Archive of Our Own

“It’s good to have you back.”

“It’s good to be back.”

“So what happened out there? Where were you?”

“I wish I could tell you. My head’s still pretty scrambled. I was on an alien ship… but somehow I escaped. It’s all a blur.”

***

“Then you must have been there when my Dad and brother arrived. Sam and Matt Holt?”

“I never knew their names, but I certainly remember the other two Earthlings that arrived with Champion and Phantom.”

“Champion and Phantom? Why do you keep calling us that?”

“You really don’t remember? Unbelievable! You were a legendary gladiator, undefeated in the ring. You and Phantom defeated the infamous Galra gladiator known as Myzax. That was the day you earned the names ‘Champion’ and ‘Phantom’.”

“I don’t understand. If you call me champion because we won, why call him that ?”

“If you remembered, you would know. He used a power that was thought until then only to be accessible to the Witch's Druids. He fought like a demon, death given flesh.”

***

“I made you strong and this is how you repay me? You could have been one of our greatest weapons. Instead your friend has taken your place, and he will surely serve the Empire well.”

“And, now, Champion, your time is over.”

***

“Keith, if I don’t make it out of here. I want you to lead Voltron.”

“Stop talking like that. You’re gonna’ make it.”

***

“When you freed me, you said that you would try and free my friend too. Did you?”

“I am afraid not. The Witch kept a far closer eye on him than she did you.”

“Because… you said he wasn't human.”

“Correct. I spoke with him briefly, however when it became clear that I would not be able to free him and that you were already on your way to safety, he told me in no uncertain terms to save myself. Even as a captive, he was far more concerned for you and me than he was himself.”

"So you left him?"

"I am sorry, there was little else I could do."

"No… no, don't apologize. You did what you could. Thank you, Ulaz."

***

“The fact that the Red Lion came to help Keith from so far away is a vital piece of information. We now have proof that a Lion and a Paladin can, in fact, connect over a far greater distance than we realized. Which means we finally know how Zarkon is tracking us.”

“It’s through the Black Lion."

***

“He was one of my crewmates, back from the Kerberos mission.”

“I see… and you believe he is still with Haggar?”

“He must be… I think they may be trying to turn him into a weapon. Like she tried with me.”

“Shiro, I hate to ask, but... do you think he will pose a threat to Voltron?”

“I don’t know, Princess. He always had strong will, and very firm morals.”

“Shiro, that’s not what I asked. I know he was- is - your friend. I appreciate that in the same way I appreciate how badly Pidge wants to find her family. But if he’s been left with that Witch all this time, anyone, no matter how strong their constitution...”

“He… kept a lot of secrets. But he’s certainly stronger and faster than any human. Honestly, I have no idea what he's truly capable of.”

***

“You could never take my place as the head of Voltron.”

“You can’t pilot the Black Lion after everything you’ve done. You can never lead Voltron again! You’re no Paladin!”

“You have no idea how to command a weapon like this!”

“No one commands the Black Lion!”

***

"He has one of our blades! Who did you steal this from?"

"I didn't! I've had it all my life!"

"Lies!"

"Can you corroborate your friend's statement? Does this blade truly belong to him?"

"I… I don't know."

"Shiro, you know me. I promise you I didn't steal it. I've had this knife as long as I can remember."

…

“We all need to work together to defeat Zarkon. If that means I give up this knife, fine. Take it.”

…

“You've awoken the blade!”

"The only way this is possible, is if Galra blood runs through your veins."

***

"Did you sense the Lion?" Haggard asked, watching with some concern as Zarkon staggered upright with a grunt. It had been many vargas since Zarkon had started this latest attempt to connect with the Black Lion, and yet the only things to come of it were fatigue and acute frustration.

"Nothing." he growled. Around them, the other Druids that were lending their power to him shifted where they stood. Even from behind their masks, Haggar knew how their eyes flickered between her and the Emperor.

"It is wise that your rest."

"I will find that Lion." he said, anger swirling in the depth of his voice.. "Begin the process again."

Later, much later, Haggar went to her labs, passing the interrogation rooms and the surgery theaters, to the menagerie. Zarkon, for all he tried, was not connecting with the Black Lion like he could before. So Haggar knew it now fell to her to act in the ways he could not, for the good of the Empire. There was one last thing she could try, one last weapon she had to exploit the weakness friendship gave to those afflicted with it. Those like the Paladins of Voltron. 

She pressed her palm to the scanning pad by one of the smallest cells, the door swishing open almost soundlessly. The creature inside, bound by chains made of pure Quintessence as much as hard metal, the combination thereof having been the only things that she had found could reliably hold him, looked up. Once, his eyes had been green, but that had been back before the escape staged by that traitor took Champion from her. Back when this creature still had hope and resilience. Disgustingly human traits, she'd come to learn, as the other had Earthling shared it.

However, the one left was still made of the very stuff Haggar had spent her life studying and manipulating. And this ghost, as he called himself, was more innately attuned to quintessence than any other creature she had ever before come across. Which, in her hands, made him the most vulnerable captive she had ever experimented on.

The process to directly corrupt his quintessence had been a long and arduous one, but ultimately successful. He already had so much hate and anguish inside him, he had suffered so much at the hands of other Earthlings. All Haggar had to do was add fuel to that fire, so much so that the light of it outshone any lingering affections he clung to, snubbing the good and cherished memories from his mind. Then what she was then left with was a vicious creature, made of hunger for battle, and eager for a new cause. A new obsession. He adopted loyalty to the Emperor readily.

