Co-Written by FantasyMagicGirl

Pidge quickly worked on Shiro's arm testing the small hidden wires inside his arm to make sure nothing was loose or damaged "Sorry, this is probably really boring for you," Pidge said glancing up at Shiro when she snapped out of her latest zone.

"I don't mind, I like spending time with you," Shiro said smiling.

'Better than her being near that prince.'

Shiro jolted at the sound of the voice again, looking at Pidge for any sign that she may have heard it too.

"Sorry, did I do something?" Pidge asked, pausing in her work, feeling Shiro jump a little, looking up at him curiously and worried.

'Eyes like hers should be only looking at us' the voice echoed in his head.

"N…no, I'm fine," Shiro lied, wondering why he was feeling this way and thinking such things. He had no right to act like Pidge belonged to him.

"You don't look fine," Pidge said, an idea coming to her mind as she stood up gently touching his forehead with the back of her hand wondering if he had a fever thinking an illness could explain some of the strangeness with his arm. "Nope, no fever, has your pulse been irregular lately?" Pidge asked.

'We can show her something that's pulsing.'

Shiro blushed when he realized what the voice was telling him. He knew the voice wasn't him because he wasn't a pervert.

"Shiro, talk to me, anything you're going through might help me figure out what's wrong with your arm" she said putting a hand on his shoulder trying to get his attention.

'Maybe I should take control and tell her.'

"No," Shiro shouted standing up, not wanting him anywhere near Pidge or in control of his body.

Pidge jumped back, startled by Shiro's sudden shouting "Shiro, calm down... please just tell me what's wrong" Pidge asked stepping around the table to get closer to Shiro.

"Sorry, I…I wasn't talking to you," Shiro groaned, covering his eyes with his hand, "Oh god, I sound crazy." Maybe he was crazy, he was hearing voices after all…

"...Was it your loins voice?" Pidge asked curiously, Shiro was the only one so far not to really hear their Loins voice before, and wondered if that was it.

"Maybe I should go to Black," Shiro muttered, thinking maybe they could help figure out what was going on with him.

"I'll come with you" Pidge offered.

Shiro wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but nodded, wanting her to be with him.

Pidge fallowing Shiro into Black loin, wondering what had Shiro freaked out, since it seems to be about more than just his arm.

Shiro wondered if it was possible that his arm was reacting to his negative emotions, but he wasn't exactly sure what he was feeling.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Pidge asked staying close to him, worried about him and his wellbeing, not showing any fear for his strange behavior.

"I'm not sure what you can do," Shiro told her with a sigh, "Do you think it's possible that my emotions can affect it? I mean, the only time I use it is when there's danger."

"Hmm well if you were stressed or dealing with conflicting emotions it's possible that it could affect your arm" Pidge agreed.

"So, there might not be anything that you can do," Shiro said, thinking he should find a way to fix himself instead.

"I can still help," Pidge assured "Even if it's not something tech related if your stressed about something or somethings bothering you I want to help, you've already done the same for me plenty of times," Pidge said thinking about all the times she was close to breaking down about her family and Shiro was there to comfort her.

'A few rounds between the sheets with Katie would be a great stress reliever' the voice agreed in Shiro head.

Shiro tried to ignore him, even as the images of it flashed in his head, making him blush, "I guess that could work."

Pidge smiled and sat down on the floor of the black loins cockpit smiling up at him "Okay so sit down and tell me what's been stressing you" Pidge said.

He almost let out a laugh at that. He was captured by aliens and was now fighting them in giant robot lions. He lost his arm, was lusting after his commander's daughter, and was now starting to hear voices. Where did he even start?

Pidge then hesitated, realizing the weight of the question "Sorry, I guess I should say what been a stressing you most recently?"

"I guess now, being stuck on his planet," Shiro told her, "I don't like staying one place for two long when the Galra empire is after us."

Pidge figured that much "so when your arm acts up are you thinking about the galra catching up with us?" Pidge clarified,

'Come on! Tell Katie we don't want her anywhere near that feathered brain prince' the voice snapped.

Shiro wanted to tell her to stay away from Buteo, but didn't really have a reason, "I'm also not sure how much I trust Buteo," he said, "We've been betrayed before so I want us to be careful."

