Wow, thank you all for such a warm welcome! I'm happy you liked the first chapter, hopefully this one is just as entertaining! I did proof read this a bunch, but some spelling errors might crop up. Please let me know if something seems wonky so I can correct it ASAP.

Happy reading!

Warnings: Infrequent swearing/mild violence

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Chapter 2: The girl in the tank

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"Dad—?" No response. He wasn't there. Shiro couldn't blame the kid for looking so dismayed. Dr. Holt and Matt had become like a second family to him. The hope that had filled his chest was gone as he surveyed the room, leaving a chilling emptiness in its wake. There were other prisoners there… just not the ones they were looking for. Even so, he couldn't on good conscience leave them behind.

The prisoners cowered and huddled together, shying away from them and the light pooling in from the hall. He stepped forward to address them, his hands held out in front of him in a gesture meant to appease them. Instead, they flinched away. Shiro frowned. "Don't be afraid, we're here to help you escape."

One of them recognized him. He could feel Pidge looking at him when they called him "champion". The only thing he felt was a growing sense of apprehension twisting his gut, along with the confusion messing with his head. Something… He remembered something, though the memory was blurry and out of reach. All he knew was it had to do with the title the prisoner tacked on him. Champion of what, exactly? His thick brows pinched together in thought.

A fleeting touch on his shoulder snapped him back to reality. It was the captive that recognized him. "Champion, I must inform you. There is another prisoner in this ship. She is kept on the hall opposite to this one. Please, you must free her as well. She has done much for us, I cannot bear to leave her in this wretched place." He pleaded, relaxing only when he agreed with a slow nod. "Thank you."

Pidge glanced up from the floor at the information, arms crossed tightly across the chest. "We don't have much time. Let's go, I saw something that looked like an escape pod on the way here."

"We'll escort you there and make sure you get out safe before going back for the other prisoner." When no one disagreed with the plan, Shiro motioned to the door, "Lead the way, Pidge."

They ushered everyone out of the cell and made it to the docking area without incident. When everyone was safely inside an escape pod, Shiro and Pidge sent them off to the castle back on Arus, then set off to find the remaining prisoner.

Neither of them spoke as they crept along the walls and avoided passing guards. Shiro could tell Pidge was still disappointed, but the time for comfort would have to wait until after they left the Galra's ship. Pidge instructed the reprogrammed drone affectionately dubbed "Rover" to direct them to the room where the prisoner was. The little metallic pyramid bobbed in the air before zooming off, forcing them to run after it to keep up. They made it to an entirely different section of the ship, lit in shades of green instead of purple, and with a few close calls. Thankfully, with Rover originally belonging to the Galra, they were able to avoid getting caught. Once more, Rover opened a door using a thin stream of light it emitted from its "eye" on transparent panel next to the entrance. They followed it inside cautiously.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Pidge freeze beside him. The room they wandered into was some kind of lab, with strange substances in vials scattered across it and holographic monitors in every corner. And in the very center of the room, like an experiment on display in an overgrown test tube, was a sight straight out of a science fiction movie.

A girl.

A human girl… connected to more wires and tubes than he could count, floating in glowing, yellow liquid inside a transparent pod for everyone to see. From their spot it was difficult to tell if she was breathing or not, although there were bubbles floating to the surface from the mask covering the lower half of her face. There was no indication she knew they were there.

Shiro moved first, approaching the large screen directly in front of the pod with Pidge following hesitantly behind him, his stomach twisting in knots the whole while. Several things that were displayed there he couldn't understand, but he could take a guess. On the upper right corner of the screen was a picture of the girl that was curiously blurry, like she'd refused to sit still while it was being taken, though the anger on her face was clear. Beneath the image was a rectangle with a straight line running horizontally through the middle of it. Every second or so, a small disruption in the line glided across it, from left to right. Her heartbeat possibly? To the left of that was a dial turned up to the highest setting, and three bars parallel to each other that increased and decreased with no discernable pattern. There was something written to the left of each bar, but neither he nor Pidge could read what it said.

