Archive of Our Own

Lance has never been so glad to see the castle -- well, there have been plenty of times he's been glad to see it before, but something about their brush with death while the others had no idea where they were has him shivering even after they break through the ice covering the planet. He and Hunk pull their lions into the hangar and jump out as soon as they can, water still clinging to the hulls of the lions in droplets, the scent of salt hanging in the air.

"Good thing the mermaids had that beam, huh?" Hunk says, pulling his helmet off and shaking his head lightly. He doesn't look the worse for wear from their time down there, but Lance still remembers his dull eyes, his mechanical voice, his hands gripping Lance's arms tightly. Lance resists the urge to reach out and touch him, just to make sure he's really okay.

"Yeah," Lance says, settling for grinning brightly at him. "I hope we get to see them again, Blue was really digging being underwater like that. Plus they clearly loved us." Behind him, Blue purrs loudly, echoing around the chamber, and he looks at her over his shoulder and smiles.  

"Lance? Hunk?"

They both look up just in time for Pidge to come barreling through the door in a blur of motion. They slam into Hunk first, hugging him tightly, making him stumble back a little. Lance watches in surprise as they let go of Hunk and turn to hug Lance as well, squeezing hard enough that he squeaks a little, before stepping back. Their eyes are bright with relief and exhaustion, and they pull off their glasses to rub at them.

"Whoa, Pidge, are you okay?" Hunk asks, setting a hand on their shoulder in concern.

"We were so worried we wouldn't find you," Pidge says, sighing. "There was so much interference when we were scanning for you -- maybe the ice. We got lucky with Shiro and Keith, so--"

"You found Keith and Shiro?" Lance interrupts, making Pidge cut themselves off. They nod, and something in his spine loosens, a last bit of tension melting away that he hadn't known he was carrying this whole time. The last thing he remembers of Keith and Shiro had been their shouts of fear -- and the last thing he'd known before they got sucked into the wormhole was that Red had been out of commission. "Are they okay?"

"They're okay," Pidge confirms. "Well, Shiro will be. He has a wound from the fight earlier, and there were some hostile aliens on the planet they landed on, but he's in a pod now."

"Where are the others?" Hunk asks, moving to walk towards the main entrance of the castle. Lance and Pidge fall into step next to him -- for a moment, it's strangely reminiscent of their days in the Garrison, hurrying down hallways towards practice simulations or trying to sneak out into town past curfew.  

"They're in the healing pod chamber, waiting to see how long Shiro's gonna be under." Pidge picks up the pace, somehow keeping up with them despite their shorter legs. They're all hurrying down the halls, even though Pidge has already said everyone is fine. Lance trusts them, but something in him is desperate to make sure with his own eyes.

The door to the healing pod chamber opens with a soft whoosh, and Allura looks up when they enter; her entire face softens as she looks at them, her shoulders slumping. "Thank goodness," she murmurs, pushing her hair back from her face where it's falling out of her bun. "You're safe."

"Good to see you boys," Coran says cheerfully, tapping away at the command center for the healing pods.  "Just in time to hear the good news! Shiro's going to be just fine, and he'll be out of there in no time."

"About half a day," Keith confirms, sprawled on the ground. Lance looks at him, at his familiar red jacket and his messy hair, the tired line of his body sitting on the steps in front of the pods. He looks -- fine. He looks perfectly normal, no obvious scrapes or bruises. His eyes, when he looks up at Lance through the fringe of his hair, are dark but calm. "You guys okay?" Keith asks.

"Fine," Lance replies, while Hunk hums and leans over Coran's shoulders to see what he's doing. "We had a bit of a scrape with a mermaid-eating plant monster, but it was fine."

"That sounds -- interesting," Pidge says. "Were you really underwater? The lions were okay?"

"Yeah, Blue did great!" Lance says, beaming. "It was like it was her natural element, you know? Maybe I should start calling her mer-cat the way the mermaids did."

"Yellow was not feeling it," Hunk admits. "His maneuverability was way down. But I mean, they're okay. I checked diagnostics before we took off and everything seemed okay, even after our crash landing."

"Blue said she was okay," Lance confirms. He hadn't checked Blue's diagnostics, but he just knows how she's feeling. She's always in the back of his mind these days, a warm presence, steady and strong. When he thinks of her now, there's a soft purring that says she knows where his thoughts are. "What did you guys do?"

"I was on a trash pile floating in space," Pidge says. They push their glasses up their nose and smile a little. "Met some pretty cool little fluff aliens. Built a giant satellite, saved Allura and Coran from a time loop, no big deal."

"Nice," Hunk says appreciatively. "You built it out of space junk and still managed to hail them?"

"Pidge is very capable," Allura says warmly. "We're both very grateful they managed to reach us. Without coordinates for the castle to track, we would've continued down a wormhole path that led to Coran de-aging out of existence."

"I wouldn't have minded shaving off a few years," Coran says, stroking his mustache. "But things did get hairy there for a second."

"Pidge said you and Shiro got attacked?" Lance asks Keith. "But that's not why he's in the pod, it was from before, at Zarkon's base?"

"Yeah," Keith says quietly. Lance can see the worry swimming in his eyes, even from a distance. "Haggar attacked him. It was a weird glowing wound -- I'm not sure what exactly caused it. It -- it slowed him down enough that some aliens on that planet almost managed to attack him. But Black saved him. She just -- came to life on her own and knocked them all away."

"Whoa," Hunk says.

"Oh yeah!" Pidge says, snapping their fingers.  "Green and Black did that with me and Shiro when we met that first robotic thing Zarkon sent, back on Arus. They protected us from a blast on their own."

"After I got there, we gathered Black and Red together and waited for someone to find us. I guess once she was out of the wormhole, Allura could sense us again," Keith continues. There's something in his voice that Lance can't quite place, like he's leaving out part of the story. He narrows his eyes at him, but Keith just clears his throat and looks towards Hunk and Pidge. "Not much else happened. It wasn't exactly an adventure with mermaids."

"Beautiful mermaids," Lance corrects. "And one really ugly monster."

Keith's mouth quirks up into half of a smile. Some of the heaviness lingering on his face dissipates, and Lance feels himself grinning.

"Well," Allura says, clapping her hands together, "Let's be on our way for now. We'll all meet back here when Shiro's ready to wake up, alright?"

"Sounds good," Pidge says, shrugging.

"Cool," Hunk says. "I'm gonna try and sleep. The last sleep I got, I was under some kind of mind control thingy, and I was floating underwater, and it was not very restful."

"Same," Lance says with feeling; he hadn't even gotten to sleep through the night with the mermaids, having been woken up and stolen in the night, and is in all honesty probably operating on about four hours of sleep in the last two or three days. He follows Hunk and Pidge as they leave the room, already yawning. He can feel the tiredness pulling at his bones, drawing him towards his bed, but for some reason he lingers in the hallway as Keith stands up and walks his way. The door closes behind him with Allura framed in the middle, looking up at Shiro with her hands clasped together.

Keith draws up next to him and looks at him out of the corner of his eye. "What?" he asks, somewhat wary.

"Nothing," Lance says, crossing his arms behind his head. "Just walking. Like you."

"Sure," Keith says dubiously. Their rooms are next to each other, so they walk together in silence for a while, winding their way through the increasingly familiar hallways of the castle. It's almost suffocatingly quiet, the only sound their footsteps, which presses against his eardrums until Lance finally caves.

"So," he says casually, "Anything else happen on the planet? With Shiro?" When Keith shoots him a look, he holds up his hands defensively. "Hey, look, I'm just saying you looked like you weren't sharing everything, I thought maybe you'd want to share with someone, and who better than the guy you had a bonding moment with, huh?"

Keith stares at him and then snorts out a burst of laughter. It transforms his face entirely, like lifting a veil. Lance can't help but blink at him. Keith has laughed before, but not usually at Lance, and an unfamiliar warmth slides into his belly, smooth as honey.

"I knew you'd throw that back in my face," Keith says, shaking his head. The smile lingers around his mouth for a moment, but he sobers quickly. "It's just -- don't tell the others." It should be a request, but it sounds more like a demand. There's tension in the lines of his shoulders, in the way his fists are clenching.

"Sure," Lance agrees immediately, because he's excellent at keeping secrets.

"Shiro mentioned something about me taking over as leader," Keith says quietly. His eyes drop to the floor and his mouth twists wryly. "Which is not a conversation I thought we'd ever be having."

Lance swallows hard around a sarcastic quip because Keith is clearly bothered by this, but his first reaction is a loud You? Which is unfair -- Keith probably could be a decent leader, given enough time. A lot of time. It's not completely impossible. But Keith was also the guy who'd gone off on his own and blown up a base full of quintessence, and who'd attacked Zarkon against Coran's advice until he'd nearly died. His judgement was a little suspect, putting it mildly. Lance decides to go the diplomatic route of tucking his hands into his pockets and making a noncommittal sound.

"Uh," Lance says. "I mean, why'd he mention it?"

Keith's eyes shutter. "He thought he might die."

Lance winces, gut dropping. He knows Shiro is okay now, but he can imagine hearing that in the moment, stranded on an unfamiliar planet, waiting for the hope of a rescue. He reaches out and puts a hand on Keith's shoulders, squeezing gently. Keith looks up at him, eyes widening.

"Hey," Lance says, "He's gonna be fine. Shiro made it through the impossible already. He's not going down that easy."

"I know," Keith says, something firm in his voice. It's a tone that says he's going to do anything in his power to make it true, that he's made this promise to himself before. "But I don't -- I don't know where the leadership thing came from. I've never said anything about wanting to lead."

"So you don't want to?" Lance asks, looking at him out of the corner of his eye. They're almost to Lance's door, but he doesn't really want to cut the conversation off before it starts. He knows so little about Keith, even after all they've been through together. At school, he'd been the prodigy pilot, the name that was dropped by instructors and classmates alike to dig at his self-esteem. Since Voltron, he's been annoying and strangely compelling in equal measure, but they haven't really spent a lot of time together. He thinks this might be the first real conversation they've had.

"I don't know," Keith admits. "Not really? But he seems to want that for me, and he knows more about this than I do."

Lance shrugs his shoulders. "Hey, Shiro's a cool guy and all, but he's not the one in control of your life. That's you. If it's not something you wanna do, don't do it."

"Pretty simple advice," Keith mutters. Lance bristles a little, but Keith continues, "But it's easier said than done to say no to Shiro."

Not for the first time, Lance wonders about Keith and Shiro's past. They clearly have known each other a long time, and Keith obviously looks up to Shiro, but it doesn't seem to be in the same way Lance does. Lance has gotten used to being around Shiro, but there's a part of him that still gets that same thrill seeing him, that That's Takashi Shirogane feeling. Lance has heard his name whispered in halls for years, first in excitement, then in mourning. He was a legend at the Garrison, across the world -- everyone knew about him, about his skills as a pilot, about the tragedy of his untimely death. Lance knows who Shiro is now, all of his weird quirks and mannerisms, the way he can raise their spirits with words and pure conviction, but sometimes he can't help but feel that it's still Shiro.

It doesn't seem to be that way for Keith. His relationship to Shiro seems to be more personal, less awestruck -- Lance wonders if they knew each other from the Garrison, but neither of them have said anything, and it seems weird to ask after all this time.

"Shiro is Shiro's business, and you're your own. Anyways, it's all moot because Shiro's gonna be fine," Lance says. He realizes he's still holding Keith's shoulder and belatedly lets go. Surprisingly, Keith's face goes a little pink and he steps away from Lance quickly.

"You're right." There's an awkward pause, and Keith shuffles his feet. Lance resists the urge to do the same. "Thanks," he says gruffly. "For listening. And don't--"

"I'm not gonna tell the others," Lance says, crossing his heart with his hand and rolling his eyes. "Promise."

"Okay," Keith says. He glances at Lance's door and then back to Lance. He still looks exhausted, but there's something warmer in his eyes than before. "Night," Keith murmurs, brushing past him and heading for his own room.

"Goodnight," Lance replies, watching him disappear into his room. His weariness is still weighing down his limbs, but he feels strangely light. He hums under his breath as he heads into his own room, more than ready to put the past few days behind him and get some rest.

He wakes up to Pidge hovering over him, eyes wide behind their glasses. He jerks awake, yelping, clutching a hand to his chest. He glares at them when they laugh, cursing under his breath, hoping they won't hear, but they flash a smirk at him.

"I heard that," they inform him. "Shiro's about to wake up, we're all going to the pod now."

"Okay," Lance says sleepily, rubbing at his eyes. "Give me a second to get dressed."

Pidge nods their head and leaves him. Lance still feels sort of like he's been hit with a truck, but the sharp edge of exhaustion is gone, at least. He gets dressed methodically, brushing his teeth and combing his hair with slow motions, and just as he's leaving, Keith's door opens. Keith is tucking his ever present knife into the back of his belt, and he looks up sharply when Lance's door closes behind him.

"Morning," Lance says cheerfully. He crosses his hands behind his back and waits for Keith to walk towards him.

"Morning," Keith says, more cautiously. His eyes seem to be searching Lance's for some answer, but Lance doesn't know the question, so he just gestures for Keith to follow and starts walking towards the pod chamber. The sound of footsteps start up after a second, and Keith draws close, walking beside him quietly. It's not as suffocating as the night before, but Lance does feel something itching at the back of his throat, like there are words he wants to say but doesn't quite have yet. Keith is staring straight ahead when Lance chances a glance over at him, so he just continues on without speaking.

