Hello everyone!
I am so excited to say that Fragmentation is now completely written! I used this for the 2021 WIP Bang, and I'm so grateful to it for helping me get this done. And a huge thank you to you guys too! I'm still in awe every time I look at my stats and see just how many views and likes and comments and stuff this fic has, even with the long breaks. This story has really followed me from the start of my fanfiction journey to where I am now and it's been amazing to have you guys along for the ride. Your support means so much more than I can say. Thank you for being so patient with me, and I hope that you guys enjoy the final two parts! The epilogue will be posted next week.
By the way, I helped start a Pidge Angst Bang last year and sign-ups are currently open for this year! If you're interested, let me know or look up Pidge Angst Bang on tumblr. Sign-ups for writers and betas close next week and sign-ups for artists close in September.
Okay okay now after that shameless plug, back to this fic!
Trigger Warnings for this Chapter: Temporary Paralysis, Muscle Spasms, Needles, Burns, Foot Over Neck Situation, and General T-Rated Violence
Enjoy!
Pidge trembled in the arms of the Galra soldier as they walked down the hall. She still couldn't purposefully move anything but her face, but at least her body was responding to the pain naturally now. The shivers were just making it worse, though, with the hem of her shirt constantly rubbing against the burn. Pidge squeezed her eyes closed, trying to block out the pain. Now that her body seemed to be taking back some of its ability for involuntary movement, she really wanted to avoid being sick.
The guard was carrying her bridal style and, if she weren't in so much pain, she would have been mortified at the vulnerability of it. Suddenly, though, the guard stopped and Pidge jolted in his arms, a small whimper slipping out as her wound chafed against her shirt.
The sound of a door opening slipped in amongst the pain, but Pidge didn't even bother to open her eyes. She knew where she was and she had no interest in playing more of their games.
Pidge was quickly proven wrong, though, as a swarm of voices filled her ears. The noise was too much in conglomeration with the pain, and she squeezed her eyes shut to try to block out the excess stimuli.
She was jostled again and this time found herself unceremoniously dropped onto the hard ground. The position was no better for her burn, but she couldn't move onto her back even if she were willing to try.
But then there were gentle hands on her, sliding her over to get a better look at what had her so flushed.
"...Pidge?" the owner called hesitantly, and Pidge knew that voice. Knew it as safe, and reassurance, and taking charge.
More than that, though, a relief stronger than anything raced through her. That last she had seen of the owner of that voice, he had been suffocating before her eyes. His voice was distressed, but not wrecked. If he was okay and still able to sound that strong, then they must have all survived. Pidge would have let her eyes close with relief had they been open. Now that she knew her family was alive, she was more than happy to just lie there and let Shiro take charge, but she heard the concern in that voice and knew she had to do something to provide what reassurance she could.
Slowly opening her eyes, she watched as Shiro's worried face came into view. She could tell the others were hovering around her too, but her vision wouldn't focus and she couldn't bring herself to care.
"You're alive," she choked out. Seeing them, even as blurry shapes, was more than she could handle and she felt a lump form in her throat.
"Pidge? Hey, you need to calm down." Shiro's voice helped her relax some, but she took a little longer to process the meaning of his words. Only then, did she realize that her breathing had sped up again and she was getting lightheaded. No wonder she wasn't seeing clearly.
She struggled to control her breathing, but every breath hurt more as her chest started listening and expanding. It was all Pidge could do to keep from panicking, knowing it would push her over the edge, but she couldn't keep the wetness from filling her eyes. What little ground she had made focusing was quickly slipping away as white spots and tears distorted her vision. Pidge could tell she was on the verge of passing out when something grabbed her arm and held her hand against warm cloth.
"It's okay, Pidge. We have you. Breath with me."