He turned to Pidge, who was scanning the screen intently. "We don't have much time. Let's get her out of here."

Pidge's lips were pressed into a thin line, but still nodded in agreement. "Right." There was something resembling a handprint beneath the dial on the screen, and Pidge pointed to it, "We could try that first? If it doesn't work, we could just break it open or something…"

So he did. The hand of his prosthetic arm turned the hand-like shape a brighter purple for a second before it returned to the same subdued shade as before. Whirring filled the room and it became clear something was happening. Four smaller versions of the tank the girl was in glided along a steel track out from behind the main pod. Only one of them was filled to the top with the same yellow-gold liquid as the large one, the following one was halfway full, and the other two were empty. The containers kept following the track until they reached the wall, where a rectangular door slid open to let them through. It shut behind them.

Pidge was going to say something, but a loud hiss interrupted whatever it was. Their attention snapped back to the tank, then to the steam escaping from where three pipes extending from the ceiling were connected to the "lid". They popped off and retreated into their slots above the tank, which was beginning to tilt back of its own accord.

"Um…?" They exchanged an alarmed look and crept closer, caution driving them to stand a few feet away, just in case. He hadn't noticed when it started, but the liquid was being transferred into another tank about that was about half as wide and around three quarters of the height of the big one. The draining finished at the same time the back of the tank was level with the floor. What had appeared to be a seamless glass surface split down the middle with a loud pop. He jolted at the sound and had to hold in a snicker at the skittish squeak Pidge tried to stifle but couldn't quite do it in time.

"Guess we won't be breaking this thing open, after all. Nice guess." He missed Pidge's pleased smile as he sidled up to the tank to bend down and nudge the lid open the rest of the way. Pidge took one look down and quickly turned away. Shiro raised a brow and looked back at the pod. Three things became clear at the exact same time.

One: He was very unobservant.

Two: Whatever was coating the girl before was quickly evaporating into a thin, odorless mist.

Three: The only thing keeping the girl from being completely naked were her soaked bra and panties.

His eyes flew to her face and he kept them there while he figured out how to go about moving her, ignoring the heat gathering in his cheeks. Her face… something was familiar about it…

Pidge jogged back over and threw a tarp over her. At his questioning look Pidge shrugged and looked away, muttering just loud enough for him to hear, "It was the only thing I could find…"

"Good thinking." They made quick work of wrapping her up like a burrito. He scooped her up and straightened, but was held back before he could stand completely. A peek down revealed he was stepping on her hair. Crap. He cringed and lowered her a bit."Pidge, help me get her hair out of the way."

Following his line of sight, Pidge grimaced and bent down to grab it from under his foot. The green paladin paused and took a closer look. "Huh… it's- it's dry." Shrugging it off for the moment, the teen gathered the rest of it and stuffed it into the tarp, careful of keeping her face clear of it so as to not obstruct her breathing. Pidge grumbled and untangled a curl from the suit's gloves, "I can't believe someone would grow their hair out this long."

Shiro snorted but chose to keep his mouth shut while he hoisted the girl over his shoulder; he'd be able to carry her longer that way. He looked back in apprehension when Pidge let out a groan of frustration. "What?" he breathed, wary of the sudden mood shift. His only response was a finger pointing to the floor. He twisted a little to follow it and found the girl's hair had spilled over behind him. Shiro sighed, "Just… cross it over to the front. Please." He was grateful Pidge did as he asked with only an annoyed look in the oblivious girl's direction.

They were twice as careful avoiding the Galra sentries on their way back to the Green Lion. Not only were they even more conspicuous than they were before, Shiro was also weighed down. If they were caught…

"Shit!" Before he could berate Pidge for the cuss, he was pushed into the wall next to him. Four laser shots flew over the spot he'd been standing in. Only four… He could hear their clanging footsteps about to come around the corner.