Though even at his most docile he was still unpredictable, so Haggar had hesitated in using him. Although with Zarkon’s connection to the Black Lion growing weaker by the quintant, more aggressive tactics would have to be employed. And if those tactics happened to wear the face of someone the new Black Paladin had once called friend, all the better.

"I have an errand for you, Phantom.”

Red, luminous eyes pierced her. "What now?" he asked with a bland, vaguely hateful voice.

"I want you to go see an old friend of yours."

He perked up at that. “And who’s that?”

***

Drafting the final plan to put an end to Zarkon had been a tense affair. The plan itself was good, solid. Shiro had faith in it. However trying to keep the Princess in the same room with the Blade members had, unexpectedly, proven to be the greatest challenge. Never mind the minutiae of an attack with so many moving parts. They would need to build a massive teladuv from scratch and lure Zarkon’s entire star fleet through it, and that was all before they could even stage the attack itself. No, the whims of an otherwise fair and just woman had been what made Shiro want to grind his teeth. She seemed to find the mere presence of Galra, ally or otherwise, inflammatory.

Keith’s presence as well. Which was painful to see.

Shiro couldn’t imagine how hard this all must be for him, having found out that very quintant that he was apparently part Galra himself. And then having to suffer the Princess’ frigid glares and mistrusting side comments. It was as if, to her, Keith was suddenly an entirely different person.

Not for the first time he thought of Danny, wherever he was. Whatever he was. Shiro hoped he was holding out in the same way he would sometimes spare a thought for Matt and Sam. After this hopefully final attack, if all went well and Zarkon was killed, he and Pidge had decided to redouble their efforts to find their lost friends and family. And now, after rescuing Slav from Beta Traz, they finally had a place to start.

Shiro was happy to hand babysitting the supposedly genius engineer over to Lance as he flew them back to the castle, so he could get comfortable with Pidge behind Blue's pilot’s chair. There wasn’t really any space to sit, but after escaping the prison in the usual Voltron style, by the skin of their teeth, Shiro was happy enough to collapse on a bit of floor. “The information I found on my brother says he was taken by a group of rebels.” Pidge told him, her left hand flicking through the files she’d stolen from Beta Traz’s database as they appeared on the holoscreen open on her gauntlet. It wasn’t much, a small clip from a security camera, showing Matt along with a handful of other prisoners being rescued. That, alongside the grim and sterile prisoner information. It reported an old injury to his head and chest, and fresh one on his leg. “He’s still out there.”

Shiro smiled at the picture of Matt which Pidge had used for her facial recognition software, a scan of one their father had taken of them when Pidge had come to visit them at the Garrison while he and Matt had still been cadets. He had that dopey expression on his face, the one he often had around his little sister,  that spoke of love, loyalty and fierce pride. And, looking at Pidge now, there was that same determination on her. “Matt’s a lot like you. He’s a survivor.” Shiro assured her, turning back to the looping security clip. In it, Matt was coughing and being half dragged by a rebel. He seemed desperate, and in pain. “We’ll find him.” They had to.

Yellow, carrying Hunk and Keith back from their own mission to gather scaltrite, met them on the way. When Lance established a connection, Shiro stood, happy to be greeted with Hunk’s bright, smiling face. “Were you both successful?”

“Yup.” Hunk chirruped. “Almost died a few times, almost threw up a bunch , the usual. Oh! But you’ll never believe this, Keith made a joke .”

“What?” Lance laughed. “No way. Nuh-uh. Don’t believe you.” Behind Hunk, Keith’s face had soured, refusing to meet any of their eyes.

“Yeah yeah yeah, for real. He-” They were interrupted by an emergency hail from the castle, and the five of them were suddenly on the alert, as had practically become instinct for them.

“Paladins!” Allura’s hushed distressed voice filled Blue’s cockpit. Lance tried to bring up video, but the screen was only black. “How far away are you? We’re under attack.” Though strained and panting, she spoke barely above a whisper.

“Less than a dobosh.” Shiro answered as, behind him, Slav started making garbled noises of general anxiety. Which Shiro made a most sincere effort to ignore.

“Go.” Hunk said. “We’ll catch up.” Lance punched Blue’s controls forward and she shot through space.

“He’s Galran.” Allura explained. There was a strained quality to her voice, her breath hitching with fear. “He must be one of Haggar’s Druids, he can do things with quintessence… I've never seen it before. Coran and I have only barely managed to run away. He's inside the castle.”

“Hang tight, Princess.” Shiro said. “Castle in sights, we’re almost there.” Quiznack, what was Haggar planning now? Sending Druids instead of her quintessence-fueled, monstrous creations.

“ Be careful .” she hissed. “He can manipulate quintessence, and make himself invisible . And walk through -” she was cut off as her voice morphed into a strangled yelp.

Through the comms, though grainy, Shiro heard a distant and bizarrely distorted voice. There must be something malfunctioning with the equipment, because he would swear that it echoed. “ Here you are. And you've gotten ahold of Shiro and company.” the voice said conversationally. Shiro was shocked by the facsimile of a friendly tone, so unlike the formal and militaristic way Galra soldiers and Druids unsulay spoke.

“Don’t come any closer.” Allura growled, adopting a regality.

The Druid continued as if she hadn’t spoken in a long, casual drawl. “ Please your Highness, sit. Relax . I’m not here for you. Well, technically I’m supposed to be, but I've been waiting for this reunion a long time.” Then he laughed, as if enjoying a private joke.

Allura, tense and stiff, demanded “What’s so funny, monster .”

