Trash!Trash

“I hope so, but I won’t know anything until I test it out.” he cracks his back and stretches. “Do you want me to test out the firing power with you?” Coran asks. Roaron shakes his head. “No. I’ll test it out with Skylar. Wherever she is.” he turns to him. “It’d be nice if you could turn the castle’s defenses on us so we can see how she holds up against an attack though.”

“Sounds good. I’ll head down to the main control room and wait for you to appear on the scanners.” Coran walks out of the room. Roaron is quick to follow after and searches for Skylar.

***

“Alright Coran, we’re ready.” Roaron says into the mic on his helmet, hands resting on the controls on both sides of him. He’s decked out in his Galra suit and helmet while Skylar had borrowed a suit from the castle. It was nice that it formatted to her body type.

“Okay. All defenses, up!” Roaron sees the particle barrier turn on the castle and tightens his hold as lasers start to shoot at them.

He immediately starts to avoid the lasers, doing everything from shifting to the left to barrel rolling away from a barrage of them. Skylar’s fingers start to move across the panel, firing back at the castle, hitting the particle barrier. She curses as one of the castle’s lasers strike the weapon she’s using. “Gun one down.” she hisses as she shifts to one with more power and once again firing.

“Shit sorry.” Roaron grits out as he nose dives and flies under the castle, just escaping another barrage of attacks. He pushes the lever forward to speed up, managing to give Skylar time to fire back. Her aim is practically perfect, always hitting the barrier.

“Go ahead and up the attack Coran.” Roaron speaks.

“Are you sure?” his concerned voice comes over the speakers.

“Positive.”

Before long there’s more lasers and they’re more accurately aiming towards them. “Fuck!” Skylar snaps as her second gun breaks off from a direct hit, causing the ship to shudder. She glances over her shoulder. “You’ve lost two guns: it’s time to stop testing and repair.” “Yeah, o-” the ship shudders to a stop and all the lights go dim, leaving them in darkness.

“Coran! St-” he’s cut short as a laser hits the ship, causing it to start flipping over and over through space. Skylar grits her teeth, hands digging into the seat to keep herself steady despite having a belt on. The ship stops upside down and Roaron can see that the castle defenses are down from the window.

“Roaron! Skylar! Are you alright?” Coran’s voice comes through the helmets. “Y-Yeah we’re fine. The power source must have gotten  hit. We’re just stranded in space.” Roaron replies, clicking various buttons to see if he can possibly get it going again.

“Don’t worry, I’ll send someone to get you.” the static in the helmet shuts off, indicating he’s cut the radio between helmets off. Skylar huffs a bit and grasps the seat before undoing her belt and dropping from the floor that has now become the ceiling. “Little rusty, are we?”

“Shut up. You were allowed a gun with the Galra: I wasn’t allowed to fly.” he undoes his belt as well and drops to stand beside her. “We still have it though.” he grins, causing her to grin back. “Yeah we do.”

Roaron looks away from her, back to the castle. “..I wonder what’s taking so long. They could just send a lion out.” he looks in alarm back at Skylar as she lets out a groan and doubles over. “Skylar??” he kneels beside her, hand resting lightly on her back.

She groans back in response and rolls onto her side. Her eyes are squeezed closed tightly and her breath comes out in short pants. Roaron feels the panic rising in him and he presses the button on his helmet. “Coran? Allura? Anyone! Come in! Skylar needs help!” he cringes as he hears the sound of bones snapping and looks over her as her whole body shudders and curls into a ball. He looks desperately out the window and breathes a sigh of relief as he sees a ship coming towards them.

Once it gets close a metal net snaps out and wraps around their ship. It starts to drag them back to the castle. Once they’re back in the hanger the net drops and Roaron is quick to open the door to the pod before hooking his arms under Skylar’s and dragging her the few feet to the opening. He knows he won’t be able to do this on his own: she’s way too heavy. He sees Keith jump out of the ship that brought them back.

“Keith! You gotta help me.” he calls, stopping the red paladin from walking through the door. He turns and his eyes widen as he sees the now unconscious Skylar. He pauses before jogging back over. “What the hell happened?” he asks as both of them shove their shoulders under each of hers, pulling her up into an almost standing position.

“I’m not sure...she just collapsed when we were waiting to be rescued.” they start to trudge towards the door. Keith grunts a bit as they get through the opening and start heading down the hall.

“Is it just me or is she getting heavier?” he grits out. Roaron pants slightly, repositioning her arm so he has a better grip. “Most likely just getting tired.”

Keith huffs and gently drops her, causing Roaron to do the same. “The quickest way she’s gonna get help is if one of us run ahead to get more man power, since someone didn’t contact the ship before coming in.”

Roaron glares at him. “Our power went out and Coran turned off the radio, what the hell was I supposed to do?”

