Chapter Text
The galra have been tracking them more than ever lately. The paladins still don't know how they've been found countless times, but Zarkon refused to give them a break. There was a possibility that it was through Zarkon's connection with the Black Lion, but the Alteans always had something to say about that. Either Coran's wide wisdom of: "Voltron might be a mystical specimen that even King Alfor himself couldn't decipher, but a lion and paladin was never able to connect over vast distances!" Or Allura's determined snarl of: "The Black Lion no longer belongs to that monster! They share no connection."
Shiro had to doubt their intellect on this one. There were nights he would toss and turn, his eyes snapping open at the most minor of sounds. There were nights he patrolled the halls, looking out at the windows for any sign of Zarkon's ship. His eyes would feel dry and heavy in the mornings when they all gathered at breakfast, but one look around the room told him that he wasn't the only one chasing sleep.
Some of those nights, Shiro would take a slow pace down to the Black Lion's hangar. He'd look up at the head of Voltron with a small sense of wonder. Her every groove in metal and white cracks spanning across her sleek black coat from age. He once placed his metal hand to her large scraped claw, closing his eyes and focusing on that hair-thin bond that connected them.
He tried to picture a ghostly lion. Black fur running across her body with gleaming yellow eyes and proud stance. He would look down at her determined stature with calculating eyes, trying to figure out her every move.
'Who is your paladin?' He once questioned, standing tall before her. Black's gleaming yellow eyes dimmed. She looked at a spot between his feet with contemplation; soft purring pants emanating from her mouth as if she just ran a mile.
'I am not quite sure...' She would whisper in the back of his head, her ear flicking - as if wincing - at her own words.
Shiro didn't make anymore nightly strolls to the Black hangar after that.
Shiro's eyes felt dry and his limbs ached all over. He wanted nothing more but to crash in his room and sleep for a billion years. He couldn't help but envy Allura and Coran for their long cryostatus. His metal arm tugged annoyingly at his skin and his brain couldn't function properly. He was aching all over from exertion but he didn't stop training.
He couldn't sleep (as usual) and he felt the need to get better at his skills in combat.
His arm lit up as the large, white gladiator dropped to the floor with a clang. The robot pushed himself into a straight-back position; staff readied and blue eyes blinking. He remembered a similar expression on dark grey sentries, their guns raised and aimed. He wasn't defenseless, but he was too scared to light up his arm. He shook his head in frustration. This was not the time!
He brought himself back to the present, staring his opponent down with a scowl. Neither of them made a move for a long time before the robot squared its shoulders and rushed at him. Shiro watched the gladiator inch closer and closer, the loud clangs of its metal boots on the ground and that blue orb trained solely on him. He saw the gladiator raise their weapon in a wide arc, zooming for his face.
Shiro brought up his arm and blocked the move, shoving the metallic bar far from his face. Using his split second of advantage, Shiro swung his arm back up into the gladiator's chin. The metal clanged against one another, but Shiro didn't expect a punch to win the battle.
The gladiator stumbled back but caught itself at its heels. They brought back their staff and swung it in another wide arc. Shiro blocked the blow and another as it came sailing another way.
Clashes of metal echoed throughout the large training room as Shiro continued his blocks and blows. He used strategy against the gladiator, watching their movements closely and tapping along to the sound of their running footsteps. He watched the robot closely, timing its patterns and recognizing their movements. This level of gladiator was dependent on their staff, knocking and blowing as many times they could.
This level of gladiator was like Keith.
Shiro smirked at the thought of it. He always won against Keith in combat. Despite the boy's wide amounts of praise, he noticed the bruise in his pride every time he was knocked sorely on his ass.
'Congrats, Shiro!' the raven-haired teen would say with a cracking grin, punching him in the shoulder. What he really meant was 'don't rub it in' .
Shiro rubbed it in for the sake of Keith's annoyance.
