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Reboot

The energy spike had caught the SS Explorer's attention and Commander Hawkins had diverted Lisa's patrol to check. New to this section of the galaxy it seemed as if they'd stepped right into a faction war and the team of space explorers were scrambling for intel on the situation before a misstep on their part dragged them into something - or worse, cost them their lives.

"What happened here?" she breathed it but the microphone in her helmet still picked it up, a ghost whisper that seemed to suit the graveyard they found themselves in. And it was graveyard. While it was obvious it was the ruins of a facility of some sort, probably the remnants of what was left on one of the low orbiting moons of this planet, the twisted metal itself held far too many -

coffins. Lisa looked out across the devastation and there were so many coffins. Tubes of glass and steel, at first they'd thought they were energy tanks - until her team had gotten close enough to see there were bodies inside. Acres and acres of ruined metal - and glass tubes. And each tube held a body....

Careful she started to pick her way through, watching her footing, hand out for balance. Whatever this place had once been there was nothing left of it now and her fingertips lightly moved over each glass tube that she came near. You. And you. And you. So many in those tubes that no one would bury or mourn and it seemed wrong that she was the only one that would remember them. Had it been a cryo-facility? Storage? Some of the faces were ruined, the impact of the fall from the moon to the planet's surface brutal but some of them were still recognizable and so she picked up - slowly - on the fact they were all the same person. Cloning? Was that possible? An entire facility of the exact same clone? Why? Why just one man over and over and over again and why had it all be destroyed. Why had they all been killed?

"Lisa?" Krik's voice over the helmet's intercom and she hummed before remembering.

"It's all right. I've got this. Its just - its not what we thought it was. I think it was a cloning facility. I'm sending the readings from my HUD. It's - bad. It's really bad, Krik."

The Alliance of planets that Lisa's squad belonged to were no where near the level of technology to be creating human clones and yet - you. And you. And you. Her hand brushed each cylinder she passed as she worked her way deeper into the tragedy. Someone had made them - and then they'd been killed before they'd even woken and she wasn't sure if that made them alive or not - except her chest ached like a hole and she thought that was her answer. You. And you. And you, she silently promised with each glide of gloved fingertips over glass. I will remember you if no one else will. Some of the pods were open and those were the worst. Because the bodies were spilled out and broken and it made her wonder, horribly, if some of them had been alive for the fall. If they'd known. The ache in her chest deepened and she rubbed absently at it, moon dust across her uniform. The displays across her helmet's screen, linked to her ship, ran through their scans and cycles as she moved.

"Picking up an energy source. Looks like its pretty centrally located. Its not much but its all that we've got. I'm going to check it out. Maybe there's a terminal that survived or something we can download information about the facility from."

"Roger that" Jeff's voice now, even if it was tinny with distance. "Be careful, Leese."

Another hum before she remember and affirmed it but - she couldn't imagine anything being left alive in this mess. And she almost hoped she was right. Nothing would have survived that fall and if it did - chances were good there were no doctors in the fleet or elsewhere that could fix what it would have cost.

You. And you. And you.

The power source was what looked like what was left of a power box, the pillar it had been built into enough to save it during the crash and Lisa carefully opened it. Galra tech. The Explorer was new to the system - but they'd already encountered Galra.

"Hooking in. I don't know if we'll get anything, its pretty rough but - " she slipped the clip into place on the port she could find, having to wiggle it a little due to the damage but the light finally went green and she left it to download what it could. There was no telling how much a power cell would store about the facility but it was all they had at this point. Turning to look around as it ticked through its job, she noticed another mass of cylinders and made her way over. It hurt but - someone should witness it. Someone should acknowledge that they had existed. Her fingers slipped over cracked glass. You. And you. And -

he moved.

Alone by herself on a dead alien world in a ruined graveyard of clones, Lisa did the sensible thing and jerked back with a high pitched hiccup caught in her throat, hands snatched back, barely catching herself from tripping.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," was the automatic answer to the sudden worried voices filtered through her helmet and, careful, she edged her way back. There was something illogically frightening about finding a living body when you thought everyone was dead. Closer inspection showed how the tube had gotten caught in cables on the way down, how the metal stacking structure had taken the majority of the impact. Half afraid that there was nothing inside, a body with no mind, she tapped the glass.

