A/N: Aaand I'm back, everybody! I'd like to personally thank bigtimedreamer101 and Gravtron1 for reviewing, and everyone else who favorited and followed this story. You guys are totally amazing; I can't believe I got all this over one chapter! :O
And I'd just like to say that chapter three has been finished and chapter four will be underway in the next few days, so with a bit of luck, the next update will arrive soon. :D
One last thing: I listened to the song 'The Midnight In Me' from the Legend of the Everfree Equestria Girls movie as I wrote/edited this, so I recommend listening to it as well. It sets the mood quiet nicely, if I do say so myself XD
The bridge of the Galra warship was still for but a moment before the commander whipped around to stare at the weapons operator, fury being the only thing his eyes held.
"I said tractor beam! Not teleportation ray! Tractor beam!"
The other Galran swallowed nervously. Sweat trickled down his brow and he squirmed under the unrelenting gaze. "I-I apologize, commander. I am new to this squadron, and the controls for this vessel are different-"
"Save me your pathetic excuses," The commander growled, clenching his fists at his sides. "You shall be punished accordingly when our current matter is cleared. Is there a way to bring the Green Lion back?"
The weapons man's eyes widened. He shot a glance at his console then turned back to the higher ranking Galran.
"The- the teleportation ray is a very recent addition, sir. A prototype, really. There is no reverse effect to my knowledge and to the access my console has to the ray. Mistress Haggar may be working on one, but from what I have been told, it is not meant to be used in battle yet."
If the commander could look angrier and scarier, he did. The weapons man half expected for his head to spontaneously explode. His eye twitched and his clawed hands clenched tighter at his sides.
"You- you utterly incompetent, dim-witted, backwater, pathetic excuse for a weapons operator-"
"Sir, I-"
"Silence!" the commander yelled. He turned to the guards at the door. He pointed at the weapons man.
"Get this wretch out of my sight," he ordered.
The weapons man fought as the guards dragged him away, yelling desperately for a second chance. The commander snorted in disgust at the other's begging.
"Get me another weapons officer," he said.
The Green Lion was deposited in empty space, small stars dotting the area but no planets in sight.
Matt's body went slack as he stared out the view screen. His eyes widened and his hands loosened on the joysticks. He only stared for a few still seconds, not aware of anything around him or anything in any sense. It was the calm before the storm. But then panic overwhelmed the shock, and he was gripping the joysticks so tightly that his knuckles went almost completely white and sweat glistened on his forehead.
"No, no no no no, please no, please…" His voice was barely a whisper, and it shook. But the cockpit of the Lion was silent and that made it loud. Oh, so loud.
"Please, just let us go home, please, please, we need to get home, I have to get her home -" Matt's voice rose and then broke, a large sob bursting free and shaking his body as he slumped against the back of the pilot's seat. He let go of the controls and brought his hands to his face, covering his eyes as if to hide from the fact that he was lost. So completely lost.
He had failed. The mission had failed because of him. If only he had been faster, if he had just focused- Pidge was going to die. She was going to die because her idiot of an older brother had gotten them stuck in the middle of scenic nowhere, an empty portion of the galaxy. Uninhabited. Katie, the bright, mischievous Green Paladin of Team Voltron wasn't going to make it, and it was because of him.
He was going to be responsible for his own sister's death.
Another sob escaped him and he buried his face deeper into his hands, tears spilling down his face as he found despair the only thing he could feel. His breath hitched and he wheezed, his frame shuddering as he coughed. His eyes stung and his heart ached, almost as though it would burst from his chest and run away to a place he could only guess.
The Green Lion rumbled and he swore that she could understand how he was suffering. That she understood his pain and his misery, the fact that his sister was practically condemned to death bringing anger at himself and mourning for the so cheery fifteen-year-old. She could feel those too, he was sure of it, and the Lion rumbled again as if to confirm his suspicions.
Fresh tears tumbled freely down his cheeks as Matt wiped away old ones, feeling incomplete.
He lightly hiccuped, bringing more salty drops, and looked down into his lap.