With no more time to think, he thrust the girl into Pidge's hold. "Take her. Wait." Was his clipped order before he rushed to meet the sentries. They faltered at the exact same time, and he didn't question the delay. A purple glow shone in his periphery vision, and he slammed his right hand sideways into the first one he saw, smashing straight through the circuits on its neck. Before the drone could topple to the ground he flung it at the others. They crashed into the far wall.

They gave one last, garbled "Halt!" before short-circuiting. He heaved a gulp of air before going back to where he left Pidge with the girl. "Thank god, I mean, she's not as heavy as I thought but my arms are gonna fall off if I hold her any longer." Shiro quickly took over and placed her back on his shoulder. He was still pumped, so the girl felt practically weightless as they slunk around the halls and ran to where they'd boarded the ship. He carefully placed the girl down and took his helmet off. Pidge stared at him quizzically until he fastened it over the girl's head and activated the oxygen mask.

"You go first, and I'll wait here to give you cover while you get her inside the Lion." With a nod Pidge took the girl through the opening they'd made earlier. Shiro stood guard a few paces away, ears trained for the familiar clang of metal against metal indicating an approaching sentry, or the sound of blasters being fired. So focused on his task, he actually jerked away from the hand Pidge placed on his shoulder a moment later. Apologizing, Shiro took his helmet back and followed Pidge to the giant Lion waiting for them. Once there, they both stared at the girl Pidge had left on the floor next to the seat.

"So. How is this going to work?" Pidge gestured down to their unexpected passenger.

"I could just... hold onto the chair and her, I guess...?" And he did just that, holding his new charge against him while keeping a firm grip on the back of Pidge's seat all throughout the ride back to the Castle. They signaled Hunk and Lance on the way and met up with Keith at the entrance.

It was time to unlock the Black Lion.

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"Ugh, why did he have to dump her on me?" Katie muttered under her breath, but still made sure to move the girl so she was safely nestled between her and the control panel, At least that would keep her from rolling around everywhere... At least she hoped so.

Should've taken you back to the castle when I had the chance... Damn. She was going to have to be extra careful flying- no barrel rolls or loop-de-loops unless she wanted to give the poor girl a concussion. She felt bad for forgetting about her, but could she really be blamed for being distracted by an awesome unveiling of a huge black robotic lion? Maybe a little, since she was putting someone else's life at risk.

Oh well, I'll make it up to you later... if there is a later... Pushing the negative thought away for the moment, Katie maneuvered her Lion out of the castle to join the others on the bridge. About a dozen fighter ships swarmed the castle like flies, but their blasts were nothing to be concerned about thanks to the nifty shield Allura had put up. Why can't the Lions have one of those? We could really use them... She squinted at the large Galra ship and felt her heart stop when she saw the light gathering in front of its canyon. Seeing that and then glancing down to the girl at her feet, Katie raced her Lion forward and screamed, "MOVE!"

They all scattered, the others reacting in time to avoid the blast. The castle wasn't so lucky, though. "Thanks for the warning, Pidge!" Lance wheezed over the com, she could see the Blue Lion hovering beside the bridge, next to a huge scorch mark on the ground.

"Yeah, no kidding. Those Galra guys repair things fast!" Hunk commented, a little out of breath himself. He was next to her, on the other side of the bridge from where Lance was.

At her feet the girl made a small noise. Katie couldn't tell if it was pained or not. Casting a quick look at the looming ship, she bent down to check on the girl. She poked her cheek, but received no response. "Huh... I could've sworn I heard you..." She mumbled, re-tucking the girl's long hair into the tarp.

"Did you say something, Pidge?" Hunk's voice jolted her upright, and it was only her helmet that saved her from a painful collision with the dashboard. Nonetheless, a loud bang echoed through the telecom. She winced when she heard it.

"Quiznak, what was that?!" Lance shrieked, and Katie might've found it funny if she wasn't panicked about finding an excuse.