Pidge tried to mimic the rise and fall of the chest against her hand and her panic started to lessen as her body got more air. A few tears fell and Pidge looked over to see Hunk sitting next to her, holding her hand against his chest. His own eyes were moist, but a compassionate smile was on his face. It was strained and small, but Pidge took the comfort he was offering, forcing her own lips to curve up slightly. "Thanks," she wheezed out.
Now that her breathing was slower, Pidge was absorbing her surroundings more. Shiro knelt in front of her with Hunk next to her, her hand still held in his. On her right, Keith was helping to support Lance in an upright position. All of them looked worried, but Lance's eyes were glazed and seemed to be having trouble focusing on her.
"Lance?" she asked, suddenly remembering the stab wound.
His eyes slid over to look at her face but didn't quite find her eyes. His sweaty eyebrows still knit in concern for her, though. "M'fine," he slurred. "Worry 'bout y'rself."
Pidge's focus moved over to Keith, a question in her eyes and a bad feeling settling into her gut.
"Fever," he stated bluntly, but his lips were tight with concern. "His wound's infected."
Pidge glanced over to try to see said wound, but she couldn't get a good view from where she lay on the ground. Her own pain momentarily dulled, she turned to Hunk. "Help me sit up."
Pidge's voice wasn't as strong as she would have liked, but the command in it was clear. Nevertheless, Hunk hesitated. "I don't know, Pidge. I think—"
"Can you not move?"
Keith's blunt voice cut through Hunk's hesitation and all of their gazes fell back to Pidge, something else mixed into their expressions now.
Pidge hesitated, unsure of how to explain it without causing her friends more worry. "Just temporarily," she finally decided. "Drugged," she added quickly, noticing that her previous statement did little to alleviate her friends' stress.
Hunk's hand clenched tighter and Keith's eyes darkened at her words, but before anyone could comment, she spoke again. "Help me up." When it looked like Shiro was going to protest, she added a quiet "Please."
The please must have done it because she could see Shiro's resolve soften and Hunk's arm soon wrapped under her shoulders. A small whimper slipped out and Hunk hissed a quick apology as he helped her into a sitting position. Shiro's hands hovered all the while, eager to help, but afraid to cause more pain. By the time her back was pressed against the wall, Pidge was panting with the exertion, but she was being careful to keep her breaths from getting too fast.
After taking a moment to steady herself, she opened her eyes and examined Lance's leg. It was covered in bloody cloth, but most of it seemed to be dry, so Pidge hoped that meant it had stopped bleeding. She triaged the rest of his body, glad to find that the only wound. She'd only seen the guards stab him once, but she'd also been out a lot of the last few... days? Weeks? How long had they been here?
At that, Pidge realised she could have missed anything without realising it. The original fear for her fellow paladins came flooding back in as she looked them over more closely. They all seemed tired and in need of a shower, but she didn't see any obvious physical wounds at least. "Are the rest of you alright? I saw them suffocating you—"
"You what?" Hunk asked, confusion and a bit of trepidation in his voice.
Pidge nodded, immediately regretting it as the motion aggravated the already existing nausea. Before she could get herself together enough to respond fully, though, another voice answered for her.
"It's the wall, isn't it?" Keith said with his lips pursed. "They wanted you to be seeing what was going on."
Pidge swallowed. "Yeah." The memories were going to haunt her for a long time and the guilt was already resurging at full force. "I'm so sorry," she choked out, fighting to keep her emotions back, but between the drugs still in her system, the pain from moving, and now the guilt of the last however long crashing down on her, she was grateful she could even speak right now.
"It's not your fault," Hunk dismissed easily.
But that was too much for Pidge and she could help the half sob that broke free from her throat. They had no idea that she was the reason the guards had tortured them. They hadn't even considered it.
Pidge wished she could hide her face in her hands, but they refused to comply with her instructions, and the tears started rolling down her cheeks for everyone to see. Not wanted to hear the undoubtedly coming sympathy in their next questions, Pidge pushed the words out best she could.