Shiro put a wide arc of distance between himself and the robot. As soon as seven feet laid before him and the gladiator, he rooted himself to the spot. He waited and waited until the gladiator squared its shoulders and charged. Shiro's arm relit itself as he crouched into a battle position. He watched the gladiator swing its staff in a wide arc, whipping through the air toward Shiro's face.
He caught the staff before it connected with his nose and threw the force away from himself. Instead of punching the gladiator in the chin like before, he plunged his arm through the gladiator's abdomen.
He held the gladiator's gaze for a few moments before a blue gradient of pixels dissolved the robot from the spot. He stood straight, deactivating his arm. He looked down at the floor where the gladiator once stood as if he could still see the cyborg in front of him.
"Congratulations, Shiro; but everyone would like to Form Voltron with a fully functional leader when the time comes," Keith announced from the comms overhead. What he actually meant was, 'I can't keep up anymore, Shiro! Give me more advantage here!' .
Shiro couldn't help the soft smile that pulled on his face, "End Training Sequence."
He got a bit more rest than usual. He still subconsciously slouched and his mind wasn't as fast as usual, but at least he had enough strength for the battles.
There were three attacks in a row and Shiro's arms were starting to ache from constantly using the zip line. His hands felt bruised from their constant grip on the pedals and he was starting to run out of battle strategy. Black's soft purr of contemplation whispered in the back of his head again; her solemn, tired look as she scrutinized the place between his feet.
'I'm not quite sure...' her voice whispered back to him.
His eyes searched through the flurry of battlecruisers until his eyes locked on the large metal cruiser guiding all the others. It didn't take him long to find it, seeing it was the largest of all of them. He locked eyes with the large diamond-shaped ion cannon in the center of the ship. The dark purple surface glinting with the million stars around it.
He felt hypnotized, staring at the mothership as if he was staring Zarkon right in the face.
Was Zarkon looking back? A thought occurred to him. Shiro scowled at the ship, remembering the large arena and prison cells. The tortured, bleeding face of one of his cellmates as he raised his glowing arm - staring at him with fear.
He couldn't control himself. He couldn't hold back. He swung his hand in a wide arc, cutting through the howling alien's body with ease. He froze, watching the alien shiver and gape at him, blood streaking across his frame. Shiro stepped back, watching as the young child bled out in front of him. His arm has deactivated a long time ago, but he still felt the hot sting of its power against his skin.
'Who is your paladin?' He once questioned, standing tall before her. Almost as if expressing dominance.
'I am not quite sure...' She would whisper in the back of his head, her ear flicking - as if wincing - at her own words.
It was an infiltration mission. Voltron has done those before. It went smoothly until they were spotted. Pidge told them to cover her as she scanned the rest of the data but they weren't doing much for back up.
There was a difference from this mission, and all the missions they had before. They were well-rested and prepared for anything back then. But now, with the constant attacks blowing over the Castle - they barely had any sleep. They relied on Coran's paladin lunch to give them energy because Hunk could barely pick up a spatula.
Granted, the paladin lunch tasted a whole lot like ear wax.
They had a constant bad-taste in their mouth, paranoia for decophoebs and almost collapsed on the spot from exhaustion. Lance's sharpshooting was going to shame as he hit the same pipe for the last five minutes, Shiro could barely focus on his target and Hunk was shooting blindly at anything and everything.
Keith didn't seem to good himself, but he's taken down the hall after some sentries a long time ago.
It made Shiro fidgety that Keith wouldn't reply through the comms and that he hasn't returned yet. He tried to shake the worry from his mind and kept fighting. His priority was protecting Pidge, so that's what he'll have to do.
It didn't stop his eyes from flicking to the door every few dobashes and he'd notice the smallest glint of red in his peripherals. After some time of fighting and still no sign of Keith, Shiro opened up the comms again. "Keith! Do you copy?"
No reply.
Keith was probably too tired to remember how to reply to the comms. He was probably held up or backed into a corner. Shiro growled at his own suggestions. They weren't anything to soothe his worry. He cut through a few more sentries before he fought his way back to Pidge.
