**Shoutout to fantasy.92, megane-chan, and Ishval for leaving reviews last chapter! Thank you so, so much for sharing your opinions and feedback! :D
megane-chan: So much wonderfully heart-wrenching stuff happened last chapter lol. Mari'll be fine though, don't worry ;) Yaaass, Adam! I hope we get to learn a bit more about him in this last season. And thank you! :D
**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!
Something big that smelled like cinnamon was holding Mari, enveloping her with warmth as she jostled up and down slightly from the hurried movement. She was faintly aware that someone had put her helmet back on her head, and she cracked open her eyes to see Hunk above her. His expression was anxious and fearful, and he was carrying her bridal-style down a corridor of Zarkon's HQ. Her head lolled to one side and she nearly cried out in relief as she noticed Allura moving swiftly in front of them. She was supporting a limping Shiro, her arm wrapped around his waist to help him stand.
How long had she been out? It couldn't have been for too long if they were still inside the Galran Central Command. But when had Hunk and Allura shown up? Where were Pidge, Lance, and Keith? And how had Shiro gotten so badly injured? And what had happened to Haggar? Mari's gaze weakly shifted back to Hunk and she parted her cracked lips to ask him, but only a whisper of a sob escaped her. At the sound, Hunk's gaze immediately flicked down to her, his chocolate brown eyes so wide and full of concern and kindness.
"Hey," he said, his smile unwavering despite the shaking of his voice. "You're awake."
Mari frowned at him and tried speaking again, but he instantly shushed her.
"Ah! No," he scolded. "No talking. Everyone's okay, we're almost to the Yellow Lion. We're getting out of here, I promise. All you need to do is rest for now, all right?"
They rounded another corner and Mari gaped upon seeing the entire Yellow Lion's head poking through the wall. Across from it were two dead sentries and a prison cell that had been blasted open. Well…that was certainly one way to break a captive out.
Allura and Shiro hurried up the lion's entry ramp with Hunk trailing closely behind them. Inside the cockpit, the Yellow Paladin gingerly transferred Mari into Allura's waiting arms before sliding into the pilot's seat and pulling the lion out of and away from the facility. Allura held the human girl close to her, her Altean strength allowing her to cradle Mari with ease. Shiro was leaning heavily on the wall beside her, his face grim as he stared ahead.
"Hunk, drop me off at the Black Lion," he ordered, his tone tight with pain. "Then get back to the Castle and wait in your hangar on standby. Allura—"
"I will get Mari set up in a healing pod straight away," she finished for him, and he cast her a small yet grateful smile. The princess's gaze fell upon Mari and her brilliant eyes shone with tears as she soaked in the Earthling's injured and exhausted form. "Shiro told me what happened. You fought so bravely against that witch…You stayed so strong," she whispered. Guilt flashed across her features and her lower lip trembled angrily. "And while you were enduring that torment, I was just sitting in a cell, completely unharmed. I should've done more to stop them. If only I had…" Allura sighed and pinched her eyes shut, her lips pursed together in self-loathing. "I'm terribly sorry, Mari."
Mari swallowed thickly and scarcely shook her head. "Don't…Don't be," she managed, her voice much too soft and thin. "You…would've gotten hurt if you'd tried anything. Voltron's secrets are safe…all of us are getting out of here…and that's all that really matters, right?"
She tried grinning, but the corners of her lips twitched upwards only slightly. She was still so tired. Her limbs felt heavy and it was like cotton was muffling her senses. She could feel the effects of the painkillers wearing off as her head pounded and her insides felt like they were being stabbed repeatedly by tiny pins and needles. She wanted all these uncomfortable feelings to go away, to have them engulfed and nullified by the sweet release of unconsciousness. But Mari was afraid that if she fell asleep now, she'd never wake up again.
Allura smiled at her, although it never fully reached her eyes. The rest of the ride was spent in silence as Hunk evaded enemy fire and cut down attacking Galran fighters. The Yellow Lion landed on one of the lower sides of the Central Command, where the Black Lion was sprawled across the dark metal surface. A ways off, the Red Lion was in a losing battle against a single person, and Mari's skin crawled as she realized it was Zarkon.