Everyone is huddled around Shiro's pod when they arrive, looking up at him. "Is he having a nightmare?" Hunk is asking, brow furrowed with worry. Keith hurries past Lance and pulls up short in front of the pod, mouth turned down into a frown. Pidge is still in front of him, nearly pressed against the glass, but he leans over their head and peers closely at Shiro.

"He does seem to have some abnormal brain activity," Coran says, tapping at the screen. Lance pushes up and crowds next to the other paladins, watching the way Shiro's face twists with agitation, his body shifting in sleep. They can't hear him through the pod, but his open mouth suggests that he's making noises.

"Wonder what he's dreaming about," Pidge says softly.

"It looks bad," Hunk murmurs.

"What could be worse than what he's already gone through?" Keith says. Something in his voice makes Lance look at him, but his face is void of emotion now; he just keeps staring at Shiro asleep in the pod, arms crossed in front of him.

Lance is about to say something, but Shiro's eyes jerk open, and the pod hisses as it opens, releasing a cloud of mist. The four of them step forward as one, but Hunk is the one who catches Shiro as he slumps forward. Allura rushes up and helps him lower Shiro into a sitting position, and they all hover around him, waiting for him to catch his breath. Shiro's brow is damp with sweat, chest heaving rapidly, hands pressed into fists against the ground.

"I remembered--" Shiro gasps, "I remembered how I got out."

"Shiro," Allura says softly, "Take a moment. You've just healed a major wound, rest for a minute."

"No," Shiro insists, "It's important, I saw -- there was a Galra--" He struggles to sit up straighter and Allura presses a steady hand against his chest, keeping him from moving. It looks like an effortless motion, even though Shiro is straining, and Lance is struck all over again by how deceptively strong she is.

"Shiro, rest," she says firmly. "Just for a bit. And then you can tell us what you remembered." Her tone says that there is no room for argument, even though her eyes are worried.

Shiro locks eyes with her, jaw clenching, and for a second Lance is sure he's going to resist -- but he loosens again, tension bleeding out of his body, and leans his head forward to close his eyes.

"How do you feel, Shiro?" Keith asks quietly.

"I'm okay," Shiro says absently. His breaths come and go in a deliberate rhythm, seven seconds in, eight seconds out. Lance recognizes the cadence, remembers his mother breathing with him slowly, her eyes calm and her hands hovering in front of him, mimicking waves pushing and pulling. "Just tired."

"That's to be expected," Coran says kindly. "You've used a lot of energy to heal that wound. Quite a nasty one, Shiro. You're lucky you and Keith weren't stranded longer than you were."

"You can thank Pidge for that," Allura says. Pidge touches Shiro's arm lightly and smiles at him. He opens his eyes and smiles back, somewhat sheepish.

"Thank you, Pidge," he says.

"You're welcome," they reply, nudging him gently before standing up. Allura and Hunk steady Shiro as he rises as well, everyone hovering close by, but he manages to stand on his own and flexes his arms and legs before sighing.

"Now," Allura says briskly, "What were you saying? You remembered something?"

Shiro's face goes dark. "I remembered how I escaped. There was a Galra soldier -- he helped me escape. Ulaz. His name was Ulaz."

"A Galra helped you escape?" Allura says skeptically. "Are you quite certain this is a memory and not a dream, Shiro?" Lance catches movement behind her, and notices Keith stepping back a little, mouth tight with tension. He keeps his eyes on Keith as Shiro says, emphatically, "It was a memory, princess. It's how I got out. He let me go, and gave me directions to an escape pod. He told me that Zarkon had located the Blue Lion, and I had to get to Earth before he did."

"I have wondered how you managed to get to Earth when you were in no condition to pilot," Pidge says curiously. "If the coordinates were already loaded into the pod..."

"You're taking it on faith that this wasn't some kind of trick, Shiro," Allura says, frowning.

"He gave me -- he put coordinates in my arm," Shiro says, putting a hand to his forehead. "He told me to find him when I was able to."

"Coordinates encrypted in your arm?" Hunk says. "Sounds like a Pidge thing."

"I can take a look," Pidge says excitedly. "Actually, I've been wanting to check out your arm for a while now. The technology on it has got to be really advanced, especially since it's capable of superheating without directly interfering with your suit."

"Sure," Shiro says dubiously, while Pidge makes a triumphant noise.

He makes a surprised sound when Pidge grabs him by the hand and pulls him along, Hunk following in their wake, saying, "If you're going to open it up, I want a look inside, it might be useful for understanding how Galra tech works."

"I do not trust this at all," Allura murmurs to herself. Her face is set like stone. Lance is so used to seeing her cheerful and upbeat, pushing them towards the greater goal, fearless and limitless, but for a moment, all of the gravity of the situation bears down on him. He remembers that Allura knows all too well what trusting Galra can lead to.

"It's a clue," he offers tentatively. "We should at least follow where it goes. We don't have to trust anything."

"I agree, princess," Coran says. "We suffered a defeat at our last encounter, and almost lost you in the process. If there's any new information that we can use against Zarkon, we should follow through."

Allura's fist clenches. "I understand," she says quietly. Behind her, Keith watches her impassively, but his eyes flick suddenly to Lance's and hold. Lance startles a little but doesn't say anything, staring back. "Let us join them and see what they find."

Keith holds his gaze and then looks away. "We'll catch up," Lance says to Allura. Keith's head tilts his way but he remains silent. Allura blinks at him and then at Keith with curious eyes, but eventually nods, sweeping past them to lead Coran out of the room. They wait for about ten seconds before Lance airily says, "What's up, buttercup?"

"Don't call me that," Keith mutters. "Nothing's up." He crosses his arms as if the conversation is over. Lance almost laughs out loud.

"I don't know if you've noticed," Lance says, "But I do have eyes. And I have enough experience watching you sulk by now that I know when something's up. I knew last night, didn't I?"

Keith's arms tighten around himself. "It's nothing. Let's go see what's going on with Shiro, okay?" His face is carefully blank, neither aggressive nor welcoming. Lance wonders with frustration how long Keith, whose emotions seem to bubble just under the surface of everything he does, has worked on perfecting this face.

Lance gestures for Keith to walk ahead of him, and Keith does with lowered eyes.

"So...what do you think of this whole memory thing?" Lance asks, because he knows when to push and when to let someone come to him. If Keith doesn't want to tell him what's on his mind, he'll just work his way around until Keith does feel comfortable with it. Lance is good at talking; he's always known that the best way to show people they can trust you is to trust them. And he does trust Keith, although he doesn't always agree with him. They've saved each other's lives too many times not to trust each other at this point. He just has to show Keith that he can trust him as well.

"I believe Shiro," Keith says immediately, but then he hesitates. "I don't know -- I don't know what to think about a Galra helping him escape." They walk quietly for a moment, and Lance bites his own tongue, impatiently waiting for Keith to speak again. After a while, Keith clears his throat, and Lance swallows a smirk. "Do you think a Galra might have really done it?" Keith asks. His voice is halting, almost subdued. It's so wildly different to what Lance expects out of Keith at this point that he almost wants to stop Keith and check him for a fever.

"I mean," Lance says, parsing his words, "I don't know, I guess. All of our encounters with the Galra hasn't really left me feeling very friendly towards them. But Shiro has to have escaped somehow, and rogue Galra makes as much sense as anything else."

"So you think," Keith says, glancing sideways at him in a swift motion and then forward again, "You think there's Galra who aren't all bad out there?"

Lance bites his lower lip, thinking. The thing is, objectively, there have to be some Galra who disagree with how things have happened. Regimes rarely benefit anyone but the most powerful in them -- Lance may not have loved his history courses, but it's something he's well aware of. And there's so much they don't know about the universe that they've found themselves in, statistically anything has to be possible. But -- trusting a Galra? After everything they've done, after everything they've seen?

"I think it's possible," Lance says finally. "But I mean, Keith -- we've seen what they've done. It's been ten thousand years and they've hurt a lot of people. We should be careful."

Keith looks at him, eyes still dark, difficult to read. Lance wants to reach out and touch him again, like he had last night, but he's not sure it would be welcomed. "You're right," Keith says quietly. "If Shiro's right, I hope we can trust this one."

"Getting insider info on Zarkon would make things easier," Lance agrees.

When they get into the control room Pidge has wires running from Shiro's arm to their laptop, tapping away at the keys. "I'm not seeing anything so far," Pidge says, "But I'll keep looking."

"Thanks, Pidge," Shiro says, closing his eyes. In the bright lighting of the room, his face looks paler and more drawn than usual, dark circles bruising under his eyes. Lance knows firsthand how tiring the healing pods can make you, how your body might not ache with physical wounds anymore but exhaustion settles into your bones and lingers for hours. Shiro looks like he's only barely keeping it together.

"You really should be resting," Allura says, clearly thinking the same thing as Lance. She hovers near Shiro's shoulder, brow furrowed. "We should be regrouping and figuring out our next move, not--"

"Found it!" Pidge says, fist pumping. "There's a recurring set of numbers, I'm going to pull them out -- yes, here, they're coordinates. For a -- oh. There don't seem to be any planets in that area. It's in the Thaldycon system."

"I believe there are high concentrations of xanthorium clusters in that region," Coran volunteers. "Very beautiful, but highly unstable."

Shiro looks up at Allura, and she sucks in a deep breath and then lets it out slowly. "We'll check it out," she says. "We have a duty to explore all of our options, and that includes any potential allies who might give us information. But I am cautioning you all to be on guard."

"Of course," Shiro says, clearly relieved. "I'm not saying we rush blindly in. I know what they're capable of." None of them look at his arm, where wires are still trailing into Pidge's computer.  "But I want to know the truth. I want to know who saved me."

"Set a course, Coran," Allura says, standing upright at her station. "We'll figure out what's going on."

Lance watches the stars around them blur as Allura opens a wormhole, startling a little as Hunk comes up next to him. Hunk rocks back and forth on his feet for a second, and then leans in towards him.

"So," Hunk whispers. "What did you talk to Keith about?"

Lance shoots him a look, but Hunk's face is innocent, which makes him squint suspiciously. Hunk's innocent face rarely means good things. "Just about the mission, why?"

"Just wondering," Hunk says casually. "You guys hung out in the hallway last night too."

"Were you listening?" Lance whispers, feeling embarrassed for some reason. He and Hunk don't really keep secrets from one another, but something about his conversation with Keith last night feels private, like he wants to keep it for himself. Hunk shakes his head, the telltale signs of amusement at the corners of his mouth.

"No, but I could hear voices. You do remember we all live in the same hall, right? Was it important?"

"Just -- no, we were just talking. Keith and I are -- chill now."

"Sure," Hunk says, drawing the word out. "That's exactly the word I would've used."

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm the chillest--" Lance starts to say hotly, but is cut off by Pidge gasping.

"Wow, look at them!" they say in a hushed tone, eyes wide. All of them look forward at the crystal-like clusters, hovering in space in front of them like a rainbow in the void of darkness. The castle beeps a warning at their proximity and then goes quiet. "There's still nothing here, Allura," they inform her.

"Let's keep looking," Shiro says firmly. "There's got to be something, anything we can--"

An alarm sounds, interrupting him, all of them spinning to look at the screens as one. Hunk grabs Lance's elbow on instinct, and Pidge immediately pulls their cords out of Shiro's arm. Keith's bayard materializes in his hand so quickly it's like it's been there all along.

"Intruder in the castle!" Coran says quickly, tapping at the screens as Allura's hands fly over her own controls.

Her eyes flash with anger as she spins the images up onto the main screen, her jaw clenched. "So this was a trap."

"What is it?" Hunk asks, squinting at the screen. There's a strange figure running through the hallways in one of the lower sectors, heedless of the cameras it passes, cloaked in all black, easily taller than all of them. They run through different camera feeds almost faster than they can follow, making their way through one of the lower floors.  "Whoa, he's fast."

"We'll catch him," Shiro says. "Everyone, suit up. Let's figure out what's going on."

"Be careful, paladins," Allura says, watching the figure onscreen with a dark expression. "Remember your training."

"Sure thing, princess," Lance says, shooting her a flippant smile. He knows it might not fit the mood; everyone's tensions seem to be running high, even Keith, who stands off to the side with a furrowed brow and his perpetually crossed arms. But Allura's mouth quirks a little at him when he shoots her finger guns, and he hurries to grab his armor feeling a little bit better.

"Five against one? This'll be a piece of cake," Lance says, grinning at the other four.

It isn't a piece of cake at all. Wincing faintly from the aches of being thrown around and bodyslammed by Keith, Lance is relieved that at least Allura was there at the end to finally pin him down.

They'd cuffed him and moved to one of the many meeting rooms on the lower level, Allura putting herself firmly between the rest of them and the Galra intruder. She glares down at him as he sits seated on the bench, her arms crossed, her mouth twisted into a scowl. Shiro stares at the stranger, the infamous Ulaz apparently, standing next to her in an obvious show of solidarity. Lance is a little ways off to the side with the others, pressed arm-to-arm with Keith, who watches the Galra with unblinking eyes. Hunk leans in close on his other side and says, "This is kinda tense," in a stage whisper, which makes Pidge snort.

"No kidding," they say, pushing their glasses up with one finger.

"You are Ulaz?" Allura asks, ignoring them. "Shiro says you set him free aboard the prisoner ship. Why?"

Ulaz stares placidly up at her, hands cuffed and hanging loosely in front of him. "He was the only one who could stop Zarkon from gaining control of the Blue Lion on Earth. I knew how resilient he was -- I knew he was from Earth. I took a gamble that he could prevent Zarkon from gaining another lion. It appears I was right."