"No, it is my fault. You don't understand. They didn't just want me to see it for their sick entertainment. They were doing it to punish me. They only hurt you guys because I wouldn't cooperate!" Pidge bit on her lip to hide the tremble there. She wasn't a super stoic person and she wasn't afraid to cry, but she hated doing so in front of her friends, especially when this was all her fault in the first place.
There was a moment of silence and Pidge suddenly felt extremely exposed. She couldn't even wipe away the tears.
"Hey," Shiro said gently, causing Pidge to look up at him. "They could've taken any of us, Pidge. None of us blame you and I, for one, am proud of you for not giving in to whatever they wanted." He offered a small, sad smile and Pidge briefly wondered if he was thinking about his own time as a prisoner of the Galra in the arena.
"Yeah," Hunk added. "I don't know if I could have done that, so you aren't getting any judgement from me either."
Pidge glanced at the other two in the room. Keith gave a small smile and nod as their eyes met, forgiveness clear in his eyes. Pidge wanted to look away because she wasn't ready to face that forgiveness yet, but instead she just moved to Lance, whose eyes were half-lidded and unseeing.
Her breath catching in her chest, Pidge looked back to Shiro. "How long has Lance been like this?"
Shiro winced, obviously wishing the answer was better. "Probably about a day. When we came to after the air—" He cut off, not wanting to rub salt into the wound. "When we came to, he was burning up. We've been doing our best to keep the fever down, but we don't have anything more than wet fabric." Shiro gestured to the strip of cloth, clearly torn from one of their uniforms, soaking next to Keith. At the motion, Keith poked at the cloth and, apparently deeming it cool enough again, picked it up and placed it against Lance's forehead. A small whimper passed Lance's lips as he subconsciously leaned into the cool cloth.
Pidge bit her lip, hating that Lance was so weak. They needed to get him to a cryopod.
"Speaking of treatment," Shiro said, ripping some material from the leg of his pants. "We need to wash out that burn wound or we'll have two of us out for the count." The words were said as a joke, but the concern behind them was clear.
Knowing there was nothing she could do to make this easier, Pidge just squeezed her eyes closed and leaned slightly more into Hunk's side.
"Sorry, Pidge" Shiro said quietly, not waiting for a response to place the now-wet cloth against her wound. The contact was torture and it only got worse as Shiro did his best to clean and flush out the burn. By the end, Pidge was panting hard, her teeth biting into her lip doing little to smother the slight keens whenever Shiro moved the cloth.
"Alright, I think that's the best we can do for it right now," Shiro finally said, sounding decades older. "We'll just have to wrap it and hope it doesn't get inflamed further."
Shiro reached to tear some more material off his pant leg, when Keith wordlessly held up two already torn strips from his own clothes. Taking it with an appreciative smile, Shiro tied them together and positioned it over the wet rag still pressed against Pidge's wound. Still holding the wrap and rag in place, Shiro then passed the ends to Hunk, who pulled it past her underarms and tied it firmly behind her back.
"Thanks," she breathed out once the initial pain had died down.
No one acknowledged the thanks, clearly not enjoying making her hurt more. Shiro's eyes fell on her wrapped wrist and asked, "Where else are you hurt?"
Pidge shook her head. "Just my wrist. They've— they've already taken care of it." She tried to lift the arm in question, but it hardly twitched in response. The pain in her head as the fog from her burn pain faded slightly reminded her that wasn't quite true though. "And bumped my head, but it's not serious. Doesn't even hurt much."
Hunk's face was up in her space before she knew what was happening, resulting in jerking her head back against the wall and amplifying the buzz that was already there. She squeezed her eyes shut. "Well, it didn't hurt much," she added.
"Sorry," came Hunk's soft reply. "Your pupils look equal at least, so if you have a concussion, it's probably not bad."
