Fenton, the new Asset

by Misaratis

Matt and Shiro are surprised by the new, last minute addition to the Kerberos mission. Danny Fenton is something of an enigma, the same can be said of the Agent who brought him to the Garrison. Even so, this dork managed to carve out a place for himself. And yet, they cannot help but wonder, when eyes that glow is but one point on a long list of abnormalities. T for violence.

So this is a one-shot that, at some undetermined point in the future, I intend to continue. This fic is set after the events of Danny Phantom, and before Voltron, though it takes us through the start of the series. Any continuation I make would take us the rest of the way, or at least partly, through the Voltron plot. For those interested, the OC is part of a larger meta plot that I have for Danny, however her participation in this particular fic is minimal. And any other fics where she is relevant are not published as of writing this. That said, if anyone feels inspired, feel free to write something! Just let me know, and tag me, I'd love to add a link here :)

And it should be said, in case it's unclear, for this fic I'm working with the assumption that ectoplasm and quintessence are two names for the same compound. In Voltron, it's regarded as a form of energy that seems to almost have a life of its own, and can be used to travel to a mysterious other dimension, or used to open portals. Sounds like a bit like ectoplasm? Especially as it's use wasn't widespread on Earth until the Galra invaded, however that still means it very much existed. Just waiting to be discovered... by, say, two fringe scientists willing to explore the bizarre.

and one last thing, Voltron does take place quite far in the future, considering the advances in technology shown. So I'm sorta' just... tip toeing around that.

EDIT: I'm aware that this version has more than a few grammar/spelling errors. For the updated and corrected version, please visit AO3, under the same name. Thank you!

Fenton, the new Asset

Shiro knocked on the door to Iverson's office with no small sense of trepidation. He'd dragged his feet getting there, having convinced himself more with every step that now was the time he'd be told he couldn't go on the Kerberos mission after all. On account of his degrading health, and all his hard work would have been for nothing. However, to his surprise, the voice that answered "Enter." was female.

Inside he found Matt and Sam already in the chairs across from Iverson's desk, where an unfamiliar woman sat. The man himself was standing stiffly behind her with his hands clasped behind his back. The woman wore all white, from her shirt to her crisp suit, even the tie. Her face was conventionally pretty in the stiff sort of way corporate women tended to style themselves, with her dark hair pulled into a neat bun at the nape of her neck. The presence of someone like her was unusual, but not unheard of. Kerberos was pioneering, and through his participation he had met all manner of people with a stake in it.

What really surprised him was the skittish teenager sitting in the corner eyeing everyone in the room like they were sleeping bears. "Mr. Takahashi, have a seat." The woman said with a bland, if pleasant, smile, motioning to the last empty chair, next to Matt.

The two of them shared a confused look as Shiro sat down. "Right," the woman said "I believe introductions are in order. I am Agent B. Though you may address me as Agent, should that be more comfortable to you." Shiro resisted the urge to glance at Matt again. No doubt he found the woman as odd as he himself did. "And the young man sitting behind you is Daniel Jack Fenton."

Now Shiro did turn to have a proper look. Young man indeed, the kid looked like he couldn't be more than mid-teens. He was lithe, borderline bony, and shy of the eyes on him. "Fenton, I would like to introduce you to Doctor Holt, Mathew Holt, the Doctor's son, and Takahashi Shirogane. Behind me is Commander Iverson, the man leading the their mission from the ground." The kid's eyes made a circuit of the room, flitting to each person as they were named. He nodded once, sharply, and then went back to scanning the rest of the room suspiciously. Agent B's mouth pressed into a thin, disapproving line. "Not much of a talker today it seems." Fenton scoffed indignantly.

Agent B sighed in a way that made Shiro think that her patience had long since worn thin. It reminded him of the kind of long suffering sigh Keith's guardians would heave at his continued 'abnormal behavior'. "Fenton," Agent B continued "is a last minute addition to your team."

From behind the Agent Iverson grunted "That means he's going up."

Shiro balked. "Hold the phone!" Doctor Holt exclaimed "We're leaving in a matter of months! This is far too late to make any additions to the team, the ship's already half built. The work it would take, not to mention the cost! No offence to you Agent, of course, but this is simply ridiculous. There's rations to consider and training and weight displacement and-"

"Enough Holt." Iverson interjected. "It's all already been arranged."

"Surely you can't be supporting this!"

"It's from over my head." Iverson said gruffly. Shiro didn't like the smug expression the Agent was wearing as he said it. "Way over."

"But why?" Matt leaned in, looking back and forth between Agent B and Iverson imploringly. "I mean, look at him! He's a kid!"

The first words Fenton said were "I'm not a kid!"

"He'll be eighteen by the time the mission starts." Agent B added, as if that changed anything.

"The point still stands." Sam continued. "Why would someone so young be going to Kerberos?"

"That is classified." Agent B replied evenly.

"How can that be classified?" Shiro asked. He didn't make a point of contesting his superiors when he could help it, but this was too much. "We're the crew, shouldn't we know why we're getting another member?" And a minor no less.

Agent B now stared him down in earnest, making Shiro realize that she had yet to look at him more than passively. It felt as though her hazel eyes, though perfectly ordinary, bore holes into him. "That," she said, the smile on her lips giving her face a feral edge "is need to know."

"And we don't need to know?" he pressed.

She stood from her chair abruptly, taking a moment to smooth out non-existent wrinkles in her suit "That is correct, good of you to understand. Now gentlemen, if you'll excuse me, I am a busy woman. People to see, facilities to inspect." Protests followed her to the door, mostly from Matt and Holt. Shiro knew a lost cause when he saw one, they weren't about to get any information out of her anytime soon. With a hand on the handle she stopped, turned to the kid, that same dangerous glint in her eyes. The last thing she said to the room at large before departing was "Take good care of him, he's a valuable asset. I'll be checking in." Then, to the boy himself "I'll see you soon Fenton."

She waited for Fenton to pluck his eyes off the loose thread on his jeans he was absently pulling at and look at her. "Agent." he acknowledged with a curt, vaguely hateful tone. Shiro wondered at their dynamic, since Agent B seemed to be expecting Fenton's moody response as she indulged it with a small smile.

When she turned on her heel and left, Holt gave his attention to Iverson. "You can't expect us to go along with this? This is insanity."

Iverson slumped in his chair tiredly. It was rare to see a man so straight-backed looking so spent. Shiro could only imagine how long talks with this mysterious Agent must have gone on for, before she was finally allowed to meet the rest of them. "I do. And don't ask me why, I don't know either."

"What about you?" Matt asked, turning to face Fenton "Can you fill us in?"

Fenton looked up with wide eyes, as if surprised he was being addressed. Though the expression was gone in a second when he went back to the thread. With soft, humorless laugh he mumbled morosely "No clue. It's not like the dicks in white tell me anything either."

"The whats in white?"

"Guys in White." Iverson corrected.

Matt's face scrunched together "Is that some agency or something? Sounds made up."

Iverson sighed again. "Takashi."

"Sir?"

Iverson gestured with his hand to the boy "We've set Fenton up in the room next to yours, show him around."

"Yes sir."

"Holt, you're dismissed. Doctor Holt, if I know you right there's probably a few things you'd like to talk about."

"I should say so!" Sam exclaimed. Shiro ignored the two men as they spiraled into a conversation he could only partly understand. He had his orders, so he'd execute them. He'd get the details later.

Fenton wordlessly followed him out, eyes on the floor. "Man, what a meeting! Not that I'd call it a real meeting, it wasn't even five minutes." Matt said, stretching his arms above his as he let the door close behind him.

"You can say that again." Shiro said as they started making their way to the barracks.

"You were pretty quiet though."

Shiro chuckled "I was convinced they'd take me off Kerberos."

"Pfft, you heard my Dad, it's crazy to make changes like that now. Oh, uh, no offence." Matt added, throwing a glance to Fenton walking behind them.

"Hm?" Fenton looked up, that same look of surprise and bewilderment on him "None taken."

"So what's your deal anyway? Can you seriously not tell us anything?"

"Um, I haven't been told much either. They just kinda' packed me up and took me here."

"They?" Shiro asked? 'They' sounded ominous.

Fenton hung his head, letting his shaggy hair fall over and obscure his face. A hand snaked up to the back of his neck. "The Guys in White."

"Still sounds made up." Matt said.

Fenton didn't have anything to add to that, making Shiro frown a touch. Fenton almost reminded him of Keith in a sad sort of way. Though, where Keith got angry when people pressed him, this kid seemed to clam up. Even so, there was that same sense of melancholy and dejection hanging off his shoulders.

Matt sent him a look, one Shiro interpreted to mean that he knew exactly what he was thinking. Whether or not Matt agreed that this was another case like Keith remained to be seen. Either way Shiro had a bleeding heart, and they both knew it.

In a bid to lighten the mood, Shiro and Matt started talking about the base as they walked through it. "So we're passing the mess hall to our right." Shiro said, pointing to the grey double doors down a T in the hallway. From there they took a round-about route to the barracks, past labs and training areas as they went. Everything to do with the Kerberos mission was grouped together on the west side of the base, including their quarters, though as students they still had access to the academy at large. "And through that door there is the rec room." Shiro finished, coming to a halt in front of it.

"Nothing too exciting, just a couple couches and a kitchenette." Matt helpfully interjected, as he had the whole way.

"And these doors to the right are our rooms. This one's mine" Shiro pointed to his, then to the door that led to the room that must have been set up for Fenton. "And it looks like that one's yours." Assuming Feton hadn't been given any information, Shiro racked his brain for the essentials. "Breakfast starts at five, lunch at eleven, and dinner at six."

"Wednesday is sloppy joe day."

"Curfew is at ten for the cadets. But I don't know whether or not that applies to you. There's a strict dress code, even on free days, so make sure you've always got your shirt tucked in and buttons done up. And... I think that's everything." Shiro glanced at Matt for help. "At least for now."

"Just try not to offend anyone and you should be good." Matt said with a good humored grin.

Fenton looked between them, blank eyes in a blank face. "Um, thanks." he said simply, when it became clear the Shiro and Matt were waiting for a response.

"Well... I guess we'll leave you off here. It was good meeting you, Fenton, I'm sure we'll work well together." Shiro concluded, offering his hand to shake.

Fenton stared at Shiro's outstretched hand for just long enough for it to become slightly awkward. When he took it, his grip was far stronger than expected. "Thanks, Takashi."

"Call me Shiro."

"And I'm Matt." Matt said, taking Fenton's hand himself.

Fenton blinked, his eyes taking on a stupified quality, before he smiled for the first time. Genuinely, happily smiled. Boyish and cheeky, Shiro decided it looked as though the expression belonged on him. "Danny." he said simply "My name's Danny."

And it was that moment, above most others, that theirs and Danny's strange friendship really started.

---

Matt waved Danny over to their table at breakfast the following morning. "Settle in okay?" He asked, raising his voice just enough to be heard over the din of the mess hall.

Danny, who was dressed in a standard Garrison uniform, though without any rank demarcations, placed his tray down and took his seat lightly. His shoulders were just slightly hunched, and his eyes kept dancing around the room skittishly. "Uh, yeah. Slept better than I have in a long time." he added sheepishly.

"Really? The Garrison beds suck though." Danny only shrugged at that, silently tucking into his meal. "So..." Matt tapped his fork on his plate "excited for training today? Or no wait, they're probably just gonna' put you through the ringer."

"They did that with all of us, and the cadets too." Shiro added. "It's basically just an aptitude test. They want to see where you're at."

Danny chewed his bite slowly. "Oh."

Matt glanced at Shiro. "Well I mean, if they've already stuck you on Kerberos then you've probably already passed the basic tests."

Danny rubbed at his neck again. "Yeah, probably." He didn't volunteer much of anything else.

One of the training studios had an attached data recording chamber, separated by a large pane of glass. In the chamber, between the desks and monitors, there wasn't a great amount of room for people, nevertheless all the Kerberos mission participants, Iverson and the five person strong health team all crowded to stare slack jawed at the scrawny teenager on the treadmill. The only person that seemed unphased by Danny's absurdly high performance was Agent B, who stood in the middle of the room with her arms crossed loosely over her chest. "When I said passed I didn't mean supersoldier-good." Matt whispered to Shiro from where they'd been shuffled off to the corner, trying to stay out of the way. The kid was maxing out all their machines like it was nothing, and he was built like a twig.

"I can't believe it." Shiro said, staring in open astonishment as most of them had when Danny first started.

"Tell me about it. Look at his hemoglobin count." Matt said, eyes trained on one of the monitors that displayed his vitals and other relevant information provided by Agent B. "It's like the most intense blood doping I've ever seen."

"But blood doping only improves stamina. It doesn't explain how he's..." Shiro trailed off. Running at Olympic speeds? Breathing below normal? Exhibiting a heart rate that levels out only just over a normal resting rate for a professional athlete? Shiro's eyes flickered back to screen. "It's unbelievable." He didn't even have any visible muscle tone, Danny was ganglier than Matt.

"Yeah you said that."

"And I'm going to keep saying it. I mean, his bpm, his lung capacity-"

"Christ, look, I didn't even notice." Matt said, pointing in the vague direction of one of the screens across the small room. "Check out how low his core temperature is. It's..."

"Unbelievable?"

"Shut up." Matt quipped. "But yeah, that."

Shiro glanced at Agent B. She didn't seem surprised at Danny's ability, if anything she looked proud. Matt leaned closer to Shiro and lowered his voice "So I'm not the only that thinks freaky Agent lady is probably, and by that I mean definitely, a comic book villain, right?"

Shiro purses his lips. "There's something suspicious about this whole situation, that's for sure."

Agent B leaned towards the microphone that connected the chamber to the training room, the only means with which to communicate through the soundproof glass, and flicked the switch on "Alright Fenton, that's enough."

Immediately Danny wordlessly jumped off the machine, landing lightly on his feet. He stood there, patiently waiting instructions with his eyes trained on the floor, though to Shiro it looked more like he was trying to glare a hole through it. Agent B turned to the Head of the medical team with one eyebrow quirked "Well? He's really something, isn't he?"

The Head, an older man with an impeccably kept graying mustache and thinning hair, nodded slowly, eyes hard. He looked to Iverson, who'd been standing in the corner the entire time with the best poker face in the room, then back at Agent B. "Ah, yes. Something... certainly something."

Agent B chuckled. "Not impressed?" she asked incredulously.

"No no, very impressed. If I didn't know better I would have said the machines were malfunctioning. As it stands," he scratched his chin in slow contemplation "it will take some time to formulate an appropriate regime for the young man." Again, he looked to Iverson "It would help if we could have access to his medical history, and be given more information regarding the tasks he'll be expected to perform on Kerberos."

Iverson didn't answer, nor did he need to, as Agent B once again cut in with a twisted, charming smirk "I'm sure a man of your competence with the team and facilities you have access to is more than capable to writing out a training plan without supererogatory information." She turned the microphone off with a click

Sam took a step forward. "Now I'd hardly call it supererogatory." he said, a shadow of the frustrated anger from the day before still present in his voice. "Everyone expected to go on any extraterrestrial missions are subject to full medical examinations and are required to submit their relevant medical histories. Anything less would be running blind!"

"Dad's really throwing a fit." Matt whispered as the conversation devolved into accusations, though founded, thrown at Agent B. She parried every one.

"Can you blame him?" Shiro whispered back. "Suddenly we're just supposed to be okay with shipping a minor into space? We still don't even know what he's doing up there, and something tells me we won't be finding out either."

"Wow, look at you. Takashi questioning orders."

"I'm just concerned. I would have thought we'd be given some information by now."

Matt shrugged, turning back to the spectacle playing out in front of them "Do you really think we won't be told what's up? Like, at all?"

Agent B stood confidently, her cordial, professional facade never wavering as she neatly side stepped every dig and argument as well as fish can swim. "Not from her."

"But..?"

Shiro stared at Danny, still standing there placidly, if not for the tension in his shoulders and the hard set of his face. "Danny doesn't seem like he likes Agent B much."

Matt snorted "Tell me something I don't know. I'm pretty sure we just walked into a government conspiracy."

For a moment, if Shiro had blinked he would have missed it, Danny allowed his eyes to flick up to Agent B. Through the glass the light reflected off them oddly, just enough that from where Shiro stood, they looked like an entirely different color. "Yeah, maybe we did."

Agent B, as far as she was concerned seemed to consider yet another argument that went nowhere she didn't want it to over, flicked the microphone on again. "Fenton, that's all we need from you right now, you can come over to our side."

Danny had help removing the pneumotachograph and the various wires attached to him, which seemed to come as a great relief. Once through the door Agent B beckoned him over to her, motioning to his wrist when he came to a stop. He lifted it, and she took his forearm to hold it steady, scrutinizing the digital watch he wore. She busied herself with the device, pressing a sequence of buttons along the side in what seemed like an arbitrary order, despite how deliberately she moved. Then, apparently satisfied with whatever she did or was looking for, she nodded to Danny curtly, letting his arm drop. Danny hadn't looked at her once, and neither of them spoke.

She held out a bulging manilla folder, which he took mutely, still without looking up. "Dismissed." she said, marching out of the room without a second glance.

---

Danny didn't join them for lunch, but Shiro and Matt agreed that they'd bring something to his room and check up on him. Just in case. Sandwich in one hand (turkey with sweet mustard) Shiro knocked on his door with his other. "Who is it?" came the tense call from Danny's room.

"Shiro and Matt. We didn't see you at lunch."

"Hmm? Oh yeah I guess I did." he answered distractedly. Shiro glanced at Matt, about ready to call back to say that they'd brought him food, stopped when the door swung out harshly. Danny stood there, eyes wide and said simply "We're going to space."

Shiro was a little taken aback by the blunt statement of the obvious. "Yes?"

"Didn't you know?" Matt asked with a chuckle.

"No!" Shiro was quite taken back, this was the greatest show of emotion Danny had exhibited. It seemed as though, all of a sudden, he'd come alive.

"Wait, seriously?" Matt asked, to which Danny shook his head vigorously. "But, it's called the Kerberos mission. What did you think people meant when they kept saying stuff like 'going to Kerberos'?"

"I thought it was a code name or something!"

"And when we were showing you around yesterday?" Shiro asked. He knew they'd passed at least two rooms with simulation consoles that would have been dead giveaways.

