A/N: I fell back to snark and fluff for this chapter as well as some explanations. The angst hasn't come back in full yet. I guess you get a break from it for a bit longer.
Chapter summary: In which Allura is not happy, Pidge is a little shit, Coran is knowledgeable about stuff, and Rolo isn't sure what to make of all this insanity.
37: Heated Discussions
She came to when something fell on top of her, knocking the wind out of her. Her eyes flew open, shutting almost immediately when her senses were assaulted by light, sound, and movement. Her arms were held behind her back by a pair of metal shackles and she was inside some kind of ship. That much she could tell immediately.
When she could open her eyes again, Allura gasped and looked around her. Shiro had been what landed on her, protecting her from a box that had fallen from the pile behind them. It had struck her black paladin's back and fallen to the side. Shiro's arms were braced on either side of Allura's body using his own body as a shield.
"Shiro?" she gasped.
"I'm fine," Shiro grunted. "You alright?"
The princess nodded, staring up at the paladin for a moment longer. His hands were free. She wriggled her own wrists, testing the metal's strength. After a tick, she gave up. "Cut me loose," she ordered. "We're getting out of here."
Shiro sighed and shook his head. "I don't think we'll be going anywhere right no-"
Something slammed into the ship they were in, throwing them across the floor to slam into the far wall.
"What the quiznack?" Allura cried.
Shiro sat up quickly and activated his mechanical arm. "Stay still," he said, waiting for the princess to nod before slicing through the metal binding her wrists. "You good?"
Allura nodded, pulling her aching arms back to their proper position and rubbing them gingerly. "Yes," she said, looking around her warily. She braced herself when the ship shuddered violently again, this time with a shouted curse. "What is going on here?" she demanded.
"They tricked us," Shiro said, helping the princess to her feet.
When he was sure Allura could stand, he turned his attention to the ship's small bridge where their kidnappers sat doing their best to control the flight. He grabbed one of the shelves welded to the ship's walls with one hand and Allura's slim waist with his other.
"Nyma?" Allura breathed, recognizing the yellow skinned alien she'd traded with.
"And Rolo," Shiro said, nodding to the ship's main pilot.
Allura fumed. "How dare they-"
She started towards them when Shiro grabbed her and pulled her back into his arms just into time for another jolt to rattle the small craft. A glass case flung free of its straps and crashed to the floor nearby.
"What is going on here?" Allura demanded loud enough for everyone to hear her.
"Frak," Nyma cursed, looking back at them before returning her focus to what looked like weapons controls. "Rolo, they're awake!"
"I don't... Jurt it all," Rolo snapped. "Don't pay attention to them. Pay attention to that red lion. Frakin' pilot's got some serious skills."
"Red Lion?" Allura gasped, lifting her eyes to the view from the bridge's windows as well as the view screens.
Sure enough, a bright red lion darted across the view too fast for Nyma to shoot down, expertly moving from asteroid to asteroid. It vanished from view, only to reappear in the view screen as a flashing alert. A tick later, something slammed into the ship again, tossing them around.
"Hunk!" Shiro cried.
Allura looked back at the screens long enough to see the hulking image of the Yellow Lion fly directly for them.
"Hang on!" the black paladin said, pressing the princess to the racks and covering her with his body.
When the Lion impacted the ship, they were sent hurtling through space in an erratic tumbling motion that would have had Hunk puking his guts everywhere. Rolo managed to slow the roll only for something to hit the engines, knocking them out altogether.
"What the-" Rolo cried. "Where the quiznack did that shot come from?!"
Something struck the ship again and this time it was Nyma who shouted in fury. "Frak, my guns are out!" She slammed her fists against the controls. "How the hell did that thing shoot us down?"
Metal scraped against metal in a loud, offensive sound that made all of their ears hurt. The next moment, the ship they were in was dragged through space until a familiar planetoid filled the ship's view screens. Rolo sighed and bowed his head, pulling his aviator's hat off and covering his face with his hands.
"Well," he said reluctantly, "I guess this means we lost."
Nyma sat in her seat, dumbstruck by the sudden turn of events. Rolo felt his stomach drop. He didn't like the idea of suffering the consequences of what they'd just attempted to do, but he liked the idea of Nyma taking the brunt of it even less. He unbuckled his seat belt and stood when whatever was carrying his ship finally dropped them on solid ground. He turned to his former captives and held up his hands in surrender.
"Look," he said slowly. "I'm sorry about what we did. But you have to understand, we-"
He never got the chance to finish when something smacked against the ship, knocking the whole thing on its side. Shiro once against covered Allura with his body, protecting her from the falling debris. This was getting ridiculous, Allura thought peeking out from her makeshift shield. She saw Rolo, Nyma, and Beezer all piled against the wall which was now the floor given the ship's new angle.
