The walk to the medical bay was long and silent. Kolivan wasn't much of a talker. On top of that, Keith felt a certain discomfort settling between himself and his mentor. Shiro had always been phenomenal at picking up on Keith's emotions. So, as if to quel his unease, he offered the younger galra a smile.

They came up to the medical bay, Kolivan's hand hovering over the access panel. He hesitated when a loud, high pitched yelp echoed from behind the door.

"I don't care about infections, it stings!"

Keith hung his head, smacking the palm of his hand into his face.

He had completely forgotten she was here. Judging by Kolivan and Shiro's expressions, Krolia had not reached out to them to let them know the situation before they got back. "Kolivan, I wouldn't-" before Keith could truly protest, Kolivan pressed his hand to the access panel, the doors sliding open.

The room was in utter disarray; cotton balls thrown about, tiny splatters of blood littering the examination table Katie had been on, and Krolia, stand in the middle of the room, her hands planted firmly on her hips as she stared at an upward angle. "Infection can lead to disease. Then you're dead. Do you want to be dead, Katie?"

Keith's eyes moved from his less-than-amused mother, up to a cabinet where the small altean had perched herself; clad in dressings to cover her chest and a pair of loose fitting pants that he assumed his mother had given her. She didn't reply to Krolia, only curled into herself and pouted. "How'd she get up there?" Keith asked.

"She climbed." Krolia deadpanned.

Keith blinked a few times while his gaze shifted between Krolia and Katie. "But her legs-?"

"Are fine." Krolia started, sighing and rubbing between her temples. "Whatever they gave her started to wear off when we came in here." She pointed up to Katie, her back turned to the others in the room. From that position, a few large gashes, similar to claw marks, were visible running along her back.

Keith frowned, before calling out, "Katie, you need to let her clean those." While he couldn't see her face, he was certain she was pouting. "I know it burns, but that's because it's killing the bacteria." He moved closer to where Katie had situated herself. There was a long standoff. Him staring up at her patiently, while she would glance over her shoulder at him in defiance.

Finally, she sighed, turning around and preparing herself to come down. Keith stretched his arms out to her, a silent confirmation that if she leapt down, he would catch her. Katie pushed herself off the ledge of the cabinet without hesitation and Keith caught her with little to no effort, being careful not to grab anywhere that might cause her pain or discomfort.

"Can someone explain what's going on?" came Shiro's voice. Krolia, Keith, and Katie all turned to the two odd men out. Shiro's eyes suddenly grew wide. "Wait, is she-?"

"Keith picked up this little altean on his mission." Krolia explained. "However, she doesn't seem to have any recollection of how she got there or where she came from." Kolivan nodded along, taking in every word thoughtfully.

Shiro, on the other hand, continued to gape. Wide eyed and confused, he spoke up once more "What is going on?" he said, sounding more like it was a question for himself than anything. The rest looked at him, brows furrowed and concern littering their features. He was quick to pick up on this. "It's just that… She's not the only one."

Now it was time for everyone else to stare, awestruck. Katie was the first to chime in. "Really? There's more like me?!" she made quick work of wiggling out of the grip Keith had on her and making her way over to where Shiro stood, still being supported by Kolivan. "I kept feeling like I was looking for something, or someone, maybe they're it."

"He didn't seem to remember much either." Shiro stated. His eyes scanned over her features, taking in every little detail that gave evidence to her altean heritage. In turn, she seemed to do the same. His ears, while in a similar shape to her own, appeared a bit longer a turned up more. His skin was purple, but with more blue undertones than Keith or Krolia. While the markings under her eyes were lilac and sickle shaped, his were as white as the hair on top of his head and were more like two arrow heads, pointing at the thick scar across his nose. His eyes, a solid yellow, were the only thing that looked truly galra about him.

"Krolia said you're half altean." Katie said, more of an inquiry than a statement. Shiro nodded, confirming what they had been told. "So, if alteans have been gone for so long, how are you here?"

Shiro gave a sort of hollow laugh, exhaustion raking through his body. Kolivan moved to help Shiro sit in one of the nearby chairs. "Well, my relatives on my father's side were altean. They hid away on a small, primitive planet. The galra invaded and discovered them and that's when my father met my mother. That's the short version, anyway."

Katie frowned. She could tell by his demeanor and the delivery that his story was one without a happy ending. Krolia was the next to speak up in the group. "The other altean; where is he now?" she asked.

Shiro shook his head and sighed, his gaze now turned down to his lap. "We got separated. I couldn't find out where they took him." Another solemn silence fell over the room.

