Chapter Text
Matt dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his temples, this was not how he expected his day to go. A few hours ago Shiro arrived at the castle, bloody and bruised, with a half-dead guard slung over his shoulder. Matt was the best physician in the kingdom so naturally Shiro insisted he tend to the guard first.
After Matt saved the guard from death’s door, he spent the next few hours patching up Shiro as the Captain of the Guard waded in and out of consciousness. Now that the worst was over, Matt just needed a few moments to wrap his head around all this, sadly, he didn’t get those moments as Allura burst through the doors.
“Where is he?” She cried.
Matt had ordered everyone be kept out of the infirmary while he worked, including Allura. He was already in enough of a panic trying to save his best friend, he didn’t need her worrying to distract him.
Matt pointed to a closed curtain, head still in his other hand. “He’s resting behind that.”
He listened to her footsteps as they hurried over to the curtain and drew it open. When he heard her breath catch his head shot up to see what was the matter. Shiro was standing there, leaning heavily against the bed for support trying to get to Allura. Matt specifically told him to lie down for a while so of course Shiro ignored him and was now trying to walk.
Allura’s eyes traced every inch of the captain, taking in all the cuts and bruises that littered his body. Bandages covered his chest and arms, so many of them that Matt didn’t even bother to put a shirt back on Shiro, it would’ve been far to painful for the captain, and for Matt to watch him suffer through that. Allura blinked away tears, snapping herself out of her trance so she could help Shiro sit back down on the bed.
Matt shook his head. “Great, Allura, you woke him up. And I just got him to go down for his nap too.”
“There’s that humor I know and love.” Shiro said through gritted teeth, as he painfully eased himself into a seated position. “For the past few hours I’ve only seen worried Matt, and he’s no fun.”
“Maybe,” Allura added, sitting next to Shiro on the bed, “you should thank Matt for saving your life, twice.”
Shiro raised an eyebrow at her. “Twice? When was the second time?”
“The first time was after the galra beat you up, and the second time will be after I beat you up for scaring us like that.”
“I see.” Shiro let out a small laugh. Allura tried to laugh too but she couldn’t stop the tears from falling. Shiro’s face fell. “I’m sorry, for scaring both of you like that.”
Allura placed her hand on Shiro’s, tracing circles over it with her thumb. He grabbed her hand in return and squeezed as if he would never let go again. Matt leaned back in his chair, allowing them this brief moment of happiness, one he knew he was about to ruin with bad news, but he had to. Shiro had been out of commission for hours, and a lot had happened during that time.
“Shiro,” Matt began slowly, “you should know, Prince Keith has not returned to the castle.”
Shiro’s head snapped towards Matt. He opened his mouth to respond but no words came. Matt swallowed, this would not be easy for Shiro to hear.
“And we cannot go out and search for him, galra soldiers are right outside out gates.” Allura added. “Plus, reinforcements from Altea wont be here for days.”
“If they can even get through.” Matt grumbled. “The forest is crawling with galra sentries.”
Shiro remained silent for a minute, going over every possibility in his head. Matt couldn’t imagine what Shiro was feeling now, Keith was like a little brother to him. If anything like this ever happened to Pidge Matt would fight anyone and everyone to get her back.
Suddenly, Shiro placed his hands on the bed and pushed himself into a standing position. “I need to get Keith.”
“You must be joking, look at the state you’re in!” Said Allura.
“I’m the Captain of the Guard, it’s my job to protect him.”
Shiro took a step forward and stumbled, Allura grabbed his arm to steady him. “You almost just died protecting him!” She shot back.
“And I’ll do it again!” He screamed.
Matt had heard enough, he shot out of his chair and grabbed Shiro’s shoulders, “well you’re no use to him dead now are you?” He yelled.
The room fell silent. The captain stared at him, wide eyed. Matt rarely raised his voice but he wasn’t about to let Shiro go on a suicide mission. Finally, Shiro nodded and allowed Matt to help lower him onto the bed.
Allura placed a hand on Shiro’s cheek as she said, “Keith is strong. He’s probably hunting down every last galra sentry out there.”
Shiro leaned into her touch and chuckled. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“And Matt,” Allura turned to him as he sat back in his chair, “remind me to never get on your bad side.”
Matt winked at her. “You never could be, Princess.”
She smiled. “Thank you, Matt.”
“Oh sorry, Allura, I was talking to Shiro.”
The three of them shared a much needed laugh, which was interrupted all too soon as General Lotor swooped through the door.
The arrogant jerk glided into the room and tried his best to feign sympathy, “tried” being the key word. “Captain, how wonderful it is to see you are recovering from your injuries.”
Shiro frowned. “General, what do you want?”
“Very well.” Lotor said, striding a little too close to Matt for his liking. “Yesterday you said violence was our last resort, but I believe at this point, we are all out of options.”
Allura jumped in before Shiro could get a word in. “Are you suggesting we go to war? Lyon doesn’t have the numbers to face the galra, you’d be sending all those soldiers to their deaths.”
Lotor let out a low laugh. “I wont be mobilizing the troops, Princess Allura, I will sneak a small and elite group of soldiers into Daibazaal. Then we can plant a bomb in the center of the city. With all the chaos on his own soil my father will have no choice but to pull his sentries back.”