"I can see why you feel that way but I really don't think Buteo that kind of person" pidge assured "Though I can't make any promises about the civilians" she admitted.

"It's better not to take the risk of being betrayed or having anyone be hurt because of it," Shiro said, "We should focus on fixing the ship right now."

"I know your right" Pidge sighed, wishing she had more time to look at their tech, "but I still want to use their scans to look at your arm before we go just encase this isn't stress related" Pidge replied.

Shiro inwardly cursed, or maybe his voice cursed, "Fine, but we should check to see what we can do to fix the castle of lions."

"I'm pretty sure Buteo's people have that covered, but I guess there's no harm checking up on their progress" Pidge agreed.

Coran was watching over them to make sure things ran smoothly and to make sure that no one tries anything, but he could need help.

Pidge stood up "Well let's go see how things are going, and then after we can talk to Buteo about using their tech" Pidge said offering Shiro her hand "You're not getting out of being examined by doctor Pidge" she teased.

'I rather play doctor in the bedroom' the voice muttered.

Shiro blushed, wondering why the voice was such a pervert, mentally scolding it, not wanting to think of Pidge that way.

"Did I say something wrong?" Pidge asked seeing Shiro face heat up.

"No, you didn't do anything," Shiro assured her, mentally telling the voice to stop talking.

Pidge looked curiously down at him hoping for an answer, wondering if it wasn't her then what made his face heat up.

Shiro wasn't sure how to answer without making it seem like he was crazy.

Pidge softly sighed, wondering if Shiro would be more comfortable talking to Keith "it's all right, you don't have to tell me" pidge assured rubbing the back of her neck.

"Thanks Katie," Shiro said, only comfortable calling her that when they were alone. He wasn't sure if anyone else knew her real name, and felt like it was something special between them.

Pidge smiled back but paused for a moment "Why do you do that?" she asked curiously, "Why do you always call me Katie when it's just us, I don't mind being called pidge" Pidge said, not really understanding why he did that not that she minded but her curiosity was getting the better of her.

"Do you not like it when I call you Katie," Shiro asked, trying to avoid the question.

"No, not at all" Pidge assured "I was curious and I guess it feels a little strange hearing my real name sometimes," Pidge explained.

"Do you not like being reminded of home," Shiro asked, "Or are you worried the others will treat you different if you use your real name?"

"No, it's not that, it's just that I've spent so long trying to hide who I am that hearing my real name..." Pidge hesitated for a long moment biting her lip "Have you ever felt like two different people?"

Shiro was silent for a moment, "Yeah, it does. Like when I get memories of who I was as a gladiator…it seems like an entirely different me."

"In a lot of ways, it probably was, a different you, your mind created to survive that... horrible place" Pidge said putting a hand on his shoulder, she didn't mean for him to make that comparison, or think about that place, now talking about her own feelings of feeling like two different people seem so small in comparing to what Shiro went through.

Shiro didn't want her to know that he was having serious problems with himself, and was worried there really was another him that existed. But back at the matter at hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. What were you saying?"

"Oh, umm well, the day I cut my hair to join the garrison and find the truth... I promised myself I wouldn't be Katie again till I found my father and brother. So now it just feels like the me... that was Katie feels so far away now, like it was another lifetime ago or something" Pidge said then sighed "Sorry I'm not explaining this well am I?"

"No, I understand," Shiro told her, "Sometimes I feel like there's a difference between Shiro and Takashi Shirogane. People I'm close to and consider friends I'm Shiro. But Takashi is a more solemn person around superiors, especially when I became a poster boy for the Garrison. I always did my best to act perfect."

"Sounds like that was a lot of pressure" Pidge said looking over at Shiro, an idea forming in her mind.

"It was," Shiro said, "I was really glad that your father was so laid back. We became friends in no time." He let out a laugh, "We once had an entire conversation about the frozen peas we ate in space."

"Never had those before" Pidge admitted smiling a little getting to hear about her father "My dad always said he really liked those"

"You don't want to," Shiro laughed, "They always reminded me of baby food but your dad couldn't get enough of them."

"That doesn't surprise me he always like foods with strange textures" Pidge jokingly sighed, her mind still partly working on the idea that began to bloom a moment ago "Hey Shiro when we're alone would you mind me calling you Takashi?" Pidge asked.

