Tristan paced the hallway in front of the hospital. His hands shook and he looked down, seeing the blood on the front of his white shirt. Her blood. With a groan he fell against the wall, sliding to the ground, pulling his knees up and lowering his head, fisting his hands in his hair.

Images of what had happened in the caves bombarded him.

There had been a disturbance. He followed Cady down the steps to the walkway and into the crowd. People pushed and yelled, screamed and ran. The two of them moved against the wave of citizens, at first Tristan had moved in front of Cady, trying to shield her, but he had been pushed down accidentally. When he got back to his feet, Cady was standing with a police officer.

He heard the shot before he knew what had happened. His first thought he had was to protect Cady, make sure nothing happened to her. But he was too late. It all happened in slow motion as Cady fell to her knees, the officer beside her grabbed her arm. Tristan reached her just as she collapsed and caught her.

"Cady, stay with me," he pleaded, watching as the dark red stain of blood spread over her shoulder, her chest, her neck. "Come on, Cady."

She blinked at him, her voice low and strained when she spoke, "Wh-what happened?"

"You were shot, honey," he lowered her gently to the ground and leaned over her, shielding her from the exchange of gunfire as the officers returned fire with the perpetrator. "Just stay calm, stay with me, I'll get you help." With shaking hands, Tristan tore her blouse aside, exposing the wound near her left shoulder.

Her eyes drifted shut, "Tris…"

"Come on, Cady, stay with me, honey."

"Look out…look out for…Nic-Nicky," she whispered.

"It's all right," he assured her, ignoring the uproar around them and the slick, rolling fear in the pit of his stomach. There was so much blood. "You'll be just fine, honey, Nicky will be fine."

Darcy raced over and slid to her knees beside them, "Cady, can you hear me?"

The Princess let out a low murmur.

Digging in the small first aid kit she brought with her, Darcy said, "Help is on the, sweetheart. We'll get you to Becca and get you all cleaned up."

Tristan sat back in a daze and watched as two medics with a stretcher arrived. As they stabilized her and lifted her onto the small bed, he listened to the officers explain to Darcy what had happened. It appeared that two men had drawn weapons and were demanding to see the Queen, claiming that she had wrongfully detained a man and a woman. They grew increasingly agitated and when the Princess arrived, one man turned on her and fired. Both men had been shot down and were now unable to explain why they did what they had.

"Lieutenant."

Tristan raised his eyes to see Darcy still standing there, "I'm sorry, Ma'am, what?"

"Were you hit?"

He looked down at his blood splattered clothes and swallowed his fear, "No, no I wasn't. It's all…hers."

Tristan wanted to be in the waiting room, but Mrs. Collier, Darcy, she had told him to call her Darcy, had told him to go to his room and change. It would upset the Queen and the Commander too much if they saw Cady's blood on him. But he wanted to know what was going on with her.

He looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. The five members of the Voltron Force hurried and hobbled down the hall along with Lieutenants Collier and Landers.

"Tristan," Sky knelt beside him. "What happened?"

"C-Cady was shot. I was right behind her," he explained. "But I wasn't fast enough."

"Who shot her?" Gideon asked.

"Some guy, we don't know for sure yet but we think he was connected to the two people arrested in town last night."

"You were right behind her," Declan crouched down beside Sky. "Why weren't you in front of her?"

Brina laid a hand on Dec's shoulder, "Careful."

"Careful?" He looked up at her. "He is trained to deal with people like this, she isn't."

"I know," Tristan said quietly. "It was chaos down there when the men drew their weapons. I didn't mean for it to happen, I would have taken the shot for her if I could have."

"Come on guys," Hunk said sternly. "We know Lt. Alexander didn't mean for it to happen, he does not deserve any of the blame. Erik, go get your head looked at, you'll probably need a couple of stitches. Dec, Gid, you need to get off your feet."

Lance offered Tristan a hand and hauled the shaken young man to his feet.

