Author's Notes; This takes place after the escape from Ezor and Zethrid's prison. The escape happened in much the same way, except Shiro carried Pidge for the entirety of it, and Pidge was unresponsive.
"Will she be okay?" Shiro asked, his voice cold as he stared down at Pidge.
"Well," Krolia hesitated, flipping through a holo-screen that showed Pidge's vitals. Unfortunately, the healing pod had used much of its energy healing Shiro, thus was unable to heal Pidge. So instead of being in the Cryo-pod, Pidge just laid there on a makeshift bed, unresponsive.
"This is in God's hands, Shiro." Krolia told him, frowning at a screen before rolling her eyes and waving it away. "The best we can do is be there for her, tend to her wounds, and pray."
"When do you think she'll wake up?" Keith inquired, pushing his way to the front of the crowd.
"I don't know. She was badly damaged, so her body went into a coma to help her regenerate her blood, new bone tissue, an other such necessary body structures. She also has a tentative sleep schedule. So. It could take up to a full week, perhaps longer, Even though the human body typically only needs twelve hours of sleep no matter how long they stay awake, she'll probably have to sleep for several days."
"Days?!" Lance spluttered, surprised. "How'll we, you know, fly the lions in that time?"
"I saw a cord in the Blue Lion long enough to shackle all the lions together. We could use that to pull along the Green Lion." Krolia acknowledged. "We would have to find…what do you call it? IVs? Well, whatever they are, you'd have to use them to keep her nourished. I, myself, doubt she'll be asleep longer then a week, but I do not have control over such things." Krolia sighed, rubbing her scalp. "I'm sorry that I cannot give you a straight answer."
"Paladins…" Allura spoke gently, attracting everyone's attention. "We cannot stay here. We have already been here for an entire quintent and counting. We have to move on, continue to Earth."
"Which means we should decide which person should be the best passenger for each Paladin. Again." Romelle frowned, remembering the incident from the previous flight.
"This time Lance is NOT choosing passengers." Hunk immediately decided, scowling.
"How about the others can choose who they'll go with?" Keith suggested. "Mom, who do you want to go with?"
"Don't care." Krolia shrugged, crossing her arms as she leaned against the cave wall. "I'm flexible."
"Okay. Acxa?"
"I'm not coming." Acxa had stayed quiet mostly, but she was verbal when asked.
"Um. What?"
"I'm not coming." Acxa repeated, crossing her arms. "I need to report back to the rebels, and here's the best bet. It is a listening outpost, after all."
"You sure?"
"Trust me on this. Thank you all for your hospitality, but I must depart from your company. There are too little troops out on the field, and I must not delay your return to your home planet."
"Are…are you positive?" Keith inquired, reaching out to grab her hand gently.
She let him, but ignored the touch. "Don't make a scene, Keith. I'm not coming."
"Wait…you're a rebel?" Lance blinked. "I mean…Pidge's brother is a rebel…if you know him, I mean, you can…I dunno…"
"I will take a message." Acxa deflated, frowning at him. "What's his name and what does he look like?"
"His name's Matt. He looks like Pidge, but straighter hair, a scar on his right cheek, and he's a male." Shiro spoke up, stepping closer to her.
"Ah. Right." She typed into her gauntlet a few, quick words. "Officer Matt." Acxa said quietly. "Yes. I was on a mission with him a few weeks ago."
"How is he?" Keith asked, eyes widening.
"It is he…dead?" Shiro asked, stiffening at the thought.
"Alive, when last I saw him. I have not heard any news of his death. He has a significant other who he tends to go on missions with." Acxa clicked a few more buttons onto her link, then pulled out a chip and handed it to Shiro.
"This is all the information I have on him, up to just recently. There is much I have not read, but I do know that there is file photos of him in here. It's risky, we know, but it's 'crucial' according to Matt."
"Makes sense." Shiro accepted the chip thankfully, nodding to Acxa. "He is Pidge's brother."
"Yes." Acxa smiled thoughtfully. "I can see the resemblance." She turned back to her equipment, waving them on. "Do not allow me to disturb your conversation. Continue with your friend-sorting."
"Okay." Keith nodded, his eyes still on her as he turned to the group. "So…where do you want to go, Romelle?"
"Red Lion!" Romelle pumped her fist excitedly. "Red was Bandor's favorite color, after all."
Lance stifled a groan of annoyance, giving her a weak, and not very convincing, thumbs-up.
"Okay. And I'm bringing my wolf."
"Needs a name."
"No. Which lion, Coran?"
"I'll ride with the princess." Coran decided, fiddling with his mustache. "I'd feel much better knowing that she was safe."
Allura coughed something into her fist, probably an insult, from the way Lance, who was closest, laughed slightly.
"That leaves Pidge and Shiro." Keith looked over at Pidge, biting his lip. "I guess we'll all take turns exchanging Pidge."
"Wait." Shiro held out one hand to stop Keith, an idea springing to mind. "What if we just let Pidge be in the Green Lion? I think she'd like, when she awakes, to find herself in a familiar area, not tossed around from place to place like a sack of potatoes."
