"Because I Care About Her" A Plance Fanfic

Chapter 6

Things went slow for the next day or so until Krolia brought some unfortunate news to the rest of the team.

"I've been reviewing my notes on earlier incidents with Zatarcs and I'm concerned we're endangering Pidge and Lance by keeping them confined."

"Why?" Keith asked suspiciously.

"In at least one case, I think the Zatarc lost control when it became evident they could no longer achieve their objective."

"So by keeping them confined..." Hunk trailed off.

"They won't be able to fulfill their programming and they will become self-destructive," Allura finished for him.

"Then why hasn't that happened yet?" Shiro asked.

"Perhaps because the triggering event hasn't occurred yet," Krolia informed them. "However, if that passes..."

"But we have no idea what the mission could be," Allura said.

"We might not know until it's too late," Keith said.

"So...what do we do?" Hunk asked. The room fell silent at that thought.

***

It was a quiet day when a soft knock came at Pidge's door. "Come in," she said without looking up from her computer.

"Are your eyes ever not glued to a screen?"

"Matt!" Pidge jumped up from her seat and hugged her brother as tight as she could. It felt like it had been forever since she had last seen him.

"What are you doing here?" Pidge asked.

"I heard about, what happened. Came as soon as I could."

Pidge looked down. "They all told you?"

"About the Zatarcs? Yeah."

"It, it has to be mistake." Pidge kept telling herself that over and over again but she couldn't seem to prove it.

"About that, there's...something you need to know. There's...several options for you."

"What are you talking about?"

Matt took a seat. "There's a procedure. It's experimental, and it could cause brain damage, but if its given a fair chance, it might work and overide the Zatarc programming."

Pidge blinked at him. "What's the rush?"

Matt struggled to say the next part. "There have been incidents where, if a Zatarc is prevented from achieving their objective, well, they-"

"You're saying I would try and kill myself," Pidge blurted out.

Matt swallowed. "Yes."

"I guess we wait and see then," Pidge said.

"Or...you could go through with the procedure," Matt suggested.

"Which could cause me to lose my mind anyway," Pidge said.

"Yes."

"Or the procedure could work, and I could still end up with serious brain damage."

"Yes, I know," Matt admitted. "I don't want to risk losing you either way, but...there's not a good option."

Pidge looked away to stop tears from forming in her eyes. Was this really how it was going to go? No. Surely, surely there was another way.

"It's all based on assumptions, right?" Pidge stated. Matt shook his head. "I mean, we don't know if I'm really a Zatarc, we don't even know if I'll lose my mind because I'm stuck in here."

"And we don't know for sure that you will suffer any ill side effects from the procedure," Matt put in.

Pidge scoffed. "Some choice." 

***

"Say what?" Lance asked. He was lying in his bed, playing with his bayard while Keith was explaining his options.

"Look Lance, bottom line, there's a chance that you could come out completely intact."

"Or not!" Lance shot back.

"Or not," Keith agreed.

A moment of silence followed when Lance casually asked, "What's Pidge say?"

"I don't know," Keith told him. "Matt is here, explainnng it to her now."

"What would you do?" Lance looked up at Keith, hoping he would somehow have an answer.

Keith thought about it for a moment. "I honestly don't know," he admitted.

The two looked away, and another awkward pause of silence followed.

"She made a move on me," Lance said.

Keith looked confused. "Pidge?"

"Allura," Lance corrected him. Why did his cheeks turn red hot at the thought of Pidge kissing him? As if she would ever.

Keith shot Lance a weird look. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Uh, okay. Didn't expect that from Allura," Keith said, thinking about all the times she had shot Lance down.

"You're telling me. Strange timing too, don't you think?"

Keith looked up and down again. "Yes."

"Alteans are kinda weird." Lance began to fiddle with his bayard again, and almost shocked himself.

"Yep, I think these are the Lance Mcclain moments I would probobly miss the most," Keith said.

A few more seconds passed before Lance looked back up at him. "What?"

"What?" Keith repeated.