His fingers twitched.

"I think I found someone," it came out shaky, not sure if she should be relieved or heart-broken. It took some work but the broken latch finally jiggled loose under her persistence and she got the lid of the thing off. Just like a glass coffin.... His chest was rising and falling. Breathing. Nothing looked horrifyingly broken. Careful she reached out, touched his cheek with her glove, helmet registering the temperature of him at least.

"Wake up." It came out filtered through the helmet and she remembered it belatedly. Reached up to pull it off her head, breaking the neck seal, hair coming loose. Hoping for an answer, scared of what it might be. Defense training went out the window as she leaned over and rested her hands on his shoulders, pressing slightly. "Wake up now. Please. You need to wake up."

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Pain.

Even in the state he was in, floating in nothingness, he could remember pain above all else. The burn of metal on metal as his arm was cut off. Keith's words echoing in his mind as the other desperately tried to get through to him. Hagger's grip on his mind tightening as she attempted to keep him from breaking free but oh had he tried; struggled--fought as hard as he could to do anything but follow her orders. Everything from that point on started to blur. His mind had grown weak as his body did and Haggar had eventually withdrawn her hold when she realized her puppet was worthless to her now. The facility had begun to crumble--collapse around them and he'd known then that this was the end for him.

Death.

But Keith, ever loyal and determined Keith, had caught his arm and kept him from falling with the rest of the clones. Kept him from being lost just like all the others. He'd given into the pull of darkness then that had been creeping in from the back of his mind, his breaths coming shorter and his body feeling lighter. He was only vaguely aware that Keith had gotten him back to the other Paladins and only then it was because he could feel...something. Something familiar and foreign all at the same time.

..Black?

Warm hands had pressed to his head and everything happened in an instant.

He'd taken a breath and then his body felt different, heavier. No longer floating. His body ached but in a way that it hadn't before, as if he'd been sleeping for a long time and was only just waking up. He knew this feeling. He'd felt this once before. Back when he..when he..

Wake up.

His fingers twitched and his head lolled to one side just the slightest bit, his eyes moving behind closed lids. Who was that? He didn't recognize that voice. Was that Allura? No, it wasn't the princess.

Something touched his cheek and then it was gone and he tried to move again despite his entire body protesting. Each command his mind gave seemed to fall short as his body moved only the barest amount. Fingers twitched, his breaths stuttered. The touch fell to his shoulders this time and pressed sending a strange sensation through him. A well of panic; an anxiety. Confinement. Restraint.

No no no--

His eyes snapped open as he took a quick breath, immediately trying to push whoever it was holding him down away though his struggles were weak at best. This body wasn't as use to moving as his mind was use to and it wasn't responding as quickly as he wanted it to--needed it to.

Need to get away. No no--

"N-No!"

She pulled away immediately, hands jerking back to safety, as much in reaction to his eyes popping open as to the struggle against her touch. Except -

"Wait, please. Don't move yet." Her hands were back, on his shoulders, only this time they were curled, caught somewhere in between trying to help him up, because who wouldn't want to get out of a coffin, and keep him still. "Something might be broken. It's all right. You're safe, but please, don't move yet."

She wasn't honestly sure how much of her words would get through, how much of a mind was on the other side of the reactions. It did occur to her that he was a large man and a built one and the fact she was alone on an empty planet far from her ship and vulnerable did slide dark through her mind. The graveyard might have once been an army....

"Please," softer. "Just - I'll help you but please don't move until we're sure nothing's broken."

His head was spinning as he attempted to sit up, movements sluggish as he fought with his body to respond properly. His breathing was a bit erratic as everything started to 'wake up', seeming to realize that he was no longer just a shell but a living, breathing being now.

"Where--who--" he managed to get out only to cut himself off as the person touched him again, her hands on his shoulders to keep him where he was.

Restraint.

"Let me go," he demanded though it was one part desperate plea as well, confusion starting to get the better of him as he began to realize just how wrong everything felt.

Such as the fact that he had two arms. Two flesh arms.

Chest heaving, dark eyes focused on the woman hovering over him. For a moment she was someone else; same dark hair and dark eyes but the setting was different. The worry was different. Voice calling out a name that was..wasn't..