Shiro's eyes widened, surprised by the request. Few people called him by his first name, and hearing it from Pidge seemed intimate. "Sure, I don't mind," Shiro told her, blushing a little.

"Great" Pidge smiled "I just figured both of us using our first names might be a nice way to get used to our old names being a part of our new life" Pidge explained blushing a little hoping it didn't sound too stupid.

"I'd like that a lot," Shiro smiled, trying not to frown when the voice told him he'd rather hear Pidge screaming his name.

Pidge smiled glad that in some small way maybe she could help Shiro feel better "Well Takashi, let's go check up on how the repairs on the ship are going then I can check up on your arm" she smiled.

"Sounds great Katie," he grinned, grabbing her hand without thinking and gently leading her to the castle of lions.

Pidge blushed as Shiro lead her out of the black loin and towards where the repairs were being done, glancing down at his metal hand holding hers, a little surprised how warm in felt, pidge shyly wrapping her fingers around his hand not wanting Shiro to think she was wary of his mental hand or at least that what she was telling herself.

Shiro smiled to himself when he felt Pidge wrap her hand around his. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, feeling calm and relaxed while with her. They arrived at the ship where everyone seemed to be hard at work trying to fix it.

Pidge let go of Shiro's hand to get a closer look at what they were doing.

Shiro was tempted to grab her hand again, but decided to just let her look over their work.

'I can't believe you're too nervous to grab her hand when I know what you dream about doing to her,' the voice mocked.

Shiro mentally told the voice to shut up, feeling that Pidge didn't see him in that way, and felt guilty for thinking about her like that to begin with.

He was glad Pidge was busy focusing on the machines and robots to notice his inner battle. He wondered why he only started hearing the voice now, was there something on this planet affecting him?

Buteo then entered the room with the other paladins, "Ah Lady Pidge, I figured I might find you here" Buteo said protectively draping a wing around her blocking Shiro's view of Pidge, "I hope everything is all right now" he said with a charming smile that made even pidge blush a little.

"Not quite" Pidge admitted "I was hoping to use your scanners to double check a few things on Shiro's arm" Pidge requested.

"Of course, I'll do whatever I can to help you," Buteo smiled.

Shiro found himself glaring at the prince, wondering who he thought he was. What right did he have to stand so close to Pidge.

"Thanks, Buteo I really appreciate it" Pidge smiled, thankful for his kindness "mind showing Shiro and me where the scanners we can use are?" Pidge asked.

"Of course, follow me," Buteo said, putting his hand on the small of Pidge's back as he led her to a lab.

Shiro growled when he saw that, his hand acting up again.

Keith coming up to Shiro's other side gently putting a hand on his shoulder "I'll come with you guys " he said still not trusting Buteo thinking that's why Shiro always got tense around him.

Shiro was glad that came too, hoping he could help keep him calm, his arm powering down. He had to find a way to get rid of the voice, feeling like it was taking control of his arm.

Keith staying close to Shiro as they were lead to what looked like a tech lab of some kind.

"Feel free to use what every you need" Buteo offered.

Pidge lighting up as she looked at all the tech, looking a lot like a kid in a candy store.

Despite his mistrust of Buteo, Shiro smiled at how happy Pidge was. She really seemed to be in her element.

'Think she'd ever look at us like that,' the voice questioned.

Shiro wasn't sure, he wasn't even sure how pidge saw him, if he was a big brother figure to her like Keith saw him or something like that... now that he thought about it he wouldn't be able to tell one way or another, as he's never seen Pidge show great interest in anything or anyone besides tech and robots.

'Let's hope her interests don't turn to the feathered prince," the voice sneered in distaste, looking through Shiro's eyes as Buteo stared at Pidge like he had hearts in his eyes.

Shiro tried not to worry about that. Pidge's only interests were robots, finding her family and fighting Zarkon. None of them really had time for a relationship when the universe was at state.

'Is that your excuse for not going after Katie, that's pretty pathetic' the voice sneered, 'You should really let me take control when were alone with her and let me tell her the truth.'

Shiro knew there was no way in hell he was letting that happen. He'd have no idea what he'd do to Pidge and he didn't want to hurt her in any way. Who knows what…Kuro, would do to Pidge.