Sky gasped and took a step back at the sight of blood.

"Steady, Sunny," Erik whispered pulling her close.

"You son of a bitch," Gideon snapped, moving menacingly close to him.

"Gideon, step down," Erik said sharply. "All of you, in the waiting room now, this is neither the time nor the place."

"Come on," Lance led Tristan away. "Let's get you changed."

The waiting room was eerily quiet. Keith and Allura sat side by side holding hands. Nicky was curled up in his father's lap, his eyes red and his cheeks streaked with tear stains. Tess sat beside her mother while Charlotte on the other side of Keith, her head on his shoulder. Darcy sat in the chair behind the nurse's desk while Pidge paced.

"How're you guys?" Keith voice was low and hoarse when he spoke.

"We're fine," Erik replied. "How's Cady?"

"We haven't heard yet."

Gideon sat beside Tess and threw his arm around her shoulders. Declan sat on the other side of him and Brina beside him, clutching his hand in both of hers.

"You need to see someone," Sky whispered to Erik.

"I think they're busy," he whispered back. "I'm fine."

She took his head in her hands and tilted it toward her, "It's still bleeding."

"Sky…"

"Come on, let me take care of you," she took his hand and led him into an empty examining room.

"Sky, I'm fine," Erik assured her as she shut the door behind them.

"Erik, don't argue with me. I need something to do." She crossed to the cabinet on the wall and started pulling things down. "Sit."

He sat on the edge of the examining table, "She'll be fine, Sunny."

"We don't know that."

He hissed as she pushed his hair back and cleansed the wound with antiseptic.

"Don't be such a baby," she chided, wiping at the blood. "It's not as deep as it looked, I guess head wounds really do bleed a lot. But then I haven't seen a lot of head wounds. I don't know how Aunt Becca does this all the time, it takes a special person to be a doctor. I wonder where the kids are. If Pidge and Becca are both here, but then I guess they're with Nanny. I bet Hunk's kids are with her too since Paton will have to be investigating what happened. The guys who did this to Cady had better be dead, because if they aren't I will do it myself with my bare hands. How many men were there? Tristan said there were more than one, but he didn't say how many. There, all done."

Erik grabbed her hands before she could step away, "Schuyler."

"Why Cady?" She whispered, staring at the front of his flightsuit.

"I don't know, Sunny."

"She never hurt anyone, she was only trying to protect people." Tears burned her eyes.

Wordlessly, Erik pulled her into a tight embrace. He gently stroked her back as Sky cried silently into his chest. After a few minutes, he felt her rub her face against him and sigh.

"Okay?" He whispered.

She nodded, still not lifting her head.

He tightened his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, "She'll be fine, Sky, she's strong."

Sky tilted her head back to look at him with wet, red rimmed eyes, "Did you see all the blood on Tristan's shirt?"

"Yeah, babe, I did."

"There was a lot."

"I know, baby."

She sighed and hugged him tightly, "I thought I could handle injuries. I thought I had mentally prepared myself to see any of you guys injured. I mean, it still terrifies me, but I thought I'd be able to handle it better."

"No one thought Cady would be hurt, the caves were the safest place for her. This has come as a shock to all of us."

Nodding, she stepped back, "I guess we should get out there, see if they've heard anything."

Erik jumped off the table and took her hand, "You okay?"

"Yeah," she gently touched the bandage on his temple. "You?"

"I'm fine."

Sky trailed her fingertips from his temple and down his cheek, "I love you."

He leaned down and kissed her gently, "I love you too, Sunny."

The waiting room was still quiet when they returned. Lance was standing behind Darcy, his hands resting lightly on her shoulders. Hunk and Pidge stood off to the side speaking quietly to each other. All the chairs were occupied, so Tristan sat on the floor with his back against the wall, his head tilted back and his eyes closed. Erik led Sky over next to Tristan and sat beside him.

"How're you doing?" Erik whispered.

