Chapter Eight

Pidge swore and threw down her screwdriver. She was in the workshop she shared with Hunk, working on what had once been her faithful drone, Rover. After it had saved her by taking down a Galra soldier, she had painstakingly gathered up its remains. During the last couple of weeks, she'd been using her spare moments to try and piece it back together, but no matter what she did, the drone remained stubbornly inert. She'd even asked Hunk to take a crack at it, but with no luck.

Hunk chose that moment to walk into the workshop carrying something that looked suspiciously like brownies. "Hey, Pidge," he said despondently. He set the brownies down on his work table and slumped down on a stool.

"What's eating you?" Pidge asked. "And are those brownies?" She adjusted her glasses and stood up to take a closer look. They sure smelled like brownies.

Hunk pushed the plate towards her and sighed. "Yes, they are brownies. Or space brownies, technically. I was finally able to find a good chocolate substitute in one of the storerooms. The consistency is a little off, but I think it tastes right."

Pidge picked one up. It was strangely goopy, but when she put it in her mouth there was a beautiful explosion of chocolate on her taste buds. "Mmm. This is amazing, Hunk. Just what I needed."

"Thanks," Hunk said. He picked up a tool from his desk and started fiddling with it.

Pidge raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

"I made the brownies for Lance, but he didn't want them. And I know he loves brownies. He used to eat a whole pan of his mom's brownies by himself in one sitting."

"Oh," Pidge said awkwardly. She wasn't very good at dealing with situations like this. "Allura said he'd probably act a little weird for the next couple days."

"He keeps saying he needs space. It's just so weird for him. Usually when Lance is upset about something, he'll tell me all about it. But he hasn't been talking to anyone."

"Give him some time," Pidge said. She didn't really understand what was going on with Lance, but it reminded her of how her mom had reacted after finding out what had happened to her dad and Matt. She'd stayed in her room for a couple of days, refusing to talk or eat anything. Pidge still felt guilty about that time, but she'd been dealing with it in her own way, trying to hack into anything and everything that might have more information about what had happened. This time, she didn't feel like she knew Lance well enough to be able to help.

"I know," Hunk said, looking at her. "I just want to do something."

"I'm sure Lance appreciates it, even if he doesn't show it."

He let out a long breath. "Yeah, probably." He looked over at Pidge's table. "How's Rover coming along, by the way? Still no luck?"

"No, not really. I just don't get what's wrong." She moved back over to her table and poked at the dead drone. "I even asked Coran, but he doesn't know much about Galra tech either."

Hunk was about to say something when he looked over to the doorway. "Lance!" Pidge looked over to see Lance standing there, leaning on the wall for support. He wasn't nearly as pale as the last time she'd seen him, but there was a definite weariness in his expression that looked odd on his normally cheerful face.

"Hey, guys. Mind if I hang out here for a little bit? I promise I won't get in the way or anything."

"Sure!" Hunk said, going over to give him a hand, but Lance waved it off.

"I'm good. I thought I might just sit in the corner over here." He gestured towards a half-dismantled robot that sat on a dusty bench. "That guy looks like he could use some company."

"You don't have to sit in the corner. You can have my stool," said Hunk.

"Nah, I don't want to get in your way." Lance smiled weakly and sat down on the bench, leaning against the wall with a small sigh and closing his eyes. "I might just take a nap here, actually."

Hunk and Pidge exchanged glances, but neither commented. Pidge wasn't really sure what to do, so she picked up her screwdriver and started checking over Rover's wiring for the thousandth time.

A companionable silence had settled over the workshop, with both Hunk and Pidge absorbed in their work and Lance dozing in the corner, when Allura's voice came over the intercom.

"Hunk, Pidge, we need you in the control room."

Lance sat up. "I'm coming too."

Hunk looked at him critically. "Can you even walk that far?"

"I got here, didn't I?" He stood up and wobbled a little bit, catching himself on the wall.

"Right." Hunk said, sizing him up. "I could carry you," he offered.

"Um, no," Lance said. "That just sounds awkward."

"Come on, it'll be like old times," Hunk said with a grin.

Lance rolled his eyes. "I think I weighed about half what I do now the last time you carried me. We were what, nine? You probably couldn't even- erp!" He was cut off as Hunk grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder.

"We weren't nine, we were twelve. And you still weigh half as much as I do."

Pidge laughed, watching Lance struggle and eventually give up as they headed towards the control room. He cast a reproachful glance at her. "This really isn't fair."

She shrugged. "Hey, you wanted to come."

"Keith better not get there first," Lance muttered. "This just embarrassing. And really uncomfortable."

"Would you prefer going piggy-back?" said Hunk.

Lance groaned. "Let's just get there as fast as we can, please."


Allura merely raised an eyebrow when Hunk came in, toting Lance over his shoulder. Shiro smiled at the sight as he watched Lance bicker with Hunk until he finally set him down. Pidge was also watching with a grin. Keith, unfortunately for him but luckily for Lance's pride, missed the whole thing, coming in just after Lance finished straightening his clothes with a huff.

Shiro decided to start. Allura had already explained the situation to him while they waited for the other paladins to arrive. "We have a slight problem. Coran's managed to get most of the castle systems working again, but he thinks it will be at least a week before we have enough power to leave the planet."

"What's the rush?" Keith asked. "Are there more of those creepy creatures?"

"No, thankfully," said Allura. "Although this problem might be worse. We just picked up a Galra ship heading our way. According to Coran's calculations, we have forty-eight hours before it gets here."

"And those are my new and improved calculations," Coran added. "Much more accurate."

"Just one?" Hunk asked. "That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Shiro folded his arms. "It's not just any Galra ship. We received transmissions that indicate it's a ship run by the druids. They appear to be coming here to check on an experiment."

"So that creature was the Galra's fault after all? Kinda figures," said Lance. "It seems like everything bad that happens out here is related to the Galra somehow." Shiro noticed that he was trying to surreptitiously lean on Hunk, obviously not quite strong enough yet to remain standing on his own but too embarrassed to sit down.

"But we can still take them, right?" said Hunk. "I mean, we've taken out plenty of Galra ships before."

"The druids have technology and abilities that we haven't seen yet," Shiro said grimly, trying to ignore the flashes of memory that were trying to short circuit his brain. "They're unpredictable, which will make them much harder to take out than your average Galra soldiers."

"And our shields are still down," said Coran. "I might be able to get them fixed in time, but they won't be able to take much damage."

"So what are our options?" asked Keith. "Can we form Voltron?"

"That's what we want to figure out," said Shiro. "Pidge, you looked over the blue lion. Is it still damaged?"

Pidge adjusted her glasses. "As far as I can tell, Blue's back to normal. Hunk and I repaired all the damage we could find, but we weren't able to figure out what caused the energy drain. We might have missed something."

"Hunk, what do you think?" Shiro asked.

He looked uncomfortable. "It looks like it should be fine, but I thought the same thing when I checked it out before the fight. And I obviously missed something then. I don't want to take the risk of Lance getting hurt again."

"I didn't get hurt," Lance interjected. "It just made me tired, that's all. I can deal with that. It's not like my life was in danger."

"You don't know that!" said Hunk, glaring at Lance.

Allura cleared her throat. "Actually, Lance is right. I don't think the energy drain could have killed him. Blue shut down completely before it could cause any permanent damage."

"That's really not comforting," Hunk said. "There's got to be something else we can do."

"I do have a plan," Allura admitted. "But I doubt you'll like it any better."