Keith opens his mouth to retort but his gaze travels to Skylar as there’s more snapping of bone. His look of annoyance turns into one of alarm and he glances to Roaron, who’s in a similar state of panic. “Look, I’ll run ahead since I know the castle better. I wouldn’t leave her alone.” Keith says and without waiting for a reply, runs off down the hall and out of sight. Roaron looks after him before kneeling beside Skylar.

She shifts slightly and her eyes open to slits. “No...worry….happening.” she flinches and squeezes her eyes shut. “....all week.” her body spasms and Roaron flinches, empathetic. He hears a ripping noise and looks along her body to see a tear has formed in the suit along her side. A whole body shiver goes through her and she suddenly goes still. Her breathing slows down, but her eyes are still shut. He presses his fingers to her neck to find her pulse steadying.

Several steps are heard down the hall and are rushing towards him. Roaron stands up and takes a step back as Lance and Hunk appear with Keith. “I think she’s stable.” he says at their approach. “Her breathing went back to normal about a minute ago.”

“I still think we should bring her to a healing pod, just in case.” Hunk says, looking over her before back to Roaron. “Or at the very least let Coran put her through a scanner, see what’s going on with her.”

Lance nods in agreement. “Yeah, wouldn’t want a pretty girl like her to die or anything.” Keith and Hunk both look at him at the same time, giving him unamused looks. He shrugs. “What?”

Roaron rolls his eyes. “You aren’t really her type.” he mutters under his breath before looking to Hunk. “So...to the scanning room?”

“To the scanning room.”

***

“Well, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with her.” Coran says as he looks at the screen in front of him, showing the skeleton of Skylar. The healing pods doubled as scanners, so Skylar was resting inside of one while Coran looked at the data. Allura and Roaron stand close behind him, Roaron chewing the inside of his cheek.

“Are you positive?”

“Quite. Here, come have a look for yourself.” he beckons Roaron closer and his eyes look over the screen. He squints slightly and presses a fingertip near her knee, causing the image to enlarge. “What’s that?” there’s a small hairline crack right under her kneecap.

Coran frowns and looks closer to it. With a swipe he looks at the other knee to find a similar crack. “I’m...not sure...but I know they’re not harming her.”

Allura steps forward and leans in close to Roaron to observe the screen. “That bone almost looks like it’s new. It’s quite weaker looking then the rest of her structure.” she comments before pulling back slightly.

“I think you’re on the right track, Allura.” Coran says as he exits out of the screen and turns the healing pod on. He looks to Roaron. “I believe she’s just going through a grow spurt.”

“A grow spurt doesn’t happen that fast! At best it’d take a year to grow that much, not in a half hour.” Roaron exclaims, crossing his arms. “Also, it’s not painful like that.”

Allura sighs and looks to him. “It’s the best diagnosis we can give you for now. We’ll keep an eye on her, even after she wakes up. It’ll be best if you work on your ship and repair it so it doesn’t go down as easy.”

He frowns slightly at her before giving a long sigh and nodding in agreement. He turns and starts towards the door.

“Roaron?”

He turns to her. “Yes?”

“I’ll meet up with you in a couple of minutes and help.” he stares at her for a minute before nodding slightly and walking out the door. It shuts behind him. Allura turns her gaze to Coran worriedly, his face reflecting her worry.

“She said she was experimented on to increase her strength...do you think this is a side effect?” she questions softly.

Coran’s gaze trails back to the girl in the healing pod.

“Can I try it out?” “Sure! I’d, uh, start at the beginning level though.” he recommends and shows her how to set it up. She sets it to a beginning hand to hand combat level and steps into the arena. She activates the shield that was given to her as the gladiator rises from the floor. She crouches slightly, eyes trained on it. It’s scanner flashes and is immediately running towards her. She tenses up to brace for impact and throws her shield up at the last moment, catching it under the chin and throwing it upwards.

Hunk gaps as she’s quick to grab an arm and swings it into a wall, causing it to shatter and deactivate. She turns to him, eyes bright and shining. “Can we up the level and amount?” she asks excitedly. “U-uh...um, yeah. But...I’m coming in just in case you need help.” she rolls her eyes as he sets up the panel. “I can take them all on my own.” she snorts out as he steps in.

“Yeah well...just to be safe.” he activates his bayard, pulling up his cannon.

Several gladiators rise from the floor and are quick to turn on Sky, attacking her at once. A few have staffs of their own, but she twists and turns to block the objects with her shield, taking a few punches to the gut in the process. Her arm snakes out and grabs one by the leg and, with a spin, manages to knock the group around her down. In the process she breaks its leg off and takes several steps away. She beheads the closest one by bringing her shield down hard and steals its staff. Realizing she brought the shield down too hard and got it stuck in the floor, she abandons it and brings up the staff just in time to block another one from electrocuting her arm.