'So, you decided to give me a name, how kind of you,' Kuro replied, reading his thoughts, 'Now I have something for Katie to scream when I take control~'

"Shiro are you all right?" Pidge asked gently tugging on his flesh arm, both Pidge and Keith looking worried at him, seemly like they had been saying his name for a while now with no response.

Shiro blinked in surprised, blushing a bit when he realized what happened. "Sorry guys, I…I must have spaced out," he told them, which he guessed he kind of did with his conversation with Kuro.

"Okay..." Pidge said, Keith and her sharing a concerned look. "Can you sit over by that table, while I get the scanner ready?" Pidge asked.

"No problem," Shiro said sitting down, putting his arm on the table so Pidge could get a better look at it. He tried to keep his mind clear, hoping Kuro wouldn't bother him again.

"Okay, try to hold still so it can give me the clearest reading" Pidge said slowly hovering the scanner down over his metal arm, Keith staying near Shiro while Buteo stayed close to Pidge.

Shiro tried to keep his mind calm, telling himself that Pidge didn't care Buteo was next to her. Through that didn't stop him from being tempted to ask Keith to stand between them.

"Anything I can help with?" Buteo asked, gently putting his hand on her back,

"I'm all right for now thanks" Pidge replied not taking her eyes off the scanner.

While Shiro was annoyed Buteo was touching Pidge, he was glad she was focused on helping him. She didn't even seem aware that the prince was touching her.

Her eyes and mind only focused on helping Shiro now.

Shiro wished he could tell what he thought was wrong, namely Kuro, but she would think he was crazy and everyone would try fixing him or think he wasn't fit to lead.

"You're tensing" pidge informed Shiro calmly.

"Sorry," Shiro said, doing his best to relax and clear his mind.

"It's all right," she assured gently rubbing his arm with her free hand her eyes still glued to the camera screen.

Shiro tried to think of things that made him happy to keep him calm. His friendship with Keith, his relationship with Sam and Matt Holt. He wondered what they'd think of him dating Katie.

Would they be happy and supportive with their friend and comrade dating someone so important to them or be angry thinking he betrayed them for dating her?

There was the age difference to worry about, through Katie was smart enough to make her own choices. She could be immature at times, but all of them could.

"Alright you can move now" Pidge said putting the scanner off to the side as she reached for some tools that were just out of her reach, so Buteo grabbed them and handed to her. "Thanks" Pidge said shyly before looking back at Shiro s arm, feeling a little embarrassed about how short she was.

Buteo didn't mind Pidge's height, thinking it made her look adorable. Through he was sometimes worried he might accidently hurt her, but she was a paladin of Voltron, she was strong.

Pidge stood up on her knees on the stool she was sitting on to examine the shoulder part of Shiro metal arm.

Buteo watched her work, fascinated on the way her eyes focused on the arm.

Though she looked a little off balance knee sitting on a stool like she was, Pidge leaning a little too far looking like she was about to fall, when Buteo caught her by the waist quickly steadily her before she could fall.

"Thanks" Pidge said glancing back at Buteo.

Shiro really wished he could just tell Buteo to stop touching Pidge, but he was just trying to help her. Through he didn't have to hold her by the waist. Was he just being possessive?

"Owe" Pidge hissed the tool in her hand becoming burning hot when Shiro's arm started to glow.

"Pidge, I'm so sorry," Shiro said once he realized what happened, powering down his arm again, "Do you need to put something on your hand?"

Kuro cursing in the back of Shiro's mind 'Shit, I didn't mean to hurt Katie.'

"I'll just need to run it under cooled water and put a cold press on it and I'll be FINE!" Pidge yelped the last part as Buteo picked her up in his arms,

"I'll take you to a nurse right away" Buteo said rushing her out of the room.

"Now look what you did," Shiro muttered under his breath, not sure if he was blaming himself or Kuro. He had to be more careful around Pidge, he couldn't risk hurting her or anyone.

"Come on, let's fallow them, I don't trust the prince alone with Pidge." Keith said to Shiro.

Shiro nodded and got up, Kuro growling that the prince better not touch Katie, making his hand start up, "...Maybe I should stay here, just to be safe."

Keith nodded "Alright I'll go check up on them and I'll be right back" Keith said leaving the room to go find Pidge worried about his friend trusting Shiro would be all right on his own for the time being.

