"I don't know what you were worried about," Keith says as she lets him in the cockpit. "The controls fit your stumpy arms just fine."
"Asshole," she says fondly, but can't wipe the grin off her face. From the Lion, there's a faint swell of something bright and glinting. Whatever it is, it feels friendly. Amused, maybe? Keith cocks his head, and there's an intense, cautious prick of interest through the link. "You get that too?" she asks, curious. The way Allura had talked about the Lions, she had assumed they were a one-per-paladin deal.
He wavers his hand in the air. "A little bit? I can tell it-" he pauses. "She?"
Pidge cautiously prods that thought toward the Lion and gets back something large and complicated, again with that glinting, amused feel to it. It doesn't feel negative at least, so she shrugs and nods. "She."
"I can tell she's there. When she was, uh, looking at me earlier, that was definitely noticeable." He tilts his head again to eye the instrument panel, like it's the best he can do to look the Lion in the eye, and hesitates. "Is she talking to you?"
She frowns, considering. "Not really?" she says slowly. "I don't think they talk exactly."
"It's not…?" he hesitates, an echo of the crawling, invasive feeling of their first awareness of the link ringing through the connection. "Are you okay with it?" he finishes carefully.
She gives the question a minute of serious consideration before nodding slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I am." The line of his shoulders relaxes a little, but his eyes stay on her, a trickle of concern snaking its way through his thoughts, and she tries to put the difference into words. "It's like… I don't know. Like her thoughts are too big for me to see all at once? And my thoughts are too small to really show up for her? It's not like…" They rarely talk openly about the link. She still doesn't like thinking about how easily they could invade each other's privacy. Their system of knocks and alerts and mutually agreed-on boundaries is nearly second nature by now, but she's acutely aware that it only works because they're both invested in maintaining as much separation as possible. "It's not like us, where we could pry if we wanted. If we weren't careful." She scrunches up her face. "Ugh. I'm not explaining it right."
Keith thinks for a bit and then hums quietly in the back of his throat, the rest of the tension leaching out of his spine. "I think I get it. She feels… far off? Like she's at an angle?" He huffs and shakes his head, frustrated. "Like she's in a different room or something. Wasn't sure if that was just because I wasn't her paladin."
"Nah, not just you."
She pulls out the tablet Coran had given her, trying to decipher the coordinates on its screen. After a moment, Keith treads forward and her seat bobs as he leans tentatively against its back. She can feel his attention sharpen into a keen, hungry curiosity as his eyes skim the instrumentation panel and she snorts. "I can't believe I almost forgot you were a fighter jock."
"It's interesting," he protests.
"You just want to know how fast she can go."
He exhales a low, quiet breath of amusement. "That too."
She glances between the coordinates on the tablet and the interface, trying to work out where and how to plot them a route back to the wormhole. At first she doesn't see anything obvious, but there's a gentle surge in the back of her mind, and she finds herself looking a little to the right, to a shiny stripe a little below chest height for her. She reaches out and swipes her thumb across it. The movement feels familiar, like an old muscle memory. An screen pops up in front of her. She doesn't understand the language, but she knows where the coordinates go nevertheless, and punches them in. In the link, Keith watches from a distance, wary but fascinated. She frowns, and casts a careful glance up at him. "Are you okay with this? You're picking up on her too, right?"
His eyes dart to her, and there's a startled flicker in the link. He nods after a second. "Yeah. It's fine. I can feel she's there, but that's about it." The corner of his mouth quirks. "She's less pushy than the Knell. Or the Blue Lion, I guess."
She lets out an undignified snicker as the Lion's presence somehow takes on a smug tinge and wraps her hands around the sticks. "Good. Ready?"
"Go ahead."
"Here we go."
The Lion crouches and leaps, and they enter the blackness of space.
Once they're free of the planet's gravity and their course set, she leans back in the seat and relaxes her grip. Their initial flight on the Blue Lion had been far too hectic and panicked to really take in, but with just the two of them and the Lion, it's strangely tranquil. The subtle hum of the Green Lion's systems permeates the close, warm space of the cockpit. Outside, the pinpricks of stars spread out around them, and nearer, there's a glint of ice on a cluster of asteroids orbiting a gaseous planet. Her chair rocks slightly as Keith shifts his weight, watching out the window with her. There's something awestruck and a little wistful in the way his attention catches on those points of light.
"Doesn't seem fair that you don't get a Lion yet. You're the pilot," she says after a minute.
She feels him shake himself out of his thoughts and give a halfhearted shrug. "We don't even know where the Red Lion is."
