The long awaited chapter four is here, everybody!

I really appreciate how patient all of you guys have been with me. This chapter has been a thorn in my side for a while, and I have finally gotten to finish it. HOWEVER, I do need to say that there will be a varying hiatus for chapter five. I want to get maybe chapters 6/7/8 done before I post the next chapter.

Special thanks to Guest, bigtimedreamer101, Gravtron1, Fandomcraz, Saralei Nighthaven, and Disotterly conduct (sorry there's no period, Fanfiction is annoying,) for reviewing, and of course all of the other people who favorited and followed this!

Anyway, let's get going!

When the darkness parted, Matt tried to hold onto it. He didn't want it to leave yet; he liked the peaceful bliss that filled him. It was warm and light, something that settled gently around him and didn't feel like a heavy weight riding on his shoulders. But it slipped away from him, and with a tug in his gut, he was thrown back into consciousness.

Matt groaned and his eyes flitted open, only for him to quickly shut them again as the light momentarily blinded him. After a moment, he opened them once more and shook his head a bit as his vision slowly adapted to the new lighting. Blearily, he took in his surroundings.

He was in the Green Lion's cockpit, sitting up against a wall on the floor. The green lights bathing the room were both harsh and soft at the same time. Stars whizzed by outside the viewscreen. Everything was still and quiet.

For a few, carefree seconds, Matt couldn't remember a single thing. Then, in a sudden wave, it all came crashing back.

Rescue. Alone. Panic.

With a jerk, Matt got to his feet and stumbled over to the pilot's seat, his sore muscles screaming at him at the sudden movements. He leaned over the chair as his eyes scanned the console. They practically popped out when he found what he was looking for.

He had been asleep for three hours.

He took a step back from the console in disbelief. He couldn't have been asleep for three hours. That was three hours wasted; three hours that could've been spent looking for a planet to touch down on. Wasted on him not being strong enough to stay awake for his sister.

Sister.

Pidge.

Matt backpedaled and spun around, eyes searching desperately for his little sister. Relief flooded him when he saw the cot, with Pidge still lying there.

Safe. She was safe. That was all that mattered.

Moving to stand at Pidge's side, Matt took in her flushed face and clammy skin with a sinking stomach. He hurriedly removed the cloth he had used in the hours past and replaced them, smoothing them out on her forehead, neck, and collarbone. With a quick flash of remembrance, he changed the dressings on her other wounds, specifically the cuts on her abdomen.

After another few moments, the work was done. Putting the used bandages aside, Matt hovered, watching. She was still except for the rise and fall of her chest. Her pale face stood out drastically from the muted colors she was wearing, making her seem like a ghost.

Swallowing, Matt hesitantly took her left hand in his and squeezed it gently. Her hand was cold, but nonetheless, he held onto her.

He wondered what would happen when she eventually woke up. If she'd be lucid or if she would mistake him for someone else in a dazed state. If she'd be scared when she sees someone near her or if she'd be happy to have him with her. She'd been through so much, Matt half expected for her to be scared. She had been tortured. Deliberately hurt by people who enjoyed watching her writhe in agony.

She was fifteen. Fifteen-year-old girls shouldn't be worrying about ever seeing their older brothers again or expecting enemies around every corner. They were supposed to be gossiping about who liked who at school and doing girly-girl stuff. Pidge, however, never showed interest in that sort of thing. She was daring. She liked adventure. Maybe a little too much. Because she was now stuck in this mess.

Matt groaned and shut his eyes, trying to fight off an oncoming headache. His grip loosened in her hand.

He missed her. Crap, she was right there and yet he missed her. He missed the quirky, humorous little sister that hardly ever seemed to be down in the dumps. He missed the long rants and the excited look she'd get when she explained a new theory to him.

"I hate this," He whispered, opening his eyes to look at his sister remorsefully.

"I hate that every day there's a chance that someone won't come back, that every day I have to worry that you won't come back when you go out there."

With difficulty, he swallowed past the lump in his throat. He shut his eyes again and bowed his head slightly as he felt familiar prickling sensation.

No. You can't cry. Not again.

"This… this is war, Katie. This is war… people are dying, and if we don't win this we're all going to die. I - I can't let you die. I just got you back after a year and I can't lose you again, okay? Don't leave me here by myself. I - I don't want to be alone." A shiver ran down Matt's spine.