"I--where am I?" he managed to get out, practically croaking the words as his vision same and the woman reappeared, memories retreating to the back of his mind again.

Her hands withdrew at his denial, fingers curling in, not sure she should let go if he hurt himself but not wanting to make things worse by forcing him. It was a full sentence though, a cognizant one, and it gave her hope. Hope that almost immediately switched from whether his mind was all there to watching the way he was so sluggish in his body. A clone? Was this the first time he'd ever woken up? Ever been conscious? She kept her hands in view for him as his eyes focused on her.

He really didn't look good and she wondered how long it would take to get a medivac here if they ended up needing one. Several days at least. It would be better to get him back to her ship but -

and then he asked his question and - oh. Despite herself the wry smile twitched one side of her lips and she shook her head, apologetic.

"I don't know." Her hands shifted, rested on the lip of the tube, careful to keep them away from him. Watching his face. "That's what I'm here to find out." And maybe he could help her. That was certainly unexpected. But before she asked anything like that: "Are you hurt? Doesn't anything feel broken?"

His eyes tracked each one of her movements. The rest of his body may have been taking it's time to react properly, to function like it use to--like his old one use to because this wasn't the same body was it? But his gaze was sharp nonetheless. A trapped animal ready to strike with all the strength he had left in him if it meant giving himself the smallest chance to get away.

"No."

It just felt wrong but that wasn't something she would understand or anything she needed to know really.

The young man slowly shifted himself in an attempt to sit up again, managing this time to get his hands on stable parts of the tube to aid in the process all while keeping his gaze fixed on the woman.

"Where's Voltron?" Keith. Lance. Pidge. Hunk. Everyone. Where were they? How was he here?

Shiro.

On the lip of the tube, her hands twitched as he struggled upward, thwarted desire to help against the way he was watching that was very obviously not wanting help. So she watched him back just as closely instead,

and then her eyebrows went up.

And then jerked back down.

"Voltron?" its part question and part flat response, as if he's expecting her to be stupider than she appreciates the implications of. The Explorer hasn't been in this section of space for very long but they always trawl for radio chatter. Her hands do lift but its because her arms cross over her chest.

"The kid's show?"

"Kid's show?" His body goes still as he stares at her, trying to figure out if she's messing with him or if she's actually serious right now. It only took a few seconds for him to realize that she wasn't playing a game and that had his own confusion growing. "Voltron isn't--"

He stops himself and shakes his head slightly, almost immediately regretting the motion.

There wasn't time for this.

"I need to go," he murmured and started to push himself upright without the prior hesitation, forcing his body to respond whether it was ready to move all of his weight or not. "I need to find--I need to get out of here."

She almost falters at the complete disbelief on his face at her summary but - there's no way someone seriously thinks that skating drama was real, surely. She shelves it quickly however as he keeps struggling to get himself upright, torn between just letting him limp fish flop it out of the tube and honestly worrying he's going to hurt himself. Something's certainly got him - panicked isn't the right word but she can't think of a better one. She steps forward again but this time she offers her hand. He can take her help or not but she can't not offer it. Somehow his struggles don't make her think of him as dangerous no matter what his body looks like.

"How?" she asks gently. He hasn't looked around yet. She's not sure where he thinks he is but chances are the ruins of a facility on the bottom of a moon's planet might not be it. Scans didn't pick up on any other objects or base but that's not to say there isn't one. Either way, she's more than a little concerned about his ability to pilot anything in his condition.

The offered hand has him pausing, staring at it for a moment before glancing up at her again to study her face once more. She seemed sincere. She didn't seem to mean him harm. But that didn't mean anything most of the time.

Still..

Shakily he reaches out and takes it, allowing her to help him out of the tank and onto his feet properly. Everything still feels wrong but at least he's upright and he takes a moment to let himself find his center of balance again. He draws his hand away from hers, absently flexing his fingers as it falls to his side and his gaze sweeps the area.

How indeed.

"There has to be a working ship..something." Anything that could get him out of here. Figure out what was going on. Get him to...would they want him though? The thought makes him flinch and he looks down at his hands--two flesh hands.

This was the wrong body which meant...Shiro, the real one. Was he back? Was that possible? Or was this something else entirely?