"Why did you help me, though? Why are you working against Zarkon?" Shiro asks, stepping forward. Ulaz looks up at him with solemn eyes, and then at Allura; he lowers his head and closes his eyes, breathing deeply.

"At first, we believed him when Zarkon said he was seeking power for the Galra Empire to improve our lives, to better our people, all people. We believed that for far too long, past when it became clear that he was seeking only to better himself. There are those out there who risk their lives trying to fix the mistakes of our past. We call ourselves the Blades of Marmora." Ulaz opens his eyes and looks directly at Allura; she tenses but does not speak. "Princess Allura, I am genuinely sorry for what happened to your people. It was a tragedy of the deepest measure, an unforgivable act."

Allura inhales sharply. Silence fills the room for a long moment, until finally Allura grates out, "What reassurances can you offer us that you are sincere?"

"Only what I have already done for Shiro, and proof of our base here in the Thaldycon system," Ulaz says evenly.

"Base?" Pidge asks. "There's nothing there, dude."

"It is right in front of us. Scan the area in front of the xanthorium clusters," Ulaz replies.

"Coran?" Allura asks, not taking her eyes off of Ulaz.

"Scanner confirms there is something strange in front of the clusters," Coran says over the comms. "But I can't confirm that it's a base. What's your recommendation, princess?"

Allura looks at Ulaz and then at Shiro, clearly debating. Shiro looks back at her with serious eyes; a wordless communication passes between them, one that Lance can't interpret. He feels Keith shift next to him, glances over to see him staring with intent eyes at Ulaz. Something in his heavy gaze sparks a feeling of worry in Lance. Without thinking, he reaches out and wraps a hand around Keith's wrist, the cool skin a shock against his palm, and when Keith gives him a surprised look, he raises his eyebrows questioningly. Keith frowns and shakes his head silently, which makes Lance scowl. Keith looks down at their hands and Lance lets go, flushing red.

"Coran," Allura says, startling both of them back into looking forward. "Proceed towards the cluster slowly."

"As you say, princess," Coran says quietly. "Impact imminent in three, two, o -- oh! Oh, how incredible, look at this!" All of them spin to view the screen in the room as Coran projects the control room view onto it. For Lance, who has no real knowledge of astrophysics, it just looks like a beautiful swirl of spinning color, with pinpricks of stars embedded here and there, but Hunk and Pidge both gasp in awe.

"They're folding space!" Hunk says excitedly.

"It's creating a pocket of space and time that's impossible to see with the naked eye," Pidge continues for him, rushing forward to stare at the screen with rapturous eyes. "That's incredible, how is that possible?"

"We worked with a very talented inventor, Slav, to create our hidden bases," Ulaz replies. As soon as they're through the fold, a base materializes in front of them, floating in space clear as day. "If you will release me, I will take you onto my base and show you what I know."

"I'll go," Shiro says, stepping forward. "Princess, you should remain here for your own safety. I'll be careful."

"Hey, I wanna go," Pidge says, frowning. "They've got to have information we don't have access to, maybe even something that'll help me with finding my family. I need to be there."

"I want to go too," Keith says. Lance turns to look at him, but he's looking at Allura with those same dark, expressionless eyes that Lance has grown familiar with over the last day or so. "To keep an eye on things."

"Sure, that makes sense," Hunk agrees. "Are we all going, then?"

Lance looks at Allura, whose mouth is still pursed in a line. "I'll stay," he volunteers. She looks at him in surprise, as do the others. "Just in case," he adds. "We can hang out, catch up -- I can tell her about the mermaids. It'll be fine." He smiles at her, and to his relief, she smiles back.

"Very well," Allura says. "All of you, be careful."

Watching all of them fly to the base in Red is sort of nervewracking, given how all-encompassing the silence in the control room is. Lance stands next to Allura, who watches impassively as they land outside the base, all of them filtering in. Coran watches quietly as well, sneaking glances at Allura; the moment stretches out, seemingly unending, but silence has never been Lance's forte, so he ventures tentatively, "Are you okay?"

Allura looks sideways at him, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean, Lance?"

"I mean--" Lance says, and then swallows. He doesn't know how to approach this, how to make sure a friend is alright in the wake of something as horrific and unchangeable as genocide -- he sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night, damp with sweat and tears, sure that Earth has been destroyed while they weren't looking, while they were busy fighting somewhere else in the galaxy. He can't imagine living in a world where he woke up and that was still true, but Allura and Coran have no choice but to do so, and continue on their day, and try to save the universe on top of that.

"I mean," he tries again, "This is a lot to deal with -- it's a lot for anyone. He's Galra, but he saved Shiro. Do you -- do you trust him?"

"Not at all," Allura says simply. An unshakable fact, no more, no less. She looks towards Lance, and her eyes are a little bit softer than before. "But I trust Shiro."

"It may not be what we want," Coran adds grimly, "Working with a Galra. But if he is truly trying to stop Zarkon, then we will accept whatever help he has to offer. We just have to make sure we watch him closely."

"Thank you for asking, Lance," Allura says, smiling at him. He feels his face heat a little at the warm look on her face. "We should all--"

A siren wails above them, startling all of them into action -- Lance's hand drops to his bayard immediately, while Allura shifts towards her control station and Coran moves closer to the princess. Allura taps quickly, brow furrowing as fury slowly takes over her face.

"It's Zarkon," she says, voice shaking with suppressed anger. "He's tracked us down. It was a trap after all."

Lance locks eyes onto the Red Lion, nearly sagging with relief when he sees it headed their way quickly. "The others are coming," he says.

Keith's face comes up on screen, slightly frantic, wide-eyed and furrowed brow, and Lance's heart seizes in his chest, but then the view zooms out to encompass the others standing behind his chair. They all look fine, and the terror escapes him in a whoosh of breath. "It wasn't Ulaz," Shiro says quickly, leaning into frame so he's in focus. "He was just as surprised as us when this thing showed up, princess, I swear."

"Then how did he find us?" Allura asks sharply.

"Ulaz said he was tracking us somehow. He gave me directions to the main base of the Blade of Marmora, but we can't go there until we know how Zarkon is finding us."

"We can discuss that later," Allura says. "For now, get to your lions, and let's get rid of this menace."

Lance is already headed out the door, casting one last glance at the screen, just in time to catch Keith's eyes flicking away from him.

Ulaz sacrificing himself for the rest of them cements the idea that they really are being tracked, although Allura is still hesitant to trust him -- even so, she rests a hand on Shiro's shoulder while he stares out into the inky expanse of the stars where fragments of glittering crystal and shrapnel float past and says, "I'm sorry, Shiro." He doesn't react except to close his eyes, exhaustion evident in the slump of his shoulders.

"I still have so many questions. For once, I just want answers," Shiro murmurs quietly. Allura steps closer and bends her head close to his, whispering.

Hunk and Pidge have already left, but Keith lingers in the doorway, so Lance waits as well, unsure of how to interpret the expression on Keith's face, something equal parts frustration and anxiety, so close to the surface that he almost looks unfamiliar. He's always known Keith to be self-assured, to be cocksure and brash and impulsive, but Keith's eyes are dark with some unknown emotion as he watches Shiro and Allura talk quietly between themselves.

"Keith," Lance says, hushed. "We should go."

Keith exhales sharply, hands twitching at his sides, and then turns and moves quickly past Lance, walking away down the corridor. He walks so fast that Lance has to jog to keep up, and he feels a spike of irritation that he tries to ignore, hurrying to draw level with Keith as he stomps down the hallway.

"Keith, what's going on?" he asks.

"Nothing," Keith says shortly. "It's fine."

"Keith," Lance tries again, reaching out -- this time, Keith jerks his arm away from Lance and spins in the middle of the hallway. Lance glances down, and is surprised to see his fists clenched, automatically stepping back from the don't-touch-me vibes Keith is sending off.

"Will you stop? Will you stop acting like -- like you care? It's none of your business, and just because we had one conversation doesn't mean I owe you my entire life story, okay?" The words spill out of Keith in a torrent, a snarl on his lips. "Just -- just back off, Lance."

Lance watches him leave, stomach twisting in frustration and worry. The last thing that he sees before he turns the corner is Keith reaching behind himself, pulling the knife he keeps strapped to him out. For a moment, Lance stands alone in the hallway, blood buzzing under his skin like pins and needles, stewing in his annoyance. He swallows the words that want to spill out, swallows the hurt that springs up instinctively -- he grew up with four siblings, and he knows what it looks like when someone is lashing out because they're scared. Keith may be a competitive jerk, but he's not cruel, so Lance sucks in a deep breath and lets it out, trying to let the tension go with it.

Something is going on with Keith, he thinks to himself. Something big.

He squares his shoulders, starts walking down the hall again. I'm going to figure it out.

They all get wrapped up in saving the Olkari and Pidge learning about their connection to the universe and nature, so he has to backburner his personal mission for a little while, but he still feels something in him jolt at the soft expression on Keith's face as he says, "Then we're all related -- we're all made of the same cosmic dust." There's vulnerability in the wideness of his eyes, in the way that he's staring out at this stars like he's found some new understanding. Lance's stomach flips over and he almost asks Keith what he's thinking, but before he can open his mouth the alarm is sounding again.

"Again?" Hunk asks, groaning and hurrying towards his station. All of them are noticeably less quick to action than before -- it's been weeks since they've had a decent night's sleep in the first place, but they've been up for about 48 hours without a break now, and it's dragging at them all. Only Allura's speed seems unaffected, gritting her teeth and powering up the castle's defenses as Zarkon's fighters swarm at them.

"Keith, Lance, get the offense running," Shiro calls, while Allura attempts to get the ship far away enough to portal -- the stars streaking past onscreen leave Lance dizzy with how fast she's maneuvering, but he settles into his control and aims his drone at the fighters targeting them.

"At your ten, Lance," Pidge calls out, tapping at their screen furiously from their station. Lance turns his bot to face it head on and aims, ready to fire -- but it explodes in front of him as Keith's bot zooms past, blasting other ships into pieces.

"Hey!" Lance yells, annoyed, spinning in his seat to glare at Keith. Keith's eyes remain locked onto his screen, brow furrowed, but there's the hint of amusement around the edge of his mouth.

"Gotta be faster than that," he replies, and he's -- he's teasing Lance. Lance opens his mouth to say something pithy but brilliant about Keith's supposed speed when Shiro made an impatient noise, interrupting them.

"Keith," Shiro says, a warning tone in his voice, "Don't break rank. Listen to Pidge's calls, stay in your zone. You know better."

Keith's head ducks low and he murmurs an assent, going back to shooting where Pidge indicated; Lance does the same, feeling uncomfortably like he's seen something he wasn't supposed to. He suddenly remembers Keith's drawn face when he said It's easier said than done to say no to Shiro, remembers that Shiro apparently expected Keith to take up his mantle as leader. There's something prickling underneath his skin, pulling at his concentration, but he pushes all of that aside and focuses on his piloting.

Allura pulls a frankly genius move, flying them close to a nearby moon to use its gravitational pull to slow down their attackers, and then manages to wormhole them away safely. The entire ship jolts suddenly, making all of them spin their heads in confusion to Allura, who suddenly looks exhausted. Lance isn't an expert when it comes to engineering, or astrophysics, but he can tell something has gone wrong by the way the wormhole seems to fracture almost as soon as they enter it, spitting them back out into empty space. His worst fears are confirmed when Coran makes a groaning noise at his station.

"Some of the teludav lenses have cracked," he says, sighing. "Without them to refract the beam properly, we won't be able to wormhole successfully without more breaking."

"Can we make repairs?" Allura asks, taking a step forward. She suddenly sways and drops to her knees, prompting all of them to shout and hurry towards her. Shiro gets there first, helping her settle properly, propping her up with his shoulder and supporting her. "I'm fine," she says, waving a hand, breathing hard. "I'm fine, it was just a hard teleport, that's all."

"You need to rest, princess," Coran says, hovering next to her worriedly. "I'll work on the teludav, you need to take some time and regain your strength."

"We should all take some time," Shiro says firmly. "We've put some distance between us and Zarkon for now, let's take advantage of that."

"I'm down," Hunk says, yawning. "Unless you guys need me?"

"I'll help Coran," Pidge volunteers, cracking their neck with a few quick tilts of their head. All of them wince at the noise. "I can go a few more hours, you guys look dead on your feet."

"Thank you, Pidge," Coran says warmly. "The rest of you, take a few hours for yourselves. We'll get this ship up and going in no time!"

Lance makes his way to his room, sure he's going to fall asleep instantly, but he only rolls around in his bed for ten minutes before he gives up. There's something restless thrumming under his skin -- he can't stop thinking about Keith, about what could be bothering him, about the way he shut down at Shiro's reprimand. He can't stop thinking about Zarkon, finding them over and over again, sending monsters their way without pause. He can't stop thinking about Allura's face, the way she'd watched Ulaz with heavy eyes, mouth turned down into something more painful than a frown.

He doesn't know what to do with all of his thoughts, so he stands up out of bed, sighing, and pulls on the bathing suit he'd found in the closet. He decides that he might as well check out the pool Allura had told him about if he can't get some sleep. Water has always been soothing to him, although he hadn't really swam in pools growing up, preferring the ocean to chlorine and overcrowded shallow ends. He plans to swim a few laps to wear himself out, maybe float a little while, and then try to get some real sleep.

The elevator to the floor Allura had indicated the pool was on isn't too far from his room, which is why he isn't surprised to hear footsteps as the door is about to close. He is surprised when a hand shoots into the gap and pushes the doors back open, revealing Keith similarly clothed with sleepy eyes.

