...I decided there needed to be more. You can thank or curse at me later.

Chapter 3

"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.

Shiro didn't find them for an hour.

By then Keith had given up in his struggles, and was simply lying limp against the wall, tears silently flowing down his face. Shiro called to him, shook his shoulders, but even after ripping away the teen's restraints Keith ignored him, only looking to where a green and white figure topped by brown locks had gone still ages ago. His friend finally turned around to see what the younger paladin was staring at, and paled. Diving beneath the water and freeing Pidge's body was pointless:

She was already dead.

Numb, Keith allowed himself to slip beneath the water's surface, sinking ever lower. All he could see were bubbles floating away from him, up to Pidge's slack face-

A firm knock on his bedroom door jerked Keith out of sleep with a gasp.

"Keith? C'mon buddy, it's almost chow time."

"Y-yeah, I'm coming."

The door slid aside to reveal Shiro's concerned face. "You sure you're okay? It's not like you to sleep this late. Maybe Pidge's cold was contagious after all-"

"No, I'm fine. Really. Just, didn't fall asleep for a while last night."

"Well, if that's all it was..."

"I'll see you at breakfast, Shiro." With that, Keith hit the button to close his door, before turning back and falling face-down onto his bed. "Ugh."

The rest of the day, he tried to hide how little rest he'd gotten, instead focusing on training or avoiding everyone else or both. Lance passed him in the hall at one point, but Keith didn't notice the worried look that was sent his way. Hunk tried to get him to hang out in kitchen while the yellow paladin prepared lunch, but he managed to make an excuse and headed off for the living room.

There, completely without meaning too, Keith sat down and promptly conked out.

"Hey! 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 he suddenly realized that the water was already up to his chin, that Pidge was submerged. "No!"

Through the clear liquid, he could see her frantic struggles, the air bubbles escaping, the look of panic she sent his way that he couldn't do a single damn thing about-!

"Keith!"

Flailing, Keith nearly fell off the couch as he clawed his way back to full awareness. Pidge was hovering nervously over him, hands twitching as though she wanted to grab his shoulders but didn't dare be that forward.

"Ah..." He panted, swivelling to check that they were alone in the room. Then, ignoring Pidge's startled meep, Keith pulled the girl down beside him so that he could wrap his arms around her shoulders and tuck his chin on top of her messy hair.

"Keith, you're really worrying me now-"

"Bad dream," he said, swallowing back down the panic. "Just- just give me a minute, to make sure you're still here. Not dead."

Sucking in a breath as she finally understood, Pidge relaxed in his hold, slipping her own arms around the older teen's waist.

"Is... Is this why you've looked so tired today? Because you had nightmares last night too?" He nodded once, bumping her head with the motion. "...So did I."

"Oh."

"Drowning isn't fun."

"Watching someone drown isn't either," Keith muttered back. "Especially when it's a member of your family." He winced upon feeling Pidge tense up, but then she was tightening her grip, hugging him firmly enough to start driving the air from his lungs.

"Tell me the next time you have nightmares?" Pidge asked. "Because hugs always makes things better."

Keith huffed out a chuckle, patting her a couple times on the back. "I promise, Pip-Pidge."

"If we weren't in the middle of having a moment, I'd kick you for that."

"Guess I'm gonna have to get used to bruised shins, then, because that is definitely what I'm calling you from now on."

"Don't you dare."

"Annoying older brother, remember?" Pidge pulled back just enough to look up at his face with a wry smile.

"Yeah. Very annoying big brother. But, I suppose even you can't be as annoying as Lance."

"And thank the stars for that." They both chuckled, before finally standing and heading off to the kitchen to get their dinner.