Author's Note: I just finished watching this week's episode 'An Army of One'. I did not care for the storyline, and will not be incorporating it into my story.
The Day After
Pidge came in for brunch and looked around at the table. He saw Keith, Lance, Hunk and Vince, but no Daniel. He mentioned that fact and Vince said "He's not feeling well this morning!" Lance laughed and said "No doubt due to how he drowned his feelings about how DJ Prong carried on with Larmina last night!"
Keith raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything about the drinking. He was hoping that the hangover was lesson enough! Pidge had gotten some food and was sitting down as Allura walked in on the tail end of Lance's remark. She gave Pidge a frosty look and said "He was not the only one who wasn't happy with DJ Prong's behavior!"
Pidge flashed a winning smile and said "Entertainment!" Vince, thinking about last night added "It wasn't like Larmina was stopping him!" He was still annoyed at how she had cuddled up to DJ Prong so freely! Lance was in good spirits and laughed, saying "He does have a point there Allura! Larmina was not the least bit shy at showing how much she liked him! Girls always go for the boys in the band, you know!"
Allura had spent a lot of the night, when she wasn't thinking about Keith and Lance, thinking about Larmina and 'DJ Prong'. She also thought of that dress, and said now "Oh, don't worry I'll be talking to Larmina!" Hunk had also been unhappy with how his friend and Larmina behaved, but hoped it was just for show.
Larmina came in then, and smiled at everyone. She went over and gave her Aunt a big hug saying "Thank you for that wonderful party! It was so amazing, and I had a wonderful time! I loved the entertainment too!" She made it a point not to look at Pidge when she said it, but he knew what she meant.
Pidge thought it was funny that Allura was annoyed with him. Vince and Lance were right; Larmina had certainly egged him on! It was apparent that she enjoyed cuddling with him, and he was very happy to reciprocate. It added to the thrill that he was able to do it right in front of everyone. Pidge wondered if Allura suspected the real reason for the cuddling, or was she just being her royal self?
After Larmina got some food and sat down, everyone talked about the party last night. Larmina saw that Daniel wasn't there, but it didn't surprise her after last night. She still couldn't believe he had been all set to threaten her. It brought home how much of a danger he was, with the haggerium in him. Larmina didn't think he would confess what was going on, and she was prepared to go see Keith this afternoon.
Daniel was lying in bed, not as hung over as everyone thought. He had drunk more than he should have, but what was keeping him in bed was the thought of facing Larmina and Pidge after last night. It was bad enough that Larmina had flipped him over in front of Pidge! However, Pidge standing there in his uniform, decorations, and lion badge, next to Larmina, with that smug look on his face really burned at Daniel.
Daniel wondered what Pidge was doing up there, and was sure that it involved Larmina. He thought about the note that she had sent him, and the phrase that had really bugged him in it. It wasn't a phrase that Larmina would normally use, but someone who knew about the Academy oath would. Daniel was pretty sure that Larmina had told Pidge, and he had helped her write the note. He knew his hands were tied, and that his time with the team was coming to an end. He rolled over and tried to sleep before his afternoon meeting with Keith.
It was an hour later that Vince came in all excited "I did it, I've got the antidote!" Daniel raised himself up and said "Really? How?" Vince said "I went through Pidge's notes again, and found the piece I was missing!" He explained what materials he had used, but it was all a foreign language to Daniel.
Daniel said "Give it to me now!" He was hopeful that if it worked he wouldn't have to confess to Keith and the team. Vince injected it, and said it would take a little over an hour to work. While Daniel lay there, Vince couldn't believe how lucky he had gotten!
Two hours later everyone but Daniel and Vince were in the control room. Keith and Lance had holoscreens up, running scans on Arusian airspace. Hunk had a holoscreen up with various video feeds of news from different parts of the Alliance. Larmina was reading some memos on her tablet, while Pidge was supposedly inputting program upgrades into his table. In reality he was text messaging with Larmina. He had noticed earlier that while her hair was braided back, the braid looked different and he had not been able to figure out why.
P: Your hair looks different.
L: It is called a fishtail braid. Do you like it?
P: I like how I can see all the different shades of red. You have beautiful hair.
L: Thank you
P: It looked good last night too, but I would like to see it down!
L: It takes a lot of work!
P: Don't give me that, I know that you have a maid!
L: I still have to sit there while she does it!
P: Could I keep you company?
L: As if! My Aunt is annoyed with you enough!
P: But you're not! Maybe I could just watch you get ready?
L: Get ready for what?
P: If I promised to take you somewhere fun, would you wear your hair down?
L: What kind of fun?
P: Nothing to do with the royal court!
L: Yes, I would my wear hair down if we go somewhere that I could dance, wearing something hot and sexy!
P: This is getting better and better. What is your definition of hot and sexy?
L: Nothing I could wear around here!
P: Will I be able to watch you get ready?
L: NO! I will want to surprise you!
P: Will I be able to watch you take it off?
L: You might be able to help me take it off!
Pidge was all set to reply his thoughts when Allura came down to talk to Keith about some memos. Pidge saw how she looked at him.
P: Still getting the frosty look from Allura!
L: I am waiting for the lecture I am going to get. She did say that she was glad she had prohibited photography at the event!
P: I don't know why! You were amazing looking in that dress! DJ Prong would be at a whole new level if those pictures got out!
L: Probably why the ice queen won't let them.
P: I want to get back to our earlier discussion. Exactly how could I help you take off the hot and sexy outfit?
There was a commotion from the doorway, and Pidge looked up very annoyed. He was interested to see what Larmina had in mind, and if it was what he already had on his mind. Everyone else heard the commotion too, and looked at the doorway.