"I thought you meant training for jet pilots or something not spaceship pilots!" Danny stepped away from the door, walking backwards and falling into his desk chair. Taking it as a sign to enter Shiro walked inside. The room was a standard single, Desk, chair, bed, window on the far wall, slim locker in the corner. Impersonal. The only odd thing about it was the fact that they'd put him in his own room, as opposed to rooming him with one of the cadets, as was standard practice. A backpack was slumped under the window, unopened, and the desk itself was covered in the papers that were contained in the folder. Most of what was there were mission details, the route, the timetable. Nothing Shiro didn't already know. He ignored them, taking a seat on the bed. Matt inched himself closer to the desk and leaned casually against the wall, his eyes scanning the papers with more interest than Shiro.

"I can't believe you're going to space, to Kerberos." Danny went on, as if in a daze. "I'm going to space. I'm going to space! To one of Pluto's moons. I'm going to space." Danny seemed to collect himself then to jump up again with a sudden burst of energy, pacing back and forth across the length of the small room. "That's the farthest people would have gone from the sun! I mean, farther than the space station orbiting Saturn, and the manned missions to Neptune, and even further than the probes sent ahead to Pluto! We're actually landing on Kerberos for real!" He exclaimed at a turn by the window, looking at each of them imploringly, as if willing them to feel as excited as he was.

"Did you," Shiro started, not quite believing this whole situation "really not know where we're going? No one told you?"

Danny's eyes focused on him, shining bright with delight. "No! How cool is this! How are you guys not excited? I mean, you're going to be our pilot, you're going to fly us all the way to one of Pluto's moons. And you!" Danny turned on his heel, facing Matt "You and your Dad are taking ice samples and bringing them back to Earth, you're the engineer! I'm in a room with real astronauts! You've already been to space." Danny looked back to Shiro. He slumped down in his chair and scooched it closer to the bed, leaning in with deep veneration. From behind him Matt shrugged, as confused as Shiro himself was "I can't believe I didn't recognize your name sooner, I mean, you were on the space station at Saturn. You've been to space! How was it? Did the stars look different? Was the food good? Did you miss Earth? What did Earth look like? Could you take any pictures? Oh my god I'm rambling, sorry, I can be such a spaz."

At a loss for anything else, Shiro simply answered "It was great. I'm really glad to be going up again." Shiro had received his fair share of admiration for what he did, but it seemed so strange to be getting it from someone that was supposed to be on a team with him. Then again, thinking back to his own first mission, he'd been practically jumping in his seat the same way Danny was now when he met his team.

"Shiro's one of the best pilots there is. There's a reason they wanted him for the job." Matt made a show of 'casually' looking around before letting his eyes fall on the desk. "I guess now that you've got your papers you probably know what your job is." Shiro tried not to roll his eyes. Matt was a lot of things, brilliant, loyal, an implacable force of positivity. Smooth was not among those attributes.

Danny was back at his desk in a second, packing the papers away messily. "Oh, uh, I haven't read that part yet. I still don't know."

"Come on, you must've read something! There must be a reason why they're sending a kid to space."

Danny gripped the paper in his hand hard enough to crinkle it and turn his knuckles white. "I don't know." he insisted in a way that seemed as though he very much did.

Matt opened his mouth to say more, but Shiro interrupted "We brought you some food." he said, holding out the sandwich "I guess we'll see you at dinner."

Danny didn't lift his eyes from the papers he was making a superficial effort to tidy "Yeah sure. Thanks." Shiro dropped the sandwich on the desk by Danny's elbow. Before shuffling Matt out of the room.

"Alright, alright." Matt groused with some annoyance.

"We'll see you at dinner, Danny." Shiro said, placing a hand on his shoulder, feeling the kid flinch.

Outside, Matt gave him an exasperated look. "What was that?"

Shiro chewed the inside of his cheek. "We shouldn't push him too much, I don't think he wants to talk about whatever it is."

"Riiiight. I guess I'll listen to you, you're the sad-and-mysterious-teenager-with-shaggy-black-hair whisperer after all."

Shiro rolled his eyes, a smile playing at his lips "Look, just give it a few weeks."

---

Shiro didn't see all too much of Danny in the coming days. Most of Danny's initial training was separate from the rest of the team, as he had a lot to catch up on. He seemed determined to miss meals however, so Shiro had taken to bringing him something to eat when he could.

Danny came up in conversation with Adam, who found the entire arrangement, from the kid's bizarre circumstance to Shiro's bringing him lunch, absurd. "If he can't even feed himself it's not your responsibility. You should stop taking random kids under your wing." he'd said, voice edged in subtle bitter tones. Shiro understood, Adam was frustrated and concerned, but that didn't help the growing tension in their relationship.

Shiro shook the distraction from his mind, focusing on the here and now. Just over a week since his arrival, Danny was set to join them in what would be his first simulation. "So this is the simulation craft." he said, pointing up at it, despite the thing taking up the entire upper area of the room. "Looks like it's already been modified." he said, walking in and eyeing the extra seat and panels. Danny rushed in past him, bubbling with energy again. He seemed like a large child, whenever he was confronted with a new bit of tech or got to talk about space in general. Shiro quickly learned that listening to Danny go off about planetary sciences or asteroids was much like listening to Matt go off about, well, much the same. "We'll just be going through take-off protocols today, so the module will stay stationary."

"This is unreal." Dannt whispered to himself, barely listening, and turned in a tight circle, eyes roaming everywhere they could.

Shiro snorted "You should sit down, try it on for size." He nodded toward the new seat, Danny's.

Slowly, reverently, Danny smoothed his hands over the arm rests and the back before sinking himself into the seat. "Dude this is so cool. Way better than Cape Canaveral." he added under his breath.

"You were at space camp?"

"Yeah." Danny sighed.

Shiro grinned, remembering vicariously his own initial excitement at these things. "I went there too. I've wanted to be an astronaut since I was a kid." He'd worked so hard, with his condition, to make it into the Garrison. However, rather than answering, Danny suddenly jumped out of his seat and stood stiffly, like a frightened cat. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Obviously something is." Shiro insisted, he opened his mouth to continue, but that's when he heard it. Heels, sharply hitting the floor. He wondered how Danny heard it so much sooner than he had.

Agent B walked into the room, peering up the ladder at the simulation module. "Fenton, good, you're already here. And Takahashi, good to see you again." she called up at them in a voice that could be considered friendly. She climbed up, stepping on to the retractable platform that led to the entrance of the module. "Are you gentlemen ready for your first simulation together?"

"Yes ma'am." Shiro answered in Danny's silence.

Agent B spared a brief glance at Danny before turning her face to Shiro. "Good man. I must say I took the time to look at your file, it's an impressive resume considering your age. May I ask, have you given any thought to your future, beyond the Garrison that is?"

Before he had a chance to answer, Danny wedged himself in front of Shiro. "He isn't interested."

Agent B lifted an imperious eyebrow "I'm sure Mr. Takahashi can speak for himself." She turned shark eyes back to Shiro. "You have a bright future ahead of you after all, bright enough to make it worthwhile to amend certain... extenuating conditions." Shiro's brow drew together. Did she mean to imply that she could cure him?

"He's not interested." Danny insisted, still standing slightly between them.

Sensing a building argument, Shiro gently tried to push Danny aside, not that it helped much, he stood like a brick wall. "I've given some thought to my future ma'am." he answered, opting for pragmatism. "But I don't intend to make a decision until after the Kerberos mission, earliest."

Agent B's eyes flicked between them, calculating. "Patience is a virtue." she finally said. "At least to a point." Below them Matt and Sam entered the chamber. "Keep it in mind Mr. Takahashi, I'm sure we'll have the chance to talk in our own time. Mr. Fenton, after all, can tell you all about the benefits our agents enjoy, higher up the ladder that is. Can't you?" The last part seemed to have been said more for Danny's sake than for Shiro. There was an obvious message between the lines that Shiro couldn't see, if Danny's glare was anything to go by.

Danny worked his words around in his mouth, staring her down. He lost whatever contest of wills there was between them, turning his eyes down again. "Yeah." he said softly, begrudging defeat in his tone. "Plenty of benefits."

There was a story there, that much was apparent. Though the Holts were emerging over the top of the ladder, so Shiro sufficed in giving Danny's shoulder a squeeze, disguised as pushing him towards the module. In the last week Danny had grown accustomed to Shiro's often casual touches. Although Agent B's eyes zeroed in on Shiro's hand with great interest. "Thank you for the offer ma'am, I'm sure we'll be able to speak later." Matt didn't miss the statement as he stepped fully on to the platform, and he sent a questioning look Shiro's way. His father seemed to have to, if not warmed up to the woman, at least accepted her presence as one of the many interested parties.

Agent B nodded her head graciously, stepping back to allow the Holts space to walk towards the module entrance.

Danny was a natural in the simulation. Having already memorized all of their codes, he settled right into their rhythm, calling and responding as if he flew spacecrafts regularly. Although that perhaps wasn't so strange, if he'd been at Cape Canaveral. A great deal of the cadets, majority even, got their start at summer programs as children.

"You did well young man." Sam smiled at Danny after a near perfect run through.

Danny, for his part, was grinning ear to ear. "Thank you sir!"

Sam smiled himself, as Danny's was rather infectious, when he was distracted enough. "Call me Sam, son." With a chuckle he continued "You did a lot better than Matt here on his first run. You could learn a thing or two from him." he finished to Matt.

"Dad!"

The module opened again, breaking whatever happy spell was on Danny, making his face go blank as Agent B stepped up to the entrance. "Fenton." she beckoned. Making quick work of his buckles, Danny approached her. "You're doing well so far. You've obviously read everything thoroughly."

Shiro couldn't see either of them, but he'd seen enough of Danny to be able to picture his expression. The Holts seemed just as interested in the exchange, as all three of them took their time undoing their buckles, and rather quietly at that.

Danny kept his voice down, enough so that Shiro couldn't hear what he said. Whatever it was it made Agent B chuckle, the sound coming from deep in her chest. "I'll see you tomorrow for your first run in the centrifuge." There was an odd sort of warmth in her voice. "I look forward to seeing you perform well."

Danny mumbled something else, and though Shiro could not make out the words his scathing tone was clear enough. Agent B laughed again. After a long beat of silence, Shiro decided to emerge. Agent B was already climbing down the ladder.

Danny dug his thumb and forefinger into his eyes, keeping him there as he sucked in a deep breath, held it, and let it out slowly through his nose. "Doing alright?" Shiro asked gently, coming up beside Danny.

"Fine."

"Are you-"

"I said I'm fine." Danny's shoulders sagged briefly, though when he dropped his hand and turned, he'd managed to summon a smile. Shiro might have believed it, had he not seen the teenager a minute ago. "Thanks for asking, but I'm fine."

Shiro stared at Danny's smile, finding it slightly off putting just how real it looked. "How about you join us for lunch?"

"Um, I should probably-"

"Should probably eat something." Matt finished for him, having walked up behind them. "Come on." From what Shiro could see, Danny seemed partly glad to have someone drag him along.

Once seated, and Shiro had gotten a few bites of Mac and cheese, not his favorite but delicious nonetheless, he turned to Danny. "Can I ask you something?"

Danny blinked at Shiro owlishly. Perhaps sensing the nature of the question, or perhaps due to his overly cautious nature as a rule, he took his time finishing his bite and swallowing a mouthful of water. "What did you want to ask?"

"Why didn't you want me talking with Agent B back there? About working for her?"

Matt asked in surprise "She what? What did she say?"

"Not much." Shiro shrugged. "Just that I may have a job with the GIW if I wanted. And that she might be able to, and I quote, amend extenuating conditions."

Matt's eyebrows almost reached his hairline. "Seriously?"

"I have an incurable muscle degenerative disease." Shiro explained frankly to Danny. He would've found out about it eventually, and Shiro wasn't the type to keep much to himself. All the better to have things out in the open from the start. "It's why Kerberos will be my last mission, and even getting me on it was tenuous."

Danny was staring at Shiro with new horror. Often, when people heard of his condition, they would look at him with some level of pity, or admiration for all he did in spite of the bad hand he was dealt. So what was behind this oddly pained expression Danny was wearing? "So that's what she's been doing." he muttered darkly to himself as he turned his eyes down to stab a bit of pasta far harder than he had to. "I know you have no reason to listen to me, we just met, but don't let the guys in white near you. Anything they're selling will cost way more than you think it will, one way or another.

Matt's eyes flipped rapidly between Danny and Shiro. "So that's not ominous at all."

"It's the truth." Danny shoved his bite into his mouth. "I'm sorry to hear about your condition, Shiro. I am. But the guys in white aren't... it's not a place for decent people that want to actually do good in the world."

"I'll keep it in mind." Shiro said with finality. Danny was right, they had just met, and Shiro didn't have overmuch cause to take anything the young man said at face value. He couldn't afford not to take Agent B's offer seriously.

Matt was studying Danny with the same, ravenously curious look he had during Danny's initial physicals. And truly, that was the look he had for anything that confused him, which meant that he had to know everything there was to know about it. "So what's your deal anyway? For real?"

A fearful look crossed Danny's face for a fraction of a second, however it was gone so quickly Shiro wondered if he hadn't imagined it. "There's not deal."

Matt scoffed. "Please, freaky government lady, totally ominous warnings about freaky government lady. Veeery suspect circumstances. Of course there's a deal."

Shiro wished Matt hadn't asked, because Danny seemed agitated enough already, but then Danny grinned at him. "Would you believe me if I said that I'm the product of a lab accident that turned me into a ghost?"

"Lame backstory. No."

Danny grinned brightly. "Fine, I'm actually part of a top secret mission to study magic in outer space."

Shiro snickered at the annoyed look that crossed Matt's face. "C'mon man. Seriously."

"I'm being serious." Danny stage whispered, through his own laughter. He made a show of looking over his shoulders and continued "I'm actually a wizard."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Okay, Harry Potter. Be like that."

---

"I'm not gonna' pass out."

"You're so gonna' pass out."

"I'm telling you, I can handle it. Not gonna' pass out."

"Literally everyone passes out. Literally. Everyone."

Shiro shook his head at Matt and Danny. Annoying as they were, it was good to see the young man in considerably higher spirits as they walked to the centrifuge chamber. "Well I'm not everyone." Danny said cryptically.

"Of course, that's right. You're a wizard."

Danny laughed. "When did I say that? You know I'm actually an alien. The whole reason I'm on the mission is because they're sending me back to my people on Pluto."

"Anyone ever tell you that you kinda' suck at lying?"

Danny snorted. "Well, I had you convinced I was human up until now. Can't be that bad."

"Alright ET." Shiro couldn't help but laugh as he opened the door to the side room connecting to the centrifuge chamber. Matt and Danny waltzed in, ignoring him, too engrossed in nerding out as they cycled through the mainstream references and they became increasingly more obscure. Shiro only got about a fraction of them, and was wholly convinced most of the rest were fictitious.

Some of the medical team was already present, the rest of the team and, presumably, Agent B, had yet to arrive. Even so, once Danny had the anti-g suit in his hands it seemed as though the rest of the world fell away. "Oh my god." he whispered, perhaps more to himself than anyone else. "I can't believe this is real."

"That practice run yesterday wasn't enough?" Shiro joked.

A giddy laugh escaped Danny. "I guess that kinda' felt like a video game. But this is for real."

"Too real if you ask me." Matt said with a grimace. "I wouldn't go getting all excited just yet, wait til you get the thing on, I can't think of anything tighter around my delicate bits."

Danny chuckled darkly. "Oh, I can." he said, enjoying some private joke.

"Right." Matt nodded sagely. "Sorry, forgot. You're an alien, you're used to this sort of thing, aren't you?"

"Hey, so long as it's not HAZMAT-" Suddenly, Danny's spine stiffened. He turned his head sharply to the door leading to the hallway.

Shiro turned his head to the door as well, listening for Agent B distinctive heels. Matt however was left confused, glancing between them. "Woah, what's up?" Half a moment later click-clacking against the floor echoed beyond the door, making Matt's eyes bulge. "How did you hear that?" he half exclaimed in astonishment.

Voices followed, those of Agent B and Sam. When they walked in, the group inside was treated to Sam's bright smile, brightened further when his eyes landed on his son. "Matt!" he called out happily, rushing into the room "You should listen to some of this! Oh it's fascinating, just fascinating! Some of the technology the Guys in White are developing, it's cutting edge!" He turned to Shiro with a conspiratorial grin "Something to really consider, if you ask me."

Agent B walked up behind Sam with a smile. "Thank you Dr. Holt. Mr. Holt and Mr. Takahashi, you're both looking well. And Fenton, I imagine you're thrilled to have a go in the centrifuge." Danny glared at her, and she smiled sharply back.

They got Danny in the suit and strapped in. As far as Shiro could see he was still excited to be there, but his eyes kept going back and forth from Agent B and his lap. Before they closed the door Matt gave him a big grin and a thumbs up, earning him a tentative smile.

Shiro sidled up next to Agent B in front of the large central monitor as the staff went about completing the final system check and starting the machine. On screen Danny seemed fidgety as he waited for the centrifuge to start, though as his face was mostly covered by the breathing apparatus it was difficult to gauge his expression. "You seem confident ma'am." Shiro ventured in what he hoped was nonchalant. He was aware of the idle eyes of the room on them. Though Iverson was notably absent from most of the day to day training, his responsibilities split as they were between overseeing the Kerberos mission and his students.

Agent B gave him a side-long grin. "I seem that way because I am. Mr. Fenton performs very well, as a rule."

"Danny... Fenton has excellent stamina."

Agent B laughed lightly. "No need to call him Fenton around me Mr. Takahashi, if you're on a first name basis. Have you become close with him?"

Shiro shrugged a shoulder. "It's hard not to become friends when you work so closely with people." Even though they had yet to learn much about each other.

Agent B hummed in agreement. The centrifuge started to turn slowly and the sides of Danny's eyes scrunched in a smile. "That is very true. Tell me," she continued, her eyes still trained on the monitor showing Danny's face "have you given any more thought to my offer? We were interrupted, but if you're interested I'd be happy to speak with you about it in greater detail."

Shiro glanced over his shoulder to Sam and wondered what she had said to the man to make him do a complete one-eighty. "Danny seemed adamant that I wouldn't be interested."

"Yes, I was rather afraid of that."

"Afraid, ma'am?"

She gave him another smile, this one quite a bit warmer than the others he'd seen. "Mr. Fenton was first introduced to us as a young teenager. And, well, you know what they say. You don't get a second shot at a first impression. And I'm sorry to say that not all of our Agents are equally concerned with bedside manner. I imagine it's not much different here," she chuckled "as both scientists and soldiers can sometimes be... frank. Jarringly so, to civilians."

An involuntary grin lifted the one side of Shiro's lips, the stern face of so many of his superiors and old teachers crossing his mind. "Yeah. They are." In front of them the centrifuge was picking up speed, reaching that of most standard roller coasters. Danny looked like he was having a blast. "But Danny works for you now?"

