shining like the stars

100

Allura stood in the center of the med bay, her arms crossed and a stormy expression on her face, her back to the operating cryo replenisher. "As soon as it's out of the pod, I want it off my ship."

It was Shiro who stood in opposition to her, his arms folded as well and still in his Paladin armor. He was absolutely exhausted, Keith could read it in his face as well as his posture. Lance had been all for shoving him into a cryo replenisher as well but Shiro flat-out turned them down. He didn't want to go under unless he absolutely had to, and; well, Keith could relate. Besides, there wasn't really anything wrong with him that a good night's rest couldn't fix. Lance was unsatisfied with this, though, and stood just behind Shiro at his elbow and was watching him like a hawk.

"He," Shiro said pointedly, "was a prisoner. And he may have information that we can use. If nothing else, he might know why I was aboard that ship and be able to clear up some holes in my memory."

"Prisoner or not, that," Allura half-turned and jabbed her finger in the direction of the functioning pod, "is a Galra. Our enemy."

Keith resisted the sudden, massive urge to shift forms. "I'm Galra too," he reminded Allura icily, and she turned back to him. Some of the tightness in her face lessened, at that. "You didn't want to put me out the airlock when you found out, either."

"That is because I know you, Keith," Allura said. "And I know that the Red Lion would never have taken you as its Paladin if your heart lay with the enemy."

"Somehow," Pidge muttered, standing in front of the replenisher with her datapad, "I don't think his heart's going to be with the Empire after they abandoned him to die like that."

"Be that as it may," Allura's voice was cold. "I don't want him loose on my ship."

"He isn't loose," Lance pointed out. "He's in a pod."

Allura's eyebrows twitched, and then her ears - Keith had never actually seen her this angry, it was kind of impressive. "I. Don't. Care."

"Allura," Shiro said, and the way he said her name even made Keith want to snap to attention. He never addressed her as anything other than 'Princess.' Allura too was visibly startled for a quick moment, before her brows drew together once again. "This is your ship, yes. And Voltron is your father's weapon. But we are a team, and as a team we reached an agreement that we would not turn away anyone in need. No matter who they are, or where they came from."

Allura tilted her head away, jaw clenched tight, before she let out a long sigh and dropped her shoulders. "I don't know which is worse," she complained, still glaring off toward a wall. "The fact that you're right, or the fact that you sound like my father."

At that, Lance and Pidge both let out identical choked noises. Shiro sighed the resigned sigh of someone who was going to hear about that at a later time, in detail. "Fine," Allura said after another moment of letting that hang in the air. "But only until he is healed, and out of the replenisher."

"When that happens, we'll revisit this," Shiro said calmly.

Allura gave him another long, measured look, and then stalked past him regally. Lance watched her leave the med bay in a huff and then looked at Keith and shrugged. Shiro still held his shoulders tight, almost as if he were afraid to relax his stance. Keith wondered if he was worried that he wouldn't be able to stay upright if he did. "Hey, Pidge," Lance said, and Pidge tilted her head to indicate that she was listening. "Any reason why you can't run that mind-dump memory matrix thing that Coran was using on Sendak on our new furry friend?"

Shiro flinched slightly at the mention of Sendak's name, but Lance had a good point. "That would be a quick way to get the information we needed," Keith said. "And then we can leave Verus on the next habitable planet without ever letting him out of the pod on the ship."