Katie stammered, "Um, uh… n-nothing?"

Coran saved her from bursting a vein. "Paladins, focus! The barrier can't take more blasts like that, once it goes down, we'll be defenseless!"

Allura was quick to back him up, "That's right, we need to you to focus. I can give you cover with the castle defenses for a while, but you have to form Voltron now!"

Wow. Okay. No pressure.

Unbeknownst to him, Hunk mirrored her thoughts exactly: "Jeez, no pressure." His grumble went mostly ignored, but Katie agreed. How, exactly, were they supposed to form an all-powerful robot weapon, when they barely knew how to fly the things the weapon itself was made of? Was there a manual? A pamphlet or a guide? Anything? Katie glanced down at the dashboard, though nothing stood out to her. Not like I expect a book called "How to Build Voltron for Dummies", but shouldn't they at least tell us something a little more specific than "form Voltron now"?

They were more prepared for the shockwave of the second blast when it came. Katie grit her teeth as her Lion rattled, gripping the controls tightly as she rode out the aftershock. If she was going to be honest, she didn't think she'd be able to take another one of those either. I am so finding out if I can put a mini particle barrier on this thing.

On Shiro's command, they took to the skies, bounding forward away from the castle and onto the ground. The fighter planes followed, overwhelming them with blasts so numerous they were nearly blinding. Katie dodged as best as she could, and ended up placing one foot on either end of the tarp-roll to keep the girl inside from slipping out of the spot. Aw man... She groaned when her hair spilled out. God help her, if she stepped on it like Shiro did, she was going to freak. Just imagining someone stepping on her own hair sent shivers down her spine.

Three successive shots hit the ground in front of her. She veered to the left with a snarl, "This is insane! How are we supposed to figure this out if they. Don't. Stop. Shooting!" She pounced for the aircraft targeting her and flung it at the one behind it. Frustration momentarily sated, she turned to repeat the process with the one following Hunk.

"We've got to do something!" Keith spoke up for the first time since they exited the castle. He was really quiet. Katie didn't know what was going through his head most of the time. Which was pretty normal considering she'd just met him. All she really knew was that he had a short fuse. And some killer piloting skills. If he weren't so intimidating, she'd ask him for lessons.

"Combine!" Hunk's shout drew her attention to the left just in time to see the yellow Lion slam into the red one.

She couldn't believe her eyes. Did he just…? Her brow twitched in disbelief. They could rule out that strategy, at least. Katie snorted as Keith got back up with a reproachful "hey!", and blasted another fighter out of the sky. She jolted when Allura's face popped up on a screen to her right and barely managed to avoid crashing into Lance after the distraction. Katie scowled as the princess urged them to form Voltron. Again. A little warning would be nice. Realizing she'd kicked her foot forward from fright, she quickly retracted it with a wince and repositioned it under the poor girl. That… might leave a bruise, she thought, cringing.

They took to the sky again. One minute they were flying of their own accord and the next, Sendak's ship was pulling them in like a crazy alien spaceship-shaped magnet. She pulled and twisted at the controls, but they wouldn't budge. Sweat gathered on her brow, falling to her chin and trailing down her neck while her heart pounded in her ears. She could only just hear the others over the sound of it. Hunk's screams became white noise as another shot from the ship's canon obliterated the castle's shield. She turned away from the screen showing the smoke rising from the castle, but that left her staring at the ship slowly drawing them in. Desperation welled up in her. "It can't end here!" Katie refused to believe it, but it was hard to deny it when it was in her face.

She peered down at the girl they'd only just rescued from that very same ship. Tears stung at her eyes and she looked away in shame. They had to do something, anything! Because if they didn't…

Like he was reading her mind, Shiro called out, "No! We can do this! We have to believe in ourselves!" When he spoke, there was no doubt in his voice, no uncertainty. She could almost believe he wasn't as scared as the rest of them were. "We can't give up, we're the universe's only hope. Everyone is relying on us. We can't fail! We won't fail!" He yelled. At the sheer determination in his voice, she couldn't help but nod with renewed purpose.