"Mr. Fenton has a unique skill set that we, the G.I.W., are uniquely equipped to support."

"What is it you do exactly?"

Agent B's smile grew. "I'm happy you asked. We focus primarily on bio-engenearing, which is in part why I would be confident in taking someone like you on board. After all, I don't believe genetics should have to hold a great mind and great talent back."

It all seemed a little too good to be true. "Shouldn't something like that be available to the public? If you're really that confident you can help me?"

The centrifuge was well past the point most first timers started experiencing tunnel vision and blacking out. Danny was blinking rapidly, but still seemed like he was enjoying himself, going so far as to whoop with joy. "I'm sure the notion of experimental treatments is not an unfamiliar one to you. It is unfortunate that not all such treatments are either ready or appropriate for public consumption. But that doesn't mean that they're not there." Something slightly manic creeped around the edges of the Agents eyes as she continued to observe Danny, perfectly conscious. His speeds had reached the point where Shiro had blacked out on his own first round. "And neither does it mean that, for the right person, investments can't be made."

"And Danny's like that? An investment?"

Agent B reached into an internal breast pocket in her pristine white jacket and drew out a business card, offering it to Shiro between her index and middle finger. All without taking her eyes from Danny's still smiling face. "I'm contractually bound and therefore unable to share an individual's private information." She said in what sounded like a prepared statement. The card was chrome, glossy, and mostly blank of text. On one side was the acronym G.I.W. in bold, black Times New Roman and on the other, in the same font, read AGENT B, with a landline listed underneath. "I would however be more than happy to speak with you, and answer any questions you may have. Anything to help you make an informed decision."

Danny reached the maximum speed that could be considered safe and he had yet to lose consciousness. "I don't expect you to make a decision now of course, you have much greater demands on your time. But do keep it in mind, and if you're interested at all you can always contact me at that number. Even after your return from your final mission. Or, final mission with the Garrison."

Shiro tucked the card away carefully in his own uniform breast pocket as the order was given to bring the centrifuge speed down and Agents B's attention was demanded by the staff. She greeted each of them by name warmly as they spoke to her.

Adam liked the idea, when Shiro told him later. He didn't call his parents though, reluctant to get their hopes up. Experimental was a word they all had heard a great deal, for better or for worse. But even so, Agent B was right, he had greater demands on his time until the Kerberos mission was completed. He couldn't allow himself to become distracted by attractive what ifs at such an important junction.

---

It didn't take a lot of time for Danny to weave his way into their lives. He worked hard, which was something the whole team, core and extended alike, could appreciate. It helped that he did genuinely love space. Eventually Shiro stopped thinking about the oddness of the whole situation as a new normal developed. The notion of Danny's age fell to the back of his mind, and he stopped being surprised at Danny's innate strength, agility, stamina and whatever other hat trick he pulled. They discovered that he had far superior night vision, when there had been a brief power outage in the barracks and Danny could move around as if it was light as day. He seemed to always know people were, and could never be surprised by anyone sneaking up behind him. Matt had tried, once and only once. His watch, which wasn't actually a watch, never showed the time, and yet Shiro had not once seen him without it.

Danny painted an odd tableau of a young man. However he was impossible not to like him, eccentricities and all.

Matt asked frequently about Danny's background, and Shiro suspected that he had somewhere along the way stopped caring about getting an actual, truthful answer. Danny seemed to find particular delight in thinking of the most outlandish stories he could. As the weeks waned to months Shiro had heard everything from "I died when I was fourteen, though luckily my friend was a necromancer and brought me back. I'm going up to see if zombies survive space." to "I overthrew an old ruler in an epic battle and became the new King. I'm trying to expand my territory past Earth." and including "I'm a time traveler and I left my TARDIS on Pluto. I've been to ancient Rome, would you like to hear about it?"

Keith, upon first meeting Danny, had questioned him in all seriousness. "I'm a ghost." had been Danny's answer that day, which was a fairly common one. They had heard many iterations of Danny's supposed deaths. "I'm going up to see how ectoplasm performs in space."

"If you're a ghost then why can I touch you?" Keith had asked, poking just above Danny's elbow for good measure.

Danny appeared to think on that, perhaps having been surprised by someone actually questioning him further. "I'm possessing my own corpse."

Any other child than Keith and Shiro would have been worried about the kind of graphic conversation that could grow from such a morbid response. But Keith was resilient, and furthermore at fifteen even Shiro had to admit that he wasn't really so much of a kid anymore. Despite being prone to seeing his surrogate younger brother through childhood's rose tinted glasses.

Keith had scrunched up his nose. "If you're a corpse then why don't you smell?"

Shiro turned to Danny himself, interested in the explanation. Danny had only grinned. "I've got an ice-core. Why do you think my fingers are always so cold?"

"Anemia?" Shiro offered.

"You've got the complexion for it." Matt had laughed.

Even so Keith had grilled Danny on his 'ghostliness', though inexplicably the young man had quick fire answers of increasing and impressive complexity for anything Keith could think to ask. Shiro wondered if Danny might perhaps do well as a science fiction author.

Keith decided he liked Danny, and the feeling seemed mutual. Danny even went so far as to join Matt in taking Keith to the public observatory on one of their days off, having sent a cheeky smile over his shoulder and muttering something about "Giving you and your man some alone time."

Shiro felt a little guilty for wishing he'd spent the day with the three of them instead of awkwardly shuffling around with Adam, trying not to argue and ignoring the elephant in the room that sat between them. Especially when Matt and Keith came back with all sorts of myths and legends, that may or may not be true, which they'd heard from Danny about the constellations. It sounded like their day had been vastly more fun than his.

Agent B made progressively fewer apparences. Which was nice. Danny seemed to unwind a little more every consecutive day he didn't see her.

Weeks later, Shiro chanced on Matt after returning from the training room, looking forward to a hot shower. It wasn't unusual to find him there of course, though it was however strange to see him crouched with an ear pressed to one of the meeting room doors. Matt saw him approaching and urgently motioned for him to come join him, signaling desperately to keep quiet when he saw Shiro open his mouth.

Shiro raised his eyebrows in a silent question, to which Matt only pointed at the door aggressively. Suppressing a sigh, Shiro resigned to press his ear to the door.

Inside, he could hear Agent B. "-ack to monosyllabic responses." she said dryly. By that alone, and by the familiar cold silence in its wake, there was no doubt as to who she was talking to.

"It's been five months, and you've made friends." she ventured, sounding oddly like a school counselor talking to a tight-lipped teenager. "That's good. It's a good team you're going up with."

Danny scoffed. When he spoke he had acid in his voice. "Yeah. And you would know all about them, wouldn't you. What're you planning with them?" Shiro's eyebrows shot up his face. That was the longest sentence strung together that he'd ever heard Danny say to Agent B. And by far the most hateful.

"Now Danny." Agent B chidded "You know how I feel about you talking back to me like that. It's almost your birthday, you'll be an adult. It's time to put aside this childish... banter." The threat was clear. Shiro wished more than anything that he could see inside, if only to gage Danny's expression in his silence. "So, let's try this again. It's a good team you're with."

There was pause before Danny responded tightly "Yes. They're nice, Agent."

"Nice does not a good team, make."

"They are all well suited to their tasks." Danny seathed, sounding as though every word was knife to his chest.

"Better." The sound of shuffling, possibly papers, was muffled by the door. "You know Fenton, I had hoped that you'd thrive if you could spend some time outside of Headquarters. You're not like the others of your kind after all, you need socialization like any human." Others of his kind? Human?

"I'm good."

Agent B sighed, a touch of frustrating coloring the sound. "Fenton." she said, sounding like an exasperated parent. "Danny." she tried again, marginally softer.

A long silence lapsed, one in which Shiro could imagine Agents B's cold patience. "It's a space mission." Danny finally said in a small voice that sounded splintered around the edges.

"Yes it is."

"Why?"

"You'll have to expand on that."

"Why this mission? Why am I allowed to work with... normal people? Why would you do this for me?"

"I thought it would make you happy." Danny scoffed at that. "I did. I do. Like I said, I appreciate that you have... other needs. Human needs, far more so than the others."

"So you get me in a space program?" His voice had lost its edge, leaving him soundly oddly vulnerable.

"You did tell me once you wanted to be an astronaut. Even before the... incident." Another pause. "Danny, have told you this many times, please believe me. You're valuable, not because of what you became, but because of your humanity. And if I'm being entirely honest, sometimes I think I'm the only Agent that sees that. I told you when we first met, when I saved you, I intend to do everything I can to preserve that. Never doubt that."

Matt silently mouthed the word 'human' to Shiro questioningly. Human, normal people, they were both consistent in their language, strange as it was. "You've said so." Danny conceded.

"You don't believe me?" Danny remained silent. "Danny, look at me." she waited for what Shiro assumed was eye contact "I do care about you." Agent B finally said, her own voice having adopted something of a raw edge.

"I know." Danny rasped.

"And, that includes listening to you."

"I know."

"And helping you thrive."

"I know." his voice became insistent.

"And you can trust me."

"I know!"

"Know what?"

"That I can trust you!" Shiro pursed his lips, sharing another significant look with Matt. Danny's detracted, frigid nature around Agent B had always been so at odds with the joking, bright person he was otherwise. His change in attitude was easier to understand, now, given the Agent's aptitude for manipulating the young man.

Then again, perhaps Shiro was reading too much into it and blowing the whole thing out of proportion. Perhaps there was reason to believe her.

"I'm happy to hear you remember that. Trust is a two way street after all. It's very good to know that I can still trust you."

"You can."

Shiro could hear her ever sharp smile around the edges of her honey voice. "I know." Shiro wished again to be able to see their faces. "Chin up Fenton. You haven't done anything wrong." One of the chairs creaked, presumably Danny straightening himself.

"Now, if you please, I'd like to go over in detail the instruments you'll be expected to use on Kerberos to complete your tasks." Matt satt a little straighter himself, eager to hear about Danny's secret assignments. "However, before I do. If you wouldn't mind checking that we're still alone?" Shiro's eyebrows scrunched. From the conversation it seemed that it was just the two of them in the room. And she couldn't possibly mean him and Matt, it wasn't like either of them could see through the door.

"There've been people walking outside the whole time."

"Are you certain that they're just walking past or assuming?"

"I'm cert-" Danny paused, then sucked in a sharp breath. Shiro waited tensely. "There's two people standing just outside the door. I don't know how long they've been there."

Neither Matt nor Shiro stayed to listen to what either of them had to say after that, they booked it down the hall. "Tell me you heard that." Matt said once they were back in the relative safety of the rec room. "Tell me I wasn't the only one hearing that? Have we actually accidently discovered a creepy human experiment government conspiracy? We should tell Keith, he's always talking about this kind of creepy shit. Do you think any of his other crazy theories are true? Do you-"

"Whow, hold it." Shiro interrupted, knowing how carried away with himself Matt could get. His own mind was reeling, yes, but he had to make sure that at least one of them remained calm. "We're not telling Keith. I'm not giving him any more reasons to think there's a conspiracy around every corner. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation."

"Oh yeah? Endless funds? Creepy secret projects? Creepy agents? We don't even know her name! For all we know she might not even have a B in her name. She might not even be a woman!"

Shiro couldn't help but laugh. "Okay Sherlock, let's take that down a notch. No reason to make a mountain out of a molehill ."

"Shiro, you heard her creepy, manipulative Jedi-mind trick. She's definitely suspect."

"Yeah, alright, that was all kinds of wrong. But manipulation doesn't equate government conspiracy."

Matt crossed his arms and lifted his chin challengingly. "Okay, then explain how he knew we were behind the door. Explain all his weirdness." Admittedly, Shiro was having a hard time with that. That was pretty weird. A lot of things about Danny were pretty weird. "Hah! See, you can't! What if he's like... like, I dunno', one of the X-Men? A mutant or secret superhero or something?"

"Matt, you're starting to sound like a flat Earther. Maybe he saw the shadows of our feet under the door?" Shiro ventured, though he couldn't deny that it fell a bit flat.

"Maybe he has x-ray vision."

"Maybe we heard an out of context conversation and are jumping to conclusions."

"You think I'm crazy."

"Matt, I don't think you're crazy."

"You literally just compared me to a flat Earther."

Shiro fought the urge to sigh, growing weary of this back and forth. "I just think instead of hyping ourselves up we should approach this rationally."

Matt narrowed his eyes. "Go on."

"While I agree," Shiro started slowly, considering his words "that there are certainly one or two aspects of this whole situation that are... odd."

"And by that you mean highly suspicious."

"And by that I mean Danny obviously has a history with her and the Guys in White. And in less than three months the four of us are going to be alone, heading very very far away from Earth. And it'll be a very long time until we come back to Earth. And in a small, space efficient ship, there is very little any of us will be able to do to hide things from each other.."

Matt was nodding along with a hand on his chin. "Okay Takahashi. I see you. Okay, I can do patience."

The card Shiro had neglected to take out of his breast pocket felt heavy. He'd always had a strong moral compass, he liked to think. But all this made him feel at a loss. Danny was their friend, that much could certainly be said by then, but what in the world was he involved with?

---

Patience, for better or for worse, was as Agent B had once said, a virtue. Shiro didn't think that Danny had identified him and Matt at the people that had been listening in, and he hoped it was just his imagination when he saw the young man eyeing everyone with new suspicion.

Although nothing all too strange happened until a few days passed, when training with the complete team was suspended until further notice. "Fenton is on a sabbatical." was Iverson's only explanation for Danny's absence.

"A what? Now?" Sam exclaimed incredulously.

"We're only a few weeks out!" Matt followed. It was incredibly bad timing, as the work only increased in pace as the take off inched closer day by day.

"You don't have to tell me." Iverson grumbled with what Shiro had dubbed as the 'way over my head' voice. "You're to continue with your individual training. I'm told Fenton will return to the Garrison by the end of the week.

In reality it was a day over the end of the week. And Danny looked utterly spent. He arrived in the back of a secure van with Agent B, who followed him all the way back to his room. Before leaving she checked his watch again, dismissing him only after a few quick words and a friendly smiler. Danny sulked into his room and slept for the rest of the day. He'd been pale before, but Shiro was sure that the bags under his eyes were at least a couple shades darker for days after.

They tried not to bother him beyond what was necessary.

---

Danny's birthdate was a part of the sparse information that was not, in fact, redacted. Since they often took their increasingly dwindling free days, though even those whole days had slowly started to become only a few hours, together, it was a challenge to either plan or procure anything. But they were still determined.

Shiro went to drag Danny out of bed and to breakfast, as he tried to sleep in whenever he could get away with it. He groused and grumbled and raged against Shiro's general mistreatment of him, but it was all of a good nature, far better than the ghost of a person he'd been directly after the sudden sabbatical.

"Hey! Birthday boy!" Matt all but yelled across the mess hall, making some of the eyes on the hall turn to them briefly, to Danny's embarrassment.

"Birthday boy?" he asked Shiro with no small amount of confusion.

Shiro laughed, putting a hand between Danny's shoulder blades and pushing him towards the table. "Sorry, it's all already done. No getting out of it now."

Danny stared wide eyed at the cake that sat between three breakfast trays. Shiro pushed Danny down to sit before doing so himself, thinking Danny might be liable to stand there indefinitely without a bit of help. "But it's not even-"

"We know we're a bit late." Matt said as he started cutting the cake. It was modest, but it wasn't meant to feed any more than the three of them. "But the actual day was in the middle of your sabbatical so it's not like we could do much then."

"Sabbatical?" Danny asked.

"Uh," Matt glanced at Shiro for help "that's what Iverson said. When you were gone...?"

Danny's expression glossed over in the same way it often did around Agent B. "Is that what they're calling it?"

Matt gave Shiro a significant look over Danny's head that seemed to say, see? Creepy government conspiracy. "Are you, um, okay? If it wasn't a sabbatical, then what was it?" Shiro asked tentatively.

Danny glared at nothing for a moment before drawing himself up. "I'm fine. It was nothing." he said with forced casualness.

"Are you sure? You know we're here, if you want to talk."

Danny looked about ready to insist he was fine like he so often did. Though he paused and studied their faces for a moment, perhaps recognizing their sincerity. "I'm-" his shoulders dropped slightly "It's nothing I haven't dealt with before. But I'm fine now." he amended.

Shiro was happy, if only a little. It was progress. "Really though," Danny continued with a smile "you shouldn't have gone through the trouble."

"Except we totally should have." Matt said cheerily, returning to cutting the cake.

Shiro had the good sense to start on his actual breakfast before dessert. He buttered his toast and loaded scrambled eggs on top. "It's not like it was any trouble for you." he laughed before taking a bite.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. Alex was happy to help."

"Alex?" Danny asked, tucking into his own eggs. They'd learned early that he had some sort of toast aversion.

"She's a cook in the kitchens." Shiro took the liberty of answering. "Matt managed to convince her," he said with a wink Danny's way "to make the cake."

"She's a baker." Matt said with authority as he dolled out three slices, which constituted almost the whole of the small cake. "Which I'm told is basically food science because it requires a lot more precise measuring than regular cooking."

With a wry grin Danny leaned in a stage whispered to Matt "I think he was insulting you, not Alex. Just FYI."

Matt gasped theatrically, looking scandalized. "You're just jealous that I'm so charming with l'amour and could flirt my way to getting cake."

Danny was snickering into his orange juice. Schooling his features as best he could, Shiro deadpanned "You're right Matt. If it wasn't for Adam I'd be on you in a second. Woe is me, to have been denied your l'amour."

Matt sniffed "That's more like it, and don't you forget it. Eat your cake Danny, you're obviously my only friend here."

They had Danny cracking up, sabbaticals far from any of their minds.

---

Adam and Shiro broke up. It didn't really come as a surprise, Shiro thought upon reflection. But it hit him hard in the chest.

Though he didn't say anything, Matt seemed to know. Which, also, wasn't a surprise. Him and Danny did what they could to take his mind off it, and Shiro himself threw himself into training and work.

At least it wasn't hard to do. Take off was only a few short weeks away. Everyone was working double time.

---

To Shiro, there was something singularly exhilarating about walking across the platform leading to the doors of a spacecraft. Knowing he had a seat in it. Knowing he'd earned it. Knowing he was about to leave the planet in it. Knowing that, as far as one could know, he would return in it, after successful completion of the mission.

Take off was never not a publisied affair. Shiro bore the pictures and the interviews with a bright smile and succinct, cordial answers. It hung heavy on Shiro that this would be the last time he would be made to endure such formalities as a pilot. He smiled for the cameras, determined to enjoy every second of the experience. Even that which was wearisome and verged on vapid, he knew one day he would look back on fondly, and would wish to be there, here, again.

