"Coran!" Allura yelled, fussing with the healing pods. The royal advisor didn't need to be called twice, rushing into the room with lightning speed. Allura didn't turn to face him as she worked. "I need help! She's slipping!"
"I'm on it! You get the pod ready!" Coran hurriedly prepped Pidge for healing, only having time to put a shirt on her before laying her in the pod. Allura practically slammed the activation button, staring at the lifesign readings as if daring them to deteriorate. The ginger man laid a hand on the princess' shoulder and both Alteans sighed in relief as the green paladin's state stabilized. After a minute or so, Allura turned to her advisor with tear- filled eyes, her face twisted up in sadness. Coran gently hugged her and waited for the words that were sure to come.
"She's just a little girl! Why do we have to put children on the battlefield? It isn't right!" She cried, burying her face in her friend's shoulder. Coran sighed sadly and rubbed her back, searching for a response, tears in his own eyes as well.
"We have no other option. The lions chose their paladins, and we have to respect their decisions," he replied after a moment of thought. "And you're still so young as well." Allura huffed in indignation before deflating and leaning against Coran.
The two Alteans stayed like that for a few minutes before going to meet the others.

-----

"Matt?" Hunk called, knocking on the young man's door. Hearing no response, he used the door's override pass he learned from Pidge to let himself in. "Matthew?"
"'M here..." a weak voice responded. Hunk turned on the light and almost jumped at the sight of Matt sprawled out on the floor, dark bags under his eyes. The whole room reeked of nunvil, sweat, and blood. As it was, Matt currently had shattered bottles scattered around him and pieces of glass in his arms and legs.
"Pardon my French, but what the hell were you doing last night!?" Hunk asked, lifting Matt off the floor with surprisingly little effort. There was no response to his question as the ginger looked down ashamedly. The yellow paladin just sighed and helped his charge out of the room and to the med bay, where the team waited in anxious expectation.
"Matthew!" Shiro yelled, taking his friend from Hunk. Everyone looked over at the scene.
"Oh boy. We don't need another self-destructive dude on this team," Lance remarked under his breath. Keith shot him a look before turning back to the healing pods.
"I'll help, Shiro." Coran moved over to where the black paladin sat with Matt as Hunk moved back to the group in the center of the room.
"Alright.... well, now that we're all mostly here, I'd like to have us all discuss with each other the current events. There are some things that I believe we all need to get off of our chests," Allura spoke as she took a seat on the steps in the room. Everyone else around her nodded and followed her example. "I shall start us off, to break the ice. I am horrified that Pidge has resorted to such a drastic action to keep what she knows confidential, and in all honesty, I am irrationally plagued by the need to avenge her. I understand that revenge may not be the correct motivator for this situation, but I believe you will find that frankly, I do not care." She sighed and looked around. Lance was the first to respond.
"Dude, I say we go kick some Galra ass!"
"Lance, I think we need to rest first. I know Pidge does, for sure," Hunk replied, sighing sadly. "I think we all need time to absorb what's happened. We were searching for eighty five days, after all! We need a nice meal and a sleepover party. At least, I know I do." Everyone nodded in agreement, Shiro and Coran coming to join the group.
"I think a sleepover is a great idea, Hunk. I know that Matt needs some support after what happened yesterday." Shiro looked over at the man in question before speaking again. "I think we all need support right now." Allura clapped her hands and stood after Shiro finished speaking.
"Alright, then it's settled! Let's go do this 'sleepover' you speak of!"
Hunk nodded and grabbed Lance to help cook. Keith headed for the door, not bothering to look over his shoulder as he spoke. "Shiro, Pidge lets go get-" he cut himself off abruptly, choking up on his slip of tongue. He hunched over and started to walk out.
"Keith! Wait!" Shiro called, jogging up to the boy and stopping him with a gentle hand. "It's alright. It's a habit, I know. Let's go get supplies." He faced Allura. "Do you care to join, Princess?" The lady in question straightened up at her name and considered the offer.
"Coran, will you be alright with Pidge and Matt?" She asked slowly, looking eager to leave and have fun. The ginger man nodded, smiling softly.
"Go enjoy yourself, Princess. You've earned it." Coran agreed, gently pushing her towards the door. Allura grinned and ran to meet Shiro and Keith. Not soon after, the floor of the healing pod bay was littered with pillows, blankets and anything else soft. Hunk and Lance were making the closest thing to peanut butter cookies as they could in honor of Pidge, and Coran was tending to Matt. Allura, Keith and Shiro started to build a nest for everyone to cuddle in, Allura humming a nervous tune to herself and Keith doing his best to not stare at either of the Holts. Shiro had moved over to Matt and was very obviously stressed. The mood, though dark, was quickly lifted when Lance and Hunk walked in the room with glasses of milk and peanut butter cookies.
"Hunk! You are amazing!" Lance cheered as everyone moved to grab a snack. "This tastes exactly like peanut butter!" Hunk blushed and shrugged.
"Peanuts are universal, man." He muttered sheepishly, earning a snort from Keith. Shiro grabbed a plate for both himself and Matt before going back to his friend while Allura took food to Coran. Hunk grabbed his food and set it down in his spot before leaving an extra plate in front of Pidge inside her healing pod. The room went quiet. Lance placed a hand on the pod and quietly muttered a prayer to himself, the ending barely audible.
"En el nombre del Padre, el Hijo y el Espíritu Santo. Amén." He sat down, leaning against the structure before eating his cookies in a heavy thoughtfulness that was uncharacteristic of his normal behavior. Everyone ate in silence for a few minutes before Keith spoke, surprising the rest of the group with his forwardness .
"You know, Allura was right about earlier. We all have opinions and thoughts on what happened with Pidge, and I really need to talk about mine." He sighed before continuing. "She's like a little sister to me, and she has given me someone to fight to protect, as well as being someone who constantly challenges me and pushes me forward. It's... It's too quiet without her. The scary part is that this one corner of my mind keeps telling me that the Pidge we know died before we found her, and I'm terrified to see what the Galra have reduced her down to. I'd like to believe that she miraculously kept her sanity intact, but the terrifying part of this whole situation is that the pessimistic corner of my brain is almost always right." He took a moment to compose himself and wipe his eyes before continuing. "I don't know if she'll even recognize me anymore and to know that the people I'm related to were the very same people who did this to her makes my sick. I don't know if I can ever feel alright with myself again because, in some sick and twisted way, I'm the one who hurt her like this." He hugged a blanket to himself and muffled his cries, shoulders heaving and shaking. Everyone else in the room was quiet, with Lance, Coran, Allua and Hunk wiping tears away as well. Shiro pulled Keith into his side and softly comforted his teammate and almost brother. Hunk piped up next.

