I am really sorry for not updating this, but the S2 trailer came out and then came Klance Week and I just-I'm sorry for not updating and for updating. Pidge and Shiro's ages were released by the producers as 14 and 25, and I wasn't sure how to continue this afterward. But anyway, here is what I made and please leave a review on whether or not this ship should be platonic or romantic (it was originally going to be romantic, but after the age release...yeah)
Anyway, enjoy this tidbit as we wait anxiously for Season Two.
The void is full of screaming.
It's forever and unending, screaming as a million people and as one person. Women and men and children and everything else, human and animal and alien, people I know and people I've never met, all wailing relentlessly in pain, loss, fear, terror, and I'm trapped in the middle.
Please, stop! I beg them, cry into the blackness, but it's unrelenting and forever. My lungs are filled with it, and I know I'm drowning in it, drowning in the sounds of raw pain. Images flash at random through my eyes, without meaning or thought or logic. A black lion, a gold pin, a toy truck, a purple flower, a broken glass, a someone's bespectacled face. A book, a car, a smile, a pencil, a tree, a knife, an apple. With every image a haze falls over them, until I'm looking at nothing, until I am nothing.
But at least the screaming's stopped.
Shiro?
Someone's calling my name. I hear it as if I'm underwater, and all I want to do is sleep. Every bone feels as if it's been replaced with lead, and my muscles are the consistency of Coran's food goo.
Shiro?
That voice again, muffled and indistinct. Familiar but unfamiliar, like an old toy found in an unexpected place. My mind is fuzzy, and I can't get a straight thought through my head.
"Shiro?"
My muscles suddenly spring back into shape, my bones are easy to move with, and my mind is clear. I blink, and the first thing I think is, why am I on the floor?
The other Paladins are standing above me, Coran and Allura included. All have similar expressions of concern, shock, and fear. Pidge has a film of tears beneath her glasses, and Hunk looks like he's about to cry.
"What...happened?" I sit up, and my shoulders groan in protest. I wince slightly, and the entire team inhales sharply as one. Keith and Lance each take an arm and pull me up on my feet.
"You blacked out. Right as we were going over the mission plan." Allura said worriedly, watching me like I was going to faint any minute now. "I was talking about how to transport the prisoners, and you kind of just...collapsed."
Oh. So that's what happened. The beginnings of a blush creep into my cheeks, and I look away in shame. How am I supposed to be a leader, if I pass out in the middle of a war? I can't bring myself to meet the eyes of any of them.
"Shiro, if you don't want to, we can put it off. We can wait until another time." Came Keith's voice, and I see agreement in everybody's movement and shifting.
"No. I'm fine, and I'll be fine. We can do this." My voice comes out harsh and stern, so different and unfamiliar that I have to take a moment to recognize it. But it works, and no one seems to want to argue with it. Except for one, particular, small Paladin.
"It's not fine. If we're going to go on a mission, we have to be ready. And we can't do that if you're going to go to sleep."
Pidge's voice cuts in, sharper then her bayard. The tears I had seen were spilling out now, and she looks angry. An image of my college girlfriend when she was watching The Lion King pops into my head, and I have to bite down on my tongue and taste blood, which brings me back to the matter at hand.
"Pidge, please. I'll be okay, I promise." I assured her, even managing a somewhat convincing grin. "It won't happen again, alright?"
"How can we know that? I don't want to go into a critical battle with a leader prone to comas." She spat out, bitterness welling out with the tears. "This is what I've been waiting for for a year, I'm going to save my family. I can't do that if you decide to take a nap halfway!"
"Pidge! You do NOT speak that way to your leader!" Allura butted in sharply, but Pidge had done damage. The room started spinning again, and I had to focus all my willpower not to fall again. She was right; this mission was the biggest one to her, and I was posing a problem.
"Pidge, I won't faint like that again. You have my word." I feel the words come out of my mouth, but it's not my voice. Everything is so far away again, and it takes more effort then it should to bring me back. I look back at Pidge's face, tears on her cheeks, and I feel so horrible.
I was an obstacle between her and her family, and that was the hard truth. I barely heard Allura give the order to head for our Lions, or feel my legs taking me to my tube. Because all I can think of, was how to apologize.
I would never get used to battle.
I knew the controls of Black like the back of my hand, knew the way the other Paladins fought like the way I knew the palm of my hand. I could, by now, maneuver the Lion nearly as well as Keith, and knew all the tips on how to fly and land and roll. I knew most of the weapons available to me, and how best to use them. I knew the blind spots of Galra Drones, weak points of battleships.
What I still couldn't get used to was the chaotic fury of it all. Like a drunken dance, you didn't know where to be and what to do, so you went with your gut. I dodged, shot, clawed, dodged again, bit, smashed, and still the only orientation I had was Black and the knowledge of how every movement was life or death.
"How you holding up, Shiro?" Lance's voice crackled into my helmet, just as I saw Blue tumble past, freezing a couple dozen drones in ice. Keith and Red followed suit, blasting all the drones following Lance with molten flames.