Still chuckling, the Druid answered “Oh, you wouldn’t get it. It’s just funny how life works out. Reunions, old friends to kill, some person with white hair trying to stop the bad guy. If my younger self saw me now he would throw a fit . I would know, because I already have. Time travel and whatnot, it's really not relevant. But anyway, as much as I love the banter- yours could use some work by the way- I do have people to see. And I’ll even give them a chance to form the famous Voltron I've heard so much about.”

No sooner as when he said it, there was a tiny speck of light that shot out from the approximate location of the castle’s bridge, straight into dead space. It was so small, and burned so bright that, even as it stopped, Shiro quickly lost track of it against the stars. How was his ship powerful enough to move at such speeds and generate that kind of light, while being so compact? “Go.” he urged Lance, not trusting the Galra, or Druid, or whatever it was to keep his word.

Slav scurried off somewhere as soon as Blue landed in her hangar, muttering about realities and ghosts, whatever that meant. Shiro spared him little mind, happy to be rid of him for at least the duration of the upcoming fight. He made it to Black without incident, as the others did to their own Lions.

Allura must have gotten her bearings, because as soon as the Lions were far enough away, the castle’s hexagonal energy shield sprang to life. Shiro gripped Black’s controls tensely, his eyes scanning the stars around them. “Pidge, can you get us visuals on what we’re dealing with?”

“Working on it.”

“Shouldn’t we form Voltron?” Hunk asked with apprehension.

“No.” Shiro answered. “That’s what he wants. For now we stay in a tight formation, be ready for anything. Pidge?”

“Can’t get visuals, but I’ve got a lock on loca- quiznack, it’s coming in fast !” On Black’s display a series of icons appeared, one for each of the Lions, and a small white dot representing the Druid. Shiro barely had enough time to scramble and pull away as the Druid’s ship shot past them, having come from behind. As he blinked past, he fired several blasts of Garlan-purified quintessence at them, the color a vaguely purple-red. Several shots hit their marks, and in Shiro's ear he could hear Hunk and Keith yelling as their Lions were sent spiraling back, same as Black.

Lance and Pidge took the initiative to give chase, and the Druid took them in a long arch around the castle and back towards the rest of them. Allura tried to fire with the castle’s ion cannons, though the Druid’s ship was far too fast and agile for her to even get close. Shaking themselves from their tailspin, Shiro, Keith and Hunk circled the other way, heading the Druid off and shooting along the way.

He weaved in between them effortlessly, nothing but a blindingly white blur against the darkness of space. More than once the Paladins caught each other in friendly fire, or crashed into other Lions, all the while yelling in their comms, nothing but chaos. “Lance!” Shiro growled as he sharply drew Black’s controls back to avoid Yellow. “Tell me you can get a shot! Freeze it, we need to slow it down.”

Lance’s voice was strained and tight. “I’m so close , but he keeps zipping between us.” Red was the only one that managed to keep up with the Druid, though from afar it seemed as though he was playing with Keith as much as the rest of them. Shiro watched as the Druid not only swerved to avoid Red’s laser, but circled gaily it even as Keith arched it in an attempt to make contact. 

Though, as the Druid looped around Red tauntingly, he accidentally flew into Pidge’s line of sight. She got in a lucky shot, and just managed to graze it. “Did you see that?” she yelled.

That was the closest the Druid had come to a mistake, and Shiro let himself have a flicker of hope that maybe he was getting weary. “Lance,” Shiro ordered, because he was their best marksman by far, he’d certainly proved as much at Beta Traz “if the rest of us can occupy him, we need you to hit him.”

“Roger.”

The others lept into action with the sort of seamless efficiency they had spent so long honing with Voltron. And it worked, they circled around the Druid, who’s speed seemed to be flagging, until finally Lance managed to clip it with Blue’s ice ray. The Druid was knocked aside, his ship overtaken by a giant block of misshapen ice. It crashed into the castle’s particle barrier. Shiro couldn’t see if the Druid survived, though he wasn’t willing to take any chances. “ Now . Form Voltron and let’s finish this.”

Looking out through Voltron’s eyes, Shiro searched the surface of the particle barrier, his breath tense in his chest. “Pidge, can you get us a visual now?”

“Yeah, hang on, patching you in.” A small window opened on Black’s dashboard, and on it Shiro could make out what looked like… a person . No ship in sight, or even the remains of one, just a man in glowing Galran armour.

“Is that- is that a guy ?” Lance exclaimed. No wonder they couldn’t see it without Pidge focusing on him. The small silhouette of a person, even one that glowed like this Druid, would be all but invisible by distance alone. Which made his ability to not only keep pace with, but out maneuver the Lions all the more astonishing. He didn’t even have a jetpack, as far as Shiro could see.

The Druid slowly pushed himself off the barrier, shook his head, and then turned his helmeted face towards Voltron. Set into each of his limbs as a tank of liquid quintessence, of the kind that Haggar usually used to augment her experiments, and all but one were untouched. “ Quickly , before he recovers. Form sword .” Shiro punched Black’s controls forward, in perfect tandem with Keith, and watched with grim satisfaction as Red’s sword bore down on the Druid.

Until it met a massive quintessence shield that sprang to life from nothing.

The shield exploded outward, pushing Voltron back with the sheer force of it. Then, to Shiro’s further astonishment, the Druid hefted his hands and, with no visible weaponry, shot his own ice blast straight at Voltron’s chest.

They were sent flying violently backwards as a large crystal spread jaggad ice across Black’s center. Lance and Hunk powered up their Lion’s engines to stabilize them as Lance yelled out, half in outrage and half in mid-battle shock “That thing stole my thing! Ice is my thing!”

