"I'm a little surprised by this," she said after a few minutes. "I engineered the antidote in a pretty short amount of time, but I don't think I overlooked any ingredients that could have this kind of effect…"

"Maybe you were infected by that point."

"So… you think I put something in there to hurt him… on purpose?"

"No. Not at all. I mean maybe you put something in without knowing."

It was too late. Pidge was on the defensive. "Why would you even imply that I meant to hurt him?"

"Pidge! I meant you didn't know it'd hurt him."

"I wouldn't be careless about it like that."

"Alright. Well, then lets see if he's allergic to it or something."

Pidge was suddenly much quieter and more sullen as she continued to work.

"I'm sorry Pidge. I shouldn't have phrased it like that."

"Here. Full diagnostics on what's going on in his body right now," she said curtly.

"Thanks… but I don't fully understand it all. It's in Altean."

Pidge rolled her eyes, pressed a few buttons and the whole screen translated to english.

He started reading the screen. "You're an immense help, Pidge. Thank you."

"Well, let's just hope I'm not the cause of this too."

"You're not. It's the Galra." He sighed. "It's always been the Galra."

"If it's something in the antidote," Pidge argued. "That's on me."

"But it's still not your fault. You made it quickly because he needed the help."

"Shiro... what if... what if it turns out I did do something to hurt him?"

"Because of the Galra. You were poisoned too."

Pidge shook her head. "Dwelling on this isn't helping him right now," she muttered, mostly to herself.

Shiro put his hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for helping."

"I think I got something," she said after several minutes of silence.

"Oh?" Shiro moved over to her. "What is it?"

"Antidote," Pidge said, her voice dark. "It was something in the antidote… A chemical…"

"That he's allergic to?"

Pidge backed away from the monitor and the healing pod, looking up at Keith guiltily. Her knees buckled underneath her and she stumbled.

Shiro caught her. "So your poison got to him. It's not your fault." He held her tightly. "Thank you for helping, especially in a terrible situation."

"Shiro, you don't understand. Keith's not allergic to it…" She looked pale.

"I know. I know what you meant. You still helped."

"Shiro! I poisoned him! And I…" She sagged against him. "It's…"

He held her. "No, the Galra did. Twice. They just used you, Pidge. I'm not mad. I'm still grateful for your help."

"Shiro..." she sounded terrified.

"Katie, I'm here and I don't blame you. You did your best under horrible circumstances. And you still helped him. He'll heal from this."

Pidge suddenly felt very cold. "Shiro…" she said again, her voice a tiny, terrified whisper. "It's in me too."

Shiro held onto her. "Then we get you in the healing pod. We'll work this out." He kissed her forehead. "I won't let you get hurt." He moved over to a healing pod and started setting it up.

Pidge shook her head. "No, Shiro. Don't make me do that. Please..."

"I have to let you get better. I cannot lose you."

Pidge stumbled backward, trying to get away from the pod.

"Katie, what is going on? You need help..."

"Please don't make me..."

"I can't let you get more hurt."

"Shiro... I..." she took another step away from him as he moved closer.

"Katie, you?"

"I don't... the healing pod..."

"I need a full sentence." He stepped forward and swept her into his arms. His grip was strong, but gentle..

She squirmed. "No! Please don't make me!"

"I'm overriding your wishes. I'm sorry. I have to. I can't let you get hurt." He set her down in the pod.

"I'm begging you!"

"Keith begged me to kill him. You're begging me to let you die. Nope. Not going to happen." He shut the pod door. "I'm sorry, Katie. But you need to get better."

Pidge slammed her hands on the glass, tears pouring down her face. She was screaming at him, but the pod muffled the sound.

"I'm sorry." He activated the pod, then called Allura and Coran to come take care of her.

"What happened?" Allura asked upon arrival.

"There's a poison in the antidote. Pidge accidentally made it that way… She… she needs help, Allura."

Allura examined Pidge through the pod glass. "She looks terrified."

"She didn't want to be locked up in there. But I can't let her get hurt from this. I can't let the Galra win."