Edited 2018-06-25 23:06 (UTC)

She helps him out as he needs it, stands still while he orients and doesn't push when he lets go. She doesn't step away either however, not sure how steady on his feet he is. And as his eyes scan the ruin around them - she's glad her ship is out of sight over one of the ridges in the landscape here. Because - he is very large - and seemingly driven about getting out of here. As well as not trusting her.

Which could end up being very bad for one or the other of them depending how things went if he decided her ship was an option.

It is an option - but only with him as a passenger.

She doesn't volunteer it. Not yet at least. She does lean down and pick up her helmet though, tucking it easily under an arm. Her eyes shift from him to another cluster of broken tubes nearby. Full of the exact same body she will guess, as the live one standing next to her. He wants off this graveyard of a planet - but she's here for a reason and she hasn't finished with it yet. Since he hasn't asked, she doesn't have to answer. Instead:

"Do you know what happened here? What this place was?"

It was probably a damn good thing he couldn't see her ship because he wouldn't have hesitated to try and make a break for it. The urge to go is strong and he can't help but assume that this woman is just going to end up betraying him or holding him back in some way. For all he knows this could be a hallucination even.

A very real hallucination but..stranger things have happened.

What was this place?

A twitch goes through him, starting in his hand and going up his arm, the arm that wasn't suppose to be flesh. His gaze snaps to her and he stares at her for a moment then looks past her as his jaw tightens and he looks at the wreckage. The damaged pods. The bodies--the bodies identical to his.

"A cloning facility. The Galra created it," he managed to get out, hand twitching again a second before he clenched it into a fist. "I was made here." Twice now, so to speak.

Lisa is a thrall of the eternal 'why'. All of her life, every statement has been met with 'why?'. Some of the whys have faded with age, but quite a few of them are still strong in her and the 'why' of people....

She watches him closely as he answers her question and there's so much about his body that tells her more than his words do. He knows he's a clone. It's not something he's at peace with. This place isn't good in his view, not a thing of hope or healing. It makes her think, whatever the clones were created for, it wasn't something gentle or peaceful. Test subjects for medical purposes? He's about the peak of masculine structure as far as she can tell. Soldiers in the war the Explorer is only barely starting to grasp the range of? Something even darker she can't imagine on her own? Whatever it is, he knows. So was it downloaded into him or had he been awake before? Did they rotate out the clones, store them when they were out of use? Her gaze tore away with new horror, swept the field and the - hundreds of ruined canisters. Had they all been alive? All with their own memories and emotions and thoughts before they'd plummeted here? Her arms drew around herself, warding against the hole in her chest the thought cracked even wider.

And he still hadn't answered her first question. What had happened? Who had destroyed this place and all those lives and why? Did he know? Her eyes moved back to him, from their edges.

How much would asking hurt him? His face said this already hurt. She pressed her lips thin together and instead asked:

"Do you think anyone else is alive? Anyone else we can save?"

Even if she had asked he wouldn't have had answers for the majority of her questions. What he knew was limited. Very limited. He had only been aware of what he was for a short period of time and then Haggar had taken control. Prior to realizing he was, in fact, a clone, he had known that something was off but he had just brushed it off, fully convinced that he was in fact Shiro.

What had happened? Of course he knew. He was the one partially responsible, if not entirely responsible for the way this place had come down.

"No," he responded without hesitating, shaking his head, the action itself an after thought as it comes a moment later. "There's no one else. None of the others had been activated."

And Keith had left. He was gone. That much he was sure of and at least he knew the other Paladin was safe.

Other Paladin. No, the Paladin. He wasn't a Paladin. Keith was. The real Shiro was. But he wasn't. Not anymore.

"Do you have a way out of here?" he finally asked, looking at the woman with a more determined look about him. "I..could use help getting out of here."

What other choice did he have at this point but to ask?

The answer was immediate enough that she didn't think he had any doubt at all. In a way it was a relief. She had time - but not that much time and there would have been so many containers to find and search. She hadn't wanted to see each new ruined body up close either. She'd already seen enough that her mind could overlay them over the one standing alive and healthy in front of her whether she wanted it to or not. So she simply inhaled and nodded in return.

Activated he said...

