Work Text
Keith ran as fast as his legs could carry him towards the room that was the best lead that Pidge had narrowed down. The Galra outpost echoed with the sounds of blasting and battle after their stealth operation went south. He pressed the panel and was greeted with rows of pods against the far wall behind the doors.They were empty. Keith cursed until he noticed the one that seemed to have been occupied by a hazy figure inside. He pressed another panel and the pod slid open, fog escaping with a hiss and revealing exactly who'd they'd been searching for."Shiro!"The taller man slumped out of the pod and into Keith's arms, his white forelock of hair falling over Keith's shoulder. Shiro attempted to right himself with some difficulty."Easy, I've got you" said Keith gently. Shiro looked up at him dazedly, still getting his bearings. Unfortunately, at that moment the outpost began to shake and the ceiling cracked above them."Shit! What's going on out there?" cursed Keith. "We have to get moving or the place is going to come down on us!"Keith pulled Shiro by his flesh arm and they ran. But only a few steps later and Shiro dropped to his knees behind him. Keith turned on his heels. "Shiro?"Shiro knelt on his knees with wide eyes. He pressed a hand to his chest and blinked once before looking at Keith with the most helpless look that the younger boy had seen on him. It looked entirely wrong."What's going on? Are you hurt?" asked Keith, kneeling beside him and getting no reply. "Shiro, talk to me!"The room shook harder and a piece of the ceiling crumbled right where they were standing a moment ago. A scream could be heard outside."I'm sorry, but we have to go!" said Keith.He helped Shiro up and they took off once more, Keith's panting breaths ringing out in the corridors before rubble began falling around them. They came to a wall that had been entirely blasted open and behind waited the black lion itself, it's maw open and ready to take them away.They skidded to a halt inside the lion, Shiro crashing onto the ground on his side."Please, Shiro, tell me what's wrong" begged Keith, dropping next to the older man.Shiro brought both hands up to his throat, grasping lightly."Can you breathe?" asked Keith. Shiro shook his head."Okay. Uh-" The floor vibrated beneath them as the lion took off towards the castle ship. Keith turned on the comms in his helmet and was met with a barrage of worried voices asking where he's been and what was happening. He filled them in and began mouth-to-mouth when Shiro's lips turned blue and his eyes fell closed. It didn't seem like it was doing anything at all, no rise of his chest or color back into his pale face.In the castle ship Coran, more experienced with medicine in his hundreds of years, tried to help Shiro breathe but was met with resistance each time. Eventually Shiro's heart stuttered to a stop and they began CPR, Hunk crying and the others gathered horrified. Keith squeezed his eyes shut and tried to breathe right himself.All of their various attempts to revive Shiro had ultimately failed.Though, during so Coran had been scanning Shiro's body with Altean tech. Though he'd... passed away, before the scan was finished, they needed to know why.Coran's face was ashen as he looked at the scan. "I don't understand" he said in a small voice.Where the image of Shiro's lungs should have been was only black nothingness. It couldn't be explained away by a disease or condition. It's like they weren't there at all.Keith was going to be sick. What kind of experimentation or twisted dark magic could bloodlessly steal such a vital part of him, and for what fucking purpose? Torture?They laid their leader in a cryopod, hopefully to put to rest on Earth when this horrid war was over.-The second time they found Shiro, it wasn't in a pod.Lance had turned a corner in the winding galra base and came face-to-face with him. Eyes wide, Lance questioned what he was seeing."S-shiro...?"Shiro changed his stance defensively, his metal arm alight. He was in ragged prison garb, his hair slightly grown from the last Shiro they'd found. His eyes were wild. "Who are you, and who is Shiro?" he rasped.Lance's mind swam. This wasn't Shiro, but why did he have his face, scar included? Was Lance losing his mind?The rest of the team caught up and were just as bewildered, albeit more on guard than Lance was and should have been. They all questioned the man before them, talking at once, accusations and speculations of clones and traps. Lance could see the panic grow on this Shiro's face with each second."Guys, guys!" said Lance. "Calm down. What if this is the real Shiro, and he's just lost his memories?"Everyone was wary, most of all Keith. Lance wasn't sure if that was surprising or to be expected. They discussed the concept of the black lion accepting this Shiro."What does that mean?" asked Shiro, breathing hard, eyes darting around."It's okay, Shiro. We can explain it if you come with us-" started Lance."Don't take me!" screamed Shiro. "You can't take me!"Everyone stepped back. They tried to reassure him that they wouldn't do anything against his will, but he seemed to have already tipped over an invisible edge. He dropped to his knees and fisted his hair in his hands. "N-no... they can't... you can't...!" he sputtered, and suddenly began to cough harshly. They watched helplessly as blood splattered the floor with each hacking cough. Lance begged someone to do something. They contacted the castle ship, but it only took seconds for Shiro to collapse on the floor. Lance knelt down to feel his lack of pulse.-The fifth time they found Shiro they almost didn't.Hunk and Pidge pried open heavy metal doors and squeezed through to the inside of a fairly small storage room. There were crates, barrels, shelves, and various scenery typical of an average storage closet. But the dim light illuminating the room was a cold blue, and it came from a glaringly unfitting object in the center of the room."Not again" whispered Hunk."Guys, we've... found a pod" said Pidge slowly into her comm."Don't open it" said Keith immediately."Keith-""I said don't open it!" he snapped."Seriously?" said Lance. "What happened to going to the ends of the universe to find Shiro? Do you... really think there is no real Shiro anymore?""I... we will find him. But he's not in a pod, or a galra base, or anywhere we can see. I just know it. I feel it" said Keith."What the hell does that even mean?" asked Lance."Look, I'm the leader so just listen to me!""Don't pull that crap on me!""Keith" said Pidge. "It's your call."Keith took a deep breath. "Do what you want" he said quietly.They opened the pod.Shiro stumbled out and Hunk and Pidge embraced him, holding him up. His body had a disturbing give to it as their hands sunk into his shoulders and back."Katie" he whimpered, then began to slide out of their grip.Hunk tried to hold onto Shiro's arm but was horrified when it bended inhumanely like a wet noodle. The lowered him down gently and his head lolled limply in a way that shouldn't have been possible. He was fading already, his weak body unable to properly sustain life.Keith squeezed his eyes shut and blocked it out, chasing the ghostly presence that permeated the black lion and drove it's paladin to go on.