Katie readjusted her grip on the controls and took a deep breath. We can still do this! It's not over yet! Her shout joined the others as their Lions roared and surged forward.

They formed Voltron. And it was the most amazing thing she could've ever imagined. Her Lion zoomed forward on its own, leaving her to hold her unintentional passenger down while it shifted and transformed. The process took seconds, but she knew the adrenaline rush that came from it would take much longer to go away. She was an arm! An arm that shot lasers! The fighter ships had nothing on her, or Voltron for that matter. Sendak's ship went down in a matter of minutes after they destroyed its canon. It crashed to the ground below with a trail of black smoke, where it burst into flames.

There was only one thing she could think of as they landed back in front of the castle: That was the coolest thing ever.

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The team put their Lions in their respective hangars, tired but content after their first successful battle against Zarkon. In the quiet of the Black Lion's cockpit, Shiro sagged against his chair and took a deep breath. For a moment he thought they weren't going to be enough, but they'd pulled through, they'd formed Voltron and won. His team was something else.

He placed a hand on the dashboard, admiration coating his voice, "You're something else, too." He whispered, and the room vibrated with the resulting deep purr of the Black Lion.

"Uh… Shiro? A little help here?" Pidge called over the com. Shiro paused in confusion, before his jaw dropped in a horrified gasp. He rushed to exit his Lion when he remembered the girl he left with the green paladin. His stomach felt like lead. Holy crap, was she there the entire time?!

He nearly tripped on his way out; he nodded in thanks to his Lion for crouching down to let him out. "Sorry Pidge, on my way." Remembering the path he'd taken earlier, Shiro reached the Green Lion's hangar in a record-breaking amount of time. He made a beeline for the Lion, and was pleasantly surprised when it let him in. Pidge was in the middle of rolling the girl up when he made it inside.

The teen laughed nervously at his confused stare, "She, uh… kinda rolled down when I scooted the chair back…" Pidge maintained eye contact while rolling the girl the rest of the way until she was fully covered. Shiro chuckled at the sight and helped righting the girl before picking her up, this time letting Pidge stuff her hair completely behind her head before fully positioning her over his shoulder. They were slow in getting out of the Lion; Pidge walked in front of him to offer support should he lose his balance on the incline. The other three paladins were waiting for them when they made it to the ground, and were fast to approach once they noticed the extra person.

"Woah, who's the enchilada?" Lance leaned back to take a peek. Shiro turned subconsciously, keeping the girl's face from sight. Keith and Hunk watched curiously while Lance kept trying to sneak a glance at the bundle in his arms. He huffed, "What, did you take a hostage? Is that why you don't want me to see?"

Hunk looked scandalized, Keith was opening his mouth to say something rash. Shiro denied it immediately, "What? No!" But Lance wasn't in front of him anymore. When did he move?!

Pidge smacked his grabby hands away and grinned widely at the resulting yelp. "Knock it off, Lance. We rescued her along with the other prisoners on the ship… actually we should probably get her into a pod with the others."

"I'm afraid all of the healing pods are occupied at the moment." All heads turned to the doorway, where Allura was surveying them quietly, Coran next to her. How long have they been there? Shiro hadn't noticed their arrival.

Coran gave the tarp a curious look before piping up, "We do have a provisional medical chamber however," The older Altean held out his hands, "I can take it from here, if you'd like." He offered kindly.

"No. Um… I've got it, it's fine." The need to adjust his hold on her became all too apparent while he was under Coran's questioning gaze. He didn't need to turn to know the others were looking at him the same way. In truth his right shoulder was starting to cramp, but he wasn't going to admit it. Shiro just… didn't want to hand her off so quickly. It didn't feel right. He cleared his throat, "So. The med bay…?"