The battle from there was brutal. Shiro’s hands shook with the strain of the long fight, Voltron being sent flying this way and that, hardly having enough time to right themselves before they were hit from another angle and once again went spinning. It was like trying to swat a particularly resistant wasp, if insects could shoot ice or quintessence blasts and punch with the strength of a rhino.

So, relife felt like a cool gust of wind in the desert when Hunk said “Um, I think my Lion is trying to tell me something.” He was breathless, as breathless and fatigued as the rest of them.

“Do it!” Shiro gasped with little care for what, exactly, it was.

Shiro could feel the moment Hunk activated his bayard in the same, distant and half-subconscious way he was aware of the other Paladins through their links with the Lions. Voltron shifted its weight to accommodate the new weapon, both its arms coming up to hold steady a massive shoulder cannon.

“Waoh-ho!” Lance exclaimed. “This is what I’m talking about!”

Shiro cut in, “I’m taking aim, get ready to fire.” The Druid hung limply in the air, seeming to be entirely unconcerned to be staring down the barrel of the might of Voltron. His head was cocked to the side idly. “Fire!”

The blast was enough to make Voltron's wings flare brightly to offset the impressive kickback. It hit the Druid dead-on, and the blast from the new shoulder cannon shot a steady stream of heat and destruction. Shiro kept the aim steady, and left it going longer than he thought was strictly necessary. He needed to know that this would be the end of it, whatever Haggar was planning this time, it was going to end here.

In the coming battle with Zarkon they were planning, Voltron and its allies couldn't afford a distraction. Least of all such a dangerous one.

After several long moments, Voltron finally sagged, the gun dematerialized, and the Paladins took a moment to breathe. Shiro had to forcibly uncurl his fingers from Black's controls, grimacing at the cramps in the muscles of his left. He blinked the spots from his eyes as he shook out his arm, trying to focus so he could see if there was anything left of the Druid. Hopefully, he would have been pulverized to nothing.

“Guys-” Pidge said, haltingly and nervous.

Shiro sucked in a sharp gasp when he saw him. "It’s not over yet.” he warned, his hands flying back to the controls and gripping tightly.

Ahead, the Druid had crafted for himself another shield of bright quintessence, which must have taken the brunt of the attack. Down it’s center was a long crack, spider webbing out from the center until it splintered outward, dissipating. And behind it, having used only one more tank, the Druid was entirely unharmed. Shiro swallowed down his fear, watching the Druid crack his neck and stretch. A single Lion’s blast was enough to pierce the thick, armoured hull of Galran fighter ships, and this new shoulder cannon Hunk and Yellow gave them must have been tens of several times more powerful, and yet-

“Is it- Is he still alive ?” Hunk exclaimed with abject horror.

The Druid lifted his chin challengingly.

“Hunk, can we manage another blast with that cannon?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

The last two tanks drained into the Druid.

“Back up.” Shiro ordered, tensing. “Form shield, we’re on defence. Hunk, be ready, we may need the cannon again, regardless. Everyone, hold steady.”

The Druid reached up to grasp his helmet, and, as if he wasn’t suspended in the endless vacuum of space, removed it. Fire blazed to life around his head, bright and blue and flickering in wind that did not, could not, exist.

“Whah- How- What ?” Pidge stammered.

Shiro barely heard her, transfixed as he was on the Druid’s face. It stirred something in him, something dark and horrible, wrapped up in so many layers of pain as to make it impossible to distinguish one from the other. A bright glowing shield with a crack down the center. White, blazing light. A man, suspended in the air. The fatigue, the adrenaline, the numbness in his limbs. Sand in his eyes and filth under his nails. Quintessence, crackling in the air like electricity, like a swarm of angry bees.

"Shiro." he said with a new confidence in his voice that had never been there before. "Look, there's no time to explain, but I need you to trust me."

An involuntary shiver ran down Shiro’s spine when the Druid smiled. He had seen that before. He knew he had. And yet here, under these glowing red eyes it seemed sharper and crueler than it should.

He saw only green eyes and a resolute conviction that seemed to find it's home on his features. "I do."

The monster opened his mouth, a row of sharp teeth glinting in the halo of light flickering around his head.

His voice had taken on an otherworldly echo. It resonated inside Shiro's chest, bouncing around in his lungs and sending a chill down his spine.

Shiro’s heart thundered behind his ribs, adrenaline surging through him and making his breath catch. "Hold steady." he said again, though his voice sounded hollow and distant to his ears. He didn’t know what to expect as the Druid hefted his shoulders as if taking in a deep lungful of air, in the vacuum of space , and opened his mouth.

Then came the sound.

He screamed . He howled, he wailed, he shrieked. It was made of fear and pain and raw power, taking hold of everything Shiro was and replacing it with reverberating pulses of pure quintessence that ripped at and pummeled everything it touched. It was as if the sound was inside his own head, bouncing around his skull and throbbing with his own stuttering heart. It was a sledge hammer rabbiting inside his chest. It was the sound of someone dying. It was everything that was dark and horrible in the world. Shiro's mouth fell open, and he could feel his own yell in the back of his throat, but he couldn't hear himself under that thing's horrible wail.

Voltron shook, trapped in a vortex of sound waves so powerful they slammed into the Lions with real, terrifying force. They creaked and groaned against each other until they could take it no more, and Voltron broke apart at the seams.

Shiro wasn't sure when the sound stopped as his ears still rang sharply, blocking out all else besides the blood rushing in them and a high pitched whistle. His only indication that the Druid had blessedly stopped was the feeling of the pressure on his chest easing, allowing him to take in great lungfuls of air. He swallowed, gasped, and tried very hard to keep his rolling stomach from losing itself. With a shaking hand, he touched his ear, looking for blood and thankfully finding only sweat. He may deaf to the world for the time being, but at least he knew his eardrums hadn't ruptured.