Pidge was curled up with her legs pulled up to her own chest, her arms resting limply upon them. Her head was resting on his chest, her eyes screwed shut and her breathing shallow and uneven.
A wave of emotions crashed into him and Matt brought a hand to his mouth, tears rushing down as yet another strong sob wracked his shoulders. She used to sit in his lap in the same fashion when she was younger, so much younger. Five, perhaps. Long before all this catastrophe.
Maybe he could just go back to those times. They were both innocent then, so blissfully ignorant of all the misery happening beyond the Milky Way. He had been happy, with his little sister right by his side. At least then they had been at peace.
Oh, how he missed the good old days…
"Matt!"
Matt looked up from his book, the ten-year-old searching for his five-year-old sister. Katie came barreling into the living room, bare feet slapping against the wood floor as she ran toward the sofa where Matt was perched.
"Whoa, Katie, hold on-" Too late. Katie gleefully jumped onto the sofa and landed on Matt, his book dropping from his hands in surprise. She giggled and sat down on his lap, wrapping her arms around his waist, squishing her face into his side. She sighed contentedly and relaxed, keeping him in her hug.
Matt huffed. He didn't exactly love being tackled like a football player by his younger sister, but she didn't really know any better. He just accepted it, wrapping his arms around her in return and smiling slightly.
"How was school, Katie?"
Matt felt her tense and he went on alert, tightening his grip around her by instinct. She was a bit sensitive sometimes, and he didn't like it when kids messed with her.
She raised her head and looked at him, a sad frown on her face.
"The other kids called me-" she stopped abruptly and propped her head against his side again, burying her face in the fabric of his tee-shirt.
Now she was really worrying him. What did those other kids dare call her?
Matt squeezed her gently. "Come on, you can tell me. I promise I won't say anything to mom or dad."
She shuddered and Matt realized that she had started crying. Oh, he was going to pound them all into the ground. They dare make his sister cry, and they were going to regret it. Every. Single. One of them.
For a ten-year-old Matt's voice was scarily hard, but he spoke quietly to her. "Katie, what did they call you?"
Katie was silent for a few moments before she slowly lifted her head and looked at him. Her big eyes were red as tears wet her cheeks, and she shook slightly.
"They… they said I was weird. Said I was crazy 'n stuff and ripped up my drawings." She whispered, eyes filling with tears and she buried her face in his shirt again, winding her short arms around him and holding on tightly.
Matt felt his blood boiling. She had spent hours on those blueprints, using white crayons on their dad's special blue paper to create the designs for three inventions that the two of them had thought up together. Their parents had been wonderfully impressed at the work of the ten and five-year-old team, their ages being the thing that made it surprising.
She had been so proud of her illustrations. He had sat with her while she did them too, and he had guided her on drawing some parts and had shared ideas with her. Despite that they were messy, being a five-year-old's work, Matt thought they looked wonderful. And those darned little weasels hadripped them up. Oh, he was so going to pound them. Kids don't go around messing with one of the Holt siblings without having to deal with the other. That's just how it worked.
Matt forced his anger down and pushed it into a corner for later. He kept one arm around his sister and with his other ran his fingers through her hair, a motion he had adapted to since he was about eight. Despite his inner emotions, he spoke slowly and comfortingly.
"Hey, it's gonna be okay. They shouldn't have done that at all. They're mean and didn't know what they were saying, calling you all those nasty things. And they shouldn't have ripped up our blueprints, either. But we can make some new ones, right? You told me this morning you had an idea about adding a double motor to one of the panels."
Katie numbly nodded, keeping her firm grip on Matt. He didn't mind.
"Second graders are bullies," She mumbled, her tone taking a bitter edge.
Matt smiled softly. "It's not easy getting moved up two grades, is it?" Katie shook her head.
"It may be hard now, but you'll do great, okay? You just have to ignore bullies and keep going. I think you'll get through." Katie held onto him more tightly but stayed silent.