And then he asked his question. One that she'd known was coming. And she took a long sliding step away from him for the first time, taking herself out of arm's reach. Did she want to help him? Of course. She was aware he could be dangerous, someone that was safer trapped far from others - but she was also aware he could very well not be at all. And after seeing so many of his ruined brothers, her heart was already slanted toward sympathy when it came to finding one alive. Which meant she wanted to help him - not end up having to fight for her own ship.

"I do." She didn't bother lie when the answer was obvious. She'd gotten here somehow and she must have some how of getting back. "I can give you a ride back to my fleet." Where Commander Hawkins would no doubt want to talk to him about this place. "Maybe from there they could help you figure out how to get where you need to go."

He wasn't going to hold the way she stepped away against her. In fact, it didn't bother him in the least because it's the exact same thing he would have done in her situation. Even programmed the way he was, modeled after the person he was with the sort of compassion that the real Shiro did have despite everything he'd been put through, there was still a caution there. A need to be guarded in the face of the unknown. She was an unknown to him just as he was to her.

"I would appreciate it," he said sincerely, nodding to her as he allowed his expression to become just a bit more open. A bit more sincere. "Whatever help I can get I'll gladly take. And any answers I can give, I'll gladly give them."

Key words being those that he can give.

The slight relief that went through her, loosening stiff shoulders and an over-straight back said she hadn't been sure about his response. Her smile slipped back, touched her eyes this time too.

"I think that sounds good." He could still be dangerous, but Lisa had a hard time not giving people chances and she thought he deserved some if what was around her was any indication. Her helmet gave a faint sound and she moved back over to the strut that wasn't that far away, reaching up to carefully work the intel clip free now that it was done. A look around hadn't shown anything that seemed intact enough to hold more and she thought a live witness was probably going to help more. Which brought up - she turned back to him, chip in her hand.

"I'm sorry. I'm Lisa. What's your name?"

Seeing her smile now helped him settle further as he realized he'd made the right choice. He'd known in the back of his mind it was the right choice but everything was so mixed up right now he was having trouble connecting all the dots properly. 'What would Shiro do?' was working for now, at least.

"Thank you," he said sincerely, ready to ask if they could get on their way now--he really wanted to get out of this place--when she was suddenly moving towards the support strut. He hesitated where he was, gaze following her before his feet finally moved and he took a few steps after her, his body slowly remembering--learning, actually, how to fire on all cylinders now that he was going fully mobile.

"My name?" Oh. Right. Confusion then something akin to shame briefly flashed across his face before the young man reached up to rub the back of his neck. Name..name...he couldn't use Shiro. If she had heard of Voltron she might be familiar with the names specifically and he didn't want to take that risk. His mind raced trying to find something he could use, cycling through the names of people he'd met, places he'd been, things he knew--

"Kuron."

It was better than nothing.

She realized her mistake the second he hesitated and her eyes went wide and then flinched down a little. A name. She'd asked him for a name - and he was clone. What if they hadn't been given names? And she'd just reminded him of it. Her fingers curled inward and she took a step forward, ready to apologize -

when he gave her his name.

"Oh." Surprise but mostly relief that she hadn't done something unintentionally hurtful and her smile came back again, apologetic. Knowing she'd misstepped one way or the other with her question.

"It's nice to meet you, Kuron." A few steps back to join him, not sure how steady on his feet he'd be considering and willing to offer a shoulder but not wanting to assume. He wasn't fond of touch, she thought. She'd picked up that much.

"All right. Is there anything else you need or are you ready to get out of here?"

Honestly the fact that she even thought about apologize spoke volumes about the type of person she was.

"Likewise, Lisa," Kuron replied easily, though it was going to take awhile to get use to hearing that name used in reference to himself and not the project that it had been associated with. The project that he had only ever vaguely been aware of. It had always just been one of those faint memories lingering in the back of his mind that he couldn't tell if it was real or not; maybe it had been a bad dream or a mix of things he'd experienced while a Galra captive. But no. Now that he fully understood what he was a lot more of the strange things that had always gone through his mind made a lot more sense, especially now that he wasn't trying to convince himself that he was Shiro.

As Lisa came closer Kuron gave her a thankful look, knowing what her intent was by drawing closer like she was and the thought was appreciated. He felt steady for the time being but trekking back to her ship would definitely prove whether or not he was in good shape or not so her help would most likely be needed at some point.