They were in full dress uniform standing before the crowd, on a podium directly in front of the craft itself as speeches were made. Opened by Iverson and continued by a string of high ranked individuals, Sam among them. He spoke from the heart, as the man always did. When he finished to respectful applause he returned to their line, to Shiro's right, leaving Matt to his left, and to Matt's left further, Danny.

Danny looked a little green, though overall not entirely likely to actually lose his breakfast. So long as he could keep his food in long enough to make it back to the control center Shiro would consider that a win.

He carried his uniform well, despite his initial misgivings on wearing it, as he wasn't technically part of the Garrison, even after so many months living and training as if he was. It was still free of any rank demarcations, like all of Danny's Garrison issued clothing, which made it look oddly bare. The one thing Danny had insisted on was two small pins, too small to be clear in any of the photographs that would be taken that day. They seemed to be only for his own benefit. They were, as far as Shiro was aware, the only true demand Danny had ever made of Agent B since his meeting them.

They were pinned directly under the Galaxy Garrison insignia on his right breast. A small stylized D in black and white, and a bright green and orange FW.

Keith wouldn't be there of course. They'd already said their goodbyes in private, in the sunset, at the edge of the desert. Shiro knew they'd both be holding on to those last wonderful moments during the long months apart. These missions were as safe as could be, but by their very nature they could never be risk free. So he'd hold on to the feeling of the sun on his face, Keith's weight against his arm, the warm metal of his bike, now Keith's, under them. He'd hold on to the knowledge that by the time he'd be back, he'd be able to shake Keith's hand and congratulate him on getting into the Garrison pilot's program. Because of course he would get in, Shiro had every confidence in him.

He tried not to think about Adam.

Out in the crowd Shiro could see a number of the benefactors of the mission, Agent B present with them. They hadn't seen her since Danny's unexpected absence over his birthday. Now though, she sat flanked by two men in identical white suits and small, shaded glasses. Now that he thought about it that may be a contributing factor to Danny's disposition.

Shiro hadn't ever given her a response, but her card sat somewhere between the stacks of papers, books and belongings he was leaving behind.

The end of the pomp and circumstance brought with it a wave of bitter sweet not-quite nostalgia, shocking Shiro with the force of them. This was it.

Once they were suited up, they found Iverson waiting for them on the platform that led to the craft door. As he did for every mission he led, he had come to shake their hands and give a final goodbye. He had Shiro's eternal respect for that, despite his hard and unyielding disposition, which was as often his strength as it was his fault.

Iverson's grip was strong even through the space suit's large glove. "Takashi Shirogane." he said. "You do your Countrys, your planet and the Galaxy Garrison proud."

"Thank you Commander Iverson." Shiro answered with equal formality.

Iverson had similar sentiments for both Holts, who in turn took his hand as respectfully as Shiro had. Though when he turned to Danny the young man looked beyond himself. Iverson waited for Danny to get over himself and take his hand, either not noticing og choosing to ignore the smudge of wetness gathered at the corner of his eyes. "You're a credit, Daniel Fenton. You do your Country and your planet proud."

Danny drew himself taller, standing as tall as Shiro had ever seen him. "Thank you sir. I'm proud and honored to be here." He stumbled over his words in his nerves, but Shiro didn't miss the way one side of Iverson's mouth twitched upwards.

Iverson was a hard man, but he was still just as human as the rest of them.

"I couldn't agree more Commander." a familiar voice drifted from behind them, which made even Shiro's hand clench on instinct.

Iverson looked up as the team turned to see Agent B step around the corner and take two long strides on to the platform. She brought her heels together with a faint click. "What the hell are you doing up here Agent?" Iverson barked.

"I do apologize for the impropriety, Commander. But I have been cleared." she said, waving a badge that hung around her neck. The plastic looked entirely out of place against the clean, pressed lines of her suit and glossy tie. This close, Shiro could see that, despite wearing her usual bun, today she'd brought her fringe out and allowed it frame her face. Shiro didn't know why it surprised him to see that her hair had a gentle curl to it when it could hang free. "I couldn't allow our asset to leave the planet without a few parting words."

There was a deep sneer in Iverson's lip and voice when he ground out "Sixty seconds."

"That's very generous of you." Agent B accepted graciously with a slight incline of her head. A baby curl bounced free from where it had been tucked behind her ear.

She crossed the last three steps towards Danny, who was back to the wide, fearful, deer in the headlights look he'd had when they all first met all those months, almost a year, ago. She placed both her hands on his stiffened shoulders, forcing him to face her completely. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you off today." she said. Shiro was unsure whether or not the emotion that colored the edges of her voice was genuine or not. "Commander Iverson is right, you do us all very proud, your kind included, though they do not have the capacity to understand the significance of your task." Though Shiro had long since grown accustomed to the strange double speak that made up their every conversation, he couldn't help but glance curiously at Matt, who was already looking at him with significance.

"I want you to know that, I, personally, am very proud of you. More than you'll know. And that it has been an honor to have you work under me." She drew back, holding out her right hand to shake. Danny took it, though he seemed to be fighting to keep a sneer off his face.

Agent B, unperturbed, used his hand to draw him close in a half-hug. She leaned up slightly, as Danny had almost a full head on her, and whispered something against his ear. Whatever it was it made Danny lock his jaw furiously. The sun must have caught his still moistened, blown wide eyes, as for one terrifying second they looked like they were made of blazing, molten green fire.

"I look forward to your safe return." she finished, allowing his hand to drop and stepping back.

As she had done the first day, she waited expectantly for Danny to acknowledge "Agent." he said with a voice like vitriol. But he acknowledged her, and that seemed to be enough for the woman.

"Likewise to you gentlemen. Come home to us in one piece. Commander Iverson, it is a pleasure, as always." And then, as abruptly as she had arrived, she left again, curls bouncing with every sharp, heeled step.

"Right." Iverson said fiercely. "Fenton?" Danny looked up, but said nothing. His expression was dark. "Clear head. You're about to take off." Iverson's voice was curt, but not unkind.

Danny visibly relaxed his shoulders, taking a steadying breath and lifting his chin. "Sir." he said with a nod.

"Gentlemen." Iverson saluted them and stepped aside when it was returned.

The day was a sunny one. The light glinted off the railings, hitting Shiro's eyes and making him see spots. The platform was short, though it rattled slightly under every step, up until the point at which it met the ship, which was fitted perfectly around the smooth outer shell. They were to be what Shiro considered his last steps on Earth. Once inside the ship, where it took a moment for him to adjust to the relative darkness, the mission would have started.

Before crossing the threshold Shiro took a deep breath. Savouring the smell. The warmth. The faint buzzing in the air. The wind that ruffled his hair. The home of it all. The singular exhilaration of a short, infinitely momentous walk. He would miss this.

Then he stepped inside.

Once seated, buckled in, enclosed, Shiro allowed the protocols that had been so worked into him over the months as to practically be muscle memory, take over. The four of them, in tandem with each other and ground control, went through all the final safety checks. Later he could spare a thought for Danny and Matt, knowing this was their first space mission, and a thought for himself, knowing it was his last. Later he could marvel at the vacuum of the greater Galaxy, so large as to be inconceivable to the human mind.

For now, he was the pilot, and he had a job to do.

The thrusters roared to life with fuel and heat, scorching the ground underneath them black. Gravity dragged him, cloying, desperate to draw them home but the wonder of human engineering they sat in pressed on, pressing upwards with a stubbornness that could only be that of man.

The atmosphere outside thinned and the rich, sunny blue of the sky bled it's color, growing white and cloudless as they continued to climb. The initial thrusters fell away, leaving the subsequent row to take over. And so it went, crawling closer and closer to the hazy edge of the atmosphere. The ship grew progressively smaller as the thrusters ate away at their fuel and fell, dead. Shiro's body felt progressively heavier and the small piloting room which was to be his whole world for the next year grayed as the blood was drawn away from his eyes to the back of his head.

Until, quite suddenly, it wasn't anymore.

The brightness of the sky thinned in a moment, drawing impossibly taught over the Earth's horizon before coalescing into a pinprick of molten gas and light. Shiro's heart, beating wildly under the stress, excitement and the feeling of his body throbbing under its own weight compounded, stuttered and, between one blink and the next, he floated.

The gasp was involuntary, an automatic response from a primitive life form of flesh and sinew and bone groaning under forces it was not meant to endure, trapped in a metal box hurtling through a void it had no place being in. And yet, here they were.

Shiro could not afford to waste his attention on grand notions of human ingenuity and mortality. For now, he had responsibility for three passengers. With the meticulous nature instilled in every soldier Shiro and ground control went about the secondary safety checks and protocols before piloting was handed over to Shiro in its entirety.

"Good luck men, God be with you." was the last thing Iverson said. One, two, three seconds later the staticy line cut out, leaving the four of them alone with nothing but each other and the roar of the ship's thrusters behind them.

"Well," Sam said with a smile "Matt, Danny, welcome to outer space."

---

Out of all of them Matt was having the hardest time adjusting. Shiro and Sam had of course been on extraterrestrial missions of varying length in the past, so they were both more than accustomed to life on a ship after a few short Earth-equivalent days. The instinctual aversion to long time space travel lived in the way false gravity on a ship or station always had a slightly off putting buoyancy to it. Or the way the artificial day-and-night rhythm never felt like it matched one's own internal clock. Or in the barely there buzz of instruments and vents in too still air that could sound cacophonous in the dead silence of space.

Danny however, seemed to have found himself entirely at home. And Shiro was left wondering why he bothered being surprised anymore.

"Settling in alright?" Sam asked on their third morning as the crew sat together for breakfast. Though the question was directed to the table at large, the man's eyes were on his son.

"No." Matt said morosely, sucking on his water pouch with a distinct pout. "I feel worse than after the whirl-a-round at the fair when I was a kid."

Sam laughed, patting a comforting hand on his son's back. "Shiro, I'm sure I don't need to ask you."

"No sir." Shiro replied happily, smiling brilliantly at Matt as he bit into his dehydrated protein-based ration unit. It was egg flavoured.

"And you Danny?"

"Amazing." Danny replied, grinning equally wide Matt's way.

"You know it's okay to take some time to adjust." Shiro chuckled, meaning it part to both Matt and Danny. "It's... definitely an adjustment." He himself had been seasick for most of his first mission. Or, not exactly seasick, all things considered.

Danny laughed him off, shrugging. "That's what training is for though, isn't it? To get us used to free floating and the weird food and living with a bunch of tiny beeping whatever's surrounding us on all sides while zooming through a monochromatic environment that doesn't really have any true sense of up or down or day or night."

Shiro blinked. The rest of them blinked too. A moment later Sam laughed heartily. "That's one way to put it!"

"You know Matt," Danny said through his own laughter "this is usually the part where you ask what my deal is. And then I tell you something like, oh, I don't know, I'm actually a clone experiment gone wrong and I need to get to Kerberos because that's the only place I can find the compound needed to stabilize me?"

"Excuse me?" Sam asked, looking alarmed.

"Danny's been making up weird comic book-style backstories for himself." Shiro clarified, going on to explain how the whole internal joke first started. "He's been a zombie."

"A time traveler." Matt added, brightening slightly.

"A God."

"The Great One."

"A ghost."

"He was a ghost several times actually." Matt added.

"He's been a lot of things several times."

"He's been a vampire too."

"A-"

Danny interrupted then "Actually my arch enemy is a vampire, and a total fruit loop but that's besides the point. I'm a vampire hunter. And, I'm not a God. But I have met some."

"Then what do you call being the Great One?" Matt asked with a light, unseriously accusatory tone.

"Hey, I told you, I didn't ask to be called that." Danny put his hands up in defense. "And I tried to get them to stop, really, but will they listen to me? Nooo."

Sam, though laughing, shook his head at the three of them. "Boys." he chidded affectionately "That's very creative though. How do you think of it all?"

Danny shrugged again. "It's not that hard. Someone once told me that the best lies are the ones with a little bit of truth in them. I guess that applies to stories too."

Matt, having started gingerly peeling at the wrapper around a dehydrated carbohydrate-based ration unit, looked halfway between pensive and halfway between glaring at the food "So you're saying there's a grain of truth in all the insane stories you've made up? Must be a very small grain."

"Something like that." Danny answered, beginning his own methodical demolishing of breakfast. He cast a side-long glance Matt's way "Not that you'll be able to tell. You look a little too nauseous to be worried about what I'm doing."

Matt nibbled at the corner of his ration unit and glared at his water pouch. "I just really want to get to Kerberos ASAP so me and Dad can actually get to work."

"Give it a little time." Sam said comfortingly.

"And remember what an honor it is to be selected for a mission of such import." Shiro said with faux grandeur, which only earned him a glare. "Take a page from Cadet Fenton's book, you don't hear him complaining." he said, sounding a little too much like one of their old, prone to esoteric ramblinging, professors for Matt's liking.

"Man, what is there to complain about." Danny sighed happily, turning slightly to stare out a small window. Earth was just visible towards the far left, nestled against the Milky Way. "I mean, we're in space! Like... for real! I just can't wrap my head around it."

Sam met Shiro's eyes over Matt's drooping head. Behind his glasses Sam's eyes scrunched at the edges in a small, nostalgic smile. "Give it time."

---

Danny didn't lose much awe over the months in space. Truly, neither had Shiro or the Holts either. All four of them had been caught at one point or another staring out a window on quite equivalent-days in which the tasks were few and far between. After so many months of intense work, it was quite jarring to suddenly have so much time for pensiveness. It was hard not to contemplate on how minuscule a place they had in the greater universe when they saw their planet, their home, slowly fade into a small, pale blue dot.

Introspection, with the greater void lain out before them, was all but inevitable.

However they were not free of distractions, without which they would surely succumb to cabin-fever. They had their devices, upon which were books and paperwork. The four of them had a deck of cards between them, and a handful of boardgames. There was the training room. And, naturally, there were their primary tasks.

Piloting was, most of the time, more maintenance of systems than it was actual time spent behind the controls. Shiro worked closest with Matt for that reason. Often, between handing over tools and double checking schematics for whichever of them had both their hand busy, they idly speculated on Danny's tasks. Though they were often mindful of what Matt had elected to call Danny's 'super hearing'. It wasn't as if they sought the topic on purpose, but somehow they always ended up talking about him.

"I mean, he seems happier, at least, y'know?" Matt said out of the blue once. He was outside to replace a damaged heat sensor while Shiro followed along from the bridge. Their voices were always clear enough through the communicators to understand, but they came through slightly tinny to Shiro's ears.

"Well, he did say how he always wanted to be an astronaut as a kid. I mean, it's basically his dream job." Shiro answered. He was sat in the airlock chamber at the controls, ready for Matt when he came back in.

"Which brings us back to the main point-"

"Conspiracy lady-"

"-conspiracy lady!" There was a small camera attached to the front of Matt's suit, so through the tablet in his hand Shiro could see what he was doing for himself. Now though Matt was waving around the tool in his hand for emphasis, rather than using it as it was intended. "He seems happier, up here, yeah. But we still don't know anything about his job. And remember that time he said that he'd probably never normally get to go to space, which totally implies that there is something highly suspect, highly not normal going behind the curtain that's super classified."

"You still have a sensor to replace you know."

On screen, Matt's hands returned to removing the bolts around the damaged sensor, though he continued speaking without missing a beat. "And do I even need to talk about his... anything really. I mean, what about when we went past Jupiter and the ship's internal gravity went nuts so we were free floating for a bit? Nothing to be worried about, right? Right. Literally months, years, of training for just about every eventuality, including operating in a zero-g environment. And remember the number one rule of zero-g? That one thing that everyone repeats so often that it's practically ingrained in the back of our eyeballs?"

Shiro leaned his head back, though he still kept half an eye on Matt's hands. "Don't fall into a dead zone."

"Make sure there's always- always- something you can push against or grab on to." Matt finished for Shiro. He removed the last bolt keeping the sensor attached, joining it with the rest in a pouch on his utility belt. He began wiggling the sensor free of it's socket, a taxing endeavour by his heaving and grunting. Even so, like much else, Matt would not allow it to keep him from continuing his train of thought. "And remember how... hurn..." Shiro heard a short screech of metal against metal. "when the gravity... was off... He just floated... Damn, this thing's really jammed in tight... floated like... right in the... mid-... -dle... of the... room!" He finished, the sensor popping free on the last word, leaving Matt panting. "He just floated there... Oh Christ, remind me to send you out next time... Anyway so yeah." he wheezed. "His hands couldn't reach anything, and I turned around for like, a second, and then suddenly out of nowhere, he's attached to the wall like he'd been there the whole time."

"Yeah." Shiro conceded. It wasn't a new concession. Though by then they'd had so many conversations like this Shiro had lost count. "Got the new sensor ready?"

"Yeah, yeah." Matt muttered. He hooked the damaged sensor on to the one side of his belt, unhooking the new one from the other. They were silent as Matt continued to grunt through the arduous task of shoving the new sensor in the old socket.

Shiro tapped his index finger idly on the side of the tablet screen, watching Matt's fingers grip the sensor's side in what could only be with white knuckles. He thought that next time, instead of being sent out as Matt jokingly demanded, they might convince Danny to help with the more strenuous parts of these sorts of tasks. Shiro knew he'd be happy to help, as was his nature, and also for the excuse to free float around the ship's exterior. Finally, with much cussing on Matt's part, the sensor locked.

For a while the only sound beyond the communicators buzz was Matt's halting attempts to catch his breath.

"Do you think we talk about Danny too much?" Shiro eventually asked, when it sounded like Matt was capable of responding.

"What?"

"Do you think we talk about him too much? Speculating I mean?"

"Do you think we do?"

Shiro stared out the window beyond the airlock. "Don't we? When it's just you and me, it's pretty much the only thing we talk about these days."

"It's not like there's much else to do besides talk until we get to Kerberos, at least for me and Dad. And Danny. And it's still a few weeks away anyway. Besides, wasn't it your idea that once we were all off in the space Danny might open up more?"

Shiro sighed heavily. "Yeah."

"And he hasn't."

"But it's not like we're talking to him about it either. We're just talking to each other. I think we've fallen into a bad habit where, between us, this is the only entertainment we have. And even then it's just the same things over and over." Shiro looked for the right words, but they didn't always come easily to him "I think what I mean to say is, is it even that important?"

Matt was silent for some time. Time in which he busied himself with screwing the sensor in place. The bolts were large and just one took a not insignificant amount of time to tighten. Shiro continued staring out the airlock, losing himself in his own thoughts.

