Shiro knew he'd been brought out of the mind meld, but he couldn't muster the energy to raise his head - he couldn't even keep his eyes open. He was just so tired, and his side hurt. The hot agony had dulled to a constant, steady throbbing. He wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not.

He was just so tired…and there were sounds around him, but his brain felt sluggish. He couldn't link the sounds together to understand what was going on.

The last coherent thought that he remembered thinking was I hope she wasn't listening to us…

Then everything faded to a deep, deep black. It was almost a relief, after the relentless pain and fear.

After a time, he felt something prick the skin of his flesh arm. A needle. A year's worth of Haggar's experiments came rushing back to the surface of his mind, and he forced his eyes open, trying to see where he was, feeling his breath start to come faster, his heartbeat loud in his own ears.

Someone was bending over him, face pale and concentrating, and they were adjusting - it felt like an IV - in his flesh arm. Shiro tried to wrench away from the figure, feeling his chest constrict in panic, but the figure placed a hand onto his shoulder, speaking calmly.

"It's all right, you're safe, Shiro, we've got you," it said. "We have you in a shuttle, and all the others are following in their Lions. Black is with them."

It took Shiro a few seconds to recognize the voice, and suddenly he realized where he was. He was in one of the Altean shuttles, and he could feel the hum and whir of the engines thrumming through the deck. Coran was the one treating him - and he could hear Allura's voice coming from the front of the shuttle, giving out short instructions to the other Paladins over the comms.

They were free. They had escaped the Galra.

"Coran - " he started to ask, but broke off with a hiss. His side. His side felt - well, it felt like a witch had just viciously reopened his partly closed wounds. But he had to ask, he had to know. "Haggar-" he managed to say between clenched teeth. "She - did - something - "

Coran's face showed sympathy, and another emotion Shiro had trouble placing. He patted Shiro's shoulder gently. "She reopened your original injuries - twice," he said. "Once when you warned us about the trap, and again - after - after you stood up to her. We heard it over the audio feed we'd tapped so we could trace your location."

Coran shuddered slightly. "Based on what Pidge told Allura when they were bandaging you up, you're going to need stitches and an anti-toxin when we get back to the castle. We won't be certain until we test your wounds back at the castle, but we think Haggar's claws might have been poisoned. For now, we have you connected to a plasma replacement machine. It will help start to replace the blood you lost, as well as preparing your body for the anti-toxin treatment. It should also keep you from going into shock. It's a bit of a dated machine - you'll need more than just one session - but it should do the trick."

Shiro felt his side begin to ache again, and he couldn't hold back another tight gasp of pain. He saw the sudden, deeper worry in Coran's eyes and tried to brush it off. "It's - okay," he said, trying to regulate his breathing, to brace himself against the pain. "It's - felt - worse."

Coran's expression flickered, and he turned quickly away, grabbing for a kit that was in a nearby compartment. "I think I can help with that," he said over his shoulder as he rummaged through the box. "Just a tick - and - aha! A pain relief patch!"

He turned around again, and with a gentle but efficient action, he pulled Shiro's shirt to one side so he could place the patch as close to the wounds as possible. Shiro had let his head fall back onto the stretcher, but at the tug of the fabric, his head jerked upright.

"Coran-wait-" he hissed, and his face had gone a different shade of white. Coran's fingers froze, and he let out a hiss of something that was too quiet for Shiro to make out. The Altean was staring at the scar above his wound. It was a pattern of letters and characters that had been burned onto Shiro's side, directly beneath what would have been the stump of his right arm. It read, 'Property of the Galra Empire' in the Galran language, and there were numbers underneath. It was a brand, at least several months old.

Shiro had to look away from Coran. The Altean courtier was staring at his side with a mix of horror, anger, and revulsion on his normally cheerful countenance.

Shiro couldn't blame him. It wasn't the nicest thing to have branded onto your skin.

"Don't tell the others," he said. "It - it's not - something I want them to see."

Coran visibly made an effort to contain himself, placing the pain relief patch onto Shiro's side as best he could before lowering the shirt again. Then he surprised Shiro by what he said next.

"Shiro," he said quietly, and his voice was very still and serious. It sounded like a formal oath. "I will not rest until that witch is dead. You have my word."

Shiro looked back up at Coran in startled surprise. "Coran - it's not like I was special - I think all the gladiators had it done to them-"

Coran shook his head, the gesture silencing Shiro. "It doesn't matter," he said. "She hurt you. I'm just sorry it took me this long to realize how much."