Tristan slowly opened his eyes and looked at them, "I'm okay."

"Any word on Cady?"

He shook his head.

Sky leaned across Erik and whispered, "How bad was it?"

Tristan looked at her, an expression of utter defeat in his eyes, "I don't know. There was…a lot of blood, I couldn't really tell."

Keith sighed loudly, shifting Nicky off his lap and standing. Without a word, he stormed from the room. Allura looked at Lance, he nodded and followed his commander.

"Where'd Daddy go?" Nicky whispered.

"He had to go for a walk, sweetie," Allura replied in a voice of forced cheerfulness, running her hand over his silken hair. "He'll be right back."

Erik slid his arm around Sky's shoulders and pulled her against him as Tristan brought his knees up and rested his forehead against them.

……………………………………………………………

"Keith."

"Not now, Lance," Keith snarled as his friend jogged up beside him.

"Where are you going?"

"To find out what happened. Why my daughter was shot, how these men got into the caves, who these men were."

"Paton is investigating it, Keith, she is handling it personally, as soon as she knows something she'll tell you."

Keith stopped and ran his hands through his hair, "I can't just sit in there Lance! I have to do something, that's my daughter in there!"

"I know, man, I know. Calm down, you have to keep it together."

"I know," he turned and rested his forehead against the wall. "It's Cady, Lance. She never did anything to anyone, she never even flew a Lion or shot a weapon."

"We'll find who's responsible for this and we'll make them pay," Lance vowed.

"You know this will somehow be tied in to Vinn."

"And he will go down for it."

Keith sighed and lifted his head, "I don't know what to do, Lance."

"Let's go for a walk, Keith."

"But if…"

"We both have our communicators, if anything happens, they'll contact us."

Keith nodded and slipped his hands in his pockets. "I feel so helpless."

"We all do," Lance said as they started down the hall. "But we're here for you, Keith, and we will all, including Cady, get through this."

"What do you make of Lt. Alexander?"

"What do you mean?"

Keith shrugged, "Lt. Alexander. I'm thinking he has his eye on my daughter."

"Who? Tess?"

"Smartass."

Lance chuckled, "He's a good kid, Keith, and he was there for her today."

"But he didn't keep her from getting shot."

"That's not fair, Keith, and you know it. After all we have been through with Allura and Darcy over the years, you know as well as I do that it isn't always that easy."

"I know."

"Believe me when I say I know how hard it is to see your daughter fall for some guy. To suddenly realize you are no longer the number one guy in her life."

"Yeah, but we've known Erik his entire life and we know he's a great guy. You don't have to worry about Sky when it comes to him."

Lance sighed, "That may be, but she's still my little girl and I won't think twice about killing him if he hurts her."

Keith let out a soft chuckle, "But you think Alexander's a good guy?"

"He's not after my kid."

"How did this happen, Lance? Why is it that both our daughters fell for pilots? Why can't they find a nice teacher or mechanic or doctor?"

"I think it's the amazing sexual prowess of the men in uniform."

The two old friends stopped and looked at each other.

"I'm going to have a talk with Erik," Lance said.

Keith nodded, "Yeah, Cady and I will talk when she's feeling better."

…………………………………………………………………..

"Sky."

"Hm?"

Erik shifted and gently shook his girlfriend's shoulder, "Schuyler."

Yawning, she lifted her head and blinked the sleep from her eyes, "Wha'?"

"Are you hungry?"

She laid her head back on his shoulder, "No."

"Well, I am and my butt is numb."

Wrapping both arms around his middle, she snuggled closer, "Mm mm."

"Sky," he lowered his head to rest on hers. "I think we should go get some food and bring it back for everyone."

She lifted her head again and looked around the room. Her mother had moved and sat in the seat Keith had vacated, sitting beside Allura. Nicky was curled up on hit mother's lap, asleep, as his brothers and sisters and Brina filled up the rest of the chairs. "Where's my Dad and Uncle Keith?"