"What are you doing?" he asks before he can stop himself, feeling stupid when Keith gives him an unimpressed look.

"Going swimming," Keith says, glancing up and down Lance's body. Lance feels his face heat for no reason. "I guess you had the same idea."

"Couldn't sleep," Lance confesses. "You?"

"Yeah," Keith replies shortly, settling the towel over his shoulders more neatly. He runs a hand through his hair, leaving it even messier in its wake, which makes Lance snort a little. "What?" Keith asks defensively. Lance reaches out with some idea of smoothing Keith's hair back down for him, when all of a sudden the lights go out.

His hand collides gently with Keith's face, and he jerks back, flushing. In the dark, everything is suddenly amplified -- he can hear Keith breathing, feel his presence like a physical force; he thinks he can hear his own heartbeat, suddenly pounding in the small space they're stuck in.

"What happened?" he asks, automatically reaching out to put a hand on the walls. He startles when he feels Keith's hand touching his own, but when Keith pulls away, he reaches out and holds on to his wrist. Keith's skin is cool to the touch, but it's oddly calming to be in contact with him when he can't see him. Keith doesn't pull away, but his breath hitches.

"Something must be going on with the castle," Keith says, sounding a little tense.

"Again?" Lance groans. The last time the castle malfunctioned, both of them had almost died. He still sometimes wakes up shaking, dreaming of his hand slipping out of Keith's, dreaming of getting sucked into nothingness. He shudders, and Keith shifts a little closer.

"What should we do?" Keith asks.

"Let's just--" Lance starts to say, but then there's a humming noise, sounding like it's coming from deep within the walls, and the lights come back on again -- some of them, emergency lights maybe. Keith's hair is still disheveled, cheeks pink, and he blinks owlishly as their eyes adjust to the light again.

"I was gonna say wait," Lance continues, "But it doesn't look like the elevator is working." He jabs at the button impatiently and scowls when nothing happens.

"There's a hatch in the ceiling of this thing," Keith says, looking up. "If I boost you, can you open it?"

"Uh, sure?" Lance says. Keith crouches, making a stirrup out of his hands, and Lance tentatively places his bare foot in Keith's palms. Keith's muscles tense and then he pushes up, making Lance slightly wobbly. He puts a hand on Keith's shoulder for balance, bracing his other foot against the wall, and reaches up with his free hand to push at the hatch on the ceiling. It resists for a second, and Lance glances down.

"Can I push harder against it?" he asks.

"Yeah," Keith says through gritted teeth. "Just do it." His arms hold firm, so Lance reaches up with both hands this time and pushes hard, popping it open enough to push it all the way back. It thuds soundly as it falls against the roof again, and Lance grabs at the edges of the hole and pulls himself up and out of Keith's hands. The metal of the elevator is cold against his stomach when he hauls himself through, but he makes it up with little trouble. He reaches back into the hole with one hand, and Keith catches hold of it.

"Can you pull me up?" Keith asks skeptically, and Lance rolls his eyes and tugs. It's hard, because Keith has nothing to brace against, but Lance gets him up high enough that he can grab onto the edge of the hatch and pull himself up the rest of the way. Both of them are slightly sweaty and panting by the time they're both kneeling on top of the elevator they were just trapped in.

"Now what?" Lance asks, looking around. They're in a long tube, essentially, the chute for the elevator to go up and down, and there are no ladders or immediate exit points noticeable. There aren't even cables that the elevator moves on, so trying to pull themselves up that way isn't possible.

"We have to climb out of here somehow," Keith says, hands on his hips. "We don't have any kind of tools."

"We're pretty slim for materials right now," Lance agrees, acutely aware of the fact that all they have to use between them are two towels and their swimming suits. Not exactly conducive to an escape plan. "We're going to have to scale this ourselves,  I think."

"How?" Keith asks, frowning. "The sides are perfectly smooth. There's no handholds, no ropes."

Lance thinks for a moment, staring up at the walls with a furrowed brow, and then snaps his fingers. Keith looks at him warily. "Okay," Lance says. "This is stolen from a movie, but I think it might work."

It takes him a minute to explain it to Keith, a process involving several complicated gestures, it ends with him looping an arm through Keith's exasperatedly and saying, "Look, like this."

Keith's arm jerks in his grip; Lance looks up to see a flush spreading over his nose again. "Is this really going to work?"

"Never know until we try," Lance says cajolingly. "Come on, just--" He puts his back to Keith, bare skin to bare skin, and hooks his other arm around Keith's other elbow. They plant themselves in the middle of the elevator shaft and Lance lifts his right foot to the wall. "I'm going to push against you, push back. Then you lift your foot and we can just -- walk our way up."

"This is ridiculous," Keith mutters, but he pushes against Lance and puts his foot against the wall. Lance lifts his other foot, stepping up the wall, and presses hard against Keith while he does the same. They both pause, straining; Lance is oddly delighted.

"This is working!" he says excitedly.

"We're a foot off the ground," Keith replies dryly, but he holds on tighter while Lance takes another step, and then takes his own, and they're moving up the wall, bit by bit.

After a while, Lance makes the mistake of looking down and freezes up, causing Keith to slip a little on his step.

"Push harder!" Keith snaps, tensing his legs, and Lance scrambles to do so, hissing a breath out between his teeth as he tries to ignore the huge drop beneath them.

"We're so high up, holy shit," Lance mutters, stomach squirming unpleasantly.

"It's gonna be fine," Keith says, waiting for Lance to take another step. "Come on, we're almost there."

"Almost where?" Lance asks, uncomfortably aware of how sweaty his skin is, how the crooks of their elbows rub together, how firm Keith's back is against his own.

"There," Keith says, and Lance can feel his head tilting forward, so he twists his own head and looks behind himself -- there, about five feet above them, there's some kind of vent or shaft. He can just about see the pleased curve of Keith's mouth as he looks up at it. Lance sucks in a deep breath and holds on tighter to Keith.

"Easy peasy," he says confidently, and hears Keith chuckle a little.

It's not exactly easy, but they do manage to pull themselves into the vent, even though it means Lance has to stretch all the way out to get Keith close enough to grab onto it, and leaves him dangling in empty space for a second until Keith grabs onto his hands tightly. Keith's skin is somehow still cool to the touch, even though he's panting, but Lance can't focus on that, scrabbling to get footing on the slick walls and pull himself up.

"See?" Lance asks, gasping for air. "Easy."

"Sure, Lance," Keith huffs, a hint of a laugh lingering in his voice. When he glances at Lance, he doesn't look tired or sullen anymore, just sort of -- pleased. Lance carries that with him through crawling out through the vents, through falling into the pool room where the pool was on the ceiling, through yet another alarm and breakneck escape into another wormhole -- he carries it with him until he realizes he's still thinking of the warmth in Keith's eyes hours later, and makes himself think of something else.

It becomes very clear that the constant barrage of attacks and escapes are wearing on everyone, but after using Hunk's makeshift lenses to escape one last time, they all gather together to catch their breath.

"How does he keep finding us?" Shiro asks. "Is it because he used to pilot the Black Lion?"

"He used to what? " Hunk asks, startled. Allura sighs and Coran winces. Lance feels like he should be shocked, but he can barely muster the energy to do more than stare. Pieces of information start to slot into place in his mind, like this was a natural progression of something he'd started thinking about but lacked all of the parameters to really know. Zarkon was the Black Paladin. Of course.

"He used the black bayard when I fought him," Keith says. "He kicked Shiro out of Black last time we all fought him. Don't you remember?"

"I don't know if you've noticed, Keith," Lance says, "But we've been kind of nonstop since then, and someone," he points to Keith, "is just now sharing this information. So no, we did not remember. Because you never told us."

"I should have told you," Allura interrupts, before Keith can respond. "I've known all along who the original Black Paladin was. I just -- did not wish to taint your understanding of what a Paladin of Voltron was, of all that you could be. I wanted to shield you from a truth I wish was not real."

"That's in the past now," Shiro says, touching her shoulder briefly. "What we should focus on is how Zarkon is finding us now. We'll never be able to mount another attack against him if he's constantly tracking us. Could it be his connection to the Black Lion?"

"No," Coran says, shaking his head. "There's nothing to suggest the lions can maintain that kind of connection over such great distances. And the Black Lion has formed a new bond with you, Shiro."

"I'm how Zarkon is tracking us," Allura says tiredly. Her whole body is curved into itself, vulnerable at all angles, weariness pouring off of her. Out of all of them, Lance realizes, Allura has been carrying the most weight -- the weight of her people's deaths, the weight of her responsibility, the weight of keeping them out of danger, and apparently this as well. She looks two seconds from collapse, holding herself together by sheer willpower. "He can sense my energy somehow. I will have to leave in order to keep the rest of you from--"

"It's not you, it's me!" Keith blurts.

All of them turn to gape at him, and he flushes a little. "Maybe," he adds belatedly. He glances at Lance's shocked face and then away quickly.

"It's not either of you," Shiro says firmly, "And we're not splitting up. That's a recipe for disaster, we're better off to stick together."

"Agreed," Coran adds. "Princess, you can't leave. You'll be in danger, and I cannot allow that." Allura looks ready to argue with him, but he simply says, "I promised him." The fight leaves her immediately, her shoulders dropping so suddenly that Lance is half-afraid she's going to collapse again. She doesn't, but she does close her eyes.

Pidge raises a tentative hand, waving it in the air. "I'm working on an algorithm to find us the best Galra-heavy areas to attack, so we can at least stay busy until we figure out what's going on. That way we're not just sitting waiting for Zarkon to find us. The closest I pinged was a planet called Taujeer."

"Fine," Allura says. "Coran, set a course for this planet. We'll discuss our options again in the morning. Everyone, get some rest while we can."

"We'll meet in the morning," Shiro says. It sounds like he's talking to all of them, but the gentle tone of his voice is aimed at Allura. "We'll figure something out. We can do this."

"Sleep does sound good," Pidge says, swaying on their feet a little. Hunk puts a steady hand on their shoulder.

"I'll get them to bed," he says, smiling wryly. "See you guys in the morning."

"See you," Lance murmurs. Keith is quietly turning to leave as well, but Lance moves to his side quickly, ignoring the way Keith is purposefully avoiding his gaze. "Hey," Lance says.

"Hey," Keith echoes.

Lance lets them get into the hallway and away from the others before he says, "Why do you think Zarkon is tracking you?"

Keith stiffens and then sighs. "It's nothing. A stupid idea."

"I'm the king of stupid ideas," Lance says lightly. "Everyone says."

"What?" Keith asks, slowing down and looking at him properly for the first time. "What does that mean?"

"Keith," Lance says patiently, "You're not going to distract me, so--"

"No," Keith interrupts. "Do you really think people think you're stupid?"

Lance stops walking and stares at him. Keith stares back, unmoving. "I'm not deaf, Keith," he says. "I know what people say. And I know you -- you guys think I'm just that guy who jokes around a lot, but--"

"None of us think that way," Keith says, brow furrowed. "You're not -- none of us think you're stupid. You're trusting, yeah, and you try to see the good in people even if they don't deserve it, but that doesn't make you stupid. Your trust is what makes you such a good paladin. And you're smart enough to be a fighter pilot -- you've done so -- you're not stupid," he says, stumbling a little. Lance can see his hands fidgeting at his sides, but his eyes stay locked onto Lance's. This is a familiar Keith, the one who stares down a challenge with conviction, who heads into fights with head held high and caution thrown to the wind.

Lance stares back at him, wide-eyed. His stomach flutters a little, like he's swallowed a bird startled into flight and now it's desperate to escape. He can feel the tips of his ears getting red the longer Keith looks at him.

And the thing is, Lance knows he's not useless to the team. He knows he's a decent shot, and good for team morale, and he knows he tries his best in every battle. He's just been surrounded by talented people for long enough that he's sort of grown used to knowing that everyone else was overlooking him. He's not the talented engineer, or the genius hacker, or the confident leader, or the naturally talented one that Shiro is apparently grooming for succession. He feels like he knows his own worth, but in a sea of worthy people, he does feel -- overshadowed.

But Keith is saying that he notices Lance. That shouldn't mean so much, but it does.

"I -- okay," Lance stutters, hoping Keith doesn't notice how flustered he feels. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to let you get away with changing the subject. Why do you think--"

"We're at my door," Keith says, even though they're about ten feet away. When he sees Lance's mutinous face, he sighs. "We'll talk in the morning, okay? I'm -- it's been a long day."

"Fine," Lance agrees after a moment. "In the morning. You can't shake me off that easily, Kogane."

"I'm aware," Keith murmurs, almost to himself. He continues on to his door quietly; Lance watches him disappear into his room and sighs, pressing a hand to his cheek. It still feels warm, and he rubs at it absently while he walks to his own room.

One step closer , he tells himself. He tries to think of things to ask Keith when he wakes up, to prod him into explaining what's been going on, but when he's finally on the edge of sleep, the only thing on his mind is Keith's earnest face, Keith saying he thinks he's smart, Keith saying We'll talk in the morning.

In the morning, both Keith and Allura are missing.

They find out when Pidge stops by his room in the morning to ask him something and finds his bed messy, like it had been slept in, but cold. When a search party for him forms and Allura also remains absent, Coran hurries to check her room and finds it similarly empty. There are no signs of foul play and the castle shows no signs of forced entry -- they've just left. Together.

Something cold settles into Lance's gut, a bitterly familiar feeling that he pushes aside because he can't think of it now. Now is the time to figure out what's going on. Coran is frantically tapping away at the keys on the control panel, scanning the castle for a sign of them, but Pidge's grim expression says that it's probably futile.