"You okay?" Shiro asked worriedly.
Allura nodded. "I'm getting very annoying with being tossed about like a toy though," she replied, crawling free of her paladin's arms. She carefully made her way to the forward windows and stared out. She was stunned to see the Blue Lion tug on the Red Lion's tail like a kitten.
"Lance?" she breathed in confusion.
She watched as the Red Lion took flight and landed on the Blue Lion's back, its jaws clamped firmly on the Blue Lion's throat pinning it to the ground. She quickly looked down at the ship's controls and started looking for the communicator.
"Hey, quiznacks," she shouted at the traders' turned kidnappers. "Where's your frelling communicator?"
"Wha-" Rolo's voice cut off when Allura heard the familiar sound of Shiro's weaponized hand activate. "On the left by the altimeter," Rolo called out submissively.
Allura didn't need to look back to know their would-be kidnappers were subdued for the time being. She climbed up what was currently the side of the ship up to the altimeter, pressed what she hoped was the communicator, and began shouting orders.
"Don't hurt him!" she said. "Keith, don't hurt him. He's not himself. I think the Lion is in control."
"What the quiznack does that mean?" the red paladin's voice replied, sounding strained and concerned.
"I'll explain as soon as I can, but don't hurt Lance please," Allura pleaded. "Call him. Try to call him back. Coran, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear princess," came her trusted advisor's reply. "What do you need?"
"Are Pidge and Hunk out there too?" Allura called.
"We're here princess," Pidge said.
"Is Shiro with you?" Hunk asked.
Allura nodded habitually. "Yes, he is," she answered out loud. "He has Rolo and Nyma in custody at the moment."
"I should've known the metal wouldn't hold against your quiznacked arm," Rolo muttered.
"I'd be quiet if I were you," Shiro warned in a cold voice.
Allura chanced a look over her shoulder and decided this wasn't the time or the place for this. "Coran, I need you and Hunk to keep an eye on the ship," she ordered. "It won't be going anywhere but I don't want anyone slipping out of here either."
"Understood, princess," Hunk said.
"What do you need me to do?" Pidge asked.
"I need you to help me and Shiro out of here first. We can't reach the latch by the door with the ship lying the way it is," Allura said. "Can you do that?"
"Sure thing," Pidge chirped.
Allura listened to the sound of little feet land on what was currently the top of the ship followed by the sound metal slicing through metal. Everyone looked up to the current roof to see a red hot slice through the door. Rolo was not happy about the damage.
"My ship!?" he cried. "Don't-"
"After what you did to us, do you really think talking is a good choice right now?" Shiro warned.
"I'd get out from under this if I were you," Pidge shouted through the slice.
The black paladin grabbed Rolo but his jacket collar and Nyma by her arm and dragged them towards to rear of the ship so they were all clear of the damaged door's landing.
"Ready when you are," he called up the green paladin.
A tick later, a huge metal claw pierced the door and yanked it off its hinges. Rolo teared up at the sight.
"My ship," he moaned.
Shiro rolled his eyes and dropped the idiot to the floor. He strolled up to the opening when Pidge landed on the metal side and stuck her head through the hole upside down.
"Hey Pidge," he said, with a smile.
"Don't 'hey Pidge' me, Space Dad," Pidge groused to Shiro mortification. "You and Space Mom should know better than to go running off and leave the kids behind without telling anyone. Coran was distraught."
Shiro's face was flaming red and Allura's eyebrow was twitched.
"Space Mom?" the princess repeated, caught between annoyance and amusement.
"Geez," Pidge muttered loudly, "you guys-" She cut off and sat up, pulling her head out of the hole to yell something to someone outside. "I'm going to drop my bayard down there and haul you up."
"Alone?" Allura asked, earning herself patronizing look.
"What do you think?" Pidge groaned.
"I don't want to hurt you or anything," the princess said, dropping down from the bridge's controls to the floor and walking up so she stood next to Shiro. "If you're not strong enough, you don't have to-"
"Well, excuse me princess," Pidge said, exaggerating the word 'excuse' to the amusement of the black paladin. Pidge snickered and winked at Shiro. "Someone got the reference," she said. "I guess you're not that hurt then. Grab on."
Pidge activated her bayard and slung the buzzing green blade down so it embedded itself in the current ceiling by the welded shelves. "Use those shelves as a ladder," she said. "Climb as high as you can then use the cord to get the rest of the way up."
"You got it," Shiro said. He looked at the princess and held out a hand. "Ladies first."