Shiro reached out with his mind to Black, partly to steady himself when vertigo started to make his stomach roll further. However no response came, she was dead in the water. Trying to push aside his panic, Shiro pumped uselessly at her controls, knowing they wouldn't respond but feeling the desperate need to try regardless. "Guys?" he probed tentatively through the comms. He could only just hear himself, his voice feeling raw and sounding a million miles away. "Come in, team." Shiro had no idea if they were responding, it just sounded like static to him, but that could easily just be in his own head.

Inside Black's cockpit, the temperature dropped sharply between one blink and the next, to the point where Shiro's breath puffed in front of his nose. The sudden cold bit at his exposed extremities, trying to creep down the neck of his thermal flight suit.

Fearing the worst, Shiro powered up his hand and jumped out of his seat, ready to fight. However with blood rushing through his ears, the persistent ringing, and Black free-floating in space, Shiro lost his footing and slumped heavily against the side of his pilot's chair.

"Who's there." Shiro grit out, even though he already knew the answer, his hoarse voice scratching at his throat painfully.

"Wrong order, I'm supposed to say 'knock knock' first."

It took Shiro several long tics to realize that the comment was meant as a joke .

Framed against the shadowy bowles of Black's cockpit, two red eyes blinked into existence, followed by a face and body. Up close, the Druid that had pummeled Voltron turned into something more chilling, something needle-sharp and sinister. There was a haunting quality about him, giving the impression that if one were to strip him of his Galran armour and augmentations they would still be left with some dangerous and otherworldly creature, capable of the unthinkable. “No quip?” he asked, a light, curious lilt to his voice that made it sound almost polite. It bounced around the walls, echoing as if he stood in a massive cavern all his own. Like his face, his voice was achingly, eerily, familiar. “ Shiro , I was hoping for a little banter. Though I guess Matt was the one with the best sense of humor, between the two of you.”

Shiro gripped the chair tighter in an attempt to stand straight when the Druid- although the more Shiro looked the more he was sure that this whatever-he-was had to be more than just another of Haggar’s generic henchmen- floated closer. Floated . Could they all do that? “How do you know my name? Or Matt’s?”

The flame on the creature’s head continued to flicker, giving off a cold, white-blue light that did nothing to stave off the frigid bite in the air. He laughed incredulously, the sound like a knife. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Shiro stared the Druid down, summoning on confidence that was not genuine to him, he asked again in a clearer voice. “How do you know my name, and what do you want with me?” With his mind, he reached out again to Black, despairing when he met a wall of nothingness.

The Druid had the audacity to look wounded. “Don’t you remember me?” he asked, dropping the pretense from his tone.

Shiro swallowed, acutely aware that, despite the fact that his mind was clearing by the tic and the ringing in his ears was going down slowly, he would not recover fast enough to beat the Druid in a close fight. Or any fight, given his abilities. He may have used the last of his liquid quintessence on his sonar attack, but that still left a formidable combatant. Over the comms, Shiro could just about make out the jumbled voices of his team.

He’d have to stall until they recovered enough and realized that somehow their adversary was inside Black with Shiro, and could come to his aid. “Should I know you?” he asked, hoping to keep the conversation going. If he wanted banter, that’s what he would get. “Did we meet in the arena? I don’t remember much from then.”

That seemed to give the Druid pause. “You don’t- what, like amnesia?” Shiro was shocked by the angry, accusatory tone the Druid took with him. He scoffed when Shiro nodded, a sneer curling his lips enough to show razor sharp fangs glinting in the light he emitted. “So first you up and leave and then you don’t even bother remembering ?”

“Then tell me, who are you?” Who are you, to speak to me like we know each other?

The sneer lifted into a small, bitter smile. “Still asking all the wrong questions.” he said cryptically. Shiro’s mind was frantically reaching for something, anything , to contextualize. But it was so hard to concentrate when every breath in was ice in his chest, when vertigo from Black’s free floating made Shiro unsteady, and his head throbbed under the constant ringing. “You were always more concerned with who I was, so you were only one that never really asked what I am.”

The Druid landed softly, first the right foot, then the left. "Not ringing any bells?"

Keep him talking, Shiro thought to himself, making a valiant effort not to retreat back when the Druid advanced further. Framed in darkness, his bright glow made Shiro’s eyes sting. “Are you from one of the planets we’ve liberated?” Shiro asked, knowing he was grasping at straws. The Druid didn’t appear alien, or even Galran up close. No, if Shiro was to look beyond the glowing and flame, the crimson eyes, the sharp teeth, he was almost human.

“Guess again, a little closer to home.”

“Are you…” how- no, it was absurd to even think- “are you from Earth ?”

The Druid smiled at that, one half of his mouth lifting in a cheeky grin that seemed so casual and open, it made Shiro's heart stutter at the warmth of it. “Ding ding ding. Bingo.” he said almost lazily, sounding unimpressed. 

Shiro blinked, trying to focus his mind through the fatigue and pain enough to concentrate on the niggling memories in the back of his head, trying to scrape their way forward and out all at the same time. “How did you get out here?” he asked, trying to reconcile this monstrous being with a person, a human .

“How do you think ?” the Druid- could he even still be called that?- sneered with sudden vitriol. “Y’know Matt probably would have put two and two together by now.” he continued, and again Shiro was struck with the informality in the insult. There was something, some vital piece of knowledge that was sitting right at the tip of his tongue. If only he could reach it .

