Back at the Castle of lions.
Shiro walked back and forth over the floor of the bridge thinking.
"Shiro stop," Keith said.
"Yeah sorry" He replied
Shiro stood still for about a tick before he started to tap his foot.
"Shiro," said Keith and Hunk said in unison
"Sorry!" He said
Silence...
"But why weren't they there?" Shiro complained
They had just returned from the location Pidge had sent them. Which lead to a small Galran escape pod
Coran chipped in as he was looking at Pidges suit and Bayard which was inside the Galran pod "Well my scanners are showing that Pidge sent us her location through her suit. And so the Galra sent out the suit to distract us."
"But why not attack?" Lance asked
"Well.." Coran began but stopped "I don't know why for sure, but I guess that they are toying with us."
Shiro stomped his foot. He knew it was childish, but he didn't care "Where can we look next?" Shiro questioned.
Allura spoke up "Shiro Pidge also gave us the location to her lion, we must go get it before the Galra retrieves it" she continued "We can continue to look for Pidge while we fetch the lion if the Galra get there first the war will be lost."
"Allura is right Shiro" Keith inputted
"Fine we will fetch the lion, but we will still look for Pidge" Shiro decided
—
"Paladins we are here, please go to your assigned lions" Allura commanded through the coms
Everyone went to the lion they were assigned to ride in. They all decided it would be best to take only two.
Keith and Shiro in the black, and Hunk, Lance and Allura in the red.
The black lion was to simply go and fetch the green lion while the red went to the location where Pidges suit went offline during her fight with the bounty hunter.
Everyone was silent as the approached their destinations.
"Ok guys let's be quick as possible about this" Keith called over there coms
As the lions approach, the could see the green lions glow.
As the black lion slowed to a halt the red lion continued on a little further before touch down.
Lance, Hunk, and Allura jet packed down a small hole in the planet's surface. As they reached the bottom, they found a big hole that was forced open.
They jet packed though that as well.
"Wow!" Crowed Hunk as he ran to the computers. "Just give me a tick," he said as his fingers got to work... it took him a little longer then it would have if Pidge was doing it, but he still got the job done. "I'm in" Hunk sung as he finished the hack
"Well done Hunk" chimed the princess
"Can you pull up surveillance feeds?" Lance asked
"Already on it," Hunk said
A video popped up, it showed Pidge fighting someone, then they stopped and hugged.
"That must be her brother," Lance said stating the obvious.
They had a conversation together when suddenly an intruder walk in...
"Hey what happened" Lance complained
"It looks like the rest has been deleted" Hunk frowned
"This information needs to be destroyed, it has location to rebel bases and rebel plans" Hunk deadpanned
"Can you download any of it to the castle?" Allura asked
"Umm, one tick" Hunk said, "there that should do it!" Hunk finished "Now a self-distraction?" Lance asked
"Already in place, this place will blow sky high in about half a Varga" Hunk said
"We should go" Allura urged
"Yeah let's go," Hunk said
—
By the time they got back to the red lion, the green lion was being loaded into its proper hanger.
Lance parked red in her proper hanger.
"We are in, wormhole at will," Lance said without sarcasm.
Allura frowned at him, she could see the change in everyone over the past couple of days.
Lance no longer made jocks, Hunk didn't experiment with the food goo or any type of food for that matter. Keith didn't train he just wandered the halls aimlessly. Shiro hardly talked or stopped searching for the little paladin. Coran didn't tinker in his lab anymore. Allura couldn't blame them, ever sense Pidges message she had stopped enforcing training or drills or bedtimes, she felt alone, Pidge was no girly girl, but she always commented on her dresses or her shoes. She remembered how once she tried to get Pidge into a dress but failed as she ran and hide in the air vents. Allura smiled at that memory and the fact that Pidge was more of a sister than a friend. Allura was snapped back into reality when Lance started to talk to her as they walked back to the bridge "Allura" He soothed "we will find her, will bring her home."
Tears began to run down her face. She stopped walking and started to cry. Hunk had already found his way back to the bridge leaving Lance and Allura alone.
"Hay" Lance began to rub her shoulder.
Before he could finish, she threw her arms around him and wept. Lance stroked her back telling her it will be alright.
Lance never notice how exquisite her hair felt and even smelled. Soon they were sitting in the hallway as Allura continued to weep.
After about half a Varga she stopped and her breathing slowed.
Lance knew she had fallen asleep. He gently scooped her up bridal style and carried her to her room. He laid her in her bed and shut off the lights as he left.
"I promise Allura we will find her" he whispered outside her door.
Then he turned and headed back to the bridge.
—
A couple of days later they were all gathered on the deck looking for Pidge when a message popped up on the screen.
"Shiro, do we open it?" Keith inquired
"Yes," he said
A video flicked to life to show...the little paladin. She looked horrible, bruises and blisters covered her skin her eyes big with worry and slight confusion.
"Shiro this is Pidge and Matt, I have just sent you my location. We have snuck out, and we need an extraction team. Please..." she was cut off by the sound of alarms
The team watch in horror as they were quickly surrounded by Galran soldiers
Then the witch Haggar emerged sending chills down Shiro's spin. They watched as Matt was flung to the side and Pidge was forced to look at the hag. She spat at her which earned her a slap to the face, Pidge fell hard. But quickly came back with a solid hit to the witch's stomach "Go lose Pidge" Keith mumbled to himself. He remembered the times when he was doing late night training, and the young girl joined him. Can't sleep? He would ask her. She merely nodded her head. It had become a regular thing when she couldn't sleep. They were both grateful for the company. They would spar, but mainly Pidge would ask for tips and tricks on how to defend herself against her attackers. And the punch is one of the firsts he had taught her.
Pidge dodge soldiers and ended up by her brother and pulled him to his feet.
When suddenly she screamed in horror as a needle was forced into her neck.
Shiro began to cry at sight, he knew exactly what they just did to the young girl, and he couldn't believe it.
She crumbled to the floor yelling in pain. Matt picked up the small paralyzed figure. They headed for the door but were soon seized by Haggar's evil magic. They both went flying Pidge was crying hard. Matt landed right in front of the screen, then the video stopped.
They were all silent for a long time.
Keith was the one to break the silence "Shiro you know what that stuff was... don't you."
They all stared at him
Shiro let out a deep breath "Yes, I do, those monsters" he replies voice quivering
"What was it?" Coran and Lance both asked simultaneously.
"It's called lefareum" he told the team
"What does it do?" Hunk asked not sure he wanted the answer
"It enhances your pain sensory by tenfold, and will temporary paralyze you, and for a full Varga you will not be able to lose conscious no matter the pain," Shiro replied through clenched teeth.
"The worst part is that I'm the reason they have such a cruel weapon" Shiro moaned hanging his head
"Shiro, if it weren't you, it would be someone else maybe even her, we can't focus on that now, we have their location let go get them" Keith stated
"Your right" Shiro remarked
"Let's of get our girl" Shiro agreed