They had precious little concrete information on Danny. Even on the ship, where Shiro had assumed they would be in such close quarters with each other that they'd have to see something pertaining to Danny's greater tasks that would clue them in, there was nothing in the common areas.

They all had their rooms, or rather more like a sleeping pod they could just about stand in and take half a step, since some modicum of privacy was paramount when living on top of other people as they all were. Though Danny's 'room' had been cannibalized from what was meant to be a lab in the original plans. Sam, of course, still had his own work spaces, but there were only the three sleeping rooms in the plan, and no way of adding any more.

So instead it was decided that Danny would sleep and work in the same room. However that meant that all his equipment was locked away from the rest of them, under his own personal room code.

As the pilot Shiro naturally had the override to any lock, but he wasn't about to use it to invade privacy in such a way for nothing better than to satisfy curiosity.

"Isn't it thought?" Matt eventually asked.

"Isn't what?"

"Isn't what's going on with Danny important? To us? To the mission? The whole reason we started speculating in the first place was because the whole business was super shady, conspiracy lady doubly so. And then Danny turned out to be super cool, right? But still real weird? So of course it's important, because here we are, in the dead of space, almost past Neptune, with a crew member that we know next to nothing about. And that still brings us back to his work."

Shiro let the tablet lay across his knees so he could cross his arms. Danny often would spend hours on end in his room when the rest of them were busy. Though whether he was doing anything in there or just waiting for anyone to become available Shiro couldn't say. "What if we just give up?"

Matt's hands paused on one of the last few bolts. "By 'just give up' I assume you're going to elaborate."

Shiro cracked a small smile at that. "Give up, as in, just stop caring. Danny's our friend, right? He's our crew member. That's not going to change. He's still..." Shiro chewed on his words, wondering how to put his thoughts. "...just Danny." Funny, good hearted, hard working Danny. A dork when he wanted, a friend when he needed to be. He'd be that same person that seemed like he had the weight of a world on his shoulders one second and turn around with a bright smile the next.

On screen Matt's hands began fastening the last couple of bolts. "But there's still so much weirdness." he paused, considering his own words. "Do you think he was actually for real when he said there's a little bit of truth in his wild stories?"

"When was that?"

"Way back, when we first left Earth."

Shiro tapped a contemplative finger on his bicep. "Well... let's say it is true."

Matt's hands paused again. "How do you mean?"

"Take one of his craziest stories, any of them." At Matt's hesitance Shiro insisted "Humor me."

With a sigh, Matt started tightening the last bolt. "I dunno', one of the zombie ones."

"Okay, say he's a zombie." Matt scoffed. "No, really. Say he's secretly been a zombie this whole time. For over a year we've been talking to, living with, training with, and working with a real zombie. And even if Agent B is some government conspiracy puppet master and has him under her thumb, Danny's still..."

"Just Danny?"

"Well, yeah."

The camera view jostled slightly as Matt changed his position. The screen went mostly black as the only thing visible on it was the depth of space. "Did you just Jedi mind trick me into being friends with a zombie?"

Shiro laughed. "No, I think I'm going to blame that on Danny."

Matt laughed softly himself. A moment passed in which the only thing Shiro could hear through the comms was Matt's slow breathing. He'd risk his life for Matt, they had been best friends since their formative years, going so far as to join the Garrison together.

And while he'd known Danny for only a fraction of that time, there was something in his quiet intensity that told Shiro that Danny was the type to lay his everything on the line for those that were important to him.

Matt drew a breath. "So where does that leave us?"

Shiro continued staring out the airlock window. Danny, he decided, was trustworthy. But if he was being strong armed into something, then where did that leave them? "I don't know."

---

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know you were in here." Danny said hurriedly, making to back out of the training room the moment he saw Shiro was already in it.

With a fatigued grunt, Shiro half lay-half dropped the weight in his hand to the floor between his feet. "Don't worry." he panted. "I'm pretty much done anyway." His arms and shoulders throbbed, but Shiro had always loved the strung out pain that came with a hard workout. This would be the last before landing on Kerberos, as he couldn't afford to have weary muscles when he was meant to be piloting them to the moon in a few equivalent-days.

"Oh, okay. Cool." Danny walked over to the treadmill, slumping his water pouch carelessly in the holder and set the speed. Though his finger paused on the red START button.

"Something wrong?" Shiro asked as he grabbed his discarded towel and wiped his brow.

"I uh... I wanted to apologise."

"Apologize?" Shiro wracked his brain for some wrong Danny might have done recently. Or at all. "For what?"

Danny kept his eyes on his fingers, slowly tracing around the edge of the button. "I heard you and Matt, a couple weeks ago. When Matt was out fixing, what was it? A sensor or something?"

It took Shiro a moment before it clicked. "The heat sensor." God, how much had he heard? "Look, I'm really sorry about that-"

"I was the one listening in though. It wasn't my business." Danny interrupted.

Shiro frowned, shame creeping up his cheeks. "And we were talking about you. We've been doing it... for an embarrassingly long time actually. That wasn't okay, on our parts. We should be the ones apologizing." Shiro wouldn't say that he'd been meaning to apologize to Danny anyway, because he had. Though saying it then would sound too much like an excuse, so he left it.

"I don't blame you though." Danny's fingers stopped, however his face was still turned down. "I get it. I'd be insanely curious too if I were you, if some random freak was dropped in the middle of my mission from out of nowhere while some shady Guys in White Agent sat in the corner watching the whole thing and grinning."

Shiro was taken back by the bitterness in his tone. That very particular cold anger wrapped up in a blend of resignation and vicious indignation. He stood and took two steps to Danny, bringing him within an arm's length. "That still doesn't excuse our behavior. I am sorry for that, you deserve better."

Danny smiled, a small thing that looked as fragile as glass, and finally met Shiro's eyes. "You're really selfless, you know that?"

Shiro didn't acknowledge the compliment. "Are you okay, Danny?"

Danny's eyes went back to the button and Shiro felt as though a line between them had pulled dangerously taught between them. "Here I was, coming in with a game plan, going to apologize for hiding around a corner like a coward while I listen to you guys talk. And all I end up hearing is that you think of me as your friend, despite everything. And then you go and twist it around and apologize back to me." There was laughter in his voice, like there often was, though it was a thin gauze over raw vulnerability.

"Danny..." Shiro took a step towards him, putting a hand on his arm after only a brief hesitation. To his relief, Danny neither flinched nor pulled away, as Shiro had been expecting he might do. "I won't pry, but I want you to know that you can tell us if anything's wrong. If you're... in a tough spot."

Danny studied him for a long moment, calculations flashing behind his bright blue eyes. "There's a lot I can't tell you. A little because I'm not allowed to, but, mostly because I... I just can't." he shrugged Shiro's hand off and leaned against the treadmill handle. His own hand came up to rub behind his neck. "I've never had to tell anyone before, y'know? The important people were already there when it happened or figured it out for themselves or... or I just never told them. Not before it was too late. I'd just gotten used to keeping secrets for so long. It was easier to keep lying than to actually tell them the truth." Danny spoke quietly and morosely. Despite Shiro having little, or any, context to understand, he tried to follow along. It seemed cathartic more than anything for Danny to finally speak.

"I'm sorry I lied to you, to everyone." Danny admitted, shrinking in on himself. An odd thing to see, for someone quite tall. "It was kinda' just like a game for a while. And then suddenly there were real threats, life threatening threats." his eyes glossed over as he stared into the depths of invisible memories "And then the Guys in White got me. And it was game over."

"You have to understand," he said seriously, looking into Shiro's eyes with a sudden, fiery desperation. "Agent B was the first person in that hell-hole that treated me like a person. She- she used my name! I hadn't heard my name in sooo long, but she used it. She actually sat down and talked to me. So even though I hate her and everything she does, she's still the only Agent that ever treated me like a human. Like I'm worth something more than just-" he paused, searching for a word "what I am."

Right, okay this wasn't something Shiro was even going to try to understand. Danny was careful, saying only enough to explain nothing at all. Nothing, that was, beyond his own pain and insecurity. "Danny. Hey, look at me." Shiro said gently. He wanted to reach out, however he didn't try to put his hand back on Danny's shoulder. "Look, whatever this is, you don't have to say more than you want to. I believe you. I do."

Danny stared him down with that same paper thin shield. His mouth lifted in a small, would-be smirk that wasn't even close to as jovial or confident as it normally was. "You and Matt really did accidentally stumble into a black list conspiracy. It's not nearly as exciting as you'd think though. Mostly a lot of sitting around and underhanded threats."

Shiro allowed himself his own smile, finding it easier to summon when Danny was trying to scrape himself together. "Are you going to tell Matt? You don't have to."

"I probably should." Danny winced. "Just, not now. Took me long enough to psyche myself up enough to tell you. That's why I uh, came to you first? I was kinda' hoping you could buffer Matt for me? Knowing him the moment he realizes he was right all along he's gonna' have a million and a half questions and I don't think I can..." Danny trailed off awkwardly. There wasn't any accusation in his tone, however there was certain familiar frustration.

"Can't say much?"

"Yeah." Danny answered, looking relieved.

"Don't worry about it." Shiro assured him with the warmest smile he could summon. "You just, tell me when you're ready, and we'll go together."

"Thank you Shiro." Danny said, a sober note to the words. "For getting it."

Danny did not mention their conversation again before they were due to land on Kerberos. He laughed and joked and ate with them, same as he ever did, same as he ever was. It was one of the things Shiro found most unnerving about the young man, the way Danny could flip on a dime and compartmentalize his emotions as well as he did. It made a very small part of Shiro's mind that was not to be taken seriously wonder just how genuine Danny was at any given time.

Shiro brought the ship into a stable orbit around Kerberos. The four of them had loaded the much smaller pod which was to be used for ferrying them back and forth to the moon with their equipment. Sam's took up the most space, as his research was the primary reason for the exposition in the first place, and Shiro and Matt would be helping him where they could. Danny's equipment consisted of two briefcase-sized chests with the G.I.W. logo embossed on their sides with secure locks.

With the cargo loaded and the passengers strapped in, Shiro took the pod out of it's dock, keeping his attention on the GPS screen just behind the handle as much as the great ice sculptures outside. Behind him Danny had stars in his eyes and the Holts were chatting with each other animatedly, remarking on the glacial structures and the work ahead. Shiro grinned at the remarkably smooth flight. "Open flight log four-twelve-thirteen. Preparing for descent to Kerberos' surface. Matt, how're we looking?"

"All systems nominal. Go for it."

The landing was picture perfect, it couldn't have gone better even if Shiro had planned it. "And we have touchdown. Men," he tossed a grin over his shoulder "welcome to Kerberos."

The ramp lowered itself so slowly as to be agonizing. Meeting the ground, it shattered an ultra thin, top layer of ice before nestling in the fine, glittering crystals beneath. The ramp's incline wasn't steep by any measure, but it was just sharp enough that Shiro had to take slightly short strides. The first step he took on Kerberos, the first step any human had ever taken there, was a small one, though it represented a great victory. Sam, having been of the same mind, joined him on the ice. "One giant leap for mankind." he said, voice hedged in as much awe and pride as Shiro felt welling up in his own throat. He could admit that he, at times, had a certain propensity for over-sentimentality.

The cargo door was around the side of the pod. Shiro walked past it to the bay at the back, so he could retrieve the rover they would use to drive across the surface. Danny helped them load the ice harvesting equipment onto the rover before taking his own cases in hand and casting an appraising eye about the great, natural ice sculptures. "I think I'm gonna' head that way. Danny said, nodding towards a relatively flat plane flanked in what amounted to cliffs.

Shiro, with a boot on the rover's foothold and ready to hoist himself up into the driver's seat, nodded at him. "Do you have a flare gun?"

Danny pat his hip, against which a flare gun and three reloads rested. All of them were supposed to stay within eyesight of either the pod, rover, or another person at any given point in time. And every party, even if it consisted of a singular individual, must have a flare gun. Satisfied, and confident that Danny wouldn't be stupid enough to wander too far off, Shiro lifted himself from the icy ground and plopped himself in the seat. "Comms?"

Danny grinned, though it was slightly hard to see through the tinted helmet. "And they're fully charged."

"Right. Meet back in two hours, max." With a nod, Danny set off on foot.

Sam directed Shiro where to drive. They stopped three times before he found an area that he deemed appropriate, talking with Matt as they considered each in turn. Shiro didn't pretend to understand much of it. Matt himself could hardly keep up with his father on the best of days, though the man often sought his son's opinion regardless. Sam was Earth's best mind and leading expert in a highly specialized and incredibly narrow field.

So when Sam said he found a spot, Shiro didn't question it. He asked how he could help set up the tripod.

When the ice sampling drill broke the surface for the first time, Sam was completely absorbed by it, his eyes going back and forth between the actual drill and the monitors at lighting speed. The machine whirred softly, grinding its way deeper and deeper, eating away at the ice and separating a palm sized cylinder.

Shiro helped hold the drill stable both as it worked its way deeper, and as it retracted back to the surface. Matt was crouched by the hole left behind, ready with the sample receptacle. In his concentration his brow drew together and a little frown pulled at his lips. Behind him Sam followed each movement anxiously, hovering his hands tensely around Matts shoulders as if that would somehow help steady his hand. "Easy son." he said, eyes on the ice and nothing else as Matt inched the long cylinder from the inside of the drill gingerly. "This ice is delicate."

The ice was coming out beautifully, smooth, save for the chips around what Shiro guessed was probably air pockets. "Amazing." Matt's frown morphed into a tentative smile as the ice continued to ease out smoothly. "Isn't this exciting Shiro?"

Shiro smiled, hands still on the drill. "You guys get a little more excited about ice samples than I do." Though he had to admit, being able to see the layers, the subtle color shifts in sparkling whites and blues, was impressive.

"This is history in the making." Sam breathed, eyes still on the sample, though he had allowed himself to lean back and relax his posture, if only a little. "Not only have we traveled farther than any human ever has, but this ice could hold microscopic clues about life outside Earth."

"Think of it Dad, we could use those clues to be the first people to meet aliens." Matt cast a side-long glance at his father.

"My life's work would be complete." Unexpectedly, the ground beneath them shook so violently that Shiro almost lost his footing. "What is that? Seismic activity?" Sam exclaimed. Though by his tone Shiro could tell the man didn't quite believe his own words. The lurch hadn't come from beneath them, it was more like a sudden crash of gravity, affecting even the air.

Already running through several worst case scenarios in his mind, Shiro ordered "We should get back to the ship." Matt had pulled the sample free and stood, holding it close to his chest as if to protect it. Perhaps he had guessed at Shiro's next words, which was to leave the equipment for now. It wasn't going anywhere after all, they could always return for it later.

However inexplicably, inconceivably, beyond any shred of reason, a great something rose above the moon's curved horizon. Or no, it wasn't a something, in a second Shiro knew exactly what it was and his heart clenched at the sight of it. However comprehension was beyond him through the sheer impossibility of it.

"What- what is that?" Sam repeated with growing alarm.

"It can't be!" Matt exclaimed, terror and confusing warping his face.

The ship, the massive black and purple alien ship, for what else could it be, sailed smoothly towards them. So large as to disrupt the unbreathably thin atmosphere around Kerberos enough to make it feel as though the moon itself shuddered in place. Then a wine in a low pitch started reverberating around them, the sound climbing higher and higher in tandem with a painfully bright spot of color that grew from the front of the ship.

Shiro's mind was still trying to wrap itself around what he was seeing, unbelieving of it even though it was right in front of him clear as day. The spot of light grew larger and brighter, and as Shiro stared in incomprehension at it alarm bells suddenly screamed to life in his mind. Without thinking, his hands and feet moving on nothing but instinct and adrenaline, he yelled "Run!" Sam and Matt were frozen in place, so Shiro grabbed each of their arms and bodily shoved them in front of him. "Come on, run!" he urged desperately.

It was like trying to move through a dream in which his legs felt as heavy as lead. Their boots were designed to weigh them down to make walking across the moon easier, and even then the ice under their feet was slippery and unforgiving to three insignificantly small humans running for their lives.

The beam, for the point of light shot out in a mighty explosion, was a bright red. Shiro didn't dare spare a look for the carnage behind him, all his concentration focused solely on moving forward, urging Matt and Holt in front. It was a useless endeavour, Shiro would have known had he had the capacity to think further than putting one foot in front of the other, as the pod was too far away and the ship further still. He could hear metal banging against metal as the rover and equipment, forgotten, crashed against each other as the beam lifted them up.

Shiro's shadow stretched long a jagged in front of him as the beam moved closer still. They hadn't managed to get very far, no more than ten or so meters at most if Shiro had been made to put an estimate on it, before the ground underneath his next step crumbled. Great chunks of ice broke off sharply from the whole, running deep enough that the moon itself, also fracturing, was visible. Shiro tried to keep running, tried to push another foot forward, but the beam swallowed him. His shadow vanished suddenly, as if it had never touched the distant moon of Pluto at all, along with it the ice he could no longer run on.

In front of him, below him, to his sides, direction became meaningless in an instant as he flipped and turned around in the beam, Matt and Holt were also lifted. Shiro screamed, they all screamed. In pain as much as shock and fear, as impossible pressure compressed his body from every angle. His eyes saw only red, from the beam or blood flooding his eyes Shiro didn't know.

The world went dark, from unconsciousness or sudden blindness, again, Shiro didn't know.

Unaware, unbidden, his hands reached out for a companion. If only to assure himself that, if nothing else, he wasn't alone, even if his dearest wish was for the Holts to have escaped. His fingers closed around nothing.

---

Shiro's head pounded between his ears. He was dizzy and nauseous and saw nothing but unfocused, too-bright red lights around him.

"Emperor Zarkon," A voice floating hazily somewhere above Shiro said "we were scouting system X-Y-9 as ordered when we found these primitive scientists." Two blinks later and the adrenaline from his failed escape hit Shiro in a renewed surge. Shiro's head shot up abruptly, and he found himself faced with the low-lit interior of what looked like some sort of control bridge. The ship, the beam, the ground crumbling under his feet even as he continued to useless pump them forward all flooded back to him, making his breath catch in his throat. A few paces forward a figure stood, dressed in dark colors with spiked, lilac hair. The wall further beyond was dominated by a holographic screen showing a gnarled, alien face. "I don't think they know anything useful." the purple-haired figure went on, his back towards Shiro.

Looking to his right, Shiro saw the three others slumped forward and on their knees, same as him. They however still had their helmets on, making it impossible to discern whether or not they were still unconscious or had woken as well. "Take them back to the main fleet for interrogation." The holographic face ordered. Shiro didn't know if the low growl in his voice was natural, or a product of whatever communication system the aliens were using, but he could not help the shiver than ran down his spine at his words. "The druids will find out what they know." Shiro's heart was beating wildly in his chest, making his breath come in short, panicked gasps.

