AN: Just to note, I do know that Pidge is fully capable of keeping herself safe and probably taking all these guys. But there are times when she won't be able to, so this is just a glance at one of those times. No hate, please! Also, I went through a lot to get this to post. Took me over an hour. That's what I get for trying to do all this from a phone. I wasn't able to get in as much editing as I was hoping for, so if you see any mistakes, please tell me! Hope you enjoy and have a blessed day!

Keith was running. Lance was behind him, trying to keep up, but Keith wasn't given the Red Lion for fun.

He was fast.

He ran passed shops and creatures and robots. He could have even ran passed an entire parade of people dressed in nothing but bright feathers and he wouldn't have noticed.

He had a mission.

Trying his best to keep up with his teammate, Lance was running as fast as he could, ignoring the way his throat was beginning to burn with every ragged breath he took. His mission was the same as Keith's, and when it came to the both of the agreeing on something concerning a battle plan or really anything for that matter, that meant this was dire.

And it was.

Pidge was kidnapped.

Idiots, Lance thought, usually sarcastic and arrogant boasting replaced with an actual serious mindset. No one messes with our family.

•••

Lance was pacing, and pacing badly.

Hunk's eyes would follow the blue paladin as he went back and forth in front of the couch, not saying anything, as he doodled some plans for a new motor in his notebook. He wasn't too worried about his friend. Lance would talk when he was ready. He always does. Hunk knew that and respected it.

Keith didn't.

And to be quite frank, Lance's pacing wasn't only making a rut in the flooring, but also on the red paladin's nerves.

"Stop it!" finally, Keith broke. His shout caused both Hunk and Lance to jump, but he didn't feel like being sorry at the moment. "You've been doing that ever since Pidge left. She's her own person, she can handle herself. She also deserves some privacy. You can't attach a tracking device to her."

Hunk sunk down into the couch. He new that Keith was protective and probably worried about Pidge too, but he also cared a lot about person space. Lance wasn't used to personal space, going from having a bunch of family around him to be completely surrounded by classmates and teachers. All he knew at the moment was that Pidge was off with a guy he didn't know in a place he didn't know. It just didn't sit well with him.

Lance sputtered for a moment, having a lot of thoughts but not knowing how to our them into actual sentences. "She could be in danger!" he argued, gesturing wildly as he did so. "We don't know if this guy is trouble or not! How could we be sure that she's okay? That she's safe?!"

"You can have a little faith in her—"

"I have faith in her! I don't have faith in him—"

"Okay!" Hunk stood up between Lance and Keith, who had gotten up to stand face-to-face with the blue paladin. He chuckled nervously as he put his arms out between the two, trying to keep them from going at each other's throats. It didn't stop them from glaring daggers at each other, though. "I think this is getting out of hand. Dude, we know Pidge can keep herself safe. I'm pretty sure no one here likes the idea of her going off somewhere by herself, but Keith has a point. She does deserve some space. Just, you know... Trust her, okay?"

Lance sighed and let his tensed stance fall. "I know, I know." he sighed again, rubbing a hand over his face. "I'm worried about her. She can keep herself safe, yeah, but what kind of teammate am I if I just let her walk off into, for all we know, sudden death?" Keith scoffed and rolled his eyes. Lance ignored that. "It's a big brother thing, I guess. I'm being crazy. I'll just go hang out with Blue or something."

Hunk watched with concerned eyes as his friend walked away with a crestfallen face. Keith was sure that he had just hit a sore spot for the young man, but what was he supposed to do? Let Lance go around and mope over something that he couldn't stop? Pidge was a little sister to all of them, but they couldn't watch her all the time.

With a sigh of his own, Keith started towards the exit of the room. "I think I'll go train or something."

Hunk said nothing. Instead, he went back to the couch and picked up his discarded notebook, jotting down a quick note for Shiro (or Coran or Allura, whoever found it) and laid in on the table. Then, he followed the path Lance took, a plan forming in his mind.

'Went for a walk around the shops with Lance. Be back later.'

•••

When he reached the Blue Lion's hangar, he was greeted with a moping young man laying on the muzzle of a concerned metal lion.

"Lance!" Hunk called out. The tan man's head snapped up from playing with his fingers, looking around for a bit before looking down.

"Are you gonna give me a lecture about being dramatic? Because this is my area. I'm aloud to brood in here."

Hunk rolled his eyes. "No." he deadpanned before a grin spread across his face. "I have a proposition for you, actually." when Lance hadn't moved, the larger of the two groaned. "I'm gonna go spy on Pidge! But, if you are more happy sitting here, than fine."

He hadn't even finished his last sentence when Lance was standing right in front of him, looking like Hunk had just given him a winning lottery ticket.