"I've already done a scan," they whisper to him when he gets close enough. "They're not here, and one of the pods is missing."

The cold hardens into heavy cement, choking him from the inside out. Lance turns away from them all in time to see Shiro walking through the door, face like a thundercloud, tension rising from him like a tangible force.

"They still think Zarkon is tracking us through them," he says. "See if we can hail their pod. We have to convince them to come home."

"I'm already scanning for their signal," Pidge says. "Should come through any second."

We'll talk in the morning.

It stings, probably more than it should. The idea of Keith running off with Allura in the night after he said that he would talk to Lance in the morning, after acting like he cared about Lance's feelings. Had he planned all along to break that meeting? Had it been something he decided in the middle of the night? Lance tries to swallow all of his hurt, but all that leaves room for is the shiver of jealousy clouding his veins.

What are you jealous of? he asks himself. He's long given up on Allura, content to have her as a leader and friend. So why is he --

"Found them!" Pidge shouts. "They're in a neighboring system, not too far from here. I'll hail them now."

There's a brief moment of silence, all of them staring intently at the screen, and then Keith and Allura's faces pop on. They both appear fine, if a little tired. Lance stares at Keith, taking in his face, trying to discern his thoughts, but then Keith's eyes lock onto his and linger and he feels his stomach clench. There's something apologetic in his gaze, even if he's not saying anything. Lance tries to convey You have so much explaining to do with his eyes, but Keith just keeps staring, unblinking.

"Princess, you have to come back," Coran says vehemently. "I can't believe you would leave in the middle of the night this way!"

"We have to know, Coran," Allura says firmly. "If he's tracking one of us, this will settle it once and for all. We can't keep endangering all of you."

Keith finally looks away from Lance towards Shiro and says, "If Zarkon finds us out here on our own, we'll know he's tracking the ship through one of us."

"Process of elimination," Hunk says. "Makes sense, but if Zarkon finds you, uh, you're pretty much guaranteed dead. You don't even have your lion, Keith."

"I can pilot us to safety, there's plenty of room to maneuver out here," Keith says confidently. Lance swallows a hysterical laugh at the idea of Keith piloting a tiny pod away from hundreds of Zarkon's fighter ships, from one of his terrifying robeasts.

"Keith," Shiro says, "It's not safe for either of you out there. And how are we supposed to form Voltron if you're gone?"

"We'll only stay gone as long as it takes to get the truth," Allura says. "Contact us if anything changes. Goodbye."

The screen goes dark and they all stare out into the expanse of space for a moment, until Shiro sighs and puts a hand to his forehead.

"Okay," he says. "Okay. We're almost to Taujeer. Let's just -- let's just see what's going on, and if Pidge's algorithm works properly, and we can convince Allura and Keith to return after. It's all we can do right now. Let's get ready to suit up, guys." He walks out of the room without waiting for them to reply, leaving them to stare after him. When Lance glances at Coran, he's staring at the beacon onscreen that shows Keith and Allura moving slowly through the system with worried eyes.

"You okay, buddy?" Hunk asks, nudging him slightly, drawing his attention away. "You look upset."

"I'm fine," Lance says automatically. "Just -- surprised that Keith and Allura took off, I guess."

"Yeah," Hunk agrees, "Not exactly the pair I would have expected to go running off into the night."

Pidge snorts. "What are you talking about, Keith is exactly the type to do that."

"You mean like you?" Hunk asks pointedly, and Pidge huffs out a laugh.

"Fair. But my point stands, Keith is definitely the kind to pull this. Allura is the wild card here. I wonder if they decided to do it together." They push their glasses up with a finger and glance sideways at Lance, who has been standing quietly, chewing on his lower lip.

"We should follow Shiro," Lance says, turning away. His voice sounds flat, so he forces himself to inject cheerfulness into his tone when he says, "Let's see how smart our Pidge really is."

"My math is sound," Pidge protests.

"We'll see," Lance says, faux-dubious, laughing and dodging the halfhearted swipe they send his way. They all start heading down towards where their armor is stored, walking in comfortable silence. Lance wants to keep the conversation going, just for appearances sake, but his head is buzzing with questions. He wonders what Allura and Keith are talking about, all alone in a pod far away from here, waiting for answers of their own.

They're all relieved when the Red Lion shows up with Keith halfway through their battle with the Galra forces that have come back to Taujeer, since it means saving a bunch of Taujeerans and not dying because they're one paladin short, but Lance is determined not to let Keith off the hook this time. Unfortunately, he forgot that as members of team fighting an unrelenting war, free time is in short supply at the moment.

"Since the Red Lion could track you guys down," Shiro says while they're pulling their armor off, "We can assume that Zarkon is tracking us through the Black Lion."

"Well how are we supposed to handle that?" Hunk asks, frowning. "We can't exactly drop it off on some planet and go on without it. It's the head."

"I'll have to get rid of Zarkon's bond with my lion," Shiro says firmly. "Or have to make mine stronger."

"That's a good idea,"Allura says, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "In the meantime, we'll have to keep an eye out. We may have repelled Zarkon for now, but he knows where we are."

"Well," Coran says, "Actually, what we really need to do is get more teludav lenses. I've been looking at them, princess, and there's no chance we'll manage another wormhole jump without the entire thing exploding. There's just no way."

"But where are we meant to get more?" she asks. "We barely had enough material onboard for Hunk to manufacture into those temporary ones."

"Oh!" Coran says. "Never fear, I've been looking around, and there's a swap moon nearby."

"A swap moon," Allura groans. "Coran, you ended up losing almost all of your belongings the last time you dealt with the Unilu."

"The Unilu?" Pidge asks.

"They're merchants and pirates who deal in black market items across the universe," Coran explains. "If you want it and it's difficult to find, they've probably got it. And it'll be fine, princess, I'm twice as crafty as I was then."

"With age comes wisdom, huh?" Lance asks, grinning. Coran shoots him a look, clearly still sore about his recent case of the slipperies, but nods his head.

"Indeed, Lance. Now, Allura, you should stay here and rest. You've been through quite a lot, and we'll need you in tip top shape to pilot the castle once we can use the wormholes again."

"Oh," Allura says, sounding disappointed. "I was going to go as well, though."

"I'm staying behind too," Shiro volunteers. "To work on my bond with the Black Lion. So you won't be alone here. But you really should take some time to recuperate, you've been through a lot."

"I guess we're just lucky the pod didn't explode when we were in it," Hunk says to Coran, wrinkling his nose. "I can't even imagine being stuck in space like that."

"It was...an experience," Allura says, glancing at Keith. He shrugs his shoulders at her, quirking his mouth in an expression that Lance can't parse. "We're lucky the Red Lion came for us."

"Well, we have no time to waste," Coran says, clapping his hands impatiently. "I've got to get you four something to help you blend in with the swap moon environment without being detected. This is going to be a learning experience for you all, so I hope you're ready to watch closely."

"Of course," Lance says encouragingly. "Lead the way, Coran."

They start to file out of the room, but Lance is only half-listening as Coran details the last time he traded with the Unilu and what sort of clothing they'd be required to wear, instead watching as Keith carefully keeps his eyes forward. Lance doesn't think it's a coincidence that Hunk and Pidge are between them, but there's nothing he can do right now to change anything. He resigns himself to waiting until after the shopping trip to confront Keith, casting glances his way as they walk along. He doesn't really realize he's still doing it until he locks eyes with Pidge, who raises a single eyebrow at him and smirks.

Shit, he thinks.

Normally Lance wouldn't mind being alone with Pidge, especially when they're on a mission to secure funds for a video game, but they've been giving him knowing looks out of the corner of their eye the entire trip, and he's starting to wonder when the hammer is going to drop. Pidge isn't a people-person by nature, but they are naturally inquisitive (some might say nosy), and knowing them, it's only a matter of time until the questions come.

Lance is just scrounging a coin out of the corner of the fountain when he feels a gentle splash against his leg and looks up to see Pidge standing close by.

"What's up?" he asks innocently. "Find more money?"

"Sure," Pidge says. "Let's pretend I didn't catch you giving Keith eyes earlier."

"Eyes?" Lance asks, confused. They look at him meaningfully. "I was just looking at him, Pidge, come on."

"We were a team for months back at the Garrison, Lance, I know exactly what you were doing." Pidge leans over, scooping a handful of coins off the bottom and counting them before tossing them into their pockets.

"I'm just -- curious," Lance says, although he knows it sounds weak. He's been trying to avoid examining his motives too closely on purpose. He hates having to try to explain his actions when he's not really sure why he's bothering in the first place. "He's been acting strange and he won't explain what's going on. It could be a problem."

"Keith is always a problem," Pidge says bluntly, although they almost sound fond. "Doesn't explain why he's your problem though."

"I just want--" To make sure he's okay, he wants to say, but that sounds weird even in his head, so instead he continues with, "To make sure nothing jeopardizes the team. We can't let our personal stuff distract us right now. I mean, look at Allura and Coran."

Pidge sighs, brow furrowing. "Yeah," they say. "Allura is taking this whole work-with-the-Galra thing better than I would have. I never really learned how to -- to ignore stuff that bothered me, though." It's an understatement. Lance, who on more than one occasion had nudged or talked over a belligerent comment Pidge had tried to make to instructors at the Garrison, ruffles their hair affectionately.

"People handle stuff differently," he says, ignoring their squawk of annoyance as fountain water gets all in their hair. "Right now, Allura is choosing to focus on what's important to her, just like you focused on what's important to you."

"Now who's the wise one," Pidge says teasingly, shuffling out of the way hurriedly when he kicks water at them. "Hey! It was a compliment!"

"Sure," Lance says, laughing. "You've always respected the wisdom of your elders."

"Nah, but I respect you," Pidge says. He blinks at them in surprise, and they shrug a shoulder at him matter-of-factly, like it's something he should have already known. "You'll figure out how to help Keith, just like you help everyone. I just didn't know why you were suddenly staring at him again. I thought we were back in the Garrison for a minute there."

Lance flushes pink and scowls at them when they just smirk. "Just for that I'm going to keep all of this change myself."

"No!" Pidge says, lunging at him while he dances out of the way. "We've got to buy this game, Lance, it's limited edition! We'll never find it again, Lance, wait--"

He laughs and runs away from them, water soaking his pants, feeling truly at ease for the first time in days.

It's not until after he and the others have a hasty escape from a terrible mall cop on the back of a complimentary space cow and are back at the castle safely that he realizes his chance to talk to Keith has arrived. Keith seems distracted again, lingering behind while Pidge leads Kalternecker out of the room, excitedly asking Hunk about the possibility of having milk now. Shiro seems tired but pleased, having apparently solidified his bond with his lion. Coran is already talking to a well-rested Allura about repairing the teludav and what their next move should be now that they're free to follow up on Ulaz's suggestion they find the Blade of Marmora. Everyone else seems preoccupied, so Lance seizes his opportunity and makes his way to Keith's side.

"So," he says.

Keith gratifyingly jumps a little and looks at him with wide eyes. Lance watches as a pink flush spreads over the bridge of his nose. "So what?" Keith asks.

"We'll talk in the morning," Lance says in a pretty good imitation of Keith, crossing his arms. Keith shifts his gaze guiltily to the side and then looks at Lance and sighs.

"I wasn't lying then. I just -- I couldn't stay here, thinking that I might be the reason everyone was in danger." The words spill out of Keith almost unbidden, and he grimaces. "It seemed like the best thing to do at the time."

"You never explained why you thought it could have been you Zarkon was tracking," Lance says. He doesn't know how, but he's drifted close enough to Keith now that their arms are brushing, and their voices have dropped low, even though the others aren't really paying attention to them. Keith's eyes flick away to them anyways, and then back to Lance. He's struck all at once again by how dark they really are, a sort of blue gray color that bleeds black into the edges of his pupils.  

He feels the simultaneous urge to step closer and move far, far away, and forces himself to stay still.

Keith seems to debate with himself for a moment, searching Lance's face for something, and then reaches behind himself, pulling out the knife he's had with him since they started all of this. It rests in his hands, a dirty, bedraggled thing, sheathed until Keith reaches for the grip and pulls it out slowly. The blade glints dully in the light, a slight bluish purple sheen that seems familiar somehow. Lance can't remember if he's ever seen it unsheathed before.

"At the mall, I asked a knife dealer about this. I got this on Earth from -- from someone close to me. It's apparently made from luxite, from this planet that doesn't exist anymore." Keith takes a deep breath and sheaths the blade again. Lance looks up at him and sees something painful cross Keith's expression. "The handle is -- it looked familiar to me. To -- to Galra weaponry." He looks up at Allura and Shiro and slides the knife home again, expression shuttering. Lance glances behind himself to see them looking over at the two of them, and he unknowingly steps between them and Keith, sheltering him from their view.

"So what, you think he's tracking you through the knife?" Lance asks dubiously.

"I--" Keith starts, and then stops and visibly swallows. Lance tracks the motion of his throat working, the tension in his shoulders. "I'm not sure. I don't know what to think right now. It doesn't matter anymore. We know how he's finding us and Shiro stopped him from doing it. Now we can go talk to those Blade people and make our next move."

"But what about the person who gave it to you?" Lance asks. Keith takes a step back, lowering his eyes, and Lance reaches out before he can stop himself, touching his wrist. "Keith--"

Keith looks stricken. "It's fine, Lance. I've got to -- I need to go."