"If I was alone here… what would I do? How would I get back? This is your Lion, not mine. I don't… I don't know how to keep going without you. You're my little sister, Katie. You weren't there… I only made it because of Shiro and then the rebels. They were the ones holding me up. If they hadn't been there, taking your place… I'd be dead. Long dead. I don't want to die, Katie. I don't want you or me to die and I just want to go home."

Despite his efforts, a tear still slid down his cheek. He didn't care very much anymore. His eyes opened again and drifted to the pale, fever-flushed girl on the cot. He squeezed her hand tightly.

"Say something. Please." Matt's voice was a whisper. A plead.

Silence answered. Another tear fell.

"Please. Please, just a word. Say something." A third tear. Four. Five.

"Please!" The broken cry hung heavily in the quiet. The tears came faster now and the soft pitter-patter of them falling to the ground was the only disturbance in the agonizing stillness.

Matt stood there, cheeks wet and head beginning to spin. What if she never woke up? He could scream his lungs out, begging her, pleading her, demanding her to wake up and say something, and she'd just lie there, motionless except for her breathing…

He placed his other hand on top of hers, a silent request.

Wake up.

Another shiver ran through him and his eyes flitted close. He rocked back on his heels, his lips quivering.

I don't want to be alone anymore. I don't want to be incomplete. Siblings aren't siblings if they aren't together. I've lost you twice. I can't lose you a third time. Just please, please come back, I swear I'll be a better brother, please, just please-

A whimper reached his ears.

Matt's head snapped up in an instant. His breath caught.

Pidge's eyes were opened just a crack. They were glassy and unfocused, and her eyebrows were scrunched together. Thick beads of sweat lined her forehead.

"Pidge!" Matt hastily stepped closer to the cot, his grip on her hand tightening.

She's awake, she's awake, oh sweet quiznak she's awake! We're not gonna die, I'll get her home, she's awake-

Pidge's eyes widened to the size of saucers and suddenly she jerked her hand away, giving a small cry. She scrambled away from him, pushing herself against the wall. She moved her right arm to prop herself up.

A sickening grating sound emitted as bone shifted against bone. Any color that was left in Pidge's face drained away and she opened her mouth in a silent scream.

Until that moment Matt had been momentarily stunned. Now, he snapped back to reality. He leaned forward and wrapped one arm around her back and one around her head and lowered her onto the cot again.

Pidge's breaths came in gasps that quickly became shuddering sobs. She leaned her head into the crook of his arm and cried, undecipherable murmurings among the tears.

Matt's own breath hitched a bit. He stood there for a few seconds, watching as his little sister sobbed into his arm. Unsteadily, he shifted himself to sit on the edge of the cot above Pidge's head. Slipping his arm out from under her, he gently raised her head and rested it on his leg.

Pidge gave a small whimper, though she didn't try to move. Her features tightened in what was all too recognizable as pain.

"Shh, it's okay, it's okay…" He murmured. He reached down and tenderly cupped her chin in his hand, brushing away some of her tears with his thumb. She leaned into the touch, so Matt didn't let go. He watched as her breaths slowly began to even out and her crying became quieter.

He wished this hadn't had happened. The Kerberos mission, being captured by the Galra, being rescued by the rebels. All of it. He just wanted to be home for the first time in what felt like forever, with his entire family around him, no one missing or getting tortured…

Matt exhaled, long and tired. He looked back to his little sister and jerked a little in surprise when he saw that her eyes were half open and she was focusing on him.

"Matt…?" Pidge muttered, her eyes narrowing.

Matt's heart soared. He smiled softly and lightly rubbed his thumb across her cheek. "Good to see you awake. You worried me."

Pidge grinned faintly at that. Matt's heart soared even higher.

"'N-nothin to worry about. I'm fine." And then Matt's heart divebombed straight into his stomach and exploded. His mouth tugged into a frown.

"No. No, you're not fine. You got captured by the Galra, Pidge, they tortured you, you were unconscious and bleeding and just…" His voice got quieter with each word. He could feel the tears gathering in his eyes again and he shook his head, looking down into her eyes remorsefully.

Pidge looked right back at him, her eyes soft despite them also being glassy and her body burning with fever. She smiled at him, warm and loving and just so… Katie.

"It wasn't that bad. I knew you and the others would come and get me. Besides, I'm here now, right?" She spoke as if trying to soothe a small child.

Matt smiled weakly. Pidge's eyebrows lifted, her smile taking on a mischevious factor to it.