The Druid took another step closer, a predatory edge to him that lived in the fighting-ready way he glode across the floor on weightless feet and his huge, dark pupils. He was almost close enough that if Shiro were to lunge, he could probably land a solid hit, should it come to that. Although he doubted one would be enough to keep the Druid down.

“C’mon, Shiro. Think .” the Druid demanded, his eyes burning intensely as he regarded Shiro with something that bordered desperation. Perhaps he was just imagining it, perhaps he was seeing things that weren’t really there, because something in Shiro wanted to reach out. An absurd feeling deep in his chest told him that here was someone who needed help, more than anything else. “You know, I think a part of me always wanted you to figure it out." The Druid said as if admitting to a closely guarded secret. All of a sudden the dangerous edge he had turned vulnerable. His voice went from angry and mocking to beseeching. "But neither of you ever did, even when I told you. So. Many. Times. ” He choked out as he ran a hand through the flames on his head, the gesture painfully human. For a tic, or perhaps even less than that, his hand paused at the back of his neck.

And just like that, the memory that had been pressing against the back of Shiro’s eyes slotted into place. And suddenly he knew what, or who, he was looking at. God, he knew . Yet it had to be impossible, there was simply no way, this couldn’t be- “ Danny ?”

His eyes flashed green. And then, there he was, Danny, the teenager plucking at a loose thread on his jeans. Danny, with his crazy stories and fast smiles. Danny, who confessed to Shiro that there was something so big and dark in his life that he couldn’t bear to say the words out loud. Danny, who supposedly wasn't quite human, yet still insisted that Ulaz save himself during Shiro’s escape, because he cared about everyone else first.

Danny, who bore a striking resemblance to half formed nightmares made up of Shiro's fuzzy memories of the Galran arena. Danny, who was standing here, a monster in his own right.

“Danny,” Shiro said haltingly, his chest constricted “what happened? What did Haggar do to you?” and when Dany still hung there, staring sightlessly at Shiro, he went on “Please, whatever it is, we can help you. Come back with me, we’ll find a way to fix what she’s done to you.”

Evidently, that was wrongly said of him. Danny’s eyes snapped back into focus, and back to red, a snarl cut his face and contorted it almost beyond recognition. He licked his lips with a forked tongue and growled “This is what I always was.” He drew himself up, standing taller than before and stronger than ever. “ Vrepit Sa .”

Faster than any human, Danny shot forward, one hand raised and curled into a fist with bright red quintessence burning around it. Shiro threw up his mechanical hand, catching Danny’s wrist before it bore down on him. However the force of Danny’s punch carried with it enough momentum to knock them back. The side of Black’s still dark dashboard dug into Shiro’s thighs painfully, but he managed to keep Danny’s fist in the air.

In the back of his mind, Shiro knew that if Danny was putting his full strength behind the attack, then he shouldn't have stood a chance. Danny pressed himself closer, so much so that Shiro was forced to screw his eyes almost shut to keep his eyes from burning. “Danny, you don’t have to do this.” has gasped painfully, his arm starting to buckle under the pressure. The joint where metal met flesh ground and twisted, tugging at bones, muscles, and skin. Somehow, Shiro thought, Haggar had to be controlling Danny. And somehow Shiro was going to have to break through.

One by one, it sounded as though the others were finding their bearings and discovering that Shiro was the only one not responding. “I know you, Danny. You’re not like this .”

“You never knew me.” Danny hissed. The quintessence around his hand flared and purely on instinct Shiro powered up his arm in response.

Danny cried out in surprise, ripping his hand away as if burned. He whirled on Shiro, betrayal in his eyes. “We’re friends Danny, please . Just stop, we don’t have to fight.”

“But fighting is all I’ve ever done, Champion. It’s what I’ve been ordered to do.” And with that Danny seemed to have made up his mind, lunging with his true strength. Shiro didn't have the chance to block the second punch, however thankfully, in the tic between Danny’s fist connecting with the side of his head and losing consciousness, Black finally roared to life.

***

No matter how many times Shiro stumbled out of one of the Altean cryopods, he suspected he would never become accustomed to the disorientation of going from danger to safety in the blink of an eye. So when he stumbled out he had already managed to half-drop into a battle stance, ready to deflect Danny’s attack again, before his mind caught up with his surroundings.

“¡Calmate!” Lance exclaimed as he and Hunk stepped back from Shiro. “Quiznack, you’re fine! It’s all over.”

Despite knowing Lance was only trying to help, Shiro still felt tense, so his voice was sterner than he intended it to be when he demanded “How long was I in for?” The lighting in the halls were low and ambient, blue in the way they turned as the castle’s night cycle started.

“A couple vargas, max.” Lance answered, eyeing him warily.

“Where is he?” Shiro knew he needn’t specify who.

“Um, funny thing, that-”

“ Lance .”

“In Black’s hangar?”

Shiro’s eyes bulged. “ What ?” Not sparing a second more, Shiro marched to the staircase that would take him most directly to the castle’s lower levels. Lance and Hunk hurried to follow. “Why’s he there? Why hasn't he been apprehended, or put in cryo sleep? He needs to be secured, he’s dangerous and unstable.” Shiro’s knees were still stiff from the pod, creaking like they had taken to doing since leaving Earth. Shiro could only guess if that was because of his condition or the strain of so many battles. Probably both.

Lance coughed nervously. “See, that’s the thing. He kinda’ is secure, behind Black’s particle shield. And he like, won't touch the Lion. It’s freaky .”