Keith brushes past him without saying anything else, and Lance lets a breath hiss between his teeth in frustration. He looks at Shiro and Allura, who are doing a terrible job of pretending they aren't trying to eavesdrop. He wants to chase Keith down, wants to ask him a million more questions, wants to push him into a bed and make him sleep so that the gray circles under his eyes fade away, wants to smooth out the furrow between his brow and tell him things are going to be okay.

He doesn't do any of those things. He goes back to his room and lays on his bed and very carefully thinks of nothing until he falls asleep.

When they wake up, they're only about ten minutes outside of where the Blade of Marmora base is meant to be. Everyone suits up and heads to the control room, where Allura is standing tall at the helm, eyes forward.

"We're coming up to a bit of a problem, here," Coran says hesitantly. He lifts a hand and sends the projection of what look to be two black holes with some kind of explosion in the middle of them.

"It's a blue star," Hunk says in surprise. "It's got to be like, a million degrees Celsius outside of those."

"Where is the base?" Allura asks Coran, who grimaces.

"Right in between those three celestial bodies."

"The perfect hiding spot," Pidge says.

"Or a trap," Coran points out. "It's extremely dangerous for us to go anywhere near that base."

Allura cuts in, swiping a hand in front of her. "We're being hailed. I'm opening frequencies."

A masked figure appears onscreen, dressed similarly to how Ulaz had been, and clearly Galra. Lance glances at Allura, whose face remains impassive. "Identify yourselves."

"We are the Paladins of Voltron," Shiro says. "We were told to come here by Ulaz."

"Only two may enter. Come unarmed."

The screen goes blank, and all of them look at each other with raised brows "Only two of us?" Lance asks. "Why?"

"I don't feel good about this," Allura murmurs. "It's not safe."

"We have to follow through with this, princess," Shiro says. "I'll go. And the other will have to be Keith."

"What?" Lance asks; he says it louder than he means to, and draws everyone's attention. Keith stares at him with wide eyes, but he avoids his gaze, looking at Shiro with furrowed brows. "Why Keith?"  

"The Red Lion is the only one who can withstand the kind of heat the star is putting off," Shiro points out. "Keith will have to be the one to pilot her."

"They're sending us the path to the base," Coran says quickly. "It's only open for a few minutes, and then it'll be closed for -- for two days."

"Two days?" Pidge asks incredulously.

"It's fine," Keith says. He looks at Lance, who stares back, frustrated. "I want to go. We need answers." I need answers, Lance hears unsaid.

"Shiro, are you positive about this?" Allura asks. Her hand reaches out and hovers over his arm, then withdraws. Worry swims in her eyes, turning them soft despite her urgent tone. "We won't be able to help you if something goes wrong."

He smiles crookedly at her. "Don't worry, princess. I'm not going in with blind eyes. We'll be okay." He looks at Keith, who nods his head and turns to head towards the door. Lance feels something like panic crawling up the back of his throat, watching the two of them walk into something unknown and dangerous and knowing he can't stop them. They both walk out of the room towards the hangar without looking back.

He doesn't realizes he's clenching his fists until Hunk touches one of them gently and says, "They'll be okay, buddy. They're tough." He lets go, startled, and realizes there are little reddened crescents in his skin where his nails dug in. He tucks his hands behind his back and nods absently at Hunk.

"Yeah," Pidge says, coming up to nudge him with a smile flickering around the corner of their mouth. "And we'll be here to help them if they need it." Lance smiles at them, but he's distracted by movement onscreen.

The Red Lion shoots into their field of vision, and they all watch with bated breath as Keith maneuvers them along an invisible path towards the base. There's a moment when Red veers slightly off the path and Lance's breath catches in his throat, but Keith quickly corrects her and they disappear into nothingness beyond the bright star.

"Now we wait," Allura says tonelessly.

The others quietly disperse, Coran and Hunk to check the teludav, Pidge to check their calculations for their algorithm. Allura remains on her platform, the luminous star glowing in her eyes as she gazes upon it. She doesn't move as Lance settles into his chair and looks out as well, staring until his eyes sear from the light. He doesn't know why they're staying here, watching -- there's no sign of the Red Lion, and there won't be many, many hours.

They sit there quietly anyways, watching and waiting.

About halfway through, Hunk has an idea. They've all congregated in the control room, drawn together despite knowing that nothing will change.  "Can't we like, adjust for the gravitational lensing and reduce some of the noise and interference to connect with the Red Lion? Just to make sure nothing's wrong?"

Pidge makes a thoughtful noise. "Theoretically that sounds right. Coran?"

"You are correct, Hunk. I'll start right away," Coran calls.

"We've still got twenty more hours," Lance murmurs. "What's going on down there?"

"Hopefully they've been able to convince them to share some kind of information that will let us stop him once and for all," Coran says, tapping away at the screen. "They've got to have people on the inside, or else they've wasted ten thousand years."

"They're probably how we managed to escape," Allura says. She's got dark circles under her eyes, but she looks entirely alert. Lance doesn't know how she's holding herself together, wonders if she's really as strong as she seems or if she's hanging on by her fingertips. "Before, when we were trapped in the barrier Zarkon had up. It fell without warning."

"If they knew about us, why haven't they tried to contact us?" Lance asks, frowning. "I get the crazy hidden base, but we're Voltron. How else are they going to stop Zarkon?"

"They seem to be pretty cautious," Pidge says, squinting over Coran's shoulders as he works. "Hopefully Keith and Shiro are getting some answers out of them."

"The Red Lion's vitals all seem fine, and she's resting in good condition. No sign of Keith or Shiro with her though," Coran reports. They all deflate a little, even though they hadn't really expected anything else.

"Back to waiting," Hunk mutters. "I hate waiting."

"You and me both, buddy," Lance replies, sinking back into his seat.

An alarm goes off at Coran's station about ten minutes before they're due to be back. It's not the full blown alarm that signals an attack, but it draws all of their attention immediately. They've been here for the last hour already, fidgeting in tense silence, waiting for the seconds to finally tick down, and the sound of the siren has Lance shooting straight up in his seat, hands gripping the arms of his chair.

Coran's face goes pale and he hurriedly throws his hands up, sending the information onto the main screen. "It's the Red Lion. She's -- she's attacking the base. Neither Shiro or Keith are with her."

Lance's blood turns to ice in his veins. For a moment, he struggles to draw breath into his lungs. "Keith is in trouble," he says, standing up as soon as he can feel his legs again. " She's trying to get to him. We've got to go down there, we've got to help him."

"We won't be able to for another eight minutes," Pidge says, "And none of our lions are as heat-resistant as Red is."

"What are our options?" Lance insists loudly, spinning to look at them. "We've got to do something, there's no way she'd react that way if they weren't in danger."

"I shouldn't have let them go," Allura says. "I should have known better." Her voice cracks on the last word, and Lance feels something in him snap.

"We can't just sit here and wait," he says firmly.  "Pidge, check out the flight path they sent us and make sure there's no way we can't follow it before that time is up. Coran, Hunk, we need to figure out if there's anything in the castle that will help us withstand the heat."

"We might not have to do anything," Hunk says. "Red's really ripping that place apart."

"Let's check anyways," Lance replies. He keeps his eyes onscreen, watching for any sort of sign that the Red Lion has found them, that they're okay, that Keith is okay.

"Perhaps the Yellow Lion," Coran says dubiously, "Yellow's hull is thicker and might be able to--"

"Yeah, I'll go," Hunk says immediately, "We just have to figure out if the path is open--"

"Not for another five minutes," Pidge says in agitation. "I'm trying and trying to figure this out and it's just not gonna work, physics doesn't work this way--"

"Okay!" Lance says loudly, and everyone goes quiet, staring at him with wide eyes. "Okay, let's just -- do what we can, we'll--"

"Princess?"

They all startle, and Lance turns to the screen to see Shiro's face, leaned in close. He's in the Red Lion's cockpit, looking no worse for wear. "Shiro!" Allura says, with obvious relief. "Are you alright?"

Shiro winces and looks to the side. "In a manner of speaking. We're headed your way, we've got some people who need to talk to you. We're gonna come up with a plan to stop Zarkon once and for all."

"Is Keith okay?" Lance asks quickly. "We saw Red, she was going crazy trying to get in there."

Shiro's face does something complicated, worry and fatigue warring on his face. Lance's stomach twists itself into knots as the moment drags out and Shiro doesn't reply.

"Shiro?" he asks quietly, and Shiro sighs and steps aside. One of them, possibly Pidge, sucks in a huge breath -- but Lance can't find his breath, can't do anything but stare with wide eyes. He's not even sure if his heart is still beating.

Keith is slumped in his pilot's seat, eyes closed, head tilted to the side. He's wearing some sort of strange purple suit, ripped all over with cut marks. There's a large wound on his shoulder, sluggishly bleeding out, staining the dark material black, and his face is bruised at the jaw and temple, with a cut across his cheekbone like a highlight. He's breathing, chest rising and falling evenly, but Lance can't tell if he's conscious or not.

"Shiro, what happened? " Allura asks, voice cutting through the buzzing noise that's started up in Lance's ears. He can't look at her, can't tear his eyes away from Keith on the screen, depicted in twice the scale with full resolution, showing skin flecked with blood splatter and messy hair curling against his cheeks, damp with sweat.

"They got upset about Keith's knife," Shiro says wearily. "It apparently only belongs to members of their order. He decided to undertake a test to get answers about it. He kept going even after he was getting hurt, and then Red started trying to get to him, and Keith gave up his answers for the sake of the alliance."

"What the hell," Hunk whispers. It's too loud in a quiet room. It echoes, thin and disbelieving, an understatement considering how Keith looks, unable to fully capture the sickly tension running through the room.

"Shiro, bring him directly to the healing pods," Allura instructs. "Coran will be there waiting."

"I'm going too," Lance says, already moving, legs carrying him towards the door. His heartbeat is back, pounding thunderously in his ears.

"Me too," Hunk says, hurrying behind him, with Pidge silently already hot on his tail. The door closes behind them just as Allura faces Shiro onscreen and says, "What else is there, Shiro?"

Lance doesn't spare them another thought, can't, long legs rushing him towards the healing pods, outstripping the others through sheer adrenaline. Coran is closest on his heels, but where he runs immediately to the pods and opens one up, preparing it for use, Lance runs to the door closest from the hangars, opening it up just in time for Shiro to come in with Keith. Keith is walking, but has one arm slung over Shiro's shoulder, and his head is still hanging low, hair in his eyes. The blood on his strange suit is covering more of his shoulder, black on violet. Lance is on his other side, wrapping an arm around his waist, holding his weight up. Keith opens his eyes and looks right at Lance and smiles. It's an absent smile, an exhausted smile, a smile brittle and bitter around the edges. It sends a shiver deep into Lance's stomach.

"Talk in the morning?" he rasps weakly, and a startled laugh bursts out of Lance's mouth before he can stop himself. Then Coran is pulling Keith gently away, out of his arms, helping him into the healing pod; he brushes careful fingers over his wounds to catalog them and then rests a hand gently on his shoulder, settling him properly. Keith closes his eyes, leans his head back and goes very still. The pod closes with a whoosh of cold air. Lance looks up at him, safe and intact, and finally lets himself breathe.

"Will he be alright?" Allura voice comes from behind them, and Lance turns to see her standing there with Shiro. Both of them have serious expressions on their face that don't seem just worried -- there's something they know, Lance realizes. Something important.

"He'll be fine," Coran says, looking up from the healing pod. "Only about five hours in the pod should suffice. The wounds aren't that deep, actually. I'd say his opponents were probably holding back from truly hurting him."

"Wow," Lance says sarcastically, "How kind of them."

"Keith chose to take the test," Shiro says. "And he chose to keep going. I tried to stop them but -- they're adamant about these swords."

"Why?" Hunk asks, brow furrowed. "Are they that special?"

"It's a blade only they use," Shiro says. "And they can only be awakened to their true potential by someone with Galra blood." He takes a deep breath and says, "And Keith did manage to awaken it."

"Wh--" Hunk starts to say, eyes wide.

"Wait," Pidge says. "Are you saying--"

"Keith is Galra?" Lance asks quietly. It's not as shocking as it should be, settling under his skin like something he already knew, something on the edge of his consciousness finally made real.

"At least partially," Shiro says. He closes his eyes and exhales loudly. "He asked me to tell everyone while he was healing because he wanted to give everyone time to process it. He's -- he's still processing it himself." He glances sideways at Allura, who stares evenly back. "The Blade of Marmora want to meet with us and discuss strategy, but I told them we were waiting until Keith was healed again."

"We'll meet again when Keith is better," Allura says. She glances up at him, standing alone and frozen in the healing pod, and her eyes are unfathomable. "And then we'll discuss what to do next."

Five hours are nothing compared to the wait they'd had to sit through before, but each minute still grates at Lance's nerves. He and Hunk and Pidge sit in the pod room, quietly working on personal projects. Lance has a tablet in front of him, ostensibly meant to be running Pidge's algorithm to find more Galra hotspots, but he can't focus.

Hunk sighs and puts down his own tablet. He glances up at the two of them and then at Keith. "I feel like I should be more confused or upset about it," he admits.

Pidge doesn't look up from their computer, but their hands stop tapping on the keys. "It's Keith. Nothing's really changed, has it?"

"I think he knew," Lance says quietly. "I think he's suspected it for a while."

"It's -- gotta change some stuff for him, I think," Hunk says. "I mean up until Ulaz all the Galra ever did to us was attack on sight. They took Shiro, who's like, his big brother--"

"Wait, what?" Lance asks. "They're brothers?"