"What's the plan?"

•••

Twenty or so minutes later, the blue and yellow paladins were standing just outside of the plaza Lance had last seen Pidge and Vinny, trying to figure out where to go next.

"She didn't tell you where she was going?" Hunk asked for probably the tenth time since they'd gotten here. His companion let out a strangled groaned, slapping a hand to his forehead.

"No, Hunk. She didn't tell me where she was going. I had just peed her off! Do you really think she would have told me where I'd be able to find her after just embarrassing her in front of a bunch of people?" the yellow paladin shrugged, which made Lance slap his forehead once more.

"Hey!" Hunk defended himself, though he looked more like he was pouting with his lip stuck out like that. "I'm just trying to get details to know what direction we should go in."

Lance let out a breath, his face going from irritated to understanding. "Yeah, yeah... Sorry."

"So..." Hunk started after a beat of silence. "You sure you didn't hear anything about where they were going?"

Lance was about to freak out on his teammate, but just as he was about to, a tall and very pointy creature started yelling out promotions for a nearby do-it-yourself business loud enough that it took their attention away from their dilemma for a brief moment.

"Like 'bots? Like tech? Like doing it yourself? Head over to Kono's Bot Shop! They have..." the worker's voice trailed off as he got farther away.

Hunk scoffed at his words. "What's the point of having a shop if all the people do is pop in and build their own stuff? How do you make money like that? Well, actually, I guess you can charge admission, then you can also sell the tools... Yeah. Actually, that's a pretty good idea. But still, that dude was loud. Maybe it's just that I don't like street—"

"Hunk!" while Hunk had been rambling on, Lance was thinking about the shop, too. Only, Lance thinking wasn't about profit or bad advertising. The young man's face was as bright as a kid's on christmas morning. "That place! Vinny, the dude Pidge is with, that's where his robot is! I remember that before I went all crazy, he was telling her about where he had built it. To me, I thought it was just some cheap advertising. Then he said he'd show it to her, and she agreed, and I... You know what I did." even with his sheepish tone for the ending, his face soon broke out in a grin.

The yellow paladin's expression soon matched his friend's. "That's where they are!"

"See?" Lance asked with laughed as they headed towards Kono's. "We can totally be good detectives."

"Yeah, totally."

•••

Pidge was having the time of her life. Vinny had brought her to a store that sold robots, parts to robots, but better yet, you could build your robot right there at the shop with what parts you bought! Turns out, Vinny works here. Apparently his robots were in the back, out from the public eye so that no one tried to buy his electronic companions. He said that he wanted to give her a tour of the place before he showed her his 'bots', as he called them.

He was going through every area, explaining what part of the store was used for what purposes. She could hear some of what he was saying but was mainly interested in looking at all the different parts of technology and building material that was hanging up on the walls, scattered over work tables, and all the people that were mulling around.

People that loved robots just as much as she did. Not only that, but they were all here just to build robots and see other people's creations. Different species, different languages, different everything. But they were all here, just having fun.

Sometimes, she'd feel like someone was watching her, but she just chalked that up to being the only human in the midst of a bunch of weird looking creatures. Maybe she was something they hadn't seen before and they wanted to get a look at her. Who was she to judge? Pidge hadn't to admit it, but she didn't the same thing a lot when they encounter some really odd creatures.

Plus, she wasn't gonna let a little suspicion dampen her mood.

She must have had a funny look on her face because she was pulled out of her amazed state when the creature she was touring with gave a bark of laughter. Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink, but she really wasn't all that embarrassed. Honestly, this was her domain! Why would she feel bad for liking what she did best? Plus, by the looks of it, everyone else here had been in her shoes before, too.

Meaning, they all probably had the same reaction she did when the first stepped foot (or tentacle) into this place.

"Like what you see?" Vinny asked her, a smirk clearly on his face. The green paladin rolled her eyes at that but she was still smiling as bright as ever.

"Duh. It's so cool here! This must be so great! Working here, I mean. You get to interact with all kids of robots, built by all kinds of different aliens!" she jumped a bit as she spoke, her voice going an octave higher as she got even more excited.

"Yeah, it's pretty great here." Vinny smiled to the human beside him, voice holding nothing but pride.

"So, what do you do?" Pidge asked, trying to get a conversation going while not going too far away from the subject of the robots.

"Me? I build the 'bots that get sold over in the front of the shop. Not by myself, obviously. There's a few other people that help with that, too. But I'm also a recruiter."

Pidge quirked an eyebrow. "Recruiter? For new employees for the store?"

"Yeah." Vinny chuckled. "Something like that."

Pidge could tell there was something else that he meant by saying that, but she didn't want to get too far deep into something that wasn't her concern. His work problems were his own issue. There wasn't anything she could do about that.