Knowing he had almost no context from which to draw, but knowing that he had to do something, anything, Shiro leaned forward as best he could, stopped only by his restrained hands behind his back. "Please, we come from a peaceful planet! We mean you no harm!" he cried, finding a modicum of hope when the figure turned his head to face them. Only then did Shiro see that the lilac hair was in fact skin, and what he took for a spiked style were in fact horn-like protrusions lining the top of the alien's head and falling towards the spine, disappearing under his collar. Shiro did not allow himself to falter as the alien's accusing, yellow eyes focused on him. "We're unarmed!"

If he could only get the alien talking, he might be able to reason with them, they were obviously intelligent. They could find a-

Shiro cried at a sharp blow to the back of his head. He fell unconscious again before the pain of it could reach him.

---

When next Shiro woke he was being dragged by his wrists, still bound. His head, throbbing horribly with every beat of his heart, lolled between his shoulders. Each step by the aliens- creatures- robots- it was hard to tell with their faces covered, rattled the metal grate floor, and in turn rattled his aching head.

"Look, they brought in another one."

"Who is it?"

"Over there. It's another one."

The whispers followed their procession. It took Shiro a long time to realize that they were coming from behind the walls, or perhaps they were doors, as there were small viewing slits, inside which he could catch snatches of curious and frightened eyes.

"Huh?" Shiro breathed, feeling the murky waters of sleep grabbing at his lucidity again.

His head rolled to the right right as he was dragged past a window. Beyond it there were columns upon columns and rows upon rows of neat, square, cells stretching out into the distance. Shiro's heart stuttered, but he was too weak to do anything. The window passed, the whispers continued, and Shiro fell back asleep.

---

There was something soft under his head and cool on his brow. It was dark around Shiro, darker still than the bridge and the metal prison hall. Shiro sucked in a shaky breath. "Are you okay?" a voice asked above him.

"Hnn?" was all Shiro could manage. He attempted to sit up, but a firm hand on his chest kept him down.

"Take it easy. You've been drifting in and out for a bit now." Danny's voice was soft and patient. "You took a hit to the head, two actually. You probably have a concussion. Can you talk?" he said, slow enough for Shiro to follow.

Above him three faces came in to focus, those of the Holts and Danny. Blissfully cool fingers cradled the sides of his head and Shiro realized with a start that he was pillowed on Danny's lap, though he was in too much pain to feel all too embarrassed about it. "Aren't you not supposed to sleep if you're concussed?" Shiro managed with what he hoped was a smile, shaky as it felt.

"There he is." Matt said with a watery smile.

"Couldn't really do much, you were already asleep when they threw us in here." Danny explained. "But this is the most awake you've been so far." he shifted a hand, allowing his chilly fingers to sooth Shiro's skin. "Let's keep it that way, huh?"

Shiro didn't dare to attempt a nod, so instead he grunted a vaguely affirming sound. His eyes had started adjusting to the dark, enough to be able to make out the bare room, or cell, they were in. It was perfect square, as far as Shiro could tell, with every surface made of smooth, unblemished metal. So smooth that the line where the door met wall was almost indistinguishable. In fact, the only reason Shiro could identify that wall as having the door was for the small viewing slit that served as the only source of sparse light, same as those he'd seen while being dragged.

"Where are we?" Shiro asked, despite already knowing yet desperately wishing he was wrong.

Matt and Sam glanced at each other, both reluctant to answer, so Danny did. "Some sort of prison complex I think."

"Surely nothing that bad." Sam said as he stood. "These are intelligent, extraterrestrial life forms, the difference in culture must be astounding! We shouldn't jump to any conclusions just yet." Sam didn't sound as though he quite believed himself.

"Dad," Matt stood and joined his father "I think..." he trailed off, casting a hopeless eye around the cell "let's look for a way out." Together, as if of one mind, they went to the door and considered it, speaking in low tones and occasionally prodding it or running a hand over the surface. They were all still wearing their space suits, however divested of their helmets.

Shiro tried to sit up, though again Danny stopped him. "You really shouldn't move yet."

"I can't just sit here. We need to escape." Shiro grunted, happy that finally Danny allowed him to sit up.

Standing proved a step too far, as the nausea returned with sickening vengeance. Shiro collapsed against one of the walls and huffed out a defeated breath. "Proven your point Rocket Man?" Danny laughed softly.

Shiro leaned his head against the cold wall. It wasn't as smooth as it looked in the dark, rather it was scratched and pockmarked. He tried not to think about why or who may have been desperate enough to scar the surface so. "Yeah, maybe I'll just sit here and try not to throw up for a minute."

"Or five."

Sam cleared his throat and spoke up. "We can't seem to find any interface on this side."

"Not that it would help, we don't have any tech with us." Matt mumbled, still staring at the door contemplatively.

"I think our only way through would be forcing it open." Sam finished. He had half turned to face them, or rather more precisely, face Danny. "It's at least partially mechanical, as far as we can tell. With some time Matt and I may be able to find it's weakest points, though we would need a strong force to exploit them."

Danny's hand had wandered to his wrist, the one upon which he still wore his digital watch under the outer space suit, even out here. "They would have enforced it. I'm sure they've had people stronger than humans in here."

"We still have to try." Matt insisted. "If any of us can, it's you."

Danny's fingers tightened over his wrist. "I can't." he insisted back, a horrible echo from their conversation together not even a week ago.

"Danny's right." Shiro grunted as he attempted again to stand, looking to diffuse a possible argument as much as find a way out. Matt wasn't the argumentative type, or course, and Danny seemed to be retreating into himself as he did. Even so Shiro saw no reason to push their luck in an already extreme situation. Cool heads would prevail, he had to believe that. Patience would yield focus.

Matt rushed over when Danny made no attempt to either stop or help Shiro this time. "You sure you're good to stand?"

"Fine." Shiro lied, ignoring the well of bile that stung the back of his throat and the incessant throb behind his eyes. "The door probably is reinforced." Closer, and now yet more acclimated to the dark, Shiro could see it too was scratched. More so than the rest of the walls, some of the marks went at least half an inch deep. In solid metal. "They can't keep us in here forever though. They said something about interrogation, which means at some point they're going to open it. If we're lucky, we can break out then."

Matt looked grim at the prospect. He'd never been one of the best under pressure, but the seriousness of the situation sobered him. "You okay, Matt?" Shiro asked low.

Matt swallowed, took a moment to himself, and nodded, trembling ever so slightly. "Yeah."

"Okay. Good. We all need to be able to count on each other." Shiro didn't bother with platitudes, there wasn't space for them here.

Danny had decided to remain on the floor, silent, introspective, staring out into nothing as talk of strategy, of whether or not their jailers had weapons, what form these weapons might take, how many guards there were, dragged on. "That alright with you?" Shiro asked as gently as he could, when the three of them had managed to outline a working, however painfully vague, plan for how they would try to rush the guards when they inevitably came for them. Danny gave no opinions, despite their planning surrounding him in part.

"You'll probably just make things worse for yourselves, antagonizing them like that."

"But we have to try, don't we?" Matt asserted. Not angry per se, but they had been trapped in the cell for easily half day, probably more, and they were all feeling it. "And let's face it, you're the strongest out of all of us."

Sam put a hand on his son's shoulder as he stepped by him. "Danny, I understand this is difficult for you, it is for all of us. But I promised my wife and my daughter that I would bring their son and brother home. We don't have much of a choice." Sam's voice was firm, possessed of the kind of determination and unwavering fortitude found only in parents. "All of us, together, we have to find a way home."

Danny stared deeply into Sam's eyes, cast with an entirely different kind of determination, this one grim and cold. "I'm trying to help you." he said "These kinds of people, it doesn't matter if they're human or alien or whatever, I know their type. If you're not useful to them, or if you make their job harder than it has to be, one way or another, they'll make sure you can't make a fuss anymore." Danny turned his face down, once again his grip over his watch. "And if you are useful, that's worse."

---

The aliens took Sam.

It had all happened so fast, and they hadn't ever stood a chance, not really. The alien weapons were like nothing Shiro had ever seen, shooting some strange bolt of pure energy, he couldn't describe it any other way, that popped and crackled through his system like thousands of angry wasps.

As the oldest, they assumed Sam knew the most, and possibly that he would be the easiest to subdue. Which wasn't entirely unfounded, he was the leader of their mission after all. But the man was made made of stern stuff.

Matt and Shiro had railed against their captors madly, all thought of planning, partially because their loose strategy had gotten them exactly nowhere, was tossed aside. Shiro realized, somewhere in the back of his mind behind the frantic fear of what would happen to Sam if they were separated, that the scratch marks on the door weren't made from previous prisoners trying to get out.

They were made from families being separated.

"Get him out!" One of the jailors yelled, keeping his gun trained on Matt, already having shot him all of three times in his side. Shiro could not discern any demarcation of rank on his suit that made any sense to him, but he knew military command. By their body language he guessed this one was the superior.

Sam put up a good fight, but there was little he could do. Even the pair of robots that flanked him, though shorter than the two purple aliens present, stood no less than a head and a half taller than Shiro. "Dad!" Matt screamed, seeming the only word he could find, from his slump against the wall, barely standing. He had his arm thrown across his belly where the energy bolts hit.

Shiro was equally clutching a hand over his chest where he'd been hit. It still burned fiercely, and he worried for the damage it might have done or could be doing to his heart. "Don't hurt them!" Sam pleaded. "I'll go! Don't hurt them!"

"Sam!" Shiro yelled as Matt called for his father again. Matt hobbled forward unsteadily, pain in every step, and was repelled easily.

Shiro couldn't be sure what had finally made Danny break. He'd been watching with eyes wide in fear until then but had yet to move. If it was the sight of Sam in cuffs, or him and Matt getting shot, or the alien's voice barking "Close it now.", Danny shot up.

It had taken the guards a whole second to register that Danny was running towards them, but by then he'd already slipped past and landed a solid punch to the jaw of the one with his hand over the palm scanning pad by the door, knocking him back.

Seeing this as his chance Shiro shot forward with an involuntary cry of anger as much as pain, and was rewarded with another shot to hip. Shiro clutched his leg, breathing harshly as his vision blurred for a moment.

The alien fighting off Danny cursed and staggered back, but recovered quickly. Forgoing his gun, likely due to the close quarters making the danger of hitting himself or his superior too great, the alien opted for punching Danny back.

Danny hit the side of the door frame hard, his back curling around it awkwardly. However he didn't spare more time than it took to blink for a hiss and a cringe. Using the wall like a springboard he launched himself back at the alien with a growl. They could hear Sam yelling from down the hall, echoing metallically, though it was impossible to discern words through the clang of fighting.

Despite Danny's sudden and unexpected ferocity, the alien ran the butt of his gun into Danny's cheek with enough force to send him sprawling back across the cell and slamming into the far wall with a toe-curling crunch. The superior alien scrambled to close the door as Danny staggered up as if he hadn't just broken bone.

His eyes were green again, and now Shiro didn't even pretend that it was anything other than an impossibility made real. Danny's eyes were bright electric green and here, in the shadowed cell, they glowed. Part of Shiro was terrified, both for his uncomprehending confusion and for Danny himself.

No, fear wasn't quite the right word, not really. How couldn't be fearful of Danny. It was however the only thing Shiro could really process in that moment.

Danny ranthe door again, but it met the wall just before he reached it, leaving him to hit it bodily. It dented where his fist connected with yet another wet crunch. From the other side the aliens laughed. "You'll make an excellent gladiator. I'll make sure to attend the arena."

Then they were gone. The whole thing hadn't even taken a minute but Shiro felt as though a year had gone by for the fatigue in his limbs.

Danny slumped down, whimpering and wheezing as he clutched painfully at his stomach. "Are you okay?" Shiro asked, regardless of the fact that he knew that answer was no. Matt had slumped against the wall, eyes blown wide and likely in shock, however physically speaking he was likely the least injured. So Shiro ignored him and stumbled to Danny, hissing through his teeth as he put even the slightest weight on his bad leg. He shook so badly that even the cold, filthy floor made Shiro grateful, for no other reason than it offered a place to sit.

"Fine." Danny grit out, sounding anything but. "How're you, they shot you."

"Burns." Enough to bring tears to Shiro's eyes "You're worse."

"Danny, I heard bone break. Where does it hurt?"

Danny laughed, or rather he tried to. He aborted the attempt when it came out sounding more like a sob, accompanied by a splatter of blood out of his mouth. "I probably broke a rib, or two." He sob-laughed again "Or three." Beside them, Matt shuddered, hunched over, and promptly threw up.

"Hear that Matt? Broken ribs, how well are you? Because we've got to treat this." Shiro called over his shoulder. He could smell the sick, acidic vomit from across the cell, strong as it was. For the first time Shiro wondered how much of the grime on the floor was built up over time and how much was fluids from the various alien species that must have spent a miserable time there before them.

"Shiro, really. I'm fine." Danny said through a notable strain in his voice. "You don't have to-"

"No you're not. Lie as still as you can." Shiro shrugged out of his outer space suit, trying not to let the pain show on his face, with the intention of using it to compress Danny's chest as best he could. Half his mind was running through first aid training too fast for the other half to follow properly. He was painfully aware that first aid only went so far, and that Danny, or all of them, would need proper medical attention soon. Attention he was sure they wouldn't get. "Matt? I really need you buddy."

"I'm here." Matt collapsed on Danny's other side. He was trembling top to toe, enough to make his teeth clatter. Though he kept his hands steady as he stripped his own outer suit, his sharp mind already racing behind teary eyes, following Shiro's thinking without needing to be told. "Cold and compression." he said. "No ice packs, no bandages, our suits will have to do."

"We'll use mine to pillow, yours to tie around." Shiro finished for him as he started balling up the softest parts of the upper half of his suit. Lucky for them it was well insulated, which meant it would be soft against Danny's chest. Though that still left the issue of what to do after. Rib breaks and fractures took weeks, months, to fully heal. That wasn't time they could afford going forward. "Danny, can you move your arms for me? Carefully?"

"I'm fine."

"You're so not." Matt said, hands going to Danny's, probably to pry then away. "Shit, is that blood?"

But of course Danny wouldn't budge, even when severely injured. "Seriously you guys, don't worry about me. I heal fast. See, the swelling's already gone down." As if to prove it to them, he unzipped his own outer suit, with amazing dexterity for someone who supposedly broke ribs, and pulled it down to show them his chest. Even his voice was clearer, free of the painful rasp it had taken on.

Matt pressed very tentatively probing fingers to Danny's chest and side, smoothing his palm flat over the material of the internal flight suit. "Dude, we heard bone." Matt whispered, staring with an abject sort of horror at Danny's chest, as if he too were an alien. "Did they not really break? Are they maybe just fractured?" Not great, but comparatively better.

Danny shook his head "Doesn't matter, how are you guys? Those shots looked like they hurt."

Matt looked up in alarm. "How can you say it doesn't matter? That's blood! That means you're probably bleeding internally and if you are then there's nothing we can-" Matt choked on his own words and he started trembling again.

"Matt I'm fine, seriously. I probably just bit my tongue or something." Danny insisted but Matt had stopped listening. Tears were down his face in earnest, clogging his voice with them. "Matt?"

"He's gone. What am I supposed to do?"

"I'm sorry." was all Danny had to say as he pulled away from Matt. He left the outer suit unzipped and pulled his knees up to meet his chest.

Matt tried to say something but the sound was incoherent through his wild sobs. Dragging himself across the floor, Shiro took Matt in his arms and leaned them both into a semi comfortable position against the door. He let Matt cry against his shoulder, soiling it with mucus and salty tears.

They sat like that for the longest time. Shiro had nothing he could say to Matt, despite desperately wishing he did. He desperately wished for a great deal right then, mostly he wanted to go home. He wanted to know why they were there. He wanted to know who these purple aliens were and what they were planning.

He felt rather like crying himself, but he didn't, because Matt needed someone to lean against. And because if he started, he feared he would never stop.

Eventually, however still with hitched and irregular breathing, Matt mumbled through hoarse vocal chords "He'll be fine right?"

Over Matt's head Danny's eyes met Shiro's. "Probably."

"He's a smart man." Shiro added.

That made Matt nod just a bit. "Yeah, he is, isn't he? He'll be fine." Matt didn't bother to move from where he was slumped tiredly against Shiro's arm. "He'll be fine."

"I'm sorry." Danny said again.

"Stop saying that." Matt said with sudden and unexpected anger. "None of this is your fault so stop apologizing. Fucking Christ."

Danny ducked his head. "I should've- I don't know, I'm sorry. I should've managed to save him."

Matt started shaking his head as an angry flush worked its way up his cheeks "That's not what I- Jesus, Danny, just stop!" He dug the heels of his palms into his eyes and kept them there. "You're not some one-man army! I don't want to deal with you and your you-ness. So just stop." At that, Danny remained silent.

The three of them remained on the floor with their backs pressed against the door, for lack of anywhere else to sit as much as having no will left to do as little as move. The burning sensation had long since passed, as had the adrenaline, leaving Shiro feeling tired and hollow.

Beyond the door they could hear the faint sounds of the other prisoners. Some of them cried themselves. Some yelled. Some made sounds that were too foreign to his human ears to discern their meaning. It was all muffled through the doors and the echoing hall. Sometimes Shiro could just about hear the cadence of organized speech, but not individual words. Danny probably heard more.

They had little to say. Enough time passed for them to fall asleep and wake again to the ship rocking as it docked. As a group they were shuffled and forced on to a different ship with more cells, filled with other aliens that looked as scared as they felt. The three of them clung to each other, unwilling to separate further, while keeping an eye out for Sam.

Shiro finally had his own breakdown when they were stripped and forced into mephitic prisoner's uniforms that made him feel as if he'd never be clean again. And then he went in to think that he'd never see Earth again. Danny's birthday cake had been the last cake he'd ever tasted. Adam had been the last person he'd kissed. Turkey and mayonnaise had been the last sandwich he ate. That evening with Keith had been the last time he'd gotten sand in his eyes. Him and Matt just outside Sam's lab as Kerberos floated in to view beyond the small round window had been the last picture he'd ever taken.

It was Matt's turn to hold him. He didn't say anything was going to get better, because that would've been a lie. Shiro wasn't the only one. They were surrounded by aliens of all creeds wailing, same as him.

Then there was yet another new ship with new cells that clanged as much as the first two. Between hearing the Galra, as they learned their captors were called, bark orders at each other and snatches of conversation with their fellow prisoners that felt generous with information, they found out where they were destined for.