Shiro heard the familiar hiss of the hanger's outer doors cycling open, then shutting again after they were inside the hanger. As the hum and hiss of the shuttle's landing gears died away, Coran gave him a brief smile, and said, low enough for only Shiro to hear, "I won't tell the others, I promise."

Shiro managed to give Coran a nod of thanks. Then he heard Allura open the shuttle's doors and then her footsteps, hastening towards the main bridge. "She's going to open a wormhole," Coran told him. "We think that if we do it a certain way, we have a good chance of staying out of the Galrans' reach for awhile."

After a few moments, Allura returned, sweating and slightly out of breath, but smiling in triumph. "It worked," she said. "We're clear." Even as she spoke, she hurried over to Shiro's side, saw that he was awake, and immediately tried to ask him how he was, if anything hurt, and if she could help make him more comfortable - all in the same breath. Shiro opened his mouth, unsure of how to answer all her questions at once, but Coran patted him on the shoulder again, to let him know he could help. Shiro decided to let Coran take this one. He was starting to feel tired again, anyway.

"Allura, I think we should get him to a proper bed," Coran said. "Once we get him settled in a room in the infirmary, we can make sure he has everything he needs. But now that the plasma replacement machine has almost finished its first cycle, we can disinfect and properly seal the wound. We can move him after that."

"Right, of course," Allura said, and she went to a nearby compartment and searched for what she'd need. "I agree, we should do that here," she said as she brought the necessary materials to where Shiro lay. "I don't want that wound to become infected, or open up any more than it already has."

Shiro managed a half-smile at her as she began to work on taking off the old bandages. "Yeah - that wouldn't be good," he said. The pain relief patch Coran had applied was starting to work, and it was incredible how much it helped. He felt his muscles begin to relax, and he allowed his head to drop back onto the stretcher.

"Coran, can you help me, please?" Allura asked, and then Coran was talking to him.

"All right, Shiro, I'm just going to cut away part of your shirt so we can disinfect and bandage that wound of yours," he said, giving Shiro a slight wink of conspiracy. Don't worry, it said. I'll make sure she doesn't see the brand.

Even though he had felt slightly foolish for worrying about whether or not Allura would see his scar, Shiro felt better once he realized that Coran intended to do everything in his power to help. It was a small thing, but it mattered.

He closed his eyes as they began to disinfect the wound. It wasn't the most fun he'd ever had, but the pain relief patch Coran had placed on his side helped to drown out the worst of the discomfort. While they worked, he pictured the faces of the people he knew. It helped him to focus on something other than the pain.

Keith. Lance. Hunk. Pidge. Coran. Allura. Matt. Sam.

There were others, but they were always the first ones that came to mind.

Coran and Allura finished their work quickly, and by the time Shiro remembered to open his eyes again, he was in what looked like a hospital room, lying on his back on a bed in the center of the room, and Allura and Coran were both nearby, speaking in quiet tones.

He must be in one of the infirmary's rooms - a pretty large one, by the look of it.

Allura was saying something as she prepared the - what had she called it earlier - the anti-toxin - and Coran was telling her the other Paladins were all safe and sound, and that the castle was well out of Galra scanner range.

They'd made it, then.

Shiro raised his left hand, pressed it against his bandaged side, and realized that they'd already stitched his wounds shut. The pain relief patch had also been removed. It probably only worked for a certain amount of time, or could only suppress a certain amount of pain. Well, at least it had gotten him through the stitches. That was a relief.

"I wish we could keep him on a constant dose of the pain relief medicine," Allura said, and her voice was regretful, "but if there are too many medicines at work in his system at once, the risk of complications rises. The anti-toxin I'm giving him now is quite potent, and he'll need at least two or three more sessions on the plasma replacement machine. We'll have to keep that - what did he say it looked like, Coran?"

"An eye-vee, Princess."

"We'll have to keep that in his arm, so we can keep replacing the plasma while he sleeps. The anti-toxin medication alone will put him into a deep sleep, and between those medicines, I think it's best we don't add anything else unless we absolutely have to."

"But we could keep some pain relief patches on hand," Coran said. "In case we need them."

"Yes, of course," Allura said. "But I don't think we will need them - I think he'll be all right."

She saw that Shiro had opened his eyes again and hurried over to his side. "Shiro," she said, "Shiro, how are you feeling?"

