Shiro's POV

I don't know how long we've been avoiding the Castle's attacks, but the shooting stopped, and the barrier went down. While everyone was making their way back, I felt my hand flare up again; forcing me to let go of the controls.

I tried to shake my hand, but it didn't work this time and ended up with my wrist sore. I instinctively rubbed my wrist, only to feel a heat radiating off it; making me stop. I could have seriously burned the skin on my other hand if I had decided to continue, or even try that without wearing the armour.

"Pidge, I might need to take you up on that offer." I radioed to the Green Lion, only for her to appear on the Black Lion's screen.

"Yeah, just let me—" Her eyes widened when she saw my hand glowing, "Whoa! Did you activate your hand again?" This caught the others' attention.

"'Activate?'" Lance and Hunk questioned simultaneously,

"What do you mean 'again'? Did something happen to Shiro while I was getting the Red Lion?" Keith asked.

"It's a bit of a long story, but Shiro and I will explain it once we meet in the Green Lion's hangar." Pidge said, "Though, I'll need to grab my laptop from the infirmary. And a few other things."

"I'm almost to my lion's hangar. I can go get your laptop for you." Hunk offered.

Keith's POV

"Shiro, will you need help flying back to the Castle?" Lance asked as he turned the Blue Lion around, and I did the same thing; only for the Black Lion to suddenly take off toward the Castle.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think my lion suddenly went on auto-pilot." my brother radioed a response, "I'll see you in the Green Lion's hangar."

The transmission closed, but I still couldn't shake a feeling that something was up. Red must have sensed my concern for Shiro and decided to take over by getting us to her hangar faster.

*You and her are alike when it comes to the well-being of the other Paladins. Though she would never admit it.* I still have yet to get used to hearing a voice in my head, but I figured that Red was referring to the Paladin who piloted her before me.

My train of thought shattered when Red landed in her hangar, reminding me of Shiro's predicament. I disembarked and ran toward the Black Lion's hanger, thankful that Red's hangar was closer due to being the right arm of Voltron.

My eyes spotted my brother exiting his lion's mouth, and that's when I saw that his prosthetic hand was glowing.

Normal POV

"Shiro!" Keith ran toward his brother with concern, causing the Black Paladin to look up.

"Careful, it's still hot." Shiro cautioned the Red Paladin when the latter tried to reach out to his hand.

"When did this started?" Keith asked, earning a sign from his brother.

"Some sentries near the escape pods discovered me and Pidge." Shiro explained, "I got into position to fight when it first activated. And it activated again earlier today when the alarms were going off. Though it would usually stop glowing by—"

As if on cue, Shiro's hand stopped glowing. The surprised Black Paladin hesitantly touched it, only to feel the cooling metal.

"We should head over to the Green Lion's hangar." Keith spoke up after being initially surprised, "Maybe it somehow reacts to your emotions. But does it hurt?"

Shiro's POV

"Not at all." I lied, knowing it would worry my brother if he found out it hurt the first time it activated. Keith gave me a look that made me debate whether or not he saw through my lie but shook that thought out of my head when my eyes fell on the equipment on Pidge's makeshift desk/lab in the Green Lion's hangar. It looks like a cross between a printer and a scanner, with one wire connecting it to her laptop, and the other hanging loose.

"Come have a seat, Shiro." Pidge acknowledged me while gesturing to a free chair to sit in. Once I sat down, she carefully looked at my arm until she found a port hidden in the slot where my wrist would be.

"It's going to feel a little weird." Pidge cautioned me before muttering that she hoped that it fit. I did feel a slight sensation before a subtle headache when she plugged my arm.

"I developed a program last night to help me analyze and transfer any data to or from your arm if necessary." She explained while typing something on her laptop, "I'm just downloading a copy of its data for me to take a more thorough look at it later. So that you wouldn't be hooked up any more than needed to."

My mind flashes back to when I was strapped down in a Garrison lab, I smiled at Pidge's consideration. But then my mind flashes back to being strapped down again– only to be overlooked by Galra.

