Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“What’s going on, guys?”

Allura turns her head to find Lance stood in the doorway. She sighs. “Go back to bed, Lance.”

Three days ago, Lance began experiencing symptoms that turned out to be caused by a virus very similar to influenza. Since yesterday, he has been confined to his bed, drifting in and out of consciousness as his body temperature spikes. Basically, he looks dreadful, and is actually very ill. Unfortunately, the only one who doesn’t accept this face is Lance.

“But it’s boring in bed,” Lance moans, his face drenched in sweat and his dressing gown wrapped tightly around himself. “I wanna join in.”

“How many times, Lance?” Keith says without turning away from the screen. “You’re too sick to join in.”

“And you’re no use to us when you’re this sick,” Hunk says.

“And cranky,” Pidge mutters.

Shiro goes over to Lance and puts his hand on his shoulder. “Go back to bed, Lance. Maybe someone can come and sit with you later, but we’re busy right now.”

To Allura’s amusement, Lance actually listens to Shiro.

“Fine,” he huffs, and he turns and stumbles back towards his bedroom.

Allura glances at Coran, and he smiles.

“Who’s going to be on Looking After Lance duty, then?” he says, glancing around the room.

“Not me,” Hunk says, yawning. “I was up all night trying to make him a smoothie that might soothe his sore throat.”

“Did you find one?” Coran asks.

“All night, Coran,” Hunk says.

“I don’t understand.”

Pidge sighs. “He means he was up all night and never found a solution.”

“I see,” Coran says, twisting the end of his moustache.

“I think you should go, Coran,” Pidge says. “I mean, he’s your favourite.”

“I don’t have favourites,” Coran says, smiling. “But, yes, I’ll keep him company.”

Chapter Text

How long has she been here? Things have gone badly wrong. She tried to explore the caves on foot, but she slipped and fell into an underground river. She lost her helmet and got soaking wet. So now she can’t contact the others and she’s soaked through and freezing cold.

It must have been at least an hour now. Pidge curls up in a ball, shivering violently as her body desperately tries to stop the onset of hypothermia. But her body can’t work miracles… it’s so cold and dark down here. She’s so scared.

And when she gradually stops shivering, part of Pidge’s brain tells her that’s bad news. Her eyelids start to droop, and she has to fight to stay awake. But it’s so hard… she’s so cold…

Just as Pidge starts to lose consciousness, she hears footsteps and someone shakes her shoulder. She forces her eyes open, so horribly drowsy, and sees Hunk.

“I’ve found her!” Hunk says, obviously communicating with the ship. “She looks real bad.”

He shakes her shoulder again, and Pidge manages to smile. Hunk smiles even though he looks a bit tearful, and he picks Pidge up. She leans against him, feeling so warm and safe in her friend’s arms.

“How’d you find me?” she mumbles, her voice disturbingly slurred.

“Your helmet,” Hunk says, nearly slipping on the wet stones. “When I saw it I knew you couldn’t be far away.”

When they reach the surface, Pidge sees Shiro and Lance and their Lions, and everyone crowds around her and wraps her in blankets and weird foil stuff until she looks like a roast dinner. And then she’s carried onto the ship, and everyone looks so worried but Pidge is just so relieved she starts crying, because she’s just so glad that she’s safe.

Chapter Text

Keith is running as fast as he can, his heart pounding against his ribs, his muscles burning with fatigue, desperately trying to make it back to his Lion before he gets caught. He dreads to think about what will happen if they catch him.

Keith looks over his shoulder as he runs, but his foot catches a protruding rock. Before he can steady himself, he goes tumbling down a steep cliff side. He falls and falls, his body slamming against rocks and roots, pain exploding through his body, until he finally hits the ground.

He feels a warm, sticky dampness on his leg. His vision blurring with concussion, Keith sees a deep jagged gash ripped across his thigh. He must have caught it on a rock. He presses his hands against it, trying to stop the blood oozing out of the wound, but pain shoots through his leg and his hands get slicked with blood.

He hears footsteps. Have they caught up with him? Keith tries to run again, but he can barely stand up.

