Lured (Klance)

8: Dark Night

Song Of The Chapter:
Wide Eyed - Billy Lockett

Of course, Keith should've recognized it sooner. The way it moved, the way it's eyes were glowing slightly in the darkness of the hallway- everything about it screamed not human.
But despite all that, despite all the trouble the siren caused them, Keith saw something looking into it's eyes.
Fear.
Although it was probably still the one who killed the guards and scientists Keith and Allura had passed, that was out of self defense, right? And considering the situation, they sort of brought it on him, didn't they? It was their fault he got trapped in the first place.

"Keith, we need to g-" Shiro began, but Keith cut him short.
"What are we going to do? We can't just leave it here," he stayed put. "It's technically ours after all, and they fucking stole it from us. If we leave it, they'll probably just continue to preform experiments on it."
"You're right," Allura said slowly. "And as an Aquarium and Rescue worker, we shouldn't let them find out about this species. They'll probably start tearing up the ocean looking for more."
"We'll take it," Shiro sighed. Keith was surprised, considering he lost an arm because of the thing, but nodded.
Keith turned to the creature, and with his hands motioned a "come with me" signal. It's eyes flashed between the three, but nodded ever so slightly.
Good. It understood.

They ran down the corridors, alarms resounding in their ears. All the while the siren followed, letting out an occasional spitting hiss if he heard another voice.
Keith nearly collided with the door once they reached it, and he let it swing open.
They finally made it out.
Keith felt a sense of relief as he felt the open night air, but it didn't last long.
There was the harsh crack of a gun being fired. Once. Twice.
Keith saw the siren go down, bullets finding purchase in the siren's left shoulder, then in the leg. It let out a wail that split into the air, and Keith was fearful that they might fire another round.
But no- Allura was already firing back with her own gun, growling a string of curses as she picked them off, one by one.
"God fucking-" Allura said, "Let's go, now!"
Keith ran over and threw the siren's arm over his shoulder and began trudging toward the hole cut in the fence. He tried to ignore the putrid, metallic smell of blood that dripped from the siren's skin and clothing. Allura stayed to make sure nobody else was on their tail, before she finally turned and helped everyone back to the car.

"Took you guys long enough," Pidge was saying as she saw the group approaching. "Who's this?"
"The siren. We can explain later, right now we need to fucking drive."
The shorter girl hesitated only for a second before giving a curt nod and helping them into the car.
The creature was breathing shallow, letting out an occasional keen of pain. It's teeth were gritted - sharp - and it's eyes were shut tight. Keith didn't know exactly what to do, but for now he prayed to God that it wouldn't attack them.

To much of a surprise, there wasn't anyone pursuing them. If anyone knew about their presence, they were probably dead, thanks to Allura.
Once they were well back into town, Pidge turned back around, pointing at the three expectantly.
"Okay, care to explain?"

~~~

It felt like the whole world sighed in relief the moment the team finally pulled into the back of the aquarium. Romelle and Coran were waiting, already informed of the situation. They helped the team safely inside and to the living room that also served as a place for staff to hang out. Technically it was the living room, considering Coran and Allura lived in the building, but that's besides the point.
There was crying.
Lots of crying to go around, everyone happy that Shiro was finally home.
But they couldn't dilly dally, considering Shiro was currently still missing an arm and they had a Siren who was losing blood from two bullet wounds.

Hunk and Pidge took Shiro to check out his arm. The others laid the siren down on the couch, bringing out medical supplies for the wounds. Keith was honestly thankful the moment the siren passed out. He knew it would've been much harder to get things done, considering it was just as much animal as it was human, with the ability to kill and tear off limbs if necessary.
Even though the siren was out cold, Keith had insisted that they do everything in a friendlier environment, considering the clinic might be a little imposing to something that just came out of the confines of a lab. It was common sense not to provoke a frightened animal, after all.