"Why didn't she want to? Why did it scare her so badly?"

"I don't know. Just help me make it better!"

"Honestly, Shiro, I'd really prefer it if you'd stop bossing everyone around. You may be Voltron's leader, but you don't own the other paladins."

"Yeah? Well, I'm not letting Katie die."

"Think about it this way, Shiro. From what I can see on her face, she was just as terrified of being locked up as you were, and you chastised and chided and punished her for doing that. Then you turned around and did it to her. But you don't own her, Shiro."

"Allura, she needs the care. You want to lock me up over trying to save her from poison, fine. I'll lock myself up. I know she's scared, and if two people fit in a healing pod I'd have gone in with her."

"That's not the point I'm trying to make," Allura said. Then she waved Shiro off.

Shiro left the room. Everyone wanted him locked up so fine. He'd go lock himself up. Cause some more panic attacks and just… Keith really would be a better leader than he was…

Shiro went to his room, and then called Hunk over comms. "Can you come to my room please?"

"Um… sure." Shiro knew Hunk would do what he asked of him. Still, his heart jumped into his throat a little as he waited. Finally, Hunk came into the room. "Yeah?"

"I need you to lock me in here," Shiro said. "And… tie my hands so I don't hurt myself…"

"Um… Shiro. I… um… why?"

"Because I'm asking you to!"

He shook his head. "I won't tie you up." He couldn't.

"Hunk, I need you to do this for me. If you won't, I'll ask Lance."

"And I'll tell him not to. No more locking people up. It's weird and wrong."

"Hunk, I need you to help me. Please. If you don't bind my hands, I might hurt myself..."

"Nope." He shut the door. "Just don't hurt yourself."

"Hunk!" Shiro yelled. Hunk locked the door behind himself, at least.

Shiro curled up into a ball. At least Voltron being ruined was his fault this time. It didn't take long for the panic to set in. Shiro paced around, trying to keep himself occupied.

Hunk went and got Lance. "Um, Shiro thinks he's going to hurt himself and Pidge and Keith are in healing pods. What do we do?"

"What did Shiro do?"

"He asked me to tie him up. I locked him in his room but he wanted me to tie him up too?"

"But why?" Lance asked.

"I don't know. I'm confused."

"Hunk, man, you're always confused. Just go get something to eat. I'll go talk to Shiro."

"Hey! I'm not always confused!"

"Go eat, Hunk."

"Yeah, whatever." He grumbled, heading to the kitchen.

Lance made his way to Shiro's room and lightly rapped on the door. "Shiro?"

He flinched. "Not now, Lance."

"Come on. Talk to me, what's happening?"

"I messed up. Just… gotta deal with it."

"Not a good enough answer, Shiro."

"Lance, I locked Pidge in a healing pod when she begged me not to. She's terrified. And I did that do her."

"Why was she so scared of it? Shiro, what is going on?!"

"I… I don't know." He got up. "I need to let her out." He started for the door.

Lance looked at the lock, waiting for Shiro to remember.

Shiro ran into it. "Shit, Lance… let Pidge out of her pod…"

"Shiro..."

"She didn't want to go in so let her out…"

"I can't just let her out, Shiro, you know that… those pods are delicate and weird."

"Then lock me in one. I don't know. I… I'm not a good leader… I need to… stop being a leader..."

"You're being stupid, Shiro. It's just stress. You need to stop expecting so much from yourself and so little from your team. You are a good leader. But you need to trust us too."

"I do trust you guys… I think… " he leaned against the door. "I need some time alone… but could you unlock the door?"

"You asked Hunk to lock you in... I feel like it should stay that way. Especially if you want to just go rip Pidge out of a healing pod."

"I'll stay in here. I promise. But I'm not good with locks..."

"I know, Shiro... but..."

"Please trust me."

"I do trust you, Shiro. But you need to trust us. Just hang tight and let Allura handle this." And with that, Lance walked away, leaving the door locked.

Shiro curled up, letting the panic set in. He needed to do something different because how he was leading wasn't working anymore. He took a deep breath. He'd just have to trust that everyone else could fix this.