Pidge nodded, careful to keep the motion small. To be honest, she hadn't expected that. The fact that her crash had been enough to knock her out made it pretty clear it wasn't nothing, so it was a relief that she seemed to have some luck remaining after all. She eased her eyes open again to find Hunk still looked worried, but considering their situation, she figured that that was to be expected.
Shiro squeezed her leg. "Well, I'm glad we're all back in one place at least. It will make getting out of here easier."
"Still not going to be easy with two of us needing to be carried," Keith added.
A small noise came from Lance, who was trying to look indignant but looked more tired than anything. "I c'n walk. Jus' may nee' help."
Pidge hated to hear her normally so emphatic friend unable to even form words. Regardless of what he claimed, he definitely wouldn't be up on his feet anytime soon.
Keith merely snorted in reply. "Yeah, I'm sure you've been leaning on me for the last few hours just 'cause you wanted a hug."
Lance opened his mouth, but Shiro cut him off. "Don't talk, Lance. You're going to need your strength." He turned his attention back to Pidge. "How long do you think this drug will be in your system?"
Pidge tried to shrug and was happy to find one shoulder move. Though the pain as the cloth rubbed against her burn was hardly worth it. "I'm not sure. I'm getting back control slowly, but it might take awhile before I can walk. It seems to be working from my neck down." She hesitated, knowing this next part was important, but still not having come to terms with it herself. But it wasn't like she'd be able to hide it forever. Taking a deep breath, Pidge said, "The other drug might not fade so quickly, though."
As expected, several alarmed looks were shot her way, and Pidge continued before she could back down. "They've been testing a new serum on me. I think—" the scientist's crazed explanation ran through her head and the empty space Green once resided seemed to ache inside her. "I think they've broken my connection to my lion."
That was met with silence, everyone taking that in.
"Are you sure?" Hunk finally asked. "I mean, none of us have been able to summon our lions either. Maybe they were just trying to scare you?"
The hope in his voice broke Pidge down even more. "No, they— that's what the burn was. They were testing it and I— I couldn't even feel her. The spot where I'd reach for help is just gone." Her breath hitched and the panic threatened to overtake her again.
"We'll get it back," Keith said, voice strong. "The lions have been cut off from us before. We just need to focus on getting out of here first.
Pidge was about to argue when loud footsteps started down the hall. Her breath caught in her throat. They'd just dropped her off. What could they be coming back for now?
The scientist's final words echoed in her mind as several guards entered the room. Their faces were smug, hands free of weapons but seeming unworried. She recognized the last one as the guard who had opened the vent and tortured her friends. Pidge glared as his pleasant smile fell on her.
He pulled something out of his uniform and tossed it at her feet. "For helping us bring about the downfall of Voltron," he said, and Pidge glanced down to find the food and water rationings she'd demanded earlier. She felt sick. The guard looked back to the others, making a show out of considering them before his eyes fell on Hunk. "I think we should take the biggest one next. After all, this next dose is quite concentrated." He grinned, as the other two guards took steps towards Hunk.
"No," Pidge said, horror filling her at the scene unravelling.
The main guard smiled condescendingly towards her. "What was that? A demand? You have no power here. I don't think I need to remind you that without your connection to your lion, you're nothing." He gestured back to Hunk and the other guards moved forward.
A growl came from Shiro before lunging forward, his arm transforming into a flat sword. "She said no!" he cried, swinging at one of the guards reaching for Hunk.
That was all that was needed before the room broke into chaos. Hunk and Keith were throwing themselves at the other two guards as Lance struggled to push himself up from where Keith had left him against the wall.
As much as Pidge wished she could join, she couldn't deny the pride that sprung up in her chest as she watched her team fly into action. The guards had hurt one of their own and threatened another. Without guns to their head, there was nothing holding them back now.
Well, nothing but their previous injuries.
Pidge yelled in horror as Keith took a particularly hard hit to the shoulder and went down hard, muscles trembling. The guard then turned his attention to where Shiro's back was towards him.
