At first, Shiro didn't know what had happened. He'd woken up in the infirmary room - at least, he was pretty sure he had - and Keith had been there. He'd reassured Shiro that they were going to help him through this - the 'this' probably referring to the cycle of nightmares he'd been stuck in.

But - something - something had felt wrong in his head, like something was hiding, waiting to pounce. He'd tried to tell them, tried to let them know something didn't feel right, but then whatever it was had pounced.

Mid-word, Shiro found himself - well, gone. Not dead, but outside of his body all the same. It felt a lot like when Zarkon had forced the Black Lion back under his control. Shiro had tried to stop it, but then was suddenly floating in space, falling without end, and the feeling was something he'd really hoped never to undergo again.

For one thing, it was disorienting as hell. For another thing, it was really, really annoying to have it happen twice in as many days.

He tried to concentrate, to find out where he was now, and felt something familiar begin to take shape in his mind. It took him a second to realize what this familiar thing was - it was - it was the feeling he'd had the instant before -

Before he'd seen through Black's eyes, all that time ago when they'd been training. It was the feeling of connecting with his lion on a level so deep, it was as if their minds were one.

Suddenly his Lion was speaking to him, and Black - Black was using words.

My pilot, she purred. I thought you were sleeping.

Wow. This was - this was new.

"I was," he said, still confused, but no longer scared, now that Black was here with him - wherever 'here' was.

"But - I don't know where I am now," he said, trying to look around. He couldn't see anything yet - maybe Black still had her eyes closed. "I think - I think the witch's toxin is - is alive, somehow - I don't know what to do, Black."

Black snarled then, deep rage and pain behind her words. The witch took a Paladin of mine once. She twisted his heart, and in the end, he chose the dark. A picture rose then, a mental image, shared between them, from Black to Shiro.

"Zarkon," Shiro said. "I thought - I thought so - Black, I'm so sorry he took you from me, I - I didn't mean to let him-"

Black growled then, but it was the sound of a deep, old pain. I chose him long ago, for he had a strong will, and once, I thought that was enough.

The pain in her voice deepened, turned weary and worn. But in the end, he wanted power - power at the cost of others. In the end, he chose the dark, and our bond was broken.

Shiro didn't know what to say to that. Her pain at that betrayal had stayed with her for over ten thousand years. He couldn't imagine living with that.

Black seemed to sense his thoughts. He felt her pain change into something kinder, stronger, gentler, as she spoke to him.

You are my pilot now, she said, and pride entered into her voice. You have a great heart, and your spirit is strong. Stronger then his. He fears it. I know this.

"Then - why - " Shiro began, but stopped. "He didn't take you from me, did he," he asked. "You were trying to keep me from him. That's why you - "

Black growled, and he sense her frustration and fury at the memory of Zarkon's attack. It was all I could do for you, she said, and her next growl was one of fierce determination. I lost my Paladin once to the witch. I will never let it happen again.

"Black," Shiro said, "I - I'm honored by your trust - but the witch - Black, she infected my body with a toxin. I think it's - it's like the crystal that tried to take over the castle. I'm not sure - I'm not sure what's going to happen."

My pilot will not be taken over by the witch, Black stated. He is too true a Paladin for that.

"I wouldn't be so sure," he said. His honesty surprised him, but then again, his Lion would be able to tell if he was lying, or putting on a brave face. "I - I'm broken, Black. I fought in the arena - I took lives, Black, I killed people-" He broke off for a moment, trying hard not to remember the blood, the pain, the fear. "I'm not - I'm not like the others," he finished. "I'm - I'm just not."

Black's voice rumbled again, but it was a strangely comforting sound. My pilot was forced to do those things, she said. You entered the arena to save another. Even when the witch gave you the power to destroy, and tried to break your will through pain, you refused to become her weapon. Instead, you did all in your power to protect those you could. That is why I chose you. For your strong will, and your strong heart.

Shiro felt tears come to his eyes. Or at least, they would have, if he'd still been in his body. Then he felt Black's presence encircle his, as if she were a large cat, and trying to comfort him by wrapping around his legs. He thought about what she'd told him. "Black - where am I now?" he asked. "I feel - I feel like I'm near you."

My pilot has seen through my eyes, Black said. He is with me.

Shiro suddenly understood. "You're saying - I'm with you? Like, I'm -"

Black made a rumbling sound, and he realized it was a chuckle. Yes, my pilot. Black replied. Your spirit is one with mine now, here, in my bay.

"Wow," Shiro replied. "But - uh - what's - what's happening back in the infirmary?"

Your body has been tainted by the witch. Black answered. The toxin is - as you thought - alive. It knows time is against it. It takes action to save itself.

"What kind of -"Shiro broke off, feeling uneasy. "Could it hurt the others? Could it - infect them, somehow?"

Only if the others were to let it free, Black assured him. And they are not that stupid.

"So - what can we do?" Shiro asked, frustration in his voice. "We've got to do something, Black, I can't just stay here and let - whatever it is - control my body like that."

Black's next words seemed rather smug. My pilot, I can take action on your behalf.

Shiro was confused for a moment, but then he understood. "You mean - you can - I mean we can -"

My pilot, we are one. And at the moment, I mean that quite literally. I can take whatever action you wish of me.

Shiro felt the beginnings of a plan form in his mind. "Okay," he said, "Black, is there any way that you can get to the infirmary?"

In answer, Black opened her eyes.

Shiro felt surprised by her field of vision until he realized what she had done. She had shrunk in size until she was about the size of a large panther. In this shape, she could navigate the corridors and rooms of the castle with ease.

"Let's go," he said, and felt her paws pad softly on the floor as she begin to lope swiftly in the direction of the infirmary. "I just hope we get there before-"

Have no fear, Black told him. I can help restore you to your normal state once we arrive. And your friends will help me accomplish this.

As Black left her hanger and bounded up a flight of stairs, Shiro asked a question that had just come to him.

"Black, why couldn't our minds connect earlier?" he asked. "It's - just - the toxin -"

Black snarled again, but not at him. I could not reach my pilot earlier, she said. I tried to reach you once the dreams began, but the witch's poison prevented it. You were locked into your worst nightmares, and I could not call out to you. Your friend Keith also attempted to break through the toxin's effects, but it only made things worse. I could not make you hear me until just now, when the toxin took over your body and ejected your mind. But in the end, you found me.

She took the last few steps of the staircase with an extra-high bound, landing and turning in one smooth gesture, heading down the final hall that would lead them to the infirmary. But now that you have me with you, we can destroy this toxin once and for all.

He felt Black's determination, her iron will. It was something they shared.

If a spirit could smile in anticipation, Shiro did. Because finally, the Black Paladin was going to destroy the witch's poison, once and for all.