"True." Pidge peers into the darkness, trying to spot the circular not-space of the wormhole, but they must still be too far out. She hesitates. "You think Lance and Hunk beat us back?"
"No."
"Come on, Lance is kind of a lot sometimes, but he's not that bad."
He's briefly puzzled, and then something in the link tilts sideways and she feels him shake his head. "Didn't mean it like that. They were going to a planet with a galra presence, though, right? Sounds harder than just hiking through the woods." There's a brief pause. "No offense."
She snorts, but can't help but bite at the edge of her lip. "I hope they're okay."
Keith shifts on his feet behind her and his presence dims, somewhere between concern and apology. "They've got the Blue Lion, right?" he says awkwardly. "They've got an edge."
She lets out her breath. "Yeah." It's said as much to reassure herself as to acknowledge the point. Keith can probably pick that up. He leans a little more heavily against the back of the seat, and she can feel him turning some thought over.
"What?"
"Are you…" He trails to a halt, and the connection scrambles as he rewords. "Do you want to tell them? About your dad and Matt?"
It takes her by surprise and she freezes in her seat. "I don't know," she says at last. She likes Hunk and Lance. They stuck their necks out for them when they really, really didn't have to, and they're all going to be piloting giant robot lions together, which feels like it ought to count for something. But the Kerberos mission feels private. Felt private, even just after the accident when everybody wanted to talk to her about it. And she's gotten used to being Pidge at the Garrison. She knows where she stands with Lance and Hunk, and something squirms uncomfortably in her gut at the thought of having to re-navigate all of that. What if they get weird because her dad and her brother got abducted by aliens? What if they get weird because she's a girl? What if they get weird because she's been lying to them?
"You don't have to!" Keith adds hastily, and she guesses that some of that must have leaked through. "I just didn't want to screw up and say something accidentally if you weren't going to."
"Oh." There's a warm beat of gratitude in her chest. She clears her throat and shoves her glasses up on her nose. "Thanks."
"Don't worry about it."
The companionable quiet lasts another couple of minutes before she finally spies the unreal glow of the wormhole. "There's our ride back."
"Take us in, Pidge." She can feel the smile as he says it. She nudges the sticks around to circle them towards it and they dive in, the Lion rumbling contentedly as they slip between spaces.
Coran is waiting for them when they disembark.
"Marvelous job, Number Four! And Number Three as well, of course." He puts his hands behind him in something like a parade rest to stare up at the Green Lion. "Why, it seems like it was only yesterday she was last in her hangar. We'll be back in fighting shape before you know it!" Something in the ceiling chooses this moment to cough out a loud, metallic clunk, and Coran coughs pointedly. "With some minor repairs, of course. I'm afraid ten thousand decaphoebs hasn't been kind to the old atmospheric controls-" Pidge and Keith exchange an alarmed look "-but nothing to worry about, we'll get things fixed up. Only another quintant or so and we'll be as spaceworthy as ever."
"Have the others made it back yet?"
"Not yet, I'm afraid."
"Oh." A little sting of worry plucks at her throat. Keith glances down at her and gives a gentle tap at the link.
Coran seems to pick up on it as well after a second and clears his throat. "Now, now, no cause for concern. They haven't been gone long and they're capable young people. Why, you two made record time. I'm sure they'll be along shortly."
"We could help them. If they need it." Keith nods toward the Green Lion.
"Quite right," Coran adds, perking up. "Why, you could be through the wormhole in a couple of doboshes if they call."
The Green Lion pushes a vast, ineffable feeling of preening satisfaction down to her and something in her chest unhitches a little. "Right." She has a Lion now. If something happens, she can do something about it.
"Just so." The ends of Coran's mustache coil up on themselves a little. "But no need for heroics yet, hm? For now, why don't you both head up to the bridge and inform the princess of your return?" The ceiling gives another ominous thunk, and he glances warily up at it. "I may be rather occupied in here for a bit. Wouldn't do to evacuate the vents onto the Green Lion, after all."
"We'll, uh. We'll do that," she agrees, peering up into the shadowy heights of the room, trying to gauge where the vents are.
She and Keith exit the hanger, the doors hissing closed behind them. Keith clears his throat. "…Do you have any idea how to get to the bridge from here?"
She stops in her tracks. "No. Do you?" He shakes his head. They both look back towards the hanger in time to hear something thump heavily down to the ground and a long string of muttering from Coran.
"It can't be that hard to find," Keith says after a moment.
