Matt’s dubious. But the information hub won’t download itself, and they’ve got a specific time designated for rendezvous and extraction. They’ve got to keep on it. 

So they head through the halls again. Matt has to push Shiro back at corners two separate times when he doesn’t tuck himself against the wall enough, which is just weird. Usually Shiro’s the careful one, and Matt’s the one who’s clumsy and careless. Or it used to be that way, anyway. Maybe things are different now.

“Dude,” he whispers, the second time, after the Galra officer they’re hiding from has passed. “You’ll get us caught.”

As soon as he says it, he regrets it. Shiro’s face blanches and his mouth drops open a little and god, no, fuck, Matt thinks, if Shiro has a flashback now --

He doesn’t. Or at least, not a long enough one for Matt to notice. Instead, he just straightens himself up and pulls back his shoulders.

“Sorry,” he says. “The hub’s just one more turn, right? There?”

“Yep,” says Matt. And suddenly he knows why he’s tense, has a guess about why Shiro’s fumbling.

This isn’t the first time they’ve run a mission together, but it’s the first time that mission has involved infiltrating a Galra base. 

They scope out the final crossing and dash across, making it into the info hub. Inside, there’s two sentries and an officer; Matt gets the jump on one of the bots and then it’s a fair fight.

Or it would be, except Shiro is frozen. 

The officer charges Shiro. Think fast, Matt tells his brain, think of things, and then he notices the downed sentry’s gun. He’s no crackshot, but he scoops it up and sprays fire, catching the second sentry in the abdomen and the officer in the arm. The officer growls, turning to Matt.

And Matt freezes too. 

He knows this officer, or he thinks he does, and his finger’s on the trigger but he can’t pull it. He can’t pull it. The urge to surrender is too strong, to play it safe and dodge what punishment he can. The officer’s almost on him and Matt’s just standing there, gun at the ready, whole body stuck in a timeloop. Why did they try and escape? They always get caught. They always get punished. They always get sent to the Druids, after --

The officer’s got a sword. 

Finally, Matt’s body reacts. He ducks, playing defense, getting his gun up to block the blade. Dumb move. Should’ve fired it. Come on, think of things, but he can’t, he’s only a body now, a body pleading for its life.

The sword comes at him, over and over. Why did they try and escape; they’re gonna die here; they’ll never get home --

And then there’s a crash, a swirl of purple light, and the officer’s head severs.

“Ew,” says Matt, as the body tumbles down between him and Shiro. “Gross.”

Shiro laughs, a raw sound. “Not the grossest thing I’ve ever done. Are you okay?”

“Are you okay?” Matt shoots back. 

They stare at each other for a moment, and then give up on the question.