"Ready as I'll ever be. There's nothing left for me here." He had the only thing he needed which was a body. Anything else that was here were just the lingering pieces of a nightmare he was ready to leave behind.

She takes one more look around, felt the dull loneliness of the place. How long would it sit here, on a forgotten planet circled by dead moons, ignored or forgotten, a graveyard of 'might have beens' lost? Someone should remember them, they should have that at least and she silently promised them that she would.

Chances were at least one other person would too, now.

She did check his pod before they left but there was nothing there that looked like it would hold any more information. Nothing that he couldn't tell them just as much or more. Pocketing her retrieved memory clip, she fell into step next to him, leading subtly back toward her ship, matching her pace to his, something she was usually used to doing with people with shorter legs, not longer ones like his. Her eyes slipped sideways up to look at him without turning her head as they walked.

"If there's nothing left here, maybe you can build or find something elsewhere instead. Sometimes knowing where you're not going is as important as knowing where you are."

It might be intrusive though, advice or observation he didn't want to hear - or perhaps didn't even need to, and so she changed the subject.

"I'm from the Planetary Alliance. Shipped out onboard the SS Explorer. We were sent to find livable planets - but it looks like we've ended up in the middle of a war instead. We're still trying to piece all of that together."

He didn't look back. There wasn't anything left for him in that pod and even if there was some sort of tech in there he didn't want it. He had a body and he was alive; that's all he needed and wanted right now. Anything else the Galra could give him he didn't want.

Kuron glanced over as Lisa fell in step beside him, expression turning thoughtful at her comment.

"Maybe. I wouldn't be object to that. I guess it's just a matter of figuring out where to start. Where to go from here," he admitted, trying not to sound as unsure as he actually felt but it was probably obvious in the tension still lingering in his body and the slight tick in his jaw as he said it. For the first time since he escaped from the Galra he was on his own, in a sense, and he didn't have orders to follow, false memories to live by.

He was completely on his own.

"You aren't from this galaxy then," Kuron noted. Good to know if he decided he couldn't find a place here. Maybe he could find a place somewhere else, if they'd have him. "It's a war that's hopefully nearing it's end but I...my memories after a point are blurred." Skewed because of Haggar. Had the others managed to stop Lotor? He had to assume they did. He hoped they did. "How long is the Explorer intending to stay here?"

She watched his face closely and didn't say anything about what it was all but shouting. Listened to his words and tried to pick the easiest path back to her ship. She shook her head at his question, sending her hair swaying, but it wasn't in denial.

"Until we find what we're looking for. Our solar system is in a pocket of dead space. It took us forever to find a drive advanced enough to get us out in something that wouldn't take generations of travel. All of our habitable planets are overcrowded because there was no where else to go. Even our moons, like the one I grew up on. Its not at crisis stage, not yet. But its not far from it either. If we go home without finding planets to settle..." she trailed off, moved a shoulder. "So we don't go home. Not until we've found what we need. Somewhere safe and clear. Showing up in the middle of a dying war - its made things a little bit trickier."

The smile she offered him was small, a bit wry. An entire solar system was riding on her shoulders as well as her team's. It took some balancing. Very light, she touched his arm with just the tips of her fingers, a press before she pulled them back.

"Maybe you could start wherever you're going with us." She turned her head to look at him, wanting to see the offer in her eyes so he'd understand she meant it. "We've got room and its a good place to start, an exploration vessel, if you're looking for something. We've kind of gotten into the habit of picking up people as we go. So you know its an option, if you're looking for them."

Then she gestured. Risked it.

"My ship's right over that ridge. Can you mange the climb or would it be easier to circle around it?"

Populations out of control. It sounded like the fate that many races probably would have faced at some point had the Galra not intervened as they had. Had war not happened. There was never really a good outcome in any scenario was there? Even without war there was always something else.

"I can imagine. You guys have had to stay under the radar, not draw attention. With how relentless the Glara can be, I can imagine it's been hard," Kuron murmured, offering his own wry smile in return. They were lucky to have gone this long without issues. At least any Galra related issues that is.

He starts just slightly at the press to his arm though he doesn't jerk away, looking at her more directly as his steps slow so he can give her more of his attention.

