Note – I've been having a mental block regarding Virus Among Us. I'm bringing this up because someone reviewed one of my other stories complaining that I'd updated that one, but not this one. Which, honestly, does not help a writer get over their mental block. I wish to be upfront with why this mental block is going on though.

I've double archived a lot of my stories, mostly on Wattpad, but also somewhat on DA as well. Over on Wattpad, despite the fact I've clearly tagged with a tag that indicates the story contains Kallura, I've had people add this story to their Klance reading lists. I choose not to say anything unless it involved a comment left on the story. By comments, a few left comments saying Allura is majorly wrong for liking Keith, among other things.

My reason for doing this is because I don't want to deal with the discourse. However, I also knew the more I updated, the more I wrote, the more Kallura moments there would be, so I'm at high risk of being accused of queer baiting by that part of fandom despite the fact I never intended for the story to have anything but platonic Klance. Mind you, not all Klance fans are like this, but it's still not something I want or should have to deal with.

I've not had this same problem with you guys though, so I felt it only fair that I am upfront with you why I may not update as frequently as I would like to.

P.S. I've also seen season four, so there might be some spoilers or influence on the work from that going on.

Virus Among Us
Family

She felt unbridled anger, even though she knew both people in question didn't necessarily deserve said anger.

The clues were all there, that Keith and Shiro were hiding something, which definitely bothered the green paladin. The fact the two were hiding something didn't set well in Pidge's stomach, as she'd been upfront with everyone about being a girl, yet that made the whole thing even harder when she thought Shiro would have pushed for being truthful with oneself, but also with each other.

As much as she hated it, she needed to play detective, to put her mind at ease, or unfortunately make her worries even worse. The fact she might not be able to trust her friends hurt and hot tears flowed down her cheeks. She hadn't noticed approaching her until the princess spoke. "Are you okay Pidge?"

"I'm okay." Pidge looked up, sniffling as she did so. She pushed up her eyeglasses, her lip trembling. It was honestly a lie, as she wasn't alright, but she didn't want the princess butting in. Allura was nice but honestly to girly in her mind.

"Are you sure? You do remember when I said you could talk to me about anything?"

"It's not as if I'm upset at finding out that Shiro is gay or anything like that." Pidge realized what she said after it came out of her mouth. It wasn't the reason she'd been crying, but it had hit hard earlier when she'd walked in on Shiro and Lance like she had. "Quiznack, I don't have a crush on Shiro. That's just… gross."

And yet that feeling was there, frustrating that she'd started to crush on their leader, and her older brother's best friend despite the annoying age gap. Pidge was trying to figure out which secret was worse, only for Allura to say something strange. "Well, Shiro isn't happy. He's not feeling well, but is also worried about Keith."

Pidge couldn't cry at that. The comment wasn't exactly a stupid one, but it wasn't the most logical one either. "She didn't understand what I meant, did she?"

"What?"

"Nothing…" Pidge fidgeted slightly. "I'm not sure how she'll react to finding out what I really meant."

"You wouldn't know where Keith is?"

"Okay. So everybody is acting suspiciously today. My life sucks." Pidge stared ahead after her eyes blinked, not wanting to think of the possible implications of Allura's words. "He's in the lounge." The conversation proceeded to simply be weird, and a way to personal, but she finally got away. The green paladin found herself sitting in front of the computer that Coran claimed messed up.

She couldn't though bring herself to touch the buttons, thinking how much of a betrayal her actions were.

It honestly didn't matter that she felt betrayed by both Shiro and Keith, she had to in her mind find some kind of justification for diving into their private lives, and settling her curiosity definitely wasn't an actual justification. Doing it because of the betrayal, that seemed like revenge, with no real justice behind it. Her lip curled up, hot tears at the corners of her eyes, frustrated at how awful she felt.

And then it clicked.

Pidge relaxed slightly, her shoulders relaxing, her legs folding up into her usual position. The justification was Keith. Specifically, it was odd that only two of their members became sick like they did. However, now it was beyond that. Keith was seriously sick, which didn't seem right. Taking a deep breath, she started to run her scenarios again, only to still come to the same conclusion.

Outside of Alteans, only a human who was also an Altean hybrid could possibly contract that possible virus.

There was also though that something else, that thing she needed to confirm. Taking a deep breath, she paused again, wondering if she was doing the right thing. If Shiro and Keith were siblings, there must be a reason why neither said anything. However, she also remembered how Coran hid the results from her, which meant…

"It's not just Shiro and Keith who are keeping something."

Pidge liked Coran, even though he was a bit of a goof. She and Hunk learned a lot about Altean tech from the man, yet there he was hiding something from them. She frowned, tired of the distrust she felt, but the idea that none of them trusted her. It felt again like she was trying to seek some kind of revenge against them, by bringing their secret to light.

She then remembered how sick Keith was.

Taking a deep breath, Pidge rubbed tears from her eyes. Shiro and Coran, that was one thing, them keeping things. The red paladin, on the other hand, wasn't very open to anyone except Shiro. Specifically, though, it seemed as if he struggled with trusting people, as if afraid of getting close, of getting hurt. Pidge glanced at the computer, remembering somewhat how the other girls didn't get along with her because she wasn't "girly" like them.

Keith didn't fit in either.

Looking up, Pidge frowned.

She wasn't sure if she was finding some kind of excuse, but she told herself she was doing this for Keith.

