A Space In-Between (Shidge/Klance AU)

7- The Return

"Yes I'm sure, no doubt. We stayed in places like these all the time, and why are you asking me? You're the one who located it!" a familiar male's voice said. Keith pounced on the fire, stomping it out as Hunk pulled Shay next to him for protection. They readied their abilities. The door creeped open and the early moonlight drizzled in, covering the face of the stranger and lighting up their's.

For a moment the stranger froze until a taller, more feminine, figure stepped up behind him to also peer in. The first figure, obviously the male, dropped the long staff he'd been holding. "Pidge?" he whispered and Katie finally realized where she had heard that voice from. The man stepped forward and Katie could see his face in the fire that the leftover embers kept alive.

"Matt?" she said and her ability seeped away. They stood, looking at each other with tears welling up. He took the first step and Katie ran to him. She leapt and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back as they sank to the ground. Only the sound of them crying filled the empty space.

Katie felt fingers brushing her head as they fell onto Matt's shoulder. Matt looked up and said, "good to see you again, Shiro." Matt pulled him into the hug. The three stayed like that for a little while longer. 

When they pulled away, Matt caught sight of Allura. She stepped toward him and opened her arms, allowing him to sweep her off her feet and spin in circles. She laughed and Matt put her down. "Its especially good to see you!" Then he winked and Allura laughed. Katie felt like puking at the sight of her brother flirting.

"I only have one question," Katie said, pulling Matt's attention away from Allura. "Where's dad?" Matt looked at the ground. 

"Te-osh and the other freedom fighters couldn't find him. They think that he was transported somewhere to be a mule," Matt explained. He looked up at her now with a question of his own. "How are you even here!?"

"Ask your bro and girlfriend," Katie said. She watched both Allura and Matt turn red. 

"We are not a thing!" Matt said, stuttering as he scooted away from her. Lance grumbled from the sidelines. Hunk and Shay stepped up to shake Matt's hand while Keith went for a bro pat. 

The woman spoke up. "I've brought you here, Matt. Thank you for your service. Be careful now that you have a bounty on your head," she said and turned to walk away.

"Thank you Te-osh!" he called and she hummed back. With that the room fell to silence. 

The next morning they packed up their belongings and trudged on to their new hiding place. Matt and Shay stuck by Allura and Hunk as they moved on. Shiro remained by Katie's side while the two stayed away from Matt so he could be alone with Allura. Well, as alone as they could get with Hunk and Shay only a few feet away.

Lance and Keith fought about something, but Katie was too tired to listen or care. She'd stayed up late listening to her brother's snores. His arrival brought up memories and questions about her father. On top of that there was her situation. She realized how easily she gave in to the strangeness of the new world without thinking logically because it meant she was able to escape Earth.

Then her mother came in to haunt her. The last thing she knew was that Katie was going to a party for geniuses. She sighed. "What's the matter?" Shiro asked. "I know you didn't sleep last night."

Since Shay's and Matt's arrival, they had to switch up the sleeping arrangements for that one night. Shay and Allura slept side-by-side while poor Matt was put with Hunk. That left Katie and Shiro to sleep an inch from each other. That was one of the reasons Katie couldn't sleep.

"I'm just thinking of my mother and father, that's it," she said, not even trying to come up with an excuse. Shiro nodded and they walked on. It took a hour before they arrived at the damaged town. They needed to be in close proximity of each other in case of an attack, so they weighed their options and chose a white house.  Inside there were only four bedrooms, but if you counted the livingroom, the office with a couch, and the laundry room with a spare mattress, there were seven spaces for them to sleep at. 

Meaning someone had to share a room with another. That happened to be Lance and Keith. The two weren't happy about having to continue to share a sleeping space, but they only grumbled and glared. They took one of the bedrooms leaving the other three to the girls. Shiro took the livingroom, Hunk took the laundry room with the mattress, and Matt took the office with a couch. 

Pidge didn't have anything to place anywhere since she came here on a short notice and left her phone at her house. Not that it'd work here anyway. She looked around the room she was left with. Allura took a rather spacious bedroom that was probably meant for guests, the boys took what ought to be the parents' bedroom, and Shay took a yellow-themed bedroom. 

That left Katie with a dark green bedroom that had a rocking chair and a mirror. She opened the closet and saw strange looking clothes and a walking cane. The room must've belonged to someone old, probably one of the parent's mother or father.

She closed the door and walked over to the mirror and the dresser attached to it. She began to rummage through the drawers. She stumbled upon a photograph and a knife. She reached for the photograph first, curiosity her main drive. 

It was a family of four. A woman and man standing side-by-side with an old woman next to them. Between the pair and the old woman was a girl with pigtails. The room that Shay took must've been the girl's. Katie felt a little bad for inhabiting their home, even if it was only for a little bit.

She placed it back in the drawer and picked up the knife. When she did, the carving that traveled from the hilt to the tip of the blade turned bright green and a similar colored mist wrapped around it. She freaked. 

Just as she slipped it in her boot, she heard tapping on the doorframe. She turned to Matt. "I have a question and don't pretend to not know what I mean. What's with you and Shiro? I saw how comfortable you two are with each other. Shiro tells me you've only known each other for about a week. How is it that the anxious Shiro and unsocial Pidge have become comfortable with each other?"

Katie only had a few words to respond to the out-of-the blue question. "What the quiznack, Matt?"

You all thought it was Lotor and his generals didn't you? HA! It was Matt and Te-oh all along lolol. A Pain To Great will be getting a book 2 btw.

-ThatOneServant out!