Shiro was asked repeatedly if he really saw Keith as a Galra.
Allura asked him once in private. She watched him carefully and insisted that she would make him regret it if he was just saying it to cover something else up. She normally didn't talk so brutally but her expression made Shiro sure she would try and her unnatural superior strength made sure he knew she would succeed.
Pidge, Hunk and Lance asked him about it a few times. Both by themselves and in groups and with different levels of curiosity and hostility. On one hand, Shiro wished he could tell them more about how or why but on the other hand, he was afraid of even finding out himself.
Leader or not, the choice wasn't his anymore. Allura asked Coran to check Shiro for abnormalities in his brain. When nothing was found, the other paladins were brought into the medic bay so Coran could compare their brains to Shiro's. After that, Coran checked everyone's blood to see if Shiro had any lingering poison or other abnormalities. Nothing was found but it was guesswork since humans and Alteans were different and Allura was still seemed unsure about what to do with Shiro. He was unsure too.
Days passed. Keith was still not waking up or improving, at least Shiro hadn't been told anything, and it was decided they needed to check Keith to see if there was something that could explain him turning purple. Or more like something to prove he turned purple and Shiro wasn't going crazy.
It was decided that Coran, Pidge, and Hunk would look further into Keith's DNA even though Coran knew next to nothing about human DNA and Pidge and Hunk knew only slightly more than the average teenager about their DNA and next to nothing about Altean tech.
They were all sitting in the lounge area. It was probably the same temperature as always but Shiro felt cold as he sat quietly and listened. He both felt like he should leave, like he had no right to even think about being there while they talked about Keith's welfare, but he also felt like he should be leading the discussion. Both because he was the leader, or at least had been, but also because he cared about Keith at the very least as much as everyone else in the castle did.
The others didn't seem to mind either way. They didn't even acknowledge that Shiro was in the room but he couldn't take it personally and did his best to follow that thought. He deserved everything they threw at him but they didn't wait for Allura to talk either so it couldn't have been personal this time.
"Can't we just get a hair or two from him?" Pidge asked. "That should be enough to test his DNA, right?"
Coran and Hunk nodded.
"You can but it wouldn't help anything," Lance exclaimed while he tried to seem nonchalant by looking at his stretched fingers.
"Lance, you know nothing about biology," Pidge replied sharply.
"Ouch," Lance said tetchily. "There's no DNA in hair, so unless you want to see what he ate months ago, it won't help you with anything. I think there's some in the hair follicle but not even a lot."
"How do you know that?" she asked, only slightly doubtful in the light of Lance's confident and serious tone.
"I might have been the worst in the fighter pilot class of 15 but remember, Pidge; I was the best in the cargo class of 25, and none of them got into the Garrison for being stupid."
"Wow, sorry, Lance. I don't really think you're stupid, I'm just stressed out." She was quiet for a moment, thinking if she should continue. "And surprised you know so much biology."
"Well, not much, but you pick things up."
"Late night TV?" Hunk interjected
"You know it, Hunk. I still can't get over that crime series chooses to look that fact over!"
YOU ARE READING
Adrenaline
Fanfiction"Another arm, the human one, tried to grip Keith but he was a split second faster and jumped out of Shiro's reach before turning towards him again. What was wrong with Shiro? Was this some kind of PTSD flashback? Shiro had never attacked them before...