Before Pidge could cry out a warning, though, another voice did. "Hey!" Lance shouted, shoving himself forward in an uncoordinated tackle. Both Lance and the guard went down, and Pidge glanced at the others. Without the use of weapons, both Shiro and Hunk were relying purely on physical attacks. Using his metal arm, Shiro was holding his own, but Hunk wasn't making much headway against his armored partner. Pidge cringed as he took a brutal punch to the face, a crack filling the air.
They weren't winning.
Not for the first time, Pidge felt herself twitch as she tried to pull herself into action. She couldn't just watch as her team was taken out before her, but try as she might, her body refused to move.
A pained grunt caught her attention, and she found Lance sliding across the floor from a kick from the guard he'd tackled, landing right next to when Keith lay, figure still shaking. Lance tried to push himself up, but his arm crumpled under him. The guard turned towards the two remaining paladins.
"Behind you!" Pidge shouted, terror filling her. Lance and Keith were in bad shape. Hunk and Shiro had both already taken some bad hits and were outnumbered. This wasn't going well.
Shiro barely turned around in time to block a blow to his head, and Pidge gasped as the blood pouring from Hunk's nose came into view. They needed help.
The empty feeling hit her before Pidge even realized she was reaching for Green. She wanted to scream at how helpless she felt. Please, girl! We need you!
The only reply was a loud crack as Hunk's head was slammed against the wall. "Hunk!" Pidge screamed desperately. He seemed to be struggling to stay on his feet. Pidge looked over, hoping Shiro was faring better, only to watch as his feet were swept out from under him.
"Sh-shiro!" Keith's tight voice rang out. He was trying to push himself to his feet, but it just ended in worse shudders wracking his body as he slid back down the wall next to Lance's prone form.
Pidge looked back over and gasped as one of the guards placed a foot over Shiro's neck.
"Stop!" Pidge cried, desperate to help any of her fallen friends. She reached as hard as she could for Green. Please, girl, we need you. I know you've gotta be in there somewhere.
The fighting stopped, but it wasn't because of Pidge, but because there was no one left to fight. Lance and Keith were both badly beaten, Shiro had a foot held over his neck, and Hunk...
Hunk was in the main guard's clutches, eyes glazed and barely even standing. The guard smiled at Pidge as he reached in his uniform and brought out a syringe, this one larger with the liquid deeper in its orange color.
"I think we should test the largest one next. What do you think, paladin?" The guard made an exaggerated thinking face and continued before Pidge could answer. "Oh wait, I guess without your connection to the Green Lion anymore, you're not a paladin anymore." His face split into a sneer. "You're just a puny, weak child who got themselves into a situation outside their control. And now you'll get to see first hand what happens to those who oppose the Galra empire."
The guard's taunts hardly register to Pidge. All she can think about is the syringe in his left hand and the dazed Hunk in the other.
Panic blew through her as the guard lifted the syringe over Hunk's arm. The victory was clear in his gaze as he locked eyes with her.
"The fall of Voltron starts today," he said, plunging the needle down.
A moment before the needle made contact, the entire room started to shake. The Galra standing with Hunk lost his balance and the syringe toppled to the ground, shattering.
The guard growled, turning his attention to the free guard. "You! Figure out what the matter is and take care of it!"
He had barely made out the doorway when the strongest lurch took over the room a moment before a loud screeching sound filled the air. A sudden weightlessness came over Pidge as she was swept up into the air by a vacuum. Her chest struggled to fill and cold rushed over her. Colors flew by, and Pidge could tell her friends were in similar distress by their strangled screams.
The sensation only lasted about a second before she collided with something hard, and air filled her lungs again. The gasping breaths around her told her her friends seemed alright too.
Her burn had erupted with pain at her hard landing, fogging her senses. Now that her vision was clearing though, relief fled over her. She knew where they were.
Green had come for her.
And there it is! They're free! Please comment, like, and subscribe if you have a moment, and the epilogue will be posted in a week!