Coran perked up. "Hm? Oh! Yes, right this way!" He swiveled elegantly on his feet, leaving everyone to stare at his back as he marched off. Shiro followed suit quickly, finally readjusting his grip and switching his hold on the woman to a princess carry. It was hard to tell where his hands were with the way she was wrapped up, so he could only hope they weren't anywhere inappropriate.

A few steps behind him, he heard Pidge whisper to Allura, "Hey, do you have any extra clothes you could lend her? It's the whole reason we had to cover her up like that." Thank goodness one of them was in their right frame of mind; he'd completely forgotten.

Well, not completely, but he wasn't as comfortable toting her around now that it was at the forefront of his thoughts. Was he being creepy? No, no, he was just carrying her like he'd had from the beginning, with no ulterior motives. He took a breath to calm himself down.

Shiro was a bit on edge after he realized the entire team had followed Coran to the med bay. He kept correcting his grip on the girl in his arms, less out of fatigue and more out of nerves. In the back of his mind he was surprised he'd been able to carry her for so long (then again she wasn't all that heavy, which was yet another thing to worry about). He'd always been fit, as had been required in his training at the Galaxy Garrison, but he was beginning to question the extent of his strength after the brief skirmish with the Galra sentries on the enemy ship.

The doors to the med bay opened automatically when Coran stepped in front of them. The Altean led them into a mostly grey room, with a few blue accents here and there that reduced the strain on the eyes. He directed him to what had to be an examination bed of some kind; it was attached to the wall and had a few controls of unknown purpose on the side, so he wasn't all that sure. Nonetheless, he set the girl down and felt his arms cry in relief.

Well, I'm not carrying anything else after this. His triceps were killing him. Tricep...? Anyway...

They stood awkwardly for a moment, he could tell Coran was anxious by the way he fanned his fingers out at his sides every so often. Lance kept edging "discreetly" closer to the bed, though thankfully Pidge was keeping an eye on him along with Keith. Hunk was wringing his hands, he noticed it was one of the boy's nervous habits. Relief came when the doors opened and Allura entered the room with a bundle of fabric in her arms over a much larger cloth he supposed was a blanket.

Shiro straightened and ordered everyone out, ushering them through the door without pausing to look over his shoulder like Keith and Hunk were doing. He put a warning hand on Lance's shoulder when he tried to hang back. "Come on, you'll get your chance to see her after she's dressed." The boy turned red and scurried out. Oh. He'd forgotten Pidge and himself were the only ones aware of that, and Allura.

Coran and he stood watch over the door while Allura worked, not because they suspected the others of ill intentions, at least Shiro didn't, but it was probably better they kept an eye out for mischief anyway. They were all quietly fidgeting in place, but no one, not even Coran spoke a word, seemingly deep in thought. Allura called them back in after a few minutes, and they filled in quickly to see her handiwork.

She'd successfully pulled the girl's impossibly long hair into a semblance of a plait- Shiro wasn't an expert on hairstyles, so he was going to assume the intricately interwoven tail was a braid and leave it at that. How Allura had managed to do it in such a short amount of time, with a ridiculous amount of hair, was a mystery. Just as foreign as the hairdo were the clothes covering her; a long sky blue dress that exposed her shoulders with fitted sleeves cuffed in gold. It obviously belonged to Allura, since the skirt was long enough to cover the girl's feet. Even lying down she seemed much shorter in comparison.

Her breathing was steady. Shiro wondered what kind of drug they'd used on her, for her to be able to sleep through the entire mission. After getting her hair pulled (on accident), being rolled up and carried around like a carpet, riding on magical Lion-ship and getting changed into new clothes, she hadn't made a sound. While it had made some things easy, Shiro really wished she would open her eyes or move just to make sure she was okay.

She might not wake up at all… He tried ignoring the thought when it came to him, but it lingered in the back of his mind. What if, by taking her away from that machine, they'd disconnected her from something that was keeping her alive? What if—

"There aren't any large wounds to worry about, but I did find quite a few scars while I changed her." Allura informed them, fussing with the skirt again until she was satisfied with it, before turning to face them.

