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When Coran mentioned removing the remains of Shiro's right arm, Allura quickly acted.

She started muting the paladins' comms. But then she heard Shiro and her hand halted, not getting Lance or Keith. The White Lion was restless inside of her, pacing, groaning in sadness - Her breath caught in her throat as she felt Shiro's essence weaken. She gripped Blue's controls tightly in an effort to control herself. The concentration made her completely forget about the two comms she had yet to mute.

She needed to finish this task.

Shiro risked himself to find out what these poor creatures' situation was. Because that was the sort of person he was. And a good leader always looked out for others. His muffled cry sounded out again. Her brows furrowed deeply.

"Coran," she managed to get out of her tight throat, "please!"

Keep him alive.


Lance's eyes never wavered from the front.

He was so focused that he was seeing the luminescent wings swirl around with the winds but also not seeing them. He moved the right arm of Voltron to help steady themselves through the winds...All the while he could hear every sound coming through the Blue Lion's comms as Coran worked on Shiro.

"Stop," he whispered.

Because those muffled sounds of pain were familiar. Because those sounds should never be coming out of Shiro's mouth yet Lance was certain this was not the first time it has happened. But unlike those other times it wasn't a Galra or a druid causing the pain.

It's one of us.

Water dripped from his eyes.


Keith was too quiet.

He dodged a flock of space butterflies and then just stared intensely at a pair of black and purple wings. He immediately thought of that place where he stood in between the universe in the sky and down below. And in between the void was Shiro's glowing purple form still in armor, his face calm though his eyes glimmered with the burden of truth.

'I died, Keith...'

Unknowing to Keith, the whites of his eyes changed to off white as his pupils shifted. Krolia noticed. There was very little that escaped her. I've been training him to be a Blade. To be Galra. But she kept forgetting the part of him that was a Paladin was very human.

That was what his heart was.

"Calm, grasshopper," she murmured.

He took in a sudden breath.

He was a kid again, Shiro was leaning against his hover cycle so casually as he talked with him. He wasn't one to take to people, especially strangers. But as Shiro continued to talk about what it was like being a pilot, Keith couldn't help the fire of excitement that started to kindle.

'I wanna ride your bike.'

Shiro laughed as he halted him from grabbing the wheel. 'Whoa there grasshopper. You're still green.'

Keith made a face. Then he stared wide eyed as Shiro handed the helmet to him.

'I'll steer this time.'

His eyes were back to normal. Shiro...She opened the comms to speak privately with those in the Blue Lion. Keith didn't really hear what she was saying until she turned back to him.

"We should head to the Blades' base."

"...That's the plan already."

Krolia pulled up a side holo-screen. The knowledge Shiro passed onto her hadn't been wanted but she wasn't above using it to her advantage.

"The abandoned one on this planet."

Keith looked at the geography map Pidge and Allura had scanned.

"Are there supplies still?"

"Perhaps." She gave him a side glance. "The med bay's tools were built into the structure so they should still be there."

He looked at the storm still around them. It doesn't seem like it'll let up anytime soon. Who knew how much longer Shiro could last the way he was? He put a hand to his ribs. Or himself, for that matter. He unmuted the rest of the team's comms.

"We're going to Idicar's Blade base."


The base was built into a mountain.

Hunk and Pidge would have run around exploring the tech if things weren't so dire. Up ahead Krolia and Keith led the way further into the base while Coran pushed the disconnected cryo-pod. Shiro had been placed back inside to protect his arm from the winds. Allura and Romelle walked close to the pod while Yorak followed behind Keith. Hunk looked back and slowed his steps. Pidge continued on at her same pace for a moment before she realized what Hunk was doing.

She slowed down until Lance was between her and Hunk.

His eyes were red and puffy. Given the situation she might have teased him about it but she had a feeling it was related to Shiro. Her eyes grew somber. I still can't believe he was gone this whole time. She had been so focused on finding Matt and her father...As the Green Paladin she probably could have sensed the abnormality in the Black Lion if she hadn't been so distracted. Maybe I could have found him sooner.

"We'll get Shiro fixed up," she heard Hunk's voice.