"Pidge, track Keith's location!" He called out to her. She nodded affirmatively and then blinked a couple of times to rid the tired spots from her eyes. She turned back to her gauntlet and tapped for a couple of dobashes before a location popped up in front of his vision.
He saw a blinking red spot in a long corridor, about thirty purple circles around him and one obsidian triangle to his far right.
Shiro fought his way to the end of the room, using his shield as protection and constantly lashing out with his fist. He bashed his shield in the enemy's face as well, seeing that came as a helpful technique. He broke through the door and was faced with more sentries than there was in the room he just left.
He growled in frustration, keeping his eyes on his targets and the blinking red dot on his visor. Panic filled Shiro as the red mark on the visor grew significantly smaller as it was overpowered by the mob of purple.
Shiro cut through the last that stood in his way and followed his own mark as he ran down the halls. More sentries blocked his path and more sentries stood at the mercy of his prosthetic. Through it all, the red mark was growing significantly smaller and smaller. He didn't even notice the obsidian triangle dissolve off his map. He was almost there! Just a few more steps forward.
Shiro darted around the hall and watched his black point face the pool of purple. He closed the visor map and looked before him. A large array of sentries shooting at the same place.
He growled in frustration. This mission was going significantly worse by the tick. He activated his arm once more, feeling the warm metal heat his skin. He rushed forward, cutting through their metal with clangs and booms. More of the sentries turned their attention on Shiro. After twenty-four down and six to go, he finally arrived at where the map was leading him.
Keith was pressed against the metal wall, his shield the only thing covering his shaking form. There was something off about Keith that Shiro couldn't pinpoint. His curled up and vulnerable posture? The tears streaking down his cheeks?
Shiro didn't have much time to ponder on it.
He turned to the remaining sentries. Three of them shot at Keith, three faced him with their blasters raised. He remembered a similar situation. On his knees before three sentries, shaking with exertion. His only thought: 'If only I was faster' .
Seeing Keith curled up against the wall, the shield shimmering and preparing to fail him; Shiro remembered his own fear of being cornered. He remembered the child he killed out of his own growing madness. The last thing he wanted for his team was to be so vulnerable and defeated.
He heaved a sigh and brought his arm to its max power.
The heat burned his skin and disintegrated his undersuit's sleeve. Instead of the vibrant purple he was used to, it glowed an eye-burning white. He cracked the prosthetic into a fist and ran at the waiting sentries. As he approached they started shooting at him. He dodged and blocked their attacks, the nights spent with the gladiator coming back to him.
He recognized their patterns. When the laser guns needed their few ticks of recharge; their synchronized teamwork. He took advantage the next time the lasers stopped firing.
Bringing down his shield for more speed, he crashed his fist in the first one's chest, looping it around to the second. As soon as the two of them clattered to the floor, he turned to the last one. His shield was up in time and he slowly approached them, waiting for the recharge sequence. He counted down by one... two... three... four -
The lasers stopped firing. He brought down his shield and plunged his fist into the sentry's chest.
Three were left. Their weakness was hard to miss. They were too focused on shooting Keith to notice their new attacker. He hacked through the last three easily and stopped in his tracks for a moment to steady his breathing. He turned to Keith, who was still hiding beneath his flickering and failing shield.
He ran toward him and kneeled next to the boy.
Shiro slowly reached a hand out to steady him, but Keith was still stuck in the battle. He still thought he was trapped by the laser beams of the enemy. Keith jerked away with a frightened moan, pressing harder against the metal wall behind him.
Shiro held his hands up and away from Keith, "Keith, calm down. It's just me. It's okay, it's just me..." he whispered in his most reassuring voice. The one that always calmed Keith down after a bad day.
As if recognizing the tone, Keith cracked his eye open to peer at him. He looked skeptical for a moment before the shield dissolved and his arm dropped to the floor. His breathing was ragged, and now that the shield wasn't blocking his full view of Keith... Now that he really got time to see him... he noticed what was truly off about Keith. Tears streamed down his face and he was shaking like a leaf in a storm. Keith's skin was so pale, it seemed almost grey. His hair seemed lighter and blood slowly poured out the side of his mouth. He looked like a shadow.