Pidge gave a small nod, "She was inside this weird tank when we found her, with a bunch of tubes connected to her- with needles." Pidge shuddered but continued, "There were on her wrists and ankles and... on her neck too, I think." The green paladin turned to look at him for confirmation.

Shiro hummed, crossing his arms as he recalled the room she was in. "The tubes connected her to the tank- Pidge figured out how to stop what was going on to get her out. There was this strange liquid in the tank with her, and when whatever was happening stopped, a couple of containers connected to the tank were transported out of the room with the same stuff inside of them."

Keith raised a brow, "How come the other prisoners got to the escape pod and she didn't?" He sounded defensive, almost suspicious. Shiro noticed he was the one standing the furthest away from the examination bed.

"The others were in prison cells, not tanks, we found her in a… lab, and only because the other prisoners told us to look for her. If they hadn't…" He trailed off, but it wasn't hard to guess what would've happened. She would still be on that ship.

"We think they were experimenting on her with this," To his surprise, Pidge pulled out a small glass vial with the same substance they were talking about. At his look, the smaller paladin shrugged and explained, "I thought we'd be able to find out what this thing is if I brought a sample back, so I grabbed it when I was looking for something to cover her up with."

Coran took it with both hands, mindful of the cap. He turned it and held it up to the light with a pensive frown, then brought it back down to swirl it around in its container. He stroked his moustache thoughtfully for another moment, then turned to them, saying, "I… have no idea what this is."

They deflated.

"We... could run it through the castle's sensors and find out... but I'm a bit wary of putting anything Galra-made in them." Allura side-eyed the liquid with the same amount of trust a cat did to a feral dog. None at all.

"We could always ask her, you know, when she wakes up." Lance pointed out, gesturing toward the girl.

Keith shook his head, "There's no guarantee any information from her can be trusted." He crossed his arms defensively at the incredulous looks he got. "What? You found her on a Galra ship. They could've... brainwashed her, or something..." He argued.

Hunk frowned. "She's human, Keith. Isn't that enough?"

Of course, Lance was fast adding his own thoughts. He placed a hand on the red paladin's shoulder, the corners of his lips pulled into a frown. "We can't just turn our back on her, man." Keith shrugged him off with a huff.

Shiro knew it was time to intervene when Keith's brows got low and his jaw clenched. "Lance is right. Let's give her the benefit of the doubt. Until then, we should get some rest. It's been a tough day and I'm sure we could all use a breather." And with that, they all went their separate ways. After being redirected to their rooms, that is.

Allura covered the girl with a blanket. She nodded at him before leaving to do who knows what. Alone, Shiro moved to exit the room, but he stopped just shy of the doorway. Once, he'd check on her once before leaving. He pivoted on his heels and approached the bed. The fingers on his right hand twitched, clinking in his mind with the near unbearable reminder they weren't actually his. He hesitated a moment before removing the gauntlet on his left hand, glove and all, in order to check on the girl's pulse. When he brought his index and middle finger to the side of her neck however, he noticed them. Tears, trailing from her eyes and into her hair.

Hesitating for a few seconds, Shiro wiped them away. "It's alright, you're safe now." He whispered, unsure if she'd be able to hear him but wanting to offer her any comfort he could. "We won't let anyone hurt you. I promise." He could've sworn he saw a ghost of a smile then, before he left her to recover her strength.

He hoped the next time he made her a promise, she'd be awake for it.

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A/N:

Poor Kagome lmao, so much stuff happened to her in this chapter. Someone stepped on my hair once, I can guarantee it is a sucky experience. Thankfully Kagome wasn't awake for that. (or was she? o - o )

Thank you again for such wonderful reviews, and all the follows/favorites! I'll answer any questions as best as I can at the end of the next chapter. See you next time!

Originally posted June 18th, 2018.