"You'd...you know how risky that is." A statement, not a question. He knew she was aware. She was too intelligent not to know what she was doing. Kuron couldn't help the look that crossed his face as he truly considered what she was offering though, the look of gratitude, the look that said how seriously he was going to consider it. What was left for him here? He couldn't stay. This was Shiro's place not his. He wasn't even suppose to be alive still. "I wouldn't mind tagging along, if the rest of your crew allowed it."

A new beginning.

He looked in the direction she gestured and frowned thoughtfully.

"I should be able to manage it."

She didn't know where he had come from, or rather, why he had come from considering the bodies in the tubes all around them. Whatever he had been created for - it hadn't been out of kindness. He'd said enough to tell her that at least. So she was aware he could be dangerous. He was certainly built enough, physically, to be threatening even if nothing else. But - she understood being lost. She understood not knowing where you belonged any more. She understood what it felt like to find yourself drifting in empty space with no tether and no hope, with no one coming and no safety in reach. And she thought, just maybe, she saw some of that in his eyes when he wasn't paying attention.

It wasn't in her to ignore that, to not offer a hand out of the darkness and a pull to somewhere with gravity.

"Its up to Commander Hawkins. He's our CO. But he's a good man, with a very good heart and you wouldn't be the first refugee we've picked up since we got here. There's always room on the Explorer for anyone that needs a place and is willing to pull their weight. If you're a risk - " she stopped momentarily and turned to face him fully, meeting his eyes with her dark ones. Pressed her lips tight together and then said: "Than I'll take it. Because everyone deserves a chance." Her eyes left his, turned to take in the mounds and mounds of broken capsules and dead bodies that looked exactly like his. "And because I think they deserved a chance too and they didn't get one. So you get to take it for all of them." She looked back at him and offered a small smile. "So lets get you back to the fleet, with a hot shower and a clean bed and a real meal. We can work on figuring out the rest after all of that." She offered her hand and it was as much to help him if he needed it for the climb up to the top of the hill and her ship as a physical sign that she was going to trust him, for now, with her own safety and vulnerability. Because he could either use her hand to trap and hurt her - or he could use it to help climb to freedom and safety. And she wanted to believe, very much, that he was the kind of man that would take the second choice. But if not - then they'd find out now, before the fleet, and the only one that would be in danger was her.

No hope. No direction. No idea what to do at all. He felt so lost and confused and while there had been moments in the past where he'd felt like this, it'd been different. Back then he'd been Shiro. He'd had the team. There had always been a means of figuring out what to do and how to find his way. Now he was on his own. A clone without a purpose.

"I'm willing to do whatever I can to earn my keep," he said sincerely only to stop as she turned to face him, expression going neutral as he listened to what she had to say. He expected a threat. Something along the lines of 'If you're a risk we'll deal with you' because the Galra coding in him said that was the correct line of action.

But that wasn't her response.

She was willing to give him a chance. Willing to allow him the chance none of them would ever get.

Kuron's chest felt tight as he watched her look over the mound of broken tubes and bodies, an almost distressed look in his eyes as he too looked them over, unable to meet her gaze even as she looked back at him. How could she...why was she so willing to take a chance on him? His eyes lingered on one body then the next, taking in the sight of each of them before finally they settled on Lisa once more. She was putting a lot of faith in him; a lot of faith in the humanity she believed was in him and he...wanted to prove that it was there. He wanted nothing more than to prove that he was more than what he was made to be but there was always the chance that he wasn't. That he would just fall back into old habits or be triggered into action again.

"...Thank you," Kuron said softly, reaching out and taking her hand to give it a firm squeeze. "Thank you." For this chance. He would do everything he could not to ruin it. Without releasing her hand just yet he took his first step up onto the mound and over some of the rumble, still feeling off kilter--unsteady in his movements but he was, at the very least, a little more sure of his direction now.

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https://sassafrassrex.tumblr.com/post/174994271010/did-i-make-a-difference

;;

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woof sorry yesterday got a bit hectic

no worries, hope it all worked out

it's getting there, slowly but surely

slowly counts, so good to hear

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i had forgotten how god awful holiday weekends are in the auto industry

yeah? breakdowns or everyone getting ready for roadtrips?

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