“Watch out!” Hunk yells as another slams its leg in the back of her knees, causing her to fold over and drop the staff. She rolls over just in time for a staff to miss whapping her in the side. Hunk fires up his cannon, blasting the nearest gladiators to her. They turn on him, seeming to realize she isn’t the only one in the arena. Skylar’s quick to react though and gets up before tackling one, crushing it under her weight. She yanks the staff from it and with a hard swing, beheads the last two. The simulation stops, causing the broken pieces and staffs to disappear through the floor.

Skylar pants hard and slowly looks to Hunk. “Thank...you..” she gives a small smile, which Hunk returns. “You’re welcome...that’s what a team is for, right?” she walks towards him, stretching her arms in the air. “Maybe I should listen to someone who’s been here longer, huh?” she laughs. He chuckles a bit as well. “Yeah, maybe. Though I think you could have started a little higher level. You absolutely destroyed that first gladiator.” he follows her out of the training arena. Skylar beams at him. “You think?”

“Definitely.”

***

“Do you think there’s any way to turn this into a fighter ship?” Pidge asks as they approach the escape pod. Roaron gives a shrug. “Perhaps. I’d have to take a look inside it first and even then I’d need a few parts. Mainly a couple of laser guns to attach and a set of controls for those.” he shows Pidge where the panel is and she cuts through the metal with her bayard. Roaron kneels down, Pidge leaning down beside him to look in it.

“It looks easy to rewire into a more stable and compatible ship.” she comments, pushing her glasses up. Roaron snorts. “Yeah, until you add rewiring to new weapons and a second seat inside.” “A second seat?” she questions, glancing to him.

“Well, yeah. You think I’m fighting without my gun woman then you thought wrong.” he stands up and looks down to her. “Besides, before we can get started I’ll need to make the weapons. Or get them. Just getting them would be nice.”

“Yeah, Allura’s just going to give up some of the castle’s laser weapons for you” she lays the sarcasm on thick. “Maybe there’s a storage somewhere with some old tech. I’ll have to ask Coran at some point.” she stands up beside him. Roaron side eyes her. “You know, I could probably get some really good ideas if I could see the inside of one of the lions.”

“And try to steal it? I don’t think so.” a voice comes from the doorway, causing them both snap their heads in that direction to see the red paladin. Pidge rolls her eyes. “This is almost worse than you and Lance. Do you just keep stalking him everywhere he goes?” Keith shrugs as he leans up against the door. “Until I have a reason to trust him, yes.”

“Oh? And what about the other one, Skylar?”

He laughs. “She doesn’t seem as smart as him. More brawn than brain. Besides, Hunk has been with her practically since she got up.” Roaron chuckles darkly. “I want to see you say that to her face emo boy.”

“What did you just say??” Keith snaps, stepping forward threateningly. Roaron crosses his arms over his chest.

“Yain’t deaf. You heard me.”

“Ladies, ladies, stop fighting, you’re giving me a headache.” Pidge groans, rubbing her temple. “Listen, how about this: you two fight for it. Keith loses, he has to start respecting you and you get to see the lions. Roaron loses, he doesn’t get to see the lions and we figure out how to build a good ship another way.” she holds her hand up as Keith starts to speak. “No, you’re using the training sticks, not real fucking weapons.” he looks offended, but his mouth shuts.

Roaron narrows his eyes at Keith, quiet for a few minutes. “I’ll take you on. But I want some referees so they can tell who gets the kill shot first.” Pidge claps her hands together. “Great! I’ll round up the others.” she starts to walk out as Roaron clears his throat. She stops and looks to him. “What?”

“You’ll need to distract Skylar and keep her away from the training area...she might interfere with the battle if it looks like I’m losing...and she won’t hold back.” she goes quiet for a minute.

“I’ll have Hunk and Lance distract her. Any hobbies she loves?”

“Baking.”

“Perfect.” she walks out the door. Keith glares once more at Roaron before walking away from the door and into the hallway. Roaron lets out a huff and shakes his head before walking out the door himself, it sliding shut behind him.

***

“Do you even know what any of these say?” Skylar questions as she picks up a tube of space goo, looking at the label. “We’re not entirely sure...but Hunk has a knack for creating some good food.” Lance replies, leaning against the counter. He pouts a bit, wishing he could watch Keith get his ass kicked by the newbie but no, he’s stuck here making sure the other one doesn’t ruin everything.

Hunk takes the tube from Sky and adds it to the bowl. She leans over slightly, sniffing the batter. “Mmmm...kinda smells like strawberries.”

“Let’s hope it tastes like them.” he replies, glancing over to her. He dumps the bowl into a square pan and places it into the oven.