"He's fighting against a Voltron lion all by himself!" Hunk squeaked fearfully. "No ships, no backup, no nothing! He's only using a—uh, is—is that what I think it is?"
"It's a bayard," Shiro realized grimly, his eyes widening as they zeroed in on the ever-changing weapon in the emperor's hand.
Allura's grip on Mari tightened and her body quivered as she stared rigidly at their enemy. "It's the Black Paladin's bayard," she admitted quietly. "Zarkon…was the original pilot of the Black Lion."
Hunk gasped dramatically and Shiro looked at the princess as if she had just slapped him across the face. "What?"
Allura gritted her teeth and turned to Shiro with steel in her stare. "He was the first Black Paladin," she repeated, her tone steadier this time.
"Why didn't you tell us?" he demanded, his eyes narrowing in anger.
"It is ancient history now," the princess was quick to defend herself, her gaze never wavering as she frowned back at him. "Right now, you need to focus on getting down to your lion immediately. We cannot afford to risk staying here any longer, Shiro."
Shiro set his jaw, looking like he was ready to argue. He glanced at Hunk's fretful face and then to his sister, who simply stared back at him and blinked, her eyes flicking towards the cockpit's exit expectantly. Letting out a tired sigh, their leader nodded curtly and headed for the door, wincing as the movement strained his injuries.
Hunk kept Yellow standing protectively over the Black Lion, waiting patiently for Shiro to board and get his ship up into the air. When he disappeared into the lion's open maw and Black's eyes sparked to life, Yellow launched into the air as the head of Voltron took off towards the Red Lion and Zarkon.
"I'm getting Keith," Shiro explained, his voice crackling over their comms. "Head back to the Castle, Hunk."
"Don't have to tell me twice," Hunk confirmed, yelping as he narrowly dodged another laser blast from a fighter.
They zipped back to the Yellow Lion's hangar and Allura disembarked as soon as the lion's paws touched the floor. She full on sprinted as she hauled Mari to the medical wing, not even breaking a sweat as she did so. When they arrived, Allura carefully laid her down on a soft examination bed and removed her helmet just as Coran arrived.
"Oh, thank the ancients you two are all right!" he breathed out a loud sigh of relief as he approached Allura.
"I wouldn't exactly call this 'all right'," she muttered, gesturing to Mari unhappily as she fiddled with a tablet that had been attached to the foot of the bed.
"You both survived this ordeal, didn't you?" he pointed out optimistically, taking the tablet from her and inputting the correct commands. "And neither of you are on the brink of death, so I consider this all right, indeed."
He activated the scanners and a soft whine sounded from the bed, making Mari flinch and inhale sharply. Her muscles tensed and she squeezed her eyes shut, partially expecting an electric shock to rack her body. But after a few ticks of nothing happening, she relaxed and moaned quietly as she reopened her bleary eyes, taking in Coran and Allura's perturbed faces as they hovered over her.
"Internal and external burns, singed hair, moderate dehydration, bumps on the back of the head and a mild concussion, lacerations on her scalp and left cheek, bruises on the left cheek, and second degree burns around her wrists, ankles, and waist…where her suit has fused to her flesh," Coran observed grimly as he read the tablet's results of the scan. "And on top of all that, she has a fever as well."
Mari's stomach churned at the sound of the diagnosis and Allura's expression flared with fury. "Those quiznaking beasts!" she cursed, her hands curling into fists. "Those heartless monsters! I hate them so much!"
Coran's eyebrows furrowed in mutual understanding and he placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "I'll take care of her, Princess. You go up to the bridge and prepare to wormhole us out of here once all the paladins return," he said, his tone gentle but serious.
Allura looked at him with mournful eyes, thousands of years worth of sadness and anger swirling beneath them. Sighing, she nodded in agreement before turning on her heel and running out of the med bay.