"Shiro's parents sort of adopted Keith after his dad disappeared, I think," Pidge says. "Shiro and Matt used to be best friends but I didn't really pay that much attention to him back then. He stopped coming to the house around for a while while they were figuring out what to do and Matt was really worried about him."

"Anyways," Hunk says, "Obvious stuff aside, Keith has only ever seen negative stuff about them, and now he's partly one of them. I mean, Pidge is right, nothing's changed. Keith isn't gonna suddenly turn purple and try to kill us, but it's still gotta be hard to deal with."

"I guess you were right to be worried, Lance," Pidge says, closing their laptop with a sigh. "Can't believe I just said that out loud."

"I've recorded it for future use," Lance jokes, pretending to tap at his tablet. Hunk snickers. "You can't take it back now."

"Oh no," Pidge deadpans, grinning. "I'm terrified." They all smile at each other for a moment, but then the healing pod makes a beeping noise and they all turn sharply to look at it. The levity disappears again, and Lance shifts on the ground, sighing.

"We gotta like -- we gotta make sure he's okay, guys. We don't know how everything is gonna shake out, but Keith shouldn't deal with it all alone." He tears his eyes away from Keith to look at the two of them, sprawled on the ground with him, tired and messy but familiar. Not for the first or last time, he realizes how lucky he is to have his best friends here with him. Getting through one battle after another, through one crisis into the next -- he's not sure he would be able to hold it together without Hunk and Pidge. Hunk has always been steady support, a joke and gut punch dose of reality when needed, and Pidge has always been the curious and bright whirlwind, propelling them forward into new action, solving problems before they arrive -- they all balance each other out, and he thinks he would be lost without them.

"Agreed," Hunk says firmly. "He's our friend, and that doesn't change just because he's apparently also part alien."

"Our friend," Pidge echoes, casting a glance at Lance, who glowers at them silently.

The door opens and Shiro, Allura, and Coran come in, prompting the three of them to rise as well. Coran heads to the pod first, tapping at the keys on it and nodding to himself.

"Just a few more ticks," he tells them. "He's nearly healed up."

"What's our next step?" Pidge asks Shiro, who looks at Allura with raised brows. She gives a small nod and crosses her arms.

"We're going to work with the Blade to infiltrate Zarkon's ship. We're going to hit them with a virus to disable the ship, push them into a wormhole far enough away that they won't just be able to chase us down right away, and take him down there with Voltron," Shiro says. "Kolivan, that's the Blade leader, says that their operative thinks he's about to be found out. Our timeline has to be fast on this."

"We'll need a much larger teludav than the one we have, which is going to require two major components," Coran says. "Loads more scaultrite, and someone to engineer the teludav itself to be able to portal something as big as Zarkon's ship."

"Slav," Allura says. "The being who created that fold in time and space that you two were so excited about. We'll have to rescue him from a Galra prison."

"That'll be Pidge, Lance, and myself," Shiro says. "Hunk and Keith will be gathering our scaultrite. We've got to move fast, so we'll brief Keith when he wakes up and then head out as soon as possible."

As if on cue, Keith's pod hisses open, expelling a way of steam into the room. Coran is closest, catching him as he tips forward a little, but it doesn't take long for the others to rush to his side. Keith's skin is cool under Lance's hands, the strange fabric of his suit slick where Lance cups his elbow.

"Are you alright?" Shiro asks, putting a hand on Keith's shoulder. Keith's lashes flutter, damp with frost, and he opens his eyes and blinks slowly at all of them, like he's waking from a deep sleep. Like sleeping beauty floats through Lance's head and he promptly banishes the thought.

"I'm fine," Keith says, standing up on his own on shaky legs. Shiro's hand hovers over him but Keith shrugs it off, standing a little taller, straightening his shoulders. There's paleness lingering in his cheeks, but his eyes are clear again when he looks out at them. "I'm -- much better now. What's going on with -- what's happening?" He looks automatically at Allura, who looks back. A thick line of tension runs through the room, but then Allura tilts her head at him and her eyes soften slightly.

Keith's shoulders drop imperceptibly, and Lance exhales quietly as Allura says, "Take a moment, Keith. We'll catch you up, and you'll be on a mission in short order, but you should give yourself time to recover from the healing. Meet us in the control room when you're ready."

"Yes, princess," Keith murmurs. Shiro pats him on the back and joins Allura as she turns to leave with Coran at her side. Hunk and Pidge crowd up close to him, but Lance lingers behind, watching. Keith looks the same -- of course he does. Nothing has changed except what they know. Keith has the same dark eyes, the same surprisingly smooth skin, the same uncertain edges around the corners of his mouth.

"Are you really okay, dude?" Hunk asks worriedly. Keith tugs at the collar of his suit, pulling it down to expose his shoulder, where the skin there is pale and unblemished, like it had never been cut at all. Even the blood is gone, except where it's stained the suit. "Good," Hunk says with relief. "It looked really bad. Hey, guess what? You and me are teamed up for the mission!"

"Really?" Keith asks. "What are we doing?"

"Getting more scaultrite," Hunk says. "I bet it'll be easy. The others have to break some dude out of prison. Glad we're not dealing with that."

"Yeah," Keith says, peering curiously at Hunk. His eyes flick to Pidge as well, lingering, then to Lance. He looks like he's waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like he's waiting for the condemnation. Like he's waiting for them to hate him.

"We know," Lance says bluntly. "About the sword. About you."

Keith's eyes goes dull and flat. "I see."

"It doesn't matter to us, Keith," Lance says, holding his gaze. "You're still you. That's what matters."

Keith stares at Lance for the span of one heartbeat, and then another, and looks uncertainly at Hunk and Pidge, who nod firmly at him. "I -- okay," he says haltingly. "Okay."

"I personally find the whole thing really cool," Pidge says, shrugging. "Like, I grew up in a household where we were basically all unofficial Mulders, so a big part of me is kinda wondering how many other people we knew on Earth might also be part alien. But Lance is right, you're the same old Keith. You didn't even change color like Allura."

"Yeah, kind of a letdown, if I'm honest," Hunk jokes, nudging Keith. "You sure you don't feel like you're getting pointy teeth? Or glowy eyes?"

"No," Keith says dryly, but the corners of his mouth are starting to turn up a little. "I'm gonna -- I'm gonna change back into my suit. I'll meet you guys with the others."

"Alright," Pidge says, already turning to pick up their laptop, and Hunk thumps his fist into Keith's arm as he passes by. Keith glances up at Lance under his lashes, brushing past him, but neither of them say anything else as Keith walks out of the room. Lance tracks him carefully as he walks, taking in the curves of his shoulders and the tangle of his hair, checking for any lingering injury.

Pidge waits until Keith is gone until they say, "Oh my god."

"Yeah dude," Hunk agrees.

"Stop it," Lance says sternly, flushed.

The mission to save Slav starts off more or less the way it's supposed to, even though Lance keeps getting distracted wondering how Keith and Hunk are doing. They pull up a little ways off from the prison, trying to keep out of sight and out of range of the sensors. Blue is purring under his hands, eager to see action after so long without a mission. She prods curiously at him while he thinks about how quiet Keith had been, heading into the Yellow Lion as everyone said goodbyes.

"Lance, you've got a limited time to scan the prison so we can know what's going on and then land Blue," Pidge prompts him, and he jolts, ignoring the looks the two of them exchange behind him. He faces Blue at the prison, which seems huge for just one person, and starts the sonic scan, filling in a virtual map of the three layers of the prison.

"I'll have to be there," Pidge points, referring to a command station. "You two will have to go to -- oh, shoot, there's two cells."

"Which one has Slav?" Shiro asks.

"Can't tell," Pidge says. "And we don't know what he looks like, either."

"We'll just have to check both of them," Shiro says. "Lance, you ready?"

"Absolutely," Lance says. "Born ready. Absolutely. I said that already."

"Are you okay?" Shiro asks, squinting at him. Lance smiles brightly at him, ignoring the worry settled in his gut.

"Great," Lance says. "Just -- I'm ready. Let's go." He closes off his helmet and carefully lands Blue before Pidge's disruption ends, hiding her close to one of the prison's hangars. They all sneak out and into the building, communicating with hand signals which ways to go to avoid being seen. Pidge, with a quick thumbs up, quietly makes their way towards the command center.

He and Shiro watch them leave, and then continue making their way towards the second level. It's quiet for a moment, both of them silently peering around corners and making eye contact, and then Shiro says, out of nowhere, "Are you really okay?"

Lance blinks and peers at Shiro, who stares back. "Yeah?" he says uncertainly. "Why are you asking?"

"You seem a bit preoccupied, is all," Shiro replies. They both pause as a drone passes by, hiding in the shadows, and then move together to the next corner. Lance can faintly hear Pidge tapping away at the keys of the command center, no doubt hacking the security system, but they don't say anything.

"I'm paying attention," he says.

"I know you are," Shiro says. "I also know that you've been helping Keith out."

Lance's stomach twists at the mention of Keith's name, a simultaneously nauseating and strangely warm sensation. Pidge doesn't stop typing, but he thinks that maybe the tapping has grown slower. Shiro looks at him with meaningful eyes and Lance has no choice but to say, "Yeah, we've talked a bit."

"He told me he didn't want to lead Voltron," Shiro says. Lance jerks to a halt and the tapping stops completely this time. Pidge sucks in a breath of air but doesn't say anything, so Lance is left staring at Shiro with wide eyes in the hallway of some Galra prison during a rescue mission with nothing but his own heartbeat in his ears.

"And he said that he only figured out how to say that because he talked to you," Shiro continues. "I didn't realize I was pushing him -- I just thought I was doing what was best for him." Shiro pauses, lowering his eyes briefly, and then looks up. "So thank you, Lance."

"Um," Lance says. "I mean, you're welcome."

Shiro gestures for him to follow, and they continue moving towards the end of the hallway. Pidge's tapping resumes, a steady pace. A few beeps issue from their end, and the drones in the area power down, allowing them to pass through.

"He also said you think  you're just -- just the guy who jokes around a lot," Shiro says. Lance winces, faltering a little but not stopping this time. "And I wanted to know if there was anything we'd done -- I have done, to make you feel that way."

Lance opens and closes his mouth, at a loss for how to respond. The silence stretches between them, and Shiro's face falls.

Pidge clears their throat. "Not to like, interrupt this, but you're pretty much to the third floor, and I need access to be able to get in. It's a closed system. Shiro, you'll have to plug in with your hand to give me access."

"Fine," Shiro says. Lance sneaks glances at him as they move closer to the entrance. He looks slightly frustrated, maybe at himself, maybe at their situation. Shiro presses his hand to the panel and it glows briefly. The door opens and Pidge makes  a triumphant noise, and then says, "Okay, to get to both cells you'll have to separate. Lance, go left. Shiro, head right. The cells should be at the ends of your corridors."

They look at each other and then turn away, walking in the directions indicated. Pidge's tapping resumes, a steady counterpart to the wild thoughts running through Lance's head. This isn't the time, but there's never really going to be a good time.

"It's not really you guys," he says abruptly. "I mean -- there have been -- it just builds up. I know I'm not just the joke of the team, but at the Garrison--"

"Iverson," Pidge says darkly.

"Yeah, but it wasn't just him," Lance says. "The other cadets, the other instructors. It never felt like they wanted me to succeed. Nothing I did was good enough -- not my scores, not getting into the fighter pilot class. After a while it gets easier to just -- make another name for yourself. The funny guy fits me pretty well."

"You're a Paladin of Voltron, Lance," Shiro says quietly. "You're our best shot, you're the one the Blue Lion chose out of all of us. You're the one who helped Keith figure himself out. You've been kind to Allura, and you've helped Pidge and Hunk adjust as well. You saved Coran with more selflessness than any of the instructors at the Garrison have ever shown." Lance's throat closes and his eyes prickle hotly, but he swallows it down and keeps moving, keeping his eyes locked onto the end of his hallway. Shiro's voice is impossibly warm when he says, "You would make a fantastic leader someday."

"Yeah," Pidge says. "I mean, you can do all that and be the funny guy. It's not a zero sum game."

Lance finally hits the door, which is imposingly huge, with no obvious signs of how to get in. A huff of air tells him that Shiro has hit his own as well. Lance sucks in a breath and then lets it out, considering.

"Thanks, guys." It sounds inadequate, but he doesn't really know what to say -- he's halfway relieved they're too busy to really delve into what would no doubt be a pretty uncomfortable conversation. It's enough for him to know that that they see him as someone important to the team, that he's not just here by accident, the tag-along without a real specialty. It's enough that Shiro is reaching out and listening to them, for the guy he's grown up idolizing to acknowledge his place on the team when Lance has only ever heard from adults that he wasn't as good as someone else. He's never really considered it before, but leadership -- that kinda sounds intriguing.

"I don't know how I would really look in black," he says, making sure they can hear the grin in his voice. Pidge snorts.

"You think you look good in everything," they say.

"Well," Lance says, "I kinda do. Oh, wait--"

Someone is coming around the corner to his door, and he immediately jets his way up to a beam high above, trying to keep out of sight. "I think that's the prison warden," Pidge whispers.

"He's scanning his face to get in," Lance murmurs back. "I'll get a scan so you can use that to get me in once he leaves."

"I'll use that for you as well, Shiro," Pidge says, back to typing frantically. "We're ready to go."

"Good going, Lance. Let's do this, guys," Shiro replies, that familiar note of determination in his voice, the one that sends excitement coursing through Lance's veins, ready to do whatever it takes to see their mission through. Pidge makes an affirmative noise over the comms and Lance bares his teeth in a grin. "We've got a genius to save."