"Yeah, it's like the most important place on the ship, right? Should be easy."
"Yeah. Easy."
It is not easy, but about fifteen minutes later, they finally make it to the bridge. Allura is standing at the central console, the holoscreen in front of her lit up with an array of smaller windows. Some of them look like floor plans - perhaps of the castle - dotted with little highlighted nodes and comments. There's a star chart open as well. Blinking ominously in its distant reaches, Pidge can spot the dot marked as the galra warship, drawing steadily closer. Allura turns as they enter, smoothing her hands briskly down the front of her skirt, and offers them a somewhat tentative smile. It strikes Pidge abruptly that this must be almost as strange for her as it is for them, and she does her best to return it.
"Ah! Pidge and Keith, yes? I saw the Green Lion return to the castle - very well done, both of you."
"Um. Thanks," she returns. They all stand there awkwardly, somewhat at a loss.
"Did you-" Allura glances quickly between them, and her brow crinkles for a moment before her expression smooths and she continues on. "Did you have any difficulty in locating the Lion? I'm afraid that the tracker is rather old."
"Easy enough," Keith shrugs.
"I see." She hesitates and her eyes linger on them a beat longer. "I suppose you two already have experience tracking the Blue Lion."
"You could say that." There's a faint, strange prickle at the edge of Pidge's awareness. She realizes with a start that it's coming from Keith, and she taps at his attention. He gives an uneasy twitch of his shoulders and shakes his head once like a cat flicking water off its ears. The prickling subsides.
Allura watches this interplay bemusedly. After a moment she purses her lips and folds her hands in front of her. "I don't suppose you-"
The door behind them hisses open and they all start. Hunk and Lance enter, Coran bringing up the rear behind them. Pidge exhales a relieved breath and feels the link slacken a little. Hunk's clothes are smudged with dust and grime, and Lance's hair is tousled and stringy. He runs a hand through it as they cross the threshold, sending it further into disarray.
"Oh, man. We got the Yellow Lion but it was not easy."
"Is everything all right?" asks Allura, eying them with concern.
"Oh. Yeah," states Hunk raggedly. "We're okay. Just a little worn out from the cave-in and the guards and the shooting."
"Don't remind me," Lance sighs and leans a hip against the nearest console, his voice rallying into smug satisfaction. "We did it though. Mission accomplished."
"Sure did." A quick, happy grin crosses Hunk's face. "Yellow and I are buds now."
Keith tilts his head, and Pidge feels a tick of cautious curiosity. She listens too, and sure enough, she catches the echo of a faint, distant rumble when she looks at Hunk.
Lance gives her half a wave. "See you guys made it back too. You get your Lion?"
"Yeah." After a second, she coughs into her hand to hide a smirk. "We had a pretty tough time too." The link sparks and Keith looks down at her, eyebrow raised. After a moment, the corner of his mouth ticks up.
"Yeah. It was rough," he agrees. It's not at all convincing - she can see Lance side-eying him skeptically - but it's the thought that counts.
"Very well done, all of you," Allura says. "Locating three Lions so quickly is no small task."
"Quite so," Coran adds. "You're doing the paladin name proud already."
Allura's expression goes somber for a moment. "Indeed," she says softly. "Now, if we are to prepare the castle for-"
Coran clears his throat. "Pardon me, but perhaps a rest is in order? And a meal? There's much to be done, but it won't do any good to go rushing off unprepared."
Allura blinks, and takes in Lance and Hunk's frazzled appearance before seeming to slump. "I- yes, of course. Please take the chance to rest - we've still another quintant or two before the galra reach us. It would be unwise not to take the opportunity now."
Pidge is initially excited to see what kind of food the castle can produce. Their last meal had been the spare granola bars from her bag and a squashed package of vending machine gummy candies excavated from Lance's jacket pocket. They're all hungry and tired, and whatever the alteans eat, she figures it's got to be better than that. And besides, it's alien food made by an interstellar spaceship-castle. Even if it winds up being terrible, it'll probably be terrible in exciting and interesting ways.
The reality proves disappointing. Coran triumphantly deposits a bowl of faintly greenish glop in the center of the table, to dubious stares all around. He clears his throat. "No need to be shy. Plenty more where that came from."
"Oh. Great," she says doubtfully.
After a second, Hunk shrugs and bravely ladles a spoonful onto his plate. The rest of them follow suit one by one.
"Well, here goes," Lance says. "Uh, cheers?"