"I'm - all right," he said. "Better than when I woke up on the shuttle, that's for sure."

He looked around, trying to remember the last few moments of consciousness he'd had on the Galran ship. Something - something important - he still - he still had to do something - important -

Keith. Keith still thought he'd baited the witch into torturing Shiro.

"I - I need to see Keith," Shiro said. "Before you give me the anti-toxin - before I go to sleep."

Coran nodded. "What about the other Paladins? Do you want to see them too?"

Shiro said he wished he could see them all, but he that he had to see Keith. He started to explain why, but Coran nodded in understanding. "We tracked your location on the Galra ship through a one-way audio feed, remember?" he said gently. "We'll make sure he sees you before we give you the anti-toxin."

Shiro nodded, feeling his eyelids flicker with the effort of staying awake. Since he was this tired, he probably wouldn't be able to see any of others before he fell asleep. Still, he had to tell Keith it wasn't his fault.

He heard the door that lead into the infirmary room slide open, and someone came in. Even before Allura greeted the newcomer, Shiro recognized Keith's footsteps. He opened his eyes as his old friend approached the bed.

As he spoke to Keith, he felt a genuine smile cross his face for what felt like the first time in days. When Keith referenced the show he and Shiro had seen the first weekend as roommates at the Garrison, he almost snorted with laughter.

That show had been fantastic. Only had the one season, but it was timeless all the same.

Shiro wanted to respond with a line from the same show, but he couldn't think of the right one in time. So instead, he settled for flinging his good arm up in an expression of good-natured exasperation at Keith's concern, but he and Keith were both grinning like idiots, so it was okay.

Allura bustled Coran and Keith out of the room. Then she closed the door, glancing over at Shiro with a half-smile on her face.

"Keith knows you well, doesn't he," she asked. Shiro looked over at her. She seemed to have enough energy to power the sun, she was in such a good mood.

"Yeah," he said. "We were good friends when I was at the Garrison." He paused for a minute, his brow furrowing in concentration. "Though sometimes it seems like it was ages ago…" For a moment, his eyes clouded with painful memories, then he shook his head and looked back at Allura. She had crossed to the other side of the room, where the medicine cabinet was kept.

"Anyway, what's this anti-toxin going to do again?" he asked, trying to distract himself from remembering anything remotely Druid related. Those particular memories always came to mind when he was tired, and he decided to take note of his room, to help distract himself.

He looked around at his surroundings, realizing the bed he was on was a lot like a normal hospital bed, except that instead of giant bedrails that rose up on either side, there was a single bar along either side of the bed, low and close to the cot, just a few inches away from his body.

Craning his neck, he saw a similar bar at his feet, and another one at his head. Maybe it was in case of an emergency evacuation. The bars looked strong enough to support the weight of whoever was on the bed, and allow up to four - well, maybe even six, if two took each side - people to grab the bars and keep the patient steady during transportation. You had to give credit where credit was due - the Alteans prized both efficiency and simplicity, and this hospital 'cot' was just one example of it.

He tried to remember what she'd said earlier, when Keith came into the room. "You said something like - it'll put me to sleep for two days?"

Allura nodded, even though she still had her back to him. "Yes," she said over her shoulder, focused on preparing the medicine. "We'd place you in a healing pod right away, but it seems this toxin on the witch's claws was created to conflict with our usual Altean healing methods. We have to neutralize it in your system first, and then we can put you in a healing pod."

She turned around, a syringe in her right hand, smiling brightly. "Nothing to worry about, just a short time for this medicine to fight the toxin in your blood, and you'll be right as -"

She stopped, uncertainty suddenly showing in her eyes. "Shiro…" she said, putting down the syringe on a nearby tray and taking a few quick, anxious steps towards him. "Shiro, you've gone pale. Are you all right?"

Shiro swallowed. His eyes seemed - scared, and the little color he'd regained from the first plasma replacement unit had vanished. "I-I'm - fine," he said quickly. "I just - I just don't like - needles. Or - um - sleeping - really-"

She stopped dead in her tracks, realizing her mistake. She felt her face heat up with shame, embarrassment, and no small degree of guilt.

Of course Shiro would hate those things. He'd told her as much, the night they'd met in the kitchen and talked for hours. How foolish of her to startle him so, especially now, so soon after another hellish encounter with Haggar.