She looked up to see that he had moved to walk between Lance and herself. She felt her mouth tremble just slightly. On the other side Lance's eyes were wet again. The two hugged Hunk at the same time. The Yellow Paladin put an arm around each of them and kept it there as they walked.

"You guys are hopeless," Hunk lightly teased.


When Shiro felt the metal table at his back he was wide awake.

He struggled as straps were holding him down. The white lights of the operating table half blinded his already blurry vision. I've been here before. He felt his breath get heavier. Something was beeping faster in time with it. What would they take this time? Another arm? A leg?

"No," he rasped out. "No no...!"

"Shit," he heard a familiar voice hiss out before Keith was in his view. "Shiro, I swear you're not with the druids."

"...Keith?"

"Yeah," Keith gripped his left hand. "Your right arm's infected but we're going to try to remove the rest of the metal, ok?"

Shiro's breath was still labored. "It hurts."

"It looks like it does," Keith half grinned in poor humor. The grin faded as he looked at it. The right bicep was heavily scorched where metal and flesh met. Some burns branched upwards towards the shoulder. He was certain they were going to be scars. "The clone used the right arm like a cannon but I don't think it was built with the human body in mind."

"Against you?"

"Yeah."

"His heartrate's lower," Pidge sounded out from her table. Her computer was hooked up to the medical system to better monitor Shiro's condition. "The talking's helping."

Krolia and Coran moved around, getting the instruments needed. Keith stayed standing by Shiro's side. Allura was rummaging around in a metal cabinet.

"I'm not finding anymore," Allura's voice vibrated against the walls of the cabinet.

Krolia looked to Keith. Keith closed his eyes for a moment and then leaned down to Shiro.

"Bad news?" Shiro softly questioned.

"...Yeah. We can't put you under but there is some anesthesia for when the worse part comes. Until then, we've got some of that salve Coran used earlier."

Shiro closed his eyes as Coran started putting some on.

"Which only partially numbs."

"You have the worst luck in the universe." Pause. "Remember that time at the Garrison with the paint filled balloons?"

"The ones you dropped on Iverson -" Shiro winced a little as Krolia and Coran scrapped off the dead layers of skin. He gave Keith a weak glare, "and I ended up having to pick up his dry cleaning for a month?"

"I told you not to look over the railing," Keith lightly laughed. "You should have just ratted me out."

Shiro slowly shook his head. "It would have been your third mark that month."

"I ended up getting booted anyways."

"Brat," he attempted to tease. "You know how many replacement uniforms I had to buy for you?"

"Too many." Keith felt Shiro's fingers twitch. His teeth were clenching a little. "I still don't understand..."

Shiro opened his eyes. He didn't need to hear the rest to know what he was asking. It was an unspoken question that would appear on Keith's face from time to time when he'd mess up big. He stared unblinkingly at the metal ceiling, the white light of the medical table just on the outskirt of his vision.

"You're the brother," he rumbled out slowly, "I didn't know I needed."

Keith's forehead rested against his hand.

"You're so sappy," he rasped out. "It's embarrassing."

Shiro faintly smiled and then winced. Keith felt his grip tighten.

"We need the anesthesia," Keith voiced out.

"Not yet," Krolia murmured behind a surgical mask.

"He's in pain."

""He'll need it later." Krolia's eyes narrowed in reprimand. "Now shut up and let me focus. I'm doing this off of memory."

"And my scan!" Pidge added.

"Keith. Pidge, Allura," Shiro murmured through clenched teeth as the surgery worsened. "You should go before -"

He hissed out in pain. Keith only held on tighter.

"We're not going anywhere."

"It's going to get worse," Coran voiced out next to Krolia.

The three paladins stayed where they were.

"Stubborn lot," Krolia commented with no inflection.

"A team sticks together," Allura crossed her arms next to Pidge.

Shiro's cry drew all eyes on him. Without something to muffle him it sounded worse than in the Blue Lion. The paladins' faces paled but they stayed at their stations. For their leader - their friend - they would do anything. It was the least they could do for the man that sacrificed himself for a mortal blow on Zarkon.

...For being their support.

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AN: Operation Fix Space Dad underway.