"Yeah…" Keith thought about that. "But, at the same time, we would want someone with her, to help it something happens."
"I could go." Shiro suggested. "I'd be in there with her, and I've received basic first aid from the Garrison. Krolia could also teach me skills she has from being a blade member."
"You sure?" Keith asked, glancing at the others, who seemed okay with the thought. "You're still recovering."
Shiro found no need to point out that was Keith's usual excuse to stop him from doing anything worthwhile. The Red Paladin had gotten the line from his mother. "Keith. It's simply watching over Pidge. What could go-"
"NO, no, nope, no! You are not saying that!" Lance suddenly interrupted, clamping a hand into Shiro's mouth.
Shiro shoved Lance off of him, frowning slightly at the younger boy. "I don't even know why you did that."
"In movies, if you say THAT LINE, something always happens!"
"What line?"
"You can't get to me that easily!" Lance hissed.
"Um. Okay, then. So, Keith, back to what I was saying, what could go wrong?"
Lance let out a horrified gasp, activating his shield, ducking behind it. "Gaah! Bad things!"
"Is he always like this nowadays?" Shiro asked, turning to the others curiously.
"Yep, pretty much." Hunk sighed.
"I still don't understand how he became a Paladin." Krolia deadpanned.
"You get used to it." Allura joked.
"He's an idiot." Keith grunted.
"I'm, like, right here!" Lance frowned. "I'm just cautious because, one day, something IS gonna happen like in the movies."
"Yeah, right." Keith rolled his eyes, turning back to Shiro. "Okay. So. When should we head out?"
"You should rest three more nights." Acxa told them, setting aside a large device that probably would have caused Pidge to have geek out. "The lions need to charge, and I think I have an IV somewhere that you can have. We need to attach is somewhere so it doesn't roll around the cockpit. Also, we still need to attach the tether to the Green Lion. Three days should give you all enough time to prepare everything and get some rest."
"Good plan. We'll leave in three days." Keith decided, nodding. "Thank you for hosting us."
"It's the least I can do." Acxa assured him, raising to her full height as she looked them over. "You all need to get back to your planet as soon as possible."
"Hey. Acxa. I have a question. Is there a running empire?"
"No, fortunately. Ezor and Zethrid killed the arcamist and blew up planet Feyiv."
"Sendak?" Romelle inquired, a slight tremor in her voice. She had never come across the warlord, but had heard stories from the Paladins about his evil.
"Still out there, last I heard." Acxa sighed. "He's the closest to having a proper empire, though, without the arcamist, there is no coronation, thus he can not be crowned. Nobody has seen the majority of his army for the last few deca-phoebs. They were last spotted heading for the outer most reaches of the empire. Sendak himself has disappeared into the depths multiple times, but has always reemerged with news of his victory over planets, though always with just a few ships by his side."
"Where do you think the other ships are."
"Nobody knows. Any ships that follow him are promptly blown to bits." Acxa dropped a few logs onto the fire in the center of the room.
"Earth is in the outer reaches of the universe." Coran chimed, frowning. "It's possible that Sendak has picked up on our communications to Earth, like Zethrid, Ezor, and Acxa, and is using it as leverage."
"That can't be possible!" Lance insisted, jutting out a lip. "How would Sendak know where Earth is?"
"Earth may be out of the way of all the main systems, but it still is on star maps." Allura pointed out, frowning slightly.
"Think cheerily, guys. Sendak probably didn't pick up our transmissions, or else he would have been the guy to pick us up." Hunk pointed out, unwilling to give into the possibility of Sendak owning their planet.
"You bring a good point." Keith said, relaxing.
Everyone murmured their agreements, sighing with relief.
"Even so, we should stay on our toes." Krolia ordered.
Despite her command, everyone pushed the idea of Earth being attacked, or enslaved, to the back of their minds, refusing to admit that she may be right.
"Are you sure she'll be okay?" Hunk inquired, staring at Pidge. "She looks…really bad."
"She just broke both of her legs, the impact with the ground caused her to begin bleeding out, and her throat was closed up slightly from Ezor squeezing it. Without the proper supplies, I can't help her as much as I would like. So of course she's not okay, but she will be." Krolia told them, frowning. "Like I said before."
"Good." Shiro nodded, placing a hand on top of her knee.
"If she dies," Lance began, glaring, "so help me, I will force Allura to put her consciousness back into her body and will kill her again!"
"I don't know what to say to that." Keith grumbled.
"Man, you're getting really dark." Hunk frowned.
"Yeah. I know." Lance grinned, giving them his classic Lance-smirk. "I'm working on it."
"Will someone shut him out?" Krolia grumbled, narrowing his eyes at him. No one felt the need to point out that was the second time she had said the phrase in just as many days.
Instead, Acxa, too eager to make him quiet down, covered his mouth. "Done."
"Thank you." Krolia sighed, looking outside the cave, as if the tarp closing the exit was invisible. "Soon we'll be on our way to Earth, where Pidge can get better medical attention."
Everyone nodded, heaving a sigh of relief. Soon they'd be back to Earth…
Pidge would be fine. She would be.