"The waiting was driving him nuts so they went to Castle Control to see how everything is going."

"How long have we been here?"

Erik checked his watch. "It's been over three hours now."

"Still no word?"

"No."

Sky looked past Erik and saw Tristan still sitting there, staring at the wall opposite him.

"Come on," Erik stood and held out a hand for her. "Let's get some things to eat and bring them back for everyone."

Sky let him pull her to her feet. She felt worn out, physically and emotionally. "You're a good man, Erik," she said as they left the room.

"What?"

"You're always taking care of everyone."

"Thanks, Sky, but this was for purely selfish reasons. If I had to sit in that room for one more minute, I was going to scream."

"Why haven't we heard anything yet?"

He shrugged, "Don't know, babe. Tristan said they took her right in to surgery."

"I think he's taking this even harder than us."

"He blames himself."

"But he isn't her guard."

"But he was with her."

Sky was quiet a moment. "What is going on with him?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't understand why he's acting the way he is."

"He likes her."

"And she likes him," Sky pointed out. "What's the problem?"

"His career, Sunny. How can he start a relationship with her when he could be reassigned at any minute?"

"This has got to be hard on him."

Erik nodded, "It would kill me if I was around you, but knew that we couldn't be together and that at any minute we could be separated."

"Couldn't Uncle Keith and Aunt Allura do something about it?" She asked as they entered the kitchen.

"They could try, but he has to fulfill his duty with the Garrison. Oh, hi Nanny."

The older woman was already in the kitchen standing at the table with sandwich makings spread out in front of her. "Oh, I'm glad you're here. I was worried about the children eating, but the Queen wants them all with her. You can help me get all of this to the waiting room. Any word on the Princess?"

Sky pulled out some bread and started putting sandwiches together, "Not yet."

Nanny clucked her tongue, "My poor baby girl."

"Becca is a great doctor, Cady is in good hands," Erik pointed out as he pulled bottles of water, milk, and juice from the refrigeration unit.

"Oh, I worry about you children so much."

"We'll be fine Nanny."

"I know, you all think you're indestructible. But you need to be careful. Erik, dear, can you reach the tray on top of the refrigeration unit? Thank you, dear."

It took two trays to hold the sandwiches, chips, and cookies, not to mention the drinks, Nanny was sending to the waiting room.

"You two take those trays," she instructed. "I'm going to clean up in here and then I'll come see if there is any word on the young Princess."

"What is it about situations like this and food," Erik grumbled as they returned to the waiting room.

"It gives her something to do," Sky explained. "There is nothing worse than just sitting around waiting, worrying."

"I'm sure it won't be much longer now," he said stepping back to let her walk in first.

"Oh, thank you sweetheart," Darcy jumped to her feet and took the tray from Sky.

"You want something to eat, Mom?" Declan asked.

Allura smiled weakly, "Not right now, honey, thank you."

The trays were set down on the nurse's desk and slowly the sandwiches and drinks began to disappear. Erik grabbed a bottle of water and a sandwich and walked over to where Tristan was still sitting against the wall. "Here, Lieutenant, are you hungry?"

Tristan slowly opened his eyes and looked up, a little confused, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Are you hungry? We have sandwiches and drinks."

"Oh, yeah, thanks."

Erik settled down beside him, "You want to talk about it?"

Tristan stared down at the sandwich in his hand and shrugged, "There really isn't anything to say."

"Do you still have to leave and go to Zettle?"

"I hope not. I haven't spoken to Captain Klari, I mean I feel fine, I don't need to go. But…"

"But what?"

Tristan lowered his voice and leaned closer to Erik, "I think she's afraid I'm getting too close to this assignment and the people here."

"So she wants to put distance between you and Arus?"

"I think so."

"Is there anything you can do about it?"

"After the medic clears me, I can request to be reassigned here, but that is no guarantee. Especially if Captain Klari doesn't want me to come back."