Allura sighed and walked up to the shelves. She used Shiro's outstretched arm to keep her balance while she stood on the bar and hopped up to catch the bar above her. A quick swing and a kick and she looped her feet over another bar. Hanging by her hands and feet, Allura made her way over the bars to Pidge's bayard.
"You must've played on the monkey bars a lot as a kid, huh?" Pidge teased.
"I have no idea what a monkey bar is," Allura said, adjusting her grip so she could grab the bayard cord. "But that had better not have been an insult."
Pidge cackled. "Well if it was, then I think I just insulted myself too."
"Are you guys always like this?" Rolo asked from where he sat on the floor still. Shiro had to admit, the trader pilot looked rather pathetic like that surrounded by the broken and tossed remains of the items he once valued.
"No," Shiro said, a teasing grin on his face. "Normally we're worse."
"You included yourself!" Pidge crowed. "You can't take it back. Hey Hunk! Shiro just admitted to being insane like us!"
A loud whoop was audible even inside the ship and Shiro facepalmed. "Why are all you acting like spoiled, rotten kids?" he groaned.
"Because we can, Space Dad," Pidge snarked.
"Please don't call me that," Shiro said.
"Too late," Pidge said. "You're turn. Climb up."
Shiro shook his head and began his trek up and out of the ship's damaged door.
"Wait," Nyma cried, standing quickly. "You can't just leave us here."
"Watch us, bitch," Pidge said.
"It's not permanent," Allura said from her place on top of the ship. She glared down through the hole at the traders. "It's just until I decide what to do with you. In the meantime, Hunk will keep an eye on you."
"Hunk?" Nyma said. "You mean the yellow one?"
A giant Yellow Lion leaned its head over the hole and stared down at a now cowering Rolo and Nyma. "Someone call me?" Hunk's voice said through the Yellow Lion's speakers.
"You have got to be kidding me," Rolo said.
"You know," Hunk said, "you probably should have thought about this before you betrayed us."
"We did," Rolo said, lifting his eyes to the princess and Pidge while Shiro climbed out through the damaged door. "We did this because we had to. We didn't have much of a choice."
"Yeah, that's what they all say," Pidge said, sneering at the pilot.
"It's true," Rolo said fiercely. "It's been years fighting against the Galra that led us to this life in the first place. You think we turn in other people for the fun of it? What are you, Galra?"
"If we were, you'd be dead," Pidge said, glaring.
"Pidge," Shiro said, placing his metal arm on the infuriated green paladin. "Take it easy. We're all okay. No real harm done."
"Yeah, tell that to Lance," Pidge said.
"Lance?" Allura gasped. "What happened to him? Is he alright?"
"I don't know. You tell me," Pidge said, freeing her bayard blade from the inside of the ship and allowing it to retract back to the handle before deactivating it. "You seemed to know what was going on when he went all hyper kitten on Keith's ass."
"Literally," Hunk added. "Dude, who knew right?"
The princess sighed heavily. "I'll explain once we get inside," she said. "Hunk, keep your communicator on. I'm going to contact Coran and ask what he thinks we should do with them." He looked back down into the ship making it clear whom she was referring to.
Rolo stood in the reddish light shining through the hole and met the princess's gaze seriously. "I'm sorry," he said. "I am. You don't have to believe me. I don't expect you to. But if you plan on punishing us, then leave Nyma out of this."
"Rolo-"
"It was my idea," he said louder, holding up a hand to stop Nyma's argument. "I made the decision, she went along with it. I take full responsibility."
Shiro sat back and looked up at Allura. The princess's held herself stiffly with a mask of detached calm on her face. Eventually, she nodded. "I'll take your request into consideration," she said. "If none of my people were harmed in this debacle, then I'll be lenient."
"You aren't our princess," Nyma shouted, standing next to Rolo. "You can't command us."
"Says you," Pidge said.
"What planet are you from?" Rolo asked. "I've never met a race like yours."
"Wouldn't you like to know," Pidge said, smirking. She stood and climbed back into her Lion's open mouth. "I'm going to check on Keith and the Blue Lion. It looks like the Blue Lion has gone into standby mode for no- Oh! Huh. Well, shit."
"What?" Allura asked, turning around to where the Red and Blue Lions were. "What is it? What's going on?"
"It's Keith," Pidge said, holding her communicator close to her ear. "He says there's something wrong with Lance."
"What's wrong with him?" Shiro asked.
"Let me talk to Keith please," Allura demanded, holding out her hand for Pidge's communicator.
"I have him on my communicator," Hunk said. "I can put him on speaker too so we can all hear him, if you want."
"Do that, Hunk," the princess said.
"Um, hello," Rolo called up. "Still here."