Daniel came in, almost doubled over and glowing orange! Vince was behind him saying "Dude, it should have worked!" Everyone was horrified at what they saw, and Allura ran over to him and helped him over to a chair. "What the hell is going on?" Lance asked, looking at Daniel like he was a creature from somewhere else!
As he was bent over Daniel told the whole story of the haggerium poisoning, the mind reading, and how Vince had been trying to find a cure. All eyes turned to Vince who said "I thought I had it! I've been doing research and thought this would work!" Vince was horrified at what was happening, and even sorrier that he had gone along with Daniel's plan in the first place.
Pidge had been standing there with his arms crossed, an unconcerned look on his face. Larmina looked over at him, and noticed that. She remembered him saying that he would take care of Vince, and realized where Vince had gotten his research from! Larmina said to him "What did you do to him? Why didn't you ask Pidge?" Pidge had to keep from smiling, as Larmina turned the knife further into Vince.
Pidge said to Vince "What kind of research have you been doing?" Vince looked at Pidge, standing there with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed. Vince was stuck, because he couldn't admit he had been hacking into Pidge's accounts! He grabbed the first thing he could think of. "I've been researching some of the old Drule documents, to see if I could find something." Keith was containing his fury for now, being too concerned about what Vince had done to Daniel.
Lance had no reason to contain his fury! "What the fuck were you both thinking? No, you weren't thinking about anything but your precious asses! Which, by the way mister, are in the shit hole!" He paused for a moment and then said "Genius over there." Indicating Pidge "Has been doing a lot of valid research because of Sven. In what fucking galaxy did you think you could come up with something that he hasn't? Were the Drule documents you looked at Hagar's spell book?"
"Stop it now! Lance, I don't care for your language!" Allura looked at everyone as her eyes blazed. "We will sort out blame later." She turned to Vince and in a cold tone said "You will tell Pidge right now what you did, and you had better hope that he can fix it!"
Vince proceeded to explain what he had used to mix the 'antidote', while Pidge took secret pleasure in making him stop to explain why and how he had chosen those materials. Some of his explanations were thin to say the least! As this was going on, Hunk stood off to the side flabbergasted at what Daniel and Vince had done.
He liked the boys a lot, but couldn't imagine keeping something like the haggerium poisoning from the team. Hunk was very loyal, and would have turned to his teammates right away if something like that had happened to him. He expected the same from them. Now listening to Vince try to explain why he had tried to cure Daniel on his own and not ask Pidge for help, he was blown away.
When Vince was done Pidge proceeded to tell him what was wrong with his research, and why what had happened with it did. Keith interrupted Pidge's lecture to say "I know you don't have the haggerium cure, but can you get rid of the orange?" Pidge thought for a moment, and said "Let me go to my workshop, I think I know what will take care of it."
After he got to his work shop he sat down and read several articles he had been meaning to get to. Pidge had the antidote all mixed up, it being a simple fix! He was surprised that Vince had fallen for what he had set up so easily! 'If he had done some independent research, instead of just taking my work, he would have known that using that element combination would turn Daniel temporally orange and give him stomach cramps' Pidge thought to himself. He shook his head, appalled at Vince's lack of scientific procedure!
Back in the control room things weren't going well! Daniel was past being able to sit up, and was curled on the floor in a fetal position, as waves of pain racked his body! Hunk was next to Daniel, but not really able to do anything. Lance and Keith were looking at Vince with fury, and only Allura being next to him was keeping them in line.
Larmina was standing next to Hunk, but not really doing anything else. She was glad that Daniel had confessed what was going on, and was impressed at how Pidge had gotten Vince. She looked over at Vince and almost smiled at how much terror was on his face. Larmina wished she could get video of this, it was so good.
"Larmina, instead of standing there doing nothing go get a blanket for Daniel!" Allura had looked over to see her niece watching the whole scene like it was one of those shows on the video feed. 'Really, the girl could have some feeling for her friends!' Allura thought to herself. Larmina went and got the blanket and put it on Daniel.
"Where the hell is Pidge?" Keith said, and punched a button on his voltcom. Just then Pidge came through the door. He had timed it so Daniel would be at the height of agony when he returned. He looked at Vince and saw the look of sheer terror on his face. It was priceless! He saw that Larmina was making a point of not looking at him, so obviously she had figured out what was going on.
"This should work, if Vince told me everything he did." Pidge said, taking another dig at Vince. "Yes, Yes, I told you everything!" Vince was almost screaming as he said it. He watched as Pidge injected the antidote into Daniel. It took several minutes and then Daniel started looking less orange. He wasn't in pain either, but still curled up in a fetal position.
Keith had summoned several guards, and said to them "Take Cadet Chandler down to the Infirmary." He turned to Vince and said "You will go with him and stay there under guard! Pidge, I want you to brief Dr. Gorman and then come back. We need to have a meeting!"
Allura was shocked at everything that had happened, and she looked at her niece, wondering how much she had known. However, Larmina looked as shocked as she was, based on how she was just standing there watching it. Allura had been surprised that Larmina had done nothing to help Daniel or Vince, but could understand her being aghast at how Daniel looked.
Allura said "Are the guards necessary Keith? He is sick!" Keith and Lance exchanged looks and then he said "Yes, Allura they are! Daniel is infected with haggerium that could comprise our entire defense system. He lied to us about it, and had Vince help him cover it up."
Pidge was back in time to hear Keith ask Larmina "Did you know anything about this?" Pidge had to give her credit in her response. She looked at him open mouthed and then said "All I knew was that they had been acting weird and secretive around me. But I put it down to the fact I was piloting a lion now, and they weren't!" Daniel had certainly thrown enough comments around about that, so her explanation was very plausible. Pidge also had to give her credit for how surprised she looked.
They went over to the conference room and sat down. Keith said "We have a serious problem here, and we need to take care of it now!"