Pidge's POV

The alarms on my laptop went off the moment Shiro began having a panic attack, causing Hunk, Lance, and Keith to look at him with concern. My eyes widen when I see his hand activating on its own. Noticing that a good portion had downloaded, I quickly typed in an emergency command to the arm; earning myself a sigh of relief when it stopped glowing.

"What did you…" Keith begins to ask before I realize what I just typed.

"I just installed an emergency command to Shiro's arm." I explained, "That way, he wouldn't hurt himself by accident." Keith nodded a silent thanks.

"Maybe his hand react to stressful situations?" Hunk guessed, "The Castle attacking us was pretty stressful for me."

"Shiro's hand would've reacted back on Earth if that was the case, Hunk." Lance reminded him of when Iverson ordered Shiro to be put under.

"Lance is right." I said as I analyzed some of its data, "It would take more than emotions to even activate the arm, let alone have it flare up like that. When Shiro and I were discovered near the escape pods, his arm activated when he got ready to fight."

A groan from Shiro caused us to look at him as he rubbed his forehead with his other hand, "What happened?" he asked, sounding vulnerable.

"You were suddenly panicking." Keith said, "Was it something to do with your year in captivity?"

Shiro felt slightly embarrassed but nodded. "The Garrison strapping me down wasn't the first time." He said, though I have a feeling that he didn't want to talk about it; even if he remembers enough to do so.

"I just installed an emergency command to your arm to temporarily shut down when it activates automatically." I spoke up, changing the subject. "It should help reduce the risk of having any more flare-ups. Though it also reacts to your thoughts. More specifically, any thoughts that have to do with fighting."

"Thank you, Pidge." Shiro said, "But we should get back to training."

"I'm afraid the download's less than 50 percent done." I replied, "We can't risk your safety by disconnecting your arm prematurely."

"How long will it take to completely download?" He asked, earning a glance at the time left.

"About 10 to 20 minutes." I said, "The wire connected to your arm will turn off once the download's complete."

"We still need to get back to our lions."

"Don't worry, Shiro." Keith reassures his brother, "We'll continue training once the data's downloaded."

"No. You four should go ahead and train."

"Are you sure about that, Shiro?" Hunk asked, "We can wait with you."

"Yeah, we could use a break anyway." Lance agreed.

"The sooner we learn how to form Voltron, the better." Shiro hold his ground, earning a sigh from the four of us.

"Okay… if you say so." Lance relented as he and Hunk reluctantly left the Green Lion's hangar. Keith stayed a little longer until Shiro insisted that he will be fine. I was the last to leave, due to checking on the downloading's progress and the time. Only 25 percent left.

"Go on." Shiro gently encouraged me, "I'll be okay."

I reluctantly left, but not before taking one last glance at Shiro.

Allura's POV

"Are we at full power on condenser number 5 yet?" I asked Coran as we entered the Castle's Lounge.

"No, still just 84 percent." He replies, causing me to notice four paladins present.

"You did it! You formed Voltron!"

"No." Keith answered truthfully, "The shooting stopped and the particle barrier shut down, so we just flew in."

"What?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, Princess." Coran apologized, "I had to turn off the Castle defenses to test the fire suppressors."

The sound of the door opening brought my attention back to see Shiro walking in from the other side of the room, "What are you guys doing in here? We're not taking a break." he said.

"Shiro's right." I agreed, "You should be training."

"We've been training." Hunk replied, "When are we going back to Earth?"

"I'm not going back until I find my family." Pidge commented.

"Guys," Shiro brought their attention back to him, "there won't be an Earth if we don't figure out how to fight Zarkon."

"How are we going to fight?" Lance asked, "We can't even figure out how to form Voltron."

Coran's POV

"Well, I'm not surprised." I spoke up before reminiscing about Alfor and his friends, "You know, the original paladins fought hundreds of battles together, side-by-side. They were like a pack of yalmors linked at the ears."

"Wow. Yeah, that's definitely not us." Lance said before lying back down.

"During the last attack, your survival instincts forced you to work as a team," I commented, "but that will only get you so far. You'll have to become a real team to have any chance of forming Voltron and then beating Zarkon next time. You should try working out on the training deck."

Number 2 raised a brow at me, "There's a training deck?" he asked me. Whoops, I guess I forgot to include that in their tour yesterday.