Lance groans and sprawls over the table. He squints at Skylar. “Weren’t you shorter before? I swear you were shorter yesterday. Like. Two inches shorter.” she shrugs. “Maybe I’m finally getting my growth spurt I should have gotten back in 6th grade.”

“I’m pretty sure someone doesn’t grow two inches in one night once out of puberty.” Hunk says, resting lightly against the counter.

“Well...I don’t feel any taller. Roaron would be able to tell.” she glances around, her eyebrow dropping into a questioning look. “Which….where is he, by the way? I haven’t gotten to see him all day.”

“Well...um-” “He’s with Pidge, checking out the lions.” Lance interrupts, glancing to Hunk. Sky frowns a bit before tilting her head.

“How about we go meet up with them and lemme look at them too?” she asks, eyes trained on Hunk. He glances away. “We have to wait for the food to bake. I don’t want it to burn.”

Lance sits up and slides off the table. “I can go get him for you, if he’s still there.”

“Great! I’ll go with you.” she stands up straight and starts to follow him. “Wait wait wait...have I...shown you my secret stash of food?” Hunk questions, laying a hand on her shoulder. Lance quickly makes his escape as she looks back to Hunk. “..No?”

***

“Okay boys, let’s make this fight clean.” Pidge says as she sits back in one of the chairs behind the particle barrier. Shiro sits beside her, having agreed to be referee, with a little bit of convincing. Keith and Roaron are both dressed in their respective suits, Roaron in his Galra one that he landed on the ship with. Instead of real weapons they have two wooden swords so they don’t seriously injure the other. “Begin!” Pidge calls out.

Roaron bends his knees slightly, eyes trained on Keith. He knows the hot headed emo boy will probably be the first to make a strike if he waits long enough. Sure enough, after a few minutes of being motionless, Keith huffs and rushes him, bringing the tool out slightly to the side. Roaron tilts his sword to the side out in front of him and blocks Keith’s attempt at side swiping him, instead kicking out at his shins and just barely skimming them as Keith jumps back.

Roaron is quick to rush him this time as he’s unbalanced and there’s a loud crack! As the weapons strike each other again. Roaron presses hard enough to bring Keith’s own sword to his neck, but he has enough strength to keep it from quite touching it. Keith grits his teeth and shoves Roaron back, causing him to just catch his balance as he’s forced back a few steps. Keith rushes once again, cutting up from underneath but Roaron catches him with his own sword, stopping him long enough to kick out and catch Keith’s knee, causing him to collapse. He’s quick to roll and jump back up before Roaron can pin him with his sword. Both pant a bit, eyeing each other up.

“What’d I miss?” Lance whispers as he kneels beside Pidge, eyeing the arena where both are standing looking at the other. Pidge leans a bit towards Lance. “Both are decently matched: Keith’s quick but Roaron has the strength to block his attacks and sense to guess where he’s going to strike. It’s kinda interesting. It’d be cool to see how he stands up to Shiro but..” she glances towards Shiro, who’s too distracted by watching the fight to pay attention to them. “He doesn’t have a beef with Shiro so I don’t think he’d do it.”

Lance pouts a bit as he watches the two. “Too bad. That’d be so cool to see. Though I wouldn’t doubt Skylar beating up Shiro.” Pidge looks at him in alarm. “Why??” “You have to get the story from Hunk. He’ll tell it better than me.” she eyes him before returning her attention to the battlefield.

Keith is the first to move again, bringing his sword up and clashing once again with Roaron’s. What he doesn’t see coming is Keith’s leg, nailing him in the gut, causing him to cough hard and fall back. He brings his sword up as his back slams into the ground, blocking Keith’s deathblow. He pants and grits his teeth.

“Why don’t you give up, pretty boy?” Keith hisses out, pressing harder against the sword, bringing it dangerously close to Roaron’s neck. Roaron gives a smirk.

“Because I’m too stubborn to.” he launches forward, knocking Keith’s sword away in the process and pins his sword under his neck, causing Keith to lift his chin a bit. Both pant heavily, glaring at each other as the arena shuts down.

“Match set! Roaron wins!” Pidge calls as she stands up from her seat. Both of the wooden swords disappear and Roaron steps back from Keith before sticking out his hand. “Good match. It’s been awhile since I’ve been against someone skilled.” Keith eyes his hand before taking it and shaking it. He drops it first and walks away, heading to the door.

Roaron watches him go before glancing at Shiro, who shrugs. “He’ll come around.” Roaron snickers a bit: imagine the emo boy sulking. He keeps the thought to himself and rubs his stomach lightly, already knowing a pretty big bruise is going to form there. He glances to Pidge and chuckles a bit. “I think we’ll have to save exploring the lions for a couple days. He got me pretty good.” “I bet that knee hurts more than your gut though.” she comments. “Yeah, he was kinda limping out the door.” Lance adds, grinning.

