Night Terrors

Morning Encounters

"Thirty-Three, Thirty-Four, Thirty-Five..." Shiro counted as he strained to get to that 50 push up mark. After that night, only excruciating exercise could clear his mind from the fog of sleeplessness.

"Hey, Shiro!"

"Gah!" He lost his form and fell to the floor, and he looked up at the person who came in unannounced. It was none other than Lance, who looked completely flabbergasted at his leader's surprise.

"Dude are you ok?!" He said, cautiously raising his hands in shock. The only other time he'd seen Shiro so on edge was when he had ejected Sendak from the cryo pod.

Shiro sighed, then went back to his exercise. "You have to be cautious." He said a bit shakily before his voice retained its authority "You never know if the person sneaking up on you is friend or foe."

"But you wouldn't want to fall to the floor, even if it is a friend."

Lance and Shiro looked up to see Keith, who had the common sense to not sneak up on them. He looked at Shiro with concern.

"Rough night?" Lance said, turning back to Shiro. The black paladin just shook his head and continued with his push ups. Keith walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Take care of yourself, okay?" He said before both he walked over to the weapon locker to grab his bayard.

Lance stretched as he yawned. "Well, I'll go get some breakfast. Hunk was fixing up something that looked like waffles. See ya later!" And with that, he moonwalked out of the room (not before hitting his head on a wall and knocking over some weights Shiro had set out).

Shiro concentrated on his tasks, completing his 50 push-ups before moving on to lifting weights and fighting in the combat simulator with Keith.

Keith noticed something was off, but he didn't know what. He was worried. Shiro went to his training, not with confidence as he usually did, but with a frantic worry almost.

After a while, Keith stretched and turned to Shiro with a smile. "Well, I'm going to breakfast. Those waffles sound tasty!" His smile faded, and he looked at Shiro with concern "You should eat too. I know you're worried about possibly facing Zarkon soon, but... Just relax."

As Keith walked out, Shiro knew he was right. He was nervous about the upcoming battle. Even with the help of their allies, it was up to him to battle Zarkon over the black lion's control.

He lingered still, trying to calm himself. It wasn't only the battle, but last night. For some reason, he couldn't bear the thought of seeing Pidge.

If she remembered that he had brought her back to bed, others may find out about his dreams. He needed to keep his image, not for his sake but for his teams. They were just kids, and if he was scared by Zarkon, no doubt they were. He needed to be strong.

Eventually, his rumbling stomach could no longer be ignored and he went out to get breakfast. He hoped that by now Pidge was somewhere else. She was no early bird, but by now he figured she'd be on her way to the lab.

As he neared the kitchen, he heard muffled conversation, but he could make out a few snippets.

"Why didn't... Get me..."

"You're too... Busy... Supper...."

"It's no... He just seemed... Tired."

Shiro's heartbeat quickened. It was Pidge! She must've slept in... Or stayed to talk. He didn't want to go in when she was here. At least not with the others.

He could hear her as she kept conversing with their fellow Paladins. There were very limited options for him right now, and he needed to find one quickly.

"Okay guys, the meeting is adjourned!"

Shiro nearly jumped at the loud statement from Hunk. Were they having a meeting? His thoughts got derailed though as Pidge walked out of the room stretching.

"I don't know how they talked me into stay-- Oh hey Shiro!" She smiled at him and walked over. Shiro tried to not look panicked as he looked down at her.

He plastered on a fake smile and made an attempt to look like he wasn't hoping she hit her head getting up. "Oh, hey Pidge! I was just coming back from... Training!" She looked at him curiously, her inspecting gaze making him scratch his neck in discomfort.

"Hmmmm...." She hummed. After a moment her hand went to adjust her glasses and she sighed frowning. "The others are right you know. You're displaying very worrying levels of stress."

Shiro casually tried to make a joke, saying "What, do you have a scanner that detects stress?" He smiled a bit trying to lighten the mood. Pidge laughed heartily, and Shiro relaxed.

"No, I just hooked up invisible sensors on your body while you were asleep last night!" She joked, rolling her eyes sarcastically.

"Whaaaat?!" He said feigning surprise. Pidge laughed again, and Shiro let out a small chuckle.

"Oh, you!" She said smiling, but she sighed and looked at him with concern.

"We're really worried about you. Please, take care of yourself." Pidge looked die and walked past Shiro, who was glad she didn't remember last night.

He turned to head into the dining room when Pidge said something.

"Oh, and by the way, thanks for last night."