" Sh-Sh-Shi-o ?" His voice broke on the 'i' and the rest of the word sounded more like an exhale. Shiro paled as he watched Keith's entire body limp with exertion.
Shiro reached out again and recoiled when Keith flinched away from him. His hand hovered uselessly for a moment before he reached closer. Slowly, he ran the palm of his hand over Keith's cheek. His skin was cold like he was touching an ice tray. Keith's eyes blinked wider and Shiro's hand recoiled again.
His irises shrunk down so small it was barely noticeable against his wide sclerae. There was no noticeable shine. He looked... dead .
As his gaze locked with Keith's he remembered a hidden enemy. An obsidian triangle. His hand activated causing Keith to yelp in surprise and bring back the shield. He spun toward Keith's far right and squinted into the darkness. There was nothing there.
He brought back the map from earlier and scanned the hallway they were in and the one next to it. There was no sign of it.
Shiro turned back to face Keith. The blue barrier protecting his body giving him more color to his face. He kneeled back down and reached out a comforting hand. "It's okay, Keith... It's just me; I didn't mean to startle you..."
Keith opened his eyes again. Shiro repressed the urge to pull back when Keith's wide eyes connected with his. The shield dissolved after a while, his breathing was shaky and ragged and he limped in exhaustion again. Shiro placed his hand on Keith's forearm, rubbing soothing strokes on the boy's arm. He felt like his hand was touching a breaking engine.
"Keith, take deep breaths, okay?" Shiro whispered to him. "In and out. Just like in the Garrison, remember?" After a long, quiet moment, Keith shook his head. Wait... he didn't remember? His mind worried.
He's tired and scared! The other part of his mind argued. Of course, he won't remember!
Shiro moved his hand down to Keith's waist, rubbing soothing circles against the undersuit. "Just do it with me okay..." Shiro begged every god not to let another sentry run around the corner. Keith shakily nodded his head, still looking unsure. "Take a deep breath in..." Shiro mimicked his instructions, taking a deep breath through his nose. Keith took a while before he followed Shiro's instructions. His throat seemed to tighten half-way through as he started to hyperventilate.
"Keith, calm down..." Shiro whispered, but Keith's breathing got quicker and quicker instead. Shiro tugged at Keith's helmet, pulling it off of his head. His greying skin was sheened with sweat and more blood dripped from his mouth.
Shiro wiped the side of his mouth but more blood came. He activated the comms to the rest of the team, "Team! We need an instant departure now. Everyone meet up at the Blue Lion."
He scooped Keith's limp body into his arms - the younger boy wincing and gasping for breath. Shiro knocked Keith's helmet to the side of his thigh, and the object dissolved and disappeared. A handy trick Coran remembered while they were in training.
He ran down the halls, avoiding sentries and trying to calm Keith's constant whimpers. Finally, they got to the exit and Shiro leaned Keith's against the wall. He slowly slipped the helmet over his head and activated the visor. Keith started gasping again like the thin glass blocked all oxygen from his lungs. "Come on, Keith," Shiro whispered, laying his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Just hold on for a little longer and you'll be okay."
Shiro clutched Keith back to his chest and hopped out the airlock. Carrying a wounded soldier in one arm and trying to keep a steady pace in deep space wasn't too easy. After a few heart-stopping moments, Keith's cries of pain and an outer-space battle with a machine gun; Shiro saw the Blue Lion activate not too far away.
"Lance! To your right," Shiro called over the comms.
The Blue Lion turned her head and faced them. She pounded forward and opened her jaw. Shiro jumped in between her jaws and fell to the floor with a thump as her mouth clamped shut. Keith screeched in pain as he came in contact with the floor.
Shiro was by his side in an instant, ripping off the helmet and throwing it aside. He ran a hand through Keith's greying locks, clutching him to his own chest. " It's gonna be okay, it's gonna be okay... " He whispered like a mantra, trying to ease his own mind as much as Keith's.