“Do you need a healing pod?” Shiro questions, looking slightly concerned. Roaron waves his hand. “Nah, I’d just like some water.” “I’ll come with you: Hunk’s magic ought to be done by now.” Lance comments, walking out of the door with him in the direction of the kitchen. Pidge and Shiro glance to each other. Pidge glances down before looking back up.

“How long?”

“How long what?” Shiro asks back. She frowns slightly.

“How long were you and Matt together?”

Shiro tenses up a bit and glances away. He swallows hard. “A few months before the Kerberos mission launched. That’s why he never got to telling you. Our minds were focused on the mission and we spent our free time with each other. I...I think he was afraid that I’d leave him so he didn’t bother to announce our relationship to anyone.” he glances down to Pidge.

“I...you're welcome, I suppose.” Allura says, leaning forward slightly in her chair and resting her elbows against the table. “Is there a name we can call you..?”

“Oh yeah! I’m Skylar. Skylar Tepaas. Sky for short. I pretty much respond to anything you call me.” she responds, pushing back slightly from the table and flinching as Lance’s gun shifts. Roaron sighs and lays down his fork, unable to stomach anymore. It’s quiet for a moment.

“How do you know Matt? Did you see another human with him? How lo-”

“Pidge!” Shiro exclaims, looking sternly at her. She glares back at him and huffs before crossing her arms. “It’d probably be best to start from the beginning…” Allura stats, looking to both Roaron and Skylar. The two look to each other before looking back to the group.

“It’s...well, obviously a long story so I’ll try to sum it up quickly” Roaron begins “We were sent out to find the Kerberos mission. Being the best pilot and sharpshooter at the time, they thought it best to send us out with a small ship to find out what happened and complete the mission if we could. Well…” he glances to Sky.

“We didn’t exactly have enough firepower to take down a Galra army. We were caught and...well, imprisoned and experimented on. It didn’t seem bad at first: we were just servants to this one guy and the experiments were relatively painless. They fixed my eyesight: I use to wear contacts. But when Sky met Matt…” he looks to her and she looks up. “That’s when we found out the Galra were evil. We didn’t know they were destroying other planets and took the Kerberos mission people as well. Matt explained what had happened...we were in the same experimenting room together. We...knew each other’s screams very well before they took him away.” she shudders.

Shiro stiffens, eyes locked on her. “They built up my muscle by altering my genes...they built up Roaron’s brain doing the same..they had him rebuild their ships to go faster and be stronger...they taught me combat...their next move was to teach us magic.” she looks down. “We tried to escape on a ship...that’s when they threw us in prison.” she laughs dryly. 

“The bars weren’t a challenge to me so they’d knock me out and beat me up so I was too sore to move. Of course Roaron would protect me but when it’s a couple soldiers against a human...kinda easy to pull away.” she shakes her head. “I don’t know how long we were in there.”

“It had to be weeks.” Roaron adds. “I don’t know how long we passed out though. All I know is when we woke up we were here.” 

“It did take you pretty long in that healing pod.” Hunk says, glancing at the other paladins. Skylar side eyes him before focusing her gaze on Allura. “We don’t have any vital information to give you besides that Roaron knows how to make a Galra ship and that they’re experimenting. Honestly...we’re pretty useless. All we wanna do is go back to Earth.” 

Roaron nods in agreement. “We would be grateful if we could go back.” he says. All the paladins look to each other. Lance swallows hard.

Coran stands and looks at both of them. “I’m afraid we cannot take you back...we’re quite far away and with the Galra empire after us...we don’t have the time to do that.” 

Skylar stares at him for a minute before standing up quickly, her hands slamming on the table and causing it to shake. Lance trains his gun on her and Keith lifts his sword but Shiro raises his arm to stop them. She trembles in rage before gritting her teeth. 

Roaron places a hand on her shoulder and she relaxes a bit under his touch. “Excuse her….we’re..very homesick. As I imagine all you are. Is there a...room or place we can retire to?” 

“Like you’re both going to be out of sight!” Allura says. “Then assign us a guard or lock us in so we can’t escape.” Roaron states, his gaze leveling against hers. She stares him down, a scowl on her face as she thinks.

Skylar huffs and looks to Allura. “I know you don’t trust us but you’re going to have to sooner or later. You my as well start now. Split us up if you need to, but if you can’t get us back to Earth then we my as well join the team. Which means the sooner we know this ‘castle ship’ the more of help we can be.” 

Allura gives her a long stare before closing her eyes and sighing. “Hunk and Keith, give...Roaron a tour of the castle. Shiro, Pidge, and Lance, show Skylar to a room to rest in.” Shiro dips his head slightly in agreement before turning to Skylar and offering his hand. She looks to Roaron, who nods his head slightly. She looks to him and takes his offered hand, being lead out of one door with Lance and Pidge following closely behind.