The princess truly and whole-heartedly despised the Galra, and why wouldn't she considering their kind had slaughtered her family and the rest of her people before obliterating Altea. Even Mari had a reason to completely hate them: they had kidnapped her brother and tortured him, and then they had kidnapped her and tortured her. The Galra destroyed countless of lives and inflicted so much agony upon the many beings of the universe.
But still…not all Galra were bad, right? Mari couldn't believe their entire species was evil, especially not after she'd encountered that kind Galran soldier back in Haggar's lab.
"All righty then," Coran said, turning back to her with a tender look in his eyes. "Let's get you cleaned up and put into a cryo-pod."
He adjusted the bed so that she was sitting up and he began to help her peel off her space suit. It was painful, the effort of shrugging off her attire making her whole body hurt, and she groaned and winced nonstop. Coran had to use a pair of scissors to cut off the suit around her wrists, legs, and waist, leaving bands of melted fabric around the areas where flesh had fused to skin. It was sickening looking at the red and blistered skin melding with the cloth, and Mari struggled not to gag.
"I know, it looks quite gruesome," Coran murmured, rubbing her back soothingly. "But there's no need to worry, it won't be permanent. The pods will break down the fabric and those burns will be healed. Ah, speaking of which, we'd best get you into a cryo-suit."
He pulled one out that was her size from a drawer in the wall, and he patiently helped her put it on. When he had finished fastening the back, he moved over to another shelf and plucked a small vial of pills off of it.
"Here, take these," he instructed, placing two pink tablets in her hand. "Unfortunately, the pods aren't the best at curing illnesses, so these will help the fever go down."
Mari popped them into her mouth obediently and they melted on her tongue. They tasted like weird mixture of bubblegum and garlic, but she was grateful for the medication nevertheless.
"Thank you, Coran," she said and he nodded, his eyes crinkling as he smiled warmly at her. He scooped her up in his arms and brought her over to the nearest healing pod, carefully placing her inside before moving to adjust the settings at the center control panel.
"In a couple vargas, you'll be right as that rain Lance said you had on Earth," he assured her, typing away on his screen. "It'll be like the Galra and Haggar never even laid a finger on you."
She didn't miss the way his eyes narrowed in dismay as he pronounced the names of their enemies, and she grimaced a bit. "Not…Not all Galra are bad, Coran," she said aloud, and he glanced up at her with a raised eyebrow as he waited for her to explain. She hesitated for a moment, before saying finally, "There was someone who helped me on Zarkon's ship, a Galra soldier. He couldn't free me, but he didn't want to hurt me…I don't think he was such a bad guy."
Coran hummed in thought and his expression softened, but he didn't look entirely convinced. "Well, you can tell us all about this friendly Galra you met once you've been healed," he decided, giving her a reassuring smile. "We'll see you soon, all right?"
Mari nodded and Coran activated her cryo-pod. The blue glass immediately materialized in front of her, sealing her inside, and a wave of relief washed over her. After suffering for who knows how many hours, she was finally safe. Allura was safe. Their team had never given up on them, and their odd family had been reunited. None of them were completely out of the woods yet—they still had yet to fully escape the realm of Zarkon's Central Command ship, after all. But Mari had a gut feeling that everything was going to be okay for them. Voltron had done the seemingly impossible and incredibly dangerous by attacking the emperor's HQ head on and completing their goal of saving her and the princess. She was sure they would be able to successfully escape from this whole mess in the end.
A cool mist quickly poured into the pod, numbing her senses as the healing sedative kicked in. Her vision gradually faded to black and Mari smiled to herself as she was pulled under.
Sorry I uploaded this late. The last two weeks have been hella busy for me. Anyways, there's one more chapter left to this story in the series. I don't know when I'll be able to post it, cuz school has been a real b*tch lately lol. The latest it could come out would be mid-October, but I'll try my best to get it out before then.
Also, I have this short story about Lotor that I wrote for a class last fall. If anyone is interested in reading it, let me know in the comments and I'll post it unedited as something to hold ya over in between chapters.
**Please feel free to leave a comment/review down below! They are much appreciated & encourage me to keep writing this fic :D
**Feel free to check out my tumblr too, which is pufftheninja.