"Alright, well," Krolia began, turning to the altean girl, "Katie, those wounds." The younger female sighed, begrudgingly stomping back over to the examination table and sitting down. "When I'm done with Katie, we'll take a look at you, Shiro."

Kolivan cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. "Before that, Krolia, Keith, could I have a moment in the hall?" The other two nodded, following Kolivan out of the room. "I wanted to talk to you two about Shiro." Keith and Krolia both nodded. "When I found him he was being held by Haggar's druids. I'm not sure what was done to him or why, but I wanted to ask that if you notice anything strange about him, please tell me."

"Could it be because he's part altean?" Keith asked. There was something going on with all of these occurrences and the one common factor seemed to be those of altean ancestry. But why had they resurfaced now in particular? It didn't make any sense for a race that was thought to have been wiped out to suddenly be resurfacing.

"That could be part of it." Kolivan replied, a bit thoughtful. "Speaking of which, I wanted to talk about the girl as well."

"What about her?" Keith said, his tone a bit defensive. He could already tell where this was going. Outsiders weren't really welcomed in the blade headquarters. Keith knew Kolivan would be upset she was there, but he would be damned if he tried to kick her out now.

"She can't stay here, Keith. You know that." Kolivan was always the bearer of bad news. While he was used to it, that certainly didn't mean he enjoyed it.

Keith's teeth ground together, his face visibly contorting into an expression of annoyance. "She doesn't have anywhere else to go."

"There are plenty of rebel bases that could take good care of her." Came Kolivan's rebuttal.

"She has no memories and she's obviously scared. I can't just abandon her! She trusts me!" Keith stood his ground, fists clenched at his side, brows furrowed, and chest puffed out slightly. "I don't care about the rules. Katie is staying with me."

Krolia deemed it time to intervene, stepping between Kolivan and her enraged son. "Kolivan, if I may; Keith does have a point. I don't believe she would even be safe at a rebel base. They are not as concealed as our base and in the case of an attack she would certainly be in great danger. The empire are up to something and she is a piece to the puzzle we cannot afford to lose."

Kolivan was silent for a long while, his gaze never meeting Keith's. When he finally spoke, it was preceded by a long sigh. "We'll discuss this more later, Krolia. I need to go speak with Regris and some of the others first."

Krolia nodded her response. As Kolivan left, Keith turned to his mother, a look on his face resembling gratitude. "I need you to understand, Keith, you need to be mindful of who you get attached to. Had she not been who she is, there would be no convincing Kolivan or the other blades."

"I know that." Keith replied. Keith couldn't explain why he had gotten so defensive. He couldn't explain why he felt such a need to protect her. Maybe it came back to what he felt when they first met. The anxiety, fear, and pain that had washed over him moments before they met. The young galra wasn't even certain she was the reason for the feelings. However, something in his gut told him she was and that she needed him.

They had walked back into the medical bay. Krolia tended to Katie and Shiro's wounds, while Keith stood by, silently observing. By the end of it all, exhaustion was evident amongst them. A deep desire for sleep was quickly overtaking Keith as he had begun to nod off.

"Keith," Krolia called, causing him to stir out of his daze. His eyes focused on his mother, who offered him a small smile. "Why don't you and Katie head off to get some sleep. I'll help Shiro back to his room."

Keith nodded. He then noticed that Katie had situated herself in the chair shiro had previously been occupying. She was curled into herself, eyes closed and breath even. Well, they had definitely been through a lot. It was understandable that she had fallen asleep.

He walked over to the chair, scooped her up carefully so as not to wake her, and headed out of the room with only a small glance and a smile back at his mother and Shiro. However, the walk down the hall had felt like an eternity. Each step reminded him of the aching in his legs. It had been so long since he had gotten to sleep in his own bed.

Then it hit him. He couldn't sleep in his bed. Not if she was there too. And he certainly wasn't going to have her sleep on the floor. Keith resisted a deep, frustrated groan. He hadn't thought this through.

His thoughts were quickly interrupted by a soft, almost inaudible whine. Violet eyes shifted down to the small female in his arms. Her brows were knitted tightly together, eyes squeezed shut, while her lips quivered. Keith stopped moving, concern washing over him.

"Katie, are you al-" He began, but quickly silenced himself when it sounded like she was about to speak.

"Don't go." The words were quiet and clear. "Matt, please-" His eyes grew wide. A name? But whose? Could it have been the other altean Shiro had met? Keith sighed, opting to continue on his path down the hall. All the way she whimpered and called out to this person. There were points where he could swear she was crying. For the first time since they had met, he once again had that feeling. That feeling of pain. Loss. Fear.