Sighing, Shiro looked down at his arm. Why was he losing control like this? Or better yet, how was it Kuro could control his arm? He was glad that at least Kuro couldn't take control of the rest of his body. Maybe it's related to the Galra tech?

'Don't underestimate me I can take control of a lot more than just your mechanical arm' Kuro replied hearing his thoughts.

'I'm going to get rid of you,' Shiro mentally growled, not wanting to deal with a voice in his head. 'And I won't let you take control.'

'Good luck with that' Kuro replied sarcastically.

Great, his stuck with a voice in his head that had an attitude and was a pervert.

'Please you need me to get stuff done, you can't even tell Katie how you feel about her! To the point the feather head is moving in on her' Kuro growled.

'It doesn't matter,' Shiro thought, "We'll be leaving this planet soon then we won't have to worry about Buteo flirting with Katie anymore.'

'And what are you going to do if Katie has actually started to like the feather head and wants to come back and see him again' Kuro questioned

'She's too focused on trying to find her family,' Shiro argued, knowing she'd only want to come back if there was a chance her family was here.

'And what if he does?' His people are at war with the galra. What if they free a slave camp that has her brother or father? We'll defiantly lose our chance with Katie if that happens' Kuro pointed out.

'It would be a good thing if they found them,' Shiro said, wanting his crewmates to be safe. He was worried about them too.

'You're so weak, you're going to lose her if you don't get your ass in gear' Kuro huffed before falling silent.

Shiro sighed in relief, glad he was being quiet but thinking about what he said. Should he tell Pidge how he felt? Would it make things weird if she didn't like him back?

Meanwhile with Pidge "Prince Buteo you really didn't need to take me to a nurse" Pidge assured as the nurse wrapped her hand with cooling bandages that were used to heal burns "The injury isn't that bad"

"Sorry, I suppose I did over react a bit," Buteo admitted, having just been worried about her.

Keith kept eying him suspiciously, like he was waiting for him to do something. Why did Buteo want to be alone with Pidge so bad?

Buteo wishing it wasn't such a struggle to get Pidge alone for a few minutes, though he understood why the paladins would be so protective of each other they were in times of war after all.

Keith could tell Shiro didn't want the prince around Pidge, so he was doing his best to keep distance between them, "How's the hand doing Pidge?"

"Pretty good actually" Pidge relied "These bandages make my hand feel way better."

"I'm glad it was nothing serious," Buteo commented, through knew it probably wouldn't be. But he couldn't help but worry about Pidge.

Something about her made the prince want to protect her and make her smile.

He wondered if she had anyone special back on her planet. He wouldn't be surprised if she did.

Though she really didn't, she only really cared about her mom, who was left behind.

Buteo wondered if he'd be out of place to ask if anyone was courting her or if she was interested in being courted.

"We better head back and check up on Shiro" Pidge suggested standing up.

They got back to the lab where Shiro seemed to be deep in thought, not noticing them walking in.

"Hey Shiro," Pidge said waving her good hand in front of his face to get his attention.

Shiro blinked in surprise, then smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, guess I spaced out."

"That doesn't really seem like you Shiro, " Keith commented.

Pidge put the back of her good hand against his forehead "hmm do you feel a little warm" Pidge said concerned "You might be coming down with something."

"Maybe I just need to lay down for a while," Shiro suggested, not wanting to worry Pidge or his friends. He didn't really feel sick, not sure why he was warm.

Pidge made up the excuse about Shiro feeling warm thinking he was just stressed but didn't want Keith or the prince to know. "Keith, could you take Shiro back to the ship, while I'll transfer over the data we collected."

"Sure thing," Keith said, but was a little worried about leaving her alone with the prince. She didn't have her bayard, how well could she fight without it? Not to mention there were others around who could assist the prince if he tried anything.

Pidge's eyes met Keith's giving him a small nod assuring him she would be all right.

Keith still seemed unsure but helped Shiro to the castle of lions, "Is everything all right," he asked Shiro, noticing he was being very quiet.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Shiro answered softly, looking in front of him.

Keith frowned not believing him but didn't want to push things right now.

Pidge looking over the data she got from her scan downloading it to her own private files.

"Wake me up if something happens," Shiro said going to his room. Maybe some sleep would help calm his mind.

He was wrong.