Knowing didn't make the burden any easier to bare. Apparently they were all heading for an arena. "Not everyone goes there." a large, hulking red alien with hair that looked like long, hanging mushrooms had told them shyly. "The infirm, old and injured are sent to the work camps. I hear they are better, though I would not know."

"Do not fill their heads with such uselessness." another alien that sat with his back to them said. He turned his head all the way around, like an owl, and four eyes staring at the mushroom alien sternly. "The arena offers a quick death, quick and glorious. There are innumerable work camps across the greater Galaxy, and some of them are much worse indeed. Those unfortunate enough to find themselves there pray to Voltron and whatever other powers that may be for death to take them sooner rather than later." The owl alien's eyes went misty, in that they quite literally clouded over with white when his voice turned solemn.

"Were you there?" Matt asked. "How did you get transfered?"

The alien turned his head further still to face Matt, his eyes snapping back to their original deep indigo. "Ask not questions with answers that will upset weak stomachs." He nodded to Danny "This one knows of what I speak. You have the taste of quintessence on you, and the smell of suffering. Pray for a quick death." With those final words he turned his head around again to face his front and shuffled to the other side of the cramped and overfilled cell. Some of the others grumbled their displeasure, but gave him a wide enough birth. It seemed many found him as creepy as Shiro did.

Danny certainly hadn't liked being singled out by him. If it had been Shiro, he would have likely felt the same. Danny ran an absent finger down his watch, losing himself in thought.

Constant shuffling and reshuffling became their new normal. Alone with the meager food and the ever persisting stench that was so inescapable. Once, a small bluish alien with four arms and short, stubby legs plopped himself down next to Danny. "I heard through the murtlap vine that the Omaromoraru saw that you've got some quintessence. Sindle's the name by the way. Sindle Jagger."

"You heard from oma-what?" Danny asked.

"Keep your voice down!" Sindle shushed vehemently, casting an eye towards the tall door of the cell. Much like the first, they all seemed to share a similar design. "The Omoromoraru." He whispered with a manic edge on his face. "Tall guy, four eyes, all-seeing."

"Is that what he's called?" Matt asked.

Sindle continued as if Matt hadn't spoken. "This is how you snuck the quintessence in, right?" He said, lifting Danny's wrist and examining his watch with great interest. "It's clever, I'll give you that. Weird tech, but who am I to judge if it works."

Danny jerked his wrist back and shuffled closer to Shiro on the ground. "Don't touch that." he hissed.

Far from being deterred, Sindle's face lit up with glee when he met Danny's eyes. "Ah there it is! All bright and glowy, never seen it green before but it's there!"

Shiro was about to intervene when Danny cocked his head to the side. His muscles were still tight as a coil but his voice was genuinely curious. "Wait, what did you call it?"

"Weird tech? It's not like it isn't weird, but the guards put on prisoner duty are pretty stupid 'cause all the good ones are off looking for Vo-"

"No no, the other thing. Quinn-something."

Sindle blinked his large eyes once with an air of extreme disbelief. "Quintessence. Don't tell me you dunno' what that is?"

Danny leaned back, repeating the word "Quintessence." once, testing it on his tongue.

"Quiznack. Kid, how do you not know what quintessence is?"

"And that's what everyone calls it? Quintessence?"

Sindle blinked again and then shook his head. "Yeah, okay, you're either crazy, stupid or both. And Sindle doesn't do crazy." he said, already getting up.

"Hey, wait!" Some of the nearby aliens turned to them at Danny's raised voice. Sindle shushed him again.

"Not so loud crazy." he whispered so loudly it perhaps should not be called whispering. "Look kid, free advice, don't go yellin' about what you've got, and don't go attracting the guards attention and don't get yourself mixed up with that witch. She'll suck ya dry, I've seen it happen. Well I haven't seen it happen, I wouldn't know anything about that. But only crazy and stupid gets mixed up with her, so you're doomed. Either way, forget my name. And don't go ratting out the Omaromoraru neither."

Then Sindle beat a quick exit, making all sorts of possibly rude gestures as he did and bumping into others for his trouble. "Talk about crazy." Danny said distantly.

Shiro huffed a single, small, breathy laugh. Contrasted so darkly against the last few days- weeks?- it felt like some of the greatest joy he could ever remember feeling. Especially considering the ever looming threat of an intergalactic death arena-bound prison ship.

"I'm not even going to ask about that one." Matt added.

When the ship docked a chill had settled over all the prisoners and the Galra took on a new, razor sharp glee. They were sorted, rather loosely, by size and general species type. Or that's what Shiro assumed, as he hadn't seen Omawoma-whatever-he-was, the mushroom alien or Sindle again. They were instead pushed together with a fair few other vaguely humanoid shaped aliens. They were hardly the only small group made of the same species, though that was very much the exception to the rule. Most were one of kind, though the racial distinctions became irrelevant in all their commiseration.

Their new cell was directly below the arena. Once in while they could hear the battles or the crowd roaring above the ceiling. Twice the walls shook with the force of it, and it made Shiro's heart stutter. Even so, he found he prefered the clamour above, as the silence that was left in it's wake was unbearable.

Sometimes the other prisoners whispered in hushed, fearful tones. Sometimes the three of them did. "I miss Mom and Katie." Matt had once said under his breath morosely, staring absently up at the ceiling.

"Your family." A one eyed pale yellow alien with large, flat protrusions sticking out of her head, observed. She'd taken a shine to Matt, as she too had lost her father to the work camps.

"Yeah. They're still back on our home planet, Earth."

"I've never heard of this Earth, what is it like?"

"Lots of water. Lots of plants." Shiro said.

Matt turned a stern eye to Shiro. "That is the most unromantic description of Earth I've ever heard."

"Humans have nicknamed it the blue planet, but we know relatively little about our oceans." Danny added. "I always liked calling it that. It definitely did look blue from a distance."

"How queer." the alien decided. "You humans must be very bad at naming things, to misname your own planet like that."

"That's nothing. It's mostly covered in oceans, but the name Earth literally means ground."

The alien blinked her singular, doe-like eye as she contemplated it. "Very queer." she eventually said. "Is this tradition? Do you name your many plants or yourselves for things they are not?"

A pale smile that wasn't really a smile found its way onto Danny's face. "Probably. Humans are kinda' dumb most of the time."

That drew a small laugh from their companion. They had yet to see her even smile, though now she showed off three wide rows of sharp teeth that made her look a lot less like a doe and a great deal more like a shark. "Ah, Earthen humor. Thank you, it has been some time since I last smiled." Some of the others around them looked up at the disturbance, staring at the yellow alien with blank, dull eyes.

"It's called sarcasm." Danny said softly "It's my favorite kind."

"So what of your families then?" she asked openly to Shiro and Danny. "Are they safe on your mysterious ocean covered, ground named planet?"

"Yeah." Shiro answered, keeping his voice low "Yeah they're home, safe."

"Do either of you have any sisters, like Matt?"

"Not me. Well, not by blood. But I know a kid, he's as good as a brother. I'd do anything for him."

The alien nodded knowingly. "Then he is family."

Shiro didn't bother to try to hide the tears that grew at the corners of his eyes. There really wasn't any point any more. "Yeah, he is."

"I envy you." The alien said sadly. She turned her eye down and stared at the ground between her toes. "I am my sire's soul child. It sounds wonderful to have siblings."

With a pale smile, Shiro nodded absently, his mind far away as he wondered what Keith was doing right then. "It is."

Later, late enough that the yellow alien had moved to a corner of the room and fell into a fitful sleep, Danny said softly "I miss my sister too."

Matt, who looked as though he had been almost falling asleep himself, blinked lucidity back into his eyes. "Your sister?

"Older sister." Danny traced a finger over the floor in an aimless, swirling pattern only he could see. Shiro wondered absently at what point in all this the thick grime on the floors and walls had stopped bothering him.

Matt lifted his legs up to rest his chin on his knees. "You never talk about your family. I was beginning to think you were some kind of test-tube baby."

Danny smiled to himself, his eyes shining with memories. "You'd be surprised." he said softly. "My parents have always been the local odd balls. So for my sister and I, it was us against the world. She annoyed the hell outta' of me, but I knew she always had my back. No matter what. I miss her. I miss everyone."

"I knew there was a reason we liked you." Matt half whispered back, throwing a warm glance Shiro's way. "We could sense the little brother vibe on you, and it's part of the older brother code to protect your kid sibling."

A small smile wormed its way onto Danny's face, though he did not lift his eyes from his swirling imaginary pattern. Though he did not know it, that would be the last time in a while Shiro would see either of them close to happy, as they were yet to go through a great deal more anguish, unfathomably as it was to them right then. "Yeah that's true. I'd give anything to talk to her one last time."

Hearing the tremble in Danny's admission, from someone who was always so careful to hide his true vulnerabilities, was rather heartbreaking. "What do you think they told them?" Matt wondered out loud.

"Who told who?" Shiro asked.

"What do you think the Garrison told our families? About what happened to us? They've got to know by now. And Katie definitely knows, since my and Dad's last secret message was right before landing on Kerberos."

"The truth?" Shiro ventured. What else could they say? "They'll have our last logs, be able to find the ship, unless the Galra got to it, which could have happened. They'll say we're missing in action."

"Or dead if they wanna' keep it quiet." Danny added.

"You really think they'd do that?" Matt asked.

"It's easier, cleaner. M.I.A. means they're obliged to send a recon team, which is hard to do when the initial mission was pioneering. Assumed dead, or better yet confirmed dead, it's way easier."

It made a sickening sort of sense, loathe as Shiro was to contemplate it. "No way they'd actually do that though, right?" Matt said "I mean, Katie would never believe that, and I know Keith wouldn' teither. No way they'd say we're dead and leave us."

Shiro didn't know what to say. Especially not when Danny shrugged again. "Dead isn't so bad." He didn't offer much else after that. And in truth, Shiro really didn't feel much like talking either.

If they were reported dead, Shiro decided, he hoped Keith wouldn't obsess over it, as he was so prone to do. Shiro hoped dearly that he'd move on, and that in the years they'd had together Shiro had been able to impart enough to equip Keith to handle the world at large. And that he'd find it in himself to partake in the joys it could offer, if only asked for.

---

The hours and days and aliens were so blurred together that Shiro hardly registered when yet another generic Galra guard dropped yet another tin bowl of the gruel they'd been fed in front of him. It clanged loudly, some of the vaguely yellow mush that looked a little like oatmeal crossed with lemon jell-o inside splattering on the floor. It was thoroughly unappetizing, but it was food, and he was hungry. "Eat well. Might be your last." the galra grunted. Shiro sat up at that and looked around the room, all the faces told the same story. Was this it? Were they soon going into the actual arena under which they'd all heard so many deaths? Until then it had been a rather abstract sort of horror, too much to contemplate as it hung over their heads, dark in the future. Now though...

They were filed into two parallel lines. Most of the others around them had opted for stoicism as Shiro had. Perhaps they prayed. Perhaps they formulated strategies. Perhaps they meditated. In front of Shiro, Matt fidgeted with the frayed edge of his prison tunic, dropped his hands to run his palms down his side, before taking the tunic again. He did this several times.

"Before we go in." Danny, standing to the right of Shiro, whispered. "If anything happens, I wanted to say thanks for knowing you both. Dr. Holt too."

They were told strictly not to touch each other, and although the penalty of death was not explicitly stated, the Galra had ordered them from beyond the barrel of their burning guns. Even so, he wanted to reach out to the two of them. For his own comfort as much as anything, because they were now facing the inexplicable reality that they could die. Would almost certainly die. "Same to you."

Matt started shaking violently with his fists clenched at his sides. He didn't say anything until they were brought before an archway, nothing but a door separating them and the arena. Matt swayed on his feet the moment they heard the crowd roaring beyond. "I'm not going to make it. I'll never see my family again!" he exclaimed as he lifted his hands and stared at them in horror, as if wondering how in the world his soft flesh was to battle.

"You can do this." Shiro said. It wasn't much, meaningless words really, but it was all Shiro had to offer. The group at large flinched back as the door lifted, light from the arena blinding them as it spilled through the archway. Squinting, Shiro got his first look at the sand pit and, in the distance, Myzax, as they'd been told his name was. He was a humanoid alien, tall, brutish and gazing at them hungrily, one of the best gladiators the Galra had to throw them against. He clenched an unfamiliar weapon at his side, a vaguely club shaped instrument with a large glowing orb hovering over the end that crackled menacingly.

Matt was the first in line, and so it was to him that a guard pointed and offered the hilt of what equated a mildly curved sword with a notch stinging tout at it's tip. Matt's breath caught and he froze, eyes fixated on it's razor sharp edge.

Shiro clenched his jaw, a sudden, wild, reckless idea overtaking him. There was a chance he could offer more than just words, though in doing so he almost certainly would not survive. But there was a small chance Matt could. It was insane, really, but he didn't have anything left to lose.

With as harsh a yell as he could muster, Shiro grabbed Matt's shoulder and roughly shoved him backwards into the arms of the alien behind them, using the momentum to propel himself forward. He wrestled the sword from the Galra's hand, who let him have it with little resistance, and held it aloft. Shiro contorted his face as he stared down the aliens with whom he had shared what was to be some of his last days and hours. Matt and Danny were looking at him as if he'd suddenly gone mad.

"This is my fight." he proclaimed, and before Shiro could properly think twice about what he was doing, he brought the sword down in a hard slice. He felt its edge contact with the flesh of Matt's leg, felt the way it separated muscle like butter and the feeling of it swirled deep and horrible in his gut. Matt stumbled back with a strangled cry, his hands going to the wound, which was already oozing blood between his fingers.

He rushed forward again, knocking Matt down and pouncing on top of him, trying his best to ignore the pain he was willingly inflicting upon his closest friend. "I want blood!" Shiro yelled in Matt's face, loud enough for everyone to hear. Under him, Matt's breath hitched with fear, his eyes going wide. Only then, with Shiro's fringe falling over his face and somewhat shielding it from the other prisoners, did he allow his face to soften. "Take care of your father." he whispered, his heart stuttering for the fierce joy he felt at the way Matt's expression cleared in comprehension. There wasn't even that much of a chance that Matt would be sent to the same camp as Sam, but Shiro supposed it hardly mattered right then.

Matt would be spared the arena. If nothing else, Shiro could hold on to that. He would have to.

Two hands landed on each of Shiro's shoulders and dragged him bodily from Matt. For a second he got one last look at them, humans and aliens alike, staring at him as he was dragged up the three steps to the arena archway. One of the aliens with gray hair and skin stooped down to Matt, half way shielding him, his eyes wide with fear. Danny stood above them and the look on his face made Shiro's mouth run dry. There was that foolhardy determination there, the one he was so prone to. It made Shiro want to call out before the young man decided to do anything as monumentally stupid as that which he himself had just done. The point was to save Matt, not drag Danny along with him.

Except that's exactly what happened. As Shiro was thrown into the arena by the Galra, the sword skidded to stop next to him, Danny hurled himself after. He was fast, and the momentum taking him farther than where Shiro lay half sprawled, kicking up a cloud of dust in his wake. Behind them, the door shuddered and rattled as it slammed down, cutting off the surprised yelps of the prisoners and guards on the other side.

And then it was just them and Myzax. All around them the crowd screamed, the lights mounted on the impossibly tall walls of the arena beat down on them, bright and hot, and the sand burned his skin. Though Shiro could spara little thought for the spectators and their sick amusement, or for the ridiculousness of Danny's actions, not that his had been much different, as Myzax was already hefting his club above his head. He was laughing, the sound giving the impression of an animalistic howl.

Acting on nothing but instinct and adrenaline, Shiro scooped up the sword and ran towards Danny, intending to grab him by his shirt. There was no need however, as Danny picked himself up and, seeing Shiro running towards him, started running in that same direction. They had the same idea, to seek cover. There were all sorts of column-like protrusions sunk into the sand that offered a slight shield. Many of them were broken and toppled, but so large that even on the ground they still offered shelter.

Before they had a chance to dive behind a fallen column Myzax brought his club down, surprising Shiro as the orb dislodged itself with an electric zing and shot towards Shiro, hitting him square in the chest.

Shiro cried out for the way it smarted as much as the weight of it, which took the breath from his lungs and sent him careening back into the sand. Disoriented, Shiro dimly registered that the orb flew back to Myzax, who used his club like a magnet to bring it around his head and, building on the momentum, shooting it back to Shiro.

He just managed to roll to avoid it, but the victory was short lived. Again it flew back and again Myzax orbited it around, though this time he sent it at Danny, who had blindly ducked behind a column. It shook on impact, small bits falling off and raining down on his head, but Danny himself was unharmed.

Myzax's distraction offered Shiro enough time to scramble behind the nearest column of his own. It cut off his view of Danny, as they were now on opposite sides of the arena now, but if he craned his neck he could see Myzax. His large fingers were drumming thoughtfully on his club as he lumbered carelessly between them. The orb spun wildly, cracks of energy flying off as it glowed bright, emitting a sound like swarming bees.

Hoping to catch Myzax off guard, Shiro adjusted his grip on the sword and ran out from his hiding place. Myzax must have heard him, because he swung around with surprising agility for someone of his size and sent the orb flying to Shiro. With a small stumble in his haste, Shiro managed to pivot around the orb and continue running. On the opposite side of the arena Danny did the same. He was closer to Myzax, and took the opportunity of Myzax's focusing on Shiro to jump and land a kick to the monster's face. An impressive feet, considering that the gladiator stood almost three times as tall as Danny.

Behind Shiro the orb hummed angrily on its way back, clippinghim in the shoulder as it shot past, back to Myzax. He summoned the orb to swing around for another attack, hitting Danny in the chest with the club as he did. This time he sent the orb up above their heads and brought it down sharply, whirring as it fell.

Danny managed to slide out from where the orb was due to hit, however that meant he put himself right into the path of the club, and was promptly pummeled into the ground. Not one to waste any time, again Myzax lifted his club and again sent the orb up. Shiro rushed forward keeping an eye on the orb as it reached its apex and hovered, silent, for a single heart stopping moment before buzzing its way back down. Shrio's mistake then was paying too much attention to where Myzax was aiming the orb to fall and not enough to Myzax himself, who ran forward and met Shirot halfway so that he could deliver a hard punch to the gut which left him gasping.

Shiro and Danny scrambled to find cover, once more splitting to opposite sides, as the orb returned to it's spot hovering at the point of the club, glowing brightly and humming loudly as it spun. It was loud, louder than it had been when Myzax brought the orb around his head and shot it back out at one of them. Shiro blinked at it, realization dawning on him that it was charging.