"I'm fine. Don't fool around, we're only supposed to distract for a second as Hunk and Pidge take down the defenses." I say back, casting an anxious glance at where Green and Yellow attacked the holographic shield surrounding the prison complex. Dark purple and shaped like a top, inside I knew there was a gladiator ring, where I had fought for my life and other's. I felt the familiar pull of memories dragging my mind away.
An explosion right in front of Black brought me back. Lance had just blasted a drone in my face.
"Wake up! We have to stay on target!" Hissed Keith, high-strung and uneasy. I cursed myself for being spacing out like this.
"Right, I know." I muttered back, embarrassed and angry at myself. I had never had anything like this happen to me; what was going on? I shook my head in annoyance and aimed a clumsy slash at a passing drone. The claw barely grazed the wing, just managing to send it off-course enough for it to crash into another one.
A deep sigh escaped my chest, and I felt useless. I watched Keith and Lance finish off the rest of the patrol drones as Hunk and Pidge finally took down the force field.
"We're in. Their transmitters will be jammed for about three minutes, let's go." Pidge spoke into the comm, and we dived in toward the ship that held her entire motivation.
Me and Pidge ran through the dimly lit metal hallways, ducking down every now and then as guards sped by. We rushed past thousands of metal doors each one no doubt holding at least one life form. Misery was radiating from behind those locked doors, and every one I passed made my heart ache. I knew only too well the pain they were in.
"Let's go." Muttered Pidge as I slowed down in front of a cell filled with a soft sobbing. "We'll save them when we find the control room." I nodded and kept running, blocking out the quiet crying that filled the silent corridor.
We finally got to the front of the control room, managing to dodge most of the guards and security drones (Pidge was tempted to rewire another Rover). Inside, a distinct hum of low conversation told us what we wanted.
"Sector five is clear."
"Send prisoner Cygnus 119-34 to Arena Sigma."
"Cleanup drones to Arena Iota."
"Transfer prisoner Cetus 285-81 from Hospital Ward."
Hospital Ward! I mouthed it to Pidge, and she nods excitedly. That means Matt would've been alive after I saved him from the Arena. All that was left to do, was to find where he and Mr. Holt were, and get them out. But to do that, we'd have to get to the main interface...
Tap. Tap. Tap. Pidge was knocking on the door with her fist, as casually as if she was visiting a friend. I grab her wrist frantically.
"What do you think you're doing?!" I hiss, as she pushes me off. I stumble back just as the door is opened by a Galra droid.
"Who is-hey, aren't you-?"
Its words are cut off by Pidge cutting off its head at the neck. It staggers around blindly for a moment, like a headless chicken, before falling backwards with a resounding clunk.
"Hey!" The other droid turns around, finger moving to contact assistance. But Pidge is already in action, and a glowing green blade buries itself in the metal chest like a knife in butter. She retracts the blade, and the droid falls forward, as I stand there, mouth open, thinking Reminder: DON'T MAKE HER MAD
"Come on." She heads for the control panel and starts typing, fingers flying in a blur. I start moving the bodies to the side, out of sight, and stand near the closed door, listening for any approaching footsteps. I counted the minutes in my head, the time until the next passing patrol of guards, the time until they figured out the distraction that was Lance, Hunk, and Keith attacking the complex was a distraction, the time until they realized that we were in here...
"Shiro, I need your hand." Pidge calls me away from the door, hand motioning impatiently for me to move. I step away reluctantly, and offer my hand out for Pidge's use. She places it palm first onto what appears to be a purple handprint, and turns her attention back to the keyboard.
While she clicked away, I heard footsteps pounding past, and I knew something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Had it been the next patrol? It had come so fast...
"Shiro. Keep your hand on." A sharp statement from Pidge made me realize my hand was drifting off and clenching into a fist. I force it back on, still watching the door uneasily while scanning the room. There was a vent in the ceiling, so if need be Pidge had an escape, but my only exit was the door. I could probably take down a good few and run, but I'd have to take them all down if they all carried blasters. And then there'd be the prisoners, to worry about.
"Pidge, are you done yet? Come on!" I hissed, fear getting the better of me. Why didn't she release the prisoners yet? She was supposed to unlock the doors and send the warning via the Galran security drones, and activate the stadium evacuation alarm. So far none of that had happened, and my heart nearly stopped as another set of feet stomped by. "Pidge?"
Tears are leaking silently down her face, and she's staring wide eyed at what an image that looks just like her. I look closer, and my heart almost stops.
Matt?
Matt's face is staring out, emptiness in his eyes. Beneath I see words, translated by Pidge's programming.
Prisoner Kuiper 34-7. Found in Sector X-9-Y. Primitive Scientist. Home planet: Earth (not conquered). Special features...
"It's just a description, it's not that bad." I mumble, meant to encourage Pidge as well as me. Just some information on him as a species. I turn back to Pidge, before something else catches my eye.
Fought Prisoner Canis 937-24 on 8. Failed. Is deceased.
"He's gone." A shaky whisper stabs through my shocked haze like a needle. "I'm too late."