The footsteps get closer. His heart drums in his chest. Blood dribbles out of the wound and drips onto the dusty earth.

He tenses up, knowing he is about to be caught.

Which is when he hears the roar.

To his amazement and relief, his Lion comes soaring towards him and lands in front of him. Keith staggers inside, collapsing into his seat as his injured leg gives way. His hands are soaked with blood, but he manages to deal with his would-be attackers.

As he starts to feel dizzy from the his concussion or the blood loss or whatever, Keith sets a course back to the Castle. He can’t thank his Lion enough. It saved his life.

What would he do without his Lion?

Chapter Text

Where is he? What is going on?

He’s strapped to a table, and they’re all looming over him. He looks at his Galra arm, and fear flashes through him. They’ve already taken his arm. What else are they going to do to him? They could kill him if they wanted. But they obviously don’t want to, or they would have done already. Have they killed the others?

One of them walks over, and the look on his face makes Shiro fight against his restrains. They are going to hurt him. He doesn’t want to be hurt. He can’t take this anymore.

“I’ve told you all I know,” he says, hoping they will understand and stop pressing for more information.

But they don’t believe him? Why would they? Why would they listen to a prisoner.

And then they surround him, and Shiro tenses up, hoping the pain won’t be quite so intense this time. But it is. And he screams…

And then Shiro wakes up, gasping for breath as his heart races. He props himself up on his elbows, staring all around the room. He relaxes slightly when he recognises his surroundings, but the panic and adrenaline from his nightmare won’t go away that easily.

Shiro’s hand trembles, and he has to screw his face up as he feels the urge to cry. He manages to control his emotions, but he can’t stop shaking.

Eventually, Shiro lays back down and pulls the blankets right up to his neck. But he can’t sleep. He never can after a nightmare. And, given how many nightmares he has, that explains why he always feels so tired.

So Shiro gets up and switches on the light. And he spends the rest of the night doing press ups and trying to stop thinking about the nightmare.

Chapter Text

He can’t sleep. As usual.

Hunk wants to sleep, but his anxiety won’t let him. what with his rapid heartbeat and his sweaty hands and his horribly tight chest, he is far too scared and on edge to sleep. As usual.

So Hunk gets out of bed after laying there for hours without sleeping, and wanders around his bedroom. As usual.

When Hunk looks back at his bed, he finds Allura’s Mice sitting on his pillow. The Mice just stare at him, and Hunk knows they are trying to tell him something. He just doesn’t know what.

He holds out his hand, and the Mice climb up his arm and perch on his shoulders. They chatter in his ears, and even though he doesn’t understand what they’re saying, Hunk finds their presence rather comforting.

As he often does in the night, Hunk pulls on his dressing gown and goes for a walk. It has always helped him calm down, letting him focus on his surroundings and not on his rapidly beating heart and the anxiety pulsing through him. so Hunk does for a walk through the Castle in his pyjamas in the middle of the night, his heart racing and the Mice still perched on his shoulders.

Eventually, after walking for ages and ages, he bumps into Coran. Dressed in blue pyjamas, Coran looks surprisingly alert given the time of night. He smiles when he sees Hunk, his fingers twisting the ends of his moustache, but then the smile fades.

“Can’t sleep, eh?” he says, and Hunk sighs.

“Yeah. Though it’s pretty normal. I’ve never been good at sleeping. Can’t you?”

“No, I feel too restless. I’m a bad sleeper too,” Coran says. “Would you like me to get you a drink to help you sleep?”

Hunk smiles. “Thank, Coran.”

Chapter Text

It happens disturbingly quickly. One minute, Allura touches a plant with beautiful petals, and the next thing she knows, there is something acidic burning through her glove and making her fingers sting unbearably. By the time she realises what is happening, the burning pain is already travelling up her arm. And before she even thinks to call for help, her head spins and she drops to her knees.

Allura slumps on the ground, holding her burning hand at her wrist, disturbed to see her fingers going swollen and almost charred where they touched the plant. The pain is unbearable, shooting up her arm and travelling through her chest. Her abdomen cramps and she vomits, her vision starting to blur at the edges.