Keith glances to Roaron and jerks his head slightly. “C’mon.” he says, heading towards a different door. Hunk gives Roaron an apologetic look and sticks behind with him, taking him out the door after Keith. Once the door closes Allura sighs and sinks into her seat. “I don’t know if they’re trustable...the male could be useful in building tech but the female….” she looks over to Coran, who has taken a seat beside her. He strokes his mustache in thought.

“She seems...temperamental and unstable...her strength is incredible though. Princess, that would be useful in battle if we can get her on our side.” “It’s the unstable part I worry about. It could mean disaster if she acts instinctively.” Allura says concernedly. Coran watches her for a moment.

“I don’t think he’ll stay without her. Their connection seems strong, though it doesn’t seem romantic.” he rubs his neck. “Give it a couple quintents: see how they react with the paladins. If all else fails try to get as much information out of the boy as you can.” Allura looks up at him before standing up and nods shortly. “Sounds like a plan.”

***

Skylar follows quietly after the black suited man and glances at the green one, who looks so much like Matt it breaks her heart. ‘His sister...I swear her name was Katie though..” she thinks to herself. Skylar herself is only a couple of inches taller than Pidge. She looks back forward as they walk through the hallway. Shiro stops them to press a button on a hidden panel and a door slides open. The room is simple, with just a small shelf and a bed with blankets on it. “Thank you.” Sky says, walking into the room. “Much better improvement to a prison.” she gives a half smile, but none of the paladins return it. She looks away and walks over to the bed, sinking down on it.

Shiro hesitates before taking a few steps towards her. “So you knew Matt?” he questions slowly. She perks up and give a grin. “Yeah. He was a cool kid.” Pidge looks at Shiro before coming to stand beside him. “Could...would you tell us how he’s doing?”

***

“...and that’s the training room over there. It’s pretty sweet, with the gladiator and all. You can set up different skill levels on it.” Hunk says as they peer into the room. Keith had been quiet all of the trip, mostly playing guard while Hunk plays tour guide. Roaron couldn’t help but take all of the advance tech in: despite being a Galra engineer for almost a year, it always amazed him to see alien technology that’s so far ahead of human tech. And that it had been made hundreds of years before! He realizes that they have come to a stop and Keith is glaring at him. He frowns a bit. “What?”

“I said, how did the smartest pilot of his time not realize the Galra was evil?” he almost sneers. Roaron glares at him. “Because they locked us in a room that was plush and said that they researched planets. That they were looking for a legendary weapon and needed our help. They made promises of power as long as we stayed with them and did as we were told. They kept us comfortable. We didn’t get to see out of any windows. They convinced us that Voltron was taken by evil people who wanted to stop them from researching. We never got mistreated until those last couple of weeks when we found out the truth.” he takes a breath and holds up his hand to stop Keith as he opens his mouth “We didn’t know any better. It’s a simple tactic: treat your enemies like friends and they’ll help you.”

“But-” “There’s no but. Tell me, if you were treated like royalty, would you know any better?” he holds Keith’s tense gaze, whose face is in a scowl. He turns away sharply and stalks down the hall ahead of them. Hunk sighs and rubs his neck. “Sorry...he’s still a little sore over Shiro getting trapped on the ship and leaving him alone.” “Dear god keep him away from Skylar than. She’ll squash him like a bug if he snaps at her.” Roaron grins, looking to Hunk. “Very...duely noted.” he replies before heading down the hall with Roaron, continuing the tour.

***

“He said he was trying to brave for his friends, his family, and his boyfriend. He didn’t want to le-”

  “Wait wait wait. Boyfriend??” Pidge interrupts, leaning forward from her sitting position on the ground. Skylar tilts her head. “You didn’t know?”

“No!” she says, half shocked. “He said he was bi but I didn’t know…” she frowns a bit. “Why wouldn’t he tell me?”

Skylar shrugs. “He said something about wishing his boyfriend could have met his family but now he might never get the chance…” she glances towards Shiro, who isn’t meeting her gaze. She looks towards the doorway to see the blue paladin has disappeared. 

She smirks a bit and turns back to Pidge. “Though he told me a LOT about him and how he looks.” “Seriously?? Spill.” Pidge says, looking up to her. Skylar crosses her legs on the bed, resting a finger on her chin. “Hmmm….he was very sweet and sappy...according to him he had ‘the muscles of a god’ but had the gentlest touch.” she glances over to see Shiro still looking down. “Also he was really good in be-”

“WE NEVER GOT THAT FAR!” Shiro snaps, face fully going red as Pidge claps her hands over her ears screaming “I DON’T NEED TO HEAR ANYMORE!” and jumping up, racing out of the room. Skylar bursts out laughing, doubling over.