Erik smiled sympathetically, "She is making this all very difficult for you, isn't she?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Tristan shook his head, "I don't know."

"Does Cady have something to do with it?"

"I requested this assignment because I wanted to have the opportunity to meet the Voltron Force and see the Lions in action."

"And is that why you want to come back?"

Tristan continued to stare at his uneaten sandwich. "Maybe it's best if I don't come back."

"Best for whom?"

Tristan looked at his wrist, remembering he had left his watch in his room, the face had been splattered with her blood.

"It's been almost four hours," Erik said.

"What's taking so long? Shouldn't we have heard something by now?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Contrary to what your Captain might think, Becca is the best doctor there is."

"I don't doubt her, I just…"

His statement went unfinished as Becca walked into the waiting room. She looked exhausted, her scrubs covered in blood as she pulled the cap off her head and her face mask down around her neck.

"Rebecca," Allura jumped to her feet. "How is she?"

"Where's Keith?"

"I'll call him," Erik offered as he unclipped his communicator.

Declan and Gideon flanked their mother as Tess took Nicky's hand and waited with her sister. It was only a few moments before Keith, Pidge, and Lance burst into the room at high speed.

"How is she?" He asked.

"The surgery went well," Becca replied. "She is still unconscious and I don't expect her to wake anytime soon. There were no complications and I don't foresee any, but the next twenty-four hours will be critical. Cady lost a lot of blood and there was some muscle and tissue damage, but I was able to repair it."

"C-can I see her?" Allura asked.

"You may, but don't expect her to wake."

Allura looked at Keith and he stepped forward to take her hand.

Cady had been moved into the recovery room, a small windowless room with only two beds. She was lying in the one furthest from the door. The dressings over her wound were visible under the collar of her thin gown. Her skin was pale and translucent, she looked so young, so frail.

Allura moved to the bedside and felt the tears prick her eyes as she looked down at her daughter. "Oh, Keith, how did this happen?"

He stood beside his wife and slid his arm around her shoulders, "We'll find out and they'll pay."

Allura brushed her hand over Cady's forehead, feeling her cool skin, "I feel so helpless. My poor baby. What can we do? If Cady can be hurt, any of our children can."

"We're making changes, Allura, we're going to be stricter and I want a guard on all of them. We'll be fine, honey, Cady will be fine."

…………………………………………………………………..

It was late as the waiting room cleared out. Allura sat with Cady while Keith ushered his three youngest off to bed as everyone else went their separate ways.

"There you are, Lieutenant."

Tristan looked up to see Captain Klari waiting for him beside the door to his room. He snapped to attention. "Captain."

"Your flight to Planet Zettle leaves at 0630 tomorrow morning."

"What?"

"Your flight to see the Garrison medic on Planet Zettle leaves at 0630 tomorrow morning."

"With all due respect, Captain, I am fine. I don't need to see the Garrison medic."

"Well, Lieutenant, I disagree. If you are not on the ship at 0630, you can be on the next ship back to Terra for court-martial proceedings."

Tristan opened and closed his mouth before mumbling, "Yes, Ma'am."

Captain Klari saluted sharply, "Good night, Lieutenant."

"Good night, Captain," he saluted.

Tristan couldn't remember a time when he had ever felt so terrible. Feelings of hopelessness, anger, frustration, helplessness, and just plain sadness washed over him. He sat on the edge of his bed and placed his head in his hands, silently cursing himself for allowing this beautiful young woman to turn his head. If only he had kept his feelings in check, none of this would have happened if he had just kept his mind on the task at hand.

Falling back across the bed, he squeezed his eyes shut and slammed his fist against the bed. He didn't want to leave her, it was killing him to even think about it. Not now, not when she was injured, not when he could have prevented the injury. But what else could he do? Disobey Captain Klari, go through the humiliation of a possible court-martial hearing for disobeying orders, and then return home and work for his father?

Either way he mapped out his decision, Tristan couldn't figure out how to keep Cady in his life.