"Hey, where's the big, tough older brother that's around all the time? I'm starting to miss him."

Matt chuckled a bit. "He's here, don't worry. Just trying to recover from seeing his little sister in such a state." Pidge laughed a little too.

"Right, that reminds me," Matt's tone became serious. "Your right arm's broken, okay? So don't try to move it."

Pidge grimaced. "Yeah, I think I noticed."

Matt gave a wry smile. "Actually, I wouldn't try moving pretty much at all. You've got some bad cuts on your abdomen, too." Pidge sighed. she looked as if she wanted to nod her head but she settled for a tired, "Okay."

The two lapsed into a steady quiet. Some of the fears in Matt's mind had been nullified now that Pidge was awake, and for the first time in a while, he felt at peace.

They were both safe. Away from the Galra. Yes, lost, but safe. They could find a planet. Recuperate. Heal, in Pidge's case. Locate Voltron. They could get home. They would. He'd make sure of it.

"I feel like crap," Pidge's voice jerked Matt out of his thoughts. He looked back to her. She was sweating again and her eyes had a hint of delirium in them. Matt mentally cursed and reached for a new cloth.

"Just lie still. I'm doing what I can to keep your fever down, but I'm not a doctor whatsoever and even though we need one at the moment, I'm not sure how long it's going to be before we find a suitable planet to land on." Setting the old fever-warm cloth with the others, Matt laid the fresh one on her forehead. He shot a glance over his shoulder. The viewscreen showed empty space with occasional stars whizzing by.

"Now that I think about it, I don't know how long it's going to be before we find any planets," He muttered. Pidge said nothing but shuddered and closed her eyes, whispering something undecipherable under her breath.

Matt exhaled tiredly and shifted, rubbing the back of his neck with one of his hands before cracking his knuckles. He rested a hand on Pidge's head and let the other fall into his lap. Slowly, he allowed his gaze wander.

The cockpit of the Green Lion was a good size. Not huge, but not tiny. There was enough room for maybe, four, five people to stand in it with still some space to spare. The lighting never seemed to be too overbearing or too dim. Matt liked that. It was comfortable in there. It seemed like a quiet place he could get work done in.

His gaze found the viewscreen. Distant stars. The dark, empty void of space. No planets. No civilization. Nothing. They were still lost out in the middle of nowhere.

Matt turned back to look at his sister. Her eyes were shut. She was pale and sweating. Her eyebrows were scrunched together and her good hand was clenched into a tight fist. She was hurt. She had been hurt so much. But she was alive. Still alive.

"I was so scared for you." The words tumbled out before Matt could give his consent. Pidge's eyes opened slowly and she looked up at him. "You didn't need to be."

Matt's jaw hardened. "Pidge, I know what it's like in there. I've seen people, innocent people get dragged away by guards for who knows what kind of torment. I've been in the arena, had to fight some of my own fellow prisoners for those monster's entertainment. Do you know what it's like to have people yelling at you to slit a young boy's throat?"

Pidge inhaled sharply. Her voice was quiet. "No."

Matt exhaled, slowly and deeply. He began to run his fingers through her hair. His tone softened. "I never wanted you to go through that. I never, on my very soul, wanted you to have to go through anything even remotely close to what I did. If I could've stopped all of this from the very beginning I swear I-"

The Green Lion suddenly jolted drastically to the side. Pidge jerked and almost fell off the cot. She cried out, clutching her bad arm with her good one. Matt yelped in surprise and hastily helped her back further onto the cot. Her breaths were short and uneven. Matt hesitated for a moment before whipping around and dashing to the controls.

Matt quickly sat down and grabbed the joysticks. The Green Lion growled slightly. He could feel the concern coming from her.

"Did something hit us?" Pidge called from the cot. Matt accessed the scanner and activated it. After a moment a popup appeared with the results. His brow furrowed as he read it. He turned to look at Pidge.

"An… asteroid. An asteroid hit us. But I don't understand how one could just come out of the middle of nowhere, they're usually found in asteroid b-" Matt looked back at the viewscreen. His words died on his lips when he saw what they were beginning to get close to.

"Asteroid belt," Matt whispered.

DA DA DAAAA! There you have it! The end of chapter four.

An alert/follow will let you help Matt cope with his issues, and a follow will let you hug him and squish his lil cinnamon roll face.

I'll see you all next time! ;3

~erebororbust~

PS- Season 6 was nuts, wasn't it?