Pidge, Hunk, and Lance didn't even get time to see Keith. As soon as they landed in the Castle, Shiro darted out the jaw of the lion and ran toward the med-bay. He grabbed Coran by the collar and pulled him along down the corridors.
One look at the red paladin in Shiro's arms and Coran stumbled right after them.
They locked the doors for privacy and striped Keith out of his armor. Shiro refused that Coran put on the cryo-suit and offered to do it instead. While Coran readied the pod, Shiro helped Keith into the stark white suit. Blood coated every inch of Keith's skin, his trembling still didn't stop. After a few confused knocks from Allura and the other paladins, they got Keith safely into a pod.
Suffice to say, it confused the living quiznack out of the princess when Shiro shoved a bloody suit of armor in her hands and told her to wash it. he turned to the other paladins and promised to tell them the details in due time, but for the time being, they were to get some rest and study the gathered intel.
After some hesitation, the team left for their respective jobs.
Shiro nervously paced behind Coran as he checked Keith's vitals, doing a few full-body scans.
"He'll be alright," Coran said, spinning by his heel.
Shiro needed to physically restrain himself from sinking to the floor in relief. He straightened his back, standing tall. Keeping the perfect facade of a soldier. "How long will he be in cryostatus?"
Coran turned back around, tapping a few symbols here and there until he turned around with an affirmative nod. "Two quintants at the minimum."
Shiro's eyes flitted over to Keith. "And maximum?"
Coran twirled his mustache in thought, "About... two movements?"
Shiro nodded solemnly, "Thanks, Coran."
For the next two quintants, they had to battle the galra without a red paladin. Without the red lion.
Voltron couldn't be formed and Zarkon had an unfair advantage.
Shiro and Coran told the other paladins about what happened. Shiro took over most of the story, explaining how he found Keith in the corner of the hall. Coran explained his cryostatus with some rather worrying words that he assured Shiro he shouldn't worry about.
'Really? It's normal for an Altean's heart to beat 125 beats per minute...' Coran said in utter bewilderment.
Pidge discussed the intel she deciphered; nothing that explained the various attacks but she did get a few cruiser routes. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge seemed a little bit more rested but there were still tell-tale circles under their eyes. Allura left the metal of Keith's armor for Coran to polish while his undersuit got cleaned out. Lance complained that he wanted his armor cleaned up too.
By the second quintant, the team rushed to the med-bay and waited for a few vargas before Coran concluded that he'll be there longer.
After every battle, Shiro would wait for Keith to wake up. He noticed the pale of his skin was returning and his hair turned darker. Late one night, Shiro walked to the med-bay; looking at Keith's healing form to ease away the nightmare he just had.
He felt a warm feeling brush against his leg, a distant purr trying to connect with him. 'I have faith in my paladin,' the voice whispered in the back of his head. 'He'll pull through.'
'I'm not quite sure...' her voice whispered back to him.
Two movements later, Shiro paced in front of Keith's pod. He was supposed to come out any moment now. His prosthetic tapped nervously against his elbow, watching Keith fast asleep in the cryo-pod.
He waited for two more vargas before he heard the familiar hiss of air. Shiro watched the blue smoke dissolve the glass of the pod. Keith fell forward through the mist, collapsing in Shiro's waiting arms. He was still trembling but his skin felt warmer. The pale color he recognized on Keith.
Keith let out a few worrying coughs before he straightened himself.
"Shiro?" He asked in a weak voice, blinking blearily at the man in front of him.
Shiro offered him a warm smile, keeping a hand on his waist to steady him. "Welcome back, Keith."
Allura gave Keith a warm smile with a cheery 'welcome back' . Shiro noticed her hands twitch with the temptation to hug him. He was thoroughly surprised when Keith dived forward and hugged her first. Allura froze for a moment before she returned the embrace. Keith didn't let go for a long time.