“Do you understand how many civilian casualties that will cause?” Shiro growled. “Prince Keith would never allow that.”
“Well last I checked he isn’t here.” Lotor snapped. “And the queen cannot return from her travels with the galra outside our gates, and our Captain of the Guard can barely stand right now, so someone needs to take initiative.”
“And who said that someone is you?” Shiro spat.
The room seemed to drop a few degrees as Lotor and Shiro glared at one another. Eventually though, Lotor turned away, instead focusing his energy on touching the various vials on Matt’s desk.
Matt mulled over their options in his head while he watched Lotor put his dirty hands on his nice clean bottles. The general was right about one thing, the castle was in shambles right now, but perhaps, then, what they needed was someone from outside the palace.
“I think I have a better idea.” Matt said, slapping Lotor’s hand away from his stuff. “I know some nerds who can cause mass chaos without any casualties.” All eyes fell on him. “Trust me, I’ve seen them do it a thousand times before.”
Shiro and Allura shared a glance, then nodded. Lotor was less agreeable, however, he snarled and grabbed Matt by the shirt, lifting his feet off the ground. “Do you think your plan is better than mine? If you think you’re smarter than me, peasant, then you-”
But Allura was there in an instant, yanking Lotor’s long, white hair back and whispering in his ear. “Keep touching Matt and see if you keep that hand.”
Matt almost laughed, it was the first time he ever saw genuine fear in the general’s eyes. Slowly, Lotor lowered Matt to the ground and pushed Allura off. He retreated towards the door, muttering, “I hope you three know what you’re doing,” as he left.
The moment the door latched shut Allura whirred around and grabbed Matt by the wrists. “Matt, are you all right? I’m so sorry I let him even touch you.”
Matt just threw his arms over her shoulders. “Are you kidding, Allura? You’re my hero!”
“Just wait until I’m healed, Matt.” Shiro grunted from the bed. “I’ll teach Lotor not to speak to you like that.”
Matt released Allura from his embrace and chuckled. “Two champions fighting for my honor? I’m blushing.”
Shiro and Allura visibly calmed at hearing Matt’s joke. His humor had kept them from losing all hope during tense situations in the past, and today was no exception. But after a few moments Shiro’s face turned cold again, remembering the weight of the situation they were in. He turned to Matt and said, “these nerds you were talking about, are they who I think they are?”
Matt nodded.
Shiro scratched his chin. “Are you sure Hunk, Pidge and Lance are up to it? There’s a lot riding on this.”
“Don’t worry, they’ve pulled off some incredible feats.” Matt said, propping his feet up on his desk. “This one time, right after the king died Iverson refused to give Keith an extension with his assignments so he could grieve.”
“Keith is the prince, if he needed time to mourn couldn’t he have just told Iverson?” Allura cut it, poking at the various herbs and antidotes on Matt’s desk.
“Yeah but Keith is…Keith.” Matt scoffed. “He would never feel comfortable talking about his emotions to someone.”
“That’s true.” Said Shiro.
“Anyway,” Matt continued, “the Garrison Trio thought that was unfair, so they conjured up a stink bomb that somehow covered every inch of the Garrison. The school had to be closed for a week, plenty of time for Keith to get his bearings.” Matt shook his head. “I still can’t figure out how they did it.”
“Oh yeah, Iverson is still scratching his head about who did that.” Shiro laughed a little too hard, instantly regretting it as he clutched his bruised ribs.
Allura walked over to Shiro and helped him lie back. “You need to get some rest.” She looked over to Matt, “and you need to call upon this Garrison Trio, they sound like they could be of great help.”
Matt rose to his feet. “I think you’ll like them, princess. Lance is the idea man, Pidge is the brain and Hunk is the architect. These crazy kids could be our saviors.” Matt crossed his arms over his chest, then added, “just don’t tell them that, they can get real cocky.”
Allura shot Shiro a glance that Matt was very happy to not be on the receiving end of. “Sounds like someone else I know.” She said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Shiro replied, closing his eyes.
Allura frowned, but then her face softened as she leaned down and spoke softly in Shiro’s ear. “You must rest and regain your strength. I could’ve lost you today, I cannot bare the thought of that. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you died before I even told you how I - that I…”
As she struggled to finish her sentence Shiro reached up and placed his hand on the nape of her neck, entwining his fingers in her snow white hair. He gently tugged her closer until their foreheads touched. “I know.” He whispered, eyes still closed. “Me too.”
Allura let out a breathy laugh and kissed him on the forehead, then she turned towards Matt and said, “come on, we all need to get some sleep.”
“You can say that again.” Matt sighed as he walked over to Shiro’s bedside. “Go to sleep, idiot, doctor’s orders.” Shiro grunted and Matt turned to join Allura at the door, but then he pivoted back and leaned in close to the captain. “You almost died today, and before I could tell you that you’re…you’re my sun and moon, my earth and sky, my knife and fork!”
Shiro cracked an eye open. “What are you doing?”
Matt cocked his head. “What? Is that not how we’re saying goodnight to you now?
“Matt.”
“You seemed to like it when Allura did it.”
“Shut up.”
Allura grabbed Matt from behind and pulled him away from the blushing Captain of the Guard. Neither of them could suppress their laughter as he and Allura closed the door behind them.
Matt was glad he could lighten the mood, if only for a minute, because tomorrow was going to be Hell.