She somehow forces herself to her feet, but her movements are sluggish and she nearly falls over. She feels so ill, and it has all happened so quickly. How long has she got left?

“Allura?” someone calls, and the sound echoes as Allura hears footsteps racing towards her.

Her vision blurs again, but she still notices as Pidge and Hunk run up to her and put their arms around her. Allura winces as Pidge touches her sore arm, and she hears Pidge gasp.

“What’s happened?” Hunk asks.

Allura tries to speak, but her brain is too foggy.

“I think she’s been poisoned,” Pidge says. “What was it, Allura? Was it plant?”

She nod and dizziness floods through her.

“Don’t… don’t touch,” she manages to stutter, holding out her hand with its burned gloves and even more burned skin.

“It’s all right, Allura,” Hunk says. “We understand.”

“Yeah, we do,” Pidge says. “We’ll be safe and we’ll get you an antidote. We promise.”

“We promise,” Hunk echoes.

She smiles weakly, trusting the Paladins completely.

And then she passes out.

Chapter Text

The problem with the Voltron Lions is that they are built for one person. So when there are three people crammed inside on, well, it is very uncomfortable. Coran and Keith are crammed into the Black Lion with Shiro, trying to keep upright as Shiro flies the Lion rapidly, trying to get them back to the Castle before their precious cargo spoils. And Shiro is all right, but Keith and Coran are uncomfortable and keep bickering.

“This is my personal space, Coran,” Keith insists, but Coran can see a flicker of a smile behind his gloomy expression.

“This is Shiro’s Lion, Keith,” Coran says. “Neither of us have any person space. Now move over, you’re in my space.”

“But you just said—”

“Shut up, please,” Shiro says, sounding like a stressed parent travelling with their annoying children. “I’m trying to concentrate.”

“Sorry,” Coran says.

“We were just—”

Keith is cut off when Shiro, not noticing a piece of debris until the last minute, suddenly swerves the Lion to the side. This moment throws Keith and Coran to the side too, Keith stumbling into Coran… and Coran tripping and smacking his head against the wall, hard.

He slumps to the floor, holding his pounding head with both hands.

“Coran?” Keith says, kneeling down beside him.

“What happened?” Shiro asks.

Coran’s head throbs, pain shooting through his skull. He feels sick, his eyes watering.

As his vision blurs and wavers, Coran notices the Castle in the distance. And that eases his anxiety slightly, because they are very nearly safe.

“We’re nearly there, Coran,” Keith says, his voice sounding distorted.

Coran groans and screws his face up. But they are so close to safety and he’s with people he trusts, so Coran doesn’t feel scared when his head swims and he passes out.

Chapter Text

There is something wrong with Pidge. And Coran thinks he knows what it is.

From up in the control room, Coran sees the youngest Paladin acting strangely as she completes tasks on the training deck. Her movements are slow and sluggish, her reactions too slow so she keeps nearly falling over and getting hit by things. Her face is tense, and her hands keep moving up to her head, her fingers running through her short hair for a few seconds before she stops. She reminds him of himself whenever he is going through a sensory overload. And when Keith drops a sword with a huge clatter and Pidge jumps and runs off of the training deck, Coran knows his theory was correct.

He ducks out of the control room and sees Pidge rushing down the corridor, her hands running through her hair again.

“Pidge!” he calls, and she stops. “Are you all right?”

He hears Pidge sigh, but she doesn’t turn around. “I’m fine. Please leave me alone, Coran.”

“Wait, Pidge,” Coran says, rushing over to her. “Are you having a sensory overload?”

“What did you say?” Pidge says, turning to look at him.

“Sensory overload. You were reminding me of myself when I go through that.”

Pidge looks stunned. “You go through that… are you autistic too?”

Coran nods, not remotely surprised that Pidge is indeed autistic. “Yes, I am. And I know how you felt back there. It’s horrible when your senses all overload you at once.”

Pidge smiles weakly. “Yeah, it is.”

“And you know, Pidge, there’s nothing wrong with that happening,” he says. “It’s just how your brain works. And if you need to take breaks or wear earplugs or just stim openly, then you can. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Pidge hugs him. “Thanks, Coran.”