"So," her tour guide said once they had reached the very back of the building, having gone through the store for the new robots, the place where they sold the parts, and the building area. "Ready to go check out my 'bots now?"

"Yes!" Pidge had to hold herself back from jumping with delight. "That's what we're here for, right?"

Caught up in her excitement, she didn't hear what Vinny muttered under his breath.

"Sorta."

•••

"I'm pretty sure we should take a left here..."

"If we take that left, we're gonna go by that food stand with the octopus-looking lady again. I'm pretty sure if we do that, she's gonna call the cops or something on us. Or hit us with with her purse, if they have those on this planet."

Lance pouted. "Well, what do you suggest?" he crossed his arms over his chest challengingly.

"I think we should ask for directions." Hunk said with a nod, a friendly smile on his face. Before Lance could object, the large man had already started looking for someone to ask.

"Uh, excuse me?" Hunk asked someone whose back was turned to them. The person had a hood over their head, probably to keep the heat from the day off their face and whatnot. "Do you know where Kono's Bot Shop is?"

"Straight down to the fountain then take a right."

"Okay, than—"

"Wait!" Lance quickly stepped forward, grabbing the strangers shoulder and turning them sharply so they faced the two paladins. Hunk was about to yell at him for man-handling someone they didn't know like that, but it died on his lips when he noticed who it was.

"Keith? What are you doing out here?" Hunk asked his teammate, who right now was looking like a kid caught with their hand stuck in a cooking jar. His voice didn't have an accusing tone, just curious. "I thought you said that you were training?"

"You guys aren't the only ones concerned about Pidge." the red paladin said, pulling his hood down and looked at them intently with his violet eyes.

Hunk chuckled nervously, wringing his hands together while Lance tried to laugh away what Keith had said. "What makes you think we're looking for Pidge? She's enjoying herself! We are just looking through the different stores, being good paladins and letting Pidge have her privacy—" Lance cut himself off when he noticed the look Keith was giving him. He sighed in defeat. "Okay yeah, we were gonna spy on Pidge. By why are you looking for her?"

"Just because I don't jump down the throat of someone who tries talking to her," he paused and cast a look to Lance who decided right them then to have a keen interest in a nearby stand. "I do still want to make sure no one is going to hurt her."

"But didn't you say that she deserved space?" Hunk asked, Lance nodding next to him.

"I do think she deserves her own space," Keith confirmed his earlier statement. "Doesn't mean we can look out for her from afar."

Lance made an impressed face. "My, my, Keith!" he came to stand by the black-haired man's side, clapping him on the shoulder. "You are one sly fox!"

"What?" Keith asked, confused. "What does a fox have anything to do with this at all?"

Both his teammates sighed.

"We still have a ways to go with him and that kinda stuff, Lance."

•••

Pidge wasn't really sure how big this building was. It looked decently sized when you stood outside, and inside it was a little on the cramped side.

But that was only the first floor.

Vinny had told her that there were three floors, two of them beneath the store. They were strictly off limits to customers and that Pidge should be

He had taken her down a set of old and rusty metal stairs, leading to a large, heavy looking door with a small window in it. Behind the door was honestly Pidge's dream room.

The room was incredibly large, no wall except one on the opposite side, but it was quite a ways away. The tech could see a lot of boxes all over, some having wires, some having fiberglass (it looked like fiberglass, though Pidge knew that it most likely wasn't the material created by humans), and really everything you'd need to build a robot. There were some tables around, all ranging in size and shape. But none of the tables were empty. They had partially build robots or other gadgets on them, tools, and she thought she had seen a rat or two scurrying across them.

Not like she cared. She lived in a castle ship with a bunch of teenage boys throughout the majority or her teenage years, and still lives with them today. She can handle some dirt.

But, what was getting on her nerves was the feeling that someone was watching her. She understood it when she was upstairs, by why was it still bothering her? The petite lady shook her head to rid it of the thoughts, trying to just enjoy herself.

"Down here ain't too pretty, but it's only for me and the other workers to see. So, we don't really care about keeping it tidy." Vinny said as he weaver them through the maze of tables, chairs, and boxes towards the far side of the room.

Pidge scoffed, but it was in an amused way. "Please. I deal with worst then this whenever I try to get into Lance's room."

They continued walking, getting closer to the only wall that looked like it separated rooms. Of course, there were walls all around, but the one they were walking to was the only one with a door.

Once they reached the door, Vinny stopped and turned to look down at Pidge. It was quiet for a few moments, before Pidge broke the silence.

"So, are we going to see those 'bots' of your's yet or what?" she asked jokingly, smiling as she spoke. Vinny chuckled silently at this before dipping his head down, taking a deep breath, then looking at Pidge with a gleam in his eye that she truly didn't like.