"Shut up," Pidge quipped.
"Ouch. Rude."
"Princess? Are you there?" Keith's voice called over Hunk's speaker.
"I'm here, Keith," Allura said. "Can you hear me?"
"Yeah."
Allura crossed her arms and fought the urge to pace. "I need you to tell me exactly what's wrong with Lance," she said.
"Uh, he's cold," Keith said. "By cold I mean freezing. And his eye is open but he's not responding to anything."
"You said his eyes were open?" Allura said.
"Yes."
"Are his pupils…his pupil responding to light?" she asked, stumbling over her words.
"Let me check."
Everyone waited silently while Keith worked.
"Yeah, they are," Keith said at last. "But he doesn't blink when I wave or snap my fingers in front of his eye."
Allura bit her lip. "Coran are you getting this?" she said suddenly.
"I am princess," the advisor said over Hunk's speaker.
"Well this is the first conference call if I've ever made before," Hunk said.
"Wow, really?" Pidge asked, bewildered.
"It sounds like he came back from a meld too quickly," Coran continued as if Hunk had never spoken. "Try not to wake him, Keith. You said he's cold."
"Yes, he is. He's like ice."
"Then stay close to him," Coran said. "But whatever you do, do not try to wake him. He has to wake up on his own. If he starts shivering, warm him up. But otherwise, leave him be."
"And he'll be okay?" Keith said. "He'll wake up?"
"Technically, he is awake," Coran said. "He's just not in his own mind right now. He's deep in his bond with the Blue Lion. He has to come out of it on his own."
"Hey, um, not to be a Debbie Downer here, but how long will this take?" Hunk asked warily.
"Why?" Allura asked.
"Coran and I made a promise to the Balmera," Hunk said. "We said we'd be back there within a week to perform the energy exchange thingy. It's already been almost four days."
"A week?" Allura repeated uncertainly.
"A turn," Shiro said.
Allura nodded and bit her lip. She looked down to their prisoners below in thought. "We don't have much time then," she murmured.
"As much as I would like to," Shiro said, drawing the princess's attention, "we can't just leave them here like this. It's inhumane."
Pidge sulked. "I hate it," she muttered, "but I agree with Shiro."
"Well we can't let them wander around the Castle either," Hunk said. "We'd just be asking for another Sendak."
"I'll kill them first," Keith hissed.
"That won't be necessary," Allura said over their prisoners' cries of shock. "Coran, could you get two prison pods ready?"
"You're going to put them next to Sendak?" Keith exclaimed. "Are you asking for trouble?"
"Unless you have a better idea, Keith," Allura said in curt, clipped tones, "this is the best option. I won't leave them here to die. Besides," she added, "it's our fault that their ship is damaged this badly."
"They shouldn't have kidnapped you then," Pidge said.
"Agreed," Keith said. "You should all go to the Balmera without me and Lance."
"What?" Hunk cried.
"The fuck Keith? No," Pidge snapped.
"We won't leave you, either of you behind," Shiro said firmly. "That didn't work out well last time and I'd rather not test our luck this time either."
"Please don't give me a heart attack," Coran chimed in. "I'm not as young as I used to be."
"Then we have no choice," Allura said. "I guess they're coming with us for the time being. We'll deal with them after we free the Balmera from the Galra."
"Free the Balm- Are you guys frelling insane?" Rolo shouted from inside his ship. "You can't free a planet from the Galra. You either repel them when they first invade -good luck with that by the way- or you die resisting, or you bow your head and deal."
"Weakling," Pidge said derisively.
"Excuse me?!" Nyma shouted. "Like you know anything."
"I may not know about intergalactic tyrants trying to take over the universe," Pidge said, "but I know a thing or two about crazy lunatic tyrants murdering thousands or millions of innocent people just because they're different, enslaving others, and conquering the rest just because they can. We've had a few from our planet. Most of them are dead now. There's a reason for that too. We don't stand for crazy, power-hungry, murderous tyrants. Especially crazy, power-hungry, murderous space tyrants."
"Space Nazis," Hunk said. "And we all know what happened to those guys."
Pidge smirked. "We need a nuke."
"No!" Hunk said loudly. "No, Pidge. No nukes."
"Aw," the green paladin said sulking. "You're no fun."
Shiro blinked and shook his head. "I'm surrounded by crazy people," he said.
"Join the club Space Dad," Pidge said.
"Yeah," Hunk said laughing. "Oh, and welcome to the family Space Mom."
"I am not your mother," Allura said indignantly. "I'm much too young for that."
"Space Mom!" Pidge cheered.
Down below in the damaged ship, Rolo looked at Nyma and gulped. "We're going to die," he said in a small voice.