“I-I’m s-sorry but I-I couldn’t help it!” she says between honks of laughter, clutching her stomach. Through the tears in her eyes she can see Shiro still there, glaring down at her with a fully red face. She slowly manages to catch her breath as she stops laughing and sits up straight to face him. “I knew it was you the moment I saw you. His voice would get so sweet when he was describing you. It’d make him happy, especially on days that were downright awful. He misses you dreadfully so.”

Shiro swallows hard and looks away. “That’s...it’s...it’s good to hear he’s okay. As far as you know at least...thank you for telling us about him.” he trudges towards the door. “Sleep well...your friend will be in the room next to yours.” it opens and shuts behind him. The lights dim on their own. Skylar looks towards the door for a few more minutes before laying down on the bed. She wasn’t sleepy at all but she’d try to relax.

***

A few hours ago Hunk had led him to his room and told him that Skylar was in the room next to his. With a goodnight, he had left him alone. Roaron sighs and sits up on the bed before dropping silently off and padding his way to the door. It slides open for him and he walks out into the hallway. He wasn’t interested in sleeping, but it was nice to finally get some quiet time to himself. He walks down the hall towards the front of the ship. He had been shown this room briefly: it was the main control room were Allura would pilot the ship.

Roaron slowly peers in, looking around to make sure he’s alone before walking in. He sits down in one of the seats and gazes out the window, watching the stars go slowly by. The castle-ship had to be on autopilot of some kind for now at least. He leans back slightly and closes his eyes, letting the peaceful atmosphere take over him.

“I thought I’d be the only one up at this hour.” Allura’s voice comes from the doorway practically causing Roaron to jump out of his skin. He stands up as she approaches him, but her gaze is focused on the outside. He follows her gaze. A calm feeling comes in between them as they gaze at the stars together before Roaron turns to her. “You’ve lost your home too.” he says softly, causing her to stiffen and meet his gaze. “How-”

As she’s about to slip in Shiro lays a hand on her shoulder. “Stay here in case we need to make a quick getaway.” She glares at him. “My brother and father might be in there: there’s no way im-”

“Pidge! I promise I will search for them.” he says sternly. She holds his gaze for a moment before ducking her head and climbing back into Green.

Shiro slips into hole in the ship, Hunk climbing in afterwards. “Tell me again why you brought me with you…” Hunk says nervously, looking around. A siren suddenly pierces their ears as red lights flash. Shiro drags him into another hallway just in time to avoid a group of drones running past with guns. “That’s our cue: Keith and Lance are distracting them.” Shiro presses a button on his suit and a screen pops up, showing a bunch of red dots heading towards the front of the ship while the yellow ones are staying still near the back.

Shiro peers around the corner, looking left and right before taking off down the hallway. Hunk follows close behind, activating his bayard so that his cannon is out. Shiro follows the map closely, making lefts and rights through the ship. He stops as they come upon a hallway where on either side there’s bars. Several aliens gasp a their approach, whispers of “Paladins” and “Voltron is rescuing us!” filling the air. With a few quick blasts of Hunks cannon, the bars break and release them. They quickly voice their thanks and head towards the escape pods on the ship.

“Shiro!” Hunk calls, standing by the last cell at the end of the hall. Shiro runs over. “What is it-” his eyes widen and he goes stiff with shock. In the cell are two unconscious humans. The taller of the two is male, with shaggy blonde hair and is the leaner of the two. The other is a bigger girl with an undercut and curly brown hair. The male is in some type of galra armor while the girl is in some robes that look a lot like the ones that Hagger wears. A shiver runs through Shiro’s spine.

“Uh Shiro, we need help! There’s a lot more drones here then we expected.” Lance’s voice breaks through the helmets. “Paladins, we need to retreat!” Alluras voice come through soon after. Shiro shakes himself to clear his head and quickly throws the male over his shoulder. “Grab her and lets go!” Hunk  deactivates his bayard and picks her up, resting her on his shoulder. He’s quick to follow Shiro back out into the main part of the ship. “Pidge! We’re heading your way.” Shiro says. “Uh, no can do, I’m a little busy at the moment.” she grits out, the sound of her shooting obvious through the speakers.

“Quiznak.” Shiro curses under his breath and glances to Hunk, who looks slightly panicked. Shiro pulls up the map. “There’s one more escape pod left: let’s go!” he runs down the hall, Hunk on his heels. They find the pod quickly and Shiro sets the male down to start up the pod. It’s quick to respond and they’re quickly speeding from the ship and towards the castle. “Guys, were out: head back to the castle!” he says and sees the others respond, the lions flying back to the castle. He steers the pod into a landing area in the castle. The door shuts behind them and the pod opens. He looks down to the male and pulls him back over his shoulder. “Let’s get them to some healing pods and ask questions later.” Shiro says, heading down the hall.

