"Keith?" Shiro's voice is barely a whisper, hoarse and wavering with disbelief.

Conflicting emotions seize Keith's heart at the sound of Shiro's voice: utter relief in that they've finally found him; sheer horror in that they've found him here.

Shiro is huddled in the corner of the cell, hiding in the shadows of the dim, violet glow. Though perhaps a better word for the place is cage: a transparent energy barrier is all that separates him from the druids' laboratory.

The surrounding space is littered with tubes and chemicals and instruments straight out of a horror film. The wall is lined with glass pods – tanks? - and a metal examination table with restraints sits at the centre of the room. Several sharp objects loom overhead, a circular saw blade among them. Keith feels positively sick and volcanic rage bubbles within him, but he forces it down. Patience. Focus.

Keith imbues his voice with all the gentleness he can muster. "Shiro, it's me. I'm here. We're getting you out."

He slides the microchip Pidge gave him from his glove and inserts it into the console on the wall. "I found him. He's here," he tells his team over the comm link, trying to keep his voice level. "Pidge, you're up. The chip's in place. Hunk? Get ready."

He returns his gaze to Shiro. Even in the dim lighting he can tell his complexion has taken on a sickly pallor, and dark shadows under his eyes stand out in stark contrast. He's slumped over and he looks so weak, so tired, like the life's been drained from him. "You came for me," he says more to himself than to Keith. His raw voice is filled with unease, as if he's unsure of whether or not this is real.

"Of course we did. We're here. It's okay," Keith soothes as best he can. "Hold on just a little longer, Shiro. We just have to wait for Pidge to hack this barrier, and then we're getting you out of here."

Shiro shakes his head ever so slightly. "No. She'll- she'll come for you," he croaks. Haggar, Keith knows.

"Don't worry. Lance and Hunk are creating diversions. They're safe," he reassures him. "They're staying out of range, and they're cloaked - Pidge upgraded all the Lions with cloaking capabilities. If she does come, Allura's waiting right outside. She's been training - her magic, it's strong. She can take her or the other druids any day," he says with a slight smile. He's not sure if Shiro's following, but he keeps talking anyway. "Hunk's rigged explosives around the rest of the ship, so once this barrier's down, he'll set them off and we'll fly out of here in the Black Lion. Coran's waiting for us with the Castle just a few star systems over. So just hang in there. Everything's going to be fine."

His confidence is almost entirely a front – there's so much that could go wrong – but he has to keep it together when Shiro looks ready to fall apart.

Keith is wracking his brain for further reassurances and coming up empty when the barrier flickers once, twice, and then fades. He's at Shiro's side in the blink of an eye and immediately wraps his arms around him. Shiro collapses into him, clinging to him like he's drowning.

"Keith!" Allura's frantic voice interrupts in his ear. "The druids, they're here. She's here."

Keith can feel panic rising within him, but he knows he has to remain calm. "Now, Hunk," he commands as he closes his eyes. Patience. Focus.

He centres his attention on the Black Lion, ignoring the tremors that shake the ground as explosions are triggered across the ship. He reaches for their connection, blocking everything out to concentrate on her. "He's here," he whispers. "Please, help me."

There's a nonverbal response in the back of his mind and he knows she's coming for them. But it's not fast enough.

"There are too many of them. I can't hold them off!" Allura gasps in between hits, and then the air crackles with dark energy. He can feel Shiro start to shake.

Haggar takes form before them in a swirl of black smoke. Her eyes glow dangerously. "You can't escape from me, Champion," she hisses. Keith whirls around, trying to physically shield Shiro from her.

"What do you want with him?" Keith demands, voice nearly shaking with fury.

She just smiles, her grin wicked and thin. "I'm impressed you made it this far, child. But no matter. It ends here." She shoots a bolt of dark magic straight at him, and Keith's instincts scream at him to get out of the way. He ignores them.

Keith's chest explodes with pain as the blast hits him, knocking all the air from his lungs. It sends him flying back, crashing into Shiro, but he's protected him from the brunt of the force.

Keith's still gasping for breath with spots dancing in his eyes when black energy sparks from Haggar's claw-like fingertips again. Despite his armour, Keith's not sure he can take another hit. Still, he holds his ground. She won't get to Shiro, not while Keith's still breathing.

Her dark energy reaches towards him, but before it can make contact a burst of vivid magenta light blasts her from behind, eliciting a violent shriek. Allura stands in the doorway, poised to strike again, her face a mask of fury.

There's a loud, crashing sound as the Black Lion makes her entrance. She smashes through the walls, her mouth open wide.

"Go!" Allura shouts as she blasts the witch again, but Keith doesn't need encouraging. He pulls himself to his feet, helping Shiro up with him, and he uses all of his remaining strength to get him to Black.

There's no time for gentleness, and as soon as Shiro's inside, Keith ducks out from underneath him, leaving him to collapse to the floor as he races to the pilot's seat. From Black's display, he can see the other druids closing in around Allura. She's panting heavily, exhausted.

"I need the rest of you here, right now," he orders over the comms. "Fend off the druids until I can get a safe distance away with Shiro. Lance, get Allura, and then all of you get out of there as soon as possible, got it?"

He doesn't wait for a response as he grabs the controls and flies Black away as fast as she can possibly go, desperately trying to get anywhere that isn't here. He urges her to fly faster, but she's slower than Red and Keith's connection with her is weak by comparison. He'd needed Black to help him locate Shiro, but he misses Red. He reminds himself that he'll be back with his original Lion soon enough.

"Keith?" Allura interrupts his thoughts again and there's worry in her voicethat fills him with dread. "The druids, they just… vanished."

"I don't see them anywhere," Lance says.

"Me neither," Hunk echoes.

There's a sharp inhale on Pidge's end. "Keith, they're behind you! Apparently, they can teleport and fly through space unprotected, Zarkon-style. They're on your tail and gaining. Get out of there!"

But the Black Lion isn't fast enough, not with Keith's tenuous connection to her. They're out of options.

"Come find us," Keith tells the rest of them, and then he has Black use her remaining energy to open up a wormhole. He knows full well what the druids will do, but it's better than the alternative. He won't let them take Shiro again.

They lurch violently as they're hit by the druids' dark magic, but they've made it into the wormhole. "We're safe," Keith whispers to Shiro as they spiral out of control and are spit out of the vortex too soon. He tugs at the controls, but Black is unresponsive and immobilized. "They're gone," he says softly, watching as they careen towards a large planet, pulled in by its gravity. He gets up out of the pilot's seat and moves over to where Shiro lies on the ground. Keith holds onto him tightly, bracing for impact. "We're going to be okay."