ALL MIXED UP | I

17 an unlikely ally 17

PART ONE

{because I keep procrastinating and can't find the willpower to write the last four paragraphs...}

"Why isn't the pod working?!" Keith asked when the piece of technology opened just seconds after Sage was put in. The girl's eyelashes were fluttering, close to shutting completely and Pidge knelt on the floor beside her, keeping her somewhat upright.

Allura skimmed through the readings quickly, frowning.

"According to the pod, there's nothing wrong," she replied. "It's as if the fever is coming from nowhere." Hunk's bottom lip quivered.

"S-So, what do we do?" he asked nervously.

"We'll have to take care of her ourselves," Allura responded. "There should be medicine left in the castle." Upon seeing Pidge and Hunk's teary eyes, Keith's barely-contained temper, and Lance's concerned frown, she added, "Sage will pull through. Her body and mind are strong. She'll be good as new in a few days."

"I hope you're right," Lance muttered as Allura picked Sage up. The younger girl muttered feverishly, saying something or other about a "Space Mom" before falling silent once more. Allura looked slightly taken aback by this but continued on her way to Sage's room.

Once Sage was soundly asleep with the Altean medicine in her system and a cool towel on her forehead, the team returned to the pod room.

"Is he okay?" Hunk asked with concern, glancing at Shiro, who was still in his healing pod. The eldest paladin looked like he was reliving something terrible, his head turning as his expression changed to one of pain.

"Sometimes, the healing process can cause involuntary brain wave reactions," Allura explained.

"He looks like he's having a bad dream," Hunk observed.

"He just got blasted by a space witch and mauled by giant lizards," Keith muttered. "What dream could be worse than that?"

They soon found out exactly what dream Shiro was having.

Once he was awake, Shiro recounted his escape from the Galran prison ship. Keith thought silently about the whole "helpful Galra rebel" part. It lined up well with what Sage had tried to tell him when he got her out of Zarkon's ship.

"I'm not finding any coordinates in here," Allura said, interrupting his train of thought. "Are you sure this wasn't just a dream?"

"I'm positive," Shiro affirmed. "Someone helped me escape."

"And he was Galra?" Allura asked, sceptical.

"Yes." Allura sighed.

"You know you cannot trust them."

"Your father must have trusted them once," Shiro replied. "Zarkon was the original Black Paladin, wasn't he?" The Altean princess hesitated.

"That was a long time ago," she defended.

"Wait, what?" Lance asked, baffled as always.

"Didn't you see how he stole the Black Lion right out from Shiro?" Keith hinted. "Or that he could do all that cool stuff with his bayard? Shiro's bayard? You know, the black one?"

"Why didn't you just tell us the truth about Zarkon?" Shiro asked.

"I wanted to protect you from the dark history of the paladins so that you would have a chance to bond with your lions on your own," Allura revealed. "You are the Black Paladin now, not Zarkon."

"Yeah, well, the Black Lion may have a different take on the matter."

"Wait a second," Pidge said suddenly, drawing the team's attention. "I think I see it now. Some repeating numbers in all this Galra code. Let me extract it." She typed furiously for a moment before exclaiming, "They are coordinates! They lead here: the Thaldycon system."