***

“So...we just rescue the humans dressed in Galra garbs...yeah, that’s a good idea.” Lance snorts as he gazes up at the two humans in the healing pods. “I doubt they’re very threatening...they’re only human and they didn’t have any Galra tech or weapons on them.” Shiro retorts, looking over to Lance. The whole group had gathered in the healing chamber to decide what to do with the new people once they were healed. Allura looks over at the male. “I, unfortunately, agree with Lance. We can never be too cautious.” she pulls out two pair of glowing blue handcuffs. “Once they wake up, put these on them. It should contain them for the time being.” she hands the cuffs to Shiro before walking out of the room, gesturing for Coran to follow.

Shiro sighs and sinks into a seat. He glances to his left. “Pidge...I didn’t se-” “Save it.” the small green paladin says, getting up stiffly and walking out of the room. Lance stretches and exaggerates a yawn. “As much as I’d love to stick around, I’m going to take a nap before the next attack comes along.” he heads out of the room, the door sliding shut behind him. A stomach growls and Shiro glances up at Hunk, who looks a bit sheepish. “Ah...sorry….I’ll come take watch after I get something to eat.” he quickly makes his escape.

Shiro rubs his neck before looking at Keith, who is staring intently at the male. “I recognize him...I think he went to the Garrison.” he says quietly. Shiro sits up straight.

“What?”

“When you guys disappeared...they sent out a rescue mission. I couldn’t get on one because I was kicked out before then but…” he looks to him. “They never came back. I only saw the face of the leader of the mission….I’m positive that’s him.” he glances back at the male while Shiro looks at him in shock. Keith shakes his head and sits down in the seat beside him. “I know you’re tired...get some sleep. I’ll wake you if anything happens.” Shiro grunts in agreement and lays back into the seat, closing his eyes.

***

A whooshing sound comes what seems like minutes later and Shiro jerks awake, but Keith is already on his feet, catching the male before he faceplants into the floor. He’s quick to handcuff him and moves him into a sitting position. The male pants slightly, cringing away from Keith. His breath evens out and his blue eyes blink against the glowing blue lights. “Where….am I?” he asks, looking around. Shiro stands up. “In the Castle of Voltron...what’s your name?” he walks towards him. Keith glances to Shiro before walking out of the room, presumably to get the others. “Roaron….Roaron Flight.” He looks down at the floor. “Castle of Voltron…” his head snaps back up. “Then you must be-!” “Yes, the black paladin but please, Shiro is fine.” Shiro says.

Roaron looks around the room, his eyes landing on the girl in the pod. He manages to get his feet under him and stands up: his height rivals Shiro’s own. “What did you do to her??” worry flickers over his face and Shiro raises his hands in surrender. “She’s just healing: it’s not harming her.” That seems to satisfy Roaron and he calms down, He looks to the door as it slides open. Allura, Coran, and the other paladins walk through. “How did he get up? Has he been threatening you?” Allura questions right away, her eyes never leaving Roaron as she approaches Shiro. “No, no! He’s fine, he got up on his own.” “Hmph...maybe we should shackle their feet as well.”

Roaron rolls his eyes. “If I was strong enough to escape, I would have had his ass knocked out by now.” Allura narrows her eyes slightly, but her gaze travels to the other pod as a whoosh sounds comes from it and the girl falls out. Hunk’s quick to move and catches her before sitting her gently on the ground. Shiro tosses the cuffs to him and he handcuffs her as she blinks slowly and yawns. Her brown eyes focus on the group of people and widen. “What-Where-” “Voltron.” Roaron interrupts and she looks to him, then nods shortly. She scans the group and her eyes settle on Pidge before lighting up. “Matt! How did you escape?!” there’s a snapping sound of metal and she scrambles to her feet, the broken handcuff hanging off one wrist.

Allura’s eyes widen and Coran is quick to stand in front of her. Pidge’s eyes are wide as well, jaw dropping slightly as the girl takes a step towards her. Lance is quick to activate his bayard, gun trained on her. “One more step and I’ll shoot.” he says. She freezes in place, her eyes turning to him. They track back to Pidge’s gaze. “Matt, you know I’m not going to hurt anyone. Tell them! I’m not an enemy.” her voice cracks. Pidge stands shell shocked, unable to answer.

“...That’s not Matt.” Keith finally breaks the silence, seeing that Shiro’s in a similar state as Pidge. “That’s his sister.” Her eyes narrow on Pidge before she visibly swallows. “Oh…” she turns to Roaron, who looks deep in thought. Coran clears his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. “As interesting as this is...it would be best if everyone would calm down and-” he looks to the two newcomers “we could ask some questions of you. About the Galra.” “Yes, that would be nice.” Allura agrees, coming around Coran. The girl gazes at Roaron, who glances back and nods slightly. She takes a breath.