With a little effort, she pulled up the Altean computer, making the system look into Keith and Shiro's DNA structure, to see if they were Altean, but to see if they were also related. Simply put, she chooses to do a non-descript search to examine all of their DNA so that it didn't seem so much like she was doing it on purpose, but simply trying to find answers.

The screen in front of her whirred, the numbers and letters flashing across the screen, calming her, making Pidge forget about her earlier tears. When she worked, she didn't think about things like her missing family, or the possible betrayal of friends. She wasn't expecting anything but a confirmation, so when the computer stopped with the DNA results, Pidge found her brown eyes going wide.

"No way."

She was beautiful.

Kind of like how Allura was.

In fact, he was rather handsome, so different from Coran's geeky frame and looks.

Pidge couldn't help and stare at the two who she'd never seen before, taking in their images, every single detail. Specifically, she couldn't help but notice how much Keith looked like her. He was small of frame and her feminine features. More importantly, he had her eyes, though the color was a bit off. Alright, so it was way off, but if Keith was full Altean, then maybe his eyes wouldn't be as dark as they were.

The female Altean's dark locks of hair cascaded around her face, much in the same way Keith's did. Her markings managed to add to the woman's beauty, accentuating the curves on her face, but most of all…

"Katie, you look so much like your mother." Pidge frowned, remembering the comparisons people made between her and her mother, despite the fact she didn't like the prim and properness people also expected. She sighed, still taken away by what she saw, her mind not thinking because of the resemblance between Keith and that woman.

As for the male, there was nothing specific about him, beyond the fact he did look like he could be the sibling of her. Looking at just Keith and him though, you wouldn't be able to tell.

Pidge's eyes blinked, the shock begins to wear off, her eyes now taking in the information regarding the two who popped up. "Second red paladin, second blue paladin."

The youngest paladin looked at the floor then, her cogs slowly working. It explained Keith's attachment to blue, how he was drawn to the lion. Yet there was also the fact Coran – he had to have known. Looking back up, she frowned, wondering why Coran would keep such a thing from them. She wondered as well, how much Keith and Shiro knew. She tried thinking about the occurrence more, trying to figure out how she felt about the information she found out.

She felt angry. She felt betrayed. Pidge's mouth twisted, hot tears not falling as she was all cried out, but now she was just simply pissed off. She wanted to yell at all three of them, to tell them off for lying, for keeping things from them. It seemed like something important to say, to let everyone know of, yet it remained hidden. Pidge took a deep breath, wondering what to do next when her computer started blinking at her.

The green paladin's eyes widened, her eyeglasses slipping from her nose. Her mouth opened, unable to say something, anything. In fact, her computer nearly slipped from her lap. It was honestly too good to be true, but the timing seemed horrible. After all, they needed to be focused on taking out Zarkon, and they'd had the discussion regarding family. Pidge's mouth folded, her shoulders tensing up, her computer clicking shut.

Even Keith sounded like a hypocrite, what with his line about everyone having families when he had his own family right there. And now, she got a message from all of that network scanning she and Hunk set up regarding the distress signals, finding one that matched her father and brother. She swallowed, hot tears falling from the corners of her eyes.

Pidge stood up, her computer clutched tightly to her side. She quickly shut down the Altean computer, but not before quickly opening up her own and saving the data, wondering if she could, in fact, use it later. That, and she really needed to think about how to use that information. She found herself back where she was before, wanting to leave and find her family.

Only, she stopped.

Pushing up her glasses with her finger, she let out a sigh. "Pidge, don't be stupid."

Going alone wasn't a good idea, not when she had others to help. These included at least Hunk and Lance, but she knew that Allura would want to find her father if she could. Glancing away, she wondered if Keith would be the same, or Shiro. Yet, Matt was Shiro's friend, and surely even…

"No. Shiro might be able to help despite his condition, but Keith isn't. If he tried…" Pidge felt her mouth twitch. She folded her arms, clutching her computer to her chest.

Keith was always the first person to rush into things, with no thought to his own wellbeing.

Letting out a sigh, Pidge pushed up her glasses. She needed the team on this, but there was no way that she could let Keith know about this either. Heading forward at that point, she arrived at the lounge. Her throat tightened, seeing the mess that Lance and Hunk made.

More specifically, Keith was fast asleep on the couch, his breathing finally steady. Someone, likely Coran, brought in a device that was allowing the red paladin to breath in some kind of mist like substance, which was in turn likely helping them out. Shiro sat on the opposite couch, one leg crossing the other, his chin down as he himself rested.

Hunk and Lance hovered, way too excited. For them, this was a prime way to do things they normally wouldn't get to do. For Hunk, that meant lots of hugs and snuggles and warm fluffy feelings. For Lance, opportunities to tease Keith and make fun of him, which in turn to seemed to be his favorite activity. Allura now sat nearby, watching Keith breath, and Coran also hovered.

Pidge took a deep breath. "Shiro. Can I talk to you? Privately?"

Coran froze, his eyes widening. Shiro startled from his nap, his skin covered with those spots. "Wait. What?" He looked over at Pidge. "You wanted to talk privately? Why?"

He sounded tired, which made her feel guilty. Her eyes darted over to Keith. "I kind of don't want Keith to hear this, what with his condition being the way it is. He tends to be kind of rash."

"Keith's out cold. He won't hear you."

The green paladin took another breath. "I found them. I found my family."