Coran made sure to go through a full-body scan as soon as they crossed paths with him. He constantly asked Shiro questions about Keith's health and making notes in a scratched up leather book. 'Make sure I keep all this in mind!' he simply said.
Pidge was with the space caterpillars and space mice at the moment, so as soon as she saw him; the whole group rushed toward him. Keith winced slightly when Pidge collided into him, the mice nuzzling into his hair and the space caterpillars awkwardly floating nearby.
Hunk forced Keith toward the kitchen, hastily making whatever Keith wanted. As soon as Keith got a few bites of something, Hunk gave into temptation and hugged him. 'You really worried us, man!' he cried into Keith's hair. Keith hesitantly hugged him back with a quiet, 'I'm sorry' .
Lance tried to make fun of Keith's hair again, as one would think. 'Guess your samurai skills aren't useful on your own, huh?' he said with a proud grin. The last thing he expected was when Keith hugged him. He stood as still as stone for a while before he shakily hugged back. 'N-nice to - er - see you again, I guess...' he stammered out.
"Commencing Gladiator; Level 13," Allura called over the comms. The ceiling opened up and a gladiator fell to the ground with a resounding clang. The paladins raised their weapons. The gladiator stood straight-backed and looked them all over. "Your lesson today involves teamwork and strategy. You must work together to get passed the gladiator. On the other side of the room-" a panel rose from the across the room. A line cut between them and the gladiator - "there is important intel. Get the intel to your side of the room, and the mission is successful.
"You have thirty ticks to prepare yourselves," Allura chose a bad level to train them on. Shiro has defeated this level countless times before.
"Alright, team! Let's talk strategy," He turned toward the four paladins. "This gladiator has a double eye. He can tell what is happening from both sides. So what we have to do, is outsmart him. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge will take his left side; while Keith and I take his right." The four of them nodded affirmatively. "Pidge, you are gonna have to slink away from the team slowly but surely. Grab the intel and rejoin the battle."
"Gotcha," Pidge said with a smirk.
"If the gladiator figures you out, we'll cover you," Shiro said. "But let's just hope this works out."
They turned back to the waiting gladiator. They walked to the line crossing between them and stood ready. Hunk, Lance, and Pidge to the left of the gladiator while Shiro stood to the right with Keith.
"Initiate mission!" Coran called over the comms like a cheerleader.
The five of them darted forward, splitting into their respective sides. Keith and Shiro tried to cause more of a distraction on the right to give Pidge her time to sneak past.
Keith used his reckless moves against the gladiator the best he could while Shiro strategized his courses of action. Memorizing the cyborg's patterns to the best of his memory. Pidge finally swiped the intel and slinked back to the group.
This was going faster than Shiro expected. But then everything went wrong. Really wrong.
A loud scream broke through the training deck and Shiro saw a blur of red in the corner of his eye. He froze in his steps and turned toward the source of the screams. Keith was hunched over, his whole body trembling. Tears streamed down his face and blood was dripping from his mouth.
His skin paled into a grey color again. The light in the training deck seemed to make his hair lighter.
Shiro spun toward the box overhead and cried out, " End training sequence! "
Before the words truly left his mouth, the gladiator collapsed to the ground; motionless. He ran toward Keith and collapsed next to him. He laid a hand on his shoulder, suppressing his own trembling. Keith's grey skin and lighting hair made him remember the cruiser. His back pressed against the wall, a failing shield brought over his own body for protection.
The rest of the team rushed around him. A flurry of 'what's going on' s and 'what's wrong with him' s. They were wide-eyed and pale, watching Keith like he grew a tail.
Keith was hugging his arms close to his chest, a pained moan escaping his mouth instead of a scream.
Shiro jumped to his feet and picked Keith up into his arms. He ran toward the med-bay before anyone could blink. As soon as they got to the med-bay, Coran was already there with a pod ready. Shiro tore Keith's armor off and left him in his undersuit.
It took them awhile to steady him in the pod but it finally closed over him.
Shiro watched the boy with ragged breaths. He looked exactly like that day in the cruiser. Black and white.
A shadow.