She takes a spoonful and braces. The result is anticlimactic. The taste is sweet, almost overpoweringly so, saved from being nauseating by a salty, mildly acidic undertone. It's not pleasant, but it's not terrible either - just utilitarian in the same way a sports drink is, made to pack in as many necessary nutrients as possible with taste being a distant secondary concern. It could be worse, but she's not looking forward to multiple bowls of it per day. A disgusted shiver goes through the link, and she glances to the side in time to see Keith swallow.
He catches her raised eyebrow and grimaces. "Tastes like salt water jello."
"Really?" She inspects her spoon. That's definitely not what it tastes like to her, but she's having a hard time coming up with what it does taste like. It does make her remember him picking all the interesting stuff off his sandwiches, though, and she drops her voice. "You going to be okay eating it?"
He stares morosely down at the bowl and shrugs. "Not much of a choice."
She reluctantly considers another spoonful. "No, I guess not."
Lance puts his spoon down with a clatter. "You know what, this is not great, but after today I'll take it."
Hunk hums thoughtfully. "It might be better as a sauce or a seasoning for something else? Or a marinade?" He sighs. "But yeah. I just kind of want a hot meal. Maybe a chili? Some good bread?"
"Empanadas," Lance adds mournfully.
"Pierogies," she sighs, and looks to Kieth expectantly.
He blinks. "Jerky," he supplies after a moment.
"Really? That's what you're going for?" Lance says.
"What's wrong with it?"
"Nothing, I guess. I mean, I like jerky fine, I just kind of want something somebody actually cooked."
There's a solemn silence, and then Hunk slumps in his seat. "Oh, man. We are so, so far away from home right now."
She abruptly, powerfully misses her mom, wishes she'd found some way to leave her a note or something. Wonders what she's doing now, all alone in the house except for Bae Bae. The link flickers and mutes. After a moment, Keith's shoulder bumps hers.
"Yeah," Lance sighs. "It's hard to believe we're really out here." He shoots her and Keith a glance. "I don't know what you guys had to do for the Green Lion, but the galra Empire isn't messing around."
"They sure aren't," Hunk says, with feeling.
"We had it pretty easy," she admits.
"Just had to walk around in the woods for a while-"
"-until we found it." She considers. "We met an alien."
"-Another alien," Keith interjects.
"Yeah. They gave us a ride to the Lion."
"I wish we'd had it that easy," Hunk says despondently.
"Why, what did you have to do?"
"Oh, man," Lance starts. "Okay, so we went through the magic space portal-"
They manage to put a significant dent in the food goo over the course of the story. Despite the long day and the dubious rations, having something in her stomach is a relief, and listening to Lance and Hunk talk back and forth over a table is familiar, as is Keith's quiet, quick presence at the periphery of her awareness. By the time they're done, she feels more settled, and by the time they leave the table everyone is starting to flag a little. The elevator ride down to their quarters is subdued, and when they reach their deck, they trickle down the hall and turn one-by-one into their cabins without much fanfare. Before opening the door to his room, Keith pauses to gently sock a fist into her upper arm and give her a tired grin.
"Congrats by the way. On your Lion."
She grins back at him and returns the shoulder punch. "Save it for when you get yours."
Keith lets out a quiet, good-tempered huff of breath before giving a lazy half-wave and disappearing into his room. Pidge is left standing out in the hallway, Hunk paused a little ways ahead of her. He waits for her to catch up and they continue down the hall towards their own rooms.
"You guys made up then?" She side-eyes him and he raises a hand halfway. "Not that I'm trying to be nosy or anything. You just seemed like you having a fight earlier."
"Yeah. We worked it out."
"Good," he says firmly. "I was a little worried for a bit."
She frowns. "What do you mean?"
His steps slow, and he raises a hand to rub awkwardly at the side of his neck. "Don't take this the wrong way, but it kind of felt like maybe you didn't have many friends back at the Garrison? You always seemed like you were avoiding everyone else. I mean, don't get me wrong, I know some people are just like that, and there are plenty of people who just want some space, and there's nothing wrong with it, but…" he trails off. "I was kind of glad when you turned out to be friends with Keith, is all."
She blinks a little and shoves her glasses higher on her nose. "Oh." It hadn't occurred to her that people might have worried about her. A little sliver of guilt worms its way under her ribs as she thinks about all the things she's not telling Hunk. "Thanks, I guess?"
"Sure. I'm glad you guys patched it up." He nods at her doorway. "This is your stop. I'll see you later then?"
"Yeah. Later."
