#tabine

She sucks in a shaky breath at the item in her hand. “Shiro,I-”

“I know you’re nervous, Pidge. But you might need it.”

This all started as a mission gone wrong. Voltron was neededto drive the Galra away from another planet. Simple enough, something they’ddone everywhere they went. It was during their usual cooldown that Pidgediscovered a lone Galra ship hiding in the forest. Naturally, she wanted toexplore it, to see if it held any clues to the whereabouts of her father andbrother. Shiro had tagged along, like he usually did where matters of herfamily were concerned. They had just boarded it when it fired to life and shotinto the sky and landed on a giant prison ship. It was easy for them to hideamong the prisoners until they found a chance to escape.

A chance they were taking now, apparently. Shiro looksaround, scanning the room for guards.

“Shiro, I asked for ascrewdriver. Not-” Her voice trembles when she speaks. “Not this. This is from Earth. Where did youeven get it?” The gun weighs down upon her hand and her conscience, somehowfeeling heavier than her Bayard despite its smaller size. He looks away in whatshe can only assume is shame.

“I… Apparently, I have some friends that remember me. Theyknow I got out before, and they want out now. They stole these from the Galrascientists. I have no idea how the Galra got it.”

“They must have sent a few scouting parties to Earth,” Pidgeguesses, “to see what kind of resources we have or if we’d put up anyresistance. Maybe they took some to study them and see how they work. Bulletsare certainly more effective than their blasters.” She considers her nextquestion, unsure if she wants to know the answer. “Are these…. Does it have real bullets?” Shiro nods, and Pidgeflicks her eyes from him to the pistol.

“We need to reach the Comms Center, right?” he asks.

“That’s the quickest way to send out a message.”

“We need to contact the others and let them know where weare.” He quiets as he reads her expression. “I know I said we would sneakaround tonight, and I still stand by that. With any luck, we won’t need it, butit’s always good to have a fallback in case things do get out of hand. I have my Galra arm to use as a weapon, and I hateto give you a gun, of all things, butit would ease my mind to know you have something to defend yourself with. Besides,the only guards at night are robots. We won’t have to kill anyone.” Shiro givesher an encouraging smile and she takes a deep breath, steadying herself.

“Tonight. I’ll be ready.”

Shiro briefs her on the proper use and safety of firearmsbefore they’re forced to separate for the night. She doesn’t know if she’ll beable to use it when it counts, but she keeps the gun close and hidden and tucksit into the waistband of her outfit.

Shiro managed to scrape together everything she needs fortheir break out. Tools, wires, even a small, burnt-out computer she managed torestore. It took seconds to open her door. Shiro taught her the rhythm he usedto time his escape. She reached his cell and in no time and then they weredropping through the vent into the Comms Center. The cold metal of the gun seemedto flare against her side when the operators turned to them, but Shiro disablesthem before they could process what they saw.

He steps over the unconscious Galra and taps a few buttonson the command center, looking for the communications display. Pidge connectsher computer to it and runs a decoding program. The prison is floating in themiddle of space, she needs their coordinates if they want to be rescued.

“Found it!” Shiro exclaims. He taps a few keys, trying tofocus on the castle’s signal. “It looks like they’ve been broadcasting amessage for us. They’ve been looking all over the place.”

“I’m almost done figuring out our location. The coordinatesare…” She lists a series of numbers that Shiro copies into the message. With aflick of his wrist, he sends it off. “What now?” she asks as the little iconflies away.

“Mission complete. We should be getting a reply soon, thenwe can coordinate a breakout with the others. Until then, we wait here.”

Pidge sighs and

Settles on the floor. She plays with the computer for a peacefulsecond, then is launched away from the command center. The crunch of crumpling metal reaches her ears before she lands, hard,on her shoulder. Shiro shouts her name, but before she can get up there’s anicy pressure on her throat. The Galra from before have woken up, and it takesher mind a few seconds to notice the floor panel she was sitting on stickingstraight up into the air. The Galra with his knife at her throat picks her up andholds her in front of him, using her as a shield. Shiro is fighting the otherone in an attempt to reach her, but he can’t get around him. She wiggles in hisgrip, trying to break it, but she’s on her tiptoes and can’t get any leverage.It’s not often she curses her short height, but she’d give anything to gain afew extra inches to escape.

The knife digs into her skin as the one holding her commandsShiro to stop. To her dismay, he does, even going so far as to throwing hishands into the air. He glares at the Galra, but she can see the worry beneathhis anger. The other one forces him to the ground and places his boot againsthis neck. Shiro grabs it, and even from a distance Pidge can tell it’s cutting offhis air. Her hand twitches towards the gun, sliding under her shirt and alongthe waist of her pants. It’s such a subtle movement, unnoticed by her captor becauseshe kicks her feet, that she’s fired four rounds before anyone realizes she’sarmed.

She tried to aim for his arms, she really did. And she does have decent aim. But she’s nosharpshooter. That’s Lance’s job. She watches, wide eyed, as the Galra standingover Shiro stumbles back, clutching his chest. She can see blood blossomingagainst his shirt – one spot on his arm, one on his shoulder, and a third overhis heart. There’s utter silence when he hits the floor, broken only by Shirogasping for air. Her hands are shaking, the gun drops from her fingers. TheGalra behind her is shaking, too, and the knife jostles against her neck.

She can almost feel the resolve of the Galra when he decidesto slit her throat. His hand stills, and the knife is unbearably cold. But Shiro’sthere before he can actually do it; he smacks the knife across the room andpulls her out of the Galra’s grip before knocking him unconscious and tying himwith his jacket.

And then he’s standing in front of her, tilting her head up,inspecting her neck.

“There’s a shallow cut. Just deep enough to bleed, but not alot. I wish we had some bandages or…” He trails off, knowing he’s justblabbering to fill the silence. “Are you okay?” he finally asks.

“I’m… not sure,” Pidge answers. And she’s not. She doesn’tknow what to feel. She just killed someone. Granted, he was trying to kill herfriend, but still. Should she feel proud to have saved Shiro? Should she feeldepressed over the loss of a life? Should she feel upset that she sank so low?

“Hey, you saved me back there. You did what you had to. I… Ishould have never let us be in that situation in the first place. I’m proud ofyou, Pidge.” Shiro’s hands on her shoulders steady her.

“R-right,” she says, and blinks away her shock. “We have abreakout to plan.” She steps over the gun, then hesitantly picks it up. Sheflicks the safety on before sticking it in her pants again, then walks to theconsole. “We have a message from the castle. They’re on their way.”