She'd just been so glad to get him back - and then so relieved to see him awaken after they'd found him so still and pale - and then so focused on fixing the problem in front of her, that she'd forgotten.

Thoughtless. She'd been thoughtless.

She took a deep breath in, let it out, and slowly came to stand by his bed, reaching out to put one hand reassuringly on his shoulder - careful to avoid disturbing the tubing that connected to the plasma replacement machine - and clasped his flesh hand with the other.

"Shiro, I'm sorry," she said gently. "I am so sorry. I was so focused on getting you better, I didn't even think about-"

"It's - it's not you -" Shiro said, a little too quickly. "I - honestly, it shouldn't -"

Allura shook her head, just once, but vigorously. "No, don't apologize. It's a perfectly natural reaction, given your past experiences."

Shiro swallowed again, but at least color had come back to his face. He even managed a partial smile this time. "Well, at least I know you're not out to poison me."

She felt her heart constrict in pain. Given Haggar's hatred of anything kind and good, that might not be just a random joke. Come to think of it, it was entirely possible Haggar had tried all sorts of things on Shiro during her experiments.

Well, she could fantasize about turning Haggar into dust later. Right now, she needed to reassure Shiro, and make sure he knew he was safe here.

She touched the side of his face gently, her other hand still holding his flesh one. "You are very dear to me, Shiro." she said. Something constricted her throat, and she had to clear it before continuing. "I would never, ever do anything to hurt you. Please forgive me for my thoughtlessness."

Shiro smiled up at her now, and his flesh hand pressed hers, once, reassuringly.

He was so kind and understanding. It was clear to Allura why he made such a good leader.

"It's fine," he said. "You're just trying to help." He took a deep breath, released her hand, and nodded, setting his jaw in that determined way he had. "Okay. Let's do this."

She nodded back, deciding that the best thing she could do now was to be both gentle and swift. She efficiently cleaned the area of skin where the injection would take place, humming a gentle, calming melody she remembered her mother using whenever she had bandaged a certain princess' scraped knee or bleeding elbow.

Then, still humming, she went back to the tray where she had left the syringe and picked it up as quietly as she could. She glanced back over her shoulder, and saw that he had closed his eyes and was muttering something under his breath.

Still humming so that he would know where she was, she came back to stand by him. As she did, she could hear what he was saying. It sounded like a list of names. She recognized some of them. Her own, Coran, Keith, and the others, along with some she did not recognize. His own distraction, then. It suited him.

She stroked his wrist reassuringly before adjusting his flesh arm so she could better reach the necessary vein. He squeezed his eyes tight shut, his body tensing, and she hummed the tune just a little softer as quickly, quietly, she inserted the needle into his arm, injected the medicine, and then withdrew the needle and dropped the now-empty syringe into a nearby waste basket.

Then she quickly bandaged the site, making sure she didn't stop humming. Once she had tied off the simple bandage, she softly ended the song. She sat down on the very edge of the bed and touched the side of his face with one hand, letting the other gently grip his flesh hand again.

"You did really well," she said, as softly as she could. "You did really well, Shiro. It's done now."

He opened his eyes, looked up at her, and managed another smile. "I'm glad," he said. "But - Allura - I think - "

She saw him hesitate for a moment before he continued. "I think - it might be a good idea - to - to restrain me while I'm asleep. Or at least my cybernetic arm."

He saw her blink, confusion on her face for only an instant before it was replaced by dismay. "But - Shiro - the medicine will put you into a deep enough sleep where you won't dream at all -"

"It's just a precaution," he insisted. "But - look, if I do have a dream…just…trust me when I say you don't want me to sleepwalk."

She didn't laugh. It wasn't funny.

"I don't - I don't want to," she said. "You're going to be fine-"

"Allura," he said, feeling his awareness begin to flicker again, the medicine taking swift effect, "Please, trust me. It's not worth the risk."

She hesitated, but must have seen how important it was to him, that he not be a danger to anyone.

"All right," she said. "I'll take care of it."

She saw his head nod forward onto his chest, could tell that his eyelids were growing heavier. Instinctively, she leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead.

"Sleep, Shiro," she said, as softly as she could. She squeezed his hand one more time, stroking the side of his face with the tips of her fingers as his head fell back onto the pillow. "It'll be all right. I'm here. It's safe."

His face relaxed, his eyes closed, and he felt his mind drift away.

It was safe to sleep now. She was here.