladin, but he quickly dismissed it. Sitting back down next to the aforementioned paladin, he passed her a warm cup of the soothing liquid and allowed Pidge to rest her head on his shoulder once more. "Two o'clock is way too early to be waking up. Go back to sleep, you weirdo," he told her.
They talked quietly for an hour or so. By that time the cup was now empty and sitting beside Pidge and her speech was choppy and slightly slurred. "It's okay," Lance said. "Just go to sleep, it'll be fine. You'll be safe. I'll be right here when you wake up, promise."
"Mmmmm," was the response he received as he watched her eyes finally slide shut and her breathing became slower and more even.
Moments later, Hunk strolled in, voice ready to tell Lance to take a break when he saw the two paladins sitting against the wall. One was sleeping and the other's face was contorted in a you-wake-her-up-and-I-will-kill-you-a-hundred-times-over expression. "I'll let the others know," he whispered, before leaving.
More time passed, and Lance was itching to do something, but he refused to move. He had promised Pidge that he'd be there when she woke up, and he planned to stick to it.
Pidge's eyes opened up drowsily. She was leaning against something warm...soft... But what?
Then she remembered. Lance. He was still sitting there. She'd never hear the end of it. Her face burned red.
"Pidge?"
"Y-yea?"
"Did you sleep well?"
"Y-yea."
"Then let's go talk to the others, I'm sure they'd want to-"
"No!" The green paladin cried out. Softly, she continued, "I don't want them to know. Make up some lie! But don't tell them about my...dream."
Lance gave her a small smile. "Fine. But you better play along properly. Got it?"
"Fine."
"Do you trust me, Pidge?"
She responded without thinking. "Of course."
"Then let's go!"
Together, the stood up and left the kitchen and headed into the dining area. Everyone was sitting around, chatting, but they grew silent when Lance and Pidge entered.
"So," Shiro said, "what's the deal?" He gestured towards an embarrassed Pidge.
Lance gave all of them wry smile."Well, I think it's pretty obvious what she was trying to do."
"Yeah, and it was...?" Keith gestured for him to continue.
"She was testing our skills. What if there was an intruder or something, none of us would've noticed the vent cover was loose if Shiro hadn't pointed it out-"
"We all have to be able to see things like that. Not just rely on others," the red paladin finished.
"Exactly!"
"Hmmm, but couldn't she have told us first, what she was doing?" Allura asked.
"Then it wouldn't have been authentic," the green paladin finally spoke. "If I had told you what I was doing, it wouldn't have been a real experience. You would all know that I was perfectly fine. By not telling you all, you felt real panic and really work together."
"Why were you sl..."
Pidge and Lance glared at him dangerously, causing Hunk to cower away. They heard him whisper, "Anyone would think you guys were possessed by Galra, or something, the way you act sometimes."
Amber eyes widened at the statement. Her head whipped around, looking for an escape. There was a buzz of voices around her, she heard Lance speaking angrily to someone, but she paid them no heed. Escape was the only thing on her mind. She felt Allura's gentle hand on her shoulder, the princess whispered soft words into her ear. But Pidge heard none of it. She feared the worst. So she struggled, she screamed, she ran.
She didn't realize that the whole time warm tears were racing down her face.
She ran towards her lion. Her constant in it all. She heard the dull thuds of boots hitting the hard floor behind her.
"We can't let her reach the Green Lion!" Shiro yelled.
She couldn't leave the ship. Where would she go? They'd find her no matter what. Pidge ran faster...then immediately turned around and ran around the large group. They tried to slow down and follow after her, but their momentum caused them to continue forward a few feet. Giving the green paladin a chance to escape.
She scurried through the vents until she reached the kitchen. She knew that would be the last place everyone looked. It was a dead end and she already hid here. No one would expect her to hide in the same place twice in a was her thought process, until she ran into Lance.
"Oof!" He grunted in surprise, stumbling backwards. Pidge didn't say anything. She just buried her face in the blue paladin's shirt. She was shaking, but wasn't making any sounds. He was being unusually kind to her. Why? She wanted to know why he wasn't trying to lift the mood. Why he wasn't calling the others over?
Lance carefully sunk to the ground, shifting Pidge around to make her more comfortable. "I promise that Hunk was just joking. There aren't any Galra possessing us, swear."
"Why are you being so nice, Lance?" She muttered.
"I come from a big family, this isn't the first time I've had to comfort someone," he said quietly.
"Oh."
"Don't worry," he whispered, "if this happens again, just come to me. It'll be okay."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because it's only a dream, and just like any dream, it can easily be forgotten." Placing a light kiss on her head, Lance stood up and held up his hand to help her. "You coming? I'm sure the others are worried."
Pidge took his hand and stood up too. "Thanks," she murmured.
"No need to thank me. After all, that's what friends are for." He then walked out and called everyone back into the mess hall.
She smiled. "Thank you, Lance," she said. No one would be joining the Galra anytime soon. Because just like the teenager had said, it was only dream. It couldn't hurt her. It was just a figment of her imagination. She felt more relieved than when she had told everyone she was a girl. "Thank you, Lance," Pidge repeated.
No asked what had happened between them. They all knew that if Lance and Pidge wanted to tell the group what had occurred, they would've said something. But that didn't stop Keith and Hunk from poking fun at them. Lots of shouting ensued. The young girl smiled, she was so glad that this wasn't a dream. But if it was, she never wanted to wake up. Everything was going to be okay, she told herself, it was all going to be okay.
A/N: I've recently become obsessed with this show, and it's so good. Let me know if you think the characters are too OOC. I did try to make sure that they were as close to their actual personalities, but I'm not too sure as to how I did. Let me know, I'd appreciate your feedback~
Yes, I do ship Lance and Pidge. Strongly? No. Why? While I believe they'd make a cute and great couple, there's still season two to look forward to to see how everyone's relationships play out. I see Shiro more as a father-figure towards the entire group. And I honestly don't understand why people would ship the two in the first place (the Internet is insane, duh). Sure, they hugged in the one episode, and Shiro helps her a lot. But really, I believe that's because he sort of feels like he owes it to her father and brother that he takes care of her. Does that make sense? It's kind of hard to explain. I'm sure you get the general idea.