"So... You wanna tell me how we wound up down here?" Keith mumbled, squinting around the dimly lit pit he and Pidge were trapped in.

"Last thing I remember was those Jhiniks yelling something in their native tongue, and then the exploding gas pods." The girl tried to readjust her position, but it was hard with both hands trapped by metal strips bolted into the rock wall. Keith was in the same state, and decidedly not happy about it.

"Hope the others were paying attention to the time," he muttered, pulling his legs up in order to rest his chin on his knees. "We should have been back to the Castle by now."

"They'll come find us, Keith. I just hope Lance isn't the one to get us out of here, or we'll never hear the end of it." Pidge's blunt statement and crooked grin got a snort out of him, at least. And then the noise started.

"Do you hear that?"

"Yeah... It sounds like... Water?"

Sure enough, clear liquid began to pour out of a few different holes in the wall, soon covering the floor of the small pit with a layer of ice water. Even through his armor, Keith started to shiver, and the teen turned his head to glare up at the grate above them, which only a few traces of sunlight were trickling down through.

"Hey!" He yelled. "If someone's controlling the water flow down here, knock it off!"

"Keith..."

"What?" The word came out with the same angry tone, but Keith's irritation vanished when three things suddenly registered in his mind:

One, the water level was rising really fast.

Two, Pidge was shorter than him, and as such had been bolted closer to the floor.

Three, the water would soon be high enough to drown the girl.

"Oh, quiznak," Keith muttered. "Pidge, how long can you hold your breath?"

"I get the feeling it's not going to matter if no one rescues us before this stuff gets over my head!" She replied, eyes wide with the start of panic.

"Okay, calm down, we'll make it out of here. We just need to, ah, maybe-"

"Keith, there's nothing we can do." The water was now up to Pidge's neck, and Keith's chest.

"There's got to be something! Damn it, why couldn't they have left us with our helmets?"

"Probably because they knew this would happen." Pidge craned her head upwards, trying to keep her face clear of the water as long as possible. "Keith- promise me something."

"What?"

"When you guys find my family, t-tell them I love them. That I never stopped looking."

"No, Pidge, I'm not going to promise that, because you're going to be with us when we find them-" The water rose over her mouth. "Pidge!"

Desperate, Keith struggled against his restraints, watching with terror as his teammate's nose was covered as well. Her teary eyes pinned him in place until they closed, the water still rising. It had completely covered Pidge's head by the time it reached Keith's chin. And there it stopped.

Sputtering in outrage, Keith pulled even harder against the metal and bolts. "No!" He shouted. "No, no, no! You don't get to drown her and not me! Damn you!" A few bubbles of air rose from Pidge's position, and he redoubled his efforts, not taking his eyes from where the small form had started to spasm beneath the surface.

"Keith?!" There was a sudden, metallic slam as something landed on the grate above him, and one small explosion later resulted in Shiro coming down with a splash.

"Pidge is under!" The red paladin gasped, frantic. "Get her out, quick!" Shiro's eyes widened, and he immediately dropped below the water level. Through the clear liquid, Keith could see the glow from his leader's hand as it ripped away Pidge's restraints, and then Shiro stood with her in his arms.

Pidge didn't cough. She didn't move. Keith's heart nearly stopped.

"I've got to get her topside," Shiro said. "Can you hold on a minute?"

"Yeah, yeah go!" The black paladin's jetpack flared, helping him climb out of the saturated pit. It was maybe twelve, fifteen feet to the surface, and once up there they disappeared from Keith's sight. He stayed put, allowing the water to settle after all of the thrashing around, frantically hoping against hope that Pidge hadn't drowned and died right in front of him.

A short while later, someone else called down, and Keith braced himself when Hunk arrived in the pit.

"Pidge?" He croaked.

"Breathing," Hunk answered, looking about as relieved as Keith felt. "Shiro had to give her CPR, but then she coughed up a bunch of water and he said she'll be fine."

Keith sighed, letting his head fall back against the wall. The adrenaline rush started to fade, and he had to let Hunk do most of the work with prying him loose and getting the both of them topside. Caught by a stiff breeze, Keith shivered, though his teammate made no comment. Hunk just offered an arm for him to lean on as they started walking back to the Castle, each beyond grateful that there were still five paladins of Voltron instead of four.

A/N: If I get more than five reviews for this by Saturday, I'll add a second chapter. If not, I'm content to leave it as a one-shot. The power's in your hands, people!