Hunk, sounding far more distraught, babbled “Did you know that was Daniel Fenton? I mean, I know Pidge’s dad and brother are still missing, but like, did anyone know that Haggar could do that to someone. Cause it’s super messed up, is he even human anymore? Shiro, do you know, ‘cause he won’t give us a straight answer-”

“I don’t. What happened?”

Lance answered. “Black brought you both back. We don’t know exactly what she did, but she somehow mind whammied Fenton, or Phantom, or whatever. As soon as she came in she spat you out and threw up her shield, trapping him in with her. He’s been in there since.”

Hunk continued “Keith is down there now, talking to Phantom.”

“They’ve been arguing the whole time.” Lance interjected with the kind of good humored derision there usually was in his voice where Keith was concerned. “And no offence team Voltron, but Phantom’s winning.”

“Dude. He’s the enemy.”

“Yeah, but Keith’s way too uptight to deal with someone like Phantom-”

“And you handled him better?”

“As a matter of fact-”

Shiro cut them off before the conversation could completely derail “Where’s everyone else?” While he wanted very much to know what constituted Lance ‘handling’ Danny, there were more pressing practicalities.They rounded a corner and descended one of the winding, architectural staircases.

After a tense hesitation, Hunk slowly answered “Um, everyone but Allura’s there with him. And she’s been… well-”

“I understand.” Shiro kept a steel hand over the growl that wanted to infect his voice. There was too much, far too much, going on for Allura to be needlessly difficult like she was. “And how is-” Shiro started, though he was unsure of how he wanted to word himself. How did one go about asking after the well-being of an estranged, probably brain washed friend with orders to murder?

While Lace and Hunk seemed to catch his intent without elaboration, neither had a very good answer for him. Where someone like Danny concerned, calling him ‘strange’ or ‘weird’ said very little. Especially coming from two people who had never known him at the Garrison.

When they reached Black’s hangar after what felt like half an eternity, Shiro’s legs were complaining, along with his arm and shoulders and neck, and chest, and feet and ankles, and essentially all of him. Swallowing back the low pain that had become an ever present companion to him, he focused on Danny. Keith had planted himself right in front of Black’s barrier staring him down with grim stoicism. On the far side of the room, Pidge and Coran were engaged in an intense conversation, gesticulating wildly in Back and Danny’s general direction.

Danny, for his part, was grinning sharply at Keith and bobbing pleasantly in the air. Upside down. “C’mon,” he said, cocking his head to the side and making his flaming hair flow with the movement “what’s eating you? You’ve gone from small and sour to tall and grumpy. Aren’t you happy to see me?”

Walking up to them, Shiro answered for Keith “We would have liked to see you under different circumstances.”

The way Danny turned to him, and the way his whole face lit up with a bright smile was so like the friend Shiro knew. “Hey,” Danny said, the picture of happiness “look what the cat dragged in.”

Behind him, Hunk had drifted towards Pidge and Coran, but Lance had stayed, and to that he snorted loudly. Keith whirled on Lance, hissing his name. “It was funny.” Lance shrugged “‘Cause, y’know, the Lions. They’re basically big robot cats.”

Danny continued to bob lazily in the air, though his eyes were focused and attentive. “Nice to have someone with a decent sense of humor back. Did you enjoy your time-out?”

Lance sputtered. “It wasn’t a time-out . You’re the one in Lion jail, if anything you’re on a time-out.”

Danny shrugged “I’m not the one that got mad at the prisoner- who’s basically at your mercy- and got sent out of the room by Lame Kogane.”

Keith frowned terrifically. “Can you be serious for one second ?” he demanded harshly, and from that Shiro could infer the long, evasive and probably intentionally inflammatory conversation Danny must have been holding while he’d been in the pod.

“Keith,” Shiro put a hand on his shoulder to turn him away from Danny, who’s eyes had sharpened on it. “It’s fine. I’m here now, take a breather.” Danny cupped his hands around his mouth, silently sounding out the words ‘time out’ with emphasis.

Shiro walked them away a few paces, if only to give Keith the space he needed. Keith glanced at Danny, at his feigned innocence, with a deeply dirty expression. “I think he’s been brainwashed or something. He’s… different. But not?”

Shiro nodded. “That’s the impression I got too.” It complicated things, complicated them far beyond what they could afford. It begged the question, was that Haggar’s luck, sending Danny their way right then? Or did she somehow know what they, the Blade and the Coalition were planning, and Danny was the wrench to stop it?

And the obvious, what to do about Danny himself, and state he was in?

“You know I can hear both over there, right? In fact, I can hear them all the way over there, too.” Danny cut in, nodding his head to Pidge and Coran. “They’re talking about how to best detain me, since I can’t keep bunking with you.” he continued, appearing to direct himself at Black. Shiro glanced up at her, and she brushed against his mind gently, probing after his well being.

She was concerned about Danny, in that she knew Shiro cared about him, and therefore Shiro would be concerned.

Turning back to Danny, and standing between him and Keith, Shiro said “We wouldn't have to detain you if you would let us help you.”

Danny’s smile was bitter and wry. “You can’t fix what’s not broken.”

Shiro couldn't help the way his eyes wandered briefly over Danny’s strange, monstrous endowments. The lighting, even with Black’s faintly glowing particle barrier, was dark enough that Danny glowed like cold hellfire. Death given flesh, one of the other arena prisoners had described him as. It was frighteningly apt. “Haggar did something to you.”

Danny laughed, his body twisting around to float right side up with just enough elasticity to make his joints bend unnaturally by a hair's breadth. It was just enough to notice, and it set Shiro’s teeth on edge. “Haggar didn’t do anything to me. I can see you weren’t so lucky.” Danny’s eyes flickered to Shiro’s arm. He resisted the urge to hide it behind his back.