Matt hesitated for a moment before plunging on. "Do you want me to take you to school? I could have a few words with these kids who've been messing with you…"
Katie's head shot up and she stared at him with wide eyes.
"You'd do that?"
Matt grinned. "Sure would. 'Ya want me to?"
Katie was smiling now, despite her tears, and she nodded vigorously. "Yes!" she said, giggling.
Matt grinned wider at that. He ruffled her hair, making her giggle again.
"You wanna watch some TV? There's some sort of new cartoon playing on Nickelodeon, but it doesn't look too good. I kind of want to watch it just to see how bad it is." Matt said, grabbing the TV remote from the coffee table.
Katie laughed. "How bad?"
Matt shrugged. "I'm not really sure. I heard some other kids saying it was super bad, but I can't decide until I see it."
Turning on the TV, Matt began flipping through the channels to get to Nickelodeon. Katie, who was now smiling, wriggled around until she had her legs pulled to her small little chest, her arms wrapped around them as she rested her head against Matt's chest. smiling softly, Matt put one arm around her as he found the channel he was looking for and leaned back into the sofa, content that his little sister was happy again.
Oh, but he was still going to be having a couple of words with those kids.
Matt took a ragged breath as the nostalgia faded. Not completely; it still lingered but it was not nearly as strong as it could've been. But it just added to the pile of Matt's mental instability.
Despite the dark, grim circumstances, Matt laughed softly to himself as he cried. He had indeed spoken with Pidge's bullies, and, to the least, they were given a strong warning. One that they were told they'd only get once.
Matt hiccuped and wiped his eyes, hands trembling. He had to be strong for Katie, he had to find the loophole; a way out for her… And yet it was so hard. He'd been broken for a long time, and even when the rebels had found him he still felt as if he were missing something. He couldn't identify it then, but now he could recognize it plain as day: He had been missing his sister.
And now he had found her again, and he had felt whole. It was a wonderful feeling. Having someone he trusted with the utmost confidence right at his side. He had lost his dad, lost Shiro for some time too, and had left his mother and sister behind. But Pidge had flown out into the depths of space just to find him, (And their father,) and she had succeeded. They were reunited, safe with the other.
In the midst of an intergalactic war.
Where Pidge had recently been tortured.
And now they were lost.
His stronger emotions threatened to take hold again and Matt forced them down with all of his willpower. He needed to focus.
It was then that something happened, practically out of the blue. Something was established between the rebel and Lion, in the middle of empty space, alone. Matt felt a sudden tug in his gut and then his world tilted for a moment, before stabilizing. And now he felt something different; something new.
Matt's brows furrowed and he shifted slightly, uncomfortable with the odd way he was now feeling. Normal, (Or as normal as he could be in those circumstances,) mainly, but a bit… weightless.
As if waiting for her cue, the Green Lion rumbled quietly, almost lovingly. Encouragingly. She was encouraging him.
Matt stole a glance at his sister and sucked in a breath, before shutting his eyes.
There was a small… presence in the back of his head, some sort of sense. He could reach it. Curious, he tapped into it.
Sudden images flashed through his head with terrifying speed, but Matt caught them and could make out what the Green Lion was doing for him.
The images stopped abruptly and there was nothing more, the sense again just a small thing in the back of his head.
Matt slowly opened his eyes. His hands still shook and he sighed heavily. He looked around him at the cockpit, and even with all the insanity whirling around him, the ghost of a smile touched his lips.
"Thank you." He whispered and looked back to his lap. Pidge's state didn't seem to have shifted for the better or worse, so Matt took to the optimistic view of things and saw it as a good turn.
He could help her, and he would. He was her brother and it was his job. And nothing was going to stop him.
And chapter two comes to a close! There are bits that I'm happy with, and some that I'm not. But either way, I hope you guys liked it!
Opinions? Ideas? Constructive criticism? I'd to hear your thoughts! (As long as they're not flames. No flames please.)
An alert/follow will let you join Matt and Pidge watching TV, a review will let you deal with the bullies yourself!
I'll see you guys the next time around! ;D
~erebororbust