"What—"

"Pidge," Vinny cut her off, saying her name for the first time since they'd met. "You're a pretty smart little girl. Smart enough to be able to explain to me how to build a computer from scratch, to rewire an enemy robot, and you're the Green Paladin of Volton. That right there is reason enough for me to recruit you."

As he was speaking, two very large and very muscular aliens stepped out the door and stood on either side of it.

Things went so quickly, Pidge didn't get a chance to properly defender herself.

All she remembered was Vinny sticking her in the neck with a needle, then black.

•••

"He just—" Lance went to scream but Keith slapped his hand over the tan boy's mouth.

"We don't want to get noticed, stupid." the red paladin muttered angrily. Mainly at the guy that just drugged his teammate, not to much at Lance's outbreak. If he didn't think those two guards would be able to take the three of them, he'd be yelling too.

"Well then, what are we going to do? We can't just let them take Pidge!" Hunk whisper yelled as Keith slowly removed his hand from Lance's mouth, making sure the blue paladin wasn't going to yell anymore. Hunk had a certain darkness in his eye, one that didn't enter often.

It was a look that was reserved for only when one of his loved ones were hurt or in danger.

It was scary to anyone who saw it, even people that knew him best.

"We've got to go get back to the Castle Ship. With Shiro and our bayards, we should be able to take these guys and whoever else may be hiding behind that door."

"We'd be able to take them now if Allura didn't ban us from bringing out bayards out of the castle." Lance muttered bitterly. Hunk rolled his eyes and Keith cast him a nasty look.

"You're the one that tried to show it off and ended up making the king of the planet think we were attacking."

"Yeah? Well—"

"Guys." Hunk's firm tone ended the argument. "What's the plan?"

Keith took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts. "Hunk, you stay here for look out. While you two were going around watching Pidge upstairs, I did a scan around the outside of the building. I'm pretty sure there's a way out in the back of the building, facing towards the airship docks. If they try taking her anywhere, they'd use that. It's be too suspicious if they went though the store." Hunk nodded, already heading up the stairs.

"I'm guessing we're going to get Shiro and everyone?" Lance asked, following as Keith also went up the stairs they had followed Pidge and Vinny down.

"Yes. And we better hurry; we don't know what Vinny's plan is with Pidge."

—

Pidge sat curled up as tightly as she could be, putting on a scared little girl front for Vinny to see whenever he came to make sure she wasn't dead.

It had only been a couple hours at most, and not much has changed in that time. She was still in the small wooden box, only now she was alone in the room they put her in.

She seemed to be terrified, which in all reality, she was quite so, but not as much as she was playing. Outside, she looked like no threat at all, but inside... she was thinking of how to break out.

For the first hour or so, she sat still in her little crate. She had been so utterly terrified, not knowing what was going to happen and not knowing how to stop anything from happening.

After scaring the day lights out of her, the gruff-sounding guy had left with his little minion in tow, apparently going to talk about what they were going to do with her. She calmed down a lot since then, realizing that she had time to form a plan.

So far, no luck.

But she still wasn't scared. She wasn't as good as hand-to-hand combat as Keith or Shiro, but she was pretty sure that if she was even given the slightest chance, she could break away.

Vinny was too weak. The only way he even got her this far was because he drugged her then put her in a box in case she woke up.

Pretty cowardly, if you asked her.

His boss, however... That was a bit more of an issue. Granted, she hasn't been able to really see the guy, bit what she had seen was a pretty muscular upper body. Enough that he could probably catch her if she tried to slip away.

Unless she was fast enough. In that case, she'd be a free woman.

Her thoughts came to an abrupt end when the sound of rusted door hinges took over the silence. She could hear light footsteps, letting her know that the person who entered was Vinny. She could heard him walk over to the side of the room that she couldn't see (which was pretty much everywhere), directly behind her. She could hear some scratching, then wheels coming closer to her. She kept silent, not waiting to break her act despite the fact she was internally freaking out.

Pidge decided to forgo the plan when she felt her box get lifted up then heading towards to doorway.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked, a nervous edge to her voice but not frantic like she had been earlier. She got a chuckle in return, which made her skin crawl.

"Boss decided that we can't stay here. Your pals are gonna get pretty curious, so we've gotta skip town before they find ya." Vinny's words were like a poison to her.

Pidge's heart stopped beating. She was sure of it.

"What do you mean?" she wished her voice had sounded stronger instead of the weak whisper that came through her lips.

"What I mean, doll," Vinny suddenly stopped, making the crate fall down hazardly and Pidge to ht her head roughly against the wood. "Is that once I get you from the shop to the docks, we're outta here."