“We’re talking about you right now. I can’t change what happened to my arm, but we might be able to help you if you tell us what happened. Please , Danny.”

“It’s Phantom.”

Shiro blinked. “What?”

“My name, it’s Phantom.” Danny said it with pride, with a smile.

“That’s what you were called in the arena.”

Danny leaned in, pressing his palms to Black’s barrier. The quintessence crackled around his hands angrily. “See, this is exactly what I'm talking about.” he said, his eyes bright and red and ardent. “I’ve been Phantom since I was fourteen. I was Phantom before Haggar, before the Garrison, before the dicks in white. And I suggest , Black Paladin, that if you’re not prepared to do your worst, then you should be prepared to lose.”

Shiro shook his head at Danny. “We’re not going to hurt you Danny. If you let us, we can and will help you. I don’t think that any of this is your fault.”

“You should hurt me. You can’t kill me, so that’s what you should do.” Danny said with a strange sincerity even through such a bitter smile. “Jailor, judge, jury. Executioner if you could. After all, all is fair in love and war.”

“That’s not an option.” Regardless of whether or not Danny himself believed he could die, it would not be by Voltron’s hand if Shiro had anything to say.

“Then we’re at a stalemate. I’m supposed to kill you, but you’ve captured me.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

Danny hesitated. “It’s my whole reason for fighting you.” he said. It hadn’t been a yes, and Shiro decided to take it as a small victory. Somewhere in there, Danny didn’t truly want to follow through with the orders he’d been given. Even his most powerful attack, the one that broke Voltron apart, hadn’t been fatal. And in Black’s cockpit, Danny had been holding back.

“So you’re not going to.”

Danny searched Shiro’s face, his own calculating. “You think I don’t want to?”

“I don’t.”

Danny stared at Shiro, long and hard. Then he huffed out a short breath, saying succinctly and without preamble “I’m over this. Let’s see how well Voltron does while your Black Lion has better things to do than fight.” and blinked right out of existence.

The room erupted into a fit of startled exclamations, however over them all Black rumbled through Shiro’s mind. “Guys.” he yelled to get their attention. “Guys! Danny’s still here. He’s just... “ Shiro glanced at the empty space Black was telling him Danny was in, floating just outside the visible spectrum of light. “invisible.”

“ Great .” Lance drawled. “Freaky, crazy-pants super villain-slash-weapon can fly and turn invisible. Just great .”

Sighing, Shiro shuffled everybody out of the room

called for Pidge and Coran from across the room. “ Coran, Pidge !” he shuffled them all out of the room, knowiing danny can hear anything they say “Please tell me you can work out how to fix this mess.”

Dubious alla round. Coran says “we’re going to certainly try, number one. After all, its like my great uncle wimbleton (find real name) used to say, a challenge that can’t be solved is like snorgeflozzer after the flange festival!”

Shiro found himself nodding along. “Right, great.” he said, for lack of anything else. Coran is staisfied wth that “For now, I think we all could use a little rest.”

As he left he could hear lance behind him, chuckling. “Today was quiznaking intense .”

***

Danny rested his back against the barrier and stared with all the vitriol he could muster at the imposing figure the Black Lion made, and she pointedly ignored him. She towered over him, oozing power and danger. It made the hairs on the back of his arms stand on end, and he wanted nothing more than to be on the other side of her barrier.

Though, he knew Haggar would not forgive him if she learned that he had been so close to the Black Lion and did nothing but sit like a petulant child and glare. So he asked “Why do you stay here? Zarkon still has your bayard, and he’s a much better leader than Shiro.” The traitor, the forsaker, the lier.

Black’s attention focused on him, her eyes flashing dangerously. Danny rolled his eyes at her, she could be as imposing as she wanted, but if she hadn’t killed him yet, then he knew that he was safe enough for the time being. “What, you like Shiro?” A purr rumbled through the air.

“And you think I should trust him? After he abandoned me?” Danny felt his voice rising, high and angry again. Anger felt good to him, when he was angry he didn’t have to feel anything else. Black seemed to have anticipated this, scoffing at his outburst. Inasmuch as a massive robotic cat could scoff. “At least I know what to expect from Haggar. She’s always been transparent. Shiro, and everyone back on Earth are nothing but manipulative and vindictive .”

Black was unimpressed. She went as far as implying that Danny’s words were placed in his mouth by someone else. And that felt like an insult to Danny, made worse by the truth of it. “Just because Haggar said it,” because the witch had many times pointed out the many flaws of humanity “doesn’t mean I can’t agree.”

Again, Black was unimpressed.

***

“Oh finally. A bit of company. I was beginning to think you wre ignoring me on purpose.”

S“Weve been busy.”

“Oh? Doing what?” roll his eyes when shiro crosses his arms and doesnt answer. “Whatever. Cleary not busy getting me any real food, do you guys really eat nothing but, what was it hunk called it? Food goo?” danny made a face. “Worse than raw ectoplasm. And that’s about as bad as it gets.”

“Raw what ?”

Grin “Not important, never mind. Just take the insult and get on with whatever you were here for.”

***

“Phantom.”

Casual, floating somewhere “Ah, Princess allura. Out of anyone i thought you’d be one of the first to come talk to me. Youre always described as a spitfire.”

“Described? whoever by?”

Vague gesture with his hands “Galra, druids. They talk. Itsnot important. Youre still not bitter about me freezing your little frieds, are you?”

Grit her teeth. “The mice are perfectly well, thank you.