"I agree, Keith. I'm scared that Pidge is not Pidge anymore. After all, she's still a child! What did the soldiers do to her anyways?" He looked over at Lance, who was awfully quiet before bowing his head and quieted down. Nobody spoke for a few minutes.

"I've been in her position before. Not as a paladin of Voltron, which is worse, but as Champion. I know for a fact that she's never going to be the same as she was because I'm not either. I'm trying to convince myself otherwise, but I know it's true." Shiro sighed. "The best thing we can do is love her and respect her needs and wishes. She needs support right now, and that's what we'll give her." He looked around the room, where everyone except an unconscious Matt and an eerily quiet Lance nodded. Coran frowned and moved over to the blue boy.
"Lance, my boy, are you alright?" The Altean man asked. Lance didn't move. Coran tried to place a hand on his shoulder, earning a gasp and Lance flinching away quickly.
"Geez Coran don't scare me like that!" He yelled. Everyone stared in varying states of confusion before Coran spoke again.
"Lance, we've been talking to you for a while now. Are you okay?" He frowned and took a step back. Lance sighed and hugged himself, sighing sadly.
"To be honest, I don't think anyone is. We're all hurting. For God's sake, Matt has drunk his way to hell and back! I can't help but ask myself, does God really care? Is he even real? If so, then why doesn't he do something? Why didn't he save Katie from the terror she felt?" He abruptly cut himself off and steadied his voice before speaking again, very obviously having connected with the green paladin too much to call her by her nickname. "Back when we first started fighting the Galra, Katie came to me in the middle of the night. Apparently she had had a terrible nightmare and couldn't sleep. I asked why she didn't ask anyone else for help, and her answer was 'You're almost exactly like Matt. Can you take his place for one night?' Her voice was so small and scared and you can quiznacking believe I held her in my arms until she slept soundly! She reminds me of my little sister and I'm not just gonna leave her to her pain!" Lance was a sobbing mess now, too hysterical to anyone do anything to except listen and wait for him to tire himself out. "Just look at her!" He pointed at the pod, almost shouting. "Does she look peaceful to you? No! And it hurts, it hurts so bad since I can't hold her and sing to her until her fears melt away because I can't relate to them! I'm terrified for her, and I don't want to lose her like I've lost myself!" Lance struggled to calm himself, looking around the room at everyone's shocked faces. His face fell at their disbelief, promptly leaving the room. Coran followed the distressed boy outside, unwilling to leave someone so upset to their own devices. He found Lance sobbing in the common room next door.
"Lance, son, look at me." Coran kept his own sadness out of his voice as he spoke. Lance looked up slowly and was startled to meet face to face with a battle weary soldier barely resembling the Altean advisor. "This.... This is the real me. I'm a soldier, Lance. An old one. And I lost my conscience long ago." Coran sighed, letting Lance soak in his appearance. Over the left side of his lip was a scar, shallow but prominent. Across his left cheek was a deep gash and his right ear was split towards the edge. "I've learned how to shapeshift out of my scars so I don't frighten Allura. You see, I was a prisoner of Zarkon's long ago, before he was completely corrupted by power and quintessence. During my time as a royal guard and advisor, I learned a thing or two about losing yourself in the thick of battle. I learned that once you kill someone, you can never truly forgive yourself, even if it was for a good reason. I've also learned that death is an easy and tempting option out of the world, and it is far easier than facing your demons." Lance startled a bit. Coran, having thought about suicide? "And I also know that losing someone you love is devastating. You see, while I was on a mission, my family was attacked. I had a wife and a son. My wife was beautiful and wise, helping to ground me when things got too much to handle on my own. My son, on the other hand, was exactly like you. He had the same blue eyes, the same brown hair, and the same personality. Coming home to find their mangled and rotting corpses on the floor of my living room had me holding my gun to my head before I had even formed the beginnings of a suicidal thought. The thing that stopped me, though, was Allura. I remembered that I had someone to protect and nurture, and it's hard for me to do that with a hole in my head. So I carried on, and whoever is up there has rewarded me with a second son." Coran hugged Lance to his chest protectively. "And I'll be damned if I don't do everything in my power to keep him safe. Whatever you need, Lance, I'm here for you. Please don't be afraid to talk to me, son." Lance was stunned by the sudden rush of history and wisdom Coran had revealed. How could such a cheerful man have such a terrible past? Lance realized with a jolt that he was sobbing, and hugged Coran back tightly, burying his face in the older man's shoulder. Maybe he could keep going with his life, just like Coran. Maybe he could help Pidge find herself again.

If there is anything I've messed up on with grammar, let me know!