Pidge is startled awake by a terrifying, high-pitched klaxon that has her reflexively slamming her hands over her ears before she's fully conscious. There's a sharp, nauseated stab of pain from Keith's end of the link and a second of discomfort like grit in her teeth before he clamps down on it and drags it out of the connection. There's a brief jolt of disorientation as she catches sight of the blank walls and bright, unfamiliar lighting before the sense of where she is trickles back in. Keith's presence, already awake and aware of his surroundings, helps. She lurches up off the bed and stumbles for the door. Keith exits his room at almost the same time, pale and pinched around the eyes, his hair a ridiculous mess.
"Bridge?" she has to almost shout it over the needling whine of the alarm.
"Bridge," he returns with a wince.
Allura and Coran are already there, crowded around the starmap. Allura glances up as they enter and produces a strained smile.
"Pidge, Keith. Where are the others?"
She opens her mouth to reply, but is saved the trouble as the elevator door opens again behind them and Hunk and Lance stumble in.
"What is that noise?"
"Is there a fire? Are we under attack? What's wrong?"
Allura nods towards Coran, who swipes something on the console. Mercifully, the alarm shuts off. The bridge is suddenly, echoingly quiet. "I am afraid," she says, "that we have miscalculated."
Coran coughs into his fist and gestures to the map. The red dot of the Empire vessel blinks steadily, nearly half the length of the chart from its last position. "It appears that the technology has advanced somewhat in ten-thousand decaphoebs. I had thought we had a few quintants to prepare before that cruiser arrived, but it appears we may have only vargas."
"How long is a varga?" Lance mutters.
"I don't know, but it doesn't sound long enough," says Hunk.
"So what are we going to do about it?" breaks in Keith, arms crossed and shoulders tense.
Allura's mouth thins unhappily. "It is vital that the galra Empire not obtain the Lions. Nor must they capture any of you." She pauses and gives a slight sigh, eyes darting momentarily away before continuing. "The Lions will not be easily swayed from their choice of paladins."
"So you're saying we're basically targets," Pidge says.
"I am afraid so."
All four of them exchange a look. It's not a pleasant thought.
Coran clears his throat. "Now, we don't have much time, but the old castle isn't in such bad shape. If we can just realign the quintessential arrays, then perhaps-"
He's interrupted by loud chime from the console, accompanied by a message overlay on the screen. There's a quick flash of shock across Allura's features and they all turn to stare. It chimes again.
"Well," Coran says steadily, expression grim and voice quiet. "It appears our friends wish to talk."
"Open a hailing frequency," Allura says stonily. "We shall see what they have to say."
A view opens on the screen, and Pidge leans closer. Keith moves with her, weight on the balls of his feet, some of the tension in his shoulders leaking through to her. The screen goes momentarily white before resolving to show the head and shoulders of a muscular, heavy-set person in a dimly-lit room. Like the alteans, he's roughly humanoid, if unexpectedly purple and furry. One of his eyes is prosthetic, its edges impinging on the cheek and brow in a way that looks painful. He lifts his lip in a slow, cold gesture, exposing the heavy shearing teeth of a carnivore, and something in her stomach curdles.
"The Castle of Lions, I presume."
Allura stands straight and tall, eyes blazing. "Who are you and what do you want?"
"The altean princess, not dead after all. And you've found companions, I see."
Something snaps through the link, a low, crackling hum. Keith's breath hitches, and she feels the ghost of a familiar, insistent pull in his chest. It's only a second before it's gone. She taps at the link and he gives a minute, whole-body shake before he meets her eyes, his pupils wide and dark.
Allura stills a bare instant, and the ends of her hair twist in an unsettling grasping motion before releasing. "If you have a point, you had better make it quickly."
The galra's ears pull back slightly and his sneer widens. "I am Sendak, Commander in Emperor Zarkon's fleet. You harbor the Blue and Yellow Lions of Voltron. The Empire demands that you submit them to our care. Should you choose not to comply, I will be forced to take action. You have four vargas to consider."
The connection cuts before they can make any response, leaving only a foreboding silence.
"What a piece of work," mutters Lance.
"That didn't sound good. Like, at all," Hunk adds.
"A most unpleasant individual," Coran pronounces. "Fortunately, it doesn't seem we'll need to change our plans. We must-"
Pidge exchanges a glance with Keith, that low, electric crackle still echoing between them, and he draws a sharp breath.
Allura beats him to it, her voice grim and level. "I'm afraid it does. Even if we are able, fleeing is no longer an option. The Red Lion is aboard that ship." She breathes in deeply. "We must retrieve it."