Armed with the knowledge Shiro rushed out again when Myzax had his back turned and was walking towards Danny. This time he succeeded in catching Myzax unawares, and sliced a long gash up his hip. The feeling of flesh parting for his blade was decidedly less nauseating when the thing he was attacking was trying to kill him.

Myzax roared in pain and staggered back. Though he recovered quickly, snarling as he focused on Shiro and drew his club back. He punched it forward and the orb flew towards Shiro, catching him and taking him with it to slam into the far wall of the arena. The energy in the orb was not unlike the Galran guns, as it crackled and burned Shiro's already tender nerves.

From across the arena Danny jumped on Myzax's back, doing what he could to claw at his neck with nothing but his shands. With another roar Myzax grabbed Danny by an arm and slammed him into the ground at his feet. He righted himself and lifted his club to summon the buzzing orb. "One." Shiro counted to himself.

Ahead Danny was too focused on Myzax, ignoring the orb rushing at him. Shiro ran, calling Danny's name as he did. Danny turned, spotted Shiro, and more importantly to orb, giving him enough time to duck out of the way. Unfortunately again Myzax took the distraction with the orb as an opportunity to kick Danny, sending him sprawling.

Myzax looped the orb around and sent it towards Danny, but Shiro intercepted, using the sword as a shield to repel the orb. "Two." he counted as behind him Danny staggered up with a groan. Shiro kept the sword crossed over his chest and braced for the third hit, counting it off again as the impact jarred his arms.

When the orb returned then the sound changed, and again it spun wildly. "Now! Run!" Shiro yelled as he spun on his heel and grabbed Danny, pushing him towards a column and collapsing behind it. Shiro panted heavily, the dry air scratching at his throat and making him cough. Danny was above him, half crouched, still looking over his shoulder for the orb. "It's charging." Shiro rasped. "Every third throw it has to charge."

"It does?" Danny asked, his voice just as hoarse. He didn't look as though he was faring any better or worse than Shiro, with scrapes and cuts littering his skin. There was a smattering of blood on his temple, but the wound from which it came was unseen. "Does that orb thing burn too?"

"You haven't been hit with it?" Shiro wavered as he stood, grateful for Danny's steadying hand.

"No, I've been trying to get close to Myzax. But every time I have to dodge the orb he hits me instead."

"Well now we know his weakest point, when the orb recharges. That's our window."

Danny nodded sharply. "Right, okay. Three shots, charge."

"I go left, you go right. Until it charges, defense." They didn't waste any more words after that, parting simultaneously and running around each their side of the column and rushing Myzax. He had fast reflexes though, rushing Shiro as he sent the orb after Danny.

Shiro had to dive down and to the right to dodge the first punch, scraping his left arm along the sand as he did. Somewhere behind him he heard the orb whirr as it returned. Blindly, he tried to dive down to dodge, but by then his arms and legs had started to droop in fatigue, and he lost his footing.

Danny had run up beside him and managed to catch Shiro in the fall, but took the club swing meant for Shiro in the process. He was sent rolling over the sand and slammed into a column. Shiro scrambled back for some distance, falling into a loose, defensive stance. His grip on the sword was however not as sure as it had been, as his fingers slipped from the hilt when the orb hit him, sending the sword flying and knocking him back.

Shiro could hear the orb, however his head swam, and his vision blurred, making it hard to tell where exactly the orb or Myzax were. To his left Danny yelled his name, and slammed into him, effectively pushing Shiro out of the way and again taking the hit for him.

The orb returned to Myzax, humming and whirring loudly while it charged. Almost tripping over his own feet, Shiro stumbled backwards towards Danny. His heart clinched at the sight of him, the hit from the orb having left him convulsing and crying out as sharp bolts of bright purple energy danced over him.

Shiro dragged him behind a column, laying Danny down and leaning over him. "Danny? Danny!" Still visible electricity crackled over his skin, making Shiro's palm tingle painfully where they gripped at Danny's upper arms. "Can you hear me?" He pleaded desperately, somewhat uselessly. Danny's breathing was irregular and stuttered.

Shiro was sure he was dying. And just as sure that he would no doubt follow soon.

Unexpectedly, Danny's watch let out three short beeps before lighting up brightly. At the sound Danny went stock still, frozen in place, as if he hadn't just been seizing violently. The watch went dark, clicked open neatly and then slid off Danny's wrist. It limply fell to sand, almost soundlessly, and threw up a small cloud of dust as it did.

Danny sat up, like a puppet that just had it's string pulled tight. He stared at his newly bare wrist with precious time they didn't have. "Danny, we have to get moving." Shiro urged. He could hear Myzax growling his impatience, soon he would come looking for them, if he wasn't already on his way. They couldn't afford to sit there for any longer.

Danny didn't seem to have heard him, or didn't care to acknowledge Shiro. "The orb is charged with quintessence." he said under his breath, possibly just to himself. He reached for the watch, as if in a trance, blind and deaf to the danger around them.

"Danny, forget about that thing. We need to move. Now." Even on the sand Shiro could hear Myzax's heavy footfalls stalking closer.

"But don't you get it." Danny said, examining the watch with a growing, manic glee. "It was only supposed to come off if it registered-"

Shiro shook Danny roughly. "We need to move!"

Danny finally looked at him, his eyes blazing green again, and for reasons Shiro could not name, he feared them. The crazed smile fell from Danny'd face as he seemed to come back to himself. "Shiro." he said with a new confidence in his voice that had never been there before. "Look, there's no time to explain, but I need you to trust me." Danny said seriously as he stood. He bounced from foot to foot, as if testing his weight.

"What do you-"

"No time." The column shook as Myzax roared, slamming his club, or possibly himself, onto it's other side. "Can you trust me?"

Shiro searched Danny's face, confusion warring with the desperate, guttural instinct to fight and stay alive. Looking, he saw none of that desperation in Danny, only green eyes and a resolute conviction that seemed to find it's home on his features. "I do."

"Good, stay back. And don't worry."

"What are you-" the words died on Shiro's tongue as he was blinded by the brightest light he'd seen in his life. It blazed around Danny's waist, like a beacon, instantly making Shiro recoil and cover his eyes. Myzax must have seen it because he appeared around the corner and roared again, rushing towards them.

Shiro squinted against the bizarre light, adrenaline pushing all thoughts of -what the actual fuck is that- out of his mind. Half blind and seeing spots, he reached for Danny's arm so they could run again.

Except his hand never made it that far. The light, which had resolved itself into a circle, split, passing over Shiro's hand and sending a freezing cold sensation of ice water pouring through his blood. With a hiss for the shock of how unnaturally cold it was, Shiro reared back. Myzax lifted his club and was about to swing down when the light rings completed their circuit. Had Shiro been in any state to really watch Danny, he would have realized that the young man left behind after the light was not the same person he'd seen a second ago. His hair, his clothes, the way his muscles filled out, everything about Danny was altered.

However Shiro's eyes were on Myzax as he swung his club down. Shiro backed away, frantically looking around for the sword and trying to remember where it could have landed. Even though he knew there was no time, that Myzax was far too close.

Danny however was calm, even confident, as green light that seemed to to move and flicker like liquid flame burst to life around his hand, curled into a fist. He easily sidestepped the club swing, avoiding both it and the orb, to deliver an inhumanly forceful punch to Myzax's chest. He was sent tumbling across the sand, a bolt of the water-fire shooting after him.

It never connected, fizzling out in to nothing as Danny himself swayed where he stood. "How-" Shiro asked haltingly, before he caught sight of how weak Danny seemed. "What's wrong?"

Beyond them, Myzax was already on his feet and shaking himself off. "It's been a while." His voice had taken on an otherworldly echo. It resonated inside Shiro's chest, bouncing around in his lungs and sending a chill down his spine. "After everything..." He couldn't finish the thought, as Myzax roared, in pain or anger, Shiro couldn't say, and sent the orb shooting towards them.

Danny, despite the fatigue on him, stood to his full height, collecting himself with a deep breath and raising a gloved hand. Inexplicably, a bright wall of that green energy bloomed into existence between them and orb. Through it, though slightly warped as the energy swirled and shifted around itself, distorting the world, Shiro could see the orb as it continued flying forward. But Myzax himself paused in confusion.

When the orb impacted the wall Danny grunted, as if he himself had been hit. Shiro didn't understand what he was looking at, from the wall to Danny himself, who was now floating a few inches over the sand.

Okay, these were things that were happening. This was reality now.

Around them the clamour of the audience climbed. Whether they were cheering or surprised, it was impossible to say.

Inexplicably, the wall held and repelled the orb, sending it back for Myzax to loop around again. "Stay behind me." Danny ordered, his voice catching in his throat as the orb hit the wall again, or rather the shield, and again was repelled. Danny grimaced and gasped with effort, though stood his ground. So to speak.

To both of their dismay, a deep crack splintered it's way down the height of the shield on the second impact. A piece flew off from the center of the crack with a small tink, dissipating into nothing before it touched to the ground.

Shiro scrambled to his feet and moved as closely to Danny as he dared. He couldn't quite shake some deep, instinctual terror that his friend's new form inspired. "Are you okay?" Shiro might not understand exactly what Danny was doing, or how it was even possible, but he could see how straining it was for him. "Is that thing hurting you? Can I help?"

The crack in the shield further distorted the view of the other side, doubling Myzax when Shiro looked at him from the right angle. "Just out of practice s'all." Danny grunted. "The shield probably can't take another hit, and I don't think I can phase through through that orb, which means I'm taking the last hit. You're going to have to deliver the final blow, okay?"

"Right." Myzax was orbiting his club around his head again.

"I'll hold the orb back, so don't think about it. You take out big and ugly. And don't die."

Further beyond Myzax, Shiro could see his discarded sword. "Same to you." For whatever reason, that made Danny laugh, it was weak and slightly delirious. The way it echoed sent goosebumps down his arms.

Myzax threw the orb forward and true to Danny's prediction, it crashed through the shield. Shiro didn't spare a glance for Danny, and instead focused on his goal as he slid under the orb and dashed for the sword. In passing Myzax he had to parry a club swing, but he made it all the same. Myzax gave chase, which worked fine for Shiro. The moment his hand curled around the hilt he twirled around and slashed the sword in a blind, upward slice.

Myzax screamed, the sound guttural compared to his earlier roars. Dark blood, almost black, sputtered out of the wound across the whole of his chest, some of it splattering across Shiro's face and torso. It tasted sharp, like raw onion. Myzax fell with a crash.

Far on the other side of the arena the orb fizzled out into nothing, leaving Danny hanging in the air. He slowly sunk down and landed soundlessly with a soft puff of dust, and dropped instantly to his knees. Shiro didn't smile, despite the victory, weighed down with the thought that he had just killed. He dropped the sword as if burned, sucking in a harsh, shuddering breath. Myzax lay almost completely still but for the twitching in his fingers.

Shiro had taken his life.

He was a killer.

Shiro looked back to Danny, for comfort, for reassurance, to make sure he was still alive, for something else entirely, he couldn't say, but the young man looked as ashy as Shiro himself felt. The circle of light blazed around his waist again but fizzled out, deep lines of strain cutting into Danny's face as they did. Neither noticed the bolt of red light that streaked from somewhere in the audience before it had already shot Danny in the chest, sending him rolling across the arena. Shiro scrambled for the sword, cursing himself for dropping it so thoughtlessly and costing him precious seconds now.

However Shiro hadn't made it further than three steps before something buried itself in his hip. The world twisted and turned suddenly as what little strength was left in Shiro's legs failed him. Looking down, he found that there was a dart sticking out of his hip. Clumsy fingers grabbed at the thing, but his muscles would not cooperate with his mind. The world tipped and rolled and narrowed, black seeping into his vision until he couldn't see farther than his own nose, and then that too went dark.

---

Shiro's new normal was filled with screams and pain and an endless parade of Druids and Galra. Sometimes they asked him about Voltron, sometimes about 'the other Earthling'. Sometimes they asked about Earth itself. They would keep asking and hurting him until Shiro was raw in his throat for trying to convince them that he really didn't have the information they were after.

He might have preferred the torturous interrogation however, for the way they experimented on him once they were convinced of his sincerity. Time meant little as they poked and prodded at him and hummed to themselves and each other before drugging him back to dark, dreamless sleep.

Haggard, or the witch, 'visited' him on occasion, speaking in low, cooing tones as she methodically picked him apart. Bright red quintessence sparked and danced around her fingers as her eyes glowed yellow. She would laugh, or mutter to herself in disappointment, or sometimes she hurt him if only to have something to take out her many frustrations out on. There were times it seemed as though there was a whole other person under the surface, however regardless her cruelty was a constant.

Twice Shiro woke by himself when the drug wore off early, still tied to the examination table and staring up at the honeycomb patterned ceiling he had so come to loathe. He allowed himself to weep, then. Alone in his prison. Blissfully, horribly, alone.

With some regularity he was sent back to the arena. He was made to fight uncountable robots and aliens there, either with or without weapons until he was wounded, scarred, and all but collapsing under his own weight. When his mind could spare a thought, Shiro wondered if Danny had been dropped there too, and what manner of other creatures shared it with them. Eventually he learned the layout as well as he knew his childhood home. Every sand dune, ever column, every slash and scorched mark on every surface. Every once in a while something would be repaired or another column would have fallen. Once, notably, a melting structure of crystalline ice covered a length of wall.

Shiro hoped that Danny was railing against their captors as hard as he himself was. And he hoped that his mind was still intact. Shiro could feel his own slipping.

While dodging the rays of at least two dozen little triangular floating robots, the bone in his right arm was shattered at the elbow, the shot taking most of the flesh along with it. Shiro collapsed, too weak and delirious with the pain of it to do much more than lie there and howl. He was dragged from the arena, leaving a dark smear of red in his wake. Haggard appeared when he'd been strapped down in his usual examination room with it's honeycombs ceiling, shivering violently in his restraints. "This one does not regenerate like the other Earthling." she said, sounding bored more than anything else. She dug her fingers into his arm, turning them this way and that with idle curiosity. Shiro saw sharp, jagged bone and it almost made him black out. "The appendage can not be salvaged." she said, dropping her now stained hand with disinterest. The rest of her words were lost on Shiro as his head filled with cotton balls. Even his own cries sounded distant, as if deep under the ocean.

The removal of his arm had been a violation from which Shiro could not recover. Despite the Druids managing to fashion a mechanical replacement with remarkable accuracy, it was still foreign, alien, Galran. But he continued to fight them, every step of the way, there was nothing else he could do.

"No- no!" Shiro found himself repeating as he so often had, as two guards hovered around the examination table and prepared the room for whatever they had planned. There could be no way of counting how many times he'd said that one word. Nor how many times it had been ignored. One of the guards held his left wrist still as he injected their usual knock out drug. "No. You took my hand. What more do you want?" Shiro grunted as he felt the substance spread in his veins. He wondered distantly if he would lose another limb.

Above him, a third Galra in a higher ranking uniform stared down at Shiro with cold, yellow eyes. "Stop." he said, voice muffled through his breathing mask, as he slapped away the double pronged, Galran syringe. "I want him awake enough to feel this." Shiro could have wept in despair at the words, already having resigned himself to the sadistic ways of some of their kind.

However, to his shock, the moment the guard turned to put away the syringe, the higher ranked Galra turned and without warning slammed the other guard's face into one of the machines hard enough to dent and fracture the metal. Hearing the commotion the first guard dropped the syringe, but he was too slow. One swift punch and he too fell to the floor.

Shiro struggled against the drugs as the Galra, quickly discarding his mask, went straight for the mechanical arm. "Listen to me, we don't have much time." he shoved a small drive into a port just above the arm's wrist. Holographic symbols, maps and diagrams were projected in the air for a brief moment, but Shiro found himself unable to focus enough to read them. He wondered what trick of the Galra this was, attacking their own, as his vision blurred further. "Wake up!" The Galra yelled suddenly, delivering a sharp slap to Shiro's cheek. His vision focused on the Galra's face as he leaned in and said seriously "Zarkon has located the Blue Lion of Voltron on your planet, Earth. You must get it before he does." At his side, the Galra began working under the examination table. It wasn't until the restaurants clicked open that Shiro began to comprehend what was happening.

"What are you doing?" he asked, unwilling to allow himself hope.

The Galra supported Shiro's shoulders as he helped him sit up. "I've planted a bomb to cover your escape." Shiro's heart skipped a beat. Escape, what a beautiful word. "Get to a pod, now."

"Who are you?"

"I am Ulaz. Now, come on!" Shiro didn't need to be told twice. They stepped over the prone forms of the guards, Ulaz supporting him as Shiro tried to shake off the worst of the drug's drowsiness.

The doors swished open, bringing them to a long, dimly lit hallway, as most in Galran ships were. Other doors lined the walls, some with lights flickering menacingly behind them. Ulaz crouched and peered around the corner, checking if the way was clear. "Zarkon will know that I released you, so I must disappear." he said with long vowels and a deep growl in the back of his voice, as some Galra tended to have. "But if you survive, go to the coordinates in your arm. The Blade of Marmora is with you."

"Why are you helping me?"

Ulaz turned to him, staring down his wide, flat nose at Shiro. Shiro felt pinned by Ulaz's eyes. He'd spent so many long months, had it been as much as year possibly? Two?- staring into yellow eyes just like his with so much hate. It was jarring to hear a Galran say so earnestly "As a fighter and a leader, you give hope." He shifted, redying himself to run.

Before he could, Shiro said desperately "Wait! Was there another human with the Druids? I can't leave without him."

Ulaz looked back the way he had come and growled deeply. "There was another earthling, though not human. I will do what I can, but expect nothing. The bomb will go off soon." Now he did run, calling over his shoulder. "Hurry! Earth needs you. We all do."

Shiro felt disoriented as he stumbled through the halls, the drugs still dragging at his limbs and eyelids, making it impossible to focus any one thing for too long. He leaned on the wall for support as he went, ever mindful of the bomb, especially when he was forced to stop and catch his breath.

Shiro ran into two robotic guards on his way, and couldn't shake them even as he slammed the mechanical hand on the sensor to allow him access. However the bomb detonated at exactly the right time, taking the robotic guards out in a blaze of pressure and heat so Shiro didn't have to. The force of it flung him inside, where he found himself too tired and sore to move. The pod's emergency systems took over, it's doors closing sharply and launching itself from it's bay, the fire following it all the way down and out it's chute and casting Shiro into space.

The floor was warm from the explosion, and it was a great comfort to the deep, rolling aches in Shiro's weary muscles. The lights were too bright to his eyes, so Shiro closed them against their intensity. Distantly he thought he could hear voices, however they ebbed and flowed like waves as he drifted in and out of half-sleep.

He'd escaped. He was going home.