"So let me get this straight," Hunk says. "We were out there inside of an enormous, gassy space worm, fighting off acidic bacteria and harvesting scaultrite, getting farted out of said space worm, and you were trying to kidnap someone's pet?"

"Hey," Lance says, offended. "I was rescuing Laika. She liked me."

"Yup," Pidge says. Lance snorts, and Shiro sends them an amused look over the top of Allura's head as he finishes going over the mission with her.

"What matters is that we have what we need to move forward," Allura says, giving them silencing looks.  Keith watches her quietly, fidgeting with his helmet a few steps away from the others. Lance wants to reach out and grab him, reel him in closer, but he doesn't want to draw attention to him. "We'll be heading back to the Olkari, so they can help us manufacture the teludav. Let's all get ready for this."

She rests a hand on Shiro's shoulder and then sweeps out of the room, nonstop motion. Her trip to visit the Balmera for a crystal may have ended in another battle, but she seems determined, full of renewed energy, even though Lance can feel himself flagging a little. Shiro watches her leave and then turns to the rest of them, smiling.

"Good job, guys. We're almost there. We're so close to taking Zarkon down for good." He pauses, looking at all of them in turn, and then says, "After all of this, we won't have to be Voltron anymore."

"Then I'll be able to find my family," Pidge says softly.

"Me too," Keith murmurs. Lance shoves his hands into his pockets, chest aching a little; he's spent so much of his time out here longing for home, but the idea of leaving all of this behind -- the team, Allura and Coran, the universe -- sticks in his lungs like smoke, choking him. He's not really sure what he wants.

"We'll be able to go back to Earth," Hunk says. "We've got so much to tell everyone!"

"One step at a time, guys," Shiro says, patting Lance on the shoulder. He taps Keith and Hunk as well, and then ruffles Pidge's hair as he passes by, heading out of the room. "You all should get ready. It won't take the Olkari long, from what Coran says. We'll be heading out in an hour or so." He gives them all an encouraging smile before he walks through the door, leaving the four of them standing in silence.

"Hunk," Pidge says suddenly, "Can you help me with the--"

"Oh, yeah," Hunk says loudly. "That thing -- we should go -- we'll see you guys in a bit." He and Pidge shoot Lance a pointed look and follow Shiro out of the room. He resists the urge to cover his face with his hands and gives in to his other urge, which is to step closer to Keith and look at him, really look at him for the first time since he's gotten back.

After a moment, Keith's mouth curls up at one corner. "What are you looking for?"

"Just checking you out," Lance says without thinking, and then winces. "I mean, I'm just -- I just wanted to make sure you're okay. You -- you are okay, right?"

Keith hesitates, and then shrugs. "I guess? I don't know how -- I don't know what I'm supposed to be feeling right now."

"Relatable," Lance agrees, making Keith laugh a little. "I just mean -- we'll be done soon, you know. It'll be weird to go back to everything. Except I guess you won't be, since you've got this whole Blade of Marmora thing now, huh?"

"I don't know," Keith says, making a face. "They're not really that useful when it comes to answers, so I guess I'll have to look around."

Lance rocks back and forth on his heels, pushing his hands deeper into his pockets. "I'm sure Allura and Coran will help you out, dude."

Keith grimaces and averts his gaze. Lance peers at him and then frowns. "Are you -- are you worried about them now because you're part Galra?"

Keith doesn't say anything, which just confirms it. Lance steps closer to Keith and puts  a hand on his wrist, drawing his attention back. Keith blinks up at him with wide eyes. "Keith, you're not suddenly a bad person because you're Galra."

"She would have every reason to dislike me," Keith says, pulling his wrist away. "They killed her entire family, her entire planet, Lance."

"You didn't," Lance says steadily. "You may have Galra blood in you, but you're not Galra, Keith. Allura knows that. Coran knows that. All of us do.

Keith glances quickly at him and then away, chewing his lower lip. "I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop," he confesses. "I keep waiting for everyone to say they don't trust me anymore. Allura, Shiro, Coran especially -- they've had so much taken from them. They took Pidge's family from them, and Shiro from me -- I don't want this." The words spill out from his lips like acid, scorching his voice into something ragged and worn. He sounds defeated, which is something Lance doesn't usually associate with Keith.

When Lance puts a tentative hand on Keith's shoulder, this time Keith doesn't move. His shoulders slump a little and a soft sound escapes his throat. "Listen," Lance says. "Instead of dreading the worst, you should just talk to Allura."

"What?" Keith asks incredulously, looking up at him.

"None of us know what's going to happen," Lance says. His throat feels tight, so he swallows hard before he continues, "And the best way to know where you stand with Allura is to just talk to her. I mean, give her some time to get used to everything, don’t just spring it on her right away, but you should try and see how she’s feeling and if she has anything to say."

Keith looks at him and stares with those dark eyes for a moment. Lance stares back, feeling a familiar itch under his ribs, the urge to tighten his hold on Keith, to pull him just a little closer.

"I don't know what to say to her," Keith admits, and Lance laughs.

"You seem to do well enough with Shiro," he says, raising an eyebrow. Keith flushes all over, rising up from his neck to cover his cheeks in a wash of splotchy pink.

"I can't believe he brought that up," Keith says, covering his eyes with a hand, despite the smile curving his mouth. "During a mission."

"It was nice," Lance says, shrugging. Keith barks out a laugh, and Lance nudges him with his shoulder, grinning. "It was! So thanks, I guess. I should've taken my own advice and talked to him sooner."

Keith lowers his hand and looks sideways at Lance, and he realizes how close they are now, how he can see the individual lashes on Keith's eyes from here, the dusting of pink lingering on top of his cheekbones, a small freckle at the corner of his eye.

His stomach seizes in his gut and he opens his mouth, a thousand words on the tip of his tongue, spinning through his head too fast for him to focus. Keith stares at him with wide eyes -- Lance can almost see his own reflection in them, wonders if he's moving closer or if Keith is, and he rasps out, "Keith--"

"Hey!"

They jolt apart roughly, Lance's feet almost stumbling over each other, Keith's hands flying out to stop him from falling over. They both turn to look at Pidge, who's standing in the doorway with a smirk on their face.

"Yes?" Lance grits out, annoyed when their smirk widens.

"The Blade dudes called an emergency meeting, we gotta go." They wave their arm impatiently, and Lance's breath hisses out between his teeth. When he looks at Keith again, he's avoiding his gaze, tucking his hair behind his ear and hurrying forward.

"Great," Lance mutters under his breath, following them out, eyeing a clearly amused Pidge with disdain as he passes by. "Can't wait to hear what they've got to say."

"We have to cancel the mission," Kolivan says, and Allura's brow furrows.

"Excuse me?" she asks, just the hint of frost in her tone.

"Our operative inside who was going to plant the virus has not checked in with us in hours, past his due time. We can only conclude he's been compromised. The mission will have to be delayed."

"We can't delay it," Allura says firmly. "This may be our only chance to have the element of surprise."

"It's too dangerous," Kolivan replies. "We cannot operate in these parameters--"

"Is this is why you haven't accomplished anything in ten thousand years?" Allura says, seething, her fists clenched. "Fear has been holding you back while thousands, millions of lives are taken or broken apart, while planets die and tyranny rules unchecked? This is your excuse? Your own cowardice?"

The Galra recoil at the controlled anger in her voice, noticeably shocked even through their masks, seemingly struck speechless, but when she opens her mouth to continue, a hand comes down gently on her shoulder.

"Princess," Shiro says softly, bent close to her, "We don't have time. If we want to make this attempt, we need to do it soon, before Zarkon finds a better way of tracking us."

"Without the virus, we won't be able to take out their systems and have a fighting chance," Coran says. "You're sure your spy has been found out?"

Kolivan lowers his head. "He is always punctual, and it has been hours since his last check in. We have no choice but to assume he's been captured."

"We'll just have to get the virus onto the ship some other way," Shiro says. "There's got to be something--"

"I'll go," Keith says.

Lance whips his head around to look at him, stunned. " No, " he says before he can stop himself. It punches out of him like he's been hit, drawing Hunk and Pidge’s attention immediately, but Keith doesn't acknowledge him.

"Someone has to, and I can interface with their system since I'm part Galra," Keith says, not even looking in Lance’s direction. He stares straight at Allura, deliberately acknowledging her over everyone else; she stares back at him with wide eyes.

"Keith," she says hesitantly, "I can't ask you to do that. It will be--"

"Dangerous, yeah," Keith says, shrugging. "We've got to do something, though. And you're not asking me to, I'm telling you I'm going to do it."

"I can rig up a pod with a cloaking device," Pidge offers. "If we can figure out how to get him to the control room fast, it shouldn't be too hard to get him in and out."

"We have schematics of his base," Kolivan says.

"Okay," Keith says. "Then that's what we'll do." He looks like he does before every stupid decision he's ever made before -- firm mouth, furrowed brow, undeniable courage pouring from him in waves. It's annoying as hell, it makes Lance want to shout, want to drag him away and hide him somewhere so he'll stop trying to get killed.

"The Olkari are nearly ready," Coran says. "We should start getting everything in position."

"Hunk, can you help me with the pod?" Pidge asks. Hunk nods, already heading their way. Allura shoots a steely look at the Blade members, but walks past them without saying anything. She stops in front of Keith, staring down at him. He looks up at her, silent, and then bows his head, murmuring something Lance can’t hear. A slow smile blossoms onto Allura's face, and she leans in and touches his shoulder gently.

"Be safe, Keith," she whispers, just loud enough for Lance to hear.

"I will, princess," Keith replies. He smiles back at her, uncertain but real, and she squeezes his shoulder and steps back. Shiro's next to Keith immediately, leaning down to whispers in his ear fervently, frowning deeply. Keith replies back to him too low for Lance to pick up, looking him square in the eye. Shiro sighs, his whole chest rising and falling, and then nods his head.

"Fine," Shiro says. He glances at Lance, who's been hovering nearby, and his expression does something complicated. "Be ready in ten minutes, you two."

"Yes sir," Keith says, rolling his eyes. Shiro cracks a smile, cuffing the side of his head fondly, and leaves. The Blade members don't acknowledge them, except to tilt their heads to Keith as they pass, leaving Lance and Keith alone on the deck.

Keith shoots him a look, crossing his arms like a defense against whatever he sees in Lance's expression. "So."

"So?" Lance echoes. "You're literally going on a suicide mission, and that's what you have to say?"

"It's not literally a suicide mission, Lance," Keith says, sighing.

"You're going onto Zarkon's ship by yourself, Keith," Lance says, voice shaking slightly with emotion, anger and worry twisting his guts into a knot. "He nearly killed you last time we met up and you were in Red then, what exactly do you think is different now?"

"I'm not going to face him, I'm going to be sneaking in and uploading a virus and leaving," Keith says, beginning to sound heated himself.

"Oh, you, the infamously quiet one in the team, of course," Lance says, throwing his arms up, laughing sharply. "You don't have to prove anything, Keith, no one expects you to die to show you're not--"

"I'm not doing it to prove anything," Keith interrupts, eyes blazing. "I'm doing it because that's what a Paladin of Voltron should do. If I can help, if I can do something, then I'm going to. I'm not doing this to piss you off, so why are you acting like this?"

"Because I don't want you to die? " Lance says incredulously. "I care about you? What the fuck, Keith, you know why!"

Keith's whole demeanor changes in a second, anger melting into an expression Lance doesn't know how to interpret. His eyebrows are still turned down, almost into a frown, but his eyes are intent and curious. Lance feels himself falter under those eyes, and he scowls, flustered.

"You've still got to talk to Allura, and you've got to figure out what's going on with your parents," he says hastily. Keith takes a deliberate step closer and Lance feels something pressing against his rib cage, like his lungs or heart are expanding. His blood is pulsing in his veins. "You have to -- you--"

Keith reaches out and cups Lance's face in his hands, gently pulling him down into a kiss. It's much, much softer than Lance thought a kiss with Keith might be every time he's guiltily let himself wonder about it. It's sort of awkward, noses bumping, until Keith tilts his head and tugs a little harder, and Lance feels his own hands come up of their own volition to wind into Keith's hair and lets himself sink into this kiss like it's the only time he'll have it, like it's the last gasp of air while he's drowning, like he's cupping a fire in his hands in a storm. He feels slightly unhinged, giddy and hysterical and calm at once, like he's living in and outside of his own body. Keith's lips are slightly chapped, and it grounds Lance, has him pressing harder against them, until Keith makes a soft noise in the back of his throat.

When Keith finally pulls away, Lance doesn't open his eyes right away, committing the feeling of Keith under his hands, on his breath, in his mouth; only when Keith laughs a little under his breath does he give in, peering out through half-lidded lashes. Keith's mouth is twisted into a smile, his hair messy where Lance's hands are buried in it, his eyes almost glowing.

"I've got a lot of things to come back for," Keith says quietly.

Lance makes a strangled noise, half a laugh, half a sigh. He leans forward, pressing his forehead to Keith's and says, "That is a promise I expect you to keep, you know."

Keith presses back, eyelashes fluttering, and says, "You got it."

They stay that way for a while longer, just long enough to press their luck, and then separate, smoothing their hair and clothes, trying to control their blushing faces. Lance grabs Keith's hand, almost challengingly, daring him to pull away this time, but Keith just squeezes back. He looks at Lance out of the corner of his eye and then faces forward, squaring his shoulders.

"Let's go," he says, and they walk out of the room hand in hand, ready to face the day.